My Top 10 Favorite Kung Fu movies

I’ve been on a Kung Fu kick (gosh, look at me with the clever word play, thank you) lately.  Between the great Shaw Bros sets (and some Golden Harvest titles) that Arrow Video and Shout Factory have been releasing recently; along with Region A-friendly individual Shaw Bros titles from 88 Films; a surprising handful of releases from the Criterion Collection; the upcoming Bruceploitation box sets from Severin (can’t wait!); and Eureka Entertainment soon-to-be releasing Region A-friendly titles from their catalog (there better be a Region A-friendly release of Duel to the Death!!!), it’s been pretty great getting back into a genre of films I’ve enjoyed since first discovering them in my youth on TV’s Kung Fu Theater in the early/mid-1980’s.  At that time, ninjas and The Karate Kid (my all-time favorite martial arts-related film – but it’s not Kung Fu!) were big deals to 10-year olds like me – but little did I know back then, those were Japanese-influenced martial arts – whereas Kung Fu is China-based.  Not that any of that really matters to me, because, regardless of their origins, they’re both kickass to watch.

So, like I said, there are various boutique labels putting out great, restored, blu-rays now for those of us who prefer physical media (like myself).  However, there are so many more great Kung Fu films from the 1970’s and 80’s that deserve to be preserved for future generations with proper restorations in their original aspect ratios.  I say that because One – it’s a fact, Jack; and Two – though there are plenty of vintage Kung Fu films readily available on streaming services such as Tubi, PlutoTV, Plex, GoogleTV, and perhaps my favorite – the Wu Tang CollectionYouTube channel (seriously, whoever the person or persons are who run that channel, they are truly doing the Lord’s work in making so many rare Kung Fu gems available to view again) – sadly, the vast majority of the films available on these streaming services are just old, unrestored, pan-and-scan versions – similar to how they were seen on TV, back in the 80’s, on shows like Kung Fu Theater.   On the one hand, it adds a little nostalgia to the viewing experience for those of us who were around in the 80’s; on the other hand, it just shows that we’re only getting to see roughly 55% of what we really should be seeing (most Kung Fu films were shot in the wide 2:35 aspect ratio…even the shitty ones), and at a far inferior image and sound quality to what these films deserve.  (UPDATE: March 29, 2024...I recently found an amazing TV show called Dracula's Kung Fu Theatre...the host of the show is the funniest damn Dracula ever and he shows an old school Kung Fu movie every week on VHS - it's like Svengoolie, but this guy is a million times funnier.  The "Glamour Shot" T-shirt for sale on the site will be mine - it's so damn funny!  Though I'm not on Facebook, I did find that the show also has a public Facebook page...funny videos on there too.  Ok, end of Update.)

That ranting and rambling aside, I’d like to share what are currently my Top 10 favorite Kung Fu movies.  Granted, I haven’t even come close to seeing every Kung Fu movie ever made, so this list could very well change in the future…will I take the time to update this list if it does change?...meh, probably not – so this will be a snapshot in time.

I just (re)discovered the fantastic Felicity Jones…

 I recently got around to finally seeing 2014’s TheTheory of Everything (yep, I’m only 9 years behind the times) – damn good movie!  Who knew the life of Stephen Hawking would produce such a sweet/bittersweet love story?  The charm of that love story really came from the chemistry and talent of the two stars – Eddie Redmayne (Stephen Hawking) and Felicity Jones (Jane Wilde/Hawking) – whatever nominations/awards they received, they 100% deserved.  I really enjoyed the early parts of the movie when they were in college together - it put a genuine smile on my face.   

There were a couple of other parts that made me chuckle and flat out laugh as well…

First, when the Jonathan character shows up and shows a clear interest in Jane, Stephen is looking at him like “Who the hell are you moving in on my woman?  If I could get out of this wheelchair, I’d create a new black hole with my foot in your ass!”; and then later, when the character of Elaine shows up and shows a clear interest in Stephen, Jane is looking at her like “Bitch, who the hell are you moving in on my man?  I’ll come at you like a spider monkey!”  But, eventually, proving that real life is indeed crazier than fiction, Jane ended up with Jonathan, and Stephen ended up with Elaine.

