Long Overdue Props: 325i

These props are so long overdue, they're old enough to drink. Behold! The 1988 BMW 325i convertible in red.


I caution you -- Don't look directly at it. It's too beautiful. Look to the side. Appreciate it from the corner of your eye.

I'm not sure why this car titillates me so. Maybe its the unrepenting angles of the frame in such contrast to the signature round headlamps. Perhaps it's that beautiful color. Maybe it's just the BMW mystique. Whatever the reason, enjoy these props no matter how long overdue they are, 1988 BMW 325i.

P.S. I understand that one of my occasional readers owns this model of BMW. What a great holiday gift for your old pal N-B.

P.P.S. There are 17 other entries in the Long Overdue Props series. You should read some of them.

Long Overdue Props, Vol. XVI

In my 16th installment of the occasional series Long Overdue Props, it's time for me to give some love to starter-reliever-hall of famer-broadcaster Dennis Eckersley. He's filling in on NESN Red Sox broadcast in place of the ailing color man Jerry Remy, and his wacky ramblings have made the games quite watchable.

He lacks the poise, respect or decorum of most broadcasters, and for some reason that's a nice change of pace for me.

Even absent his 197 wins, 390 wins and breezy broadcasting verisimillitude, he would still be eligible for this series based solely on his hair/mustache combo, which is firmly stuck in the year he won the Cy Young and MVP award ('92).

Long Overdue Props

I noticed some time ago that maps of ski resorts all tend to look alike. It's not because the mountains are the same, but because the artist is.

James Niehues is a professional resort illustrator and he's done more than 300 illustrations for ski mountains, golf communities and tourist bureaus since the 1980s. That longevity, and the fact that I I get excited about skiing each time I see his work, are enough to earn these long overdue props.

Thanks, James, for letting me know how to get from North Peak to the Jordan Bowl.

Long Overdue Props, Vol. XIV

If you were to assemble a summit of the acting superpowers of our lifetimes, the roster, by simple definition, would have to include Robert Loggia, Hector Elizondo, Kathy Ireland, Jason Bateman, Sen. Fred Thompson, Scott Bakula, and of course, Sinbad.

What if I told you this ensemble cast had already been assembled?

That's right. All those amazing actors, plus Rob Schneider, appeared together in 1991's hysterical powerhouse Necessary Roughness. It's a classic "gang of misfits" tale, and it delivers on its low expectations. So well, in fact, I'm offering it up in the fourteenth installment of Long Overdue Props.

Bakula et al., I salute you and the rags-to-riches story of the Texas State University Fightin' Armadillos football team.

As a related aside, the numbering system on this series may soon be out of control, like the Super Bowl, which could hit SB LXXXVII in my lifetime.

Long Overdue Props Persists

I caught 1995's Clueless on TV the other night, and I was shocked that I remembered pretty much every single line of dialogue.

"Hey you, anything happens to my daughter -- I've got a .45 and a shovel. I doubt anybody would miss you."

Words to live by.

It's a clever movie. Very smart writing. Very pretty leads. If you wrote it off 13 years ago, I recommend you give it another shot. Also give Stacey Dash another shot.

Long Overdue Props: Back to School

In today's installment of my long-running Long Overdue Props series, I'd like to remember a dormant rite of fall: Back to school shopping.

I may not have always enjoyed it at the time, but I look now with great fondness on the annual trip to K-Mart, its cramped aisles bursting with the bounty of, as a poetic friend once wrote longingly nearly a decade ago, "new yellow pencils with perfect erasers with nice clean edges unmarred by use."

New locks for lockers, pens of every color, and let's not forget the Holy Grail of back-to-school shopping: College-ruled notebooks. Those narrow lines made me feel so adult. My imagination sped to the future, and I could just see myself in college, festooned in bow-tie and tweed, studiously taking notes amidst the ivy of New England.

New England, yes. Ivy, not so much. If college had only been as intellectual as those college ruled notebooks had promised.

