RETRO VIDEO ARCADE OPENS IN INDEPENDENCE, MISSOURI

If President Harry S. Truman were alive today, you might find him going for high score on Donkey Kong at the new Electric Theatre Vintage Arcade. Yep, the historic square in Independence, Missouri, the town that Harry made famous, is getting its first retro arcade.


This is a dream come true for my pal Mike Freeland who’s been an arcade enthusiast and coin-op collector for over 15 years. I’ve known Mike for at least that many years and he’s always talked about opening an arcade to house his collection of coin-ops. Mike already knows a bit about riding the entrepreneurial merry-go-round as he owns Freeland Photography, a successful photography business in Kansas City. So he’s familiar with the ups and downs of starting a business. Attempting to open a vintage arcade has been just that - full of ups and downs. Really, Mike’s journey has been similar to some of the 8-Bit characters that live in the video games of his collection. Filled with zaps, crashes and new lives! Last year, Ken and Cindy McClain, Independence Square preservationists and business owners, inserted a token into the arcade dream. They own Square Pizza and decided this would be a great temporary location for the arcade. If everything goes as planned, eventually the arcade will move into the old Plaza Theatre building, hence the name Electric Theatre Vintage Arcade. (The name is actually a double homage. First to the old Electric Theatre that used to be located on the square and second to Mike's childhood arcade on the square, the Electric Company Arcade.) I’ve seen some of the plans and designs for this building and when it happens, it should be one of the premier retro arcades in the country.

Apparently, every step of creating the Electric Theatre Arcade is being recorded for a possible documentary. Check out this video.

Electric Theatre Arcade Documentary Pilot from BradJohnson on Vimeo.

Ok, enough of the talk ‘cause the only thing we care about is playing some classic vids!

Visit the Electric Theatre Vintage Arcade at Square Pizza September 2nd-5th during the Santa-Cali-Gon Days Festival to play 40 classic arcade games! No quarters or tokens needed as the games will be set on free play. A five dollar admission at the door will be your golden ticket for unlimited play. That’s a bargain ‘cause you know you’d blow five bucks in five minutes just playing Defender. Also, you can pay $10 to come and go all day or $20 for the weekend. Hours for Friday will be Noon to 11 p.m., Saturday and Sunday 10 a.m -11 p.m. and Monday 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. The hours could change, so be sure to visit electrictheatrearcade.com or email info@electrictheatrearcade.com for more information.


Spread the word because if there’s enough interest in the Electric Theatre Vintage Arcade then it will become a permanent place on the Independence Square. We all know that more old school arcades that exist is one step closer to world peace. You want world peace dontcha?

---Update---
Unfortunately the Electric Theatre Arcade was forced to close by the city of Independence. Hopefully things can be worked out and eventually the arcade will be back.

---Update---
The Electric Theatre Arcade will be open for four days during Labor Day weekend 2012!!

BARRY WILLIAMS GETS GROOVY IN BRANSON

Here’s the story,

Of a groovy guy,

Who was bringing up some very funky tunes.

All of them were hits of gold,

Like their singer,

Who sometimes softly croons.

Here’s the story,

Of a man named Yakov,

Who was busy with a theater of his own.

In Branson, MO,

A Russian comedian, but was all alone-.

Till the one day when the guy met this Smirnoff,

and they knew their show was much more than a lunch.

That these two,

Must somehow form a morning show.

That’s the way it all became the Brady Brunch,

The Brady Brunch- the Brady Brunch

That’s the way- it became the Brady Brunch.

Honestly I tried to resist posting my feeble parody attempt of the Brady Bunch lyrics, but I just couldn’t help myself. Hey, when you’re in a good mood sometimes you do goofy silly things. How’d I get in this good mood? Well...the "first lady" of Neato Coolville and myself took in a live show this past Saturday. We visited the theater of 80's icon Yakov Smirnoff in Branson, Missouri to see the 70's icon Barry Williams perform his new show, Brady Brunch.


For the past two weeks, Barry has been performing at Yakov’s Branson theater with a show that he’s been working on for a few years. It’s a simple and fun show that celebrates Barry’s career from his days as playing Greg Brady in the Brady Bunch to his many adventures in the entertainment business. He gets the crowd in the groove from the beginning when he comes out as his alter ego, no not Greg, but Johnny Bravo.


After greeting the audience he shares some Brady clips followed by some fun behind the scenes stories. Barry keeps on truckin’ with some 70's tunes and sings some of the biggest hits of the decade. Halfway thru the show, brunch is served. It was a big breakfast type of meal that made us skip lunch. I guess that’s why they call it a brunch! Yakov made us laugh as he helped pass the brunches down the rows. As the audience munched on the brunches, Barry took questions.


