More From The Toy Store In The Mall

Black Friday Circular
KayBee Toys (1990)
This advertisement for a sale that began on the day after Thanksgiving 35 years ago was shared on Twitter by Dinosaur Dracula.  Check out the early draft of box art from Super Mario Bros 3.

Santa Shops At The Mall Toy Store

Kay-Bee Dear Santa Sale
KayBee Toys (1989)
This advertisement for a sale that ended on this day in 1989 was shared on Instagram by Dinosaur Dracula.  I was nine years old when this flier was publishes so I was into pretty much all of this stuff except Cabbage Patch Kids.

The Only Important Thing These Days Is Rhythm And Melody

Prisencolinensinainciusol
Adriano Celentano (1972)
On this day in 1972, a song that was written by composer Adriano Celentano and performed by he and his wife, Claudia Mori, was released in Italy.  It would go on to chart in their native country, as well as Belgium, West Germany, and The Netherlands.

If you're having a difficult time understanding the lyrics, there's a pretty good reason for that.  He's not singing in English or in Italian.  The entire song is gibberish sung with an American accent.

ps: if you caught the Big Audio Dynamite reference in the title, you're my kind of people.

Spooky Season At Zayre

October Sales Circular
Zayre (1987)
This page from a Zayre sales circular was shared by Dinosaur Dracula last month.

The highlight for me is the ad at the bottom left corner for Friday The 13th, Deadly Friend, Fright Night, The Believer, A Nightmare On Elm Street 3, and Halloween on VHS for $16.99.

This is the candy that we all wanted to find in our bag after we were finished trick or treating... except maybe for the Smarties, which had about the same flavor as the packets of sugar on the table at the Blue Comet.  Also, I still say that Reese's Peanut Butter Cups tasted better when they came in a paper wrapper.

The Count Dracula Chocolate Flavored Candy at the top left of this part of the ad is the kind of thing that savvy kids would trade to their friends for their old boring Hershey and Snickers bars.  The package may be awesome, but they didn't usually taste very good.

Once in a while, there would be a seasonal goodie that you didn't want to give up, like these Alma Skull Crushers which oozed strawberry blood when you bit into them.  I don't think these are still sold in stores in the United States, but I was able to find them for sale on UK eBay and other online retailers under the name Hannah's Skull Crushers.

I was more of a rubber mask kid when it came to Halloween, but makeup was always a solid option.

These cardboard wall hangings sold for a buck and a half back in the 80's,  My grandmother used to wait and buy things like this when they went on sale after the holiday to put away for next year.  These old decorations are considerably more expensive when you can find them on eBay, especially if they're in good condition.

The last thing that caught my eye were these Halloween pinatas.  I can't say I ever remember seeing pinatas out for a Halloween party when I was a kid.  The witch in the center is giving off Viola Swamp vibes.

When The World Is Running Down...

Zenyatta Mondatta
The Police (1980)
The third studio album from The Police is turning forty five years old today.  Practically every song on this record was a hit, including Don't Stand So Close To Me, Driven To Tears, Canary In A Coal Mine, and Man In A Suitcase.

My favorite one of all, and probably my favorite song that the band ever put out, is the third song on the album.  When I listened to this song in my 20's and 30's, it reminded me of Roland describing Mid-World in The Dark Tower by saying that "the world has moved on".  When the pandemic began, and the effects of global climate change became harder to ignore in the years after the pandemic, it started to remind me of our world because all we can really do is make the best of what's still around.

When The World Is Running Down, You Make The Best Of What's Still Around

The Police (1980)

Turn on my VCR

Same one I've had for years

James Brown on the Tami show

Same tape I've had for years

I sit in my old car

Same one I've had for years

Old battery's running down

It ran for years and years

Turn on the radio

The static hurts my ears

Tell me, where would I go?

I ain't been out in years

Turn on the stereo

It's played for years and years

An Otis Redding song

It's all I own

When the world is running down

You make the best of what's still around

When the world is running down

You make the best of what's still around

Plug in my MCI

To exercise my brain

Make records on my own

Can't go out in the rain

Pick up the telephone

I've listened here for years

No one to talk to me

I've listened here for years

When the world is running down

You make the best of what's still around

When the world is running down

You make the best of what's still around

When I feel lonely here

Don't waste my time with tears

I run Deep Throat again

It ran for years and years

Don't like the food I eat

The cans are running out

Same food for years and years

I hate the food I eat

When the world is running down

You make the best of what's still around

When the world is running down

You make the best of what's still around

Where The Sun Light Don't Shine

I'm not really sure where this Halloween witch came from.  It's possible that we picked it up form a flea market, but I don't remember buying it.  It's more likely that my grandmother made it when I was a kid, but I don't remember seeing it.  Maybe she manifested in our attic all by herself.  Who knows.

