Tag: nostalgia

THE FINAL ALMA MATER IN AN ABANDONED SCHOOL

I went to an auction this past weekend.. a bit of an emotional roller coaster sort of began and ended at the right time in my life.. at the moment when I understand things better than before.. at a point where I can forgive, forget, and focus nostalgic memories when needed for perspective.

I went to the great auction of Cardinal Brennan Jr/Sr/ High School in Fountain Springs, PA.. my alma mater.. the place I called home for four short years ending with a graduation as the century turned in 1999.. You may know I already went to this school, I wrote a more in depth posting about my thoughts a few weeks ago..

To give a quick history.. the school was once for all women. It changed to a Catholic high school later.. it housed my antics… and the diocese of Allentown PA chose to close the school in 2007..

Years later–this year–North Schuylkill, the district the vacant building resides in, bought it .. some considered it sold for pennies on the dollar. Others felt it was an investment gone wrong.

Today there was a public auction.. and a Betsy Ross piano was included. I just about walked away bidding on this for $1 … My failure become notable when I got into a bidding war with a fellow piano lover.. I gave up after the price went too high ($120, however.. perhaps not too high for a baby grand) .. Nonetheless, before I left the building, I had one last shot to dish out a song.. And what better one to choose than the Cardinal Brennan high school Alma Mater..

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fj4YkRQAhyE?version=3&rel=1&fs=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&wmode=transparent]

That’s me.. I quick put my iPhone in a spot where it could record myself..

I am proudly boasting and will always relish in this fact: I was the final person who had the chance to blast out the school alma mater on a piano in this building. Forever. It will never happen again. The ghosts of the past perhaps had one last chance to sing their praise.. or maybe those ghosts have been gone for a long time anyway.

We sing our praise to alma mater the school we all love.
We raise heart and voice in joyous acclaim.
We cherish you and all you teach us.
Blue and gold your colors our fame.
We will be true to the ideals that are strong heritage.
From on high you reign our true beacon light;
Now let’s sing out in happy chorus.
Praise to our dear school,
Cardinal Brennan High!

Nonetheless, that is this video.. that is this song..
That’s the show, folks.
School is out. Forever.

November 17, 2015
VHS Vault Invokes Video Nostalgia For Horror Movie Streaming Site

VHS Vault Invokes Video Nostalgia For Horror Movie Streaming Site:

I love this statement from the TECHDIRT site:

The VHS Vault is an ode to ‘80s and ’90s reverie, from the Reagan-era, scare-inciting titles it proffers (Day of the Dead, Adjust Your Tracking, Night of the Demons and more) to the site itself, designed as if it’s straight from 1998, complete with a traffic counter, low pixel GIFs and the quintessential Dancing Baby.

I had those nights in high school–as VHS became DVDs but still not streamed.. we popped movies in. Had popcorn, or soda, or pizza.. and laughed often times until sunrise. Horror movies all night. Bad horror movies.. complete with MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER style sarcasm from friends and me as well.

I know there is always a melancholy attempt to bring back nostalgia. But nothing will ever be like those summer nights of horror again. HALLOWEEN 3 and CARNIVAL OF SOULS.. they are two movies I can’t watch again. I want to keep them in the past, on one of those magical nights, and let them sit in memory. In posterity. In nostalgia.

I applaud anyone attempting to bring back the VHS ‘vault.’ But it’s just not going to be the same..

October 23, 2015
Famous last words and midlife turns

On a yearly basis I post the song linked with this published HORROR REPORT today, September 2, 2015. My birthday.. I don’t remind readers of this for selfish reasons. As a matter of fact, I purposely ‘hide’ this information on my personal Facebook page simply because I don’t want to navigate the ‘Happy birthday” or “hope you have a…

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September 2, 2015
Lucy wants XENA

Lucy Lawless is positive about a XENA reboot.. she’d love to see it happen..

MORE..

