Troll Book Club

Troll Book Club (1985)
Book club catalogs used to be handed out in my elementary school when I was a kid.  I think I might still have a book or two in the attic that was ordered through a flyer like this.

That's Some Big Hat, Billy

William Penn Statue
City Hall - Philadelphia, PA (1993)
During the 1993 World Series, the statue of William Penn at the top of City Hall in Philadelphia was given a massive seven foot tall Phillies hat.  A year later, a local sports memorabilia dealer named Glen Spence found the hat in a dumpster outside of Veterans Stadium and put it on the roof of his shop on Oregon Avenue.  The shop eventually closed and the hat was kept in storage until a few weeks ago when Mr. Spence put it up on eBay.  If you've got ten grand to spare, it can be yours.

Yeah, But We've Got Better Music

Late Night with Seth Meyers

Q*Bert Comes Alive On Paper

Q*Bert
Presto Magix Transfers
American Publishing Corporation (1983)
I found this last month at Black Diamond Antiques & Collectibles in the Schuylkill Mall.  When this was available for sale at stores in 1983, Q*Bert was a cultural phenomenon.  It was one of the hottest games at the arcade, and the character was marketed like crazy with countless toys, games, and other merchandise.  The game characters even became television stars on the Saturday Supercade cartoon series on CBS.

Presto Magix was kind of like a disposable Colorforms toy.  Like Colorforms, it came with a set of objects and characters that could be placed on a themed background.  The difference is that Colorforms were made up of vinyl clings that could be stuck onto and peeled off of a shiny background whereas Presto Magix were more like a temporary tattoo that was permanently transferred onto a paper background.

The toy folded out like a pamphlet to make a two foot long background with two Q*Bert pyramids set on a field of starts.  Artwork of the game characters are placed around the pyramids with the star of the game riding on his flying disc at the center.  The bottom left hand corner has a box where the little boy or girl could sign their artwork.  This one was mostly unused except for one Q*Bert and one Coily that had been transferred to the pyramid on the right hand side.

The transfer sheet of characters was included.  As expected, the Q*Bert and Coily characters that were transferred to the background were missing from the sheet, but all of the others were there, including Slick, Wrongway, Sam, Ugg, duplicates of Coily, and a generous amount of Q*Bert in various poses.  There were also a few Q*Bert logos and, for some reason, a couple of miniature pyramids, which I'm not sure where they were supposed to fit into the background.  I wish they made a little Q*Bert arcade machine for the transfer sheet, but it's still a really cool collection of characters.

The Red Monochrome Headache Machine

Virtual Boy
Nintendo (1995)
The first attempt at a 3-D gaming console from Nintendo was introduced in North America 20 years ago today.  Sadly, it flopped pretty hard.  There were only 22 Virtual Boy games released in the United States before it was discontinued just over six months later.

I had one and I thought it was a lot of fun, but I also wasn't one of the suckers who paid $179.95 for it.  I found it on clearance at Electronics Boutique for $30 sometime in 1996, and I picked up a handful of games (both American and Japanese imports) for $5 each.  My favorite games were Mario Tennis (which came packed in), V-Tetris, Vertical Force and Wario Land.

Frankenball

Hollywood Charity Baseball Game
Wrigley Field - Los Angeles, CA (1940)

This photo and its caption was published in the 1981 book It's Alive! The Classic Cinema Saga Of Frankenstein by Gregory William Mank.  The photo was taken at a charity baseball game that took place 75 years ago today at Wrigley Field in Los Angeles.  This was the ballpark where the Los Angeles Angels played when they were a Pacific Coast League team and for their first season in MLB.

The legendary Boris Karloff took the field in full Frankenstein's Monster costume and makeup playing for a team of Hollywood stars against a team of comedians and comic actors.

Spokane Chronicle - Spokane, WA  (August 8, 1940)
click to enlarge

The Cushing Daily Citizen - Cushing, OK  (August 9, 1940)
click to enlarge

Karloff hit an inside-the-park home run in this game because The Three Stooges, who were fielding their positions at first, second, and third base, cowered in fear of the monster as he slowly lumbered around the bases.

Wild Boys At The Steel Stacks

Duran Duran
Musikfest - Steel Stacks - Bethlehem, PA

I have loved Duran Duran for nearly as long as I've known what music was, so this concert is a dream come true for me.  It was held at the Sands Steel Stage at PNC Plaza, which is known around here as the Steel Stacks.  The stage is in front of the five blast furnaces that once were part of the Bethlehem Steel plant, which makes for a pretty incredible atmosphere for a rock concert.

