With all the hub-bub of this week and my own personal frustrations I've had to wrestle with, I checked the archives and realized I never mentioned that I was one of the contributors to last week's Five For Friday list at the Comics Reporter. The topic was "Name Five Of Your Favorite Comics That Came Out Before 1958, No Matter Whether You Read Them In Original Or Reprinted Form." And there were a lot that made my "d'oh!" list that I forgot when I composed my list, which was a little more off the cuff than previous contributions. For instance, I was working on the assumption of comic books, not thinking of comic strips, or I would've mentioned Peanuts or Terry and the Pirates. Gasoline Alley would've been a contender as well, as I order and anxiously await each collection released. I was glad to read that another Walt and Skeezix collection is coming, but realized we missed out on one this year. I hadn't read the last one yet, but that's because I realize that once I read it I must wait again, so it's one of those things I put off that's added to a pile growing bigger and bigger.
And then there's the comic books. I found more I didn't think of when I made my list. There aren't any pikers on mine, but there's at least one on the other lists that a case could be made for substituting on my list.
And I wanted to note that things look better on the Mark Gibson front. The daughter's Japan trip is more expensive than first thought, but there's scholarships, sponsorships, donations, etc. that could make it doable. Hopefully more to come on that front.

What can I say about Muchos Fantastic that hasn't already been said about Borat and the Frito Bandito? Really, some people are uncomfortable about humor that is derived from foreigners in our country, thinking that it'll lead people to believe certain stereotypes about certain groups. Really, I see a character like that as just that, a character. No more than I would think of the Three Stooges as being WASP representatives. There are some funny things about this video:

That I would not ascribe to anyone Mexican or Hispanic. More of the humor is derived from selling an unlikely product. But if you're not as interested in my writing about Mucho's video and blog (that Steve Martin would say is like dancing about architecture) and more interested in seeing a funny video or reading a funny blog, go check it out.

I watched Barack Obama's acceptance speech last night. I resisted the impulse to post my thoughts here last night, allowing time to properly set a context.
Wow.
It addressed all the questions people had about him, his strengths, his weaknesses, and he set 'em up and he knocked them down. I was amazed. There are very few times in my life when I was doing something that I realized that I was in the zone and that I was knocking it out of the park. One was when I was part of a debate team taking the con position on animal testing and I gave my presentation. I recall having a hard time finding articles and facts against the position, but I finally found some, and it was one of the few times I worked a long time over a high school project. The other was when I tried out for Tevya in "Tevya And His Daughters" (Think Fiddler On The Roof without the singing) The drama club teacher thought I was more suited for Lazar Wolf, one of Tevya's daughter's would be suitors, but I asked for, and got the chance, to try out for Tevya. And it was during the audition I knew I knocked it out of the park (I got the part). That was the feeling I got when I watched the speech. If you missed it you can read it here, but it's like reading a newspaper story about a great game, or reading the lyric sheet to your favorite album if you've never listened to it.
I remember hearing him speak on CSPAN a couple of years ago when I went to my mom's house to do something for her. Hearing him speak of hope and promise was a welcome alternative to the televangelists Kathy has on that relys on the Catholic hat trick of fear,guilt, and shame (thanks to Andy for the phrase) to extol the virtues they're peddling (and to send money. Joyce's plastic surgery isn't going to pay for itself, you know). If any person of faith could tap into the skills Obama demonstrated last night...imagine someone who doesn't use fear, guilt, or shame to persuade you, but told you of Heaven and the glory of getting right with God using words and skills so great you would do anything for it. That you would give up your vices and other things on the no-no list without a second thought.
Someone that can tell you it's possible, but you have to roll up your sleeves and work for it. That you don't have to give in to fear or cynicism.
"They claim that our insistence on something larger, something firmer and more honest in our public life is just a Trojan Horse for higher taxes and the abandonment of traditional values. And that’s to be expected. Because if you don’t have any fresh ideas, then you use stale tactics to scare the voters. If you don’t have a record to run on, then you paint your opponent as someone people should run from.
"You make a big election about small things.
"And you know what – it’s worked before. Because it feeds into the cynicism we all have about government. When Washington doesn’t work, all its promises seem empty. If your hopes have been dashed again and again, then it’s best to stop hoping, and settle for what you already know."
Imagine someone who wants to end the division in our country and have us work to make it better:
"We may not agree on abortion, but surely we can agree on reducing the number of unwanted pregnancies in this country. The reality of gun ownership may be different for hunters in rural Ohio than for those plagued by gang-violence in Cleveland, but don’t tell me we can’t uphold the Second Amendment while keeping AK-47s out of the hands of criminals. I know there are differences on same-sex marriage, but surely we can agree that our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters deserve to visit the person they love in the hospital and to live lives free of discrimination. Passions fly on immigration, but I don’t know anyone who benefits when a mother is separated from her infant child or an employer undercuts American wages by hiring illegal workers. This too is part of America’s promise – the promise of a democracy where we can find the strength and grace to bridge divides and unite in common effort."
And someone that offers a viable choice over the alternative:
"John McCain has voted with George Bush ninety percent of the time. Senator McCain likes to talk about judgment, but really, what does it say about your judgment when you think George Bush has been right more than ninety percent of the time? I don’t know about you, but I’m not ready to take a ten percent chance on change." And don't forget: "John McCain likes to say that he’ll follow bin Laden to the Gates of Hell – but he won’t even go to the cave where he lives."
I'm going to stop before I end up quoting the whole speech here. But this is someone who offers promise, someone who isn't promising the moon, but a dream, and isn't promising to give it you, but inviting you to help work for it. This is someone whom I'm voting for, not voting against the other guy.
And watching some of the post-speech analysis on CNN, a lot of Hillary supporters have been swayed by the speech as well. As Mark Evanier has written, I don't think there's as many disenfranchised Hillary supporters as the media would lead you to believe.
And then this morning McCain announces his vice-presidential pick. Talk about too little, too late. Kathy was saying yesterday that she thought a black woman would be selected, perhaps Condaleeza Rice, and reacted to the news that one out of two wasn't bad. But wasn't one of the Repugnicans' main talking points against Obama was his lack of experience. How can they bring it up now without it backfiring? I guess they'll fall back on their repeated mantra of "Obama=Celebrity" that they've been hammering on the past few weeks.
I've got an idea. Why don't we start talking, too? That's the main reason I wrote this post this evening, after the websites have moved on from the speech last night. I had to do some digging to find the text, and it was about 24 hours since it occured. I wanted to share with you what I thought and felt. I'm looking forward to the debates now. But why don't we talk as well? Especially when someone brings up one of these talking points they've gotten from their fear-mongering superiors? Maybe if enough of us share the dream, we can achieve it instead of suffering in silence as the darkness continues it's encroachment.
And I've been hearing about the vetting process going on for selecting a Democratic vice-president, didn't the Repugnicans have anything similar to that, too? Or were they so anxious to get a token female on the ticket that they totally overlooked this?
Maybe you've read all this and you're not swayed. It's politics, so I'd say there's at least a 99% chance of that. But what it comes down to is: If you're happy with the way things have been for the past 8 years, vote McCain. If you think the country is going in the wrong direction and needs to change, vote Obama. I apologize to the other parties and their candidates, and I wish I could see their candidates as a viable option. If any of you have any idea how that could be done in this election (heck, if you have an idea how to make them or their party get 15% and be eligible for matching funds) I would be interested in finding out. But like it or not, symbolic vote or not, the next President is going to be one of those two gentlemen.

There's a site out there that has Web Site Reviews for sites all over the world where you can see detailed sites, and can do reviews of different sites. You can review top websites or you can review your own website. I just checked out this site and was impressed with the increase in unique visitors over the past year. Glad to have you here. And if there's any other sites you're curious about, go check them out.

I do have thoughts about the past 24 hours I'm still marinating and hope to have up soon. Meanwhile, did you know that the website vpilf.com is already up and running? And they had this YouTube clip from Craig Ferguson's show a while back when Governor Palin extended honorary citizenship of Alaska to Mr. Ferguson:

"Sexy Librarian Vibe" indeed, Mr. Ferguson.

