August 10, 1968

Nights are getting longer, daylight saving time is ending and lights are taking effect.
The 1960’s were the golden age for neon signs. The view of Monterey Street shows signs in front of the Fremont and Obispo theaters and the Anderson Hotel. The light pollution spraying into the sky makes it hard for astronomers but for a business trying to impress customers on the old highway a big sign was the first place to spend money.
Ed’s Hamburger was at the corner of California and Monterey Streets, now the location for Splash Café.
Taco Bell used to have a gas fired flame pit in front to draw in customers. It didn’t cook anything, all it heated was the pumice rocks and the customers waiting in line or eating on the outdoor patio. Yeah, the first oil shocks were still over the horizon. Lest a utilitarian trashcan mar your trash disposal experience, they were shaped like cactus.

Before Farmer’s Market took over the streets, Thursday was the night to cruise Monterey and Higuera Streets.

Photos by David Ranns

ShareThis

Tonight I’m going to be up in Morro Bay covering the St. Joes at Morro Bay game. I’ll be running a live blog beginning at 7:15. Here is the link http://www.sanluisobispo.com/sports/story/513727.html.

This game should solidify just where Morro Bay stands in the LPL picture. St. Joseph is 6-1 and the Knights’ lone loss nearly became a come-from-behind victory against Paso Robles. The Pirates have a solid lock on third in the standings but tonight will tell just where they rank compared to St. Joseph and Pioneer Valley — the two teams above them. Morro Bay is coming into the game a little banged up with injuries, so I don’t expect them to be a full strenght.

The other game to pay attention to is Cabrillo at Templeton. Cabrillo (3-4, 3-2 LPL) is in fourth place and Templeton (3-4, 2-2) is in fifth. The Eagles are fighting for a chance to make it into the playoffs and this game could very easily put them into a position to do that. After Cabrillo, the Eagles play Pioneer Valley and Nipomo — they will likely split those two games.

So stay tuned to tonight’s coverage. Things are just begining to heat up in the LPL.

ShareThis

What happens on Halloween? Anything, apparently

Mere words cannot describe the wonder of this video clip.

It’s fantastic. Scrumptious. Delightfully cheesy.

Above, Tim Curry sings “Anything Can Happen on Halloween” in a very ’80s TV special called “The Worst Witch.”

As you might recall from hazy memories of 1986, “The Worst Witch” starred Fairuza Balk as a problem-prone girl at a prestigious “witch academy.” Diana Rigg played one of the pointy-hatted teachers, Miss Hardbroom.

But the true star was Big Daddy Wiz himself — Tim Curry.

Curry — seen here about a decade after he donned fishnets and heels to play Frank N. Furter — is simply fabulous as The Grand Wizard, a fellow with a flair for rainbow-colored capes and synth-heavy musical numbers. And he can fly!

His song is made even better by vintage special effects, apparently crafted by a dedicated 15-year-old with access to computer and a blue screen.

Jill Murphy’s “Worst Witch” series of children’s books both the 1986 special and a television series, which ran for five seasons starting in 1998. In my opinion, however, neither show — however popular — could top Curry’s singular performance.

Now, has anyone seen my tambourine?

***

Feeling nostalgic? You can watch “The Worst Witch” and other Halloween specials on YouTube.com for free.

• Charlie Brown and Linus experience the first pangs of childhood disillusionment in “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.”

• Dracula (Judd Hirsch!) and his fellow monsters try to regain their frightening image in “The Halloween That Almost Wasn’t.”

• Meanwhile, Garfield and Odie set out in search of “candy, candy, candy” in “Garfield’s Halloween Adventure.”

Happy Halloween!

ShareThis

Egads — my Obama mask is suffocating me.

Don’t mask makers know that people have to breathe?

Anyway, if you read this week’s Ticket, you hopefully saw our cover story on monster grudge matches. Because, really — it’s important for you to know if the Blob can kick Jabba the Hut’s butt. (He can, by the way.)

While we had some good pairings there, we didn’t have space to declare an ultimate winner. So I’m taking the story a step further here and putting forth the Monster Mash Tournament, where I pit the winners against each other. So let’s start with:

ROUND TWO:

* Chucky v. the Munsters. Herman Munster has about six feet on Chucky, but the little bugger cheats when he disguises himself as Eddie Munster and opens a can of Whoop — well . . . you know.

Winner: Chucky

* Moby Dick v. The Blob.