Second, there were two great scenes that showed Stephen Hawking – genius mind though he was – was also just a regular ol’ guy as well…

October Spookiness - My 5 Favorite "Tales of the Weird" YouTube Channels

October is back again for 31 whole days, and that means one thing - the internet will be chock-full of "31 Days of Horror" movie, book, etc., lists.  However, since I don't have that level of dedication (this is my first blog post in over two years after all...man, I can't believe I still have a blog...but I digress), I'd like to instead share my 5 favorite YouTube channels that specialize in Tales of the Weird, the Spooky, the Unexplained, and whatever other words are used for those stories that either make your jaw drop with an incredulous "What the F--k?!" exclamation, or make your eyes roll with a "What a load of Sh-t" utterance.  Either way, it's always entertaining.

What I love about these types of tales is the whole "Gather 'round the campfire folks, you won't believe the story I have to tell!" vibe...and these 5 YouTube Channels capture that vibe perfectly.

Congrats to Elon Musk and SpaceX (and NASA) for getting US back into space!

[UPDATE 2-7-2025: Memo to Elon and your ignorant far-right buddies (fyi, far-left people are idiots too) - try and take a free moment from jerking each other off and stroking each other's egos and listen - if there's one thing we real Americans are good at, it's killing Nazis...and there's no amount of money that will save your sorry asses for disrespecting our WWII veterans and our freedoms they fought and died for.  Anytime you throw around Nazi signs and slogans, you're basically spitting on the graves of the brave folks in our country, and all countries, who had to fight those brainwashed fools. I suggest you remember that.

With that said, thumbs up on identifying and eliminating government waste and fraud - keep up the great work there.  

Eliminate the shady Military Industrial Complex while you're at it - I'm so sick of their control over our elected decision makers who (after having their pockets lined) then lead us into situations where we ultimately look like two-faced backstabbers, which then leads to more countries being pissed at us - which in turn, leads to more lucrative business for the Military Industrial Complex...cycle continues ad nauseam.  And we, normal everyday real Americans, end up paying the price for it while a group of douchebags, here and around the world, get super rich.  Fucking sick of it.

But anyway, knock off that disgusting Nazi bullshit - NOW!]

____________________________________________________

I gotta say it, Elon Musk inspires the hell out of me (and makes me feel like I'm wasting my life at the same time).

The manned Falcon 9/Dragon launch which took place today - which took many talented people to accomplish for sure - still needed a spark and focal point of inspiration to get started and see the journey through - and there's no other greater spark in the world right now than Elon Musk. Period.  Statues will be erected of this guy when all is said and done.  Jeff Bezos might be "richer", but Elon Musk is more "valuable" (his Paypal creation isn't my kind of thing, but what an amazing springboard that led to his current companies - the innovations coming from Tesla; Boring/Hyperloop; and SpaceX are just amazing...we all can dream - that's easy; but he makes them come true - that's hard).

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker - fantastic emotional rollercoaster

Just got back from seeing the final Star Wars film in the saga I grew up with since 1977...man...it made me feel my feelings in a public place.  I was wiping away tears at the end...what can I say, I love Star Wars.

I was very satisfied with this end installment - though, I'm prob one of the few who have loved every episode of this sequel trilogy (loved Rogue One and Solo too!).  All of the performances were top-notch with great moments of humor, sadness, and inspiration (even though there was some clunky dialogue - hey, it's Star Wars!).

The Force Awakens refreshingly brought back the fun and feel of the Original Trilogy; The Last Jedi followed it up with an enriching "thinking-man's" Star Wars which, apparently, was too much of a challenge for lesser minds with loud voices to handle; and now, The Rise of Skywalker, though dumbing things back down a bit, finished everything off with a fantastic emotional rollercoaster ride that never let up for a second.  Whew!  Good stuff!

With that said, let's get into some spoiler-ific details - continue on at your own risk...

