NOW A WORD FROM OUR MUPPET SPONSOR

Jim Henson was an advertising wizard when it came to commercials. Here's some of my favorite Muppet commercials!

1987 PLANET OF THE APES TV PROMO WITH RAP SONG

Uploaded to YouTube by robatsea2009.

1980's HALLOWEEN COMMERCIALS FROM ROWNTREE CANDIES

This is so cool! I just love all those glowing titles and video animations from the 80's!



Here's another Rowntree commercial from 1984. This one stars the Money Monster.

Rowntree was the original creator of the Kit Kat candy bar!

Both commercials uploaded to YouTube by Retrontario and we all thank you for it!!

THE SCARIEST VIDEO ON YOUTUBE

~~~~WARNING! THIS VIDEO IS NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART~~~~

Neato Ghoulville is not responsible for bleeding ears, upset stomachs or any epileptic seizures caused from viewing this video.

For more um...scary videos, visit the stairwaytostardom YouTube channel.

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

WILLIAM SHATNER'S HOW INSENSITIVE: A STAR TREK REMIX

One of my guilty pleasures is listening to William Shatner's The Transformed Man album from 1968. Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds and Mr. Tambourine Man are the two tunes that get the most play, but Shatner's take on How Insensitive has always made me smile. Probably because I always picture Shatner singing this song as his alter ego James T. Kirk. So much in fact, that I just had to add some classic Star Trek sound effects to the song. Originally I was just going to share the song with a few friends, but hey, I consider all you Neato Readers as friends, so I hope you enjoy this Trek tribute video.

Most of the photos came from the fantastic Star Trek fan site, Trek Core.

Be sure to visit William Shanter's website for info about his new upcoming album, Searching For Major Tom.

HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OF THE WORD SWOOMPFU? LET'S READ CAPTCHAS

If you’ve ever left a comment on this blog, then this style of word will look familiar.

We've all had to type in squiggly random made-up words to leave a comment or buy tickets online. These word verifications known as CAPTCHAs might be annoying, but at least they sound silly when spoken out loud. For fun, I let my computer read a bunch of them. It's kinda monotonous, but some of these words sound so goofy. Go ahead and have a listen -

These words are supposed to keep the robot spammers at bay and can only be deciphered by humans. I thought it was funny that the word human popped up.

SEE WALTER CRONKITE GET ZAPPED INTO THE TRON UNIVERSE

Many years before VCRs and DVRs, my brother and I recorded lots of audio from old TV shows. One of our old audio tapes has a snippet from Walter Cronkite's science TV show Universe. In this episode, Walter learns about computer effects and is turned into a program just like Tron. For years I wished this would show up on DVD or YouTube. My wish was granted when I found it on YouTube last year.

Video uploaded to YouTube by somonehasposted.

For more on this, check out the Progress City, U.S.A. article here.

HARRISON ELLENSHAW TRON MATTE PAINTING ARTIST 1982 INTERVIEW

An excellent interview with the amazing matte painting artist Harrison Ellenshaw who worked on the Star Wars films and Tron along with many other films. Fun to hear Harrison talk about Tron 2!

Uploaded to YouTube by tvdays. Visit TVDays.com.

HURRAY, HALLOWEEN IS ALMOST HERE

LATE 1970'S KID'S HALLOWEEN CARNIVAL & PARADE

Came across this very cool home movie from the late 1970's, probably from 1977 or '78. The video starts off with a classic game of bobbing for apples. One kid is sporting a nifty Star Wars T-shirt. Following the apples is the school parade with all the kids walking by in some great costumes. You'll see some nice homemade R2-D2 and C-3PO costumes, a Dracula kid and a kid dressed as a character from the TV show Emergency. Ok enough of the set up, go and click play!



Video uploaded by richiemakana and big thanks for sharing this Halloween time machine!

HALLOWEEN IN SOUTH FLORIDA

Watch this raw film footage from the early 1950's of Halloween activities in South Florida. The kid dressed as a table of spaghetti and meat balls cracks me up!



Uploaded to YouTube by wolfsonarchive.

NOW THEN A COUNT OF TEN ON 10-10-10

Since today is 10-10-10, I wondered what ten-related thing I could post to fit into this Halloween countdown. After smashing my head into the wall trying to think of something, I had a childhood memory come crashing forward. I remembered a clip from Sesame Street of a floating face with a creepy voice that counted to ten. Oh yeah, even tho this video is not Halloween related, this might be the scariest post for the countdown. It especially scared me when I was a (mayor) toddler. I remember seeing the rubber band face man when I was sick with a high fever. When I slept, all I could see and hear in my mind was this strange floating face counting to ten in a black void. I then would wake up and vomit into the Melmac bowl next to my bed and then fall back to sleep and dream about this counting clip over and over and over again. Really, I can barely watch this video without feeling a little nauseous because of the memory.

Here’s the video, but if you have a fever, I wouldn't adivise watching the clip or the floating face might haunt your dreams with a count of ten!

"IT'S FINGER LICKIN' GOOD" - 70 YRS OF KENTUCKY FRIED CHICKEN

All this week Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurants have been celebrating the 70th anniversary of Colonel Sanders’ famous original recipe. Harland Sanders, (he didn’t become a Colonel until 1935 or '36), first served his chicken with eleven herbs and spices in 1930 at his gas station in Corbin, Kentucky. It wasn’t until the 1950's when the Colonel started to sell his chicken to be served in restaurants across the nation. Eventually, in 1952 the Kentucky Fried Chicken chain was born and the first restaurant was in Salt Lake City.