Long Overdue Props: Vol. XI

I've admired CNN's Jeannie Moos for a while now. She's worked for CNN for a stunning 27 years, and has spent the last 15 or so doing quirky offbeat stories, initially under the branding "Making the MOOSt of It" and now with the title "MOOSt Unusual."

She's clever enough that I'm willing to overlook CNN's disgusting use of puns there.

Here's a representative sample of her humor, for which she has earned broadcasting's highest honor -- Long Overdue Props on the NaturalBlog.


Be sure to check out previous Long Overdue Props with the link at the bottom left.

Long Overdue Props: Vol. X

My favorite candy has always been Snickers. Sure, my eyes have strayed a few times over the years. Who doesn't love Twizzlers at the movies? And then there was a long flirtation with Whatchamacallit in the late '90s. But Snickers has been my go to since childhood.

And that's why I feel almost guilty giving out these props, the long overdue variety, to Rolo caramels. There's something so inviting about their braces-ruining flavor, their shiny foil, their "They're small take two"-ness.

I don't know if they can overtake Snickers, but they're certainly a threat to Snickers' long dominance. The only drawback is that taking off that foil is so labor intensive. It's almost like the Rolos themselves created their protective covering as a response to natural selection.

Editors Note. Can you believe this is my 11th Overdue Props posting? What are the other 10? Click the link down there to the left, the one that says "Long Overdue Props," to find out.

Long Overdue Props: Vol. Beer

Like many discerning beer drinkers (read: snobs), I for years turned up my nose at British beers. I thought they were too bitter and too uninspired, and for some reason I held it against them that they are served too warm in Britain, even though I was drinking them at the right temperature domestically.

This changed in the last year or so, when I tried about 10 different British beears at an expensive Boston bar. I'm happy now to recognize British beers in my here-and-there series Long Overdue Props.

I don't know why it's taken me long to appreciate these beers. After all, if it weren't for British beer drinkers occupying India, the world would have been denied delicious IPAs, which were hopped so heavily so they'd keep during the long journey around the Cape of Good Hope.

British beers, I salute you.

Long Overdue Props: Vol. Iron Chef

It's been almost 15 years since Iron Chef debuted, more than eight years since they stopped filming new ones, and about five years since I watched it regularly, so the props I am about to issue fit the theme of this feature, which is to say they are indeed long overdue.

The show's premise was simple, a chef from a nice Japanese restaurant faces off against one of the "house chefs," creating several dishes that feature the theme ingredient. The ingredient is chosen at the top of the show by the program's host, Takeshi Kaga, equal parts enigmatic, flashy, and fictional.

Ever since I saw Chairman Kaga bite into that pepper and stifle a laugh in the show's dramatic opening, I was in love with this program. It's hard to capture the excitement of Iron Chef Hiroyuki Sakai, who looked like he better belonged as an extra in a Dirk Diggler movie than in Kitchen Stadium, racing against the clock to beat an uppity challenger before the panel of celebrity judges.

And where would we be without the excitement of floor reporter Shinichiro Ohta, the precision of play-by-play guy Kenji Fukui, and the cool voice of experience from colorman Dr. Yukio Hattori. Dubbed, of course.

Iron Chef, it has been too long. Please accept these props, no matter how overdue they may be.

Long Overdue Props, Vol Lucky 7

It's taken me a long time to come around on Red Sox pitcher Julian Tavarez, and an even longer time for me to give him the props he so sorely deserves.

How do I prop thee? Let me count the ways.

Could it be your footwear? Your friendship with our enigmatic slugger? Your childhood ambition?

I can't say for certain. Maybe it's just the way you roll.

Whatever the reason, I am glad to finally give you your long overdue props.

Long Overdue Props: Vol. VI

To get the pulse of the people, I often turn to Paddy Power. He's not a man -- or not only a man, I suppose -- but an entire movement: an Irish gambling web site that lets you bet on everything from horses to poker to politics and American Idol.

