If you've been following FourthGradeNothing.com for a while, you know how much I adore Corey Feldman and The Goonies. Yesterday, reports surfaced that yes, indeed a Goonies sequel is in the works, according to Corey Feldman.
Blogs state that The Goonies sequel can go one of several ways and here's how I feel about it.
Goonies - The Broadway Musical WTF? No! I'm so sick of all the hype that High School Musical started several years ago. These days all we hear about is Glee and new offbeat musicals. I will just cry if they turn The Goonies into a Broadway show. I can see it now, Chunk and Sloth gettin' down with Baby Ruths in-hand rocking along doing the Truffle Shuffle. No! This is just so wrong.
Goonies - With New Kids & New Adventures Oh no, not another Karate Kidremake. I can't take it. I am not behind this idea at all. I don't want to see Zac Efron as Mikey's older brother "Brand" and Dakato Fanning as Steph. It just seems so unnatural to me. I can just picture Miley Cyrus covering Cyndi Lauper's "Goonies R Good Enough" song. Please make it stop!
Goonies - Reuniting The Original Cast Now we're talking! Bring it! I would love to see the original crew back for another adventure or even in the role of parents telling the story to their kids. Anything, but the above two sequel options would make me so happy. There was a time I adored Sean Astin. I only mentioned him in my summer 1985 diaries like a billion times. Today he no longer does it for me, but in my mind he will always be the one and only Mikey Walsh, asthmatic inhaler and all.
Remember when you were a kid, if you liked a movie, you had to see it over and over again. If you didn't, you weren't a true fan. You'd memorize every single line and could easily recite the script along with your friends. What happened to those days? Why doesn't this matter to most of us anymore?
I think back to the films I saw in the theater. Often it was summer cinema when school was out and movies were like $4 and popcorn was like $2 - and we thought that was pricey back then. Our moms would get rid of us for a few hours. Back then it was safe to just get dropped off at Sunrise Cinemas on Sunrise Highway. Today, not so much.
We'd brag about how many times we saw our favorite film. In my case, this was especially true for E.T., Karate Kid, Goonies and Footloose. Ironically, I had crushes on the lead kid in every movie from Henry Thomas to Ralph (he was from LI and we shared the same b'day!) to Sean Astin (I had an inhaler like his character Mikey!) and Footloose - Kevin Bacon - wow! Thanks to Footloose, I discovered hair mousse. I had read in Seventeen magazine about this brand new hair product called "mousse," you cold manipulate your hair to appear spiky, just like Wren's in Footloose!
For Christmas of 1982, I had to have an E.T. sleeping bag, sheets and bedding, snack tray, posters, figurines, the board game, cup and plate set, and much more. I still have some of those items. I loved them all so much. I remember counting all of my E.T. things, writing them down in a notebook and admiring them all for days over the holiday break from school.
I loved The Goonies more than any of my friends to the point where I even slipped a mini tape recorder into the theater with me. I recorded the audio and listened to it repeatedly for days and days until I had every line down pat, "...This is my dream, my wish, and it didn't come true, so I'm takin' 'em back, I'm takin' 'em all back!" I remember Corey Feldman's lines like it was yesterday. Too bad I didn't have a memory like that when it came to science and history. I'd be a top scholar!
As an adult, the only film I've seen an excessive amount of times would have to be Rushmore. I know pretty much every line, own the soundtrack and DVD, and I still laugh at all of the same scenes.
By the fall, I still loved ET and my mom threw me an ET Halloween birthday party complete with her best shot at an ET shaped cake. I dressed up like Gertie did on Halloween and went as a cowgirl.
If you've been following me for a while, you know all about my love for Corey Scott Feldman. Hell, I've only mentioned him in about maybe six out of about 155 blog entries, so that's not too obsessive, right?
The YouTube video is a Dees Guys production about, well, dees guys Nick and Michael. Nick and Michael are two young dudes doin' their TV production thing in Hollywood while mackin' on girls, chillin' with friends and whatnot. Kinda reminds me slightly of the boyish humor stylings of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.
Their sketch comedy web series Nothing Bad Ever Happens To Nick is hilarious and can be viewed here on YouTube. I think the Nick character is pretty freakin' skater/indie boy hawt and Michael is too, but in more of a scruffy Luke Perry way. It's easy to relate to Michael having that friend who has nothing but good luck in every sense of the word.
