A little 'audio-memory' from my high-school-radio-station days!

Some 'Loydster history' here! WAY back before the dawn of the dark ages, when I was 'teen-Loydster', I worked on an afternoon show, on the high school radio station. KCHS, Central Point Oregon. My partner, Dan Bowser and I, called ourselves the 'Afternoon CornFlakes'. Boy, was THAT name exactly RIGHT!

Heck, it's been enough years ago, I don't even remember WHO found this ODD-BALL cut, off the very end of Van Halen's 'Diver Down' album! Odd-ball INDEED! A slightly-over one minute version of an old Roy Rogers 'sign-off' tune, at the end of a Van Halen album?

 We BOTH though--- having nearly identical senses of humor (I used to go over to Dan's house after school every so often, and we'd read MAD magazines together-- and goof-around, laughing for HOURS!)-- felt it was the EXACTLY  RIGHT way to sign off our show EVERY afternoon! (we were the last show on the station, which signed off at the end of each school day.)-----

This is also the reason / story, behind the way I've always signed off  most of my correspondence with friends & family over the years--'HAPPY TRAILS'! It's my way of remembering those goof-ball high school D.J. days, and my old buddy Dan. God Bless you old pal! Wherever you are!

Fond memories of another childhood hero! (OR--- 'Who WAS that masked man?')

'The Lone Ranger and his faithful companion, Tonto'! Otherwise known as Clayton Moore and Jay Silverheels. My  'early Saturday morning heroes'!

Once again, we're hopping into the 'way-back' time-traveling machine, and taking a spin through the Loydster's childhood! It's WAY too early on Saturday morning,pretty much EVERYBODY in the house is still asleep! NOT the little Loydster! Before even the nearly TWO-HOURS of Bugs Bunny / Road Runner cartoons begin,the little guy with the SERIOUS case of 'bed-head', has to catch up with his 'crack-of-dawn', Saturday-morning western heroes!

'Hopalong Cassidy' came on first. Hopalong was alright, but his adventures seemed a little too 'old-timey' and creaky-antique feeling, even to the then 4 and 5 year-old Loydster! But THEN... the stirring 'William Tell Overture' music would blare out of the tiny TV speaker, and the REAL western 'mystery man' that I'd been waiting to see,would come galloping in to my living room! Even NOW, all these years later, I STILL get a little tingle of excitement at this opening credit sequence!----

I would find out MUCH later, about the 'Ranger's roots in old-time radio, AND the opening narration being directly lifted from the old radio program. Why NOT? It just wouldn't be the same (or NEARLY as exciting to my then 5-year old self!) if that little introduction wasn't there!

But WHAT a way to kick off a kid's Saturday morning! The Lone Ranger and his faithful Indian companion, Tonto-- fought the bad guys and kept the frontier SAFE, in fast-moving, action-oriented 30-minute episodes! Little Loydster was HOOKED from begining to end, EVERY EPISODE!

Back then, on channel 30 out of Fresno California---they pretty much ran only the color episodes from (what I would also learn MUCH later!) the show's FINAL season (the ONLY ones filmed in color!). So, it was the guy in the 'powder-blue' suit, white hat, and the steely-blue eyes that I became familiar with!-----

The 'Western Dynamic Duo' of the '50s! (and the TV-stars of the 'Kindergarten-Loydster's' early Saturday mornings!)

So, for pretty much the first several years of my elementary school-aged life, I faithfully watched the adventures of the 'Masked Rider of the plains'. One particular Saturday though, when I was around 10 years old, I noticed the 'opening credits' sequence had changed! It now had an 'origin story' for the 'Ranger, and an actual 'theme song'!

Like other stuff about the 'Ranger I would learn MUCH later, the opening had been lifted from the 1958 movie 'The Lone Ranger and the Lost City of Gold'! Still, the show was even MORE cool, with THIS opening sequence! Like the original opening, this one also makes me feel all tingly and 5 years old AGAIN!--

Later on in life, I would learn MUCH more about the actor who played the 'Ranger. Clayton Moore, a former circus acrobat and movie-serial veteran (he played Zorro before being picked to play the guy in the mask & white hat!), considered the role of the 'Ranger, to be the 'role of a life time'. He took the responsibility of the role seriously, and strived to be as much of a stand-up, straight-arrow guy as the character he played!

