Recurrent Events Update: RIP George 'The Animal' Steele, Golden Girls Cafe Now Open, Unreleased Weird Al Pac-Man Song

Welcome to the Recurrent Events weekly news update for retro pop culture headlines, links, videos, and more! I've been working on the next entry in my '80s pinewood derby car collection over the past couple weeks. You might remember last year I built two '80s-themed cars, The A-Team van and the TMNT party wagon. This year I decided to take the easy route as far as the design, but I'm still proud of the final outcome. I'll be "rolling out" that car (rather, truck) this coming week on the website following tomorrow's race.

The year of RD80s social media giveaways continues with a new one on Twitter just posted yesterday! This time you have a chance to win a Ghostbusters Prize Pack including a 6" Ray Stanz classic action figure, a vintage Ghostbusters II wax pack of trading cards, an eraser set, and two classic minifigs of Ray and Slimer. To enter, simply retweet the pinned giveaway tweet and make sure you follow RD80s. Random winner will be chosen next Friday Feb 24 and contacted via DM on Twitter. Good luck!

Here's are some RD80s articles posted this week in case you missed them:

• IDW and Funko Publishing One-Shot Comics With '80s Icons TMNT, Ghostbusters, and More
• A Short History of Multi-Game Arcade Machines
• '80s Valentines We'd Like To Receive: Part 3

My second favorite Rush song (behind "Limelight") is the 1981 hit "Tom Sawyer" and Ultimate Classic Rock introduced me to an awesome cover this week. Why does this one stand out from others? The performer plays drums, guitar, and also sings the vocals at the same time!

Video of the Week

Here are your Recurrent Events links for Feb 18, 2017!

MOVIES

R2-D2 Gets a New Actor for STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI - Newsarama
Ellen Ripley, Alien, and the rise of the modern Ripleys - Den of Geek
Hollywood's Brief Love Affair With 'Young Einstein' Star Yahoo Serious - mental_floss
Why Spaceballs is the Star Wars spoof we need - Den of Geek
'RoboCop' Studio Settles Dispute With Security Firm - THR
Vince Vaughn to Play '80s Wrestling Star in The Rock and WWE's Paige Movie - IGN
Keanu Reeves Spills BILL AND TED 3 Details! - Nerdist
WWE, Bill Simmons Partner on Andre the Giant Doc for HBO - Variety

TV

George “The Animal” Steele Dies: Iconic Wrestler - Deadline

Why You Can Never Expect The Golden Girls to Get a Reboot - Vulture

21 Times Dorothy Zbornak From "The Golden Girls" Just Wasn't Having It - BuzzFeed Rewind

13 Classic 80s Talk Shows - Like Totally 80s

Everything We Know About the New TWIN PEAKS - Nerdist

BEAVIS AND BUTT-HEAD’s Incomplete “Complete Collection” (Review) - Nerdist

The Duffer brothers promise Stranger Things won’t overstay its welcome - A.V. Club

15 Video Game TV Shows You Forgot Existed - CBR

MUSIC

“Weird Al” Yankovic shares his unreleased Beatles parody about Pac-Man - A.V. Club
Al Jarreau, Legendary Jazz Singer, Dies at 76 - Billboard
Midnight Oil announces massive 2017 reunion tour, 3 huge box sets with unreleased music - Slicing Up Eyeballs
John Mellencamp Plots 'Sad Clowns & Hillbillies' LP, Summer Tour - Rolling Stone
Styx, REO Speedwagon And Don Felder Join Forces For ‘United We Rock’ U.S. Summer Tour - Like Totally 80s
HBO Acquires David Bowie Documentary ‘The Last Five Years’ - Deadline
Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' Extends Reign as Highest Certified Album in U.S. History - Billboard
5 Songs This '80s Kid Loved (That I Now Realize Are All About SEX!) - YourTango
Asia Dedicate Upcoming Live Album 'Symfonia' to John Wetton - Ultimate Classic Rock
Quiet Riot Announce New 'Road Rage' Album - Ultimate Classic Rock
Watch Guns N' Roses Have a Spinal Tap Moment in Australia - Ultimate Classic Rock
Weekend Earworms: Good Gracious, the Great Grammys of 1983! - Nerdist

VIDEO GAMES

Super Nintendo Fighting Game 'Unholy Night' Hits Kickstarter - RetroCollect
Can You Name All The Robots In This Transformers: Forged To Fight Trailer? - Kotaku
Who wouldn’t want this Original Atari Combat Two Oil Painting? - Retroist
A hotel accident got the Moonwalker videogame signed off - Den of Geek
Why Arcades Haven't Died In Japan - Kotaku
Cancelled Arcade Game 'Primal Rage II' Now Playable With MAME - RetroCollect
Cask Jumper, Vic-20 Motorbike Game Found & Released After 30 Years! - Vintage is the New Old

POP CULTURE

The Golden Girls-themed cafe is finally open - A.V. Club
10 Even More ’80s-Themed Valentines We’d Like to Receive - Pop Rewind
LEGALLY BLONDE Writer Bringing Her GOONIES-Inspired MISFIT CITY To Comic Books - Newsarama
Jim Henson’s ‘The Dark Crystal Tales’ Children’s Book Announced - BOOM! Studios
GARFIELD - GRUMPY CAT: Summer Cat Fight of 2017 - Newsarama
He-Man/Thundercats #5 - CBR
Cheetos Paws Are BACK, BABY! - Horror Movie BBQ
Remembering Swamp Thing - Retrospace
Happy Valentine’s Day From G.I. Joe - Retro Ramblings
9 Nostalgic Facts About Chia Pets - mental_floss
Forgotten Food: McDonald’s McD.L.T. - Retro Ramblings


COLLECTING
TRANSFORMERS Trypticon Towers Over the Competition at Toy Fair 2017 - Nerdist
Super7 Toy Fair MOTU ReAction Wave 3 official reveals - He-Man.Org
Toy Fair NY Reveals: Darkwing Duck! - Funko
The Complete Reed Dukes of Hazzard Party Supply Collection - Dukes Collector
Madballs Foam Balls Join the Kidrobot Collection - AwesomeToyBlog

Got a link or know any active retro pop culture blogs/websites that are worth including with the Recurrent Events? Leave a comment so I can add it to the mix! If you missed last week's news update, visit the Recurrent Events archive.