The Boom Boom Room

Thank You For Being A Friend

2010-06-03T09:24:00.000-07:00

In The News
RIP RUE McCLANAHAN
June 3, 2010

And the hits just keep on coming.....

I just read that Rue McClanahan passed away this morning following a massive stroke. Best known for her role as Blanche in The Golden Girls, McClanahan first burst on the scene as Vivian Harmon on the classic All In The Family spin-off (and Bea Arthur vehicle) Maude.

McClanahan's death leaves us with just one remaining Golden Girl, the incomparable Betty White. Arthur died in April 2009, while Estelle Getty died in 2008.

We're Having A Party

2010-05-29T16:13:00.000-07:00

Circle This Date
THIS WEEK IN BOOMER BIRTHDAYS
May 29 - June 4

Time to toss confetti and blow those blowie things (horns? hooters? who knows?) for these guys, celebrating another 52 weeks on the planet...

May 29 - Danny Elfman, who scored everything from Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1977) to Alice In Wonderland (2010) and leader of Oingo Boingo, born in 1953.
May 30 - Ted McGinley, TV utility player, who showed up in such beloved series as Happy Days, Married With Children and The Love Boat, born in 1958.
May 31 - Joe Namath, the arm of the New York Jets and best looking man in pantyhose, born in 1943.
June 1 - Ron Wood, of Rolling Stones and Birds fame, born in 1947.
June 2 - Jerry Mathers, now and forever known as the Beaver, born in 1948. (Yes, folks, Theodore Cleaver is 62.)
June 3 - Suzi Quatro, who shot to flame as Leather Tuscadaro on Happy Days, born in 1950. (Maybe she and Ted McGinley can celebrate together?)
June 4 - Parker Stevenson, the Hardy Boy who famously gave Kirstie Alley the big one, born in 1952.

Enjoy, y'all. After all, consider the alternative....

Were You At The Wedding?

2010-05-26T21:11:00.000-07:00

This Day In Boomer History
THE BIRTH OF GENIE FRANCIS
May 26, 1962

Does a picture say a thousand words? Well, Bread certainly thought so. But this pic just says two words....and to a generation brought up on GH, that's enough.

I give you....Luke and Laura.

Forget the fact that he was much older. Forget she was married to the young lawyer Scotty Baldwin. Forget that Luke was, at one point, Laura's rapist. Somehow, we forgot all that....and fell in love with this couple in the late 70's-early 80's.

I Wanna Hold Your Hand

2010-05-25T20:53:00.000-07:00

This Day In Boomer History
HANDS ACROSS AMERICA
May 25, 1986

"I can not stop thinking again and again
How the heart of a stranger
Beats like a friend."
----HANDS ACROSS AMERICA by Voices of America

Growing up, I attended a variety of protests, peace marches, sit ins and activist events. For the most part, I left these moved by the speeches I heard, uplifted by the people I was with, and generally feeling that, yes, we can make a difference.

Some, though, just left me with the question - "Now what was the point of this, exactly?" Looking back, I guess that's how I feel about the "Hands Across America" campaign, culminating in the coast-to-coast event that happened 24 years ago today.

According to reports, approximately seven million people participated, creating a human chain that ran over 4000 miles, from New York's Battery Park to Long Beach, CA. Money raised from the event was designated for the homeless and hungry. Supposedly, people were supposed to pay $10 to reserve their spot in the chain (though I don't recall that happening actually; they just passed a bucket around and you threw in a donation).

And yes, I was there. I took my daughter (then 11 months old) and my mother, and we all headed to Cooper River Park in Camden to hold hands with total strangers. At the time, it seemed important - a legacy passed on from my activist parents to my child, through me. (Remember how deep everything used to seem, before we became so cynical about it all?)

I guess I wasn't the only one who thought it was important. It was reported that numerous celebrities were in the chain - Tony Danza and Dionne Warwick in Trenton, Chewbacca the Wookie in Cincinnati, 50 Lincoln impersonators in Springfield and Kathleen Turner under the St. Louis Arch, just to name a few. Nobody really important came to Cooper River, though. (Maybe that's why they didn't charge us the full ten dollars.)

The event was one of several held under the "USA For Africa" banner, though apparently the $20 million raised by this particular campaign stayed stateside. Though it sounds almost fairy-tale idyllic, Hands Across America was not without its own protesters. Notably, Senators Edward Kennedy and Edward Markey filed an official protest that the New England states were not part of the chain. Tom Selleck, with others, spearheaded a "Hawaiians Are Americans, Too!" initiative. No one spoke out for Alaskans, interestingly enough.

So what was accomplished? For a short while, we felt united. For a brief moment, we felt we still had the power to change things. For just a second, perhaps, we believed that people holding on to each other really was the answer.

Maybe not a lot, bottom line. But plenty, looking back.

The Times, They Were A-Changing

2010-05-24T05:28:00.000-07:00

This Day In Boomer History
THE BIRTH OF BOB DYLAN
May 24, 1941

I really don't remember when I became aware of Bob Dylan. I think the music came first, which I suppose is appropriate. "Blowing in the Wind" became a staple in my father's guitar performances, one of the many songs I heard wafting from my family room as I fell asleep each night. But in my head, "Blowing in the Wind" was a Peter, Paul and Mary song, harmonious, wistful and full of hope, one embraced by the growing anti-war movement and even sung in Catholic Churches (remember folk masses?).

I didn't know then that the words and music, the sentiment, the anger and the hope all flowed from the pen of a 20 year old curly-haired Jewish musician from Minnesota who entered this world with the name Robert Allen Zimmerman. (He began introducing himself as Bob Dylan in 1960, once explaining, "You call yourself what you want to call yourself. This is the land of the free.")

Soon, though, Dylan was everywhere. Exploding from the Greenwich Village scene with the strong support of John Hammond and Johnny Cash, Dylan was a force to be reckoned with. He didn't look the part of the streetside prophet - all harmonica and curly hair and a voice that would never get him through to the Hollywood round. His singing wasn't edgy, it was rough - and sometimes what he was singing wasn't all that easy to listen to. But his music, his words, told the story, not only reporting on what was happening but also predicting what was to come.

I've seen Dylan several times through the years, but those performances were in the 80's or beyond. Dylan was iconic, but no longer really relevant. The first time I saw him, on a double date with my sister and some beaus at the Philadelphia Spectrum, I remember being disappointed that he played so few of the songs that made him matter, not only to me but to an entire generation. He had moved on; we were looking back, he was charging forward.

I remember being 11 or 12 and talking to my dad about the depth that was Dylan. My father asked me to interpret one of the most famous Dylan lines, "It don't take a weatherman to know which way the wind blows." I went into some lengthy explanation of how you don't need others to tell you what's happening; you can feel the wind of change yourself, and realize the direction in which it's heading.

My dad looked at me, nodded, and said, "Well, maybe. But maybe it just means you don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows."

That pretty much sums up Bob Dylan for me. Iconic, prophetic, born-again and back around....Dylan remains the enigma that somehow ended up speaking for us all over the shots and tears of Vietnam. His voice may not have been much, but was there ever a better voice for a generation?

What, Me Cheat?

