The Engleson Files

Yes, I must confess - when I first arrived back in Canada and had to go grocery shopping for the first time one of the first sections I went to was the Kraft Dinner isle. As a child I gobbled this stuff up like crazy and this fixation has embarrassingly continued on into my adult life. What can I say, I just love that powdery fake cheddar cheese dashed into a pot full of noodles! Now, I am not really one to boast, but when it comes to making the finest pot of KD around the “Engleson Secret” has no rivals; and I dare anyone to challenge my recipe! Oh yes, Kraft Dinner a guilty pleasure indeed.

Growing up in British Columbia in the 1970’s it was pretty tough to ignore the greatest hits from the rock band Chilliwack (especially living so close to Chilliwack and driving through it all the time). Anyways, everytime I listen to these guys I get a strong sense of nostalgia and it just seems that this particular song has struck even more of a chord with me. On a couple of occasions when no one else has been at home I have found myself cranking up this song and coming just shy of breaking out into the air guitar. Shameful I know, but when a guilty pleasure is trapped within sometimes you just have to let it out in a fury - as long as no one else is around!
Busted!!

Today I need to confront my inner demons and confess to something that I have kept a secret for a little over a week now: I have quite enjoyed watching the television program Project Runway. To be honest, I have never even heard of this show until that fateful day when Susan Colorado handed over the first 3 seasons to Kristin on DVD - and now we have been averaging two episodes a night! I am not too sure what it is about it, but there is no question watching very effeminate males engage themselves in high stakes fashion drama has some serious entertainment value. Damn fashion world!

This is another one of those nostalgic-gone-wrong type guilty pleasures. It has been years since I have thought about this song and album, but there is no question to a young child growing up in the 70’s Boney M’s Night Flight to Venus was hard to ignore. Maybe it was the cylons from Battlestar Galactica in this song that triggered me but there is no question I was hooked. I can remember very vividly listening to this song over and over and just staring at the album cover. Either way, I cannot escape it, I am a happy passenger on the Starship Boney M - damnit!

Well, just the other day I was busted by Darren Brown about a long, dark guilty pleasure of mine. Yes, Frank Mills. I’m not sure if it is staunch patriot in me, or a hidden desire to be a pianist, but, during my grade 10 year I became a huge/secret fan of Frank Mills - especially his tune Peter Piper. In fact, in my grade 12 year Frank Mills came to Grande Prairie for a concert and I was one of the first to buy some tickets - even got a date to go with me! I cannot hide this secret any longer, the simple fact remains, I’m a Frank Mills fan. Kick it Franky!

Sorry it’s not Frank, but this is the tune that started it all. Give me a C, a bouncy C

Yes, I must confess that while I was in grade six (the first time around) I tried my hardest to learn how to moonwalk like Michael Jackson. He was all the rage back then and I thought it was a pretty neat thing to do. To this day my primitive, white, rural-Canadian brain still cannot comprehend how it is done. But, deep down inside, I always wished I could have done it (I know Tanya Pelly would have gone out with me if I could have!) and as I sit here before you now, I still wish I can. Guilty as charged!

Oh yes, this is definitely a guilty pleasure of mine! I love cereal to begin with, but I am a total sucker for the sugar based kiddie cereals, and Cap’n Crunch easily tops that list. Yes, I admit that I do feel a slight twinge of embarrassment when I am standing at the counter ready to purchase this, but I do not let that stop me; and now, thankfully, I have a child who I can pretend I am buying it for (thus allowing my guilty pleasure to remain a secret!) I cannot wait to go home this summer and have my fill. Cap’n Crunch, ladies and gentlemen, one of the all time classics!

Mexican Whistler

Yes, this is a guilty pleasure gone wrong, real wrong. During my younger “experimental twenty-something” days, my friends and I would find music that we remembered from our family’s past and then listen to it in order to a) reminisce about the good old times when we were children, and b) make fun of our parents music styles; many wonderful nights were spent doing this activity. But, something happened along the way as I began to reconnect with one of my parents favorites: Roger Whittaker - I actually began to enjoy his music! Now, I still think it is nostalgia that carries me through this touchy situation, but really, how can anyone not whistle along and tap your feet when ol’ Rog does his thang? Exactly, you can’t!!

I was 14 years old, I was confused, I bought this album - enough said.

In my everyday life I like to think I am a fairly non-violent type personality; I don’t wish to fight anyone, I don’t ever feel the need to purposely go out and hurt someone and I don’t agree with war. But, when it comes to hockey, man, do I love a good fight! I don’t know what it is, but to see a hockey fight break out when a team needs it is a thing of beauty. Now, I don’t agree with fighting for the sake of fighting, only when, or if, it can play a key role in the outcome of the game - the fights must always remain within the game of hockey, not be a by-product of it. Guilty pleasure? Hesitantly, I guess so, but, I can’t wait to see another one!

Yes, this is without question another guilty pleasure of mine - Little House on the Prairie. I have enjoyed this show (especially the early seasons) for quite some time now, and yes, have even shed a tear once or twice through a couple of episodes - that damn Half-Pint! The show had it all, and really, if I could be half the father Charles Ingles was, I would consider myself a happy man. So yes, I come forth again, to Little House, a guilty pleasure indeed.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, it is time to once again introduce a new category here at The Engleson Files. This one is called: Guilty Pleasures. The concept? Simple. To crawl into the dark little corners of my subconscience and shine the light on some of my humbling, painful and embarrassing scraps of civilized indecency that I try keep very, very secret. (Don’t worry, it’s not like that!) This category can - and will - explore all the guilty pleasures I secretly indulge in in the genres of television, film, music, food, literature and any other pop culture relics I can think of. By definition, a guilty pleasure is something that you know you should not like, but, simply cannot resist. Yes, I am putting myself on the line here and only hope that many of you can forgive me for my sins and try to look past them when thinking of me. In closing, I challenge all you bloggers visiting to do the same and begin the process of cleansing yourselves of all the excess baggage you may have as well, set yourself free - reveal your guilty pleasures!

For my first guilty pleasure, I feel the need to come out and admit that I kinda like this song by Taylor Dane. Now, I would never go so far as to purchase, or download, this song (that would just be sick!), but, if and when I do hear this song on the radio I will usually try to sneak the volume up just a little in order to sing along. Kristin has questioned me a couple of times in the car when I have done so, but I have been able to escape deeper interrogation. Whew! But, with that said, I am busted - a guilty pleasure indeed.