I have been exhausted.  I slept most of last night on my hardwood floors.  My back was killing me last night after I posted so I stretched out and was soon asleep.  I think I am now taller because the pants are a little shorter in length on the legs.  I had a meeting this afternoon and I had to drive to a town with the population of about 200.  It was pouring down rain so I completely passed where I was supposed to go.  I went about a mile out of town and turned around and viola there it was.  One of my Sunday features, until I get bored with it, will be to explore some of the posts I made in the past.  I did that last week with the soda pop entry.  This week I was having difficulties with which one to choose.  I decided to go with the one I did on candy.  The other possible entry was one that I had posted many of my recipes.  If you haven't heard, I am an adequate cook.  Actually I enjoy cooking and sometimes wish I could go to culinary school however I have the hands of a butcher with the shakes of a drunk.  Actually I don't have the alcoholic shakes but it is a hereditary condition which is heightened with the use of steroids.  Well now for the blog entry:

A few weeks ago I did a blog about my favorite pops of my childhood.  I got to thinking over the past week of all the candy of my youth.  There was so much out there that is now discontinued.  I couldn't believe that there are sites that still sell some but the products are actually from my childhood and therefore unsafe for eating. Well here goes.

One of the worst things of all the candy choices we had as kids was that when I would go to the Kwik Trip, Kickapoo gas station or Ben Franklin, you had to buy the candy before you could try it.  So you were risking buying something you didn't care for.  But it all comes down to when you would go to that special aisle and your mouth would begin to water with the myriad of choices of sugary treats awaiting to be purchased with your allowance.  Well what would happen if you were low on funds?  Well then you would look at the bottom shelf for the cheap candy.  Despite low prices, the quality and quantity was excellent thanks to Ferrara Pan.

AAAAHHHH FERRARA PAN IS HOW I SPELL HEAVEN!!!!!!!!!! I love this candy to this day although I am only able to find Boston Baked Beans and Lemonheads.  I think that Atomic Fireballs are available but no longer in the old box but just individually wrapped candies.  I did love Cherry Chan because of the mildly offensive box.  This candy did not just provide sugary goodness but it also served a desire to make annoying sounds as a child.  You could use the boxes as whistles by sealing your mouth over the end of the opened side and blowing through the sealed end.  Those were the days, my neighbors and I had a garage Ferrara Pan box band.  We were mostly a cover band.  What I wouldn't give to have us all sit back in my garage blowing our box-whistles to the tune of "Living on a Prayer" by Bon Jovi...those truly were the days.

One of the best movie tie-in candies was during the summer between my 7th and 8th grade year of school.  Jurassic Park had just hit the big screen and of course companies were looking for as many products to get kids' money.  Raptor Bites were the obvious candy hit.  There was also a candy for the other dinosaur featured in the movie called Dilophasaur Eggs but they were nasty.  Raptor Bites were about the size of Nerds and were wild cherry flavored.  See they were "wild" cherry flavored because obviously dinosaurs are wild.  One of the drawing points for my friends and I were that they left a red dye in your mouth so it looked as if you had been drinking blood or were bleeding.  When flag football season rolled around we had the bright idea to eat Raptor Bites before the game as a little psych-ops to make the other team believe we were out from blood.  Well we ended up getting sick on the Bites and we lost the game and that was the last time Raptor Bites appeared at our football games.

I couldn't find a picture but one craptacular gum from my childhood was Dr. Pepper gum.  When you bit in the first chew you got a little squirt of Dr. Pepper syrup.  The flavor lasted all of a minute or two before you had to spit out the gum because of its repulsive non-taste.  I was just reminded that there were similar pop gums featuring 7-UP and A&W Root Beer.  I thought they had left pop out of candy but was mildly surprised during a visit to Target a few years ago and saw Dr. Pepper flavored lip gloss.  I was also repulsed to see Dr. Pepper flavored beef jerky.  Dr. Pepper should limit his practice to treating only thirst and prescribing his tasty concoction to quench said thirst.

Warheads were extremely sour candies initially and then once the sour coating was sucked they because a tasty treat.  One of the tests of manhood in my neighborhood was to see how many Warheads one could put in their mouth without crying or spitting them out.  There was another test of seeing how many jawbreakers one could break in their mouth with one bite, I had to bow out of these competitions after I chipped a couple of teeth in a contest.  The true test of manliness was when we would up the ante by combing Warheads with Atomic Fireballs.  I wish that was the test of manliness in New Ulm instead of how much beer one can drink or what brand of snowmobile one drives.