2010-05-23T18:37:00.001-07:00

Stuff Boomers Love
CLIFF NOTES

The thing about teachers is this - they always expected us to read the book. Seriously. I mean, who can bother reading all 487 pages of Anna Karenina when the Broad Street Bullies were in the Stanley Cup finals, The Who is blasting from the eight-track and you absolutely need to go shopping for a new pair of Landlubbers? Teachers really need to appreciate you have a life.

Well, teachers may not, but someone did - and that someone was Cliff Hillegass. Cliff knew that teenagers didn't have enough time in the day, so he helpfully started publishing those little yellow and black lifesavers known as Cliff Notes way back in 1958. Marketed as "Study Guides," Cliff Notes did the reading for us, summarizing the plotlines of thousands of literary pieces (from Bleak House to The Bell Jar, the works of Shakespeare to Emerson's essays), identified themes, subplots and protaganists, and interpreted the deeper meaning that too often went over our heads as we tried to read while watching TV.

I guess the current day equivilent would be the kids who rent videos, hoping that the screenwriter stayed true to the book. (Good luck with that!) As an English major, I guess I should come down hard on the use of study guides, and point out that you lose the experience of the book itself by relying solely on these shriveled down versions.

And I do go on record as believing that. But in all fairness, I must admit that I have one or two skeletons of the yellow and black variety in my own closet.

Happy Happy Birthday Baby

2010-05-22T04:11:00.000-07:00

Circle This Date
THIS WEEK IN BOOMER BIRTHDAYS
May 22 - May 28

Time stands still for no man (don't we know it?). So light the candles, make a wish, and celebrate the birthdays of these boomers this week:

May 22 - Bernie Taupin, British lyricist and the words to Elton John's music, born in 1950
May 23 - Drew Carey, talk show host/actor who put Cleveland on the map, born in 1961
May 24 - Rosanne Cash, daughter of the Man in Black and "Seven Year Itch" songstress, born in 1955
May 25 - Karen Valentine, actress and star of Room 222 and numerous Love Boat episodes, born in 1947
May 26 - Stevie Nicks, singer/songwriter and the face of Fleetwood Mac, born in 1948
May 27 - Lisa Niemi, actress/dancer and wife of the late Patrick Swayze, born in 1956
May 28 - Brandon Cruz, "Eddie" of The Courtship of Eddie's Father, born in 1962

And Now, A Word From Our Sponsor...

2010-05-19T18:45:00.000-07:00

Commercial Break
DRINK IT UP!

Now that the weather is getting warmer, my kids are constantly in the fridge, reaching for the drinkables. We go through a gallon of milk a day, plus several pitchers of lemonade, numerous liters of soda and countless bottles of Gatorade. And, of course, water, which comes right out of the front of the fridge (unheard of back in my day).

When we were growing up, we had milk for breakfast and lunch. At dinner, my mom would bring out the sleek plastic teacups, and we would have a cup of hot tea liberally cut with milk while my parents had their evening coffee.

Of course, the real treats were the rare occasions when my parents allowed us to have chocolate milk. Remember Ovaltine? Those chocolate crystals never quite dissolved all the way, sticking to the top of the glass until we scrapped them off with our spoons. They were delicious.

When summer came, however, the four of us wanted something lighter and cooler than glasses of chocolate milk or hot milky tea. By the time school was out for summer, we were pleading for Kool-Aid, in fantastic colors and flavors. My mom reluctantly agreed....the packets of unsweetened drink were cheap enough, but we weren't the neatest kids when it came to adding sugar (and we always complained the drink wasn't sweet enough when she added it). What was your favorite Kool-Aid flavor?

In 1964, Pillsbury decided to challenge the Kool-Aid monopoly by introducing the Funny Face Drink mixes. I can remember the original line up - Goofy Grape, Injun Orange, Freckled Face Strawberry (my personal favorite), Chinese Cherry (complete with gong), Loud Mouth Lime and Rootin' Tootin' Raspberry. I remember loving their commercials, which started like this:

By 1966, the commercials were pulled due to protests from Native Americans claiming the name "Injun Orange" was racist. Pillsbury changed the name to "Jolly Olly Orange" and did some damage control by turning "Chinese Cherry" into "Choo Choo Cherry." The new commercials looked like this:

My mom preferred Funny Face to Kool-Aid because it was pre-sweetened, meaning we didn't need to be near the sugar bowl. Unfortunately, in the early years, Funny Face was sweetened with cyclamates, which were banned by the FDA in 1968 as a possible cancer risk. Goofy Grape and the gang were pulled from shelves, returning the following year sweetened with saccharine. The aftertaste was no winner, so in 1970 a new Funny Face was introduced with the tag line "just add sugar." Back to the sugar bowl!

They Say It's Your Birthday

2010-05-15T04:08:00.000-07:00

Circle This Date
THIS WEEK IN BOOMER BIRTHDAYS
May 15 - May 21

Need a reason to celebrate this week? Then check out these Boomer birthdays...and remember, we're not just getting older, we're getting better! (Ten points if you can ID that ad of our youth!)

May 15 - George Brett, baseball player and American League MVP of 1980, born in 1953
May 16 - Debra Winger, actress who was lifted up where we belong, born in 1955
May 17 - Bob Saget, daddy dearest of the "Full House" crew, born in 1956
May 18 - Rick Wakeman, rocker and Yes keyboardist, born in 1949
May 19 - Joey Ramone, one of the, duh, Ramones, born in 1951 (RIP 2001)
May 20 - Ronald Prescott Reagan, ballet dancer and Presidential son, born in 1958
May 21 - Al Franken, comedian, writer and exposer of lying liars, born in 1951 (oh, yeah, did we mention senator?)

Oh, and answer to the trivia question - that was Nice and Easy hair color. Proving once again that truth in honesty isn't a given.

You Are My Candy Girl

2010-05-12T20:15:00.000-07:00

Top Ten List
TOP OF THE POPS 1969

Welcome back to another episode of our very own top ten. This time, the year is 1969, and the list comes courtesy of Wolfman Jack. Clap for the Wolfman....and take a trip back to the days when our radio was blasting these babies:

1. "Crimson and Clover" - Tommy James and the Shondells
2. "Everyday People" - Sly and the Family Stone
3. "Dizzy" - Tommy Roe
4. "Aquarius/Let The Sunshine In" - The Fifth Dimension
5. "Get Back" - The Beatles
6. "Love Theme from Romeo & Juliet" - Henry Mancini
7. "In the Year 2525" - Zager and Evans
8. "Honky Tonk Woman" - The Rolling Stones
9. "Sugar, Sugar" - The Archies
10. "I Can't Get Next To You" - The Temptations

Where Have All The Folkies Gone?

2010-05-11T03:45:00.000-07:00

This Day In Boomer History
PUFF THE MAGIC DRAGON PEAKS AT #2
May 11, 1963

"A dragon lives forever
But not so little boys..."

When I was in my formative years, both of my parents played guitar. It was almost like Hootenanny when friends and family came to visit. Everyone would get together downstairs in the family room and play guitar and sing their favorites, the songs they grew up with and old church songs and even a few original compositions. It was such an important ritual in my family that I asked for a tambourine for my sixth birthday, wanting to be part of the music coming from the grown-ups downstairs.

Before that birthday, my dad discovered folk music, and soon songs by Bob Dylan, Joan Baez and Pete Seegar became staples in his musical line-up. So I probably first heard "Puff the Magic Dragon" not on the radio or from our old RCA Victor record player, but wafting up the stairs from our family room while I nodded off down the hall.

