Shingles For Your Gingerbread House

Gingerbread Toast Crunch
General Mills (2024)
This has quickly become my new favorite Christmas-themed breakfast cereal.  It's good to have with milk for breakfast, it's even better to eat dry as a snack, and it'd probably be a pretty decent way to put shingles on a gingerbread house if you're making one for the holidays.

This is the back of the box  (click here to enlarge)

The flavor is a combination of cinnamon, sugar, and gingerbread that's not sickeningly sweet, but not bland either.  I'm going to pick up a few boxes of this when it goes on clearance after the holidays to use in trail mix.

God Bless Us, Every Kernel

Mickey's Christmas Carol Coloring Book
Orville Redenbacher (1983)
During the holiday season of 1983, shoppers could pick up a free Mickey's Christmas Carol coloring book with the purchase of two jars of Orville Redenbacher popcorn.

These days, you can usually find these coloring books on eBay for ten dollars or less, but you'll have to supply your own popcorn.

The Man Of Steal

Rickey Henderson
1958 - 2024
The greatest leadoff hitter, and the greatest baserunner that the sport has ever seen passed away today, just four days before what would have been his 66th birthday.

The first ballot Hall of Famer is one of the greatest players who ever set foot on a baseball diamond.  In a career that spanned a quarter of a century, Mr. Henderson has set records in baseball that may never be broken, including most career stolen bases (1,406), most seasons leading the league in stolen bases (12), most runs scored (2,295), most unintentional walks (2,129), most games led off with a home rum (81), and most consecutive seasons in which he hit a home run (25).  He's also the only player in the 123 year history of the American League to steal over 100 bases in a single season, and he did it three times.

Calling Rickey Henderson the all-time stolen base king doesn't do justice to this man's dominance on the basepaths.  This chart that was put together by jletha on Reddit tells the story better than words could.  He isn't just the greatest base stealer of all time - he's the greatest by a mile.  His career total is just one shy of putting him at a 50% lead over Lou Brock, who has the second most stolen bases of all time.  He broke Brock's all-time record on May 1, 1991, which is around the halfway point of his Major League career which began in 1979 and ended in 2003.

Here's a number that puts Rickey's dominance on the basepaths in perspective.  He played for the New York Yankees from the start of the 1985 season until June 21, 1989 when he was traded to the Oakland Athletics.  In his four and a half seasons with the Yankees, he set the record for most stolen bases in franchise history with 326.  Derek Jeter broke that record on May 28th, 2011.  Jeter debuted with the Yankees on May 29, 1995 and became the team's starting shortstop the following year.  It took Derek Jeter 16 years (over 1,700 more games played in a Yankee uniform) to accomplish on the basepaths what Rickey Henderson did in just four and a half seasons.  Incidentally, after the Yankees traded him to the Athletics, he went on to lead the team to a World Series Championship, winning the ALCS MVP in the process.

Here's another statistic that absolutely blows my mind.  In 1982, Rickey Henderson stole 130 bases in a single season.  That was two more stolen bases than the Philadelphia Phillies entire team had that season.  It's more stolen bases than 13 entire teams had in a 2024 season, which took place after the bases were enlarged and the rules were changed to limit a pitcher's attempts to pick off a batter.

In a 2008 article for Sports Illustrated in which it was argued that Mr. Henderson should be the first person to receive 100% of the vote for their Hall of Fame candidacy, Joe Posnanski shared this observation:

I'm about give you one of my all-time favorite statistics: Rickey Henderson walked 796 times in his career leading off an inning. Think about this again. There would be nothing, absolutely nothing, a pitcher would want to avoid more than walking Rickey Henderson to lead off an inning. And yet he walked seven hundred ninety six times to lead off an inning.

He walked more times just leading off an in inning than Lou Brock, Roberto Clemente, Luis Aparicio, Ernie Banks, Kirby Puckett, Ryne Sandberg and more than 50 other Hall of Famers walked in their entire careers.

