DON'T LET THIS HAPPEN TO YOU !

What you are looking at here is a real billboard sign recently put up on a Minneapolis street corner by a very disgruntled "soon to be ex-spouse"! Can you blame her? I applaud her ingenuity and creativity in this very effective public pay-back notice. Just another reminder to play by the rules of decency!

BACK TO SCHOOL IN THE 1960s

It's "back to school time" for most kids. I always dreaded having to go back to school as young boy. The only good thing about it was going shopping with mom and buying all new school supplies. I always loved searching for the best-looking "school box" I could find. Anyone here old enough to remember what "school boxes" are?

A school box (pic courtesy of Secret Fun Blog) was simply a cardboard box with a lid on it. Inside these boxes you would store your pencils, erasers, crayons, and other miscellaneous supplies - like Spook Stories cards. What made school boxes special though were the graphics that were adhered to the side panels. This is what would make a school box either cool-looking or completely dorky-looking. Unfortunately, and most surprisingly, is that to the best of my knowledge there was never a monster themed school box made back in the 60s. And considering that monsters were all the rage back then, one can only wonder why this never happened? What a missed opportunity! Someday, I will use my Photoshop prowess and create my own 1960s monster school box!

Not to worry though, school supplies back in the 1960s still had plenty of character and some were all about the monsters!

Let's review just how monstrous and cool a 6 yr old boy could look with these vintage school supplies from the 1960s:

Let's start off with a bang. It doesn't get any better than this! Monster 3-ring note binders:


(Frankenstein and Dracula 3 ring binders made by Hasbro. Wolf Man not shown.)

One would never be caught going back to school without a #2 pencil! So what good is a pencil without a sharpener to sharpen it with?

And while your at it, why not outfit your sharp #2 pencil with these cool-looking monster pencil accessories?


(pencils shown are from the 1990s)

And now that you have your "pencil thing" together, you'll need to something to write on like this 1960s monster tablet! BTW, I just scored this vintage tablet off of eBay. Yipeee!



And finally, what's going back to school without bringing a brand new lunchbox to crack bullies over the head with?



This one is from the 1970s. I wouldn't want anyone to think I'm being fraudulent here.

BLOG ON A STICK

Here in Minneapolis, a sure sign of the end of summer is our "great Minnesota get together" or better known as the Minnesota State Fair. Going to the fair has always been a tradition of mine. I'm still not sure why it is that I feel I must go, but because I can't come up with a rational explanation, I continue to go. This year was no different with the exception of having my camera locked and loaded.



This food booth has to be the beginning of the end of modern civilization as we know it. Deep-fried candy bars! Oh boy! And while your at it, give me a lemonade to go with that. Has anyone in their right mind eaten one of these things? And if so, they had to be either drunk or suicidal .. or both. I mean really .. why not just eat a handful of lard and get it over with? These repulsive food concessions make even the deep-fried cheese curds look healthy! Never in a million years. Not even drunk and with a bag over my head!

And not to be out done, there's this deep-fried morsel ....



Open up wide. It's a deep fried Twinkie on a stick! Yum! What ever happened to the good old days when the only thing on a stick was a Pronto Pup? I may be a human garbage disposal when it comes to proper nutrition but even I have standards. Let's move on to some state fair entertainment before I throw up.

Hey, I've got an idea! Now that I'm all queasy with deep fried dementia, let's climb way up to the top of the giant slide and get this party started right!



The giant slide at the MN State Fair is still the best ride at the entire fair! Of course, there are many people who would laugh at such a statement. But let them laugh, and let them die too. At least at the giant slide, there's no chance of mechanical failure or human error. You take your life in your own hands, and not in the hands of some disgruntled fair carny. I've slid down the giant slide since a very young age, and I hope to be sliding down it at the ripe old age of 99! And besides, it's my son Dominick's favorite ride too! Dominick's the smiling young lad at the bottom of the slide.



After sliding on our asses a couple times, we headed on over to Ye Old Mill.



Ye Old Mill is truly a state fair tradition! It's been in operation for 93 years and is still being run by the same family! Ye Old Mill never changes. This is both good and bad. Good, because I don't like change all that much. But bad, because Ye Old Mill probably needed changing right from the start. You see, there's really not much to this ride other than an old wooden boat going through dark musty tunnels on stagnant water.



Oh sure .. Ye Old Mill tries to provide some modest scenes that can be enjoyed along the way, but it's always been minimal and very cheaply thrown together. And I never remember it being any different than that either. And the staged scenery that they do have is obstructed by big ugly grid iron meshing that is supposed to prevent rowdy folks from throwing cups and other debris at the displays.



They'd be better off having nothing there at all. As a small boy, this ride always intrigued me. It was dark and very mysterious to a young mind. Now as an adult, this ride still remains dark and mysterious. And even more so when you ride along with a member of the opposite sex ... if you get my drift? All passengers must keep their hands to themselves unless married!

TO BE CONTINUED ...