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It's here, it's here, the second best time of the year! The Prognosticator of Prognosticators, Punxsutawney Phil, will once again appear at sunrise on February 2nd at Gobbler's Knob in the Pennsylvania Wilds to make his annual prediction on the 130th anniversary of Groundhog Day. 

Well folks, you asked for it and we answered. A compilation of the best/worst school choir performances from the 1980s, inspired by this swell new arrival: 

Before we begin, I'll just set the mood with this great shot from the spring of '82 of Fest competitors from the St. Louis Children's Choir. It seems the Great American Choral Festival is no longer in action - but, don't sweat vocally gifted teens and tweens - I'm sure in the age of Glee there's plenty of other events in which to compete! However, they will likely have none of the pizazz of these matching outfits or original Fest logo... 

Welp, we're finally experiencing some winter weather here in the Northeast, and I can't say I love it. It's the time of year for fantasizing about tropical climates, like those fair Hawaiian Islands I've never been to. The truth is, I hate to sweat and I'm scared to death of natural disasters. And, Hawaii's paradise comes with a whole heck of a lot of devastation, historically speaking. 

Just like the rest of the world, we're mourning the loss and celebrating the life and work of David Bowie this week. Last night I listened to a rebroadcast of an interview with Fresh Air's Terry Gross from 2002, in which Bowie spoke candidly about leaving characters in his songs, his love of Tibetan horns, and his childhood desire to write musicals and play saxophone in Little Richard's band. He also touched on why he never wore t-shirts and jeans onstage... 

Happy 2016! We're kicking off the new year with a post about this pretty sweet new arrival, a promo t-shirt from the 1984 theatrical release of The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension. Banzai is a cult classic starring Peter Weller, John Lithgow, Ellen Barkin, Jeff Goldblum and Christopher Lloyd. I haven't had the pleasure of watching it yet (I know, I know), but seen it described as "one of the most original films ever made, and one of the most criminally underrated". 

After more than 20 years, I still have the Reality Bites soundtrack in rotation - the album that catapulted the Knack's '79 Billboard Hot 100 number 1 hit "My Sharona" back into the pop charts. Let's just say I've done my share of dancing in convenience stores over the years, à la Winona and Janeane, to the catchy song.

But, until today, my appreciation for the Knack ended there. I'm ashamed to say that I pretty much considered them one-hit wonders. So, inspired by this new arrival (a deadstock the Knack t-shirt from 1979!!!), I'm delving into the band's debut album Get the Knack today and it's pretty darn great! 

This new arrival's got us thinking about Mr. Belvedere. On the front of this vintage t-shirt is a wonderful caricature of Bob Uecker, retired American Major League Baseball player, sportscaster, comedian and, most importantly, actor. You see, from 1985 to 1990, Uecker starred on the classic ABC show about a fussy butler ("Mr. Belvedere", Christopher Hewett) for the family of a Pittsburgh-area sportswriter (Uecker).