8-Bit Christmas

I watched the HBO Max flick 8-Bit Christmas this past weekend.  Based on the trailer it looked like an updated version of A Christmas Story and after watched that I do get the inspirational vibes that it got from the timeless classic.

In A Christmas Story Ralphie pines for a Red Ryder 200 shot range model air field with a compass in the stock and this thing that tells times.  In 8-Bit Christmas Jake pines for a Nintendo.

Overall I really enjoyed the movie and I could, at times, relate to how desperately Jake wanted a Nintendo.  I would give this recommend and say it's worth your time for a watch, but I'm not ready to say it's a new timeless classic like A Christmas Story became.  I could see myself buying it when it comes out on home video because it has just the right amount of nostalgia for me to want to look back at it. 

In Christmas 1988, when this movie takes place, I was 9 1/2 years old and my brother and desperately wanted this home entertainment system.  Our parents agreed to pay half, but we had to work and earn the money for it.  So we worked under the table for a farmer at his enormous chicken barn picking eggs. 

This barn has rows and rows of chickens in cages, stacked on top of each other, looking back it's not that sanitary.  I would push my cart down the row and collect the eggs in flats of 36, I believe we got 18 cents a flat.  The downside was that some chickens would peck your hands as your took the eggs, and that hurt like crazy. 

When we would get paid our mother made us put have of it in the back, then half of what was left, a quarter, we go towards the Nintendo and the remainder we got as spending money.  It felt like it took years, in reality it was months, to save up the money for the Nintendo but we did.

Today I'm not a huge at home gamer.  I love old arcade games and I'm a pinball fanatic, but at home my favorite games to play are the classic Nintendo and Super Nintendo games.

I just found out that this movie is based on a book that came out in 2013, I think I'll have to read that.

Until Next Time!

It's the Christmas Season

I love me some Christmas, always have, it was my favorite holiday.  I just love the time of the year, the family get togethers, the food, the holiday spirit.  A then along the way someone made it very hard for me to enjoy Christmas, it just became more frustrating than fun.

My wife's favorite holiday is Thanksgiving, as she says the only expectation is a good meal and she's got that down.  My wife has really made Thanksgiving so appealing and exciting, and she really is a marvelous cook. 

Last year on Black Friday, Wesley asked if we could go and get a Christmas tree, the look on his faceand the excitement in his eyes reminded me of how great Christmas was for me.  So we headed to the tree lot and picked out a nice one.  Christmas 2020 was one of the best that I have had in years.  Christmas 2021 feels like it's going to top last year easily.  

Before Thanksgiving Wesley asked if we were going to get the tree the day after again, and I said that we would.  Even my wife said that Wesley's excitement was rubbing off on her.  I mean who doesn't find a 6 years old innocent wonder and excitement contagious.  

The weather Black Friday forecasted rain with a mix of snow all day and I didn't want to bring a wet tree in the house, as the lot was open on Thanksgiving day I decided to get it that morning.  So at 8am when it opened Wesley and I were there to fetch the tree.  We had to be back by 9am to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, he was very excited to watch that.

We got the tree in the stand but didn't decorate it until Friday.  I worked in the morning, then when I got home Addison and I made the popcorn strands, Kate had already put the lights on it.  Wesley and Addison then decorated it.  I must say it looks fantastic!

We watched Christmas Chronicles 2 on Netflix while we trimmed the tree, so I guess it can be said that we are definitely full ahead Christmas!

Until Next Time!

This and That

I'm enjoying my life right now, I'm just not finding the time to do some of the things that I used to have more time to do.  Since July I have just been so swamped with work, not at work and while at home.  I've managed to do plenty with my family, going to wrestling and what not.  However, for work I am behind a computer all day long and the last thing I want to do with my free time at home is sit behind a computer even more.  

Maybe if I had a comfortable set up to sit on my couch and use my laptop, I don't know.  My buddy has a new webpage and message board, Middle Aged Fat Kids that is well worth your time.  It's a fun mix of 90's based pop culture.  The Forum is cool as well because I used to use these all the time and now I just don't.  

I get it, reddit is all the rage, but I don't like sorting through it.  I like a good old fashioned forum, but that's me!  I mean when I want to play video games at home I just want to play Nintendo or the SNES Classic Edition Mario Kart.  

Until Next Time!

Monster Trucks

 I loved Monster Trucks as a kid and watched them every week, with USA-1 being my favorite truck.  I own a die cast of the truck today.  Later I became a big fan of Gravedigger watching the USHRA.  Even though Bigfoot was the first and one of the most popular Monster Trucks I was never a huge fan, probably because it was not a part of the USHRA so I didn't see the truck on a weekly basis.  

