Shopping in the Mall is a Family Affair

Shopping in the Mall is a Family Affair... who knew? Apparently the owners of this mall in Fremont, Nebraska knew this in the 60's, as they put out this lovely postcard for the Fremont Mall letting everyone know that malls indeed are a great place for families to spend some quality time together!
Judging from the empty parking lot in the picture, I would guess that the owners of the Fremont Mall would like a whole lot more families to show up and enjoy their mall!

More Black Hole

I found another great Black Hole item the other day. This one is the illustrated adaptation of the exciting Walt Disney productions film The Black Hole. Its from Golden and published by Western Publishing Company, Inc, 1979 with a cover price of $1.50. Its the size of a magazine, and looks like a comic book inside with typical comic book artwork and text.
Text from the inside front cover: Imagination, Black Holes, and Disney. Do black holes really exist? Can we travel to, through, and beyond them? What will we find if we do? Nobody really knows! It took some brilliant imaginations (Einstein and his contemporaries) to come up with the concept, but that concept is still just talk.
Scientists tell us black holes are formed when a star burns out, and collapses on itself. it becomes so dense that it exerts a tremendous gravitational pull, so great that nothing, not even light, can escape!
Nobody has ever seen a black hole. They are the ultimate monster man's imagination has produced. Some scientists claim that black holes will eventually devours the entire universe.
Walt Disney Productions has taken this monster and made it frighteningly real, in the movie "The Black Hole." The special effects show us, up close, what it might be like to journey to a black hole.
Disney has always made use of special effects and animation to make the unbelievable seem true. In "Mary Poppins", Mary's combination of live action with animated characters added a dreamlike quality to the film.
Fifteen years later, in "The Black Hole" special effects play an equally important role in giving the deep space setting a chilling sense of reality. Suddenly the scientist's dream has come alive as a terrifying truth!
A new automated camera has been developed to give the models of spacecrafts more realistic movement though the stars. The models look so realist, that you will believe they could fly. In fact, as you watch, they become fully functioning spacecrafts, carrying you vast distances away from Earth, and across the galaxies. And once again, that most magical element of all - imagination - has got the better of you!
Imagination. It's the thing that makes a shadow into an evil creature about to pounce - that turns a neighbor's squeaking footsteps into an approaching intruder, and it's the element that allows us to be so frightened, thrilled, astonished, and entertained at the movies.
Black holes do not exist as far as we know, but as log as imaginations do we can travel with the crew of the Palomino as their journey becomes our journey, and the story of The Black Hole unfolds.

Little Golden Book Monday #26

Tonight the Fall TV season kicked into high gear, with some great season premiers. In honor of all the great TV viewing I was going to be doing tonight, I wanted to present a Little Golden Book with a TV on the cover. When I realized that wasn't going to happen, I started looking my collection of a picture of a TV inside one of the books. After flipping though more than 30 of them, I found Disney's Goof Troop Great Egg-Spectations (1992) which has the following two page spread showing Bubbles the dinosaur watching TV and eating munchy marshmallows.

Goof Troop was an animated series created and produced by Walt Disney Television Animation from 1992 until 1993 on ABC and on The Disney Afternoon. It centers around the families of the classic Disney characters Goofy and Pete. The character voices in the series were provided by Bill Farmer (Goofy), Dana Hill (Max), Rob Paulsen (P.J.), Jim Cummings (Pete), April Winchell (Peg), Nancy Cartwright (Pistol) and Frank Welker (Waffles the Cat & Chainsaw the Dog). I was a big fan of Goof Troop when the show originally aired on TV. Next door neighbors Pete, Max, Peg and Pistol were always great for a laugh.
I look forward to Disney releasing the series on DVD, as I would love to share it with my son.

Dumpy the Turtle

Here is a silly little book I picked up recently at a thrift shop for 10 cents. I picked it up simply because the cover made me giggle. Dumpy the turtle. I thought that Dumpy had to be the name of a turtle from Europe or some other country where perhaps Dumpy meant something completely different from what it meant to me. But when I opened the front cover I found that the book was published by the Samuel Lowe Company, Kenosha, Wisconsin, 1970. Written by Lucy Macdonald and illustrated by Cathryn Taylor.
Here is what is says about Dumpy on the inside front cover:
Once there was a little turtle who lived in the woods at the edge of a pond. He had a heavy shell which weighed him down so that he got around very slowly. He was SO slow that he was called Dumpy.
So... next time one of your friends or co-workers seems to be going in slow motion, you can now call them Dumpy! Makes sense to me.

2007 TV Guide Fall Preview: Returning Shows

The 2007 TV Guide Fall Preview Returning Shows issue came out last week. As I did with the previous New Shows issue of TV Guide, I purchased this issue online via the
Zinio web site. This issue covers 130 of the hottest returning shows. Here is a list of the Returning shows I am going to be tuning into each week:

MONDAYS:
1) Heroes
2) How I Met Your Mother
3) Two and a Half Men
4) Rules of Engagement

WEDNESDAYS:
5) 'Til Death

THURSDAYS:
6) My Name Is Earl
7) 30 Rock
8) The Office
9) Supernatural

OTHER RETURNING SHOWS:
10) Jericho
11) Monk
12) Psych

Just watching these 12 returning shows this season will take up 8 1/2 hours a week... Looks like I have a lot of TV watching to do. I am off now to watch the first two shows I recorded tonight, Back to You and 'Till Death.

Little Golden Book Monday #25

Today's Little Golden Book Monday, I present a pair of books based on Walt Disney's 1940 animated feature Pinocchio. When I saw the second book with a different cover, I thought that it was the same book with a new cover, and was surprised to see that it was totally different from the first version with completely different text and drawings.
The first version was originally printed in 1948 (this edition is the fifty-first printing from 1981). This story was adapted by Campbell Grant from the Walt Disney motion picture "Pinocchio", based on the story by Collodi, with illustrations by the Walt Disney Studio. Inside the front cover it says, "Little Golden Books here bring you, in gay color, delightful stories and illustrations adapted from the world-famous Walt Disney Motion Pictures. In them you will find Pinocchio, The Three Little Pigs, Bambi, Dumbo, Cinderella, Peter Pan, as well as many other well-loved Disney characters.
The second was originally printed in 1953, and this newly released edition looks wonderful. It has been digitally scanned and restored by Tim Lewis of Disney Publishing Worldwide and Ron Stark of S/R Labs. This second version of the story includes a few scenes that are not in the first book including the scene with Monstro the whale.
This must be a great book, as on back cover there is a "Best Classic Toys" Winner stamp from Dr. Toy, and I am sure Dr. Toy doesn't just give these stamps out willy nilly to any old thing.

