Who is a Star on 45?  You know.  Today is shazbazzar’s birthday, and it’s time for a trip back to when the ‘Dads were 5 and 6 in the final seven days before Christmas as the anticipation became unbearable!  After all, seven days to kids is like a year to forty-somethings.  For the next 77 minutes, sit back and enjoy bad puns, sad jokes, mad banter, and virtually endless drivel.

In the NEWS

Speaking of “virtually endless drivel”, the virtual realm is where everyone lives in 2045 (are you seeing a trend developing in the numbers, yet?).  A second trailer for Ready Player One has been released, and the hype is in full force with the first one sheet poster.  And that’s not all.  Ernest Cline has signed on to pen the sequel to Ready Player One and we have all the details here on TechnoRetro Dads.  Find out whether the sequel will be called “Ready Player Two” or “Game Over”.  PLUS: The Dark Crystal is returning to theaters in February.  Be on the lookout for listings in your area.

Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas 

A washboard, a washtub, a broom handle, a cigar-box banjo, a kazoo, and a tub all come together to create Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band in the 1977 Jim Henson special on HBO.  Back in ’77, more than a few of us were interested in putting another hole in another washtub to string up a cable to a broomstick and get famous like the woodland creatures along the riverside in Frog Hollow.  Mama and Emmet both want to win a talent contest to give the other a gift for Christmas, but a late entry from Riverbottom surprises everyone with a hard-rocking tune that clobbers the competition.  It’s forty years old, so the spoiler statute of limitations is right out by now.  It’s about family, friends, and a fish that likes to spit during rock concerts.  It’s Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas.

Aftershocks of 1977: Christmas Toys

It’s the last week before Christmas, and in 1977 that usually meant that Christmas lists had been finalized long ago and there was no more time for late additions.  Still, the anticipation for what might be under the tree in a week grew more and more as we continued thumbing through the JCPenney Christmas catalog and the Sears Wish Book.  From actual houses to leisure suits, the Sears catalogues had long been the standard for mail-order shopping.  JediShua and shazbazzar check out the catalogs from 1977 and remember the toys they got that year straight from the mail-order maestroe

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