It's A Nice Day To Start Again

Billy Idol
Sands Bethlehem Event Center - June 9, 2013

There aren't many artists whose music I enjoy more than Billy Idol and I was extremely happy that we had the opportunity to see him live in concert.  Angie even caught a guitar pick at the end of the show!

I'm deliberately mindful to not experience concerts through a camera lens, but at the same time, my memory is kind of lousy so I want to make sure that I have something that helps me to remember that we were there.  In retrospect, I think that I took way too many pictures during this show.

Here is the setlist from the show.

The Turning Point

John Mayberry Jr. hit a walk-off grand slam in the bottom of the 11th inning to beat the Marlins 7 - 3.  Let this be the turning point for the Phillies this season.

Recreate The Hart / Luger Finish In 16 Bits

Royal Rumble SNES Flyer
Sears (1993)
One of the fun wrestling games of the 16-bit era is turning 20 years old.  The Super Nintendo version of this game was released in June 1993 with a roster that includes five wrestlers who are not present in the Sega Genesis port that was released three months later: Yokozuna, Ted DiBiase, Mr. Perfect, Tatanka, and Ric Flair, who stopped working for the World Wrestling Federation four months before the game was released.

What's New, Mr. Governor

What's New, Mr. Governor
WVIA (May, 1973)
When my dad was a kid, he was one of the students who was invited to speak with Governor Milton Shapp on WVIA tv.  He's the one wearing glasses on the far right.  He's as big as the governor, and he looks a lot older than the kids around him, but he's really not.  He had just turned 14 years old a few weeks before this photo was taken.

I found the photo last year when I was cleaning out my grandparent's attic.  It was in a manila envelope with this signed letter from Governor Shapp, which is how I was able to tell where and when it was from.  It also gave me a starting point to see if I could find anything on newspapers.com.  From there, I was able to find another photo of my dad on the show and a tv listing that shows when it aired.

It looks like Dad's appearance aired 40 years ago today, on June 1st, 1973.  This was a Friday evening in the summertime, which is a pretty rough timeslot.  He also had some stiff competition from Bert Parks and Young Dr. Kildare.

I keep meaning to ask him if he remembers anything about this show.  Hopefully I remember to ask next time I see him.

Boss Roll

My friend Tiffany knows a place near our office that delivers sushi, and she insisted that we try the Boss Roll.  It's not on the menu, but they'll make it for you if you ask.  It's got shrimp tempura, crab, avocado and mango, and it may be the best sushi I've ever had in my life!

Indy Wrestling and Fun Dip

I work on the social media team for Nestle confections, which includes Wonka branded products.  Sometimes, I can slip one past our rules of engagement and have a little fun.  I was able to interact with Chikara wrestler Tim Donst a few times recently.  Maybe we will inspire him to use Fun Dip as a foreign object against Gavin Loudspeaker at Aniversario.

The Colonel Catches The Fever

Pac-Man Stickers
Kentucky Fried Chicken (New Zealand)
Source: Steve Williams
Thirty-three years ago today, Pac-Man made its debut in Japan.  It first appeared in Japanese arcades five weeks before I was born, and it came to the United States nearly six months after I was born, so I've grown up with Pac-Man as a part of my life.  Rarely have I ever passed a machine in the wild where I didn't pop in a quarter and enjoy a game.

Pac-Man was a phenomenon that inspired tons of licensed products and partnerships throughout the world.  These stickers were given away by Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurants in New Zealand in the early 80's.  They were shared by Steve Williams, who has an incredible Flickr account of vintage products and packaging from the island nation.

