DANDY FUN HOUSE PODCAST

WATCH THE VIDEO BELOW! LISTEN TO THE PODCAST BELOW! With Summer getting into full swing and this being a platform of all things novelty, I thought it high time to take a look at the world of pool floats! In my other life as a DJ, I usually grab an armload of wacky pool floats from the store 5 Below before I embark on a pool party event. But I wanted to see what else might be out there, so I scoured the interwebs and came up with my own list of the wackiest and most fun-tastic inflatable pool toys I could find. I hope to make this an annual installment of the Dandy Fun House, mainly because coming up with ideas is hard and this is an easy piece of content to create. Hey, at least I’m honest! So without further adieu… Let’s dive right in, make a splash, get wet and wild and lots of other bad cliches! Here’s The DANDY FUN HOUSE TOP TEN COUNTDOWN OF THE BEST POOL INFLATABLES FOR SUMMER 2021! #10 – INFLATABLE LIPS! Tell the world to kiss it! You’re going to the pool! While I almost glossed over this one, I ultimately couldn’t help but smack it right here at number ten in the countdown. Because… who doesn’t want to lay one on a giant pair of wet lips!? These babies are both funky and awesome and can be found on Alibaba.com and they’re made by the Huizhou Fengyun plastic products Co., Ltd who specialize in all things inflatable pool products where their motto is “We warmly welcome friends at home and abroad to exchange and cooperate, and create brilliance hand in hand!” #9 – THE FLIP FLOP …or more precisely – The Blue Wave Tropical Flip Flop 71 inch Inflatable Pool Float! (huff… puff…) Sure to be the envy of Old Mother Hubbards everywhere or just if you’ve been told that you look like a giant foot that needs to be soaked, you can kick off your shoes and flip flop it old school while you sail along with a “thong” in your heart! We found this fancy flop over at sears.com! #8 – THE SWIMLINE WATER WHEEL by BLUE WAVE Have you ever rolled downhill inside an old tire? Well, now you can relive that experience once again without the filthy bug-infested tire and without crashing into trees! It sort of looks like a big hamster wheel except that you put children into it! Now if there was only a way to connect a bunch of these to the power grid, we could solve all our energy problems until winter comes along… We rolled across this baby over at walmart.com #7 – FLOATING TEXAS HOLD-EM POKER TABLE with CHAIRS If you have a terrible gambling addiction but you still need to hit the water and cool off, this could be for you! That’s right, it’s an inflatable floating poker table.They’ve even upped the ante by including 4 blow up chairs! And from the picture, it appears there are even built-in drink holders in the table. My question would be how would you keep the cards dry with a bunch of drippy people all around the table? I suppose you could buy plastic playing cards. Anyway, If you’re ready to go all in on the “Waterpark Inflatable Mahjong Poker Table Set Floating Row Inflatable Chair Float Fun Pool Toy Outdoor Toys Adults High Quality #T1” (Yes, that’s actually the name they have it listed under) swim on over to dhgate.com. That’s where I found it! #6 – THE CANNONBALL If you’re looking to make a bigger splash this Summer but you’re just not fat enough, slip into one of these babies, widen your blast zone and up your cannonball game! Now what I really want is a giant cannon to shoot myself into the pool with! (Maybe in 2022). We unearthedThe Cannonball over at hearthsong.com #5 – PIZZA SLICE This isn’t exactly a new design, I’ve had one of these for quite a few years, but it IS a classic that never goes out of style. And if you get together with 7 of your friends and put all your slices together, YOU CAN MAKE A WHOLE PIZZA! Hey! Whatsammata you!? I found this little slice of heaven over at lesliespool.com #4 – AVOCADO WITH REMOVABLE BEACH BALL PIT Ok, the second I found this one, I knew it had to be on the list and definitely in the top 4! You ever notice that when someone says they placed in the top 4 of something, it almost always means they placed #4? Anyway, I have no idea why, but I love this thing! I like avocado on my burritos! I totally dig a great guacamole! And I think the thing I love the most about this avocado slice pool float is the fact that it has a removable pit that turns into a beach ball! A big, brown beach ball! Overstock.com is where I picked this beaut right off the internet tree! #3 – SEA-SAW ROCKER This one really grabbed my attention enough to convince me that it should be place high at #3 on the list. The reason is that instead of just sitting on top like most other floating seesaws I’ve seen, this one actually has you sit inside of it and it looks great too! So when y

