I have been experiencing flashbacks to 1983, and one of these reasons is the movie 'Flashdance'. I was at a secondhand store over the weekend and saw the movie soundtrack on LP record but didn't buy it. Then I danced to the song 'Maniac' during the weekly Wii dancing session. I do recall some things about the movie but haven't seen it in a while. The main character, played by Jennifer Beals, I knew was a welder in Pittsburgh and dated her boss, and many scenes were at a bar. One of her friends was trying to make it as a figure skater but fell. And according to Wikipedia, when I recall the 'Immaculate Reception' being mentioned, it was likely her friend who was trying to make it as a stand-up comic. This of course was a famous play in the history of the city's NFL team, the Steelers. I also recall how it influenced a Charlie Brown special, called 'Flash-beagle'. This movie is a vivid memory of my family first renting movies, of course this was the days of the VCR and having to rent the video player with the movies. It was one of the earlier ones, but not the first. Dad claims we first rented 'Woman in Red', starring Gene Wilder and Kelly LeBrock. Eventually my parents decided to buy a VCR so we wouldn't need to rent it.
The other reason for the 1983 flashback? Not as positive as this movie. A cold case from my hometown of Newton, Iowa finally went to trial last week, it was a double murder from that year. A classmate did a Facebook posting and asked people to be respectful about it. I said my family moved to Newton that year, and I was very young then, so I don't recall it at all. I have a greater memory of the police officer who was murdered at a Hy-Vee grocery store in 1985, two years later. I had to look at the timeline and said my family moved on January 29 and the murders happened just over a month later, on March 2/3. It is known as the 'Copper Dollar Ranch' murders, and the defendant is a woman named Terri Supino. The owner of the ranch was Hal Snedeker. One of the victims is named Steven Fisher, and some of the relatives being mentioned are named Illingworth. I did go to school with people that had these same family names. In a small town they were likely relatives. What is odd to me is how I grew up in that town and didn't hear about it at all. But all I can think of is that I may have just been too young when it happened. In addition, it was sad and nobody wanted to talk about it because it was unsolved murders in a small town where this kind of crime hardly ever happens. I now recall one time where I was on my bike and trying to find a classmate who I understood lived at this ranch, but I was in town and was unable to understand at the time how the ranch was outside the city limits.
I had to go online and find out what was going on in the world at this time. A notable thing was the final episode of 'MASH', just days earlier on February 28. This led to my family's story I may have told before, at least at the comedy club. My dad was upset about having to miss watching the final episode as my sister's chorus concert was the same night, and most didn't have video players then. He did later get to watch it, as it was on video, and I saw it on its 10th anniversary as it was re-aired in prime time. A popular song at the time was 'Down Under' by Men at Work, and early in the year the number one movie was 'Tootsie'. 'Flashdance' premiered later in the year, in April. My family's summer vacation that year was in St. Louis, we saw some Cardinals baseball games. We left during a rain delay against the Pirates and came back a day later for a doubleheader against the Mets. The Cardinals had just won the World Series the previous season. We were on the field for a stadium tour, and I recall highlights from the series being played along with the song 'Magic' by America. On the brick I bought at the current stadium, which opened in 2006, it says I have been 'Visiting Busch since 1983'. But it didn't become an annual visit until 1999.
I did call my dad tonight, while 'Sherlock Holmes' (aka 'Elementary') was on. The call was still happening when the 10pm news started and he said there was something on it about the murder trial. He spoke of sending me some books on loan, one of them he tells me was written by actor Gene Hackman. I said send it to my P.O. box.
This was a day off for me since I was at the concert the night before, so I made the most of it in terms of errand running. The first stop was to the P.O. box, and picked up 3 E-bay orders. So there is nothing currently outstanding there. Then it was on to the library to print things, and JC Penney to use an e-gift card, a reward from their loyalty program. I got two items- a shirt for the office, and a pair of socks. I started with $25 and there is $5 left. After getting home to unload things I was back on the road, to Mall of America, but couldn't find a specific postcard or 8 x 10 print I was looking for. I came back to watch 'Jeopardy' and liked how I got one correct answer that a contestant couldn't, the name origin of a school in a suburb of New York City- Sarah Lawrence College. When it was done I dialed into a conference call with my writer's union, about a proposed dues increase. The discussion lasted just over an hour, for some reason I lost the call and had to dial in again. But we were about 50 minutes in by then, and there wasn't much left to discuss. I asked about when the convention will be, and found out no date has been set. I understand it will be in July or August, since this is 'Baseball and museum season' I am hopeful to avoid any scheduling conflicts.
