A Festive Blast From The Past (Yes, In February)

I had one of the most welcome blasts from the past experiences I could ever have this morning.

As usual, I was browsing through the YouTube app while having my breakfast. One of the videos recommended to me stood out.

The thumbnail was of something I hadn't seen since my childhood. I had to do a double take to ensure I wasn't seeing things.

There, in the photograph, was a badge of Father Christmas inside a chimney. 

I owned one of those badges. So did my sister. I can vividly recall the day we were given them as well. 

Our aunt used to look after us on weekends when my parents were at work and she would take us for a walk to the shops around the area she lived. She would always treat us with toys from one of the stores there. 

On one of those visits, we came across these Father Christmas badges that had a red string underneath the chimney. You had to pull the string to make the character pop up. Santa Claus would then fall back under the chimney once the string was let go.

This is a Christmas novelty item I have thought about on various occasions through my lifetime, but I had never gone out of my way to find them again. The reason is simple: I wouldn't want to tarnish any memories I have of my aunt by buying one. I'm very happy with having had one when I did.

Imagine it, though. A little badge with a string that would entertain me for quite some time. I am currently sat here laughing at my young innocence.

The video is from a channel on YouTube I thoroughly enjoy. It's called Grand Illusions and is presented by a man named Tim. He has collected some fascinating gadgets and has shared this collection on his videos for many years. I recommend checking him out!

Doing A Kriss Kross 22

I couldn't believe it. 

I was quite bored a couple of days ago, so thought to myself 'it has been quite some time since I've done a kiss kross puzzle'. I pulled out a book I've had stored away and had a go.

The book I opened was Puzzler Kriss Kross 7. I don't recall how long I've had it, but it was beside the NFL sticker album I wrote about a week ago. I might have bought it around the same time, which means it has been here since at least last May (or thereabouts).

Anyway, I timed myself for the first kiss kross in, as I've stated, 'quite some time'. 

It took me ten minutes and twelve seconds to complete. I don't even know if that's good or bad. That's how long out of the kriss kross game I've been.

I opened this post exclaiming 'I couldn't believe it''. I was referring to the last time I had published a kriss kross themed post. The previous one, Doing a Kriss Kross 21, went live on February 27 2022. 

Four years. Quite some time indeed.

Find Puzzler Kriss Kross Titles on Amazon UK

Not A Usual February 13th Post

Today marks the twenty-third anniversary of my uncle's passing.

I always dedicate February 13th posts to him, but - as I sit here about to write whatever will come to me over the next few lines - I cannot shake off the significance of this being different from every other tribute post.

We lost my aunt last October, so I am thinking about both of them today. 

The funny thing about my tributes to my uncle is almost all of those memories had my aunt there as well. So it seems fitting to think about both of them today. Together again.

Airheads Soda? Airheads Soda!

I watched a handful of YouTube videos last night. While watching one of them, I happened to see something in the background which made me think 'I WANT THAT!' to myself.

The item of note was a can of soda (I'll refer it to that, instead of pop, for a reason you'll soon find out). It had the Airheads branding and had a predominant blue colour.

Which means a couple of things.

Blue raspberry pop  soda.

Airheads is a brand of sweets I hadn't heard of until a few years ago. I love their blue raspberry flavoured candy and chewing gum, so - as soon as I saw they're now in the carbonated beverage business - I had to do a look online.

The good news - the website I usually buy US products from has been selling the drinks. The bad - they're currently out of stock.

It looks like they launched  in the USA back in September. Along with blue raspberry are strawberry, orange and watermelon flavours.

I'd like to try all but watermelon. Blue raspberry is top of the list, however. Also - why no grape?!

Becoming intrigued after seeing these products takes me back to either 1989 or 1990 when Hubba Bubba brought out a Hubba Bubba Soda to these shores.

I looked high and low for those drinks. I managed to find some after weeks of trying. I enjoyed them, but the product didn't last long.  Even though I, just like this very moment, find myself clamouring to try Hubba Bubba Soda once again, I'm happy to have been able to have found them before they were discontinued during my childhood.

