Way back in September 1986 Columbia Pictures Television presented "Real Ghostbusters Day" at the Ambassador Hotel (3400 Wilshire Boulevard) in Los Angeles in conjunction with the LA Science Fiction and Comic Book Convention. The promotion was to draw attention to The Real Ghostbusters, the then-new animated television series that, as we all know, would appear on the ABC TV Network that Fall on Saturday mornings. Old-School Ghosthead Peter Mosen was asked to be there to help with the festivities, and recently he was nice enough to pass along the photos seen above for me to share with all of you. Photos #2 and #3 are official Columbia publicity photos from the event, as you can see from the captions beneath them. According to Peter, the guy with the glasses in the first photo is Dan Harary of Columbia Pictures Television and the rest, he believes, are members of his staff.

According to Peter, at the event they showed some of the cartoon, gave out flyers, and had the original Ecto-1 on display in the parking lot (which Peter poses with in the photos). Peter was able to get lots of reference shots of the vehicle, inside and out, which enabled him to fabricate his own vehicles. "Technically I built three. My original '66 ambulance with a very limited budget in 1984, the replica '59 ambulance for my touring and appearances in 1989, and the refit of my original to Ecto-1A which wound up in Buenos Aires, Argentina in '90."

Peter told me that since The Ambassador Hotel itself was said to be haunted, he stayed overnight to investigate, but had nothing to report when the morning came. Unfortunately, he won't have the chance to investigate any further as the legendary hotel was demolished in 2005 to make way for a few schools. A wake for the hotel was held on February 2, 2006 at the Gaylord Apartments and adjoining restaurant H.M.S. Bounty, directly across the street from the Ambassador. Actress Diane Keaton, who was one of many who fought for the preservation of the hotel, was among the speakers at the ceremony.

Los Angeles, CA -- December 7, 2010 -- With the city quaking in fear and no help in sight, who ya gonna call? Atari, one of the world's most recognized publishers and producers of interactive entertainment, is once again answering the call for gamers everywhere by delivering the first ever Ghostbusters digital title, Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime. In conjunction with Sony Pictures Consumer Products, Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime will be available on Xbox LIVE Arcade for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PlayStationNetwork, and Windows PC Download at Atari.com, in Spring 2011.

Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime is a four player, ghost-busting adventure that will take players on a brand new paranormal experience. Players will suit up with their proton packs and assume the role of a rookie hired by the Ghostbusters to save New York City from a disaster of ghoulish proportions.

The action-packed gameplay progresses as players complete jobs as fearless rookies who explore a series of haunted environments that must be cleared of any ectoplasmic threats. The gripping adventure rages on as players encounter gigantic bosses that require a concentrated effort to defeat using a medley of highly destructive weapons including the Proton Stream, Plasma Inductor, and the Fermion Shock. Rookie Ghostbusters will face the dangers of the eerie world alone or with a ghostbusting team of friends both locally or online through the game's multiplayer capability.

"Following the success of Ghostbusters: The Video Game, we are committed to continuing the lore of the Ghostbusters franchise with Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime," says Jim Wilson, President and CEO of Atari, Inc. "In Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime, we are introducing an entirely new look and gameplay experience on digital platforms that will impress new and loyal Ghostbusters fans alike."

"We are more than pleased to see Ghostbusters continue to thrive in the video game space with the upcoming release of Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime," said Mark Caplan, Vice President Interactive, Sony Pictures Consumer Products. "Atari has been an incredible partner in helping us re-establish this beloved film franchise."

Developed by Behavior Studios, Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime will be available in Spring 2011. For more information, please log onto www.atari.com or www.atari.com/gbsanctumofslime.

About ATARI, SA
Atari group is a global creator, producer and publisher of interactive entertainment. Atari's brands and content are available across all key traditional and digital distribution touch points, including browser-based and social online platforms, PC, consoles from Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony, and advanced smart phones (i.e. iPhone, Android and RIM devices).

Divisions of Atari, SA include Cryptic Studios, Eden Studios, Atari Interactive, Inc. and Atari, Inc. Atari benefits from the strength of its worldwide brand and its extensive catalogue of contemporary classic game franchises (Asteroids, Centipede, Missile Command, Lunar Lander), original owned franchises (Test Drive, Backyard Sports, Deer Hunter), MMO games from Cryptic Studios (Star Trek Online, Champions) and third party franchises (Ghostbusters, Rollercoaster Tycoon, Dungeons and Dragons). Atari also leverages the power of its franchises to deliver movies and merchandise to consumers around the world.

