So, guess who read that article on C-3P0's Cereal?

C-3P0.  No, really. I got an e-mail from the guy who runs Anthony Daniels' site, telling me how happy he was to see that another soul had a box of the stuff, and how reading the article opened the gates for plenty of memories from the commercial shoot.  At first I wasn't too sure if the man himself read it, but hey, go check out his site.  He did!  Prittttty cool.

Well, that's two.  I got to meet Harrison Ford under fairly intimate circumstances at the junket for K-19, but between my well-hidden awestruckityness and the fact that there were four other interviewers in the room, it didn't amount to much more than introductions and a couple of questions about a movie nobody went to see.  And I had this really bad pinkish red hair thing going on, so I was all antsy.  Still, I was sitting three feet from Han Solo — like Greedo.

Admittedly, if there's anything worse than starfucking, it's starwarsfucking.  But I am pretty humbled and so wanting to reuse my C-3P0 Play-Doh mold.  Maybe me and Anthony can head down to PS-166 and shoot some hoops.

Just got done on a freelance project that required watching 20 hours of a television show that must remain nameless for now.  I love the show, but combing through 20 hours of anything is a pretty damning project.  I will now celebrate the big finish by atrophying for the few hours I have left before yet another glorious workweek.  Rumors persist that I may get a full day off in 2012, but I'll probably waste that day writing a tribute to Hordak or something.

Yay, done.  Sorry, had some siiide business going on and it had to take precedence, because I wanted a reason to use the word "precedence."  But now I'm here, and we are one again.  Bet you thought it'd feel more special.  Specialer?  Course, I'm zipping back out in a minute anyway, so don't get used to me, I'll only disappoint.  Before the big return to my casket of choice, as Uncle Louis would say, the blesss-sing: Fireball Island was one of the best games ever in the entire world, and clicking that link will take you to my tribute hof hit.  It's the tale of multicolored explorers traveling the uncharted jungle on the hunt for jewels and on the run from fireballs, told at last.

Geez, you've gotta get to checkin' widdese.  Sideshow Collectibles has graced the world with a shitload of amazing 12" dolls from the Friday the 13th series, and normally this wouldn't be that big of a deal for me, but they've gone ahead and made dolls representing all of the different Jasons!  Well, some of them at least.  My favorite just for the sheer "I can't believe they made it" factor is Jason Voorhees as he appeared in Part II, complete with uncharacteristic large tuft of hair and an outfit that made Farmer Brown run around screaming about someone stealing his church clothes.  And the sack mask!  Other dolls in the line follow suit with being awesome, particularly the version from Part VI, perfectly encapsulating Jason's sudden progression from mangled man to Zsanus, king of the zombie lizards of Jupiter 9.  By the way, this isn't a paid ad or anything.  I don't think Sideshow would pay to lend promotion to figures that are limited editions already mostly sold out.  Sorry if I had you all excited.  Most of 'em are gone, available only to those brave enough to scour eBay with twice the original retail cost in their Paypal accounts.

LATE EDIT: Congrats to site pal and blogger "Manimal" on his first born!

Haven't mentioned this before, but you can catch some of my words at your nearest newsstand, assuming they carry ToyFare Magazine.  I was contacted to help out on a small bit for their "Best Ever" feature (covering the best of the best in all walks of toydom), but it kind of snowballed into three bits.  If you grab issue #91, my contributions to the Best Ever feature were "Best Commercial," "Best Carrying Cases" and "Worst Toys."  This looks like it might be a semi-recurring gig, which is just so awesome for someone like me who came from the trenches, so to speak.  Lots of fun, I'll keep you posted.  Also working on some kickass spots on Nick.  I need to launch a "real life" section of the site.  But then it'd be full of diaries about how I shouldn't have eaten three Fruit By The Foot rolls before bed.  Anyway, yeah, back with a new article this weekend, and it's a good one for sure.

Adding A Survey Thing: Which Price is Right game tickles your fancy most?  I've always been partial to Plinko, but hearing the old man shout "OR TWO!" during the putt off packs its own kind of punch.

Gotta admit, I didn't think I'd finish this on time.  On the boardwalk of Atlantic City, and the same shop where I found that finagled Pokemon Pasta down below, I found….this.  It's a beautiful buffet of old gags, pranks and novelties — everything from fake puke to squirting pens…all the stuff we used to order from Johnson Smith and Brad's Fun Shop.  I can't tell you how tickled I was to come across this stuff.  Article features a look at a sixteen different, including such classics as the "bug in an ice cube," and of course, "snap snots."  Yum.  Enjoy.

