Cousin Carl's Cabin

It's Cold!

2007-12-06T15:45:00.000-08:00

The snow finally hit down here. Fortunately, it's mostly off of the roads so if I want to go somewhere I can. I can put up with the snow until after Christmas and then we can go into spring. Maybe I oughtta move further down South.

I'm Back (Sorta)

2007-12-04T08:47:00.000-08:00

Hi, this is Carl. I've been reading online for awhile and was thinking about starting a blog. I was talking to my cousin Tony about it and he said he had one he wasn't using. Sounded good to me. I'm going to give this blogging a try and see how it goes. Hope you like what you see.

X Box 360 Giveaway Second Chance

2005-12-02T19:03:00.000-08:00

Did you enter the Comedy Central X Box 360 Contest I wrote about here and here last Monday?
Or are you slapping your forehead and saying "D'oh!"
Well, your uncle Tony's here to give you another chance. You got until this Sunday December 4th before midnight. Just go here to enter, the codes are there and everything. Apparently they were overwhelmed last week and giving everybody another chance. And don't think you won't win with so many entered, you ain't going to win if you don't try.

Is Anybody Out There?

2005-12-01T13:17:00.000-08:00

I started this blog when I was having problems with my other blog. I'm trying to decide what to do. To keep the original blog I have to pay $6.95 a month, and this blog is free, but if I switch over here, I either lose all I wrote over there for about 2 years or go through the laborous cut and paste. I guess one question to help me reach a decision is to see if anyone is reading this particular blog. The page you're on right now. Please leave a comment with advice or just indicate you read this page. Thanks!

DC Comics Stamps in 2006

2005-11-30T18:19:00.001-08:00

And don't worry, these aren't the kind of stamps you cut out of your comics like Marvel in the 70's, the Post Office is issuing these next year. Courtesy of Toon Zone.
BTW, if you haven't got them yet (or if like me your local Post Office is too lazy to go in the back and get them) The Muppets with Jim Henson stamps are now available.

Well, It's About Time

2005-11-30T18:19:00.000-08:00

The new Doctor Who series that hasn't been shown here in the States (probably because Sci-Fi wants to pour their budget into mutant human and/or bug movies) is coming to DVD Feb 14th. If you haven't seen it yet, get it and thank me later, gang.

If You'd Like To Speak To A Live Person...

2005-11-30T18:17:00.000-08:00

Here's a link to the numbers and buttons you push to reach a live person at different companies, and get out of voice-mail hell. Courtesy Paul Harris.

X Box 360 Giveaway

2005-11-25T20:52:00.000-08:00

I had a problem with posting the entries for Friday at Comedy Central's website. I kept getting "unexpected error occured" message. But all is not lost, as I found an alternate method to enter, and if you get it out in the mail by Monday, you can get in on it, too. Here's the instructions from their website:

if you want to MAIL us an entry rather than enter online, mail a postcard on which you have hand-printed your name, address, daytime phone number, age and the day for which you are entering*, to:

Comedy Central's "ThanXgiveaway Weekend" Sweepstakes
PMI Station
PO Box 3569
Southbury, CT 06488-3569.

Each single mail-in entry will count as 12 entries (one for each hour) for each day you enter. You must mail a separate mail-in entry for each day, to be eligible for that day's hourly drawings. Entries will not be carried forward for subsequent day's hourly drawings. All mail-in entries must be postmarked by November 28, 2005 and received by December 5, 2005. You do not need to include codes to enter by mail.

Tony again:
* The contest is from Thursday to Sunday, 11/24-11/27, so that's 4 entries for each day. Just put down a different day each time. And that's up to 4 times.
And it has to be postmarked by this Monday. And if you win, you gotta invite me over to play it, 'kay?

Aunt Pauline

2005-11-25T20:51:00.000-08:00

While I do mourn the passing of Noriyuku "Pat" Morita noted here and here, I wanted to also note the passing of my Aunt Pauline, one of my dad's sisters yesterday. My parents decided to wait until today to tell us about it. She apparently passed resting in a chair yesterday at age 79. She always seemed to understand and appreciate my fanboy activities. Sadly, I won't be able to go to Michigan for the services, and this noting is the best I can do.