In the evening I watched 3 'Big Bang Theory' episodes. Syndicated rerun was about the buddies fighting over a ring, it was a parody of the 'Lord of the Rings' story. One prime time episode was
about when Sheldon was promoted to professor, and only Howard signed up for his class. The other was about Leonard getting surgery to combat snoring and Sheldon was paranoid about the possibility of the procedure being fatal. Actually I turned on the syndicated rerun before the conference call was over, but I kept the volume on low.
The other reason for the 1983 flashback? Not as positive as this movie. A cold case from my hometown of Newton, Iowa finally went to trial last week, it was a double murder from that year. A classmate did a Facebook posting and asked people to be respectful about it. I said my family moved to Newton that year, and I was very young then, so I don't recall it at all. I have a greater memory of the police officer who was murdered at a Hy-Vee grocery store in 1985, two years later. I had to look at the timeline and said my family moved on January 29 and the murders happened just over a month later, on March 2/3. It is known as the 'Copper Dollar Ranch' murders, and the defendant is a woman named Terri Supino. The owner of the ranch was Hal Snedeker. One of the victims is named Steven Fisher, and some of the relatives being mentioned are named Illingworth. I did go to school with people that had these same family names. In a small town they were likely relatives. What is odd to me is how I grew up in that town and didn't hear about it at all. But all I can think of is that I may have just been too young when it happened. In addition, it was sad and nobody wanted to talk about it because it was unsolved murders in a small town where this kind of crime hardly ever happens. I now recall one time where I was on my bike and trying to find a classmate who I understood lived at this ranch, but I was in town and was unable to understand at the time how the ranch was outside the city limits.
I had to go online and find out what was going on in the world at this time. A notable thing was the final episode of 'MASH', just days earlier on February 28. This led to my family's story I may have told before, at least at the comedy club. My dad was upset about having to miss watching the final episode as my sister's chorus concert was the same night, and most didn't have video players then. He did later get to watch it, as it was on video, and I saw it on its 10th anniversary as it was re-aired in prime time. A popular song at the time was 'Down Under' by Men at Work, and early in the year the number one movie was 'Tootsie'. 'Flashdance' premiered later in the year, in April. My family's summer vacation that year was in St. Louis, we saw some Cardinals baseball games. We left during a rain delay against the Pirates and came back a day later for a doubleheader against the Mets. The Cardinals had just won the World Series the previous season. We were on the field for a stadium tour, and I recall highlights from the series being played along with the song 'Magic' by America. On the brick I bought at the current stadium, which opened in 2006, it says I have been 'Visiting Busch since 1983'. But it didn't become an annual visit until 1999.
I did call my dad tonight, while 'Sherlock Holmes' (aka 'Elementary') was on. The call was still happening when the 10pm news started and he said there was something on it about the murder trial. He spoke of sending me some books on loan, one of them he tells me was written by actor Gene Hackman. I said send it to my P.O. box.
This was a day off for me since I was at the concert the night before, so I made the most of it in terms of errand running. The first stop was to the P.O. box, and picked up 3 E-bay orders. So there is nothing currently outstanding there. Then it was on to the library to print things, and JC Penney to use an e-gift card, a reward from their loyalty program. I got two items- a shirt for the office, and a pair of socks. I started with $25 and there is $5 left. After getting home to unload things I was back on the road, to Mall of America, but couldn't find a specific postcard or 8 x 10 print I was looking for. I came back to watch 'Jeopardy' and liked how I got one correct answer that a contestant couldn't, the name origin of a school in a suburb of New York City- Sarah Lawrence College. When it was done I dialed into a conference call with my writer's union, about a proposed dues increase. The discussion lasted just over an hour, for some reason I lost the call and had to dial in again. But we were about 50 minutes in by then, and there wasn't much left to discuss. I asked about when the convention will be, and found out no date has been set. I understand it will be in July or August, since this is 'Baseball and museum season' I am hopeful to avoid any scheduling conflicts.
In the evening I watched 3 'Big Bang Theory' episodes. Syndicated rerun was about the buddies fighting over a ring, it was a parody of the 'Lord of the Rings' story. One prime time episode was
about when Sheldon was promoted to professor, and only Howard signed up for his class. The other was about Leonard getting surgery to combat snoring and Sheldon was paranoid about the possibility of the procedure being fatal. Actually I turned on the syndicated rerun before the conference call was over, but I kept the volume on low.
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