The Rock-afire Explosion

1981 was a magical time. Everyone in this documentary seems to agree. Brett Whitcomb's 2008 The Rock-afire Explosion documents the rise and fall of the most famous animatronic bands from the Southern United States. You might be familiar with the Youtube videos of this band of rubber-faced anthropomorphized animals performing hilariously non sequitur songs like Bubba Sparkxxx's Miss New Booty.  Turns out, these are not dubbed-over videos, and it is not meant to be ironically funny.

  You will not hear She'll Be Coming 'Round the Mountain behind the rap music. A roller-rink dj named Chris Thrash bought an out of commission Rock-afire Explosion animatronic band, erected it on his property, and makes videos where he reprograms the band to play modern songs.  Rock-afire Explosion was the main attraction at Showbiz Pizza, a child-oriented pizza restaurant and arcade from the 1980s that would later be bought out by Chuck-E-Cheese.

As it turns out, there is a serious following of Rock-afire Explosion fans. They all remember the band being one other best things they ever saw when they were 7, and have not completely let go... at all. Everyone has their favorite band member, each with their own personality and back story. The kids who REALLY liked this stuff appear to have been immune to the "band's" terrifying appearance. It takes a special kind of child to truly love this show, and grow up to collect their memorabilia, listen to their music, and aspire to own a copy of the actual band. 
You also get a glimpse into the creator of Rock-afire and founder of Creative Engineering, Inc., Aaron Fetcher. It's tragically touching to see how emotionally invested the fans are, or how the Fetcher's business went from 300 employees to just himself as The Rock-afire Explosion ended.  There is a longing for this place in time when the show was a magical thing to see, (or a lucrative business for that matter), and no one was jaded by it.

Watching The Rock-afire Explosion being assembled in Fetcher's factory was a creepy thing to see, but an even creepier moment in the documentary is watching them be disassembled. A corporate video for Showbiz Pizza explains how employees of the resturant should remove parts in a certain order, warning, "destroy these items as they will never be used again." All that is left are the metalic skeletons waiting for Chuck-E-Cheese's skin.

It Came From Kuchar

If you're a John Waters fan, you will love the films of his major influence, the Kuchar brothers.  2009 documentary by Jennifer M. Kroot, It Came From Kuchar, explores the past and present of underground film makers George and Mike.

Starting in the 1960s with a super 8 camera and an extremely low budget, the Kuchars collaborated on bizarre films that can be described as zany home movies made by some kids who spend most of their time watching b-films. What the Kuchars made was truly unique for the time. Simultaneously, Warhol was making his underground films, but the Kuchars were funnier, and not as suave in their sexuality. Staying close to the genres of fantasy, horror, and exploitation, their work is a pure expression of the ideas and aesthetics gathered from popular movies from post-war America.

I had the privilege of seeing an original print of Hold Me While I'm Naked, a portrait of a down on his luck director who imagines his tardy actors having wild sex.  It Came From Kuchar discusses this film, and lead me to many other gems I would love to get a hold of. Hearing George and Mike speak is extremely entertaining, whether it's recalling childhood memories of their often absent father and immigrant mother, or explaining their thought process behind such films as Sins of the Fleshapoids (a film about an android revolt one million years in the future).
It Came From Kuchar is a documentary that will leave you giddy with the idea that these films exist in the world.

Banana Tootsie Roll Pop

Today, in an inconspicuous cardboard display of Tootsie Roll Pops, on the bottom shelf in a convenience store, an unfamiliar color caught my eye. It was yellow and brown, representing banana.

Banana

I'm not a fan of Tootsie Rolls on their own, but the pops are one of my favorite candies. Grape is the best, chocolate is the worst. 90% of all grape-flavored candy taste like cough medicine, but the grape Tootsie Roll Pop is like sweet sweet Welches grape juice. The chocolate Tootsie Roll Pop is chocolate flavored hard candy (that's not even opaque like real chocolate) covering chocolate flavored taffy. A big chocolate masquerade.
Banana maybe my new favorite. It doesn't taste like pure potassium like some other artificially flavored banana candies. Believe it or not, I would describe it as Indian. A banana chai. It was one of the more complex flavors of candy I have eaten. People on the train were definitely envious of the love affair I was having with this lollipop. Or they were curious about how a yellow and brown thing on a stick could be so tasty.
Apparently there are two other new flavors, pomegranate (will this superfruit stop being trendy?) and green apple (surprised it's not already in the original flavor line up). I suppose I wont jump the gun and say banana is the best, but I'm willing to bet it is.
If you have tried all three new flavors click here to vote for your favorite.