Star Wars Rogue One: A lifelong Star Wars geek's dream come true

I just saw Star Wars: Rogue One today and I'm just beside myself with geeky glee!  I loved last year's Episode VII: The Force Awakens, which brought the fun back to Star Wars with it's mix of classic and new characters, but this new stand-alone film was truly made by Star Wars nerds for life-long Star Wars nerds like myself who grew up with, and loved, the Original Trilogy.  I can't believe some of the things I just saw in this movie!


I'm going to get spoilery, so if you haven't seen the movie yet - run away, far away, from this page!


Still here?  Ok, I warned you!

Renaissance - yet another example of great music from the 1970's

The easiest way for me to explain the band Renaissance is this: if the band Yes had an artsy sister, Renaissance would be her name.  Let me explain...


Both are considered (amazing) prog/symphonic/art rock bands who created some absolute epic pieces of music; both have amazing keyboard players (Yes primarily has heavy synthesizer work with classical piano sprinkled in; Renaissance primarily has heavy classical piano work with synthesizer sprinkled in); both prominently feature powerful and intricate bass playing; both bands keep the drum work in the shadows so to speak - meaning, there really aren't any memorable drum beats that pop out at you in either group's songs; Renaissance (with the exception of Prologue) utilize acoustic guitar on their albums for a softer sound, while Yes features a heavy dose of electric guitar (by the amazing Steve Howe) for a more aggressive sound; and for vocals, Yes features the male lead of Jon Anderson (great lyricist as well), while Renaissance features a female lead singer (the unbelievable Annie Haslam supplying the ear candy...I can't even put into proper words how great of a voice she has) which provides a naturally softer vibe to their songs - though still as powerful as any male lead.


The run of albums that Renaissance put out from 1972 - 1977 (5 Studio / 1 Live) are some of the best of any group, of any genre, during that time period - and that's saying something considering the amazing sounds being released by all artists during that time frame. 


Let's just go in order...

The Sweet - amazing 70's Rock in all it's crazy glory!

Throughout 2014 and 2015, I was obsessed with the Electric Light Orchestra - I just couldn't go a day without listening to some of Jeff Lynne and Co.'s magical creations.  As the calendar was changing from 2015 to 2016, I kept hearing songs from a band called "Sweet" on two of my favorite satellite radio stations in the car - Classic Vinyl and 70's on 7.  They played a song called "Little Willy", and I thought - well, that was a catchy tune.  Then, I heard their two more well-known US hits, "Ballroom Blitz" and "Fox on the Run".  Again, I liked what I heard, but it still wasn't enough to make me go "Holy shit! I need to hear more!". 


However, I then heard their song from 1975 called "Action" - and, yes, the "Holy shit!" moment was had.  I couldn't believe what I was hearing - these guys sounded like a harder rocking version of Queen!  I do love me some crazily overdubbed vocal harmonies!


So, since the beginning of 2016, I moved to get my hands on everything I could from this band called "The Sweet" or "Sweet" (I really don't know what their official name is, so I just call them "The Sweet"...sounds more dramatic with the "The").  Also, before I go into my ramblings, run (don't walk!) to their official YouTube site - it's an absolute treasure trove of awesomeness!  They've recently put up a few videos from a live performance they did back in 1974 on the legendary German music show called Musikladen.  It's.so.fucking.amazing!  Their performance of a song called "No You Don't" is so kickass, I actually got mad at myself for living all these years and only now finding out about this band.


Ok, let my new-fanboy ramblings begin...

KC Royals are...

WORLD CHAMPIONS!!!!


ROYYYYYYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLS!


Hyperventilating - need paper bag!

UPDATE: 11-3-2015

A buddy of mine sent the picture below to me, and I thought it was the perfect retort to "Thor"'s tough guy talk during the Series.  I'll never get tired of seeing a knuckle dragger, who talks tough and acts intimidating, get put in their place.

I just can't stop spinning the vinyl...

