Disney's Angels in the Outfield Theme Park attraction

Sure, we all remember the classic Disney live action romp Angels in the Outfield. It was a classic tale of good and evil with everything a movie goer could ask for.

We get a look at spirituality. We learn that while angels can help crappy ball teams cheat, they can't interfere in championship play.

God is sneaky like that.

We get to see Joseph Gordon-Levitt two years before he played a young Tommy Solomon on "3rd Rock from the Sun" and six years before we all forgot about him completely.

And, as a special bonus, they killed off Tony Danza.

Yeah, Angels in the Outfield rocked.

So, it was only fitting that Disney turn it into a mega theme park attraction:



Yeah, that's it.

The Angels in the Outfield attraction is one of those boardwalk games where you throw baseballs at a bunch of wooden targets in the hopes of knocking down two with only three balls.

You will notice in the photo that THREE of the targets are down.

Yeah, I am that damn good.

Anyway, this game is located in the Paradise Pier section of Disney's California Adventure park in fabulous Anaheim California.

California Adventure is located just across from Disneyland in space that was once the Disneyland parking lot. You could throw a stone from California Adventure to Disneyland park, but they won't let you.

Stupid Disney security force.

Anyway, Paradise Pier is one of the themed "lands" of California Adventure. It resembles a Southern California boardwalk, complete with a roller coaster and a fake tattoo parlor. The Angels in the Outfield themed booth is one of the many booths you can try your luck at for a couple bucks (after you pay $50 to get in.)

The targets are all painted to look like catchers extending their mitts. Lined up side by side, it looks like an army of Benito Santiagos are staring you down.

Then you toss the baseballs, and, if you are lucky you leave with a monkey.

They have monkeys in blue, green and pink.

After I won I took home the blue monkey. I like to pretend that he is not getting enough oxygen and is dangerously sick.

Philadelphia goes Hollywood

Los Angeles is a great place to eat. You can find almost every kind of cuisine imaginable.

Whenever I am in L.A. I always try and find some new cuisine I have never tried. This year I found an Ethiopian restaurant. But, after sitting there for 40 minutes with no food and flies buzzing around my eyes I decided to dine elsewhere.

On this day that was South Street.



South Street is the name of the restaurant, not the name of the street. There are actually three South Streets in L.A. One in Westwood, one in Burbank and a third location inside Dodger Stadium. None of them are on a street called South Street. There are also 2 streets named South Street in Southern California. Neither of them house a restaurant called South Street.

Anyway, the one I visited was in Burbank, just outside of Hollywood. The restaurant is pretty plain from the outside. But once you enter, it's like you are transported to Philadelphia - but I mean that in a good way.

I knew I was going to like the place when I found poster sized print of the Phillie Phanatic on the wall.



The Phanatic visited the restaurant as part of his recent DVD The Phanatic Goes Hollywood. He certainly made a great impression, they added a special menu item just for him.


Unfortunately, they spelled his first name wrong. The lovable green mascot spells his first name "Phillie" not "Philly."

Anyway, the "Philly Phanatic is a pizza with pepperoni, sausage, peppers, mushrooms, olives, tomatoes and onions.

But, pizza is not the signature item at South Street.

That would be the cheese steak.

So, that is what I ordered. It was pretty good. The bun to meat ratio was a bit lopsided (too much bun, not enough meat) but other than that it was fine.

The coolest thing about South Street for me was the Philadelphia sports memorabilia.



They had pennants and photos on the walls, and a couple glass display cases filled to the brim with awesome knick knacks.



My favorite was two seats from Veterans Stadium which hosted the Phillies and the Eagles from the early 1970s until the early 2000s.

It was replaced by two other stadiums, nether was named in tribute to America's Veterans. They were named after banks. Hey, maybe some of the vets own a bank. Then they can get a stadium named after them.

The new stadiums were great, as for Veteran's Stadium, it was a drab ugly stadium. Still, I felt a pang of nostalgia as I sat down in the chair for a moment.

Then the surfer dude behind the counter said "Hey, those are for display only."

To which I responded "I'm displayin'."

"Displayin' what?"

"Displayin' around."

Then we laughed and laughed.

Aside from the sports memorabilia, a few other nods to Philadelphia are on the walls. A large list of facts about the city is displayed, some Liberty Bell photos and a few Frankie Avalon records.

Outside hung another long list, a list of famous Philadelphians.


Overall, the place was a blast. The food was good and it had a good atmosphere. I definitely recommend it over the REAL South Street which is located in a rather scary section of Philadelphia.

Even the Phanatic stays away from there.

Movie Marathons - The Criterion Edition

A long time ago bunchojunk.com presented a silly little article called "Movie Marathons." You can read the original version here .

Get ready for some fun! I have completely re-mastered and spell checked the article Movie Marathons. For this special Criterion Edition I have added the following:

-Directors commentary
-Photo Gallery
-Behind the scenes
-Deleted scenes
-Biography

ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Have you ever been to a movie marathon?
A movie marathon is when a bunch of movies are shown back-to-back-to-back.