After playing the character for nearly 5 seasons on the tube, as well as the two feature films---- Mr. Moore would go on to make public appearances as the 'Ranger (white hat, mask, powder-blue suit and all!)--- for 40 YEARS! I'd say he pretty much 'took the role to heart'!

He once said: 'I'll wear the white hat for the rest of my life!' And--- that he did. His star, on the 'Hollywood walk of fame', is the ONLY one with an actor's name, AND the name of the character they played! His reads: 'Clayton Moore-- The Lone Ranger'.

Eventually, I finally got around to watching most of the rest of the other episodes of the series. It's been all over cable and even local stations in reruns for AGES (pretty much ever since the time that I was the 'little Loydster!)! As a whole, it all holds up pretty well. Mr. Moore and the pretty much PERFECTLY cast Mr. Silverheels, played their roles with sincerity and conviction. There's a REASON this series is considered one of the CLASSICS of early television!

 I've even sampled some of the attempted 'remakes' and 're-imaginings' of the character over the decades. The most recent MISFIRE / misguided / TOTAL misunderstanding of the character-- with Johnny Depp as Tonto, a few years back..... was just a complete WASTE of over two hours of my time!

Nope, to the now considerably older Loydster, there will ALWAYS be only ONE TRUE Lone Ranger--- and he first put on the mask and white hat just over 70 years ago! Mr. Clayton Moore. To me at least, he and Jay Silverheels will ALWAYS be---- The Lone Ranger and Tonto! 'Hi-Yo Silver, AWAY!'

God bless Mr. Clayton Moore! The ONE TRUE Lone Ranger!

Loyd's BONUS AUDIO goodies!--- # 7--- 4 faves from the NEW 'Jeff Lynne's E.L.O'. album!

Another case of 'ol Loydster being the slow-poke that he is!--- It took me until just over 3 weeks ago, to FINALLY snag myself a copy of 'From Out of Nowhere', the NEW album.... put out late LAST YEAR (!!!) by the VERY talented singer / songwriter / producer, Mr. Jeff Lynne and 'Jeff Lynne's E.L.O.'! Such is the life of the responsible old family-guy! Sometimes you just HAVE to wait a while, to scoop-up things for yourself!

As is usually the case with me, I end up listening to any new music / album I've bought--- several times in the first week or so that I have it. In the case of somebody like Mr. Lynne though, (who's stuff I've been DIGGING on for close to 40 YEARS!) it'll be even MORE frequent than that!

I'm VERY glad to report, after a NUMBER of listens,'From Out of Nowhere' is Jeff Lynne in FINE form! Pretty much EVERY tune on the album is a carefully crafted, 'mini-masterpiece'. It was a little tough, since I've been getting such a kick out of listening to ALL of it, to pick JUST 4 tunes that I could consider favorites. But--- here's the 'quartet-of-tunes' that kind of 'jumped-out-and-grabbed-me-slightly-more-than-the-others' on the album!----

Odds & Ends, This & That!--

Every so often here at the bloggy-woggy-wing-dang-thang, I'll probably be doing more posts like this! Stuff that I've wanted to throw up here, that maybe by themselves, would make for kind of a DINKY post! So--- why not group up a few things that've kept the 'ol Loydster-GEEK-o-meter clicking away!

First up, a mild case of my old 'mad scientist' nature kicking in recently. I was lounging at my desk, up in the 'Secret Sanctum', gazing over at the collection of  'hero masks' in the top case, over to the left of the desk. THIS is what caught my eye.----

Your'e probably thinking: 'Ok, two 'Bat-cowls'. an 'animated' version, and a customized number--- made to look like the 60s comic book version'.  Right-o!  They're BOTH nifty, but nothing about either of them really 'reaches out and grabs hold of your inner-GEEK!' At least-- that what I was starting to think!