Man, I’m really enjoying my new vinyl setup.  Building upon my boring ramblings in the previous month’s post, I think I’m going to continue on with some more vinyl record goodness.  Over the course of the past month and a half or so, I’ve learned 3 things about myself:

1. I really enjoy cleaning records in my SpinClean.  I can’t explain it really – I wash my car, my clothes, my dishes, I clean my house, I keep my yard tidy – and I hate doing every single one of those things.  Yet, cleaning records is enjoyable.  There’s just something about turning an old, dusty, smudgy record into a gleaming, grooved jewel; gently placing it on the turntable hoping for the best; and then hearing the sweet, fresh sounds fill the room.  It’s like I played a part in bringing it to life.  It’s like…I’m Clark Griswold standing atop my very own Family Truckster and softly, yet proudly, proclaiming - “50 yards!”
2. I’ve still got a bit of a competitive streak in me.  I hate to lose as much as the next guy, but hey, at my age I’ve learned to accept my limitations.  However, after getting snaked in the closing seconds of a few Ebay auctions involving some choice classic rock records – ooooooooh shit-fire!…I ate lightning, and crapped thunder on the auctions that came after. I. Was. Not. Going. To. Lose. Again. *deep breath* *find happy place* - and I didn’t…not sure that was a good thing though.
3. Remember what I just wrote in #2?  Yeah, I went a little overboard.  I mean, it wasn’t exactly Sherman’s fiery march on the South or anything, but I’ve had to push myself away from the record-buying table for a while…I like ramen noodles and all, but I don’t want to have to eat them exclusively for the next month or two.

So, I figured I would now do some mini-reviews on just a handful of the albums I’ve acquired so far. 

In my previous post, I mentioned the Black Sabbath and Queen collections – I’ve listened to them all now, and have even acquired some alternate Queen pieces to boot.  However, I think I’ll review all of those in a future post – it’ll be a doozy!  I’ll also include my somewhat frustrated feelings toward the Beatles albums I’ve acquired; as well as the happy, yet crazy, experiences with my Led Zeppelin acquisitions.  Speaking of Led Zeppelin, I’m happy to hear that a whole new round of re-mastered vinyl is coming out (fingers crossed the sound quality is kickass), because traversing through their original vinyl pressings jungle is just nutty – there are so many different pressings, and the sound quality varies depending on what pressing you have.  Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if someone came along with the following info. – “Dude, the copy of Led Zeppelin IV you really want will have a “WF” code on the label, with the words “You’re surrounded” hand-etched in the deadwax.  If you play the album backwards at 45rpm and you start to smell peanut butter and hear a weasel fart, you’ll unlock the hidden 5.1 surround sound out of the record grooves!  Duuuuuuude, it’s the best version!”.  Yep, it’s that ridiculous.  Anyway, more of my Led Zeppelin adventures in a future post…

Now, the albums I’d like to talk about in this post are as follows:

I've just taken my first step into a larger vinyl record world...

Thine ears have heard the glory of the sound of music – no, I’m not referring to that old movie about the Von Trapp family *rolls eyes* - rather, good ol’ vinyl records. 

I love music…all kinds of music...it re-energizes me.  Additionally, I would say about 95% or so of my favorite music was recorded during the pre-digital days, so I had been itching to go back and listen to vinyl records and their analog sound again.  There were two things holding me back though: 1) the vinyl records that I remembered hearing back in the day never really impressed me sound-wise because we never had a fancy sound system, plus I was too young to really appreciate good audio recordings anyway (I listened to crappy 8-tracks and cassettes for pete’s sake!) – and – 2) I’m rather frugal by nature, and the thought of buying new equipment and re-buying expensive albums I already owned on CD/mp3, made me a bit hesitant to say the least – though the collector in me had been wanting my favorite albums on vinyl anyway just to have.

Well, after feeling a bit down and stressed with life (why I get that way, I don’t know, I actually have a lot to be thankful for) I needed a bit of a pick-me-up.  So, I took the plunge and jumped (in a budget-friendly way) straight into the deep end of the vinyl pool.  I got a turntable, decent cart/needle, phono amp, SpinClean record cleaner, and a handful of new and old albums, and started my journey into a whole new/old world of sound.

And what an amazing new/old world it is!!!

