It’s the spring of 1986. You jump into your Chevy Monza, click on your Pioneer AM/FM/cassette player, and “Beat’s So Lonely” comes on. Yeah, it sounds like Billy Idol in his Elvis crooner phase, but it’s Charlie Sexton, who recorded this very ‘80s blend of rockabilly and new wave when he was just sixteen.

There’s no shame in thinking it’s Billy Idol. “Beat’s So Lonely” was produced by Keith Forsey, who handled all the big Billy Idol hits – including “To Be a Lover,” “White Wedding,” “Hot in the City,” and “Rebel Yell.”

Forsey also co-wrote and produced “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” for “The Breakfast Club,” Simple Minds’ biggest hit and a song that Billy Idol actually turned down. John Hughes, of course, directed “The Breakfast Club” so it’s not a coincidence that “Beat’s So Lonely” ended up in Hughes’ “Some Kind of Wonderful” – although not actually on the soundtrack album.

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My theory is that OREO doesn’t really care if most folks buy more than one package of any particular novelty flavor sandwich cookie. Didn’t like Red Velvet? Here comes Caramel Coconut! Imagine my Christmas surprise when gingerbread OREOS reappeared for 2020 with a new and improved recipe.

Before this year, what we got was Gingerbread Flavor Creme OREOs – two vanilla cookies with a gingerbread-spice filling. Maybe it was more efficient to repeat the vanilla cookies from other “yellow” OREOS, but it’s just backwards to have the gingerbread flavor on the inside. Nabisco must think this particular OREO has staying power, so it’s been re-reciped.

Short answer – the new ones are better. I don’t know the legal distinction between gingerbread and “gingerbread flavor,” but these OREO cookies have ginger, cinnamon, molasses, and, although I don’t taste a hint of chocolate, cocoa. I’d put them somewhere between a cinnamon-sugar graham cracker and a less-buttery Biscoff. The filling is the basic vanilla creme with red sugar flecks to plus-up the texture. I could do without the grit, but it does subliminally remind you of Christmas cookies.

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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.

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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.