2007 TV Guide Fall Preview: New Shows Issue

Ok, so as I have blogged before there is no more TV Guide in Canada. But that hasn't stopped me from checking out the TV Guide Fall Preview; New Shows issue. Since there is no print edition in Canada, I decided to download the electronic version (cost $2.49) from Zinio, an online electronic magazine distributor. I have also got a friend in the US picking up a copy of the American version of the magazine to mail to me - but for now, I have the computerized edition.
Let me just say that as long as I can pick up hard copies of my favorite magazines, I will continue to do so. I much prefer having the hard copy lying around the house, which I can pick up any time I feel, as opposed to having to sit at my computer to read. I also find it a bit absurd that they charge almost the same price for the downloadable version as it cost for the hard copy editions. For TV Guide, you save 50 buying the online version as opposed to the hard copy edition. I guess they feel that this new electronic version is the way of the future, but for me, I feel that the online version should be cheaper than the hard copy... a lot cheaper! Until the cost of the online versions drops drastically or the hard copies go away all together, I will stick with picking up my magazines at the local news stand
Now on to the issue at hand... or computer screen as it were. The cover says "the scoop on 78 hot new shows!". How many of those 78 do you think will make it past a few episodes before the networks pull the plug on them? It seems they are giving new shows less and less time to establish a following before they decide to cancel them. One exception would be last seasons Jericho, which was canceled after the first season, but then brought back to life as a mid season replacement show this season after a large amount of pressure from its fans - me included! I was greatly disappointed to find out it had been canceled after the first season, especially since the last episode of season one was left as a cliff hanger! Luckily the show will get to give the show a conclusion this season. something not all shows get to do... don't get me started on Gilligan's Island!
Here is the full 2007 Prime Time show grid. It will be fun to check this out in a few months to see which of these shows are still on the air and which have been given the axe.


PS: If anyone reading this would like a copy of this issue or the following issue (Returning shows), just post a message in the comments and I can send you a copy. Part of the purchase agreement from Zinio says that I can send the issues I purchase to other people - they even give me a button at the top of the Zinio reader which allows me to do it. So go ahead and ask!

What Happened to Fraidy Cat?

While flipping though some old pictures I had collected from various Disney web sites, I came across this great desktop I had made (at the bottom of this story) for a Disney movie that was to have been released in 2009. The title of the film was "What Happened to Fraidy Cat?"
From Jim Hill Media: It was to have been Ron'n'John's first computer animated feature. A comedy thriller that affectionately paid tribute to the films of Alfred Hitchcock. And -- according to WDFA insiders -- the rough story reel version of this picture was playing as well as anything that Ron Clements & John Musker had ever produced.
(For those of you who haven't figured out who Ron'n'John are yet: Ron Clements & John Musker are the writers / directors of such Disney animated hits as "The Great Mouse Detective," "The Little Mermaid," "Aladdin," "Hercules" and "Treasure Planet." Over the past 20 years, these gifted filmmakers are personally responsible for billions of dollars pouring into Disney's corporate coffers.)
So if a picture that these two guys (with their proven track record) have helped create is playing this well in story reel form, you have to assume that Walt Disney Feature Animation is naturally going to be putting that project in production, right?
Well, that's where you'd be wrong, folks. "Fraidy Cat" (which was originally scheduled to be released in late 2009) isn't going into production. In fact, this project was actually shelved last month. Which is the main reason that Musker & Clements -- after 31 years of working for Walt Disney Feature Animation -- are exiting the studio on September 11th and heading for ... parts unknown.
"Wait a minute?," you sputter, "If people inside WDFA are saying that 'Fraidy Cat' actually looked that good, then why isn't Disney then putting this picture into production?" Ah, that's where this cat's tail ... er ... tale gets interesting.
To read the rest of the story about this film, click over to Jim Hill Meadia to read the rest of the story.

Little Golden Book Monday #24

Tonight's Little Golden book is The Three Bears. We all know the story of the three bears. Nothing new here, but it does have some great artwork. I especially like the front cover. The look on the little girls face is priceless. Just what exactly is little bear doing to her?
This book is originally from 1948, and reprinted in 1976. "This is one of the Little Golden Books which bring children the best of the world's folk tales with fresh illustrations by outstanding children's book artists. Feodor Rojankovsky's pictures for books published in this country and in Europe have endeared him to children the world over."
...Goldilocks opened her eyes and she saw the three bears. "Oh!" said Goldilocks. She wa so surprised that she jumped right out of the window and she ran all the way home. And she never saw the house in the forest again.

A Couple of Disaster Novels

Ok... who doesn't enjoy a good disaster movie? I know I do! Here are two great novels I found recently based on a couple of disasters. One is based on a movie, and the other is the basis of a movie "coming soon".
Roller Coaster is a novel by Burton Wohl and based on a screenplay by Richard Levinson & William Link. I am actually very interested in seeing this movie as I am a big coaster fan and was a subscriber of the Coaster Radio podcast. When the movie was rereleased on DVD a year or two ago, they did a podcast commentary that you could listen to while watching the movie. Being as I found the Coaster Radio guys so much fun to listen to, I am dying to get a copy of the movie so I can watch the flick while listening to their commentary. The problem is I am having a tough time finding any video rental places around town that have a copy of Roller Coaster. It looks like I will have to finally break down and buy a copy from Amazon.ca.
The second novel is The Tower by Richard Martin Stern. The cover of the book says "Coming soon as Irwin Allen's productions of The Towering Inferno. A film based in part on this novel". This movie I remember seeing the Towering Inferno at the Drive In back in the 70's, and still enjoy watching it any time its on TV.
Since I found these, I have been keeping my eyes open for novel versions of Earthquake and Airport to fill out my disaster novel collection.

