...And I'm back, from the longest break since the blog's inception. I was chugging along nicely, greatly enjoying bringing you, the audience, my little comics/pop culture "variety show." Without any warning, I found myself embarking on a week-long pop culture bender.
It all started innocently enough, with a Borders "40% off any one item" coupon. With The Beatles remastered albums and Rock Band game arriving in stores on 9/09/09, I felt it was the perfect time to pick up the Beatles Anthology DVD box. While The Lovely Pooh and I were there, she picked up The Grindhouse Experience, a 20-film assortment of cult classics from which we have yet to sample.
After watching The Beatles Anthology up until around the "Pepper" era, we were sidetracked when a trip to Wally World (aka Wal-Mart) brought us face to face with a decent Simpsons dvd sale ( about $15 apiece). Always mindful of bargains in these uncertain times, we snagged Season Four. As a recovering completist, I no longer feel the absolute need need to start a series collection with Season One, although that is still the general rule of thumb.. Anyway, I had already owned and resold that set ( out of necessity, natch), at some earlier point in time, and I wanted to see some old favorites such as "A Streetcar Named Marge" and "Marge Vs. The Monorail."
It was only then I noticed that The Superfriends: The Lost Episodes, a must-buy-first-day item for a nostalgia -crazy nut like me, was perched on the new release rack, practically calling my name. Though repulsed by my gluttonous behavior, I snagged it as well, and watched it all in two sittings. The thing I loved about this set is that there were actually a few cartoons on it even I hadn't seen a dozen times, or even once. Superfriends works for me on about 6 levels nowadays, not the least of which is the unintentional hilarity of the show's feeble attempts at multiculturalism. I'm surprised El Dorado never asserted that his magical cape is made from "fine Corinthian leather."
You would think all this would be enough to satisfy anyone's culture cravings for a long time, but not me, boy, uh-uh. Monday, I picked up The Simpsons Seasons Five and Ten, the latter of which was not $15, but $20. Today, I surprised Pooh by taking her to eat breakfast at that bastion of Southern delights known as Cracker Barrel. In the Cracker Barrel store, there was a rack of classic tv dvds, and some of the prices were more than reasonable. Try as I might, I couldn't pass up 9 hours of Tony Orlando & Dawn's variety show for 20 bucks. It's not that I am a fan of Tony Orlando & Dawn per se, but the nostalgia and weirdness factors of 70's variety shows is extremely addictive. They just don't make spectacles like that anymore, and more's the pity. It reminds me that there was a time when a family would all willingly gather to watch the same show together, and there was something for everyone. Sigh.
My last pop culture find was at a discount bookstore. It's recently deceased Ed McMahon's memoir, Here's Johnny!: My Memories of Johnny Carson, The Tonight Show, and 46 Years of Friendship, which reads like a love letter to his longtime boss and friend, Johnny Carson. Johnny Carson is a BIG hero of mine, and I devoured this 200 pager in about an hour and a half.
Well, all that nostalgic stuff has really revived my spirits and I am ready to blog again. In addition to the regular comics shares and features such as "Panels 66," I've got some new ideas I want to try out regarding the format of Easily Mused, so stay tuned and see what happens. Until then, remember, "it's crackers to slip a rozzer the dropsy in snide."
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