Quite simply, Big League Chew was one of my favorite bubble gums as a child.  I thought it was cool because it came in a pouch and watching baseball players stuffing something shredded in their mouths that came from pouches made me feel like I was just one minor step away from the big leagues.  Yeah the baseball part of getting into Major League Baseball but that would work itself out while I chewed Big League chew like a major leaguer chewed tobacco.  My grandfather ruined my childhood dream when he told me they weren't chewing gum and he gave me some of his chewing tobacco and I got sick.  So I figured no more MLB for me.  I have not seen this product in years and have been lead to believe that it has been taken off the market due to its tobacco like appearance. 

After Big League Chew, Bazooka Joe was another good gum.  See with Bazooka Joe it was also a collectible.  They came with little comics on the inside of the wrapper.  I stopped chewing Bazooka Joe when I realized I didn't understand half the jokes because they were still running the same comics as they did when my dad chewed Bazooka Joe.

Bubble Tape...I still remember the slogan...6 Feet of Gum for You Not Them.  We actually measured the gum to make sure we got an actual 6 feet of gum.  Besides the Dr. Pepper gum mentioned earlier this gum lost its flavor quite quickly.  I guess the makers were more concerned with the length rather than the quality...I won't make any other comments.

Mr. Bones Coffin Candy was one of the Holy Grails of the candy empire.  It was elusive to us as kids and usually only available at Halloween.  The with this candy wasn't simply eating it but you could put together the skeleton and each section of bone was a different flavor.  A puzzle and candy...wow why don't they make stuff like this anymore?

Fun Dip was another candy that we considered to be the Holiest of the Holies.  Pure sugar...check...candy stick for dipping into sugar...check...Hyperactivity due to amount of sugar intake...CHECK.  I can't believe that this is still on the market or was even sold for that matter.  They wouldn't sell Surge and Jolt because of sugar content and caffeine content respectively but somehow Fun Dip remained on the shelves.  My friends and I would forgo the traditional form of eating and eat the stick all at once and then dump the sugar into a can of 7-Up or Slice or we would just dump all the sugar into our mouth and let it slowly dissolve and carry us away into sugar oblivion.

Hot Dog Gum...yes hot dog shaped gum...too bad it didn't taste like hot dogs but some sweet cinnamon flavor made in hell.  I guess hot dogs were originally called red hots so it all makes sense.

I think Ring Pops made me make a fool of myself on numerous occasions.  See it wasn't uncommon for boys to by a ring pop and get down on one knee and profess undying love for a girl.  Well I remember once hearing, "That's candy, stupid, it doesn't have a diamond."  I think that particular girl is married to a guy in his 70s.

I probably would have had better luck with the girls and candy if I had simply just given them candy lipstick.  I never ate it but just knew it was a girls only candy because what boy would buy lipstick even if it was in candy form.  

Sixlets...M&M's bastard step child.  Candy coated balls of chocolate in little wrappers reminiscent of Smarties.  I think we stayed away from this candy because we knew that whatever company was producing it was just phoning it in.

Lotsa Fizz were small discs of candy that were filled with a powder that when mixed with liquid became a foaming nightmare.  I remember pretending to have rabies after eating these candies.  It was also amusing just ti split one open and dump the powder into a carbonated drink thus making a green apple Coke or Cherry 7-Up. So maybe I was a precocious bartender.

Pop Rocks....who didn't enjoy these as kids?  They popped in your mouth and sometime if you left your mouth open they would escape.  It was like candy Mexican jumping beans with out the bean or the nasty little worm inside.  Of course the urban legend of the demise of Mikey, the Life Cereal kid, stunned us but provided a new dare among us kids.  We ate Pop Rocks and washed them down with a Coke plenty of times and we didn't need the Mythbusters to tell us otherwise.  These are thankfully still on the market.

Candy cigarettes, how little did I know ye...taken off the shelves nationwide because supposedly they were being marketed to kids as a way to get them to smoke real cigarettes.  I didn't need candy to tell me I needed to smoke to be cool, that was the work of Joe Camel.  I do think that the packaging on candy cigarettes looked very similar to the real deal.  They were nothing more than a stick of peppermint candy.  The last variety of candy cigarettes had a candy powder that one could blow out of the candy to make the look of smoke.  Really, they weren't supposed to get kids to start smoking?