I simply cannot imagine a baseball statistic more staggering.

There will never be another Rickey Henderson.

This Is A Sorority House, Not A Convent

Black Christmas
Warner Bros Pictures (1974)
The movie that is widely considered to be both the first slasher flick and the first Christmas horror movie was released fifty years ago today.

If you want to see it before Christmas, I'm happy to say that it's very easy to find.  It's streaming for free on Tubi, Crackle, Amazon Prime, and The Roku Channel, and it's available commercial-free on Kanopy, Shudder, Peacock, and about a dozen other providers.  Just be sure that you're getting the original film from 1974 because this movie has received not one, but two remakes.  The 2006 remake isn't as good as the original, but it's a decent modern slasher that's worth checking out.  However, the 2019 remake is hands down the worst horror movie that I've ever seen in theaters and has no redeeming qualities of any kind.

This Cracker Is Praising The Barrel

Cracker Barrel
Highland Park Blvd - Wilkes Barre, PA
My wife and I both have come to appreciate Cracker Barrel more with each passing year.  The food is both reasonably priced and delicious, their store is fun to browse through while you're waiting to be seated or after you've finished eating, and best of all, the atmosphere has remained relatively unchanged since I first set foot in the place.

That last point about the atmosphere may seem like a silly thing to point out for a nationwide chain like Cracker Barrel, but it's a big deal to me.  When I was growing up in the 80's and 90's, every restaurant that I remember visiting made an effort to make their dining room feel pleasant and comfortable.  This is true even for fast food restaurants.  McDonald's and Burger King had dining rooms with dark wood, large booths that had a salt and pepper shaker on each table, a play area for children, and in some cases were decorated in such a way that set them apart from other restaurants in the chain.  I remember the McDonald's in Hazleton had their walls set up as three dimensional representations of the coal industry that once dominated Northeast PA.  That same restaurant today looks like just about every other fast food establishment in the 2020's, which is to say that it feels cold, empty, and lifeless - like something you'd find at an airport or a bus station.

I know that I'm not the only one who feels this way because I frequently see comparisons being made to the dining rooms of chain restaurants in the 80's and 90's to today.  The old Taco Bell dining room with it's southwest color scheme had a charm all of its own, as did Wendy's with their yellow and red design and their sunroom at the front of each restaurant, and Pizza Hut with their dark brick walls and Tiffany style lamps hanging from the ceiling above each table.  Go into any of these places today and the vibe feels more like a warehouse or something out of a dystopian fiction that, if it were to change tomorrow, would be missed by absolutely no one.

I'm sure there are some chain restaurants across the country with locations that haven't been remodeled to fit the modern aesthetic (if you could even call it that), or maybe a chain or two that I haven't been to who place more of an emphasis on making their dining rooms feel like a place that you'd want to relax for a half an hour or so.  There are also diners and small town restaurants that still feel warm and inviting, although they are far fewer and further between than they used to be.  However, the only chain restaurant that I've been to that have adhered to the principle of "if it's not broke, don't fix it" with their dining room atmosphere is Cracker Barrel.  I'm not going to go so far as to say that nothing at all has changed, but it feels exactly the same as it always has for the most part and I appreciate that.

The food here is also very good.  I had their pot roast dinner with hashbrown casserole on the side, and a glass of Sugar Plum iced tea to drink, and everything was delicious as it always has been.

 

Quite a few of our holiday decorations and Christmas tree ornaments have come from the Cracker Barrel store.  We have far too many decorations for the size of our house so we didn't pick up anything new, but it's still a lot of fun to look around and see what they've got.

We didn't walk away empty handed though.  There was a sign that advertised holiday pies to take home, and that Cinnamon Roll pie was calling my name!

Santa's Two Wheeled Sleigh

We didn't have much time to walk around Lititz when we stopped at the Tomato Pie Cafe this past weekend, but we did get to see this group of bikes go speeding past The Wilbur Hotel when we were headed back to the car. 

