The Wonderful World Of Wanda

Our little neighborhood community wouldn't have been as interesting back in the 1960s and 70s without the ever-entertaining Mrs. "S". She was one of the oddball characters that made our street the special place that it was. Wanda was quirky, but at the same time educational; and she left an impression on all us 'Block Blazer' kids that will last a lifetime - or parts thereof.

Capturing Wanda on film wasn't difficult. All I had to do was point the camera in her direction and she was ready for her close up; ready to take center stage. I'm sure there's still more scenes of her to be uncovered in my collection - old footage of Wanda doing her 'schtick' up and down the block. But these warm and fuzzy moments (below) were all I could find from the latest reel of super 8 film transferred to DVD; a project that I'm still in the early stages of.

Sadly, Wanda's energetic ways began to fade after her beloved pooch 'Troy Boy' passed away in the summer of 1980. The jitterbugging and bizarre theatrics that had made Wanda such a homegrown celebrity for nearly 20 years were now being replaced with serious health issues in the 80's and 90's until, near the end, it wasn't uncommon to see Wanda shut down completely while out for a stroll or when trying to visit the hapless neighbours across the street.

Unfortunately, this 'diminished' Wanda is the one we see at the start of our short video today.

Late Night Puck Slapping Action

Poker. Darts. Monopoly. Drugs. None of those tame sports for the Block Blazers, no sir. When we got together for any group activities in the colder months, we'd bring out the faithful Coleco and Munro TABLE HOCKEY SETS and invite a hoard of like-minded enthusiasts for some late night puck slapping action down in the basement.

All the tense drama and team bonding you could ever ask for in a series of scheduled contests demanding courage and motor skills; complete with exhaustive statistical analysis and the ultimate reward of respect and trophies.

Addendum

I'm adding this short blog entry in response to the many viewers who have phoned in or voiced the concern thru emails regarding my last post about the 1974 road trip to Vernon. In particular, they wanted to know the status, both then and now, of Don's badly wounded knee, injured in a nasty fall down a steep, rocky hillside.

Yes, Don eventually healed up 100% from his accident and made his return that Autumn as the starting quarterback of our beloved Block Blazers. But as can be seen (above) in this ultra-rare super 8 footage (kneeage?) shot on location from the front porch of EVERT'S home (so we DID get to see Evert again that summer!) Don is still not ready for anything more than a few practice throws to his favorite wide receiver.

Frequent visitor to the "No Relevant Point" blog, Bartholomew Woods might be pleased to discover in this video, that even the cool jocks (like EVERT) occasionally wore black stockings with their shorts in summer - although it is still very much a fashion blunder for the rest of us.

Road Trip To Vernon Part Two

I'll have to plead ignorant on the question of exactly how long the Blazer boys stayed in Vernon on this 1974 impulsive vacation of theirs. Was it a full week? Just a few days? Since DAN was already living in Vernon for the summer (working at a bottling plant) the original plan was to have DON, BARTHOLOMEW and myself tootle up to visit him. But he surprised us all by driving down to Vancouver just a few days before we were to head out; apparently convinced we'd lose our way and end up in Phoenix or something.

This second segment of video will show the viewer exactly what we got up to while poor DAN was working his 8-hour shift in the bottle factory. A pancake breakfast, a swim in the local lake and then dinner in Hope. Including a stop at 'Jackass Lookout' for photo taking. DON'S injury from the previous day prevented him from taking part in any of the water sports seen here, and he would sleep most of the long drive home in the back seat of the car. But even with this (what HAD to be painful) misfortune thrust upon him, I'm sure DON can look back nowadays (34 years later) on the Vernon adventure with a warm nostalgic glow and a wishful sense of 'do it againness'. It's my blog, I can make up words.

Road Trip To Vernon - Part One

On a sunny summer's morning in 1974, while the sparrows chirped approvingly and most of the neighbours watched with melancholy resignation, DON and DAN and BARTHOLOMEW and myself packed a few belongings into the trunks of two 70's era automobiles (my Dudge and Dan's VW) and headed east in search of adventure. Young and fancy free, we were eager to leave behind the familiar 4-walls of Blazerville and taste the bright city lights of Vernon.

This now ancient journey has lived long in the collective memories of those that participated in it; not just for the rather serious injury that befell one of us during the course of the week, but also because it would turn out to be one of the last times we would ever meet up with fellow Blazer member EVERT - who, during a group outing together in downtown Vernon, would take the time and trouble necessary to introduce us to the bizarre drinking game of: Zoom, Shwartz, Perfigliano.

The injury to Don's right knee (seen at the end of this rare video after being stitched up at the Vernon hospital) forced us to abandon plans to extend our vacation for a few days in Manning Park - which was a shame really, considering the short shelf life of youth, but completely understandable. The entry presented here is merely part one of a two part retrospective. (Part two is way cooler.)

Blazerville Part Two

If there's one thing that fellow blogger BARTHOLOMEW WOODS and I seem to share, it's a long lasting reverence for all things of a previous age; more commonly referred to as THE PAST. In particular, we share a fondness for our old childhood neighborhood - d'place where we dun both growed up so many decades ago.

Yes, this topic of the good old gang in the good old 'hood' in the good old days has already been dragged thru the mud in a previous blog entry, but it seems that a super 8 film from this same period under discussion has recently been found (next to the water heater; who'da thunk) that might help shed a bit more light on the subject. The footage contained in this clip (below) will show some of the rarely seen members of our exclusive Blazer fraternity including fringe wannabes like Laine, Iris, Leigh and Carolyn. However, the star of the show is still the street itself - the fences, antennas and houses that make up what will always be known to us as our home turf.

Meet The Band - Part 2

In an earlier blog entry that I'm SURE you'll recall with gusto from December 2006, we were introduced to Harry, the lead singer of my ever-so-unassuming rock band called The Midhrifs. Today on: 'Unknown Musical Legends Of The Internet' we will spend a moment meeting (in sound and picture form) Steve; our guitarist.

Song: RESIDENTIAL WALK (Demo)

Steve replaced our original guitar player Don J. (who unfortunately no longer walks the planet) more than 10 years ago and has done a swell job on each of the unfinished assignments I have passed over to him.

For that is the wacky way we do things around here at Riffle Studios.

No actual 'jamming' or 'playing together at the same time' ever takes place. Each player's contribution to a song is recorded as a solo effort on a separate track of the digital recorder and then seamlessly applied overtop of all the other's previous work; sometimes weeks or months apart. I have a number of unfinished songs that have been in construction for years using this system. Harry and Steve may have worked together on a dozen or more of my simplistic offerings, but they haven't actually met each other in person to say hello more than once.

The sample clip (above) is a song at 'level three' of construction. It would eventually reach 'level eight'. I began by adding my synthesizer inventions to a simple drum track (that's two levels). The call was then sent out by Bat Spotlight for Steve to attend at his earliest convenience to add the strumming flavor that we hear at this point. The finished production, with lyrics and vocals, is currently on Youtube as the soundtrack to a video about the Richmond Post Office.

CLICK HERE for video