This was probably our favorite moment of the show as Barry is at his best when interacting with the audience. I feel sorry for the lady in front of me who I spit pieces of egg on when I laughed too hard. (Just joking! I think I missed her.)

The show took on a more quiet tone after brunch.


Veterans were honored (a Branson show tradition) and Barry shared some meaningful moments about his family along with a nice tribute to his dad. He was a WWII veteran.

He ended the fun with the famous Brady Kids bubblegum hit, It’s a Sunshine Day!


Later, Barry took time to meet and greet anyone who wanted a photo taken with him and an autograph. The "first lady" had her vintage trading card ready for him to sign. (Yep, she’s a Brady collector!)


We were thrilled to hear the announcement that Barry will be back in the fall of 2012 for a more longer and maybe permanent show in Branson. Click here for the scoop.


Heck, he even hinted about a possible Christmas show. Hopefully this will happen and if it does...it really will be a sunshine day!

Ok...how 'bout a photo of a giant Yakov head? Here you go, as found in front of the Yakov Theater.



---Update---
It's official! Barry is back with shows later this year, including a Christmas show and a full schedule for 2012! 

CONCEPT ART FROM THE WESTERN RIVER EXPEDITION GETS ANIMATED

Check out this amazing teaser that will bring to life one of the best theme park attractions that never was. My pal David, the curator of Quasi-Interesting Paraphernalia Inc., has taken it upon himself to create a short series of animations based after the unproduced Disney World attraction, The Western River Expedition.

Western River Expedition: Coming Soon

Now that you’ve watched the teaser, be sure to haunt Quasi-Interesting Paraphernalia Inc. all this month to catch the WRE animations.

If you’re not familiar with David’s work, here’s a couple of my favorites. Also, you can click here to view more video goodies!

Haunted Mansion Hunter

Mr. and Mrs. J. Evil Scientist

KICKIN' AROUND ON KICKSTARTER

For the first time I finally snooped around on Kickstarter. Wow, this site is truly a machine that turns dreams into reality. I know I’ve only scratched the surface, but here’s a few projects that caught my eye. Most of them have already met their pledge goal, but a few still need pledges. Click on the links to view some neato cool projects.

The White Elephant Card Game - A clever card game that looks like a lot of fun!

Muffler Men: One Hand Up, One Hand Down Documentary - Someday Muffler Men will rule the world, but before they do, this doc looks to teach you all about the roadside giants.

OMFG! - Outlandish Mini Figure Guys! - I was a fan of M.U.S.C.L.E. back in the 80's. OMFG! looks to bring back the spirit of that classic line with five outlandish mini figures.

Growing Up On Skywalker Ranch by Eric Walker - Go behind the scenes of the Ewok Adventure and Battle for Endor as told by the star of these Lucasfilm TV films.

Steampunk: History Beyond Imagination Museum Exhibit - A steampunk museum is a brilliant idea. I say, a brilliant idea! BRILLIANT!!

Adventures of the League of S.T.E.A.M. Season Two - Yes, the world needs a season two of the League of S.T.E.A.M.!

The Cicada Princess - As a fan of stop-motion films like Nightmare Before Christmas and James and the Giant Peach, I can't wait to see the finished film.

Viva Amiga - The Documentary - I love this title and I loved the Amiga.

There you have it, my short list of awesomeness that I found on Kickstarter.

C64 YOURSELF: COMMODORE 64 STYLE

Check out the new c64 Yourself site! This fun and easy to use site (in beta form) will transform your photos into an old school screenshot from a Commodore 64. I heard about this over at The Retroist today and just had to play around with it. I grabbed a few movie pics online and used c64 Yourself on 'em. It brings back fun memories of trading pirated games on floppy disc in high school.

IT'S A GOOD DAY FOR CHICKS RUN WILD

Bok bok bok cluck cluck cluck! Don’t worry, I didn’t go feather pluckin’ mad, I’m just trying to make some chicken noises. Go ahead, make some chicken noises. See...it’s fun! Now that I got you in the right frame of mind for today’s recommendation, let’s take a quick look at Chicks Run Wild!


This book is so much fun for all ages. Adults will get a big kick out of reading this out loud and kids will enjoy pouring over the illustrations and vice versa!

