Sometime between 1980 and 1990, Makati or Las Pinas, PHL

Screaming for afternoon delight

Afternoon TV of our childhood also had horrors and thrillers on "return engagement" (I think it was an RPN Channel 9 program). I'm not sure why The Sentinel stuck with me for so long; it was replayed many times, and I've watched it almost as much.

(This update brings me to my last Halloween posts, and the last for October 2017. Happy Halloween! Boo!)

Sometime between 1976 and 1984, Makati, PHL

Sci-Fi and horror mashup

When us kids had the chance to steal more TV time on a school night, we scared ourselves silly with Sapphire and Steel (aired, I believe, on GMA Television Arts Channel 7). Thanks to this series, "Ring Around the Rosie" does not inspire memories of childhood play. I was most scared by the appearance of the Man with No Face.

Sometime between 1976 and 1984, Makati, PHL

Halloween by the letters

If you don't have a preference for numbers, or maybe for the undead as Halloween reference, maybe Classic Sesame Street's Wanda the Witch with her wiry wig is the literary inclined alternative. Fitting for a more cause-oriented Halloween, too, as a bewigged head terrorize the nation's headlines almost daily.

(Update: Two bewigged heads now. Now, where's that whipping wild wind to blow them away forever?)

Sometime between 1976 to 1984, Makati, PHL

Halloween by the numbers

For all the gothic, ghoulish, ghastly references of Halloween, it's still more delight than fright for most. Got a Halloween look yet? Classic Sesame Street can offer you the Count, best for the numerically inclined.

"I count the spiders on the wall. I count the cobwebs in the hall. I count the candles on the shelf. When I'm alone I count myself." The Count has OCD and is having fun.

Sometime 1976 and 1984, Makati, PHL

Halloween! Mazel tov!

Strange to cite something Jewish for Halloween. But when I tried to remember things that frightened me when I was a kid, the "Tevye's Dream" sequence from the 1970's film version of Fiddler on the Roof came top of mind. Fruma Sarah, the name still sends a shiver.

Am still on the lookout for more Halloween-flavored walks down memory lane.

Spotted: Suggested "On This Day" by Facebook, 26 October 2011

HTML 3.2 and GeoCities were cutting edge

I seldom do #throwbackthursday as many engagements in the past were best left there. But Facebook's "On This Day" reminded me that once upon a time I called myself a "Webmaster" and it was awesome.

Checked the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine to see if any of my old works survived. This was TLF Online captured and archived in 13 December 2001.

Spotted: Shared on Instagram and Facebook, 25 October 2014

Critique by shelving

Errors of irreverence: Daily grace for teens, deep things of God, experiencing God, the blended family... some "things" of general fiction (must have been in a National Bookstore branch somewhere in Metro Manila)

Spotted: Shared by "Jonas Bagas" on Facebook, 21 October 2015

I'll be doggone! Tis love!

It's a still image, but no less moving. A friend's moving out of the country for work then, and he's leaving his baby "Kuya" behind.

(Note: laway = slobber, spit)

Sometime between 1997 and 2000, somewhere between Bukidnon province and Davao City, PHL

Electric memories

A memory of remembering: when I did freelance special event projects after I lost my corporate job to the Asian market crash.

While stuck inside a broken-down van with colleague clients, en route to Davao City from Cagayan de Oro City via the Bukidnon-Davao Road, we began singing songs from our childhood to kill time, annoyance, and nerves. It was such a release to sing this, even when what we only remembered was "T-I-O-N! -tion, -tion, -tion, -tion!"

Sometime between 1976 and 1983, Makati, PHL

Doubles save from loneliness

I remember my sibling (who once lived separately from me) and cousin were touched by the romantic angle in this - we first saw this on black-and-white TV. My name had two lowercase n's at the end, and growing up in a household of two hard-at-work-to-succeed parents could get lonely for a pre-schooler.

Sometime between 1984 and 1988, Las Pinas, PHL

Heartbreak overload

There are several reasons to feel heartbroken these days (and no drama in "it's complicated" situations necessary). This scene from Dumbo is one of my earliest experiences of heartbreak (in betamax).

Spotted: Shared by "Ferdi Buenviaje" on Facebook, 06 October 2013

Jeweled teacher Andrea Thomas

Possibly a belated Teacher's Day sharing then. But in reflection of recent events of so much lying and bullying, I'm feeling we need someone like her nowadays: "Isis! Dedicated foe of evil! Defender of the weak! Champion of truth and justice!"

Sometime between 1976 and 1983, Makati, PHL

Room to grow

Classic Sesame Street has a lot to tell grown-ups too. As a kid, the visual of the sun and the solar system held the most wow factor. As an adult, the beauty of the song's last stanza makes me a bit teary eyed:

"Let the Big become the Little, that's the way it seems to go, that they make up a larger thing is something good to know. It's nice to know that though it's small there's always room to grow and that's about the size of it."