Just keep swimming.

It's mid-September as I write this and, for me personally, it might as well be fall. The leaves are already changing, the nights are getting cooler, and the PSL is available at Starbucks; it's a beautiful thing!

All that said, I felt remiss just moving on and not acknowledging some of the great summer snacks and promotions I've enjoyed over the last few months.

In my last post, all the way back in (checks notes)... June, I was begrudging the lack of summer promos I was seeing from the usual suspects, like Lay's, Pepsi, and Coca-Cola.

What I would say is that instead of going for the usual fare, there were some weird swings this summer, but overall it actually ended up pretty okay!

This is just going to be a photo dump of junk I enjoyed over the summer months, but I'll add some commentary.

McDonald's Summer 2024!

McD's never fails to disappoint and I must say, they've been showing Canada some serious love lately. First, we finally got the Grimace Shake, which dropped in the US last year. It didn't knock me out colour-wise, but it tasted great! They also brought us the Orange Cream Pop Shake, which tasted like a Buried Treasure and was a serious highlight.

Finally, I have to mention the Throwback Meal, which came with three retro dipping sauces, Garlic Parmesan from the 80s, Szechuan from the 90s, and Jalapeno Cheddar from the 00s. The Szechuan sauce was amazing - I didn't try the others - but the retro packing that homaged all three eras was the highlight, honestly. It was serious trip!

This was also topped off with McShaker fries, which offered a variety of different flavours over the summer. I only tried Tzatziki and Ramen, but they also offered Masala and Churro. They were kinda messy, but delicious! I hope we get more of these in the future!

Soda Pop!

I think I've gushed about all of these on my social accounts, but at a high level: Sprite Chill Zero Sugar was amazing and was very short-lived. Sprite Chill is still in stores, I believe, but the Zero Sugar (which was far superior to the full sugar version) disappeared quickly.

We got Mountain Dew Summer Freeze! This dropped in the US last year, but we finally got it and it was amazing. I think my favourite of the summer, however, was the Dr. Pepper Strawberries & Cream. This also dropped some time ago in the US, and I actually imported it months ago, but it was nice having it as a regular offering for a while.

I still missed seeing Pepsi Throwback on shelves, but Peach Pepsi was a nice distraction, even if I only tried it the one time. It was tasty, though! I saw the Zero Sugar version once, but didn't buy it and I never saw it again. I would've liked to have tried it!

More Chips!

Doritos dropped a trio of Late Night flavours, which is something they've done in the past. I feel like I've had all these flavours before, but it was nice to have something different on shelves, as least! I think Fully Loaded Nachos was my favourite, but there was also Sizzlin' Cheese Burger and Creamy Jalapeno Popper.

Ruffles dropped another KFC collab! They've offered KFC flavoured chips for a few years now as the occasional promo, but this year they added a Zinger Sandwich flavoured chip, which was just a spicier version of the old flavour, but on a double crunch chip! It was meh.

Miscellaneous!

Wendy's had an orange cream milkshake thingy of their own this year. It was simply white Frosty mixed with orange soda, but it was tasty!

I don't talk about Smarties enough. I know they're only in the UK and Canada, but they are the superior candy-covered chocolate. That's right, I said it. This summer they had a strawberry variety, which was just okay, but I just like to see Smarties taking the occasional swing!

That's probably not everything, but I think it's the big hitters (what's up with the sudden baseball references). All-in-all, it was an okay summer!

I posted a video earlier this week about the return of Hostess potato chips, which although it technically dropped in the summer season, I'm not considering a summer promo. Especially, as it appears that they're here to stay. You can check that video out here, though, if you're so inclined!

Anyway, here's to the autumn proper! It's less than a week away. As I mentioned, I've already started my usual traditions, which includes lots of tiny sized junk food and horror movies, but it was nice to cap off summer and put a bow on it.

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Cheese Squeeze makes my eyeballs itch!

I'm still kind of in shock about all this, but last night I was stunned to find out that my favourite potato chips - a snack I absolutely adored as a kid, but was lost due to a corporate takeover in the 90s - had returned.

That's right, Hostess Potato Chips are back!

Now branded Munchies, the greatest potato chips of all time are back on store shelves in Canada and I'm over the moon!