"Puff", written by Leonard Lipton and Peter Yarrow and performed by Peter, Paul and Mary (Yarrow was the "Peter" part), became a staple across the country, too, embraced by nursery schools and New York hippies alike. Children loved the story of a dragon and his friendship with the magical dragon, while the soothing melodies made it a favorite of coffeehouse performers and their audiences. There was even the hint of scandal - did Puff and his little human friend (with the suspicious surname of "Paper") really refer to smoking marijuana?

This interpretation was dismissed by Yarrow and the group that made the song famous, and "Puff" went on to be covered by such diverse artists as Bing Crosby, John Denver, Seal, Dolly Parton and Alvin and The Chipmunks.

But for me, the best version will always be the one I heard coming from my family room on a Saturday night after I'd been tucked into bed. My parents divorced, my mother died, and my siblings and I followed the lead of Jackie Paper and grew up. But the music continues on. One of my brothers bought our childhood home, and whenever our family and friends get together, we always seem to end up in our family room, guitars in hand and songs in heart.

Sometimes, if pressed, I'll even play a tambourine solo.

And Now, A Word From Our Sponsor...

2010-05-10T07:13:00.000-07:00

Commercial Break
CLASSIC BOOMER COMMERCIALS

The other day, the old Henry Mancini theme for The Pink Panther movies began looping in my head. (Yeah, these things happen all the time once you're on this side of the hill). So I hummed along, "Doo doo doo doo, do do, doo do doo do doo doo..."

"What's that?" my daughter asked.

"The Pink Panther song," I told her. Then the words of the old ad came back to me:

"Pink panther flakes are pink and sweet as you can tell
The color of pink tickles me pink."

Pink Panther Flakes, the cereal introduced by Post in 1973 to coincide with the feline's Saturday morning cartoon, were actually frosted flakes with a pink coating which turned the milk in our cereal bowl pink. I remember the commercial in more detail than the actual cereal, and I found it on YouTube to appease my curious child:

So I got to thinking about the other commercials of my youth, back in the day when we couldn't TIVO the show and fast-forward through the advertising. Remember the Frito Bandito?

How about when Hawaiian Punch was downright violent?

And this ad for Good N Plenty must be one of my earliest memories...I remember it distinctly, yet it ran in the very early '60's:

What are the favorite commercials of your youth? We'll revisit this topic later, so let me know what you'd like to see!

Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen

2010-05-08T18:12:00.000-07:00

Circle This Date
THIS WEEK IN BOOMER BIRTHDAYS
May 8 - May 14

Boomers are always up for a party, so each Saturday we'll give you reason to celebrate. Here are the birthday boys and girls for this week:

May 8 - Alex Van Halen, of the group and the brothers Van Halen, born in 1955
May 9 - Alley Mills, "Norma Arnold" of The Wonder Years, born in 1951
May 10 - Bono, Irish activist and front man of U2, born in 1960
May 11 - Martha Quinn, one of the original MTV VeeJays, born in 1960
May 12 - Emilio Estevez, Brat Pack member and Martin Sheen's son, born in 1962
May 13 - Peter Gabriel, former member of Genesis and rock artist extraordinaire, born in 1950
May 14 - Robert Zemeckis, director of Romancing the Stone, Forrest Gump and the Back to the Future series, born in 1948

Up Your Nose With A Rubber Hose

2010-05-07T04:55:00.000-07:00

This Day In Boomer History
THE BIRTH OF ROBERT HEGYES
May 7, 1951

"Welcome back,
Your dreams were your ticket out..."

The year was 1975. TV, that nursemaid of my generation, was going through a lot of changes. In January, Another World became the first soap opera to air hour-long episodes. A brand new game show, Wheel of Fortune, made its debut, and the beloved Colonel Henry Blake was killed off on M*A*S*H.

And then - in September, of course - America headed back to school, and TV did too, by way of Brooklyn. Welcome Back Kotter entered our homes - and our vocabularies - in September 1975. It was a vehicle for stand-up comedian Gabe Kaplan, and based on his own high school years. Now, the show is probably best known as the show that introduced us all to a young unknown named John Travolta.

Travolta played Vinnie Barbarino, the leader of a group of, er, academically challenged teens who called themselves The Sweathogs. Check out this video - it looks like an early audition for Saturday Night Fever, eh? The other Sweathogs were the smooth black basketball player Freddie "Boom Boom" Washington (played by Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs), the childish oddball Arnold Horshak (Ron Palillo), who raised his hand enthusiastically and yelled, "Oooh, ooh, oooh!" whenever he "knew" an answer, and the tough "Puerto Rican Jew" Juan Epstein (played by birthday boy Robert Hegyes), who had a note from his mother for every occasion.

The Sweathogs' time in high school pretty much echoed my own, and the show was canceled in 1979. As a side note, Hegyes was a Jersey boy who attended Glassboro State College (now Rowan University), which is where I took my post-baccalaureate certification classes. While I was there, Hegyes came back (a conquering hero, I guess) and took the stage for one night in a college production. I attended the production, which was a vanity piece for the local-boy-done-good, who didn't turn out to be nearly as interesting as I remembered Epstein to be. But at least he isn't getting beat up by Screech!

The Sound Waves

2010-05-06T13:15:00.000-07:00

Things Boomers Loved
DOCTOR DEMENTO

Once upon a time, long long ago, we listened to AM radio.

No, really, I'm serious. The FM band was just coming into its own, back then in the 60's. Most of the boomers grew up listening to the pop sounds over their AM dials. Here in the Delaware Valley, we tuned in to the latest and the greatest coming from the boss jocks at WFIL (560 on the AM dial) or to Hy Lit and Joe Niagra over at WIBBAGE (that's WIBG, 99). That was the way it was, at least until WMMR opened its FM doors and opened our teenybooper minds to progressive rock.

But whatever your musical preference, in 1974 you were introduced to something completely different. That was the year Barrett Eugene Hansen - better known as "Dr. Demento" - started syndicating his four year old all-novelty radio program. For two hours every Sunday night (later it went to four), my friends and I would tune in to to hear such classics as the Monty Python crew's "Spam," "The Time Warp" from The Rocky Horror Picture Show, silly favorites like "The Monster Mash," and the latest efforts by an unknown (but crazy funny) songwriter/mimic who called himself Weird Al Yankovich.

I remember listening to the Dr. Demento show on Sunday nights, waiting for the Funny Five (the final countdown) and hoping for an Allan Sherman or Kip Addotta song to close out the weekend and put me in the proper frame of mind for the next day's Bio test. The old Doc was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2009, and his show can still be heard...though now, he's streaming over the internet.

Where can I put in a request for "The Lumberjack Song"?

Reach for the Stars

2010-05-05T10:18:00.000-07:00

This Day In Boomer History
FIRST AMERICAN IN SPACE
May 5, 1961

It's been 49 years since Alan Shepard boarded the Mercury spacecraft Freedom 7 and performed a suborbital flight, thus securing his spot in the history books as the first American in space. You can find footage of the event here.

Looking back, the voyage may seem like just a small blip - just 15 minutes, 28 seconds long, covering some 302 miles. But that blip was echoed by the rapid heartbeats of Americans chomping at the bit to become a viable part of the space race. The goal, of course, was the moon and bragging rights over the Russians (who beat us into space, but came up short in that moon race).