Little Golden Book Monday #23

Today's Little Golden book is a great Walt Disney World 25th Anniversary collectible. It's from 1997 and called Disney's Special Collectors Edition Mickey's Walt Disney Wold Adventure. I picked this book up this weekend at a local thrift shop. The strange thing is that I had never seen this book before, but ended up finding two copies at two separate thrift shops on the same day. I bought both.
The book shows Mickey and Minnie Mouse touring around WDW, and riding all the rides. At one point in the story when they are on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride, Huey, Dewey and Louie show up in the boat with them. And at the end of the book, Goofy shows up to give Mickey his brand new drum major's hat that he had misplaced.

Fall TV Preview Issue

It's September and that means the new TV season is just about here. Usually this means I am excited about two things; 1) all the new shows to check out, and 2) the special editions of the TV Guide with the Fall Previews. But as I blogged back in November 2006, the Canadian edition of TV Guide ceased publication, so, there will be no TV Guide Fall Preview issues this year. So instead, I picked up the TV Week Fall Preview issue. Although it has a listing of new shows etc, it really doesn't seem the same... it's just not the TV Guide tradition I am used to for the past 20 years.
Enough of my disappointment in the folding of TV Guide... let's get to the new shows.
This issue of TV Week lists 45 new shows, and these are the shows I will be tuning in to and checking out this fall (I'll give each show a rating out of 5 for how much I am looking forward to it - 5 being the ones I am most excited about):

CHUCK (5) - A nerdy computer geek accidentally downloads a secret government computer program concealing all the agency's intel within coded images, giving him instant recall of classified info and a unique ability to connect the dots to thwart all manner of terrorist threats. While keeping his busy day job at the "Nerd Herd" within a big-box electronics store, Chuck covertly assists his feuding NSA/CIA handlers.

THE BIG BANG THEORY (3) - In this geeky sitcom, a pair of brilliant nerds can tackle the toughest mathematical equations, but are completely stymied by their sexy - and not particularly smart - new neighbor.

SAMANTHA WHO (3) - After emerging from an eight-day coma following a car accident, Samantha Newly has total amnesia - and is horrified to discover what a nasty piece of work she it. This comedy follows her not-always-successful attempts to repair the mistakes of the past while learning about the rotten person she used to be.

JOURNEYMAN (2) - A San Francisco newspaper reporter mysteriously stars travelling back in time (but only within the confines of his lifetime), and discovers he must alter events in the past to effect changes in the present. Along the way, he reconnects with his estranged former flame, which complicates his rocky relationship with his wife, who doesn't buy the time-travelling excuse to explain his frequent disappearances.

CARPOOLERS (4) - A quartet of male suburban neighbours band over java and a lame Air Supply songs during their morning commute to work.

REAPER (5) - On his 21st birthday, a chronic underachiever discovers his parents sold his soul to the devil when he was just a baby, and now he must work for Lucifer as a sort of bounty hunter, tracking down evil souls who have escaped from Hell with the help of his wisecracking slacker buddy.

BACK TO YOU (1) - After an on-air meltdown derails his career, pompous LA anchorman Chuck Darling returns to the mid-level Pittsburgh station he abandoned 10 years earlier, where he wasn't exactly beloved by caustic co-anchor Kelly Carr, and the sparks fly in this workplace sitcom.

PUSHING DAISIES (5) - In this quirky comedy with a procedural crime twist, a shy pie-maker has the power to bring the dead back to life with a single touch - then sends them back to the great beyond with a second - a skill that he lends to a PI by briefly reviving murder victims so they can recall who killed them. But when he re-encounters his long-lost love (unfortunately, at her funeral), the gift of life he gives her will only last if they never touch.

BIONIC WOMAN (3.5) - Less a remake than reinvention of the cheesy 1970's superhero series, grad student/bartender Jamie Sommers is almost killed in a horrific car crash, but is then rebuilt with top-secret technology that requires she and her awesome new powers to be at the disposal of a shadowy government agency. But all bets are off when she meets her bionic predecessor, who's broken away and gone rouge.

MOONLIGHT (1) - Mick St. John is a Los Angeles PI with a secret - he's actually a vampire, but chooses to use his dark powers to help the living.

There is also a mid season replacement show I am excited about called THE IT CROWD, which is a remake of the hit Britcom following computer nerds as they keep the bits and bytes flowing at a major corporation. I have been watching the original British episodes on Tech TV and its one of the funniest new shows I have seen in a long time. Hopefully the American remake is as good.

Woodward's Music Department

The other day while flipping though the records at a local thrift shop, I came across this unusual item. It is a small bag, just big enough to hold a 45 rpm record, from Woodward's music department. For those of you who don't know, Woodward's was the name of a department store which operated in Western Canada for one hundred years, before its sale to the Hudson's Bay Company 1993, at which time the Woodward's stores retired to the history books.
I remember that when I was young, most department stores had a pretty decent record department. I did a lot of my record shopping at Planters which was the record department of the Bay. This paper bag was obviously for anyone purchasing and 45 singles, or other smaller items. I assume they also had a larger version for LPs. This one has a flap on the back like an envelope, and you can see where it had been taped shut when the customer made their purchase and left the store.
The front of the bag lists the shopping locations in British Columbia as Vancouver, Oakridge, West Vancouver, New Westminster, Victoria and Port Alberni, and in Alberta in Edmonton, Westmount and Calgary.
When I found this, I was really hoping their might be an original receipt inside so I could see how much was spent on records, but no such luck.
Luckily though, the thrift store clerk let me take this treasure home with me for free!

