I know, I know, "New Year's Wrap Up" sounds more appropriate at this time, but that puts more pressure on me to write stuff, and this post is more about finishing up Christmas.
I had put it off for years mainly because it was the tree we got when we first moved in here. But the stand cracked and I had to duct tape it to keep it working. And it needs a ribbon tied to it and attached to the wall to keep it standing. And the branches are ready to fall apart from the forming and unforming over the years. So I went ahead and got another one. The only way I could afford it was to wait until after Christmas and take advantage of the sales. To give you an idea of how prices change, just this year I noticed the tree we first got back in 1993 from Wally World has a price of $48.88. The one we got from Target was half off of the regular price of $99.99. Okay, the new one is a 7 footer, a foot taller than the old one, but still...
And we looked at the other after Christmas stuff and took advantage of the 50% off sale. We saw this angel that Kathy said we should get...

And we got a wrapping set that includes paper, bags, bows, tags for 30 gifts for $6.50. And I got an early start on the next two birthdays on our list by buying a couple of gifts that were half off. And I got me a flashlight set, too. But there were a couple of things I couldn't pass up. One was this Hulk figurine...

And I'm not a Winnie The Pooh fan, but this one looked too cute to pass up...

It's the Piglet curled up in his stocking that was the clincher.
So hopefully you all found some good after Christmas deals. And also hopefully next year will better for all of us than this year was.

As promised a long time ago, here's your chance to see the pictures I took back in 2004. This was a disposable camera I found while doing some cleaning and it had pictures of the last trip we took down to the Smoky Mountains, and the side trip I took to see the preview showing of Spamalot in Chicago just after Christmas. Unfortunately, the pictures I took of my hotel and a couple I snuck of the theatre didn't come out. And for some reason, not all the pictures, labels and tags aren't sticking. I'm also hitting the wall as to their 200 public pictures limit. The cost benefit to upgrade isn't worth it, so I'm starting to weed out some photos and be more selective in what I put up, not just slap up everything.
I have been very busy the past couple of days, as well. I hope to have an update, as well as more pictures, later.

Unfortunately, children are afflicted with cerebral palsy due to medical malpractice. The legal firm of Janet, Jenner and Suggs, LLC is there to fight for your rights and to do everything they can to make sure that any further suffering is minimized. They would be glad to review your case and see what they can do to help you.

Apples of Gold Jewelry is a Christian jeweler who derives their name from the book of Proverbs. They feel it embodies their business ethics. They offer a variety of jewelry including gold chains, gold earrings, jemstone jewelry,and more. They offer high quality gold jewelry at approximately 50% below standard retail gold jewelry prices. They also back up their product offerings with a money back guarantee and a secure website.

Looks like my dance card is filling up today, kids. It's getting to be decision time as to what comics I want to get from my comics shop and which ones I want to order. Also, eBay is running a 10 cent listing day today and I'm going to put some stuff up for bid. Also, we're going shopping tomorrow and need to finalize the list for that.
Meanwhile, here's some free teevee for those who haven't traversed the bittorrents to acquire it yet. First, the teaser:

And now, the feature presentation:









Get it before the beeb makes them take it down.
Dear Auntie Beeb, why won't you let us Americans watch the show? Thanks to a friend, I find out you let the UK watch and download it for 7 days but all we get is the station bumper you ran before the program (or programme, as you lot say. BTW, like the penguins with the ice skaters) The publishers of 2000 AD let me buy their comics downloaded, I'm sure we'd be glad to pay you to see it. I'm sure you can think up something to help us yanks out. And I'm sure we'd love to see you other programs as well. Just think about it, okay?
PS: Do you think there's enough guitar in the new version of the Doctor Who theme?

I just learned from Tony Isabella's board, who learned it from John Ostrander that Paul Grant died. Ironically, in this age of instantaneous information of the internet (which you'll learn to be more ironic), it happened way back in November. On my birthday, no less.
Zeus was our first online friend that we met before we were online. We were at the Chicago Comicon one year when we saw a flyer: "Zeus decrees 'Lo, there shall be a party!'" We were starting to stay overnight at conventions, and a bit anxious to do something after the doors closed at 6, so we went. There we met Zeus, his son Paul, and learned about this thing called Compuserve and on this thing called Compuserve they get together and talk about comics. Zeus was a constant prescence at the Chicago Comicon, and when I got my first computer, I joined Compuserve so I could find him and read the back and forth about comics.
I hate having to hear this news. I hate having it been so long to hear it.

Did everyone have a good Christmas? I'm starting to get some reports, and confidential to someone who was disappointed in my gift: sorry about that, one that is on your list is coming.
I was happier with the gifts that we got this year, including gift cards to Wal-Mart, Applebee's and Texas Roadhouse. It's something to look forward to once the holidays die down and the post-holiday depression sinks in. Also, I got a sweatshirt and new watch from Kathy, and it was good to have a couple of surprises for Christmas, as I'm such a bargain hunter and it's easier for me to get the presents that I usually get them. And the band is better on the new watch and I won't have to worry about it breaking soon. And I got the Blade Runner 5 disc DVD set in the briefcase that includes the extras like the miniature spinner car, lenticular picture and others. Also I got some Simpsons movie figures that Best Buy had for sale with the Simpsons Movie DVD last week. I also got Marvel Ultimate Alliance for the PSP, the new Ms. Tree book as part of the Hard Crime series, "Love All The People" a book from England collecting the letters, lyrics and routines of Bill Hicks, and some stocking stuffers.
Unfortunately, the Flash Gordon animated DVD had the wrong discs in it, so I had to go back to Half Price Books where I got the right ones. Also, they had a 20% off sale where I picked up Battlestar Galactica season 2.0 (first half) DVD, Repo Man DVD, Fruits Basket vols. 1 & 2. And I got a recycleable bag to put it all in. And there were a couple of things I was really looking forward to that I didn't get until today: the new Heroes novel "Saving Charlie" and the newest Doctor Who episode that we're going to watch in a little bit. There's probably a few other things I've forgotten, but if I did and I remember them, I'll let you know.

Note: The following post is sponsored.
Have you noticed that there's more than one search engine out there? One will become more popular, and therefore more powerful. And some might say that they abuse their power. But there's a new search engine coming this Monday that will combine the big search engines, plus allow ranking, therefore allowing people to get the best results from their searches. Also, you'll no longer be at the mercy of a particular search engine, especially as they get more powerful.

I'll be popping on and off the internet tubes the next few days, since everyone else has taken the holiday, why not me? So I wanted to have the chance to wish everyone a Merry Christmas, hope that Haunakah was good to our Jewish friends (and I'm sorry I didn't mention it earlier), that we remember and the keep the message of Kwanzaa, that everyone gets what they want out of the holidays and more, and that everyone finds themselves better off this time next year. And here's a Doctor Who Christmas story by Paul Cornell. And while we're on the subject, here's something a little Extras under the tree, courtesy of Gordon Dymowski of Blog This, Pal!:

And for that time of year again, I still love it:

Note: The following post is sponsored.
Nerdynews.com is a social bookmarking site similar to digg, only with Nerdy News you can get 50% of the ad revenue generated by the content they submit. Also, as you can guess from the title, the news items are more of interest to a targeted site, much like this blog is.