Baltimore WNUV 54 Community News and BTV Ad

I found this ultra-nerdy clip on YouTube the other day I thought I'd share with ya'll. It's a few minutes from a Baltimore station that I logged many, many hours with in my youth. They don't really do these simple Community News bits anymore on the ol' tube but it looks positively ancient compared to TV nowadays. Second is a quick ad for BTV - Baltimore's Top Videos, a weekly music video show hosted by DJ's from the now defunct B104 FM. The DJ in this ad looks like he's dressed for a shift operating Space Mountain.

Places To See Old Movies: The Majestic

There's few things I love more than getting a chance to see an old movie in the theatre. Movies are made to be seen in a theatre - and even though nowadays you can recreate the theatrical experience at home - nothing beats a good old fashioned movie up on the silver screen.

I used to go see alot of old movies. The Baltimore area where I grew up was home to a number of venues that offered vintage flicks on a regular basis. The number of theatres that show classic cinema is dwindling. Baltimore is now an hour away from me, not to mention the time constraints of being a parent and having a family and all that other grown-up stuff, I just don't get out to many movies at all - yet alone old ones.

The Majestic Theatre in historic Gettysburg, PA is about as old as theatres get. It originally opened in 1925. When I moved to the area in the early 2000's, the theatre was a twin screen cinema that showed current Hollywood fare. The theatre was delightfully untouched since perhaps the 50's. It was also kind of a run down theatre and when a super-de-dooper Stadium Seating 16 screen cineplex opened up down the road, the Majestic's days were numbered.

Somewhere around 2005, the theatre rejuvenated itself with a complete overhaul. They renovated the entire property in order to make it look more like the original 1925 theatre. It's a really cool place to see a movie or even a show. They have live theatre here now as well.

They have two screens which now show art house releases and every summer The Majestic hosts a lineup of classic films which they show every Wednesday night in their main performing arts center theatre. I've been lucky enough to make it out to one of these events for the past three summers. Last night, I took my 7 year old to see Invasion of the Body Snatchers from 1956. I had never seen it, although it's always been on my radar as it's referenced in Gremlins. My son Elias, the budding film nerd, was all about seeing some classic sci-fi/horror...plus he was excited to see his first black and white movie in the theatre. (I told you he's gonna be a movie nerd like his Pops!)

A cool thing at the theatre is where the two art-house screens are. In the concession area there are floor to ceiling replicas of vintage movie posters on the walls.

Elias was very happy to see The Blob represented. It's one of his favorite movies (which I enjoy too.)


Attached to the theatre is a cafe. It used to be a stuffy "fancy" cafe but since I've last been here they've turned it into a more laid back flatbread cafe called Flats, where you can pick up a pretty good flatbread pizza before the movie. We had just enough time before the show to scarf down a quick classic cheese flatbread.

This simple pizza met with Elias' approval!


The classic films are held in the performing arts theatre which has been classically themed to reproduce the feel of an early 20th century theatre. Of course, any theatre that looks old fashioned on the inside looks like The Muppet Show theatre to me!

No advertisements for the new season of TNT dramas before the movie. Nice Touch!

Here's the fanciest Emergency Exit you'll ever see. It looks like The Muppet Show, doesn't it?

There's also a balcony in the theatre.

I guess I should try out a balcony seat at least once. I like to sit close to the screen, so I always feel like I'll be back way to far if I sit up there.

It's a beautiful theatre, and I'm glad they run the old films in the summer. Any chance to see a classic is great. Elias and I both enjoyed Body Snatchers very much even though he was a little disappointed it wasn't scary. I tried to explain to him that things people found scary in the 1950's don't necessarily scare us anymore.

