Last night we went to a potluck dinner with some great friends (and MLC readers!) and as I was standing in the food line with a bunch of the other guys there, I joked with them "How come we not sitting down while our wives/girlfriends are making our plates?"

Then I jokingly answered my own question: "Because we want to eat".

Remember our parent's generation?  At parties, the men would be sitting around with the other men, sipping their beverages while their wives/girlfriends would make a plate for their man and bring it to him before making a plate for themselves?

And not just any ol' food would be on his plate, but only his favorite dishes.

The Shogun Generation.

I think it was Cane Haul Road that had a t-shirt of The Shogun.  The samurai father was sitting at the table, tapping his chawan with his hashi as a signal that he wanted more rice.  Classic.

I tried that once.  Never work.

But I have to admit, things aren't the same today as they were back then.  Back then, only the husband went to work while the wife stayed home and raised their 4 or more children.

Nowadays, the husband and wife have to work to pay for the home, bills, and tuition for the 1 or 2 kids.

But I still see evidence of the Shogun Generation.  I don't want to incriminate myself so I'm leaving out names.  But one Shogun I know used to pop into the kitchen and announce "Where's da food!?".  Then he'd sit at the table and be served.  If he wanted kim chee, he'd just say "Kim Chee".  And it would be brought out right away.  And when we was pau eating, none of this take your dishes to the sink.  He'd just get up and walk away.

Now that's some power.

Sometimes if there was a good TV program on, the TV tray would be taken out and placed in front of him - sitting in his Lay-Z-Boy chair - and the food would be brought out to him.  Beverage included.

Whoa, I was impressed.  If I tried that, I'd stave to death.

Not that I'd want to be treated like that.  If that ever happened, I'd think that something was up - like being softened up for a big blow.  Imagine, I'd be sitting in front of the TV watching the Oakland Raiders winning a Monday night football game - enjoying the laps of luxury with my dinner in front of me, then hear Paula say "Oh, by the way - I bought another puppy."  And I'd see the thought bubble above her head saying "That was too easy".

Do you know any Shogun's in your life?  Do you guys ever envy them and wish you were treated like Shogun too?  Besides eating, what other Shogun acts have you witnessed?

Another great column by Honolulu Advertiser's own Lee Cataluna - right up there in the MLC genre.  This article appeared in Lee's column on 12/24/09.  Mahalo Lee for letting me use your article.

A wish for Christmas, all dipped in gold

By Lee Cataluna

Thirty years ago, the gift every teenage girl in Hawai'i wanted for Christmas was a single, shining gold-dipped maile leaf.

Why? Who knows. Stranger things have been popular, like slap bracelets and Care Bears. Perhaps a maile leaf encased in gold of suspect quality summed up Hawai'i's take on the disco age: a bit of tradition meets the gilded aesthetic, sitting boldly mid-chest above the neckline of a three-quarter sleeve T-shirt. It said, "I'm hip and I'm local. Let's boogie."

Other fashionable variations popped up. High school girls hung the leaf pendants off one side of their hoop earrings like the singer from Bow Wow Wow. On Kaua'i, stores sold gold-dipped mokihana berries. And who could forget Danny Couch and his glorious gold-dipped maile lei set off by his white suit? It wasn't an entire maile lei thrown into the vat of gold, but rather individual gold-dipped leaves assembled perfectly along a gold chain to look just like a full thigh-length maile lei. When he turned on stage to sing to a different screaming lady in the audience, all the gilded maile leaves would clatter against each other like vertical blinds on a windy day. No, more romantic than that — like a thousand little pebbles on the shore. Only Danny Couch could make that look work.

Elementary school kids took field trips to the local gold-dipping "factory," which was really just two sweaty guys in a room off an auto body shop in the light industrial area. There, the magic of gold dipping was revealed, which was to say that all the kids left disappointed that there were no actual bubbling cauldrons of gold, just a tiny container about the size of a pot you'd use to heat a can of Campbell's soup. There was a science lecture about the process that confused half the class and bored the other half. Molecules, ions, whatever. Just get to the gold-dipping part. And do we get to wear goggles?

No goggles. No free samples, either. But there was a gallery of crazy stuff the workers had dipped in gold just to see if someone was nuts enough to buy it. Gold-dipped crown flower. Gold-dipped mynah bird feather. Gold-dipped cockroaches in various poses: tennis player, golfer, surfer. The big hit was a huge gold-dipped centipede curled around itself to form a bracelet. Lots of screams over that one.

