Category: Television

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Saturday Night Retro

Saturday November 27TH 2010
Volume 3 / Number 12 / Edition 109

Late last night I returned home to Miami to begin my 24TH year of living here in America’s Riviera. It was a very nice American Airlines flight – due mainly because I sat in First Class. While checking in at the self-service terminal at AA at DFW I was offered the opportunity to upgrade my reservation from coach to First Class for $105. It allegedly included Dinner. After mulling about it for a good half-minute or so I decided to do it. The $105 turned out to be a very good deal for me. As it turns out there is no charge for baggage for First Class passengers. That alone saved me at least $25 – possibly as much as $60 due to the fact that my checked bag weighed 54 pounds (above the standard limit of 50 pounds per bag). I was able to board the aircraft first – a full 40 minutes before takeoff time. I sat in a very comfortable seat in the very first row – right by the window – my favourite place to sit. I enjoyed lots of elbow room on both sides of me and ample leg room in front of me. Earphones were free if I wanted them.

Here’s what else I enjoyed as a First Class passenger – a bowl of hot mixed nuts (absolutely delicious and quite a bit hot), a warm moist towel (to clean off my nutty hands), a (real) glass of Sprite on the rocks, a (real) glass of bottled water, a large salad with blue cheese dressing (delicious), a chicken piccata (pretty good with the dipping sauce provided), white rice (it was OK), mixed vegetables (good), a warm roll with butter (very good), and a nice slice of pie for dessert (surprisingly tasty). All of this was served on real plates and eaten with a real fork and knife and cloth napkin. The meal was unbelievably plentiful and delicious for airline food in 2010. I realize that back in the day airline food was complimentary for everyone, unlimited, and award-winning, but this is an enitrely different era of budget-cutting flying. I was very impressed with it all.

After the nice meal the rest of my First Class flight experience was quite relaxing and comfortable. I could hear what appeared to be an uncomfortable baby crying virtually non-stop throughout the entire flight way back in the coach section, so I was very thankful to be sitting in Seat 1F. You know it !

More perks of First Class flying included the fact that I was the 2ND person to exit the aircraft at MIA after landing, and my suitcase was among the first to appear on the baggage carousel. I returned home less than 90 minutes after my plane landed. My next airplane adventure probably occurs next May.

It was another enjoyable Thanksgiving Week vacation with my family. We actually celebrated Thanksgiving and Christmas together – a family tradition for the past few years. I’m looking forward to my next trip back to Dallas Texas. Who knew that after watching every single episode of “Dallas” ever made all of those years ago that I’d be visiting the real city and its metroplex. I wouldn’t want to live there, but it’s quite all right to visit the area a few times per year.

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Saturday Night Retro

Saturday November 06TH 2010
Volume 3 / Number 9 / Edition 106

25 years ago this weekend I flew on an overnight flight from Northern Virginia to London England to arrive at my new home for the next two years – my first permanent duty assignment as a young 18-year-old USAF Airman. I took British Rail from London Heathrow Airport to Reading – and then from Reading to Swindon further west. From Swindon I hired a cab to take me to my new home and workplace at RAF Fairford. During that cab ride on that sunny and cold morning of Sunday November 10TH 1985 I heard the chilling song “Road To Nowhere” by The Talking Heads on the radio. How appropriate.

My first couple of months at RAF Fairford were mostly spent on base either working at the office (as an aircraft maintenance systems analyst / statistician), or living in the dormitory. I lived in the old-style dorm buildings on base – small ones strategically built in a series of rows shortly after World War II. There were no bathrooms in any of the dorm rooms. They were down the hallway – community-style. Our ‘Day Room’ was where we hung out after work to socialize and watch TV and play card games – mostly Uno. There were some fun all-night sessions in that room. Good times and good memories with good buddies at the time. I can still see us all sitting around that big round table in the corner laughing and carrying on at 3 AM in the dead of the British winter. It made it easier for me during that first Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s holiday season away from home in a foreign land.

Shortly after 1986 arrived I got to upgrade to my own 2ND floor room in ‘the new dorm’ – with shared bathrooms in-between each dorm room. I also made my way out of the dorm and began exploring the vast U.K. countryside and historic European continent.

But my U.K. experience all began during those first two memorable months of November and December of 1985. One of the top pop / rock hits on both sides of the Atlantic during those early days and weeks at my new home was this comeback smash from Starship. Here’s “We Built This City” – the # 1 smash on the Billboard Hot 100 exactly 25 years ago this month – and one of my favourite songs of all-time !

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Saturday Night Retro

Saturday October 16TH 2010
Volume 3 / Number 6 / Edition 103

11 years ago back in October and November of 1999:
– The Shops At Sunset Place was the hottest new joint to hang out.
– AOL released Version 5.0, and the entire free nation celebrated.
– Moviegoers were blown away by “American Beauty”.
– The population of the world reached 6 billion.
– The Yankees swept the Braves 4 games to 0 to win the World Series again.
– EgyptAir Flight 990 crashed into the Atlantic Ocean killing all 217 on board.
– “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire” skyrocketed to the top of the TV ratings.
– Exxon and Mobil combined to become ExxonMobil.
– The world prepared for the upcoming uncertainty that was Y2K.

1999 was certainly a party year as we ushered the end of a year, a decade, a century, and even a millennium. Even Prince made a big deal out of 1999 some 17 years earlier. He knew that it was gonna be big – and memorable. A lot of great party music came out in 1999. It was certainly a year to get up and dance !

Here’s the 1999 techno dance remix of the classic 1968 Steppenwolf track “Magic Carpet Ride”:

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Saturday Night Retro

Saturday September 25TH 2010
Volume 3 / Number 3 / Edition 100

It’s the remarkable 100TH edition of my ‘Saturday Night Retro’ – an unsuspecting weekly blog series that began at the start of September of 2008.

While 100 is indeed a very special number signaling a milestone it is not often utilized in reference to time. You don’t often hear the terms ‘100 seconds’ or ‘100 minutes’. They are essentially irrelevant. ‘1 minute and 40 seconds’ or ‘1 hour and 40 minutes’ are more appropriate. ‘100 days’ is used to signify the first 100 days of a Presidential administration: ‘It’s his first 100 days. Here’s what he didn’t get done.’ Nobody really cares about 100 weeks or 100 months because 100 weeks is close enough to 2 years, and 100 months is just too many to keep track of. 100 years is significant because it’s a century. When you turn 100 that’s remarkable enough to get your name mentioned by the legendary Willard Scott on “Today” on NBC. I often find myself rooting for Willard to reach 100 himself. That could happen in 23½-years.

On this 100TH edition of my ‘Saturday Night Retro’ I look back at 39 years ago in September of 1971. I was a 4-year-old kid living with my Mom and Dad in our small Greenbelt Maryland ground floor apartment (# 102). We watched a lot of TV together after my Dad came home from work. In fact one of my favourite TV shows during that time was the cartoon “Wait ‘Till Your Father Gets Home”. I also loved to visit my Grandmom and Granddad and their Pekingese ‘Meei Ling’. They lived just a mile-and-a-half down the road from me in neighbouring Lanham Maryland. Their grandchildren loved to visit them, and I loved to hang out with my cousins there – especially John John who is two years older than me. He was like a big brother to me back then. We loved to play with green Army men figures and colourful Matchbox cars. Good Times. 1971 Retro.

My Grandmom always played the hottest hits on her stereo and record player – like this one from The McCartneys: