Photo 'a Go Go!: My 365project

This should be a bit challenging, and a lotta fun!

A friend of mine suggested that I try the 365project because she had already been participating and was totally loving it. What is it, you say? Why, it's a year-long project/journey in which you photograph something with a digital camera EVERY DAY that's special, interesting, or even just plain ordinary. What you shoot is entirely up to you, and that's what I find especially appealing about it. You're really only limited by your own creativity and imagination! If this seems at all like something you'd want to do, go ahead and click on the link to find out more about it.

I just started the project Tuesday, April 6th, so I've only taken and uploaded 2 pictures. Here, check 'em out...






[Day 1] Glass Paperweight

Behold the beauty of glass!

This is just one of many glass paperweights in my personal
collection. I've always been fascinated with glass in its many
forms, from rough wave-beaten chunks of beach glass to
elegant cathedral stained glass windows. But I'm especially
drawn to handblown glass with its shiny bubbles and magical
swirls of color inside!







[Day 2] Office Toys

It's 'Take Our Toys to Work day'...
Every day!

If you know me, you know that I really like toys. For whatever
reason, I never outgrew them. Just having toys around makes
me happy, even if I'm not playing with any. And the more
colorful they are, the better! This is a shot of the computer on
my desk where I work daily. If I didn't have these little guys
giving their cheerful support every day, I'd surely stress out!




I have every intention of remaining committed to this project, I do not want to lose motivation and give up! I will see this through to [Day 365]! I feel like I'm off to a pretty good start, but this is only the first week. Check back in about a month, and see how well I'm doing then... Yikes, what have I gotten myself into?!


~All photos by Anthony (AKA antvision)~

A Boy's Toy Joy: The Fisher-Price Little People Play Family Action Garage

This was yet another toy that fascinated me as a young'un. And yes, it was also made by Fisher-Price. Why such consistant brand-loyalty when it comes to my childhood toy memories? Well, I certainly wasn't a label whore! Not back then. It must have something to do with [1] My parents bought me a lot of Fisher-Price toys, and/or [2] All of those toys were super colorful and real fun to play with! So it's easy to see why they made such an impression, and why I remember them so fondly.

For sure, the Little People Play Family Action Garage was definitely one of the best! I loved rolling the cars up and down the ramp, a lot. It was especially satisfying to "drive" one of them into the elevator, crank it up to the top level and then let it roll back down the ramp super fast, all 'Dukes of Hazzard' style! Disregard the fact that I was too young to know what 'The Dukes of Hazzard' show was, and forget that it wouldn't even exist until 1979. All that mattered to 5-year-old Anthony was playing, and having lots o' fun with that toy!


~Photo by Laura McConnell of Dog Bone Art~

A Boy's Toy Joy: The Kenner Sit 'n Spin

Who would've guessed that a kid could have this much fun sitting down?!

For a young child growing up in the '70s, there was really only one thing that came close to inducing the sensation of a mind-altering drug... and that was none other than the wonderfully dizzying toy for tots, the Sit 'n Spin. Actually, I'm pretty sure that I played with mine long after I was a tot. It was that much fun!

If you somehow missed out on experiencing this virtual "krack 4 kidz" firsthand, let me describe it for you. Obviously, you sat down on the thing. But you had to sit with your legs crossed (a.k.a. the now politically incorrect, Indian style position) for maximum effect. Then, much like the teacups ride at Disneyland, you would grab onto the middle disc and spin yourself silly, using every bit of your wee might and determination until you fell over! The resulting sensation truly was mind-altering, and very addictive. Had the television show Intervention been around back then, I would have made quite a suitable candidate!

There's been many iterations of this toy over the years, and I understand that Playskool is now making it, but both the quality and fun do not measure-up to the original. Lots of parents who knew the joy of Kenner's version when they were kids, now complain that the newer ones they've purchased for their children are made of cheap, thin plastic. And worst of all, they don't spin like they used to! Something in the current design seems to purposely prevent any wild and dangerous, seated spinning frenzies... I guess I was among the lucky ones who just narrowly escaped this rotating death trap!


~Toy photo via Google Images~

A Boy's Toy Joy: The Fisher-Price Musical Ferris Wheel

Photo by Allison Jones

It is time, once again, for me to reflect on another one of my favorite childhood toys. Today, I am talking about the Fisher-Price Musical Ferris Wheel!

This toy was MAGICAL. Not only did it play music when you wound it up, its wheel also spun around, and around, and around as the "mad boy" cranked it! AND you could put your Fisher-Price Little People (Even the dog!) in the chairs so they could go for a ride! You'd have to ask my mom, but I'm pretty sure that this toy had the power to entrance and almost HYPNOTIZE me. Even today, if I just think about it, I can still hear the tune it played, 'In the Good Old Summertime'. It was such a cheerful little song!

Photo by Raya


As I've mentioned in at least one other post, I LOVE to collect the toys that I can remember having enjoyed the most when I was a child. It's sort of my way of recapturing the innocence of my youth, I guess. Maybe, that's the basic reason why, as an adult, I still enjoy toys in general? Of course, I also just like having fun... Whatever the reason may be, toys, especially the best from my childhood, make me HAPPY!

Photo by Raya

Hopefully, one day I will own this toy again. Yes, I know that I could buy one on eBay or from any number of other vintage toy retailers, BUT it must be just right! I cannot accept just ANY old Fisher-Price Musical Ferris Wheel... It must be absolutely perfect, or as perfect as it could possibly be for a vintage toy. I'm very persnickety when it comes to these things, what can I say? It's most likely psychological, same as with the whole "recapturing the innocence of my youth" thing. At least, I'm aware of this "problem". And isn't THAT the first step to recovery?

A Boy's Toy Joy: The Fisher-Price Movie Viewer

There is probably only a handful of toys that I can fondly remember playing with as a child growing up in the 1970s. I plan to feature them one at a time, so as to give them the attention I feel they deserve.

The first toy that I would like to "focus" on is the Fisher-Price Movie Viewer. Its design was suggestive of an old movie camera and it even hand-cranked like one. The main difference, of course, was that you used it to watch movies, not film them. The movies that I can remember viewing with it were all animated cartoon shorts. And there were only two of those that I used to watch again and again.

Walt Disney's 'Lonesome Ghosts' was my all-time favorite. It starred Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and Goofy as ghostbuster/private eye types investigating an old haunted house. They even had on hats like Sherlock Holmes wore, and a magnifying glass, I think...

My favorite sequence was when they were already inside the old house and Mickey opens a door, only to be nearly drowned by a HUGE wave of water that comes rushing in! And four "spooky" ghosts come-a-floating on that very tidal wave. One of the neatest things about the viewer was that, because you powered it by hand-cranking the red dial, you could make it go as fast or slow as you wanted. Even frame by frame or BACKWARDS! So, the whole water sequence alone had a myriad of possibilities and could keep me fascinated for hours. The tale concludes when the three bumbling "detectives" are being chased by the ghosts and crash into a stack of flour barrels. They are then covered head-to-toe in white powder and end up scaring the ghosts away!

The End.

This was my 'Blade Runner'

at the tender age of 4!

My second favorite was Walt Disney's 'Three Little Pigs'. Now, I don't have to tell the story of that one, do I? Again, the thing that I loved to do was watch it in slo-mo or throw it in reverse when the Big Bad Wolf blew down the pigs' houses. I also enjoyed all the happy pig dancing and laughing in this one!

Their houses would get blown
down, then rebuilt again and again...

Thanks to a retro toy seller, I can now crank-up these gems whenever I feel like remembering some of the simpler joys of my youth. There ARE others, but I'll save those for another time!