For more information please visit: www.atari.com
© 2010 Atari Europe SASU. All rights reserved.
Atari word mark and logo are trademarks owned by Atari Interactive, Inc.

About Sony Pictures Entertainment
Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) is a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America (SCA), a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Sony Corporation. SPE's global operations encompass motion picture production and distribution; television production and distribution; digital content creation and distribution; worldwide channel investments; home entertainment acquisition and distribution, operation of studio facilities; development of new entertainment products, services and technologies; and distribution of filmed entertainment in more than 130 countries. Sony Pictures Entertainment can be found on the World Wide Web at www.sonypictures.com.

The Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House celebrated its 100th anniversary back in 2007, and to mark the momentous occasion - one which almost didn't happen had the building been demolished back in 1979 like some had wanted - the U.S. General Services Administration commissioned a short film on the building's history entitled Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House: 100 Years of Grandeur. The seventeen-and-a-half-minute short can be viewed in its entirety on the GSA website, who is graciously making DVD copies available to interested parties.

The 1907 Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House in New York, New York, is one of the more than 200 legacy properties under GSA's stewardship. The film is part of GSA's efforts to support the Executive Order 13287, "Preserve America", which encourages Americans to explore and enjoy our nation's heritage. It was produced for the Center for Historic Buildings, Office of the Chief Architect by the Video and Broadcasting Team, Office of Citizen Services and Communications. DVD copies are available by contacting historic.buildings@gsa.gov.

I received my free DVD simply by sending a short message to that e-mail address asking for a copy, and providing my mailing address. I don't know if the offer is only available to U.S. residents - I would assume it is - but if you're outside of the U.S., it doesn't hurt to ask. Just post a comment here to let everyone know whether it's a yay or a nay.

The professionally-made DVD-R (the label is actually printed on the disc) is housed inside a black slim jewel case with a dual-sided front insert. At the end of this post are scans of the insert and the disc. The disc contents are as follows:

• Welcome (2:10) (16:9 Widescreen)
  A brief welcome message from Helen Post Curry, the great granddaughter of architect Cass Gilbert.
• Program (17:29) (16:9 Widescreen)
  This is the short video that can be viewed online detailing the history of the building. Broken up into four chapters: Prime Real Estate, Design Of The Times, Building Beauty, and Facing The Future. It has English subtitles which can be turned on and off manually.
• Photographs (4:42) (4:3 Fullscreen)
  A slideshow of 68 photographs separated into two categories: Exteriors (38 images) and Interiors (30 images). All photographs were taken by Carol M. Highsmith Photography, Inc. I think that there might be one or two duplicate photos.
• Relighting Ceremony Speech Highlights (May 8, 2007) (5:17) (4:3 Fullscreen)
  Labeled as "Relighting Ceremony" in the menu, this is not the entire relighting ceremony, but rather just speech highlights. So you really don't get a feel for what the ceremony was like at all. Nor do you see anything being lit, though the video closes with a still shot of the front of the building all lit up. The seven speakers you'll hear from are: Mistress of Ceremonies Emily R. Baker (Regional Administrator, General Services Administration); Kathleen Farrell-Willoughby (Clerk of the Court, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of New York); Susan Mitchell (Director of Field Operations, New York U.S. Customs and Border Protection); John Haworth (Director, George Gustav Heye Center, Smithsonian Institution, NMAI); Frank Santiago (Executive Vice President and General Manager, General Lighting Division, Osram Sylvania, Inc); Randy Sabedra (RS Lighting Design); and Michael Colotti (Vice President, Brand Management & Marketing Communications) [interview excerpts]. At 1:04 Kathleen Farrell-Willoughby mentions Ghostbusters (leaving out the "2") and other films shot at the Custom House - asking if they would be the same if the building had been demolished.

By all accounts, it was 100 years ago today, on October 2, 1910, that Fire Station #23 in Los Angeles, California opened for firefighting business. Ghostheads would know it best as the shooting location for the interiors of Ghostbusters Headquarters in both movies, and as the birthday party interior in Ghostbusters II. Of the two firehouses used in both movies, L.A. 23 is the oldest by two years.

There are many who never would have thought that the firehouse would still be standing today. From what I understand, it's not in the best of shape. As far as I know, the city of Los Angeles owns the building, but they don't take active care of it, so paying for its upkeep isn't very high on their list of priorities. The building's caretaker is a man named Daniel Taylor, who has put together the Corporation for History, Art and Culture as a way of helping to raise funds to cover the costs of maintaining the building.

