I don't talk about action figures much here. Dunno why. If I were to make a guess, it's because I don't collect them as much as I used to. I did get the last 3 Marvel Legends sets where I could build the bigger figure, snaring Galactus, the Sentinel, and Apocalypse. And I got the Watcher figure from Marvel Direct. From DC I got the Red Hood Unmasked figure (with switching Red Hood and Joker heads, no Jason Todd, which makes Highlander and myself happy)
I went to Wally World today and checked the action figure aisle. They had the new Superman Returns action figures in! They just have the Big S himself out so far, and opted for the Kryptonite Smash one. They also have one that you can change to Clark Kent with the cloth outfit.
And I finally had to resort to eBay to get the David Carradine Kill Bill figure, after searching in vain, and one of the two possible sources (Sam Goody's/Suncoast) closing up around me.
Update: Upon closer inspection, not only is S insignia on his chest (duh) and belt buckle, but it's on the heel of the boot, and underneath, each foot has 4 S insignias. But none on the cape. Go figure.

And again, lo and behold, The Squid And The Whale is also suddenly available and next to ship from my queue.
I guess the squeaky wheel gets the grease.
And now I'm watching a new DVD release of the greatest TV show out there: Robot Chicken.

Dan Curtis, director and producer of Winds of War, Dark Shadows, and Trilogy of Terror, has died at the age of 78.

After contacting Netflix, they received a disc I sent to them. Lo and behold, Derailed, a new release last week that had a "short wait", was available for shipping.
Both Netflix and Blockbuster have a short wait on The Squid and The Whale.

Now apparently a bill doesn't have to go through the House and Senate, then signed by the President. It isn't enough W hasn't met a bill he didn't like (he can always write underneath it that it doesn't apply to him): now you just need 3 people to make a bill a law.
Thanks to Peter David for pointing this out.

I received one of Netflix' periodic e-mails checking to see when I received one of their discs. That served as motivation to finally do something about the throttling they have been doing against me. Here is a copy of the e-mail I sent them:
"Thank you for your interest in when I received "Ice Harvest" (which came 3/23/06, BTW). However, there wasn't any way for me to indicate that I placed it in my queue before the DVD release date of February 28th and that there was a "short wait" until yesterday.
This isn't the first time that a new release has been in the top of my queue since before its release (some when the DVD release was officially announced) to find when the DVD is released, there is a "short wait" or a "long wait". In fact, I became so tired of "Cinderella Man" having a long wait that I signed up for a free trial at Blockbuster.com (who had it available, and was one of the first discs I received from them) My free trial ended approximately a month ago from Blockbuster and continue to use their service that I find is better than yours, as I am more successful in getting new releases from Blockbuster than from Netflix.
I have been a Netflix subscriber for a very long time, and am reluctant to cancel my business with you. However, if things do not improve soon, that may be a step I will have to take.
I will post a copy of this correspondence on my blog, as well as any replies I receive from you. We are very interested in how you treat your loyal customers."
And here's Netflix' automated reply:
"Dear Netflix User,

We appreciate your recent feedback about the Netflix service. Due to
the overwhelming number of great ideas we get from customers such as
yourself, we cannot reply to every customer individually. However,
all comments and suggestions are forwarded to the appropriate
departments for review and consideration.

If you have a question you need answered right away, please visit
our online Help Center at http://www.netflix.com/Help. It covers a
wide variety of commonly asked questions.

We apologize for the inconvenience. Netflix makes every effort to
maintain its site and strives to give its customers the best DVD
experience possible.

Sincerely,
Your Friends at Netflix "
Let's see what (if anything) happens next.

Remember a while back when I told you about the live action Simpsons? Well, if you haven't seen it yet (or want to see it in a larger size), then tune in The Simpsons this Sunday when they'll show it as the show opening.
And as the article states, it was created in Britain (as I suspected) by Sky One, the channel over there showing The Simpsons and also owned by Fox.

Want free gum from Dentyne? Click this.

I was sending in my comics order for March, and I was looking into picking up some extra copies of the Free Comic Book Day comics to give out on Halloween and see about getting some new business for my local comic shops.
However, I was just informed that the cut-off date was last Friday, but it ain't relevant because they can't be sold to me (I offered to cover the expense of getting the extra copies for myself and to give away), but Diamond raised the minimum order to be listed as a FCBD store, so they aren't ordering most of them.
And when you factor in the problems some stores have in getting shorted on their order, then told "sorry, Charlie" (read the posts of the last couple of weeks at that link) And the fact that Dark Horse doesn't have popular trade paperbacks available to comic shops until after the demand has died down (ibid.) it makes you wonder if there's people who want comic books to die out. So, needless to say, my plans to give out comics for Halloween will be scaled back. As the Wolf said in Pulp Fiction "if my help's not appreciated, lots of luck, gentlemen"
Thinking about it, people will be interested in comics. There's the funny pages in the paper, kids are always interested in comics (there's Nickelodeon and Disney Adventures magazines) The question is whether comic shops will survive. Given the distribution and ordering systems in place, it's doubtful.