Hey look... I'm in a Captain Canuck comic!

Captain Canuck #6 from 1979 was one of my first comic books and the one that really got me into collecting comics! The original series ran just 14 issues, from 1975 until its end in 1981. Many years later a limited edition #15 was released. Then 23 years later, a new Captain Canuck mini series titled Unholy War was released. When I saw it solicited in Previews I was so excited! I quickly wrote and mailed off a letter to Richard Comely telling him how excited I was that after so many years of waiting, there was finally going to be some new Captain Canuck comic books. To my surprise, when issue #1 was released in October 2004, right there in the back of the book, was my letter!

So far, I have had letters printed in two of my three favourite comic books, Captain Canuck, and Groo the Wanderer. Now I just have to wait for them to start printing letters in Batman again, and I can try to make it three for three!

I did make one mistake in my letter, when I wrote that I was member #6 in the Captain Canuck Club. I am actually #13. Sorry I lied in my letter. At the time I wrote my letter, I could not find my membership card, and for some reason I remembered being member #6. I'm so glad I can correct my error 16 years later. Feels good to get that off my chest.

Old Time Photo Studio

Back in the 1980's it seemed like just about every mall had an 'Old Time Photo Studio' where they had all kinds of props and backdrops to make you look like you had gone back in time to the 1900's. Some time in the mid 80's my grandparents visited us, and one day while they were here we ended up in just such a place. The only thing I can remember about the photo shoot was that the gun in my holster was supposed to be on my right hand side, but then it could not been seen, so we turned it backwards and I became a left handed shooter for the photo. I love that I (the sheriff) look very serious and my older sister (my mom) looks like she is very 'high society'. My grandparents look like they are so proud to be having one of these 'new fangled' photos taken of them!

It was probably pretty expensive at the time, but 30 years later it's a pretty awesome memento of one of my few visits with my grandparents.

Terry David Mulligan's Good Rockin' Tonite

Back in 1984 there were a ton of rock videos, and if you wanted to see them, you had to turn on the TV and wait for one of a plethora of video shows to show them to you. Unlike today when you can just go to Youtube and watch any video you want, any time you want. But back in 1984 you watched video shows such as the grand daddy of them all, Friday Night Videos, or Canada's version called Good Rockin' Tonite. GRT was a 90 minute weekly video show hosted by Terry David Mulligan. I can remember watching this show regularly for years, always hoping to see videos by my favorite bands such as; KISS, Motley Crue, Helix, Def Leppard, Lee Aaron etc. They were also always having contests, usually for signed albums and posters. On one occasion when I entered, I didn't win anything, but I did receive this really snazzy postcard, which wasn't even hand signed - the signature was printed on the card. On a separate occasion, I entered a Motley Crue contest, and won a signed Gary Moore album (go figure)! I was never a fan of Gary Moore (I actually had no idea who he was at the time) so wasn't all that thrilled with my win. But years later I traded it to a friend for a copy of the ultra rare Wendy O Williams (Plasmatics) album titled Deffest and Baddest. Being a huge Plasmatics fan, I was pretty excited to acquire this Wendy O Williams album I had never even heard of. A quick Google search today finds this description of the album: Originally, the album was to be credited to the fictional rap group "Ultrafly and the Hometown Girls," with Wendy's name left off it, but the distributor wouldn't back it without Wendy's name. On this disc, Wendy slams hair bands, creates interesting sexual scenarios between Jerry Falwell and Jessica Hahn, and oh yeah, becomes the first person to fuse rap and speed metal. Thanks Good Rockin' Tonite... that Gary Moore album turned out to be a pretty awesome prize!

A Very Retro Merry Christmas

Hello and Merry Christmas... Yes you heard me, Merry Christmas! I don't know about you but the whole politically correct/non offensive Christmas thing has spun out of control. If you want a good laugh, check out the song "Kung Pao Buckaroo Holiday (Featuring The Kung Pao Buckaroos)" by Brad Paisley (I got my copy at the iTunes Music store online) in which they bleep the word Christmas and any other word that could be considered offensive - of course by the end of the song, its just one long beeeep!

Anyway, while checking out all of my favorite blogs, including the Secret Fun Spot Blog, which has a great "The Twelve Years of Christmas" photo run, I have seen lots of old Christmas morning photos, which got me curious to dig up some of my own.
Here are 3 Christmas day photos I found. The first one is Christmas day '67. The other two did not have dates on them, so I had to make an educated guess as to the years. I am going to say that the second photo is Christmas morning 1972 and the third photo is 1978.

