A Mystery At Mystic Pizza!

      Looks like Uncle Sam just got a big slice,
let's make that a big cut, of Mystic Pizza!
      Some of you may remember that name.
      "Mystic Pizza" was the name of a popular
movie back in 1988. It starred Julia Roberts.
       It's the name of an actual restaurant, in
Mystic, Connecticut.
       I like Julia Roberts. I like the movie.
       And I like pizza.
       So, one day a few years back, we decided
to drive to Mystic to get some Mystic Pizza!
       That's not as unusual, at least for my wife
and me, as you might imagine!
        We've often shanghighed two of our
friends to get some great garlic pizza at a place
just outside Port Jervis, New York.
        Driving to Mystic Pizza seemed a little
like driving into the movie.....until we got
there!
        The restaurant was different. That's
because most of the movie was filmed in a
studio, not at Mystic Pizza. And Julia wasn't
there!
       The pizza was good and they did sell
those "Slice Of Heaven" Tee shirts like Julia
wore in the movie/
       I bought one for my wife and our
daughters.
       Now I'm wondering what else is
cooking at Mystic Pizza.
       According to news reports issued
yesterday the U. S Treasury Department has
seized $60,000 from a bank account of the
owners of the restaurant!
      That's a lot of pizza dough!!!!!!!
      The IRS isn't saying anything about the
investigation. I just hope the place isn't in
too much hot sauce because we had hoped
to go back some time.
       I wanted to try the pepperoni (and
maybe see if Julia was taking her shift!)
       Hope you get the toppings you ordered
and that all your NEWS is good!
     

      
      

HOMEWORK!

  We got to spend some quality time with two
of the grand kids yesterday.
   I picked them up at school to bring them
home for diner and a couple of games.
   But first.......they had to do home work!
   I don't remember "homework" being quite
like this! Then again I tried awful hard to
forget homework once I got out of school.
   There were some teachers who might
have suggested I forget it long before that!
    Anyway, my grand daughter brought a
backpack full of books, papers, and
homework with her.
     It looked innocent enough.
     But it must have weighed as much as
a typical car battery!
     I guess the idea is......if they're not
good students.....they'll at least be strong
enough for manual labor!
     She won't have to worry about that.
     She's a straight "A" student!
     She must take after me. I got an "A"
one time!
      My grandson had me help him
after dinner.
      I guess he was working on some kind
of project that combined geography and
math.
      I think he called it "Texas five card
holdem."
      I guess it's good when you can make
homework fun. But I'm not sure I learned
too much.
     It did involve a lot of math!
     And,  I must admit, we worked hard on
addition and subtraction!
     My grandson  kept adding the numbers
he got on various playing cards.  
     And I kept subtracting various colored
chips from the stacks I got at the
beginning of the project! For some reason,
I suppose it had something to do with
division, he collected the clips I gave up.
      When their Mom picked them up to
go home later I was able to help my
grand daughter with her homework too.
      I carried her backpack to the car!
      Hope you're supporting education
and that all you NEWS is good.

The Last Picture Shows!

   A group of Facebook friends got to chatting
about some old neighborhood movie theaters
last night.
   When I was growing up there were seven
in my home town. And that didn't count the
Drive Ins in the area!
   And I went to them all!
   My Dad worked at a couple of them so I
got in those for free.
   But even when I had to pay it was
probably only a quarter.
   A couple of the places had "Serials"
every week so you had to go back to see
if Superman was able to stop that train
before it crashed or if Commando Cody
would use his Rocket suit to catch up
with the bad guys!
   Speaking of "bad guys", you always
knew who they were even if they weren't
doing anything bad in the scene. It was
easy.
   The "bad guys" wore black hats and
the "good guys" wore white ones!
   And the "good guys" always won!
   Maybe that's what people mean when
they speak of "the good old days!"
   The last single screen theater in Wyoming
Valley was the Forty Fort in...you guessed
it...Forty Fort.
    It ran its final features in 1998.
    I took my wife and kids to see the
matinee showing of Cinderella the day it
closed.
    Ironically the final attraction that
evening was "Fatal Attraction."
    I was really sorry to see the small
neighborhood theaters go.
    The big Multiplex Theaters did them
in.  And it's kind of strange. Thousands
of neighborhood theaters closed. There
are fewer movie theaters now.
    But there are more movie screens!
    There are still a few neighborhood
theaters like those in  Berwick,
West Hazleton, and Montrose that
continue to entertain.
     I hope the following photos will
bring back some good memories, and
that all of your NEWS is good!


    

   

The Octopus In My Car!

  Those of you who read my blog on a
regular basis probably aren't surprised
by the title of this essay!
   After all, I've already admitted to an
ongoing search for the Swedish Fish
that scattered inside the vehicle one
afternoon.
   But yesterday I saw the "Octopus!"
   Granted, the arms were actually
wires...not tentacles. But they seemed
to be everywhere!
    They were uncovered by my son who
was on a sort of "fishing expedition" to
solve my "Road Rage problem."
    You see I haven't been able to show
any road rage for the past couple weeks
because my horn stopped working!
    My first thought was to check the
fuse. But my handbook didn't have
any listing for a horn fuse. Besides,
even if if did, I'd have to find it then
determine if it was or was not burned
out.
    Since my son is a expert on the
12 volt systems that power electrical
things in a car....I called him!
    It was a smart move.
    After pulling off half the dash and
removing the steering wheel he traced
the problem to something called a
"Clock Spring" device (or something
like that!).
    He assured me it has nothing to do
with winding the car's clock!
    Anyway he told me what to order
so I did it. When it comes he should be
able to restore my horn so I can "Beep"
at you if you pull out in front of me
without warning or wait for 30 seconds
before going forward after the light
has turned green.
     That will be nice.
     He has even replaced the steering
wheel so I can continue to drive while
I wait for the parts to come in.
     I can't wait! I feels so silly rolling
down the window and yelling.."BEEP!"
     Hope your "Clock Spring" is working
and that all your NEWS is good!