Then the old 'Dr. Frankenstein' mentality took over!! BUT... nothing drastic needed to be done. No 'desperate measures' needed to be taken.What would be VERY cool, I thought to myself, was to put in some white material behind the 'eyes' of each cowl. Just a little something to make BOTH items really POP off the shelf at you! This is the result!----

I also did a little work around the 'eyes' of the '60s-style' cowl, (using some wood-filler material-- it hardens over night, and you can sand it and work with it like bondo! Only it doesn't STINK or make as much of a MESS!) to make it look even MORE like the Caped Crusader's cowl from the 'Silver Age'!

Oh, and the 'white material' I used for the 'eyes'? Just some 'foam core' from an old poster-board scrap I had laying around!
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This next item, REALLY  fits into the strange (but VERY neat-o COOL!) coincidence department! Remember my post a while back, about the desire I had, for a better version of the poster for one of my ALL-TIME favorite flicks, 'The Maltese Falcon'? How I discovered there were SEVERAL versions made for this movie? How I finally stumbled--- through the MAGIC of Amazon-- onto one I felt just SCREAMED: 'Crime Drama'?

Well.... if memory fails you... here's the version I found! I still DIG it, EVERY time I see it out in the stairwell!---

Now, this is the 'strange-but-COOL-coincidence' part of the story! A few weeks back, my wifey and daughter, were helping sort through items being donated to a local church, for a big yard sale. The gal they were helping out---who also works with my wife--- said whatever neat stuff they found, they could either have FREE, or she'd sell it to them for extremely CHEAP!

While going through a pretty sizable PILE of DVDs, my daughter stumbled across THIS little item! Check out the image on the case!----

How VERY cool is THAT? Except for the background color, the image is IDENTICAL! Not to mention, I've been on the look-out for the DVD -version of this movie for AGES! The 'whipped-cream-with-cherry' on top of this 'classic-Bogart-movie-GEEK's' sundae? My wife's friend let us have it.... for FREE!

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Last on our list of 'Odds & Ends', just a little GOOF-BALL something to show that my family not ONLY knows without a doubt, that the Loydster is a SHAMELESS GEEK-A-ZOID, they do what they can to help him show-off that GEEKY-NESS with PRIDE!

Another joint-project my wife & daughter have tackled together, is sewing protective masks for a number of the family and close friends. Like, I'm sure a LOT of you out there-- the Ferrells have been staying home MOST of the time (during all the INSANITY going on with--- oh you KNOW WHAT!)!

This project not only helped friends & loved ones, it helped wife & daughter keep their sanity, and kept them from having too much 'cabin fever'! Here's the little number they worked up for 'dear old Dad'!---

Nothing says 'Hey, I'm SAFE & protected' better, than the JUSTICE LEAGUE covering half of  your FACE! AND--- yes, I HAVE worn it out in public... several times, in fact! That's kinda the point, right?


                                          Stay safe and stay SANE everybody!

Loyd's BONUS video-clip!!--- #32!!-- Now THAT'S making GREAT use of your action figures!

Alrighty.... somebody (out there in 'Youtube land', of course!) with WAY more free time than I've EVER had, has went and done something that I would INDEED do, given enough spare time! (AND--the exactly RIGHT action figures, of COURSE!) By the way, stop this (AFTER you've just enjoyed watching it a couple times, of course!) and watch it in slow-motion or 'frame-by-frame', to see just WHO some of the 'bad guys' are, attacking our heroes! FUNNY stuff!

A parking space for those tiny 'Bat-rides'!

The last of the four 1/64th scale additions to my collection of  'Bat-vehicles' arrived yesterday. (Thanks once again, E-bay!) So.... it was time To put them into the little display spot I'd already worked out for them, on my 'Bat-vehicle-display-shelf'!

This was AFTER a few 'mild' custom-paint touches to each car, of  COURSE! See if you can spot the MAIN thing I did to them! Hint: it's something that the otherwise SHARP folks at Hot Wheels left unpainted / unfinished-looking, and it's REALLY hard to miss!

If your memory is a little foggy as to exactly WHERE this shelf (with ALL the 'Bat-stuff') is, there in the 'ol 'Secret Sanctum', do some digging through some of my earlier posts, it'll show up!---

 

Stay SAFE, stay CALM and stay SANE  everybody!