I must do the same with Airheads Soda just in case they have a similar fate.

Following The Guthrie Story

I have been gripped by the news coverage, coming out of the USA, surrounding the alleged kidnapping of Nancy Guthrie.

Guthrie is the mother of a presenter from NBC News - Suzanne Guthrie.

The mother was apparently kidnapped from her Tucson, Arizona home in the early hours of Sunday February 1st. Blood was found on her porch area and her doorbell camera had been smashed.

Ransom mail - asking for up to $6,000,000 in Bitcoin - has been sent to the family via news agencies. At least one of the requests was found to be a scam, however.

Yesterday's development saw the FBI release footage of a masked man on Nancy Guthrie's property. The images were caught using the video doorbell that was initially reported to have not been sending data to the Cloud because the owner did not subscribe to any subscription plans for the device.

The FBI is offering a $50,000 reward for Nancy's return.

I fell asleep last night after seeing SWAT and bomb vehicles leaving their posts and hearing that somebody had been detained in relation to the alleged kidnapping. The first thing I did when I woke up was check to see if the person was named. Well, he was named.. but only because he had been released.

So many twists and turns to this one. 

I have seen certain social media accounts sharing similar, and some even contrasting, theories about this case. Some of those are intriguing and will make for this story to become even crazier. IF true, of course.

I don't want to be a pessimist, but Nancy Guthrie is 84 and needs daily medication. She has been gone for, is it eleven days now? It has been a race against time from the off. 

Third Talisman Book By King And Straub Publication Date Confirmed

I came across a welcome surprise when I was on social media late last night.

As you can see, the third novel in The Talisman series - written by Stephen King and the late Peter Straub - has been revealed.

Other World Than These will be published on October 6th. 

The Talisman, and its sequel - Black House, are two of the better books I have came across in my journey through Stephen King's work. I gave the first novel five stars on Good Reads while its follow-up was given four.

Peter Straub passed away almost four years ago. Stephen King has reportedly been working on the third novel after being handed notes the deceased writer had been plotting for a third collaboration.

What I have usually been doing, with new King titles, is add them to the end of my King reading list. However, I believe - considering I've already read the first two titles - I may as well move Other Worlds Than These to the front of the queue. 

But that's getting ahead of myself. There are eight months to go until this one sees the light of day.

Oh yeah - here's a coincidence for you: I started reading the next book on my journey through Stephen King's bibliography yesterday evening, which was a few hours before I came across the latest news.  

The latest book I've picked up is Lisey's Story. It starts with a widow looking after her late husband's unreleased manuscripts. I don't know what else happens because I've only read the initial chapter for now.

The Morning After Super Bowl LX

It's the morning after the Super Bowl. I was far too tired to write a post immediately after the game, which was won 29-13 by the Seattle Seahawks. So - here are my thoughts albeit not as immediate as I usually would have given.

Seattle won. I'm happy about that. I'm not happy about losing the coin toss bet and my totals wager on the Over, however!

I believe BOTH teams' defences played well. You have to be fair to the Patriots' D. They kept the team in the game longer than they should have. 

I watched the game on DAZN/NFL GamePass. It was the NBC stream, so I got to see all the US commercials during the breaks. There were some really good ones on there. I had the choice of Channel 5, Sky Sports or GamePass. If I didn't have the sub to the NFL streaming package, I would have sided with Sky. I liked the experience of seeing how they do it in the US. I might have to do it again. I'm quite surprised with myself for not having done the US stream before now.

After the trophy celebration, I switched over to the NFL Network to catch even more postgame coverage as I began to drop off to sleep.

I have to share this one: the stream cut out once. For the smallest of split seconds. It occurred at the most significant moment because it went black and came back on as Mack Hollins was holding the ball in the endzone after scoring a touchdown. 

I asked my friend, who I knew was also watching the US feed on DAZN/GamePass, if he experienced the same thing. He had.

And now it's the long road to the 2026 season. I can now finally get into a new gear in my preparation for the 2026 edition of Taylor's Pro Football Gambling Annual.