Yes, the moon was our goal, but we were reaching for the stars.

Now, our feet are firmly planted on earth. Sure, there are still the occasional space exploration missions, but we no longer gather around the television and watch, holding our breath in wonder, at the journey through that new frontier. We barely pay attention now, unless something tragic happens.

I can understand the change, of course. Money is too tight to spend too much on these missions. Still, for a brief shining moment, we had a national goal we could all agree on. We've grown up, but every now and then I still find myself reaching for the stars.

Four Dead In Ohio

2010-05-04T12:09:00.000-07:00

This Day In Boomer History

THE KENT STATE SHOOTINGS

May 4, 1970

"Tin soldiers and Nixon's coming

We're finally on our own.

This summer I hear the drumming

Four dead in Ohio..."

Allison Krause, 19. Honor student and daughter of a Holocaust survivor.

"Four dead in Ohio..."

Jeffrey Miller, 20. A recent tranfer to Kent State from Michigan State University. Member of the Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity. An active demonstrator against the war in Vietnam.

"Four dead in Ohio..."

William Knox Schroeder, 19. Eagle Scout. Psychology major. Recipient of the Association of the United States Army award for excellence in History.

"How many more?"

Sandra Scheuer, 20. Honors student in speech therapy. Not a demonstrator, but killed as she walked across the college green between classes.

"Four dead in Ohio."

(OHIO by Neil Young)

Kent State University, 40 years ago today. In 13 seconds, the Ohio National Guard shot 67 shots into a group of college students protesting the Vietnam War. In13 seconds, four were dead and nine were wounded, one of whom suffered permanent paralysis as a result of his injuries. College students across the country protested the actions during the following days. Five days later, 100,000 converged on Washington, protesting the war and the killing of unarmed college students.

Ooh, Ee, Ooh Ah Ah, Ting Tang

2010-05-03T19:52:00.000-07:00

Top Ten List
TOPS OF THE POPS 1958

Throughout the month, I'll be sharing some top ten lists from our formative years. This week, I'll be your very own Casey Kasem, counting down the top ten songs of 1958. So hey, daddy-o, here's what was blowing your top way back before I was born....

1. "At The Hop" - Danny and the Juniors
2. "Don't I Beg of You" - Elvis Presley
3. "Tequila" - the Champs
4. "Twilight Time" - the Platters
5. "Witch Doctor" - Dave Seville (yes, he of Chipmunk fame)
6. "All I Have To Do Is Dream" - The Everly Brothers
7. "The Purple People Eater" - Sheb Wooley
8. "Hard Headed Woman" - Elvis Presley
9. "Poor Little Fool" - Ricky Nelson
10. "Volare" - Domenico Modugno

Bringing Up Baby

2010-05-02T19:50:00.000-07:00

This Day In Boomer History
THE BIRTH OF BENJAMIN SPOCK
May 2, 1903

Let's get things straight right from the start: "Benjamin" was not Mr. Spock's first name. I made that mistake numerous times growing up, and I think it's an understandable one. But Dr. Spock does not equal Mr. Spock, so Trekkies, move on.

So who was Benjamin Spock? Just the author of the second biggest selling book of all time. (And he's coming in number two only to The Bible, so that competition is pretty stiff.) Dr. Spock was the author of The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care, the tome that guided our parents during our crucial formative years. The book, which sold for a quarter when first released, landed on the bookstore shelves in 1946. Does that year ring any bells? Yep, this handy dandy guide was published just when the first of the Baby Boom generation was being born. Talk about a case of being in the right place at the right time!

Spock reinvented the art of child rearing by telling parents they were the true experts in raising their children. Our parents were encouraged to trust themselves and enjoy their children. The "old rules" - such as "spare the rod, spoil the child" - were set aside for a bit of cuddling and even some coddling. (And they wonder why we were so confused!)

The book, an instant classic, was revised and updated numerous times throughout Spock's lifetime. It sold more than 50 million copies (including at least one to my parents - I remember the pink paperback edition on our bookshelf at home). Dr. Spock died in 1998, but parents can find his advice on his web site.

All Shook Up

2010-05-01T04:41:00.000-07:00

This Day In Boomer History
ELVIS PRESLEY WEDS PRISCILLA BEAULIEU
May 1, 1967

Okay, so first the disclaimer: I was never a big fan of Elvis Presley. As an adult, I learned to appreciate the man and his catalog, and I am forever grateful to him for the influence he had on the career of one Bruce Springsteen. I own a total of one Elvis album, which I purchased for its novelty (and probably at a yard sale).

That aside, I imagine the wedding of Elvis and Priscilla after his well-publicized stint in the Army may have been met with wailing and gnashing of teeth from the older Boomer girls. I was too young to be interested in the King in 1967....especially in that way. But I can imagine he was one hot commodity, especially amongst the preteen set. I remember my own crushes on Paul McCartney and David Cassidy. I think we all have those crushes, before we're old enough to transfer our dreamy-eyed stares to the boy in the second row who runs faster than anyone else when we're playing kickball.

Again, I digress. What I do remember about this particular royal wedding is this: it was my first glimpse at Priscilla Beaulieu Presley. I remember their picture on the front page of The Evening Bulletin. The young couple with their dark eyes and dark hair, smiling right into the camera as they cut their wedding cake together. Another picture showed them headed off for their honeymoon. Priscilla was all black eyeliner, and her hair was piled on top of her head in a beehive that towered over the tiers of the cake.

I remember thinking she looked a little scary. But then, I never was a fashionista.

Anyway, I encountered Priscilla again decades later, when she appeared as Jenna Wade in that Boomer favorite, Dalla s. And guess what? Under all that eyeliner and black hair, the former Mrs. Presley was quite a looker. I could see what attracted Elvis (though I still wasn't sure what she saw in him).

Elvis and Priscilla divorced in 1973, but remained friends until his death. Unfortunately, the real unhappy ending to this story is what happened to Priscilla's lovely face since that time. When she appeared on Dancing With The Stars a few seasons back, it was evident that Priscilla had a lot of work done, and it was of the "plastic surgery gone wrong" type. I felt sad just looking at her and remembering how lovely and happy she looked during the Dallas era.

I guess beauty doesn't last forever. Sorta like celebrity marriages.

What A World!

2009-10-01T12:47:00.000-07:00

This Day In Boomer History
THE OPENING OF WALT DISNEY WORLD
October 1, 1971

When most of us think of Walt Disney World today, we think of the four-park, multi-resort complex near Orlando, Florida. It's the most popular tourist attraction in the country, and for good reason - you can't beat Disney for the complete package. In fact, my family is headed back there in just thirty days, and we're already counting down to the character meet and greets, the fantastic thrill rides, the wonders of Main Street and the delicious food. We visit WDW annually, sometimes even more than once, and we've never had a bad time. Who knew a mouse could show so much hospitality?

When I was growing up, there was no Disney World. My kids find this hard to believe. In fact, my little girl asked me,"Were your class pictures in black and white?" (which I can assure you they were not). What there was, way back in that age of innocence, was a Disneyland. It was a place where dreams came true, where wishes were granted and where our favorite princesses, heroes and flying nannies paraded every day down Main Street.

