A Surprise Meeting

Rich Hering
WWE Vice President
Mr. G's Grille - Liberty, NY
We stopped at a restaurant on Sullivan Ave for dinner.  It was a nice place that had a sports bar vibe.  I ordered the Cowboy Burger, which is topped with bacon, caramelized onions, cheddar cheese and barbecue sauce.  It was very tasty!

While we were eating, I noticed that they had a WWE memorabilia display that included an old winged eagle WWF championship belt and the current WWE championship belt.  I wanted to take a picture of them, but they were hanging on a wall behind a table that a family was sitting at for their dinner, so we waited for a bit until they finished.  When the waitress noticed that I was interested in the display, she told me that the owner of the restaurant was one of the WWE Vice Presidents, Rich Hering.  She said he was in the back and offered to ask him to come out.  Before I could say "no, you don't have to do that", she was halfway to the kitchen.

Mr. Hering came out a minute later with the waitress, who was carrying an authentic WWE championship belt.  He very kindly took a photo with me and let me hold the belt.  It was a very pleasant surprise for the first day of our vacation.

A Cartoonist's Advice

A Cartoonist’s Advice (2013)
Artwork by Gavin Aung Than (ZenPencils.com)
Words by Bill Watterson (Kenyon College graduation speech - 1990)

Burrito Friday

Friday is Burrito Day on Team CBI.

Happy Birthday MJ

Michael Jackson stickers
Topps (1984)

Michael Jackson was one of the greatest singers and entertainers who ever lived, and he passed away far too soon.  He would have been 55 years old today.

There was a ton of MJ memorabilia released when I was growing up in the 80's.  I had some of his records and a few different things of his when I was a kid, including one of the stickers from this set.  I found this pack of them at a flea market when I was in college and couldn't resist bringing them home.

Save The Laurel Drive-In

The first movie that I ever remember seeing on the big screen was at the Laurel Drive-In in Hazleton, Pennsylvania.  My dad took me to see The Karate Kid Part II, and I've been back there many times in the years since.  This poster was hanging in the snack bar when went tonight to see The Conjuring and Pacific Rim last night, and it's leading me to believe that this place might not be around for very much longer.

The movie industry is discontinuing the use of 35mm film after this season, so theaters that don't use a digital projector are in danger of closing.  According to the poster, the necessary upgrades cost $75,000 which is completely out of reach for a small town drive in theater like ours.  Thankfully, Honda has swooped in to save the day by donating five digital projectors to five lucky drive-in theaters.  You can vote for the Laurel Drive-In to receive one of these projectors by visiting ProjectDriveIn.com/vote_35.

The Greatest Achievement in the History of Gaming

Tetris sprint world record
40 lines cleared in 19.68 seconds
Tetris Grand Master Keroco was the first player to clear 40 lines in under 20 seconds.  Fellow Tetris champion Ben Mullen referred to this by saying "Let me humbly submit that this may be the greatest achievement in the history of gaming..."  More info can be found on Mental Floss.

Goodbye, Uncle Charlie

The greatest manager in franchise history was fired by the worst general manager in baseball.  We're going to miss you, Charlie.

Photo by: Chris Szagola

These Need To Have Beta-carotene, Brother

Hulk Hogan Multi-Vitamins (1991)
The Hulkster turned 60 years old today.  He's spent a good part of the year feuding with Bubba Ray Dudley in TNA, but back in the early 90's, Hulkamania was still running wild.  Between battles with the Iraqi sympathizing Sgt. Slaughter, he found time to drop the big leg on Fred Flintstone to become the new champion of children's chewables.  That must have been an interesting title belt.

Crispety, Crunchety, Cartoony

Who Laid A Finger On Bart's Butterfinger
I love that the edge of the wrapper makes up Bart Simpson's hair.

The Emporium Is For Sale

Emporium Of Curious Goods
Jim Thorpe, PA
This is one of my favorite places to stop when I'm in Jim Thorpe, but I was surprised to find this sign hanging up in the shop when we were in town yesterday.  I hope that whoever does end up buying the place doesn't change a thing because this place is a treasure.

Go Directly To Jail, Do Not Pass Go

The Old Jail Museum
Jim Thorpe, PA

The Carbon County Prison was built in 1871 and remained in operation for over 100 years until its closure in 1995.  The two story building includes 27 cells and a dungeon that was used for solitary confinement until 1980.  The same building had a section that served as the living quarters for the warden and his family.  This included a living room, sitting room, dining room, two bedrooms, and a large kitchen that the warden's wife used to cook dinner for both her family and for the prisoners.

