MST3K ’26: Group Photo

The Mystery Science Theater 3000 original run on TV ran from 1988 to 1999 with a total of ten seasons. There’s been three revival seasons since then, but now, 27 years later, the original crew from 1999 is doing more episodes for Mystery Science Theater 3000: The RiffTrax Experiments thanks to crowd-funding. Yay! 

Let’s see what’s on the Holiday Horror Shelf!

    I found the 1996’s Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie DVD at Goodwill last weekend. This one’s an anamorphic upgrade from my old DVD, and it’s what got me thinking about the old crew from the Satellite of Love again. 

I think the back of the LaserDisc is more interesting than the front, so I flipped it around for this pic. The first DVD of Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie went out of print pretty quickly, and it was really expensive and hard to find for a while. The LD’s widescreen presentation was upgrade from the VHS tapes’ full frame presentation. 

The Mystery Science Theater 3000 Amazing Colossal Episode Guide also came out in 1996. I had a friend who had a copy of this book, but his was autographed by the main crew. I think he pointed that out to me every time I visited him. I nodded my head, told him it was cool for 5th time, and was secretly green with jealous rage (Hot Rod).

I knew I had an old folder of MST3K stuff, but I was thinking it was just a beat up school folder.

     I had to smile when I found this wedged between some car magazines in a box on a shelf. Luckily, the magazines kept the folder in good shape. I doubt I have opened this up since the 90’s. Let’s look inside without any commentary. 

I bought the stuff in the folder and this pin from the catalog portion of the Satellite News newsletter. I never wore the pin, even I wasn’t that nerdy, but thought the pin was cool. Years later I bought the light switch cover from a seller on Etsy. It was a decoupage project that didn’t look very good when it arrived. Daphne upgraded it with some clear varnish. 

Speaking of art projects, here’s how to make Tom Servo’s puppet head: 1) Go back in time to go to the mall to buy a candy dispenser from the Mr. Bulky candy store (remember them?) 2) Tape off and spray paint the candy chute silver.  3)Paint the floor of the candy chute black with a small paint brush.  4) Proudly display Tom in your classroom for the next 25 years even if none of the modern students have a clue who he is. At least that’s what I did.

My favorite episode of MST3K is Mitchell. It was the first episode I had seen (I hadn’t even heard of MST3K before), and I watched it at a friend’s house with three other like-minded teachers. We each had a couple of beers and laughed out loud the entire time. I can’t think of a better way to be introduced to the show. 

    I'm glad to see the MST3K gang is back in town.

I Wood Not Do It

Here's the stereo I use in my classroom. Everything came from a thrift store, even the pencil sharpener.

I use this DVD player to play CDs. It cost $1.99 at Goodwill, and I picked it because it has a silver faceplate that looks similar to what was used on vintage audio equipment. It's too bad that wood grained DVD players were never a thing.

To make it blend in a bit more, I wrapped the silver metal shell with some shelf paper I left over from my multi-cade cabinet.

I wish I had used a darker wood grain design, but this looks passable. And it makes me smile when I see it in the morning at work. That in itself is worth the price of admission.

Putting shelf paper on a DVD player might seem like a waste, but I can think of a bigger one. It wasn't that many years ago when people were stampeding over each other to get to a Black Friday sale on DVD players. Now these players aren't worth as much as a Starbucks coffee.

I don't care what it is, no product is worth hurting someone.

Spring Break '19: Our Staycation

Last year was the first time we traveled on a plane with Charlotte for spring break. Visiting San Francisco was fun, but this year we decided to stay home again.

While Char was at the Science Center with a friend, Daphne and I had quite a lunch at Wasabi in Johnston. 

The Blank Park Zoo is Des Moines isn't very big, but you can get pretty close to the big cats.

The only time we left town was to visit Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium. Seeing elephants and cheetahs isn't something we can do in Des Moines.

Charlotte thought these little guys in the bottom of the tank were fascinating. I forgot to note what they were called.