Little Golden Book Monday #22

I've been reading The Annotated Cat: Under the hats of Seuss and His Cats for the past few days, so I am in a real Seuss mood. So for today's Little Golden book I have chosen the "Cat in the Hat" movie addition from 2003. Adapted by Jesse Leon McCann, Based on the motion-picture screenplay written by Alec Berg & David Mandel & Jeff Schaffer, Illustrated by Christopher Moroney, Based on the book by Dr. Seuss... whew, did you get all that!
It's the story from the Universal Studio movie, but with artwork that looks very similar to the original "Cat in the Hat" and "The Cat in the Hat Comes Back" books from 1957 and 1958.
Although I was not a big fan of the movie, I am certainly a fan of the books. I remember as a young child having a copy of both "Cat and the Hat" and "The Cat in the Hat Comes Back" (which I still have today), and loving to curling up in bed to have mom read them to me, which seems kind of ironic now after reading the Annotated Cat book in which they make a big point of that fact that these books were meant to help kids learn to read by themselves, and even sported the "for beginning readers" and "I can read it all by myself" slogans on he original and subsequent printings of the books. I remember them being books that I loved to have read to me, but I don't really remember reading them myself. I guess I was more of a Dick and Jane reader.
...the Cat in the Hat - singing, and driving his super-splendiferous Housecleaning machine!
Conrad and Sally could scarcely believe their eyes.
When the cleaning crew had finished, the house was spotless. They'd dry-cleaned Mom's dress, scrubbed Conrad and Sally, and even given Nevins a both - all without waking up Mrs. Kwan!
"Good-bye, Cat!" called Conrad and Sally. "Thanks for everything!"
The Cat was still singing as he drove away.

Donald Duck the Milkman 45 RPM

The other day while out thrift shop shopping, I came upon a large collection of picture sleeve 45's... all priced at 49 cents each! One of my absolute favorite things to collect is Disneyland Records, and any time I find a new addition to my Disneyland Records collection, I am very excited! Among the great picture sleeve 45's I found that day, I picked up this great Walt Disney "Little Gem" Record with 2 Fun Stories, "Donald Duck The Milkman" and Donald Duck The Peanut Vendor". The record is copyright 1961 Walt Disney Productions. There is a large white sticker on the front of the record with the price of 39 cents, which I am sure was put on the record back when it was originally on the store shelve back in the 60's. I absolutely love the artwork on the front!
On the back of the record sleeve is a listing of other Little Gem records. If you and your children enjoy this Walt Disney Little Gem record we know that you'll be happy to learn that the Disney Studio has prepared a wonderful library of 12-inch LPs for children.
This Little Gem record, while complete in itself, is only a small portion of the high quality and good musicianship found on the Disney 12-inch LP line. We invite your attention to the following LP titles which are available at your favorite record store:
DQ-1201 SNOW WHITE - Sound Track
DQ-1202 PINOCCHIO - Sound Track
DQ-1203M BAMBI - Sound Track
DQ-1204 DUMBO - Sound Track
DQ-1205 UNCLE REMUS - Sound Track
DQ-1206M PETER PAN - Sound Track
DQ-1207 CINDERELLA - Sound Track
DQ-1208 ALICE IN WONDERLAND
DQ-1209 Walt Disney's FUN WITH MUSIC
DQ-1210 GOOFY'S DANCE PARTY
DQ-1211 MOTHER GOOSE NURSERY RHYMES
DQ-1212 DONALD DUCK AND HIS FRIENDS
DQ-1213M BEST LOVED DISNEY SONGS
DQ-1214M HAPPY BIRTHDAY AND HOLIDAY SONGS
DQ-1215M MUSICAL MONKEY SHINES
DQ-1216 ZOO SONGS
DQ-1217 SONGS OF OUR AMERICAN HERITAGE
DQ-1218 STORIES OF AESOP
DQ-1219 BABES IN TOYLAND
DQ-1220 Walt Disney's DOG SONGS
DQ-1221 ANIMAL SONGS FROM AESOP
DQ-1222 PROFESSOR LUDWIG VON DRAKE
ST-1901 STORY OF DARBY O'GILL
ST-1902 STORY OF GOLIATH
ST-1903 STORY OF THE COUNTRY COUSIN
ST-1904 STORY TO TOBY TYLER
ST-1905 STORY OF GRASSHOPPER AND THE ANTS
ST-1906 STORY OF POLLYANNA
ST-1907 STORY OF SWISS FAMILY ROBINSON
ST-1908 STORY OF 101 DALMATIANS
ST-1909 STORY OF PERRI
ST-1910 STORY OF THREE LITTLE PIGS
ST-1911 STORY OF THE ABSENT MINDED PROFESSOR
ST-1912 STORY OF THE PRINCE AND THE PAUPER
ST-1913 STORY OF NIKKI
WDL-1008M A CHILD'S GARDEN OF VERSES
WDL-1016 PETER AND THE WOLF
WDL-1030 LITTLE GEMS FROM BIG SHOWS
WDL-1039 SALUDOS AMIGOS
WDL-4101A RITE OF SPRING / TOCCATA AND FUGUE
WDL-4101B NUTCRACKER SUITE / DANCE OF THE HOURS
WDL-4101C PASTORAL SYMPHONY / NIGHT ON BALD MOUNTAIN

Captain Canuck Vs the Walrus

The other day I was at the library and this particular magazine caught my eye. I could only see half the cover (there is a half cover with text, that can be folded back to reveal the complete picture without text), but the artwork looked very familiar. It turned out it was a drawing of Canadian super hero Captain Canuck, drawn by Captain Canuck creator Richard Comely. It was the February 2007 issue of a Canadian magazine called The Walrus. I took it out along with a pile of other great reads, including the Overstreet Comic Price Guide.
When I got home, I quickly thumbed through the magazine looking for an article on my favorite comic hero, but was disappointed to find that the cover drawing and a small note on the contents page, "Cover: Captain Canuck has been appearing in comic books since 1975. Painting by Richard Comely" were the only Captain Canuck items to be found in the magazine. Inside was an article which said "To The Rescue! Have the Liberals found their Captain Canuck? which is I guess why someone thought it would be a good idea to put a comic book character on the cover.
As for the magazine its self, its one of those magazines where its really hard to tell exactly what the focus (if any) the magazine has. The Walrus magazine is definently not a magazine I will be picking up again, but it was a neat treat to see my favorite super hero on the cover of a recent magazine sitting there at my local library... and now I have a scan of it here on my blog for all to see!

Kinda Related to Last Post...

