Kid-dom 101: Vibratory Football

Laser Guided Whats?

(“…Kenny Lofton is swinging for the fences…what’s up with that?”)

Click here to open the Laser Guided site up in a new window

 

I guess I should have imagined. First gunsmiths using lasers to set sights and now this.  Trouble is, the laser will only tell you where you are striking the cue ball and not the object ball.  I suppose for beginners, it could be instructive as to where to hit the cue ball for different shots; stop, follow, draw.  Those are the big three.  I try NEVER to use left/right if I can help it because it just makes the shot so much harder.  But that said, I guess I do use bottom-left and bottom-right at times but true side english?  Hard.  Pool is a hard game.  Like golf, you could torture yourself with it for a lifetime.  It is a beautiful game, however, what with it’s geometry and physics and a healthy mental aspect thrown in.  Oh well, I hope the guy makes a few bucks with it.

Overstimulation

I really like the Clarinet (Bassinet) that Mrs. Pinetar bought (or was given) for the Tomster. It has these little controls on the side and it will play a little music (something they played at our wedding but I didn’t know that-was told) and it has a little “activity center” for Tommy’s “activity time”.

Anyway, it has these bears that hang on a little dry-cleaning rack and you press a button and the bears spin around over Tommy.

But you have to swing it into position first.

 So I’m admiring the thing and we put him down and I swing the thing into position and Mrs. Pinetar says, “…Wait! You can’t do that yet.”

“Why?”, I say.

“You’ll overstimulate him. It’s too much for him”, She replied.

“Oh”, I said.

How cute is it, that the three little flying stuffed bears will overstimulate him?

***

This clarinet has one other thing that I really, really love. The vibration button. You can even adjust the frequency (although not as low as I would like, but I’ll take it). It is like Tommy is at the belly of a big cat that is purring. It’s very soothing and pacifying.

There is some newer research that indicates that the vibrations that cats produce is very, very healing and beneficial to the cats themselves. They actually have been shown to HEAL faster from wounds for purring. This is verifiable data, not the global warming hooey that you see on CNN.

I went through a phase a few years ago where I read anything I could get my hands on re ‘after death experiences’ or, NDE (Near Death Experiences). They have gone on for all history but are more prevalent now due to advancing medical technology (the same amazing medical discovery and technology that Al Gore and Hillary say isn’t fair and needs to be curtailed by government intervention). What’s even more true today is that with medical tech being what it is, people are simply more inclined to entertain the POSSIBILITY that these folks come by some information that they really don’t or shouldn’t have access to, if you discount the “experience”.

The books are fascinating reading and they make you think plenty, especially about some of our downright silly religious customs and institutionalized hokum. The book, “Embraced by the Light” by Betty J. Eadie, is by far, the best book I’ve ever read in my life. I’ve read it over 10 times and it has influenced me far more than any other book, no question. There is a bookend book to it that is also amazing: “Beyond the Darkness” by Angie Fenimore. They compliment each other and should be read together, and read in the order listed. They are quite different so don’t assume…

Anyway, in the dozens of books I’ve read on this topic, one of the things that strikes you about these experiences is their diversity. All are different and highly personal. However, there are still many similarities. One is that many of these folks report on the “music” or “vibrations” that run through and permeate EVERYTHING on the spiritual side. Everything vibrates and resonates and all things are in vibrational/musical harmony “over there”. In this other dimension, these vibrations are described as “healing” and “loving” and “containing great intelligence”.

It is interesting that we are finding out that cats’ purring heals wounds. I predict that in the future, more money and effort will be spent looking into the effect of vibrations on living tissue. I don’t think enough is being done but the vibration gizmo on the clarinet is a good start.

***

We had Tommy outside a lot yesterday and like rookie parents, got him a little too warm in his fleece swaddling blanket. But on day 4, the jaundice is at maximun, so I insisted that we get him some light (indirect) to break down that bad old Billy Rueben. I also decided it was time to fly the Bunker Hill flag. You don’t see many outside of New England.

And this morning he was opening his eyes more than usual. I used a no-flash setting and it was dark so don’t worry about his color there. He is looking great. It’s just hard to get him to open the eyes. A lot of the time, he just opens one eye. It’s funny to see him fall off the feeding spout and then get mad. Unfortunately, it’s a family trait to quickly get pretty mad at something very simple in the scheme of things. Oh well.