As a frequent lurker on the various “audiophile” sites/forums, the two constant themes you hear in regards to vinyl’s superiority over the CD/mp3 format is: “warmth” and “dynamic range” of the soundscape.  As two examples in response to that I thought - “Well, I’m really happy with the sound quality of my Ozzy-era Black Sabbath Deluxe Edition/Remastered 2009 CD’s from the UK Sanctuary label, as well as my 2011 Remastered CD’s of the Queen albums from the 70’s…is a vinyl recording really better than those?”.  There is a fair amount of “vinyl snobbery” on those sites, so I had to separate the “wheat from the chaff”, so to speak, in the information I was taking in.  Anyway, as my first vinyl purchases, I went and bought all 8 of the Ozzy-era Black Sabbath albums that Rhino recently re-issued on 180 gram vinyl from a site called Acoustic Sounds.  These albums had received good reviews on those same audiophile sites; the original UK pressings, as much as I would love to have them, are a bit too pricey for me.  On Ebay, I was lucky to happen upon a set of original Canadian pressings of the Queen albums from the 70’s (News of the World wasn’t included though, dang it!) at a good price, so I went for it (also, the sound quality of the old Canadian pressings seem to be held in the same high regard as the old UK pressings).  After a cleaning in the ol’ Spin Clean record cleaner, they all looked fantastic.  So, how did these new/old vinyl albums sound?...

The magic of vintage Star Wars toys...

Grab a nice beverage, get cozy, and settle in for a post that meanders into odd places a bit more than I thought it would when I began writing it…

I really like documentaries.  I think I first became a fan of documentaries after seeing Ken Burns’ The Civil War many years ago (heck, I even bought the DVD set).  So, not only have I since watched everything I could get my hands on that Mr. Burns has done (thanks, Netflix, for helping me accomplish this!) but I also now love watching all sorts of things by other folks – there’s nothing like watching something that’s both entertaining and educational *cue a cheezy, old Saturday-morning “The More You Know” and “Knowledge is Power” moment*.  Honestly, if I were to ever meet Ken Burns, I’d probably transform from a calm-normal-dude to giggly-teenage-girl-meeting-some-lame-boy-band…I mean, c’mon, he made the fucking Dust Bowl interesting!  But I digress…

I’m a life-long Star Wars nerd.  My earliest childhood memory goes back to the day when I first saw Star Wars at the old Glenwood Theater here in town.  I don’t remember many details (mainly just R2-D2 and C-3PO walking through the desert, and the Jawa’s), but my mom tells me I sat still for the entire 2 hours (which apparently was a first for me), wide-eyed the whole time.  The following year, the amazing Star Wars universe that had only existed on screen and in storybook photos opened up and sucked me in as Kenner released toys(!) from the movie.  With these toys and my imagination, I could now re-create scenes from the movie and create all sorts of my own amazing adventures!

My first Star Wars toys were received on my 4^th birthday.  Additionally, my baby-sitter was a wizard cake-maker, and for that birthday she created what is still my all-time favorite cake – a miniature R2-D2!!!  Check out two of my old photos from that glorious day many years ago (along with my added commentary):

Odd Bedtime Thoughts...

During the day, I go about my business in a normal way just like anyone else…and if I can make someone smile or laugh at some point during any day – great; if I can make myself laugh, even better.  As much as we may try to concentrate and absorb only the “good” in the world, we’re also still constantly bombarded by all the crap, ridiculousness, and head-scratching stupidity of the world – though we may try to ignore it for sake of sanity, we still absorb it too.

Case in point, almost every time my head hits the pillow at night to go to sleep (even if I’m dead tired), my brain says – “Hey! Not so fast!  We have some weird things/issues to ponder over!”).  Ugh! Ok.  It’s at this point that I’ll start to think about various things that usually involve the classic taboo conversation subjects – politics, religion, morality, money.  I just don’t know if I want to share any of those thoughts…as we all know, opinions are like assholes – we all have one and we think ours is the only one that doesn't stink.