Do you ever have problem with animals wreaking havoc in your backyard? Do you ever wish that you had some sort of skunk control available to you? Out here in the sticks, we've had such problems in the past as raccoons rummaging through the garbage and gophers digging up the back yard. Our momma cat likes being outside, and while she wasn't around back when we had the raccoon problem, she was here when we had the gopher problem, and she took care of it a lot better than Bill Murray did. Sometimes, she'll even bring in a dead mouse for us. On the one hand, I know it's her nature and she just wants to help out and show her love for us. On the other hand, I don't care for any animal to have to suffer. I don't like mice, period, not even as an appetizer. When we've had problems in our house I've opted for the humane traps to be able to release it in the wild as opposed to the other well known mouse traps that are out there. And my fingers were never hurt in the use of the traps I've opted to use. Fortunately, I have other options available as well if I have other critters return to our yard that won't involve the cat. I can consult the Critter Control library to search for different, more humane options to get rid of them. I don't think you should have to take an animal's life just because you don't want him or her to do what comes natural to them. If only I can keep the cat from doing that as well as I address the problem. And I can get things like the Critter Ridder and Havahart's Organic/GREEN repellent sprays and coatings around the home to take care of them as well. So if you have a critter problem, avoid the overkill (or just the kill) and find other ways to keep them from destroying your property and allow them to live.

Comic Book Urban Legends Revealed #170. Was Peter David's run on Aquaman delayed due to a misunderstanding? That, and more!
Roger Ebert's Movie Answer Man column. If the new Death Race movie is worse than the original Death Race 2000, and Ebert gave the original zero stars, shouldn't he revise his ranking? He also addresses the issue of Star Wars: Clone Wars being basically 3 episodes of the show, as opposed to it's own movie, and more.
And it's the day after, but check out Tom Spurgeon's Kirby Tribute. Tony says "Don't ask, just admire it!"

While we were out shopping today my wife found a candle that she loved it's smell. I convinced her to go ahead and get it. I don't know if she plans to light it since she likes the smell now, but maybe one of these Votive candle holders would come in handy. If anything, they'd look nice around the home. And they've got a variety of candles to choose from as well.

I had been on a kick to see where I could save money. I got started when I found this link that allowed me to print all sorts of good coupons for Arby's. I decided to see what else I could get. From the same site is a sign up for Captain D's for free coupons and deals. I signed up yesterday and they e-mailed me some coupons good until the 1st. Pity there isn't one closer to here, but I love their fish.
Also, it expires this weekend but you can get a coupon for a free chicken biscuit or southern chicken sandwich at McDonald's. I decided to do some more digging and went to Little Caesar's Pizza site and printed their coupon for Crazy Bread and Sauce for $1.99 I decided to see if any other fast food places had any coupons on their sites. Hardee's has this thing where you sign up for something called BurgerSlayer where you answer some questions (don't worry about the password they ask for at the beginning, I just put in "burger" and got through. I imagine most anything else will work) and you get a buy one get one free coupon for joining. I set up my printer to print additional copies since it's good until the end of the year. I didn't find any coupons at Taco Bell's, Quizno's Subs, Panera Bread or Rally's sites. Wendy's had a sign up to get coupons and deals and stuff. That's what I found so far.

I don't know if you've heard the news, but a major internet provider is going to limit users to a certain amount of gigabytes per month. Sure, it doesn't affect 99% of their customers, but who's to say other companies won't follow suit? And what happens if they decide to limit your internet access in other ways? Maybe you're not satisfied with your internet service provider for some other reason. Maybe you're wondering what options you have as far as internet service, or you're in the market for a good deal.

Charter is offering great deals on their services. Right now they're offering High Speed Internet at $19.99 a month for six months, High Speed Internet and Digital Home for $69.98 a month for six months, or High Speed Internet, Digital Home, and Telephone for $99.97 a month for six months. And if you sign up for one of these services they'll send you a Shell gas card that will help with the gas prices. Plus, for 30 days they're running a Charter Laptop-a-Day Giveaway promotion where you could win a laptop. Just in time for school starting.

Even in the middle of the Democratic Convention a lot of people are getting discouraged and thinking that Barack Obama isn't going to win the election, including Steven Grant, Peter David, and Doc Nebula. I don't want to sound like a Pollyanna, but isn't there still a little over a couple of months left until the election? And McCain hasn't announced his running mate yet. And there's still the campaigning going on, with the debates, the inevitable gaffes, etc. And I don't want to give up and have four more years of this crap.
The other day I had a thought that made me realize why politics is so frustrating: it's like watching a Road Runner cartoon where Wile E. Coyote would paint the fake road cutting through the rock (you know, the one the Road Runner goes through, puzzles at that development, tries it and hits the wall, or gets run over) and the Road Runner hits it. Or the big rock is falling on the Coyote and he puts up the little umbrella to protect himself, and it actually works, bouncing the boulder off of it. Or it's like watching a fight where the guy's getting hit, and he could fight back, but doesn't do anything.

