JCD666

Burpin' Burger is a fictional burger joint that is located in the equally fictional town of Royal Woods in the allegedly real state of Michigan. Hungry y'all? Look no further! If the name isn't gross enough, their advertising jingle really delivers: "Come on down to Burpin' Burger! Grade B beef and special spice, when it comes back up, it's twice as nice! [belch]"

Another Wasted Night was the first full-length album from the biggest name to emerge from the Boston hardcore scene, Gang Green. These guys were an unabashed party band, specializing in drunken, warp-speed, three-chord thrash. Obsessed with beer, skateboarding, girls, and more beer, the group slowly added hints of heavy metal as they wore on, but otherwise maintained much the same blueprint both musically and lyrically.

The US Festival (US pronounced like the pronoun, not as initials) was the name of two early ’80s music festivals held in San Bernardino, California. Created by Steve Wozniak, who believed that the ’70s were the “me” generation, he intended the US Festivals to encourage the ’80s to be more community-oriented and combine technology with music. The first event was held over Labor Day weekend in September ’82, and the second was less than nine months later, over Memorial Day weekend in May ’83. The ’82 event had a mix of bands slotted over the three-day event, but ’83 added themed days. While the US Festival events were hugely popular with concert-goers, both events managed to lose $12 million, making them commercial failures.

State nicknames often appear to be completely made up, but that's definitely not the case with Hawaii. Known as "The Rainbow State," Hawaii's nickname is totally appropriate, as the islands that make up Hawaii have the optimal conditions to create perfect rainbows. Everyone knows a rainbow is made when sunlight passes through water droplets in the air, the light refracting and splitting into different wavelengths, creating the arc of colors. Hawaii's clean air, lush valleys with plenty of moisture, and daytime heating all work together to create the ideal conditions for rainbows. Who knew?

K-Bar-S Bronco Specialties was founded by Hal Sealand and John Karp in the late '70s in Las Vegas, Nevada. The name of the shop is from their last names – K for Karp, S for Sealand. As the name implies, K-Bar-S specialized in custom Bronco parts. They also had a complete shop where they built some pretty amazing rigs, many of which went on to tough truck and Baja race events. Word is that the shop closed in 2001, but most of their rigs and exclusive aftermarket parts are still out there.

Rupp Industries was born in 1959 when Mickey Rupp began assembling and selling go-karts from his basement in Mansfield, Ohio. Originally called Rupp Manufacturing, the name Rupp Industries was adopted in 1971. In that year, Rupp employed 400, with 23 engineers in the R&D department and sales in the millions. In addition to their popular go-karts, Rupp began producing minibikes and snowmobiles in the early 1960s and as the popularity of their rides grew, so did the informal 'Rupp Riders Club' of Rupp owners and enthusiasts. Mickey Rupp sold the company in 1973 when it ran into financial trouble as the market turned. Although the Rupp would continue to produce dirt bikes, minibikes, and snowmobiles, they would never regain stability.

My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult (often shortened to Thrill Kill Kult or TKK) is an American electronic industrial rock band originally based in Chicago and founded by Groovie Mann (born Frankie Nardiello) and Buzz McCoy (born Marston Daley). They became known in the 1980s as pioneers of the industrial music genre – although by the early '90s, they had changed to a more disco-oriented sound – and as a frequent target of censorship groups, including the PMRC, which objected to the band's humorous and satirical references to Satan, Jesus, and sex in their lyrics and stage shows. Thrill Kill Kult had several hits on the U.S. dance club and alternative charts, and also contributed songs to several movie soundtracks during the '90s.

Designed as a value brand, Plymouth was well-suited to serve the post-war baby boom youth market as young men (and women) began taking to the streets, but Plymouth knew that customers wanted more. The combination of a line of lightweight vehicles with low price points, and easy access to some serious powertrains would propel the brand’s ascension from economy car nameplate to muscle car legend. Taking these lightweight cars and jamming a 426ci Max Wedge Hemi into them made for instant drag strip missiles, and professional racers saw what Plymouth was going and got behind them in great numbers. By 1970, Plymouth’s line of affordable muscle cars had blossomed into the Rapid Transit System, a group of serious performers.

That rumbling sound you hear when a group of bikes comes together is not noise... it is the harmony of brotherhood coming together for a purpose and cause, as we are all trying to outrun an inevitable death.

