Saturday, June 1st, 1974

A new month. School's out. I didn't go over the river today although tomorrow I might to see a movie. I saw a Peter Sellers flick and THE SAINT on TV. Also an animated STAR TREK episode.

Narrowly avoided IT this morning.

NOTES: The animated STAR TREK premiered a year earlier with well-written scripts and most of the original series cast doing voices. The problems with it were the half hour format, extremely limited animation, the fact that the actors all recorded their performances separately --leaving no room for real interaction--and waaaay too much annoying music!!

Friday,May 31st, 1974

The last day of school. For most of the best (and worst) years of my life, I went to that school. I guess I will miss it. But I'm glad I'm done. I got to leave as soon as I finished my exam so I met Terry and we went over to get the new books today. I got some new mags, old comics, a fanzine and. later, at the SS, a series of record albums featuring Donna Fargo in 5 minute radio shows on them. Those are neat!

For the second time in my life, I also bought a copy of THE LOS ANGELES TIMES with news of a bunch of new films.

NOTES: It was hard to be sad as I left the school as, in some ways, I blamed all my problems on it. Grades 1-6 had been great, every year better than the last. I was smart, popular enough, had friends and liked the teachers and the administrators. Sure there were issues from time to time but overall, I loved elementary school. Then they rehabbed the building and added on the huge section to the right in the photo which housed a cafeteria (we had never had one before), a library, study halls and a couple extra classrooms. Kids from schools all over town were bussed in and, from 7th grade on, it was  like living in an alternate universe from the one I was used to. I was still one of the smartest kids but I had few friends and no real new close ones,  I was ridiculed by bullies for my brains, my lack of athletic abilities and my early graying hair. I became really unhappy and school, a place I once defined myself by, became a real source of pain and depression. By ninth grade things had finally started to get a little better and now here I was looking at a whole new school the following year. 


I wanted to miss my old school and there have been times over the years that I have but for the most part, I was glad, after nine years, to finally be out.

Thursday, May 30th, 1974

Oh, the IPS exam seemed easy! I hope it was! I know I missed some though. I left a few blank and wasn't sure of a couple in Health.

I brought all my books home and studied some. I've got just 24 hours and one more exam to go.

I got out a bit early today.

I sold Tim those two movie passes so he could see PAPILLON. He gave me a dollar and I had only asked for 50 cents! I'll probably see BADLANDS this Sunday at The Place.

I drew a picture of Linda Blair as Regan in the movie. I think it's pretty good.

NOTES: I thought this was the picture I drew that day but this one is dated a year later, 1975. I think the one I drew that day was just a close-up of the possessed face. Yuck!

Wednesday, May 29th, 1974

Record time! I finished at work in less than 30 minutes tonight.

It stormed all afternoon.

I finished my Algebra exam with only one problem undone. I finished my Art exam except for a sketch which I get to do Friday. Tomorrow more exams. The hard ones! I have every class only one more time in the ninth grade. I can hardly believe that.

I worked on my IPS notebook tonight, finished reading my new horror book and then just listened to records and watched TV.

Almost two weeks since IT happened and it's all because of my love for Linda Blair. She's so beautiful. I love infatuation like this!

NOTES: And you thought girls were the only ones who thought about celebrity crushes like this. Hah! 

Tuesday, May 28th, 1974

We were supposed to go to the ball game tonight but since my tickets were free and I didn't want to see it, I just went so Mom could get in and then I left. I went up to Fountain News and picked up a TV GUIDE and a movie star directory and went home. As soon as I got there, I turned around and went back to get a bigger book with Linda in it. Then I watched the Emmy Awards.

I finally mailed those letters.

We had part of our Algebra exam today. Also, I got a 70 on my Blue Book test which I'm told is pretty good.

NOTES: Okay, even now that ball game thing seems odd to me. I can't imagine my mother wanting to go so bad that we'd do that. And where was my Dad? He was the Reds fan. Maybe he went and bought a ticket and I had to go to get her in free on the Straight A tickets. Don't know.

Monday, May 27th, 1974

Officially Memorial Day. We went out to Kings Island. For once I had a real good time. We saw a high wire walker, skydivers, hot air balloons, etc. I imagined being there with Linda B. I played lots of games in the Arcade, rode a couple rides (including the new Lion Country Safari where we waited in line an hour for the fifteen minute ride). I took 40 pictures! I hope they all turn out.

At Shillto's, I bought a book on horror films.

We got back about 8:30 and went over to clean for about a half hour, then came home and just sat around watching TV.

Oops! My ink pen's dyi...

NOTES: I couldn't ride rides at amusement parks due to my motion sickness issue so I really didn't have much to do normally at such places and, as I grew into a teen, often didn't go along with my parents. 


The person I described as "a high wire walker" was the great Karl Wallenda who that day set a skywalk record by crossing the park, reversing and crossing back the other way. It took him much of the day but he did it! Seen here is a pic I took when he was right over our heads. Four years later he would be less lucky and fall to his death in high winds. His son (grandson?) re-cereated the record-setting feat of 1974 at Kings Island a few years back.


Shillitos was the big department store in Cincinnati. Eventually it became Shillito-Rikes, then Lazarus, then Macy's. What it was doing open on a holiday--and late enough that I could buy a book there on the way home--I have no idea!

Sunday, May 26th, 1974

Tomorrow is Memorial Day but Mom and Dad went to the cemetery today without Aunt Rosie and Uncle Bill. She gave me a Beatles album and wants me to get copies of two of the pictures I took. Mom also bought me some new clothes while they were out and Dad got me three footlongs from Dairy Queen!

I saw Mike Oldfield do TUBULAR BELLS on TV.

I finally wrote the penpal letter. It's been almost three months since I heard from the other one.

I entered a NATIONAL ENQUIRER contest where they grant your wish. I wished to meet Linda Blair. In case that doesn't work, I also wrote to find out her address. (I also asked if they knew who was going to play on PLANET OF THE APES on TV this fall.) All day long I've been thinking about Linda Blair. I don't know what I'd do if I ever did meet her. I now have almost 40 different photos of her, though, and I still intend to see her movie eventually.

