A Day Out With Thomas

Yesterday we went to A DAY OUT WITH THOMAS, a unique event where kids get to see Thomas the Tank Engine upclose and at work. Everyone even gets to take a ride on a train pulled by Thomas! It's a fun experience and a must for any family with a little Thomas fan. The special event is going on now through the weekend at the Strasburg Railroad in PA. The next two weekends Thomas will be at the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad in Cumberland, MD. He'll also be stopping by Strasburg again Nov. 30 to December 2. Here's the National Schedule for those of you in other parts of the country.

Take a look at some of the fun from yesterday at my Photo Album page.

Ed's Bookshelf #5 The Love Bug

Here's the front and back covers for the original novelization of Disney's 1969 hit THE LOVE BUG. Notice anything different about Herbie between the two covers!? That's right...on the front cover of this widely distributed book the little VW Bug is missing his racing number 53 from his passenger side door. The cover picture is a still from the actual movie which also features the numberless Herbie. This same image from the film was also used on the original laserdisc release of the title. The Herbie car seen here was a stunt car built with a tilt for the shot they needed. I guess the crew was so wrapped up in pulling off the stunt that no one noticed Herbie needed a bit of a touch up from the makeup department.

By the way, the back cover won the Scholastic award for most use of parenthesis.

Ed's Bookshelf #4 Felicity and Friends

Here's a weird one still sitting on my bookshelf, Felicity and Friends by Kristin Sparks. This is one of those cheap, quickly thrown together books to cash in on the sudden popularity of The WB teen drama Felicity. Felicity was about a young girl who secretly had a crush on a guy in high school and she ends up going to the same college as he does just for the chance to get to know him better. The show had me onboard from minute one as the title role of Felicity was played by Keri Russell.

I was first aware of Keri from her days on The Disney Channel's Mickey Mouse Club. I spent my hours of my teenaged years watching that show. From MMC, Keri appeared in the Disney flick HONEY, I BLEW UP THE KID which remains one of my favorite films to this day. She bounced around from project to project, none of which ever captured much attention. That includes the sitcom DADDY'S GIRLS which she costared in along with Dudley Moore. (Wow)

Anywho... this book, and others like it, takes about a magazine article worth of information and manages to stretch it into 181 pages of actor bios, episode recaps, and quotes from such pillars of journalism as YM and Tiger Beat magazine. There's also Chapter 17 "Touring the Web with Felicity" which is all about different Felicity websites that you could visit.

Felicity's creator J. J. Abrams went on to create two more popular TV shows: Alias and Lost. He's also doing the new Star Trek movie.

Smurfs' Alive!

Here's a cool picture from an early 90's Kings Dominion brochure that I had to share with ya'll! How excited are those girls to be meeting THE Papa Smurf in the flesh?! This picture is also great for the background peak at the Hanna-Barbera Land sign. This giant rainbow stood over the entrance to the kiddie land section of the park. Once you passed beneath this huge rainbow the landscape was filled with giant colorful mushrooms and flowers. One of my favorite touches was a little audio-animatronic frog, chomping on a cigar and playing the piano, accompanied by a chorus of singing mushrooms! That was good times right there! Now, Kings Dominion's kids section is filled with two dimensional graphics of long forgotten Nickelodeon shows like Little Bill and CatDog. Long Live the Smurfs!

Surf's Up @ The Boardwalk

We went to Hersheypark last weekend and checked out their latest attraction, a whole new section of the park called The Boardwalk. Hersheypark isn't really known for their impressive themeing but they went all out for this new one-of-a-kind waterbased area. The Boardwalk takes you to your favorite east coast beach resort where there's a boardwalk with food, games and shopping. There's a beach area, complete with a wavepool and there are plenty of water slides to keep the crowds busy. They did a really good job capturing not only the look and feel of a trip to the beach but even the smell. It really smelled like a salt-water breeze was in the air! I'm not much for waterparks, especially inside an already established theme park, but it's it's your cup of tea It's worth a visit next summer when the sun returns. One of the unique stands along the boardwalk was a photo op booth where you can have your picture taken in some wacky beach sets. Being the suckers we are, we plopped down $20 bucks for these cute pictures of our kids...

Catch A Wave - Elias' Hawaiian shirt really seals the deal here, plus he was cooperating! (Which is rare!)

Open Water 3 - How cute is Tanner up front there!?! Sadly, the boys were devoured by the sharks shortly after we snapped this picture.

