nostalgia

Recaptured 80’s

Posted on by Josef Havelka

I love nostalgia. It’s the one thing that I am often thinking about. I always share stories of my youth and seek out ways to relive those memories.

I follow a fantastic Instagram account that really taps into my 80’s desires. Recaptured 80’s. I love that there is new images added daily along with videos and polls. Following along has sparked memories I didn’t even know I had until I saw them once more.

My 80’s PJ top with iconic cartoon characters.

I’m just a big kid who loves his 80’s. From cartoons to movies; toys to video games; books to candy- it all brings me joy. Sometimes I put on some old cartoons in the background, like GI Joe or Transformers and enjoy the sounds as I live my life. In our pool I’ll play some 80’s favorites and rediscover some lost classics.

Our kids have also grown a love for 80’s films. So much so that they both bought rather expensive Lego sets for themselves with some of their Christmas money. The Delorean and Ecto-1. Both iconic cars from a couple of great 80’s films.

I’m glad that my passions have become my kids’ passions as well. They have even taken to loving music my wife loves. Our middle has taken over my wife’s records and has a love of the same music as my wife. Not to mention that our kids also steal our sense of amazing clothes and wardrobe style.

Have you passed on what you love to your kids? I know I’ve seen some pictures and stories from a few of you. I love it all.

Recaptured 80’s

Posted on by Josef Havelka

I love nostalgia. It’s the one thing that I am often thinking about. I always share stories of my youth and seek out ways to relive those memories.

I follow a fantastic Instagram account that really taps into my 80’s desires. Recaptured 80’s. I love that there is new images added daily along with videos and polls. Following along has sparked memories I didn’t even know I had until I saw them once more.

My 80’s PJ top with iconic cartoon characters.

I’m just a big kid who loves his 80’s. From cartoons to movies; toys to video games; books to candy- it all brings me joy. Sometimes I put on some old cartoons in the background, like GI Joe or Transformers and enjoy the sounds as I live my life. In our pool I’ll play some 80’s favorites and rediscover some lost classics.

Our kids have also grown a love for 80’s films. So much so that they both bought rather expensive Lego sets for themselves with some of their Christmas money. The Delorean and Ecto-1. Both iconic cars from a couple of great 80’s films.

I’m glad that my passions have become my kids’ passions as well. They have even taken to loving music my wife loves. Our middle has taken over my wife’s records and has a love of the same music as my wife. Not to mention that our kids also steal our sense of amazing clothes and wardrobe style.

Have you passed on what you love to your kids? I know I’ve seen some pictures and stories from a few of you. I love it all.

Smokey

Posted on by Josef Havelka

Today I hung out with an older coworker of mine. He is an experienced railroader who has been with the company as long as I have been alive- almost five decades. So I respect how he runs things and listen to his stories. Not many of his tales are of work. Most are of his family and experiences outside of there. I appreciate his tales and respect how he tells them.

I spent hours with him today. In doing so, I came home smelling like an ashtray. He smokes. A lot. I haven’t smelled like cigarettes in years. My father smoked regularly. And in the 70’s/80’s it wasn’t uncommon to be indoors or in a car with a child while you smoked. As a result, I took up smoking at around age 17.

I smoked for about 10 years off and on. There is hardly any pictures of me smoking. In fact, when my wife and I married, she requested that we do not have pictures of us smoking in case our children were to see them. The last time I smoked a cigarette was before my son was born. Over 16 years ago.

I have celebrated with a cigar on occasion since then. Not my favorite thing to do, so it’s only been about three times. I do not smoke any other things, as my world is already a trip as it is. Finding a picture of my indiscretions of the past is rare and I would be surprised if there are more than the two I have shared today.

But the smell of stale cigarettes on my clothes today brought back memories of long ago. I was unsure of what tale I wanted to share, if any, of smoking. So here’s a small tidbit.

When I was under the age of ten, my father would send me to the corner store to buy cigarettes. There was an age restriction of being sixteen in 1986, so I would be given note with a phone number to contact my dad, and I could buy a pack and bring it home. After a few times, the corner store owner began to know me and my father’s brand, so the note was unnecessary for a couple of years. That was when the age limit changed to 18 and the government cracked down on selling to minors.