“If there’s anything current going on, we’re not involved — we being me, Rob [Tapert and] Sam [Raimi],” she told EW.com on Friday at the Television Critics Association summer press tour in Beverly Hills. “But [NBC] could be doing it without us; they have the right to, don’t they? … I’d love to see it happen and I know that NBC wants to do it, but they’re just trying to find a way and a time.”
“I really couldn’t live that life,” she told the site. “I look back, I’ve got all sort of wear and tear from that lifestyle. That’s just what happens to human bodies when they get used a certain way a lot. I actually couldn’t do it. I’m 47, but there’s somebody great out there.”

August 3, 2015
The striking thing about the 9/11 photos

The National Archives released 350 photos in a Friday history dump .. Those pictures presented the never before behind the scenes imagery of what Bush Administration officials were doing during and after 9/11..

There are scenes of Dick Cheney with his feet on his desk, old style computer and phone cords abounding, watching the World Trade Center burn on in computer.. There is one shot of Cheney and Condi Rice staring at papers.. One image of President Bush shows him with a look of fatigue and almost confusion on his face while speaking to aides:

x x x

The pictures were released after a FIOA request was filed for old images–the pictures are being used in a Kirk Documentary being produced by Colette Neirouz Hanna.
You can see all of the images released here on the National Archives FLICKR account: https://www.flickr.com/photos/usnationalarchives/sets/72157656213196901/with/19917058105/

I had a gut reaction when I saw the images.
I recalled my own plight and where I was in life during 9/11 immediately.. I recalled being 21 by only 9 days when the attacks occurred.. I remember racing to my computer and updating my website with news of the event. There are a million more bits of memory I recall from that day, ending with Art Bell signing onto to Coast to Coast with open lines of people mourning the Americans continent’s horrorshow .. I am sure many who see the photos will recount the entire day again, play it in their head over and over.. What we saw that day, regardless of the whos whats or whys, was tragic and also had an indelible effect on the psyche of those who lived during it and in the aftermath of it..

The other striking thing about the photos: The lack of the President .. It is quite apparent that the bunker Cheney found himself in was where the action was. The decisions were being made. This is where that choice was rendered to shoot down a plane–though we are told that shootdown did not occur..

At the time, I presume, many of these photos were taken, Bush was zigzagging across America and being told not to land in D.C. If you recall reports of that day, we were told that the President wanted to return to Washington but was told it was too dangerous, finally getting back to the White House that night shortly before his 8pm address to the nation from the Oval Office. In the photos released by the Archives, we see a man on a mission and on in charge: Not the President, but Dick Cheney calling the shots.

In all fairness, the FIOA request is focusing on Cheney in the aftermath of 9/11.. But that is the other amazing part: How Cheney seemingly was in charge after 9/11.

I think history will explicate a very different story from any narrative presented in the past 14 years (14 years already…Think about that, as well.)
I can envision a future history book that is able to be presented (probably not on paper) taking into account all of the upcoming revelations about 9/11 that are sure to be seen as secret papers and files, photos and briefings, become releasable after enough years go by.

I also think that regardless of when they are released–14 years or 40 years from now–the people who are alive who witnessed 9/11 will have the same visceral reaction any time they see the grainy images and antiquated technology presented in photos of officials from that fateful day on a beautiful September morning, 2001.

July 26, 2015
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIslFC9-kTQ?feature=oembed&enablejsapi=1&origin=http://safe.txmblr.com&wmode=opaque&w=250&h=141]

For wrestling fans, this may be a troubling video to see–or inspirational. The legendary Bobby the Brain Heenan showing it still has “it” even though his medical condition, clearly, has become worse as time ticks on..

June 3, 2015
Empty restaurants and quiet streets

My life has changed considerably since the carefree days of my early 20s.. I am not saying that is a negative thing, but just instead a product of growing.. Interestingly, there are times I go back and see even what I posted on the HORROR REPORT about 10 years back, and really not much has changed in that regard.. It’s my personal life where the most has occurred..