It was also a place in California, which meant it was a place we'd never be able to visit. Our family never seemed to leave the east coast except for a visit to relatives in Indiana. California could have been on Mars, for what it was worth to us. We knew that the Matterhorn, the Jungle Cruise and that wonderful Main Street were stuff of dreams for us east coast kiddies.

But then, the impossible happened. Walt Disney, the smart businessman that he was, realized that 75 percent of the country's population lived east of the Mississippi. So he decided we needed a theme park all our own.

Plans were made, property purchased - and then Walt died on December 15, 1966, before his vision was realized. Luckily for us, the dream didn't die with him. Walt's brother Roy postponed retirement to oversee the venture, and announced the name Walt Disney World in honor of his brother. The first park, known as The Magic Kingdom, opened 38 years ago today.

I didn't make it to Disney World until my high school senior trip, still some six years away at the time WDW opened. Still, I remember watching the ceremonies on TV and knowing I'd make it there someday, unlike the impossible Disneyland. (Of course, little did I know I'd be there as much as I am...but who knew the world would get so big?)

We're Ba-aacck!

2009-10-01T12:32:00.001-07:00

I've decided to give this a go again, and that's all I'm going to say about that. Onward and upword, let's blast to the past!

The Day They Knocked Down The Pallies

2009-06-26T18:11:00.000-07:00

Overheard yesterday while I was standing in line at CVS:

A young male employee to an older female coworker: "So, Michael Jackson died?"

The coworker, as she deftly tosses a tube of toothpaste into a white plastic bag: "No, hon, it was Farrah Fawcett."

Young male: "No, I know about Farrah. That was earlier today. But I just heard that Michael Jackson died too."

The female coworker, fumbling with the bag: "On Farrah's day? Oh, that would be like him."

As they bantered, my mind raced. Earlier yesterday, we did indeed lose Farrah Fawcett, she of the hair, the teeth, and the red bathing suit. Could it be possible that the face that graced so many bedroom walls would be overshadowed in death by the King of Pop?

It just didn't seem possible. So I hurried home with my own white plastic bag and rushed to the Internet, that font of all knowledge (and, more importantly, breaking news) to see what I could find out. Apparently the employees at CVS have more direct source than my favorite online new sites, as one was, at the time, reporting Jackson had suffered a heart attack while another reported he had fallen into a coma. Neither was reporting his demise, not yet. It was enough to allow me a bit of breathing space.

Of course, it didn't last long. Within seconds it seemed that one of my sources posted a banner "Breaking News: Michael Jackson Reported Dead." And soon, of course, it all was confirmed, and Farrah became third page news.

Immediately the old Kinks song, "Come Dancing," popped into my head. Specifically the bridge:

"The day they knocked down the Pallies
My sister stood and cried
The day they knocked down the Pallies
Part of my childhood died....just died."

Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett both played roles in my formative years. I was an upperclassman in high school when Charlie's Angels first hit the airwaves, with the drop dead gorgeous detectives who chased down bad guys while wearing bikinis. Jaclyn Smith was sweet and Kate Jackson classy, but let's face it - we all wanted to be Farrah, the free-spirited blonde with the killer body, the toothy grin and, of course, the flowing mussy curls. Yes, I went to college the following September sporting that feathered cut - and if you study my sorority composite picture that year, it's hard to pick out which sister is which, as we all were doing our best Farrah impersonations.

I remember being pregnant with my first child when Farrah was pregnant with Redmond, and it broke my heart to watch that troubled boy fall on his mother's sick bed in the recent documentary about Farrah's battle with cancer. My own children have fought similar demons, and I could only imagine how difficult it was for Redmond to go off to rehab thinking he may never hug his mother again.

Of course, Farrah Fawcett never graced my own bedroom walls. That space was reserved for David Cassidy and the Beatles in my younger years and Bruce Springsteen later on. But my very first thought of Michael Jackson, what flashed in my mind as the news was playing out, was a poster that dominated my brother's wall way back when we were kids. It was a large yellow picture of the Jackson Five, in black and white and wearing their best pimped-out finery. Michael and Marlon were seated in front of their bigger brothers, the future King of Pop wearing a big-brimmed felt hat and an infectious grin. It was almost as if he was thinking, "Can you believe it, guys? Look where we are."

And the world did look. These unlikely superstars from Gary, Indiana, made us all sit up and take notice - especially that little one, with the big smile and the almost impossible talent. As a Motown fan, I fell for the Jacksons as easy as ABC....and, as a kid, I grew up with Michael, from the cartoons to the concert stages, from lead man of a family group to center stage, the King of Pop.

And, of course, I could say from black to white as well. Funny things can happen while growing up in the glare of the spotlight. I don't know where that little boy with the killer grin was lost, and we never did fully figure out who it was who took his place. There are so many questions, so much mystery, so much we'll never understand about Michael Jackson, the man. But one thing was undeniable - the Lord blessed this guy with a trunkload of talent, and if we focus on the music, we can still hear much of the joy I remember captured on that poster in my brother's room.

Yes, life isn't fair. Farrah was born with an enviable beauty; Michael had talent that was as other-worldly as he himself often seemed. Yet in the end, Farrah chose to shear off her trademark locks before losing them to the cancer treatments; in the end, Michael died alone, in debt, still stalked, still troubled.

Yesterday, they knocked down my personal Pallies. For whatever became of them in recent years, the beauty of Farrah Fawcett and the talent of Michael Jackson are forever tied to part of my childhood, the part that died yesterday. I hope they both find peace in the Father's arms.

Happy Birthday, Barbie Girl

2009-03-09T12:59:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I left home in the wee wee hours (okay, it was 9 am) and headed to Toys R Us. I waited in my car listening to Valerie Bertinelli's Losing It on tape while keeping watch for others like me. Before the store opened at 10, I was joined by two others - middle aged women stalking a toy store as if Bruce Springsteen was working the register.

Which, of course, he wasn't. But when the doors opened shortly after ten (yes, I was pacing), we all walked with purpose (with our joints too, er, squeaky to run) toward the huge pink and white display. There, each of us took our allotment - two per customer, please - and headed to the checkout, where a teenage girl named Devon eyed us with suspicion and rang up our purchases.

I ignored her raised eyebrow and beelined back to my car, giddily studying my receipt and clutching my bag. In the bag, two 50th anniversary Barbie Then and Now dolls, purchased at the 1959 price of just $3 apiece. (See, I really do live On The Cheap.)

Some of you may immediately understand the significance of my purchase. After all, Barbie, boomer that she is, turns fifty this March. And the old girl isn't looking any worse for the wear, believe me. Sure, they say she's had a face lift, but how did she manage to look so great in the bikini? Fifty years ago, she was in a one piece, but now - at the age where most are hiding their droops and covering their cellulite - she's looking better than ever. (Lipo involved, perhaps?)

But this purchase was even more significant. As I unpacked my bag, I said to my husband, "This is my very first Barbie." It was true. Although Barbie and I grew up together, I never had a Barbie doll (or Skipper or Francie or Malibu Ken, for that matter). My mother deemed them "too sophisticated" for me and my sister, so we were relegated to Chatty Cathy and Crissy and Velvet, just dreaming of the Barbie girls in the Barbie World. (I used to lust after a friend's patent leather carrying case.)

