What's The Deal With The Subway?

Eleven subway cars on New York's No. 7 line have been transformed into Monk's Cafe to promote the fact that Seinfeld will be in syndication on WPIX at 11:00 pm.  [source: USA Today]

[source: USA Today]

The Laurel Lives On

Standard Speaker
May 10, 2014

Sometimes The Acorn Does Fall Far From The Tree

Tony Gwynn Jr
Philadelphia Phillies (2014)
It's going to be a long season.

You've Survived The Plague, Lieutenant Dan

Stephen King's The Stand
ABC Television mini-series
People who know me might tell you that Star Wars is my favorite work of fiction; however people who really know me will tell you that it's The Stand.  The mini-series that was inspired by the work that I consider to be the greatest novel of the century in which it was written premiered on ABC twenty years ago today.  It was my first exposure to the story of The Stand and it opened up a whole new world for me.  I was so blown away by the mini-series that I picked up the novel in paperback a few days after I saw it, and I loved the book even more.  Reading that opened the door for me to The Dark Tower and to the rest of the works of Stephen King.

I didn't see this when it first aired on television, but I brought the VHS tapes home to watch a few years later when I worked at Blowout Video as a teenager.  "Don't Fear The Reaper" by Blue Oyster Cult sets the tone from the very beginning, and the score throughout the series, by W. G. Snuffy Walden, is haunting and beautiful.  "Don't Dream It's Over" by Crowded House beginning in Franny's living room (or was that her mother's parlor?) and continuing as a backdrop to the aftermath of the plague is unforgettable.  Larry Underwood's character (played brilliantly by Adam Storke) captures the moment of the journey across the country when he sits on a car in a traffic jam of the dead playing Barry McGuire's "Eve of Destruction".  Larry also puts music to "Baby, Can You Dig Your Man" sixteen years after it first appeared in print.  I still wonder who performed it for the mini-series, and if a full version of the song exists somewhere.

There are a lot of little Easter Eggs hiding in the mini-series.  Some are references to the novel that were cut from television, while others are just fun things to find.  For example: who on earth put a New York Mets bumper sticker on The Monster Shouter's sandwich boards?  The cast members themselves have such a diverse background that it's fun to connect the dots to their previous work.  Is that My Favorite Martian as Glen Bateman?  How about Agent Rosenfield from Twin Peaks as Lloyd Henreid?  Is that Max Headroom as The Trashcan Man, and is he bowing down and praying to Biff Tannen's Pleasure Paradise?  Did Jigsaw's female accomplice from the Saw franchise learn how to be a henchwoman by working for Randall Flagg?  Didn't I see Mother Abigail as a much younger woman in college when we watched A Raisin In The Sun?  Was that Officer Vinnie Schtulman picking up Nick and Tom on the road to Hemingford Home, and what the heck did Alf do to Willie Tanner to make him want to arrest Stu Redman in Arnette?  The series has dozens of actors and actresses that you will recognize, both in major and minor roles.

If you haven't seen this, I highly recommend it whether you've read the novel or not.  It can either open the same door for you as it did for me, or it will bring the world that you've imagined in the novel to life on the screen as well as the best film adaptation of a book that you'll ever find.

Inside You The Time Moves And She Don't Fade

Mirror Moves
The Psychedelic Furs (1984)
The fourth studio album from one of my favorite bands turns thirty years old today.

The Ghost In You
The Psychedelic Furs (1984)

A man in my shoes runs a light

And all the papers lied tonight

But falling over you

Is the news of the day

Angels fall like rain

And love... is all of heaven away

Inside you the time moves and she don't fade

The ghost in you, she don't fade

Inside you the time moves and she don't fade

A race is on, I'm on your side

And hearing you, my engines die

I'm in a mood for you

For running away

Stars come down in you

And love... you can't give it away

Inside you the time moves and she don't fade

The ghost in you, she don't fade

Inside you the time moves and she don't fade

Don't you go, it makes no sense

When all your talking supermen

Just take away the time

And get in the way

Ain't it just like rain?