If you'd like to learn more about the history of Fire Station #23, go to LAFire.com. If you'd like to take a virtual tour, check out the videos uploaded by some fans to GBFans.com.

Jason Hughes and Luke Crisalli (with guest Pat Harmon) over at the Ghostheads podcast released their 16th episode this past Friday, and I am honored that they spent a couple of minutes talking about Spook Central's 14th Anniversary in the broadcast (from 25:55-28:06). It nearly brought a tear to my eye listening to what the guys had to say. I'm touched...really.

You can listen to the Spook Central excerpt by clicking on the little play arrow/button above, or if you have a desire to hear about Ghostbusters, Bjork, and liquefied gummy bears - and who doesn't? - head over to the Ghostheads site to listen to the entire 36-minute episode.

To help celebrate the 14th anniversary of Spook Central: The Ghostbusters Companion, one of the longest-running Ghostbusters fan sites currently online, I held a prize giveaway from August 1st to August 7th 2010 to honor the momentous occasion. I reached out to a few of my corporate friends, and dug through my personal collection, to gather up a few prizes to give out to fans. The prize giveaways included a gift certificate good for 2 tickets to On Location Tours' "New York TV and Movie Sites" tour of New York City, free custom sticker sheets at StickerYou.com, a copy of TimeLife's The Real Ghostbusters Volume 2 five-disc DVD set, Gamer Graffix's No Ghost Logo and Ghostbusters Text Logo wall graphics, and more!

The contest was a great success. Below is the full list of winners, along with a brief description of what prizes they won. For more information on the prizes, check out the prize image gallery. For legal and reference purposes, a copy of the original official rules can be found at the end.


2 tickets to On Location Tours' "New York TV and Movie Sites" tour of New York City (valued at $76 USD)
-- Jack Hensley, Belmar, NJ, USA

1 free custom sticker sheet at StickerYou.com (valued at $6.99 USD each)
-- Christopher Rhea, Hampton, VA, USA
-- Tony Stafford, Dovecot, Liverpool, ENGLAND
-- Dan Mattucci, La Grange Park, IL, USA
-- Nathan Bonner, Springfield, MO, USA
-- Scott Silver, Orem, UT, USA

TimeLife's The Real Ghostbusters Volume 2 five-disc DVD (valued at $39.99 USD)
-- Joshua Minetree, Baltimore, MD, USA

Gamer Graffix's No Ghost Logo 19.5" x 17" Wall Graffix
-- Allan Nicoletti, Croydon, PA, USA

Gamer Graffix's Ghostbusters Text Logo 23" x 3" Wall Graffix
-- Samantha Cornell, Millis, MA, USA

Ghostbusters II Homemade Pog (1.5" in diameter) (this is an item I made in the 1990s)
-- Trey Lansford, Amarillo, TX, USA

Filmation's Ghostbusters #4 comic book
-- David Varner, Rothschild, WI, USA

Spook Central retro logo sticker - custom printed at StickerYou.com
-- Lucas Ackley, West Jordan, UT, USA
-- Matthew Rude, Columbia, IL, USA
-- Gary Tabar, Waynesville, NC, USA
-- Delfin Aponte, Philadelphia, PA, USA
-- Andrew Stewart, Beaufort, SC, USA
-- Michael Sedoti, Reading, PA, USA
-- Adam Anderson, Rochester, MN, USA
-- Mike Sopronyi, Miamisburg, OH, USA
-- Brian Rippee, Concrete, WA, USA
-- Matthew Dusing, Lancaster, OH, USA

Ghostbusters 25th Anniversary sticker - custom printed at StickerYou.com
-- Adam Skinner, Kitchener, ON, CANADA
-- Austyn Brown, Bournemouth, Dorset, ENGLAND
-- Daryl Klinger, Sanford, FL, USA
-- Jeremy Neff, Mooresville, NC, USA
-- Vincent Montenegro, La Quinta, CA, USA
-- Jay Wilson, Louisville, KY, USA

OFFICIAL RULES
NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. The "Spook Central 14th Anniversary Prize Giveaway" starts on 8/1/2010 and ends on 8/7/2010. The contest is open only to legal residents of the United States, Canada, and all other countries, 18 years of age or older at time of entry. A vaild e-mail address is required for the contest. Void where prohibited or restricted by law.

