I knew it: I knew the Friendly Giant made more of an impression on our generation than he is given credit for. I came across this cracked-out "Friendly Giant" fan's song/interview. Freaky and... well, freaky. But I can't stop listening: Paranoid Android.
The Friendly Giant was a freaky show. Seriously. It was all mellow and slow and that was just wrong: my child-spidey-radar told me that no grown man was that mellow without being some sort of a creep. I assumed he had an illness that had exiled him to a castle and forced him to only talk to animals - some kind of leprosy of the mind. I figured he was a sex pervert who loved children but wasn't allowed to touch them in their "special places". Eww.
In retrospect, I think it was tailored more for our pot-smoking parents, which my anxiety-ridden parents definitely weren't. (And probably why I didn't get this "mellow" man's charm.)
Oh, flashback: I remember my mom forcing me to watch the Friendly Giant and Mr. Rogers - like it was going to be therapy for my ADD. Hah. Wrong. Never understimulate an ADD person. It's all about overstimulation. Ritalin is speed, you know. Two wrongs making a right-on.
Now, I was all about the Electric Company (and the first Spiderman cartoon - who knew?) The Electric Company was like funky candy for chocolate-deprived white kids, of which I was very much one.
Oh and mom, if you're listening: carob is NOT a chocolate subsitute and you CAN'T replace sugar with apple sauce.
Anyways, even though I wasn't into opium-inspired children's programming, I was totally into the Electric Company. This program was all about the 70s bling fer-snizzle fer-kiddles. Obviously this program was cool: its theme song starts with a yell. I can't find this one song that was always on, but it was funky-to-the-analog-keyboard degree ("analog" seems to be a cache word for the hipsters, so I'm using it).
Where is the funk these days? I started down memory lane, and now realize that my childhood was filled with the funk - funk was where the "proactive" was at:
Spiderman Theme Song
Shazam
Josie and the Pussycats
Where's the funk now? Barney? Teletubbies? Ew. How awful and vapid. Maybe it was a blessing growing up in '70s? Hell, my mom still sports a Scottish afro. How cool is that? Word to the sporran.
(ps This is a beer-drunk post. Does chocolate go well with beer?)
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3 comments:
What chair? The Friendly Giant's stool? Is that what you like? Where's your blog blazer?
ADD, my friend, ADD. I only remember what catches my ever-darting eye; I only retain senses of experience.
My favourite childhood programming has blurred into one good thing - that being the Electric Company. I don't remember the "Love of Chair", but then I am terrible with proper names.
It was all about bugging out to the music when the Electric Kids started dancing... doing sommersaults in the wreck room and getting stitches when you bash your head against the foundation. Or was that "Fame"?
You must send me a link to your blog. I am curiouser and curiouser.
Ah, that is my new years resolution as well: figure out WordPress and Drupal.
An, yes, I have made this a space where I don't have to make sense. I don't "go on"; I just "go off". Keep the random elements in. You know, force the doors of perception to remain open. 9-5 work seems to rust their hinges.
You make sure to send me a link to your blog. Fer serious.
XOXO
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