So what happened to all those gold-dipped leaves?

There was one on eBay recently with one bid for a dollar. Sad.

Reach Lee Cataluna at lcataluna@honoluluadvertiser.com.

What'd I tell you?  A classic MLC memory, eh?  Now all you girls out there, start digging through your jewelry boxes and find your gold dipped maile leaf.  You still have it don't you?

Paula found her's:

And I didn't even have to polish it up!

There were a few on ebay starting at $9.99.  And a whole bunch that ended with 0 bids - probably the same ones as they too started at $9.99.

You know, it's been a whole generation since these things were in.  The younger generation probably doesn't even know they exist - unless they looked in their mom's jewelry box.  All it takes is a few people to start wearing them again and the fad is revived.

But wait, let me corner the market on the ones on ebay first. 

As for the gold dipped cockroaches and centipedes - I'll pass on those.

So girls, do you still have your gold dipped maile leaf?  Want to start a trend by wearing it again?  And you guys, did you buy your girlfriend a gold dipped maile leaf as a token of your affection?  Share your gold dipped maile leaf, crown flower, mynah bird feather, cockroach, and centipede memories.

Once again, thanks for the blog entry Lee.

'Twas the night before Christmas, all through the MLC house,

No such thing as a computer, a keyboard or mouse,

The Beatle boots were hung by the chimney with care,

And we all sported mustaches with really long hair,

The teenyboppers were nestled all snug in their beds,

While visions of disco danced in their heads,

And mom in her night shirt, and dad wearing something li-dat,

Had just settled down after their Primo night-cap,

When out by our Chevy Nova there arose such a clatter,

I sprang from the bed, but first had to empty my bladder,

Then away to the window I flew like a flash,

Stubbed my toe on the door and yelled "Suffering succotash!",

The sky was so clear I could see the Little and Big dippers,

Stepped on outside and put on my kamaboko slippers,

When, what should appear before my makapipi eyes,

But a sleigh, and eight reindeer - mini skirt kine in size,

With a hippy looking driver, so it seemed from afar,

For a moment there I thought it was Jesus Christ Superstar.

More rapid than eagles his reindeer they came,

Funny but these reindeer had old nightclub band names,

"Now, Greenwood! now, Aura! now, Power Point and Natural High take flight!,

On, Glass Candle!, on Phase VII!, on Asian Blend and White Light!,

To the stage of Hula Hut, Tikis, Dukes, and The Point After,

Boogie the night away in frolic and laughter!",

With platform shoes, big collars, and Angels Flight pants,

And girls with false eyelashes, go ask um' for dance,

So up to the house-top the nightclub reindeer they flew,

With record albums and cassettes and some 8-track tapes too,

And then, in a twinkling, on the noisy totan roof,

The prancing and pawing of each little hoof,

As I covered my ears from that chalkboard scratching sound,

He pulled off some jalousies as no more chimneys around,

He was wearing a three piece suit, and the polyester looked hot,

And I could tell he didn't buy it at the San Francisco Rag Shop,

A Members Only jacket covered his back,

And he looked like playah - on the attack,

His eyes -- how they twinkled like stars in the sky,

His hair -- middle part just like every other guy,

He spoke not a word, putting gifts under the aluminum tree,

A gift for everyone, but nothing for me,

I thought that was ODD and said "Wassap Wit Dat!",

And he just laughed and on my head - gave it a pat,

I said "That's cool because you know how I like to share,

But hey Santa Claus - No mess the hair",

He laughed and he snorted and reached in his bag,

And I thought to myself, here comes my swag,

But instead he pulled out nothing, but some stardust he threw,

Up in the air all around me and said "Something special for you",

"This stardust is magical to help you remember,

Happy memories of long ago, on this 25th of December,

To captivate your readers, like a dish you add spices,

To keep it interesting - your blog Midlife Crisis",

And I heard him exclaim, as he flew out of sight,

"Happy MLC Christmas to all, and to all a good-night."

If you're a user of Google, maybe you've seen this within the last couple of days:

I too wondered what was the significance of Popeye being on the "cover" of Google.  Well, a simple click on the picture (they make it so easy) lead me to this:

E.C. Segar, the man behind Popeye the Sailor, received an appropriately raucous birthday message from Google Tuesday. Its home page features the husky hero smacking around Google’s logo and about to swallow a quick serving of his favorite meal, canned spinach.