Cigarettes and smoking have a different stigma than they once had. My coworker still smokes as of the 80’s and 90’s were relevant. A part of me looks to him as an uncle, and honestly he probably could’ve been a close family friend. He reminds me of the good aspects of my father. Plus my coworker has been known to dye his hair and mustache to look younger. He has a look of Burt Reynolds when he does this.

Hence the title of today’s blog- Smokey. Honestly, I think of how my father looked in the 80’s and believe this was also his attempt and being cool. Facial hair, a cigarette and a beer- that was the 80’s “Dad Look” and smell. No cologne needed as a haze of smoke would be around.

Matrix: Resurrections

Posted on by Josef Havelka

Last night we went to the movies. It’s the first time in quite a few months since going to the cinema. Mostly due to concerns of Covid and such. We attended opening night of Matrix:Resurrections. In an auditorium that could hold approximately 220 people, there was 20 patrons- including the four of us. Not a good sign.

Prior to watching this movie, we watched the original trilogy over the past few days to get in the mood for the film. The first film is still my favorite and it holds up quite nicely considering it came out in 1999. The two sequels that came out in 2003 were decent, but didn’t have the strength of the first film.

We were excited to be seeing this latest installment. The first act was great and was about to take us on a fantastic journey. But the second and third act fell short. Mostly the story writing and character interactions. Everyone loves nostalgia, and unfortunately the film did too many flashbacks with archive footage yelling in our faces, “Remember this part of The Matrix?”

The film started in a very meta fashion. I was hoping there would be more of an explanation of Neo’s ability to “see” in the real world once he went blind (the end of the third film). I wanted to see a Matrix inside a Matrix: Sort of like the film “Inception”. But this story just kind of went on post war from the original trilogy. In all honesty this story wasn’t necessary to be told. It felt like the studio was moving in on a cash grab of nostalgia and no content.

Not a good film to be viewed in the theaters. Save your money and enjoy it at home. A solid 5/10 for me.

11

Posted on by Josef Havelka

Continuing with my daily countdown, I am at the number 11.

As I have mentioned numerous times in the past, I enjoy listening to music. I often “turn it up to 11” to quote Spinal Tap. Which is a great mockumentory movie if you haven’t seen it. It’s also a fantastic quote when you are talking about going above and beyond with your skill sets.

Seeing a digital clock when it shows 11:11 is also a thing that I notice more often than any other time of day. I’m not sure why it feels magical, but it does. Maybe it’s the simple straight lines of the number one strung parallel to one another. I love numerical sequences like that as well.

Of course there is also my enjoyment of science fiction and nostalgia. Stranger Things series was the perfect combo of this and filled me with joy. This image brings me to my other favorite 11…

I also loved visiting 7-11 stores in Japan. That entire trip to Tokyo was by far my most memorable. Those convenience stores were the reliable and well stocked for all of our basic needs for the day. It was great.

11 days remaining until we are in our new house. With that move we are definitely Turning it up to 11!

Disney Plus Equals Life

Posted on by Josef Havelka

Yesterday Disney+ was released. And if you watch any form of entertainment on a screen of some sort, you must’ve heard about it. So I’m not going to go into great detail about what it all includes, because that information is everywhere on the interwebs! Instead I’m just going to share what my family and I watched as our first few shows.

I paid for a full year up front for $89.99. It was an obvious choice because there is so much content that The Mouse owns that we won’t be able to watch it all in 365 days. After installing the app on our PS4, the first thing we did was set up individual profiles. Then we went searching.

We settled on a couple of Pixar Shorts called “Bao” followed by “La Luna” -which we hadn’t all seen before. So far so good, but we didn’t want to begin marathoning through any new series of shows. We did stop next on “The World According to Jeff Goldblum” and were pleasantly surprised and dumbfounded by it. Consider it a sort of documentary on stuff. In this case- sneakers.

Naturally we watched the cartoon that started the journey of the Disney Franchise back in 1928- “Steamboat Willie“. It’s a neat reminder to see how far that little black and white mouse has come. Not only that, but it also shows how far animation has come and how it was pioneered almost a century ago.

We have our sets of future shows already searched out. The Sneaker Who Wore Tennis Shoes from 1969 is top on my wife’s list. While High School Musical is our daughter’s choice. My son and I are stoked to begin The Mandalorian in a few days. But there is so much content, we don’t really know where to start.

What are you planning on watching on Disney+?

