During the early part of the 1960s, the absolute, “must-have” piece of jewelry for young men was the I.D. bracelet, most famously made by Speidel. They were relatively inexpensive as jewelry goes and came in silver or gold.

The purpose of the bracelet was not really to be worn by the male who purchased it and had his first name engraved boldly on it. It was to be given away to his girlfriend, who would then wear it as a symbol that the particular male in question was “taken.” It also provided something concrete that the girl could give back to the guy to establish in physical terms that she was breaking up with him.

The bracelets were large and clunky. They fit on guys’ wrists rather loosely, so you can imagine the trouble some females had keeping them on their arms. But it didn’t matter. Your boyfriend’s letterman jacket could only be worn outdoors (and then only in cooler weather and only if your boyfriend had a letterman jacket), the I.D. bracelet would announce your relationship status no matter where you were or how athletic your boyfriend was.

There is no record of where the fad started, but it faded as the decade wore on. Yet, those bracelets are still available from multiple sources today (including Speidel), so somebody must still be wearing them.

No, exercise snacking does not mean doing arm curls to get the Doritos to your mouth. It means approaching exercise like you approach snacking. It means exchanging one prolonged period of intense exercise for several shorter, less strenuous sessions throughout the day.

A 10-minute walk or light jog at one point of the day, followed by 10 minutes of stretching, followed by 10 minutes of aerobic exercise can help improve joint movement as well as reduce your risk of injury. It can also help regulate your blood sugar if you’re diabetic or afraid that you may become diabetic.

The best way to avoid the high interest rates most credit cards charge is to pay off your outstanding balance on time every month.

But if you have one or more cards with a balance that’s costing you 18% (or more) every month, keep an eye out for those 0% balance transfer offers you get from other credit cards. By transferring that outstanding balance to the card with the offer you can avoid additional interest charges for time periods usually up to 18 months. But pay attention! Some of these offers will charge you a percentage of the transfer (typically between 3%-5%) upfront. Make sure you’re clear on the exact terms of the offer.

Then, don’t make any other purchases on the card to which you just transferred that balance. Doing that will make it harder to pay off that balance. Keep in mind that often that 0% interest offer is a “deferred” interest offer. That means the credit company keeps track of the interest you would owe on each monthly balance as if they were charging you their standard rate. If you don’t get that balance paid off before the offer’s time limit expires, you’ll get hit with the accrued interest charges, not just on the remaining balance, meaning you gained nothing by making the transfer!

One of the saddest truths about getting older is we develop aches and pains that simply do not go away. But that doesn’t mean that there aren’t ways you can reduce chronic pain, whether it’s back pain, neck pain, or somewhere else.

Experts say physical therapy can help if practiced regularly. The key is commitment. Don’t try it for a while and then give up. If you have an insurance plan that allows you to see a therapist or attend their clinic, great! But there are also exercises you can do at home daily and for free.

Get with your physician and see if you can work out a plan that will have you feeling better and more active for years to come.

Anybody who was anybody in the world of rock was on stage at the Woodstock Festival in Bethel, NY, to close out the summer of 1969. That is everybody except Joni Mitchell, who wound up writing the hit song that celebrated that historic event.

What frustrated Mitchell and inspired her to pen to the tune was the fact that she was supposed to perform at the festival. Touring with Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Joni wanted to perform at Max Yasgur’s farm, but her manager at the time, the almost-as-famous David Geffen thought she might have trouble getting back to New York City in time for an appearance on The Dick Cavett Show due to the massive traffic jams the 3-day concert was causing in New York state.

So, Geffen let CSN&Y head off to Woodstock, but Joni stayed home and watched coverage of the event with Geffen in a hotel room. While watching that news footage and wishing she could be there, Mitchell began writing the song that would memorialize the event.

To add insult to injury, when her appearance on the Cavett Show rolled around on August 18th, Crosby, Stills, Nash, Young and even Grace Slick, all of whom played the festival and returned to New York City with no problem, were allowed to “crash” Mitchell’s night on the Cavett show to talk about their experience being at the festival.