Funny how things go full cycle. I don't let my six year old play with Bratz dolls, because we try to choose dolls that are more wholesome (my mom would say, "less sophisticated," but you all know what we mean). Ironically, Libby is allowed Barbies.. in fact, that's why I bought two. One for each of us.

"Do you want to play Barbies with me?" Libby asked, eying the fifty year old icon with the big pink earrings. I shook my head.

My Barbie is going to stay in her box, displayed on a shelf in my room. After all, she's already been a teacher, an astronaut, an Air Force commander, a cowgirl and an Olympic ice skater. And, at 50, she still turns heads.

If Boomers need a role model, maybe we need look no further than this sophisticated miss. Happy birthday, old girl.

News: Monkee Peter Tork Has Cancer

2009-03-06T06:04:00.000-08:00

To quote our favorite group, "I read the news today, oh boy."

Monkee Peter Tork - he was the funny one with straight shiny hair - has a rare form of head and neck cancer called adenoid cystic carcinoma. "It's a bad news, good news situation," Tork explains in a press release. Apparently, the bad news is that the cancer is in his tongue, which is very rare. The good news is the type of cancer he has is generally slow growing and he has been given a positive prognosis. I'll be praying for you, Peter!

Peter Tork was my "secret favorite" when the Monkees first came on the scene. The year was 1966, and TV stations were chomping at the bit to cash in on the success of the Beatles' first movie, A Hard Day's Night. Enter music producer extraordinaire Don Kirschner (who seemed to be everywhere in the 60's), who supervised the production of the NBC half hour comedy and also wrote the "romp" music which provided background to the "wacky" adventures of the four musical wannabes.

TV producers Bob Rafelson and Bert Schneider - collectively known as Raybert Productions - ran an ad in the Daily Variety for four young guys to play the members of the musical group. Legend has it that almost 450 people answered the call, including the likes of Stephen Stills (later of Crosby, Stills and Nash fame), Paul Williams (songwriter and another guy who was everywhere in the 60's), Danny Hutton (who went on to be part of Three Dog Night) and even Charles Manson (not true, and I won't go there right now). But in the end the parts went to two former child stars (Davy Jones and Micky Dolenz) and two actual musicians (Mike Nesmith and Tork).

"The Monkees" was must-see TV when I was growing up. In fact, it was more than that. We bought their albums and watched their show and cut their photos out of Tiger Beat Magazine. Of course, I was really young then - I think the Monkees height of popularity came when I was in first grade - but I remember even swooning with my girlfriends over the long-haired, good natured fellows who came into our homes once a week, every Monday right before "I Dream of Jeannie." We all loved Davy, of course - he of the cute face, the Beatles accent and the safe short stature. Mike and Micky seemed like grown men, but Davy was safe.

And Peter was funny, which won him a special place in my heart. (Of course, it could be that I sensed there'd be way too much competition for Davy - in that sense, Peter was the safer choice!) By 1968, it was all over but the reunions (and we moved on too, as we were headed toward pre-teendom and had all but outgrown the pre-fab four).

But today, when I read the news, it was like it was 1966 all over again. "Here we come, walking down the street," the show would open each week, and I thought of those young guys, so happy and hard working and on the edge of their dream. It reminded me a bit of how we all felt growing up - like anything was possible if we just believed in the music. "We're the young generation, and we've got something to say."

Hey, hey, indeed.

Mr. Rogers: It's Such A Good Feeling

2009-02-27T12:06:00.000-08:00

This Day In Boomer History
February 27, 2003
The Death Of Fred Rogers

It was, indeed, a sad day in the neighborhood.

Now, let me state this upfront: I was never really a part of the Mr. Roger's Neighborhood demographic. The show premiered in 1968, so I had already moved on beyond the education-with-puppet type programming and was instead fully entrenched in such fare as The Brady Bunch and The Monkees. (After-school fodder usually ran toward those Japanese anime cartoons, like Astro Boy and Speed Racer, or Mickey Mouse Club reruns.)

But, despite the fact that I was not raised on Queen Sara or X the Owl, I remember being very conscious of the whole production. Probably because I was the oldest of my siblings, so the younger ones probably watched fervently. Heck, the baby of the brood was just one when Fred and company first appeared on our PBS channel - he probably watched the show for years and years, which may explain why I can still sing the entire opening song ("It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood.") as well as the two different end songs ("Tomorrow" for Monday through Thursday; "It's Such a Great Feeling" for Fridays.)

Or maybe I relearned those songs when my own kids were part of the neighborhood. After all, the show ran almost forever, finally signing off the airwaves in 2001, but still appearing in reruns. It's almost a right of passage, this growing up in the neighborhood, and I wish that it will remain so for a long long time to come. I read the headlines and shudder, wishing for an easier time, when our neighbors were Bob Trow and Chef Crockett; when we could count on the grown-ups in the neighborhood to really care about us.

Of course, the real neighbor - the driving force behind the whole thing - really did care, for us and for all children. Fred McFeely Rogers was a minister and songwriter who claimed to seek employment in the TV industry because he hated it. "I got into television because I hated it so, and I thought there's some way of using this fabulous instrument to nurture those who watched and listened."

And we did. We watched and listened, and Mr. Rogers nutured us. He taught us - about safety, respect, fairness, compassion - about love. Outside the world got scary - from the Chicago riots to Columbine, from Vietnam to 9/11 - but in the neighborhood, people cared for each other and encouraged each other and were safe to be themselves. In this neighborhood, all was as it should be, the way we wished it was.

The key, of course, was Mr. Rogers himself. And baby boomers mourned along with their children when this gentle soul passed away from stomach cancer on this date in 2003, a month shy of his 75th birthday.

Back when my oldest son was in second grade, we encouraged him to work on his writing skills by writing to celebrities to request autographs. He received numerous signed pictures in the mail, from TV stars to baseball players, local weathermen, pop stars and even the first President Bush. But there's only one that we've kept. It's still hanging on our wall, a smiling man reminding us to be be good and take care of one another.

"Dear Steven - Listen to your mom and dad and be good. Remember you're special. Love, Fred Rogers."

Thanks for the reminder, Mr. Rogers. And thanks for always being the very best of neighbors.

Snoopy Come Home

2009-02-13T12:28:00.000-08:00

This Day In Boomer History
February 13, 2000
Charles Schulz's Final "Peanuts" Comic Strip Runs

Let's face it, "Peanuts" was the ultimate Boomer comic strip. It was even born when we were, first syndiacted in newspapers on October 2, 1950. Sure, I realize that comic characters are ageless (despite the Rugrats being "All Grown Up"), but in my mind Lucy, Schroeder, Violet and the crew were the ultimate in baby boomers. We grew up on them and - like them - a lot of us never really grew up.

Since I was born after they were, I've known the Peanuts gang all my life. I was born after James Dean died and before the character of Fonzie was created, but I always had Snoopy to define what cool was. Charlie Brown, of course, was the lovable loser, the guy who meant well but never seemed to reach his goal. (And haven't we all been there, done that?) I've known plenty of crabby fussbudgets like Lucy, and I still remember my own teacher's "Mwa Mwa Mwa" as I struggled to pay attention in geography class.