WATCH THE VIDEO BELOW! LISTEN TO THE PODCAST BELOW! Hello and welcome to the Dandy Fun House episode 7! Today we’re going to learn how to make one of my favorite Summer treats… KOOLICKLES! (Kool-Aid infused pickles). And to do this, we’re going to get help from some very kool people living in a very kool town who have a hotline to a very kool super pickle! Let’s go now to… THE CITY OF KOOLYWOOD! Where everything’s kool all the time! But unfortunately today, not everything is as kool as it ought to be… On this day, we find Kool M hanging out in front of Kooly Hall when along comes a young lad named Kool E who looks a bit down and out. Kool M: “Hey Kool E! Why so glum?” Kool E: “Aww gee Kool M. Things are getting awful here in Koolywood.” Kool M: “What do you mean?” Kool E: “We’re running out of Koolickles!” Kool M: “Running out of Koolickles!? What are we going to do!?” Kool E: “I don’t know but wait…” Kool M: “Are you thinking what I’m thinking???” Kool M and Kool E together: “HEY KOOLICKLE MAN!” Suddenly, the earth starts to tremble and the whole town of Koolywood shakes to its core as the brick walls of Kooly Hall burst open to reveal the pickle of power himself… KOOLICKLE MAN who immediately springs into both action and song! Koolickle Man sings: Koolickles are an awesome treat! (Koolickles, Koolickles yeah yeah yeah!) Crunchy, sour and mighty sweet! (Koolickles, Koolickles yeah yeah yeah!) When it’s hot in the Summer and you’re starting to bake They’re fun to eat and they’re fun to make! Come on Koolickle Kids, let’s show ’em how! Koolickle Kids: YAAAAYYYY!!! Koolickle Man: Now first off, you’re going to need a jar of pickles, it doesn’t really make a difference what kind. Me and the Koolickle Kids like to go big, so we got a giant jar of Dill Wholes along with 3 different flavors of our favorite powdered drink mix, which for us is the classic KOOL-AID! Cherry, Grape and Blue Raspberry. 3 packs of each! You’re also going to need a bag or box of sugar. First you need to pour all the pickle juice out into a food grade container. We used a plastic pitcher to hold ours. You can leave the pickles whole or you can cut them up to really get a thorough infusion of Koolickle Koolness! We’ll be preparing ours for the church potluck, so we’re cutting all our dill wholes into round slices. And since we’re making different flavors, we’re dividing our pickles into 4 different containers; 3 for the flavors and one we’re leaving plain for the Plain Janes! We’re doing the same for the pickle juice. We’re reintroducing it back into the containers and if it doesn’t quite cover the tops of the pickles at this point, it’s ok to add some water until it does because next we’re going to add… THE DELICIOUSNESS! Next you pour in your packs of powdered drink mix. We wanted ours bursting with flavor so we added 3 packs of each flavor. There’s no right or wrong here. You can do a little or you can do a lot! Same with the sugar. Pour in a ton or just a bit depending on how sweet you like it. Now cover them all up and put them in the fridge! If you left your pickles whole, you’ll probably want to let them sit for about a week. But if you cut them up, you should be good to go in a day or so! Now for the reveal… Looking good? Alright, let’s take ’em to church! And that’s how you make KOOLICKLES!!!!!! Koolickle Kids: “Gee thanks Koolickle Man!” Koolickle Man: “All in a day’s work my sour-sweet crunchy friends! Now forgive me but I must return to Koolickle Kastle while I prepare for the next Koolamity! KOOLICKLE MAN AWAY!!!!! And just like that, Koolickle Man summoned his pickle powers and pounced into the air flying away from the little city of Koolywood and leaving it kooler than he found it. And so ends yet another exciting adventure for Koolickle Man! Remember kids, if you’re down and out and in need of some sour sweet krunchtastikness, just raise your voices to the sky and call out the words “HEY KOOLICKLE MAN!” And some dill hole in a cheap costumer just might appear and… On second thought, if Koolickle Man ever does come bursting through your door, you should probably exit out the back and call the police because that’s just whack! Thanks for joining us and see you again real soon for more exciting adventures of KOOLICKLE MAN! *** The part of Kool M was played by Michele Smith The part of Kool E was played by Evan Smith Koolickle Man was played by Neil Dandy, the Big Cheese at Dandy Fun House This episode of the Dandy Fun House was produced on location in Murfreesboro, Tennessee; the geographical center of the state. We would like to give a special thank you t