Today while out checking out my favorite thrift shops, I came across this book called TJ Bearytales: My Bear-riffic Safari Adventure. After Monday's post all about the Knott's Beary Tales attraction, I decided to pick this up.
It turns out this is part of a Playskool musical toy. On the first page it says "Slide the play camera into T.J.'s left paw and during the story, he'll snap pretend pictures!" On the back page it says "Slide switch at top of the backpack to 'on'. Push to start or pause the story. Push 'music note' for activities & songs." So, apparently this is part of a toy that comes with a spoken story & music, stuffed bear (with camera and backpack), and the book which I picked up.

Little Golden Book Monday #21

"Welcome one and all! Ya ‘all come have a ball! Things are very fine, ridin’ on the ol’ Knott’s Berry Line."

Today's Little Golden book is All My Chickens by Robert Kraus, 1993. I picked this one up at a local thrift shop for one thin dime. I immediately liked the cover but didn't really know why until later when I got home and took another look at it. I realized that it was in some small way, reminding me of the long since closed Knott's Berry Farm attraction "Bear-y Tales", which I so fondly remember riding as a 9 year old kid back in 1977. To this day, this silly little attraction is one of the things I remember most about that vacation!
Knott's Bear-y Tales opened at Knott's in 1975. It was a slow moving dark ride that took riders past various adventures of the Bear-y Family. Along the way, you’d see Frog Forrest, the Candy Company and bakery where everyone is making boysenberry pies and preserves, the Gypsy camp, where Sara tells your fortune, and the spiders and creatures of Thunder Cave. And you can’t forget the Weird Woods, home of Crafty Coyote, or the trilling conclusion at the Country Fair.
Some of the most endearing things about Knott's Bear-y Tales was its catchy theme song, boysenberry smell throughout the attraction, and the campy, black-light look through the entire ride. Knott's Bear-y Tales wasn't a mass-produced dark ride. It was 100% Knott's Berry Farm, back before thrills ruled the day and rides were restricted to last only as long as the MTV attention span.
Sadly, when I went back in the late 80's I hoping to ride this attraction again, I found it had been replace with a ride to capitalize on the popularity of dinosaurs. Bear-y Tales closed in 1986 to make room for Kingdom of the Dinosaurs. "KOD" used the exact same ride system, vehicles, and track as Bear-y Tales to take riders on an adventure back to the time of the dinosaurs.
I have since purchased the "Bear-y Tales" DVD from Extinct Attractions Club, which has allowed me to relive all the excitement (or is that disappointment) of that long forgotten attraction. After rewatching my Bear-y Tales DVD today, I realize how much this ride reminds me the Splash Mountain ride thru, with the same sorts of visuals and a theme song that gets stuck in your head while you ride. The only thing missing is the flume at the end!

Batman could totally beat Superman!

I have never considered myself a comic nerd, but I do love comics. I have been collecting them since the early 80's when I got my first issues of Captain Canuck, Silver Surfer and Rom: Space Knight. I have been going to comic shops almost as long as I have been reading comics, but it seems there is never enough time to really spend digging around my favorite comic shops. I'm always in a hurry, or have someone waiting for me, or worse yet, have my 2 year old son with me while I try to browse!
There has been the odd time where for some reason I wasn't in a rush and we able to hang out at the comic shop. I got to listen to and partake in some of those bizarre conversations about which comic book heroes would beat who, or discussions on why something that happened in a recent issue could never have happened the way it did. Real geek speak stuff... and just the kind of stuff that makes me smile.
So, while reading though an old copy of Wizard I picked up recently, I couldn't help but get a chuckle out of the following article.
Can it be done? The Flash's breathing rate. With DC's Scarlet Speedster sprinting toward a new era in his career, we got to wondering - since all living things process oxygen to perform physical acts like running, wouldn't the Flash use up all of Earth's oxygen during one of his light-speed dashes?
Professor James Kakalios of the university of Minnesota has the answer. "A student of mine asked that question in class, and I loved it so much that I used it in my new book," said Kakalios, author of The Physics of Superheroes (2005). "If you do some calculations using the Flash's body mass, the volume of oxygen used to run a mile and the number of oxygen molecules in that volume, and assuming he runs at the speed of light, you come up with a number like a trillion trillion oxygen molecules that he inhales per second. But since Earth's atmosphere contains 20 million trillion trillion oxygen molecules, he's have to run that fast for about 27 million years before he exhausted all the oxygen in the atmosphere."
That sound you hear is us breathing a sigh of relief. [Reprinted from Wizard magazine, issue 169]
The comic cover shown with this blog entry is from "The Flash", issue #118, from October 1996. This cover has been on display on the comic spinner in the basement for some time now, and I was thrilled to have an excuse to scan it and use it on my blog!

Little Golden Book Monday #20

Today's Little Golden book is "Buster Cat Goes Out" by Joanna Cole and illustrated by Rose Mary Berlin, 1989. Not sure why I liked this one so much, but it stuck out from all the other books I saw at the thrift store the other day. The artwork and story inside are nothing special, but I really liked the cover. I'm not sure if it's Buster, or the cute little squirrel climbing the tree that I like so much!? And without giving anything away, Buster does end up meeting the cute little squirrel near the end of the story.
On the inside front cover of my copy, it says "This little Golden Book belongs to Emma and Eric W." I hope Emma & Eric were OK with Mom (or Dad) sending this treasure off to the thrift store.

Chimp-Artist Will Paint For You!

Commission a canvas for yourself or an art-loving friend... a genuine primitive by the world's first professional chimpanzee artist! Not a dabbler, not a fingerpainter, talented Pablo uses brush and palette (sometimes 2 brushes) for his spectacular abstract originals. Created individually for you in oils on canvas, the painting comes handsomely wood-framed (12" x 18") with a gleaming engraved metal plaque that tells the world who it's been commissioned for. Included are documentary photos of Pablo at work. Fantastic art value - untouched by human hands! Be sure to specify the name of the fortunate recipient. Primitive Painting... $9.98
This was in an old 60's comic book. If this was available today, I would be sending off my $9.98 right away!