Though, other times, it’ll just be weird things that pop into my head – for example:  If the word “Boo!” wasn’t associated with ghosts, would it still startle us when we heard it?  Has anyone ever heard of a ghost actually saying “Boo!”?  Also, why do people who say they don’t believe in ghosts also still get startled when they hear the word “Boo!”?  Hmmmm?  Yeah, stuff like this is what delays my nighttime slumber.

Other times, I start to envision myself in ridiculous scenarios – for example:  

Believe It...or Not! - Just realized I'm in my very own WABAC machine...

My house isn't filled with countless gears, buttons, switches, or blinking lights, but based on what I've been enjoying lately, I think I may have inadvertently created my very own WABAC machine... 

Current reason I'm thankful for being literate
A Curious Man: The Strange and Brilliant Life of Robert "Believe It or Not!" Ripley - I've always been a big Ripley's fan, though as a young kid in the early 80's, I actually thought Jack Palance was "Ripley" since he was the one who hosted the show.  Anyway, a biography on this guy's fascinating life was long overdue, but it was worth the wait - Neal Thompson has created a fantastic read!  I'm not even done with it yet, and it's already one of my favorites.  The early 20th century world still held so many secrets,

New Volbeat - Hard Rock/Metal have a gunfight with Spaghetti Westerns



Denmark's Volbeat are currently my favorite hard rock/metal group going right now (sidenote: when the legendary original Black Sabbath (minus Bill Ward - still pissed over that) return with their new album on June 11th, all the current whipper-snappers of hard rock/metal will "kneel before Zod"!...just saying).  What I like about Volbeat is that they're not your run-of-the-mill rock band...they take some of their favorite genres of old music and give it a new, metallic, twist.  They're sometimes referred to as "Elvis Metal" - not sure I agree with that (I hear more Johnny Cash at times), but then again, I'm a super (duper!) Elvis nerd so I refuse any dilution or twisting of The King.  Anyway, Volbeat's entire catalog is great, though I must admit each of their previous albums are a bit uneven - there will be a few really kickass numbers, then a few "fillers", then a few more kickass numbers. 

However, their latest Spaghetti Western-inspired album is fantastic from the opening track to the finale!  Perhaps their inspiration for this album is why I like it so much:
A.  I'm a big fan of Spaghetti Westerns
B.  I'm a

Feeling warm on a cold day...

This morning on the local news, they had a report that was pretty damn cool.  It was about a blind dog who had his own guide dog...I had never heard of that before!  Was this common?  Had I been living under some sort of ignorant rock?  Apparently, I had been, to some degree.  I got on YouTube to see if there were any other videos like this and - yep, there were more examples of heartwarming tales like the one I saw this morning.

Besides the ones featuring one dog leading another dog around, there were even examples of a cat leading a blind dog around.  But the one that really got me was the story below (looks to have originally aired about a year ago):

Awkward Family Photos...so hilariously good!

Ok, I know this site has been around awhile - but, better late than never, I gotta say it - Awkward Family Photos is the best!  It's one of my favorite sites right now - never fails to make me laugh...and not just a little "ha-ha" giggle either; rather, more often than not, a full-blown, "Oh shit! I can't catch my breath and I'm about to stroke out!" tear-filled, thunderous guffaw!

Those pictures...Jesus.  Then the captions/stories underneath...so good. 

An "Alien Grey" head in new Mars photo?

Ok, so I'm checking out the new hi-res photo from the Mars Curiosity rover over at NASA's JPL site.  I'm scanning around, taking in all the little rocks and surface features - marveling at it all (yeah, I'm a nerd, I know), half expecting to see R2-D2 and C-3PO walking around out there - it looks a bit Tatooine-ish after all.  Well, anyway, I'm scanning the picture and I have to do a double-take.  I can't believe what I'm seeing as I burst out in laughter (wasn't drinking anything so it was a dry laugh - monitor and keyboard stayed liquid-free).

Curiosity begins (and continues) on Mars!

Yes!  Success!  The Mars Curiosity rover is on the ground!  A few black and white pics have already come back and I can't wait for all the pics and info. sure to come.  Congrats to all the incredibly bright men and women involved with this project - y'all are amazing!