Watch the Video Below! Listen to the Podcast! When I was a kid, all I ever wanted to be was EVEL KNIEVEL! Today, I’d like to tell you about a real-life superhero who performed superhuman feats in the 70’s. Today it’s almost unimaginable that many people don’t even know who he was! But back when I was a kid, EVEL KNIEVEL was everywhere! He was a motorcycle daredevil who performed such amazing stunts as jumping over the fountains at Cesars Palace in Vegas, jumping a gajillion school busses and things along those lines. And as spectacular as those stunts were, even more spectacular were his crashes! This guy broke almost every bone in his body and not only lived to tell about it but kept coming back for more with bigger and more amazing stunts. Most notoriously shooting himself in a rocket over a canyon, which by the way failed miserably, he crashed down into the canyon and miraculously survived! Go figure. If you’ve read this far, you must be asking yourself what all this has to do with what we talk about here at the Dandy Fun House which is amusements, toys, games and frivolities? I’m glad you asked! You see, in addition to being a guy apparently bent on killing himself for the amusement of others, he also marketed and merchandised himself like a madman! In the 70’s Evel Knievel toys were everywhere! Kids played with Knievel cars that would fly apart when you crashed them. Rockets you could pretend to crash into canyons. Bicycles we would all hurt ourselves on jumping over homemade ramps on concrete driveways. Action figures, camper vans and most everything else you could think of. When I say this guy was everywhere… I mean he was EVERYWHERE! But the Evel Knievel toy that started it all was the stunt cycle! Now this wasn’t just some little toy motorcycle you pushed around on the floor with your hand while making motor sounds. Ohhh No! This ting, you put the action figure on top of the bike, then put the whole thing into this contraption called an Energizer which you cranked a big gear wheel by hand as fast as you could and when you stopped cranking, the bike with Evel on top would take off like a bat out of Hades to terrorize your dog, your sister, jump ramps, do flips. I mean this thing was cool and every kid had to have one! This is a picture of me in the early 70’s! That was every kid but me… You see, my Mom was very protective of me and was real worried that if I got this toy, it would inspire me to want to ride motorcycles and … go figure, she actually wanted me to live long enough to give her grandchildren. So instead, I got the Evel Knievel CRASH CAR which you’re supposed to intentionally crash into walls and other toy vehicles so you can watch it fly apart and kill Evel Knievel inside of it. Well apparently her strategy may have had some merit because to this day I do not ride motorcycles but I DO drive about 50 thousand miles per year doing all the silly antics that I do and she does indeed have grandchildren! Well played Mom. Well played. So… what happened to all those kids who had all those toys? I’m glad you asked that! There are many groups on the internet of old, fat bald guys like me who spend their time collecting and showing off their Evel Knievel toy collections to the world! I’m not sure who actually needs 25 different variants of a toy motorcycle or an Evel Knievel toothbrush still in its original packaging, but those guys are out there in force barely pulling their reissued Evel Knievel hoodies over their belly bulges and setting the interwebs on fire! ENTER THE BEAUTY OF AMERICAN CAPITALISM! Seeing this passion in the marketplace for all things Evel Knievel amongst the midlife crisis set is a company that goes by the name of California Creations https://www.evelknieveltoys.com who has acquired the permissions and licensing to lovingly manufacture a re-issue of the infamous Evel Knievel Stunt Cycle and I’ve got one, brand new in the box RIGHT. HERE. IN. MY HANDS! And what makes this even sweeter?? Ohhh you’re gonna love this! This was given to me as a Christmas gift by none other than my own sweet Mother! I guess now that she has grandchildren I’ve served my purpose and can go ahead and get inspired to ride motorcycles! I’m on to you Mom! And with that, what do say we head over to the kitchen table, do a proper unboxing and THEN we’ll take it outside and you can all get a good laugh out of a guy in Man-O-Pause reliving childhood in his driveway! Ready? Let’s go crack this clam shell open! THE UNBOXING! Right off the bat, in the image on the box I can tell that Evel’s head looks very small in the helmet. Well talk more about that later but as I peruse the box I can’t help but notice all the great retro-artwork and graphics. In addition to the adornment, the outside of the box also includes a list of contents, the instructions, and various stunts you can perform. Inside of the box, the first thing I notice is the energizer which i