Carowinds Entertainment 1988

Today for your odd viewing pleasure we have the entertainment schedule from Carowinds 1988. (For those of you that don't know, Carowinds in a sister park of Kings Dominion/Kings Island on the NC/SC border.) Live shows ain't quite the priority at theme parks today as they were 20 years ago. This lineup of shows is a great example of the different kinds of shows just about every park had. The show names and the songs would change every year, but the shows themselves were always the same!

First off you might notice IMPACT, a Cinema 180 film just like I wrote about last week. Suddenly you're in the middle of a fast-paced, mound-leaping motorcross race. That just about sums up how all the Cinema 180 films were. (How great would a DVD of these films be!??)

Every park had their one big theatre were they put on the BIG production, here it's called GOTTA DANCE. Probably a lot of glitter, short skirts and a prerecorded music track. Some of the performers in the big show would always also be found in smaller musical reviews around the park. BRAND NEW BEAT and COUNTRY ROADS I'm sure followed this formula: three guys and three gals (one of the guys would be slightly overweight OR one of the six performers would be black...it could go either way), script about how much everybody loves that particular type of music, a salute to a particular singer or songwriter of the genre, duets galore, a finale where some big prop like a fake car would be brought out. They never sang a whole song in these shows, yet they would cover portions of about 35 songs in 20 minutes. The most overused theme for these shows was 60's beach music which would always involve an underdeveloped plot about a romance between two of the singers. (Yes, I saw alot of these shows in my youth!)

My favorite show would always be the character show, here YOGI'S GREAT ELECTION. The character show was made up of several costumed performers and one live human actor. The cartoon characters voices were prerecorded on tape and the live actor dropped in his or her lines live on stage. The live actor character's name would be gender neutral like Chris, Sammy, or C.J. so that it didn't matter if it was a guy or gal - Yogi Bear could still address them by name. Whoever was with me at the park always had to suffer through at least one of these shows with me. One summer during college I took a girl to Kings Dominion and made her attend a performance of THE BEDROCK SQUARES, she was so mad at me she wanted to leave the park after the show. Whatever Katie...at least I got to see the Flintstones!

Some Cereal Commercials

I was in the mood for another YouTube post today, so here's two great cereal commercials from Saturday morning cartoons circa 1983.

Flintstones Sell Insurance

Luckily I have a wife who takes care of things like the car insurance and that bill you have to pay every month to keep your house, but if I was running the ship I would so switch our insurance to Geico just because of this new commercial...



...and then I'd have to switch back again when I saw another one of those Caveman commercials.

I Miss Cinema 180

One of my favorite amusement park attractions growing up was the Cinema 180, a movie projected onto a huge, round 180 degree screen. The image was so large and surrounding that it completely gave you the feeling of movement even though you weren't moving at all. In fact, these theatres never even had seats - everyone just sat on the floor. The theatres itself was actually a big dome tent-like structure that housed nothing more than a screen and a projector. But I used to love those things! The movies never had any point to them what-so-ever! They would be a collection of images such as driving real fast through traffic, flying in all sorts of airborne contraptions, and the very popular front seat of the roller coaster shot. All these movies had at least one trip on a roller coaster which the audiences loved, which looking back on it is kind of silly because these theatres were in amusement parks where an honest to goodness REAL roller coaster experience was just a few footsteps away. I remember one of the more creative Cinema 180 films features larger than life footage of a circus and another scene where a man opened a jar and tarantulas came crawling out toward the audience.

My most vivid memories of Cinema 180 come from (of course) Kings Dominion. Their theatre used to be slightly off International Street on the right hand side. It's not there anymore, however over at Hersheypark the Cinema 180 tent still stands but it's used as an arcade. I suspect most parks got rid of their theatre when the technologies of motion-simulators became popular at amusement parks. These rides offer a similar sensation except your seats actually move.

The image above is from a brochure for a long-gone Orlando, Florida attraction called Adventure Dome. This Cinema 180 theatre wasn't part of an amusement park, it just sat by itself on the side of the road and you paid for just the movie. It didn't last too long.

In Pac-Man We Trust

Recently I mentioned my trip to Six Flags Over Georgia in the great summer of 1984 and a little remembered attraction known as Pac-Man's Play Port. I still haven't been able to find out much information about the kids themed area of the park except that a few of the other Six Flags parks had a whole Kiddieland section devoted to Pac-Man. Anywho, my mom (who is always quick to get my crap out of her house by offering it to me as material for the blog) offered me these Pac-Man game tokens which she assumed were from Pac-Man Play Port. Alas, these tokens are from the 1982 World's Fair which was held in Knoxville, Tennessee. Pac-Man had a big presence at the `82 World's Fair and I remember it all quite fondly. There were several large gift shops throughout the fair selling all kinds of Pac-Man stuff. If I'm not mistaken, I got a Pac-Man elastic belt with a magnet buckle, it had Pac-Man chasing the ghosts, and dots and power pellets all around it. The Fair also boasted lots of arcades which were superhot at the time. These Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man tokens are just two of the seven that were produced for the fair. They are pretty cool. The image on the Pac-Man token is a popular graphic that was used on a number of items like lunch boxes and Frisbees.