Limit one entry per person and/or e-mail address. Any additional entries will be discarded. All information provided by entrants will not be sold, given away, or used for any other purpose than for this contest - though a winners list will be posted after the contest has ended. Winners will be chosen at random using The Hat random name-selection software. Winners will be notified via e-mail at the address provided in their entry, and will be required to reply to that e-mail and verify their information before the prize will be sent to them. If a winner does not reply within three business days, they will forfeit the prize and it will be given to someone else via another random selection.

No prize substitution or cash redemption allowed by a prize winner. If awarded, prizes will be awarded without any warranty of any kind. Odds of winning a prize depends on the total number of eligible Entries received for the Sweepstakes.

All federal, state and local tax liabilities, if any, are the responsibility of the winners. Spook Central/Paul Rudoff shall not be responsible or liable for entries that are entered by other than human means (such as by an automated computer program or any non-human mechanism, entity, or device), in excess of the stated limit, or for entries that are late, forged, destroyed, lost, misplaced, stolen, misdirected, tampered with, incomplete, deleted, damaged, garbled, or otherwise not in compliance with the official rules, and all such entries will be disqualified.

By entering the Sweepstakes, each entrant agrees: (i) to be bound by these official rules and by all applicable laws and decisions of Spook Central/Paul Rudoff which shall be binding and final; (ii) to waive all of his/her rights to bring any claim, action, or proceeding against Spook Central/Paul Rudoff in connection with the Giveaway.

As you've undoubtedly have already noticed... The incredible Tristan Jones has put together a collection of new Spook Central title logos in honor of this site's 14th anniversary this month. There's a whole bunch of them, which should display randomly when you browse throughout the site (or reload the page). If you don't have Javascript enabled in your browser, then you'll just see one image. Though if you'd like to see more of them, Tristan previewed some of them on his DeviantArt account last week.

To go along with the new title is a new site design. Well, it's more of a tweak of the old design, but it's a pretty significant tweak. Since computer monitor resolutions are usually 1024x768 and higher these days (very few people still use 800x600, and much less use 640x480), I decided to give the site content a set width of 900 pixels. To fill in the empty space on the sides for resolutions larger than 1024 pixels in width, there's a background image showing the temple atop Spook Central, pulled straight off of the Blu-ray Disc. People with widescreen monitors will see more of the background image than those without. I was rather shocked at how well the 900 pixel site fit atop the temple background image - right between the two pillars on the sides of the temple doors! The symmetry is perfect. It's like the movie shot and the site were made for each other.

I really hope that this new design displays well on all browsers as I did not get a chance to thoroughly test it. Heck, I probably did a really sloppy job with the coding, as someone with real design skills could probably streamline all of the backend code into CSS and make everything run smoother. If there's anyone out there who'd like to give it a try, let me know.

I originally intended on finding a free pre-designed website template and going with that for the new design, but I couldn't find one that I liked, and I really wanted to get these new title logos up while it was still August (the 14th anniversary month). I'd like to give a quick shout-out to Jason Fitzsimmons from GhostbustersNews.com for the inspiration and encouragement to give the site a set width and use a background image on the sides. I got the idea (and a tiny bit of CSS code) from his site, and when I ran the idea by him a while back, he encouraged me to go for it. Thanks Jason.

Finally, a very special shout-out needs to be given to Raffaele Ruffaldi for providing me with webspace for the past seven or eight years (since either 2002 or 2003), for all the helpful technical assistance, and for putting up with me and the problems I have every now and then.

It was fourteen years ago this month, in August 1996, that I created Spook Central in my rinky-dink Geocities account. It was nothing big - just a picture of the library ghost, on a banana yellow background, with some links below it - but it was a start. To help celebrate the occasion, I've reached out to a few of my corporate friends, and dug through my personal collection, to gather up a few prizes to give out to the fans. The Spook Central 14th Anniversary Prize Giveaway runs from now until August 7th, which should be plenty of time to get your entry in (one per person and/or e-mail address).


P.S. - If you want to see what the actual Ghostbusters 25th Anniversary and Spook Central retro logo printed stickers look like, Jason at GB News just posted a photo he took of the two stickers I gave him.

When TimeLife's The Real Ghostbusters: Complete Collection DVD box set was first released back in November 2008, the five smaller sets ("volumes") inside were each housed in a metal SteelBook™ case. When Vol 1. was released by itself in March 2009, it retained its Steelbook case from the box set. However, earlier this year TimeLife begun the process of replacing the Steelbook metal cases with plastic cases that are of the same dimensions. It started with the individual release of Vol. 2 in January, it will continue with the individual release of Vol. 3 in a mere three weeks (on August 3, 2010), and now the Complete Collection box set and the individual Vol. 1 are using the plastic cases, as well.

