Making Sunday mornings better: "Vision On"

Ameliorating the exquisite boredom of Sunday morning TV (which featured such snoozers as “The Eucharist” and “Gardening with Ed Hume”) was the surreal kid’s show, “Vision On.” Originally a BBC show geared to deaf children in the U.K., “Vision On” aired in Seattle on KOMO TV with added footage from KOMO. I couldn’t find any clips from KOMO’s version, so please post or message me if you can find any. Meanwhile, enjoy the grainy Brit TV clips and other details on the this great "Vision On" tribute site.

My kidbrain remembered the closing music, “Java” by Al Hirt, as the themesong. Now it’s in my head again.

Not dear, but departed: Pepsi Light

I'm a hopeless Diet Coke addict, but remembering the taste of Pepsi Light makes me gag.

Remember how it had the lemony taste?  Who thought lemon was a good idea?

I believe this stuff was made with saccharin. I think Tab (yes, they still make Tab!) is the only soda I can think of that still uses saccharin, though now it seems to be a saccharin-aspartame blend.

Pepsi Light is available in a few other countries, but it no longer has the lemon or the saccharin and is basically Diet Pepsi with a different name.

Click below for an old Pepsi Light ad with Lauren Hutton, of all people. You'll remember the sky blue can.

Lauren Huton shills Pepsi Light

Pacific coast vacation, 70s style

I've been on vacation this week, and I've been thinking about the first vacation  I remember.

About 1976, we piled into the car, probably my mother's red 1967 Mustang and headed out to Copalis, Washington. That's basically the middle of nowhere on the Washington coast. If you haven't been to the Washington coast, I must tell you that it can get incredibly gloomy and stormy out there--which, sorry to say, sometimes fits my moods. Copalis is a great place to watch the Pacific storms come through in, say, early November.

Meanwhile, back on that long ago trip, my grandparents followed us in their car and they stayed in the room next door to my parents and me. You know those very-low-rent beachy motels that are inevitably named something like "The Lamplighter" or "The Windjammer" or "The Sandpiper?" Well, this motel was one of those. Amazingly, 35+ years later, it's still there. And they even have a website. Click below.

http://lindaslowtidemotel.com/photos.html

I think that's the same wood paneling that was there when I was little. I remember thinking it was cool that the refrigerator was in the bathroom. Did I mention this was not the Westin?

To commemorate the trip, my parents bought my brother and I each a stuffed Dachshund; one said WASHINGTON on its side, and the other said OREGON. I still have those dogs and will try to get a picture of them for you.

Grape Tang and Epic Barfs

Is it weird to remember your most epic barfs? Because I do.

My most epic barf was Grape Tang, delivered spectacularly onto the beige carpet in our family room. Yes, it came back up just as purple as it went down--only now with added chunks! The stain remained there for years, despite multiple carpet cleanings. I should have asked mom for that section of carpet when she finally replaced it (the carpet, not the barf) in the late 90s.

Get your Grape Tang!

I was going to key this under discontinued food, but apprently it's still available (though not widely so and possibly not in the U.S.) Click the link above to purchase via Amazon. It doesn't come in the cool glass jar any more, unfortunately.

The doll that grows breasts. Really.

My Growing Up Skipper doll grows breasts.  Really.

If you rotate her left arm all the way around, tiny breasts pop out and her torso lengthens about a half inch. Rotate her arm the other way, and her breasts disappear and her body gets smaller again. At the time I got her, I remember being excited about her because she was "two dolls in one!"  I don't remember any enlightenment about the wonders of growing up or becoming a woman, though I imagine that was the intent.

Apparently, this version of Skipper was somewhat controversial at the time. Can you imagine the howling that would ensue if this were sold today, though? I imagine conservatives and the helicopter parents would be horrified.

Just for the record, she's the size of a Barbie and her breasts don't get any bigger than pencil erasers. In other words, she's not life-size. Sorry to disappoint.

Badly named, mighty tasty, and gone

Considering these weren't clusters at all, I don't know why Nature Valley called them Granola Clusters.  They were marketed as "nature's answer to candy"--as though they had magically less sugar or were somehow healthier than candy. I doubt it. But granola anything was considered healthy in the 70s, no matter how much sugar or fat it had.

These were tubes that were filled with yumminess and rolled in something light and crunchy. Really delicious. Really discontinued.

This might be 1980s vintage, but close enough. Click below for a commercial.

Granola Clusters Commercial

In honor of Marie Osmond, my childhood idol

I was incredibly sad to hear Marie Osmond's son, Michael Blosil, passed away this past weekend.  My thoughts and love go out to Marie and her family.

Marie Osmond was my childhood idol. She had brown hair and brown eyes, like me. I coveted her long red nails, her bright lipstick, her beautiful dresses. The Donny and Marie Show was wholesome and exceedingly cute in the way only variety shows could be. Seeing how much I loved the show, my parents bought me their album (yes, album) Featuring Songs From Their TV Show. I played it over and over on my orange Fisher Price record player.

It's a cliche to say it, but it really was a simpler time, and I was certainly a simpler being. I still love that music, heaven help me. It brings me peace and comfort, just like it did when I was a little girl.

Please click below for my favorite Donny and Marie song, "The Umbrella Song."

May she find comfort from the rain.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRptvt5k6M4