CHRISTMAS INTERLUDE

This year for me the holidays involved closing on the house - thanks to my status as a 1099 contractor and the current state of the credit markets this turned out to be the single most difficult business transaction I have ever been involved in, bar none.

The rest of my Christmas break - the past couple of weeks - involved The Big Move; lifting furniture up and down stairs all day, Wifee's pottery operation (work benches, spinning wheels, boxes full of clay that weigh about 50lbs each, and not one but TWO kilns), all of my tools and work benches, the boat, the tractor, lifting and unpacking a thousand boxes and one of the most dreaded activities known to Man - hanging curtain rods.

Still it's all been worth it; we're in a FANTASTIC property in a GREAT location and as an added bonus this is the ONLY Christmastime where I have LOST ten pounds, versus the usual ten-to-fifteen weight gain.

Somewhere in between all of the above and a million trips back and forth to Lowe's, Daughter #1 and I were tooling down the road in the Fahrvergnügen;

"So, like, I friended him on Facebook and I let him friend me and then I downloaded some freewear and a bunch of share tunes on my iPod and then I checked in on My Sims and . . . blah, blah, blah . . ."

Suddenly a Close Encounter of the 70's Kind . . . a rare relic from the Decade of Disco:

"Excuse me Daughter, please direct your attention to the car in front of us."

"What . . . IS . . . it?"

"That, young lady, is a Dodge Dart. 1973 or 74, I'd say, judging by the tail lights."

"It . . . it . . . has no . . . STYLE."

"Au contraire, Little Lady - it has nothing BUT style. Look at that trunk . . ."

"It's HUGE."

"It's small, actually, by the standards of it's day. Look at that bumper."

"It's . . . it's . . ."

"It's chrome-plated, 8-gauge Detroit STEEL is what it is - not like the $2500 piece o' plastic they've got on these things we're rolling around in nowadays. You bump into that bumper, it'll TALK to ya . . ."

"Woah."

"225 cubic inch, slant-six, three on the tree . . . "

"You can tell all that just from looking at the TAILLIGHTS ? ? ? "

"Actually, yes I can."

"How . . . how can you DO that, Dad?"

"Because, Little Lady, that was back when cars were REAL . . . and I was THERE."

The 70's - what little of it we can remember . . .

. . . we don't even TRY to understand.




.

TRIBUTE TO SHEER GENIUS

Growing up in the 70s, Benny Hill gave us lots of laughs . . . somehow or the other my Victorian mother tolerated his advanced form of humor . . .


Benny Hill & Little Bo Peep, Naked Lust in Sinful Sweden version

Doc-Oc | MySpace Video



Believe it or not, this post started out as a piece dedicated to the benefits of Vitamin D:


Vitamin D is now being touted as a vitamin capable of reducing cancer rates by as much as 60 - 70%, following rigorous scientific studies. This is of special interest to people living in climates where levels of sunshine are low, and for those who are indoors a lot, such as office workers. Vitamin D is an important source of strong bones as well, and is of significance in helping to prevent such diseases as osteoarthritis, multiple sclerosis, juvenile diabetes, etc.


. . . . that led to how to get more of it:





( Vitamin D, that is )

122 HOURS OF FEAR

As promised - and I know I'm going to regret this . . .

"The song '122 Hours of Fear' - inspired by the hijacking saga of Lufthansa Flight 181 - was recorded by The Screamers in 1978. A lifetime membership to Team STORMBRINGER to anybody who can come up with a copy of that song - S.L."



"Be quiet or be killed!"
he said.
In front of you and in front of me.
He made the pilot get on his knees.
Made him crawl, made him whimper,
Made him cry out for his mother.

Wow! What a show!
122 Hours Of Fear.
Wow! What a show!
122 Hours Of Fear.
122 Hours Of Fear.
122.

"You better shut up and listen!"
he said.
Danger, danger, danger, Mr. Schumann
We are in a hurry, Mr. Schumann
What are the odds, dear Jorgen?
Am I disturbing You?

Wow! What a show!
122 Hours Of Fear.
Wow! What a show!
122 Hours Of Fear.
122 Hours Of Fear.
122.


STORMBRINGER presents The Screamers, 122 HOURS OF FEAR . . . from the tail end of the Decade of Bad Taste:




Special thanks to Team STORMBRINGER's newest Lifetime Members Mac, Tattoo Jim, TWRose and FLYNAVY.

I struggled with the decision to post the video - it is THAT bad - and it occurred to me that Western Civilization might actually benefit from a remake of this song, WITH guitars this time and WITHOUT the goofy post-punk New Wave suspenders & string-tie outfit. Just a thought - Sean Linnane