OUR 20th ANNIVERSARY 2005 - 2025

 OH YEAH . . . I ALMOST FORGOT.  This year is the 20th anniversary of this here blog.  All I can say is . . . wow.

Paul, Cheeks and Rickster. . .

 Though the many years have gone by, somewhere out there in the dark, these three still cruise through the night and they always will.

"Still they ride,

on wheels of fire,

They rule the night.

Still they ride,

the strong will survive

Chasing thunder. . . "

Songwriters: Jonathan Cain / Neal Joseph Schon / Stephen Ray Perry

Still They Ride lyrics © Hipgnosis Songs Group

MY LEGENDARY MEETING WITH MOE . . . AND SOME BLATANT NOSTALGIA!

 I KNEW I DIDN'T DREAM IT!!!! 

Back in 2006, I wrote this post about the old Walt Whitman Theater in Pennsauken NJ which my great grandfather built.  I also recalled dimly seeing Moe Howard (of the Three Stooges, natch) at a personal appearance there.  Well, the interwebs came through with an actual newspaper ad for the event I went to when I was 7 years old!!! 

As previously noted, I used to stay at my grandparents house on Westfield Avenue back in the 1970's.  My grandmother and I would frequently walk the length of Westfield Avenue all the way to Thor's Drug Store and the Walt Whitman Theater was about midway between their house and Thor's. 

My great-grandfather was an architect and built many things in the area; not only the Walt Whitman Theater but also the cabins at Medford Lakes as well as the Maple Shade Custard Stand (the latter two of which still exist today!). 

The Maple Shade Custard Stand

The Walt Whitman sadly was torn down I think back in the 1980's but by that time my grandparents had moved away from Pennsauken closer to my parents and I.  But this old newspaper ad is so awesome to finally find as confirmation of Moe's appearance there on April 28th & 29th, 1973 and the time I actually got to meet him.  Sadly, I can't remember if he called me 'porcupine' or not but I can dream, can't I?

Now I'm in such a nostalgic mood, I'll post a bunch of old 1970's stuff that I remember vividly from my childhood in the 1970's.

The little bridge & pond that used to be in the Moorestown Mall

The huge birdcage that used to be in the Moorestown Mall

Sound Odyssey record store that used to be in Cherry Hill Mall - I remember the purply/maroon shag carpeting that used to be on the floors AND the walls!!!

The Pennsauken Mart used to have a Listening Booth record store in it.

Wow! A Pennsauken Mart ad from before EVEN I was born!!!!

An exterior of the Pennsauken Mart in its final days.

An interior of the Pennsauken Mart after it closed down

The iconic pretzel sign from the Pennsauken Mart

An S&H Green Stamps store used to be on Main Street on the way from Maple Shade to Moorestown.  I got my red King Tut T-shirt there - I still own it but it's too small for me to wear now!!!

Grant's Department Store had a "restaurant" in it called the Bradford House

Bradford House delectables from their menu.

Hey!  Grant's is having a steak dinner special in this newspaper ad!

There used to be a Richman's in the Cherry Hill Mall in the late 70's/early 80's (for all I know it might still BE there!!!) which not only had the best barbecue beef sandwich (my mother and I loved them) but also my mother's (and my) favourite flavour ice cream:  Black Raspberry!!!

Steinhauer Elementary School in Maple Shade.  Other than that goofy yellow and blue thing, this facade looks exactly the same as when I went there in the 1970s.

On Main Street going in the 'other' direction from Maple Shade towards Merchantville & Pennsauken (on the drive to my grandparents' house) was Peaches Records & Tapes!  Wish I had some of those Peaches wooden crates to keep my vinyl in these days.

My 100 Least Favourite Movies According to Flickchart

 AND I KINDA THOUGHT IT WOULD BE FUN TO SEE WHAT FLICKCHART SHOWS AS MY LEAST FAVOURITE MOVIES.  This is probably even LESS accurate than my 100 faves list I posted yesterday since it really depends on which movies each of these goes up against that determine how far down the list they go.  HOWEVER . . . there are some REAL stinkers on this list and I don't think I really have a problem with hating ANY of these movies.

That was the "Bottom 10" of my most hated movies according to Flickchart and yeah I'll pretty much go along with that list.  Below please find my "Bottom 101".  And no, I won't be posting a gallery (as I did on yesterday's Top 100) since these poopy films don't deserve it!

Wow, what a pile of poo!

