The Kid with the 200 I.Q.
Published January 25, 2010 @ 21:23 in Memories

Back in 1983, I watched a made for TV movie starring Gary Coleman. It was called "The Kid with the 200 I.Q.".

I was only 8 or 9 at the time, and I thought it was the greatest movie in the history of the world. It was perfect.

Gary Coleman was my hero, and the greatest actor this side of Mark Hamill. He was cute and he was funny. Soon thereafter I discovered Diff'rent Strokes where I could enjoy his comedic talents weekly.

This is Gary Coleman today. He's not nearly as cute and funny as I remember him.

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Elmer Safety Elephant Statue Saved From Trash
Published January 25, 2010 @ 10:10 in Memories, Toronto News ~ Toronto Focus

A few years ago, I shared my memories of Elmer the Safety Elephant. Elmer was a character who would visit my primary school back in the 80s to teach us about bike safety, not walking on train tracks and such.

I just received the following email regarding Elmer the Safety Elephant.

Hi Mike, just read your article on "Elmer the Safety Elephant". Excellent. I noticed a picture of the flag and Blinky, but none of the Elmer statues that used to grace our schools in the good old days. Just wanted to let you know that I am in possession of one of the original 8 statues (8 being the number of districts in the Toronto area at that time). I know 1 statue is in the police archives, and the rest are probably in safety officer's basements. I saved one from going into the trash as it needed some repair to the trunk and was to be disposed of. It is a beautiful sight to see, all original paint etc.

Here are pictures of this rare Elmer statue.

The person who saved this statue wishes to remain anonymous, but he would like you to know that Party Boy DJ Services is "very good and in-expensive compared to most companies". Just remember.... safety first!

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The Beauty of Goodnight Moon
Published January 12, 2010 @ 13:41 in Family, Memories

Margaret Wise Brown's Goodnight Moon is far and away the book I enjoyed reading to my children most. Those beautiful illustrations by Clement Hurd, that gentle prose... For years my kids fell asleep to this book, it was a staple.

At some point over the past year or so, my youngest outgrew Goodnight Moon. I no longer read it, and it breaks my heart. This entry serves absolutely no purpose except to allow me to reproduce those words here, without permission from the copyright holder.

In the great green room
There was a telephone
And a red balloon
And a picture of --
The cow jumping over the moon
 
And there were three little bears sitting on chairs
 
And two little kittens
And a pair of mittens
 
And a little toyhouse
And a young mouse
 
And a comb and a brush and a bowl full of mush
And a quiet old lady who was whispering "hush"
 
Goodnight room
Godnight moon
Goodnight cow jumping over the moon
Goodnight light
And the red balloon
 
Goodnight bears
Goodnight chairs
 
Goodnight kittens
And goodnight mittens
 
Goodnight clocks
And goodnight socks
 
Goodnight little house
And goodnight mouse
 
Goodnight comb
And goodnight brush
 
Goodnight nobody
Goodnight mush
 
And goodnight to the old lady whispering "hush"
 
Goodnight stars
Goodnight air
 
Goodnight noises everywhere

Previous tributes to Goodnight Moon:

• February 2, 2007
• May 29, 2004
• October 20, 2004

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Cooperalls
Published December 26, 2009 @ 16:06 in Memories

When I was playing house league hockey at Rennie Park in the Swansea Hockey Association, you could always tell the best players. They wore Cooperalls.

The SHA gave all players jerseys and socks, but the highly skilled forwards all played in other leagues as well, and in those leagues they often wore Cooperalls. Cooperalls were long hockey pants that were worn in place of hockey shorts and did not require socks. If you played hockey in the early and mid 80s, you likely saw them in action.

The Cooperalls became a dead giveaway that the opposing player was a potential game-changer. It was nice of the all-stars to identify themselves in this manner. As you might have guessed, I never wore Cooperalls.

But the 1981-1982 Philadelphia Flyers did!

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Oi! The Aussie Jacko's Christmas Energizer Ad
Published December 5, 2009 @ 15:55 in Memories

YouTube user Retrontario frequently uploads fantastic retro-Toronto-centric gems. These clips never fail to bring back a ton of memories for me, so I feature them from time to time.

One of the stranger flukes of fame in the 1980s belonged to an Aussie known as Jacko. You likely know Jacko best from his many Energizer battery commercials in which he'd pronounce "Get Energizer. It'll surprise you! Oi!". I remember thinking "Oi!" was a pretty cool expression back in Australia lovin' 1987.

I also remember being pretty excited about his 1988 television series, "The Highwayman". He was survival expert "Jetto", but the show didn't survive for long.

Jacko did pretty well for himself, considering how damn annoying these ads are now that I watch them with adult eyes.

