Formerly know as Mighty

The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim are no longer Mighty. They are now simply the Anaheim Ducks. The club announced the name change January 26, 2006 and formally changed its name on June 22nd, 2006.
When founded in 1993, the Mighty Ducks were owned by The Walt Disney Company, and played their inaugural season in 1993-94. The team's original name was chosen from the Disney movie The Mighty Ducks, about a group of misfit teens who turn their losing youth hockey team into a winner. Disney subsequently made an animated series called The Mighty Ducks, featuring a fictional Mighty Ducks of Anaheim team that consists of anthropomorphized ducks.
In 2005, Broadcom co-founder Henry Samueli of Irvine, California and his wife, Susan, bought the Ducks from the Walt Disney Company for a reported $75 million (USD). The Samuelis have pledged to keep the team in Anaheim.
On January 26, 2006 the owners announced, effective with the 2006-07 season, that the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim would change their name to the Anaheim Ducks. This included a logo and team color changes which were unveiled at a special ceremony on June 22nd. Many Ducks fans successfully petitioned the Samuelis to keep Wildwing as the current mascot because of the team's recent success and as a link to the past.
Along with the team's new name, its home ice, Arrowhead Pond, will also be renamed to Honda Center effective October as Arrowhead Water's naming rights have expired.
Printed above is the cover of the 93/94 Mighty Ducks inaugural Season Catalog displaying what I think is one of the best hockey logos in the NHL. Printed below is the ad that the Ducks ran in the Hockey News to announce the new name and logo. Pretty lame logo if you ask me. In the past, the Ducks have always been one of the biggest sellers of jerseys and other merchandise for the NHL. I wonder how well this new logo will do sales wise? Luckily I already own a MIGHTY Ducks jersey!

The Green Machine

Continuing with a transportation theme, today I present the Green Machine. As a young kid in the '70s I had a Big Wheel, but I really wanted the Green Machine. I only knew one kid in my neighborhood that had a Green Machine, and I would hang out with him as much as possible - just hoping he might say, "Wanna try it out?" Well after almost 20 years, the Green Machine is back.

THE GREEN MACHINE! It's not easy being green, and that is just the way we like it. Only Huffy Could create a machine that will define a whole new generation of cool. The NEW 2006 Green Machine Tri-Wheel by Huffy Bikes has a sleek and stable low profile design with strong steel construction. This next-generation tri-wheel will capture the imagination of a slightly older, more experienced rider for the ultimate in spin-out action. The all new Huffy Green Machine is designed and engineered for today's kids. The new version of this old favorite Green Machine is high tech, durable and cool with features such as: Sleek and stable low-profile design for maximum control and fun. The Huffy Green Machine's adjustable seat fits a wide variety of kids. Super wide rear slick tires spin-out through turns. Strong steel construction keeps it all together. Low riding spin-out tricycle - Defines low riding pedal spin-out excitement!
Below is the original 1976 Marx Toys Green Machine.

Return to Autopia

As a follow up to my August 5th entry Ronnie @ Disneyland 1977, here is a picture of the Autopia Driver License I received 23 years after my first Autopia experience. This is a great little ephemera item that cast members were giving away to 'young' Autopia drivers in 2000 when the Disneyland Autopia reopened with its newly updated track, cars and Cheveron sponsorship.
The accompanying photos are of the collectable Cheveron Cars Autopia edition which was for sale at most Cheveron stations in 2000 to promote their sponsorship of the newly remodeled Disneyland Autopia attraction.

Check out a great 1959 photo of the Disneyland Mark V Autopia Cars, over at Stuff From the Park.