WATCH THE VIDEO BELOW! In this mini-edition of the Dandy Fun House, we’re going to be doing an unboxing of the newly-reissued Evel Knievel Stunt Cycle by California Creations! Right off the bat, in the image on the box I can tell that Evel’s head looks very small in the helmet. Well talk more about that later but as I peruse the box I can’t help but notice all the great retro-artwork and graphics. In addition to the adornment, the outside of the box also includes a list of contents, the instructions, and various stunts you can perform. Inside of the box, the first thing I notice is the energizer which is used to spin up the gears of the motorcyle via a crank handle and build it’s internal inertia. The energizer comes in two parts which need to be snapped together. Mine was a bit challenging, but with a little friendly-but-careful persuasion I got the two halves to snap together properly. While it worked as it should, I have to disclose that the plastic felt very light and cheapy but it did look just like the original. Continuing on, the only thing remaining in the main box was a smaller white box which contained everything else. On top was the man himself, Evel Knievel in all his 7″ tall, bendable and poseable glory! I must say, they did a really good job in making him look like the real Evel! Right down to the sideburns. I was impressed! Neat little white jumpsuit with white stars over red and blue striping. The only complaint I could lodge about the action figure is that mine had a very loose and wobbly head. It didn’t really bother me during this unboxing, but it would prove to be troublesome later in my tests and trials. But that’s another topic which we’ll address in our next installment which will be the full review. Moving right along we get to unwrap the helmet next. With more stars and bars from front to back, it seemed well-made and very pliable with a good amount of flexibility which is a good thing since it’s certain to receive more than a few knocks. I had heard chatter on the internet that this helmet unfortunately fits very loose and flies off constantly and I can tell you after fitting this on Evel’s head that this is indeed true. It’s very loose and slides on and off the head like nothing at all. If you want it to fit, you’ll need to put some padding inside and adhere into place, which is exactly what I did. With just a few strips of lightweight foam and some black fabric-based gaffers tape, I was in business and had the helmet fitting like a charm. The final item in the box was the motorcycle. There are a few different styles of motorcycles available and I received a very stocky and beefy black bike that resembled more of a road hog than a performance bike built for jumps. But this thing had some good weight to it and had a quality feel with movable front forks for shock absorption. The plastic faux chrome trim felt like more of that cheapy plastic stuff, but as for the rest of the bike, it really struck me as being a solid product. And there you have it! The Dandy Fun House official unboxing of the newly-reissued Evel Knievel Stunt Cycle by California Creations! I’m excited to get the chance to review this re-issue of such an iconic toy from my own childhood and in our next edition I’m going to put this thing to the test! Be sure to come back and be part of the action right here where every day in every way, we keep everything FUN AND DANDY! Evel prepares to jump the bananas at Cesar’s Palace! **** IF YOU ENJOY THIS CONTENT AND WISH TO SUPPORT FUTURE PRODUCTIONS, PLEASE CONSIDER DONATING TO THE DANDY FUN HOUSE VIA THE PATRONAGE LINKS BELOW! Supporters gain access to exclusive bonus material! *Super-Supporters* get special prizes! ** SUPER-DUPER SUPPORTERS ** get all of the above as well as personal Zoom video call with Neil Dandy! BUY ME A COFFEE http://buymeacoffee.com/dandydj PAYPAL https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=YR4WXBXKGYWUN … or just visit that Patronage page at the Dandy Fun House Website http://www.dandyfunhouse.com   Neil Dandy is the creator of The Dandy Fun House and the alter-ego of Neil Smith, the Big Cheese at Neil Smith Entertainment and Productions, musician, DJ, Emcee and author. Aren’t you impressed?

