Steamrolling Toward The Holidays

Mannheim Steamroller
FM Kirby Center - Wilkes-Barre, PA

More From The Toy Store In The Mall

Black Friday Circular
KayBee Toys (1990)
This advertisement for a sale that began on the day after Thanksgiving 35 years ago was shared on Twitter by Dinosaur Dracula.  Check out the early draft of box art from Super Mario Bros 3.

Things To Be Thankful For

Thanksgiving has always been one of my favorite holidays.  Despite it being a next door neighbor to Black Friday on the calendar, the holiday itself hasn't been overly commercialized.  The only ads that you're likely to see relating to Thanksgiving will be from the grocery store, and there's no expectation of greeting cards, flowers, gifts, or any other grand gestures.  It's just a time to share a nice meal with your family and reflect on what you are grateful for.  I have many things to be grateful for, including the fact that my little buddy is a healthy and happy 13 year old Schnoodle.

I'm also thankful for the unconventional holiday traditions that my wife and I share.  Just about everyone else on the planet would probably think it's ridiculous to watch Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parades and the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving Special with the original commercials from VHS recordings in the 198, but it has pretty much become second nature for us.  This isn't limited to Thanksgiving.  We have a pretty extensive collection of broadcast recordings with the commercials that we watch at various points throughout the year.  Watching these feels a bit like time travel.  When you turn out the lights and put one of these on, it's easy to lose yourself in the past for a few hours and forget that you're a quarter of the way through the 21st century.

Of course, I am thankful for the delicious food and the incredible family that I have to share it with.  I'm also thankful for my home away from home, the Mahoning Drive-In Theater, where I've met friends who I consider family, had countless hours of fun, and where I picked up the wine we had with our Thanksgiving dinner.

 

Finally, I'm thankful for the existence of movies in general.  I would never refer to myself as a cinephile.  While I appreciate when a film is expertly directed and has interesting shots and good use of lighting and color, the truth is that I really don't understand much about the craft at all beyond that I know what I like when I see it.  The draw for me when it comes to movies is that it tells a story.  I'm a sucker for a good story, whether it comes in the form of a book, a song, a film, a piece of art, or any other form that it can take.  Sometimes those stories are deep and meaningful and make you reflect on your own life.  Sometimes they're just fun and silly.  Son In Law falls in the latter category, and it's another Thanksgiving tradition to watch Pauly Shore head down to the farm with the district attorney from My Cousin Vinny and Ham Porter from The Sandlot.

Marie Is In The Trunk

Planes, Trains & Automobiles
The Gap Theatre - Wind Gap, PA
With the closure of the Cinema & Drafthouse in West Hazleton in September, our annual Thanksgiving Eve tradition of going to see Raymond The Amish Comic has come to an end.  It's too early to know if The Gap are going to make this screening an annual event, but if they do, this year might be the start of a new tradition.

I've made it a point to watch Planes, Trains and Automobiles every year during the Thanksgiving season since I first saw it when I was a teenager, but I've never had the opportunity to see it in a theater before tonight's 35mm screening.

Prior to the film, they screened a 35mm print of the 1972 Woody Woodpecker cartoon For The Love Of Pizza.  According to Fandom, this cartoon premiered eight years to the day before I was born.

 

Planes, Trains and Automobiles is one of the funniest comedies I've ever seen.  Steve Martin plays the perfect straight man to John Candy in a heartwarming story that has kept audiences coming back for over 35 years.  I'm very glad to have finally had the opportunity to see it on the big screen.

Cooking Missouri

The Times Leader Cookbook
Times Leader (1985)
This cookbook was two dollars at the Slatington Marketplace.  I did a little research and found that I got it for three dollars less than it cost back in 1985.

Most of the recipes that I saw in here look pretty good, but one of them caught my interest.  My grandmother used to make a hearty ground beef and potato stew that she called Missouri that I especially enjoyed on cold days.  She'd make it in a pot that was big enough to feed the army, so we usually had it for at least two or three days any time that she made it.

I had never heard of any soup or stew called Missouri other than from her, so I always assumed that it was a concoction that she came up with at some point, but there it was in this recipe book.

My grandmother's Missouri had large chunks of potatoes, and I'm pretty sure she either used tomatoes or tomato paste in it too, but I could be wrong about that.  I'm going to have to give this a shot over the winter.

Slatington Spaceships

Star Worlds Shuttle
Steven Manufacturing Company (1977)
As the name of this blog might suggest, I'm fond of rockets, spaceships, and robots.  While I do have an interest in NASA and the technologies that we have used for space exploration and robotics in the real world, my fascination is more centered on how we imagine them in movies, music, literature, comic books, toys, video games, and other forms of art and entertainment.  I came across two this month at the Slatington Marketplace, including this plastic kaleidoscope with aliens in the view finder.

Crusader Space Shuttle Robot Phone
Columbia Telecommunications Group (1980s)
I was tempted to buy this telephone which looks like a space shuttle when its hung up and a robot when you're holding it with the keypad facing out, but it wouldn't do much good in my house since I haven't had a landline in over a decade.  It's still pretty cool though.

Welcome To The Wasteland

Sci-Fi Wasteland
The Gap Theatre - Wind Gap, PA
I'm a big fan of dystopian science fiction, and the mystery film marathons at The Gap are always a good time.  For as much of a bummer as it was to miss the film at the end of the first annual Mahoning Wine Fest, I couldn't miss this.