There's the cool new service online where you can take your recipe cards and turn them into digital recipes. You can have back up on a CD-ROM for your own use, share your recipes with others, and you can create your own cookbook easily for your own use or to share with others. You can also share them via e-mail. Not only that, but you'll have all of your recipes in one easily accessible area (either on disk in print or online) and they won't be scattered across different cards, notes, etc. And you won't have to worry about losing any of your recipes because they'll all be in one place and you can set up a back up in case any of your recipes are lost.

Today would've been Jack Kirby's 91st birthday. And the word is going out throughout the internet tubes and with some personal rememberances. It would've been nice if he was around a while longer to enjoy the accolades and not have to worry about hustling for work. I'm glad one of the books I found yesterday was the first trade paperback collection from the Jack Kirby Collector. I forgot I had it and it was fun to read it again.

If you're thinking about starting your own website and feel overwhelmed by all the choices out there, why not check out this web hosting review site? They've ranked the web hosting sites out there and compiled information on the facets that are important to you so that you can review the different sites and make a decision based on the information, saving you hours of tedious research and hunting down information. Been on the site and still feel overwhelmed with the jargon being bandied about? They also have articles that allow you to read up on the different aspects of web hosting so you can educate yourself on such terms as managed hosting. It's easy to get frustrated and give up, but I've always felt satisfied and accomplished if I don't give in to that impulse and work my way through. Can you imagine how good you'll feel once you're up to speed on the technical aspects of web hosting? Not only can you select the best website for your needs you'll find that you can answer any noob's question about it without breaking a sweat. While you're not required to read the articles to select a web hosting site here, the knowledge will help in your selection. Luck favors the prepared, as the old saying goes.

Have you ever wondered what Michael Jackson would look like if he never had plastic surgery? Or are you wondering now since it was brought up? Somebody did and had a computer simulation done. Like the article said I wonder what would happen if this were done about other celebs who went under the knife.

You have phone books for your immediate area to look up numbers. But what if you want to look up a number that's outside your neck of the woods? Wouldn't you like to have a place to look up any phone number in the country? With National Phone Registry you can do just that. No more having to look around online, or call directory assistance and be hit with a charge for that.

Mark Gibson writes about his child's desire to go to Japan. When I was more into anime that was something I dreamed of as well. I even enjoyed seeing the Japan section of EPCOT Center and bought a guidebook to Tokyo in their gift shop. And of course Lost In Translation is one of my favorite films, and it points out how wonky the trip may have been. Like me, it looks like Mark and child's dream may be just that. But unlike me, I wish it were more.

Remember me telling you about The Sproutwells, a fruit and veggie family living among humans trying to make it in this crazy world? It reminds me of those sitcoms of yore where you had crazy out there elements (like the Munsters or the Flintstones) beind placed in everyday situations that although exaggerate, we could identify with. Like the dad in this latest episode:

He's got to be my favorite character because even with the wackiness of the premise, he's like all of us trying to do what's right.
And like those sitcoms of yore, it's brought to you by one sponsor: the people behind freshfunds, bringing you fresh fruits and vegetables. And on their site they can tell you that the points you save from their products you can use to bid on items. This week you could win a Wii Fit, which would be cool to get because eating better would help you win something to make exercise fun, get you in shape, and make you feel even better about yourself.

Last night I was going through more books I found on my bedroom bookshelf that I have better access to thanks to some cleaning I did for the gas man to come over. I found volumes 1, 3 and 4 of Edgeworks, White Wolf's attempt to collect Harlan Ellison's books in hardcover. The bookmarks in some of them indicate I made some attempt to read them but didn't finish. More books to add to the pile of stuff to read.
And I found my copy of the DVD of "Assume The Position" to watch again. I didn't find it when I first looked a couple of weeks ago, but have learned when there's something I'm looking for that I can't find that it'll eventually turn up. My PSP turned up like that recently. The longest was a couple of movie passes I got from My Coke Rewards that I misplaced months ago that I never found. Then the other night, inspired by playing The Incredible Hulk game I went through my Peter David Hulk trade paperbacks to find the envelope with the passes.