I managed to snatch a sealed box of C-3P0's Cereal from 1984, so even though I already did an article on the stuff a few years ago, this latest development seemed like enough of a reason to praise the power of the rehash.  It's a giant look at a very special Star Wars breakfast, including a full-sized scan of the creepy Luke Skywalker mask printed on the box.  Enjoy.

Actually just got back from Atlantic City a few hours ago.  Lost big, but only to the point of a one week depression as opposed to the six weeks that came after my last visit.  The machines were ruthlessly cold, and even if the tables were luckier, I fucked up every time I sat at one and eventually gave up.  I just couldn't grasp the nuances of when to pick up cards, how to pick up cards, when to throw the chips, so on and so forth.  It was like trying to wing sign language.

Right before we left, we hit the boardwalk at my urging so I could check out the decrepit souvenir shops for old crap.  Couldn't hit shit in the casinos, but nailed a jackpot in the shops — the next article (hopefully active on Monday afternoon — I have off because I strongly support MLK) features one collection of finds, but I took home all sorts of great stuff.  One of the 99 cent stores was stocked with Rambo action figure accessory packs from 1985, and that's just the tip.  In the bowels of the very same store, I found these…

Heinz Pokemon Pasta!  The cans are from 1999, but even so, they were some of the least offensively old food products found in the store.  They're from Pokemon's boom period, with six characters (chosen seemingly at random) represented as pasta shapes in milky tomato sauce  I know I've said it a million times, but…how?  How can stores get away with it?  Why would they even try?  Do we have any law people in here?  If one were to say, eat the Pokemon Pasta and get very, very ill…would they have a case against those who sold it?  I'm not working up to a punch line here — I really am curious.

Okay, gonna get to work on the next article — should be a fun one.  Meantime, see if either of these descriptions get your memories flowing.  I'm trying to remember the names of/get information on a couple of toys I distinctly recall owning and loving…

1) Worms-in-a-briefcase.  May possibly be the very first toy I ever picked out for myself by myself, so we're probably looking at something that came out between 1982-1985.  They were, as I recall, sets of two life-sized rubber worm figures in various bright colors that came packed in tiny plastic briefcases.  I'm dying to know the name of these.  Pretty sure they used to be on sale near the register at KB.

2) This one's a bit tougher — I won it using casino arcade points in Wildwood when I was a kid.  It was sort of like a giant, souped up Madball — let's say basketball sized, with a pull-string that activated its electronic voice.  May have had a few other "action" capabilities.  Was very colorful and very ugly.

Any ideas?  Anyone?

SECRET TALES OF GUMMY BEAR WOE:
Spent the morning at the Broadway Screening Room – not as fancy as it sounds – catching a screener for Assault on Precinct 13 on behalf of Box Office Magazine.  It’s got Ethan Hawke and Drea de Soprano Girl.  More importantly, it’s got Laurence Fishburne, a man of which to whom everything is a tomb.  Nobody will get that. :9

Anyway, it’s a decent flick.  I have to let it all soak in before I can really decide if it’s worth recommending, but as far as formulaic remakes go, they did about as much with this as could be expected.  Won’t bore you with the details since they’re all available on IMDB – I’m only mentioning this to confess my secret tales of Gummy Bear Woe.

Okay, so the only reason I signed on for this assignment was because the screening room (think movie theater, just a lot smaller) is just a couple of blocks down from the office.  Untypical as it may be to go into work late so you can go to…work, my boss gave her blessing and said she hoped my grandfather pulled through.  On the way there, it hit me that I probably wouldn’t have a chance to eat anything until around 2, so I stopped at a bodega and chucked bucks at the sad man for two little bags of gummy bears.  This is where most stories would get interesting, but mine’s only going to get gummyting.

In a medium sized room full of movie reviewers of a much more professional persuasion than myself, the lights went down and the movie cranked up.  The audience laughs when necessary, but generally, this is a really quiet atmosphere.  Everyone is there for serious business.  No talking, no opening doors, no accidental cell phone rings, and certainly no noisy ruffling of the two bags of gummy bears hidden in my coat pocket.

Assault on Precinct 13 is a movie with more than its fair share of explosions, car bombings, grenade go-offs and Pokemon metronomes.  During each and every instance that something on the screen loudly blew up, I’d rapidly dig into my pocket, grab a bunch of bears and shove ‘em down my throat before anyone could catch on.  This went on for — according to the press notes — 109 minutes.

They should make a movie about my gummy bear story, not Precinct 13.