The ticket prices are fair ($6.00 for the old movies) and the concession stand prices are way lower than the mall movie theatre. My only complaint with The Majestic is that it's such as shame to have a beautiful theatre like this and then use a video projector to screen the movies. It's disappointing because it just looks different -it's not a true movie going experience. In fact, at last nights screening they had the wrong audio track on and the Spanish subtitles and dub were playing for the first 3 minutes. It sure took them a while to shut it off and fix it. Finally, they started the movie over again - in English!

www.gettysburgmajestic.org

Fred and I `76

This picture is awesome for so many reasons! First, we've got little ol' me just shy of 4 years old hanging out with one of my best buddies, Fred Flintstone! This picture also gives us a look at how the walk around characters looked at Kings Dominion in 1976. Too bad there's not more of the park on display in this shot - over Fred's left shoulder you can just make out the giant rainbow entrance to Hanna-Barbera Land, so it's safe to assume this photograph was snapped inside the Happy Land of HB. Last but not least, the photo is dated on the back June 6, 1976. Why is someone standing in an amusement park in the summer wearing long pants and a tie? I'm not talking about Fred, because he doesn't wear pants, I'm talking about the fashionably dressed gentleman in the background.

Rip-Off Rehash

Today we're sharing a published comic strip that I had a hand in producing way back in my college days of the mid-90's. I ran this comic years ago when I started this blog, but I like to dig out old holiday stuff and reuse it so here it is again. Cleverly titled, Mr. Ed's Far Side Rip-Off this one shot comic deal ran in the late October 1994 issue of my school's bi-weekly newspaper. Basically, I wrote the joke and a buddy of mine created the artwork. At the time, there were so many professionally produced comic strips obviously ripping off the style and pacing of Gary Larson's masterpiece The Far Side I just wanted to do a comic that was completely obvious. Those other comics always had names like The Other View or Flip Side or something lame like that, so we just called it Far Side Rip-Off. I added Mr. Ed to the title thinking it would somehow be an extension of my wacky radio morning show that I did on the college radio station at the time. I'm sure nobody got the connection between Mr. Ed & The Wacky Wake Up Show and Mr. Ed's Far Side Rip-Off, but I liked to think of myself as somewhat of a media mini-mogul back in the day. Sadly, this was the only strip that ever ran in the Rip-Off series. We were just 11 strips shy of getting our own calendar.

This Used To Be My Playground

One day a few years ago, while wasting huge amounts of time on the internet, I stumbled across someone's blog entry about old playground equipment and how it was all disappearing and being replaced with new equipment. Something to do with lead paint and safety issues...blah, blah, blah. So, it got me to thinking about how cool some old playground equipment was and it propelled me to load up my kids in the car and go to a nearby playground that had a few neat old pieces. My feeling is kids don't get enough lead paint nowadays. So, I let my kids play on the old equipment and I snapped a few pics for the blog here. That was 2007 and I never used those pictures. Yesterday, we stopped by the same playground and just as the internets had predicted: all the old equipment was gone and replaced with shinny new stuff. So, I figured it would be a good time to dig up those old pics and post 'em today!

For more playground fun, check out Sit On Some Fries from July 27, 2007 featuring another cool playground that I grabbed pictures of before they tore it down.

Better Than An iPhone

That's great that I can watch entire episodes of Bones or Ugly Betty on my cell phone...no, really it is! But I'd trade all the technology in the world to get my hands on one of these Color TV Set toys again. This was, hands-down, one of my favorite toys of all time growing up! Inside the tubes on the right were long strips of paper with a comic-style story printed on them. You would attach one end of the strip to one of the blue dials and the other end to the other dial. Then you'd slide the dials into a tray with the TV Set cover on it and turn the dials advancing the comic story or "show" frame by frame! Oh, such fun! Seriously, I used to play with these things till the paper scrolls just wore away to nothing!


And this set pictured here is pretty sweet with some of the Hanna-Barbera gang on it. I'm pretty sure I had this very set. Notice how the characters on the packaging are a bit off-model. Back then, toy companies only had to pay for the rights to reproduce the likeness of a character...nowadays the images have to be approved by the animation studio to make sure the characters look right.

Still, this toy is so much low-tech fun it's really a shame that kids today won't even know the joys of spending 45 minutes loading a vertical comic strip into a little plastic machine to read it frame by frame!

Old Malls: Harundale Mall

I love old photographs of malls. Especially when they are soaked in 1960's and 70's decor and fashion. Here's some great old pics I found online of Harundale Mall in Glen Burnie, Maryland.