With Fall just around the corner, a warmer climate sounds good. And the drier climes of Arizona sounds particularly good, especially if you have health concerns. And with the real estate market dropping and foreclosures going up there's a new site coming online this weekend highlighting Scottsdale Fine Properties in Arizona for those in the market for a good deal.

I mentioned the figures back in February, but the DC line of figures have been hard to find in the stores. And Brad in last week's Podculture episode mentioned that he got some of the figures at Target. Christina's show notes had a link that went to the Toys R Us website where they had the figures available for $6.99 each. But the Heroes season 2 DVD set and the third Three Stooges DVD set came out yesterday, so I decided to go out and see if I could find them. The first Target I went to had Guy Gardner, Professor Zoom and Captain Marvel (Shazam!) for $4.99 each, plus the Commissioner Gordon and 2 Gotham City Police pack for $9.99. I passed on Adam Strange because I thought Matty Collector was offering an exclusive 2 pack this fall with Adam Strange and Starfire. But thinking for a minute, Starfire was going to be in an upcoming 3 pack at the stores and 2 figures for $20 sounded high. Until I looked closer at the pictures on the website, the Adam Strange/Starfire 2 pack is the larger DC Universe line, so a bit more reasonable. I was in Indy about rush hour time, so I decided to go to one other Target. They were cleaned out of the DC figures, but they had a Kilowog from Justice League Unlimited that I picked up.
And rising gas prices are sure to affect action figure prices, starting next week for Hasbro.

The news just gets wackier and wackier involving the airlines. You've probably read about how some airlines are charging extra for a pillow and blanket. And I've read where some are getting rid of that altogether. Even before all of this started, before my wife and I went on our first plane trip one tip given to us was that when they bring out free soft drinks they pour a can in a small cup, to ask for the rest of the can. I tried that one time and told no (there were other flights when the answer was yes) Whenever the topic of flying comes up, my wife likes to tell that story.
And while the liquid restriction keeps you from bringing your own drink on the plane, you don't have to worry about paying extra or doing without a pillow or blanket if you bring Cabin Cuddler with you.

And given how widely pillows and blankets are used on the airplanes, wouldn't you feel better bringing your own? And they can be used in other places besides airplanes. If you travel by car it's a very handy travel blanket to have to relax. And if you're cold at home or at work, you can just pull the blanket out and use it to make yourself more comfortable and warm. It's easy to carry, and handy as well.