Man, that was exciting!

Ok - now - let's continue the Mars exploration and (someday) colonization of the red planet.  But also - let's get a big-ass drill sent to Jupiter's moon, Europa, so we can peer underneath its vast sheets of ice and see what kind of ocean is lurking beneath.

Reminiscing about my favorite girl…

Sometimes people come into our life and have such a profound impact in such a short time with just their “being”, that – even though we may not get to spend as much time with them as we would like or even get to know as much about them as we would like – at some point, we just have to sit back, accept, and appreciate that somehow, for some reason, we were deemed special enough to be blessed by someone truly special – even if just for a moment that is quite fleeting in the whole scheme of things.

In the Fall of 1980, when I started 1^st grade, just such a special person came into my life only to exit far too soon when I moved away in the Summer of 1983 after the end of 3^rd grade.  She had long brown hair; big brown eyes; a beaming smile that could light the darkest of Grinch souls; and an angelic niceness tempered with a heaping helping of sass and cleverness to keep one in line (which I needed at times).  Her name…Melissa VanOsdol.  Such a powerful, unbridled joy I felt with her that I’ve never felt since – oh, I’ve searched for that same feeling…through many avenues – but, 30-plus years later, it’s remained elusive.

She was the first girl to tell me I was “cute” (hello, ego boost!).  She was the first girl to say the words “I love you” to me who wasn’t my mom or grandma.  Obviously, the expression/meaning of those words when you’re the age of a 1^st grader are comprised of a far lesser complexity than when you’re an adult – but – it still evokes a special feeling just the same.  Along these lines, she made this birthday card for me in class which I’ve kept in a safe place after all these years:

Outside of card

Inside of card

I do regret, as innocent as those three words were at the time, that I never said them back (to be fair, I’ve never said those three words as an adult either – they’re powerful words, more valuable than gold, so I keep them locked in a box labeled: “Open only in case of an extraordinary woman who is cool with my nerdiness”).

Anyway, that 1^st grade year was pretty calm.  I don’t recall doing anything stupid, thus, I don’t recall Melissa and I ever being mad at each other – it was just a really special friendship…but always a bit different from the norm (I’ll explain later).  A lot of my memories of that year have faded away, but there are two that still stand out quite vividly. 

In the latter half of that grade (early 1981), Melissa was talking and giggling a bit too much for the teacher’s taste.  Well, back then, teachers still took us out in the hall and paddled us for misbehaving (I was never paddled…thank you).  She was taken out to the hall; our class got silent; and soon we heard the SMACK of the wooden paddle.  A few moments later, she came back in with tears in those big brown eyes…it devastated me.  I wanted to run across the room and give her a comforting hug and kiss right then and there.

The second memory happened after the school year was over and we were on Summer break – I’m pretty sure anyway – the event timing is fuzzy now, but the details are forever (I hope) engrained into my brain.  Well, I received an invitation to her birthday party (I was the only boy invited).  I wasn’t able to go on the day it was being held, so my mom drove me over to her house a couple days before the party to give her a birthday card.  When she answered the door, she was eating little powdered sugar doughnuts and had powdered sugar all over her face – sporting her patented beaming smile the whole time.  It was so funny!  I never mentioned to her that she had powdered sugar all over her face – I just gave her the card, shyly blurted out a quick “Happy Birthday!”, and just as quickly, turned and went back to the car.  I heard her say “Thank you!” as I walked away and the door shut soon after.  To this day, when I see those little powdered sugar doughnuts in stores, I think of that moment and get the biggest smile on my face.  That memory is one of my most prized possessions.

1^st grade class photo

UPDATE 3-18-2015:  Out of respect for the privacy of my old grade school classmates, whom I've always cherished (even the ones I didn't always get along with way back then - haha), I have removed my old classroom photo.  If I knew for sure that people would be respectful, then I would keep it up - but for now, it will stay down.

2^nd grade: 1981- 1982

2^nd grade began the series of “tug-of-wars” in our relationship.