Summer Commercial Break Part 2: SUPER SOAKERS!
Posted on August 16, 2018 Leave a Comment
Let’s face it people. If you grew up in a certain era like myself, Super Soakers were a HUGE goddamn deal. Nothing brought neighborhood kids together better than a water gun fight in the dead of summer. We held onto our Super Soakers like precious pieces of golden artillery.
Everyone knew that one kid who had all the biggest and baddest Super Soakers on the market. The guns equipped with backpacks, rocket launchers, power soakers, water cannons, etc. The sky was the limit when this kid’s parents brought him to Toys ‘R Us. I can’t admit I wasn’t super jealous, but at the same time nothing could ever touch my cherished joy, the SUPER SOAKER 50…
The tale of the Super Soaker begins in the early 1980s with a NASA engineer named Lonnie Johnson. While working on and testing a heat pump system in his bathroom, a powerful stream shot from his prototype, with Johnson immediately realizing that this could make a great water gun. He spent the next eight years trying to sell the idea. Eventually, Johnson sold the idea to Larami Toys, and they released the Power Drencher. The Power Drencher wasn’t very popular at first, but popularity grew significantly when they renamed it the Super Soaker 50.
I couldn’t possibly continue explaining the entire history of this legendary toy, but this article sure can. When you’ve finished browsing through my favorite commercials, check that out!
(Two strange ones courtesy of Matt from Dinosaur Dracula)
Now to really make your head explode, feast your eyes on this intense (but geeky) Super Soaker collection from a guy named Chris Reid. More photos here.
Summer Commercial Break Part 1: SLIP ‘N SLIDE!
Posted on August 9, 2018 1 Comment
With last month’s riveting release of Camp TNUC’s Summer Camp Mixtape, let’s keep the party going with the best summertime toy to ever hit the backyard…SLIP ‘N SLIDE!
First introduced in 1961 by the company Wham-O, “slip ‘n slides” exploded into the mainstream during the late eighties with multiple companies getting in on the fun.
Which slide was your favorite? Watch the following commercials, bask in the memories and let us know!
SUMMER CAMP MIX.
Posted on July 19, 2018 6 Comments
At last…IT’S HERE. After nearly three decades of searching cabins, bunk beds, canoes, showers, the boathouse, mess hall and almost every square inch of our campgrounds, we finally unearthed the original, official summer soundtrack from Camp TNUC!
As legend has it, during a naked long-butt waterski competition in ’89 sponsored by Body Glove, the only copy of the cassette tape launched into Lake Waramaug, sinking into the abyss of its contaminated waters and never to be seen again.
Uncle T hired divers who spent months searching for the sacred tape. The heartbroken head counselor shelled out his complete savings and eventually became so stir crazy he had the entire lake drained with still no sign of the tape. Authorities and townsfolk chased him out of the area and he fled to Mexico.
Fast forward to Summer 2018 and a news story broke out that the deceased body of Camp TNUC’s old pervert janitor ‘Sludge’ had turned up in a rural wooded area. When authorities picked through the dilapidated shed he was living inside, one of the items that turned up was a moss covered, muck infested cassette tape with a barely legible engraving of “Camp TNUC’s Summer Camp Mix”.
As to how this deformed weirdo we fired 30 years ago ended up with the tape? Your guess is as good as mine. Uncle T is just overjoyed and relieved that our prized possession finally came home. After some negotiating with the local police, we retrieved the tape and cleaned it up.
Now fill up that super soaker, grab a cold beer or Capri Sun from the fridge, press play and
GET SET TO GET WET!
Special thanks to my good friends Chad Allegro, Misty and Wheeler who without them this mix wouldn’t have been possible!
HULK GOES TO CAMP.
Posted on July 11, 2018 3 Comments
Get ready to have your hearts warmed. This is seriously great.
In 1985, at the height of Hulkamania, the platinum blonde hot dog-colored skin warrior made an appearance at Timber Lake Camp in Shandaken, New York much to the surprise of an audience of youngsters.
Needless to say, the kids go completely apeshit when Hulk arrives. You have to remember just how massive Hulk Hogan was at this point. Seeing an iconic, larger than life wrestler like the Hulkster pull up in a van to your little summer camp would make any 9 year old lose their mind. Hell, I’m getting chills just watching video footage over 30 years later.
I loathe when people bring up Hulk Hogan these days and the immediate response is something negative or sarcastic. For everything he’s done for the world of wrestling and kids around the world, we owe this American hero a debt of gratitude.
“To all my little Hulkamaniacs, say your prayers, take your vitamins and you will never go wrong.”
CORPORATE REPORT.
Posted on June 28, 2018 2 Comments
What could possibly be worse than working in the office all summer?
Board meetings, deadlines, presentations, cubicles, suits, slacks, elevators, admins, bosses, coffee mugs, fake plants, briefcases, fax machines, floppy disks, software updates, argyle socks…even Hawaiian shirt friday. It’s ALL bad for the human spirit.
Your breaking point comes in mid-July when during your 95° morning commute a convertible carload of happy-go-lucky teenagers heading to the beach passes you on the left, hooting and hollering while Kim Wilde’s ‘Kids in America’ blasts out of their stereo. There you sit inching down the freeway in your metal coffin (’87 Ford Corolla), sweating to death in that monkey suit and nursing a crappy cup of coffee.
Don’t let the stress and mundaneness of working for “the man” lead to disastrous habits like workplace violence or a vicious cocaine addiction. We might have the cure right here…right now.
Andy Fink’s CORPORATE REPORT mixes are here to save our poor souls. Instead of being a pure musical escape that wouldn’t be practical due to a lack of focus, think of these mixtapes as more of a tool to help motivate, push, inspire and reach your maximum potential.
ROCK N’ ROLL SHOWER.
Posted on June 23, 2018 Leave a Comment
You look like you need to get wet!
How’s about a sopping wet anthem for your Saturday night, exclusively chosen by Uncle T?
WHAT A RIPPER. I listened to this song so many times this weekend that I started dreaming about it. Last night a TNUC lady disciple video vixen visited me in my dreams. Through a thick mist she appeared, asking if I’ll take a ride in her red hot 84′ Wrangler over the dunes of the beach with this song blasting from the stereo. Most importantly though, here’s what she was wearing…
Have mercy.
Enjoy your weekend.