Chicks Run Wild is written by picture book veteran Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen (Quackenstein Hatches a Family) and illustrated by Ward Jenkins (Michael Phelps’s How To Train With A T. Rex And Win 8 Gold Medals). I’ve been a fan of Ward’s work since I discovered him back when I first joined flickr. He knows a thing or two about kid books as he’s collected and studied many wonderful artists that came before. He started one of the best groups on flickr called the Retro Kid, a tribute to all mid-century artists of kids books. Ward’s artwork reflects his love from the era with his own unique style. He's also quite the detail guy and adults reading Chicks Run Wild will enjoy looking for all the fun little Easter eggs in the background. (Ah ha! Happy Easter by the way!) Thanks to Ward, I’ll always be wanting to see the movie Roosters of the Lost Egg. Can you find it in the book? (Ok, we all need to email him requesting for an animated movie trailer. Did you know Ward is an accomplished animator? Yep, he’s a great one!) In Chicks Run Wild (and they do run wild) I really like all the chicks expressions. These little chicks, that just aren't sleepy enough to go to bed, really come to life in this book!

Chicks Run Wild has a facebook page and you can check it out here. A challenge was made that if they got 300 facebook fans, Ward would wear a chicken suit. The facebook “likes” came pouring in and sure enough Ward became a chicken! Check out all the crazy chicken photos here along with other Chicks Run Wild images!

You can pick up Chicks Run Wild here and when you do, you and your children will have a fun feathered good time!

THE HUKILAU IS NEATO TIKI COOL

In a few months, all the snazzy jazzy cool kids will be heading to Ft. Lauderdale on June 9-12 for the 10th Annual Hukilau! Unfortunately this cool kid will have to be there in spirit, but boy is my spirit going to have an out of this world time!

The Hukilau will be the ultimate Polynesian pow-wow stuffed full of swell events! One event near and dear to me is the “Beautiful Girls That Live Like Fish!” This is the story about Aquarama, a mermaid attraction that once entertained tourists at the Lake of the Ozarks. It’s presented by our pals Vintage Roadside and should not be missed if you’re attending the Hukilau. I blogged about Aquarama a few years ago here and Vintage Roadside has some excellent posts and interviews at their blog. Check 'em out here!

The Hukilau has filled their tiki mug up to the brim with all kinds of kooky coolness with exotic music, top notch presentations, quality vendors, dinner shows and tons more. You'll also get to see a real life mermaid. The one and only Marina the Fire Eating Mermaid! You can even visit Disneyland while you’re at the Hukilau. Now quit scratching your head, ‘cause you really can visit the happiest place on earth through the artwork of Kevin Kidney and Jody Daily. They’ll be there to sign all your Disneyland and other artwork pieces!

Be sure to visit the Hukilau site for the complete scoop! (Really, just listening to the steaming music on their site is a nice holiday from reality.) Also, you can find them on facebook and twitter.

FRED HEMBECK SKETCH CARDS - COLLECT 'EM ALL

Fred “King Squiggly Knees” Hembeck is a sketch card maniac and God bless his drawing hand for it! (He's the one with Spidey in the above sketch card.) For almost a year, Fred has been creating some of the best(est) and funniest comic book sketch cards I’ve ever seen.

Here’s the one I bought. It’s one of my favorite obscure Batman villains, the Gentleman Ghost.


A few times each month, Fred gives fans a chance to buy one of his original sketch cards at a reasonable price. Visit his ebay page to view his current sketch card auctions and bid away. You can also follow Fred on facebook or his Fred Sez blog to keep up when new cards are listed.

Shh...don’t tell Fred, but I swiped a few images from his blog to give you an idea of some of the ones he’s already sold. These are some of my favorites so far -







He even creates these mini classic comic cover redos. Here's a nice Thor cover. Yes, Thor really is nice. Just look at that smile!





To look at more past sketch cards visit Fred Sez and view the archives. To bid on new sketch cards don't forget to visit Fred's ebay page

DIGGIN' UP SOME ZOMBIE CHUCK

A couple of weekends ago at Planet Comicon in Kansas City, I was introduced to Brian Fyffe and his undead creation Zombie Chuck.

I gotta say that Zombie Chuck is my new favorite comic book. Yeah, that’s right, I think this cadaver kid is neato cool! Brian’s done a swell job creating a fun all-ages comic that I encourage everyone to check out. You can start on the ground level or in this case buried six feet under ground level and pick up issue number one.

As a bonus, Brian has come up with some fun ZC swag. He has a Famous Monsters style T-shirt, some buttons and my favorite, a Zombie Chuck statue. It's a throwback to the plastic super hero and monster statues from the 1960's and '70's. I was half expecting to see this statue marked Marx on the bottom. You can choose between 4 different colors including a glow-in-the-dark one. I bought the orange glow statue.


Man, this zombie glows so bright, you gotta wear shades!