There was some consolation, CSN&Y recorded her song, “Woodstock,” and took it to #11 on the Billboard Hot 100. Mitchell herself recorded her own version for her Ladies of the Canyon LP. Both versions are still played to this day.

The huge wave of cash that American International Pictures was surfing with their Beach Party pictures (see what we did there?) did not go unnoticed in Hollywood, where imitation is the sincerest way they do business.

Columbia Pictures decided to see if they could catch the same wave with 1964’s Ride the Wild Surf. As AIP cast an East Coast Italian singer as their lead (Frankie Avalon), Columbia signed the guy widely thought to be a less than successful attempt to clone Avalon, Fabian.

Yet Columbia did not produce an even cheaper knockoff of a cheap drive-in flick. Strangely, Columbia actually released what many critics consider the best of all the surf, sand, and sex films that followed in the wake of the original Gidget.

First off, the film focuses on surfing in a way that no other beach picture ever did. The film, including the surfing footage, was shot on location in Hawaii instead of purchasing already-made surfing footage and shooting in California. In addition, Ride the Wild Surf used professional surfers dressed in suits that matched the movie’s male stars. Tab Hunter and Peter Brown also dyed their hair so it better matched the surfers doubling for them.

It’s important because the main plot of the film centers on a surfing competition that pits most of the males in the cast in an endurance contest to see who can last longest in Hawaii’s savage surf. The result is some spectacular surfing footage that the sport’s aficionados say is the best ever used in a mainstream Hollywood film.

The film is also not a comedy. There are no silly subplots with the possible exception of the thankless role given to Barbara Eden. She plays the film’s only “kooky” character. We know she’s kooky because she’s named Augustina or Augie for short. Because, sure, you totally buy a 20-something girl would be named Augie. She’s also an expert in martial arts because why not? She’s kooky, right? And she wants to build her own fireworks. Did we mention she’s kooky?

The rest of the cast gets involved in some seriously complicated love affairs. Tab Hunter is wooing island girl Susan Hart against her mother’s wishes. Fabian is trying to sweep Shelly Fabares off her feet, but Shelly is resisting because Fabian has no ambition in life beyond winning the film’s surfing competition. Peter Brown, the third of the male leads, is trying to convince Barbara Eden that he can be kooky too.

There seems to be some strange hair coloring going on in the film. After giving Peter Brown blonder hair to match his surfing double, producers asked Barbara Eden to dye her blond hair red so she would contrast with her love interest. They asked Shelly Fabares to go blond to contrast with Fabian’s dark hair. Susan Hart’s hair had to go jet black so she’d be believable as an island native.

The cast, which also includes Robert Mitchum’s son, James Mitchum, turn in performances that are better than you might suspect and the film treats the sport of competitive surfing seriously.  The only musical number within the film is a Hawaiian hula performed very seductively by Ms. Hart. The title song, co-written by Brian Wilson (who also provided the title music for the first Beach Party movie) and sung by Jan & Dean makes its only appearance over the movie’s closing credits.

(BTW – Jan & Dean were originally supposed to appear in the movie as Fabian’s surfing buddies. Before shooting started, one of Dean’s friends was involved in a high-profile kidnapping case. His association with the singer received a lot of publicity and the studio moved to replace them with Hunter and Brown. They were still retained to sing the title track.)

Seriously, if you’re in the mood to see a serious beach picture or want a feel for what the surfing craze of the sixties was really like, track down a copy of Ride the Wild Surf and take that last ride!

When you use one of the travel aggregator websites like Expedia or Travelocity, be careful of the prices you see, especially from the so-called budget airlines.

These types of websites only show the base price. Many airlines, again, especially the budget ones, have all kinds of hidden fees…like seat selection, boarding passes (how would you use your ticket without one of these?), the weight of your carry-on luggage, etc. By the time they’re done hitting you with all the extra fees, that ticket may be no budget!

Many of the major airlines have some or all of those amenities built into their ticket price. Do a little research to make sure you’re comparing apples to apples (or airlines to airlines as the case may be).

Most Baby Boomers were first exposed to marijuana back when it was totally illegal and the major way to consume it was by smoking it. Today, as recreational marijuana is legalized in more and more states, there has also been an explosion in edibles, new-found ways to consume what we used to call pot and the kids call weed.