I saw on TV a Laurel and Hardy short and a special called MAGICAL MYSTERY TRIP THROUGH LITTLE RED'S HEAD. I was really attracted to the show. I don't know why.

I put a blotter I salvaged from SS on my desk this afternoon. I may not leave it long, though.

I didn't get to work on my story much if at all so I may not be able to turn it in after all. I'm having second thoughts about a writing career anyway. I'm thinking maybe of an acting or even a political career!

 


NOTES: As you can see, that TV special was a Depatie-Freleng animated, educational after-school special. With Timer! This being a Sunday, it may have been a rerun since obviously there was no school. 


Politics!!?? In time, I did get to do some acting and I've been told I'm pretty good at it. But politics!!??

Saturday, May 25th, 1974

All I got today was a couple more mags with Linda, three old comics and a TV GUIDE.

I saw CHOSEN SURVIVORS with Terry late this morning and SERPICO with Dad later in the day. They were both good and saw previews of two more movies I want to see.

I've got to write my penpal letter soon. I haven't gotten one in a long time.

NOTES: Literally Terry and I saw the 11:20 showing of the one movie at the Times, then I went home, had some lunch, then Dad and I took the bus back over and saw the other movie. I had more stamina in those days. 


In retrospect, CHOSEN SURVIVORS was no big deal. SERPICO, on the other hand, from its iconic poster to a great script and a riveting performance from Al Pacino that forever prevented him being stereotyped as a gangster after THE GODFATHER films. My dad loved it, too!

Friday, May 24th, 1974

I GOT Monday's strip! Great! Got it from Mrs. P.

I got THE PATRIOT and had two signers. I signed less than 10 myself. It's not half as good as either of its forerunners, though.

Debbie Ryland talked to me this morning and I mean, like, it REALLY made my day.

Just four more days of school.

I will definitely see one flick tomorrow and possibly two more. Mom got me free passes for the Newport Cinemas but they're only good if I go tomorrow afternoon.  We'll see.

NOTES: Well, what do you know? Two signatures. One reason I didn't remember them is that I don't even recall one of the signers. The other was another nerd that I had hung out with in 7th grade but somewhere along the way, he became cool. Within the next year or so he had a girlfriend and a van! We didn't hang out at all beyond this point as we obviously had nothing in common anymore. He actually signed it twice--once in pencil and then in en right under it. 


Debbie Ryland was an ultra-cute girl who had been in my class off and on since about the fourth grade. Her big brother was a bully but he was a year ahead of us so was no longer at this school. She had rarely given me the time of day before in all the time I'd known her.  I really do recall that walking on air feeling from talking with her today but have no recollection of the circumstances that led to that conversation.

Thursday, May 23rd, 1974

I got the new TBG.

I did a lot at work tonight.

Dad stayed home today.

I brought home my Algebra book. We won't need it anymore with only a week until school's out.

I still haven't gotten Monday's paper.

I'm to take the Blue Book test Tuesday now. (Illegible) one next week.

Tomorrow we're supposed to get THE PATRIOT. We get out of 5th period for everyone to have it signed. I never get mine signed anyway. Well, not much. Three in 7th grade and 1 in 8th.

NOTES: THE PATRIOT was the school yearbook. It was a slick paper, photocopied affair made up more like a magazine than a typical hardcover yearbook. 


I am nothing if not sentimental and maybe I'd feel differently if I had actually had a lot of friends in school. I just always felt that immediately having a book defaced seemed a bit drastic. One kid I didn't even like grabbed my 7th grade PATRIOT and signed it. After that I did get two others to sign it. I don't even recall who signed my 8th grade one but I think I managed to keep this new one away from everyone. Everyone else's copies may be all marked up but mine is still mint!

I'm weird.

Wednesday, May 22nd, 1974

I got an A and a B+ on my poems.

At 3rd period, Mr. Howard took myself and 8 others out to discuss the award controversy from yesterday. We came to no definite conclusions and a lot of people remain very upset.

Some lady where Mom works thinks she can get me the missing PEANUTS strip.

BILLY JACK's still on. I have another chance.

I'm supposed to take that Blue Book test tomorrow afternoon.

I watched TARZAN tonight to get an idea of what Ron Ely will be like as DOC SAVAGE. I think he's gonna be great! I really can't wait.

I also saw a special MERV GRIFFIN on location on the set of a new movie called THE KLANSMAN.

NOTES: Okay now these 34 year coincidences are getting weirder. On this date in history I wrote about TV Tarzan Ron Ely. On this date in history in 2012, I contacted Ron Ely regarding an upcoming interview to publicize an appearance!


THE KLANSMAN was a glorified B movie with Richard Burton and the ultimately infamous OJ Simpson. Merv was treating it as an A production with a major publicity boost. Didn't help. 


If I'm remembering correctly, it was all of the students who had been in the running fro the Academic award who were gathered together to be lectured by the Principal, Mr. Howard. The room we were taken to, by the way, was the Music room which happened to be my home room that year so I just sat in my regular seat. I don't believe the actual recipient was there but the girl who walked out in protest the day before was and loudly continued her protest some more. Her argument was that she had been there all three years and he had just moved into the area for the 9th grade. Since I had not only accepted the winner but genuinely believed he deserved it, I sat there reasonably distanced from it all just feeling the tensions in the room. 


The trophy that had been awarded was supposed to go in a trophy case where it would stay forever. The school, however, would only stay as a Junior High for about one or two more years. It sat empty for quite  a while and then reopened as an elementary school again. My son ended up going there for a single year. The first time we visited as parents, I checked the trophy case. The case was still there, adjacent to the office...but there were no trophies from when it had been a Junior High. 

Tuesday, May 21st, 1974

I had a dream last night that Debbie had moved back. I don't remember much else about it except that she was there and that made it a good dream. I thought of her a lot today. I really wish she'd never moved so far away.

What do you know? I did get an award. I was elected into the National Junior Honor Society. I got a pin, a card, a certificate and a flower. We all had to take an oath.  I think it's one of the best awards. 

I'm glad I didn't win the big one. Dan got it. I really think he deserves it but apparently others didn't. It started fights and one girl even walked out and went home! Oh, well.

The feel of summer is really here. Less than two weeks of junior high school remain.