This ad also got me thinking... here is a drawing my two year old son Kaden drew recently. I wonder if we could put ads in he back of comic books today, selling "Toddler-Artist Will Paint For You!". we could sell Kaden's artwork as a PDF file sent to the purchaser via email along with a few photos of him creating their artwork!
Anyone want to commission a Kaden Blaze masterpiece?

Little Golden Book Monday #19

Today's Little Golden Book is "From Trash to Treasure" which seems very appropriate for me right now, as I have been on a real Thrift store kick recently. There is a certain thrill in finding some treasure amongst a pile of junk at the local thrift shop, and recently I have been venturing into a lot of said thrift shops!
So, in honor of my recent trash to treasure finds, I bring you the 1993 CTW Sesame Street "From Trash To Treasure" in which Ernie and Bert, along with the rest of the Sesame Street gang learn about recycling, in which "new things can be made from trash."
So I guess what this book teaches me, is that I am actually helping the environment by buying all this stuff and keeping it out of the land fill! Makes me feel warm and fuzzy all over just thinking about my planned visit to some new thrift shops tomorrow afternoon.

Hey, City That Never Sleeps...

Here is a great advertising stunt by Flogers coffee. They have placed this picture of a cup of cover with the slogan "Hey, City that Never Sleeps. Wake up. Folgers" over manhole covers in New York City. There are holes in the picture that line up with the holes in the manhole cover which allows the steam to come up through the holes to make it looks the the cup of coffee is steaming hot. Brilliant!

Polaris Nuclear Sub, just $6.98

Here is a great 70's ad from inside a comic book. It's for the Polaris Nuclear Sub... for only $6.98. It's over 7 feet long, seats 2 kids, has controls that work, rockets that fire, real periscope, firing torpedoes, and an electrically lit instrument panel. This sub does everything but get wet!
This is one of those items that I remember seeing all the time in comics and wishing I could buy. Now as an adult, I wish I could buy one for two reasons; 1) it would be really cool to have this item in my collection - I'm sure the packaging is very retro cool looking. 2) I would love to see what it actually looked like. As a kid, I thought it was an actual sub that you could go into the ocean with and shoot rockets and torpedoes etc. I'm sure I never read the ad closely enough to actually read the fact that it was made of fiberboard - hardly something that was going to be seaworthy! Like so many of the items from comic ads, I would absolutely love to see the actual items today, just to confirm all of the thoughts I had as I got older, about how hokey these items really were, and to see how accurate the ad text of these ads really were!
Here is what the small print on the ad had to say about the Polaris Nuclear Sub. How proud you will be as commander of your own Polaris Sub - the most powerful weapon in the world! What hours of imaginative play and fun as you and your friends dive, surface, maneuver, watch the enemy though the periscope and fire your nuclear missiles and torpedoes! What thrills as you play at hunting sunken treasures in pirate waters and exploring the strange and mysterious bottom of the deep ocean floor!
Hours and hours of adventure. Sturdily constructed of 200 lb. test fiberboard. Comes complete with easy assembly instructions. Costs only $6.98 for this giant of fun, adventure and science. (Because of the Polaris Sub's giant size we must ask for 75 cents shipping charges.)
Money back guarantee. Order today and we will rush your Polaris Nuclear Sub to you. use it for 10 full days. If you don't think it is the greatest ever - the best toy you ever had - just send it back for full purchase price refund.
Luckily this item came with a 10 day free trail, so it had to be good, right!?

[since posting this, I found this great post over at the Secret Fun Blog. It includes a photo and description of the actual sub!]

Little Golden Book Monday #18

Today's Little Golden Book is The Amazing Mumford Forgets the Magic Words! featuring Jim Henson's Muppets (1979). This book combines three of my favorite things; Little Golden Books, the Muppets, and magic! And I love the artwork in this one. Check out this two page spread from the book, which shows The Amazing Mumford standing outside the theater where he is about to preform. Luckily it looks like Santa Claus is going to be able to see the show as it is only ALMOST Sold Out.

I don't want to give the whole book away, but that "D" on the marquee is going to fall and hit poor Mumford on the head, and cause him to forget who he is and where he is. That sure is going to make things tough for him to put on a good show.

Happy Birthday Big Pile Of Stuff!

Today is the first birthday for my blog, Ronn's Big Pile of Stuff, which I posted the first entry to on July 30th, 2006. When I started, I thought it would be an interesting experiment to see if I could post an entry a day for a full year (or more). My experiment lasted 75 days, until on October 13th I forgot to post an entry, and my streak was over. Since then, I have not been posting daily, but I have been posting a few entries a week. I even started a weekly feature called "Little Golden Book Monday" where I post one Little Golden Book each Monday, and I have been thinking of adding a few more daily features. We'll see if I get around to it.
This blog has been a fun way to write about and show things that I am interested in, and I plan to continue posting stuff to the Big Pile Of Stuff for a long time to come.
Hopefully in our second year someone else besides myself will find the blog and enjoy it as much as I do!

Who Framed Rick Flint?

Yesterday while visiting some new thrift stores, I picked up some great records, games, and lots of books! I am a big fan of the 1988 classic Disney film "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" and always love adding something new to my Roger Rabbit collection. I found these two great items;
1) Disney Adventures issue from April 1992 with Jessica Rabbit on the cover along with Daisy Duck and Minnie Mouse. Although Jessica is on the cover, there is nothing to do with Roger Rabbit in side this one. I also have another issue of Disney Adventures with Jessica on the cover - if I remember correctly she with standing with a bunch of Disney female characters and someone from one of the Star Trek series.
2) Roger Rabbit: Who Framed Rick Flink? from 1991 is a graphic novel style reprint of issues #10 and #11 of the Roger Rabbit Disney Comics. The title of this graphic novel comes from the title of issue #11, which is printed first in this collection. If you never saw the Roger Rabbit comics from Disney Comics in the 90's, they are well worth checking out. Being a big comic book and Disney fan, I bought all the comics that Disney put out in this line of comics including Roger Rabbit and Roger Rabbit's Toontown.

