many have tried and failed to shake my apple tree

I had another post planned for today, but in between some frustrating network problems at work and an unshakeable feeling of histamine-induced sleepiness, I couldn't give the subject the attention it deserved. Barring another unforseen crisis, it should go up tomorrow.

In the meantime, I'm just going to take the quick and easy route and let slip the hounds of nostalgia...



The Rock Flowers - It Takes a Real Man (to Bring out the Woman in Me) (from a 1971 promotional pack-in single) - One of these days, I'm going to find an intact Rock Flowers doll with accessories and record at a reasonable price on eBay and surprise my wife with an unexpected gift. This track came courtesy of Mondo Daddykin's much missed blog, which was a phemomenal source of cartoon/bubblegum/retro rare vinyl rips until he got tired of the petty bullshit from the peanut gallery and closed up shop. The song was ripped from a 35 year old plastic record, so the crackles and hisses are excusable ...considering that the song is so damn fine.

I would make a snide comment about how a disposable effort recorded to promote an early 70's doll sounds far better than the serious efforts of present-day Top 40 acts, but I think I'll just listen to this track again and let my surge of bile abate.



Mr. T - The One and Only Mr. T (from Mr. T's Commandments, 1984) - "You can pretend that Mr. T is real tough and mean." Wow, dissed by his own toy commercial. Or was it one of those truth in advertising deals where Galoob wanted to avoid any lawsuits about the doll's actual level of bad attitude and resilience?

I never meant to become an afficionado of all things Mr. T, it just sort of happened (long before all the other piteous fools hopped on the bandwagon). It's one of the dangers of retrology; ironic gestures, if repeated often enough, can develop into sincere appreciation despite one's best efforts to maintain an aura of detachment. It's a nostalgia-related varian of Stockholm Syndrome. I still can't sit through an entire episode of the A-Team though. It's way too much foreplay to go through for a generally unsatisfyling climax.