WATCH THE VIDEO BELOW! Today we’re going to take a deep dive into a game that’s played almost everywhere at picnics, potlucks, scout meets, company barbecues and back yards around the world. Some folks know this game as bean bag toss, but here in the South in the good ol’ US of A where I live (Murfreesboro, Tennessee to be exact) the game I’m talking about goes by one name and one name only…. CORN HOLE! Now I know there are some of you out there rolling your eyes right now because cornhole is such a simple and basic staple of American yard games and everyone THINKS they know how to play it! Just set up a couple of boards on the ground with holes cut out, place them about 10 feet apart from each other and try to throw bean bags through the holes. Right??? Well yes, but there’s a HOLE lot more to it than that! Did you know that there are Official Corn Hole Rules as set forth by the Official Governing Body of Cornhole??? Otherwise known as the AMERICAN CORNHOLE ASSOCIATION??? Well today we’re going to break out our own cornhole game, set it up per the regulations set forth by the American Cornhole Association and show you how to play by the proper tournament-accepted rules. And for this, we’re going to refer to the ACA’s website which can be found at playcornhole.org which will dictate the proper dimensions and measurements for how far apart to place the boards and how to legally position players! Now according to American Cornhole Association mandates, “A cornhole court shall be a level rectangular area 8-10 feet wide and a minimum of 40-45 feet long. The court should consist of two cornhole boards, designated pitcher’s boxes, and foul lines.” Let’s talk about the PITCHER’S BOX! Now the Pitcher’s Box, where players must stand as they throw their bean bags, shall be rectangular 4ft x 3ft at each end of the court, parallel with, and on both sides of the board. Players must NOT step outside of the Pitcher’s Box while pitching the cornhole bag. There are also FOUL LINES. Two sets to be exact, which determine whether a tossed bag is considered a foul or not. One for adults, and one for kids 12 and under. The adult foul line is parallel to the front of the opposite board and the junior foul line is still the front of the opposite board but they are allowed to stand 12-15 feet in front of their own board while throwing, or at least that is the best I was able to understand it from reviewing the official guidelines. Now let’s have a look at THE BOARDS! Cornhole boards need to be between 47 and a half to 48 inches in length to 23 and a half to 24 inches wide. If they are to be used in an ACA sanctioned tournament, they will have to be made of smooth plywood at least ½ in thickness. Plastic and metal boards cause significant variance in the way the bags slide and react as opposed to wood and therefore may not be used in ACA sanctioned tournaments. The holes are 6 inches in diameter located 9 inches from the top and 12 inches from the side of the board edges. The board top shall be 3-to-4 inches from the bottom to the top The back of the board shall be approximately 12 inches from the ground to the highest point of the deck. The board surfaces must be smooth without blemish which may disrupt or distort play. It is recommended that the surface be painted or varnished as such that the bags can slide, but not so slippery as to allow bags to reverse-slide back down to the front of the board after landing. As you can see, in order to play the game “correctly” there’s a lot more to this than meets the eye! There are even regulations for the bags themselves! They must be constructed of two durable fabric squares (usually canvas) 6.25” with a .25” stitched seam on all four sides,, filled with 2 cups of feed corn. Once sewn shut, a finished bag should be 6 inches square and weigh between 14 – 16 ounces. Plastic pellets may be used in lieu of feed corn if constructing an all-weather bag but who the heck wants to throw cornhole bags that ain’t go no feed corn in em!? ALRIGHT! NOW IT’S TIME TO ADDRESS THE PROPER RULES OF GAME PLAY! For simplicities sake, we’re only going to go over the rules for singles play (that’s one-on-one). If you would like the official rules for doubles and larger team play, please visit the American Corn Hole Association website where you can download pdf files and regulations to your heart’s content! Both players stay in their designated lane for the whole game. Players start the game at the headboard and will alternate pitching bags until each player has pitched all four of his/her bags. Players then walk to the end of their lane to the other court, take score, and resume pitching back to the other board. The top of an inning is completed when the first player pitches all four bags; the bottom of the inning is completed when the remaining player pitches all four bags. SCORING The approved method of scoring for the sport of cornhole is “cancellation” scoring. In cancellation scoring, the