Not much I can say about this photo except, wow, what a neat looking race set!
Here are a few great things about this photo: 1) the orange and blue fuzzy slippers I am wearing, 2) the great tractor and wagon I received, 3) the even greater wind up plane I received, 4) the fake present on the tree was my 'costume' in the school Christmas play, 5) the really cool old black and white TV with the jumbo knobs, at the right edge of the photo.
A few things about this photo: 1) The same Christmas tree as the last photo (the same tree we had until we stopped putting up a tree, 2) The brand new color TV with space age remote control, 3) you won't see it in the photo, but the carpet I am sitting on is green 2 inch shag carpeting, 4) the magazine rack on the left hand side of the photo is stocked full of old Sears Christmas catalogs!

O yeah... and one last thing... Merry Christmas!

Englishman River Falls

No time tonight, so here is a quick photo of myself at Englishman River Falls on Vancouver Island some time in the early 70's. This used to be my favorite place to vacation every year. I went back many times to have my photo taken at the same spot. Nothing else to say except, wow, look at the cool sweater I am wearing in the photo.

A Day At Disneyland

While out with the family today we stopped at an antique mall which mostly has furniture etc. But, I found a booth that had some neat old games, records etc. And to my delight I found, buried in a pile of dusty old records, an album which put a huge smile on my face!
It was "A Day at Disneyland with Walt Disney and Jiminy Cricket [ST-3901]" from 1957. It comes in a large cardboard record sleeve with a 4 page insert. I'm not sure why, but the middle page (which is two pieces of thick cardboard) also has a couple of extra pieces of cardboard glued inside to make it even stronger (and thicker).
Side One has 1) Horse car ride down Main Street U.S.A. and 2) A boat ride thru Adventureland. Side Two has 1) Exploring Frontierland, 2) Space Ship Visit to Tomorrowland and 3) Fun in Fantasyland.
Check out the great album cover and artwork from the pages inside.


I am always looking for Disney records and this is the first time I have ever seen this particular album. Well worth the $10 I spent on it!

Dragonforce Sold Out!

Apparently I underestimated the popularity of Dragonforce. Last night Euro metal band Dragonforce played here in Vancouver at the Croatian Cultural Centre. I was excited about going to the show, but had to work until 9 pm and didn't think I would be able to make the show. The night before the show, I was on the bands web page forums and read that there would be 2 opening bands at the Dragonforce would not be onstage until about 9:30 pm. It takes about 45 minutes t get downtown, so if I left work right on time, I could make it to the show by about 9:45 pm. I left work and raced downtown, only to find that the show was sold out! Luckily for me, the front doors were all glass, and from the front door, I could see into the front lobby and right into the hall where the band was playing. This is how I watched the show. Not the best view or sound, but I did get to see and hear the show. And as it turns out, there were sooo many people at the show that the temperature was unbelievably hot and all during the show I saw people leaving due to heat exhaustion. I myself was standing outside in the beautiful evening air! So, I didn't have to bear the heat, I saved the $30 ticket cost AND I got to see and hear the show. I guess it worked out OK. Although, if they ever come back, I am getting my ticket early!

The above photo has been Photoshopped to help as a visual aide to go along with the story above - for those of you who were having a hard time visualizing what a Sold Out show might look like! The actual photo was taken of myself at Disneyland, standing at the ticket window after closing.

My Race Set Mania

Recently I found a great old photo from December 25th, 1967. It's a photo of my father and myself with a super neato racing set! I was just two months old at the time. I wonder if the race set was for me, or for dad?
Then, if you go back to yesterdays blog and click to enlarge the photo of me with my train set you can see on the left is a smaller table with a racing set on it. So that was race set number two, some time in early to mid 70's.

Then in 1979, I got my third and final racing set, the Ideal TCR Total Control Racing, Lighted Blazers Jam Car Special. This set came with two cars that two players could control, and a third card, a slotless jam car that would drive around by itself and get in your way. The race track did not have slots like the average set, so you could flip a switch on the controller to change lanes to pass your competition. And to make things even more exciting, the cars had working headlights and glowed in the dark! It didn't get much better than that for a 12 year old!

Much like the train set, I am sure that at some point, Kaden and I will drag this out of the basement and set it up for some "Slotless track-real passing" racing action!

Ronnie @ Disneyland 1977

While digging though some old boxes of photos I found a couple of photos from my first trip to Disneyland back in 1977 with my mom. Here I am sitting in an Autopia car. I was so excited that I got to drive my own car! I don't remember much about this trip, but I know that I must have really liked it, because my mom took me back to Disneyland just two years later in 1979. I didn't get to Disneyland again until '90 when I went with Sara for a summer vacation. By this time, both Sara and I were hooked, and managed to visit the park at least once a year for the next 10 years. We celebrated New Year's Eve 2000 at Disneyland, Sara won a trip for 4 to Disneyland (filling out all those entry forms at the mall can really pay off!), and we got married at Disneyland! We can't wait to take Kaden on this first Disneyland trip when he gets a few years older.