<edit> I forgot to mention how we used to use Spree as currency in grade school.  I would load up at the Kwik Trip which doubled as my bus stop.  I can't remember the price but a roll was usually 50 cents.  The green ones were the most valuable because we had it in our hormonally challenged minds that green Spree made you horny.  It was like Viagra for those going through puberty.  Let's just say I was a Spree pusher and sometimes when I sold those green Spree to the girls in my class, recess was loads of fun. 

OK I have more candy but I can't find pictures.  It involves different kinds of Lifesavers.  My favorite kind of Lifesaver was the Clove flavored.  Can't find it anymore and I believe it was one of the original 5 flavors but taken out and just sold as packs of Clove flavored.  There was also Tangerine flavored packs of Lifesavers as well as a line of Sour Lifesavers and my mom is trying to tell me of a Chocolate Lifesaver I used to eat as a kid but I can't remember...see all the sugar has rotted my brain.  If there are any kinds that I didn't cover that were your favorites feel free to drop me a line.

Back in high school, a few of my friends and I would hang out in the public park drinking...pop? and smoking...candy?  Anyway, during those days we would talk music and movies and then one guy started talking about how his brother told him about Pink Floyd's album "Dark Side of the Moon" and how it was the perfect soundtrack for The Wizard of Oz.  We all started laughing at him thinking he was experiencing some sort of sugar high...yeah, that's the ticket.  He got so pissed off at us that he ended up taking us to his place to show us.  My god, he wasn't lying.  Maybe it was the pop and candy but I thought this was the best thing ever.  I then graduated and went to college and I was discussing with a friend how in order for me to get to sleep at night I had to put on Dark Side of the Moon on my cd player and sent me off to sleep.  He then brought up how he had heard about Dark Side and Wizard of Oz being a crazy match up.  I explained how it was.  We both had copies of DSOTM but neither of us had Wizard of Oz.  We searched high and low for that movie.  Finally I found it during a winter break and when we were snowed in that next weekend after classes resumed we watched this strange phenomena over and over again.
It all started in 1994 when Pink Floyd fans were discussing this phenomenon on a Usenet message board.  In the same message board they were discussing the Publius Enigma posts but that is for another blog post.  There is no mention as to who suggested to match the two but it seemingly works.
Then in 2000 my prayers were answered and Turner Classic Movies aired Wizard of Oz and then afterward they aired the movie matched with DSOTM.  It was incredible.  I recorded it but wouldn't you know, I have since lost the tape. 
No matter how many times I sit down and try this strange black magic, it works and gives me this really creepy feeling.  The members of Pink Floyd deny that the album has anything to do with The Wizard of Oz however the album is dedicated to the man who died in the production of the film; the same man whose death is said to be captured in the film.  The first pressing of the LP featured artwork that had a feeling for the movie.
This is the artwork that most people see when they look at Dark Side of the Moon but that first pressing featured the white line hitting the spectrum, turning to the rainbow and then narrowing on the inside of the LP to a single white line.  It follows the color "scheme" of Wizard of Oz. The movie starts in black and white, switches to color, and then ends in black and white. 
Another rumor about the synchronicity comes from the production of the album.  Pink Floyd supposedly recorded much of DSOTM while in a screening room and they were watching Wizard of Oz while working.  I don't know the truth to that but The Grateful Dead were notorious for that.  A lot of their songs came from watching movies and matching rhythms with motions on the screen.
How do you do this?  Well get a copy of Dark Side of the Moon and a copy of Wizard of Oz.  Put the entire album on repeat or what I do is program the songs 1-9 and then again 1-9 and then again 1-9.  The strange thing about this is that there is synchronicity on the second time through as well as half of the third.  I usually mute the tv so I can focus on the music and the sounds on the album.  There is debate as to when to start the music.  I say pause the music and then unpause it right before the MGM lion makes his third roar.  Some will say after the third roar.  Either way it is a split second.  This link will send you to a site that features the synchs between the movie and the album.  I would print it first and then try it out because it talks about the synch between lyrics and actions on the screen. 
Well I am going to be so nice...actually not really, I just stumbled upon this last night so enjoy.  Youtube has just the first run through of the album with Wizard of Oz.

Part 1:  In this 1st of 6 videos watch as Dorothy balances on a fence rail while the words "Balanced on the biggest wave you race towards an early grave" are sung. Dorothy falls as the words "early grave" are sung.
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Part 2:  The ringing of the alarm bells coincides perfectly with the entrance of Elvira Gulch.  The song during this video is called Time. Notice the fortune teller's sign, it reads Past, Present and Future.  During "Breathe (Reprise)" you hear "Home, home again" as Professor Marvel tells Dorothy that she should return to her home.

