http://www.brat-patrol.com A Long Time Ago, In a Neighborhood Far, Far Away... Tue, 04 Nov 2008 17:18:31 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en If you lived in (or near) the city of Detroit in the 80's, you knew that the day before Halloween was a scary time. Though Devil's Night was most notorious for setting abandoned homes on fire, it was a much more innocent event for the kids in our neighborhood. We ... http://www.brat-patrol.com/2008/11/04/devils-night/ Spike has published an article (and video) where Bill Murray outlines some information regarding Ghostbusters 3. Starting with about 1:30 remaining in the clip, he also notes some of the frustrations with Ghostbusters 2 and "what went wrong." When I watch these movies now (as an adult), I recognize that ... http://www.brat-patrol.com/2008/09/29/is-it-possible-ghostbusters-3-promised-by-bill-murray/ [caption id="attachment_81" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Schwinn Stingray"][/caption] We loved our bikes on Hillcrest (as most kids do). We could spend an entire day lapping the block over and over again. Most of the kids in the BRAT patrol had a BMX style bike, complete with pads covering all of the dangerous parts ... http://www.brat-patrol.com/2008/08/20/hillcrest-bike-culture/ Today, the demolition of Tiger Stadium began. I'm no sports fan (apart from autosports), but I still feel the loss of this landmark... and part of my childhood. [caption id="attachment_52" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Tiger Stadium demolition begins."][/caption] Papa Thomas, my friend Joey's grandfather, would sit on his front porch and listen to the ... http://www.brat-patrol.com/2008/07/09/tiger-stadium-is-no-more/ Every set ever made. I recognized more than my share of sets from my brother's, cousin's, friends', and my collections. ["Click Here To Read Article and Watch Video":http://gizmodo.com/5018990/lego-secret-vault-contains-all-sets-in-history] http://www.brat-patrol.com/2008/06/24/the-top-secret-lego-vault/ Growing up in Detroit, I knew that Bill Bonds was a local news legend. Little did I know that he had a cameo in the file "Escape From the Planet of the Apes." http://www.brat-patrol.com/2008/06/20/bill-bonds-was-a-movie-star/ I'm not much of a morning person these days. I would much rather stay up late and write odd bits of code than get up early and start my day. When I was younger, that was not the case. My brother, Christian, and I would wake up early... especially on ... http://www.brat-patrol.com/2008/04/01/where-is-gary-ed-mach/ "X-Entertainment":http://www.x-entertainment.com/articles/0969/ has a great article on the experience of waiting for that Sears (or JC Penny in the midwest) catalog to show up full of the year's best toys. Usually sandwiched between the underwear and hand tools were the things dreams were made of. My brother (Christian), and I would ... http://www.brat-patrol.com/2007/12/11/the-christmas-wish-book/ I get it. A lot of cartoons in the 80's were pretty bad. A recent article on Cracked.com points out a few stellar examples. (I disagree on a few... especially The Real Ghostbusters.) Lou Scheimer is the executive producer on quite a few of them... coincidence? I think not. Enjoy ... http://www.brat-patrol.com/2007/09/24/more-80s-cartoon-love/ "Balduck Park":http://atdetroit.net/forum/messages/5/92144.html?1182200984 was the nearest public park to our neighborhood. During the summer, kites flew there and there was a "nature area (which we called "The Naych") to hike and ride bikes, a hill provided some excitement and a few fields to play soccer, baseball, and football. My early memories ... http://www.brat-patrol.com/2007/07/06/what-is-balduck-park/