Let the inner child come out and play

Ive reached that point in life where the old man is starting to creep in. First the grey hair started, then an injury slowed me up for a while, the whole Covid thing added to my sedentary progression and most recently my aging body is staring to complain about the things it never did in the past. It happens to us all (if we are lucky) and while I am certainly not what I would call an "old man" just yet, I am definitely starting to see him creep in. As much as aging is a physical thing, it also is a mental thing. Our plot in life is always a decision making opportunity to focus on the good or the bad. Its human nature of course to dwell on the icky stuff sometimes, and a part of that dwelling is prepping us for the possibility of more icky stuff, but like with any icky stuff...you dont want to get stuck in it. Keeping a positive mindset and letting the inner child out to play is a great way to keep the old man at bay. Like many of my generation, I was influenced by the film and tv of the times. My brain is full of cartoon quotes and images from films. There was qa lot of happy colorful crazy things that were pushed into my brain in my formative years and Ive gotta say that has provided some great fun in my head all these years. Much of it of course was not very reality based, I have certainly tested the "sproing" back up after a fall or anvil drop, and that just doesnt happen in the real world (without real pain and crutches involved). The surreal world of film and animation is entertaining, but it's not an easy task to experience it on the daily. That desire for the surreal many years ago lead me into the film industry as I wanted to be around it as much as possible. I just loved the idea of the transformative process of making something unreal, appear real. Hollywood is not a wildly welcome place, but for the dreamer like myself it was a great place to be around other dreamers. I settled into a job dealing with props and set dressing and spent my days in a warehouse full of things that looked real, but were not (note: dont eat prop food) and also around unreal things that were made real. It was a great part of my career and really set me off on some fun adventures. Spending times among the crazy stuff and being a part of that "movie magic" is really fun stuff.

One of the most vivid childhood memories of the unreal becoming real was the Muppet Movie from 1979. I was 12 at the time and at an age where I was aware enough to know that what I saw on the screen was the work of some amazing creative folks, not really a frog, bear and pig road tripping. Seeing Kermit ride a bicycle on screen was amazing to me. How did they do that? This was long before cgi and ai of course, it was something physically that you could touch that created that illusion. I just loved it so much. The whole film was just so fun, and so filled with smart humor and positive message, it sunk deep into my brain and has entertained me ever since. Being a car guy of course I always remember the cars from the movies of my life. Herbie the Love Bug of course made a permanent home in my being that spawned my love for VWs and the incredible opportunity to be a part of the franchise both in 1997 and 2005 being involved behind the scenes of both the Love Bug TV movie and Herbie Fully Loaded. Ive even built a few replicas of Herbie in the past. The car of course from the Muppet Movie that dug a deep hole in my young brain was the Studebaker that Kermit and Fozzie drove. Ever since seeing that film, every time I have seen a bullet nosed Stude, I think of the one used in the movie. I think you can see where this is heading... Recently I found a derelict 1950 Studebaker Champion on Facebook Marketplace that was priced pretty cheap and it was local. It was the right body style to match the film car, and it looked very complete and pretty straight...best of all it was local. The colorful plan staring brewing into a bit of a frenzy and before I knew it the car was in my yard and the rattle cans and masking paper were flying all over. I spent a good solid week on recreating the paint scheme and graphics as closely as I could. I really got obsessed about it and the inner child was laughing and running all the way through. It was a creative challenge to do it and make it look right, but I loved it and needed it. This has been the perfect project to keep the "old man" far away.

Now Im foccusing on getting the car to run and drive so I can take it out and play with it. The Kermit and Fozzie costumes arived in the mail yesterday and I am absolutley living a childhood dream. Its been a blast so far, and Ive posted a lot of pics and video on social media as well as the YouTube channel. I hope you can all come along and play with me!