Back in May the Children's Museum announced that they would have a year-long display on comic books. A lot of it was inspired by the Simon family's donation of their son Max's collection of 20000 comics he collected before his early passing in 1999. I didn't want to be one of those people who thought that I could go next week and the next thing you know it's over, so we planned to go. Unfortunately, we were sidetracked by illness and other things, but we finally went up last Monday. As I've written here before, after Labor Day next week they'll be closed on Mondays until next summer. Plus, they have a display on animation that's going on until January.
The comic exhibit was on the second floor. In addition to the Simon collection they had other collectibles ranging from things I had or knew about (such as the Pepsi glasses restaurants came out with in the early 70s and the Star Wars Death Star playset) to the rare (such as Christopher Reeve's cape from one of the Superman movies and the Tumbler from Batman Begins and The Dark Knight). They also had different interactive features such as tracing different characters from lightboxes and some things where they showed different things like making your own comic (with a comic version of Scott McCloud by the room where kids could go to create) and some comics that you could sit down and read. They even had a video screen where you could push a button next to a comic cover and would talk about that comic and others you could check out. For instance with the Betty and Veronica cover they talked about other humor comics worth checking out such as Amelia Rules. Unfortunately the gift shop mainly had DC stuff to buy with the only exception I could think of was a comic called Babymouse. I think Amelia Rules would've done well in the shop.
Also on the second floor was the animation display. It was sponsored by Cartoon Network so a lot of things had connections to that channel and Boomerang. They also had a lot of interactive features to learn about animation. Kathy like the one with the video screen that showed some time-lapse photography of different things that you could slow down or reverse to your liking. They also had a bullet time display where you could do something and see it filmed in bullet time. They had a couple of things to see about different animators such as Van Partible, creator of Johnny Bravo. Since I hardly saw his name in the credits, I had a different impression that I learned differently when I went through the video display. First, he was younger than I imagined. Second, his real middle name is Giovanni Bravo and he mentioned that Giovanni is Italian for John so his middle name is really Johnny Bravo. Third, one of the things in his studio was a poster of American Gothic with Granny and Jed Clampett in place of the father and daughter in the original. And he talked about what he did, what education you should get for animation, etc.
There were other things to check out at the Museum. Another permanent display is about 3 children who changed the world: Anne Frank, Ruby Bridges and Ryan White. The theme was righting wrongs and doing what is right, which really hit close to home with me, as it's something I try to do, especially on this blog. I was upset early on with the Anne Frank display when I saw a picture of a German officer gleefully cutting off the beard of a Jewish man. And I learned a lot about Ruby Bridges. She was the first African-American to be integrated in the schools in the south. And was immortalized in the Norman Rockwell painting "The Problem We All Live With" he did for Look magazine. The display had a recreation of the front of the elementary school she went to and her classroom. They also had other displays having to do with the Civil Rights Movement. I was so inspired I got the book she wrote called "Through My Eyes". It has a lot of pictures, including one of a protest that had an African-American girl doll in a casket and a young girl holding a cross in the crowd. In the museum display it explained that some people believed that God didn't want the races to mix and the use of the cross as intimidation against African Americans. That's one reason I got the book, it was for that picture, to remind me of how people use religion to support their beliefs and how it changes over time.
And then there's Ryan White. It had the recreations (of his bedroom) and other facts to learn his story. I was surprised there weren't as many comic books in there as I've seen in other photos. And I think he would've liked the comic book exhibit at the museum. While I lived literally in the middle of all this (in between Kokomo and Cicero, Ryan's two towns) there was another connection. In the 80s when the whole argument about Ryan going to school in Kokomo was going on, Kathy and I were members of a comic book club that met in the Kokomo Public Library. I was getting my comics in Kokomo at that time, so that's how I knew about it. And Ryan was another member. Remember me talking about the first time I went to Chicago Comicon at the blog last weekend? I was supposed to ride up with somebody else that ended up with us going up, and one of our spaces was replaced by Ryan who got to go that way. I did take some pictures, but I never got one with Ryan. I was trying to make a big to-do and treat him like everyone else. I did take a couple of pictures he was in, and when I got them back the first thing that struck me was how skinny he looked. It's one thing to see it in real life, but photos have another dimension.
And the exhibit, like the story goes, talked about how Ryan was a pariah in Kokomo in the 80s because people didn't know that much about AIDS then, and was shunned and treated badly until his family moved to Cicero where he was welcomed. I could point out how he was treated at the comic book club (but it might be blunted by the fact the library asked that the chair he sat in be wiped down with disinfectant) and my mom worked in the same factory as Ryan's mom and she told me how they raised money for Ryan's medical bills since back when he just had hemophilia, and how everybody in Kokomo didn't hate him, but when it comes to history any more I remember Robert Wuhl's "Assume The Position" specials he did for HBO and how he repeatedly drove home the point that what you learn about history takes it's cue from the classic line in the film The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance "When the legend becomes fact, print the legend." And earlier one of the comics I unearthed and reread was the first issue of "Brooklyn Dreams" by J.M. DeMatteis where it starts with the lead character goes on at length about how while he is about to tell the story of his life, it doesn't necessarily mean it's a true story, since there's perception and memory and other things. So you'll excuse me if I don't go on a crusade to get The Truth out there. That's what I know and it's ultimately up to you, gentle reader, to make your own conclusions.
And there was more I didn't touch on here, such as their Dinotopia display about dinosaurs. I must've missed the memo when I was a kid about thinking dinosaurs were super-neat, but the exhibit was interesting, learning about unearthing fossils and how they're put together. And a helpful guide told us about a species on display exclusively with them called Dracorex hogwartsia, so named because it's skull looks somewhat like a dragon and the name give by children recalls Hogwart's from the Harry Potter book and films. It was featured in the December 2007 issue of National Geographic and should be on an upcoming special on the channel, according to the guide. Later I found that issue at Half Price Books and got it for $1.
And they have a planetarium there. Kathy and I haven't been in one since the one our middle school had. We saw the presentation on stargazing that Kathy particularly loved, as that's one of the things she loves to do while sitting on our back porch. They gave out a paper at the end that was a guide to stargazing that she got. That was about the time that the museum was closing. There were other things I saw, but this entry is going long now.

