100 Days Until Halloween 2018!

While we're still very much in the throes of summer, with all of its surf, sand, and sunburn, there is one thing worth noting today...

...it's only 100 days until Halloween!

Which means it's only 69 days until the Countdown to Halloween! And God willing, I will be participating once again in this multi-blog extravaganza. It's easily the biggest time of the year for this blog in both number of articles and number of readers. So while I certainly don't want to rush things, I just wanted to put the Countdown on your radar a little bit.

I now return you to your regularly scheduled summer.

I can't guarantee others will let you return, however.

Thanks!

Walt Disney, Donald's Lucky Day (1939)

Today is Friday the 13th, but instead of posting something Jason Voorhees-related--with the exception of the image above--I'm going in a different direction.

Please enjoy the 1939 Disney Donald Duck cartoon "Donald's Lucky Day." Donald is a bicycle messenger unwittingly hired by thugs to deliver a bomb on Friday the 13th. Will Donald's luck run out?

No, it says so right in the title.

Have a great weekend!

Tuesday's Overlooked TV: The Fantastic Funnies (1980)

This week's Tuesday's Overlooked TV is the 1980 television special The Fantastic Funnies.

Airing on May 15, 1980 on CBS, this hour-long special showcased the most popular newspaper comic strips of the 20th century up to that time, many of them in animated form, some for the first time. The special was hosted by Loni Anderson with a special guest appearance by her WKRP in Cincinati co-star Howard Hessman in character as Dr. Johnny Fever.

I was going to write more at length about this special, but another blogger has already done so, and better than I could have done it (what a shock). Charles Brubaker of the animation blog Cartoon Research wrote a great article about the special, and you can read it here. Great stuff!

I will, however, provide the entire special right here, courtesy of the online Museum of Classic Chicago Television. I remember seeing this special live when it first aired, as I loved both cartoons and comic strips. Enjoy!

June's Underappreciated Music: Summer Songs!

Yep, I'm still on a summer kick! And why not, since we still have so much summer ahead of us. While away these sultry days with some awesome odes to this hottest and happening of seasons! 

If I forgot your favorite, let me know in the comments and I may add it. And to add any of these songs to your personal collection, click on the Amazon mp3 icon below and download your favorites!

Tuesday's Overlooked Film: US Department of War, "Don't Be A Sucker"

This week's Tuesday's Overlooked Film is a unique outing from the US Department of War (now the Department of Defense) created during World War II titled "Don't Be A Sucker."

It urges Americans not to..well, just watch. I'll just say it is very relevant today, sixty-plus years later.

Thanks!

Welcome Summer 2018!

Beaches! Bathing suits! Sunburn! Humidity! Mosquitos! Camping! Ice cream! All this and more await us the next three months!

Welcome to Summer 2018!

Summer is the time of year for children to be out of school, people to take time off from work, and time to crank the A/C way high. The season has some drawbacks, but for the most part, it's a great time of year. Why not celebrate the first day of summer the Me and You way?

First up, the YouTube channel Defunctland does a great job celebrating beloved, and sometimes infamous, tourist attractions and amusement parks of days gone by. Here, Defunctland breaks down the notorious New Jersey water attraction Action Park!

Next up: the trailer to one of my favorite summer-themed movies, Race For Your Life, Charlie Brown. I wrote about the film as a Tuesday's Overlooked Film entry before, so I might as well put that link back up as well.




Speaking of older blog posts, one of my recent faves is my recap of classic summer water toys from the toy company WHAM-O! Please check that out too for some favorite summertime memories!

Back in the 80s and early 90s, Country Time Lemonade advertised their beverage with wistful, laid back commercials meant to evoke sulty, sleepy summer days and nights spent downing glasses of ice cold Country Time. Here is one of the original songs used as background in the commercials. Listening to it does indeed make me feel like sitting on my non-existent porch with Country Time in hand!



Lastly, my unofficial theme song of the first day of summer, "Are You Ready For The Summer" by the kids of the great summertime comedy movie Meatballs!



Have a great and safe Summer 2018, and stay tuned here for more fun in the virtual sun!

If you're thinking about purchasing something from Amazon soon, give my links a try. I appreciate your support!

Avengers: Infinity War Movie Review

Dude. It's a miracle. I actually saw Avengers: Infinity War IN a movie theater!

You don't understand what a milestone this is for me. As much as I love the gamut of superhero movies that have been released the last ten years, I'm usually too busy to see them until months or even a year after they're released. The last time I saw a superhero movie in a theater was the first Sam Raimi Spider-Man film back in 2002!

But this time, the stars were aligned, and I was able to see Infinity War in the theater. And this was the perfect movie with which to break my dry spell.

I loved every frame of it.

I loved everything about this movie. The story, the acting, the effects, even the editing, it was a perfect storm of Marvel movie mania! (Stan Lee would be proud of that alliteration!)

I'm not going to go into every aspect of the movie; instead, I'll simply list some points that I feel are worth mentioning. SPOILER WARNING! Don't read until you've seen the movie.

1. Thanos was excellent! I haven't read much of him at all in the comics, but Josh Brolin's interpretation of the character was easily the best Marvel movie villain we've seen so far.

2. I knew someone was going to die, but I didn't expect half the cast to do so! That was a very brave move on the studio's part. Nicely done! And no, the fact that most, if not all, of the dead characters will come back eventually in no way diminishes the emotional impact of the deaths.

3. Rocket to Thor: "You speak Groot?"
   Thor to Rocket: "I learned it in school. It was an elective." Ha!

4. Dude! Red Skull!

5. I was especially surprised to see Spidey vanish, as he is the most recognizable Marvel character ever, and they went through a lot of trouble bringing him into the cinematic universe.

6. Interesting that all of the original Avengers members remained alive. Hmm...

7. Also interesting that all of the Guardians of the Galaxy perished save Rocket. Also hmm...

8. As long as the movie is (2 hours and 40 minutes), at no time does the movie feel slow. There is no filler or boring parts at all. Every minute and every frame has value. I don't often think of the editing of a movie, but in this case, the editing is flawless.

9. The blending of all of the characters was seamless. All characterizations were true to their established personalities and continuity, no one acted unusually, everything meshed together perfectly. Amazing work all around!

There's probably more I can say, and perhaps I'll add it to this post as I think of more, but to summarize: this was one of the most satisfying movie experiences I've ever had, and I hope to keep the theater attendance streak going. Thank you Marvel!

And for those of you who are distraught at having lost so many heroes, remember...help is on the way!

If you consider yourself an early bird, pre-order the digital version via Amazon!