I think this video says it all. I'm sorry for the poor quality. I slapped this thing together pretty quickly and didn't test any of my equipment first, but I just had to document this moment.

In the video description you can also find links all sorts of blogs I've written over the years gushing over Hostess Potato Chips, if that's your sort of thing.

Anyway, if you're in Canada, get to your local grocery store and snag you some Munchies! And tell 'em RyHo sent you!

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Media Log | Secrets of the Unknown: Bigfoot & Witches

Secrets & Mysteries was an American television series that syndicated from 1987 to 1989. It was a paranormal magazine show, often compared to In Search Of... which ended it's run five years before Secrets & Mysteries premiered.

Although the topics were similar in nature to In Search Of..., and Secrets & Mysteries certainly released around the same time, it appears great lengths were taken to separate the two shows. Secrets & Mysteries incorporates bumpers hosted by Edward Mulhare, which show him using all sorts of gadgets and pseudo-futuristic technology to help display information throughout each episode.

I'm not certain what TV stations aired Secrets & Mysteries during it's syndicated run, but the show appeared to make its money on video. Tapes were sold in different formats from the late-80s all the way to the early-2000s. Each episode was released individually, there were several sets that had four episodes to a tape, and there were even two Blockbuster Presents editions, each with two episodes on each tape (one of which I'm highlighting here). The show was never released on any other format, nor is it available on streaming.

During its video run, it seems the title of the series was changed to Secrets of the Unknown. This isn't entirely consistent, though. For instance, on the Blockbuster Presents: Secrets of the Unknown: Bigfoot & Witches tape, the "Bigfoot" episode is presented as Secrets & Mysteries on the intro and outro, however the "Witches" episode uses the Secrets of the Unknown title for the intro (which interestingly runs at a different speed than the Secrets & Mysteries introduction) but then uses the Secrets & Mysteries title in the outro. Having watched a few different episodes of this show on tape, there seem to be all sorts of inconsistencies with how the episodes are presented.

You can find out more information about the series on Wikipedia.org.

You can find video clips of the intro and outro segments on my video archival channel, VHYesterdayS.

I've also uploaded the full videos for both the "Bigfoot" and "Witches" episodes on the Internet Archive for archival purposes.

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Here come the chips! I've got Cool Ranch and Barbecue! Ow!

The first post I made on this new site was - not shockingly - about potato chips (a personal passion of mine) and since it's been just about a full revolution around the sun since then, I figured it was time for more.

So, I hope you like reading way too many words about junk food, because I'm back on my bullshit. Let's talk about the Lay's Canada Flavour Icons summer promo for 2024!

I'm not going to lie to you, this year's promotion isn't a complete knock out. One of the flavours is recycled from last year, Miss Vickie's Spicy Dill Pickle, and the other two offerings, although new to Canada, are frequently flyers in the US: Cool Ranch Doritos and Cheetos Lay's.

Out of last year's offerings, I really enjoyed the Spicy Dill Pickle. As I mentioned in my previous post, I don't really dig it on the actual Miss Vickie's chips, but it somehow jives better with the classic Lay's potato chip.

As for the Cool Ranch Doritos flavour? Something just isn't clicking. I think there's something to say about texture when it comes to eating Doritos and maybe I've just had my brain wired to expect a corn chip, but whatever it is, I didn't dig Cool Ranch on a Lay's potato chip. Nothing wrong with it, just not for me!

And then finally the Cheetos Lay's; I really liked these. Last year, I loved the Nacho Cheese Doritos Lay's and this year the cheese flavour takes the cake again. In 2022, Lay's did Flavour Mashups in Canada and they had Cheetos Puffs + Lay's Ketchup chips that I really didn't like, but it must've been the combination of the two, because Cheetos dust tastes delicioso on a standard chip.

So, overall I'd give this year's Flavour Icons a big meh. It's just okay!

I've decided to practice brevity on this post, even though I did what most sane people would consider far too much research about the Lay's summer promos of yesteryear, but I will save you all that.

What I will say, is that this year's promo being recycled kinda tracks with PepsiCo (owner of Lay's) this year. Usually, Pepsi would have multiple pop offerings in the spring and leading into early summer. Although it has been somewhat spotty, we've pretty much had Pepsi Throwback (a.k.a. Pepsi Real Sugar) every summer for a long while, and then also periodically there's been Crystal Pepsi and even Pepsi Blue!