I passed the Algebra test finally.

Wrote another poem inspired by Linda. I turned both in.

I hope to see SERPICO this weekend. And maybe a couple of others.

I discovered that after two and a half years of collecting, I'd finally missed a PEANUTS strip. Ugh.

NOTES: "So far away." Sigh...Everything's relative. She had moved to an area which is only about 15 minutes away by car. By bus, however, it was nearly an hour and then once you got off at the bus stop, you'd have to walk about two miles through confusing subdivisions. In 1974, my ONLY real source of transportation was the bus.


I was finishing 9th grade which technically means I was finishing my Freshman year of High School but for some bizarre reason when they had revamped my grade school into a Junior High, they added 7th, 8h AND 9th grades. So while I was leaving Junior High, I had already finished my first year f High School, too. Complicated. 


Odd that I seemed to appreciate the National Junior Honor Society thing so much that day as it was never mentioned or referred to again, nor was I ever added to the parent group, the National Honor Society, in spite of my exemplary grades. Why? No clue. As I said, it was literally never brought again. It was like the whole ceremony had simply never happened. I don't even have the pin, the card or the certificate anymore! (or the flower for that matter)


We'll have more to come on the controversy about the top academic award in days to come. Oddly enough, it WAS mentioned again. 

Monday, May 20th, 1974

Another big day. I would've flunked the Algebra test if Mr. Gamble hadn't said he wanted to talk to me about it more. I'll get to take it again. I actually brought my Algebra book home to study. First time this school year I think.

It was terribly hot today.

We went up to Holmes. Man, it's a big place! I don't think I'd mind going there if it wasn't for the fact that everyone else in my class will be going there, too. I picked up two copies of the Holmes newspaper while we were up there. Go to sit right behind Cheryl. Wish I had a chance with her.

Tomorrow's Honor Day. I don't expect to get any awards but I'd love to get that one for highest scholastic average.

Mr. Blanchard was absent and so didn't get to see my poem yet. Didn't get to rewrite my story either other than just starting it.

I still haven't made up the Blue Book Test. I haven't even mentioned it.

Tonight I watched my favorite Gidget flick again, the one with Karen Valentine.

Boy, what a day.

NOTES: So today was my first ever day at Holmes High School...even if it was just visiting. I was up there this past Wednesday in 2012 picking up my son. 


No idea (again) what this Blue Book Test was. 


The Gidget movie was GIDGET GROWS UP, a TV movie from just a couple years earlier starring Karen Valentine, Paul Lynde and my current Facebook friend Paul Peterson. 

Sunday, May 19th, 1974

It rained hard again this morning. I just played my new records a lot.

I wrote what I consider to be a lovely poem while thinking of Linda Blair. I also finished THE DARK AGE. One more quick rewrite and it'll be ready to turn in.

IT.

At work, we had to drag the ladder around and I had to pull one fluorescent light bulb from every single group of four to conserve energy.

A new sci-fi flick starts downtown at the Times on Wednesday.

NOTES: I'm surprised I didn't rant a bit more abut that light bulb thing. It's my recollection that it was a bit of a nightmare. If you weren't there, it's hard to realize how bad the Energy Crisis of the 1970's got...or at least seemed to get. A government edict came down on the lightbulb idea and since it was the Social Security Office, we were bound to comply. The office was lit by rows of fluorescent light fixtures, each with four bulbs inside and each with a cover that was a real bear to try to get off...especially without cracking it.


So that night we each had to do our regular cleaning and then Dad and I pulled the bulbs. Each bulb in the main area was about four feet long. In the conference rooms and the basement, they were six feet long!After I managed to wriggle each one out, thereby dimming its counterpart, we then had to figure out what to DO with the bulbs! They ended up lying on the floor in a little used storage room in the basement. For a couple of years. By the time we were instructed that we could replace them, many had been cracked or broken and had to be trashed. What a mess. 

Saturday, May 18th, 1974

A real rainy day. I went over to Cincy twice, only the second time with Terry. Got several big comics and mags, two MEDIASCENES, the new EC reprint (so soon!) and three underground comics including STAR* REACH. Terrific! The new PLANET OF THE APES paperback is out but I didn't get it. I got one Beatles album and three Beatles records.

Never did see BILLY JACK.

A Clint movie was on TV tonight I'd never heard of--TWO MULES FOR SISTER SARA. Better than some movies I've seen lately.

Got my pictures back today. Rachel is really photogenic.

Watched STAR TREK tonight.

NOTES: MEDIASCENE was a performing arts newspaper with an emphasis on fantasy, science-fiction and comics. It was published by former comics artist Jim Steranko. Last year, 2011, I got to hang with Jim for a few minutes behind his table at a Con. 


STAR*REACH was actually referred to by its publisher as a "ground-level" comic book rather than an underground as it featured uncensored stories by mainstream creators that weren't really all that different. Eventually newer and more experimental creators would be added to the mix. STAR*REACH pioneered the independent comics market that would go on to dominate the eighties. 


Eventually I did see BILLY JACK...multiple times. 


My photogenic cousin Rachel would have been 10 that year. Here's one of the only two shots I took of her in the 12 pics I had gotten developed from a recent family gathering. I liked this one so much I had it blown up, framed and presented her a copy of it. I still consider it one of the earliest indicators that I really could take good pictures and not just out of focus snapshots cutting off people's heads. Eventually I would get paid for my photography which technically means I was, briefly, a professional photographer. 


TWO MULES FOR SISTER SARA co-stars cowboy Eastwood with Shirley MacLaine as a Nun...sorta. It really is entertaining but for some reason remains one of his lesser-known starring vehicles.  

Friday, May 17th, 1974

On a bright sunshiny morning about a month or so from now, a telephone rings in New York City. "Hello, John." "Paul, get here as soon as you can, mate. We've been foolish. We were meant to be together. " "Alright, pal but what about...?" "I've already been in touch with Ringo and George. They're on their way." And they all meet in a rented studio and it starts all over again.  These were the kinds of thoughts going through my head on this rainy first day back at school.

Things worked out well enough. Later, I got my Kung-Fu book and a Beatles book. Might get a Beatles album tomorrow. Terry and a friend will be coming over with me tomorrow. Still plan on seeing BILLY JACK.