Coke Side of Life

I found this posted on the Cartoon Brew web site.
"A couple weeks ago Coke unveiled the second CG ad in their new "Coke Side of Life" campaign, which is essentially a parody of the videogame GRAND THEFT AUTO. It's directed by British duo Smith & Foulkes of Nexus Productions. These guys have one of the best track records in recent years and possess an uncanny ability to take simple, even mundane, agency concepts and execute them to perfection. Take for example their Abba to Zappa spot for the Observer Music Monthly, the 'black ink' obstacle course for the VW Touareg, or Motorola's "Grand Classics" spot—conceptually, none of these ideas is particularly special yet Smith & Foulkes somehow make each one work. The same can be said of their current Coke spot which manages to turn video game parody into great art."
It's a very clever ad. Check it out here

What It's Like Being Alone

What It's Like Being Alone is a stop-motion animation series about a group of odd ball orphans who are desperately trying to get adopted. Sprung from the mind of Brad Peyton (creator of the multi-award-winning Evelyn: The Cutest Evil Dead Girl), the 13-part series debut on CBC Television, Monday, June 26 at 9:30 p.m.
What It's Like Being Alone combines its Simpsons snarky style / meets The Munsters lovable goofiness / meets South Park's irreverence / with a Tim Burton-esk visual style.
The series uses stop-motion animated figurines, miniatures, CG (computer graphics) animation, and a number of low-tech animation styles to create the half hour late night CBC comedy.
I was really looking forward to this, being a big fan of stop motion animation and Tim Burton's Nightmare Before Christmas, which this looked to be more that just a little bit similar too.

After watching the first episode, I thought the show looked gorgeous, but the writing sure didn't match the high quality of the visuals. I guess there isn't much going on Monday nights during the summer, because I have tuned in to each Monday night since the first episode. Slowly but surly the show is growing on me. Episode #9 airs tonight, and I am actually looking forward to it, so I guess its either getting better each episode, or I'm just desperate for some NEW television viewing during the summer.
Check it out, if you have noting better to do tonight.

Ewoks Vs. Jar Jar Binks

When Return of the Jedi came out in 1983, I was a teenager and I hated the Ewoks. I didn't really like the Jedi movie because I thought the Ewoks took up way to much screen time in the movie, and the 1984 Ewok TV movie and mid 80's cartoons were just awful. But when we needed an idea for a costume for Kaden last Halloween, a bear costume ended up being transformed into an Ewok costume so that Kaden could go out with some neighborhood kids who were dressing as Star Wars characters to go out trick or treating. We pulled the cute bear face off of the costume and Sara made a little Ewok vest and voila Kaden's Ewok costume was ready. I guess next year we could dress Kaden up as Jar Jar Binks to continue the tradition of "Star Wars characters I don't like, that Kaden has trick or treated as."

Bert Collects Bottle Caps Too

Question: What brand of bottle caps does Bert from Seasame Street like to collect? Check out the answer below.

One of the very first collections I can remember starting was my bottle cap collection. It started innocently enough. One day when I missed the bus on the way home from school (this was a routine occurrence), my friends and I had some time to kill while we waited for the next bus. While waiting, I found a few bottle caps on the ground and before we knew it, we had started a competition to see who could find the most bottle caps. I won the contest and got to keep all the caps we had collected. Although most people would have probably tossed them all way, I brought them home and found a nice shoe box to keep them in, and continued to add to the collection over the next 10 or so years.

I can remember when I used to go to the drug store for a Coke, the bottles would be in a cooler with a lift up lid. You would have to look down at the caps and find the drink of your choice by the cap, so I guess that made the caps pretty important. And of course the first thing you would do when you popped off the cap was to dig out that grey rubber cap liner to see if you were a winner. Unfortunetly, more offten than not you would see something along the lines of "Please try again".
Whenever someone we knew would go on vacation, I would always ask them to bring me back some exotic bottle caps for my collection. Everyone always thought this was a strange request, but most brought home a few choice additions to my collection.
To this day, if a bottle has a metal bottle cap, I have to save it and add it to my bottle cap collection, which is now in a couple of large ice cream buckets.

Answer: Bert collects Figgy Fizz soda bottle caps. To date, he has
an amazing 368 caps in his collection!