I, for one, am glad that they made the change to the plastic cases. I wish they would have used them all along. The new cases (which are the same dimensions as the Steelbooks) have each disc on its own page with NO overlap (unlike the Steelbooks). I suggested this packaging to Jeff Peisch (producer of the DVD box set, and head of TimeLife's video division) back in January 2009, after I saw how well it worked in CBS/Paramount's Petticoat Junction - The Official First Season set. One of my major complaints about the Complete Collection box set, other than the slow or sped-up episodes in Vol 4, is with the Steelbook cases. I hate the disc-over-disc storage inside the cases, and the disc locking mechanism, which has absolutely no give and upon repeated use will cause the inner ring of the disc to crack. I've had this happen with my Ghostbusters 1999 DVD, and that case's disc locking mechanism is a bit better than the Steelbooks - but not by much. So I'm quite happy that TimeLife decided to take my suggestion and replace the Steelbooks with the plastic cases, though I'm sure it's the cheaper cost of the plastic cases that really spurred their decision.

If you'd like to see for yourself why the plastic cases are better than the old metal ones, check out this comparison/review that I just wrote up using the individual Vol. 2 release.

As several people have already reported buying the Complete Collection box set from Amazon and getting the plastic cases inside, instead of the Steelbooks, I decided to ask Jeff Peisch about it. Not only did I want to confirm the reports, I also wanted to find out if it's only Amazon that's selling the new plastic case sets, or if other retailers (online and brick-and-mortar) are selling them too - including TimeLife.com.

He told me, "All configurations are now in [plastic cases]. NO Steelbooks at all. So those original sets are collectors' editions!!"

Since TimeLife has been manufacturing the set with Steelbook cases for at least a year (probably a year and several months), I wouldn't be quick to call the Steelbook cases "rare". "Collector's Editions" - sure, I would say that, but certainly not rare. Still, don't be surprised when you see them popping up on eBay at exorbitant prices with the word "rare" prominently displayed in the listing.

In an effort to help out the fans as much as possible, I asked Jeff for a little more information - particularly the answers to these two important questions regarding this matter.

1. Since some of the Steelbook "Complete Collection" box sets may still be out there in the wild, is there any way to tell from the outside packaging (the firehouse box) if there's plastic or Steelbook cases inside? Like maybe a different UPC/item/part number, a new/removed/different logo on the bottom, a change in any of the text on the bottom, or something else?

For the individual sets it will be really easy to see what case they're in, but for the "Complete Collection" box sets, the cases will be inside the sealed firehouse box. So that's why I'm asking if there's any small clue on the firehouse box of the new "plastic case sets" that could let the buyer know that there's plastic cases, and not Steelbooks, inside.

    -- Jeff's response: "There shouldn't be any of the Steelbook complete sets out there, since we just duplicated several thousand more of the new versions; and we wouldn't have made new ones if we had old ones in inventory."

2. Are there any plans to make a set of the new plastic cases (with the high-quality paper liner artwork) available for purchase to whomever may want to buy them to replace their Steelbooks?

For a fair amount of money (like $10 for the set), I know that there are folks who would buy them. That would be an extra source of revenue for TimeLife, without having to invest in anything new - you just do the same as you're doing now, but leave out the discs and firehouse box. Maybe you can bring this up at the next staff meeting, or mention it to whomever would be in charge of approving such things (if it's not you).

    -- Jeff's response: "Not at this time."

And for those of you who have been collecting the sets individually, I asked Jeff if the release dates for the individual releases of Vols. 4 & 5 have been determined yet. He said, "We'll definitely release next year." So you can rest assured that, as things currently stand, you'll be able to complete your collection before the end of 2011.

I'd like to publically thank Jeff Peisch for graciously answering all of my questions and putting up with my pestering.

For the past two years Chris Stewart has been writing a series of Shot On Site articles over at Proton Charging that document the little-known Ghostbusters filming locations, usually with diagrams showing how he was able to determine the locale in the movie by comparing it to the way it currently looks in real life. With his permission, I am going to build upon what he started for my own series of Shot On Site articles. In honor of posting my first Shot On Site article, I completely revamped my Filming Locations page to include thumbnails of all locations, and all of the new locations that were found by Chris Stewart, Nick Carr, and Chris Buchner. I also added all of the history text and some of the photos from Chris Buchner's defunct NYGB Tourguide site, with his permission. On top of that, I have also created an Unidentified Filming Locations page to serve as a checklist of the locations that still need to be identified.

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