I wasn't a frequent guest at this mall, but it was near my grandparent's house and then later in life I had some friends who lived near by, so I did visit the mall on more than one occasion. Harundale Mall was one of the nation's first enclosed malls and at the time of it's opening in 1958 - the only enclosed mall east of the Mississippi River. It was not a very large mall (by today's standards) but it was very grand. It had a unique layout and even when visiting it as a child in the 80's I could tell that the mall was from another era.

I remember the mall had a Horn & Horn Smogasbord Cafeteria, which were hard to come by by the time I was in high school. There was also a Polock Johnny's stand in the middle of the mall which I don't need to tell you...was some good eats!

Here's a shot of the movie theatre, which was actually a separate building in a parking lot across the street. I know I had seen a small handful of movies there but the only specific one I can remember is my mom taking my brother and I to see Back To The Future. Eventually the theatre became a second run/dollar theatre before closing. I think it's a church now!?!

I actually worked at Harundale Mall one night. One of my first jobs was with a photographer who ran the Santa Claus operations at a number of malls. I worked at a mall near my house, but one night I filled in for somebody at Harundale Mall on the night they were having Pet Photos with Santa. (I hate animals...it was an interesting night!) Another fun memory I have of the mall is the time my buddy and I were escorted out by security for trying to videotape in the mall. I didn't know you needed permission from the mall to shoot inside and I guess it didn't help matters that I was working on a school project and had a full size professional-grade TV camera with us. Ah...memories! If I remember right, we put the camera in the car and went back inside and got some Polock Johnny's.

The mall was built by James Rouse who much later went on to build the bigger and fancier Marley Station Mall right down the road from Harundale. Over time, Marley Station put Harundale and all the other malls in the area out of business. Harundale Mall hung on until 1998. The following year, Harundale Plaza debuted in the same spot as the mall with a supermarket, Outback Steak House, Hollywood Video and other boring offerings.

Early 80's Christmas Wishes

I should probably pay my mom some kind of finders fee for all the stuff she digs up in the far recesses of her home and passes on to me for fodder for this blog. Sometime ago she came across some Christmas lists that my brother and I had written to Santa Claus almost 30 years ago. (That doesn't make me feel old!) This first one is mine from 1980...

Not only did I indeed get the Charlie Brown record listed in the #1 spot, I still have the record. In fact, it's sitting on the shelf no more than 10 feet from where I'm sitting now. Good times! (I can still recite the whole thing for you if you like!) As you may know, I have a pretty good memory of my childhood and I know somewhere along the line we had a drum set and a Lite-Bright...but other than those three things I'm pretty sure not a single other item on the front of this list ever made it under my tree. There are four more items on the back side of this list (which I didn't bother to scan) and it does list a Star Wars Twin-Pod Car which I do remember having.

The next list is from the following year, 1981...

I did like me some records back in the day! Pink Panther Party Time & Smurfs All-Star Show were two records that Santa did leave for me in 1981! Sadly, both of those records have not survived over the years and that's a shame because I'd love to hear the Smurfs album again. (I'm a pink toothbrush...you're a blue toothbrush...) If I recall correctly, my brother got the Dukes of Hazzard Etch-a-Sketch set which were little plastic sheets you put over the Etch-a-Sketch screen and play games with. I'm pretty sure I ended up getting the Smurfs set, which was just as good I'm sure. Both years I asked Santa for a Mighty Mouse Punching Bag. I'm gonna assume I saw that in a Sears catalog or maybe a TV commercial because it's kind of random...but the bottom line is I never got one. I love me some Mighty Mouse though!

Who knows!? Maybe I did get some things that I just don't remember but either way we always had fun on Christmas morning and I have plenty of warm, fuzzy memories that I hope I'm creating for my children now.