75 Years of Disney Comics

Earlier this month, gemstone Publishing released Walt Disney Treasures. Subtitled Disney Comics: 75 Years of Innovation. This first Walt Disney Treasures TPB is a chronological 160-page retrospective of the form in general, with an emphasis on material that's never been reprinted before. From their birth in 1930 through a 75-year evolution, Disney comics have entertained us with imaginative stories, exceptional artwork, and a family of outrageous characters memorable enough to withstand the test of time. Walt Disney Treasures is a collection of stories carrying us through the generations of an artform, presenting tales by the greatest writers and artists the comics industry has to offer.
I have loved comics as long as I can remember and still visit my local comic shop every week to pick up my favorites including; Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Scooby Doo, Patty Cake, The Tick, Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and many more. When I saw the solicitation in Previews for Walt Disney Treasures, I was immediately drawn to the cover which looked like the Walt Disney Treasures DVD tins that I have been collecting for many years now, and the idea of a comic TPB with rare comics and special features (much like the DVDs of the same name), it seemed like a great idea. When it finally arrived at my local comic shop, I was not disappointed. This collection is 160 pages of comics and features. It starts off with a quick 2 page history of Disney in comics, and then jumps right into some of the earliest printed Disney comics, starting with a 1930 King Features Syndicate comic strip, and ending with the 2003 Mickey Mouse comic "With Friends Like These", and there is a little bit of just about everything else in between.
As for the look of the comics themselves, they are amazingly sharp and colourful, especially when you consider the age of some of the material. There is a great interview with David Gertein of Gemstone Publishing where he talks about the work that went into restoring the source material for this collection. The work was certainly worth it, as this is a great package and well worth the $12.99 cover price.

Negadon: The Monster From Mars

After reading about Negadon: The Monster From Mars in the Summer 2006 #76 issue of G-Fan magazine, I jumped at the change to purchase a copy of the DVD when I found it on the shelf of my local Wal-Mart. After plunking my $20 bucks down, I rushed home to pop some popcorn and settle back to enjoy Negadon, the world's first completely computer generated monster movie.
The back of the DVD says: "In the year 2025, the world population explodes to over 10 billion. In search for a new place to live, mankind initiates a space exploration program entitled the Mars Terraforming Project. Step by step, mankind successfully transforms Mars into a habitable planet. But when a Japanese spaceship returning from Mars crashes on the streets of Tokyo, it unleashes a giant and vicious monster. Only Dr. Narasaki and his long-abandoned robot Miroku can save Earth and mankind."
I dimmed the lights and started the movie. I chose to watch the movie in English. The movie looked amazing, and it didn't take long (just 11 minute in) to get the first glimpse Negadon. Unlike many recent monster movies where it takes at least 50 minutes to catch a glimpse of anything remotely large and dangerous, in Negadon: The Monster From Mars, we get our first all out battle at just the 19 minute mark. With such a climactic battle, I started to wonder what could possibly happen next? I was totally shocked when the words "The End" appeared on the screen. I quickly looked at the time counter to see that the movie was only at 24 minutes. By the time all the credits had finished, the total running time of the movie was 27:21. I grabbed the box and found that nowhere on the packaging did it list the length of the movie - something that most other DVDs list. I had not finished my popcorn when it ended, so I decided to watch all the DVD extras which included an interview with the director (with English subtitles), the making of Negadon (with English subtitles), and two film shorts: Magara: The Giant Monster & Magara: The Final Showdown, plus a few other odds and ends.
I really enjoyed the movie, but did feel a little cheated that I bought it expecting a full length movie, but only got 70 minutes of content, including the movie and all the extras.
If you get the change to rent or buy this movie, I would recommend checking it out, but be sure to pop a much smaller bowl of popcorn!

TV Dinner

Just a quick entry tonight. A photo of my son Kaden at about 4 months old, when he was still eating anything he could get his hands on! Recently we got some photos developed at a local fotomat and used their computer kiosk to crop photos, add frames, change to black and white etc. Here is one of my favorites titled TV Dinner!

