Songs About Angels In The Home Of The Devils

Trans-Siberian Orchestra
Prudential Center - Newark, NJ
I swear, I will never get tired of seeing TSO during the holidays.  Unfortunately, they tend to come to my area of Northeast PA several weeks before Thanksgiving, so I'm not quite in the mood to listen to a couple hours of Christmas music.  Thankfully, it's not too far of a drive to Newark, so I got to see them at the Prudential Center where the New Jersey Devils play.

Santa Tux

Tux
Mohegan Sun Arena - Wilkes-Barre, PA
Every year during the last home game before Christmas, the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins invite fans to participate in the Teddy Bear Toss between periods.  Fans throw new stuffed animals onto the ice and the staff gather them up for the Tobyhanna Army Depot who distribute the toys to children throughout Northeast PA.

The Penguins mascot, Tux, dressed up like Santa for the game and collected some of the teddy bears.

From The Forbidden City

Bok Choy Boy toys
Super King Buffet - Wilkes-Barre, PA
I wonder what the folks who work at this Chinese buffet think when they walk in and see these in the lobby vending machines.

Can I Cast Silencio On The Audience?

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: part one
RC Theatres Movies 14 - Wilkes-Barre, PA
They made the right decision by breaking up The Deathly Hallows into two films.  There's way too much content to try to shoehorn it into one.

The Kube in New York

Rubix Kube
The Canal Room - New York, NY
We saw Rubix Kube for the first time in Jim Thorpe back in April, and they were so incredible that we had to check them out on their home turf.  They have a standing gig at The Canal Room for most of the year.

Bryant Park at Christmas

The Rink at Winter Village
Bryant Park - New York, NY

The Sub at Dusk

Henry Student Center - Wilkes University
Wilkes-Barre, PA
The third floor is where the buffet is.  If I'm not in class or in the library, that's probably where I am.

Colonel Tree

Wilkes University
Wilkes-Barre, PA
This is the Christmas tree outside of Einstein Bros. Bagels in University Center.

Phone number

Study Break Selfie

I swear, I'm happier than I look.  Just a little sleepy from studying for finals.

Last Week of the Semester

Wilkes University Department of Psychology
Breiseth Hall - Third Floor
Wilkes-Barre, PA
Finals week starts on Monday.

Breakfast of Champions

Tastykake
Limited Edition Pancake Krimpets
Technically, I can say that I had pancakes for breakfast.  That's healthy, right?

Happy Holiday Season

Thanksgiving is over, and the tree is up.

Break Room Selfie

Wegmans
Wilkes-Barre, PA

The Duel

The Duel
by Aaron Jasinski
An acrylic on wood panel work that will be shown at the Screaming Sky Gallery.

Zombies and Space Junk

Wang Chung
Space Junk
From the Wang Chung's Greatest Hits album (1997)
This was the perfect song to end the premier episode of The Walking Dead.  Eerie, ominous, and a fitting entry to this universe.  "Welcome to my world..."

Secret Squirrel

Wilkes University greenway
Wilkes-Barre, PA

The Loss Of Another Icon

Standard Speaker
Hazleton, PA  (October 29. 2010)
After 73 years in business, Knotty Pine on Route 309 in Hazleton will be closing their doors.

Colorful October

Wilkes University greenway
Wilkes-Barre, PA
It's a beautiful autumn day on campus.

Wednesday Morning

I forget where I found this shirt, but it's one of my favorites.

Vintage Horror Under The Stars

Laurel Drive-In
Annual Horror Classics Weekend

I've been coming here since I was a little kid.  Their last weekend of the season was a double feature of two classic horror films, Drive-In Massacre and Gates Of Hell.

Thursday Dinner

It's not easy to get a photo of Grandpa smiling.  You have to catch him when he's laughing at something.

Fun With Statistics

Breiseth Hall
Wilkes University
My statistics course fried my brain a bit, but Dr. Selden got me through it.  She's had this comic on the door of her office since my first day and I smile ever time I see it.

Crush O'Lantern

Wegmans
Wilkes-Barre, PA

Maize Maze

Roba Family Farms
North Abington Township, PA
We're nearly halfway through the corn maze.

Jan Brett at Wegmans

The Twelve Days Of Christmas
Jan Brett (1986)

Angie and I both worked a shift at Wegman's today.  Her day was a lot more interesting than mine because she was put in charge of managing the shoppers who came to see Jan Brett.  The artist spent a few hours at the store to meet fans, sign autographs, and talk about her newest book, The 3 Little Dassies.  She signed this book for us before she left as a thank you.

