My Two Special Tributes (Rachel & Jennifer Unruh)

 

Welcome back to my monthly blog, and today I'd like to share with you folks in this story. I would like to share a special to two friends that I once knew when I was a kid.

Let's start off first with my friend Jennifer Unruh.

Ever since I met her for the first time at Cordley, she and I would do something fun and exciting together. We would watch funny movies, claymation flicks, listen to music, and even learn new stuff every day. I remember the time when she and I first listened to 'Priscilla: Queen of the Desert' as the soundtrack. The disco music and pop ballads were way groovy since the 70s. We also listened to Marlo Thomas's entertainment project of 'Free To Be... You and Me' on cassette tape.

 It had songs and stories, spoken word poetry, and music of friendship and family. I really loved the part in 'Boy Meets Girl', it was really funny to hear Mel Brooks and Marlo Thomas together. The part I really like was quote, "Right? Wrong! Exactly!" That cracks us up so much. That other part of the tape was the one with Dudley Pippin who meets the principle. That story was funny too. Another song I remember listening to was 'William's Doll'. That song was sung by Alan Alda and Marlo Thomas. Man, that song is both funny and beautiful. I also remember the story of 'Atalanta'. And I'm not talking about the city Atlanta here in Georgia. That quote in the story sounded like this.

"To Atalanta he said... goodbye. I must tell you farewell, but tomorrow you will be married."

One time, I was saying quote to my mom at home in Lawrence. I said that in her ear real quietly, she laughed really hard and thought that was hilarious. And she was right about that, it was funny. I also remember when I first saw Alan Alda on Scientific American Frontiers on PBS. He spoke very well for a host in this show, it was fun.

And then there was a couple of things I listened to. There was 'Girl Land' by Shirley Jones and Jack Cassidy, 'Parents Are People' featuring Harry Belafonte, 'Housework' with Carol Channing, the theme song by The New Seekers, and the song 'Glad To Have a Friend Like You' sung by Marlo Thomas herself.

I’ll never forget that time when I went to the park with her to play around and go on the swings with her. That was when I was singing a crossover of Marlo Thomas’s song along with Britney Spears’s song ‘Baby One More Time’. That was kinda interesting, but way nostalgic.

Remember that movie I saw in theaters? The Adventures of Elmo In Grouchland.

This one, I think you might also remember. The movie was about Elmo's trip to Grouchland on a journey to find Elmo's blanket.

Vanessa Williams and Mandy Patinkin were a hit in this movie.

And the whole Sesame Street gang were just awesome in that film. This is why I love watching Sesame Street back in my early days. I learn the alphabet and counting numbers watching it. The best thing about this movie is that it was part of Sesame Street's 30th year celebration. When my family and I first saw that movie in theaters, we were all enjoying this on the big screen. We counted backwards from ten to start the movie, blew raspberries, and saw Elmo on his journey inside Oscar’s trash can to Grounchland. That song ‘Precious Wings’ sung by Tatyana Ali was smooth and beautiful to hear. Plus, the song ‘I Love Trash’ was also included. This time by Steven Tyler of Aerosmith. It was also on the Elmopalooza CD too.

During the school year, she helped me with my math problems and I learned how to multiply. I counted by 3’s, learned about the multiples of five, count by two’s just like Franklin the Turtle does, all that stuff. She even taught me how to juggle, tie my shoelaces, and we even made some arts and crafts too.

Okay, that holiday season. Jen and I watched a couple of Christmas movies in her house. First, we watched ‘A Year Without Santa Claus’. The one with Mr. Snow Miser and Mr. Heat Miser. Two songs featured by them are one of my favorites from back then.

And then the other one was ‘Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer’. Burt Ives and the cast were the best in this movie, and the claymation was awesome. I really loved the voice of Rudolph, he sounded really cute as a kid.

I’ll even remember those times when she and I went on to some exciting trips in Kansas City. We went to Science City to mess around and play around with some exhibits and science stuff. My favorite part is the illusion room. The black and white spiral was fun too, although it made my eyes dizzy like something was boiling. We even learned about weather and other things. Oh, and the most fun part was that I got to do the local news and weather forecast in the Science City Newsroom. 

That was really cool too! It’s like announcing the news in your own way. Kinda like The Today Show or the Action News Team. Some other way you call it.

We even go to Crown Center to hang out, go shopping, eat out, and play around. We also remember those times when we both with to the Country Club Plaza to have a good time there and go out to dinner. I remember when the KCPT Store of Knowledge was there too. That was fun too. During the ride, we’d listen to her mixtape of songs such as ‘End of The World As We Know It’, ‘Solsbury Hill’, Barenaked Ladies, all that stuff. I love going on car trips with Jennifer because it lets us sing along and have a lot of fun.

Oh, that really reminds me! Wait just a second, I remember something now! Yes! I remember that time when she and I did a little dancing to the music of the Barenaked Ladies song “It’s All Been Done”. That was more fun when we learned some moves. We even did some dancing to a song from Patti Page, especially at a party in my backyard for my dad’s graduation celebration. It was a lot of fun to be honest with you. I really enjoyed doing it with her because it helps me get up on my feet and move.

Now hear this, I really loved listening to an acapella group called the Stanford Fleet Street Singers singing the ‘Schoolhouse Rock Medley’. Darn, is that the end?

 I even listened to the acapella song ‘Bob’ because it was extremely funny and very hilarious when the voices say the word “Bob!” It was like this. “Bob! Bob! BOB! Bob! BOB! Bob? Bob?!” Hahahahaha! I also remember when she let me listen to her version of The Drifters song “Under The Boardwalk”. She has a really good voice in that tune although she really laughed during the song.

Now that was silly!