Hillcrest Drive In 1953-2003

The last remaining local Drive In, the Hillcrest, closed in 2003. I made it a point to be there for the last night, when they showed 4 movies into the early hours of the morning to a packed field of patrons who wanted to say goodbye to a landmark. The Hillcrest was located in Surrey, on the surrey/Langley border and the once farm land, was quickly becoming developed. The land where the Hillcrest sat is now a condo development and a shopping mall. The owner of the Hillcrest has since built a brand new, from scratch, Drive In (named the Twilight Drive In) just 20 minutes away from the old Hillcrest site. I spent many nights at the Hillcrest, as I designed the original web site for the owner, and because of that, I got in free anytime I wanted!

When the Hillcrest closed, I took a few pictures. Above is a photo of the Hillcrest marquee, and a couple of photos of the speaker polls as they were being removed. I love the black and white photo of the speaker polls as they had been dug up that morning and piled up at the front of the field, ready to be hauled away. The photo has a kind of erie feel to it don't you think!?

The TMNT are resurfacing in '07

Remember the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles? I am thrilled to hear that they are resurfacing on the big screen in an all new movie next year. I have been a turtle fan since the first comics came out in the late 80's. I collected all the comics, the toys, watched the cartoons. I loved it all... Except for the movies; Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze (1991) and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III (1993). I found all three movies to be pretty lame, and geared for a very young audience. I don't think I ever bothered to see the third movie. But the upcoming movie looks very promising. Watch the teaser trailer for yourself.
The Turtles' fourth feature film, entitled simply TMNT, is currently in post-productions, with a theatrical release date scheduled for March 30th, 2007. Unlike the previous films which were 'guys in turtle suits', it will utilize 100% computer-generated imagery, produced by Imagi Animation Studios and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. According to the press release "the PG-rated movie will derive its tone from the original comic-book series and will be slightly grittier than the previous live-action pictures." I can't wait for this flick to hit my local megaplex!

More cereal please!

Here are a few more of my favorite cereal boxes. The first two are Quaker Oat Life cereal. The first box featuring the Tick, and offered The Tick milkcaps mail-in offer, which sadly I did not cash in on. The second features Steven Spielberg's Animaniacs - which incidentally just showed up on DVD last week. The second two boxes are the Kellogg's Powerpuff Girls cereal and General Mills Pac-Man cereal. I especially liked the Powerpuff Girls cereal which was a "crisp rice cereal with power-packed clusters that fizz in your mouth". Sounds yummy doesn't it! Luckily the Pac-Man cereal was a source of 5 essential nutrients.

FOX-O-RAMA

Back in 1994, the 8 year old Fox network brought the world FOX-O-RAMA, a 2 day event filled with all kinds of new television innovations including 3-D, Aroma-Vision, Grumble-Vision and Sheneneh-Vision. 7-11 stores all across the US sold the FOX-O-RAMA kits for just 33¢ plus tax. Each kit contained everything you needed to experience FOX-O-RAMA; 1 pair of 3-D glasses, 2 Living Single scratch 'n Sniff cards and 4 Nerds IV: Nerds in Love scratch 'n sniff cards.
Schedule of Events: Sunday, May 8, 1994: Martin (Sheneneh-Vision) [I have no idea what Sheneneh-Vision was], Living Single (Aroma-Vision), Married... With Children (3-D), and The George Carlin Show (Grumble-Vision). Monday, May 9: Revenge of the Nerds IV: Nerds in Love (Aroma Vision and 3-D scenes).
Being a huge fan of Married... With Children since the very beginning, I was very excited that the eighth season episode "Assault and Batteries" (May 8, 1994) was going to be in 3-D. Since they were not selling the kits here in Canada, I had to drive down across the boarder to pick up my kit (and a pile of extras for all my friends). The episode was pretty good, but the 3-D was just OK. The end credits featured Al and Peg wearing 3-D glasses and looking at the names scrolling by on a screen, and Peg says "I don't get it." The George Carlin Show featured GRUMBLE-VISION, which was nothing more than George reading some of his fans gripes on the air at the end of the episode. I also watched the Nerds movie which had a few 3-D scenes in it, as well as 4 AROMA-VISION scenes. The cards said, enclosed are 8 AROMA-VISION cards. You will be able to experience smells as they happen on TV! Just have your cards ready during Living Single & the Nerds IV: Nerds in Love movie. During the programs, a circle with a number will appear in the lower left corner of your TV screen. Find the matching card, scratch the circle and you will experience AROMA-VISION!!! Remember, don't scratch until you see the number on your TV!
I still have a bunch of unopened FOX-O-RAMA kits and I plan on having a FOX-O-RAMA party some time in the not to distant future. Hopefully the cards haven't lost their Aroma!