…by neil dandy PLAY THE VIDEO BELOW! LISTEN TO THE PODCAST BELOW! Before we begin, I need to let you know that the Dandy Fun House is now officially NOT sponsored by Hunt’s Manwich! Ok, now that THAT’S out of the way… If you recall from our last adventure, I had set out to introduce a new segment called the $10 TOY STORE CHALLENGE where I go into a toy store at random and try to get the most fun and wacky thing I can find for 10 bucks or less. Well, I ended up at Brilliant Sky Toys and Books in beautiful Brentwood, Tennessee and found myself getting distracted and carried away like a kid in… A TOY STORE! Go figure! But alas, I did find my toy for under $10, I did bring it home and here we are to open it up, poke, prod, play with it and let you know what I think! What toy am I talking about ??? None other than HANK’S TWISTED CHALLENGE! by Wicked Cool Toys! The object of Hank’s Twisted Challenge is as follows: You have bendable wires which you hold in your mouth with the help of some special mouthpieces. You twist and contort the wires into various shapes, curls and bends dictated by the spinner. Then you must navigate a bead-ball all the way to the end of the wire without using your hands. The first person to successfully navigate their bead-ball is of course declared the winner! The twist comes from some special challenge cards each player must pull which may instruct you to do it with your eyes closed, walking around, standing on one leg, down on your knees, singing the national anthem, etc. UNBOXING: Included in my box were 3 different colors of wires, 4 different colored mouthpieces, 2 bead balls, challenge cards, a spinner which tells you what shapes to twist the wires into and instructions along with examples of the various wire shapes (amoeba, saddleback, corkscrew, etc.) There was also a large cardboard divider to keep everything from flopping around which I have to imagine the real purpose was to make the box bigger on the shelf for better marketing. I’m sure the environmentalists are gonna love that! PLAYING: Since there were 3 of us playing (myself, my wife Michele and our son Evan) but only 2 bead balls (perhaps there was a mispackaging since there were differing numbers of mouthpieces, wires and bead balls???) only 2 of us could play at a time. So we decided that Michele and Evan would go first and I would play the winner. Evan spun the wheel first and got Amoeba, Corkscrew and Ear Canal as his wire shapes. Michele got Amoeba, Heartbeat and Camelback. Then they drew challenge cards. Michele drew a non-challenge card (meaning she didn’t have to do anything special) while Evan’s card delivered the bad news that he would have to get through the challenge with his eyes closed. After twisting, turning, tossing and burning, Michele managed to squeak out the win and advance to the final round against me. I spun the wheel and came up with Corkscrew and Dragon Tail for my wire shapes and my challenge card instructed that I had to walk around while playing. Michele also spun Corkscrew and Dragontail but had to do the challenge on her knees. But even on her knees she managed to rise to victory and was crowned our champion! THE VERDICT: I absolutely loved this game! It gets you up, active and moving around and having a great time with your family and friends! You can even play this alone if you’re bored or just want to practice for future competitions. Anyone halfway able-bodied can do this. I’m giving this game a big thumbs up and on a Fun House Scale from 1 – 10… I’m giving Hank’s Twisted Challenge a high 8! You can obtain your own box of HANK’S TWISTED CHALLENGE at Brilliant Sky Toys and Books, 1705 Mallory Ln, #100, Brentwood, TN or simply visit them online at http://www.bskytoys.com to get it delivered to your door! That’s all for now! Hope your day stays FUN AND DANDY! *** IF YOU’VE ENJOY THIS CONTENT AND WISH TO SUPPORT FUTURE PRODUCTIONS, PLEASE CONSIDER DONATING TO THE DANDY FUN HOUSE VIA THE PATRONAGE LINKS BELOW! Supporters gain access to exclusive bonus material! *Super-Supporters* get special prizes! ** SUPER-DUPER SUPPORTERS ** get all of the above as well as personal Zoom video call with Neil Dandy! BUY ME A COFFEE: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/dandydj​ PAYPAL: https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=YR4WXBXKGYWUN​ … or just visit that Patronage page at the Dandy Fun House Website http://www.dandyfunhouse.com​ Thank you for supporting the Dandy Fun House where everything is always FUN AND DANDY! Neil Dandy is the creator of The Dandy Fun House and the alter-ego of Neil Smith, the Big Cheese at Neil Smith Entertainment and Productions, musician, DJ, Emcee and author. Aren’t you impressed?  