NOTES: Yes, having become a Beatles fan literally as the group was breaking up in 1970, I was one of the hordes clamoring for a reunion. We bought all the magazines with deceptive titles like THE BEATLES ARE COMING AGAIN and ate up all the rumors that dotted the real news fairly often such as the one about hoe the Fab Four would reunite for a charity concert for the UN or the Boat People.


Never happened, of course. John had Ringo and George on some of his albums. George used Ringo on his. Ringo would have Paul, John and George all on his but never all on the same cuts. Paul and John had actually gotten together in a Los Angeles studio in March of  this very year along with Harry Nilsson and Stevie Wonder. It's the last time the pair were ever recorded together and I wish I could say it was good. Instead, it's a virtually unlistenable cocaine-fueled jam session. Historically important in its own way but...a muddled musical mess to put it mildly.  


I maintain that, had Lennon lived, the only time the Beatles would have ever reunited would have been in animated form on an episode of THE SIMPSONS. And looking back from 2012, I realize that that would have probably been for the best.

Tuesday, May 16th, 1974

Home sick again.

IT but I destroyed the mags again.

I worked tonight, felt better finally and I know I'll be headed back to school tomorrow.

We got our check again. I'm getting to like this!

Found out Clint's new movie opens downtown next month!

NOTES:


Wish I could say I was in a position where I could like getting a check on a regular basis these days. :(


At this point in my mind, Clint Eastwood could not make  abad movie if he tried. Ah, I was so naive. Here's what I wrote recently about the movie I was SO looking forward to on this date:

As I've said, I was a big Eastwood fan by this point. But I hated this. Clint and Jeff Bridges as violent ant-heroes in Michael Cimino's excesses that just left me feeling yuck. Many love it, I know. I'm not one.

Wednesday, May 15th, 1974

Well I had to stay home again today. Took my medicine--pills, in an ice cream sandwich--and was some better after that.

I did go to work tonight but felt terrible afterwards.

IT.

I have to see THE SUPER COPS (R) sometime with David Selby and I'll probably make BILLY JACK this saturday at the Madison.

Watched Roddy on HOLLYWOOD SQUARES both yesterday and again today.

NOTES: As already noted two years later (in my other Journal) I didn't see SUPER COPS until it came on TV. It was, I believe, David Selby's only feature film starring role. Oddly enough, the DARK SHADOWS star is in the news again just this week for his cameo in the new DS movie. 


Note that no matter how bad I felt, IT was always a priority.

Tuesday, May 14th, 1974

I stayed home and went to the doctor and now I have to take some medicine.

Since I was home, I got to see a special 1930's show on MIKE DOUGLAS.

I'll probably return to school tomorrow.

Jeff Higgs told me that a girl actually fainted in a Glee Club presentation at school today!

The Social Security people didn't ;eave until very late tonight but I felt too rotten to go anyway.

NOTES: The nostalgia craze began in the late sixties and lasted about a decade. Everything old was hot again--books, movies, songs, dances, fashions. The twenties and thirties were huge in this period but the fifties had become the big deal by the end of the decade, probably thanks to the success of AMERICAN GRAFFITI and HAPPY DAYS and the failure of films such as DAY OF THE LOCUST, THE GREAT GATSBY and WON TON TON, THE DOG THAT SAVED HOLLYWOOD.


Jeff Higgs was a kid who was a year behind me. We had known each other since I was in second grade and he was in first. Last year, I spotted him on Facebook, a grey-haired psychologist now. We exchanged  a couple of emails. Ya gotta love the Internet.

Monday, May 13th, 1974

I made it through school. Didn't have to read much of the sex chapter aloud because my cough and sore throat are still so bad. I may have to stay home tomorrow and go to the doctor. We were supposed to go to the ballgame tonight but since I was sick, Mom gave the tickets to Agnes.

NOTES: Agnes was my mother's friend from work and her perpetual ride to and from work also. It was Agnes who came to the house one day when I was three and told my mother that they wanted her back at the factory where she had worked before getting pregnant with me. I wasn't thrilled. LOUDLY I wasn't thrilled! But after throwing as much guilt on her as I was capable of throwing, she returned to work. Agnes came by every morning for years after that and beeped her car horn for my Mom to come out. It became a running gag that whenever my Mom, my Dad or I heard a car horn, one of us would say, "Better hurry, There's Agnes." My Dad and I still did that long after my Mom passed in 1981!


Pictured is my mother in the early seventies, possibly from '74. She rarely smiled for pictures because she had genetically poor teeth but sometimes I could get her to grin a little as here. 


Happy Mother's Day. Mom. R.I.P.

Sunday, May 12th, 1974

Mother's Day. We went to church where I saw that girl from school again. We found out my friend from when I was about four, Jenny Adams, was married there last week at about age 17.

We had White Castles for lunch.

I sent in what I think was a TV blooper to THE NATIONAL ENQUIRER. I might win $50.00!

Saw a whole lot of new superhero toys at Twin Fair.

Saw Steffie on McCLOUD again. It was a rerun.

IT.

The cough I had yesterday was much worse today.

NOTES: Jenny was our landlady's daughter. i remember thinking of her as a teenager then and even looking at pics of her she looks older but apparently she was just a few years older than I was. Last time we saw her was at the Florence mall a couple of years after this pushing a baby stroller.


THE NATIONAL ENQUIRER became a favorite of mine around this time for entertainment news you just didn't get anywhere else. Little by little I came to question its reliability. I sent in several of their TV bloopers contest entries and while i was usually correct, many others also responded and I was never chosen as a winner. 

Saturday, May 11th, 1974

IT.

I spent over 13 dollars today! Got three Gazettes, one EC reprint, a magazine, a newspaper, a mother's day card, new comics and an old (1948!) copy of POLICE COMICS with Plastic Man and the Spirit for three bucks!

Ended up not seeing any movies today but I might tomorrow.

NOTES: I loved getting the Golden Age comic books when they were still relatively inexpebsive. The issue I got on this date had the distinction of Plastic Man fighting a villain named Eloc...which was actually the name of the character's creator, Jack COLE, spelled backwards. 

