In case anybody was wondering, I've been busy dealing with personal matters that's kept me away from the blog for a couple of weeks. Also, I rented a couple of games for Xbox from Blockbuster for free courtesy of My Coke Rewards. It took me about a week and a half to finish Scarface: The World Is Yours that's one of the spinoff items that purports to continue the story from the original film (with a small alteration or two). You start to rebuild Tony Montana's empire Grand Theft Auto III style, taking back it's original movie soundtrack that was used in that game in the bargain. Then I played Justice League Heroes, taking 3 days to go through that storyline. (Tip for those of you playing or about to play: power up your Superman's heat vision and man of steel powers, then when you're facing Darkseid at the end, play Supes and use both those powers to take him down)
And I know it's short notice, but tonight's Countdown With Keith Olbermann will have another Special Comment that is popular amongst bloggers of our ilk, this time it's about the latest Republican "scare" ad that recalls the infamous "daisy countdown" ad of Lyndon B. Johnson.

(Or: "Why Did CSI Get 'Who Are You' As Their Theme Song Instead Of This Show?")
Thanx to Mark Gibson for this (and the dedication):

You scored as The First Doctor (William Hartnell). You chose the First doctor. He may have been cranky and cantankerous, but he is the original! The First Doctor (William Hartnell) 88% The Sixth Doctor (Colin Baker) 88% The Eighth Doctor (Paul McGann) 88% The Seventh Doctor (Sylvester McCoy) 81% The Fourth Doctor (Tom Baker) 69% The Second Doctor (Patrick Troughton) 69% The Ninth Doctor (Christoper Eccleston) 63% The Third Doctor (Jon Pertwee) 56% The Fifth Doctor (Peter Davidson) 50% Which Doctor Who are you? created with QuizFarm.com

Mark Evanier pointed out this article by Rod Dreher about last week's shooting at the Amish schoolhouse and how the Amish are dealing with it. Honorable mention goes to Mike Gallagher for keeping that asshat Rev. Fred Phelps and his ilk away from the funeral, thus stopping our further hurting the Amish because our relationship with God isn't as good and pure as theirs'.

Kevin Costner is headed for a legal showdown over a casino he owns in Deadwood. As Fark might say, "Al Swearengen unavailable for comment."
Update: Here's the actual link from Fark and their summary: "Kevin Costner to become sole owner of Deadwood casino. Sheriff Bullock unavailable for comment"

Due to a miscommunication (i.e. Hollywood Bar and Filmworks did not communicate the fact that a fee of $20 each would be charged for autographs at any point), tonight did not go as planned. Being a convention goer, and knowing about the vicissitudes of celebrity, I understand and have no quarrel with the celebs charging for autographs. Again, it is with the management. Unfortunately, my current situation called for me to ultimately cut my losses with the downtown parking fee and to bail on the evening. I picked up some Grippo's Barbeque Chips, Cookie Dough ice cream, and some KFC for supper. Money that IMHO was better spent. Please note the correction in the previous entry. We regret the error.

Tony Isabella started a thread on his site listing 3 things that make him happy, to combat the misery in the world. This idea inspired me. Here's the 3 things I came up with yesterday:
1) Doctor Who is back on Sci-Fi. As it happens every time, the wife misses the old Doctor and isn't sure if she'll like the new one. And once again, she accepted him. This time I think it was the moment when the Doctor was pleading on behalf of humanity and realized he was quoting the lyrics from "Circle of Life" from The Lion King.
2) Transmetropolitan by Warren Ellis and Darick Robertson. Wil Wheaton praised it in a recent entry in his blog and started picking up the trades. I just finished it, and while like Civil War it can be a parable of the times we live in, it has a more satisfying resolution in the story. When I grow up, I want to be Spider Jerusalem. Pick it up and thank me later, gang.
3) Greatest American Hero limited edition DVD set. I saw the ad for it in Wizard and declared like in Dork Tower "It must be mine!" This has all the episodes, extras including the "Greatest American Heroine" spinoff pilot, plus an iron on decal of the insignia on the costume, a cape, and a light up replica of the instruction manual. And best of all, it's only $76.88.
I don't want to say how I got it because due to selecting 2nd Day Air as an option and it coming from one state over, I got it Friday, and it was better than I hoped for.
(The links go to Action Is My Reward, a shop set up by World Famous Comics. You get the stuff through Amazon same as if you ordered it directly, but WFC gets a small piece of the action)

And here's my list for today October 1st:
1) Biscuits and gravy for Sunday brunch. It's a tradition here at Casa Collett, and I'm getting hungry and looking forward to it as I type.
2) I'm going to downtown Indianapolis this evening to see "Animal House" at the Hollywood Bar and Filmworks. This is a great place to see movies, with food and drinks served, that I haven't been to in a while. But the reason I'm going is that 4 of the stars: Karen Allen (Katy), Mark Metcalf (Niedermeyer), Martha Smith (Babs) and Steven Furst (Flouder) will be there to sign autographs, host, etc. The Colts winning against the Jets. I'm not a sports fanatic, but always liked rooting for the local teams. I turned in with about 2 1/2 minutes in the 4th quarter to check the score, and ended up watching the rest due to the exciting turn of events.
3) Robert Downey Jr as Tony Stark in the Iron Man movie. While I confess I nearly did a spit-take when I first read the news here, reading the press release only steels my resolve that director Jon Favreau will bring us a great Marvel movie in 2008.