Mmmm... Crunchy Marshmallows

Ok, I'm not a big fan of crunchy marshmallows and I don't like my milk to turn funny colors while I am eating my cereal. But, I do love the artwork on kids cereal boxes. I started collecting cereal boxes almost 20 years ago, and at the height of my cereal box collecting, I was adding up to 20 new boxes a month to my collection. I was even a subscriber of Flake Magazine, a print fanzine dedicated to cereal box collecting. You could always count on General Mills and Kellogg's to produce limited edition cereals featuring current hit movies, TV shows, etc. A trip to the cereal isle in any grocery store would always produce a plethora of new, "limited time only" treasures. As a collector, I like to keep the boxes which have the great artwork. The cereal however is a different story. I can't stand most of the stuff inside these boxes - as I said, hard crunchy marshmallows are not something I look forward to at breakfast time. Since I don't eat the cereal, I started opening the boxes as carefully as possible and removing the unopened bags of cereal and then giving them to my mom to drop off at the local food bank. It must be a little strange for some kid who is used to getting food from the food bank and getting nothing but generic corn flakes and Cheerios, to receive a package of mystery cereal with tiny marshmallows or cereal that changes the milk to green sludge!
I have hundreds of great boxes in my collection, and am always on the lookout for something new on the grocery store shelves. The two most recent additions to my collection are the Disney Pirates of the Caribbean cereal, and Pixar Cars cereal.
A few of the kids cereals that I have enjoyed eating over the years are; Strawberry Shortcake, Sugar Crisp, Cap'n Crunch peanut Butter Crunch, and Cookie Crisp.
Pictured above are two General Mills cereals; Count Chocula & Franken Berry, and below are the two newest additions to my collection.

Capyboppy

From Amazon.com, an anonymous review of the 1966 Capyboppy book by Bill Peet: "This book was my favorite as a child. Capyboppy is so cute and lovable what child wouldn't like him? Every time we went to the library, I'd beg my dad to check it out and read it to me."
I thought I had written this review until I realized it was my mom, not my dad, that I would beg to check it out for me. I must have taken this book out of the library more than any other book. As a young child, I was enthralled with the story of this large rodent from the Amazon (wow... I used the word Amazon twice in one blog!) jungles becoming the pet of a young boy in a suburban neighborhood. And the drawings, although just black and white pencil drawings, were so captivating! When I got older I started collecting all of Bill Peet's books, and I started with Capyboppy. Most book stores carry a few of Bill Peet's books, but usually just the soft cover variety, so I always special ordered the hard covers for my collection. I have also been lucky enough to be friends with someone at my local library who always lets me know when any Bill Peet books are being discarded, and I am able to add it to my collection. I bough a copy of "Bill Peet, An Autobiography" and was thrilled to see that it was done like one of his childrens books, with large print and filled with those great pencil drawings. It was in this autobiography that I learned that Peet had spent many years working for Disney animation and was responsible for designing many of the characters in Sleeping Beauty which happens to be one of my all time favorite Disney movies.
Some of my other favorite Bill Peet books are; "Cyrus the Unsinkable Sea Serpent", "Farewell to Shady Glade", "Fly, Homer Fly" and "Merle the High Flying Squirrel".

