The 5-day time-period of April 16TH to April 20TH has been quite deadly here in the U.S. over the past 16 years. 5 horrific events have occurred during this time, and some would argue that at least 2 – perhaps 3 of them are indirectly related to each other.
You may remember where you were and what you were doing as these 5 disasters unfolded before a LIVE international television audience:
In 1979 I was an 11-year-old that became a 12-year-old in June. I graduated from Magnolia Elementary School in Lanham Maryland (right in my own neighbourhood):
Magnolia Elementary School, Lanham Maryland
That was my school for Kindergarten from 1972 to 1973, and then again for 3RD, 4TH, 5TH, and 6TH grades from 1975 to 1979. The street that I lived on (Red Wing Lane) was located directly in front of the school by a couple hundred yards, but that was not the proper way to walk to and from school because you had to climb the fence and walk in other people’s yards to do so. The proper way to walk to and from school was up / down the hill and over to the left-side main entrance.
Incidentally the more things change the more things stay the same. That school looks exactly the way it used to look 30 to 35 years ago – right up to the facade of the building, the spray paint residue on the left-hand side, the breezeway out front, and the lightposts. A lot has changed since the mid-1970s. The outside of that school is not one of those changes.
If you walk through the front entrance, take an immediate right at the first hallway, and take that hallway down all the way to the very end you should come across a big painted map of the U.S.A. directly on the surface of the wall (if it’s still there). My class painted that as a special project way back then. I specifically painted Hawaii. It was a masterpiece !
It’s amazing the things that I remember from back in the day.
And now for your ultimate ‘Saturday Night Retro’ review I present to you this # 1 gold pop smash that everyone was singing and dancing to in their living rooms and in their cars just before 1979 morphed into 1980. This my friends is English musician Robin Scott – better known at the time as simply ‘M’. Here’s the official music video for “Pop Muzik” – one of the first videos ever made for television – more than two years before MTV even went on-the-air. This video was sleek, stylish, solid, and state-of-the-art for its time. Check it out:
Until next Saturday night my friends – keep on makin’ history !
For about 19 years during the 1980s and 1990s CNN talk show legend Mr. Larry King wrote a weekly column in USA Today that is actually the true inspiration behind my own ‘Thursday Night Mini Thoughts’. Larry’s mini thoughts were essentially whatever came to him at the time, and no two thoughts really had anything to do with one another. The column was parodied at the time by The Onion as well as Norm Macdonald on “Saturday Night Live !“.
Larry King In 1971
My brother and I have a long-running gag where we’ll E-Mail or text one another over and over again various ridiculous (fake) ‘Larry King Moments’ in an effort to make the other one laugh hysterically. We’ve also done this in person where we’ll try to outdo each other with an even more outrageous ‘Larry King Moment’.
Here are some examples that I managed to archive over the years:
– ‘There is nothing better to drink early in the morning than a glass of … RED WINE !’
– ‘He is a role model to children, and he exemplifies how staying away from drugs will take you far in life … Mr. Woody Harrelson !”
– ‘If I could only sleep with one woman for the rest of my life, it would definitely be … Estelle Getty !’
– ‘Here’s a great idea that I’m sure you’ve never thought of before as an extra unique Father’s Day gift … Old Spice Cologne !’
– ‘Friends if you can only rent one movie on DVD this weekend then you can’t go wrong with … “Troop Beverly Hills” !’
– ‘I don’t know about you, but whenever I watch “CSI” it just makes me smile !’
– ‘A brand new, groundbreaking, original television show that I have just discovered. I bow down to the creative geniuses that brainstormed and developed THE best new show of 2009, ladies and gentlemen … I would like to introduce you all to … “The Simpsons” !’
– ‘One of the greatest theatrical masterpieces in the entire history of television is a show known as … “According To Jim” !’
– ‘This may seem incredibly far-fetched to most people, but I truly believe that a small handheld device known as a ‘cell phone’ may begin taking off in popularity in perhaps 10 or 20 years from now.’
Feel free to post your own ridiculous (fake) ‘Larry King Moments’.
CountUp 