March Movie Review

Nothing like waiting till the last day of the month prior to get these out! Let's do it!

 Beauty and Beast

I have no choice on this one. Megan will force me to go.

Kong Skull Island

This movie screams "PLEASE come see us! We want to make you think this movie will be cool! Oh... but wait, with a March release instead of a summer release, that should tell you how well this movie plays out. PASS. 

 Logan

One of the Top 5 movies I'm looking forward to this year. Looks good, let's hope it lives up to the hype!

Power Rangers

I say "No" and Megan does as well. So looks like I'm not seeing this joke either.

I wonder what movies come out to rent next month....

Starship Troopers

A few weeks ago I re-watched this classic Scifi movie from the 90's and it still holds up. I love the story, the action and the look isn't as outdated as I thought it might be. I'm even tempted to watch it's 3 sequels next but doubt they'll be as good as this one.

If you were thinking about watching it again, do. It's worth your time!

Best Sammiches!

I love me a good sammich! And these are some of my favorite places to eat. (in no particular order)

 Melt

All the way up in Ohio (Columbus and Cleveland) are the only places you can get these big eats and let me tell you...they are delicious! All 3, 486 calories per bite! (ok, joking about that last part but seriously, they're not healthy for you...which makes them SO good!!)

 Firehouse

The closest one of these to me is my grandmother's in Mobile AL. I could eat one of these sammiches every day and not get tired of them! When working in AZ last year, I went through the entire menu on the board twice!! I LOVE this place!

 Jimmy John's

The bread is fantastic, the  service is quick and when I worked in Dallas, this was all I ever ate! Everyday for lunch. Every. Day. Another place where I've run through the entire menu board. Not a single one of them are bad!

 Quizno's

Super sad we no longer have one anymore. I could drink my weight in Batch 81 sauce. Don't know why they all closed in the area. I hope someone reopens a chain again soon!

Subway

Most people say "Yuck" I continue to say "Yum" Subway has always been one of my favorites since I was a kid. I've ordered the same thing since college and rarely order anything else. I even love the salads here. (which is weird to say but it's true)

Have any favorite sammichs I don't know about? Let me know in the comments below!

Rockafire Explosion Documentary review

This documentary about Showbiz Pizza's defunct mechanical show is something I've been looking forward to seeing for a while! I finally got to see it on YouTube recently and it's a pretty good film! If you remember these lost characters from the 80's then it's worth your time as well.

The creator of the robots, still has a complete copy for sell. They didn't say how much he wanted it for, but if I had the money....

Board game wish list

I have a lot of board games, but here's a few I'm keeping my eye out for in hopes of getting a copy someday!

 Got'Cha!

Played this game at a friends house back in the 80's all the time. I see it on Ebay every blue moon but I'm not paying more than $20 for it. The last joker to try and sell it, was for $35....and no one bought it.

The game is like Hot Potato, where you place the cuff around your wrist and try to roll "keys" on both dice. Once you do, pass the cuff to the next player and so on and so on. When the timer's up, the cop pops up and your out of the game. Last one standing is the winner!

 Rattler

A board game where the goal is to get to the top of the mountain without being bitten by the snake. The cool thing about this game is that you never know which door the snake will pop out of since it's constantly being turned around by players after each turn. Once you hear the "rattle" you know it's time to stop and punch the button to see which door it pops out of. That person goes back to the beginning OR uses their one anti-venom token to save them.

 Megan would really enjoy this game and I'm willing to pay $40 for a complete copy. But that's the problem. Seems no one HAS a complete copy for sale. Just a box of bits and pieces. So who knows how long I'll have to wait for this one!

Wacky Wit

I can't believe I missed the dinner bell on this one! With only 260 ever made, they were going for sale in September of last year and sold out. As far as I can tell, this ingenious "pac man" game in disguise, looked AMAZING!!

The other bad thing about this? The game regularly costs $200 to get. I can only imagine what one would sell for now. Probably, forever out of my price range. 

Split Review

A few weeks ago (after Megan's constant pleas) I finally took her to see M Night Shyamalan's new movie Split.

I love just about every Shyamalan movie out there (except Lady in the Water) but had no interest to see this film. I hate James Mcavoy as an actor and the story line didn't look interesting at all.

However, after seeing it, I found it to be quite enjoyable and better than expected. It's not Shyamalan's best, but it is good and worth seeing. And while I'm not spoiling the ending, I have to say I did not see it coming.