The Blob easily handled the lower seeded Jabba the Hut in the opening round and has equally little problem with the shark from Jaws. Despite Moby’s intellect and size, though, the Blob just keeps getting bigger and bigger (He’s been known, after all, to consume diners and bowling alleys.). In fact, friends politely suggest he go on a diet, but he tells them he just loves food. 

Winner: Blob

* Jack the Ripper vs. Cujo.

Man usually doesn’t fare well against killer animals. But this is Jack the Ripper — the guy has tools. Cujo starts out strong, but in the end, Jack lops off his tail, which causes Cujo to go insane when he tries to chase his tail.

* Vampires and zombies vs. Monster of Piedras Blancas.

The Monster pulled off a huge upset when he defeated the Creature from the Black Lagoon in Round One. In fact, some say it was rigged. So he goes down easily to vamps and zombies, who tied in the first round and forged a Coalition of the Undead.

Winner: Zombie/vampire duo

ROUND THREE: 

* Chucky v. the Blob.

It doesn’t matter how often Chucky stabs the Blob — he’s the Blob. He swallows Chucky and doesn’t even notice because he’s too busy swallowing Poukeepsie, NY.

Winner: Blob

* Jack the Ripper v. Vampires and zombies.

Jack’s a bad dude and all, but no mere mortal can resist the evil of vampires and zombies.  Except after he dies, Jack becomes a zombie and joins the team.

CHAMPIONSHIP

* Blob v. Vampires, zombies and Jack the Ripper zombie

By this time, the Blob has grown to huge proportions, and, frankly, it makes it hard to climb stairs without getting winded. Meanwhile, the vampire/zombie/Jack team has been working hard on expanding their own base. Plus, they rented “Beware! The Blob” on Netflix, so they know all you have to do is freeze the Blob and he’s useless. So they rent a snow machine. After the victory, they all celebrate by hosting a snow boarding party. 

Winner: Vampires/zombies/Jack

Wow. That was fun. If you’ve decided you just can’t get enough grudge match, check out the campaign ad Grudge Match between me and Danny, this other guy I work with. While Danny implies (wrongly, I should add) that I’m a terrorist, my provocative video sheds light on Danny’s nefarious ways.

ShareThis

Instead of one game this week, I’m going to give you several — because it’s Halloween and I missed last week because I was at Disneyland. So, go and check out this site, which offers a selection of free, spooky Flash games. And don’t forget this free game of the past, which is perfect for Halloween fun.

ShareThis

Fresh from Cal Poly football practice, I have a couple tidbits to report.

It looked like Mustangs running back James Noble, who’s missed the past two games with a broken hand, was practicing with the first team. Expect him to be back in the lineup somewhere barring a setback.

Quarterback Jonathan Dally’s arm must still be tired after passing for 410 yards and six touchdowns a week ago. He was sitting out when I got there as sophomore transfer from Utah Tony Smith ran the offense toward the end of practice.

Cal Poly coach Rich Ellerson said Dally is fine, that he was held out because of a bruise on his arm.

I was able to chat with Noble after practice. He gave me an exlusive look at the wrapped-and-gloved left hand. From afar, its hard to tell he even has anything there, but up close, you can see a little bulge.

He seemed ready to go after seeing action in practice Wednesday for the first time since having surgery nearly three weeks ago.

ShareThis

A few years ago my wife and I played World of Warcraft quite a bit. Actually, we played it in two stints — once for a few months after the original game came out, and then again when we bought the first expansion, The Burning Crusade, and some of our friends from Sacramento started playing as well. It was a great way to connect.

But a game like WOW never ends, and playing it takes a lot of time and a fair bit of money every month, so eventually we canceled our subscriptions and moved on to other things. I’ve missed playing it at times — it’s a fun game, and a great way to stay in contact and spend time with friends who are too far to see often — but not enough to go back to spending three hours a night and $15 a month on it. And that’s how things have stood, until …

(more…)

ShareThis

Someone once said, “Imitation is the most sincere form of flattery.”

And then someone else — probably a wise guy — said, ”Until you get sued by a high-priced attorney for intellectual property rights, beat the case because it lacked merit but nonetheless wind up having to dish out thousands in legal fees, forcing you to sell both your house and the big screen TV.”

I say all of this not because I’m making some point about intellectual property rights (a very exciting topic, I should add).  I say it because I’m about to steal someone’s idea, and I want to make it seem like it’s ok to do that kind of thing.

You know that web site Stuff White People Like?

It’s pretty funny, huh? So funny the guy actually parlayed it into a book deal. And now he’s laughing all the way to the bank — which, by the way, is also something white people like.