OK, so here's where Corey comes in.
In this one particular Dees Guys episode (view it here) Corey Feldman is the all-knowing advice-giving guy Guru and that's when it hit me. My childhood crush has matured. I've moved on from wanting to make out with Corey Feldman to wanting to just do coffee with him or maybe check out some cool vintage clothing and record shops together downtown.
To be honest, I think this vibe may have developed prior to the Dees Guys episode of Nothing Bad Ever Happens to Nick. I think it struck me possibly while watching The Two Coreys, his reality show with the dearly departed Corey Haim (so sad).
As a kid, I had this massive crush on Corey Feldman, not really knowing how else to feel about this cute Bad News Bear who went on to portray the adorable kid-next-door in Gremlins and funny friend in The Goonies.
In fact just the other day Erin at Blogging is for Dorks talked about this. As a married adult, you don't want to "get" with these celebs in the biblical sense, you just wanna sorta be their friend.
So here here my message to Corey Feldman:
Corey, today I'm 37 and married. Friendship is all I can now offer you and I'm sure you're beyond okay with that. Maybe even extremely relieved and breathing easier.
Today's focus is on Corey Scott Feldman, BC as in "Before Corey Haim." Corey Haim was adorable as well, but I want to share a few things about Corey Feldman as a youngster.
This is ...
Corey Feldman before he became friends with Michael Jackson.
Corey Feldman before he had long hair and snazzy footwear.
Corey Feldman before he was a dark vampire.
Corey Feldman before he was messing around with drugs.
Sure I adored him in Gremlins and The Goonies, but my love affair with Corey began much earlier than that. So I'm taking you back ... way back...
Just like I love bands before they sell out and feature their songs in car commercials, I loved my child stars before anyone knew them. I loved them when they had only two lines on Mork & Mindy, Love Boat and Cheers. I rarely liked the lead child actor. It was always his friend who appeared in maybe 10% of the episodes, whom I needed to know more about.
I remember Corey in commercials for cereal and McDonalds and later as the tiniest Bad News Bear (the TV series).
I remember catching Corey on an episode or two of Eight is Enough and One Day at a Time.
I remember Corey as the nosey kid next-door on a bizarre show called Madame's Place. Madame was a feisty old diva puppet (yes puppet) with a heavy smoker voice. Here's the intro credits - wait for it!!!!!
I remember recognizing Corey's adorable deep voice as Copper the hound dog back in the 1981 Walt Disney's animated film, The Fox & The Hound.
I don't remember Corey in Friday The 13th. That was rated R and I wasn't allowed to see R-rated movies.
I followed Corey throughout the majority of his career. In a way, it's as if we grew up together but as he got older, I outgrew him--yet consider myself somewhat of an adult fan of his today.
In the mid-1980s, I wrote Corey at least ten letters. Finally, the week of August 6, 1985 something magical happened. I received a personal handwritten response that I truly believe was penned by Corey himself. Weeks later, I received black and white photos, a typed bio, resume and info on how to join his fan club. I have a blue Trapper Keeper filled with letters, cards and other responses I've received from celebrities. Here's my Corey letter. It's hard to believe it's 25 years old. Check it out. Click on it to enlarge!
This weekend our area was hit pretty hard with snow. The total accumulations range from about 4 inches in Westchester to 2 feet in South Jersey and Long Island. Sure it looks pretty, but yesterday some folks on Facebook and Twitter were commenting about the cleanup. Folks over 30 want to know, "Where are the kids looking to earn a few bucks by shoveling their neighbor’s driveway?"
I've noticed this trend since the late '90s actually. I was still living at home and my brother and I would help shovel my mom's walkway and driveway as well as the old lady next door. I'd moan about how when I was a kid, I'd do the entire block and come home sweaty and beat, but with almost $100 in my pocket. The kids on our block were all grown up and had real jobs now. Driving by, we never saw youngsters shoveling.
We're left wondering... What's the deal with today's youth? Is it just a New York/New Jersey thing? Is it due to all of the newer tech distractions such as way better video games, the internet and text messaging? Could it be an increase in allowance? I only received about $10 a week and tapped out at $20 a week once I was old enough to earn my own spending money. Could it be an increase in school work? I've heard news reports of students receiving much more homework than we did in the '80s.
