No "pez' between Pez Co. and Burlingame Museum

For many years a couple of hardcore pez candy aficionados ("Pezheads" to those in the know) operated and maintained a large collection of pez dispensers and memorabilia in a little store front south of San Francisco in the town of Burlingame. The dedication started and still stands as a labor of Pezhead love. More than a decade ago, I myself was something of a Pezhead and part of the official Pezhead email distribution list. The museum owners we also on this list.

Say what you will about people, most of which were middle age adults, who elect to revolve their waking lives around a candy dispenser, but the one thing all the Pezheads shared was burning passion for their dispensers and trying to obtain as many as they could. And this was a time when "new" dispensers were uncommonly produced by Pez USA (which was an entirely separate company from the Pez Co that was still based in Austria). Before there were 100 different kinds of NASCAR Pez. When Pez purposefully avoided putting "realistic" human heads on dispensers, before there was a really nasty looking Darth Sidious dispenser. Or this ridiculous abomination. And, what kid or collector wouldn't want an exciting Mozart Pez ? I mean, that last one's like right out of an Archie McPhee catalog.

Pez!

The Pezheads behind the Burlingame Pez Museum even made what Guiness recognized as the World's Largest Pez Dispenser. These guys were serious. And in the mid-90's when Pezheads were made contact with Pez USA, the candy maker was always very friendly to its fans. I'm pretty sure they took no objection to the Burglingame Museum, and were even receptively amused by it.

The Giant Pez Dispenser that may get Joan of Arc'ed

But, my how things have changed in the last ten years (coughGreedycough). The Museum is now being sued by the Pez company over licensing infringement issues and even calls for the destruction of the giant pagan Pez god the museum proprietors created ("Thou shalt have no false Pez!")

In an ironic way, the Pezheads may have brought this upon themselves, though it was a long time in the making. Back in the mid-90's, Pezheads all over the world were clamoring for more and more Pez dispensers to be made. Pez production, particularly in North America, had really hit a lull since the 60's and 70's and while there were not too many new dispenser models released each year, it seemed Europe and often Canada would get new dispenser liness that the US was constantly not privy to (i.e. Pink Panthers, Super Mario and gang, Asterix & Obelix, just to name a few.) By the late-90's Pez finally realized they could tap into financial gains from the pent-up domestic pez demand, which started with putting dispenser heads on a variety of stem colors (instead of just one color per head), then introducing florescent colored stems, and then introducing a limited-time premium dispenser, which Pezheads could obtain through mail order. [I actually like the premium promotion because the dispensers were re-molds of classic dispensers like the Psychedelic Eye with Hand or the Bride & Groom.]

Anyway, Pezheads ate this stuff up. After years of it, the Pez company finally realized they had some clout they had long been without. And now you find Pez everywhere, not just in a corner fo a Michael's or CVS. Pezheads fed a monster that got out of control and is now turning on its own fan base. I'm not saying it's right, but I do see the legal merit behind Pez's claim that Burlingame cease from creating "non-licensed" materials. I just think calling for the destruction of the giant Snowman dispenser is a bit ridiculous. I suppose there isn't really anything to gain by Pez co. seizing the giant dispenser - what would they do with it?

I'd think the Burlingame guys would be able to claim it was "fan art" and not something they were trying to "dupe" people into believing was sanctioned by the Pez company. And it's not like they were making multiples and selling them. They made one and kept it in an obscure museum. Quit being so greedy and self-important, Pez Co. You're lucky enough to have had a revival of interest. Count yourself lucky and move-on. By the looks of the Museum, I don't think you're really leaving anything on the table by allowing these dedicated fans and free promoters of your product to continue doing their thing. And, if they are actually making any significant money from unlicensed T-shirts, why don't you just cut a deal with them? Or, make your own to sell to people, if you must cut the Burlingame folks out.

Thy humble Burlingame Pez Museum

Well, I'm sure the Burlingame folks are "pezzed off" over this, but it'll be interesting to see what the result of the suit is.

Read the article here

Photos used here courtesy of the Burlingame Pez Museum website.

The Mysterious Cloning of Ernie Hudson

I saw Ghostbusters in the 80's when I was a kid and I loved it. Sure, I might have been only 8 or 9 when I first saw it and didn't get all the jokes, but I knew it was funny. And the older I got the more the movie grew endeared itself to me as a comedy standard. I knew Ackroyd and Murray from old SNL reruns and other movies. Ramis was new to me, but I dug the nebbish tech-geek he played in the movie. And then there was Winston. The "new guy" who comes in in the second half of the movie willing to believe anything they say, as long as there's a steady paycheck in it. They didn't give Winston much to do, except say a few funny lines and play the "outsider" for a little bit.

All was well and good when a sequel was announced and was released June 1989. We got a new villain in Viggo; Dana Barrett returns; Janoz as the new dweeb gunning for her, a slightly re-vamped version of Slimer (who now seems to have turned traitor on his fellow ghosts), Louis Tulley reprising his role, and all four original ghostbusters....or were they?