Interested in what the future brings to Mr Shyamalan and his movies.

All Hail King Julien Review

Board one day and needed something to watch as I ate a quick breakfast, I saw this cartoon on Netflix and decided to give it a shot. Oh man...was I surprised.

This is one of the funniest cartoons out there. It's smart, funny and extremely well written, with episodes tying in with one where the impact is felt in later seasons. I can't believe how good this show is. One of my new favorites.

I'm not that big on Madagascar and I hope that doesn't cause people to pass over such a gem as this, but if you have kids and you're tired of seeing them watch dumb shows, turn this on for them and enjoy it with them. It's worth your time!

The interesting history of Wendys

Sorry, I'm bored this week and this was the only idea that came to mind.

Wendy's started in 1969 by Dave Thomas in Columbus, OH. Sadly that location is no longer around due to poor sales, it closed in 2007. (Yikes!!)

But the company really got it's big push back in 1984 with their legendary commercial "Where's the Beef?" which became one of mos recognizable and copied commercials ever. The actress who played the old woman with the popular line was 86 year old Clara Peller who would go own to star in several commercials. One (in 1985) would actually get her fired from Wendy's and that would be a Prego commercial where she stated "I finally found the beef!"

After firing Clara, the company made an even more popular decision for its commercials after that...

Have the Founder make them. Growing up, I must have seen Dave Thomas in over 200 commercials for Wendy's. The man knew how to connect to the audience and was a genius at selling his own product.

Fun fact, but Wendy's is actually responsible for breaking up the band the Violent Femmes when it aired a commercial in 2007 that played "Blister in the Sun" The band was at odds over having their song so "commercialized" especially when they hated fast food. They later broke up in 2009 because of this.

But Wendy's also shares some rather interesting history with other restaurants, the first being KFC.

Does that man next to the Colonel look familiar to you? He should. I just showed you a picture of him earlier. That's Dave Thomas and yeah...he not only knew the Colonel, he worked for him too!

Back in the day an Indiana chain of KFC's were doing poorly. Colonel Sanders offered Thomas (who was already working for KFC at the time) the opportunity to go up there and get the restaurants back to making a profit. If he was successful, he would own 45% of the stores up there.

Dave not only turned it around he also invented the "Bucket" sign for KFC and re-sold the stores back to the Colonel for 1.5 Million.Thomas promptly went back to Ohio and with his money from the Colonel, opened up the first Wendy's location.

Amazing, right? But that's not all! Guess who owns Wendy's now?

Ha!! I'm not lying! Wild huh? Oh and a little tid bit about Arbys...it was started by the Raffel Brothers, who got the name for the store by taking the initials "R" and "B" to form the company's name.

It's a small fast food world after all!

The interesting story of RC Cola

So I few weeks back I named off my top 5 sodas, with RC being my #5. A friend of mine was a little surprised by that pick and wanted me to explain. After doing so I decided to make this post about it for all of you to share.

RC Cola started in 1905 by a Grocer named Claud Hatcher.

Claud bought so much Coca-cola back in the day he asked the company to give him a discount. When they refused, he angrily cut off all future orders and started work making his own cola to sell. The result was RC. (and all the Nehi drinks of which Big Blue was one of my favorites as a kid!)

Mr Hatcher's company were pioneers back in the day. They were the first ones to put cola in a can and also the first ones to come out with a "diet soda" long before anyone thought to make such a thing.

Diet Rite. Something my Mom drank for years around the house as we were growing up. I never knew how popular it was. (and still is today) Of course, these days it's owned by the same makers of Dr Pepper and 7Up (both independent from Coke and Pepsi) and is the third most popular cola company in our country yet in the Philippines it's #1 and in some other countries #2 behind Coke.

Another reason I love RC, is their long running history with the Mets. As it's on and off sponsors, in the 60;s, 70's and 80's, if you were a Mets fan, you probably drank RC cola and the picture up above tells you why.

(sigh) I best they taste like champions....but I'll never know because:

A) I'll never find this can of soda
B) The Mets aren't going to win anything for a very long time to come.

But still, it's nice to know!

An interesting history to Burger King

Started in 1953, after going out to California and seeing what the McDonald brothers were on to, a few folks tried to copy their success out in Florida. The result was Burger King. Playing second fiddle constantly to it's inspiration McDonald's, BK was infamous for starting what was known as the "Burger Wars" in the 1980's with this commercial starring a young Sarah Michell Geller.