And love... is only heaven away

Inside you the time moves and she don't fade

The ghost in you, she don't fade

Inside you the time moves and she don't fade

The ghost in you, she don't fade

Remember The Alamogordo

Atari 2600 Landfill
Alamogordo, NM
In April 2014, after decades of Atari denying its existence, a documentary film crew has found and is excavating the New Mexico desert to find tens of thousands of unsold Atari 2600 games, consoles and peripherals that were dumped and buried in September, 1983.

All This Talking Is Only Bravado

A Walk Across The Rooftops
The Blue Nile (1984)
The debut album from the Scottish band The Blue Nile was released 30 years ago today.  I originally discovered them after finding a beautiful song called Tinseltown In The Rain on a new wave mixtape.  You can listen to it here.

Three Villains And The Fonz

Actor Michael Rosenbaum tweeted this selfie from an airplane in which he was seated in front of Tom Felton, Robert Englund, and Henry Winkler.  Imagine boarding this plane and sitting next to Lex Luthor, Draco Malfoy, Freddy Krueger, and Fonzie.

Four Score And Two Cheeks Ago

Could this be the long-awaited National Treasure 3?  [source: Ellen]

Flying The Sky Pop

Super Mario Land and Tetris Strategy Guide
Nintendo of Japan (1989)
Mario's debut on the original Game Boy was released in Japan 25 years ago today.  Super Mario Land was a very early title for the handheld and it's probably the least polished of any Super Mario Bros platformer released on a Nintendo console, but it's still a hell of a lot of fun to play.

Who Has An Agenda

[source: Tumblr]

Picture It... London, 1970

Traffic in London
British Pathé (1970)
Shot from the front seat of a moving vehicle driving through the black taxi cabs, double decker buses, and other ordinary London traffic.

Zombies At The Wienerwald

Dawn Of The Dead
Embassy 1 on 7th Avenue - New York, NY

The George A. Romero zombie classic premiered in Italy on September 1, 1978, but it didn't make its way to the United States until the following April.  This photo was taken sometime in the second half of April, 1979 with it being screened at the Embassy 1 near Times Square.

The last time I wrote about this theater, I mentioned that the 1560 Broadway property to the right was once a Weinerwald Austrian Restaurant, but by the time that photo was taken, it had already been converted into a McDonald's.  In this photo, you can see the original Weinerwald when it was in its prime.

While researching Weinerwald, I found another photo of the restaurant that also includes the marquee from the Embassy 1 theater next door.  This one was taken by photographer Nick DeWolf at a time when the Charlton Heston and Ava Gardner disaster film Earthquake was being shown.

There's a lot more information about this Weinerwald location on the NY History Geschichte blog.

Freddy vs Jason Closes Out The 80's

Friday The 13th: The Final Chapter
Paramount Pictures (1984)
The fourth and not-quite final chapter in the Friday The 13th saga premiered in theaters 30 years ago today.  This WPIX advertisement is for an airing that took place on November 2nd, 1989.  The network followed this up the next night with A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors as the 8 O'Clock Movie.

Loving Brew Is The Right Thing To Do

Source: Imgur

April Fool

This person ran out of space to share their opinions and has resorted to printing paper signs that threaten gun violence to hang on their back windshield.  Yup... totally normal behavior right here.  😏

A Win Is A Win

Opening Day 2014
Philadelphia Phillies @ Texas Rangers

That was an interesting start to the season.  Ryan Howard and Carlos Ruiz walked in the top of the 2nd and Code Asche doubled with two outs to put the Phillies on the board.  Tony Gwynn Jr came up to bat next and drew a walk to load the bases, followed by a Ben Revere RBI single to put the Phillies up 2-0.  This brought Jimmy Rollins to the plate who hit a grand slam to give the Phillies what should have been a comfortable 6-0 lead for Cliff Lee to cruise to an easy victory.