WATCH THE VIDEO BELOW! LISTEN TO THE PODCAST BELOW! For this episode I WAS going to introduce a new segment called the $10 Toy Store Challenge where I go into a toy store at random and try to find the most fun and wacky thing I can find for ten bucks or less! Well… it seems my plans got changed a bit because while I was out hunting for my wacky $10 toy, I came across something really special I wanted to share with you. So the $10 Toy Store Challenge is actually being split between 2 articles because I decided to focus this entry on the place I FOUND my under $10 toy while our NEXT article will be the unboxing, playing with and full review of the toy I chose. Anyway, I’ve had another sort of challenge lately and this has been to find a mom and pop toy store that actually a toy store instead of shop for comics and collectibles. No offense to comic and collectible shops. But it seems that real honest-to-goodness toy stores are getting harder and harder to come by these days. But alas, I DID find one in Brentwood, Tennessee! BRILLIANT SKY TOYS AND BOOKS! As I enter the store, the first thing that strikes me is that it has this great feeling of imagination and creativity to everything, sort of like those Sharper Image stores from the 90’s and 2000’s except for kids. I found an Icee making kit, a football you throw against a wall that bounces back to you in case you’re like me and have no friends, a variety of inflatable play forts which can never be better than taping old furniture boxes together but still awesome, Birdie Golf combining the two best old-people sports – golf and badminton, dinosaurs, all the best kids books like Dog Man and Bedtime for Batman, all sorts of soap carving kits (I never knew that was a thing, but then I don’t really bathe much) and a large collection of most every game you can imagine. This place is really something! After playing around for a while, I finally got to the main reason for my being there… The Ten Dollar Toy Store Challenge which is where I go into a toy store at random and see what’s the most fun thing I can find for ten bucks or less. I buy it, take it home, unbox it, try it out and let you know what I think (this will be my next episode, btw.) But for now, I’ll at least reveal the 3 contenders for the challenge and the toy I ultimately chose and purchased. First up was the #UpsideDownChallenge Game where you put on a special pair of goggles that turns everything upside down and then you pick a card and have to either draw or carry out whatever activity is on the card while wearing the upside down goggles which could mean pouring a glass of water and perhaps mowing your lawn. Safety first, kids! Secondly was Curve Bowl which is a bowling ball and bowling pin set (a single bowling pin) with a twist. The ball curves as you release it and your challenge is to try and knock down the bowling pin with a ball that’s impossible to throw straight, which would actually be regular bowling for me. And last but not least, we come to HANK’S TWISTED CHALLENGE which is where you and some friends all hold squiggly wires in your mouths with the help of some special sanitary mouthpieces and then try to manuever small bead balls down the wires all the way to the end by twisting and contorting your body and without using your hands. I noticed that the box for Hank’s Twisted Challenge has a cartoon picture of a lady on it playing the game and the picture looks very similar to my wife’s cartoon facebook avatar so being the shallow person I am, that’s the toy I chose. On my way out, I pass a rack of glittery stuffed plush snakes because you know… WHAT KID DOESN’T WANT TO SLEEP WITH A GIANT SNAKE!? Next thing I know I’m being drawn into the pit and consumed by cuddly vipers. But alas I did call upon my Dandy Fun House super powers and gallantly fought my way free. And so ends my amazing visit to Brilliant Sky Toys and Books in beautiful Brentwood, Tennessee! I got to leave with my toy store treasure for under ten dollars, Hank’s Twisted Challenge which we’ll unbox, play with and review on the next episode of the Dandy Fun House, so be sure to come back for that, I promise it will be a twisted, contorted mess of a good time! If you happen to find yourself in Brentwood, Tennessee and wish to pay a visit to Brilliant Sky Toys and Books and see how much fun YOU can have in a real, honest-to-goodness mom and pop toy store, you can find them at 1705 Mallory Lane, suite 100, Brentwood, Tennessee. Or if visiting in person is simply not an option, you can explore their imaginitive world of dazzling delights online at bskytoys.com which even has a special bargain section for all you cheapskates like me. Some honorable mentions or my personal favorites I found there were THE FLOOR IS LAVA game, Gravitrax interactive track system construction kit, The Bath Scrub Lab where you create your own bath salts and scrubs while learning chemistry, Easy Rollerz Heel Wheels which turn any pair of shoes into roller s