A marathon can be held at home, or in a theater. There are very few rules to the movie marathon.

One unbendable rule is THERE MUST BE AT LEAST THREE FILMS. Really, that's a must. Two films is just a double feature, and one film is just ONE FILM. Unless it's MARATHON MAN, then I guess it's sort of a marathon, but not really.

Director's Commentary:
This is a pretty strong opening. It was kind of difficult to do. I figured most people reading already knew what a movie marathon was. Still, I decided to put in an explanation for anyone who didn't know. Then for those who wanted comedy I threw in the Marathon Man line. It's not actually funny, but it SEEMS like it is. That is always more important.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE:
The other rule is that the movies should have some kind of a theme. This is more pliable than the 'three film' rule.

Director's Commentary:
I had heard someone say pliable earlier that day. That's why I threw it in. I am still not sure I used it correctly.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE:
I suppose you could run:
The Butterfly Effect
Apollo 13
Care Bears The Motion Picture
& Hoop Dreams

You could pretend that that was movie marathon. Now a true veteran of the movie marathon would make a theme to connect these movies:
The Butterfly Effect: Butterflies have wings and can FLY.
Apollo 13: About a ship that is LAUNCHED into space.
Care Bears The Motion Picture: A bunch of bears that live on a CLOUD.
& Hoop Dreams: A documentary about basketball players with a HIGH vertical leap.

SEE! This could be the Sky High Marathon!

Another way to pick the films is to go with a series of films. This is easy to do, and the movies are pre-selected. There are obvious choices for this kind of marathon, like the Jurassic Park Trilogy, The Godfather Trilogy or Legally Blonde, Legally Blonde 2, and then just shooting yourself in the head.

-Photo Gallery

ORIGINAL ARTICLE:
Last year select theaters showed all three Lord Of The Rings films in a marathon fashion. This was sold-out QUICKLY. I assume this is because there is no joy in the world more profound then watching NINE hours of Elijah Wood while sitting next to an unemployed, date-less creep, who smells like cheese doodles and is dressed up as Elijah Wood.

Director's Commentary:
I know it sounds cruel, but most nerds do smell like cheese doodles. If you sensed a bit of bitterness in that paragraph it's because I really wanted to go to the Lord of the Rings marathon. I wanted to experience the action, the drama AND the cheese doodle odor.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE:
I once went to a marathon of Smokey and the Bandit films. It was AWESOME. We all wore fake mustaches and played travel bingo. It was like being a young girl in Italy (except for the travel bingo and the Smokey and the Bandit films.)

You can also do a marathon of three films with the same STAR or DIRECTOR. I attended a marathon of Mr. T films, a marathon of Stallone films and a marathon of films directed by Paul Verhoven.

Whatever films are chosen, it is a good idea to have plenty of food, beverages and no FIREARMS (see Legally Blonde marathon above.)

-BIOGRAPHY
Soleil Moon Frye began acting at the age of two, after seeing her father and brother on TV. It is interesting to note that although her dad had a normal moniker, her brother, like Soleil, had a silly name.
She then became famous by doing commercials and playing "Punky Brewster" (1984) on NBC.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE:
Here are some marathon suggestions:
The Hamburger Marathon:
1. Good Burger: One of the funniest DUMB movies ever made. The film is about two guys working at a fast food restaurant who uncover an evil plot.
2. Hamburger The Motion Picture: A film about a guy who has to go to a college run by a fast food restaurant. He then uncovers an evil plot.
3. Fast Food: Jim Varney plays an evil fast food owner. Lord knows, he has an evil plot. I bet someone uncovers it.
4. Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle: This film is coming soon to a theater near you. I wasn't able to find a plot summary, but I bet it is an EVIL plot summary.

-Behind the scenes
This article was originally published a few weeks before Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle. The film was a huge hit eventually ending up at #2 on the list of all time box office grosses. Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle grossed $600,788,187.45- just 55 cents less than Titanic, the #1 film of all time.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE:
or

The Boy Scout Marathon (featuring movies that have nothing to do with Boy Scouts)
1. The Last Boy Scout: Damon Wayans sasses Bruce Willis.
2. For The Boys: Bette Midler sasses James Caan.
3. The Scout: Albert Brooks coaches a baseball playing Brendan Fraser, and then sasses him.
4. Sleepaway Camp 3: A camp counselor kills campers that sassed her.

Have you ever attended a movie marathon?

-Deleted Scenes
Originally there was a description of Kevin Smith's Vulgarthon film festival that mirrored the Lord of the Rings sequence. It even contained the cheese doodle line. It was removed because test audiences found it dull.

Also, one other marathon was featured:
The Star Wars Marathon:
1. Star Wars (1977)
2. A Star Is Born (1954)
3. The War of the Roses (1989)
4. Yentl (1983)

Mooby's

I loved Clerks II so much. It's a hysterical film from director Kevin Smith and most of it takes place at a burger joint called Mooby's.

Being a big fan of the movie and a bigger fan of burger joints I decided to put on a giant pair of sunglasses and drive to Mooby's.