This year, however, there's really nothing I'd call a standout promo. They are pushing the zero sugar varieties of Wild Cherry and Lime pretty vigourously, but they're always on the menu. In the US they at least have full sugar varieties of Pepsi Lime and Pepsi Peach! Not here, though.

I keep hoping for Lay's Canada to reach deep into their back catalog and come out with a Hostess potato chip summer promo. I've even written to them - yes, I am that lame. And here we are again, no dice.

Here's hoping for next year! And I'm still holding out hope that Pepsi Throwback graces our shelves in the next few weeks. You folks in the US who have access to Pepsi Real Sugar on the regular don't know how good you have it!

Anyway, keep on crunchin' and cheers to summer!

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I'm not even supposed to be here today!

If you're reading this - and maybe you follow me online - there's a good chance you have fond memories of video stores from years past. What's been distilled into an app on your phone or TV was once a whole-ass store filled with boundless adventures and memorable nights spent with friends, family, or in glorious solitude.

I recently stumbled upon an image of one of my favourite video stores from my youth and I just really wanted to share. I give you... Cape Breton Family Video!

Photo by Raymond Doucette | Raytel Photography | Sydney, NS, Canada

I tried desperately to find one of those fancy A.I. apps that clean up old photos, but all they managed was to make this image look like a Van Gogh... which in retrospect isn't all bad, because I can certainly see myself printing this picture off and hanging it in my living room.

There's so much to unpack here, but first let's talk about the store itself.

If you're from Sydney, Nova Scotia - where Cape Breton Family Video was located - you undoubtedly went here on a regular basis. And, if I were to ask you one single memory you had about the store I know precisely what your answer would be: the popcorn.

Located smack-dab in the middle of the store was a classic, red popcorn cart that was constantly churning out fresh, salty popcorn that you could purchase with your video rental. It was on-par with what you'd buy at a local theatre if not better.

To this day the smell of popcorn can simultaneously make me think of going to the movies and to Cape Breton Family Video, it's that ingrained in me.

You can't tell from this image, but the shop itself was massive. This front-on image doesn't give you any idea of how long the store was. It ran almost a full block. I can't find any hard evidence, but I believe it was at one point a furniture store and showroom, which explains the size of the building.

Here's what the location looks like today (I'm revealing this already, but of course, Cape Breton Family Video no longer exists). It's now an H&R Block, but also - because of the sheer size of the building - like five or six other businesses, as well.

As you can see, the store was massive in size. It didn't encompass the lower section, and was only the street-level portion, but it did indeed run all the way to the back of this building.

When you first walked into the store the counter was off to the right, which was a massive space, because of the sheer number of tapes they had to keep. It looked like library stacks, filled with numbered, plastic video cassette cases. There was also a huge box with a slot outside where you could return your rentals.

After you passed the rental counter you'd walk straight smack-dab into two things: a stairway that lead downstairs, almost like a cellar access to a basement, and the aforementioned popcorn cart. How I wish I had photos of the inside of the store to share with you, but without smell-o-vision it wouldn't impress upon you how amazing it was.

If you look really closely on the far-right of the photo, you can actually see the wheel of the popcorn cart. I have no idea why it was in the corner like that, because I always remember it in the centre of the store, but... there it is!

I don't want to belabour this much more, but the far-left wall was all New Releases, which by the time you got to the back of store, weren't so "new". In the middle were racks separated by genre for the older tapes. I can't recall most of them, but I can tell you that the horror and comedy sections were located further to the back-right. The far-right side of the store was partially walled off. The walls didn't reach the ceiling and were more like fences, with the occasional opening that was curtained off. You know what that section was!

In the far back of the store there was an opening that led into two rooms. These were basically the kids sections. The first space was where the video games were kept and then behind that the kids videos. I can't tell you how many times I rented Gumby from that space without being embarrassed.

If ever I find a photo of the inside of Cape Breton Family Video, you can rest assured I'll share it, but for now let's head back outside and check out that garishly painted entrance!