The orange glow is very limited and might be sold out. No worries, as the regular green glow is probably still available. Go to the Zombie Chuck Store!

Visit Brian’s website for all things Zombie Chuck and also follow him on twitter! Now I'll leave you with one more look at Zombie Chuck, this time in sketch form. He drew this in my sketchbook. Thanks Brian!

THE FORCE IS WITH GUS & DUNCAN'S STAR WARS BOOKS

The title for today’s post is an obvious one, but it truly takes a lot of force just to pick up the heavy 984 page Gus & Duncan’s Comprehensive Guide To Star Wars Collectibles!


This book is the ultimate collectors guide to all things Star Wars from the past 30+ years. From C-3PO knee high socks to Jabba the Hut Dog Chow. (Dog Chow? Yep. Look closely on the cover and once you own the book turn to page 444!) You’ll find all the stuff you grew up with and tons of items that you never knew existed. It covers all six movies and features items from all around the world. Authors Gus Lopez and Duncan Jenkins, two of the main Star Wars collectors in the galaxy, have produced one of the most comprehensive Star Wars collectibles books I’ve ever seen.

Click here to sample a few pages from the book.

These two Star Wars kids who took the phrase “Collect ‘em all” a bit too literally also created Gus and Duncan’s Guide To Star Wars Prototypes.


Everything about this book is super duper and it’s now one of my favorite books on my shelf. It’s a look behind the scenes of all the Star Wars toys I played with back when I was a kid. The design of the book is top notch by Mattias Rendahl. Page after page is filled with original artwork, photos, proof cards, unproduced toys and...well, just see for yourself with this video.

You can also click here to view some of the pages. This is a must buy for all Star Wars fans or for anyone wanting to see how some of their childhood toys were made.

Actually both books are a must buy! For ordering info visit Completist Publications.

JASON LIEBIG'S AMAZING ARCHIVE

My pal Jason has one of the best archives on the internet! Just visiting his flickr photostream is like a trip back to my childhood. With over 6000 items presented in various sets. Jason works hard rescuing, scanning and photographing his collection to share with all of us. Here's a very small sampling of some of the items you'll find in Jason's archive. New images are uploaded all the time, so keep checking back. You might find something you completely forgot about!

WELCOME TO RECOMMENDATION WEEK!

Each day this week you'll find stuff that I find neato cool! There's three ways to keep up. Visit the blog or follow along on facebook and twitter.

Hmm... what should be the first recommendation? Ooh, I got it! How 'bout some dinosaurs? Ok, check out stop-motion wizard Phil Tippett's Prehistoric Beast from 1984. He just released this on his YouTube page. Embedding has been disabled, so travel back to the land before people by CLICKING HERE. It's a fantastic short, before the age of digital dinosaurs.

MY PAL THE WEBSITE MAKER

Shannon, Shannon, bo-bannon
Banana-fana fo-fannon
Fee-fi-mo-mannon
Shannon!

Sorry about that, but I just could not resist singing the Name Game song. Now that that's out of the way, we can move forward with today’s post. It’s a plug for one of my oldest pals and one of the swellest gals around. You guessed it! Her name is Shannon. Shannon Kaufman is part website maker, part T-shirt creator and part cake baker with a sharp eye for design.


For the past eleven years, Shannon has been developing websites for a wide range of clients mostly gaining work from word of mouth. Recently she created a new website that showcases her talents and abilities. When you visit shannonkaufman.com you’ll find examples of some of the different websites she has created. Besides building websites, she also develops attractive email newsletters for companies that are seen by millions. Maybe you’ve seen her work in your inbox and just didn’t know it!

For fun, Shannon enjoys creating T-shirt designs and competing in the Shirt.Woot Derby over at Woot! Luckily her logo expertise helped in creating a winning shirt along with some top twenty designs. In 2008, her top tee design called Anatomy Test was popular enough that she was able to treat her family for a trip to Disney World! Here’s her winning design -


You can view Shannon's Woot shirt gallery here and be sure to visit her Zazzle page to order some of Shannon’s designs. I swiped a few images of some of my favorites to show here -





(In my best Homer Simpson voice, “Mmm... cake!”) I recently learned that Shannon is quite the cake maker baker person and let it be known that I’m a fan of cake, especially when it looks like it stepped out of Super Mario Bros.


(Now I just need to talk her into making an Atari 2600 cake!)

Please check out shannonkaufman.com!

Oh, oh! I was just informed that Shannon recently discovered yarn and for her first creation she made an Angry Bird. So I’ll leave you with this last image.


Remember the longer you stare at this Angry Bird the more angry it will get.