The Amazing Blacaman billed himself as a “Hindu Animal Hypnotist,” though despite his intense afro and claims of middle eastern origins, he was actually an Italian circus performer. Blacaman made appearances around the world, and was a featured attraction of the Hagenbeck Wallace Circus when he came to America. Advertisements routinely featured Blacaman’s bulging eyes radiating mysterious beams to seemingly control savage beasts ranging from alligators and lions to snakes and bears. In addition to his circus performances, Blacaman appeared in the 1939 W.C. Field’s movie You Can’t Cheat An Honest Man.

The Aktiv Fischer Snow Trac is a tracked vehicle, which was manufactured from 1957 to 1981 in Sweden. It runs on two rubber tracks powered by an air cooled flat 4 industrial boxer style engines and is suitable for both deep snow and soft surface use. The engine developed about 40 horsepower, but that varied from year to year as the earlier models developed 36 hp, and later models developed 54 hp. With a length of approximately 12' and width of 6'2" the vehicle is the size of a small car. In the standard cabin configuration, only the driver is facing forward. The interior is equipped with side-facing bench seats and there are enough seats for 7 people (including the driver). The entrance is by a door attached at the tail.

The Munsters is a sitcom depicting the home life of a family of benign monsters. The series was a satire of American suburban life, the wholesome television family fare of the era and traditional monster movies. The show centers around a Transylvanian-American family named Munster living at 1313 Mockingbird Lane in the fictional city of Mockingbird Heights. The series' running gag is that the odd-looking family with strange tastes considers itself to be an average American family. Herman is the family's sole wage-earner, although Lily and Grandpa make short-lived attempts to earn money from time to time. While Herman is the head of the household, Lily makes many decisions. According to episode 44, Herman and Lilly were married in 1865.

Bluesman Robert Pete Williams was born in Zachary, Louisiana, the son of sharecropping parents. He never attended school, instead working the fields with his family. He began playing blues in his late teens after making himself a guitar out of a cigar box. Williams only came to prominence during the late '50s, when he was recorded for posterity by the musicologist Harry Oster at Angola prison in Louisiana, where Williams was serving a life sentence for murder. Williams became one of the great blues discoveries during the folk boom of the early '60s, though his disregard for conventional patterns, tunings, and structures kept him from a wider audience, but his music remains one of the great, intense treats for blues aficionados.

Tokyo Prefectural Jujutsu High School, commonly referred to as Tokyo Jujutsu High, is one of only two jujutsu educational institutions in Japan dedicated to fostering the next generation of jujutsu sorcerers. Tokyo Jujutsu High serves not only as a training ground for the next generation of sorcerers, but a headquarters for all alumni who have graduated on to be full-fledged jujutsu sorcerers as well. All sorcerers play a role in mentoring jujutsu students, whether in a teacher's role or accompanying them on missions. Weaker sorcerers are assigned the roles of windows, someone who can see curses but is not considered a full-fledged sorcerer or managers to contribute as well.

Intercourse, Pennsylvania was founded in 1754 as "Cross Keys," after the sole business in the area, a local tavern. Intercourse became the name in 1814, though the origins of the suggestive name remain somewhat of a mystery. Today, Intercourse is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Leacock Township, Lancaster County, 10 miles east of Lancaster on Pennsylvania Route 340. With a population of just under 1,500, Intercourse is a popular stop for tourists because of its location in Amish country and thanks to its unusual name, signs for the town are frequently targeted by thieves.

Ghosts ‘n Goblins, known in Japan as Makaimura (Japanese: 魔界村, lit. “Demon World Village”), is a run-and-gun platform video game series. The first entry in the series was Ghosts ‘n Goblins, released in arcades on July 7, 1985. The series has subsequently been ported to and released on a variety of personal computers, game consoles, and mobile platforms and spawned several sequels and spin-offs. The main series focuses on the knight Arthur’s quest to save princess Prin-Prin from the demon king Astaroth. In most of the main series, once completing the game, the player is forced to re-play the game’s stages at a higher difficulty level in order to receive the game’s true ending, lending to the series reputation among gamers for its intensity.

After leaving the Army on a medical discharge in 1952, a 19-year-old Norm Grabowski built a hot rod based on a shortened 1922 Model T touring car mated to a similarly shortened Model A truck bed. With a powerful OHV engine from his parents' sedan, the vehicle that resulted had a unique appearance and stance, which inspired many hot rods created afterward. The car was first featured on the cover of the October 1955 issue of Hot Rod and then underwent further modifications, including a greater rake, tilted windshield and blue paint with flames. Grabowski's hugely influential hot rod became known as the 'Kookie Kar' after it was used in the television show 77 Sunset Strip, and driven by the character Kookie in just about every episode.

There's not a whole lot of skiing in Texas. Ok, there's no skiing in Texas, though word on the street is that an indoor ski resort of some kind is planned for the DFW area, but I digress. One thing Texas has plenty of is armadillos, so who says you can't strap a couple to your feet to create an impromptu Lone Star State cross country skiing experience?

Martin (known internationally as Wampyr) is a 1977 psychological horror-slasher film written and directed by George A. Romero about a troubled young man who believes himself to be a vampire. Shot in 1976, Martin was Romero's fifth feature film after 1973's The Crazies. The film did for vampires what he had already done for zombies – create an intense and realistic treatment that follows the exploits of Martin, who claims to be 84 years old and drinks human blood. The story sees Martin arrive in Pittsburgh to stay with his cousin, who promises to save his soul and destroy him once he is finished, but Martin's loneliness finds other means of release. This design is based on the Italian released under the name Wampyr.

Freezers appeared during the 1940s, then known as a 'deep freeze,' but did not go into mass production until after the WWII. People were interested in the economy of freezing foods, but freezers were still considered out of reach of most people at the time. As a result, businesses offering freezer lockers became popular. Acting like a safe deposit box, people could store their food in a locked bin in a walk-in freezer, retrieving items as needed. Once such business was Dyer Frozen Food Lockers in Dyer, Tennessee, which opened up in the '40s. Frozen food lockers began falling out of favor in the '50s as refrigerator/freezer combos became more common, though many rural frozen food lockers continued operating well into the '60s.

Sopwith Camel was a band formed in 1965 that played a big part in the San Francisco psychedelic scene of the late '60s. The band is best known for being the second SF band to get a contract with a national label, and the first to have a Top 40 hit. Their self-titled first album was released in 1967 on Kama Sutra Records. The single "Hello, Hello" became the first hit to emerge from the San Francisco rock scene and reached 26 on the U.S. Hot 100 charts. A second hit, "Postcard from Jamaica," peaked at 88 on the Hot 100 in April 1967. The band was defunct by the end of 1967, but reformed in 1971 with all but one original member to record their second and final album, The Miraculous Hump Returns from the Moon.

At the height of the Great Depression in 1935, William Graves has just lost the family farm. Utilizing the lone asset that he had – a 1933 farm truck – Graves and his four sons formed Graves Truck Service, and began transporting everything from fruits and vegetables to livestock and coal in the Salina, Kansas area. Two years later, the Graves doubled their fleet by buying a second truck, and the seeds of a regional trucking giant were sown. The firm grew into an interstate colossus, with operating territory that stretched from Sioux City south to Dallas and from Kansas City west to Denver. Sadly, William Graves died in 1939, well before the empire had been built, but the company was left in his sons' capable hands.

John Bandimere, Sr. built his first race car in 1937, an old coupe running a flathead V8, which he raced in the Pikes Peak Hill Climb to a ninth place finish. Always known as an innovator, Bandimere went on to become a nationally known expert on supercharging, and began manufacturing and selling speed parts as Bandimere Auto Parts in Denver, Colorado. In 1958, Bandimere purchased land just west of Denver, where he and his family began constructing a drag strip that was to be used to augment their auto parts business. That small drag strip on the hill would become Bandimere Speedway, or as many call it, Thunder Mountain. The drag strip would grow and eventually eclipse the speed shop, with Bandimere focusing on its operation full time.

Louis Marshall "Grandpa" Jones (1913-1998) enjoyed a long, distinctive career in country music. At age 22, he began to play the Grandpa Jones character, with his high-topped boots, bushy mustache, and suspenders. Ramona Riggins (1924-2015), whom he later married, accompanied him on fiddle and mandolin. Appearing regularly on the Grand Ole Opry and the television show Hee Haw, Grandpa Jones became a well-known character with his banjo-playing, old-time stories, songs, and jokes.

In 1946, investment banker Scribner Birlenbach decided that he wanted to get into the trucking business. He began his venture by purchasing a Los Angeles trucking company with 15 tractors and 22 trailers, calling it Transcon Lines, with a plan to turn it into a major transcontinental carrier. By 1962, Transcon had over 1,100 units covering over 14,000 route miles. In three decades time, Transcon had purchased 27 trucking companies, including Kramer-Consolidated Freight Lines in 1978, which made them a true coast-to-coast carrier. Transcon's work force was 3,829 people strong with 5,700 pieces of equipment and 117 terminals in 38 states as of 1981, but as the '80s marched on, Transcon's fortunes began to turn.

The '70s were a high watermark for graphic t-shirts, with countless designs being pumped out and made available through shopping malls and street kiosks everywhere. This 'Give a Sucker a Break' design is one such example, which a deviously cute vampire who is just looking for a nibble.