I went to my first Monster Truck show in 2000 at the Cumberland County Civic Center.  Back then when USHRA ran small indoor arenas like this they called it the Thunder Nationals tour.   The floor is basically the size of a Hockey rink so what they can do is limited, but it's still impressive.  I don't have pictures from the show that I can find and the only trucks I can remember on the show was Sting and Blue Thunder.

After that was a couple times at Wiscasset Speedway a few trucks did some stuff on the infield between races.  Then I went to a few USHRA outside at Speedway 95 in Hampden and these were the best shows that I went to.  

On the Bigfoot side of things I did see it displayed a couple times once in Florida in 2002 at the then Race Rock Cafe.  This truck featured 10 foot tires.  I saw a standard Bigfoot truck on display in 2004 at New England Battery & Tire in Vassalboro, Maine.  My last show was in April 2016 at the Colisee in Lewiston and I got to see Bigfoot in action that night. 

It's hard for me to believe that 15 years have passed since the last time I went to a rally.  It's not because I didn't want to, but life and things like work and other plans seemed to constantly interfere.  I really want to go to one of those huge out door USHRA Monster Jam shows with all the big names drivers like at Gillette Stadium.  

Trucks I've seen live not a complete list:

Sting

Blue Thunder

Gravedigger

Little Tiger

Firemouth

Adrenaline Rush

Wolverine

Bigfoot  - three different trucks

American Guardian

Adrenaline Rush

Trasher

Backdraft

Wildfire

Stone Cold Austin 3:16

Hulkster

The Rock

Raminator

Eradicator

Sudden Impact

Black Stallion

Warrior

American Outlaw

Bounty Hunter

I'm going to post more about my former monster truck adventures in the future.  Honestly though I have wrestler Perry Von Vicious to thank, his love of the sport has rekindled my fire!  

Until Next Time!  

Free Write

I have not been maintaining this blog, and that's okay.  I have been so very busy ever since I got the promotion to the Operations Managers position.  I'm busy all day at work, I'm working late a lot, then when I get home I just don't have time or the energy to sit down and type.  I know that sounds absurd, but it's the truth.  

Even now I decided to finally write something and I'm a paragraph in and I've already lost interest.  

August Movies

 

Blood Red Sky - interesting take on a vampire story

Mystic Pizza - Classic flick that launched Julia Roberts, not as good as I recall

The Suicide Squad - I enjoyed the HELL out of this!

Friday the 13th Part IV: The Final Chapter - The movie where Jason dies

Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives - My favorite of the franchise, the one where he is resurrected for the first time.

Beckett - Solid Netflix original with John David Washington

Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken - Disney movie from the 1991 that my wife loved and we finally found on DVD. I enjoyed it, true story of a lady that dove horses off a high dive into a pool

Hamburger Hill - Gritty and dark Vietnam war flick based on actual events

Mallrats - Kevin Smith classic, his second flick

Bob Ross: Happy Accidents, Greed, & Betrayal - excellent documentary!!

July Movies

Fear Street: 1994 - Part 1 of an R rated adaption of RL Stein young adult novels with all three movies airing on successive Fridays.  I friggin loved this flick!  From the story, the gore, the soundtrack!  I just loved everything about it! Go out of your way to watch this bad ass flick!

No Sudden Move - The HBOMax Steven Soderberg flick with Don Cheadle and Benicio Del Toro.  It's a crime thriller set in the 1950's.  I really enjoyed it, it's worth your time. 

Black Widow - I was going to take the kids to the movies, but it was cheaper to buy it on Disney Premier.  It was a decent flick but nothing spectacular.  It mostly established her sister as a character going forward.

The Tomorrow War - The Amazon Prime original with Chris Pratt traveling to the future to fight a war.  Cool concept but it became a very predictable story.

Sword Of Trust - Comedy with Marc Maron, a pawn shop owner where someone brings in a sword and documentation that allegedly prove that the South won the Civil War.

Fear Street: 1994 - Kick ass trilogy of movies inspired by the RL Stein Fear Street book series, except these are Rated R.  I really enjoyed all three movies they were so well done and if released I will definitely buy.

Fear Street: 1978 - My favorite of the three films. Set at a summer camp, great throw back to 1980's slasher flicks 

Fear Street: 1666 - A great conclusion, I hope we get more movies about the other killers we saw but didn't get all their backstories. 

Gunpowder Milkshake - Cool John Wick style action flick about a hit woman, her mom, some librarians, and the little girl they want to protect.  It's on Netflix and it's well worth your time.