Stoops of Atlantis: Recent Episodes
Mikey D.
A nostalgic journey through the funny, dangerous, bizarre and innocent days in a small, American town called East Harlem and the pop culture that influenced us. Email Mikey D at StoopsMail@yahoo.com
Back in those days of Atlantis I searched the skies and hoped ET would come visit. But when they do, lets not bore them to death. In this episode I explore who and how we should introduce the aliens to humanity.
MUSIC:
Southern Nights - Glenn Campbell
Vincent - Don McClean
Song for Anne Frank - Bauer and Bentle
Hey Mr. Spaceman - The Byrds
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We were a daring generation. Not much scared us...or were there some thing that really did?
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This is the eulogy I wrote for my amazing and loving dad, Dominick DiCerto, who passed away at the age of 93 on May 7, 2025.
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Summer - like all seasons - has its smells. But no season has the variety of scents, stinks, perfumes, essences and aromas that would fill the air around those Stoops of Atlantis.
After harsh winters, Spring often arrived timidly- but greatly welcomed- around the Stoops of Atlantis.
Lets face it- as a kid- Christmas is about the swag. And some years that swag shined especially bright. Or didn't.
You'd be surprised how many famous folk are kids of Atlantis. Movie stars, singers, musicians, politicians, wise guys - can all call East Harlem their home town.
****NOTE - I reference episode "10 - Making Movies" - it is actually Episode 19!
After a five month hiatus, Mikey D is back and returns to the root of the podcast - colorful stories about the Stoops- in this Jeopardy Game of an Episode!
In the late 1970s - early 1980s video games appeared in Atlantis and lured me off the Stoop. And then came the home computer and this kid from East Harlem found a new purpose in life!
The Robots – Kraftwerk
Kids are People Too - Bob McAlister
Cruel Summer – Bananarama
Snowball – Devo
Girl U Want – Devo
Just What I Needed – The Cars
Video Games – Ronnie Jones
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It can be hard keeping a Peter Pan worldview in a place filled with pirates. But this kid tried on those Stoops of Atlantis.
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Lets fire up the time machine, slip on your Prokeds and take a stroll around the Avenue with Mikey D.
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Books were all over my house and they helped make life better around those Stoops of Atlantis.
Music:
Easy Reader theme
Sesame Street theme Instrumental
Paperback Writer
Egg Song
Vintage Scifi Music
Monophonics Like Yesterday
Words
Kraftwerk Numbers
Walt Grace's Submarine Test
Hardy Boys Theme
Dylan My Back Pages
Hanging around those Stoops of Atlantis was often fun. But sometimes you needed to breath new air so it was into Dad's car for some Road Trippin'!
MUSIC:
1. Queen – I’m in Love with my Car
2. Lover Boy- Working for the Weekend
3. Supermarket Time Portal Muzak
4. Night City Jazz
5. Paul McCartney and Wings – Silly Love Songs
6. A Flock of Seagulls – I Ran
7. Queen – Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon
8. The Belairs – Squadcar
9. Bill Withers – Grandma’s Hands
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Bach – Toccata (Rollerball theme)
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Sopranos Theme
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Me First and the Gimme Gimmes – Country Roads
The Dutch called them Stoeps. We called called them Stoops. But those stone steps were much more than practical structures. They were part of our lives and culture.
We were little demons on those Stoops...and we were also altar boys...mix that with idle hands of a dull summer day and you have a recipe for mischief.
MUSIC:
Hell's Bells - ACDC
The Exorcist Theme
Interstellar First Step - Hans Zimmer
Sympathy for the Devil - The Rolling Stones
Air on the G String - J.S. Bach
Lucifer over Lancashire - The Fall
Running with the Devil - Van Halen
Gonna Raise Hell - Cheap Trick
Only the Good Die Young - Billy Joel
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MONKEY PUDDING FACE
Last Times are not always last times. Often they are not even obvious as last times. And sometimes they are just the hold between the now and then. Times are strange.
Sometimes you needed a newer, more god-like perspective than those Stoops of Atlantis could offer. So you climbed the steps...
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MONKEY PUDDING FACE
Museums were magic to this kid from East Harlem and no matter if it was downtown or in my backyard- specimens abounded and fill my eyes with delight.
Put on your Pro-Keds or Chuck Taylors and follow me on another foot powered exploration of East Harlem in the 1970s.
Back in those Stoops days TV was quite different. Far less choices yet the choices we had were amazing! At least through the eyes of Mikey D.
The streets around the Stoops of Atlantis were alive with wacky and colorful characters. Here are some words about my TOP FAVORITE FIVE.
A year is filled with sights, sounds, tastes, touches and smells. And around he Stoops of Atlantis- many remain fixed in the density of my memories.
Treasures abounded around those Stoops of Atlantis and seeking them, digging them and finding them was what helped pass those days.
Let's step back onto those Stoops of Atlantis and take a walk to the bodega as Mikey D offers a guided tor of the sights and sounds!
I seem to recall more snow - deeper, colder and much more fun- fell on those Stoops of Atlantis.