I Find Your Lack Of Sunlight Disturbing

Castle Dracula
Wildwood, NJ (1979)
It doesn't get much more awesome than Darth Vader standing at the entrance of Castle Dracula on Midway Pier.  May the Fourth be with you.  [source: Joseph Stevenson - Wildwood365]

Do A Barrel Roll

Super Starfox Weekend
Nintendo (April 30 - May 2, 1992)
One of the coolest contests Nintendo ever held began twenty years ago today.  Gamers across the country gathered at the approximately 2,000 participating retail locations to compete for the top score on the Starfox Official Competition Cartridge.  The SNES cartridges that were used in the contest were later made available for sale through Nintendo Power for $45.  They now sell on eBay for hundreds of dollars, as do the pins, t-shirts and flight jackets that were given away as prizes.

A Winner Is You

An artist named Rick Dries has customized seven M.U.S.C.L.E. figures to represent the characters from the NES classic Pro Wrestling.  From left to right, they are: King Slender, Kin Corn Karn, Giant Panther, The Amazon, Fighter Hayabusa, Star Man, and Great Puma.

Strawberries And Cream

Strawberry Pop Tart Ice Cream Sandwich
Carl's Jr (2013)
We don't have a Carl's Jr. in Northeast PA.  I'd take a road trip to try one, but it seems like a fairly easy thing to just make at home.  [source: FoodBeast]

Richie Havens

"I looked at the poster for that first show and it said, 'Richie Havens -- folk/jazz singer.' I went, 'Really? Is that what I am? Is that what I do?' I just went into any situation the put me in, and people seemed to like it."

- Richie Havens  (January 21, 1941 - April 22, 2013)

The wold has lost a true legend.  Richie Havens, a musician who raised the world's consciousness and who brought a little peace and happiness to millions has passed away yesterday of a heart attack.  He was 72 years old.

Mr. Havens became known all over the world when he opened at Woodstock.  He was originally scheduled to go on fifth and play a 40 minute set, but 5 pm came on August 15th and the other performers were stuck in traffic.  He ended up playing for three hours.  Festival organizers kept asking him to go back out and keep singing because no one else was ready to take the stage.  After two and a half hours, he performed all of the songs he knew, including cover songs.  With nothing left to play, he drew on some of the lyrics from an 1899 spiritual hymn called "Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child" and improvised Freedom on the spot, live and in front of a crowd of 400,000 fans.  It became an iconic song that captured the spirit of Woodstock and of the 60's.

Happy Earth Day

That's the most useful situation I can think of.

Dunkin Bananas

Dunkin' Donuts
Route 309 - Mountaintop, PA
I don't think that these bananas are in any danger of selling out.

The Last Bookshop

The Last Bookshop
Richard Dadd and Dan Fryer
This short film imagines a future where physical books have died out.

Inside The Park

Hagerstown Suns at Lakewood BlueClaws
09 April 2013 - Bottom of the 7th
Phillies prospect Roman Quinn hits an inside-the-park home run. In fact, he scores before Hagerstown can even get the ball out of the outfield. Incredible!

Stylin' Robot

Found at Black Diamond in the Schuylkill Mall - Frackville, PA.

Head Trauma

How could you go wrong for a buck?

Introvert - Party of One

This is the perfect restaurant booth.

Take A Chance

Stale Donutz

Wonka Candy Donutz
Nestlé (2010)
I wonder if this is the last Wonka Donutz candy in the world.  It has been sitting around on the candy sample shelf since 2010 when the product line was discontinued.  Earlier this week, we finally got around to throwing out the stuff that we don't need anymore.  I'd love to be able to tell you that I'm not the kind of weirdo that would eat three year old expired candy, but... let's just say that they don't improve with age.

I'd Hate To See What They Call Their Salty Products

Sugar Snot
Merchant's Village - Pittston, PA

The Legacy Of A King

Reese's Peanut Butter & Banana Creme Cups display
Sixth Street Flea Market - Wyoming, PA
These came out as a limited edition item five years ago to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the death of Elvis Presley.  Odd tribute, but a tasty peanut butter cup.

Phanatic Approved

Phillies Chocolate Bars
Gertrude Hawk (2013)

These are delicious!