Musikfest is a music festival in Bethlehem that takes place over several miles around the Steel Stacks. Although the major acts who perform at the festival sell tickets to their shows, there is no charge to get into the festival itself, and there are plenty of concerts on free stages.  There's also plenty to eat and drink, and lots of things do see and do.

This photo shows the blast furnaces (aka: the Steel Stacks) from outside of the concert venue.  It really is a pretty gnarly backdrop for a rock concert.

Although there was lots of things set up, today is technically considered "Preview Night".  Musikfest officially starts tomorrow and runs through August 16'th.

Rubix Kube was one of the acts that was playing on a free stage tonight.  We caught the second half of their set after Duran Duran, and they were awesome as always.

 

Our seats were pretty far back, so I really wasn't able to take photos, but they weren't bad seats.  We were close enough to see the stage, and we were sitting near some pretty cool folks who were just as obsessed with the music as we were.

The show had a good mix of their classics from the 80's and 90's with a few newer hits sprinkled throughout.  They performed one song from their upcoming album, Paper Gods (Pressure Off), two songs from their 2010 album (Girl Panic and All You Need Is Now), and one song off of 2004's Astronaut (Reach Up For The Sunrise) with the rest coming from their vintage catalog.  They kicked off the set with Wild Boys and followed that up with their classic 007 theme, A View To A Kill (one of the best Bond songs of all time).  I was extremely happy to get to hear Come Undone and Ordinary World - two of my favorite Duran Duran songs.  Toward the end of the regular setlist, they played Notorious, Planet Earth and Hungry Like The Wolf.  They began the encore with their 1995 cover of White Lines before finishing the night off with Rio.

Nostalgia Inception

Atari 2600 Action Pack: Volume 1, 2 and 3
Activision (1995)
These days, it's common to see game companies release their classic games.  There are virtual consoles, plug-and-play consoles and collections of retro games available for dozens, if not hundreds of titles from the past.  However, back in the summer of 1995, the term "retro gaming" didn't exist.  The 16-bit war between the Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo in its final year.  The release of the Sega Saturn on May 11th and the Sony Playstation on September 9th had gamers dreaming of 32 bit games on CD-Rom as the future of the industry.  Few were thinking back to the days of the 80's and the Atari 2600, but for those who were, Activision had the Atari 2600 Action Pack.

It's funny to look back on this series today.  They were released 20 years ago for Windows 95 and Macintosh computers, and they were available on CD-Rom and 3.5" floppy discs.  These discs are older today than these Atari games were when they were re-released in 1995.  The retro compilations have become retro themselves.

I had Volume 1 for my IBM Aptiva when I was 15 years old.  I remember being amazed to be able to play games like Pitfall, River Raid and Frostbite on my Gravis Gamepad with Z-Rock playing from the boombox on the top shelf of my computer desk.  It was the moment that I first realized that gaming isn't all about the latest graphics and CD quality sound, and a game that was fun in 1985 is just as fun in 1995.  Twenty years later, I still play these games because they're just as fun in 2015.

Schweitzer's Wildwood Vacation

Nana, Dad and Grandma
The Boardwalk - Wildwood, NJ
My grandfather took this photo of my great-grandfather, my dad and my grandmother in August, 1985 on the Wildwood boardwalk.  In the background, the theater marquee is shown.  National Lampoon's European Vacation was playing.

Tree in Solid Rock

Tree in Solid Rock
Interstate 80 - Buford, WY
Not long after my 10th birthday, I went on a cross-country trip with my family to visit my uncle in Provo, Utah.  On the way home, we stopped in Wyoming and saw this tree growing out of a rock.  According to the sign, they diverted the path of the Union Pacific Railroad when they were building it so that they could preserve this tree.

I later learned that this tree is in a small Wyoming town called Buford.  In 1990 when I saw this tree, the town had a population of three residents.  By 2007, the population of Buford was down to one.

Say Goodbye To Hollywood

In his last start six days ago, Cole Hamels threw a no-hitter against the Chicago Cubs.  Sadly, it will end up being his final start in a Phillies uniform as he was traded to the Texas Rangers earlier today.

The Phillies ended up getting a pretty decent haul in return, including three of the Rangers top 10 prospects and a veteran starter who may take Hamels place in the rotation when he comes off of the disabled list.  I hate to see Hamels go, but there's reason to be optimistic for the future.

It's Hip To Be Square

South Main Street from Public Square (1975)
Wilkes-Barre, PA
The building on the left is now Dunkin Donuts.  The Woolworth's is now a Barnes & Noble that also has the Wilkes University and King's College campus bookstore.  To the left of Woolworth's is Boscov's.  The Kresge store has been a bunch of different things over the years.  I believe it's a bar today.