We are baptizing him at about 1 month. This shocked the church down the street. They grilled my wife about it. That’s how it was done in the old days (25 years ago and before) but now it is wigging them out. Almost any time I have “official dealings” of any sort with a member of the church, I walk away shaking my head. I’m trying.

Since Mrs. Pinetar may not be able to make the baptism class, I will have to go alone. I told Mrs. Pinetar, “…wait until they get a load of me…”

And she basically said, “Don’t get excommunicated again!”

And that would be the second time this year! The odds on excommunication are currently running about 7-1. We’ll see.

***

For the record, Julio Franco is now 1 for 12 with the Atlanta Braves. I’ll say it again: Somewhere out there, there is a golf-course missing a guy. –fog

Didn’t Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom Do This?

I had another idea for a product the other day. A “collar-cam” for McGonnigle the cat (or for any cat or dog) that broadcasts back to your computer/TV set, exactly what the cat is looking at. So while your cat is out on the prowl, you could tune to his channel and see what he’s stalking–watch him actually bunnyhunt—in real time! It’d probably be pretty funny. You’d see his whereabouts as well as what interests him. You might see him in places you never knew he went—eating out of the neighbor’s dog bowl or drinking out of their spa; it might be fun to just watch and try and figure out, “where is McGonnigle now?” “Oh, That’s across the street” or, “err, no, that’s under the shed”. “What’s he doing now?” “He’s not doing anything” “Maybe he’s taking a dump?” “He’s just sitting there” “Is he asleep?”.

A modern day DaVinci : Norm Saunders

Apparently, Wacky’s were painted mostly by

Norm Saunders (1907 -1989)

FROM WakckyPackages.org Bum Chex, along with Choke Wagon, was pulled early and replaced by Windhex, making it one of the toughest titles in a complete series 1 to 16. Bum Chex also has the distinction that it is the only one that artist Norm Saunders actually signed. He slipped his signature in by signing one of the checks, the green one. He was not allowed to sign the works because Topps wanted to keep their artists top secret, so as not to have them stolen by other companies. Norm slipped his intials in various other places, but this is the only one known where he got the full name in.

This is my favorite from series 2: Run Tony. The story goes that Italian Americans looked up from watching The Godfather and complained that this made light of their ethnicity so it was pulled early in the run, thus making it scarce.

I DO recall it being hard to get but I’m not sure if that is the answer. Unless a company’s legal department was sending in a “Cease & Desist” order, they probably wouldn’t have just pulled it.

If you come across this book in a garage sale, buy it! On Amazon, there is one used copy listed at $250.00

Reprint anyone? –fog

Where have you gone, Paul Maul…

Here’s the secret to why you couldn’t get certain Series 1 Wacky’s.  A photo of an original, uncut sheet right from the printer.  Look at the middle row: There’s only one Lavirus, one Paul Maul, one Mutts and one glorious Band-Ache.  It’s funny how your mind plays tricks on you.  I only vaguely remember Mutts as being particularly hard to get or desirable but the other three were very tough, for sure.  Contrast those with the 6 Maddie Boy’s and 4 each of the Crust, Jail-O, Weakies and Duz.  Now that I think about it, Grave Train was also pretty hard to come by.

One other thing that didn’t catch my eye in 1974 is Paul Maul.  The slogan was “Where peculiar people congregate” and the insinuation is very vaugue but really is referring to “Paul” “Mauling” you.  I was buying these things I think the first grade, possibly second.  That’s awfully young to really even understand what that was getting at.  And, of course, today, if you google the phrase “Paul Mall” (without the “U”), you’ll turn up references to Pee Wee Herman.  With what all has transpired in the last 35 years, I doubt seriously, if they would be printing the Paul Maul card today. –fog

Bush Collected Wacky Packages

Saint Drogo (1105-1185), a Flemish nobleman who was reportedly able to bilocate, maintaining his presence in two locations at once. Witnesses claimed seeing Drogo working in fields simultaneously, and going to mass every Sunday. He is the patron saint of coffee and coffeehouses, we suspect because his peculiar talent for multitasking. This is from Neatorama and they pulled it from Mental Floss

Bilocation is central to a lot of magic tricks and there is a good movie out about just such a thing but I won’t spoil it…just pay attention if you see it.