Free Snazzy Black Shirt

Wegman's Sub Shop
Wilkes-Barre, PA
Not a bad gig.  They work with my school schedule pretty well.

When Hemingway Met Iwatani

Pac Man 30th Anniversary Notebook
Moleskine

The Whiz Kids

1950 Philadelphia Phillies
The Whiz Kids played Game 1 of the World Series 60 years ago today.  It was only the second time in franchise history (dating back to 1883) that the Phillies reached the World Series.  They were swept by the New York Yankees, and they wouldn't return to the Fall Classic for another 30 years.

Dutch, Whitey And The Kruker

Darren Daulton, Richie Ashburn and John Kruk
Three icons of Philadelphia baseball who will never be forgotten.

Bloomsburg Fair 2010

Bloomsburg Fair (2010)
I love going into the display buildings when it's still daylight outside and going outside to see that the sun has gone down and the park is all lit up.  The Bloomsburg Fair is one of my favorite places in the world.  I'd come here for the full week if I didn't have work and school.

Anyone Need An Eight Inch Emmylou Harris Decal?

Sticker Stand
Bloomsburg Fair (2010)
Though not it's official name (unless I managed to guess it correctly), the Sticker Stand is one of the places I always make a point to visit at the Bloomsburg Fair.  I don't think they've updated their stock since Kurt Cobain was alive, but they have well over a thousand different decals, bumper stickers and other random stuff.  Some of it is music related, some of it is political (both sides), some of it is pretty offensive, and some of it is pretty damn old.  I have to wonder how a teenager today interprets a parody Fahrvergnügen car decal.  They probably think it's a Norwegian metal band.

Neon Pepsi

80's Neon Pepsi Sign
Bloomsburg Fair (2010)

Waffles And Ice Cream

Waffles & Ice Cream stand
Bloomsburg Fair (2010)
One of the best parts of the Bloomsburg Fair is all of the good food.

It's All Right

Here Comes The Sun
The Beatles (1969)
These are the original lyrics hand-written by George Harrison for one of the most iconic songs to ever be recorded.  It was released 40 years ago.

Looking For Jupiter

Looking For Jupiter
September 20, 2010
The planet Jupiter is closer to the Earth tonight than it has been since 1963.

Psychles Staff

Wilkes University
2010 Psych Department Picnic
Kirby Park - Wilkes Barre, PA

Don't Be A Tuna Head

Maniac Mansion
Nintendo Entertainment System (1990)

The NES port of Maniac Mansion was released twenty years ago today.  I spent countless hours playing this game and, with the help of Nintendo Power, solving its puzzles with every combination of characters.

It wasn't until many years later that I had an opportunity to play the original on Commodore 64 and the enhanced DOS edition.  Both of those versions are superior to the one that was released on the NES, but censored or not, the console version will always have a special place in my heart and bring back fond memories of my childhood.

It's A Modern Stone-Age University

Henry Student Center
Wilkes University - Wilkes-Barre, PA
My thanks go out to campus security for their constant vigilance.

Crash Into A Tree With Launchpad McQuack

Duck Tales Kite Offer
Hi-C (1990)

Mortal Monday

Mortal Kombat ad
KayBee Toys (1993)
The impact that this game had cannot be overestimated.  Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter 2 brought arcade gaming back to the forefront in the early 90's, and the home console release gave the Sega a rare victory over Nintendo.  Due to their family friendly company policies, Nintendo didn't allow the Super Nintendo version to have blood and many of the fatalities were toned down.  Meanwhile, the Genesis port had unlockable bloody graphics by way of the ABACABB code.  It may seem like a little thing, but it was the deciding factor in a lot of kids who chose the Genesis over the SNES on their Christmas wish list.  This was a mistake that Nintendo wouldn't make with the sequel.

Carmen's Restaurant

Carmen's Family Restaurant
Broad Street - Hazleton, PA
This was my first real job.  I was a busboy at Carmen's when I was 15 years old.  The food was incredible and my co-workers were all pretty awesome.  I enjoyed working there, especially on Friday nights during the seafood buffet in the back dining room.

Carmen's closed a few years ago and re-opened a few different times under different names and new ownership.  These days, it's called the Crystal Barbecue.  I stopped in to see the place during Funfest.  They took out a few rows of booths and the front counter with the register and the revolving pie rack, but it appears that the back wall of the front dining room looks the same.

Off The Beaten Path: Farmer's Iced Tea

Off The Beaten Path (WYLN TV)
Farmer's Iced Tea 
The green and yellow carton has been a fixture in Hazleton since long before I was born..