Meanwhile... in 1976

After sitting at $127.00 for the past two weeks on our campaign to fund a book of my original 1976 Journal  blog, we suddenly got two more backers after adjusting the incentives so that you now get a signed copy of the eventual book at the $50.00 level! Please check it out and consider pledging! 31 Days to go!

Friday, May 10th, 1974

I got a 100 on an Algebra test. Probably my last one.

Terry got his stuff today. From what he says, I'll need a lot tomorrow!

I'm going to see BILLY JACK and BLACK EYE (maybe). I can't see as many going forward because now they have to come out of my own money.

I drew a great picture of The Shadow today.

NOTES: OK, now this is a little weird. 


In 2012 (Wednesday):


My son took his MAP Math test for 9h grade today. A score of 250 is considered excellent. He scored 290+.


I burned some disks for my old pal Terry and delivered them to him early this afternoon. "Terry got his stuff."


I found BLACK EYE online and finally watched it 38 years late. One of the co-stars in the film is a man more noted for his radio performances than his movie roles--Bret Morrison who played...THE SHADOW!!!

Thursday, May 9th, 1974

Today was a pretty nice day. The weather was cool, I got 100 on an IPS test, I didn't have to take Gym, and best of all (I think) I remembered all of last year's Top Ten flicks of mine. I'm glad of that.

On the other hand, there was a bad earthquake in Japan. I sure hope it didn't hit either of my pen-pals.

NOTES: "IPS?" Another head scratcher, I'm afraid.


Both of my Japanese pen-pals were okay. "The Izu-Hanto-oki earthquake of 9 May 1974 was one of the most disastrous earthquakes in Japan.The earthquake killed 30 people, injured 82, and destroyed 121 homes. The tremor also caused road damage and landslides." Needless to say the one from a couple years back was MUCH worse.

Wednesday, May 8th, 1974

I finished work early tonight.

Did well in volleyball in Gym. Hopefully I fare as well with it again tomorrow.

I'm almost finished with my second Arkon story, THE DARK AGE. It's the longest I've ever written.

Just realized it's been about a year since I recorded for WCLU.

NOTES: Arkon was a sword and sorcery character I had created the year before. He was sort of a combination of Merlin and Kull, a king but also a wizard--a warrior wizard, in fact, capable of turning his hand into a flaming sword. Ultimately I would write (and finish!) three stories of Arkon.


WCLU was a country music radio station locally. In 8th grade, they had had a contest for most creative essays about America. The three winners, myself included, were driven to the tiny radio station (housed in the building above behind a local strip mall) where we recorded our essays to be played on the air on Memorial day. While we were there we were each drafted to record plugs fro the station's coverage of the Indy 500, also. This was my very first time in a radio studio. I was in love with teh idea. I wanted so much to do that a s a living at that point and every once in awhile over the next dozen years or so until I met a  number of folks in the business and realized how insecure it was.

Tuesday, May 7th, 1974

We had a sports award assembly today at school.

I got the new TBG and I may order form Bud Plant again this week.

I'll probably see Fred Williamson in BLACK EYE and maybe BILLY JACK at the Madison and/or Redford's THE CANDIDATE and JEREMIAH JOHNSON (again) at the International '70.

Oh, yeah...IT...darn it.

NOTES: Bud Plant was a dealer in comics art books and fanzines that I ordered from a lot in those days. I finally met him in 1988 at a Con. In 2011, even though we didn't have any direct contact, Bud and I worked on the same project behind the scenes for Yoe Books. Later on, I even did some publicity for him. 


Fred Williamson's movies mostly eluded me until the new century when, thanks to the wonders of the Internet and cable TV, I was finally able to catch a score or so of his movies, both good and bad. An amazingly charismatic actor, his BLACK EYE is still one I have yet to see.

Monday, May 6th, 1976

Yesterday I moved my bed and expanded my office area.

After a pretty bad day at school, I went over to Ohio and got THE SPIRIT set # 2, a few GAZETTES and the brand new TV GUIDE already.

NOTES: THE SPIRIT sets were bagged black and white reprints of Will Eisner's classic comic strips. Ten came in a plastic bag, thus they are also known as the Spirit Bags. I had bought the first one the year before. I think there were only four sets released eventually. 


I'm actually selling the first two SPIRIT bags on my sale blog if anyone is interested. The one in the back of this shot is the one I bought on this date 38 years ago.


http://bookstevesbookstore.blogspot.com/2011/11/new-lower-pricespirit-bags-1-and-2.html

Sunday, May 5th, 1974

I listened to two different radio shows tonight!

We went to my Aunt's birthday party. All my cousins were there. Rachel is really getting big. I still think of her as a little girl! Jeff actually got to meet Debbie recently! No need for me to be jealous, though. He thinks she's ugly. So what does he know?

I saw GOLDFINGER for the third time on TV tonight.

NOTES: It's all relative. Rachel would have been ten years old. She still WAS a little kid. LOL! 


The way Jeff met my old girlfriend Debbie was that he was hired to give piano lessons to her sister. I don't know if he actually said she was "ugly" or if I was talking editorial license. Doesn't sound like something he would have said.


My Aunt was old my entire life and eventually she lived to age 104 or 105. One of the last times my cousins and I all got together was at her funeral...not that many years ago now!


GOLDFINGER was and remains my favorite James Bond movie. A near-perfect mix of a good story, colorful villains, macho heroics and sixties spy gadgetry. All tied together by a great script. 

Saturday, May 4th, 1974

I stayed up to watch part of the late movie last night but fell asleep on the couch before it ended.

My glasses weren't fixed too well, today but I guess they'll do.

I picked up a couple fanzines and some magazines including one with a big review of THE EXORCIST.

The guy at Kidd's told Terry and I that there was soon to be a big sci-fi convention here in town and that Gene Roddenberry was here just last week!

IT.

I finally heard CBS RADIO MYSTERY THEATER last night at about 10 and I think I'll listen to it tonight, too.

IT again!

