Sunday, October 13th, 1974

I got up early. We went to church for a change but left early because it was communion.

I decided to give in and let Terry come to the movie with us. He was glad. DEATH WISH will definitely be high on my Top Ten this year. It was great!

I found the other seat belts in the car!

Terry and I split a good pizza and I timed him as he raced around the block on his bike.

I saw good episodes of APPLE'S WAY AND McCLOUD.

Tonight I resubscribed to TBG and also wrote a letter to SPEC about my Linda Blair poster kit. Oh, boy.

NOTES: We really weren't a religious family at that point.After my Mom's death a few years later, my Dad would go more often. I think only once did I end up participating in the commuinion. I remember I thought the whole ritual was more than a little creepy.

DEATH WISH gets a bad rap. It was an A list movie with an excellent performance by Charles Bronson and a great ending but it gets judged on the basis of its four sequels, each of which was increasingly more violent and exploitative and of lessening quality (in spite of the Jimmy Page soundtrack in the second one).

Saturday, October 12th, 1974

Dad went with me to King Kwik.

STAR TREK was great this morning!

IT. I tore up the mag and threw it away.

Terry and his Mom went over the river with me this afternoon. He got four hardcover books. I got the last Beatles album I needed and a Chris Lee Dracula LP. Wow!

I spent the evening taping portions of all my Beatles albums.

I didn't mention DEATH WISH to Terry because Dad wants just me and him to go together.

I got my last batch of pix back today, too.

NOTES: The Lee album was cool looking but I found it virtually unlistenable. Not sure I ever even got through it once in its entirety. Very collectible, though. Since it was virtually unplayed, I got a considerable amount for it when I sold it a few years back.

Friday, October 11th, 1974

The new work record is now 20 minutes.

We had three fire drills today at school.

I got the Marvel ORIGINS book at Kidd's. Also some new stuff on Linda and her new movie and my first look at the AIRPORT 1975 poster. In full color yet from the TV GUIDE! Also picked up THE SPIRIT and a few other things.

Got the second issue of the school paper this morning and actually heard an episode of THE LONE RANGER on WEBN!

Dad stayed home today.

NOTES: This was most likely the first episode of the radio LONE RANGER that I had ever heard. More than two decades later, I would be privileged to appear in a re-creation of a LONE RANGER episode with the original announcer Fred Foy. Later that evening, my wife and I had dinner with him. 

Sounds like someone was having fun with the school's fire alarms on this date in 1974. In the latest coincidence crossing the time barrier, my son came home yesterday and told us that someone was pulling the fire alarms at school in 2012!

Seen here is the original TV GUIDE ad I got on this date 38 years ago, ripped out and taped together by me and with the ticket stub from when I eventually saw the film itself later in the year!

Thursday, October 10th, 1974

We had our pictures taken today at school, we played football again and I went home with Doug after school. He bought that Indian ring and gave me a picture of Linda that I forgot last time.

On the way to the bakery to catch the eastern home, we found an old copy of PENTHOUSE but all the good parts had been ripped out! He did spot a pic of Raquel, though, small and fully clothed.

I saw Stan "The man" Lee on TODAY talking about THE ORIGINS OF MARVEL COMICS. Kidd's should get it in soon. Maybe this week.

Watched a pretty good western movie tonight, THE GOOD GUYS AND THE BAD GUYS, with a pretty awful performance from David Carradine.

NOTES: Robert Mitchum, George Kennedy and a cast of old pros in a Burt Kennedy comedy western. Pretty forgettable, really, but enjoyable at the time.

Stan Lee's book turned out to be a lot of fun, although I now know it was filled with generalizations and inaccuracies, much like Stan himself. Hard not to like the man but he does have his own version of comics history that doesn't always fit the facts. 

Wednesday, October 9th, 1974

I've got lots of tests this week. Boy.

Doug wants to buy an Indian key ring from me because it was in SOLDIER BLUE. Dad brought one from Hawaii.

It's Dodgers vs. the A's.

I finally read SUPERFAN again.

My new story is coming along well so far.

IT.

NOTES: Did I write this?  Why would I have cared about the Dodgers and the A's? Why would  I be worried about tests? I liked tests. And most of all--My Dad brought an Indian key ring from Hawaii!!?? My dad was never in Hawaii. When was my dad in Hawaii? I'm so confused!!!!

Tuesday, October 8th, 1974

I didn't take my Gym clothes 'cause we had some dumb test where we had to put round pegs in holes and then turn them upside down and stuff like that.

We had our first Spanish test today, too.

I caused a minor sensation with my Donald Duck voice in Science at lunchtime.

I got 10 new notebooks at the office tonight! That gives me 16 with no present use as well as 11 folders.

I hope to see DEATH WISH this weekend.

NOTES: Decades later my wife would be the one administering those fine motor skills tests for several years until the state cut funding for the program. 

Ever since I was a child I have been able to do a vaguely Donald Duck-style voice that is fairly understandable by releasing air trapped in my cheek. In fact, I used to be able to do it from either side of my mouth...or both sides simultaneously! Even better was that I could speak in my own voice at the exact same time! Three voices at once! I am NOT exaggerating! Freaked people out. It still does but I can only do two these days. For some reason I can't do it from the left side any more but the right side is as good as ever and can still be augmented by my regular voice! For years I tried to teach myself to say "yes" as Donald while saying "no" as myself. That never worked, though. No mater how hard I try, whatever one voice says, the other says the exact same thing at the exact same moment if I do both voices. Ah, well. Still freaks people out but little babies love the Duck voice! 

Monday, October 7th, 1974

A fair day at school.

I saw a special episode of GUNSMOKE and got hold of a pro-BORN INNOCENT article.

I started writing a new D.M.

NOTES: My wife has really been getting into old episodes of GUNSMOKE for some reason in 2012 which has led to my rewatching some for the first time in decades. At its best, it was an extremely well-done series!

D.M. was the amnesiac detective I had created in a series of short stories.