Johnny Carson Does Walter Cronkite

Yahoo News:
Legendary CBS anchor Walter Cronkite dies at 92

And here's a brief clip from the film Back to Neverland which played at the Animation Studio tour at Disney/MGM Studios Theme Park when it opened in 1989:

Capt. Andy's River Towne

This salty fellow here with the banjo is Capt. Andy. The good Capt. was host of the fun there was to be had at Capt. Andy's River Towne. River Towne was a Chuck E. Cheese inspired restaurant in the Putty Hill Shopping Center in Baltimore, MD back in the early part of the 1980's. Now, I've always been a big fan of audio animatronics, but when I was little - getting to see audio animatronics outside of Walt Disney World was just a mind blowing experience. I remember after-school cartoons flooded with commercials for this place but I only have very faint memories of visiting this fun location once. Like Mr. Cheese, Capt. Andy had plenty of video games to play and served pizza with a big ol' audio animatronic filled show. But the big difference with River Towne was the show. The Chuck E. Cheese show (at the time) featured 5 characters standing side by side and only visible from the waist up. At River Towne you dined while watching a show presented on a full scale replica of a turn of the century riverside community.

I've looked for information about this restaurant several times before while cruising the internets. But it wasn't until a couple of nights ago that I found anything at all. I happened across a handful of pictures of the River Towne show while looking through a website devoted to all things Showbiz Pizza Place. (You don't remember Show Biz Pizza Place...? Well, that's another post for another time!) Wish I could tell you a little more about these pictures, but I'm sure at the time I was too excited to see the show to be able to commit any of it to memory.

Good Times!

Fountains, Man! Where 'the Fountains?

Everytime we go into our local crappy little 20-store mall, I lament over how badly the mall needs a fountain (not to mention a food court.) Why were there always fountains in malls? Who knows...but that's the way it used to be and the world was a better place for it. So, I've decided that in 2009, I'm going to add Shopping Mall Fountains to my list of stupid little things in life that I get a kick out of.

Here's a vintage shot from the great Mall in Columbia of Columbia, MD. The good ol' Columbia Mall used to feature many fountains. This large fountain was the centerpiece of the mall. The body of water still sits there to this day, but the fountains have been turned off so that a car dealer can park his cars in and around the fountain. Because when you're thinking of buying a new car, you go to a mall fountain to do some window shopping!?! The mall used to have three other smaller fountains which have all been retired in favor of a playground, additional food court seating and a Comcast Cable kiosk!

Our motto in 2009? Viva las Mall Fountains!

Three Screen Memories

I have alot of great memories of a variety of different movie theatres that I frequented in my younger years. We were never ones to just go to the same theatre everytime we went to the movies but there are three theatres that stick out in my mind as the most memorable.

First was the awesome Westview Cinemas on Rt. 40 in Catonsville, Maryland. This was a giant theatre with a beautiful lobby and a very dated look inside. It had a low-tech snackbar that offered all the movie theatre staples at somewhat reasonable prices. Their theatre #5 was just about the most awesome place to see a movie. It was a huge auditorium with a giant curved widescreen that sat behind a curtain. The sound system was fantastic, and I would often go see whatever movie was playing in #5 just because the presentation was so good. The theatre went out of business in 1997. The last film I saw there was the first Austin Powers movie.

Second, was the Lowes Columbia Palace 9. This theatre opened when I was in the 8th grade, and I can remember going there for the first time - my mom took my brother and I and my friend Roy to see The Three Amigos. Good Stuff. It's probably the theatre I've been to the most. When I was in high school my friend Jason and I would end up at Palace 9 at least once a week. Sometimes, on a weekend, we would easily catch 2 to 3 shows for the price of one. They ended up tearing down this piece of my childhood to make way for a Giant Food in 2001. Last movie I saw there was Remember the Titans.

And last we had the General Cinema Columbia City III which sat in downtown Columbia since 1972 across the street from the mall. My earliest movie going memories are from this theatre including my first movie ever: Once Upon a Time (a 1976 German animated film that we must have seen in a re-release or kiddie matinee) And I can totally remember back to 1981 and me standing in the theatre all by myself watching the final credits of The Great Muppet Caper and getting the bonus joke all the way at the end of the movie. I also saw my first Police Academy in the theatre here...it was #5: Assignment Miami Beach and in high school I cut summer school to ride my bike to the theatre to see Jetsons The Movie on opening day. Alot of great memories at this theatre which was apparently torn down in 2000. I'm not sure what the last movie I saw there was, but I'm guessing it was Jane Austin's Mafia!

