WELL….THIS WAS DISAPPOINTING!!!

Pete and I noticed yesterday all the hype for the 50^th anniversary of SNL.  The first ever episode was televised last night at the usual 11:30 time slot.  We are typically in bed by 9:00, awake until 10 PM, so I taped the airing.  We watched it after breakfast this morning.

So…what has happened, are we just too old to enjoy the humor of 50 years ago?  Or, have times changed and what was funny then isn’t so much today?  Or, was the first episode not quite of the same quality as they came to be?  Probably a bit of all. 

Anyway, we sat through the entire airing and laughed just a little.  Checked in with each other “Did you get that?”  “Nope, did you?”  “Nope.” Multiple times.  Even George Carlin, that episode’s host, wasn’t as funny as I remember him from times past. 

In 1975 I was living in Fairbanks and I don’t remember spending much time in front of the TV.  By July of 1975 I was living in Guam, and I don’t remember having a TV, so I may not have even known of SNL for quite a while.  By June of 1976 I was back in Cincinnati and don’t remember initially having a TV back here.  When I do remember SNL, it was always too late at night for me.  I’ve never been a late-night person.

So tonight, at 8PM we are going to watch the 50^th anniversary show of SNL, hope that goes better.  Will let you know!!!!

SUDDEN SURPRISES

Every once in a while, I go digging around in my desk, sometimes looking for something specific, sometimes just looking.

This week, during one of those ‘just looking’ episodes, I found a surprise.  I remember, when I was a kid, less than 9 years old, that quite often Dad would be behind the lens of an 8mm camera, recording whatever was going on.  As an adult, I have a vague memory of Dad handing over those film reels.  And that I eventually had them converted in the VHS tapes and then, later down the road, converted in to CDs. I found one of those this week. 

Its label reads “Ted Hallsted, 8mm film, 1954-1977”.  Of course, I had to watch it.  What a wonderful surprise. 

However they were converted, they definitely were not organized in any way that makes sense.  The first footage to run is of Dad getting into a helicopter and then obviously flying over tundra.  I remember a few years before I moved to Fairbanks in 1973 Dad went to Fairbanks in January.  Seemed a little odd for a guy living in Florida.  He has footage of bank signs in Fairbanks reading -38 degrees.  That’s pretty cold!!  The helicopter footage shows a moose running around and someone dog sledding.

Then the footage skips to another plane ride that looks like it is flying down the Florida Keys, just over the bridges.  There are also images of a Northwest Airlines plane with shots from the window that could be somewhere in northern California, southern Oregon.

From there it goes to Mom’s youngest sister, Barbara’s wedding.  What is hard is that all the family members in the footage are now long gone.  Other footage shows a Hallsted gathering in our home in Lebanon, before we moved to Florida.  The house at 237 North Broadway has been a source of wonderful memories.  A few years ago, I was walking by that house while a party was going on.  Two ladies sitting on the front porch heard me say it was my childhood home and invited me in for a tour.  It was pretty much the same.  Just a new bedroom and bath on the second floor.  More recently the property has been sold and has been converted into a beauty parlor.  I really want to roam through it now, to see what they have done.

Anyway, I could go on and on regarding the footage.  I actually haven’t finished watching it, its just hard, seeing aunts, uncles, cousins who have been gone for many years.  When you grow up in a large extended family and slowly, on both sides, the groups get smaller and smaller, its hard not to miss them.

But I gotta tell you, I’m really glad I found this CD, puts a big smile on my face.