Bowser, the Sha-Na-Na guy, was actually a performer at Woodstock. His greaser-persona, an intentionally ironic throwback even forty years ago, made it seem an unlikely venue for him. But perhaps it is less unlikely that the now-superannuated Bowser is on TV hawking a multiple CD collection of the great, great 1950s songs through a mysterious company that also rents out the Time Life name and logo for the purposes of bestowing legitimacy on a decidedly shifty operation.
I pride myself on making certain to avoid scams and have done so all of my adult life. I will say now (whether you choose to believe me or not) that I always thought Dubai and its silly tall building and its pathetic palm-shaped island would be headed for the scrap-heap even before they'd be finished. When I was a teenager I knew a particular kid, known to me as a teller of Burj-Dubai-worthy tall-tales, who told all my friends he was suffering from a soon-to-be-fatal case of Hodgkins disease (or the like). All my friends believed him, went over his house, gave him presents, wept. I told them he was full of baloney. They called me inhumane and an intolerable cynic. Then the kid didn't die. He'd never been sick. However my nickname became "the cynic" and not in a bad way.
There have been lapses. Still in shock over that date which shall not be mentioned, I fell for a Republican's insistence that we must invade Babylon though I had long taught myself never to trust a single word spoken through Republican lips. And look what happened.
The second time was when I believed in Bowser. I had some prompting from a family member: "You love all that fifties stuff, you should get this". The hits did sound good. And Bowser made several promises to which I shall not hold him personally responsible.
Suffice it to say the on-line purchasing process was damnably deceptive, and that it somehow jumped to a "you have just purchased" page without my clicking "purchase", and that it added several way-overpriced, unwanted items to my tab, and that the order could not be canceled until after it shipped (!), and my only option would be to return everything after I'd received it based on the promise of a "full money back guarantee". Fortunately I had made the purchase using American Express and they are pretty good about defending against this kind of chicanery.
The moral of the story is that one should a)never listen to a Republican and b)never fall victim to what is an obvious scam even if it seems in every way appealing and as if it cannot possibly really be of any harm.
Finally, let it be known that the old brand of "Time Life" now survives not as the proud emblem of the world's most recognizable publishing empire but as a front for cheap shills trying play on the pipe of historical significance. Don't fall for it.