Wherever she came from, she's a pretty groovy decoration and we try to find a place to put her this time of the year.  It's made pretty well, with fabric for the hat and the dress and doll hair on her head.  She's also surprisingly heavy.

The witch's body is a bottle of Sun Light dish soap that's filled with sand.  The copywrite on the bottle is from 1992.  Whether this was made by my grandmother or by a flea market vendor, this little witch has been haunting people's homes at Halloween for 33 years.

Bleed All Over 'Em... Let 'Em Know You're There.

Sports Slob-Tacular: The Bad News Bears / Slap Shot

Show banner designed by Andrew Kern
Mahoning Drive-In Theater - Lehighton, PA

I've been advocating for a sports movie weekend to anyone who will listen as long as I've been going to the Mahoning.  We got one this year, and it was a hell of a double feature.  I really hope that this becomes an annual.

First up was the 1976 baseball classic The Bad News Bears.  This movie is a product of its time.  If they were to remake it in 2025, it couldn't be anything at all like the original.  Could you imagine some of Tanner Boyle's lines in a modern movie?  Although it's the furthest thing in the world from being politically correct by modern standards, it's an absolute classic and a must-see for any baseball fan.  I saw it for the first time when I was about the age of the younger kids on the Bears, and it's a movie that I've never forgotten.

 

The second film is another time capsule of the late seventies, the 1977 ice hockey classic Slap Shot.  I watched this for the first time during the pandemic.  At first, I didn't really get what all the hype was about, but it landed with me this time.  I've come to learn that I really struggle with movies when I watch them at home.  I allow myself to get distracted by too many things, and I end up missing a lot of the dialogue.  Seeing it on 35mm on the big screen helped me to appreciate this movie for the comedic masterpiece that it is.

The secret feature was a baseball-themed comedy from the mid 90's.  I don't want to say too much about it, but I saw it on the big screen for the first time during its original theatrical run.  I was living in South Florida and playing baseball at the time, so I absolutely loved it.  Seeing it again on the big screen was a real treat, and I'm happy to say that it still holds up over thirty years later.

Let's Take A Trip To Gorezo's Fungeon

Luther's Mid-Fright Marathon
Mahoning Drive-In Theater - Lehighton, PA

Show banner designed by Andrew Kern

Hayden Hall and his gang were back at the Mahoning Drive-In Theater tonight to celebrate their series Luther's Mid-Fright Snacks.  It's a hell of a lot of fun, but it's difficult to describe.  Thankfully, they're all available to stream on YouTube for free, so you can have a look for yourself.

But there's nothing quite like having a few gummies and seeing it on the big screen under the stars.

Next up was Hayden's feature film, Pizza Party Massacre.

 

Pizza Party Massacre premiered at the Mahoning Drive-In Theater last September.  It's entirely shot on VHS and features Virgil in a small role.  This movie is about as low budget indy as it gets, and like the Mid Fright Snack series, it's a hell of a lot of fun!

You Guys Aren't Like The Zodiac Killers Or Anything, Right?

Two Lane Blacktop
Mahoning Drive-In Theater - Lehighton, PA

Show banner designed by Andrew Kern

Show poster designed by Tom Bifulco

I've got to be honest, I really didn't dig this one at all.  If you're a "car guy", this might be something that you'll enjoy, but it's just not for me.

Watch The Bagel, Man!

Caught Stealing
Sony Pictures (2025)
The latest film by Darren Aronofsky is instantly in my top ten favorite action films of all time.

We Were Not Ready

Sony Playstation
September 9, 1995
A new player entered the video game console market in North America thirty years ago today.

I was 15 years old when Playstation first hit store shelves in North America.  The Sega Saturn was already available in the United States for five months at the time.  At first, I wanted to get a Saturn, but a few things changed my mind.  The most important factor was seeing quickly they dropped support for the Sega CD and 32X.  If the cartridge port on the Saturn allowed the system to play Genesis and 32X games and if the optical drive were backwards compatible to play Sega CD games, I probably would have saved up to buy a Saturn instead.