The stone building was purchased by Tom and Betty McBride and was re-opened as The Old Jail Museum.  Tours are held every year starting in the Spring and continuing through Early Fall.  My wife loves museums and has talked about this place many times, so she decided to make this one of the stops on our trip to Jim Thorpe to celebrate her birthday.

Click to enlarge

There was a presentation in the cell block and a guided tour of the facility.  When the tour was over, everybody was invited to stay and explore the grounds for as long as we wanted.  We were all allowed to take pictures as well, except for Cell #17 which had a handprint on the wall that was put there by one of the Molly Maguires in the 1870's before he was hanged.  As the legend goes, the man said "This handprint will remain as proof of my innocence" before he was executed, and the handprint remains on the wall to this day despite many attempts to scrub it off.

 

The Dungeon lives up to its name.  They brought us all down here and turned off the lights for a few moments to give us a taste of what it was like to be in solitary confinement at the Carbon County Prison.  It's hard to believe that this was still being used as recently as 1980.

The Old Jail is a fun place to spend a few hours, especially if you're interested in the history of Northeast PA.  I'm not sure I buy into the ghost stories about the handprint, but it's still pretty cool to see.

More Saké, More Happy

Mirakuya
Broad Street - Hazleton, PA
Our hibachi chef didn't know what he was in for when he met my dad.

The Crystal Pepsi Mall Tour

Crystal Pepsi Cool Zone
Century III Mall - West Mifflin, PA
In the summer of 1993, Pepsi launched a back-to-school promotion in sixty malls across the United States.  Shoppers who visited a Cool Zone, like the one in the photo from C3 Nostalgia above, would be given a free can of Crystal Pepsi and something that looked like a credit card which could be used for discounts at participating restaurants and retail stores.

These plastic discount cards were a marketing gimmick that Pepsi went back to a few times in the early 90's.  The first one I remember was called the License To Chill.  I don't remember ever actually using it to get a discount on anything, but I was ten years old and finally had something to stick in the credit card pocket of my velcro wallet, so I was happy to have it.  The next summer, they came out with the Gotta Have It card, and then these Back To Cool Savings Cards were available in the summer of 1993.

Palm Beach Post - Palm Beach County, FL  (August 8, 1993)

I lived in Boynton Beach, Florida in the summer that the Back To Cool promotion was taking place, and they had set up a Crystal Pepsi Cool Zone in our malls too.  In addition to the free soda and the savings card, you could get a free CD if you spent $100 at the mall throughout the month of August 1993.  It didn't have to be at one store or on the same day.  You just had to save your receipts and once you've had enough of them to show that you've spent over a hundred dollars at the mall, they would give you a collection of songs from Billboard and Crystal Pepsi that was called Slipped Disc.

 

Slipped Disc isn't half bad for a promotional compilation album.  It starts off with Tom Cochrane's single Life Is A Highway.  It includes three well done cover songs: the Ugly Kid Joe version of Cats In The Cradle, the Red Hot Chili Peppers cover of the Jimi Hendrix classic Fire, and The Pixies 1991 cover of Head On from The Jesus And Mary Chain.  It also has Tones Of Home, which is the first single released by Blind Melon, and an excellent song that was overshadowed by the success of No Rain, as well as Just the Way It Is Baby, which was the first hit single by The Rembrandts and pre-dates their unfortunate decision to record the theme song to Friends.  The final two songs on the CD are I Don't Want Your Love by Duran Duran, and an incredible song Sleeping Satellite by an artist that I know almost nothing about named Tasmin Archer.  This was her debut single which went to the top of the charts in the UK, but I don't remember hearing it on the radio in the US.  It's a shame that it didn't get more exposure over here because it's a damn good song and it closes out a pretty great collection of music.

If you were on a long car trip in the 90's and could only have one CD in the car, you could do a hell of a lot worse than Slipped Disc.  There are probably a few hundred different ways to hear each of these songs today, but if you want to relive the experience of a mall-shopping Crystal Pepsi drinker from the summer of '93, you can find plenty them for sale for just a couple of bucks on eBay.

It Keeps Going And Going...

Energizer Bunny Screen Saver
PC Dynamics (1992)
This old screensaver was being sold at Black Diamond for $2.50.  I wish I would have bought it.

UPDATE: This has been shared by Greg Kennedy on Archive.org.

Calm Down, Little Minion

Source: The Clearly Dope

First Person Tetris

If you wanted the room to spin while you played Tetris in the 80’s, you needed vodka and a swivel chair.  Damn kids today have everything.  [click here to play First Person Tetris]