Are You Also Divergent, Friend?

Twelve Monkeys
Universal Pictures (1995)
This Terry Gilliam classic is turning thirty years ago today.  It's one of my favorite sci-fi and post-apocalyptic films that I've ever seen.

A Token Gift

Birthday Gift Coupon
Aladdin's Castle
Oli Oliver of the Aladdin's Castle Arcade group discovered this card while working on a Spy Hunter pinball machine.

A Wearable Menu

Big League Hat Menu
Howard Johnson's (1963)
I found this children's menu at the Slatington Marketplace over the weekend.  It has a series of cuts that fold the menu out into a hat that could be worn.  My dad still raves about their fried clams to this day.  Everything else on the menu looks pretty good too, but shouldn't the Miss Muffet lunch be curds and whey?

Click here to enlarge the front and back.

I'm In A Situation I Can't Begin To Explain

Four Rooms
Miramax (1995)
This bizarre comedy anthology from Allison Anders, Alexandre Rockwell, Robert Rodriguez, and Quentin Tarantino premiered in theaters on Christmas Day thirty years ago.

Merry Christmas

God Bless Us, Every Kernel

Mickey's Christmas Carol Coloring Book
Orville Redenbacher (1983)
During the holiday season of 1983, shoppers could pick up a free Mickey's Christmas Carol coloring book with the purchase of two jars of Orville Redenbacher popcorn.

These days, you can usually find these coloring books on eBay for ten dollars or less, but you'll have to supply your own popcorn.

Yuletide In The Shire

Yuletide In The Shire
Everstar (2003)
This is my favorite Christmas album.  I picked it up during Musikfest 2008 at a Celtic shop called Donegal Square, along with a few other similar CDs, and my wife and I have listened to it every holiday season ever since.

There's not a lot of information online about the recording artists.  The only thing I can find for sure is that they released one other album called Enchanted Journey in the same year.  The website for the label, Sequoia Records, is still online, but it's just a placeholder page with a message that the site is closed for maintenance, along with a few links to listen to the music that they have produced on various streaming services.

Yuletide In The Shire is available to stream on YouTube, Spotify, Amazon, Pandora, and many other sources.  It's a very mellow and peaceful holiday listening experience that I hope you enjoy as much as I do.

A Sad End To An Incredible Life

Rob Reiner
1947 - 2025
Writer, actor, and director Rob Reiner and his wife Michele Singer were found dead yesterday as a result of stab wounds in their Los Angeles home.  His career spans seven decades which include his iconic role as Meathead in All In The Family, and a directorial resume that includes This Is Spinal Tap, Stand By Me, The Princess Bride, When Harry Met Sally, Misery, A Few Good Men, and most recently Spinal Tap II which was just premiered three months ago.

World's Best Spaghetti

Carmen's Family Restaurant sign
Broad Street - Hazleton, PA
On the way to my dad's house yesterday, I noticed that the old sign painted on the side of the Lehigh Tire building is in the process of being covered up by aluminum siding.

Carmen's Family Restaurant opened in 1962 and remained a fixture of the Hazleton area for over forty years.  It was an excellent restaurant with delicious Italian food and a seafood buffet that was second to none.  My dad worked here in the late 70's when he was in college, and I worked here in the mid 90's when I was in high school.  It's also the place where my parents first met.

Carmen's Bakery & Deli remains in business across the street from where the restaurant once was.  They have incredible pitza that crushes both Senape's and Longo's.  They also make excellent breakfast sandwiches, pastries, and other baked goods.

Although the restaurant closed twenty years ago, this sign has remained visible ever since it was first painted, presumably in the early to mid 60's.  However, it appears that this too will be only a memory as soon as the siding is finished.

The Last Song And Dance Man

Dick Van Dyke
Born: December 13, 1925
Happy 100th birthday to the incredibly talented star of my favorite sitcom of all time.

Two Corpses, Everything's Fine

Clue
Paramount Pictures (1985)
The first motion picture based on a board game is turning forty years old this week.

Yeah, And I'm A Kumquat From Queens

The Jewel Of The Nile
20th Century Fox (1985)
The Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner sequel to Romancing The Stone premiered in theaters forty years ago today.

I'm Bananas For This Coffee

Bananas Foster
Bones Coffee Company (2025)
This is the best flavored coffee I've ever had and they're getting rid of it soon.  Guess I'm going to have to clear out a few shelves in the cupboard.