 

The hype leading up to the release of Playstation was massive to begin with, but that hype grew even larger four months before it was released.  At the 1995 E3, Sega CEO Tom Kalinske announced that the Saturn console was already being shipped to stores and would retail for $399.  Moments later, Sony Computer Entertainment of America President Steve Race stole the show by revealing that the Playstation would be $100 cheaper in what is remembered as the ultimate mic drop moment in the industry.

The first piece of Sony Playstation media that I saw was a demo disc called "Hear It Now!  Play It Later!".  It was given to people who preordered a Playstation, and it was one of the discs that was packed in with the console on release day.  I don't remember how I managed to get my hands on it because I didn't preorder the console.  I'm guessing that it was probably given to me by a friend who did.

There were five songs from Sony recording artists that you could listen to in any CD player.  Those songs were:

The The - I Saw The Light

Korn - Blind

Mother May I - Meet You There

Dag - Lovely Jane

Dandelion - Weird Out 

The video above is a playlist of all of the songs that were on this disc.  They're not bad, but the real attraction was the tech demos on this disc that you had to wait until the Playstation console was released to see.

The interactive videos on this disc was the first look that many gamers got at what the Playstation could do.  It may not seem too impressive by 2025 standards, but it absolutely blew my mind in 1995.

28 Days, 6 Hours, 42 Minutes, 12 Seconds...

Donnie Darko
Mahoning Drive-In Theater - Lehighton, PA
Last night's feature was one of my favorite movies of all time; the 2001 Richard Kelly film Donnie Darko.

Show banner designed by Andrew Kern

I rented this movie from Hollywood Video sometime in my early 20's.  It didn't make much sense to me at the time, but I fell in love with it over the years.  Watching it with the director's commentary track when it was released on DVD was a huge help.  This was my first time seeing it on the big screen, and it was an incredible experience.

Just Like In The Movies; We'll Pretend To Be Someone Else

The Wild World Of David Lynch
Mahoning Drive-In Theater - Lehighton, PA

Show banner designed by Andrew Kern

Show poster designed by Tom Bifulco

This is third time that the Mahoning Drive-In Theater has hosted The Wild World Of David Lynch weekend. but it's my first time attending the event.  While I enjoyed the first season of Twin Peaks very much, I wouldn't describe myself as an especially big fan of the works of David Lynch.  In fairness, I haven't seen very many of his movies, but with the exception of The Straight Story which I just saw for the first time earlier this week, the films that he's made that I've seen prior to this weekend weren't a particularly enjoyable experience for me.  I saw The Elephant Man when I was a teenager and found it to be kind of boring.  Maybe I'd think differently if I saw it again as an adult, but I'm not interested enough to want to see it a second time.  I also saw his adaptation of Dune when I was a teenager, and to say that I strongly disliked it would be an understatement.  The only other one of his films that I've seen was Eraserhead when it was a Thursday Thread-Up screening at the Mahoning last May, and while I found it to be intriguing, I really just don't get it.  I'm told that it's supposed to be about a man's fears of becoming a father, and... I guess... maybe?  I don't know.  All I see is black and white scenes filled with artsy fartsy symbolism that don't advance the plot, assuming there's a plot to advance.

David Lynch once said that "I don't know why people expect art to make sense. They accept the fact that life doesn't make sense".  I wouldn't say that I expect life or art to make sense.  Here's the problem: I don't like when life doesn't make sense, so I don't usually enjoy art that doesn't make sense.  I'm kind of jealous of the people who enjoy the movies that I just mentioned above because they're seeing something that I'm not seeing.

Both nights of The Wild World Of David Lynch were sold out with fans coming to the Mahoning from as far away as the UK and Japan, so I spent most of the daylight hours parking cars on the lot crew.  I did get a little bit of time to hang out with Ben and to meet his mom who was up from North Carolina.

I was very psyched to have had the opportunity to meet Ray Wise.  He's best known for his role as Leland Palmer in Twin Peaks, but he's has a long and distinguished career and has appeared in quite a few movies and television shows that I've seen, including a starring role in Swamp Thing, and roles in Robocop, The Chase, X-Men: First Class, Big Ass Spider (which is much better than the name might lead you to believe), and a recurring role as The Devil in the 2007-2009 series Reaper.

Actor Richard Green who appeared in Saturday night's first film Mulholland Drive was also in attendance to meet fans.  Time got away from me and I didn't end up getting a photo with him, but I did get to spend quite a bit of time talking with him.  More on that later.

F*** You Tammy performed an incredible concert on Friday night in the daylight hours prior to the start of the films.  I don't know very much about them, but they have an ethereal sound that I can't really compare to anything else. 

