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AWESOME-tober-fest 2011: Dracula the Series (1991)

Posted in Dracula, monsters, pop culture, TV shows, vampires with tags AWESOME-tober-fest, AWESOME-tober-fest 2011, Dracula, Halloween, holiday, monsters, pop culture, TV shows, vampires on October 17, 2011 by Paxton

Thus begins week three of AWESOME-tober-fest. This week begins TV week. Let’s start things off with a little known Canadian vampire TV show, shall we?

Today, we are looking at Dracula The Series. This show originally aired in 1991. In this show, Dracula poses as a wealthy tycoon named Alexander Lucard (A. Lucard…get it? Like we don’t get enough backwards Dracula references). Dracula had plans every week for some dastardly doings. The group opposing him was led by Gustav Van Helsing and his nephews Max and Chris. At the very least, the show followed the lore of the books in that Dracula could walk in the daylight, but loses his powers when doing so.

The show had several guest stars that were famous in Canada. Geraint Wyn Davies would appear in several episodes as Gustav’s son who was turned into a vampire. For those that don’t know, Geraint would go on to star in his own vampire TV show one year later. But I’ll talk more about that show tomorrow. Other guest stars include Kim Coates who has starred in tons of movies and TV shows like Waterworld, Prison Break and Sons of Anarchy as well as Barry Morse from The Fugitive and Space: 1999.

Here’s the intro to the show:

You can also watch several of the episodes on YouTube starting with Episode 1.

Also, check out the blog Countdown to Halloween for more Halloween-y, bloggy AWESOMEness.

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18 Slot machines based on movies and TV shows

Posted in casinos, movies, slot machines, technology, TV shows, video games with tags casinos, movies, pop culture, slot machines, technology, TV shows, video games on September 8, 2011 by Paxton

I mentioned last week that I was going to Vegas with my wife to renew our vows with Elvis. While there, we spent some time in a few casinos. I’m not a big gambler but I love walking casino floors and checking out the other gamblers and the various themed slot machines.

Casinos are awesome. It’s like walking into an arcade back in the 80s. Lots of lights and noise. People hunched over lighted consoles hoping to get high scores. I love going to casinos. Like I said, I’m not a huge gambler, but I love looking at slot machines. They are the modern equivalent of upright arcade games. I’ve talked about my love for slot machines before and their taking the torch of the arcade machine.

Anyway, here are 18 slot machines I found that are based on movies or TV shows. You can click any of these images to see them bigger.

The Hangover – I’ll start with this one because it’s the most obvious. Expect to see images of tigers and babies on the reels. “Tootle-loo, mutha-f**kaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!”

Alien – As you can see, there are two versions of the Ridley Scott Alien slot machine. One slot machine has the picture of the egg from the theatrical one-sheet and the other has a picture of the alien xenomorph and includes a special Alien Hunt bonus.

Alien vs Predator – You got an alien slot machine, you also get an Alien vs Predator. Unfortunately, there isn’t a standalone Predator machine.

Monty Python and the Holy Grail – One of my favorite movies of all time. This slot was great because it had a ton of quotes from the movie, as well as clips and a special bonus round where you fought the black knight. There were even “hot spots” on the screen you could touch to generate a random quote or sound from the movie.

Star Wars Droid Hunt – This slot machine was pretty awesome. Lots of images and sounds from the original trilogy. Back in the late 90s, there was another Star Wars slot machine called Death Star Escape. It was cool because there was a bonus round that activated a model Death Star built into the housing that started spinning. Funny, I’ve never found a Star Wars slot machine based on the prequel movies.

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A collection of vintage milk PSAs

Posted in 80s, commercials, nostalgia, pop culture, TV with tags commercials, nostalgia, pop culture, TV, vintage on August 26, 2011 by Paxton

I loved milk commercials when I was growing up. There were tons of them and they were shown all the time. And there were so many versions of the ads that it was endlessly interesting.

So on this Friday, I’m going to show you a bunch of my favorites.

Let’s start with one of the most iconic. The one directed by Michael Bay. The “Aaron Burr” commercial.

Next up are the “Milk it Does a Body Good” commercials. These are the ones I generally think of when I think of milk commercials. There were two versions of these. The first was a series of musical numbers featuring kids and random images of things flying all over the place. Things like animals (cows, penguins and kangaroos).

Check out the awesome 80s randomness of this ad featuring a lot of kangaroos. Seriously, kangaroos on pogo sticks and tap dancing kangaroos.

Here’s the “cow on the moon” musical PSA.

…and here’s the penguin version.

The other version of the “Milk it Does a Body Good” PSA involved kids talking to someone about the benefits of drinking milk. As they talk, they transform into an older, taller, better looking version of themselves. There were even two versions of this ad, one in which the kids were talking to someone else and one where the kids were looking in the mirror talking to their future selves. All of these commercials are filmed in front of a gray backdrop that looks like a crinkled up curtain.

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Go Bots: Battle of the Rock Lords turns 25 years old

Posted in cartoons, movies, toys, TV shows with tags anniversary, cartoons, GoBots, movies on March 21, 2011 by Paxton

(Via rastheater)

The first and only GoBots movie, GoBots: Battle of the Rock Lords, turns 25 years old today. It opened on March 21, 1986.

The movie featured voice talent such as Roddy McDowell (Nuggit), Telly Savalas (Magmar) and Margot Kidder (Solitaire). The movie also featured popular voice over talent like Peter Cullen, Frank Welker, Michael Bell and Arthur Burghardt. The rest of the voice cast was populated by the actors who voiced the regular TV show, Challenge of the GoBots.

Challenge of the GoBots

The GoBots movie reached theaters two months before Transformers: The Movie (Aug 8). However Transformers had been in production for the previous two years.

The GoBots, like Transformers, were first released in Japan. They were imported by Tonka into America after the popularity of Transformers skyrocketed.

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Awesomeness Elsewhere – Feb 11, 2011

Posted in 80s, Atari, cartoons, pop culture, TV shows, video games with tags Atari, cartoons, pop culture, TV shows, video games on February 11, 2011 by Paxton

Here’s what I’ve been up to around the Internets:

– On Strange Kids Club I wax nostalgic about CBS’ Saturday Supercade. It was a block of cartoons back in 1983 based on popular video game characters like Donkey Kong, Q-bert and Frogger.

– I also talk about all the new DVD releases this week which include a trio of terrible Brad Pitt movies and Barb Wire starring Pam Anderson’s breasts.

Hope everyone had a great week. Check back next week, we have a big 20th movie anniversary on Monday. It’s not a movie you would expect to have a birthday on Valentine’s Day.

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