When a treasure trove of Silver Age comic books became available - we did what we had to in order to make it ours!
We loved to scare each other as kids. Good, goofy fun scares. But sometimes there were the Real Scaries. Scares noone asked for around the Stoops of Atlantis. BONUS- interview with Mikey D's sister Laura!
Yeah there were many fires around my stoops in the 1970s. And every one of them had its own, unique story. Here are a few of them.
She was a gorgeous Crab Apple Tree. A Magic Tree. And in many ways she defined my childhood.
Here it is. The final chapter of the Stoops Anomaly. We follow Kilroy and Boobie up those final steps and surreal discoveries as they make it to the roof.
Fireworks were an art, a sport, a past time and a cultural necessity back in those Stoops of Atlantis days. And I hear they were illegal....We had fun.
I'm Jimmy - a Spaldeen. Let me tell you about my golden days...
Audio Clips from "The Spaldeen Ball"
We were a mix of colors on those Stoops of Atlantis. We found a way to live as friends, as neighbors or simply to just live and let live.
Music was religion around those Stoops of Atlantis. And Rock was my choice to bring me to higher realms. This is my Love Letter to Rock.
The saga of Kilroy and Boobie continues up the flights - deeper and darker. Towards the Beacon.
When there are microphones there are bloopers. The nature of the podcasting beast! Here is the second batch of cats, cars and tongue tied host bloopers!
The 1970s was the Golden Age of Toys. This was before electronics, chips, game carts or the exciting pixels of Asteroids. Take a fun journey and see how many toys YOU remember! using to pass the rainy days around the Stoops of Atlantis.
When it was summer and time to get away from those Stoops of Atlantis we loaded the car (if it hadn't been stolen) and made our way to the paradise of ....Staten Island?
Yes- fun, food, sand and toxic litter awaited as well as the little know Haunted Buildings of Midland Beach.
It was heaven for us kids!
Part 5 in the continuing tale of Kilroy Ganski and Booby as told by Kilroy from an orbiting prison.
The continuing saga of Kilroy Ganski's in-orbit tale of his and Booby's adventure to get the missing part to the beacon.
Food is part of the vocabulary for the stories we tell. And around those Stoops of Atlantis were all kinds of culinary treats! Step back and lets tease our memories and tastebuds.
MUSIC:
Lazy Mary -
Carfree – Kevin MacLeod
Love is Blue – Paul Mauriat
We continue with the saga of Kilroy Ganski and Boobie Coolie as the truth of Area 51 is slowly revealed.
They say idle hands are the Devil's Work things. Well - perhaps - but give some kids fake money, a fishing pole and a boring day...and devilry and fun - will abound!!
The tale continues - Kilroy Ganskie- trapped in orbit - tells the story or Boobie Coolie, invisible janitors, Area 51 and...
Long before there was The Stoops of Atlantis, there was In Orbit Radio- a short lived experiment in audio storytelling. These stories, about my alter ego named Kilroy Ganski- aboard a orbiting satellite- passes time telling stories and observing the human race.
Fictional and completely improvised, they are bizarre and thoughtful reflections.
Enjoy.
Lots of strange things happened around those Stoops of Atlantis. But sometimes we had to look skyward to see the oddities! Or- even better - create them ourselves!
Cupid aims his arrows at us all. And sometimes we wish we could turn the weapon on him. Especially us geeks who struggle to find love- on those crazy Stoops of Atlantis.
**MUSIC:
Five Little Hearts - The Kiboomers
Stupid Cupid - Connie Francis
How Deep is Your Love - Bee Gees
Romeo and Juliet - Dire Straits
Walking on the Moon - The Police
Stupid Cupid - Greenbriar Lane
Stand and Deliver - Adam Ant
Root Beer Rag - Billy Joel
Lets Dance - David Bowie
Save a Prayer - Duran Duran**
Yeah - back then you could actually strike a match on those Stoops of Atlantis. And although kids shouldn't play with the fiery sticks - I did. Often. And once with almost Apocalyptic results.
When the large bags of mysterious packages begin to appear a kid has to do what a kid has to do to discover Santa's secrets!
Thursdays are just a speed bump to Friday- except when it is that last Thursday in November.
The ghoulish Spirit of Halloween is too much fun to confine to a single day in October. So back on those stoops of Atlantis we didn't hide from, but rather seeked for the dark and devilish pleasures of ghosts, demons and other fun horrors!
MUSIC:
"Bloody Mary Morning" - Willie Nelson
"The End" - The Doors
Royalty Free Scary Music
Recording a podcast is fun but hard work. And along the way to a finished product a number of things can get in the way of a perfect product. A tired tongue, NYC traffic and two kitties that shall be nameless are some of those impediments! Listen in to the behind the scenes and the takes that never quite made it! The First ever Stoops of Atlantis Blooper reel!
When Fall rises and Summer fades into collective memories, the world's colors, smells and feel change with it. And taking center stage is Halloween and the costumes and customs we donned during the days of The Stoops of Atlantis.