This is their latest album, Sycamore Tree, which was released last November.  You can stream it for free, download it for $5, or buy their record for $20.

After the concert, we celebrated the 40th birthday of the woman who made The Wild World Of David Lynch weekend possible, Faye Murman Dorsey.  Dave and I carried this incredible birthday cake out to her as a surprise, and let me tell you, that was a mildly nerve wracking experience.  I spent the ninety seconds that it took to carry the thing out thinking "please don't drop the cake, please don't drop the cake" and sang Happy Birthday with a mental chorus of "thank god we didn't drop the cake".

Our friend Ash was also celebrating a birthday on the lot.  We all got together in the concession building after it closed to the public to have cake and wish her a happy birthday.

And now, onto the films...

The first film on Friday night was the 1992 feature film that serves as a prequel to Twin Peaks, Fire Walk With Me.  I've been meaning to watch this for quite a long time now, but hadn't gotten around to it.  I think that I wanted to re-watch the television series first before I dove into the movie, but I'm really not great when it comes to binging tv series these days.  They're too long, and as soon as they get a little bit dull or repetitive, I'll allow myself to get distracted and lose the plot entirely.  I've tried several times to watch the second season of Twin Peaks, and every time, I've gotten to around the third or fourth episode before I lose interest altogether.  I understand that there was a third season that was released in 2017 and I haven't watched any of it.

Fire Walk With Me is very good and I'm glad that I got to see it on 35mm on the big screen.  The only critique that I have is that Kyle MacLachlan and Miguel Ferrer feel like they were kind of shoehorned into the plot.  There's no sensible reason that either of these characters would be involved in any way with the town of Twin Peaks prior to the murder of Laura Palmer.  They're both incredible actors and they play two of the most interesting characters in the series, so I can see why they did it, but it felt pretty obvious that they were jumping through hoops to try to make their inclusion make sense.

The second film of Friday night was a digital presentation of a fascinating documentary on the life of actress Catherine E. Coulson who played The Log Lady on Twin Peaks.  Ms. Coulson passed away from cancer in September 2015, very shortly after her final on-screen appearance in the third season of Twin Peaks, and her story is both very interesting and inspiring.

Richard Green produced, edited, and directed this documentary.  I have a pretty cool story to share about him, but I'd like to talk about his most famous role in a feature film which we watched on Saturday night.

Saturday night kicked off with a 35mm presentation of the 2001 film Mulholland Drive.  This has been on my watchlist for many years and I was looking forward to seeing it for the first time.  It did not disappoint.  It was definitely a bizarre story that was told in a strange way.  However, in contrast to Eraserhead, I found the story that it told to be very interesting and I was invested in the outcome.  I won't pretend that I understood it completely, but it wasn't so drenched in symbolism that I found myself staring at the credits thinking "what the hell was that".  So, my personal David Lynch scorecard is now at two movies that I loved, one movie that I liked very much, one movie I didn't get, and one movie that I just flat out dislike.  I guess I'm a Lynch fan after all... just not quite as die hard as most of the other folks who joined us on the lot this weekend.

 

The second film shown on Saturday night was Blue Velvet.  I wasn't able to stay on the lot to see it, but it was for a very good reason.  During the intermission after Mulholland Drive, I was approached with a request.  I mentioned earlier that actor Richard Green was on the lot to meet fans, sign autographs, and to introduce his documentary I Know Catherine The Log Lady.  In addition to his directorial work, he appeared in Mulholland Drive as the magician at Club Silencio in the pivotal scene at the middle of the film.  Mark told me that Mr. Green's travel plans had fallen through and he asked if I'd be available and willing to drive him to the airport this morning.

It's not often that you get to see an iconic film that's nearly 25 years old for the first time on 35mm at a drive-in theater, and then get to spend a few hours with one of the films stars just a few hours later.  It did mean that I had to head home during intermission to get a decent night's sleep so that I could be well rested to drive to Philadelphia this morning, but it was absolutely worth it.  He was a very nice man and we spent the entire drive talking about all sorts of different things.  He's working on a project now called The History Of Cool that sounds pretty awesome.  I'm looking forward to seeing how it turns out.  My only regret is that I didn't take a picture with him when he was on the lot.  I was going to ask when I dropped him off at the airport, but there didn't feel like a right time to ask, and I didn't want to bug the dude when he was trying to get home.

And that's a wrap on The Wild World Of David Lynch III, and while I wouldn't classify myself as a superfan of his work, I can say that I've grown to appreciate his movies quite a bit more over the past few days.