Thursday, December 14, 2006

All I Want For Christmas

I’ve probably blogged about this before, but hey, I’m allowed to blog about it again if I want, so there. Christmas is a time to remember Christ, family, friends … and of course PRESENTS!!!! We probably all have favorite Christmas memories about favorite presents we received, and I decided I would be kind enough to share with you a few of my favorites (humor me!).

1. The Oscar the Grouch Alarm Clock – For some reason, I remember seeing this in some sort of catalogue as a child, and since I was a big fan of Sesame Street (and an even bigger fan of Oscar the Grouch), I REALLY, REALLY wanted this. My parents were excellent in hiding this from me, saying things like “Santa Claus probably won’t be able to get this present for you.” I was defeated – I figured there was no way I was going to get to wake up to Oscar’s grouchy voice every morning. My parents hid this gift from me and somehow snuck it into my pile of presents at the very end. I remember opening it, and being flushed with excitement and emotion so much that all I could do was hold my head and jump up and down repeatedly for about 5 minutes. For months, Oscar woke me up, and it was truly heaven. But, because I am a klutz, I ended up breaking it somehow. Recently, I searched for this clock on Ebay, and they run for about $200 now – geez!

2. The Atari 2600 – At the time, it was called the Atari VCS … which gives you an idea of how old I am. I loved arcades and arcade machines … I’ve loved them for about as long as I can remember. For instance, I remember going into a department store called Two Guys. They had some sort of primitive racing machine that I was always fixated on. I think my mom allowed me to play it a few times, and I was hooked. You could imagine my excitement when I discovered the Atari 2600 in a Sears catalogue. My cousin Drew and I couldn’t stop talking about it. Again, my mom played one helluva poker hand, saying that the price was too much for a Christmas present (at the time, it was $129). But, Inga did end up buying it for me, and I must’ve played that thing about 10,000 hours (or more). The first game I got (besides Combat, which came with the Atari) was Space Invaders – I swore it was like I had an arcade in my basement (not entirely true, but close enough). It didn’t take me long to find those “secret games” within the games – you would have to flick the game on and off in a certain way to find these games – it was kind of like the first cheat code. I found one with Space Invaders in which I was able to shoot twice as fast (I’ve probably lost most of you with this one).

3. Mr. Quarterback – Sure, looking back on this gift, it was a piece of shite. But, the thought of having my very own “quarterback” throwing me 20 to 30 yard passes was enticing. I couldn’t wait to give it a try. Unfortunately, Mr. Quarterback (which was promoted by that jackass Roger Staubach) only “threw” the football about 5 yards or so … not even a perfect spiral. This is probably why Mr. Quarterback is no longer being sold.

4. The Green Machine – Now, I didn’t actually get this gift, but my two cousins did. I was PISSED! Man, did I want to have the Corvette of big wheels instead of the crappy orange one with yellow wheels that I currently possessed. I’m tellin’ ya, this big wheel was awesome – it reached incredible speeds and one could spin out like Dale Earnhardt with it. I was about as jealous with this one as I was when my cousin Drew got those Zips sneakers (the ones that “made” you run fast – or at least that’s what they said in the commercials).

13 comments:

Kristin said...

Oh man, I had a dollhouse that was just the bomb... it had no people because I thought the little wooden people were ugly, but I would go nuts for all the mini furnishings...

That and an odd collection of small mice dressed in Civil War era clothing...

This is Kristin from Eva Las Vegas and I hate Beta.

Fairmaiden327 said...

#1, #2 - you are killing me.

i refuse to go to beta btw.

charlies angels van was my personally fave followed closely by the barbie head.f

Eric said...

My parents didn't have a ton of money so my sports equipment was always somewhat lacking. I tried not to complain because I knew that stuff was expensive, but when I started to play baseball at a higher level my parents bought me a Rawlings Gold Glove. I swear it had to be made by some Italian craftsmen or something, theres no way leather could ever be formed into a more beautiful product. I loved that f'ing glove. I still have actually but it's beat to hell and totally unusable.

Christina_the_wench said...

I want beer. Lots of it. Oh wait, is this what you wanted as a child? Colorforms then. And more beer.

Liz Dwyer said...

I wanted an Atari so bad and my parents never ever bought me one. I wonder if I'm scarred for life.

Jeff said...

Mr. Quarterback and the Green Machine somehow got turned into Mr. Masturbation and the Brown Machine. (There's a joke about you going to Woody's in there somewhere.)

Maybe this will be the year Santa finally brings you an affinity for ham.

Superstar said...

When I was a kid...I BEGGED for a piano... then the next thing that I really wanted so bad that I couldn't stand it was the barbi deram house. I wanted it so bad I shoveled walks and driveways in the neighborhood...OMG that reminds me. Can you imagine kids doing that today? BAWAAHHAAAAA!!!!

Steph said...

My parents bought my brother a Green Machine one year and i whinged and whined that badly for one, i got it on my next birthday.
I think i was 8. ;)

GM-Carson said...

I want the Bubble Bobble arcade game...runs about $500, but that's really all I want. Oh wait, damn I want XM radio too for the baseball games...I'm a greedy bastard.

snowelf said...

That Oscar Alarm Clock part had me rolling!!

Merry Christmas, Los. I hope you get everything you want this year. :)

--snow

The Rev said...

test

The Rev said...

This is the first time I've been able to comment here in a while.

Blogger is fucked up.

Los said...

Kristin - Mice in civil war clothing? Oddly enough, I'm intrigued!

FM - The Barbie Head? Is that the one where you applied makeup to it and styled her hair? That would probably freak me out.

Eric - I think I only had a Franklin baseball glove ... certainly a few levels below Rawlings, but I loved it - it was blue and silver (I choose to think Penn State colors, and not Dallas colors).

Christina - I remember Colorforms! I also loved Lite Brite ... but always lost the little thingies.

Liz - The Atari was awesome at the time ... although not many of the games hold up anymore (although Pitfall still rules!).

Jeff - Ho-Ho ... very funny.

Superstar - No kids work for their stuff anymore ... I remember shoveling snow, so that I could buy the Rolling Stones Hot Rocks cassettes.

Stpeh - Once my cousin got the Green Machine, I could no longer compete in the Big Wheel circuit.

C&C - I LOVED Bubble Bobble for the Commodore 64 ... that and Lode Runner.

Snow Elf - I think my parents may still have the alarm clock somewhere ... I'd love to see if I could fix it.

Rev - No doubt!!!