Star Wars Weekends was a big thing at Disney’s Hollywood Studios theme park from 1997 until 2015 (with a few skipped years early on). Cast and Crew from the movies would come to the park, sign autographs and participate in talk shows. Dozens of Star Wars characters would roam the park, and park guests would often dress up too. For a few years, I produced and hosted weekly wrap-up videos for the Disney Parks Blog. In 2011, I talked with Matt Lanter who voiced Anakin Skywalker for the “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” animated film.

I also met martial artist and actor Ray Park, who appeared in “The Phantom Menace” as Sith Lord Darth Maul. Ray came to Star Wars Weekends several times and would bring dozens of kids on-stage at a time for an introduction into wushu, aka Chinese kung fu. Ray also showed one goofy guy how to cut down on carbs with a spin kick. You can jump to 2:32 if you must.

Maybe more Star Wars Weekends stories to come. In a drawer somewhere, I still have a harmonica that was played by Kenny Baker (R2-D2).

No surprise here, but oldies radio doesn’t play all the oldies. You’ll hear Electric Light Orchestra’s “Don’t Bring Me Down” a million times before “Strange Magic” ever pops up. Who’s the band in the pic up there? Exactly. The Sylvers had three Top 40 hits in 1976 and 1977, but you’re probably not going to hear them outside of a “Saturday Night Disco” specialty show. (Yep, they’re all brothers and sisters.)

Sean Ross writes the Ross on Radio column and recently broke down what he considers the songs of 1975-1979 with the biggest Lost Factor – “songs have the widest gap between hit status then and a lack of airplay today.” Go check out the full list, but here’s three personal favorites.

Donny and Marie, Bay City Rollers, and Shaun Cassidy all lost staying power for being so tied into the Teen Beat pop of the ’70s and their squeaky clean images. You grow out of sweetie Scott Baio and grow into sweaty Robert Plant. I insist this Shaun Cassidy #1 is still a fun bit of cotton candy. It’s produced by Michael Lloyd, who also was behind Belinda Carlisle’s “Mad About You” and “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life” from “Dirty Dancing.”

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I saw a fantastically funny show on Broadway about three years ago, “The Play That Goes Wrong.” Now, there’s a sorta sequel on Amazon Prime in the US and I want to make sure you know about it.

The hook of “The Play That Goes Wrong” is a play within a play. Amateur actors ruin a performance (and the set) of a creaky mystery called “The Murder at Haversham Manor.” In fact, the bad actors are played by a cast that’s rehearsed each flubbed line and escalating catastrophe with split-second timing. That original cast, The Mischief Theatre Company, has been performing versions of the show together since 2012.

Here’s a condensed chunk of the original show, for a charity benefit in 2015, with bonus cameos by Kylie Minogue and John Groban.

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No one is traveling at the moment, but a particular nibble or sip can spark a memory and drop you right back in Memphis or Paris. Melona, a South Korean ice cream bar, does it for me. I first had a Melona bar lounging with my family by a swimming pool in Waikiki. One bite and the aloha is back.

Started in South Korea in 1992, Melona is essentially blended fruit and milk. You’ve got a few additives, but nothing scary. Think of it as a Creamcicle that’s not orange. The original flavor was a Korean melon called chamoe. Honeydew is now the most popular, but there’s also strawberry, banana, mango, and coconut. Because it’s actual fruit puree, Melona bars tastes fresh, not like Laffy Taffy. Bonus, a single bar is only 110 calories.

Melona was imported first to Hawaii, became a big hit there, and then spread to the mainland.  Since 2017, Lucerne Foods makes Melona for the American market. You can probably track down Melona at your local Costco or Safeway, but the safe bet is your town’s Asian supermarket.

I’ve been lucky enough to work with a lot of talented people on projects big and small. Today, the story of meeting a band I loved in high school and making an unofficial video for one of their songs.

Senior year of high school, the fall of 1984, must be when I first heard Los Lobos. “Will the Wolf Survive? didn’t hit big on radio, but it got constant MTV play. It’s about trying to preserve Mexican culture while living in mainstream America. It’s also a metaphor for musicians who want to be heard. A white high school kid in Iowa can’t relate directly, but I think everybody knows about feeling like an outsider.

Not long later, Los Lobos’ biggest commercial success was their 1987 cover of “La Bamba,” from the Ritchie Valens biopic starring Lou Diamond Phillips.

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