Jeff and Jackie Meyerson arrived in Western New York hungry for PIZZA JUNCTION pizza. As most of know, PIZZA JUNCTION was featured on The Food Network’s DINERS, DRIVE-INS & DIVES hosted by Guy Fieri. Diane and I picked the Meyersons up at the Marriott and headed for North Tonawanda. Of course, the pizza was great as was the conversation. We found out that New York City (which I thought had EVERYTHING) does not have world-class frozen custard. And Jackie really wanted to taste some great frozen custard. Fortunately, Western New York has some wonderful frozen custard places. So it was back in the Rogue and we headed off to Lewiston, NY where Hibbard’s Custard is a local landmark. We enjoyed the frozen custard! Diane and I brought Art Scott, another frozen custard devotee, to Hibbard’s when he visited a couple years ago. On Monday, we might be bringing Patti and Phil Abbott to Hibbard’s if they’re in the mood for a frozen delight.

Harold Goldberg’s breezy All Your Base Are Belong to Us: How 50 Years of Videogames Conquered Pop Culture delivers a history of video games and their mostly kooky designers. From Pong to Tennis for Two, Donkey Kong, Pac-Man, Dungeons & Dragons, Myst, Sims, and Grand Theft Auto, Goldberg explores the growing game industry and the people who developed the astonishing products. Roberta Willaims, Ralph Baer, Nolan Bushnell, Hiroshi Yamauchi, William “Tripp” Hawkins, Dan and Sam Houser, Graeme Devine, and Jason Kapulka are the stars of Goldberg’s book. The video game industry is larger than the television and Hollywood movie industries combined. I found All Your Base Are Belong to Us informative and enlightening. GRADE: B+

One Night Stands and Lost Weekends collects Lawrence Block’s early stories in an attractive package. Back in the 1950s, Block wrote a story titled “You Can’t Lose” and sent it to Manhunt magazine. Manhunt published the story and Block’s career was launched. One Night Stands and Lost Weekends includes 28 short stories and novelettes from 1958 to 1962. Lawrence Block includes two informative essays which describe the publishing world at the time these stories were written. Fascinating reading!

The Stock Market is a mirror of our national psyche. The debt ceiling debacle triggered this current Stock Market skid, but the economic problems in the Euro Zone also contributed. For the past five or six years, I’ve told my students in my INVESTMENTS class to buy gold and buy oil. Gold is at historic highs. Oil is down, but only because demand is low. Once the world economy starts to recover–and it will–demand for oil will go up and prices will rise. What should we do now? Do NOT panic. Don’t make any hasty financial decisions. The Markets are turbulent because there’s too much uncertainty in the economic system. Depending on your tolerance for risk, buying stocks at these depressed levels makes sense. Gold is expensive, but it’s going to continue to go up so that’s an option. I don’t think we’ll have a “double-dip” recession unless we get some more, major economic setbacks. This isn’t 2008 when the financial system almost melted down. But in crises, there’s opportunity. I’m buying General Electric (GE), Intel (INTC), and Qualcomm (QCOM).

When Diane and I arrived home from a rigorous physical therapy session, we found a huge box on our porch. We carried it into our house and opened it up. It was a giant fruit basket! The Faculty Federation of Erie Community College (my union) sent me this wonderful Get Well basket. The basket contained Large Navel Oranges, Gala apples, Crispin apples, red and green pears, mango, pineapple, lemon, lime, pomegranate, Wegmans berry pistachio blend, naturally aged Vermont Cheddar cheese, Summer Sausage, Wegmans water Crackers, Marzetti mini caramel dip and an appetizer plate. This was completely unexpected. You can be sure I’ll be thanking my fellow Faculty Federation members during Fall Registration in a couple of weeks.

Tonight at 9 P.M. EDT on the DISCOVERY Channel, the Second Season of Auction Kings returns with plenty of mind-boggling items to sell. Auction Kings shows how one of the country’s most famous auction houses, Gallery 63, and its owner Paul Brown operate. Paul likes to deal in the world of unique items — from Civil War memorabilia to vampire-hunting kits to Russian cosmonaut space suits to vintage posters. What makes Auction Kings different from the storage unit shows like Auction Hunters and Storage Wars is that Auction Kings shows how the items were acquired and what happens when they go on sale. The DISCOVERY Channel is also broadcasting episodes of Auction Kings from the First Season to get you up to speed. If you’re fascinated by the discovery and sale of bizarre items, this is the program for you!

I’m always on the lookout for low-carb food that tastes good. Imagine my surprise when I stumbled across these Healthy Choice Premium Fudge Bars. The Fudge Bars are only 80 calories. They’re listed at 13 mg of carbohydrate but the Fudge Bar has 4 grams of fiber so the net carbs are only 9 mg! And these Fudge Bars have a rich, creamy flavor! Yum! There’s only l.5 mg of fat per bar! This is one time where the health choice is Healthy Choice!

With the stock market gyrating in 100+ point swings, it’s time for a little economic sanity. Eduardo Porter, who writes about economics for the New York Times, answers plenty of questions like “Are men naturally polygamous?” in The Price of Everything: Solving the Mystery of Why We Pay What We Do. The answer turns out to be: yes. Porter explores why housing bubbles form (and burst!), why people tend to become less religious as they become richer (and more religious as they become poorer), and why we probably won’t do anything major about global warming (its effects are in the future). Pricing has a psychological dimension and Porter demonstrates how prices change depending upon how we feel. I found the examples Porter provides compelling and his book fascinating. Highly recommended! GRADE: A

Rise of the Planet of the Apes answers the question left unanswered in 1968 when Planet of the Apes first made its debut: how did the apes take over? In this very entertaining prequel, we find out that a scientist (James Franco) thinks he has the cure for Alzheimer’s. Of course, he injects his miracle drug into a lab chimpanzee and the chimpanzee gets smarter and smarter. The genie is out of the bottle. The authorities try to lock the super-smart chimpanzee up, but he escapes and gets his revenge on humanity. The CGI graphics are astonishing. After the original Planet of the Apes the sequels got lamer and lamer (although I still harbor an affection for Beneath the Planet of the Apes). This prequel is just as good as the original movie. GRADE: A

The just published First Command is the second omnibus volume of A. Bertram Chandler’s classic John Grimes series. BAEN Books should be praised in bringing these adventures back into print. Grimes is a young commander in the Federation’s Survey Service. These novels capture the early career where Grimes takes risks and usually his luck is good. However, Grimes’ luck runs out in The Big Black Mark as he has to deal with a mutiny. Many critics have likened the John Grimes series to “Hornblower in Space.” If you enjoy adventure fiction, you’ll enjoy these wonderful stories. This omnibus volume includes The Far Traveler, Spartan Planet, The Inheritors, and The Big Black Mark,. With 724 pages, First Command delivers a great value for about $10!