Welcome to issue three of The Rec Room, a weekly lounge-meets-newsletter from your friend John A. Paradiso. This one is hitting your inboxes a little later than usual so apologies but thank you for tuning in! (Time’s a construct anyway.) A big thank you to everyone who’s subscribed so far. And, if you haven’t, hit that big ol’ subscribe button now!
If you have no idea what’s going on, that’s cool.
Every Friday, I’ll be sending out an email with five recommendations from a friend with fantastic taste. It’s like the community center where all your friends got together to talk about Pokemon cards and baseball.
This week’s guest is my good buddy John Gross. I first met John two years ago at Shacksbury’s Harvest Camp in Vermont. Since then, I’ve loved catching up with John virtually via Instagram and his many amazing Spotify playlists.
John used to work at Alamo Drafthouse and is a wealth of cinema knowledge. In fact, he screened Miami Connection and Tammy and the T-Rex for us at Harvest Camp so that should tell you everything you need to know.
He’s also a stellar DJ, photographer, and designer and has spent time consulting in the beverage world. And, in a cruel twist of fate, he actually just joined Next Glass, the company that acquired Hop Culture, as I was leaving. Like two beautiful John ships passing in the night.
John has a passion for terrible movies, tolerates good ones, and is one of my favorite observers of weird cultural artifacts. Following him on Instagram (or Twitter) feels like discovering a wormhole to an alternate universe full of cowboys, big Byrne suits, and cycling. He’s a wonderful human being and it was an easy choice to have him join me for The Rec Room!
Enjoy your Friday and relax in The Rec Room!
The Recs
Bug-Eye Ghost Toy
Maybe I’m doing this Rec Room thing wrong but I want to share with everyone how totally radical this old purple Ghostbuster cartoon ghost toy is. The ghoul dude’s name is Bugeye and when I play records out in public, I always prop him up in front of my turntables as a 3-eyeballed amulet of good goopy vibes.
Like Slimer and the rest, Bug-eye flies around being spooky but what sets him apart as extra fun is that he’s got a giant cyclops eye smack in the middle of his astral forehead. AND THAT’S NOT ALL: that eye can shoot out at enemies! At this toy’s 1987 prime, you could punch down on its warty tail and the pressure would shoot the optic globe out at Egon, Venkman, and the fellas. Flash forward to 2021 and the plastic on mine is so old and hard: no dice. Word is that Walmart re-released a run of OG Ghostbuster toys last spring, but I’ve already got all the flying purple people eating fun I can handle. Feel free to drop your kids off in my section of the Rec Room, we’re gonna play with The ORIGINAL Real Ghostbusters toys and it’s gonna be a blast. If you’ve got a line on how to get any deadstock on the original jars of ectoplasm slime, holla at cha boy. Want to read more about all of the amazing toys from that cartoon? I-Mockery has the goods.
Have’a Corn Chips
CRUNCH. I have no idea if you are able to get these snacks where you are or not dear reader, but you gotta trust me that you need Have’a Corn Chips in your life. I get my plug of clear plastic bags from Wheatsville Co-op here in Austin almost weekly because there isn’t a better chip. “What’s the big deal on these fried corn bois?” you ask. Well, it’s a hearty dollop of soy sauce in the seasoning. That’s about it. No weirdo chemicals are in the ingredients build at all, just some oil, salt, lime, and soy sauce. These triangles are unreal with hummus, guac, or just about anything your little chippie heart could dream up. They are a crunchy bite of forreal heaven. Hey, you’re worth polishing off the whole bag on your own, It’s ok. I presume Have’A Chips are made by literal fairies in a hippie commune somewhere. There’s not as much info on these online as I’d like there to be, but OZY has a more eloquent love letter to the fantastic snacks here. Corporate chips still suck.