WATCH THE VIDEO BELOW! LISTEN TO THE PODCAST BELOW! Hey there fun seekers, I’m Neil Dandy and welcome to the DANDY FUN HOUSE, the home of your favorite frivolities! If you’re reading this right now I’d like to let you know that this is episode number one of the Dandy Fun House where we explore all things amusement. This can be carnival games, board games you play at home, inflatable attractions, toys both modern and retro, amusement parks, weird and wonderful destinations, you get the idea. And today we kick off episode one with a family trip to… (dramatic pause) … DOLLYWOOD! What’s Dollywood you ask? Is it a spooky forest filled with dolls that come alive after dark and chase you with maniacal laughter!? Not exactly. Dollywood is a major, and I mean MAJOR amusement park located in Pigeon Forge Tennessee nestled between the mountain getaway town of Gatlinburg and the city of Knoxville in the eastern Tennessee Appalachia! This isn’t Six Flags, Universal or Disney. In Dollywood, there is no mouse king, but there is a Queen. In fact THE QUEEN of country music, Dolly Parton for whom the entire amusement park is themed around. Not overly so mind you. There’s just a touch of Dolly in everything about Dollywood. This trip happened in the early stages of reopenings from the Covid19 pandemic shutdowns where the wearing of masks were required in most public settings that were fortunate enough to be open for business. We visited on July 27th, 2020. And since we live about 3 and a half hours away in beautiful Murfreesboro, Tennessee, we had to wake up at around 5:30 in the morning because not only is it a pretty good drive from where we live but our state of Tennessee is also split in half by the Central and Eastern time zones and we lose an hour going there, but of course we gain it again on our way back which is nice. So I started my day around 5:30am groggily sitting on my back porch pouring coffee down my throat trying desperately to wake up so I’m not a road hazard behind the wheel while I’ve got my family’s life in my hands as well as others. Our Dollywood gang for the day included my lovely wife Michele, our ten year old son Evan and our dog, Emma-Lou. While you can’t take your dog into the park, they do have a day kennel named what else… DOGGYWOOD for a very reasonable price might I add. We didn’t feel comfortable leaving her home alone for the 18 hours or so that we would be gone since she’s a bit of an older dog at the age of 11, so we had to make the choice of which stress level would be more tolerable. We felt that her getting to take a nice ride and a large chunk of the day with the family and spending 8 hours in a cage in an air conditioned building with a walk break in between was better than being locked in the house alone for 18 hours without being able to do her business. Thus we opted for Doggywood. You might be thinking in the context of major amusement parks like Universal, Disney, Six Flags etc, how big can a Dolly Parton theme park possibly be (no pun intended, kids don’t ask your parents what that means)? Well let me tell you, this park is major. And I mean… MAJOR. As with most major theme parks, once you drive into the main gates and get past the initial parking toll booths, it’s a good little drive to get to the parking area and from there you get onto trams in order to get to the main gates of the actual park. Once we exit the trams and just outside the main park entrance we get to Doggywood which means that in order to walk the dog in the middle of the day you do have to technically exit and re-enter the park but honestly that wasn’t a problem and security doesn’t shake you down too hard in the process. Check in at Doggywood was very easy since we made reservations in advance and we were allowed to walk her back to the cage ourselves and give her a few parting hugs. One really nice thing I would like to say about the attendants at Doggywood is that they were so nice. We forgot to bring Emma-Lou’s blanket from the van, which you’re supposed to do as they state on their website that they do not provide the padding. And instead of making me take the tram all the way back to the parking lot to retrieve her pad, the wonderful lady there brought us out one and was just absolutely accommodating. Dollywood entrance! And now we enter the park. The first thing that strikes you is sort of an old-timey town vibe with Antebellum style houses, perhaps a bit of New Orleans type of feel. The big Dollywood sign with a butterfly in place of the W. A little bizarre seeing all these people walking around wearing masks, but you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do. As we start getting into the park we come across this beautiful and unique art piece of multicolored umbrellas hanging over the walkway. And of course candy shops, gift shops and vendors of various types ready to take your hard-earned cash with a smile at every turn. I stopped to admire a classic taffy pulling machine as well as some popping candy with