Playing With My Pleasure Zone

Low Life
New Order (1985)
The third studio album from New Order was released thirty years ago today.  My favorite song on this record is an instrumental track called Elegia, but that doesn't seem to be on YouTube at the moment.  Love Vigilantes is another excellent song on this record, but the one I'm sharing below is easier to dance to.

The Perfect Kiss
New Order (1985)

I stood there beside myself

Thinking hard about the weather

Then came by a friend of mine

Suggested we go out together

Then I knew it from the start

This friend of mine would fall apart

Pretending not to see his gun

I said "Let's go out and have some fun"

I know, you know, you believe in a land of love

I know, you know, we believe in a land of love

I have always thought about

Staying here and going out

Tonight I should have stayed at home

Playing with my pleasure zone

He has always been so strange

I'd often thought he was deranged

Pretending not to see his gun

I said "Let's go out and have some fun"

I know, you know, we believe in a land of love

I know, you know, we believe in a land of love

When you are alone at night

You search yourself for all the things

That you believe are right

If you give it all away

You throw away your only chance to be here today

Then a fight breaks out on your street

You lose another broken heart in a land of meat

My friend, he took his final breath

Now I know the perfect kiss is the kiss of death

Hershey Park In The Mid 80's

Hershey Park Opening Weekend
May 11-12, 1985
This circular was published in the Sunday Patriot News on May 5th, 1985 for the opening of Hershey Park which took place thirty years ago today.

I'd have to look back at my grandfather's old photos to be sure, but I think that this was the first year that I visited Hershey Park when I was a kid.

Let Me See That Kong

This is my Grandpa and Dad standing in front of the Kong ride at Morey's Pier on the Boardwalk in Wildwood, NJ in the mid 1970s.  The ride opened in 1972 and was an iconic part of the landscape for the rest of the decade.  A planned renovation of the ride failed in 1980 when the Kong statue disintegrated as it was being disassembled.

A new Kong ride is returning to Morey's Pier in 2015.

My Day In Court

Luzerne County Courthouse
Wilkes-Barre, PA

My time has finally come.  I was picked to report for jury duty and to spend a fun and exciting day wandering around the Luzerne County Courthouse while the folks in charge make up their minds on which of the lucky contestants will be chosen to serve on an actual jury, while the rest of us are sent home with a copy of the home game.  On the positive side, I got the day off of work with pay, and it was nice to have the opportunity to spend some time here without the pressures of being the defendant.  Plus, there's also the pride of being chosen to do your civic duty.  Just look at how much joy it has brought me on this fine day.  

All kidding aside, it really is a beautiful building, and there's a nice little cafe inside.  I guess it's pretty hard to screw up an egg and cheese sandwich, but it was very tasty and a lot better than anything I was expecting.

Here are some photos I took in and around the courthouse:

The cherry blossom trees are in bloom.

Being here makes me realize that I may have spent too many hours playing Tony Hawk Pro Skater.

This is the inside of the dome ceiling of the courthouse.

I can neither confirm or deny that one Hawaiian Italian juror stepped beyond this point.

Here are the sinks in the men's restroom, surrounded my late 60's tile in all of it's pea green glory.  It's a little less dignified than the marble you find throughout the rest of the courthouse.

I wasn't picked to serve on a jury, so after many hours of wandering around, taking pictures and doing my best to not get in any trouble, I was sent home.  The parking garage was an adventure all of it's own.  It's loaded with hand-written threats of tolls and tickets, but there was no one in sight to accept any money.

 

I was perfectly willing to pay for parking, but according to the sign next to the broken clock and in front of the giant slab of cardboard, the office is closed for the day.  The same sign that informed me that the office is closed also asked that I "exit here to pay 4 parking".  I'm not quite sure how that's supposed to work.  I briefly considered taping a few bucks to the window, but I didn't have the scotch tape or the desire to throw money away, so I just went home.

If it turns out that I did something illegal, I'll guess that I'll be back.  Maybe I can even pick up one of those swell $9 compact umbrellas.

Fish Like An Egyptian

Memphis Pyramid
Bass Pro Drive - Memphis, TN

Fun fact: the sixth largest pyramid in the world is a Bass Pro Shops Superstore.  The Memphis Pyramid, which re-opened yesterday to the public, also includes a man-made cypress swamp with live alligators, shooting and archery ranges, a bowling alley, a Ducks Unlimited waterfowl museum, and a 105 room hotel.  It is also home to the tallest freestanding elevator in the United States.  [source: OutdoorHub]

Right Now

Well... it was clear, it was caffeine free, and it tasted pretty much the same as a regular Pepsi.