Smash Up Derby

"You can hoot and holler, cause you ain't seen nothing yet!" I remember the commercials I would see during my favorite after school cartoons for the SSP (Super Sonic Power) Smash Up Derby set. They made these things look so amazing, as they would jump the ramps and smash into each other, causing car parts to fly everywhere. What kid wouldn't want to own one of these things? Luckily for me I found one of these in the original box about 10 years ago in a junk store, and finally I was able to live the dream of being a smash up derby driver, just like in those commercials from the 70's. I love dragging these out of the closet for parties. Those old enough to remember them, can't wait to get one of those T-handle power sticks in their hands to drive their car off the ramp and into an oncoming car to enjoy the carnage the ensues. Then put it back together, to do it all over again, and again, and again!

Riverboat Club member

Continuing with yesterdays restaurant theme, I found my Captain George's Riverboat Club card from the 70's. The two things I remember about the Captain George's Family Restaurant was; 1) the outside of the restaurant looked like a big pink paddlewheeler ship, and 2) they had a "make it yourself" desert bar where you could dispense your own soft serve ice cream and then add all the toppings to your hearts content - a pretty amazing treat for a 7 year old kid back then! This membership card certified that I, Ronnie, was a member of Capt. George's Riverboat Club, and entitled to a free Sport Cola, Rooti Root Beer, Bubble Up, or C+ Orange anytime I bought a sandwich, snack or platter at any Captain George's Family restaurant, and was valid until 1980. The Captain George's restaurant that we went to, closed some time in the early 80's, and the building remained unused for many years, leaving just the shell of a large pink paddlewheeler to drive by everyday. The building has since been converted into a 7-11, but I'll always remember the big pink boat and the all you can eat ice cream!

The Great A&W Root Bear

When I think of A&W, I think of the Root Bear and his trademark tuba music, in television commercials showing strange characters falling in step behind the bear down deserted country roads with the slogan, "Follow the great Root Bear to A&W."
I have always loved fast food, and A&W was the top of the fast food chain when I was a kid. Going to a Drive In A&W was always a real treat. I also remember the first sit down A&W in my area. It was about a 45 minute drive, but it was worth the drive, because as well as being able to eat in your car, this A&W had a huge dining room with a fireplace right in the middle. We used to drive the 45 minutes out of our way just to eat at the 'dine in' A&W, because it was something special. Then in the 80's as they started closing most of the drive in restaurants and converting them into dine in only restaurants, we started going out of our way to visit the remaining few drive in restaurants. The last remaining A&W drive in was in Langley, BC, and happened to be just a short drive from the Hillcrest Drive In (our last remaining drive in theater), and it was always great fun to have dinner at the A&W drive in and then take in a double or triple feature at the Hillcrest. They finally closed the last remaining A&W drive in about 8 years ago (we were there on the last day). I sure miss that cool tray they would hang on your window with all your food on it! I started collecting A&W memorabilia many years ago. It started with the mugs and then moved on to just about anything I could get my hands on. Here are a few photos of my collection. The two items I really want to add to my collection are; 1) one of the trays that hung on your car window, and 2) one of the A&W Root Bear portraits that hung in every restaurant in the 70's and 80's. Every restaurant had the same photo of the Root Bear, in an oval frame and beveled glass. As a kid I remember thinking that these pictures looked so cool and sophisticated.

Popular Computing Circa 1983

I love collecting magazines and magazine ads, and I am a huge fan of Apple computer, so when a coworker told me he was tossing out a garage full of old computer magazines, I asked if I could have them. He thought it was a little strange that I would be interested in old computer magazines, but really, it's no stranger than having a garage full of old magazines is it!? He brought two large boxes of magazines to work the next day and I tucked them under my desk. That night, I got home and opened up my two boxes of treasures and was thrilled to find not only a bunch of great old computer ads for my collection, but some great magazine covers such as this March 1983 Popular Computing issue with the Apple Lisa on the cover!