Not only did they mention McDonald's in the clip, but also slammed it for not "appreciating" kids enough. McDonald's was furious at the move and was quick to retaliate. Though I was young at the time, I wish I noticed this more, but commercials that didn't talk about toys never held my interest.

Just some "Did you know" trivia for today!

Happy Worthless Holiday!

My least favorite holiday of the year is here once again. Not because I don't like "love" and showing affection but because it's totally pointless holiday for business' to grab your money. I've never enjoyed this holiday...but I hope you do.

BGG Spirng CON wish list

I know it's not until May but I wanted to go ahead and talk about the top 5 games I hope I get a chance to play at this years upcoming Con!

5) Blood Rage

I hear so much about this stupid game but it looks so boring to me. I have to at least try it because EVERYONE says it's so good and I need a Viking game for my collection so hopefully I'll get a chance to try it out.

4) Star Trek Fleet Captains

I here great things and the pieces look great. From what I see, it's easy to play as well, so I'm interested in checking it out. I have a Star Trek game already but it's very easy to play and not much on strategy. This one could be an improvement.

3) Mice and Mystics

I saw this at Gencon last year and was so intrigued. Hopefully I can find a group to play with, who'll show me the game. I already have a similar "coop quest" game in Descent, but if this one proves unique enough, it could be added to my collection.

 2) Battle of the Five Armies

I'm a huge Lord of the Rings fan and this game based on the last few chapters of the Hobbit seems straight up my ally. But whenever I look at the game online it doesn't seem that fun. HOWEVER all the reviews say if you're a fan of the books you'll be a fan of the game. Guess I'll have to give it a shot and find out for myself!

1) War of the Ring

For the same reason as listed above, nothing but great things have I heard about this game. It looks awesome but (again) the gameplay seems bland. It's from the same people who did the Five Armies game so I guess if I try one and like it, I'll like the other. I've almost gone ahead and bought this game, but something tells me this is a "try before you buy" situation.

Man I can't wait for May to get here.

It's a scary world out there

 Shia may not divide us anymore. The NYP just shut down his cult for good since they were labeled as a "violent" group of individuals who were constantly attacking anyone who disagreed with them. Shia himself was arrested on assault charges as was one of his other "zombie followers". The NYP had to provide constant watch over the group since they were known to instigate violence to whomever disagreed with them.

The horror show is finally over!

Speaking of violent, how come no one is reporting all the other stores that suffered damage during UC Berkley's violent demonstration last week? It didn't stop with the school folks, they burned, smashed and looted the entire block!

Imagine that, these folks preach tolerance but result to violent and destructive intolerance to anyone who disagrees with them. Ironic isn't it?

ShowBiz Pizza Place Commercial "Big Kid"

Highlander: The Card Game

Since I've dedicated most of the week to talking about Highlander, I thought why not end it by mentioning the CCG that came out in the 90's. Back when Magic was hitting across America, hundreds of other companies tried getting in the game every way they could and Highlander was one who threw it's hat (or sword) in the ring to give it a try.

Though I liked Highlander, I was never a fan of CCG's (Collectable Card Games) because there was no way you could get a complete collection of them and being a completest, that was not something for me. But I do check it out on Ebay every once in a while to see about getting a whole set. The problem with that is, I'd have no one to play it with.

But there's just a fun bit of knowledge for the weekend. Have a good one folks!

Highlander Reunion

Speaking of Highlander, did you know the cast actually came together in 2008 and did a short film for the series?! Not much happened in this 15 minutes movie but it was nice to see some of the cast return for it. If you're a Highlander fan who can't get enough of the TV show, I'd recommend watching this.

It's better than Highlander: The Source, I can promise you that!

The Methos Chronicles

As a die hard Highlander fan, you'd think I'd seen it all. (except the cartoon, which was so bad I stopped after the first episode) But low and behold this 2010 adobe flash toon finally hit my radar and I'm shocked I'd never heard of it before now.

Starring the voice of Methos, Peter Wingfield; this short 16 part mini-series explores Methos origin as well as a few of legendary tales from the series. The art is horrible, the production is utter garbage and I'm shocked Wingfield even became a part of it, but if you can just look at the overall story, it's not bad. I wish this had been a TV episode on the show back in the day instead.

