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Outdoors with Tom Venesky: A game changer for Pennsylvania wildlife

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Mele’s Musings: Remembering Newtown, Connecticut on the third anniversary of school shooting

<p>Since it debuted not quite 40 years ago, &#8220;Star Wars&#8221; has held a special place in my childhood-stunted heart.</p><p>I can remember my mother, who was not exactly what you would call an avid fan of pop culture much less science fiction, telling me that she heard of this movie that I might like to go see.</p><p>I was 12.</p><p>I had grown up watching TV shows like &#8220;Thunderbirds,&#8221; &#8220;U.F.O.&#8221; and &#8220;Lost in Space.&#8221;</p><p>For a kid of the &#8216;60s and &#8216;70s, these shows represented the best that Hollywood had to offer in the way of production values and special effects.</p><p>So when I saw a clip of &#8220;Star Wars&#8221; on the morning news in 1977, I was gobsmacked.</p><p>The blasters! The droids! The Millennium Falcon!</p><p>My mom took me to the Loews movie theater on East 86th Street in Manhattan to see it.</p><p>I was mesmerized.</p><p>As childhood milestones go, seeing &#8220;Star Wars&#8221; for the first time ranked up there with getting a G.I. Joe Mobile Support Unit when I was 8.</p><p>In other words, this was a really, really big deal.</p><p>Overnight, I became a &#8220;Star Wars&#8221; geek.</p><p>Original movie program?</p><p>Got it.</p><p>Trading cards from both Topps AND Wonder Bread?</p><p>Yeah, got those too.</p><p>And posters?</p><p>About those posters &#8230;</p><p>I had many, many posters and I was hellbent to display all of them except that I quickly ran out of wall space on my side of the room, which I shared with my two sisters. And there was no convincing my sisters to part with some of their precious wall space.</p><p>But then inspiration struck.</p><p>My bed had a headboard. It was attached to the bed frame by two wooden uprights and the headboard itself was large, white and padded.</p><p>This headboard took up valuable real estate, aka wall space. So obviously, it had to go to make way for my &#8220;Star Wars&#8221; posters.</p><p>One night &#8211; I think my parents were out &#8211; I did what any enterprising 12-year-old would do: I got out a hand saw and cut the headboard off.</p><p>Voila! More wall space! Problem solved!</p><p>Except, of course, what I did not anticipate was that the headboard was, in fact, keeping the entire bed frame together.</p><p>Without it, the mattress rested on the equivalent of two stilts.</p><p>(I &#8220;solved&#8221; this problem by taking reams of rope and tying what remained of the two uprights together to keep the bed from rattling like a scene from &#8220;The Exorcist.&#8221;)</p><p>All of this comes to mind as &#8220;The Force Awakens&#8221; &#8211; the much-anticipated seventh installment in the &#8220;Star Wars&#8221; franchise &#8211; that opened this month.</p><p>I am so stoked.</p><p>I&#8217;ve already bought my tickets in advance. I&#8217;ve got my &#8220;Star Wars&#8221; tie ready to wear and I&#8217;m looking to buy movie memorabilia and merchandise.</p><p>Pretty soon the house will be overrun with all kinds of &#8220;Star Wars&#8221; goodness.</p><p>Hmmm&#8230;</p><p>You know, the bedroom set I have now has a wooden headboard.</p><style>
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<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Christopher Mele</p><p>Mele&#8217;s Musings</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p>About Men Radio is a show about men. Not all men, mind you, but specifically about a group of lifelong friends coping with rapidly changing gender roles and how they interact with their partners, their kids, their co-workers and each other. It&#8217;s funny, feisty, smart-assed and very, very real. To learn more, go to <a href="http://aboutmenshow.com/" target="_blank">aboutmenshow.com</a>.</p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Christopher Mele is married and the proud dad of two sons and two adult stepchildren, all of whom have given him prematurely white hair. His childhood in the Bronx defined his friendships, which endure today and for which he is grateful. A career newsman, writer and editor, the Lords Valley resident is glad for the opportunity to share stories and insights about the challenges that the modern-day middle-aged guy faces in the world.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Mele’s Musings: How ‘Star Wars’ ruined my childhood bed