Well, Cliff Lee did get the win, but it was anything but an easy cruise.  He got knocked around by his former team, giving up 8 earned runs on 11 hits and just one strikeout in five innings of work.  The slugfest continued for both teams, but the Phillies came out on top, scoring 14 runs on 17 hits to defeat the Rangers 14-10.

Unfortunately, one player that I had been rooting for this Spring did not make the flight to Arlington with the team.

Philadelphia Daily News  (March 27, 2014)

Philadelphia Daily News  (March 28, 2014)

Bobby Abreu didn't make the Phillies 40 man roster out of Spring Training.  He was pretty solid at the plate, batting .244 with a .404 OBP, but he was pretty terrible in the field and the team was looking for more defensive versatility off of the bench.  He signed a minor league deal with the New York Mets today, so my dream of seeing him close out his career in Philadelphia is officially dead in the water.  

 

Oh well... at least he was in a Phillies uniform long enough to be included in this year's postcard team set, and we got the win on Opening Day.  It was bowling shoe ugly, but hey, a win is a win.

A Door Is A Jar

When I was a teenager, I drove a black 1986 Chrysler LeBaron.  It had pretty much every option that was available in the late 80's: leather seats, digital dash, AM/FM Cassette, etc…  The damn thing even talked!  If you opened the door while the car was still running, a very robotic female voice would exclaim “A door is ajar”, to which I would always respond “No it’s not.  It’s a door” (yes, I had a running joke with an inanimate object).

The car was over ten years old when I got it, but it was only $1,000 and it ran beautifully.  Unfortunately, I only had it for a few years.  Someone broke into it while I was at a concert and ripped it apart and the cost to repair it was more than the car was worth.  I don't think that I have any pictures of the interior of the car, but this image that I saw on Tumblr is pretty close to how I remember it.

Paradise By The Deli Case Lights

Homestyle Meatloaf
Wegmans - Wilkes-Barre, PA

Don't sleep on the Homestyle Meatloaf from the Meals To Go counter at Wegmans.  It's outstanding!

Movin' On Up

I've been promoted to Consumer Experience Specialist at work.  This is basically the quality coach for our team, so my new role will be to monitor phone calls, email, chat, postal mail, and social media correspondence and to provide feedback.

Monkey Muscle For Breakfast

Donkey Kong Junior Cereal
Ralston (1984)

I wish I would have had the opportunity to try this cereal, but I was 3 years old when it first hit store shelves.  Bummer.

A Memento From A Lost Season

Philadelphia Phillies mini jersey
Kellogg's Canada (1994)

To the best of my knowledge, this promotion didn't cross the border into the United States, but if you bought a specially-marked box of Kellogg's Cereal in Canada back in 1994, you would receive a free mini MLB team jersey.

This promotion was part of the celebration of the 125th season of MLB.  Unfortunately, the season ended on August 12th with the start of the player's strike that resulted in the cancellation of the World Series.

Veterans (Stadium) Day

Veterans Stadium
Philadelphia, PA
The Vet was imploded ten years ago today.  It was home to the Phillies for over three decades, and it was the site of the franchise first World Series Championship in 1980.  Fun fact: The Vet was also home to the 1986 Great American Bash in which the main event saw Ric Flair defeat Ricky Morton in a steel cage match to retain the NWA World Heavyweight Championship.

Things That Bounce In Wilkes-Barre

Don't tell me there's nothing to do in the Wyoming Valley.

My Little Backpack

A nine year old boy in North Carolina was being bullied by a few kids in elementary school because he had a My Little Pony backpack.  Instead of punishing the bullies and doing their job to create a harassment-free environment for the children who are in their care, they punished the victim by telling him that he couldn't use his backpack in school.  How twisted is this?