What you should know is that medical experts say smoking anything is not really good for you (as vaping hipsters are finding out). But if you decide to go with gummies or other edibles, be aware of a few things.

Dosage: Back when the joint was king, the effects were almost instantaneous. Thus, we usually knew how many tokes would put us “over the line,” to coin a phrase. With gummies, it can take one to two hours before you begin the feel the effects. This can increase the risk of overconsumption, which can lead to increased heart palpitations, anxiety, and other unwanted symptoms (as opposed to the ones you want).

Duration: If you remember partaking in “magic brownies” back in the day, you should also remember that the high from edibles lasts longer than from a joint. Smoking typically produces a 2-to4-hour high. The effects of edibles can last from 6 to 8 hours. So, plan your activities for that time period accordingly.

Oh, and when you get the munchies, consuming more gummies is probably not going to solve that problem.

When most people think of a rock group with an internal dynamic rife with drugs and sexual jealousy, Fleetwood Mac is probably the first name that might come to mind. But a decade before Stevie Nicks, Lindsey Buckingham, Mick Fleetwood, and Christine McVie intrigued us with tales of affairs, break-ups, and betrayal, the Mamas and the Papas were doing it first.

The four founding members of the Mamas and the Papas, John Phillips, Michelle Phillips, Denny Doherty, and Cass Elliot, had all come from folk music. Michelle and Cass were extremely interested in what the Beatles were doing and convinced the guys that rock was where the future of music lay. Between 1965 and 1968, they came out of nowhere to become major headliners, creating a string of hit singles and albums that were among the most successful and best-remembered from that era.

But there was inner turmoil from the beginning. Michelle, Cass, and Denny had all been members of a folk ensemble known as the Mugwumps. Cass had a fierce, but unrequited passion for Denny. Michelle had married fellow folkie, John Phillips, but soon after the official formation of the Mamas and the Papas, began an affair with Denny. When the illicit lovers were caught, Michelle went back to John, and Phillips and Doherty patched up their relationship. The duo even wrote a song about it (well before Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours LP) called “I Saw Her Again.”

While recording their second album, Michelle was involved in a second affair. This time with Gene Clark, who was a member of the Byrds. John was not so forgiving this time. He had Michelle fired from the group in June of 1966. However, her replacement, Jill Gibson, never jelled with the rest of the group. So, less than 2 months later, Jill was out and Michelle was back in.

The Mamas and the Papas then started a tour. It was now that drinking and drugs (primarily on the part of John & Denny) marred their stage performances and increased tension within the band. Nevertheless, the group continued to find success in the recording studio through 1967. At the same time, John Phillips became one of the primary movers and shakers behind the legendary Monterey Pop Festival. There is some conjecture that during this period Michelle and Denny resumed their affair but Michelle cut it off again.

By 1968, Cass had had enough. She had clearly emerged as the most recognizable personality in the group and was ready to embark on a solo career. She abruptly quit the Mamas and the Papas just as they were to perform a show at the Royal Albert Hall in the UK. Not happy with this turn of events, their record label, Dunhill Records, threatened each of the members with a huge lawsuit if they didn’t get back in the studio and deliver a final album. So, the group did record The Papas and the Mamas, although most of their parts were recorded individually and then blended in post-production.

Michelle and John divorced (shocker, right?). Cass developed a mildly successful solo career until her death (by heart attack, not choking on a sandwich, okay?) in 1974. Doherty struggled with alcohol problems until finally getting sober in the early 80s. He returned to his native Canada where he had a successful career as a TV personality.

Michelle became a very successful actress, appearing in many movies and even being a part of the regular cast on the popular 80’s TV series, Knots Landing.

John Phillips spent years deep in heroin addiction and was embroiled in a further sex scandal when his daughter by his first wife, actress Mackenzie Phillips, claimed she’d had sexual relations with her father for years. Despite all of this, Phillips continued to work as a successful songwriter. One of his biggest post-Mamas & Papas hits being “Kokomo” for the Beach Boys.

Today, Michelle is the only surviving member of the continuous soap opera that was the Mamas and the Papas.