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The Carlton Theatre to Close December 6
Published November 17, 2009 @ 21:22 in Memories, Toronto News ~ Toronto Focus

Right after getting married in the mid-90s, my wife and I moved into a bachelor apartment near Yonge and Bloor. That's when we discovered the best movies, the films critics raved about and the masses rejected, could always be found at The Carlton cinema.

We've since moved west of the downtown core and procreated, so we don't get to The Carlton very often, but I'm still very sad to see it's closing December 6, 2009.

One of the last remaining shoebox multiplexes from the Reagan era, the Carlton opened its doors in 1981 during the Canadian indie-cinema renaissance, providing a venue for local filmmakers like Ron Mann to screen their earliest efforts. Since then, the theatre has provided valuable screen time to small Canadian distribution companies (Mongrel Media, Films We Like), hosting obscure international films for extended runs enough that would allow them to build an audience through word of mouth.

I saw many great films at The Carlton cinema, but I think my all-time favourite Carlton movie experience was seeing "Crumb" there in '95. "Crumb" wasn't playing anywhere else in the city, but I had read enough about it to know I had to see it. Then, I saw it, and it was even better than I could have hoped. I absolutely loved "Crumb", and I still think about it to this day. I'm not sure where today's "Crumb" will play.

With the closing of The Carlton, all instrumental theatres of my youth will be gone: The Runnymede Theatre and Humber Odeon I grew up with and the Uptown Theatre and Carlton Cinema of my young adulthood. Like Heraclitus said, nothing is permanent but change.

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Big League Chew
Published November 6, 2009 @ 08:07 in Memories

YouTube user Retrontario frequently uploads fantastic retro-Toronto-centric gems. These clips never fail to bring back a ton of memories for me, so I feature them from time to time.

We chewed Big League Chew gum because it looked like chewing tobacco. In the early 80s, when I enjoyed Big League Chew, several ball players chewed tobacco and nothing was cooler than mimicking that awful, cancer causing habit.

A perfect complement to Popeye Cigarettes, another personal favourite as a young lad.

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I Was Sure HyperLists Would Take Off
Published November 5, 2009 @ 12:56 in Memories

About ten years ago, while learning HTML and practising the trade with a couple of websites, I had an idea. I called this idea "HyperLists" and I was sure it would take off.

HyperLists were simply "Top 10" lists in which each item on the list linked to the most relevant site on the web. Ten years ago there was no Google, no Wikipedia and no blogs. We had search engines, but they weren't quite as relevant as they are today. HyperLists weren't just interesting and fun (everyone loves lists!) but they served a purpose and I thought they'd make for a very interesting site.

I gave up on HyperLists around the time I changed this site into a blog about 7 years ago. There's very little evidence of my early efforts left on the web, but thanks to the Internet Archive, you can see a sample HyperLists page from early 2001.

Not everything got archived correctly, the page's images didn't make it, but that's a taste of what could have been the next big web sensation.

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Raised on Sesame Street
Published November 4, 2009 @ 17:37 in Memories, Television

I grew up on Sesame Street. I watched it daily as a toddler. In the mid-70s, it was the show for us kids.

I recently revisited the late-70s Sesame Street episodes that included Eleven Twelve, one of my favourite bits. Sesame Street became common ground for my kids and I, even though I continuously booed Elmo and Zooey when they appeared on the screen and openly complained that Snuffleupagus could now be seen by everyone, not just Big Bird.

My personal favourite memories of Sesame Street include that wonderful Camping in Canada cassette and my very favourite bit of all time, Cookie Monster as Casey McPhee getting that train through.

Happy 40th Birthday, Sesame Street. Thanks to Google for tipping me off.

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When Leafs Programs Were Only $2
Published October 29, 2009 @ 21:55 in Memories, Toronto Maple Leafs

I've saved a lot of stuff. I've got scrapbooks, newspaper clippings, baseball sticker books, ticketstubs and a bunch of old Maple Leaf programs stored away in boxes. They're sitting in my basement right now.

Here's a ticket stub from a game I attended at Maple Leaf Gardens on November 29, 1986. You'll see I sat in the grey section, the worst section, but I sat in the front row of the greys, which was the best of the worst. I was just happy to be in the building to watch my Leafs take on the Minnesota North Stars.

I got a Maple Leaf program that day. It was only $2. That seemed like a lot back then, but today Maple Leafs programs probably sell for closer to $10. I'm honestly not sure what they're charging these days, as I haven't bought one since the early 90s.

Gary Leeman, who graces the cover above, scored over a quarter of his NHL goal total during the 1989–90 season. Then, we packaged him in a bundle that scored us a certain centre who wore #93. Best. Leafs. Trade. Ever.

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