When you’re a dad, and your wife is a mom, you’re tired by ten and rarely get the chance to get out of the house.. date nights are a dime a dozen, and even when they take place you’re mostly worried for the last half of it about how your child is doing at home with whoever is watching..

There are other times though where a simple act of driving can open the floodgates of memories.. Last night, a simple act like that did happen. Around 9, I got extremely hungry for food from a little place called Hollywood Pizza in Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania–I name it because you should consider it if you’re ever in a zip code nearby, it’s some of the greatest pizza that is eaten on the crust of the planet.. Before I digress into a litany of food related statements, let me get back to my drive.. It was 9pm, cold as hell–if that’s possible–and the streets were empty. Only 9pm on a Friday night? Empty? It was so quiet I could hear the electricity surge through the lines above me, that faint and dull hum that comes with it filled the night air with some form of noise..

Bars were empty, it seemed..
Even the restaurant I picked my food up was without customers most of the night..
And my nostalgia hit.. I recalled very similar nights in my early 20s, with friends, walking on a cold street into a watering house or food establishment.. I remember the laughter and the strange things we’d do, trying to act as adults when we needed to but still refrain from adulthood when we could.. I was fond of those times, though nostalgia normally shields your memory from the boring nights or horrid times..

What confounds me is this: On Thanksgiving night, while driving home from a family dinner, I witnessed with my own eyes how busy malls and Walmarts were. But that seemed to change on Friday.. I doubt that Black Friday sales will be as good as what was expected..

Last night, I was further shocked to see so little of life outside at night. I understand that this could be a product of my area, perhaps just a little hole in a wall town without people outside.. I am sure cities had bars packed with patrons.. Right?

I am actually beginning to consider the possibility that people have evolved away from enjoying night life .. It seems that once nightfall comes, house doors and windows get locked and computers go on, people slip away from life to peruse Facebook for too many hours or play Farm Heroes way too long. The watering house always has empty seats.. We are choosing virtual reality over reality..

I am 34 this year.. While some may consider that young, I feel old. Joints are aching and my body is aging. Then again, friends and family remind me often that I shared those same complaints with them at 24. Things have changed greatly in ten years.. And with changes comes fond memories of times past.. Nostalgia..

But is nostalgia a good thing? And even more, what is it? Smell and touch can bring it back.. short little snippets of sayings may inspire it.. times of the year often hit you with it.. But it can also be deceptive.. people can be turn a dark past into a bright memory with a bit of falsehood in a brain. I try to explain this to people, often without success, but I get very nostalgic on 9/11 each year.. Not because I enjoyed watching 3000 people die, but because I turned 21 and recall the immense patriotism after 9/11 in 2001. Nostalgia can trick you ..

There is a study I recall reading that nostalgia is more present when you are lonely or sad. Last night, while I walked a lonely sidewalk under a street light to get my meal, perhaps that is exactly what I was feeling. After all, here it was, a Friday night, and I heard no music. No laughter.. nothing. Just dimly lit bars without customers. And hell, even a crowded barroom is a lonely place.. Just picture a taproom void of people..

Perhaps this generation growing is the last that will encounter social life in the same way we know it to exist. . ? Maybe those virtual reality worlds will give us the sense of companionship we desire? Perhaps we can program it into us..? Maybe the future will come complete with an adroid robot sex doll for our love and a headset and computer for social experimentation.

And if that is the case, how will nostalgia work in the future? What will people reminiscent about ?

The good old days weren’t ever that good.
Tomorrow is not as bad as it seems. Billy Joel sang that long before we thought that..
And those two statements make sense now..

Crowded and smoky barrooms of my 20s weren’t great. They were repulsive many times, and by 2am a complete insult to humanity itself.
And tomorrow, the future, really won’t be as bad..

Right?

November 29, 2014