It only takes 30 minutes to watch the whole thing, whether you want to is up to you!

The Founder (Review)

A few weeks ago I got to see one of my most anticipated films of the year! What'd I think?

Good stuff. Michael Keaton does a phenomenal acting job (of course) and the story had you captivated the whole way thru. Worth your time seeing if you have the interest!

I don't think it's good enough to be movie of the year but that's always a tough sell for a January movie to be the best overall....however Deadpool was in February and it won last year....hmmm... we'll have to wait and see!

Star Trek The Animated Series

Being a semi-Trek fan over the years I've seen every TV series but one. The Animated series. No particular reason I skipped it except that there was no way to watch it and I eventually forgot about it. Until last week it caught my attention on Netflix and I thought "Why not?"

The original cast comes back to voice the cartoon which feel JUST like the series! So much, I swear some of these were "lost episodes" they never got to write. The series does a great job without being kiddie at all. I was really impressed by the story arcs. The animation is cheap 70's but what else would you expect.

If you're a Trek fan and you got the time, this one's worth checking out!

Bill Clinton Was Trump Back In 1995 - Illegal Immigration

Schumer 2015: "Refugee Ban Necessary" - Schumer 2017: "Trump Is Mean."

Super Blah!

So it's once again, time for the Super Bowl and I just found out who was playing in it earlier this week....which should show you how much I care about this game. Never seen one and don't plan to again this year. Maybe I'll watch a movie instead.

Have fun watching the game America!

Twilight Imperium....GAME 2!!

Today I'm once again playing one of my favorite board games of all time! Super excited about today, because I'll be showing even more players how to play this amazing game!

Too bad I can't do this every weekend!

AT&T Bust

So a few weeks ago I received a letter in the mail that I could now get AT&T Fiber internet at my house. Giving me over 1000mbp's Download and Upload capabilities. I couldn't wait to get it!

I called the next day and had an installer out later that week. It took 5 hours to install because it required work both in and outside the house. When it was all hooked up and ready to go, I tried it out....only to discover I was running at a lower rate than I was with Comcast.

The Installer said he had no idea what the problem was and that everything looked good on his side. I tried resetting my laptop and trying it again but it did no good.

I then called AT&T to cancel. Tech support spent on entire hour with me on the phone trying to get things to work but each time they though they had it, my connection got slower and slower until my speed was 3mbp's. Slower than dial up.

They gave up and let me cancel. Thank goodness I still had Comcast installed or it'd have been a worse day. I really wanted to switch over to AT&T but unfortunantly they dropped the ball on this one and it looks like I'm stuck with Comcast for another 10 years.

Wildest places to stay

Planning a vacation for the year? Might I make a few unique suggestions?

 Montana Magical Lodge

Think Montana's boring? Think again! This place looks like it came straight off the pages of Lord of the Rings! I know there's Hobbit Holes in Australia but to know there's a place like this in the US and amazing!

 Skylodge Suites

Seek adventure in the mountains? You can stay on the side of one if you like. I don't know how this could be described as "fun" but to each his own I guess.

 UFO House

In the woods of Sweden is this UFO house. Kinda makes you wonder who had the time to build this and why'd they do it in the first place huh?

Villa-Vals

Oh the Swiss have some imagination. This looks like a new age Skywalker farm from Star Wars. Again, not sure who says "Yes! That's where I'm spending my vacation!" but just in case that person is you....here you go.

See you tomorrow folks!

Top Soft Drinks

When I drink a cola, what are my top preferences? Here you go!

5) RC

Don't know why, but there's something special about this cola. I'm always happy to see it in stores when I'm on the road and every once in a while will pick one up for the trip.

4) Coke Zero

My "go to" drink when the Top 3 aren't around. Zero cals gives it the edge over plain coke.

3) Surge

There was a time when folks thought this was all I drank. Truth is, I didn't care either way but folks kept buying them for me that over time I got used to them. Now I'm happy to say I can pick them up cheap today for $1 a can!

2) Pibb

If I'm driving thru or into Mississippi, you can rest assured I'll be stopping by a Kroger to pick up a few cases of this one my back home. LOVE it.

1) Crystal Pepsi

There's something about this drink that makes it better than Pibb for me! Now that it's back I can't hep but buy a few bottles every time I see it. Creating my next stockpile, in case it goes out of stock again. Good stuff!

That's my Top 5, what's yours?