First off, let's take a moment to appreciate this wood-paneled Station Wagon. If you're born in the 70s or 80s, you've encountered one of these fine automobiles. My family had one that looked exactly like this. The backseat had seatbelts so kids could sit back there, which in retrospect is still wildly dangerous. I can remember my folks taking my sister and I to the drive-in theatre where we'd watch the first movie and then build make-shift beds in the back to go to sleep, while Mom and Dad watched the second movie. Ah, the memories.

Up next, let's have a look at this enormous window painting for 31-in-1 on the Nintendo Entertainment System!

I think the cultural impact of the Nintendo Entertainment System on our society goes without saying, but - much like the video industry - it often goes unsaid how important rental stores were to the success of the system.

Buying new NES carts wasn't something you did very often. We all complain about the price of video games today, but considering inflation, the cost of a new game back in the 90s was much more expensive than it is today. Taking inflation into account, if we take the average price of a new video game from 1990 - $49.99 USD - then you'd be looking at approximately $115 USD today.

But at the video store? You could rent an NES game for the weekend for a couple of bucks! And there was no cartridge more coveted than the infamous 31-in-1! These were bootleg cartridges made in China that included 31 classic NES games. They wouldn't include big games, like Zelda or Super Mario Bros., but more basic games, like the original "black box" titles released for the NES. Still, if you had the choice of renting one game or THIRTY ONE... you can see how big of a deal this was.

Next up is Humpty Dumpty Potato Chips!

Although they weren't as good as my beloved Hostess Potato Chips, Humpty Dumpty were a solid second choice and in the years following the Lay's takeover of Hostess in Canada, Humpty Dumpty BBQ Chips were my go-to snack of choice. They still exist today in some fashion! The brand was bought out by Old Dutch, based out of Montreal, but they still produce several Humpty Dumpty products in different markets across Canada and in New England.

The image you see above would've been based on the old Humpty Dumpty mascot/logo, like this one.

Of course, potato chips were big business everywhere, but the chip wars between Hostess and Humpty Dumpty in Nova Scotia were legendary and getting huge ad space on Cape Breton Family Video like this would've been a big win for Humpty Dumpty.

And how for the pièce de résistance, Video Kideo Land!

In my attempt to crop these photos and make them easier to see, I think I've lost a lot of the detail, so feel free to refer back to the original image!

Let's start with the obvious character on the far right. It's pretty easy to make out He-Man holding his Power Sword! The only other character that I think is obvious here is Mighty Mouse on the far left. Unfortunately after that, it gets kinda murky. I think we might be seeing the top of an Autobot next to He-Man and the character mostly dressed in red looks a lot like Bucky O'Hare to me, but I don't see his tell-tale green rabbit head at all. Also, Bucky O'Hare came out in 1991 and this image is tagged as 1990, so I think that rules him out.

Let me know what you can make out!

I mentioned it above, but the back section of the store was dedicated to kids. It had way more cartoon options than any other store. This is where I used to rent the original Spider-man cartoon from the 60s, and some of my favourite Japanese shows like Tekkaman and Ultraman! It was also my go-to spot to rent the live-action My Pet Monster movie, which alongside Gumby, was on a constant rotation.

And that's Cape Breton Family Video! I'm glad I stumbled upon this image on Facebook recently, so I could share it. We had a lot of great video stores in our town and, if I'm being honest, this wasn't actually my go-to haunt, but I frequented it many, many times (I was a serial renter, visiting multiple stores like every single weekend) and I miss it dearly.

Even though this wasn't exactly your local rental shop, I'm sure you have similar memories of your own. Please, 

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This is reality, Greg.

I'm in complete shock right now. Just a few moments before writing this I was utterly gobsmacked by an ancient TV ad and I'm still reeling.

Have you ever had a memory that is so vivid that you just know it has to be real, but logic dictates that it unequivocally can't be?

I have had such a memory and I've just been simultaneously vindicated and crushed at the same time.

I've at least briefly written about my experiences with E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial in the past, but I really haven't sold just how afraid and scarred that film left me.

The Cole's Notes: My mom rented it for me as a kid. This had to've been around the 1988 release of the video. The film had been a runaway success in 1982, which is underselling it. For scale, it out-grossed Star Wars that year and the success saw a re-release in theatres in 1985.