I had no problem recognizing all of the other actors reprising their roles, but I didn't even know they had kept the same actor to play Winston in the sequel. You think that sounds silly, in recent years I've encountered other people who also saw GB II as kids and didn't realize it was the same actor. Or, supposed to be.

Take a look at the pictures above and try to tell me that there isn't something fishy going on. GB II was released in 1989, which means it was filmed in 1988. Assuming the original GB was filmed a year before its release in 1984, that makes a five year gap between the two productions. There's no way that the visage of Ernie Hudson changed that much in such a short amount of time. Sure, the actor playing Winston in GB II looks Ernie Hudson from GB I, but anyone can see there are some subtle, but obvious differences.

What am i getting at? A late-April Fool's joke? No. A conspiracy to replace the real Ernie Hudson with a clone at some point in time after GB I? Maybe.

I wish I could find a bigger picture of Mr. Hudson from GB I than the one above, but it's all I got.

I'm not saying this conspiracy is real. I'm just saying that the guy playing Winston in GB is not the same one in GB II. Why? Who would want or need to create this kind of conspiracy? Who knows. But they should know that there's a few of us out there who are on to them. Oh yes, we can tell. And we'll be watching.

Star Wars: REALLY Special Edition

some say it's even better than those damn prequels:

Rough Seas

This is security footage of a dining room of a cruise boat as it hits rough seas. The video starts of a bit slow but by the end the dining room is completely destroyed.

http://www.break.com/index/are-we-having-fun-yet1.html

In a rush? Skip to the highlights:
1:30- 2:15 - it starts in earnest here
5:00 - the real fun begins
5:58 - watch for the guy in the bottom left corner
6:10 - watch him slide back!
6:35 - Watch everyone flee to, well, another part of the ship....?

I'm sure this was terrible for the poor folks on this boat, but it's so insane to watch now, I expected to see a truck load of muppets and herd of cows come flying through there at any minute.

A Van Damme Movie You May ACTUALLY Want to SEE?

In this world, there seems to be so little left to leave me surprised and amazed. The Georgia Bigfoot was a hoax: no surprises there. Obama won the election: blind and deaf men were telling me this months ago. The stock market had another volatile week: yawn.

And then something happens like Prop 8 PASSING in California (what the hell, California?) Or, Van Damme making a movie that somewhat parodies his life, but actually looks really entertaining.

Check out the US trailer below for "JCVD":




If this pans out half as well as the trailer suggests it might, JC might have found a way to re-invigorate his career.

Best Halloween Costume Ever...for a dog?

I'm not generally someone who thinks it's all cutesy when people dress their twin Yorkies up like Sonny & Cher, or strap a Princess Leia bikini from Return of Jedi on their daschund. But this may be the best animal costume I've ever seen.

Just Because: "Goonies 'R' Good Enough"

If you grew up in the 80's you're certainly aware of a little film called The Goonies . In general most 80'snicks have a pretty fond nostalgia for the film, myself entirely included. I recognize it's got its problems and at times some of the acting isn't Oscar quality, but since when did either of these things disqualify a film from being enjoyable?

Which brings me to Cyndi Lauper's Goonies theme song, "Goonies 'R' Good Enough", which I present to you via YouTube without further ado:



I had forgotten how silly and fun "professional" wrestling was by the mid-80's. Roddy Piper, Iron Shiek, Ivan Dragoff(?) - these guys are a riot. Why'd wrestling need to go and get all "Undertaker/Goldberg" serious in the 90's?

Goonies takes the daring adventure of a lifetime that every kid (every boy at least) wanted to have, combines it with a mildly retarded strongman with an animatronic ear and sets it all against some fun pop music; Produced by Steven Spielberg, directed by Dick "Superman" & "Lethal Weapon" Donner and written by Chris Columbus. It has all the hallmarks of a great 80's film.

This video was apparently shown in two parts on MTV around the time The Goonies was released, but for some reason I just don't remember ever seeing it. The Goonies DVD that came out a few years back has this full-length video on it, as well as some behind the scenes footage.

To be sure, Cyndi's video has a lot more of the "quirkiness" that probably went along more with Ms. Lauper's 1980's image more so than the movie this video was shot for. The pro wrestlers want to open up a sushi bar? (Is this a backlash against 80's yuppie culture?); Cyndi's 'terrified" reactions to pirate skeletons; Andre the Giant showing up out of thin air at the end (why didn't Cyndi just do this at the beginning?) I also love when the video suddenly cuts to Steven Spielberg sounding more lost that he ever has on-camera.

But the real reason to love this is for the song and the nostalgic feelings it so imminently brings back. In fact, I'd be lying if I said it didn't make me want to leave work right now and go hunt for treasure out in the parking lot.

As a fan of 80's comedies, if you've never seen the "Goonies Vacation" fanfilm, click that link and watch it now. It's the best (and only?) mash up of Goonies and Vacation you've ever seen watching two Goonies die hards make a roadtrip pilgrimage from California to the Goonies filming locations in Oregon.

I don't know about you readers or Rowdy Roddy Piper, but Cyndi, Mom & Pop, Dave, Wendy, and Andre the Giant lived happily ever after!