You Are Repressed But You're Remarkably Dressed

Postcard (1980)

Knockout

The Final Blow
Eric Joyner (2003)

Saving The World With Jell-o Pudding Pops

Crystalis
SNK (1990)

The final years of a console's lifespan often produce some of its most interesting games, and Nintendo's 8-bit era is no exception.  Crystalis is an action RPG that was released for the Famicom in Japan 25 years ago today, with a release in North America on the NES just a few months later.  

In this game, you play as a man who has just woken up from cryogenic sleep in a cave just outside of the village of Leaf in the year 2097 - a hundred years after a savage war destroyed civilization.  The descendants of the humans who survived the war live in a medieval world in which science and technology has been banned, with the exception of a giant floating tower.  Your character soon learns that he must unite the four elemental swords to defeat the mutants and the evil Draygonia Empire, who have brought back the forbidden sciences and threaten to take over the world.

Although it doesn't get the same level of attention from the retro community as its contemporaries, such as The Legend Of Zelda, Final Fantasy, and the Dragon Warrior series, Crystalis had a good amount of support behind it in its time.  This game tips card was printed on the inside of a Jell-o Pudding Pops as a part of their promotion of the 1990 Nintendo World Championships.

This Sunday newspaper circular was shared by Jason Liebig on Flickr which shows some of the other games that were used for the Power Playing Tips cards that were printed on the inside of Jell-o frozen desert boxes, including Super Mario Bros. 3, Tetris, Code Name: Viper and Double Dragon II: The Revenge.

This ad from The Pittsburgh Press on March 18th, 1990 shows that in addition to getting a couple of Nintendo tips, buying a box of Jello-Pudding Pops back would also get you a free ticket to the Nintendo World Championships.

Rock and Roll Memories

Toys In The Attic
Aerosmith (1975)
This iconic album, which includes rock anthems Sweet Emotion and Walk This Way, was released forty years ago today.

My favorite story about a song on this album happened nine years later in 1984.  By this point in his career, Steven Tyler was suffering from memory loss after years of drug abuse.  He and Joe Perry had put their differences behind them and were planning the Back In The Saddle tour when You'll See Me Crying was played on WBCN FM.  Tyler enjoyed it and suggested that Aerosmith record a cover of the song, to which Perry responded "It's us, fuckhead."

Pearsall Hall

Pearsall Hall
Wilkes University - Wilkes Barre, PA

From the 2015 Wilkes University calendar.

Games And Snacks

Vintage II
Kyle Willis (2012)

Ewww...

This photo was uploaded by an appropriately named Tumblr account called Oh No Problems.  I'm usually up for trying almost any weird foods or drinks at least once, but I'd have to pass on this monstrosity.

Last Snowfall

This was my backyard on Tuesday. In 24 hours, it was 62 degrees and it had all melted.

New Hot Chick

Wendy's
Route 93 - Hazleton, PA
Either they have a new spicy chicken sandwich, or someone in the kitchen is trying to flirt with the new girl.

Enough Is Never Enough

The Stuff
New World Pictures (1985)
One of my favorite horror movies of the 80's premiered in theaters thirty years ago today.

For many years of my childhood, The Stuff was my white whale.  When my grandfather brought me to one of the video rental shops in town, I would always head first to the horror section and obsessively read the back of every box I could get my hands on.  This was always one of the tapes that I picked up, and I read the back of it so many times that I had it memorized by the time I was in fourth grade.  Unfortunately, my grandfather had a rule that I could not rent anything that was Rated R, and he was absolutely inflexible in this.  I was finally able to rent it for myself when I was a teenager and the movie was every bit as incredible as the box led me to believe it would be.  The tape now sits on the top shelf of my movie bookcase.

D-Train Says Goodbye

Dontrelle Willis (pitcher)

Florida Marlins: 2002 - 2007
Detroit Tigers: 2008 - 2010
Arizona Diamondbacks: 2010
Cincinnati Reds: 2011

Dontrelle Willis has officially announced his retirement earlier today.  The former Marlins ace has made several comeback attempts over the past four years with the Phillies, Orioles, Cubs, Angels, Giants and most recently the Brewers, but he wasn't able to catch on.