Mind you, I read it for entertainment purposes only, but Paddy Power has provided enough entertainment that it now qualifies for entry into my very occasional series Long Overdue Props.

In this case, I suppose the props could really mean proposition bet.

And what are the Long Overdue Proposition bets on Paddy Power? How about the Anna Nicole baby daddy game -- Howard K. Stern is payin 7-2, or take the field at 9-1.

In the political field, the Irish are betting heavily on the democrats in 2008. The site is paying only 4-6 that a democrat will win the White House, 11-10 on republicans. Given the seemingly God-given ability by democrats to mess up newfound political power, I think the GOP might be a safe bet.

Long Overdue Props, Vol V.

If listening to Hall and Oates doesn't get you pumped, then you're out of touch. How could you not love a group smooth enough to bring you not only Private Eyes, but Maneater and You Make my Dreams, as well.

I could go on and on, but you can't go for that, so I'll conclude this edition of Long Overdue Props early, so you can enjoy this vintage album cover.

Long Overdue Props, Vol. IV

I was flipping through the channels in the yawning void that is daytime television when I happened upon comic gold: Pee Wee's Big Adventure. The 1985 tour de force has withstood the test of time, and it is now eligible for the fourth installment of the NaturalBlog's very occasional series, Long Overdue Props.

Paul Reubens as Pee Wee and director Tim Burton, obviously students of Strunk & White, omit anything needless. Their jokes contain no unnecessary words, their scenes no unnecessary jokes, their movie no unnecessary scenes.

Like alcohol distilled again and again for great potency, what we're left with is hilarious. For proof, I suggest you look no further than Large Marge.


She's the ghost Pee Wee encounters on his trip from home to the Alamo, in search of his stolen bike. I won't recap the encounter, because I couldn't do it any funnier than this page.

Suffice it to say, every scene is this funny. I say buy this film.

Long Overdue Props, Vol. III

Balki Bartokomous, fictional character from TV's Perfect Strangers, I'm so happy to give you these props, I will do the dance of joy.

Late of Mypos, the progenitor of Borat, the Hobbes to Cousin Larry's Calvin, you took on the hustle and bustle of Chicago, and found it no match for your simple ways. You dispensed your wisdom weekly from 1986 to 1993, and for many of those years gave me reason to say TGIF. Though I suppose you are not perfect, as you begat Family Matters, which begat Urkel.

I was so happy when you moved on from Mr. Twinkacetti's junk store to go work at the newspaper. Happier still when you taught Cousin Larry that valuable lesson about patience and perseverance in that one episode.

I still remember the lyrics to the bibbibabka song, which I will transcribe for posterity:

When you rolling out the dough/
Just be sure to roll it slow.

If you make the dough to quick/
Bibbibabka make you sick

When you pour the filling in/
Please make sure you wear a grin

When you smile on what you bake/
Bibbibabka turn out swell.

Keep rolling Balki. Keep rolling.

Long Overdue Props, Vol. II

The NaturalBlog has only been a football fan for five years, but that's been time aplenty to develop a healthy respect for NFL referee Mike Carey. Not Carey himself, really, but his biceps.

This guy looks like he puts his zebra shirt in the dryer at about 6 in the morning on Sundays, so it will be plenty taut for the 1 o'clock kickoff.

So what if you're middling at your job, Mike, your concise explanations of penalty flags more than make up for it.

Plus, you own part of a company that makes ski equipment, and that makes you alright in my book.

Long Overdue Props, Vol. I

I can't believe I've blogged for almost a year without giving a shout out to the Motel Hi Ho, conveniently located on the Merritt Parkway in Fairfield, Conn.

Yes, you're reading that name correctly. It's actually called the Hi Ho, and it is the first recipient of my new occasional series "Long Overdue Props."

Sure, you're derided as the "filthiest, most run-down hotel ever," but I care not.

I couldn't find a picture, so instead I'll take this chance to say hi to my ho.