Little Golden Book Monday #17

Today's Little Golden Book is Cartoon Network's The Powerpuff Girls, Special collector's edition from 1999.
I remember seeing the first Powerpuff Girls cartoon "The Powerpuff Girls in: Meat Fuzzy Lumkins" as part of the Cartoon Networks World Premiere Toons show. Soon after, Powerpuff mania hit North America and Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup hit the big screen in 2002 with "The Powerpuff Girls Movie".
Craig McCracken, a student of California Institute of the Arts, created The Whoopass Girls in 1992 in his short film The Whoopass Girls in A Sticky Situation. Spike and Mike's Sick and Twisted Festival of Animation selected the short in 1994; McCracken submitted it to Cartoon Network while working on Dexter's Laboratory.[2] As the word "whoopass" was deemed inappropriate for younger audiences, the word was replaced by "powerpuff".
This book titled "Big, Terrible Trouble?" is illustrated by Craig McCraken and Lou Romano. On the inside title page is states: Craig McCraken is the creator of the Emmy-nominated animated series, The Powerpuff girls. he wrote and illustrated this special collector's edition exclusively for Golden Books.

Goofy Card Tricks

I have loved magic ever since I was a young child. I even wanted to be a magician when I was younger and performed for kids parties etc. I had piles of magic tricks, was subscribed to the British "Magic Magazine", I used to get up early on the weekend to watch the Magic Castle TV show and I had two identical black gerbils which were a part of my act. I also loved to collect any books on magic I could find.
I remember that any trip to Disneyland (also Knott's Berry Farm) was a great chance to visit a magic shop.
This weekend I found a great used book shop where I ended up finding all kinds of treasures including this great 66 page, 1977 Walt Disney's Goofy Card Tricks book, which I image was sold in the magic shop on the Main street of Disneyland back in the 70's.
I can't pass along any of the tricks in the book, a magician never revels his secrets, but here is the introduction from the book:
Magic is fun... for the magician and for the audience. Magic can make people laugh [as a kid magician, my audiences seemed to laugh a lot!], it can make them wonder, it can make them marvel. The magical card tricks in this book are mystifying but easy and fun to do. Here are some tips from Goofy on giving a good magic show:
1. Never tell anyone your secrets-not even your best friend or your mother! [Ronn: go ahead and tell your dad though!] If you do, all the mystery will be gone!
2. Never perform the same trick twice in front of the same audience. The second time, your audience will notice much more, because they will know what to expect.
3. Practice, practice, practice! Learn to perform your tricks smoothly and with ease. If you can, practice in front of a mirror; this way, you will be able to see yourself as your audience sees you.
Good luck, and good magic!

Disney offers new CD format CDVU+

This week Walt Disney Co. music label Hollywood Records is offering a
new CD format with extra features to encourage compact-disc purchases
in a bid to reverse declining CD sales.
Hollywood Records on Wednesday unveiled its new CDVU+ (CD View Plus)
format with digital magazine extras, song lyrics, band photos and
other extras to boost fan loyalty. The new format also replaces the
traditional CD booklet and plastic jewel case with recyclable
packaging. Teen punk band Jonas Brothers will be the first act to use
the technology when they release their self-titled album on August
7.Disney executives hope to hold the interest of fans by offering
content similar to the extras on movie DVDs and convince them that
pure music products still offer good value. The content on a CDVU+ can
be downloaded and accessed online and off. The label said the extra
content had been produced for the new format rather than using the
band's outtakes or widely available material, such as existing music
videos.

Black Hole Collectables

"A journey that begins where everything ends!"
The other day while searching though some local thrift shops I found two great Walt Disney "the Black Hole" items. The first is the Walt Disney Productions' "the Black Hole" coloring book from Whitman, and dated 1979. Amazingly, this coloring book is in mint condition and completely uncolored, which is not something you see very often from coloring books you find at thrift shops! I'm not sure what the original price of this item was, but I paid a whopping 25 cents.
The second item is the 1979 novel written by Alan Dean Foster, from Del Rey Books, with a cover price of $1.95. This one cost me 50 cents.
Strange that I found both items at the same shop. I wonder if they both came from the same home, perhaps belonging originally to another "the Black Hole" fan.

Happy Birthday Disneyland

Happy Birthday to Disneyland park which is celebrating its 52nd birthday today. The park opened to guests on July 17, 1955. I have had the opportunity to spend many July 17th's at the park, and I must say I wish I was there today! I'm going to watch my copy of "Dateline Disneyland" the opening day live special that is part of the Walt Disney Treasures DVD set titled Disneyland USA. Happy Birthday to you Disneyland!

Little Golden Book Monday #16

Today's Little Golden book is "Quick Draw McGraw" and is copyright 1960 by H-B Enterprises. As always, this one is filled with wonderful artwork, and who doesn't love Quick Draw and his sidekick Baba Looey.
On the first inside page it says, "This is a brand-new book, illustrated especially for Golden Books".
Something a little unusual for me is the back page of this one. Instead of the familiar Little Golden Books characters and story of Little Golden Books, this one has an ad for Golden Capitol Adventure Kids - These handsomely boxed kits (15 x 10 x 1 1/2") contain all the equipment and information the junior natural scientist needs to begin his hobby. $2.95 each." Titles include; Rocks, Sea Shells, Insects, Birds, Stars, Weather, and Plants.

Coming July 15 to a theatre near you

Back in 1937 Walt Disney released the first full length feature film "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" which went on to be rereleased many times over its 70 years. Here is an ad for its July 15th, 1983 theatrical rerelease in North America.

Walt Disney's New characters in his first full-length production!

The Happiest, Dopiest, Grumpiest, Sneeziest movie of the year.

The Best Loved Musical Of All Time

The Show Sensation Of The Generation!

Walt Disney's First Full Length Feature Production

Behold - The Miracle Of The Movies! - Coming To Amaze You, Charm You, Thrill You!

The One That Started It All

Still the fairest of them all!

