SoCS

SoCS — Let’s Go to the Video Tape

Fandango12 Comments

For this week’s Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt, Linda G. Hill has given us the word “tape.” My mind immediately went to Scotch tape, duct tape, cassette tape, tape deck, painter’s tape, video tape, and…wait. Video tape. That reminds me of Warner Wolf, a TV sportscaster back in Washington, D.C. when I was growing up. One of Warner Wolf’s catchphrases was, “Let’s go to the video tape” and then he’d play a brief video tape segment of a certain play in one of that day’s sporting events.

I suddenly remembered that back in November of 2018 I wrote a post about Warner Wolf. So I decided that I would abandon the stream of consciousness format today and would repost my Warner Wolf post. I hope you forgive me, Linda. Here it is.

Let’s Go to the Video Tape

Most TV sportscasters back in the day gave the scores in a boring, listless manner. Being a sportscaster for a local TV station seemed to be a filler job for on-air personalities awaiting their opportunity to report the “real” news. They were all pretty much singing the same, old, boring tune.

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But then, in 1965, something happened that forever changed local sports reporting. The local CBS affiliate hired this young guy named Warner Wolf. He was animated, exciting, and so much fun to watch. He became known for catchphrases like “Boo of the Week,” “Change the Rules,” “Play of the Day” (and week, month, or year), “Give Me a Break,” and my personal favorite, “Let’s Go to the Video Tape.”

Wolf quickly became the top sportscaster in the DC area and I never missed his nightly sports reports. He dominated the sports reporting scene in DC until 1976, when he left for a job with ABC Sports and with the local ABC affiliate in New York City.

Wolf, now 85, is retired, but he left his imprint on sports reporting.

SoCS — And the Rest is History

Fandango11 Comments

Linda G. Hill has given us an interesting challenge for today’s Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt. She presented a word list that includes “mat/met/mitt/mot/mutt,” and said we should use one or use them all, any way we’d like in our post.

Alrighty then, here we go.

You asked how Mitt and I met. It’s really a funny story. One night it was pouring rain. I heard a scratching at my door and I opened it up to find a motley-looking mutt standing by itself on my doorstep. I looked around and then I saw a guy running up to my door. He introduced himself to me and apologized for his dog, who apparently just wanted get out of the rain. They were both soaking wet and looked pathetic. I felt so bad for them that I asked them to wipe their wet, muddy feet on the mat and to come in and dry off by the fire.

So that’s the story about how Mitt and I met. And, as they say, the rest is history.

Image created by AI text-to-art generator app, Midjourney.

Fandango’s Flashback Friday — March 10th

Fandango17 Comments

Wouldn’t you like to expose your newer readers to some of your earlier posts that they might never have seen? Or remind your long term followers of posts that they might not remember? Each Friday I will publish a post I wrote on this exact date in a previous year.

How about you? Why don’t you reach back into your own archives and highlight a post that you wrote on this very date in a previous year? You can repost your Flashback Friday post on your blog and pingback to this post. Or you can just write a comment below with a link to the post you selected.

If you’ve been blogging for less than a year, go ahead and choose a post that you previously published on this day (the 10th) of any month within the past year and link to that post in a comment.

This was originally posted on March 10, 2018.

SoCS — So Far, So Good

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When I first read Linda G. Hill’s Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt, “so far,” I was simply going to post two music videos, both with songs titled “So Far Away.” One by Carole King and the other by Dire Straits.

But then I thought that posting two music videos is not exactly a stream of consciousness post, is it? Besides, the prompt is “so far,” not “so far away.”

So getting back on point, I’m a senior citizen who has many more years behind me than I have ahead of me. Some might say I’m in my twilight years, but there are times when it feels more like I’m in the Twilight Zone.

But I digress. Sometimes I think about how my life has been going so far. I’m retired now and I have somehow managed to squirrel away enough to not have to worry that much about outliving my retirement nest egg. Well, as long as I don’t live as long as Methuselah, that is.

My wife and I have no debt. Our house is all paid off, so there are no mortgage payments. No car payments either, and I’m not in the market for a new car. I think I can say with a fair degree of confidence that my wife and I still love one another. Or at least that we’re willing to put up with each other. So far, anyway.

And both of us are healthy. No major maladies or worrisome health issues so far. So that’s good.

We have two grown kids who are great and are doing well for themselves. So far we don’t have any grandkids, but we’re hoping that before too long we’ll have a few.

All things considered, life has been good so far. Sure, there have been ups and downs and bumps in the road. But who hasn’t experienced such things?

Bottom line, then, I’d say so far, so good.

And just for fun, here are those two aforementioned music videos.

2023 update: Just for grins and giggles, I’m adding another song. This one is from Joe Walsh titled “Life’s Been Good” and repeated throughout the song is the refrain, “Life’s been good to me so far.”

SoCS — Animal Crackers

Fandango24 Comments

“What’s this?” she asked?

“It’s a lion!” he exclaimed in delight.

“And how does the lion go?” she asked.

“ROAR!” he shouted as loud as he could. He ate the lion. “Another!” he insisted.

She opened the box, reached inside, pulled out another cracker, and handed it to him. “What’s this?” she asked.

“A bear!” he said.

And how does the bear go?” she asked.

“GROWL!” he answered. He ate the bear. “Another!”

Dad stepped in and said, “Okay, Bubs, you’ve eaten enough wild animals for one day. It’s nap time.”

“One more!” he begged. Dad looked at Grandma and nodded.

Grandma opened the box, reached inside, and pulled out another cracker. She handed it to Teddy and asked, “What’s this?”

“A tiger,” he said.

And how does the tiger go?” she asked.

“GRRRR!” he answered. “Another!”

Teddy’s dad scooped him up. Time for a nap, Bubs,” he said. “Grandma will still be here when you wake up from your nap.”

Grandma leaned over and kissed Teddy on the cheek. “Night, night, Sweetie. Maybe next time we’ll pick an elephant!”

Teddy put his arm up by his nose, threw his head back, and made a trumpet-like sound. Grandma smiled. Teddy reached over and hugged his grandmother. “I love you,” he said.

“I love you, too, my big boy.”

Written for Linda G. Hill’s Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt, where the topic is “wild animal.”

SoCS — Prize Inside

Fandango7 Comments

I suppose my first experience with the concept of a prize was when i was a very young kid and would open a box of Cracker Jacks with the “prize inside.” I liked the caramel coated popcorn and peanuts, but having something special inside each box, even a cheap, little, plastic trinket, was fun.

I didn’t win much in the way of prizes growing up. I wasn’t very athletic, so I won no prizes for my athletic prowess. I once won a second place prize in an elementary school science fair entry, although I can’t remember what my science fair project actually was.

In college I used to participate in weekend road rallies with one of my buddies. I was the driver and he was the navigator and we actually came home with a third place prize one time. We did maybe two or three dozen rallies and that third place finish was the one and only time we finished in the money. We had fun, though.

I remember being a member of the top sales team one quarter for a job I held and each of us on the team was given an Apple iPad, which, at the time, was a pretty nice prize.

I still fantasize about winning a giant jackpot prize in one of the major lotteries (Powerball or Mega Millions), but it’s been a few years since I last bought a lottery ticket, so that’s one fantasy that is unlikely to be fulfilled.

And then there’s my wife, who I consider to be a true prize. Last month she awarded me the Stupid Husband Tricks prize when, during a brief respite in a series of heavy rainstorms, I decided to take out my ladder and clean debris out of my gutters only to fall off the ladder and fracture a hip and an arm. That’s a prize I would rather not have won.

Written for Linda G. Hill’s Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt, where the word is “prize”