When I was a kid, all I ever want to do was earn money. When I was sixteen, I even wrote an article about it for Seventeen magazine. Unfortunately although they paid me for my submission, they never printed it. I was crushed, but what can you do.
For years, I ran lemonade stands in front of our house - it was the only benefit of living on a super busy street. When I wasn't selling lemonade, I was running small book and toy sales on our lawn - again cashing in on the traffic. In the end, I found the lemonade garnered the most income. There was once a sweaty guy doing construction on the house across the street. He popped over to my table holding a big Tupperware tumbler. He handed me $5 and asked me to fill it up. It was so amazing, I decided to close up shop and took the rest of the "work day" off and enjoyed a swim in our yard.
By the age of twelve, I had a busy babysitting schedule which included most of the little kids on our block and my cousins who lived around the corner. It occurred to me that there were so many small children on our block that I could actually run a daycare program in our basement.
Grudgingly my parents gave me the OK, though my dad was concerned about his home owners insurance. I promised I'd keep the kids in the basement and not allow anyone near the fenced in pool area. He agreed and "Allyson's Day School" was open for biz and survived two successful summers until I outgrew it.
I had approximately ten students, including my little brother and maybe my cousins - I'm not sure. I organized each day to include a drawing hour. I had the kids draw something based on a particular theme, "Today you must draw a picture of your favorite animal" or "Today you must draw something square-shaped." Snack time was every day at 11 AM. I would serve happy youngsters Pathmark brand fruit punch and a handful of cookies or pretzels. I would read them a story and we'd play different educational games. To spice things up, I held special events like "Skit Day" and "Sports Day" which included different obstacle courses and ribbons I made for the winners.
I never charged much, but babysitting and the day school helped support my teen magazine and TOPPS trading cards addiction. It seemed as if I were always collecting ET, Gremlins and The Goonies cards. I swear there were some cards TOPPS either only made one of or seriously made NONE of. I owned hundreds of cards, yet never a full set. There were always a bunch of cards missing.
By the age of 15, I was looking for real cash. I became obsessed with Esprit and J.Crew clothing and my parents were far from pleased with the price tags. Mom felt you could get an equally nice sweater from Sears or Penny's, so it was up to me to get out there and increase my cash flow.
Too young to work legally, I didn't want to deliver papers and sure, babysitting was quick and easy money, it simply wasn't enough. Most people were paying me a $3 an hour at best (according to my diary). Then one day, my dad introduced me to the dirty underground world of catering. Apparently, these family-run businesses didn't always follow the employment laws the way big retail outfits did. They'd sometimes overlook your age and eagerly put you to work. It sounded too good to be true.
Summer of 1988, I gave it a shot and paid a visit to our local wedding hall. The joint has since changed hands several times, but still exists as The Sand Castle. Walking distance to our home, this banquet hall was the best summer job a kid could have. I was too young to drive and didn't have a crazy social life on summer weekends since we were home all week anyway. I figured, what the heck. I could have my fun Monday-Thursday and kill myself Friday-Sunday earning a quick $150, plus tips.
The job sucked, but I kept it up until senior year. I would never recommend this work to anyone I actually like. It was exhausting and newsflash, people do not tip at weddings! At fifteen, I had only been to maybe two weddings. How the heck did I know? I was a sucky waitress, which meant I was often assigned to the band and photographer table. Luckily, those guys tipped. The bands would say, "Here's $20, keep the pitchers of water and soda coming." I thought, "Hey, you got it!" I think I even dropped off extra food "by mistake".
We'd work our asses off all weekend. Long 10-hour shifts that seemed never-ending. A reception is only 5-6 hours but we had to set up, clean up and sometimes set up for the next event. They worked us like dogs and treated us like garbage. It was the first time I was ever referred to by my last name on a regular basis. Dealing with drunken jerks demanding an extra serving of Prime Rib or people complaining that the Bride and Groom were too cheap to offer Fillet Mignon was the worst.
It's ironic that I'm writing this blog post now. Here I sit in my sweats, sipping tea as I delay my daily online job hunt. Laid off and looking to New Jersey to send me my generous $530 check each week to help pay my rent. Trust me, I'm not complaining about that amount either. It's much better than possibly any other state in the country. Just a bit funny when I look back at how hard I once worked at a time when people said to just kick back, relax and be a kid.