So, by '88 there was E.T. fever and the video release sold gangbusters.

I was around 6 at the time and my parents had what I would call... difficulty understanding what was appropriate for kids to watch? When I got older this worked very much to my advantage. They actually had our video store tag my card so that I could rent anything 18A (Rated R) and below when I was likely too young to wield such power, but that's a story for another time.

Now, this wasn't really their fault. This was something that society was still working out back then. I mean, I could turn on the TV and watch cartoon versions of RoboCop and commercials for toys from The Terminator. This was a time before motherly advocacy groups were hitting the streets and protecting their precious children and Hollywood had no qualms on trying to sell kids on everything from Rambo to Freddy Krueger.

So, in my mom's defense, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial was a PG-rated film sold as family-friendly. But for one little boy, it was absolute nightmare fuel that would riddle his psyche for years.

I promised Cole's Notes and gave you War and Peace. My apologies. In short: E.T. scared the shit out of me. And, of course, I was absolutely fascinated by it.

So all these many, many years later my memories surrounding E.T. are seared into my brain. And one of those memories I had come to believe I'd completely made up.

I've probably mentioned it in the past to friends - I don't think it's anything I've ever written about - but I have had a vivid memory of seeing a commercial for "E.T. 2" since I was a young kid. I'll walk you through it and this time, I will exercise brevity.

There's a shot of Elliott in his bedroom tossing his baseball in boredom when it suddenly stops mid-air. He excitedly looks to his window where a dead sunflower suddenly bursts to life. He runs out of his house into the backyard to see E.T.'s spaceship and E.T. himself! They share a touching moment, which is suddenly broken by evil versions of E.T. scurrying out of the ship and into the wild, much to the shock and dismay of E.T. and Elliott.

Again, I can't tell you just how real this whole thing felt. I eventually reached the conclusion that I'd dreamed the whole thing up... until now!

600 words later, I'll get to the point.

I've been re-reading old Dinosaur Dracula Christmas posts going back to 2012. Matt's loaded his site with great nostalgic Christmas content, and it's been a while since I did a re-read, so I've been having a blast going through his old articles over the past few weeks.

I was watching a bunch of old Christmas commercials that Matt had posted and right there in the fifth edition of his Classic Christmas Commercials series is THIS:

So validating.

I mean, of course I somehow conjured up all the stuff about it being "E.T. 2" and the evil E.T.'s, but - again - I was 6. I'm actually pretty astounded with how well I remembered the rest of the beats for the ad.

On the one hand, I wasn't one of the few people (as in just me) who got to see some super secret teaser for a sequel to E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, but after all these long years I at least know that I'm not completely crazy and this ad does exist! Ya know, as a Pepsi cross-promotion for the VHS release.

I can now rest easy.

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You can't kill the boogeyman!

Halloween post two days after October 31st? Yeah, that's how I roll.

With another Halloween in the rearview, I just wanted to take a minute to re-cap this season. I've heard all sorts of folks calling Halloween 2023 a bit of a let-down, but I have to disagree.

Now, first off - as you know - I live in Canada. We don't get anywhere near the Halloween fanfare that my friends in the US do. Things have gotten better over the last few years, but it's still not even close.

As a result, we can't measure the season based on cereal, coffee, promotions, and knickknacks (although, in my estimation, we did alright in this department). You have to get creative and make it your own. And I did that big time this year.

I wrote in an earlier post about how on the first weekend of fall, with all my plans for the weekend ready and waiting, I got sick. Well, that was just the start of illness after illness striking my household. We basically spent a month in the house nursing ourselves back to health again and again. It was terrible!

But, I continued to make the best of a bad situation! Even if it was just a quick outing to grab some groceries and scope the cereal aisle or watching a spooky movie with a seasonal treat, I tried to make sure I was doing something to enjoy my Halloween season to it's fullest.

Now, let's take a look back at some of the evil consumer stuff that came out this year!