The Whole Bloody Affair

Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair
Cinemark - Moosic, PA (2025)
The original Volume One and Volume Two releases of Kill Bill are two of my favorite movies of all time.

I saw these both in the theater during their initial run in theaters and at the Mahoning in 2021 for the first Tarantino A-Go-Go weekend, and I've watched them countless times on DVD over the past two decades, but the cut that has been released to theaters this month is something that has never been seen before.  The Whole Bloody Affair is a combination of Volume 1 and Volume 2 with extended scenes and cuts to make the two films flow together as a single movie.

So, I don't think I'm going to be alone in the opinion that this is now the definitive version of Kill Bill.  No disrespect intended to the original films, but I love the fact that The Whole Bloody Affair doesn't reveal to the audience that BB is still alive until The Bride discovers her at the end of the film.  Also, while I understand that the Volume 1 switch to black and white during The Bride's battle with the Crazy 88's was done to secure an R rating, I thought it felt kind of gimmicky and took away from the scene, so I'm glad to see it gone in this version.

I have only two very mild criticisms about The Whole Bloody Affair.  First, I think they should have eliminated the gimmick where they beep out The Bride's name and the schoolhouse reveal after Elle Driver says it for the first time.  It came across to me as cutesy and unnecessary when Volume 1 was still in theaters, but now that they've been combined into a single film, it seems completely pointless.  The other thing I could have done without was the Yuki's Revenge cartoon after the end credits.  I'm sure it might be entertaining to kids who play whatever video game it's based on, but it just kind of dumb.

Neither of these things are big deals at all though.  The Whole Bloody Affair is an incredible experience that made two of my favorite films better.

I Come From A Planet A Long Way From Here

I found this little guy at the bottom of a tote when I was packing up Christmas decorations last year.  It's a keychain that my grandmother gave me when I was a teenager.  Grandma could be a handful, but she was a generous woman with a good heart.  She knew that I liked aliens, so when she found something with an alien head, she's get it and put it away for me to give to me for Christmas, or my birthday, or just because she thought that I'd like it.

This also reminded me of one of my favorite Christmas songs.  It's not one that I hear on the radio too often, but it's has an ethereal and soothing sound that stops me in my tracks every time I hear it.  It was released by Chris de Burgh in 1975.  The singer/songwriter is probably best known for The Lady In Red and Don't Pay The Ferryman, but I think this is the song of his that I like the best.

A Spaceman Came Traveling

Chris de Burgh (1975)

A spaceman came traveling on his ship from afar

Twas light years of time since his mission did start

And over a village he halted his craft

And it hung in the sky like a star, just like a star

He followed a light and came down to a shed

Where a mother and child were lying there on a bed

A bright light of silver shone round his head

And he had the face of an angel, and they were afraid

Then the stranger spoke, he said "Do not fear

I come from a planet a long way from here

And I bring a message for mankind to hear,"

And suddenly the sweetest music filled the air

And it went

La la la la la la la la la la la

Peace and goodwill to all men, and love for the child

This lovely music went trembling through the ground

And many were wakened on hearing that sound

And travelers on the road, the village they found

By the light of that ship in the sky, which shone all round

And just before dawn at the paling of the sky

The stranger returned and said "Now I must fly

When two thousand years of your time has gone by

This song will begin once again, to a baby's cry"

And it was

La la la la la la la la la la la

Peace and goodwill to all men, and love for the child

Oh, the whole world is waiting

Waiting to hear the song again

There are thousands standing on the edge of the world

And a star is moving somewhere

The Sun Will Rise Another Day

Merkin Ball
Pearl Jam (1995)
This two song EP from Pearl Jam which was released as a companion to Neil Young's Mirror Ball is turning thirty years old today.  

Long Road
Pearl Jam (1995)

And I wished for so long, cannot stay

All the precious moments, cannot stay

It's not like wings have fallen, cannot stay

Still something's missing, cannot say

Holding hands are daughters and sons

And their faiths are falling down, down, down, down

I have wished for so long

How I wish for you today

Will I walk the long road?

Cannot stay

There's no need to say goodbye

All the friends and family

All the memories going round, round, round, round

I have wished for so long

How I wish for you today

And the wind keeps roaring

And the sky keeps turning grey

And the sun is set

The sun will rise another day

I have wished for so long

How I wish for you today

I have wished for so long

How I wish for you today

Will I walk the long road?

We all walk the long road