I'm a Linus, by the way. I think most people relate strongly with one of the Peanuts characters or another, and I've certainly felt an undeniable bond with Linus Van Pelt since my own childhood. It probably started simply enough - both of us were thumbsuckers into elementary school. But I could also relate to Linus' spiritual side. He was the peacemaker of the group, the one who stood up or backed down to Lucy (and knew when it was best to do either), the one who was a faithful friend to Charlie Brown, hanging with him on that wall when all the others ignored the Sunday comic's most unpopular guy.

We followed Peanuts even as we grew into adulthood. We still embrace our inner Snoopy or Lucy; we sit cross-legged on the family room floor while we introduce our children to the classic holiday specials, still laughing when Charlie Brown makes popcorn for Thanksgiving, or sympathizing with Sally when she realizes she blew her entire Halloween sitting with Linus in his "most sincere" pumpkin patch. (Yes, I score high on the sincerity meter, but not so much on common sense, too.)

It's hard to believe it's been nine years since Peanuts last graced our funny papers. Charles Schulz, the creator, the artist, the heart of the comic strip, passed away on February 12, 2000 - the day before the last panel ran. I think he knew his work was done. But the characters he created, the legacy of Peanuts, will live on in books, on videotape, and in the hearts of all of us who remember the funnies as the best part of the paper.

So who's your inner Peanuts character?

Mark Spitz: Going For Gold

2009-02-10T12:54:00.000-08:00

This Day In Boomer History
February 10, 1950
Olympian Mark Spitz born in Modesto, California

Think back, way back, to the days before Michael Phelps reminded us that fish can fly. Back in the 60's and 70's, we boomers had our own pool shark - Mark "The Shark" Spitz, who celebrates his 59th birthday today.

I don't really remember the first time Spitz appeared in the Olympic games, the Mexico City games of 1968. Legend has it that Spitz, then a world record holder in both butterfly and freestyle, bragged that he'd bring home five gold medals. But Spitz learned quickly what all braggers do - you better be able to back your words. In Mexico City, he only won two medals - and both were relays. From that point on, Spitz did most of his talking in the pool - well, at least until 1972, when he took home a record-setting seven gold medals from the Munich Olympics.

I was a swimmer as a child - it's still the only sport where I can beat my husband - so I was vested in Spitz's award winning swims. I remember the swim team swelling that year as Mark Spitz wanna-bees joined to try their luck at butterfly, breast stroke and freestyle.

But, of course, what I remember most about the 1972 Olympics is the tragic way things ended. Eleven members of the Israeli Olympic team were taken hostage and eventually murdered by a militant group called Black September. I remember being shocked by the violence that took place on that international stage of peace, patriotism and good-natured competition. I was just a kid, of course, but I remember waking up before dawn to watch the memorial services live from West Germany. The world became scarier that September. I blinked back tears as I watched the athletes at the memorial, so somber, in such contrast to the joy I witnessed while watching the Opening Ceremonies just a week before.

An interesting side note: Mark Spitz was not among those athletes. Spitz, a Jew, had returned to the states during the hostage crisis, as officials feared he may be a target of the terrorists.

The Beatles On Ed Sullivan

2009-02-09T03:33:00.000-08:00

This Day In Boomer History
February 9, 1964
The Beatles Make Their First US TV Appearance

The set was, undoubtedly, black and white. You older boomers may have been home after an afternoon at the local drive-in. We Jonesers were already bathed and in our feetie pajamas.

But after dinner on that fateful Sunday, we gathered with mom and dad in the living room and heard Ed Sullivan boomed, "Ladies and gentlemen, the Beatles!" We heard John Lennon count off, "One two three four," and, as they launched into "All My Loving," we felt our world tip on its axis.

I think you always remember the first time you fall in love. And, though I was still a preschooler, I always loved the Beatles. Oh, not in that boy-meets-girl way (which I wouldn't understand until I hit middle school) or even in the way I would swoon over David Cassidy or the other 16 Magazine staples in my tween years (which back then would have been called 'preteen').

No, I loved them in the way you love the people who grow up with you, those who engage you and exasperate you and fill you with overwhelming affection. And, at moments, pure joy. I felt joy as the four boys from Liverpool started, "Close your eyes and I'll kiss you." And it seems I shared that feeling with my entire generation.

Of course, the Beatles got older, just like we all did. But so much of what they gave us boomers were the mark stones on the path of our growing up. We bought the Beatles lunchboxes and wore the Beatles boots. I can still remember pondering their trip to India to study TM; I still remember when I first saw John and Yoko with their heads shorn for peace. And I remember thinking Paul might be dead, and learning that John really was.

But that was all to come, just like my adulthood. On this day in 1964, I joined the rest of my generation, gathered in the living room, shushing our parents and feeling giddy as our world tilted.

Oh, how we loved them. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

When Ya Coming Back, Jimmy Dean?

2009-02-08T12:43:00.000-08:00

This Day In Boomer History
February 8, 1931
The Birth of James Dean

I really have no personal memory of James Dean. After all, he pulled the ultimate "exit, stage right" by crashing his Porsche at the tender age of 24. The year was 1955, so my own personal story hadn't even begun. That's true of most boomers, I suppose....those who were born at the beginning of the boom were mere babes when the star of that ultimate teen angst movie, "Rebel Without A Cause," was all the rage in drive-in movie theaters across the country.

But Dean's story outlasted his life, and his legacy, that legendary combination of cool and angst, is something we're still looking for today. Heath Ledger, Nic Cage, Sean Penn, Johnny Depp...at one time or another, each was "the new James Dean." And, of course, the real men pale when viewed through the eyes of those who believe in the legend.

Because, of course, there's nothing like the original. In my dog-earred copy of "The Cheerleader," my favorite novel when I was in high school, author Ruth Doan MacDougall refers to Dean as the movie star her characters - a group of high school kids in the mid 50's - related to more than any other. Of coourse, that generation has moved onto other role models. After all, not many of us can still relate to a kid who died at 24, right when his career was about to take fire. Heck, most of us are on the down side of a lukewarm career, paying our mortgage and raising our kids and wondering where all our dreams went.

But most of us agree that on this - James Dean is still the epitome of "cool." Those eyes, that swagger, the red jacket and dangling cigarette. I can't think of anyone else who ever brought so much cool to the screen....and most of those that come to mind, from Fonzie to Dylan MacKay, from young Elvis to Joe Cool, are mere imitators.

So, who's the current king of cool?

The Golden Nugget Rides Off Into The Sunset

2009-02-07T13:24:00.000-08:00

"The Talk of the Walk"
The Golden Nugget Mine Ride 1960-2009
Last Saturday, despite the wind and the piercing cold, I had to find my way to the boardwalk in Wildwood. You see, there was a funeral for a friend.

Area baby boomers - over 700 of us, many with children in tow - came to say goodbye to The Golden Nugget.

If you grew up in the Delaware Valley during the boomer years, you'll understand exactly what that means. And if you didn't, there may never be a way to make you fully comprehend what the loss of a dark ride can mean to a generation. But, heck, I'll try.

Part coaster, part dark ride, the Golden Nugget was the premiere amusement on the late, great Hunt's Pier. Now, for those of us who did grow up here in the 60's and 70's, Wildwood was the place to be in the summer. Every summer my mom and dad would load us in the station wagon and we'd head down south down the expressway. The four of us would be in the back, making up verses of "Michael Rode the Boat Ashore" and playing license plate bingo or other games to pass the time during the two hour ride.

