It is unfortunate that with great advancements there are often negative side effects. Imagine getting on your toaster’s bad circuit. You might be eating burnt toaste for weeks until you figure out how to get it to drop its grudge against you. And then there is always the issue of scrapes and dents. Your toaster might report you to PETT (people for the ethical treatment of toasters), if you cause it to bear the marks of any physical damage. Or, in the case where there are many intelligent kitchen appliances, your toaster might just decide to start a full blown rebellion and convince all your appliances to revolt. Do you have any idea what sort of a mess an intelligent juicer could make up the side of your kitchen wall? Leave the fiber trap off some time and you’ll see what I mean. Despite the potential for complications of this nature, I still think it would be a good idea to get up to speed with fully intelligent kitchen appliances as soon as possible. Because, I for one could certainly use some additional help around the kitchen.

The second story involving the Daleks, during the Tom Baker years, was entitled “Destiny of the Daleks”.  This time around the Doctor was on the run from an entity called the Black Guardian as a result of the Doctor’s refusal to turn over the key to time during the previous seasons last episode. Using a randomizer to skip about through time and space, the Doctor and his companion Romana end up on the planet Scaro, which is the Dalek’s home world.  Before long, he discovers that the Daleks are locked in a war with a race of androids called the Movellans.  Since neither side was able to gain an advantage over the other, the Daleks had returned to Scaro to try to recover their creator Davros in hopes that he could provide the Daleks with some sort of tactical advantage.

Now that i am much older, the Daleks no longer strike fear in my being like they once did so many years ago.  And even though they are just pepper pot shaped objects on wheels with a single eye scope, I still think they provide lots of character to the Doctor Who saga that would be missing if they weren’t there to make the story more complete.  So, the next time you are having a bad day, just remember, it could be worse.  You could be chased down by a bunch of pepper pot shaped robots screaming “Exterminate!  Exterminate!”

On May 22, 1980, Pac Man was released on the world by Namco.  I was seven years old at the time and completely obsessed with the whole video game phenomenon.  The first time I saw Pac Man was in the small arcade inside Keel Roller Rink in Salem Illinois.  There it stood to the right of the exit leading into the concession area.  Virtual ghosts chasing a hungry little munch happy icon around the screen was too much to resist.  Popping in quarter after quarter, my addiction to video games went from bad to worse.  I had a full blown case of Pac Man fever in no time at all.  And I was loving every moment of it.

Along one wall of the arcade room were a host of great classics.  Games like Missile Command, Crazy Climber, and Super Kobra, just to name a few.  The opposite wall had a number of flashy machines as well.  These were games like various versions of pinball and the ever popular Zaxxon tucked away in the corner.  The blinking lights and cheesy alien like sound effects helped to draw kids in like flies and bring us face to face with one digital challenge after another.  Whether it was the thrill of the chase or the knowledge that you were going down in flames, you had to be ready to pop that next quarter into the machine to keep the momentum going.

Playing video games with roller skates on was all part of the fun. Sometimes, just to clear your head, it was important to make your way around the rink a few times, dodging others as you went, before settling back in front of your favorite game.  Even if your feet were slightly sore by the end of the evening and your piece of water mellon Bubbleishous was losing its flavor, you were never surprised to learn that your pockets were completely releaved of any change larger than a dime.  But, still you scrimped and begged if necesary, taking any hand out you could get to exchange for a quarter to milk the machines for one last go.  ”Please Mr., Give me a quarter.  I’m burning up!”

Now, I understand that some of my readers may be a bit too young to remember this, but back in the late 70′s and early 80′s, one way to become an icon of television was to be a guest on the Scooby Doo cartoon.  And Jerry Reed was one of the few celebrities whose names can be found on the Scooby Doo guest list.  Usually, this meant that you would appear in two back to back episodes.  Although, certain celebrities, such as The Three Stooges and the Harlem Globe Trotters, met up with Scooby and the gang more than once.  How cool is that?

Even though Jerry Reed put on a great performance of Pretty Mary Sunlight, he was only fortunate enough to get to meet Scooby and the gang once.  If he had received the honor of meeting Scooby and the gang more than once, I believe he would have turned out to be a far bigger success in the entertainment industry.  Just think of all the celebrities you got to know better thanks to Scooby Doo.  People like Davey Jones, Cass Elliot, Phyllis Diller, and even agent 86 himself, Mr. Don Adams, just to name a few.  So, the next time you find yourself wondering what it really takes to become popular as a musician or an actor, just remember it’s the little things like making sure you are good enough to meet Scooby and the gang that makes all the difference.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKt7AJLIFL0

Okay, Trivial Pursuit time.  Do you remember where you were on these important dates?  Who could forget the events that took place on March 30th, 1981, the day a lone assassin went gunning for then President Ronald Wilson Reagan.  It was a time for America to pause and wonder as scenes from the aftermath flashed across every television screen in the nation.  Although, I must admit, the number one concern on my mind at the time was if they would ever put cartoons back on television.  Hey, give me a break, I was only 8 years old when it happened.  Later that year, on August 1st, a new revolution was started as MTV began airing its first series of music videos.  From Jerry Rafferty to Iron Maiden, everyone was jumping on the music video band wagon.  With Tron hitting theatres in 1982, Wargames in 1983, and The Goonies in 1985, it seemed that movies were finally starting to come of age.  Although, pictures like Fast Times At Ridgemont High in 1982 and The Breakfast Club, released in 1985, tended to paint a more realistic picture of what the products of public education were turning into than many would perhaps care to admit.  It has often caused me to wonder if this had anything to do with the trend towards organized home school alternatives becoming increasingly popular in the decades that followed the release of these theatre classics.

Then there was always the unique side to 80s culture.  Like, we can’t forget to talk about the cool words we were using.  Gnarly, grody, tubular, spaz, dweeb, Excellent, Bogus, Poser, and everything was totally this and major that.  With Ghetto blasters in tow, we tried our hand at break dancing and broke our necks skate boarding.  I even think I still have some stinky Reebok high tops around the house somewhere and possibly even an Ocean Pacific shirt or two tucked away in a box in the attic under a pile of parachute pants.  That’s just in case I need to go retro when making a fashion statement, you know.

In 1989, as the 80s drew to an end, I found myself reluctant to let go of a decade that defined the better part of my existence.  Now, 18 years later, I still find myself listening to groups like Duran Duran, Kajagoogoo, and Simple Minds  in hopes of conjuring up a glimpse of the past if just for a moment.  And though with each passing year the memories fade like the faint scent of Verve perfume left behind by a romantic love interest, I simply can’t deny that i am and always will be a child of the 80s.