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9 Plays7 days ago
Hey Gen X'ers, you remember, after cartoons you got kicked outside for the next few hours to fend for yourself! So that's when you became Speed Racer on your rocket bike, or clotheslined some neighborhood kids with a friendly game of Red Rover or got kissed playing tag! Anything could happen back then. Join us as we climb the tallest trees and watch our memories go by like making pies with a bicycle made for two! Stop by social media and find the Speakpipe link to let me know what your favourite outside game was!
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Transcript
Introduction & Nostalgia
00:00:14
Speaker
Hey, don't turn that channel. You've reached Yabba Zunker's Wings, the Saturday morning podcast where your host, Josh Downing, that's me, will take you on a trip through a Gen X Saturday morning of cereal, toys, cartoons, and so much more.
00:00:31
Speaker
So grab your honeycombs and your favorite Micronaut and sit back and enjoy.
Weather and Childhood Adventures
00:00:37
Speaker
Hey, Gen Xers, this is Josh and we are back. It's Saturday morning, kind of, and ah we're probably almost in spring, but it's still cold and wet and soggy here. But hopefully it's spring closer to where you are.
00:00:52
Speaker
And there's a reason why I say that. But before I get started, let's say hello to my buddy, Tyler. Hi, Josh. Hi, everyone. so So glad you're all back, especially you, Tyler, because I can't do this by myself. It just sounds weird.
Tree Climbing Memories
00:01:07
Speaker
But my my my first question for you is, when was the last time you climbed a tree?
00:01:16
Speaker
Oh, gosh. ah Well, I would have been a child, and I used to love doing it because then you could you could climb the tree and then sit on the branches forever. Yeah.
00:01:28
Speaker
you know, and I'm sure if my parents knew i was climbing trees, they'd freak out along with all the other things that we were doing now. So that's probably like maybe like grade four, grade five is the last time.
00:01:42
Speaker
Wow. So it's been a while. ah Yeah. Yeah. I remember anyway, how about you? i was really trying hard. Cause I'm, I'm like, I'm pretty sure I've done some kind of climbing,
00:01:55
Speaker
in my adult life, but I can't pin it. And it's funny because the the house we're in right now has some trees, but nothing I could climb. But the previous house had a lot of trees that I probably could have climbed. I'm pretty sure I climbed a little bit of something just to get some stuff. Like there was these grapevines growing in the trees.
00:02:17
Speaker
So I climbed up a couple of the lower branches. So that was probably about 10 years ago. But still, like, I don't even think I could if I tried right now. I'm just picturing angry raccoons waiting at the top of the tree for you.
00:02:31
Speaker
Closer, closer. and Mostly squirrels.
00:02:38
Speaker
And it's mutual, I can assure you. um way When I was a kid, we had a lot of trees in our house. So we had two maples and a chestnut tree out front, and they were huge.
00:02:52
Speaker
yeah Like they were probably six feet tall because I was really small. um And then we had like... ah trees all around like our whole backyard we lived on a corner lot so the backyard which was a side road uh was all trees like it was a wall of cedars so our whole entire yard all the way around was just trees and i climbed every single one of those trees and i was i never fell i was such a tree yeah no and yeah no
00:03:24
Speaker
No, I could climb way up in the Maples. So I was like way up there and I would just sit up there and people would be like, where did he go? and like Yeah, I was just thinking because it was the most secret totally thing you could do, right?
Outdoor Games & Creativity
00:03:37
Speaker
Just completely escape up a tree and nobody would ever be looking up for you. you know No, totally. I could sit up there, watch everybody else running around. i just, I loved climbing trees.
00:03:48
Speaker
I discovered at one point that I could climb, there was a ah probably a, it was an evergreen tree. i can't what was called, but i I figured out that if I climbed that and I climbed out some of the branches at the top, they would kind of bend and I could drop onto the roof of our house. Oh, wow. Okay. So I was like, I'm on the roof. I was so excited that I could walk around on the roof.
00:04:12
Speaker
And then you looked around, you thought, I can land on other people's roofs. And then you were the cat burglar of the neighborhood. Yes, totally. And yeah, no, that was ah that was my adventure. I loved climbing up trees and I loved sitting up on the roof until mom and dad came home and then it was like, what the hell are you doing up there? you Well, tell me, Josh, why did you ask that question?
00:04:35
Speaker
Yeah. So we're going to talk about the outside games, the things that we did as Gen Xers, because we we didn't have computers. We didn't have, i mean, TV kind of was done by noon on Saturday.
00:04:50
Speaker
so we didn't have a lot of indoor stuff. And especially when the weather was nice. It was get outside, get out and play, get on your play clothes and go. and And we did. We would get out and we would run and jump and climb and ride our bikes all day long.
00:05:09
Speaker
Would never happen today. No, know what you'd go to the app and you, your character would run and then jump over a crocodile.
00:05:20
Speaker
And grow up healthy with social skills. Totally. Yes.
Imaginative Play & Superheroes
00:05:25
Speaker
So did you, were you an outdoor kid at all? I was a mix, um, because we would play superheroes, um, or we would play like bikes, of course were huge, but if we're talking before bikes, um,
00:05:40
Speaker
um Playing superheroes was a big deal. you know Tag was a big deal. Kissing tag was a big deal. oh Hide and seek. yes you know The playgrounds.
00:05:53
Speaker
um and I might as well tell you a funny nerd story. It's it's actually a memory I treasure, but the side of my house had like a deck like ah like walking from the front to the back of the house.
00:06:10
Speaker
And we would pretend that that was the space the ship from Fantastic Voyage. Oh, cool. I would go in the house. This is so embarrassing, but funny.
00:06:21
Speaker
And I would get this spice rack that had all these empty spice bottles. And I would put different colored food coloring in each bottle. And then bring it back outside and place that at the front. So that was like our controls.
00:06:35
Speaker
All these bottles of different colored water. You know, for some reason, it wasn't the game until I achieved that part of it. Right. And then that whole long deck, which seemed massive when you're a kid.
00:06:48
Speaker
was our, I guess you'd call it a spaceship, but of course it was the inner space ship from Fantastic Voyage. I guess I must've seen it and it was just like, oh, just mind blown by that movie right when I was a little kid because I'm pretty little when we're doing this. right So of all the memories I have,
00:07:05
Speaker
that one is one that I really, really
Risky Adventures & Imagination
00:07:08
Speaker
love. But then we also used to play on the rafts and the rafts was this pond, you know, that no parents knew where we were. It's not, oh yeah but you know, the water was like probably six feet deep but and we were on these rafts that, you know, the big kids built and nobody knew where we were.
00:07:24
Speaker
would go there every day, every summer, you know, and nobody knew where we were. Oh yeah. You know, like, Oh dear, your kid drowned. Yeah. We lived near a gully that stretched for i am several kilometers down through the valley, down the back of our elementary school, then down along the railroad tracks.
00:07:46
Speaker
And eventually you'd come out on like the other side of Surrey, down by the river if you really went far enough. But yeah, it was it was pretty scary. But that's where we played. Like there was so much of our summers.
00:07:59
Speaker
Yeah. Um, when my uncle and I used to hang out, we were a little bit too old for this, but we didn't care. we were totally star Wars nuts and we would get sticks and then we would just play star Wars in the gully.
00:08:12
Speaker
okay And those are lightsabers. Yes. Sometimes we take broomsticks down with us so we'd have better looking lightsabers. it's like But stormtroopers were like coming out of their the those big storm drains. yeah And then, of course, we had battled them with our lightsabers. It was awesome.
00:08:31
Speaker
Or sweep up after them. but We left the broom part at home. Come on. We were Jedi's. Do you remember those really cheesy knockoff lightsabers that were at Kmart?
00:08:46
Speaker
Yes. Do you know exactly the ones that were these white ones? Yes, they were terrible. They were like a really long popsicle. but And they were flimsy and they were just nasty.
00:08:58
Speaker
Somehow they got to market really fast, you know? Yeah. They they did not waste a minute. Yeah. Yeah. Anyway. It's so funny. won't take you off course here. Okay. But I have to go back to your colored water thing.
00:09:11
Speaker
Oh, I had, I have a colored water story. Oh, do tell. Yeah. So we had a ah garage in our backyard at the back of the yard, um which eventually became my bedroom, which was really cool.
00:09:25
Speaker
But you could go around the back of it and there was probably like a four foot section, self-fenced off. There was nothing back there, but just some weeds and trees.
00:09:36
Speaker
And my dad used to tell me that he'd he'd help me build a tree house back there. So I always had dreams of this was my tree house, you know, at the back of the yard. Nobody could see it.
00:09:48
Speaker
And the tree house never, ever happened. But at some point I turned it into my laboratory and I collected all these bizarre looking bottles, filled them with food coloring, colored water. No way. No way, no you know way yes And I saved these bottles back there. And then I would go back there and I would play like secret laboratory. And I was, you know mixing secret potions that would turn me into superheroes.
00:10:16
Speaker
Always. And then then there was the inevitable winter that came along. And we we don't have particularly harsh winters, you know, on the West Coast, but it still get pretty cold.
00:10:27
Speaker
And then I went back there in the spring to check on my laboratory. And of course all the bottles had shattered. Oh no, that's tragic. Yeah. So that was the end of my, my laboratory. It was exploded by the, uh, the evil doom doctor. And, uh, yeah, that was the end of that.
00:10:46
Speaker
Those little kids. Yeah. That's so funny. Right. Cause don't even know why we had food coloring in the house and, you know, but anyway, I wouldn't have known what it does. It was mandatory. Yeah. Well, I get it. I get it. Not at our house, but yes, I get it.
00:11:02
Speaker
It probably came when your when your mom got married. She was given a ah household kit and it came with food coloring and because every good homemaker had food coloring for cakes. You always need a drop.
00:11:13
Speaker
Yes. Well, not when I made a cake.
00:11:18
Speaker
Or in secret potions. That is so funny.
00:11:24
Speaker
So some of the other games, it's funny, I was taking a look and I'm like trying to remember my my the games that we used to play.
Childhood Games: Red Rover to Kick the Can
00:11:31
Speaker
And we'll tell we'll get back to bikes in a minute because bikes was an important one. But um did you ever did ever play Red Rover?
00:11:39
Speaker
No, I don't even really know. like i know of it, of course, but I don't really get the so-and-so come over of Red Rose. I don't know you it. don't know 1, 2, 3 Red Light. Is that what it's called?
00:11:52
Speaker
green light red Green Light Red Light? Is that what it is? Yeah. like I don't know any of those things. Okay. So I was pretty lucky because there was a lot of kids in our neighborhood. For the first few years that I was growing up there, there was only girls.
00:12:05
Speaker
So there was a house that had nine girls. There was a house that had seven girls. Another house that had three girls. There was no boys in my neighborhood. Wow. until I was in grade two and then suddenly four boys moved in across the street from us. Okay. And then they became our childhood friends. Like yeah yeah everything was with them.
00:12:26
Speaker
So games changed as well because we used to play house and dolls a lot. Yeah. And then when the boys moved in, it was cops and robbers and, you know, cowboys and war racing. We never really played war stuff, but,
00:12:41
Speaker
we We played a lot of adventures, superheroes, hide and seek, tag. But now we could play Red Rover because there was finally enough kids to do that. Yeah. And Red Rover is basically you form two teams and the teams hold hands.
00:12:57
Speaker
And then they go, you know, Red Rover, Red Rover, Tyler, come over. And then you would have to try to run as hard as you can and break their arm chain. Oh, with pleasure.
00:13:08
Speaker
And if you didn't, you got clotheslined pretty hard, like right to the neck. Seriously, this game was brutal. I didn't know that's how it was played. That's funny. Yes. wow And so if you if you didn't break the line, I think you had to join their side. Yeah. Yeah, just a brutal game, but loved it. Loved it, played it all the time.
00:13:29
Speaker
Well, it's interactive. I was probably good at it because I was tall. Yeah. ah Freeze Tag. Did you ever play Freeze Tag? Oh, I forgot about freeze tag.
00:13:40
Speaker
Yeah. I love all that kind of stuff. too Probably because I love a good chase sequence, but like all that running and capturing and we used to play Sasquatch, which Oh my God. Yes.
00:13:52
Speaker
But like, you know, it's like you, if you got caught by the Sasquatch, he would like tie you to the fence or whatever, like make believe. And then you'd be like out of the game until, you know, <unk> he's captured everybody.
00:14:04
Speaker
um and And that's just the basis of all these games, but you just added the Sasquatch element to it. Because we're in Canada. Yes, of course. yeah so freeze tag was cool because if you were it and you'd run and you'd tag somebody, they'd have to freeze.
00:14:18
Speaker
Right. So, of course, me being like, you know, the little actor that I was, i loved freezing. Look at me. I'm so frozen. But then somebody who was still being chased...
00:14:32
Speaker
You'd want to play a faint tag or don't believe dying death scene Yeah, drama tag. Best dramatic pose tag. Yeah. Vogue tag.
00:14:46
Speaker
So yeah, and then somebody else who were whoever else was free could run around and unfreeze you. And then the person and if they got everybody, then they they won the game and then somebody would get picked for the the next it but I love that game. It was so cool.
00:15:02
Speaker
The funny thing is I don't remember anybody cheating. You know what i mean? like No. Because why would you cheat, right? Yeah, yeah, I guess so, right? Because I home frozen. think there's only really rule.
00:15:12
Speaker
Freeze or run. I can't go home for dinner. I'm frozen. Like, sorry. Totally. Get home for your frozen dinner. Come on. Yeah, exactly. Kick the Ken was one that I didn't really get.
00:15:26
Speaker
I think so some older kids were hanging around and they were trying to teach us how to play it. But really it's just hide and seek. And then you get thrown in jail if you get tagged.
00:15:38
Speaker
And then if you were still loose, you could come along and yell, kick the can and kick the can. And then you'd free everybody. Okay. So it's kind of like freeze, but with a can. But you know, we always had to wait for someone so to bring a beer can.
00:15:52
Speaker
You could all play. Yeah. Well, we had big coffee cans or those peanut butter cans. Remember when peanut butter used to come in a great big tin? I do not. Oh. Squirrel peanut butter.
00:16:03
Speaker
I remember glass jars. No. looked like the tin roof. but Ours came in a tin. Great big tin. like Yeah, like four liters worth peanut butter.
00:16:14
Speaker
Oh, my gosh. Like coffee, yes, but peanut butter, no no memory. Yeah, same can same kind of can. Had a resealable lid, too. my gosh. That's massive. Yeah. Well, if you had neighbors with nine children and seven children, then it's like, you're all getting peanut butter again.
00:16:33
Speaker
Totally. Then there was Mother May Oh, yeah, yeah. There was no plastic. Do you remember my Mother May I? i know the name, but I went over to it. So everybody stood on one side, and the mother would stand across from you, and then you'd take turns and Mother, may I take a giant step?
00:16:53
Speaker
Okay. And Mother would say, Yes, you may take a giant step. And then you'd take a giant step. And then the next person would do that. But Mother could also say, No, you have to take two scissor steps back.
00:17:05
Speaker
Oh my gosh. Right. So it was a game of control. It totally like any mom. Right. Mother's like, I'm hung over. I don't want to hear from any of you. Totally. All of you leave. Exactly.
00:17:18
Speaker
And can't all be mine. Give me a Ryan seven before you go.
00:17:24
Speaker
So yeah, it was just a weird game. it We played it, but it wasn't one of my favorites. I'd rather play Red Rover and tumble some people into the ground. Well, that way it's sort of more like a team.
00:17:35
Speaker
Yeah. Whereas the other one sounds more like it's so one at a time and you're just sitting there waiting. Well, yeah. And I think that you'd only advance and if you were liked. Right. Well, as in anything. Right. Yeah.
00:17:50
Speaker
We also played this one and I was trying to remember what the, what the person was on the other side. and it was kind of like mother may i but i think the way that you play, I think there was a billy goat. was billy boat, billy goat, billy goat, you know, can we cross your golden bridge or something weird?
00:18:06
Speaker
And the billy goat would like say no. And then the billy goat would turn around and then you would try to sneak up. And if the billy goat turned around and he caught you moving,
00:18:18
Speaker
you'd be like eaten. And if you didn't, you would just freeze. And then the Billy goat would turn around and the whole thing would start again. And the idea was to see if you could get to the Billy goat side of the yard without getting caught.
00:18:32
Speaker
We used to play this really cool game at camp and I don't know what was called, um but it was like a food chain game. And so like man was at the top and like maybe squirrels were at the bottom you know and you were whatever you were you know handed and then everybody scatters into the forest and i remember i was doing really really really really well and then i stepped out onto like a road that was in the camp and this guy from nowhere was just like you're dead like what what what he's like he's like i'm you're dead
00:19:09
Speaker
Because I got run over, right? And I'm like, but I was doing so well. But it was this almost to beaver. you know Yeah, yeah, yeah. It was a really fun game. I really enjoyed that.
00:19:22
Speaker
oh yeah. I don't know that one. It's just been a little more interesting. You know what I mean? it I'm saying food I know what else to call it. But it was like, you know, small animals up to man. Yeah.
00:19:33
Speaker
Huh. That's interesting. Man would either shoot you or run you over. Of course. Typical man. Yeah. Yeah.
Bike Adventures & Mishaps
00:19:41
Speaker
Yeah. yeah We, um, we also had lawn darts and what did we at the car just kids cause we had the real lawn darts. Yeah. You know, there were a big, heavy, sharp spike yep and they were red and blue and you hurled those things across the yard.
00:19:58
Speaker
and Now, none of us were died, one of the neighbor kids actually did get one in the side of his head. you didn't pierce the skin. It just grazed the side of his head. And then our parents were like, yeah no, you guys can't play with that anymore.
00:20:14
Speaker
Wow. The mom came running out and rubbed some Velveeta on the wound. Yeah, now you're okay. Yeah. And then all the kids are licking it off. and then What's in this?
00:20:28
Speaker
Nobody knows. It's cocaine. Yeah. The way it should be. um Okay. Let's talk about bikes. Because bikes were critical. Yeah.
00:20:39
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Right. So my first bike was a tricycle. i was really little. Yeah, i had one. there Yeah. Yeah. We lived in, well, where we lived, there was some really mountainous hills.
00:20:51
Speaker
And i remember, I have a very so distinct memory of my mom. She's got my youngest sister in a stroller and my other sister's walking beside the stroller and I'm on my brand new blue tricycle. And we go around the corner and we're this steep hill that's like a roller coaster.
00:21:09
Speaker
And of course my bike just took off. my My tricycle just went spinning out of control right down this hill. And it was going so fast. i actually just rolled right over upside down and face first into the pavement.
00:21:22
Speaker
oh no Yeah. Yeah. Probably my very first adventure on my bike. And yeah, I just remember that I had a big scabby chin for a long time because that, and that was all, I didn't break anything. I just face planted my face right into the, right into the pavement.
00:21:38
Speaker
the did not scar Did the streamers burst into flames? Well, no, I think that they actually broke my fall.
00:21:47
Speaker
They slowed me down because they were so beautiful. Release the streamer. Yeah. It's kind of like a parachute.
00:21:58
Speaker
So that's what they were for. Yes. They were to slow you down. thought they would make you go faster. i remember when you would turn your bike upside down to make popcorn.
00:22:09
Speaker
ah No, we made pies. i don't know what kind of machine would make a pie, used to drop mud into the fender. Yeah.
00:22:19
Speaker
And then you make a pie. Oh my gosh. That's so funny. oh my gosh that's so funny I had this wicked cool tricycle that was like this green sparkle flex, but it was green gold kind of color.
00:22:39
Speaker
You know, it had that, it had that wide back on it. Like somebody else could like stand on it. Yeah. Yeah. I don't know what you call that part. but I loved that bike.
00:22:51
Speaker
And then I had, then I had one of those pedal cars. I had a fire engine. I was, no, it was a fire chief, fire chief car. hi And you know me, everything has to stay in main condition at all times. Right.
00:23:04
Speaker
And this kid had one of those like dart guns, you know, and put a dart like square right onto the hood. which of course is harmless, right? I was devastated. I'm like, what is this dart on my, like suction cup dart, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. On my fire chief car.
00:23:23
Speaker
Oh. So it got put back in the box inside of the shelf the next 20 years. Yeah. And then my uncle gave me a zoomer chopper.
00:23:34
Speaker
And the Zoomer Chopper was a purple and white motorbike for kids. And you actually plugged it in, in the living room. my God. And then took it outside, sat on it and drove it.
00:23:46
Speaker
I loved that thing. It didn't go very fast. It was like, you know, that independence, you know, and no streamers. Oh, just, oh, I love so you're going super fast.
00:23:57
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Cool. My embarrassing story about learning to ride a bike was my parents bribed me. They bought me my first bicycle. oh This is so embarrassing.
00:24:10
Speaker
And took me, because of course everything was closed on Sunday, took me you know behind some building on a Sunday, me on the bike and said, you learned to ride this bike, we'll take you to McDonald's.
00:24:25
Speaker
You better believe I jumped on that thing and learned how to ride it. and and now we Wow. No food issues in this family. oh no, no, no, no.
00:24:39
Speaker
Oh, my goodness. Isn't that funny? It's so embarrassing, but I'm like, well, it works. you know That's crazy. I'm sure it was the fastest any kid learned how to ride a bike.
00:24:50
Speaker
Seriously. From breakfast to lunchtime.
00:24:55
Speaker
And you probably didn't stop until you got to the McDonald's. Yeah, I just drove. yeah Six miles later. um my My first bike after the tricycle was a hand-me-down bike. And it was this, I couldn't even describe what the bike looked like. It looked like something, you know, your grandfather rode in the war.
00:25:14
Speaker
And it was just huge. Yes, probably. I think that's called. But it had it had sort of a banana seat because this bike was so big. It had this great big long black and white checkered banana seat. Cool.
00:25:27
Speaker
And it was a red sparkly bike. Yep. Great big wonky bike. ah handlebars. Yeah, I know. just this And it was so big. It was way too big for me, even though I was a very gangly kid.
00:25:41
Speaker
I grew into it really fast, but I had to do that sort of run alongside the bike and then jump on a pedal and then fling my legs over to get on this thing. And then to get off, I'd have to sort of break and then fall over.
00:25:54
Speaker
like because i couldn't i couldn't reach the ground yet like when you say fall over you mean like brace yourself yeah well i would fall sometimes when i first started getting on it i would just fall into the grass oh gosh or grab a fence or something and then climb down but the bike was way too big for me but i didn't care i didn't care well that wasn't unusual yeah no you know Okay, so the most important part about bike riding was the games that we played when we bike rode our bike. So what was one of the games you played riding your bike?
00:26:25
Speaker
Well, have to tell you my tragic bike story first. No. My favorite bike was a motocross bike. Of course. And it was red and black and looked like a motorcycle.
00:26:36
Speaker
And like nobody had a bike like this one. And I loved it. And had a big number seven on it. And I was seven years old. And like that bike and me were inseparable. And it had like fake gas tank. And like it was just the coolest. Yeah.
00:26:52
Speaker
And I never let it out of my sight. And one night, me and two friends, this is after dark, we're at school. i think we had volunteered for something, like to help out with the school play or something like that. You know what I mean?
00:27:07
Speaker
And we we had locked all our bikes up. And when we came out, our three bikes had all been stripped. ah And they had they somehow, I guess they were trying to get the locks off of them. And and they couldn't really twist it all three of our bikes together and stripped.
00:27:26
Speaker
And like mine, all those accessories were gone. Like I was heartbroken. Yeah. The number was gone. The gas tank was gone. Like everything was gone. The that had these like fenders and how to describe it. Just everything was gone.
00:27:41
Speaker
And, you know, it's those, again, horrible little kid life lessons, right? We weren't in the wrong, but it was just like, oh, so this happened to me today and my favorite bike that can't be replaced.
00:27:52
Speaker
You know, I'm sure I don't remember my parents' reaction. I'm sure they would have been furious. um And I did get a replacement one, but just never the same. no like I love that bike. like I beg my parents take pictures of me on the bike. I love that bike. I would take pictures of it just at the side of the road, just standing on its own. I loved it so much, you know?
00:28:13
Speaker
Wow. Anyway. I'm so sorry to hear about that. Yeah, that was brutal. but Yeah. Anyway. and i sorry I, no, no, it's totally cool. But, but as a sideline story,
00:28:27
Speaker
i also had a brand new bike stolen from me so after my red bike my parents were like no we're gonna upgrade you all you're all gonna get new bikes so mine was a 10 speed which at the time was the coolest of all bikes that was well you knew you were an adult right yes yeah yes and uh i think i was still like in elementary school but probably in grade seven And so I had this brand new and I can't remember what it was called, but it was this brand new dune buggy green, like metallic sparkle, fresh out of the store, 10 speed bike, all that's gears and I could click them. And I just, I loved this bike. I think I probably didn't even have it a week.
00:29:10
Speaker
I ended up riding my bike all the way to Bear Creek Park, which was a long ways from where I lived. And if you know Surrey et al. from BC, I lived in Wally and Bear Creek Park is on the other side of Wally.
00:29:22
Speaker
So I rode my bike there and then I can't remember what happened, but I was probably sick. And I'm like, oh my God, I have to get home, but I can't ride my bike. So I locked my bike up inside the courtyard of the art center.
00:29:38
Speaker
And of course, when I went back to get it the next day, it was gone. oh Oh. So somebody had climbed the wall, stolen the bike, and that was it. a brand new bike. And I was devastated. Oh.
00:29:52
Speaker
So the good thing is the police came and investigated then they wrote a report and then our insurance covered it. So I got a new one, but fortunately they didn't have any more green ones. Of course. So I was stuck with the blue one.
00:30:04
Speaker
Well, as long as it sparkled. Yeah. It wasn't as sparkly as the green one. But anyway, so yeah, also lost a bike. And you know what? I'm sure almost everybody has a lost bike story.
00:30:15
Speaker
Yeah. It's a little different if it's your fault, but like in both those stories, both our bikes were locked up, right? Yours and mine. And it still damages. in ah In a locked up courtyard. Yeah.
00:30:25
Speaker
in an art installment of all places in a theater that i would eventually perform my first play in the irony is just sickening okay so what were your play what were your games i was gonna say you know you can buy peewee's bike right like replicas of peewe oh my god that would be so amazing like right down to the little tiger you know on the front anyway i'm I don't think we did. Like, i i I, don't even think I know the concept. Like, what would you be playing? Like polo? Oh my God.
00:30:56
Speaker
No, we played speed racer. like just like Like just speed competition games? We would just, you know, ah we would do everything on our bikes. say could Sure. yeah that was Those were our spaceships or we were flying.
00:31:13
Speaker
um Speed Racer was my favorite. And if I was in charge of the games, which almost i always almost was, um I would be like, no, we're playing speed racer. I'm speed racer. I'd get on my bike, which was the Mach 5, and I would just drive my bike.
00:31:28
Speaker
And everybody would try to race me, and it was a race. Who could get up the hill fastest and then come down, and there's a rock, so like, you know, pop a wheelie over the rock. We had this little... um There was sort of a we didn't have ditches, but there was little boulevards.
00:31:42
Speaker
And some of the boulevards were sort of indented just because rain over the years. And the person sort of across the street from us had a corner lot and they had this bump right beside, I think it was a rock that had been grown over with grass, right beside the stop sign.
00:31:58
Speaker
So we used to come down and hit that rock, like just... boing right off the rock and launch ourselves up into the air into the middle of the street like the landing was in the middle of the street so it was crazy but that was one of our favorite things to do just play speed racer i forgot about wide ramps ramps yeah gra you just needed like you know ah a sheet of wood and another piece of wood put underneath it i forgot about the ramps because i guess you probably played follow the leader a lot on bikes
00:32:29
Speaker
yeah You know, like I drive here, you follow all that kind of stuff. And any excuse to drive down a hill, like just a million miles an hour, you know, regardless of, you know, what was waiting at the bottom, that was always thrilling.
00:32:43
Speaker
And I felt, I always felt completely in control on a bike. But then when I had skateboards, then I started to feel a little vulnerable. all night especially That hill doesn't look like a good idea anymore.
00:32:57
Speaker
you know But on a bike, no problem. Yep, problem. Of course it could happen. On skateboard, I'd be like, no, I think my mom would be mad at me. No.
00:33:09
Speaker
i I had a skateboard. It was a little tiny dinky thing because that's what they were back then. And I could not, for the life of me, balance myself on that skateboard. Oh, you're kidding. obviously You know those really small ones, right? hey yeah Yeah. Ones that came like 12 different colors.
00:33:26
Speaker
Yes. Yes. Mine was bright green. Yeah. Yeah. And it was probably like maybe 12 inches long and like enough room for like one foot. Right. Right. So, yeah.
00:33:37
Speaker
No, I, I, we used to, I also used to play a battle of the planets on my bike. Oh, I was the fiery Phoenix go down that hill. Fiery Phoenix. I had an imagination.
00:33:49
Speaker
And if it's the American version, yeah well, then you're the Phoenix for 24 hours. I'm like, yeah what who came up with that? I don't care. I was riding my bike for 24 I was not coming home.
00:34:04
Speaker
Like all that independence. Yeah. Don't have today. not only crap. I can't imagine being robbed of just everything. Yeah. Just on that couch until you're 40. Yeah.
00:34:17
Speaker
With your pad. Yeah.
Gully Games & Hidden Hazards
00:34:19
Speaker
weird I never had a bus to school. I walked to school or I rode my bike to school. I never did that, but definitely walked. We played in the gully. The gully was on the way home from school. You could walk through the gully to get home if you wanted to.
00:34:33
Speaker
And we had a park at the end, the other block down, great big massive park. And like you were saying with the with the rafts, ours had ah sort of a creek running through it. And there's those great big drain pipes.
00:34:46
Speaker
And we still like play inside the drain pipes. like you know Somebody would have pulled the metal grating off and we were climbing inside. There's like broken shopping carts in there. There'd be leeches in the water you know sharks oh yeah that's funny you know there's no way that you know our parents knew anything no you'd come home with a piece of glass or a nail in your foot oh yeah and the big kids always had playboy magazines hidden the side of the water that's what the gully was for yeah so funny so scandalous ah great memories oh oh it's time
00:35:27
Speaker
It's time to play a game. Your favorite part. Oh, no. All right. Any farther. yeah we already did that one. So it's called Name That Game.
00:35:39
Speaker
I mean, it's kind of like playing Taboo. I was realizing when I was doing it. It's kind of like Taboo. I'm going to give you a clue. Which I never played. Oh, see, you should have come to the Toronto Comic-Con because I would let you play Taboo right there.
00:35:52
Speaker
All right, so i'm going to give you a clue and you can make a guess. I'll give you another clue and then you can make a guess and then we'll see if you can figure it out. And these are easy because seriously, these are kids games.
00:36:03
Speaker
They're not complicated. All right. You ready? Sure. Okay. Pac-Man. Glass Marbles? Marbles.
00:36:14
Speaker
You got it. Marbles. I didn't even get to say the rest of my clues. Circle on the ground, shooters, cat's eyes. What were the bigger marbles called? i We just called them shooters.
00:36:25
Speaker
Oh, no, I don't know that word. Not in this context. Yeah. I used to love the larger ones. Yes. remember what they were called. I want to say gobstoppers. Isn't that funny? But I don't remember what they were called.
00:36:37
Speaker
No, i I just called them shooters, but they've got a bunch of other names. They're some really bizarre names that I don't remember. But I i collected them for the longest time because i didn't know what to do with them. I didn't know yet how to play the game. But somebody eventually showed me how to play the game. And then I was like, oh, my God, I love this game.
00:36:53
Speaker
Marbles are fascinating. Yeah. You go to Kmart and get that bag, that drawstring bag of 100 marbles. If it was, i guess that's too many. But anyway, just.
00:37:04
Speaker
No, it's probably not. Just amazing, right? Yeah. Yeah, totally cool. It was kind of like Jack's. Yeah. Like, I didn't know how to play Jack's, but I'm like, these cool shapes and then a rubber ball? Like, seriously, I don't care. They're just cool.
00:37:18
Speaker
Yeah, like I had it. I didn't really care for it, you know, and I never did know how to play tiddlywinks. But anyway, we're getting off topic. Oh, my God. all right, we're going to get you a tiddlywinks for Christmas. I can't wait that long.
00:37:31
Speaker
Then we'll get you Parcheesi. Okay, so you next your next one. First clue is chalk.
00:37:39
Speaker
Oh, that could be anything. Sorry. Okay. Squares with numbers. Oh, hopscotch. Yeah, ah you got it. Hopscotch.
00:37:50
Speaker
All right.
Roller Rink Culture
00:37:51
Speaker
Yeah. but Obviously in that first phase where there was only girls to play with, I played a lot of hopscotch. Well, it's pretty funny because like, you know, use the chalk for hopscotch, use the chalk for marbles, you know.
00:38:05
Speaker
And just about every other game. ah I don't know if your school had this, but in my elementary school, they had pre-painted hopscotch boards on the playground.
00:38:16
Speaker
I guess that makes sense. We didn't have that, but I guess that makes sense. I'll see them in the summertime or if I'm walking around, somebody will have done one on the sidewalk or on a driveway. So I guess it's still going.
00:38:27
Speaker
That and Lemon Twists. Oh, my Lemon Twist. I love that. Romper Stompers.
00:38:35
Speaker
Okay. Here's your next one. Okay. Wheels.
00:38:41
Speaker
Could be anything. Keep going. Scraped knees. No, it could be anything. Keep going. Inside or outside. Oh, that's interesting.
00:38:52
Speaker
Wheels inside, inside my house. Well, not your house, but. ah Okay. Can I, can you keep going or. That's it. That's all the clues.
00:39:04
Speaker
wheels it's going to be so obvious but wheels you sweep your knees inside the house what's the answer roller skating oh okay okay yeah so i didn't say inside the house i just said inside or outside true because you could find you at the roller disco yes at the roller disco yeah yeah drinking slush puppies and playing donkey kong
00:39:33
Speaker
Yes, that's exactly it. I did enjoy doing that. Oh, did I. Those exact things. So did My friend Dan and I used to go on what was called family nights, and no families would go.
00:39:44
Speaker
so it would just be like he and I, and his mom would have to drive us. And we would literally drink slush puppies. And then occasionally go out and roller skate. But like it was it was so much fun. And again, independence.
00:39:56
Speaker
Yeah. like No, I had my, what was it called? oh my God, I can't remember. It's classic Surrey roller rink. It'll come to me. Anyways, i loved it. i had to There was a couple of years there where I was allowed to go and hang out with my friends at the roller roller disco.
00:40:15
Speaker
And they would do snowballs. All the girls on one side, all the boys on the other. And then snowball skates. And it was all that like angel in a centerfold. And what's that Jenny song? Eight, six, seven, five, three, oh, nine. Yes. And highway to heaven.
00:40:31
Speaker
Olivia Newton, John, you know, all that late seventies stuff. I get excited to play talking heads. Take me to the river. But anyway, But they never did. No, they didn't. They wouldn't in mind because the DJ would have gotten beat up.
00:40:46
Speaker
Set on fire. it It was a rough neighborhood. all right Even the gangs were on roller skating. Totally. In their leather jackets. Yeah, exactly. Their baseball bats and then their yeah rainbow roller skates.
00:41:01
Speaker
Don't want to mess with them. Did I tell you about my roller skates that I bought at Kmart? No, don't know. I was so excited. So I bought these roller skates. They looked like a black Adidas, i want kind of like a boot, yeah but not not tall like a skate, a little bit shorter, but kind of like a boot you'd wear now. But they were black with yellow stripes. Yeah.
00:41:25
Speaker
yellow wheels and then i bought a yellow uh toe guard cardigan to go on them yes and a cardigan a lovely little button yellow cardigan and i loved those roller skates i would wheels would have been awesome seriously they were so beautiful because it was like electric yellow on black and And I would, I would, you know, read magazines on how to care for my roller skates and clean the bearings and tighten them and tune them.
00:41:56
Speaker
And I rarely ever wore them, but I still loved them because i couldn't ride them on the, on our streets. Our streets are too rough. Oh yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And we didn't have any smooth space in our house, like in our yard anywhere.
00:42:10
Speaker
and So the only place I could go. Yeah. was was to take them down to the roller disco that I can't remember the name of, but it will come to me. It was probably called something really corny, like Cornies. yeah Totally. You called Cornies on Friday?
00:42:25
Speaker
Stardust. It was called Stardust Roller Rink. Oh, absolutely yeah, that's a typical name. it was It was the crown jewel of Surrey. Trust me. It still is. It is. Well, they finally tore it down, but it was there for the longest time. Here's your next one.
Summer Fun & Exhaustion
00:42:39
Speaker
Playground Ball.
00:42:42
Speaker
uh keep going two teams well it could be murder ball but don't get hit is it murder ball well so i wasn't calling it murder ball because i know it from its other name which is dodge ball oh yeah okay same thing Yeah, so dodgeball.
00:43:03
Speaker
There's life killing in dodgeball. Murderball. Well, I think the idea is to dodge and not get murdered. um I was always the target because I was just a nerd. and like Get nerd. Get him. He's right there.
00:43:18
Speaker
the yeah right there and also so because it was tall i was taller than everybody else i was easy to to spot so it would i was just gonna hit me and then i'd be like yeah whatever i'll just go sit i'm just like i'm so popular i keep getting hit but i froze in this lovely pose look at me over here at me You're all doing it wrong. get me a totally It's Vogue Ball.
00:43:46
Speaker
Yeah. All right. Your last one. Okay. Garden hose. Oh my. Okay. Well, like jump the sprinkler.
00:43:57
Speaker
Yes. Okay. So easy. you know and you didn't even go to the, what it was it called? The, the, uh, water wiggler. Oh, that was you know week later though, right?
00:44:10
Speaker
Yeah, those came out. Yeah, yeah. It had little hoses sticking out of its head and it would spring to water everywhere. yeah that was years later. i I loved just playing with the sprinkler. Like I was, summer was amazing. And then when we started to hang out with the kids across the street, they had a hill in their yard.
00:44:28
Speaker
So they would put plastic on it and then we would slide down the plastic with the sprinkler on. but Seriously, that's all we did. That was summer. And it was fun. It was amazing. and there there was wi your neck There was one time I came home from riding my bike all day And i I woke up the next morning and I was so stiff and sore I couldn't move.
00:44:50
Speaker
And my mom was like, do you have a fever? Like, are you sick? And I'm like, No, I'm just really sore. And I'd never, ever overdone it like that in my life.
00:45:02
Speaker
But that's all it was. I had just exhausted myself. Oh, my gosh. Yeah. Yeah. yeah And it was just a day, like from morning till night, on my bike, climbing trees, you know chasing kids, playing Red Rover, just nonstop. Wow. Kids say, and i free like, I don't know what the hell you're saying, man. Totally.
00:45:23
Speaker
Those kids today. Those old people, they did those olden things. That must have been the war. Where were their parents? yeah Where were their legal guardians?
00:45:34
Speaker
They were sitting around having a Ryan seven out by the pool. but That was the other thing too. When we got a pool, i played Aquaman and man from Atlantis and Marine boy.
00:45:48
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. In the Aquaman. I didn't bother saying it before, but it was like, yeah I was always Aquaman. Always. And I would have have all these other characters that the kids didn't know. I'm like, well, I know them. You're this person. You're this person. You're this person. And yes, I am Aquaman. Thank you.
00:46:03
Speaker
Yes. And I did the same, but I was Marine boy. And they're like, I don't know what that is. And this is really embarrassing. When we play Aquaman, i would make up like a television opening and we would have play the opening parts and then we could play in the game.
00:46:19
Speaker
Oh my God. That's so awesome. So embarrassing. No, it's not. That's just the best part. We would each stand one at a time, like, you know, with our hands, our fists on our hips, you know, arm Aquaman, blah, blah, blah. And then down the line.
00:46:32
Speaker
Oh my God. It's so funny that kids would even like put up with that back then, unless they were just hungry for like somebody else's sake charge. i don't know. But that's what so much of our our playtime was. Somebody always had to direct the show. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like, I remember when we were playing house, okay, you're the dad,
Playing House & Pranks
00:46:48
Speaker
you're the mom, you're the hungry kid, you're coming home from work, you know, you're, you know, mad at him. And I'm like, oh my God, that's what you did. You just told everybody what to do.
00:46:58
Speaker
I didn't know that playing house was a thing until I started babysitting. and little girls would want to play house they were like mad for it yeah you know and it was so exciting because it's like well you're my husband and i'm like okay but you know and you're gonna make dinner for me okay you know and they just loved it and i'm like what is it at that age that that is so captivating and i don't know that it would be today but back then that's all these little girls wanted to do is just play house like they just couldn't wait for me to arrive and
00:47:30
Speaker
You know what i mean? It's like, can you sit here and da, da, da, da. And I'm like, wow, you are like running the household. But they were just being Jane Jetson and and Wilma Flintstone, right? It's why ah just, it always surprised me.
00:47:46
Speaker
You know what mean? Like boys, of course, didn't want to do that, but the girls, holy crap. House, house, house, house, house. we We actually had a ah playhouse. and We didn't get a treehouse, but we had actually a playhouse. And I think dad originally built it to be like a storage shed.
00:48:01
Speaker
He didn't need a storage shed because he had a whole garage. So he just said, here, put your, you know, here's some furniture you guys can use as a playhouse. Enjoy the spiders. Yes. No, seriously. The spiders were terrifying until we had, until we started getting visits from our friendly neighborhood, Spider-Man.
00:48:18
Speaker
And that was somebody in the neighborhood would break into the the house. It was an A-frame too. So it was freaking awesome. Yeah. They would, they would break in and then they would ah crazy glue pennies to all the furniture.
00:48:32
Speaker
And then they would leave a note saying from your friendly neighborhood, Spider-Man. And we were so perplexed for years. And it was probably the Spider-Man from the electric company. yeah Totally. Oh, that's weird. That's totally who it was. Oh my gosh. Anyways, on that amazing note, let's wrap this up.
Conclusion & Social Connection
00:48:51
Speaker
So, hey, listeners, hope you had a great time. ah You know, hopefully you had a chance to get out and get some fresh air as well. Now we're letting you go. you can go play and go ride your bike and play Marine Boy or Aquaman if you've got a pool. So really looking forward to hearing from you.
00:49:06
Speaker
Check out our social media. Leave me a note. Leave me a voice message. Whatever you want to do, just say hi. So have a great Saturday. Have a Yabba Zonker Zoinks weekend. And we'll see you again next week.
00:49:19
Speaker
You've been listening to Yabba Zonker Zoinks, a Gen X for Life podcast. Don't forget to subscribe so you don't miss any exciting episodes. You can reach out on Instagram at Gen X for Life podcast. That's Gen X number four life underscore podcast.
00:49:35
Speaker
or send an email at genxforlifepodcast, all one word, at gmail.com. I'd love to hear about your favorite Gen X Saturday morning memory, maybe a favorite toy or the cereal you just couldn't wait to tear into.
00:49:48
Speaker
Until then, have a yabba zonker zoinks day, and I'll be back bright and early next Saturday morning.