And finally we leave you with this image from the 1982 World's Fair staring 9 year-old me along with my brother and a certain ghost chomping friend who mistook us for Inky and Blinky!

It's Been a Busy Summer

Elias' Fourth Birthday

Four seems to be that magical age where a kid really starts to understand what his birthday is all about and all the goodies associated with having a birthday. Elias was so excited about his birthday yesterday that he was ready at 1:10am to have friends over and open presents. He continued to sit in our bed and talk about his birthday party until 4:30 in the morning! Not quite the way I wanted to start a day of cleaning, grilling and hosting a house full of friends but we had a nice day none the less.

If it were up to Elias, every present would be a sword or at least a weapon of another kind. He did get this set of two Pirates of the Caribbean swords that he really wanted. Most of his presents fall into the categories of either Spider-Man, Superman, Pirates, Batman, or Ninja Turtles. For his birthday party we rented a moon bounce for the second year in a row. This year we had a twenty foot tall Spider-Man moon bounce and slide. All the kids loved it and it acted as a babysitter for the entire day making it worth every penny it cost to rent!

We had a nice turn-out and we want to thank everyone who came and gave Elias such nice presents. It was very enjoyable spending the afternoon with you all! After the party had pretty much emptied out, a few friends stuck around and we ended up doing another round of burgers and dawgs on the grill at about 8:00pm! Good Eats! Good Times!

Happy Birthday Elias!

Huckleberry Hound Fan Club

Being a kid used to be a lot more fun that it is for today's kids. Back in the day nothing was more exciting that having your own membership card into some Fan Club. I can't imagine many kids nowadays putting down their Gameboy to give a credit card sized piece of paper much attention. I would have been all over this Huckleberry Hound Fan Club if I were born about 20 years earlier! Well, I'd still like to send away for it but I have a feeling my check or money order would come back marked "return to sender."

One time when I was a kid I lost my play wallet at a Roy Rogers. Inside was my Roy Rogers Double R-Bar Club membership card and an ID card that I filled out in crayon. Where it asked for blood type I put: "red". Luckily, the bored buckaroo at Roy's took a few minutes from the roast beef shaver and called my house so I could come in and get my important documents.

Viva Las Reese Cup!

Yesterday when I was looking for a little something-something to satisfy my sweet tooth I came across this glorious new product sitting on the candy shelves - Reese's Limited Edition Elvis Peanut Butter & Banana Creme cups. First of all, I love products trying to cash in on a dead celebrity. Second, I love Hershey/Reese's Limited Edition products (Pina Colada Almond Joy we miss you!) And I love Banana flavored anything, so what a perfect combination! Anywho, these are certainly tasty little creations worth a try. They kind of do taste like a Peanut Butter and Banana sandwich, of which Elvis was known to down a couple in his day! The candy adds the taste of banana to the popular Reese's Cup flavor. You can definitely taste the banana but it's not too powerful, it mixes well with the Peanut Butter. The new product comes in four different Elvis wrappers if you happen to collect such things. Unfortunately one of the wrappers does not feature 1970's fat Elvis who would have eaten a couple dozen of these Reese's Cups in one sitting!

My Birthday With The Gambler

Not only do I share my August 21st birthday with the incomparable Kenny Rogers, but yesterday my wife surprised me by taking me to a Kenny Rogers concert! How sweet is that!? We had a great time because Kenny Rogers is the man. Whether he's wood roasting some chicken or belting out the hits behind the mic, you simply cannot top the Gambler himself, Mr. Kenny Rogers!

This is a cliche that you hear alot BUT Kenny really does make it look effortless. He came out on stage and sang hit after hit, classic after classic, and never stopped the show to take a breath. He rocked "The Gambler", "Ruby", "Coward of the County"...he brought the dump down with "Lady" and wrapped it all up with a Dollyless version of "Islands in the Stream"! Let me tell you two things..."The Gambler" is simply put, one of the greatest songs every recorded & a singer and a song do not go together better than "Lady" and Mr. Kenny Rogers.

