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July 31, 2020
I had Burt Reynolds on my mind the other day while I stood in the kitchen waiting for my morning coffee to percolate. Just a random thought of a dead celebrity right before I left for work. That’s a normal thought process during a pandemic, right?
My generation did not own him, but I was a child and was able to enjoy movies like, Smokey and the Bandit, Stroker Ace, Sharky’s Machine, and then later when I was older, Boogie Nights.
Burt was the coolest guy I knew when I was a child. He had swagger, poise, and was suave. Burt made CB radios all the rage back in the late 70’s. Everyone, including me, had to have a CB radio handle. Think, social media name. My CB handle was, Bandit 7. He drove the coolest damn car, aside from a certain orange muscle car out of Hazard county.
Burt wasn’t the first movie star to make muscle cars a must have. That trend was started before the Smoky and the Bandit franchises. But you would be hard pressed to find a child, teenager or an adult who didn’t want that very sexy Pontiac Trans - Am he used as interference has his partner drove his 18-wheeler from Texas to Georgia. And just when you thought the car couldn’t be cooler he added Sally Fields, a runaway bride, which enhanced the car and caught my adolescence attention.
I usually hear arguments about Tom Selleck and Sam Elliot's mustaches. They were cool and all, but theirs had a fashion contribution to society. Hell, I could add my dad to the list of fashionable. He rocked a mustache nearly all my life.
Burt Reynolds died in 2018 at the age of 82. According to IMDB he blessed us with 184 movies and television appearances. He had his own show, Evening Shade in the early 90’s.
Burt was a product of the 80's for me. I have fond memories of the the 80's. The music, television, movies, ect.. but the most selfish reasons I believe for thinking of Burt Reynolds so early this morning is that everyone I loved was alive and well during his heyday and my first memories of my family correlates with the memory of Burt and the movies he did.
Youth was king in the 80's and my parents possessed it. And their parents were alive and healthy. I can still feel the touch of my grandparents. His movies were a part of my childhood, like many of today’s stars, who have aged with me. Those stars are my parents age today. But man, oh man, the memories I carry with me as I age now. When the good times seemed better and the bad stuff kinda fades away, as more time and distance fades and the future appears to be uncertain.
They say music can act as a soundtrack to our lives that will bring us back to simpler times. Like a song being played on the radio, Burt Reynolds reminded me of a time when I was an innocent child. A child who wasn’t exposed to the chaos of life, especially in today's world that could hurt a child's emotions. Maybe I can find a CB radio and use it as a time machine that will immerse my memories deeper into what once was a carefree time for me.
Breaker, breaker 1-9. This is Bandit 7. I'm searching for Burt Reynolds. Is my childhood out there somewhere?
562 words
https://twitter.com/FusaCmee
Nico, Christopher, Blake and (Max)imilian at home. July 31,2020
July 31, 2020
I had Burt Reynolds on my mind the other day while I stood in the kitchen waiting for my morning coffee to percolate. Just a random thought of a dead celebrity right before I left for work. That’s a normal thought process during a pandemic, right?
My generation did not own him, but I was a child and was able to enjoy movies like, Smokey and the Bandit, Stroker Ace, Sharky’s Machine, and then later when I was older, Boogie Nights.
Burt was the coolest guy I knew when I was a child. He had swagger, poise, and was suave. Burt made CB radios all the rage back in the late 70’s. Everyone, including me, had to have a CB radio handle. Think, social media name. My CB handle was, Bandit 7. He drove the coolest damn car, aside from a certain orange muscle car out of Hazard county.
Burt wasn’t the first movie star to make muscle cars a must have. That trend was started before the Smoky and the Bandit franchises. But you would be hard pressed to find a child, teenager or an adult who didn’t want that very sexy Pontiac Trans - Am he used as interference has his partner drove his 18-wheeler from Texas to Georgia. And just when you thought the car couldn’t be cooler he added Sally Fields, a runaway bride, which enhanced the car and caught my adolescence attention.
I usually hear arguments about Tom Selleck and Sam Elliot's mustaches. They were cool and all, but theirs had a fashion contribution to society. Hell, I could add my dad to the list of fashionable. He rocked a mustache nearly all my life.
Burt Reynolds died in 2018 at the age of 82. According to IMDB he blessed us with 184 movies and television appearances. He had his own show, Evening Shade in the early 90’s.
Burt was a product of the 80's for me. I have fond memories of the the 80's. The music, television, movies, ect.. but the most selfish reasons I believe for thinking of Burt Reynolds so early this morning is that everyone I loved was alive and well during his heyday and my first memories of my family correlates with the memory of Burt and the movies he did.
Youth was king in the 80's and my parents possessed it. And their parents were alive and healthy. I can still feel the touch of my grandparents. His movies were a part of my childhood, like many of today’s stars, who have aged with me. Those stars are my parents age today. But man, oh man, the memories I carry with me as I age now. When the good times seemed better and the bad stuff kinda fades away, as more time and distance fades and the future appears to be uncertain.
They say music can act as a soundtrack to our lives that will bring us back to simpler times. Like a song being played on the radio, Burt Reynolds reminded me of a time when I was an innocent child. A child who wasn’t exposed to the chaos of life, especially in today's world that could hurt a child's emotions. Maybe I can find a CB radio and use it as a time machine that will immerse my memories deeper into what once was a carefree time for me.
Breaker, breaker 1-9. This is Bandit 7. I'm searching for Burt Reynolds. Is my childhood out there somewhere?
562 words
Captain Imperfecto and newborn son, Max. July 26, 2020
https://twitter.com/FusaCmee
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