My favorite part about visiting the Omaha Zoo is eating at California Tacos & More afterwards.

Their puffy tacos are similar to the ones at Tasty Tacos in Des Moines, but their California Taco is larger and they have a great condiment bar. Their steak filling is chunks of steak... sooo good.

Charlotte chose to be Harriet Tubman for the 3rd Grade Wax Museum. She needed a costume, so we all went thrift store shopping.

Char used this illustration of Harriet for inspiration.

Here's the dress they found. The white piece came from Hobby Lobby, and Daphne sewed the buttons  on the front by hand.

Char gave her new lantern from Bass Pro Shops a test run before bedtime.

The 3rd Grade Wax Museum is this Friday, and I'm looking forward to seeing Char's performance.

We also hung out at the local park when the weather was nice.

We bought Char a tie-dye kit for Easter last year, and Daphne decided it was about time to put it to use. The gals dyed six shirts and six headbands.

After 24 hours, the fabric was ready to be washed. First you have rinse the fabric until the water runs clean, and Daphne will tell you that is the worst part of this process. I bet it took 45 minutes before she felt they were ready for the washer. 

The shirts and headbands turned out good, though.

Char's other project was to construct two forts/mazes for the cats to play in. She was inspired by watching cat videos on YouTube. 

Daphne brought home a few boxes from work...

They're held together by tape for now, but if the cats use them, we'll secure the boxes with the cardboard screws my buddy Rob 3D printed for us. 

The big fort is called "Maniac Mansion."

This one is the "Cozy Cottage."

Okay, here's where I come in. Charlotte wanted to play a video game on the TV using a controller, "You know, Dad. I want to go old school." I dusted off a GameCube and went hunting for a game she could play. I came home with a copy of Animal Crossing from Half Priced Books. The game was first released in 2002, so I hoped 17 years was old school enough for her.

"Animal Crossing is an open-ended game in which the human player character moves into a village populated with anthropomorphic animals. Throughout the game, the player can interact with the animals, as well as other players through the GameCube's memory card. The game is synced with the GameCube's internal clock and calendar, allowing the game to be played in real-time, which also follows seasons and holidays." - from Wikipedia

Char loves this game. She named her town Meville and has a small house there that she's paid off by working for Tom Nook and selling him items that she finds. She's looking forward to getting a bigger place with a basement. 

I bought her an Animal Crossing guide book on Amazon, and she's been studying it. 

Tonight, if she does her homework and practices the piano without complaint, we're going to change the game's calendar and have a Thanksgiving dinner in Meville. Char wants to steal the silverware for Franklin the turkey so he'll give her gifts in return.

Two Thumbs-Up for a Hand-Me-Down

Charlotte surprised me on Saturday by wearing a vintage t-shirt.

I drew the "Hot Shot" car design when I was in second grade. Our art teacher helped us make our drawings into iron-on transfers. I think the project used crayons and wax paper. Since I was obsessed with all things with motors and wheels, I was pretty proud of my shirt. Like most of 2nd grade, "Hot Shot" was eventually outgrown and forgotten. 

In 2009 I was helping my mom organize her storage unit, and I was amazed to find "Hot Shot" wedged between two cardboard boxes. How did this shirt survive the tides of time? The white fabric was crunchy stiff and stained a rusty yellow, but I felt that it deserved to be taken home.

Daphne assured me that she could save my old shirt. A two-day long soak in OxiClean removed the stains, and a run through the washing machine made it soft again. Daph then tucked the shirt away somewhere, and once again, I forgot all about it until last weekend.

When we got home from the farmers' market, Charlotte took off her hoodie, and I realized what she was wearing underneath. "Hey! I know that shirt!"

Char ran over to me, gave me a tight hug, and declared, "It's the shirt you made when you were my age!"

"That's right! I did draw that. Do you really like it?"

It is over 40 years later, and that shirt is still making people smile. That is pretty awesome.

Random link