Japanese Thomas Candy Wrappers

Today we feature these funky little candy wrappers from Thomas the Tank Engine candy made in Japan. I picked up the pack of candy back in March while I was at Walt Disney World. In the Japan pavilion at Epcot there is a large store run by Mitsukoshi, a four-century-old retail company. The stores sells all kinds of stuff like kimonos, housewares, and books but my favorite section is (of course) the food! They have all kinds of wild candy and snack items. My very favorite item (and it's become a tradition to pick some up) is Shrimp Chips! Yummy! Shrimp Chips are like a cross between Andy Capp's Pub Fries and Crinkle Cut french fries, except they taste like shrimp! Good Eats! I also like to pick up some Rice Candy which is also so very good. When we were in Epcot earlier this Spring, I also grabbed some Thomas candy, and something called Hi-Chew which was kind of like Starbrust but way better! I tell you what, if I ever went to Japan I wouldn't sleep in one of those hotels where you lay in a tube, but I would get my candy on...Godzilla style!

Panthers are Pink, Aardvarks are Blue

The other day I was coloring with the kids and came across some pages in a Pink Panther coloring book of the slightly obscure cartoon series THE ANT AND THE AARDVARK. The Aardvark cartoons were a theatrical series produced between 1969 and 1971. They popped up on TV years later in different syndicated packages with the Pink Panther. Anyhow, The Ant and the Aardvark are also on my long list of favorite cartoon characters, and since you don't really ever hear about them anymore, I though it was cool to find some artwork of them in a coloring book. Not that coloring them would be much fun for a kid...except for their white eyeballs the Aardvark is all one shade of blue and the ant is red from head to toe! Here's a couple of pages I wasted my time scanning...

It's The Muppet Show Season Two DVD

A season of a TV show on DVD is like a good book. It takes a while to get through it all but you savor every moment of it while it lasts and and when it's over you want more. Such is the case with last week's release of the second season of THE MUPPET SHOW on DVD. Easily one of my favorite shows of all time, The Muppet Show has not been aired in reruns all that much in the last two decades so it's fun to see all these great shows again. Season two, which aired in the 1977-78 television season, has some big guest stars on it's roster. Singers, actors and comedians all lined up to share billing with the popular Muppets. Seeing some of the greats in entertainment is really a treat with this set. Disc one alone features Don Knotts, Zero Mostel, Milton Berle and Rich Little. I loved Rich Little when I was a kid, even though I had no idea who half the people he was imitating were. Other comedy stars on this set include the legendary Edgar Bergen, Steve Martin, Madeline Kahn, George Burns, Dom DeLuise, Peter Sellers, John Cleese, and Bob Hope. From the world of song ya got Judy Collins, Elton John, Lou Rawls, and Petula Clark.

It wouldn't be a 70's variety show without a handful of guests that have no relevance in today's world, and they would be Teresa Brewer (who?), Cleo Laine (who?), and Nancy Walker (the Pamolive gal.)

In my book, this stuff is better than 99.8% of the television they are making today!

Tanner Eats and Sleeps

Coloring with Kellogg's

Here's a fun little item from the archives, actually this is from a box of old stuff from my wife's childhood that my mother-in-law dumped off at the house one night. It's a 1980 coloring and activity book celebrating the 75th Anniversary of Kellogg's Cereal. There's no bar code on the back, so I'm assuming it was either an in-store giveaway or something you send away for. Although it could have been shrink wrapped to a box of cereal too, I guess. This fun book has comics, games, and pages to color featuring the entire cast of Kellogg's mascots. Like everything else wonderful in our universe most of these characters are no longer in use. Just looking at the cover of this book my favorites are the little Apple Jack kids that look like they were drawn by kids. They never really got the attention they deserved. Here a couple of pages from the book...

Click on the images to enlarge them and play along at home!

The elephant's name is Tusk and he could be found on the Cocoa Krispies box. In this picture it looks like he borrowed his sunglasses from one of the Banana Splits. Tony Jr. was on Frosted Rice cereal. I think nowadays both of those cereals have Snap, Crackle and Pop on them. Dig `Em the frog used to enjoy a hearty bowl of Sugar Smacks. Today he eats Honey Smacks and dresses like he's in an L.A. street gang!

Kellogg's Corn Pops have had so many mascots over the years. Here's Poppy, who I personally don't remember so I guess he wasn't around that long!

Nothing says fun to kid like coloring 75 year old breakfast cereal boxes!

Here's part of a game that we featured in the book. It gives a neat glimpse at the 1980 line-up of products that Kellogg's had to offer. There's the old Sun dude from Raisin Bran, the Honey & Nut Cereal before they changed to the beloved Nut & Honey version, and something called Raisins, Rice & Rye which I doubt even sounded yummy back in those less enlightened years.