• What the Fanta!? 2023 - jet black soda flavoured like blood orange? Absolute win.
• Return of the Timbits Halloween Bucket - very limited, but I got lucky on this one!
• Burger King Ghost Pepper Chicken Nuggets, Halloween Crowns, and Halloween Bucket - I didn't score the bucket, it was some sort of limited reward in Canada, but good on them for bringing one out!
• McDonald's Boo Buckets Return! - I only scored the Frankenstein (really wanted the vampire, but it wasn't in the cards)
• McDonald's Trick n' Treat McFlurry - a Canadian exclusive! Wild!

And this is by no means an exhaustive list. This is just what I could remember from my camera roll!

This year I made a personal goal to get out more and enjoy some different seasonal offerings, like hay rides, pumpkin patches, haunts, etc. While I didn't get to some of the haunts I wanted to, I did make it out to several fun locations, like apple picking, a pumpkin patch, and a haunted barn for the kids. We usually do the apple picking, but I'm glad we made it to a few more outdoor events this year. And next year - with a little luck - we'll make it to a few we missed!

And I can't forget, we somehow managed to sneak Thanksgiving in there, too. I say that, because it landed smack-dab in between two of the plagues that struck the house. We somehow got lucky enough to have two or three days of health before getting knocked back down again, but hey - we had a delicious supper, pumpkin pie, and Charlie Brown! What more can you ask for?

I'd also be remiss if I didn't remind you we had a full-blown Friday the 13th in October this year! I usually spend the day watching whatever movies I can, and this particular Friday the 13th was no different, but just having it occur during the Halloween season is special, so I had that much more fun.

(I also got a little buzzed, which is not the norm for me these days, so that didn't hurt.)

I also got to take in a beauty of a full moon this year! I know, this one is spotty at best. You can never be sure with the weather, but I got lucky and had a solid hour doing some moon-gazing with my new telescope! I couldn't figure out the smartphone-attachment-doodad that came with it, but hopefully next time I can post some proper photos!

And the scary movies, oh the scary movies. I won't belabour you with a list. If you check out my Letterboxd you can see for yourself, but I had a great time in the horror movie department this year. One highlight was definitely Joe Bob's Helloween from The Last Drive-In!

Then finally, there's Halloween itself! I haven't take the day off from work the last few years. Usually, since I work from home, there aren't many meetings, so I can throw on a movie or two while I work. This year I had a block of meetings, so I wasn't hopeful, but then each one of them was cancelled! I practiced what I've been preaching several times this year, and threw on Turner Classics for the day. I enjoyed Taste the Blood of Dracula, The Creature from the Black Lagoon, and The Invisible Man. Doesn't get much better than that!

My wife and I have three boys, so trick-or-treating can actually be a bit tough. When they were little, we'd just do a small neighbourhood early in the evening and then be back to hand out treats at our own place before the sun went down. These days, the kids want to go with their friends, so this year (while my wife stayed home and gave out treats - thanks, Beb!) a bunch of us parents took a huge crew of kids out and I had an absolute blast!

There were so many houses that were decorated amazingly. I don't want to share the photos or videos because of the kiddos in them, but there were even a few people who made their homes into mini haunts! I couldn't believe it. Of course, the kids scored massive bags of candy, which at the end of the day, is actually what this is all about.

As per usual, I took in my late night walk. I've mentioned it in previous blog posts and on my socials, but the short version is that I go for a quiet walk before midnight on October 31st each year. It's so serene and if I let my imagination run away with me, I can actually feel something in the air.

I'm glad I did keep that tradition, because the next day we were treated to this...

I joke with my kids sometimes about how back in my day we often had to trick-or-treat with snow suits on, but honestly - with the weather patterns we get these days - I was pretty shocked to find November 1st a snowy, bitterly cold day.

Honestly, it was a clean break from the Halloween festivities. I managed to get all my decorations in and packed away (go me) before the snow hit and it was kind've nice. I got to enjoy a really great spooky season, but now it's time to breathe and get ready for the next holiday.

You know the one.

I hope that if you're a fellow Halloweenie that you had a great holiday. It seems like there's a resounding "meh" swirling around social media, but I think if you stop and take a look back at all the individual bits, you'll see you might've had it better than you remember. And, if all the consumerism and list-checking is getting you down, just remember ol' Linus, sitting in his sincere pumpkin patch, and enjoying the cool night air.

(By the way, I also grew a pumpkin this year, check it out!)

See ya later, Halloween 2023! Looking forward next year!

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