Health care costs are going up, so it helps to know where to find good deals to save some of your hard-earned money and not skimp on quality. One way is with JRS medical supplies. Not only can you find good deals on medical supplies such as bed pans they've also got a medical supply blog you can read.

There's a few things I wanted to talk about that's happened the past few days and I've decided to break it down to smaller portions for you to enjoy. Monday we went to the Children's Museum in Indianapolis to see their comic book and animation displays they have currently. I was wanting us to go out and eat before going there. After some discussion we decided to eat at Boston Market since we hardly get the chance to eat there, I love their sirloin strips dinners, and Kathy wanted to try the chicken sandwich pictured on their coupon ad. We went to the location in Carmel to find out it was closed and was directed to another location on 86th St. It wasn't that much out of our way to the museum so we went there. Only I found out that they now only offer the sirloin at dinner after 5pm. I tried to make the best of it with a rotisserie chicken dinner, but I was in a foul mood. Between fewer Boston Market locations around here and the change in menu I might try to go up to have the sirloin one last time but that's it. And it was the only thing we had that Louisville didn't, and now that's gone.
More to come...

DROdio Real Estate is the premiere real estate brokerage in Virginia, Maryland, and Washington DC. But they're more than just a site listing what properties are available and at what prices. They're interested in meeting with you over coffee to determine a buying or selling strategy. Also, they have different articles available to read to allow yourself the opportunity to become acquainted with the different aspects of buying and selling real estate and answering questions such as how realtors are paid. Also, they have different videos you can watch to learn more. They're not just interested in your property, they know you have a lot of questions and concerns that might add to your anxiety, and they want to take proactive steps in helping you understand the market and ease your concerns. They don't see you as an asset, they see you as more of a partner. And yes they have listings for real estate in Alexandria Virginia as well as other parts of Virginia, Maryland and Washington DC. And you can use Google maps to search for properties if you have a more specific area in mind. And if you're interested in something other than where a property is located, you can do a search using certain terms or find a property whose asking price went down. So if you're wanting to buy or sell real estate and want a realtor who isn't just interested in the commission check out DROdi Real Estate today.

Wil Wheaton writes about his struggles as a writer. Also he shares some good advice and thoughts that other writers have made. And he points to a couple of articles. The first dealing with 5 writing lessons one wished were learned the easy way, and the other is the difference between writing a blog and writing a book.

I've been online since 1994 and have more than my fair share of stories to tell you if you're ever in the mood to listen to an old guy ramble on. I could tell you things about life before plug and play USB connections to hook up accessories. But I've had times where I've had computer problems of one kind or another and spent many an hour worrying about fixing it myself. At those times I wish I had online computer repair help available, or to answer questions. Call The Geeks can help with that, and more.

You've probably heard the story about the two teenagers in Cleveland Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster who created Superman. But there's a story coming out that there's more to it than we knew before, with interesting facets the more you delve into it.
And Funky Winkerbean has a story line going on now involving the Man of Steel. You can start it here (for the next couple of weeks).

With everything that's going on in the news about higher gas prices, everyone is looking towards more practical cars that are more efficient. While I say there's a need for that, there's still the allure of Supercars that look cool. In fact, one of the articles I saw was about BMW looking to switch to hybrids. If the car in the picture was what was they were coming out with, people might be more willing to embrace hybrids. But they've got other articles for you to read, and you can even search by manufacturer if you're brand loyal like some car enthusiasts. If you want to keep up with latest in car news, or like to look and dream, this is a place for you to go and bookmark.

So I called last night to find out when they'd be open. The prerecorded message said 7am. I set the alarm for 6:55. I stayed up and finished "The Incredible Hulk" game last night, as it was due back today. I got up and called, ran through the options and was told to call back at 8am as they're an hour behind us (huh? I thought they were in Indiana) So I did some things on the computer until the appointed hour, called, and was told they'd be out sometime today, as they send the calls and they route them. I asked them to call before coming. I ran the video games back to Blockbuster real quick and went back to bed. At 10:30 the guy called and said he'd be up in a few minutes. He came out, was real nice, and had everything back up and running in no time.
One thing that helped me through this all was this posting I read last night. And since all this has taken a lot more than 3 seconds, I will take my leave now.