Yesterday, the first lady and I decided to celebrate with a bucket of chicken. As a fan of any retro style packaging, I got a thrill that our chicken was served in this 70th anniversary replica bucket.

Here’s a photo of an original bucket from the 1960's. Boy, the size and price of the bucket, sure have changed.

If you’re in the Christmas spirit click here and here for a vintage holiday bucket. For people in the Halloween spirit click here and here for a vintage Jack O’ Lantern bucket.

The first bucket appeared in 1957. Did you know that Wendy’s founder, Dave Thomas came up with the chicken bucket? Yep! He also suggested it spin outside on the sign! The famous chicken bucket has become an important piece of popular culture. I have almost 5000 images in my flickr archive and my most popular photo is of a KFC chicken bucket. The photo below is closing in on 30,000 hits! Crazy man, crazy!

You know chicks dig the bucket, dontcha? Also, The Price Is (always) Right for a chicken bucket!

My pal Allen of Roadside Pictures has a nice archive of Kentucky Fried Chicken items here.

Also, check these photos out from Through Joanne’s eye here and here. So lucky that she met the Colonel!

70'S KIDS MAKE KING KONG FILM

This is Kongerrific! Thanks to Vlad for sending this my way!

Uploaded to YouTube by capecodshorts.

ROMAN MEAL BREAD IS THE BEST

Today’s post was inspired by my breakfast! That’s right, while I was enjoying two pieces of peanut buttered toast and orange juice, it dawned on me that I’ve never blogged about my favorite bread, Roman Meal!


I’ve been enjoying Roman Meal since I was a kid and no bread comes close to the flavor of Roman Meal. In celebration of this wonderful loaf of goodness I dug thru my collection of goodies and found this 1959 ad with the one and only Woody Woodpecker!


Next we have this nifty little sandwich recipe booklet from 1973. I really like the cartoon version of the Roman Meal Gladiator that teaches us about “A Secret of Ancient Rome.”





The cartoon mascot is so much fun. I think Roman Meal needs to bring him back. I'm not sure if he starred in any animated commercials, but really the little guy should.

Did you know that Roman Meal has their own YouTube channel? Neither did I until I searched for some old commercials. Check out this 1970's animated spot -



I believe the narrator is Robert Fuller, best remembered as Dr. Kelly Bracket from the TV show Emergency! and other TV shows like Laramie and Wagon Train.

Here's an interesting Roman Meal related item I saw on ebay one day. Interesting to see how the logo has changed. (Photo taken from ebay.)



Also, visit this link for a neat 1981 magazine ad that's just super! For you folks on a diet, visit here and here for some vintage graphics.

Gosh, this post has me so hungry that I've forgotten all about this morning's toast. You know? When I was kid, I used to make a triple decker peanut butter and jelly sandwich (using Roman Meal) with a side of Doritos and chocolate milk to wash it down. Hmm... I might have to revisit my old childhood meal for lunch!

---Update---

Here's two old Roman Meal bags!

SHOW BIZ HARRISON FORD INTERVIEW

Unfortunately this 1980 interview from the Canadian series Show Biz is not complete, but it still is cool to see.

Uploaded to YouTube by robatsea2009

HARRISON FORD & MARK HAMILL ON THE TODAY SHOW FROM 1980

Uploaded to YouTube by robatsea2009.

CROSS OF PEACE AT BALD KNOB MOUNTAIN

A giant cross sits atop an Ozark mountain named Bald Knob, in Southern Illinois and it has been standing there since 1963. Known as the Cross of Peace, this mid-century marvel has inspired generations of people including myself when I saw it for the first and only time almost fives years ago.

It was a special time for me as we toured parts of Southern Illinois with my grandma (who is now 96 years young). She wanted to share with us some of the places from her youth.

Besides snapping photos of the cross, I happened to have my video camera and so I shot a few minutes of the cross. After some quick edits and some overtly dramatic music I give you this short vid for your Easter viewing.



After our trip we headed back to my grandma’s house where she dug out a Cross of Peace postcard, brochure and booklet. She picked ‘em up sometime in the early 1960's before the cross was completed and you can see these souvenirs below.

The postcard and booklet both have the same artwork by the original architectural designer Victor J. Kunz.




Be sure to click on the brochure for a closer look!





The displayed plaque is in memory of Wayman R. Presley, the visionary behind the cross and in my opinion a modern day Noah. Can you imagine someone trying to accomplish something of this magnitude in today's world?


Since 2005 when I visited the cross, it has unfortunately fallen in disrepair. Early in 2009 folks have rallied to try and restore the cross. You can visit the official website for information on the Bald Knob Cross of Peace.

Have a safe and happy Easter!

THE END OF THE RAINBOW

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Back in 2004 while driving in South Dakota, the first lady and I almost found a Leprechaun and his pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. Below is a short video the first lady shot out of our car and from our goofy commentary you can tell we were pretty excited to see it!



Thanks for watching and now I’m off to celebrate St. Pat’s Day with a Shamrock Shake! You know, McDonald’s should team up with General Mills and create a Shamrock McFlurry with Lucky Charms mixed inside. That would be magically delicious!