When the Special Edition films were released in 1997, 20 years after A New Hope was released, I remember thinking that 20 years seemed like a long time. They were interviewing people standing in line who remembered seeing the films the first time back in the 70’s and showing clips of reactions from the summer of ’77. The nostalgia featured disco music, roller skates and Star Wars characters out in public places like video arcades. I was born in the 70’s, I don’t really remember the 70’s. But now as they prepare for the 50th anniversary, the Special Edition versions are 30 years old; and somehow that doesn’t strike me as being that long ago. My first date with Teresa was to see The Empire Strikes Back: Special Edition.

Just remember, when you tell your kids about things that happened in the 1980’s, that is just like your grandparents back in the 80’s talking about the 1940’s.

The image may be AI but the facts are real. Hawaiian pizza is not from Hawaii or any other state in the US. Does pineapple belong on pizza? Only if you want it there. If you come to my house and I’m grilling steak, I will prepare yours the way you want it. Meanwhile you can keep your comments about how I eat mine to yourself.

If there is a reasonable explanation for this, I’m going to blame school cafeteria lunches. Tell me they did not serve corn next to that rectangle school pizza when you were in middle school. Seriously.

Did you know that Family Matters was a spin off of Perfect Strangers? Harriet Winslow was the elevator operator at the newspaper office where Larry and Balki worked. Steve Urkel was meant to appear as comic relief in a single episode but the audience reaction led to additional scenes later and eventually the nature of the entire program changed. Jo Marie Payton, the actress who played Harriet, would eventually leave Family Matters because of its transformation into the Steve Urkel show. She left in the middle of the final season and I think, if we’re being honest, the show would never have lasted nine seasons had it not been for the cultural phenomena that Urkel created.

Remember Super Nintendo? I never played anything on Super Nintendo until after the N64 came out. It featured the very first Mario Cart but after playing Mario Cart 64 it looked like a big step backwards to me and I never had the nostalgia for it that others did. If you still have a Super Nintendo, and I’m not talking about the reissue Classic Edition but an original machine from the mid 90’s, it actually runs faster today than it used to. It may not be a noticeable difference but here’s a nerd to explain:

Jim Lovell was the Mission Commander of Apollo XIII. That’s the real life astronaut Tom Hanks played in the movie. Lovell himself had a cameo appearance in the film as the captain of the Iwo Jima that recovered the capsule from the ocean. He passed away on Thursday, Loni Anderson passed on Sunday. Add them to the really long list.

And finally…

There are at least two exciting chapters in the book of Numbers. Chapter 11, the subject of today’s podcast episode, is the one with the quail. If you were making a movie, this is one of the scenes you would blow your special effects budget on. This chapter has one of my most favorite verses of scripture in the whole Bible.