A Fun Time Eating Sunshine on a Stick!

While driving around searching for cabinetry hardware (quite the saga, believe you me), we were listening to the radio. It was one of Rob’s favorite shows. It’s local, out of Portland, and well, it seems very, ummm….male. It’s two or three guys interrupting each other and the occasional female voice trying to invoke a sense of “would you just GROW UP?” to the banter. I was only half-listening, wondering instead how hard it would be to change all our bathroom fixtures so that we wouldn’t be limited to the embarrassingly out-of-date, way past trendy Polished Brass drawer pulls we had yet to find. I was jarred out of my brassy muse by this one glorious phrase from my childhood:

Hanker for a hunka cheese.

The Head Cheese on the radio show is apparently our age – late 30s or early 40s. He was reminiscing about the animated 60 second TV commercial that used to air during Saturday morning cartoons back in the early and mid 1970s. “Time for Timer!” Smile that phrase to anybody my age and I’ll betcha the reply will be “Hanker for a hunka cheese!!”

Before viewing the spot again on YouTube (God bless the Internet), all I could remember was a little round orangey-yellow guy with skinny legs and cowboy boots. And something about wagon wheels. As soon as I clicked here, I instantly remembered all the words, sang along, and suddenly wanted to watch Super Friends, The Banana Splits, and Speed Buggy (not to be confused with Speed Racer). It also suddenly occurred to me that for as long as I can remember, whenever I want a quick little snack in the afternoon, I grab a piece of cheese. OMG! Coincidence? I think not.

Now having searched on “Time for Timer” on YouTube, I’ve been reminded of these catchy little pearls of life wisdom from the “creepy yellow animated thing:”

• You are what you eat, from your head down to your feet!
• Since 6 o’clock last night you haven’t eaten a bite.
• Be fair to yourself. Take care of yourself. Remember, you’re the only you you’ve got!
• OK, you’re a banana!

Ah, the ‘70s. What a wonderfully cheesy slice of Americana.