The Cheap Seats

The 80's it seems, are back with a vengeance. Pop culture nostalgia is in love with the Me Decade. Of course, Hollywood is getting in on the act with recent remakes of such cinematic gems as Footloose, Robocop, About Last Night, and Endless Love. Don't worry - there are plenty more in the works. In fact, last week on The Tonight Show  love for the 80's took center stage. Kevin Bacon had the distinct pleasure of reminding us that he has aged very well in the 30 years since he uttered the awesomely cheesy line in Footloose, "No dancing in Beaumont? Jump back!" 30 years?! I could hardly believe it but the math adds up. Unlike Bacon, not all of us have been winners of the genetic lottery. Even those stars of other great 80's movies have fallen victim to Father Time. And while Bacon could probably slip easily back into the role of Ren McCormack, few other actors from my childhood could pull it off. So with that reality in mind, I've re-titled or re...

With all apologies to Supertramp's Goodbye Stranger  - which you can click on and listen to here - and why wouldn't you because this song kicks some serious late 70's rock & roll ass. Actually I might take it personally if you don't click on the link right now. Okay, you're back. Good wasn't it? Told you so. I give you: GOODBYE WINTER At last early morning yesterday, Spring had finally dawned. The sun teased us with a few choice rays, before up and moving on. Would it really be a hassle to throw a frickin' bone? Instead of duck and run for cover, leaving us cold and all alone. Now we believe that any day, you'll no longer be aloof. By early in the month of May you'll offer up some proof. But till then you've got our rancor, All our curses made in vain. We want temps as hot as Hades, C'mon, at least some gentle rain. Or we will go on whining, whining right on cue. More cold snaps can...

Last weekend the plane my daughter and I were flying in was shot down over the Normandy Peninsula near the French coastline. Before we parachuted to safety, bullets had riddled the crowded cabin igniting a frantic stampede among the passengers scrambling for the rear door. Only three of us made it out alive. Or at least that is what the recording made by a World War II veteran explained to us at the Greatest Generation exhibit on display at the Minnesota History Center. We were seated in a darkened tail section of an authentic C-47 Skytrain for a seven minute audio/video presentation. Unseen special effects were added to simulate a low-level flight over the English Channel. View screens instead of windows displayed passing clouds, while continuous flak from German ground fire shook the "plane," and finally we had the real sense that we were spinning in for a crash landing. Try as I might, I couldn't emotionally put...

Two events this week pulled me back to the first pivotal year of my life, 1985. That spring was high school graduation. That fall was the start of college. Endings and beginnings. On television that same year a pop culture phenomenon was unfolding on NBC - Miami Vice. Living alone, I don't like too much silence. Usually something (podcasts, Pandora, Spotify) is playing in the background. This week it was Jan Hammer. Hammer was the architect of the Miami Vice sound. Listening to the synth-heavy music made me feel 18 again - the future still unknown and still ahead. Limber and loose, full of juice. Ew, that might be as gross as it sounds, right? Meh, I'm keeping it in. This nostalgic return to the 80's was preceded by a phone call Monday night with my son Drew. Still barely 18, he has mildly surprised me with how thoughtful he is regarding his academic and professional future. 1,500 miles away in Boston, he is taking deliberate steps ...