NOTES: THE CBS RADIO MYSTERY THEATER had gone on the air in January. I had developed a minor interest in old time radio after a substitute teacher a year earlier had simply played us a record of two episodes of THE SHADOW. This, however, was my first time actually finding it on the radio locally. In fact, seeing as how the official listing of the series doesn't even show an episode as being on the evening of May 3rd (or 4th for that matter as it only aired on weeknights), I think it's safe to assume the local station was delaying broadcasts anyway. Because of that I have no way of knowing which episode was my first. Here, however, is a site where you can not only find everything you could possibly want to know about every episode but you can actually listen to them all!


http://www.cbsrmt.com/

Friday, May 3rd, 1974

I got a pen-pal letter today.

I saw CAT BALLOU on TV while eating coneys for the first time in a long time.

The day was marred, however, by learning in tonight's paper that Theresa Burkley, one of three girls who went with Debbie and I for a particularly fun day at the Public Library in the fifth grade, was missing. Says she has been missing since March.  On our trip that hot summer day, I remember when we walked through the lot where the old house had been and we found a dead dog lying in the overgrown grass. Theresa stopped to say a prayer for it. At school she was always reading horse books. I sure hope she's found okay but at this point I'd say the chances aren't very optimistic.

Also, I broke the other side of my glasses today. I'll have to have it fixed in the morning.

NOTES: CAT BALLOU was a 1965 western comedy starring the version of Jane Fonda that ceased to exist soon afterwards, replaced by the controversial feminist political activist.


For many years, I kept the newspaper clipping about Theresa (not her real name). It was just a school photo with a caption saying she hadn't been seen since March and giving numbers to call if anyone knew anything. I may still have it somewhere but I'm not sure where. Over the years, every time I'd see it, I'd wonder what ever happened to her. She was a very pretty girl, almost ethereal. We weren't close although I did talk with her a lot when I sat behind her in class for a while. She got me to read her favorite book, MISTY OF CHINCOTEAQUE, a horse book. By this point, in the ninth grade, I don't think I'd seen her in several years. She had moved or something and attended another school. I had a;ways remembered her, though, for that incident with the dog. At one point I even wrote a story around that scene (although in my version, the characters were all adults crossing a hot desert rather than kids crossing a vacant lot). Did she run away from home? Was she kidnapped? Taken by an estranged parent? Tortured? Murdered? Was she perhaps found and that never made the paper? Is she alive today? Even with the Net I wasn't able to find any info on her. Sigh...

Thursday, May 2nd, 1974

It rained hard tonight. We didn't even try to go over to work until late.

George gave me a dollar for helping him carry something upstairs in the rain.

Wasn't able to get over and get a TV GUIDE this week yet.

Haven't heard from Terry since Saturday. That's weird.

NOTES: I'm continually amazed at how some things don't change much. In 2012, it rained extremely hard last night and in 2012 I DID, in fact, see Terry both Monday and Tuesday. Sold him some disks. 


I gave up TV GUIDE when there was less and less on TV that I wanted to watch.


George was an upstairs neighbor who at one point would be desperate for 50 dollars. He gave my dad a gold diamond ring for security, my Dad gave him the money and we never saw him again. Years later, I would take the diamonds from his ugly ring and have them put into my wedding band. I didn't realize at the time that I was one of those people who just can't wear rings. It sat in a drawer for twenty years. Times being what they are, I had to sell it recently. Sigh...

Wednesday, May 1st, 1974

We got our second paycheck today. Less than two weeks after the first.

I might visit the International '70 again this weekend.

In Health soon we'll be starting a chapter about sex. I can't imagine myself reading that chapter but I know I'll have to. He always picks me to read. Another worry More grey hair.

I saw two programs about love on TV tonight that had a big effect on me. One starred Bill Bixby and the other starred Leonard Nimoy.

NOTES: The year before I had been called on in English class to read a story aloud that contained the word "Hell." I dreaded it for days after I saw it in the book when I read ahead. I was so nervous and sure enough, it was me she called on to read. I knew what was coming but the other students did not. When I got to the phrase--"Run like Hell!" They laughed for several minutes!


The thought of reading aloud about sex hit me about the same. 

Tuesday, April 30th, 1974

Another month is over now. I mailed off for my book today.

It rained nice and hard all day but the temperatures were still way too high.

I only know of one movie I'd like to see next weekend...if Dad will go with me.

I got a big box to put some books in. May not use it, though.

I found out that I've lost my last year's Top Ten list. I might still be able to remember it, though.

NOTES: So weird. Here I was writing about high temperatures yesterday and again today and in 2012 I spent Sunday evening at the ER with my sone for what appeared to be a febrile seizure--his temp spiking way too quickly! The paramedics and the doctors all said it was extremely rare at his age (15) but it was very much like the one he had when he was two. He's okay now but it scared us half to death and not knowing what caused it we'll still be worried for some time to come! Sigh...

Monday, April 29th, 1974

We got out early today and I hurried home to listen to the album some more.

Tim was glad about the money I got him.

I got the money order for the book but didn't mail it yet.

The temps went up into the eighties today. I can't stand such high temperatures.

NOTES: I've always been a Winter person more than a Summer person. To this day, a hot sunny Summer day is reason to stay home and doze in front of a fan...with the AC on if I can afford it! It doesn't help that the Ohio River valley here tends to have thick, humid air for much of every Summer making sunny days just miserable sometimes. 

Sunday, April 28th, 1974

A much better day profitwise. I finally got Marlo Thomas's FREE TO BE YOU AND ME album along with another new McCartney single. I listened to the album over and over. I think it may have changed my whole views of life.

I've got about 19 dollars left and it's got to last until my next payment. I do, however, intend to order the HOUSE OF HORRORS book for $5.84 tomorrow from Warren.

Also I came up with a great idea for selling a new radio mystery series to a local radio station. Maybe I'll do more work on it soon.

The very air was pleasant all day today. My cold is almost better and I even survived the nearly unbearable heat to come up with a good feeling.

Are things finally starting to go my way? I doubt it but I can hope so.

NOTES: HOUSE OF HORRORS was a history of Hammer Films that came out just as the company itself was about to go under. 


Every once in a while, I would decide that what local radio needed was a new mystery series written by me. This was probably the first but I know I was still toying with this idea as late as the early 1990's. Oh, hell, it's crossed my mind just recently, too. Trouble is that no one in local radio cares what I think. Even when I was briefly associated with local radio in the early 1980's no one cared what I thought!