We all had our favorite "standard games" we played as kids. Whether you grew up in East Harlem or East Oshkosh- we all had fun with Hide and Seek, Tag or Cops and Robbers. But sometimes we were bored and we let our imaginations create new games. Games that were born of our local place.
Magic is everywhere- and it really knocked their socks off when me, Scott and Joe took out our parafernalia and demonstrated our prestidigitation abilities on those stoops and yards of Atlantis.
As kids, Candy was a commodity, a fuel, a drug and a social experience. Heck, it could even border of the transcendent! Take a ride on the rainbow road to those sweet and sour days!
MUSIC
The Candy Man – Sammy Davis Jr
Sugarman – Sixto Rodriguez
Sing Sing Sing – Louie Prima
Who’s Your Daddy? fozzaKalabbula
Me and my East Harlem friends never considered ourselves sports guys. Yet there were moments around those Stoops of Atlantis where we felt the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.
Cats were organized and ran the back yards of East Harlem in 70s and 80s. And like the wise guys on the Avenue - the wise cats in the yards provided entertainment and danger around the Stoops of Atlantis.
Music:
Love Cats - The Cure
Rags to Riches
Godfather Theme
Fur Flies - by Donna DiCerto
The movie bug bit me at the age of five when The Godfather was shot on my street. And throughout my life movies were made around me...and by me!
MUSIC:
Brand New Key - Melanie
The Godfather Theme
I Love Lucy Theme
Dark Places - Donna DiCerto
Being a kid meant battling the forces of fashion peer pressure and the desire to be yourself. Back in the days of the Stoops of Atlantis, sneakers and hair length were the yardsticks you were measured by.
MUSIC:
James Bond Theme by City of Prague
Chariots of Fire by Megarapter
What are We Fighting For by Country Joe and the Fish
My Adidas by RUN-DMC
Hair by The Cowsills
Satisfaction by DEVO
Bizarre was par for the course in East Harlem in the 70s. But some of these events stood out- for whatever reason - from the rest. Here are the final TWO of the TOP FIVE MOST MEMORABLE MOMENTS OF BIZARRENESS of those Stoops of Atlantis.
Music:
Swamp Blues Rock - Royalty Free Background Music
TheCherokee63
Bizarre was par for the course in East Harlem in the 70s. But some of these events stood out- for whatever reason - from the rest. I give you my TOP FIVE MOST MEMORABLE MOMENTS OF BIZARRENESS of those Stoops of Atlantis.
Take a trip back to that NYC Summer of 1977. Troubles with Con Ed, anti social postal workers and the politics of back yard clubhouses made it a summer to remember again and again.
Showbiz was in our blood and the interior Stoop of my hallway was the perfect venue to practice my comedy musical extravaganza - THE FUNNY BUNNY SHOW! But it was time to take this comedy masterpiece out on the road to a real audience! How would critics and audiences react?
Music by:
Love Story by Jonny Easton
Run Amok by Meus Rex
Sneaky Comedy Fun by Our Music Box
The Ketchup philosophy changed sometime around 1980. Digital Ketchup. It effected everything. We went from Street players to Video Game players...and much more...
Comic books were the commodity and were often used to trade for illicit and black market items! Like a treasure trove of Hardy Boys books! Classroom embarrassment, high intrigue and an actual time travel back to 1978 makes this episode a CAN'T MISS!!
On those long summer days the call of gold sent on us adventures digging in our yards for lost treasure. But sometimes a bit of April Foolery was called for - even in August.
Music by:
Adam Monroe
Soul Candle
Alexander Hoff
Hui Bernard
Do you remember YOUR first time....seeing STAR WARS that is! SO many people have amazing memories of that day. For me- well- it was an adventure that led me to a life transforming event and made me a proud Star Wars Geek!
In the 1970s we browsed for information in magazines. They were the original laptops and were filled with the fun of celebrities, jokes, comics, 3D posters etc. But they were also the den for those lurking ads for wild and fiendish devices and objects. And sometimes you could not resist their siren song...
Music by:
AShamaluevMusic
Sonnyboo
Music for Video
Mattia Cupelli
He came to East Harlem in '71. He was a rat. He hadda get whacked. I was 6 and the job was mine.
Music by:
Kiarash-Beats
AlchemyStudioPond5
Lion Free Music
On those cool Autumn evenings, when the street is company to few shadows one must watch for the havoc of young pranksters...
Music by The Overlord Of Procrastination
Blood can be fun on street where blood can be scary. You just need an imagination, boredom and the Blood Master!
We played with dangerous toys in those ancient days! Liquid metal? It wasn't just for the Terminator!
On hot days in those ancient summers there were no brooks or lakes on 118. So we skirted the law a bit and raised that watery monster from the deep to the streets of Atlantis.
In those ancient days secret knowledge was passed on to the worthy initiates. Strange games, rituals and spaldeens.
The Nanny State (and my parents if they knew!) would quake in their boots if they had known we were toying with found explosives and summoning fire demons on 118th street!
There were characters galore on the streets of East Harlem and bright stars over them and I was a proud geek that gazed up. And that one crazy night..could we get the Goodfellas follow my gaze?