Emotional for Electronics

Posted on by Josef Havelka

At work I was having a discussion about old electronics and if you can have an emotional attachment to them. My coworker’s wife says she is emotionally attached to her old tv. Now this isn’t some retro 60’s or even 80’s tv. It’s a run of the mill plasma tv from a decade ago. The type of tv that can be upgraded to a larger screen and higher hd quality for a couple hundred dollars. But she wants to keep the tv and my coworker doesn’t understand the emotional attachment she has for it. But I can *almost* relate.

I asked my coworker what about an old Nintendo or an N64? He said those are okay to have sentimental attachments to because they bring back nostalgic memories. But an iPhone 5 that you played Angry Birds on for hours- that’s a throw away electronic device like a tv.

So at what point does something generate a value or desire to be kept if it’s no longer used or obsolete?

I feel it is more what the owner associates with the item. I went through numerous cassette players and CD players in my life- yet I have grown a fondness to my daughter’s record player. I sometimes think about an old telephone alarm clock my parents had back in the 80’s and the sound of it ringing- but I would never want it now. But I still have memories of it. I have an upright arcade machine that only goes on four or five days a year, but I’m not ready to part with it.

In the end I figure if you like your device and can’t part with it- keep it and don’t let someone tell you that you’re wrong. Sometimes an emotional bond is created and is tough to severe.

Food Court

Posted on by Josef Havelka

Yesterday I did something that I haven’t done in years. I bought food in a mall food court. Maybe it was planted in my head because of Stranger Things Season 3. Maybe it was because I was hungry after my dentist appointment and I needed food. In reality, it was the nostalgia of the life I had prior to kids and being a Mall Rat.

So I hit up the Orange Julius for a bacon cheese dog and an original Orange Julius beverage. I let my kids have a sip of this drink that screamed sentimentality in the recesses of my brain. It was my go-to food break back in the day when I wasn’t buying mall sushi.

The reason for our visit to the mall was for my 15 year old to meet up with some friends from school. One of those friends is moving away next week, so they wanted to hang out. My son and I wandered the mall together and after a couple of hours, we returned to the Food Court and hit up another vendor. This time New York Fries. I was never a fan of their French Fries, only ever eating them maybe twice before. But my son wanted some poutine, so we grabbed some. We found out later that my daughter and her friends had done the same thing.

When I was a teen/young adult, the mall was the place to meet up. Even if it meant walking laps around the mall and not buying anything but a 25¢ coffee in the food court just so you weren’t kicked out for loitering. The mall I was at yesterday seemed quiet.

Perhaps Shopping Malls are a dying breed. Maybe they’ll make a comeback. Only time will tell. All I can say is that I can go another 20 years before I have another Orange Julius and it wouldn’t bother me one bit.

Birthday Weekend Flashbacks

Posted on by Josef Havelka

Usually for my birthday I just celebrate on the day of my birthday. But since I went out to Throw Axes on Friday, my kids wanted to spend time with me on Saturday. So I did- it was fun and also bizarro with lots of familiarity surrounding it.

First thing in the morning- I shared a box of specialty KitKats that I had saved from last year’s trip to Tokyo. Keeping it hidden from the family for almost a year was challenging. I also ate the special March birthstone one I kept. Needless to say- these were just as unique as any other KitKats we sampled in Tokyo. The Butter flavor was amazing!

Later, we went out for Poké Bowls at a place in Langley called Dal’s Poké. This is probably one of the freshest meals I have ever eaten in a restaurant! If you’ve never tried a Poké Bowl, do it. It’s sort of like deconstructed sushi. Lunch inspired us to go pick up some Asian foods at the H Mart Korean grocery store.

Immediately after lunch we wandered a bit around Downtown Langley. As we hit some thrift shops, it was suggested that when we go to H Mart that we stop at an old video store called Willow Video. Walking into that place was like walking into the past. The store hasn’t changed in almost 30 years. I swear that the used games in the cabinets were the same ones that were there when I was a kid. Used Sega Master Systems, old Game Boys, and assorted Games with price tags from thirty years ago. The place still offers Video rentals and sales. Not to mention that the store was busy as well! Good for them.

After our shopping at the Korean store, and the kick in the nostalgia memory banks of Willow Video, we went to see if an old Billiard hall was open. Three weeks ago I had mentioned wanting to play Billiards again. But since so many of the places from my youth were gone, I could only find one of them- The Ballroom.