FREE TO BE...was Marlo Thomas's now classic children's album of liberating songs and skits for boys and girls. Mel Brooks, Jack Cassidy, Shirley Jones, Billy De Wolfe, Tommy Smothers, Bobby Morse, Diana Sands and other celebs appeared with THAT woman, Marlo. It was for a slightly younger audience than me at 15 but it really was a very eye-opening experience. I had been raised in a rather conservative home with traditional ways of looking at males and females. Boys, for example, could never wear pink. It was my appreciation of the THAT GIRL sitcom that made me get it but it was the album that made me rethink a lot of things and eventually get to where I considered myself a male feminist. At 19, I almost joined NOW. After all, it's the National Organization FOR Women, not OF Women. I could still be sexist in some ways (still!) but this day a new seed was planted in my understanding of male and female roles, expectations and possibilities in society. Thanks, Marlo.A few years later, I had a pink shirt I really loved. 

Saturday, April 27th, 1974

I took ten bucks over to Cincinnati today and all I picked up was THE MONSTER TIMES. I couldn't sell Tim's books at OBS but I got three bucks for 'em at Horn's. I hope that's okay with him.

I finally did see THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE.

Mom picked me up the record THE ENTERTAINER.

Also, IT.

NOTES: Around here, even today, we call it "The Ten Dollar Rule." You beg and beg for a certain amount of money to spend and then you go out and you can't really bring yourself to spend it. Otr you beg for permission to do something and then when you get it you feel so guilty for begging that you end up not doing it anyway. Still happens all the time. The Ten Dollar Rule. 


THE ENTERTAINER was Marvin Hamlisch's hit record of Scott Joplin's song that had been used as the theme music for THE STING. 

1976--THE BOOK--A Kickstarter Project!

As of now, A GEEK'S JOURNAL 1976, THE BOOK OF THE BLOG is a live project on KICKSTARTER and we can use the support of all of you who have asked for such a book in order to make it happened.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/603655558/a-geeks-journal-1976-the-book-of-the-blog

If you can, please donate. If you can't, please spread the word that we are attempting to make this expanded book of the blog a reality!

Thanks in advance for your support!

Friday, April 26th, 1974

We finished early again tonight.

I worked on my story again.

I helped Dad get the car.

Through all this my cold stayed about the same.

Tomorrow morning at 9, I go to pick up Tim's comics.

NOTES: I saw Terry today (in 2012) and, like myself, he has no idea who Tim was at this late date.

Thursday, April 25th, 1974

I'm catching a pretty bad cold.

I got a D on an Algebra test!

I hope my cold doesn't persist. Big test in English tomorrow.

I saw an episode of THE WALTONS which is now my favorite.

Found out Arthur's moving on Saturday.

NOTES: Yikes! A "D"!!?? I was actually very good at Algebra and rarely got below a "B"in anything...ever!  This must have--even though you couldn't tell it here--devastated me!


I don't recall Arthur moving. Maybe that explains why we ever became closer friends after hanging out at school so much this year. Wonder where he moved to??

Wednesday, April 24th, 1974

There were a lot of tests at school today.

We got to work early tonight.

Saw a good TO TELL THE TRUTH with Supie, Bats and Robin.

Two new martial arts films begin today. Really the first this year. I hope to see one at the Grand on saturday along with THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE down the street.

NOTES: Not sure who the host of TO TELL THE TRUTH was at this stage but it wasn't the show's original host, Bud Collyer, seen here with some favorite reading material. That would have been interesting to have a Superman themed episode as Collyer had, in fact, BEEN Superman for many years on radio in the forties and later in the sixties cartoons.

Tuesday, April 23rd, 1974

I finally went and looked at Tim's comics. I bought about six of them for a nickel apiece. I'm to sell the rest for him next weekend for $4.75 and I get to keep the 75 cents! Also, Terry owes me $1.50.

I'll probably see THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE (the first ad on the first page of my first scrapbook from a couple years back) finally this weekend at The International '70.

MAGNUM FORCE starts up at the Madison tomorrow.

I watched Roddenberry's PLANET EARTH on TV tonight.

NOTES: Wow. High finance 1974 style. Terry owing me $1.50 was a big amount then. This week in 2012, I'm selling him some DVD's worth about 50 times that much. Things change. 


I don't know why I skipped THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE when it first came out. Considered the first in the seventies disaster movie trend, it was by Irwin Allen who had made many of my favorite childhood TV series including LOST IN SPACE and THE TIME TUNNEL. It also had a genuinely all-star cast including a number of my favorite actors like Roddy McDowall and even my future real-life friend Bob Hastings. 


PLANET EARTH was a semi-sequel/semi-remake of Gene Roddenberry's post-STAR TREK pilot, GENESIS II. The original starred a quirky actor named Alex Cord. This one starred the more traditional John Saxon, a favorite of mine since ENTER THE DRAGON (as well as a future Facebook friend) but I didn't think he worked as well. I watched both versions again in 2011 and I stand by that. 

Monday, April 22nd, 1974

Back to school alright but it was better than I expected.

That's about all that happened today except for a slight rainstorm.

NOTES: Well...some days are just...there, y'know? And wet.

Sunday, April 21st, 1974

I learned to balance a broom on my palm by watching WONDERAMA.

I cleaned the SS office very early this morning.

After quite a hassle convincing Terry to come with me, I went to see McQ. Wasn't great but above average.

I played the TUBULAR BELLS record over and over again all day today.

I saw JULIE AND DICK AT COVENT CENTER and then watched THE TONY AWARDS just to see all the stars.

Hate to say it but it's back to school again in the morning. Even Doug's back from vacation.

NOTES: Turns out the broom trick had more to do with my innate sense of balance than anything I saw on TV that day. Years later a doctor explained that the reason I get motion sick so easily is that I have not a BAD sense of balance but an acute one! I can find the center of gravity relatively easy in any object...including: a broom. I can still do it, moving it from fingertip to fingertip. If I had ever been invited to parties, I could have been the life of them.


Was listening to parts of TUBULAR BELLS on YT today in 2012. 