Based in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, Tor Truck Corporation was originally a crane carrier specialist. The company evolved to produce a wide range of severe service special application vehicles that operate in some of the most extreme conditions on earth. From logging and mining in the great white north to oil field duty in the Middle East, Tor trucks were built to last. In addition to building their own trucks, Tor was also a global supplier of powertrain parts and components to truck manufacturers all over the world.

Wizard Video was a VHS video distribution company that was well-known for its detailed (and often lurid) box art, especially during the time that it sold videocassettes in larger than standard boxes. Los Angeles-based Wizard was a subsidiary of Empire International Pictures, a small film studio. Wizard's videocassettes were originally duplicated by L.A. based Sound/Video Unlimited. Between 1982 and 1987, Wizard released 96 movies on VHS, almost all of which are horror flicks and sex comedies.

Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future is a science fiction-action TV series that merged live action with animation based on computer-generated images that ran for 22 episodes. The story took place on Earth in the 22nd century in the aftermath of the Metal Wars, which led to the subjugation of humanity by intelligent machines. A small unit of human soldiers, survivors of the Metal Wars, lead an underground resistance against the activities of the evil Lord Dread and his monstrous creations, Bio-Dreads, designed to hunt down human survivors and digitize them. A toy line was produced that included unique interactive elements that allowed the toys to interact with a special segment in each episode.

Waddle's was a popular restaurant in Portland, Oregon that opened their doors in 1945. Located on Highway 99 opposite Jantzen Beach Park, approaching the Interstate Bridge between Portland, Oregon and Vancouver, Washington, the restaurant that was part drive-in and part dine-in was a landmark eatery. The Waddle's family opened two other Portland locations, but the original was considered the best of the bunch for nearly 60 years before closing in 2006.

Dynamite Magazine from Scholastic is another great reminder of childhood in the 1970s, an age before the home video and video game revolutions. The magazine, published out of Englewood, N.J. was a monthly publication that was filled with interviews with the hottest stars of the day and included fun features that could help pass the hours on a rainy Saturday. In magazine terms, Dynamite had a really good run, managing to stay relevant for almost two decades from it's first issue in 1974 to it's last in 1992.

Late Night with David Letterman was an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman. It premiered on NBC on February 1, 1982 and remained there until 1993 before making the jump to CBS where it was renamed Late Show with David Letterman and ran until Dave's retirement in 2015.

Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids was an American animated television series created, produced, and hosted (in live action bookends) by comedian Bill Cosby, who also lent his voice to a number of characters, including Fat Albert and himself. Filmation was the production company for the series. The show premiered in 1972 and ran until 1985 (with new episodes being produced sporadically during that time frame). The show, based on Cosby's remembrances of his childhood gang, centered on Fat Albert (known for his catchphrase "Hey hey hey!"), and his friends who routinely gathered in a North Philadelphia junkyard to play a song on their cobbled-together instruments.

The Love Boat was an American dramedy tv series set on the luxury cruise ship, S.S. Pacific Princess, which ran May 5, 1977 until Feb 27, 1987, plus, four three-hour long specials aired in 1986, 1987, and 1990. The series revolves around the ship's captain Merrill Stubing and a handful of its crew, with several passengers—played by various guest star actors for each episode—having romantic and humorous adventures. It was part of ABC's popular Saturday-night lineup of the time, which also included Fantasy Island until that series ended two years earlier in 1984.

"If you think prime time sitcoms and soaps are a snooze, and the movies bore you to tears, then watch the man who will excite you and incite you: Morton Downey Jr.! Weeknights at 9 p.m. on Channel 9!" Those are the word used in the original WWOR-TV spots to promote The Morton Downey Jr. Show back in 1987. Morton Downey Jr., an acerbic, chain-smoking commentator who previously worked in radio, was approached by a New Jersey television station to create his own show. What followed was a nightly talk show where Downey would interview known pundits, politicians, and plenty of wacky guests, all while being openly hostile to them. Hailed as the progenitor of 'trash television,' The Morton Downey Jr. Show aired from 1987 to 1989.

The Pacific Crest Trail (PCT), officially designated as the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail, is a long-distance hiking and equestrian trail closely aligned with the highest portion of the Cascade and Sierra Nevada mountain ranges, which lie 100 to 150 miles east of the U.S. Pacific coast. The trail's southern terminus is next to the Mexico–United States border, just south of Campo, California, and its northern terminus is on the Canada–US border, upon which it continues unofficially to the Windy Joe Trail within Manning Park in British Columbia; it passes through the states of California, Oregon, and Washington. The PCT was conceived in 1932, and received official status under the National Trails System Act of 1968.