View-Master Interactive Vision

View-Master Interactive Vision is an interactive VHS console game system, introduced in 1988 by View-Master Ideal Group, Inc. The tagline was that the console was “the Two-Way Television System that makes you a part of the show!” The titles included four Sesame Street games, and two games featuring the Muppet Show characters, as well as a Disney game, Disney’s Cartoon Arcade.

The system came with a simple controller which included a joystick and three colorful buttons. As the video plays, the characters address the player directly, and ask the player to make a choice by pressing one of the buttons.

The video has a number of different soundtracks recorded, and the player’s choices toggle back and forth between the soundtracks, giving the impression that the player has changed the course of the story. For example, in the game Muppets Studios Presents: You’re the Director, Kermit the Frog leads the player through the process of making a Muppet movie. At the end of the game, he asks if the player liked the movie they’ve created. If the player gives a positive response, then the Muppets sing a closing number called “Everything Was Wonderful!” If the player responds negatively, the closing number is “Everything Was Terrible!” Click here to watch some gameplay »

Zoot Suit Riot

Zoot Suit Riot: The Swingin’ Hits of the Cherry Poppin’ Daddies (often shortened to Zoot Suit Riot) is a compilation album by American ska-swing band the Cherry Poppin’ Daddies, released on March 18, 1997 on Space Age Bachelor Pad Records.

Self-produced by the Daddies to satisfy demand for their swing material while the group was between studio releases, Zoot Suit Riot consists of only the straight swing tracks compiled from the band’s first three albums – which were predominantly punk and ska-oriented – plus four bonus tracks recorded exclusively for this compilation.

Released independently in March 1997, Zoot Suit Riot was eventually re-issued and nationally distributed by major label subsidiary Mojo Records following the Daddies’ signing to the label. By early 1998, steady airplay of its titular single propelled the album to the top of Billboard’s Top Heatseekers, helping serve as a catalyst for the short-lived swing revival of the late 1990s. At its peak, Zoot Suit Riot reached number seventeen on the Billboard 200, selling over two million copies in the United States.

Baby Jessica

Jessica McClure Morales (born March 26, 1986) became famous at the age of 18 months after falling into a well in the backyard of 3309 Tanner Dr. Midland, Texas, on October 14, 1987. Between that day and October 16, rescuers worked for 58 hours to free “Baby Jessica” from the eight-inch-wide well casing 22 feet below the ground. The story gained worldwide attention (leading to some criticism as a media circus), and later became the subject of a 1989 ABC TV movie. As presented in the movie, a vital part of the rescue was the use of the then relatively new technology of waterjet cutting. Click here to watch some of the news coverage from that day »

P.B. Crisps

Introduced in 1992, the slogan for P.B. Crisps was “Peanut butter with a crunch.”

Playful Penguin Race