My Buddy And Me

Little Sammy has been quite a cuddlebug over the holidays.

Sweet Stocking Stuffer

This box of yummy Phillies cookies was given to me as a Christmas present.

Merry Christmas

Puppy Present

Sammy loves his Christmas present, but he had a difficult time carrying it through the doorway.

Christmas Gifts For The Crapper

One of my grandmother's friends gave this to her for Christmas.  It's a roll of toilet paper dipped in wax, with a cloth ribbon with a seashell glued to it tied in a bow.  I am quite disturbed by this.

A Christmas Cockapoo

Little Sammy is lounging on the recliner in his Santa hat.

If Marilyn Monroe Owned A PSP

Sony Playstation Portable advertisement
TBWA Madrid (2008)

This scan of a Sony PSP ad was recently shared by The Arab Aquarius.  I haven't come across it in a gaming magazine, and I'm pretty sure I would have noticed it if I had.  The idea is that she's so fascinated by game that she is completely oblivious to the gust of air coming up from the subway grating.

Their Treasure Wasn't Gold... It Was Gift Cards

Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull gift card
K-Mart (2008)
I've come to accept that I'm the only person in the world who actually enjoyed this movie, so the commemorative collectibles have been pretty easy to come by.

Santa Wears DX Boxers

WWF Shopzone
Fall 1998

Turkey Day With The Pup

Sammy and I at my grandparent's on Thanksgiving.  He's being very calm and patient considering all the food in the kitchen.

Can I Refill Your Eggnog For You?

Happy Thanksgiving
Grandpa is very fond of eggnog during the holiday season.

Signed, Sealed, Delivered

USA Today Machine
Bob Evans - Wilkes Barre, PA
We stopped at Bob Evans for dinner after the Trans-Siberian Orchestra concert tonight and there were still a few newspapers left in the machine.  Seeing this makes me truly proud to be an American.

Take Me Down To The Value City

Value City
Church Hill Mall - Hazleton, PA
This is one of my favorite stores.  They get a lot of irregular clothes from expensive brand names.  Usually the flaws are insignificant and definitely worth getting for the bargain you're getting - like a new pair of Levi's jeans for about five bucks.  They also had a huge shipment of Playstation and N64 games for $19.99 when I worked here in the late 90's.  They were the newest consoles on the market at the time and most stores sold them for $40 - $50 each, so I stocked up.

Eat Fresh

Check out the great big nerd behind the hoagie counter working his way through college.

It's Been A Very Good Year

From Hazleton to the World Series

It's very cool to see Joe Maddon reach the World Series, but this Hazletonian is strictly a Phillies fan.
Source: ESPN

Pumpkin Patch Saturday

Burger's Farm Market
St Johns Road - Drums, PA

Sad Pumpkin

Burger's Farm Market
St Johns Road - Drums, PA

God Damn Right, It's A Beautiful Day

Charlie Bartlett
MGM (2008)
Somehow, the team Charlie Bartlett managed to take a screenplay about a rich kid who partners with a bully to sell drugs and counseling services from a high school bathroom and turn it into a sweet and heartwarming story.  Anton Yelchin plays the title character with warmth and speaks with a cadence that reminded me of Ferris Bueller comforting Cameron, and the soundtrack is a perfect match for tone of the film, including two incredible Eels tracks: Mr. E's Beautiful Blues and Hey Man Now You're Really Living.

Pumpkin Waffles

Bloomsburg Fair
These things are very addictive!

Sunday Night At The Fair

Horticulture Hall
Bloomsburg Fair

The Bloomsburg Fair Midway

Bloomsburg Fair
I haven't been on any of the rides at the fair since I was sixteen, but I always enjoy taking some time to walk around the midway, have some food, and enjoy the sights and sounds of the carnival.  This truly is one of my favorite places to be in the world.

The Retaking Of Iolani Palace

Iolani Palace
Honolulu, HI
For the second time this year, a Hawaiian independence group staged a takeover of Iolani Palace in protest of the 1893 illegal overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom.  The group of approximately 20 members of the Kingdom Of Hawaii Nation Ministry Trust held the grounds for a few hours before they were arrested.

I visited Iolani Palace when I was eight years old.  It was the home of six Hawaiian monarchs: King Kamehameha III, King Kamehameha IV, King Kamehameha V, King Lunalilo, King Kalākaua and finally Queen Liliʻuokalani before the fall of the House of Kalākaua.  Afterward, it was used as the capitol building for the territory, and later the state of Hawaii until 1969.  In 1978, the building was restored and opened to the public as a museum.

