I was going to give you "Bob Remembers The Twinkie" this week, but now there's a chance they'll start making those things again.Ya need a case of them? I went over board at the outlet store over the weekend.

Anyway, here's an encore blog about a place where one year, I did all my Christmas shopping:

I often moan about the demise of the record shop. With that said, I sure spent a lot of time at Media Play. When it opened it was instantly one of those special destinations. I actually took a date there once.

When I entered for the first time, I couldn’t believe my eyes. The store was sooo big, I couldn’t see to the other side. The place was stocked with everything available on VHS, paperback, CD along with games and really cheap guitars. If you were overwhelmed by the selection, you could search on the in-store computer...Wow!

Did you know that Rockford had the first Media Play? That made the Forest Plaza the hippest strip mall in the Forest City. Something more hip came along: The Internet, which eventually caused the demise of the chain in 2006. I’m still trying to figure what to do with the $50 Replay card I got a month before the store closed. Should I frame it?