Congratulations, Pedro Martinez

Earlier today, the 2015 class of the Baseball Hall of Fame were inducted in Cooperstown.  Among them was my favorite pitcher, Pedro Martinez.

Although he'll always be associated in the eyes of fans in a Red Sox uniform, Pedro ended his career in a Phillies uniform in 2009.  He pitched well in the half-season he spent in Philadelphia, going 5 - 1 and pitching well in the playoffs, including 7 scoreless innings against the Dodgers in Game 2 of the NLCS.

The photo above was taken on September 13th, 2009.  We went to a day / night double header at Citizen's Bank Park against the Mets, and Pedro was the starting pitcher in the night game.  It was a memorable evening.  Tony Danza sang the National Anthem, and my favorite pitcher took the mound against our most hated rivals and his former team.

As excited as I was to get to see Pedro pitch in person, I never could have predicted how dominant he would be.  Pedro threw 130 pitches, struck out 7, and shut down the Mets over 8 scoreless innings.  Ryan Madson came in for the save in the 9th inning and locked down the game for the Phillies.  This was Pedro's fifth win of the season, and the 219th win of his career.  Although I didn't know it at the time, this would be the final win of his career.

Congratulations, Mr. Pedro Martinez - one of the most dominant pitchers in the history of the game.  Thank you for your contribution to this game, and for your short, but memorable time in Philadelphia - especially that one September night.

Closing The Boardwalk

Boardwalk Boulevard
Laurel Mall - Hazleton, PA

For over a quarter century, the corner of the Laurel Mall next to one of its anchor stores was occupied by Boardwalk Blvd.  It was an arcade that opened in 1989, giving the Hazleton mall two arcades for a very brief period of time before the older Aladdin's Castle closed up shop.

Even the shoppers who didn't play games couldn't escape the presence of the arcade as it serenaded everyone within 20 feet with "Daaaytooooooona, let's go away!" from the Daytona USA machine that was once parked near the entrance to the arcade.  When I was a teenager, there was a Mortal Kombat 2, and later a Mortal Kombat 3 machine where I spent plenty of tokens.  Unfortunately, as the 90's drew to a close, the arcade began to get filled with more ticket-based games and fewer video games, but there were still enough traditional arcade games to make me stop in when I went to the mall.

Now, for the first time since Aladdin's Castle opened in 1976, the Laurel Mall does not have an arcade.

2007

2015

This is what remains of Boardwalk Blvd today - just a few areas that still have the carpeting.  I'm not sure what the mall has planned for this location, but it's a safe bet that it won't be as much fun as the little arcade that opened at the tail end of the 80's and thrived through the 90's, the 2000's and the first half of the 2010's before succumbing to the same fate as nearly every other mall arcade.

Thanks for the memories, Boardwalk Blvd.

The Best Garbage A Quarter Could Buy

Garbage Pail Kids
Topps (1985)
Photos taken in and around Hazleton, PA (1987)
I still remember where I was when I got my first Garbage Pail Kid.  I was five years old and my parents friends came over to visit, bringing their two children with them - a girl who was a year older than me, and a boy who was a year younger.  I don't remember the names of the kids, but the girl giving me my first Garbage Pail Kids sticker somehow burned itself into my memory.  It was card #41b - Joltin' Joe.  It was the start of an obsession that lasted throughout my elementary school years.

A pack of stickers was only a quarter, so I ended up getting some any time we went to the grocery store or stopped at Pantry Quik.  The Bloomsburg Fair was where I really hit the jackpot and scored a few rack packs.  I saved the cards in a shoebox and I used the doubles as stickers that I put everywhere and anywhere, including the pole of the swing set at my grandparents house.  I had the Series 1 poster hanging on my bedroom wall.  I even wore a yellow Live Mike t-shirt.  My grandmother bought it for me from Boscov's, but it took some convincing.  She didn't have a problem with Garbage Pail Kids or with getting a shirt for me, but she couldn't get past the idea that the shirt was intended for a kid named Mike.

Looking back on it, it felt like Garbage Pail Kids were huge throughout the decade, but they were only around for a short period of time, making their debut in the summer of 1985 and fading away before the end of 1988.  Although my family was never bothered by them, parents and religious groups practiced their favorite sport of complaining until they were banned by schools across the country.  The protests were effective enough to cause the cancellation of a cartoon series before it even aired.  It was scheduled to be a part of the CBS Saturday morning cartoon lineup for the Fall of 1987.