As a man with native Hawaiian ancestry, I am firmly in support of Hawaiian sovereignty. It's going to take a little more than good intentions and security t-shirt to get the job done, but I respect the effort and the message.

Honolulu Star Bulletin - August 16th, 2008

Future Aces And The Chicken

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs @ Scranton Wilkes-Barre Yankees

PNC Field - Moosic, PA

Pitching: Carlos Carrasco vs. Ian Kennedy
Results: Yankees defeated Iron Pigs, 2-1

One of my happiest memories of going to a ballgame was when I was 12 years old and my dad took me to a West Palm Beach Expos game in which The Famous Chicken.  I knew who he was from old blooper videos, and from the '82 Donruss baseball card that was released back when he was still called the San Diego Chicken, but I didn't fully appreciate his act until I got to see it live.  It's a totally unique form of comedy that has the power to instantly turn everyone in the audience into children.  When I saw that he was doing an appearance at a SWB Yankees game and that they were playing the Iron Pigs, I knew I couldn't miss it.

The Chicken was funny as always.  After the game, he had a table set up to meet the fans and sign autographs.  I was probably the oldest person in that line without a kid, but I didn't care.  I wanted to meet the dude.  He was very nice, and he signed my game program.

The game turned out to be a pitchers dual between two of the best prospects in the Yankees and Phillies organizations.  The Yankees struck early in the bottom of the 1st.  Brett Gardner singled off of Carlos Carrasco, followed by an RBI double off the bat of Chris Basak.  The Iron Pigs tied the game in the top of the 4th when Jon Knott hit his 27th double of the season, followed by a Chris Snelling RBI single. 

Carlos Carrasco had a rough 6th inning that saw the Yankees regain the lead.  Cody Ransom hit a one out single, then advanced to second on a balk, and advanced to third on a wild pitch.  Finally, Jason Jaramillo let a passed ball get through which allowed Ransom to score what would end up being the winning run for the Yankees.

The Iron Pigs made it interesting in the bottom of the 9th when second baseman Oscar Robles hit a double to deep right field off of Scott Strickland that fell just inches short of being a game tying home run.  Shortstop Mike Rouse followed this up with a line drive, but Yankees first baseman Juan Miranda made an incredible diving play to record the final out of the game.

STP By The Lehigh River

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club / Stone Temple Pilots
Musikfest - Straub Riverplace - Bethlehem, PA
Stone Temple Pilots has been one of my favorite bands since I was in middle school.  Last night's show was a part of their reunion tour, and they performed an excellent set.  Black Rebel Motorcycle Club was also very good, but I was a bit disappointed in the venue.  It may have been the quietest rock concert I've ever been to.  In fairness, it was an outdoor stage and we had lawn seats, so I'm sure it was better closer to the stage.

Do The Day, And Let The Day Do You

Duma Key
Stephen King (2008)
I can't recommend this highly enough - one of the most interesting and creative stories that I've read in a long time.  Jerome Wireman might be favorite Stephen King character ever.

The Rain Seat

I took this picture of my Grandpa when we got back from the Transfiguration Church Picnic on Sunday.  Sometimes he likes to sit on the front porch and watch the rain.

Try Throwing A Two-Seam Fastball With This

Dollar City
Terrace Plaza - Hazleton, PA
This gave me the strangest visual.

Sense of Right Alliance

Dollar City
Terrace Plaza - Hazleton, PA
I want to see a superhero movie starring this group.  Imagine Batman teaming up with Superman, Symbiote Spider-Man, the Green Power Ranger, Shrek and Lightning McQueen (with a yellow paint job) teaming up to form the Sense Of Right Alliance to save the world.

Movies Under The Rainbow

The Dark Knight / Journey To The Center Of The Earth
Laurel Drive-In - Hazleton, PA

I'm not sure if it's was my actual first movie, but my earliest memory of seeing a movie out with my family was at the Laurel Drive-In.  Dad brought me here to see The Karate Kid: Part 2 when I was five years old.  Back then, the Drive-In still had the little speakers hooked up to poles that you would park next to so that you could hear the movie.

This place has been in operation since the 50's and it's still going strong.  Most nights, it's ten bucks per car to see two movies.  They have a great selection of food and snacks, all of which are inexpensive, and it's just a few miles from my house.

It rained last night when we were at the Transfiguration Church picnic.  Thankfully, it stopped before we got to the Drive-In, and we got to see a beautiful rainbow that arched over the entire parking lot.