Little Golden Book Monday #15

Today's Little Golden book was picked out by my 2 year old son Kaden. It's called "Make Way for the Highway" (edition 310-55, 1961) and is all about the construction of a brand new highway using lots of big vehicles.
When I saw the cover I immediately thought of Kaden as he is always pointing out diggers and other assorted large vehicles while we drive around town. He loves construction vehicles.
I also got a kick out of the title which seemed to say, "the highway is important, and everything else better get out of the way!" As I read though the book, it certainly delivered on it's title.
On page 4, we see Mike and his bulldozer pushing a rock out of the way, which displaces a family of foxes, "Under the rock lived a mother fox and her four babies. When the rock began to move, they got scared. The mother fox and her babies dashed off toward the woods."
On the next page we again see Mike, this time, "turning his bulldozer toward a clump of bushes. A cottontail rabbit who had his home in those bushes shook with fear when he saw the great machine coming. Away dashed the rabbit as fast as he could."
Then, "Mike steered the bulldozer toward a tall elm tree. The tree had been there for a hundred years. But now it had to go. Away flew a pair of robins whose nest was in the tree. 'Sorry,' called Mike, 'but the highway must go though!'"
Four pages later, "All at once Mike stopped his bulldozer. Right in the path of the highway stood a little old house. Tall trees grew around it. Yellow roses climbed over the front door. 'I Guess we'll have to take that house down,' said Mike. Mike's bulldozer could knock a house down in a half hour."
"No you don't," said the little old lady who lived there.
"You'll be paid for your land," said Mike. "Money isn't everything," said the little old lady. Mike scratched his head. "I'll have to talk to the Big Boss," he said.
Next day, the Big Boss came to the little old house. "I'm sorry, ma'am," he said, "This house must come down."
"Young man," said the little old lady "I've lived in this house for seventy years. I watched these trees grow. I planted that rose bush. I'm not leaving."
"But the highway must go though," said the Big Boss. "People want the shortest, quickest way these days."
"What's their hurry?" asked the little old lady.
The Big Boss shook his head. He didn't know.
[Sarcastic mode on] Luckily for everyone involved, Mike and his crew were able to save the little old ladies house by directing the highway around the old house. Now the little old lady is able to enjoy all the sights and sounds of the highway right outside her front door [sarcastic mode off].

Lakeside's Demolition Derby

This weekend I found a few new thrift stores and I ended up finding some great stuff! Among my finds were 10 Whitman "Tell-A-Tale Books", 12 Little Golden books, another 15 assorted books including a Walt Disney "Black Hole" novel, 7 Disney records, and a very cool Demolition Derby game from Lakeside games.
From the box: "You do the steering - smash the pop-up cars - race the closing gate"
"On your make! Get set! Open the gate! 12 pop up cars are on the field! Demolition Demon is moving out! He pops one in the air! CRASH! The Demon bounces off the wall! He fishtales across the field! BAM SMASH! Two more pop out, they're flying high! 10 seconds to go. The pit stop is closing up! Get back! Hurry up! 3 more gone! As he slides home safe! What a champ!"
The plastic gameboard, which is about 13" square, has a series of two-dimensional colored plastic target cars set on it which are triggered by rubber bands located beneath the board. A small area of the board is sectioned off (the Pits) behind a gate which serves as the timing mechanism for each person's turn. A small car (the 'Demon') that relies on a ball bearing for mobility is placed behind the gate which is released by an opponent when all the targets are in position.
The instructions describe several variations of the game but all basically involve bumping into as many of the target cars with the Demon as possible and returning to the Pits before the timing gate closes.
As soon as I saw this on the shelve I knew I had to have it! The great artwork on the box first drew my attention, and when I saw it was a demolition derby game, I snapped it up! As soon as I got home I had to try it out and luckily almost everything was still in the box. It is missing two of the plastic target cars and the two handles for moving the board are missing - but it is easy enough to more without the handles. I popped in the target cars and proceeded to move the board up and down to direct the Demon car to fly around the board bumping into the other cars, sending them flying into the air!
Ahh, what fun to be had for a buck!

Flake Magazine

I have previously posted about my cereal box addiction, but here is some proof of how addicted to cereal box collecting I was. Back in 1993, I had a subscription to Flake Magazine, the Breakfast Nostalgia Magazine. That's right, an entire magazine dedicated to cereal and the boxes they come in!
For me, cereal box collecting started innocently enough. I was buying many breakfast cereals with cartoon characters on the boxes, and I started keeping the ones I especially liked the looks of. Some time in the late 80's the cereal manufacturers started going crazy creating new cereals to tie in with new movies, TV shows etc. A trip to the supper market cereal isle and you would be inundated with all kinds of amazing boxes filled with some pretty amazing looking stuff - not good tasting most of the time, just amazing looking!
I used to pick up all the new and cool looking cereal boxes and when I got them home, I would carefully open the bottom of the boxes and take out the bag of cereal to give to my mom who would give them to the food bank. I wasn't gonna eat that stuff, and I figured that some poor kid might be thrilled to get the chance to eat some florescent blue and pink cereal filled with crunchy marshmellows. Better them than me!
Two of the silliest cereal boxes I own are: Urkelos (Steve "Did I do that?" Urkel from the 1991 TV sitcom Family Matters) which was basically a two colour Froot Loops, and Mr. T Cereal which was pretty much Cap'n Crunch.
My favorite tasting kids cereals of all time were 1984's Strawberry Shortcake Cereal and Cap'n Crunch Peanut Butter... mmmm, my mouth is salivating just thing about them!

Pizza Hut Pete

On June 15, 1958, brothers Frank and Dan Carney took advantage of the "pizza craze" sweeping the country by opening the first Pizza Hut in Wichita. A year later the first Pizza Hut franchise opened in Topeka, and the move to become a national chain was on.
One of the first symbols of the company was "Pizza Hut Pete," shown here in the form of a plastic sign that was part of Pizza Hut oven toy for children. I found this one at a local thrift shop. Too bad they didn't have the toy oven to go with it. I'm sure my son would have loved it, as we love going to Pizza Hut every Friday afternoon for the "All You Can Eat" pizza buffet. Pizza Hut was one of the first things Kaden learned to say!
"Pete" was used by the company into the mid-1970s, when the familiar red roof logo began to appear. "Pete" might simply have outlived his usefulness, or perhaps he was seen as too much of an Italian stereotype to be an effective image for the company.