The Rain Seat

I took this picture of my Grandpa when we got back from the Transfiguration Church Picnic on Sunday.  Sometimes he likes to sit on the front porch and watch the rain.

Try Throwing A Two-Seam Fastball With This

Dollar City
Terrace Plaza - Hazleton, PA
This gave me the strangest visual.

Sense of Right Alliance

Dollar City
Terrace Plaza - Hazleton, PA
I want to see a superhero movie starring this group.  Imagine Batman teaming up with Superman, Symbiote Spider-Man, the Green Power Ranger, Shrek and Lightning McQueen (with a yellow paint job) teaming up to form the Sense Of Right Alliance to save the world.

Movies Under The Rainbow

The Dark Knight / Journey To The Center Of The Earth
Laurel Drive-In - Hazleton, PA

I'm not sure if it's was my actual first movie, but my earliest memory of seeing a movie out with my family was at the Laurel Drive-In.  Dad brought me here to see The Karate Kid: Part 2 when I was five years old.  Back then, the Drive-In still had the little speakers hooked up to poles that you would park next to so that you could hear the movie.

This place has been in operation since the 50's and it's still going strong.  Most nights, it's ten bucks per car to see two movies.  They have a great selection of food and snacks, all of which are inexpensive, and it's just a few miles from my house.

It rained last night when we were at the Transfiguration Church picnic.  Thankfully, it stopped before we got to the Drive-In, and we got to see a beautiful rainbow that arched over the entire parking lot.

This is the inside of the orange building in the photo with the rainbow.  It's where they project the movie from.  It's also the snack bar with a few arcade games.  I think I've played this Ms. Pac-Man machine every time I've seen a movie here for over 20 years.

 

The movies that were playing last night were The Dark Knight and Journey To The Center Of The Earth.  The Dark Knight is the sequel to Batman Begins, and with the exception of The Crow, I think it's my favorite movie based on a comic book that I've ever seen.  I didn't think anyone could ever outdo Jack Nicholson as The Joker, but the late Heath Ledger delivered a performance that is second to none.

Journey To The Center Of The Earth was a good family adventure film.  It's not the kind of thing I'm likely to want to watch again, but I'm glad to have seen it.  Brendan Fraser was solid, as always.  I've never read the book, so I don't know how far it strays from the source material, but it was enjoyable.  I will say that even watching this on a 2-D drive-in screen, it was pretty obvious which scenes were shot entirely for the purpose of showing off the 3-D special effects.  It didn't ruin the experience or anything, but it was very noticeable.

Farmers Market Superheroes

Super Heroes action figure set
Hometown Farmers Market - Tamaqua, PA

You can find some pretty crazy bootleg toys at the Hometown Farmers Market.  Take, for example, this team of super heroes.  Wouldn't you love to see these six guys get together with swords to fight crime?

The graphics and phrases on the package are pretty amusing, but the real star of the show here are the toys themselves.

First, there is a very smug looking Superman hanging out with a silver gloved Batman.

Then we move from DC to Marvel Comics.  There's Spider Man with an odd peanut-shaped head, and a very constipated looking Thing from The Fantastic Four.

Finally, there's Disney/Pixar's Mr. Incredible, and last but not least, the White Power Ranger.

At six bucks, it works out to a dollar per figure.  In all likelihood, these things fall apart seconds after being taken out of the package, and I wouldn't rule out lead-based paints, but those are the chances you take with the Farmers Market Superheroes.

We'll See You At The Movies

UA: The Movies at Schuylkill Mall
Schuylkill Mall - Frackville, PA

I love the aesthetic of the Schuylkill Mall in general, but my favorite part of the mall is the United Artists movie theater.  It's not fancy - just a four screen theater with modest seating and a small arcade to the left of its entrance, but it has a lot of charm because it's virtually unchanged since the day that it opened.  My grandfather brought me here to see a movie a few times when I was a kid in the 80's, and it's still exactly as I remember it.

For Radio, Take Maximum

I haven't fit in this t-shirt since I was 15 years old.  My dad was dating a girl whose sister worked for a record company in Russia.  When she came back to South Florida, she brought a few of these t-shirts and gave one to me.  It's from Maximum 103.7 FM, a rock station on the radio in Moscow.  Their slogan on the back of the shirt translates to "For Radio, Take Maximum".

McPanda

Kung Fu Panda Arch Card
McDonald's (2008)
Stopped for a late ice cream last night and found that they've got these awesome Kung Fu Panda gift cards.  The minimum to load on a card is $5, so I did that first and then used it to pay for the ice cream.

Back In Black Diamond

Black Diamond Antiques & Collectibles
Schuylkill Mall - Frackville, PA

We stopped by Black Diamond for a little while before heading to Knoebels.  It's the best flea market store that I've ever been to.  It's a collection of well over a hundred different vendors.  Some of them are ridiculously expensive and others are very reasonable.  If you're patient, you can get some pretty good deals on vintage toys, comics, memorabilia and other fun things for a fraction of what you'd pay for them online.

This place is absolutely huge.  These photos barely scratch the surface of the kind of things that they have for sale here.  Money is a little tight this week so I only bought a few things, but are some of the more interesting items that caught my eye.

 

Even if you're flat broke, it's worth coming here just to look around.  I did have a few bucks to spend, so a few retro goodies came home with me.

When I was a kid, Tonka made a series of toys called WWF Wrestling Buddies.  They're pretty much just pillows that are shaped like professional wrestlers that kids could suplex and body slam around the living room without causing too much damage.  They had a Hulk Hogan one from either the late 80's or early 90's that was in good shape for a good price that I picked up.  I also bought a couple of Supernaturals action figures that I had when I was younger, and an ET card game that I never heard of before, but it was only a couple of bucks and it looked like a fun game.  Angie found a Barbie Doll case from either the late 70's or the early 80's.

Three Generations

Mom is on the left.  Pop Pop is on the right.  I am the goober in the middle.  Spending time with them always makes me feel tall.

A Ticket To Win Tickets

Philadelphia Phillies Instant Lottery Ticket
Pennsylvania Lottery (2008)
My grandparents put one of these tickets in my birthday card.  I didn't win, but they have a Second Chance Drawing to win Phillies season tickets, a trip to Spring Training, and other baseball prizes that would make for a pretty awesome birthday surprise!