His last major league appearance came as a member of the Cincinnati Reds in 2011.  The Phillies signed him that winter, and he made three appearances in Spring Training for the Phillies in 2012.  The hope was that he would make the team and pitch out of the bullpen and be available as a pinch hitter (he was one of the best hitting pitchers in the game).  I was bummed out when he was released before the start of the season, but the past few years have shown that it was probably the right move.

I'm sure this isn't how he wanted the second half of his career to go, but it's been a very good run that included a Rookie of the Year, a World Series ring and a 2005 season in which he went 22-10 with five shutouts and just barely missed out on a Cy Young Award to Chris Carpenter.  At his peak, he was one of the best pitchers in baseball, and by all accounts, he's an awesome dude.  I just wish I could have seen him pitch for the Phillies.

Congratulations on an electrifying career, D-Train.

Ready Player 1.5

Lacero
by Andy Weir
This addition to the Ernest Cline - Ready Player One universe is definitely worth reading.

Offspring at West Palm Beach

The Offspring / Quicksand / No Use For A Name
West Palm Beach Auditorium - West Palm Beach, FL
Twenty years ago today, I went to my first concert. The Offspring released Smash the year before, and they were in the middle of what would be a nearly two year tour for the album that broke them into the mainstream.  Quicksand and No Use For A Name were the opening acts.

The Palm Beach Post - West Palm Beach, FL  (March 13, 1995)

The show was on a Saturday night, and nearly every kid in school on Monday was wearing the red concert shirt. In the infinite wisdom of a 14 year old boy, I didn't buy the tour shirt, opting instead for the one that had lyrics from the song Bad Habit in large letters on the back.  Do you think Palm Beach Gardens High School was happy with my choice?

Yeah... not so much.

UPDATE 2/15/2023: Although I sometimes share video on this blog, I try to avoid it for reasons like this.  Most of the other blogs that I like to visit have archives that are filled with broken video links, either because the person who uploaded it has taken it down, or because it was taken down by somebody else.

I can't imagine that the band are going to be too upset by the fact that old camcorder footage of concert of theirs from decades ago has founds its way to YouTube, particularly at a time when it seems like practically everyone in the audience is holding up their phone to record every concert in the world.  The message above isn't specific, so I'm thinking that they may have cancelled their account.  Having said all that, I've re-uploaded the video to my own channel.  The copyright protected songs were identified, but the message I got is that the rights holders allow their content to be shared on YouTube.  Neither my blog or my YouTube channel is monetized in any way, nor will it ever be, so hopefully this video will remain available for anyone who would enjoy watching it.

Here is the setlist from the show:

I've Got My Mind On This

The Wonders Within Your Head
Look Magazine (December 6, 1938)
This artwork shows a visualization of the different functions of your brain as if they were being carried out by tiny people operating machinery (source: Scout's Atomic Flash).

Yars' Revenge Action Figure

Yars' Revenge custom action figure
Created by Dan Polydoris
Body: 2-1B Medic Droid
Extra Arms / Legs: IG-88 Bounty Hunter
Head: Zuckuss
Wings: Taken from "some giant plastic bug from Michael's Arts & Crafts"

Space Invaders Action Figure

Space Invaders custom action figure
Created by Dan Polydoris
Body: Red Snaggletooth
Head: Greedo

Missile Command Action Figure

Missile Command custom action figure
Created by Dan Polydoris
Body: Han Solo (Bespin outfit)
Head: Star Destroyer Commander
Missile: from the G.I. Joe Wolverine armored missile vehicle

Berzerk Action Figure

Berzerk custom action figure
Created by Dan Polydoris
Body: Star Destroyer Commander
Head: Han Solo (Bespin outfit)

Dan Polydoris, who runs the blog Chicago Toy Collector, has combined parts of different Kenner's Star Wars action figures and re-painted them to create characters from the box art of classic Atari 2600 games.

Roadrunner Rules

Rules for writing Wile E. Coyote and The Roadrunner cartoons by Chuck Jones.
Originally published in Chuck Amuck: The Life and Times of an Animated Cartoonist (1989).
Photo taken at the What’s Up, Doc? The Animation Art of Chuck Jones exhibit at the Museum of the Moving Image in New York, and shared by Amos Posner.

Can't Fit Any More Roth In Here

Max Roth Center
Wilkes University - Wilkes Barre, PA

From the 2015 Wilkes University calendar.