My Little Pony was around when I was a kid.  It was definitely considered a "girls" cartoon back in the day, but I think that even the most bigoted simpleton would have a difficult time finding something in the show that is in any way inappropriate for boys.  That is, of course, besides the point.  There shouldn't be a problem if he carried a Barbie backpack and wore pink barrettes in his hair if it makes him happy because it literally would not hurt anybody in this world if he did, but the fact that the school would have such a huge problem about a kid carrying a backpack from a cartoon that's about ponies and friendship should show you what's going on here.  The school district is siding with the bullies out of pure laziness.  It's easier to force one kid to conform to playground gender norms than it is to teach a hateful little bastard that abusing others is wrong.

The school district's laziness isn't doing the bullies any favors either.  Carrying a My Little Pony backpack is not a crime.  However, harassment is a crime.  By creating an environment that punishes the victim to cover for criminal behavior is going to teach the bully that there's nothing wrong with harassing other people any time you feel like it.  If you grow up in an environment where it's acceptable to abuse others for your amusement, you're setting the bully up for a difficult life when their behavior continues beyond the protective confines of public school and becomes a matter for law enforcement to deal with.

There's no excuse for this.  None whatsoever.  [source: Judd Legum]

Couch Potato Regrets

Couch Potato
Coleco (1987)

I stared at this thing at Black Diamond for an uncomfortable amount of time while deciding whether or not I should bring it home.  I didn't end up buying it, but if I had noticed the Lanco price tag, it probably would have tipped the scales.

Goooooal!

Bally World Cup Soccer
Bally Manufacturing (1968)

If I had the spare cash or the space in my house, this would have come home from Schuylkill Mall with me.  It's an electro-mechanical arcade game that was manufactured by Bally's in the late 60's.  I've never come across this in an arcade, and it wasn't set up to play at Black Diamond Antiques, but it looks like a lot of fun.

He's So Fluffy!

Cameron And The Uncola

These photos of Cameron Diaz have been shared on a lot of different websites and social media pages recently, but I couldn't find one of them that included the source.  There doesn't even seem to be an agreement on the year, with dates ranging from 1991 to 1995.  Whatever the source is, they're pretty cool photos of one of the most talented actresses in the world standing in front of a row of vintage 7-Up and Pepsi machines while snacking on some Cheetos.

An Unidentified Flying Pickle Bumps Into You

Kids Menu #9: Space Game
Denny's (1980)

The menu that was given to children at Denny's restaurants in the late 70's and early 80's came with an activity printed on the back.  The ninth one in the series included a space-themed board game on the back, which features an dangerous intergalactic pickle.

Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy - Text Adventure Game

Original Game: Infocom (1984)

30th Anniversary Edition: BBC.CO.UK

30th Anniversary Edition

• Play the game online at BBC.CO.UK
• About the game
• Frequently asked questions
• How to play

Original Release

• Review (Pat the NES Punk)
• Retro Unbox (xiann)
• Playthrough (Day-Glo Buffalo)

A Record Breaking Selfie

This selfie taken by actor Bradley Cooper at the 86th Academy Awards was posted to Ellen DeGeneres' Twitter account.  Within 24 hours, it has set the record for the most retweets in the history of Twitter.

The photo includes (clockwise from left to right): Jared Leto, Jennifer Lawrence, Channing Tatum, Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Kevin Spacey, Brad Pitt, Lupita Nyong'o, Angelina Jolie, Peter Nyong'o Jr, Bradley Cooper, and Ellen DeGeneres.

Burned Into Our Memory

Pac Man
Namco/Midway (1980)
This is what happens to the screen in a Pac Man arcade machine after many years of service [source: Dewshan on Imgur].

The Art And Culture Of Moosylvania

Moosylvania: A Group Art Show Tribute To Jay Ward
Van Eaton Galleries (2014)
An art exhibition that is inspired by the works of Jay Ward is having its opening reception tonight in Sherman Oaks, California.  One hundred artists, designers and illustrators have each created a single piece that was inspired by the legendary creator of Rocky & Bullwinkle.  All of these will be on display at Van Eaton Galleries.