HELLO MY NAME IS.......

   Just in case you didn't know, this is
"Name Tag Day!"
   I think it's about time these little
stick on identification labels got some
attention!
   They've saved, or at least helped, me
on a number of occasions.
    School reunions are a prime example!
    I had about 450 people in my
graduating class. A fair number of them
got to see me every day in the 5 years
between reunions when I was a TV
news reporter.
    I, on the other hand, only got to see
them once every five years! And, in case
you hadn't noticed, people can change
a lot in 5 years!
    Name Tags, as we've come to know
them, really aren't very old.
    Those "Hello My Name Is" stickers
were first introduced by the Avery
Company in the 1960's.  The Company
makes all kinds of adhesive products
and has 36,000 workers world wide.
    And I'll bet they all have to wear
name tags!
    Of course March 5th is also "Multiple
Personalities Day' which could, I suppose,
cause some conflict with National Name
Tag Day.
    I guess if you see the same person sporting
several different Name Tags today you may
assume he, or she, is celebrating both of
these 'unusual holidays!'
    I don't know who came up with "National
Name Tag Day" or "Multiple Personalities
Day." And if whoever did was wearing a
name tag how would we know which
personality it was representing?
    Since you're reading this I figure you
probably know who I am.
     I only hope you also know who you are
and that all your NEWS is good!

The "Plays" The Thing!

  For the past eleven months I've been
working with two experts in search of
excellence!
  The effort has involved time, travel,
and testing.
  It has also involved a few bumps and
bruises! That was the price occasionally
paid by the testers.
  This blog will serve as the first
published results of our survey. I should
point out, however, that the testing is
far from being completed.
  What's that?  Oh, yes, you're wondering
what we're testing.
   Well, since last April, my grand daughter,
grandson, and I have been reviewing area
playgrounds!
   It's really been an interesting experience.
   The kids, aged 8 and 10, have done all
the hard work. Climbing ladders and
Monkey Bars, checking the swings, and
looking for anything that added to the
fun factor!
    We actually had a check list on which
the kids had to rate items like swings,
sliding boards, rock walls, and such.
     I transcribed the results and handled
the driving. The actual testing seemed a
little too dangerous for me!
     On occasion I provided "push power"
for the swings, or played a "troll" attempting
to catch those running above me on those
walkways that run from one slide to
another .I could never catch anybody!!!!!
     Anything beyond that was above my pay
grade for these attractions.
     Interestingly their two favorites at this
point are playgrounds that really reflect
the communities in which they're located.
     This one, in Scranton's Nay Aug Park




was built by community volunteers with
a lot of donated time and materials.
    Their latest favorite is located in
Covenington Township near the borough
of Moscow in Lackawanna County.





 It's just behind the Township Municipal
Building which is housed in a mansion
that was once home to the family that owned
the Moffat Coal Company.
    I know this "research" may not be as
impressive as some studies you have seen.
    But, as a Grandpa, I'm as proud of the
kids as those guys who worked on the
"Manhattan Project" must have been!
   Hope you have a "blast" with your kids
and grand kids, and that all your NEWS
is good!

Reading at the Movies!

  I've been doing a lot of reading lately and
it hasen't been at the library.
  The last two stories I read were at the
movies!
   A couple of blogs ago I told you about
going to see "The Artist" which won Best
Picture Award at this year's Academy Awards
presentations. We knew in advance it was a
silent film with on screen captions to let us
know what the actors were saying. It was
actually quite good and "reading" the captions
was not a problem.
   Yesterday we went to see a movie called
"A Separation."
    You could hear the actors in this film.
    Only problem was......you couldn't
understand a word they were saying! Unless,
of course, you could speak Persian!
    You see the movie was filmed in Iran.
    It was kind of neat.
    I certainly holds your attention.
    You can't look away while you're
reaching for your popcorn or soda or
you'll risk missing a caption that's
important to the plot.
    It was also interesting to get a look
at another culture where life is a little
different.
    I'm hoping that "reading my movies"
won't become a habit
    Although this evening I found
myself watching "The Godfather"
on AMC and I'm glued to the
scenes from the second film where
they're all speaking Italian and the
screen is full of sub titles!
    Of course some caption are important.
    Like, for instance, the credits.
   We often stick around to pick out
an actor's name we didn't know or to
find  out where a movie was filmed.
    And more and more lately movie
producers seem inclined to sneak in
some extra scenes while those credits
are rolling.
    In fact one recent movie, "The Grey"
ran one final scene after you were done
reading all the credits!
    My favorite caption was the one
that gave credit to Leon Schlesinger!
    He's the guy who produced
Loony Tunes and his caption came
up just as Porky Pig shouted out...
"The,thee,the,thee,the, that's all folks!"
    Hope you read all of this......and
that all of your NEWS is good!