My Top 100 Movies According to Flickchart

 OCCASIONALLY I LIKE TO LOOK AND SEE WHAT MY TOP FAVOURITE MOVIES ARE ACCORDING TO FLICKCHART.  Now, if you don't know what Flickchart is, what are you doing with your life?  Flickchart.com is a site that allows you to rank movies by pitting them against each other head-to-head.  Two films will pop up and you pick the one you like better.  After several years of doing this, I have amassed almost 9500 movies and ranked them all; giving me a so-called 100 top films list.  I say "so-called" because, unless every single movie I've seen comes up against every single OTHER movie I've seen (a chance that's probably close to infinity), it won't be 100% accurate.  However, here's what flickchart says are my top 100 movies as of today.

There's the top 10 up there and now here's the entire list of 100 movies.  Keep in mind, my ranking appears all the way over on the right hand side. . . .but they appear in order of 1-100.

All in all, I'm pretty happy with that list although, if'n I was to compile it solely myself, I'm sure it would differ.  And of course, such a list would probably change daily anyway.  But there you are.  And here -- have a gallery of the films because I'm so nice . . . 

"THE BEGGAR WOMAN OF LOCARNO" from RIPLEY'S BELIEVE IT OR NOT! TRUE GHOST STORIES #52

 WE'RE BACK TROLLING THE SEAS OF 1975!

  This time, I'm featuring yet another comic book I got (sans cover) at the Pennsauken Mart during a 1975 jaunt with my grandfather.  1975 seems like a great year for horror comics (and it was) since I apparently picked up a bunch of them that year.  Ever since I was knee-high to a zygote, I had gotten quite a few paperback books (with covers this time) that reprinted classic cartoons from RIPLEY'S BELIEVE IT OR NOT!.  In the 1970s, these paperback books ran into a couple dozen volumes and I had AT LEAST half of them.  However, the Gold Key comic book of RIPLEY'S BELIEVE IT OR NOT! was something I first encountered with this very issue!  I probably read it dozens of times -- something that was quite common with me back in the day -- and it holds a very nostalgic place in my heart as well as fitting in beautifully with the Halloween season!  A witch comes back from the grave seeking revenge!  What could be better for October.  It was only sometime in the 1980s when I tracked down a copy WITH cover in a comic book store (probably Eldorado Comics) and saw that the story was cover-featured in the issue featuring beautiful art by George Wilson; the unadulterated original painting featured at the end of this post.  So here it is:  another favourite spooky comic book story from my yoot.

OG George Wilson cover art

"THE LOCKED DOOR OF HARKNESS HOUSE" from PLOP! #14

 AS PROMISED TO MELISSA -- HERE IS THE STORY! 

So, I used to spend quite a few weekends at my grandparents' house in Pennsauken, NJ back in the 1970's. I've waxed nostalgic about this era before and you can find the posts probably by clicking on the labels "Um . . . just about me Sorry" or "The 1970s".  Anywho, quite often my grandfather would take me to the Pennsauken Mart on Saturday mornings and we'd spend the day walking around.  The first stop, however, was always the store that sold comic books (and paperbacks and magazines) -- usually but not always with the covers torn off -- and it was here that I picked up a coverless issue of PLOP! #14 featuring a lead story that always stuck with me.  That story is called "THE LOCKED DOOR OF HARKNESS HOUSE" and even as a child, I found it strangely ringing a deja vu bell in my brain.  PLOP!, of course, was DC Comics' humor magazine which often parodied movies or TV shows etc. in the manner of MAD and CRACKED.  The 14th issue of PLOP! is cover dated July 1975.  So, was "LOCKED DOOR" a parody of some horror movie . . . . and was it a horror movie that I caught some or all of when I was even younger?!?!?! 

It was only many years later when I caught the 1970 horror flick THE BEAST IN THE CELLAR starring Flora Robson and Beryl Reid as a pair of spinster sisters who keep their insane and bestial brother locked away in the basement . . . . until he escapes.  Hmmmm, when you read the PLOP! story, it has that same plot!  Did I actually catch THE BEAST IN THE CELLAR sometime between my fifth birthday and my 10th (when the issue of PLOP! came out)?  I like to think I did catch the movie on TV's CREATURE DOUBLE FEATURE or one of Dr. Shock's programmes.  Anyhow, I never shock the sense of familiarity I got when I read issue #14 of PLOP! and here (as I promised Ms. Sharp many months ago) is the comic book story.