Retro Wishlist V: That’s “Five”, Not “Vee”

Before I get started, permit me this outburst:

OH MY GOD I GOT 99 HITS YESTERDAY. NINETY-NINE. BEST. DAY. EVER! Also my total hits are OVER NINE THOUSAND. (Over eleven thousand, actually!) If I had some money, I’d buy everyone who reads this thing a drink. But alas, I am one broke-ass bitch. So instead, have a new post!

9. TMNT 25th Anniversary Figures

When I was a kid, I was all over those pizza-scarfing ninja-fighting turtles. I got up to watch the cartoon every Saturday, I watched the first two movies so many times that I memorized them, but I never got to have any of the toys! I guess I never thought to ask for these action figures, thinking that my parents probably wouldn’t have bought them for me anyway because I was a little girl. I actually didn’t have much Turtles merchandise at all, come to think of it. But now that I’m a big girl, I have the opportunity to buy whatever I want within reason, and these suckers look exactly like the old ones! Joy!

My favorite Turtle when I was a kid was Michelangelo, because he was the “funny” one, and I was all about the funny back in those days. But later on, I started to really like Donatello. He’s smart, nerdy, and kind of a goofball. I married a guy who is smart, nerdy, and kind of a goofball, so…yeah.

10. A Turntable

I would love to own a turntable, so that I can play any weird old records I happen to come across in junk shops. Some of you might remember me having found copies of Mickey Mouse Disco and Sesame Street Fever on vinyl, but I didn’t buy them. I hoped that I would not come to regret that decision, but I have.

Anyway, some might say that I’m too young to remember vinyl. Those people would be 100% wrong. My grandmama had one of those big cabinet stereos, and I would listen to records on it all the time. If it were up to me, I would have that very stereo in my house right now. But it ended up in my sister’s house with her 87 dogs, 40 cats and three boys, so it’s toast.

So yeah, I have some pretty fond memories of records, and even though I’m not a big vinyl enthusiast, I would like to own some. You know, for posterity.

That’s all for now, folks. I tried to come up with a third item, but…I got nothing. So how about a survey: Least favorite Ninja Turtle and why?

New Look

I liked the orange, but I was getting tired of it, so I switched to this, because I really like this color scheme. And stuff. That’s, uh…pretty much all I had to say. How are you guys?

Something Old, Something New, Something Blu-ray

In spite of my relative youth (I just turned 26), I’m usually something of a curmudgeon about new technology. I turn my nose up disdainfully at such fancy-schmancy things as iPods and iPhones and Bluetooth and I have been known to make sarcastic comments about HDTVs on occasion.

And yet I just bought my first movie on Blu-ray, a format that until recently made my blood boil.

Now, you’re probably wondering why I did this. (I’m still a little shocked about it myself.) Well, it was the magic of Disney that got to me. They just released Pinocchio on the format.

I hadn’t been able to get a hold of it on DVD before, and only had the VHS tape. Since I do have a Blu-ray player courtesy of my husband’s Playstation 3, I figured I might as well pick up the Blu-ray version so that when the day comes that we finally cave and buy a shiny HDTV, I will have something pretty to play on it. Plus the disc comes with a standard DVD in the box, so even if I didn’t already have a player, I could buy the Blu-ray for the future and still be able to watch the movie. Smart move on Disney’s part, I think.

As for the movie itself, it looks better than ever. Seriously, it looks like it was made yesterday. It’s amazing. If you’re an ultra-purist, though, you might hate the cleanup job as the print looks absolutely pristine and there are no traces of film grain, scratches, dust, or fading. Personally, I don’t understand why people would want that stuff intact in the first place, especially for hi-def viewing, but that’s just me. Film grain’s got its charms, but scratches and dirt? Not so hot. Do you think animators back then would have eliminated that stuff if they’d had the chance? I’m betting they would have in a heartbeat.

Anyway, Pinocchio is among my favorite Disney films. It’s one of the first movies I remember watching and it mesmerized me. The story packs a powerful message, is emotionally moving and never gets old.

As for Blu-ray, I think I’ll start buying new releases on the format, provided they’re affordable enough (which they are rapidly becoming). But that HDTV is a long time coming…

Surprise Find At Walmart

This little guy was hanging with some of his brethren in the canned foods aisle:

Even though his price tag was somewhat hefty for this sort of thing ($3.99), I could not pass it up. You know how those Pound Puppies are. They look at you with those big, sad eyes and then it’s all over.

Also, I have no idea why they didn’t put them in the cereal aisle instead of the canned foods aisle. Maybe they were trying to target nostalgic adults like me. But be honest: most nostalgic adults spend a lot of time in the cereal aisle buying Cap’n Crunch and Lucky Charms.

Anyway. My new little friend will now go join his larger, older relatives on the shelf.

(I really need a tripod. Taking non-blurry pictures with the camera in my hands is really, really difficult.)

Cuckoo for Retro Packaging

So, I haven’t had much to say lately, but I wanted to drop in and blather about this for a minute.

In the last year or so, there have been a lot of retro packages showing up in stores. I’ve seen retro-looking Hershey’s bars and boxes of Grape Nuts, and today at Target, I saw retro General Mills cereal boxes. I wanted to buy them all, but I went with the Cocoa Puffs because I haven’t had any Cocoa Puffs in a long time, and if I’m going to pay 2.75 for a box of cereal then I’m damn well going to eat it.

I love the dance on the back of the box. Isn’t that fantastic? Maybe if someone sends me fifty bucks, I’ll post a video of me doing the Cuckoo Bird Stomp.

Anyway, it’s awesome to see companies acknowledging that the past existed rather than pretending it didn’t, as we are so wont to do in this country. Those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it, which is why children everywhere should be taught of the horrors of shag carpet, leg warmers and stirrup pants.