The Hood Internet specializes in mash-up remixes and has been boiling down “The Year in Music” as YouTube videos, starting with 1979. That’s the latest up above, 1994 condensed to three and a half minutes. Sure, you remember Notorious B.I.G, but MC 900 Ft. Jesus too?

I’d guess your favorite remix will depend on when you graduated high school or found those 4-5 CDs that got you through your early 20s. I guess that’s why I’m partial to 1986.

I’ll confess though that the remixes get smoother as more hip-hop enters the pop charts and there’s more digital production.

Daily comic strips are still out there, though most folks don’t bother with physical newspapers anymore. Even my 83-year-old mom reads the obituaries on her laptop.

As a kid of the 1970’s, I would tear through a newspaper funnies page. “Peanuts,” “B.C.,” and “Beetle Bailey” were favorites. I had drugstore paperbacks of “Wee Pals,” probably the first strip with an integrated cast. I even read “Love Is…,” the one-panel that makes “Ziggy” look deep.

The few comics I still check out are now digital and not so much a daily read as a binge every week or two. “Nancy” is one of them.

Continue reading

Look up there at the top of That Guy on TV and you’ll see this is my “Blog, Resume, and Hootenanny.” I had to make two decisions when coming up with that. The oxford comma was easy, but what funny word was I going to use for “party” or “celebration?”

I briefly considered “chautauqua” because it has all those funny K’s. “Shindig,” “wingding,” and “saturnalia” all made the short list even though they aren’t as komedic. But then, I found a new word to me – “beanfeast.”

According to everyone’s favorite semi-reliable source, Wikipedia, “beanfeast” means “informal term for a celebratory meal or party.” Often, it’s a party thrown by a boss and ties back to the holiday Twelfth Night. One serving of dessert had a small prize in it. The one who bit into the prize was “King” for the night. The trinket could be metal or pottery, but a big dried bean would be cheaper and easier on the teeth. If that also sounds like a New Orleans king cake, you’re right. The king cake evolved from Twelfth Night.

As a word, “beanfeast” is more popular in the UK than the USA. In “Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory,” Veruca Salt starts her song with the word, not long before the bad egg goes down the chute.

I briefly considered “clambake” too, but finally went with “hootenanny.” “Oo” sounds are funny too.

If you heard “Call to the Heart” on the radio in 1985, it sure sounded like Journey – those vocals, those keyboards, – but it was actually Giuffria, five guys with big hair and tight pants out of Washington, DC. The first single off Giuffria’s eponymous album, “Call to the Heart” peaked at #15 on Billboard’s Hot 100. That put it three slots higher than “Foolish Heart” from Steve Perry, the guy who was actually in Journey.

Bandleader and keyboardist Gregg Giuffria later formed House of Lords and eventually moved into the casino business. He was even original co-owner of the Biloxi Hard Rock Hotel and Casino. Guitarist Craig Goldy joined and left Dio several times. Bassist Chuck Wright had been in Quiet Riot before Giuffira, rejoined a few times, and is in the current touring version of the band. Drummer Alan Krigger toured with Ike Turner and is now in The Hollywood Allstarz with former members of Quiet Riot, Bonham, and Dio.

What about singer David Glen Eisley? He married actress Olivia Hussey in 1991 and has continued working as a singer and actor. In the late 1990’s, Eisley co-wrote and recorded “Sweet Victory,” a rock ballad that was released as part of a royalty-free library music package – songs available for commercials, TV, or movies. That’s how Eisley’s voice ended up in SpongeBob SquarePants’ mouth for the 2001 episode “Band Geeks.”

As a kid, my main soda was Mountain Dew. This was back before it was spelled MTN DEW and you could still find glass bottles with a hillbilly on it. For variety, I might throw in a blue cream soda or the Pepsi version of 7Up, Teem. Now, it’s Coke Zero Sugar and whatever sparking water is on sale.

This week, I hit the local Rocket Fizz, a national franchise (Canada too) that sells retro candy and soft drinks. Some flavors, like sweet corn soda, are weird by design, but others are regional flavors or retro brands that are still hanging on. I bought three.

Moxie

Moxie, Coca Cola, and Pepsi Cola all started as patent medicines – over-the-counter potions sold in the second half of the 1800s that promised all kinds of cures. The sugar and flavoring was there to cover the bitter “medicine.” Moxie is the oldest of the three and still contains gentian root extract, which is why it’s funkier than Coke or Pepsi.

On the pour, Moxie looks a little more red than a cola with a slight medicinal whiff of camphor or menthol. The flavor is like a cola, but with splashes of orange soda and root beer. It’s more herbal than similar soft drinks, maybe some clove, and definitely has a mild bitter finish because of the gentian root. The same extract is used in Angostura bitters, so it’s along those lines. You know how there are foods you like as a grown-up that you didn’t like as a kid? I’d guess it’s like that.

The Coca Cola Company bought the Moxie brand in 2018, but I suspect my bottle was made before the sale. The label in my hand lists “pure cane sugar,” but Coke’s website says “high fructose corn syrup.”

Continue reading