I remember one of those games - one of the favorites of my siblings - was "Torture Mary," in which said siblings would rub that styrofoam cooler against the window of the wagon, emitting a high pitched squeal that would give me chills up and down the spine. I'm getting goosebumps just typing this.

But finally, finally!, we'd turn down the curve off of the Garden State Parkway and see that sign, "Welcome to The Wildwoods." That's when the summer truly started for us. Again, this might be one of those "you had to be there" things, but I have a feeling most of us have a similar place, the kind of place that symbolized the joy and the freedom that summer meant to us growing up.

Days, of course, were spent at the beach, making sandcastles, jumping over waves, and digging for water. This was back when that was possible, before nature deposited generous amounts of sand from the northern beaches along the Wildwoods, growing it grain by grain into the expanse it is today. Back then, though, the water came right up under the amusement pier, and we could dig for it with our shovels, scooping out first the dry soft sand, then the wetter mud until we could touch our own well of water if we put our arm into the hole and wiggled with pointed fingers.

But the real magic came after dinner, when we left my great-grandparents' home on 23rd street and headed to the boards. We lived right down the street from Sportland Pier, but we rarely stopped here. Instead, we'd turn right on the boardwalk and walk the few blocks to Juniper, the home of our own version of Disneyland, the most magical place of summer, Hunt's Pier.

Hunt's was the premiere amusement pier of the Jersey shore (you can't tell me otherwise!). Each square inch seemed filled with flashing lights, each shining on a different adventure - from the pirates of the Skua to the first drop on the Flyer; from the exotic animals in Jungleland to the crazy capers of the Keystone Kops. We'd soak it all in while mom and dad stood in line at the ticket booth, but there was no doubt where we were headed first - the back right corner of the pier, home of the Golden Nugget.

Last weekend, we gathered to say goodbye to the Nugget, the last remaining ride from those glory days on Hunt's. All the other rides are gone now, dismantled and dispersed, victims of age and technology, which always calls for bigger, better, faster, flashier. All those things are great - I'm always up for the latest coaster ride - but they made the playland of our childhood seem quaint. And "quaint" does not sell tickets, my friends. It's that easy, and that sad, a fact of life.

That's not to say there hadn't been efforts. The decision to raze the Golden Nugget was a difficult one, but a combination of things - practicality, cost, asbestos, stricter ride codes - made a rehab almost impossible. The end came, as ends almost always do. Another of those sad facts.

But at least the old ride went off in dignity. The Moreys - owner of Moreys Piers - gave the Golden Nugget a farewell ceremony on January 31. Before the demolition began and the plug was pulled, we were given a last chance to go into the building, hear once again of the summers of our childhood, and get our picture taken in one of the remaining mine cars. My son Max and I each walked away with a piece of the chain drive, a souvenir of the glory days of the Golden Nugget.

I walked away with memories, too, the kind that used to warm me through the south Jersey winters, when a magical playland by the sea was waiting for the last bell of the school year. Goodbye, Golden Nugget. In our hearts and in our memories, long may you run.

Bruce Springsteen's Last Spectrum Hurrah

2009-02-02T13:25:00.000-08:00

News: Bruce Springsteen Plays the Spectrum
So, Did Ya Get Your Tickets?

To be fair, I’ll have to start with a disclosure: Bruce Springsteen had me at hello.

Well, maybe that's not altogether accurate. After all, the Boss had been around for quite awhile before I first saw him at the Spectrum back in the summer of 81. He had already made his initial ripples in my life - after all, what kid growing up in Jersey in the 70's hadn't embraced "Born To Run"? But to be honest, at the time I probably enjoyed the Cape May Diamonds' versions of "For You" and "Spirit In The Night" as much as I did the original. (Heck, I may have not even known they were Springsteen songs!)

But mere ripples became a full deluge at that Spectrum show. And the funny thing is, I wasn’t even supposed to be there. My mom, a banquet manager at a local restaurant, often rubbed elbows with dee jays looking for gigs, and by some miracle one of them gave her four tickets to the Springsteen concert. Being my mom’s first experience with payola, I don’t think it helped the guy much – but it did benefit my brothers, who were already hoping to scalp – er, legally purchase – tickets outside the show when four fell into their laps.

One brother had a date, but the other one didn’t, which is how I ended up going along. The spotlight hit the stage, the opening harmonica notes to “Thunder Road” drifted over the audience, and I was lost in the flood.

I haven’t missed a Springsteen tour since. Heck, if Bruce is in Philly, I’m in Philly, and I try to see him in other venues as well. It’s not just the man, it’s not just the message, it’s not just the crowd or the band or even the music. But there’s something about the combination of all those things that speaks to me in a way nothing ever has before, or since.

So of course when I heard tickets were going on sale today for Bruce at the Spectrum, I had to get some. Through the years, I've done the ticket-getting thing many ways because, unfortunately, we no longer have dee jays clamoring for our approval. I've slept under the tractor trailers outside the Spectrum during the summer of "Born in the USA." I've worn wristbands (and shamelessly dragged my preschool children to such events, to double my odds). I've formed a callous on my index finger from dialing in those days before Ticketmaster was on speed dial.

And, of course, I've purchased tickets online, which is how I scored these particular tickets. I lucked out, I guess, because my brother (the same one who took me to that first concert) called while I was still in the virtual queue and told me he was striking out. So when I was offered four tickets in the furthest corner from the stage, I did what any good Bruce fan would do - I grabbed them.

Bruce is now teetering on 60 (and I'm teetering a decade behind) so who knows how long we can go on this way. One thing is for certain - it will be our last hurrah at the Spectrum, which is scheduled to be razed later this year.

Everything changes, I guess, but for two nights this April, it will be Bruce and me, back in that venue, surrounded by the people who were born to run and have been doing just that for (can it be possible?) 30 years.

And if I could ask for anything more, it would be this: please, Boss, play "Thunder Road."

Welcome to the Boom Boom Room

2009-02-01T05:37:00.000-08:00

They say you can't teach an old dog new tricks, but I just learned something new this week. This ol' pup found out that I'm a part of "Generation Jones," a subset of the Baby Boomers who were born late in the game. We're boomers by definition - that is, we were born between 1946 and 1964. But while the more illustrious members of our generation were celebrating free love at Woodstock, we were drinking down our Bosco and watching "H.R. Pufnstuff".

Well, no matter what subset you belong too, if you're a boomer, you're not a kid any more. Just yesterday we were reading "16" and watching "The Brady Bunch"; now our mailboxes are full of subscription cards for AARP and we reminisce about "thirtysomething." But this site isn't just a rehash of "The Wonder Years"....nor is it the latest marketing ploy for a retirement fund. It's just one person's memories, one person's plans, one person's acknowledgment that hey, we were here, and we still are, and what happened in between meant something to us."

One thing I plan to do here is to have an ongoing series on "This Date In Boomer History." At the top of these posts, I'll be sharing what memorable thing happened on this date. Then I'll be sharing what it means to me in retrospect. So if a date was "Ann B. Davis' birthday" or "Sherwood Schwartz's first film opens," it may end up reading the same....something about how I felt about the Brady Bunch, and how I still say "Pork chops and applesauce" in that Peter-Bogey voice. Because these are my memories - though some of you may share them. Others may not. Your mileage may vary.