This is the inside of the orange building in the photo with the rainbow.  It's where they project the movie from.  It's also the snack bar with a few arcade games.  I think I've played this Ms. Pac-Man machine every time I've seen a movie here for over 20 years.

 

The movies that were playing last night were The Dark Knight and Journey To The Center Of The Earth.  The Dark Knight is the sequel to Batman Begins, and with the exception of The Crow, I think it's my favorite movie based on a comic book that I've ever seen.  I didn't think anyone could ever outdo Jack Nicholson as The Joker, but the late Heath Ledger delivered a performance that is second to none.

Journey To The Center Of The Earth was a good family adventure film.  It's not the kind of thing I'm likely to want to watch again, but I'm glad to have seen it.  Brendan Fraser was solid, as always.  I've never read the book, so I don't know how far it strays from the source material, but it was enjoyable.  I will say that even watching this on a 2-D drive-in screen, it was pretty obvious which scenes were shot entirely for the purpose of showing off the 3-D special effects.  It didn't ruin the experience or anything, but it was very noticeable.

Farmers Market Superheroes

Super Heroes action figure set
Hometown Farmers Market - Tamaqua, PA

You can find some pretty crazy bootleg toys at the Hometown Farmers Market.  Take, for example, this team of super heroes.  Wouldn't you love to see these six guys get together with swords to fight crime?

The graphics and phrases on the package are pretty amusing, but the real star of the show here are the toys themselves.

First, there is a very smug looking Superman hanging out with a silver gloved Batman.

Then we move from DC to Marvel Comics.  There's Spider Man with an odd peanut-shaped head, and a very constipated looking Thing from The Fantastic Four.

Finally, there's Disney/Pixar's Mr. Incredible, and last but not least, the White Power Ranger.

At six bucks, it works out to a dollar per figure.  In all likelihood, these things fall apart seconds after being taken out of the package, and I wouldn't rule out lead-based paints, but those are the chances you take with the Farmers Market Superheroes.

We'll See You At The Movies

UA: The Movies at Schuylkill Mall
Schuylkill Mall - Frackville, PA

I love the aesthetic of the Schuylkill Mall in general, but my favorite part of the mall is the United Artists movie theater.  It's not fancy - just a four screen theater with modest seating and a small arcade to the left of its entrance, but it has a lot of charm because it's virtually unchanged since the day that it opened.  My grandfather brought me here to see a movie a few times when I was a kid in the 80's, and it's still exactly as I remember it.

For Radio, Take Maximum

I haven't fit in this t-shirt since I was 15 years old.  My dad was dating a girl whose sister worked for a record company in Russia.  When she came back to South Florida, she brought a few of these t-shirts and gave one to me.  It's from Maximum 103.7 FM, a rock station on the radio in Moscow.  Their slogan on the back of the shirt translates to "For Radio, Take Maximum".

McPanda

Kung Fu Panda Arch Card
McDonald's (2008)
Stopped for a late ice cream last night and found that they've got these awesome Kung Fu Panda gift cards.  The minimum to load on a card is $5, so I did that first and then used it to pay for the ice cream.

Back In Black Diamond

Black Diamond Antiques & Collectibles
Schuylkill Mall - Frackville, PA

We stopped by Black Diamond for a little while before heading to Knoebels.  It's the best flea market store that I've ever been to.  It's a collection of well over a hundred different vendors.  Some of them are ridiculously expensive and others are very reasonable.  If you're patient, you can get some pretty good deals on vintage toys, comics, memorabilia and other fun things for a fraction of what you'd pay for them online.

This place is absolutely huge.  These photos barely scratch the surface of the kind of things that they have for sale here.  Money is a little tight this week so I only bought a few things, but are some of the more interesting items that caught my eye.

 

Even if you're flat broke, it's worth coming here just to look around.  I did have a few bucks to spend, so a few retro goodies came home with me.

When I was a kid, Tonka made a series of toys called WWF Wrestling Buddies.  They're pretty much just pillows that are shaped like professional wrestlers that kids could suplex and body slam around the living room without causing too much damage.  They had a Hulk Hogan one from either the late 80's or early 90's that was in good shape for a good price that I picked up.  I also bought a couple of Supernaturals action figures that I had when I was younger, and an ET card game that I never heard of before, but it was only a couple of bucks and it looked like a fun game.  Angie found a Barbie Doll case from either the late 70's or the early 80's.