Yesterday, I stopped at Sheetz and noticed something new there. They had a display for gum. Not just any gum, but Beemans. This was a go-to gum a long time ago, especially when grandparents were involved. Cadbury now has this distributed every few years or so and it is available for a limited time. Two other gums, Clove and Black Jack, are also displayed. Not favorites of mine. Clove is not bad. Black Jack? I'm not sure I liked it at all.

It got me to thinking of some other foods from my youth and I really used to like the Banana Flip. This was made by some bakery under the Mickey brand. I think he eventually graduated to cheap, widemouth beers later on. Anyhow, the Banana Flip was like a cake taco with banana creme filling inside. I think historians may find it was the first evidence of crack in the United States. A favorite at Lawson's, if I recall correctly. They also made a Cherry Flip, as well. I think that's how they hooked my brother, who eventually moved on to the harder stuff, like Cherry Chip Cake. Rumor has it that Nickles makes a Banana Flip. I'm willing to bet it's not as good as the original, but wouldn't mind finding out.

Meal of Links

Another interesting diversion. Explosions and boobs. Click away!

Letterman loses Leno. What will he do now that he has Conan?

It's Prince Week at PopMatters, which has a week long series up. Here is a song-by-song breakdown of "Purple Rain". I think the fawning over "Take Me With U" is well-deserved. I agree it's one of his best songs.

BBC1 says no more American shows. We steal everything from over there anyhow, you'd think there was no chance to send anything original over there.

DVR Alert. Turner Classic Movies has its Great Directors Festival this month. Saw some classic John Ford stuff last night. Steven Spielberg gets the treatment on Friday night and it's an opportunity to see two of his earliest movies and I think they stack up with his best. "The Sugarland Express" at 12:30 a.m. and a rare showing of "Duel" at 4:30 a.m. You can skip "1941" in the middle except for the dance sequence. "Saving Private Ryan" starts it all at 9:30 and if you want to weep uncontrollably, turn that on, oh, about 12:10.

Trippy kids shows. I absolutely hated any Sid and Marty Krofft production, but I loved "Pee Wee's Playhouse". Glad to see props for the largely forgotten "Roger Ramjet". "Lancelot Link" was crazy, man. Monkeys, hah!

How did your state do in 2008? Ohio dropped in changes to GDP, jobs and home prices.

Exercise Yard

Two months into the baseball season and the Tribe is 22-32 and treading water the last few weeks. Facts show it's time, with a detailed look at the Indians, to start thinking about next year.

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48 Down: 11th century Spanish hero (5 letters) Answer: El Cid