Here are the movies that played for Sci-Fi Wasteland:

Movie #1: Fist Of The North Star (1986)

Movie #2: A Boy And His Dog (1975)

Movie #3: Warrior Of The Lost World (1983)

Movie #4: Hardware (1990)

I'm not a big fan of Fist Of The North Star, but it's pretty cool to have had the opportunity to see it on the big screen.  I didn't care too much for Hardware either.  However, I love A Boy And His Dog.  I saw it for the first time when I was a teenager and it's a bizarre and fun ride.  My favorite movie of the night was Warrior Of The Lost World.  I don't think I've seen it before this screening, but parts of it looked familiar.  I think I might have seen part of an MST3K episode that riffed on it.

In Vino Video

Mahoning Winefest
Mahoning Drive-In Theater - Lehighton, PA
The final event of the 2025 season on the lot took place this afternoon with the first annual Mahoning Wine Fest.

Each of the guests received a Mahoning Wine Fest glass to taste the many offerings from winemakers who vended at the event.

 

The event was very well attended.  I spent most of it hanging out with friends and gathering purchases from the vendor tables to bring up to the pickup station next to the concession building.

I'm not much of a drinker, but I had to pick up a couple bottles of the official Mahoning Drive-In Theater wine from Blue Mountain Vineyards: Moonlit Marquee.

I'm sticking pretty close to my diet until I get down to 160 lbs, but there was no way that I was going to pass up the Bacon On A Stick stand without trying some.

 

There was also live music from Jeremiah Tall to accompany the festivities on the lawn under the big screen.  This was his second time performing at the Mahoning in 2025 following his appearance at Wayne Stock earlier this season.  There was also a movie on the big screen after the vendors wrapped up for the day, but I had to head out before it began.

Under 200

As of today, I am under 200 pounds for the first time in a long time; probably about ten years, if not longer.

Do You Have Famous Last Words?

Keeper
Neon (2025)
This was the first of two movies that I went to see on Tuesday.  Keeper is built on an interesting idea, but the pacing didn't do it any favors.  The first 80 minutes dragged on so long that I almost lost interest by the time it started to get good for the final 20 minutes.

The Running Man
Paramount Pictures (2025)
The most recent adaptation of Stephen King's 1982 novel isn't as silly and campy as the 1987 film adaptation, but it's a hell of a lot of fun.  It's a shame that it's not doing that well at the box office because it's an excellent balance of action, humor, and social commentary set in a dystopian world that unfortunately doesn't seem as far fetched as it should.

Think About It Twice As Long

The Dream Academy
The Dream Academy (1985)
The first album from The Dream Academy was released forty years ago today.  It's best remembered for its hit single Life In A Northern Town, but instead of talking about that song, I'd like to acknowledge this hidden gem.  It's probably best remembered for its presence in the final scene between Ferris and Sloan in Ferris Bueller's Day Off.

The Edge Of Forever
The Dream Academy (1985)

When you were young

Did you ever love somebody

Like I love

I love you now

Cause now that you're older

I see you don't mind

Letting go of my hand in a crowd

You don't wanna hold tight

And when we kissed one night

There's a million hearts

Beating in a row

I wish they go away

I'll say it again

There's a million hearts

It's the break to see

Every time you go away

When you were young

Did you ever fall down

Graze your knee

Want to run to someone

Cause now that older

I've been falling down

I want to run to someone

But there's nobody around

I can feel the sign

There's a million hearts

Beating in my row

I wish they would go away

I'll say it again

There's a million hearts

It's the break to see

Every time you go away

Every time you go away

Think about the things I say

Think about it twice as long

Tell me what's going wrong

In the southern sky

The breeze is so wild

The bridge is so lonely

The reasons that life

Feeling so afraid

Talking about a, two hearts

Beating as one

Now hey

No

I'll say it again

There's a million hearts

Beating in a row

I wish they would go away

I'll say it again

There's a million hearts

It's the break to see

Every time you go away

Dusty Words Lying Under Carpets

Rock A Little
Stevie Nicks (1985)
The third solo album by Stevie Nicks was released forty years ago today.

Talk To Me
Stevie Nicks (1985)

I can see we're thinkin bout the same things

Yes, I see your expression when the phone rings

We both know there's something happening here

There's no sense in dancing round the subject

A wound gets worse when it's treated with neglect

Well, don't turn now there's nothing here to fear

You can talk to me

Talk to me

You can talk to me

You can set your secrets free, baby

Dusty words lying under carpets

Seldom heard, well, must you keep your secrets

Locked inside

Hidden deep from view

Is it all that hard?

Is it all that tough?

Well, I've shown you all my cards

Well, isn't that enough?

You can hide your hurt

But there's something you can do

You can talk to me

You can talk to me

When you're down now

You can talk to me

Talk to me

Though we lay face to face

And cheek to cheek

Our voices stray

From the common ground

Where they could meet

The walls run high

To veil a swelling tear

Well, let the walls burn down

Set your secret free

You can break their bounds

Cause you're safe with me

You can lose your doubt

Cause you'll find no danger here

You can talk to me

Talk to me

When you're down now

You can talk to me

You can set your secrets free, baby

Well, I can see

That expression when the phone rings

And I can see

That we're thinkin' 'bout the same things

Is it all that hard?

Is it all that tough?

Well, now you've taken all my dreams

Isn't that enough?

Well, I can see you, baby

Talk to me, yeah

Well, I can see

That expression when the phone rings

Unleash Hell

Sisu: Road To Revenge
Sony Pictures (2025)
Tonight's Mystery Movie Monday was a sequel to a previous Mystery Movie that I saw at Regal two and a half years ago.

Sisu: Road To Revenge lives up to its predecessor.  If you enjoyed the original, this one is a must-see.