Sweet bike, St. Nick!

Twenty Years Of Berwick Lights

Christmas Boulevard
Berwick, PA (2024)
This is the 20th consecutive year that my wife and I have driven out to see the Berwick Lights together during the holiday season.  Our first year was in 2005 before she and I even started dating, and we've been out here every year since.  It's crazy how fast twenty years can go by.  It doesn't really seem like that long ago, but it's just a few years short of being half of my life.

Twenty years is peanuts compared to the length of time that Berwick have turned Market Street into a seasonal attraction.  The first Christmas Boulevard was put together in 1947 and this is the 78th year for the holiday tradition.  

Happy holidays!

Christmas Time In Amish Country

2024 Christmas Show: Joy To The World
American Music Theater - Lancaster, PA
My dad and stepmom have been going to the annual Christmas show at the American Music Theater for a few years now.  They weren't able to make it down to Lancaster this year and it was a very nice surprise when they gave us their tickets so we could check it out.

We've only been to the American Music Theater once before this past weekend when Weird Al Yankovic performed here six years ago.  It's a beautiful venue with very comfortable seating with lots of leg room.

This was one of the best, if not the very best Christmas show that I've ever seen.  The only thing that comes close is the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, and they even managed to work some of their music into the show.  I think this is going to become a new holiday tradition for us.  We've already got our tickets for next December.

The Tomato Pie Cafe

Tomato Pie Cafe
North Broad Street - Lititz, PA
My dad and my stepmom have been coming here for years and they bring back a tomato pie for my wife and I every time.  It's one of the tastiest things I've ever eaten, and I've always wanted to take a trip down here to check out the restaurant.  We finally did yesterday on the way to the Christmas show at the American Music Theater in Lancaster.

The whole town had a very cool vibe, and this restaurant fit right in.  It's a very pleasant atmosphere with dark wood and Christmas decorations.  It's not huge, but there's plenty of seating at tables and at the counter.

Next time we come down here, I've got to buy one of their coffee cups.  They make a damn good coffee here, and I got a pistachio latte to go that was incredible.

There was at least a dozen things that I wanted to try, but my dad told me how good their Tomato Pie Omelets are so I had to try one of those.  They call it the Tomato Pie Flipper on the menu, and it's one of the tastiest breakfasts that I've ever had.  This place is definitely worth taking a road trip for.

The Sega Channel

Sega Channel stickers
Sega (1997)
A video game service that was about a decade ahead of its time was officially launched thirty years ago today.  The Sega Channel was a subscription that gamers could sign up for through their cable tv provider.  A tech would come out to your home to run a second coax cable from the pole outside to wherever you had your Sega Genesis console.  They would then provide you with a special cartridge with a coax input where the cable would be connected.  Then, you'd just insert it into the Genesis like any other game cartridge and you'd have access to a library of over fifty different games, some of which could not be purchased in stores.

This letter came in the mail with stickers shortly after I subscribed.

I didn't have The Sega Channel when it first came out, but I signed up for it in the summer of 1997.  I was 17 years old at the time.  I had already graduated from high school, had my first car, my first full-time job, and had my own apartment in Beaver Meadows, PA which I lied about my age to the landlord to get.  All of that is a long story that I'm not going to get into here, but I couldn't resist the opportunity to add The Sega Channel while I still had the chance.  I remember being kind of surprised to see that it was even an option.  By this time, the Sony Playstation, Sega Saturn, and Nintendo 64 consoles had already been released, so the writing was on the wall that the old 16-bit Genesis and everything related to it was going to be discontinued.

Even though there were more advanced games available by the time I had it, I played the hell out of The Sega Channel.  My friend Margie came over my house a lot that summer and fall and we spent hours playing Castlevania Bloodlines, Golden Axe 3, and countless other games that were available on the service.  The Sega Channel lasted for about a year after I first subscribed and was cancelled on July 31st, 1998, roughly three and a half years after it was introduced.