Video Mania

Toys R' Us Video Mania Flyer
January 1994
Seven dollars off plus a free pair of shades?  How can you go wrong?  Click here for the full size image

French Zombies And Pizza Bagels

Les Revenants
Canal+ (2012)

This is the first French television that I've ever watched, unless you count episodes of The Mysterious Cities Of Gold that had been dubbed in English for Nickelodeon in the 80's.  It's about a small town in which a number of people who died suddenly come back to life at the same time.  However, they're not coming back as zombies or monsters... they're the same people and the same age as they were when they died, and they have no memory of their death.  It's fascinating, and one of the most interesting shows about the undead that I've ever seen.

We made pizza bagels to snack on while watching this show.  They weren't anything fancy... just bagels topped with pepperoni, cheese and chunky pizza sauce, but they were exceptionally good!

The Return Of The Wheeze Kids

Ruben Amaro is seemingly on a mission to bring back as many aging former Phillies as he can.  It started in November when he signed Marlon Byrd to a 2 year, $16 million dollar contract.  Byrd began his career with the Phillies in 2002, but was traded to the Washington Nationals just a month into the 2005 season.

In December, he brought catcher Lou Marson back to Philadelphia to compete for the spot to back up Carlos Ruiz.  Mason was one of the prospects that the Phillies traded away at the 2009 deadline to acquire Cliff Lee, so it's possible that Lee could pitch this season to one of the players who he was traded for.

Today, they signed two time all-star Bobby Abreu to a minor league contract with an invitation to Spring Training.  Abreu was taken by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in the 1997 MLB Expansion Draft and was then immediately traded to the Phillies for Kevin Stocker.  He immediately became one of the Phillies best hitters and was our starting right fielder for the next eight and a half seasons until he was practically given away to the Yankees at the 2006 deadline for a few minor league players who didn't look like promising prospects at the time, and who didn't contribute for the Phillies (or anyone else) in a meaningful way.  It was one of the most foolish trades that our front office has made in recent memory.

Abreu's best days are behind him, but he hit an encouraging .322/.416/.461 in 50 games for Leones del Caracas during the Venezuelan Winter League 2013-14 season, so there may be something left in the tank for one more productive season for the team where he became a star.

Jack on Beerleaguer proposed an interesting gambling exercise for the 2014 season: which of the five Phillies who were with the team back in 2004 will be more productive ten years later.  Here are their slash lines:

Jimmy Rollins (154 games) - .289/.348/.455

Chase Utley (94 games) - .266/.308/.468

Ryan Howard (19 games) - .282/.333/.564

Bobby Abreu (159 games) - .301/.428/.544

Marlon Byrd (106 games) - .228/.287/.321

The chances of Abreu coming close to his 2004 productivity in his age 40 season are slim to none, but I suppose stranger things have happened.  The rest of them have a reasonable chance, but if I had to put my money on one of them, it'd be either Utley or Byrd.  Who knows... maybe they'll all put together a magical season and be the second incarnation of the Wheeze Kids who will lead Philadelphia to the World Series.

In The Morning With My Whole Wheat Toast...

I see this commercial every morning, and both the song and the dancing avocado haunt me for the rest of the day.

Exotic Snacking

Butterfinger Peanut Butter Cups teaser trailer
Nestle (2014)

The teaser for our upcoming Super Bowl ad is... interesting.  Have a look.

Mario Needs A Good Attorney

Argyle Sweater
Scott Hilburn (1/07/2014)
Source: GoNintendo.com

Retro Sticker Album

Retro Sticker Album
Tumblr (2014)
One of my favorite things in the world when I was growing up in the 80's was stickers, so I went ahead and tried to digitally create the experience.  Check it out!