Terrible Love Coffee
Austin is rich with third-wave coffee and plenty of spots dialed-in to the zeitgeist of supporting rad, independent roasters. With the wealth of solid beverage spots, the bar is set high down here and it takes something special to turn heads. I’ve been enamored lately with the newest kid on the block, Terrible Love, who slings ‘spro out of a retrofitted pony trailer and has an affinity for cassette tapes. One of the roasters they work with is Try Hard who recently made a special blend with hometown music heroes Octopus Project. They also feature goods from Parlor out of Brooklyn and above all, there’s always a tape playing for guests. No Spotify daily mixes here, just unadulterated analog goodness.
Terrible Love is wide awake ready to make you a perfecto drink this morning in Austin but thanks to the ingenious mobile nature of their setup, the tiny trailer can get to most any place there are thirsty people that are ready for more caffeine. The folx at Sprudge actually just profiled the innovative built-out of the lil’ Sebastian trailer- check it out HERE.
¡DEATHBLADE!
Twitch movie screenings have helped fill lots of voids this past year with programmers of the weird and obscure taking to the internet to share oddball ephemera from the depths of their VHS collections with the world wide web. One of the most consistent sure shots of WTFuckery and fistpumpin’ good times is ¡DEATHBLADE! The cyber-series of VHS gold is hosted by Zack Carlson, with vital assistance from Laird Jimenez. Once a month, a gaggle of fun-loving movie nerds descends on the Museum of Home Video network to see what these two celluloid heroes have unearthed from the exploded helicopter of the 80s. This is a series that focuses on the hardest of the hard action movies. Goons get their necks broken while set on fire, heroes in windbreakers are thrown by the face off collapsing buildings, Robert Mitchum’s bland son does a big Rambo on Indonesia! This is real deal, blood-in-your-mullet, brutal action. It’s the most possible fun you can have on your couch.
So far they’ve blown my mind with the mega-adrenaline motion pictures PAROLE VIOLATORS (aka: VIDEO COP), FINAL SCORE, and THE ART OF DYING. All of the past installments are available via MoHV’s Patreon. The first 30 seconds of breathtaking Wings Hauser footage alone, is worth the subscription cost.
The next DEATHBLADE! screening is coming to your living room on June 20th. Beware of shards of glass.
Pink Boots Society Beers from Hold Out Brewing
Remember when it was International Women’s Day a few months back and every brand you follow on Instagram did some post shouting out their rad women that work there? Well, Hold Out Brewing, here in Austin TX was the only biz I can think of that did more than just post a picture. They actually DID something for that important holiday and brewed beers! Hold Out worked with 4 of the prominent women on their team along with Pink Boots Society and Yakima Chief Hops to develop special recipes using the same hop profile for 4 different beers that were each the vision of the woman. Here’s the detailed scoop of each beer and the women behind them:
Red Bread Redemption, an Irish Red Ale, designed by Lindsay O’Rourke, Executive Pastry Chef for Hold Out & Better Half Coffee and Cocktails (the deeeeeeeelightful sister venue to Hold Out).
She’s Speaking, a perfect perfect PERFECT West Coast India Pale Ale designed by Sheila Garcia, former Marketing & Hospitality Manager at Hold Out (now at Austin Beerworks).
Space Jam, a Summer Stout with seasonal fruit, designed by Lauren Dickens, Creative Designer, Hold Out Brewing and Better Half Coffee and Cocktails. Lauren is also a notable local Basketball enthusiast.
Carlita, a hoppy Kolsch, designed by Stephanie Duran, previous Sous Chef at Better Half (currently at Suerte). Carlita was fermented with St. Elmo Brewing’s yeast strain from their flagship ‘Carl’ Kolsch.
The women-led brewdays were, by all accounts, a super success. Mixed 4-packs of 16oz cans flew out of the taproom and pints on pints on PINTS flowed out of draft lines. They were such a hit, they’ve actually been brewed again to keep the momentum going and to keep the draft lists packed with support for the Pink Boots organization.
Good on Hold Out for paying tribute to some of their leading women with a gaggle of beers that are so damn tasty! Read more about the hop blend that was used in each of the exciting beers to unify them and read more about all of the rad women who made it happen HERE.