Notice anything unusual about that photo? (Other than my giant sunglasses?)

Mooby's isn't there anymore.

But it WAS there during the fall of 2005 when the movie was being filmed.

Here is a photo of actress Rosario Dawson on the set during filming:

Note the Days Inn in the background. That's how I found the place. I knew they were filming in an abandoned Burger King next to a Days Inn and near Knotts Berry Farm (a Six Flags-esque theme park 15 minutes north of Disneyland.

With this knowledge and my fantastic sleuthing skills I went to Google Earth...

... where I found this:



In the top left you see Knotts, in the bottom right you see the Days Inn.

After studying this image for about 45 minutes I found Mooby's:

Then I spent another 45 minutes trying to draw an "arrow" in Photoshop:


The parking lot is pretty big for a Burger King:

This was probably very helpful in giving the crew room to shoot. But, at some point after filming the whole place was demolished, and taken away. Or, it could have been take away in one piece and displayed inside Kevin Smith's comic book store in Red Bank NJ.

That sounds possible, but I was never good at math.

Speaking of Kevin, here is a photo of he and Jason Mewes chatting on the set.

And here is one more photo of the lot I took from the reverse angle.

You can see the same trees in both shots.

At least you can if you aren't wearing giant, dark sunglasses.

Star Trek on Hollywood Boulevard

I have never been a big Star Trek fan.

I didn't watch it when I was a kid, and neither did any of my brothers. As a teen I had some friends that liked Star Trek, and I tried to "get into it" but it seemed like a lot of work.

To really enjoy Star Trek it seemed like you had to memorize the names of dozens of alien races and try to understand a complicated timeline.

So, I may never fully appreciate Star Trek. But I sure do appreciated the Star Trek Mural on Hollywood Boulevard.



The mural is located on the roll-up security doors of a souvenir shop at the corner of Hollywood Boulevard and Cherokee Street. The shop is open early and stays open late, 365 days a year. If you wanna see the Star Trek mural you better wake up early, skip breakfast and head to Hollywood Boulevard.



All you favorites are here! You get to see Captain Kirk and the guy with the pointy ears!



You can look at the painting and shout "How YOU doin' James Doohan?"



You can look at Nichelle Nichols and say "Hey! There were black people in Star Trek?"

Then with any luck, a hobo will shout "Of course, look at Lando Calrissian." Then, just as you are about to correct him you will remember that hobos can be dangerous so you toss a dollar in his direction and run like hell.

The Star Trek mural is just one of many security door murals on the Walk of Fame. The murals are part of an ongoing beautification project. Often there is a reason for putting the mural in that particular place. For example, this one is located at the same corner that Leonard Nimoy's Walk of Fame star occupies. I also saw Gene Roddenberry's star near by.

Other murals depict everyone from Orson Wells to Chuck Berry. I found two featuring famous men and puppets:

First there was, Edgar Bergen along with his dummy Charlie McCarthy.



Not too far away Jim Henson and Kermit cover up a metal door.


During the day only a few of the murals are visible since the shops behind them are open. Still, few stores anywhere carry anything that would be better to look at then a giant picture of Kermit The Frog.

Vincent J. McMahon and a shirtless Ed Asner

There are many significant moments in the history of cinema:

Rhett Butler saying "Frankly Scarlett, I don't give a damn."

The end of E. T. when Elliot told him "I do give a damn."

and

Vincent J. McMahon chatting with a shirtless Ed Asner.


Sadly, the moment with Vince and Ed is not as well known as it should be.

First, let me explain who Vincent J. McMahon is. He is the late father of the WWE head Vincent K. McMahon.

The senior McMahon ran the WWF before it became the WWE back when it was called the WWWF.

Did that make sense to anyone but me?

Anyway, he was responsible for naming Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant. He helped along the careers of many great wrestlers and once sat next to a shirtless Ed Asner.

The image is fantastic. Here a dour looking Asner looks down at his left hand as his right hand holds a cigar. Seated beside him is a tanned and concerned Vincent J. McMahon.

What is he concerned about? Is he wondering who the sexy pair of legs belong to behind Asner? Is he wonder if Asner is also "pants-less?" Is he wondering when the scene will be over so he can drink his screwdriver?

Yeah, thats probably it.

The scene is from a mid 1970's film called The Wrestler.

It's an odd bit of cinema about some wrestlers trying to fix a match. The plot is easy to follow and really not that bad (for a wrestling movie.)

Among the way you get to see such fun sights as Ric Flair wrestling Pedro Morales, Ken Patera lifting weights and Dick Murdoch & Dusty Rhodes pouring beer in some guys hat.

It's quite a treat to a classic wrestling fan.

But the scene that grabbed me most was the McMahon/Asner scene. It features Asner (playing a promoter) sitting around a table with a half dozen REAL promoters of the day, most notably McMahon.

McMahon delivers a few lines and isn't half bad. Some of the other promoters have lines and some are a bit stiff in their delivery.

Of course, that could just be due to the presence of a shirtless Ed Asner.