The Encyclopedia of Guilty Pleasures

The Encyclopedia of Guilty Pleasures: 1,001 Things You Hate To Love by Sam Stall, Lou Harry, and Julia Spalding (Quirk Books, 2004) is the most opinionated and infuriating pop culture encyclopedia I've ever read.

The book is meant to be a satirical compendium of bad taste which plumbs the depths of trash culture and regurgitates the curiously popular bits. I found the writers' descriptions of the skewered subjects to be shallow and misguided and the writing style to be unnecessarily scathing.

Whatever Happened To Pudding Pops?

Pop Culture Encyclopedias

X-TINCTION RATING: Revised and revived.

Revised and revived by Gael Fashingbauer Cooper and Brian Bellmont's new book Whatever Happened to Pudding Pops?: The Lost Toys, Tastes & Trends of the '70s & '80s (Perigee Books, 2011).

My bookcase dips in the middle under the weight of my pop culture library. From the massive, all-inclusive ABBA To Zoom to the pocket-sized Guilty Pleasures and bridging the gap between the anecdotal, countercultural RetroHell [1970s-1980s] from the writers of the Ben Is Dead zine to the pseudo-intellectual snooze that is alt.culture [1990s], you would think that another paean to pop cultural memories would be as necessary as a new Planet of the Apes movie.

Totally Tubular '80s Toys

Totally Tubular '80s Toys by toy expert Mark Bellomo (Krause Publications, 2010) is, so far, the most complete 1980s toy bible on the market. When I spotted this hefty hardcover on a display rack and viewed a few sample pages, I knew that this was the 1980s toy book that I had been searching for. The 1980s is a decade known for some of the greatest cartoon/figure tie-ins and some of the most creative toys ever made. As well, children of the 1980s were lucky to experience the last decade where toys were designed to spark creativity and imagination rather than passively entertain them whilst relying on flashing lights and electronic noises.

Sit, Hubu, Sit! Good dog.

Why is Paul in the family picture? If Paul's in the family picture, why not Winnie Cooper?

I can't believe it happened so quickly: this past week was my one year cable anniversary. Overall, I've been pleased with the selection of programming. I discovered that there is one half-decent TCM movie for every bum station filled with infomercials and mindless reality tv (In fact, I've watched 198 of them in the past year!). However, I've been lamenting the fact that I apparently missed out on the golden age of Nick At Nite and TV Land. I'm not sure how their definition of classic television has warped into George Lopez and Nanny reruns, and, while I used to watch Roseanne and a few other 1980s-90s sitcoms that air currently on (for some reason) multiple channels, they're not something that I'd want to watch for several hours every single day.

But deciding what to watch on television (my major daily dilemma) has just gotten a whole lot better and more confusing. The Hub is an all-new 'network for kids and their families' that debuted on October 10th. This cable channel has a prime-time dream lineup for fans of classic 1970s and 80s pop culture.

Bask in the Hub's weeknight (Monday through Thursday) prime-time schedule (EST):

Family Ties 8-9 PM - Mallory dressed like Little House on the Prairie for the first season! [see also the Mallory's Clothes Tumblr]
The Wonder Years (my favorite show of all-time) 9-9:30 PM - With the original soundtrack. I don't believe this will ever be on DVD in its original format, so set your recording devices to catch every bittersweet moment.
Doogie Howser, MD 9:30-10 PM - Boy genius doctor and first ever blogger!
Happy Days 10-11 PM - Got a couch? Then sit on it, Potsie, while you're watching the Fonz! Ayyy?
Laverne & Shirley 11-11:30 PM - Best enjoyed with a Pepsi-Cola and milk!
Batman 11:30 PM - 12 AM - Biff! Zok! Adam West!

During the afternoons, Hub airs the Jim Henson classic, Fraggle Rock, and late at night they have the original 1980s animated Transformers and GI Joe series. There are also new versions of Strawberry Shortcake, My Little Pony, and the Pound Puppies (these are not the original animated versions that we enjoyed in the 1980s, though they still may be of interest). That's all I've noticed so far, but there might be even more exciting schedule additions! I haven't peeked ahead at the weekend schedule, but it looks like there's something called Family Game Night on Friday nights that is like Double Dare meets gigantic Hasbro games. Apparently the channel is owned by Hasbro, which explains the Hasbro game and Playskool advertisements.

Round out any schedule holes with the other great pop culture channel, Boomerang from Cartoon Network, and you'll never have to remember the last decade again. Boomerang has everything from The Banana Splits, Pink Panther, Scooby Doo (and other meddling kids in the guise of Jabberjaw and Speed Buggy), Top Cat, The Flintstones, The Jetsons, and Josie And The Pussycats to The Smurfs and The Snorks (to name but a few -- check the schedule for new editions).

Fluorescerama: 84 Charing Cross Road

84, Charing Cross Road (1987) is the first of many delightful movies I'll recommend in this blog. The book by Helene Hanff is based on her real-life correspondence with the workers at a shop of rare and collectible books in England. The twenty year friendship that developed between Hanff, a high-spirited New Yorker (and avid reader), and Frank Doel, the chief buyer at Marks & Co is as sweet and poignant as any cinematic romance. There is much to recommend this film. Anne Bancroft, best known for her iconic role as the seductive Mrs. Robinson in The Graduate, lights up the screen as the irrepressibly inspired Hanff. Her character has a humor and candor that makes her instantly likeable, and the intimacy of her correspondence is like receiving a note from an old friend. Frank Doel and his wife are played by two of the best British actors, Anthony Hopkins and Judi Dench. Anthony Hopkins is no stranger to characters of few words, and, as always, his greatness lies in his restraint. As such, the gabby New Yorker and the reserved Brit should be polar opposites, yet their eventual connection seems so natural. It's no surprise that this bittersweet story has resonated with many viewers and readers. I have yet to read the book, but I assume that it's every bit as charming as the movie. [Wikipedia]