Ronnie @ Disneyland 1977

While digging though some old boxes of photos I found a couple of photos from my first trip to Disneyland back in 1977 with my mom. Here I am sitting in an Autopia car. I was so excited that I got to drive my own car! I don't remember much about this trip, but I know that I must have really liked it, because my mom took me back to Disneyland just two years later in 1979. I didn't get to Disneyland again until '90 when I went with Sara for a summer vacation. By this time, both Sara and I were hooked, and managed to visit the park at least once a year for the next 10 years. We celebrated New Year's Eve 2000 at Disneyland, Sara won a trip for 4 to Disneyland (filling out all those entry forms at the mall can really pay off!), and we got married at Disneyland! We can't wait to take Kaden on this first Disneyland trip when he gets a few years older.

Godzilla Desktop

Here is a Godzilla desktop I made for myself a few years ago. I had taken a few photos of one of my BanDai Godzilla 2000 action figures to show to a friend. I liked one of the photos so much that I decided to turn it into a desktop for my Mac. See a photo of the action figure I used here. Now you too can have Godzilla adorn your computer desktop! And while I'm talking about Godzilla, let me introduce you to G-Fan magazine. If you love Godzilla and other giants from Japan, then check out G-FAN.com. As well as being a really cool magazine, it is produced in Canada!

Skyline Drive In

Here is a cool photo I took of the Skyline Drive-In marquee. I used iPhoto to change the photo to black and white to add a little bit of a retro feel to the photo. I love Drive In theaters and every summer my friend Andrew and I take a mini vacation to hit a few more Drive Ins within a days drive from home. The Skyline is in Shelton, WA, and yes, they are open again this summer. There is also a Drive In right here in my own neck of the woods called the Twilight Drive-In. Interestingly enough the Twilight was built just two years ago! More on the Twilight in a later blog. Make a point to visit your local Drive In this summer, its a great way to spend an evening under the stars watching some of the summers big block buster films right from the comfort of your own car. If you are not sure if there is Drive In in your area, check out Drive-Ins.com and use their online database to find one near you.

Haunted Mansion personalized postcard

Here is a neat little Disneyland collectible that I picked up on one of our trips to the park some time around 1999 or 2000. There was a booth/kiosk inside of Star Traders in Tomorrowland that let you take your picture and add it to one of the postcard designs they offered including this Haunted Mansion one. They printed it out on a color printer while you waited. The quality of the image looks less like the regular post cards they sell at the park, and more like something you would print on your own home printer. The postcard is a standard 4 x 5 1/5 inch postcard with the words Post Card on the back and space for a stamp. Being that I am a huge collector of Haunted Mansion memorabilia, I had to buy one. It now sits proudly in my Haunted Mansion display case in my office.

Philips Momento snow globe

I picked up the May 29, 2006 issue of Fortune magazine today at the library to read the article on "Pixar's Magic Man John Lasseter". When I opened the magazine, the first ad I saw was a fold out ad for Philips, with the tag line Philips "Sense and simplicity", and an ad for a product called the Momento. What is it you ask? Well, the ad states: "a snow globe that holds a new way to treasure your past? Momento lets you relive cherished memories over and over. When you shake Momento, a video clip will begin to play. Shake it again and the video breaks apart into tiny animated snowflakes that morph into a new clip. It's a simple way to keep your favorite moments close at hand". I thought wow, that sounds cool. I would buy that. I headed to my Mac and googled "Philips Momento" but didn't find much other than a few blogs talking about the Momento. After doing some more searching, I realized that this was a concept product that was not yet for sale. Upon relooking at the magazine, I found there were a number of products shown, all of which are concept products, and not yet for sale. too bad, because the Momento snow globe looks really cool!