Anywho...the point of all this is...for anyone who frequented the Columbia City III back in the day, or if you had a General Cinema in your hometown: here's a great little video I found on
YouTube the other night. It's an 8-minute package of all the old film elements used before the movies at General Cinemas. The goes from the 60's to the 90's. It's awesome! Enjoy....

Hanna-Barbera Survivors

Outside of Scooby-Doo, any references to anything Hanna-Barbera left at Kings Dominion is strictly a matter of economics. Sometimes it's just cheaper to leave things the way they are. On my recent photo-taking spree at the theme park, I captured a few images of some things still hanging on from the time Yogi Bear was the park's mascot.



This sign can be seen hanging over the entrance to the Dodge Em Bumper Cars, one of the parks original rides. Here, Mumbly shows us the proper way to secure ourselves in the bumper cars. Mumbly was the star of his own Saturday morning cartoon around the same time Kings Dominion was built. He later appeared in the classic Laff-A-Lympics series also on Saturday mornings. Mumbly looks alot like Muttley, another Hanna-Barbera dog but they are actually two different characters.

At the loading station for the Blue Ridge Tollway antique car ride there still hangs a sign featuring characters from a late 60's show called WACKY RACES. These characters are so obscure, I don't even know their names!!!

In the original kiddie section of the park, Hanna-Barbera Land, there was a few Flintstone themed attractions all grouped together along with some other Flintstone landscaping and structures. The only remaining bit o'Flintstones at the park is this kiddie bumper car building that doesn't have any direct references to the show, but it was built to look like it would have existed in the Flintstones world. The cars inside the ride are just regular looking bumper cars.

Last we have these graphics that still remain outside of what was once Yogi's Cave. Yogi's Cave was an awesome walkthrough attraction that we've discussed many times here at WWoB before. It's now called Treasure Cave, and (almost) everything inside it has been removed. In fact, the contents of the Yogi-less cave are a subject for an upcoming post on this very blog. The outside of the end of the cave to this day features these Hanna-Barbera style graphics. If you look closely you can see where some other graphics have been removed. I believe Yogi or the Ranger once stood here pointing to the entrance to the cave. Now, it's just kind of these weird cartoony forest sitting among real plants.

Victoria Gardens/Victoria Pizza

On my recent picture filled trip to Kings Dominion I wanted to grab a few photos of this pizza place. It's a big building that I know has been there for a long time, possibly since the beginning. In the older days it was known as Victoria Gardens, now it's simply referred to as Victoria Pizza. It's one of the few dining spots at the theme park that has stayed almost the same all these years. There's a spot in the Old Virginia section of the park known as Country Kitchen that's still the same, and Victoria's neighbor The Sweet Tooth has been called that since the opening days of the park...except now The Sweet Tooth is also a Subway sandwich shop as well!? Anywho...I really like the untouched 1970's theme park feel of this building and glad to see it still around!

Just to illustrate how things have changed in the last 30 years, here's the description of Victoria Gardens from the 1981 KD Park Guide: "Tantalizing cheese and pepperoni pizzas, lasagna, meatball subs, tossed salad, various desserts, soft drinks and beer. Relax in air-conditioned seating." Here's the 2007 Park Guide's two cents on the same place: "Pizza, lasagna, salads, beer, drinks". Not quite as inviting, eh!?

On our visit to the park a couple of weeks ago we stopped here for dinner: 2 pizzas and 6 large sodas. Cost of our meal: $67!!

Sit On Some Fries!

A couple of weeks ago while traveling in parts previously uncharted by myself, I spotted a McDonalds playground that still had outdoor seating featuring the old McDonaldland characters. Today I loaded the kids up in the car for a tasty McDonald's lunch at that very same McDonalds some thirty minutes away from my home just so I could snap some pictures of these classic table and chairs. As with everything else this age, I'm sure they will be ripped out soon and replaced with something shiny and modern and boring. I'd love to find a Mickey D's that still had the Mayor McCheese and Big Mac climbing structures.

French Fry Happy Meal Guy

Hamburgers and Cheeseburgers

Grimace (sans pupils)

Female Fry Guy