Today marks what would be the American cartoonist’s 115th birthday.

Elzie Crisler Segar grew up in Illinois and quickly took to drawing. While holding down a job as a film projectionist and background percussionist at a local theater, he pursued cartooning through a correspondence course.

Segar eventually moved to Chicago and created the Thimble Theatre cartoon strip in 1919. After nearly 10 years of Olive Oyl and others gracing its panels, the series introduced a new character – a balding sailor with a perpetually shut eye, anchor tattoos, preposterous forearms, and a curious vocabulary.

Popeye soon outgrew the Thimble Theatre, earning his own cartoon strip, animated series, and live-action movie starring Robin Williams.

The spinach-gulping mariner is the latest in a long line of Google Doodles. Recent highlights include clay duo Wallace and Gromit, H.G. Wells’s mysterious UFOs, and a week’s worth of Sesame Street favorites.

From the Science Christan Monitor

So as a tribute to E.C. Segar, I thought we'd revisit one of our childhood heroes: Popeye

I'm sure everyone remembers the main characters: Popeye, Olive Oyl, Bluto, and that hamburger loving Wimpy.

But can you name the other characters that appeared in the Popeye cartoons?

1. Seahag
2. King Blozo
3. Bluto or Brutus
4. Cole Oyl (Olive's dad)
5. Salty
6. Bernard
7. Dufus
8. Ghost
9. Alice the Goon
10. Olive Oyl
11. J. Wellington Wimpy
12. Popeye
13. Bernice the Whiffle Hen
14. Poopdeck Pappy
15. Swee' Pee
16. Granny
17. John Sappo
18. Nana Oly (Olive's mom)
19. Eugene the jeep
20. Castor Oyl (Olive's brother)
21. Prof. Whattasnozzle

Not Shown:
* Olive's cousin - Sutra Oyl
* Olive's uncle's - Lubry Kent Oly & Otto Oyl
* Olive's neice - Deezil Oyl

Maybe these will stir up some memories:

Here's another one:

Now, how many of our mothers tried to convince us that if we ate our spinach, we'd grow up to be strong like Popeye?

Do you remember what was Popeye's favorite phrase?  Or phrases?

How about Wimpy's favorite saying?

As a tribute to the creator of Popeye and for the many hours we spent in front of the TV, list your Popeye memories.

---

And don't forget - Triad (sans Braddah Lance) Christmas party this Saturday!

Let me know if you can make it so we can reserve seats.

Okay, Melissa Chang of the Urban Mix Plate beat me to the punch with the gift guide, but we're talking MLC gifts.

But first, what makes for a good gift?  IMHO, a good gift is something that I want, but don't "need" it enough to buy it.  But if I got it as a gift, then Great!  Just what I wanted!

Sometimes, it easier just to tell the other person.

A couple of weeks ago, I was looking through the Costco coupon book and saw something that I wanted.  I told Paula "This is what I want for Christmas".
Then Paula told me what she wanted for Christmas.

A week later I ask Paula "What did I say I wanted for Christmas?"
She said "I dunno.  Did you tell me?"
And I said "Yeah, right before you told me what you wanted for Christmas"
She replied "Oh, what did I say I wanted?"

I came to me a couple of days later.

MLC Reality Check.

So what's some good gift ideas?  For family members.  For co-workers.  For close friends and their family.

Here's one that would make a Great Gift.  For me, anyway.

Screaming Monkey Slingshot from Think Geek

Levitron - Warning.  This will test your patience (I know.  I have one)

The base has to be perfectly straight, thus the shims to adjust the sides.  And the top has to have the correct weight, thus the various weight discs in the background on the table.

Peppermint Bark (in a cool retro tin) - Mmm...

iTunes Gift Cards - perfect for the iPhone person

Japanese Golden Lucky Poo charm - for the non-iPhone person

And for the ultimate MCLer - Retro Gifts

Obviously, I don't have too many ideas - so Christmas shopping hasn't started yet.

One of the best things to do is to have a list of gift ideas, then shop the them.

One of the worst things to do is go shopping blind - because you'll end up coming home with things for yourself only.  Well, that's what happens to us, anyway. 

So how about sharing some gift ideas with us.  The clock it ticking...