They made a comeback in 2003 and have been around ever since, but they haven't hit the cultural mainstream in the same way that they did when I was a kid.  This year is the 30th anniversary, and Topps is releasing a special series of cards that will include characters created by the artists back in the 80's that were never published.

The Neon Baker

Stroehmann Bakery Outlet Store
Broad Street - West Hazleton, PA

This store is right down the street from where my grandparents lived when they were still with us.  It's a very small store - not much larger than my living room, but it's a great place to go to pick up a loaf of bread or a bag of croutons because they sold day-old merchandise at ridiculously low prices.  I'm talking a dime or a quarter for a loaf of rye bread.  I used to run down here to pick up some bread for my grandmother and for about two bucks, I'd have enough for the bread, a strawberry milk and a bag of snack pies.

The House That Burger Becky Built

National Space Invaders Superbowl
Warner Building - New York, NY (1980)
This photo was taken at the New York regional competition for the Atari 2600 Space Invaders national championship tournament.  It has been recognized as the first large scale video game competition.  Frank Tetro won this regional match, but was defeated by Rebecca Heineman in the finals.

Burger Becky would go on to become a game developer with a very impressive resume that includes one of my favorite vintage game collections: Activision Anthology.

Hats Off To A Good Toad

Nintendo Greeting Card
Nextoft Corporation (1989)
I found a pack of greeting cards at the Hometown Farmers Market from 1989 that were made using artwork from Super Mario Bros 2.  I always thought that the mushroom was just part of Toad's head, but it turns out that it was a cap all along.

The cards were produced by the Nexoft Corporation, who published several NES and Famicom games when these cards were on store shelves, including Castlequest, Wizardry, and Faria.  In 1991, the company changed their name to the ASCII Corporation.  They continued to publish games under that name for the rest of the decade and into the 2000's until they merged with MediaWorks in 2008.

The Punch That Pops

Cherry Cracker
Kool-Aid (1991)
During the summer of 1991, Kool-Aid produced a flavor that crackled like Pop Rocks when you added water to the powder.

Stainless Steel Thighs

Hillary Clinton Nutcracker
Hometown Farmers Market - Tamaqua, PA

I Feel No Thoughts To Move My Head

World Outside

The Psychedelic Furs (1991)
The final studio album from one of my favorite bands was released fourteen years ago on my 11th birthday.

The album wasn't as big of a hit as the band's earlier work from the 80's, but it's very good and worth listening to.  The first single, Until She Comes, is especially good.  It's a love song on the surface, but it has been reported that the girl who Richard Butler is singing about is a metaphor for drug addiction.

Until She Comes
The Psychedelic Furs (1991)

Until she comes again

I can hear the things she said

I feel no thoughts to move my head

Until she comes again

And with her step I move my feet

And with her hand I feel my skin

And with her need I find I'm saved

And with her dreams I'm laid

Until she comes again

The sun goes out and night comes in

The time goes 'round and day grows dim

Until she comes again

And with her step I move my feet

And with her hand I feel my skin

And with her need I find I'm saved

And with her dreams I'm laid

I can't be saved from my wounds

Until she comes

I can't be saved from my wounds

Until she comes

Until she comes again

With all my saving and my sins

There's no good reason to begin

Until she comes again

And with her step I move my feet

And with her hand I feel my skin

And with her need I find I'm saved

And with her dreams I'm laid

I can't be saved from my wounds

Until she comes

I can't be saved from my wounds

Until she comes

Until she comes again

With all her dreams tied in her hand

There is no why to understand

Until she comes again

Until she comes again

The sun goes out and night comes in

The time goes 'round and day grows dim

Until she comes again

Love Wins

Dear bigots,

You lose. Again.

This is a proud day in American history where we have taken one giant leap towards freedom and equality, as we distance ourselves further from bigotry and intolerance.  [Image and article source: Yahoo] 

Retail Archaeology

The Salvation Army Family Store
West Broad Street - Hazleton, PA

They're remodeling the Salvation Army thrift store in downtown Hazleton.  The front of the building was stripped off, which revealed an old storefront from a furniture store that closed in 1984.  The neon bulbs were even still there.  They just covered over it with plaster and wood, or whatever materials made up the old Salvation Army storefront.

Rosen's was a furniture store in downtown Hazleton.  This location originally opened in 1923 and remained in business for parts of seven decades, through the Great Depression and two World Wars before closing in 1984.  I was technically alive when the store was open, but I don't have any memories of it.  Maybe there was a toddler in Northeast Pennsylvania who was in the market for a discount recliner in the mid-80's, but it wasn't me.