Walking upstairs into the hall hit me again in the memory banks of years gone by. Much like Willow Video- this place had also remained unchanged. It had been almost twenty years since I had been there and it looked like I could have been there just yesterday. The hall of a dozen or so tables was empty except for the cashier.

With an uncanny familiarity, I took the family to a corner table that I remember always favoring. My wife and I taught the basics of pool to the kids. They started to pick it up and enjoyed themselves. After an hour or so, we decided it was time to go. By this time a few more people entered the hall. A couple on a date and two older gentlemen with their personal cues.

March 16th, 2019 was like traveling back in time. Starting with some chocolates and ending at a pool hall that my wife and I last went to when dating twenty years ago. It was a great way to celebrate my birthday weekend with my family.

Music and Milk Crates

Posted on by Josef Havelka

Christmas is over and packed away in our home. As I mentioned about a month ago in Living Rearranged we were going to make a “Music Room” after the holidays. This was a place to keep our grand piano, guitars, drum kit, and other instruments out and accessible for use. My wife and I are hoping that this setup continues our children’s love of music throughout the years.

Besides the instruments, my wife wanted our music collection out as well. Our cds had been packed away in an old steamer trunk for nearly a decade. There hasn’t been much use for cds since downloading or streaming music has become the norm over the past few years. Seeing our combined collection of over 400 discs surprised me. I forgot how much I used to enjoy entering a record store on a Tuesday and buying an album for one or two songs. Oftentimes not listening to the rest of the songs more than once or twice.

Another discovery in the back of a storage closet was some old records. I moved them from boxes into some old milk crates to increase the nostalgia level. There is a collection of good and bad music that we either owned or inherited from family members. Some of our vinyl dates back to the 1960’s and 50’s. I have a couple of disco albums done in a string orchestra style from my parents that intrigue me. My wife has a healthy collection of 1980’s albums that she wants to listen to once more. With only our daughter having a record player, she is essentially in charge of what we will listen to.

Music always brings out memories and emotions in everyone. It should not be locked away, but rather shared with the world. That is our goal with our music room- sharing the joy that comes from all of the different aspects.

Stranger Things

Posted on by Josef Havelka

If you haven’t watched The Netflix original: “Stranger Things” then you are missing out on some 80’s nostalgia.  The looks of the sets were true to the time. Even the feel of how it was filmed was nostalgic. Not to mention, the show has some excellent character interactions as well.

2016 Havelka Pumpkin Carving


I’m not going to go into detail of the premise or plot. That is something that should be experienced. But let’s just say, we marathoned through the first season when it came out. The next season is due out in October. 

The first trailer for season two hit me right in the nostalgia feels once again. More 80’s: Full blown greatness. And Michael Jackson Thriller was the perfect soundtrack in the background. Bigger monsters too! The boy inside me is excited about what adventures await. Marathon 2 is planned!

Blood suckers

Posted on by Josef Havelka

As I may have mentioned previously, ok numerous times, summer is nearing the end.  Thank goodness.  Spending extra time with my family and friends these past few weeks had me thinking- I’m sure glad those blood suckers will be gone soon.  

I’m talking about mosquitos.


Seeing the opening of Dexter a few years back, reminded me of those days back in my childhood, minus the murder stuff.  

When I was younger and lived in Edmonton, I swear the mosquitos were twice the size they are now.  But I was half the size I am now also, so it’s all relative.  We lived near some pretty marshy land where we went hunting for frogs.  The perfect location for mosquitos to be.  As we got “bitten”, my friends and I used to wait for the mosquitos to get a good amount of blood in them, then squash the buggers.  The splat smear was the best part.  The itching sucked.  No matter how much OFF! my parents sprayed on us, we still got bit.


Living in Edmonton in the early 80’s, I recall a fantastically bad Canadian children’s educational show called “The Hilarious House of Frightenstein“.  It was already in re-runs by the time I began watching it.  But there was a mosquito character that came down onto a foot, told a bad joke, followed by a boing noise.  Added bonus, bad costumes, crappy puppets, silly jokes, plus Vincent Price was the star.  It was filled with hippy psychedelic imagery.  Perfect for the 70’s.  I don’t remember much more than that, but I think I shall search out the show and see it in all of it’s glory once more.

Anyways, back to this summer: I’ve only been “bitten” about three times.  I hardly used repellent, so I think the mosquitos just don’t like the taste of me.  I hope this keeps up for years to come.