Speaking of silly, I will always remember that time when we both watched a little Sesame Street together. It makes me wonder, what Sesame Street video should we watch next?

Then there’s this other video I remember watching with her too. This one is Jennifer’s favorite video adventure I love watching since back then.

Really Rosie!

Yes, that video was absolutely wonderful when I saw it since the first time I heard Chicken Soup with Rice. How can I forget about that? Well I remember now! The characters were like the best in that presentation, including Rosie herself. Wanna know the best part of this musical special? Carole King did the music, and Maurice Sendak directed it too. Double cool, don’t you agree!

Anyway, those were really good times I’ve shared with my good old friend Jennifer and I hope that someday we’ll hang out again. And who knows, maybe we can do a little more dancing too. Hey, say hi to Stephanie for me. A big shout out to you!

And now for my next tribute. To my other friend I knew, Rachel Unruh.

Rachel is also one of my friends that I knew ever since I went to Cordley. And I can tell you another thing I know about my friend Rachel. It was the time I hung out with her the whole summer season. When we hung out together, we'd go to Bloomington Beach, go to the movies, go swimming in the pool, play around on the computer, watch TV, and even go to some adventures around town. It was really fun for the both of us to try out.

I'll never forget the time we first watched 'The Muppets Take Manhattan' on VHS.

It was that feature film I first watched on video, and it was spectacular. It even reminded me of going on a trip to New York City, just like that time my family and I went to New York to visit Linda Bianchi. That was fun, and in fact the very first time I visited New York in the summer during our trip to Disney World in 1999.

I have one of her songs on my iPad. The song I listened to was 'The Joint is Really jumpin' Down at Carnegie Hall'.

Anyways, here are my favorite parts I remember watching.

1. Animal chases Murray.

2. Miss Piggy goes crazy banging on the metal.

3. Rollerskating, chasing the purse snatcher.

That purse thief had it coming.

4. The rats at Pete's Luncheonette. (I really like the Rat Scat.)

And most importantly, number 5!

The song 'Together Again'.

Bonus: When I watched Kermith & Miss Piggy get married in this video, I saw the characters from Sesame Street as cameo appearances.

And I got to see the live-action Muppet Babies dream sequence too.

If Telly Monster wanted to be a guest appearance on an episode of Saturday Night Live and maybe star in his own feature movie along with Big Bird and his friends, that would be quite fun too. And if Sesame Street were to go to Disney World in a special episode, it would be a vacation in the entire episode. So that would be interesting for kids to check out. And Telly would be like "What's going on?" You go, Muppets! Well done!

I'll even never forget that time when we also did arts and crafts using "Papier-mâché" and played music on the keyboard. You can never tell how talented I am. Oh, and I also remember those times when she made a couple T-shirts for me. It was really nice of her to do that. We also love listening to Pure Disco 2 that time, that was fun too. I really loved listening to this kind of music.

Anyway, moving on.

Wanna know what I remember the most doing with my family on summer vacation? 

Well during my summer vacation, we got together and went to Chicago to visit Rachel & Doug. They were both so very happy to see me again. We all got together and spent plenty of time together, explored the city of Chicago, went to the beach, got some ice cream, drove around town while listening to Paul Simon, and we all got together and first went to Goose Island for dinner. I would rate Chicago the great place to visit.

8/10

Also, I still have that Flat Stanley scrapbook that Stephanie and I made that year. 

Hey Rachel, remember that time when you and Doug hung out with Flat Stanley here in Chicago?

Here's some pictures.

Those were the good times you guys shared. Pretty cool, don't you agree.

There was also that time when I videotaped the trip on my camera. Good thing I played around with my MTV Music Generator game on their computer. Then when we got back from our trip, I put it together on a VHS tape thanks to Avalon Video. It took two days to get this presentation done, and it's a good thing I remembered to finish it. Thanks so much for the help, Kurt. But anywho, I wanna give a double shout out to you guys. Rachel Unruh & Doug Schenkelberg, you guys are the best folks I've met from back in the day, and I couldn't thank you enough for being my friend.

While I was living in Lawrence back then in the 2010s decade, I got to visit Jen, along with Rachel & Doug, and Santiago. We all got together and went out for pizza. We talked about the good times we shared together when I was young, and I gave each of them some CD mixes to remember all the memories we've shared from back in the day. Man, it was a great time to spend time with my friends. And you know something, I will always remember that for the rest of my natural life.

My future plans for the next time I wanna visit Jen Unruh while we're going on vacation is maybe come up with some really cool ideas on maybe some new play ideas, hang out together and explore Portland, Oregon, and maybe plan on a special video chat together. Other things etc too. And for my second future plans for when my dad and I plan to visit Rachel & Doug in Chicago in the future is spend time with them, hang out, and do fun stuff together just like old times. And maybe we can even talk about a little Sesame Street and the Muppets, even how I got into puppets. Maybe put on a funny puppet show just for fun. I wonder what I might be doing the next time I vacation with my family next.

Also, if you'd like to come see me the next time I'm finally back in Lawrence, I wanna take the time to invite you to my 'Welcome Back' party in South Park Gazebo of Lawrence Kansas for a special special time. I'll give you more info about it when it's time. And who knows, maybe you and I Jennifer can do our next dancing act during the party just like what we've done back in the day.

Anyway, I wanna take the time to say thank you Jen, Rachel, and Doug for all the good times that we've shared together and I hope that I get to visit you guys sometime soon. And like Charlene always says in the Priscilla soundtrack. That's truth, and that's love. And one other thing, always remember to keep things more groovy and I hope that I can too.

Here's to you guys.

That about wraps it up for now, folks. If you like my special blog, let me know what you think in the comments below. Check back later for the next story on my next entry on the Lawrence Kansas Monthly Blog.

Keep it here! Peace!