And Drogo reminded me of one of my top ten all time favorite Wacky Packages from the 1970′s: Dr. Ono: Crackpot Brain opener; Causes Clots, Tough on Nerves

You know there was something about the artists who drew the old ones. They make new ones but they are not the same and it’s mostly the drawings. Well, that and nostalgia in general I suppose because it is the same with a new album by an old band that you liked: It never matches up! And that’s because the new one, while basically of the same ilk, doesn’t have the load of memories attached to it.

These Wacky’s were outrageously popular in the 2nd grade and maybe 3rd for me. I can still remember trading Kevin ***** a bunch of crap for the coveted “Band-Ache” (Windchester and Lavirus were also tough, tough gets). He took a few commons like 6-Up and DuzentDoNothin’s and maybe a Wind Hex or Minute Lice. Hey, he was happy. [I'm glad he was because I saw him in a poolroom a few years ago and he is as big as a refrigerator now--just immense--and I recall seeing him fight in school (he was picked on) and he could jab like Joe Frazier! He was such a nice guy--the nicest-- but if people hassled him enough....whap, whap...whap]

I had thrown all my Wacky’s away apparently somewhere along the line and that is a loss. But I came across an old Band-Ache in some drawer somewhere and threw it out on ebay and it was bid up to $125 bucks! Not in real good shape either.

My favorite of all-time? Hmm, it’s close but I’ll go with this one:

I’m sorry, that’s hilarious. –fog

PS – Now I’m on Wacky sites reading about the rarity of these things.  This Spit and Spill is the first version and the artist left the original product name on the top of the box.  It was pulled from production and a second one was substituted.  Collectors pay more for this one.  I just enjoy seeing the JPEGs and remembering how much fun I had with these things.

Light as Art

Some years ago, I built a gonkulator to display antique light bulbs. Antique bulbs look great because the old bulbs are unfrosted and you can see the filaments–which, if they’re old enough, are in some nice shapes. Here it is:

 

 

(I don’t burn these anymore and really only burned them in an apartment in Tuxedo Park where the utilites were INCLUDED. It’s big and I actually built it just for that mantle in Tuxedo Park)

I had bought the bulbs on ebay, one at a time, and got a good variety of filament shapes. I then bought a light vanity from Home Depot and some #14 wire and dimmers. I drilled and wired and set it up, so that you could could give each bulb just enough juice to burn orange and not be brite at all–it looked great. In fact, the whole thing put out a great orange glow like a big candleabra.

The weird thing was, if you listened real close, you could HEAR the filaments making a noise and you didn’t dare turn up the dimmers or you’d blow a fuse (I was careful and never blew one) because this thing was basically one big toaster.

The bulbs were all from the 19-oughts and 1910′s and are still burning brite (I never had one blow out). They really hadn’t built in the obsolensce yet and the thing that makes it work is that none of the bulbs are frosted so you can see right in and the filaments aren’t yet helixed, so they are long and you can see the loops or birdcage twists of filament, all glowing. I thought I was pretty good, until I saw this German guy below:

This guy is lapping the field. I’m thinking that they are pretty expensive (‘sehr teuer‘ in German).

Click here to see the Sprockets Light Art by Frank Buchwald from Berlin (where else?)

Tonka

Click here for Amazon link to a great Tonka book

From the used book store in Seattle: Elliot Bay Books: It’s a book called Tonka purchased mainly for the photos of all the old Tonka Toys that define childhood.  However, upon reading it, I found that there was much more than just photos. The authors (one is a former Veep of the Co.), tell an interesting story about a small toy manufacturer from Mounds Minnesota.

There are interesting profiles of Tonka employees and a detailed history of the company before manufacturing was moved from Lake Minnetonka to El Paso, TX. The company was bought in 1991 by Hasbro and although the Tonka brand still rings up millions a year, most of the manufacturing now takes place in (surprise) China. –fog

GI Joe you can shave

The recent Six Million Dollar Man Squad 51, Station 51 post brought up the whole action figure thread and when you think about it, these things are a little strange. For the most outlandish, there’s no question for me. It’s this: