THE HYPE IT MIGHT AS WELL BE SPRING(-LOADED).Let's play a game. We'll say a word, you tell us what comes to mind. OK, here we go: Lunch box. Did you say plastic thingy with the latch that always breaks? Or did you think nostalgically of the old metal kind with George Jetson or other cartoon fave fave Informal n. One that is preferred above others or likely to win; a favorite. adj. Favorite. [Short for favorite.] raves on the side? Phone booths. Did you think of Clark Kent jumping into the nearest phone booth to transform into the Man of Steel? Or did you just ask, ``Huh?'' Well, it's true that you can't find a good phone booth when you need one, what with everyone and their dog having cell phones these days. Here's the biggie big·gie n. Slang 1. A very important person: "hassles between executive biggies" New York. 2. : Pez. Admit it, you DEFINITELY thought of those swell plastic dispensers with the collectible heads that snapped back and - SPROING - your fruit-flavored candy popped out. But of course! Well, now, is NOTHING sacred? We reported right here in L.A. Life last week that Pez had joined forces with General Mills to create versions of the collectible candy dispensers with cereal cartoon characters: Trix Rabbit, Lucky the Leprechaun leprechaun (lĕp`rəkŏn), Irish fairy represented as a tiny old man. Leprechauns are mischievous and elusive creatures, said to possess buried crocks of gold, the location of which they will reveal if forced. , Sonny the Cuckoo Bird Sonny the Cuckoo Bird is the cartoon mascot for Cocoa Puffs, a General Mills-produced cereal. He often appears in its television commercials. In the commercials, Sonny attempts to concentrate on a normal task and ends up coming across some reference to Cocoa Puffs themselves and BuzzBee. All well and good, but ... When you look carefully at the General Mills dispensers, not only are they severely shorter than their official counterparts but - and here's the blasphemous blas·phe·mous adj. Impiously irreverent. [Middle English blasfemous, from Late Latin blasph part - THEY DON'T HAVE SPRING-LOADED HEADS! These pretenders to the throne have heads that just snap back and stay there and you have to slide the candy up manually with a little lever at the bottom. OK, it's not Pez's fault. General Mills had to have them specially designed as child safe, a requirement for all cereal prizes. Sigh. We just can't help but get whiny about it, though. So much of our nostalgic youth has gone the way of all plastic in today's society. So are you outraged about springless Pez? What other special toys or favorite foods do you miss that have been jackhammered by the rules and regulations and technological ``improvements'' of the 21st century? Inquiring Hype minds want to know. Write us at Daily News, L.A. Life, The Good Ol' Days, PO Box 4200, Woodland Hills, CA 91365-4200. Or send the information via fax to the attention of L.A. Life, The Good Ol' Days, at (818) 713-3545 or via e-mail at dnlalife(at)dailynews.com. And give that Pez dispenser back to your kids. - Janet Firestein Katzman QUOTABLE quot·a·ble adj. Suitable for or worthy of quoting: a quotable slogan; a quotable pundit. quot ``Kathie Lee Gifford went on TV and said how her 9-year-old son loved 'The Spy Who Shagged shag 1 n. 1. A tangle or mass, especially of rough matted hair. 2. a. A coarse long nap, as on a woolen cloth. b. Cloth having such a nap. 3. A rug with a thick rough pile. Me.' There's American decency for you. And 'Big Daddy.' Who wants to see a movie where a kid urinates on a wall? Those are the kinds of 'family' movies we're up against these days. It's a different world.'' - Thomas Schumacher, president of Walt Disney feature animation, on competing for family audiences in today's movie marketplace RADIO RISING RIVERS: Mornings will soon sound different on KCBS-FM (93.1) - Arrow 93. Funny man Bob Rivers takes the early-bird seat at the rock 'n' roll rock 'n' roll: see rock music. oldies Oldies is a generic term commonly used to describe a radio format that usually concentrates on Top 40 music from the '50s, '60s and '70s. Oldies are typically from R&B, pop and rock music genres. outlet July 2, replacing ``Uncle'' Joe Benson. Benson - author, race car enthusiast and longtime classic-rock DJ - moves to Arrow's afternoon-drive slot at 2 p.m. Thursday. A two-time winner of Radio & Records' award for rock radio personality of the year, Rivers has sold tons of copies of his ``Twisted Tunes'' holiday album. ``He actually is not a stranger to L.A. since other stations have been playing his parody music for years,'' said Tommy Edwards, Arrow's program director. Rivers scored a string of wins at radio stations in Boston, Baltimore and, most recently, Seattle. - Fred Shuster CAPTION(S): 3 photos Photo: (1 -- 2) General Mill' Lucky the leprechaun, left, just snaps open; Wolverine wolverine or glutton, largest member of the weasel family, Gulo gulo, found in the northern parts of North America and Eurasia, usually in high mountains near the timberline or in tundra. , above, is the traditional spring-loaded Pez dispenser. What price technology? Sheesh sheesh interj. Used to express mild annoyance, surprise, or disgust. [Alteration of Jesus1.] ! Phil McCarten/Staff Photographer (3) no caption (Nine Pez dispensers lined in a row and a package of Pez placed in front of them.) |
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