Part 3:  There's some incredible synchronicity in this video.  The Great Gig in the Sky; is that a reference to the tornado in the video?  The music slowly builds in time to the intensity of the actors' movements in the video. The intensity of Clare Torry's wailing matches perfectly with Dorothy's frantic mood. Her vocals then subside as Dorothy loses consciousness and drifts off to the Land of Oz.

Part 4:  The movie now changes from black and white to color just as the song Money begins and Dorothy enters the land of Oz.  Okay, if you've been thinking this is far fetched you have to admit that this is an interesting transition. Also, watch as the Good Witch has her hands on the wand.  It sort of looks like she could be playing guitar chords.

Part 5:  Watch as the ballerinas enter on "us.....us....us...." then proceed to dance in time to the music...the munchkins as well.  Watch as the Wicked Witch enters on the word "black".  Listen as they sing "which is which" while imagining that the singer is really saying 'Witch is witch' as they transition from the wicked witch to the good witch.  Notice the words "out....out....out..." as the good witch fades from the scene

Part 6:  Dorothy finds herself along the Yellow Brick Road and comes upon the Scarecrow. Not a lot here as far as coincidences are concerned. The name of the tune is Any Colour You Like and some people say that the title is a reference to the Technicolor used in the film which was state-of-the-art in 1939 when the film was made.  The song Brain Damage plays as Dorothy and the Scarecrow are on the yellow brick road. Listen for the line "Got to keep the loonies on the path".  Toward the end of the album and this final segment Dorothy and the Scarecrow come upon the Tinman. The lyrics "All that you taste/All that you hear/All that you feel" accompany Dorothy's efforts to revive the Tinman by oiling his joints.  The Tinman lacked a heart. Eclipse, the last song on the album, concludes with the sound of a heartbeat. You hear this sound as Dorothy puts her hand and ear to the Tinman's chest while listening for a heartbeat as the music fades out to the sound of a heartbeat.

So there the first play through is for your enjoyment.  Yes, I now owe you 45+ minutes of your life.  Give me a call some time and I'll make it up to you in a good Christian manner.  Oh and if you are ever snowed in I have some other rumored Pink Floyd synchs:  There is a reggae album called Dubside of the Moon which is supposed to synch the same way, the third act in 2001: A Space Odyesy is supposed to synch with the Pink Floyd song "echoes" found on the album Meddle this is strange because Roger Waters was offered the chance to score that movie but turned down the offer, the Pink Floyd album Wish You Were Here matches up with It's a Wonderful Life.

I forgot to mention that a few years ago I was walking around in Boulder, CO just exploring on my own while I was out there for a wedding.  The wedding party decided to have their bachelor and bachelorette parties at a park in the mountains and I was suffering from altitude sickness so I said I was going to stay at the house.  Well I went out in search of a music store.  Something on a light pole grabbed my attention.  It was an ad for a local band that was going to be playing Dark Side of the Moon and they were going to play it live with Wizard of Oz.  I didn't get to go see it because that was the night of the wedding.  Then a little while after that I was in Madison and found a flyer for a band playing DSOTM along with Wizard of Oz.  Didn't make that one because I saw the flyer a day after the performance.

Another thing that comes to mind is the 1995 release of a Pink Floyd concert.  The video was called Pulse.  In the artwork there were some strange images that people have said are a tie-in to the Wizard of Oz.  There is a girl that resembles Dorothy and is wearing red shoes, there is a bike which people claim is the bike that Ms Glutch is riding, and then there is an axe which supposedly represents the Tin Man.  David Gilmour of Pink Floyd explained that it was an homage to their early material.  The girl was the titular character of a song called "See Emily Play", the bike was for a song called "Bike" and the axe represented the song "Be Careful with that Axe Eugene".  Either way that is still some strange coincidences.

You know if you read this entry while playing Pearl Jam's album Yield...it doesn't match up but it provides you with some great music.  Hope you enjoyed.

So I have been a man on a mission these past few days.  I am trying to eclipse the 15,000 credit mark so I can "purchase" some premium Xanga.  I purchased it once a long time ago when I first started Xanga but they sort of phased it out not long after I bought it.  I was pissed because I never got a refund.  Anyway, I am currently at 14,502 credits and if you don't have the math skills that means I have 498 more credits to go.  I forsee getting the premium by Friday.  Oh yes, it will be mine!

Well I hope you have found some motivation.  I have.  Expect me to comment on your blog soon!