 But I was looking at the book and site the other day, and I said: “Hey — this sounds more like it should be called ”Stuff Liberal White People Like.” (Some of the entries: “Having gay friends,” “Hating corporations,” “Hummus.”)

 And then, after a bit of pontification, I thought, “Hey — I should STEAL this idea for my blog and create a list of Stuff Surfers Like!” 

Except, to ward off lawyers, I’ll call it Things Surfers Like.

So without any further adieu, I’ve decided to launch the occasional Things Surfers Like series today, which will be published, basically, when I can’t think of ideas for my occasional Musical Memoirs series or when I can’t find any more surfing animals to write about.

Here’s my first Thing Surfers Like:

DUKE KAHANAMOKU

Kahanamoku was an Olympic swimmer, who popularized modern surfing, once saved the lives of eight men at sea and yadda, yadda, ho hum. But you don’t need to concern yourself with all those hard-to-remember facts. You just need to occasionally drop the name “Duke” in a sentence.

Example: “Let’s paddle out for Duke!”

If someone — some ignoramus — asks you who Duke is, cluck your tongue, roll your eyes and in an irritated voice say, “Dude — are you kidding me?”

ShareThis

Just when you thought it was safe to come out …

I recently polled some friends about their favorite scary movies. Not surprisingly, “Halloween,” “A Nightmare on Elm Street” and “Night of the Living Dead” were at the top of the list.

Of course, everyone has their own take about what deserves the “Best Horror” label.

Some go for gory humor, such as Edgar Wright’s “Shaun of the Dead” or Peter Jackson’s “Dead Alive.” For others, it’s more about gruesome scenarios — witness the popularity of torture porn titles such as “Saw” and “Hostel” — or psychological thrills, like those depicted in Japanese exports “The Ring” and “The Eye.”

So, what’s on everyone’s lists?

First, it’s the attack of RottenTomatoes.com, as the movie review supersite lists the 50 best horror movies ever made.

Since 50 movies is a bit much to absorb in a sitting, I’ll skip to the good stuff. According to the critics at Rotten Tomatoes, the 10 films you simply must see are:

1. “King Kong” (1933)
2. “Repulsion” (1965)
3. “The Bride of Frankenstein” (1935)
4. “Aliens” (1986)
5. “The Evil Dead” (1989)
6. “Frankenstein” (1931)
7. “Jaws” (1975)
8. “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari” (1919)
9. “Rosemary’s Baby” (1968)
10. “Nosferatu” (1922)

A few of these titles are a bit obscure, but they all garnered high marks from dozens of newspaper, radio and online critics.

For instance, “Repulsion” — which follows a schizophrenic woman’s descent into madness — was hailed by critics as “intense,” “genuinely frightening” and “disturbing.” The 1965 psychological thriller stars Catherine Devenue and is director Roman Polanski’s first English-language film.
***

Moviefone.com invites you to view cinema’s “Scariest Movie Moments” — preferably at home with all the doors locked and lights blazing.

The list begins with the moment we see a ghoulish girl under her bed in “The Sixth Sense” (No. 31) and ends with such filmic freakouts as the girl emerging from the television in “The Ring,” Linda Blair’s spinning head in “The Exorcist” and Leatherface’s bloody feast in “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.”

You’ll have to check Friday to see the final gory addition.

***

Looking for an education in the horror genre? Check out Horror-101, which has trailers, posters and reviews of the latest terrifying flicks, including “Saw V.”

More dark delights are available at Anchorwoman in Peril, YDKS Movies and CinemaFist. (Like myself, all four of these blogs are members of the Large Association of Movie Blogs.)

Read, and watch, if you dare.

ShareThis

Here’s some first-half video from Cal Poly’s 69-41 win over Southern Utah. (CLICK HERE)

By now you know, the Mustangs broke a slew of school records, and Ramses Barden passed Jerry Rice for the most number of college games with a touchdown catch.

The highlights are top-notch. Shot and edited by Tribune videographer Nick Lucero.

That’s me introducing the clips. A little behind-the-scenes tidbit: The vein on the left side of my neck is popping out like Skeletor because of stress. My laptop died 30 seconds before kickoff, and I was scrambling through contingency plans before finally figuring out a solid solution. All the while, one of the most prolific offensive first halves in history was unfolding.

Here’s a question I want to pose to you readers. What did you think of Cal Poly’s defensive performance against Southern Utah?

It’s looking like the Mustangs are headed for the playoffs. The offense can score with the best. But will the defense do them in?

Let me know what you think, and vote in the new poll!

ShareThis