I never get to see plays. Even though they come to the area from time to time, they're so ridiculously overpriced we saw only one in the past 16 years! Love the Tonys, though and always have. 


Julie and Dick were Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke, the co-stars of Disney's MARY POPPINS, reunited for a TV special. The whole show, also spotlighting Carl Reiner, is on YouTube.

Saturday, April 20th, 1974

I got some more terrific mags with pics of Linda Blair. Also bought the theme from THE EXORCIST record and an early Beatles 45. I started getting FF again and the new FM was out, too.

Terry came through with the deal for MSH # 1.

Saw Melanie Cantor at Woolworth's when I picked up my new scrapbook. Filled about ten pages already with DARK SHADOWS junk.

We got paid today! $125.00!

I'm studying up on horses because Linda loves them so!

NOTES:In another case of odd temporal coincidence, here I was making a DARK SHADOWS-themed scrapbook in '74 and today in 2012, a lot of us boomers are mourning Jonathan (Barnabas Collins) Frid. I posted about DARK SHADOWS on two of my blogs yesterday. 


There was a record store in Cincinnati that sold nothing but old '45's. Every once in awhile I would pick up some Beatles music there. The EXORCIST theme was actually an excerpt from a marvelous experimental, instrumental album by English musician Mike Oldfield entitled TUBULAR BELLS. It would be nearly thirty years before I heard the whole album which is quite wonderful. 


Mentioning Melanie here is just a throwaway line but I sometimes think if she and I had become an item two years earlier in seventh grade my life would have been very different. She was the smartest girl in school, new that year, and also had an amazing sense of humor and a cute, cute smile. In what I thought was a really odd move, she ended up actually dating two of my closest school friends without ever looking twice at me! I tried. Even got up the courage to walk her home once (Had no idea just how long a walk that would be either!).  


MARVEL SUPER HEROES (MSH #1) was a 1966 one-shot comic book reprinting a classic early AVENGERS tale with the Hulk, the origin of Daredevil and a Golden Age battle between Namor and the Human Torch! At the time, this was coolness personified! I don't recall what happened to my copy but by this point I hadn't had one in several years and was pleased to get it back! I still have Terry's former copy!


And my first ever paycheck. Cool!

Friday, April 19th, 1974

I saw ALICE IN WONDERLAND with STORMY. ALICE is one of the best animated features I've ever seen. I also saw previews fro HERBIE RIDES AGAIN with Steffie.

There are a couple of new mags with pics of Linda out.

Well, the free week is almost over. After the weekend, it's back to the old grind for another couple of months.

I can't say it wasn't fun but it could have been better.

NOTES: HERBIE RIDES AGAIN was a just okay Disney live-action comedy starring Stefanie Powers, Helen Hayes and MAYBERRY RFD and F TROOP's Ken Berry. A talented and personable TV star, Berry was unable really to carry a lead role in films and this picture suffered for that. Cute...but not a patch on the original (although the next one would be worse!)

Thursday, April 18th, 1974

I watched Nick Clooney's Kings island special which I've awaited since last summer when it was filmed and it was marvelous. All the while I dreamed of inviting Linda Blair there with just me for a whole day of fun. Oh, t'would be fantabulous! If only I could meet Linda! I was once told that I could have anything I ever wanted if I just put my mind to it and I can't imagine NOT ever wanting to meet Linda Blair.

Nick's regular show was pretty special today, too. They had a piece on UFO's.

I saw an UNTOUCHABLES film, the first I've ever seen. Now that's a TV series I would have really loved.

NOTES: Wow. I really, really was smitten! I didn't know it then but there are photos of Linda, who was my age, hanging out with Who drummer Keith Moon and porn star Linda Lovelace during this period. Talk about out of my league. 


And I didn't even LIKE King's Island all that much!


As regular readers know, I DID finally get to meet Linda Blair via the Internet and see her in person at a Horrorfest but it took 36 years.


The movie I saw was the TV film that served as the pilot for THE UNTOUCHABLES around the time I was born. Actor Neville Brand played Al Capone but he was arrested in the movie and the series itself featured his lieutenant, Frank Nitti, as the Big Bad.

Wednesday, April 17th, 1974

Over in Cincinnati, I got some new books and two old (and cheap!) Vampi's. Should be some more books out later this week.

I might go see McQ Sunday at Ludlow. Probably make ALICE on Friday.

I'm progressing well with my own story of Alice and Mister Cheshire. I'm patterning Alice after Linda and Mister Cheshire after Quentin from DARK SHADOWS.

I need to get a new scrapbook soon. Think I'll dedicate it to DARK SHADOWS so I can look at all my DS stuff.

NOTES: McQ was the movie that was John Wayne's version of DIRTY HARRY.


I can't recall exactly what the plot of my story was to be but I never wrote it. Just lots of notes and drawings. In my mind, Mister Alexander Cheshire, always drawn in a top hat,  looked like Willy Wonka but, as stated here, I originally based him on David Selby's sideburned DS character, the show's original werewolf, the brooding, dark-eyed Quentin Collins.

Tuesday, April 16th, 1974

IT. Second day in a row.

I finished re-reading THE EXORCIST.


I ate a lot of doughnuts today.

I went through a lot of old folders the Soicial Security office threw out yesterday. Thinking I can maybe trade them to Terry for something.

I'll probably go over the river tomorrow and then catch ALICE IN WONDERLAND if it's still playing on Thursday.

I needed to wash my hair and take a bath tonight but didn't get to it.

NOTES: ALICE IN WONDERLAND has been a favorite story for most of my life but I never actually read the book itself until I was about 20. I tended to watch any TV adaptation or film that came along and I often listed Disney's ALICE as my favorite animated Disney picture. I had seen it as a child and this 1974 re-release was the one that tried to appeal to the psychedelic crowd, thus the colorful poster.

Monday, April 15th, 1974

Dad stayed home sick.

A boy in my Health class at school is presumed dead according to the nespaper. What a way to start Spring vacation.

All day long all I did was watch TV and begin re-reading THE EXORCIST.

I have to write my pen-pal letter soon.

Next door, another window was found broken out and this time I kept the ball that did it.

NOTES: No memory of the kid in my Health class. Driving me crazy trying to figure out who that was.