Afternoon Gaming

I came across this drawing on Tumblr.  It didn't have an artist name so I'm not sure who to credit, but it's too cute not to share.

Neon Genesis Noodles

I found this photo of Neon Genesis Evangelion ramen noodles on Tumblr.  I'm not sure who makes them, but I'm guessing that they probably won't make it over to the USA.

Home Library

Javva The Hutt

Coffee shop at Lucasfilm Ltd. in San Francisco.  I wonder if Brooksfilms has a secret Pizza The Hutt franchise somewhere in Culver City.  [source: Scott Beale - Laughing Squid]

Mysterious Warriors Hellbent On Warped Justice

Revenge Of The Sandpeople
Mark Daniels and Mark Steele - Sublevel Studios

Social Media Tagging With Pitfall Harry

New retro wallpaper for the work computer.

The Blacksheep Got Blackmailed Again

Today would have been Kurt Cobain's 46th birthday.

Ok Campers, Rise And Shine!

Groundhog Day
Columbia Pictures (1993)
One of the most fun and quotable romantic comedies of all time is turning 20 years old today.  I didn't get to see this during its original theatrical release, but I rented it as soon as it came out on home video, and it's become an annual tradition every February 2nd in the years since.

Wonka Ice Cream

These never made it out of the test market stage.  The flavors were tasty, but too light on the inclusions in my opinion.

Spear, Jackhammer, Pizza

Meng and Bill Goldberg
Little Caesars (1999)

In 1999, Little Caesars partnered with WCW to give away a special Sportflics-style trading card to customers who purchased two medium one-topping pizzas for $9.99.  There were four cards in the set: Hollywood Hulk Hogan, Sting, Goldberg, and Diamond Dallas Page.  Oddly enough, they hired Meng to star in the commercial with Goldberg despite the fact that he's not featured on one of the cards that were being given away.

Merry Christmas

Beware The Norwegians

This letter arrived at my place of business years before I started working there.  Copies of it have been passed around ever since.

The End Of An Era

Nester & Max
Nintendo Power: Volume 285

My grandparents gave me a subscription to the Nintendo Power magazine starting with Volume 3.  I was eight years old at the time, and I read this magazine multiple times from cover to cover while I waited for the next issue to come in the mail, at which point the cycle would repeat.  One of the parts that I looked forward to the most was the Howard & Nester comic that was published in each issue for the first few years of its publication.  Its 24 year production run has come to an end with the December 2012 issue, which includes this incredible comic from artist Bill Mudron (scans courtesy of Painted Pixels).

Festive Shortbread

Snowman Cookie
Starbucks (2012)
It's almost too cute to eat... almost.

Pumpernickel Croutons

Ruby Tuesday
Moosic, PA
The salad bar at Ruby Tuesday is pretty great, but it's the croutons that keep me coming back.

Unique Balls

Is unique in the whole world

One You Pop, You'll Want To Stop

Pumpkin Pie Spice chips
Pringles (2012)
They're not as bad as they look, but I got tired of them after a small handful.

The Best Juice Ever Served In A Box

Ecto Cooler
Hi-C (1993)

This was my favorite drink in the late 80's and early 90's.  I wish that they'd bring it back.  This box came from the L.M. Kallok Collection and was scanned and shared by Jason Liebig.

Expensive Twinkies

As soon as Hostess announced that they were going out of business, the whole world lost its collective minds and began buying up all of the remaining Twinkies from store shelves. This has resulted in a flood of Twinkies for sale on eBay at a hilarious mark-up.  For example, this box of snack cakes has a starting bid of $200k.  If you don't want to risk getting sniped at the last second, you can always opt for the "Buy It Now" price and pay a quarter of a million dollars.  Act now, and you get free shipping.  What a deal!

I'll go ahead and let Tallahassee from Zombieland go after these.  Frankly, I don't think they're worth the regular retail price.

President Obama and McKayla Maroney Are Unimpressed

The photo of the year, taken by Pete Souza.