Happy 44th Highlander

2005-11-21T10:01:00.000-08:00

Happy birthday, Highlander! Hope you survive the experience!
(copyright Marvel Comics and Toyfare magazine, who I stole the line from)

How I Spent My Birthday

2005-11-20T23:09:00.000-08:00

It was good that I had some well wishers (thanks, Tammy) and even from HC Realms, which is all the more amazing since I haven't been there in over a year and a half, since I gave up Heroclix. And I got a nice big check from my parents, which was very nice since they're even helping me out on some bills and even told them I didn't deserve it, that they're helping me through this rough patch.
I watched Comedians of Comedy, first the movie and then re-watched the first episode of the TV series featuring Patton Oswalt, Brian Posehn (cool because they're both comic book/sci-fi/action figure fans and both show them enjoying their hobby), Maria Bamford, and Zach Galifianakis. I rewatched the first episode because I decided to put the movie and TV series on one big DVD. The movie was brought out by Netflix, who even though I had it in my queue from the time I heard of it, and it's now available, they're saying that they haven't received the Sam Kinison Family Entertainment Hour DVD I mailed out earlier last week.
Then the mess with the wife occured, and I watched a movie again that came out around the time of my birthday back in 1977 but wasn't playing in my neck of the woods and I couldn't get my family to take me called Heroes. The ads were touting it as a wacky romp starring Henry Winkler and Sally Field. Unfortunately, that wasn't the only place publicity dropped the ball, not even touting that Harrison "fresh from Star Wars" Ford was in the cast. But to be fair, they had their hands full, as it was one of the first films dealing with Vietnam since the end of the conflict. Winkler plays a veteran that is in and out of mental hospitals (he is put back in after entering a recruitment station and trying to talk the men inside out of enlisting) that is pursuing his dream of opening a worm ranch in California. En route he meets Ms. Field en route to her nuptuals. But as she starts to fall for him, his world is falling apart. Another thing that sold it was Kansas' Carry On Wayward Son that still has a place in my heart mainly because it was used in the ads and at the end of the movie. Unfortunately, it is no longer in the video version, or the one played on Sundance Channel.
And then I continued to catch up on the TiVo by watching my recording of Sunset Blvd. from Turner Classic Movies, deserving of the title indeed. Amazing that Billy Wilder's output was so varied and so entertaining.
And now I can't sleep, I've been having trouble getting to sleep the past few nights and the events of today haven't helped.

Sin City Bar

2005-11-19T13:35:00.000-08:00

Unfortunately, it's in Japan, to promote the movie.

Five Buck Movies

2005-11-18T13:35:00.000-08:00

Kerasotes Theatres have taken an approach to the "box office slump" crisis that the news seems to go on and on about (let's just say that I wish I was as bad off, and I don't see any theatres or studios going out of business due to this slump) by starting a club where you can watch movies for $5. The catches are that it has to be at least two weeks after a film's debut (depending on the contract between Kerasotes and the studios) and it's only some of the theatres in the Kerasotes chain (they're offering it in Indianapolis but not in Kokomo). Kerasotes is based in the midwest, mainly in Indiana, Illinois and Ohio.

Resistance is Futile

2005-11-18T10:01:00.000-08:00

I read in the local paper that Key Cinemas is changing over from an art-house theatre to discount theatre. The reason is that there's an art theatre complex opening on the other side of Indianapolis. No word on what that means for Green Street Hooligans.

No Comics Today...Denied!

2005-11-16T10:06:00.000-08:00

I was told by my LCS that due to a shipping error, the books won't be in until tomorrow. As he is currently having some health problems that require him and his to stay in a hotel until the problem can be located, I can't really complain. Plus, I have plenty of stuff to keep me amused.
Meanwhile, check out this article about music clearances for DVD and while he was involved (he owned MTM Enterprises for a time), Pat Robertson can't be blamed for the possibility that WKRP in Cincinnati may never come to DVD.

Superman Returns Teaser Trailer

2005-11-16T08:47:00.000-08:00

The Superman Returns teaser trailer will be shown tomorrow night (Thursday November 17th) during Smallville at 8/7 central. If you're impatient, you can read the description here.

Dear Blogharbor (and Everyone Else): We Cool Now

2005-11-15T21:53:00.000-08:00

I direct you to the comments of my previous post about Blogharbor to both clarify a sticky situation, as well as how to resolve situations like this.
PS to Mr. Keegan: I also withdraw my comments questioning your abilities.
So what'll happen to this blog? I dunno...

Ah Ha! Ohio Was Stolen in 2004!

2005-11-15T19:36:00.000-08:00

Mike Norton just wrote about this article that provides further proof something fishy was going on in Ohio in 2004. Mike wants the word to get out. Even with the press just starting to discover their backbone, I'm willing to do my part and urge others do so.
Remember, and I'm quoting from the article, "Diebold's controversial CEO Walden O'Dell, a major GOP donor, made national headlines in 2003 with a fundraising letter pledging to deliver Ohio's 2004 electoral votes to Bush. " Let's not "go on" or "play the blame game", let's get these bastiches!

The Annotated 1st Post (or: Open Letter To Blogharbor)

2005-11-15T19:04:00.000-08:00

(From mah old blog):
Dear Blogharbor,
In January of 2004 I had finally decided to act upon something that had been burning at me for some time, the desire to get things off my chest. And as the radio stations were hardly knocking down my door clamoring for my skills, I had decided to use blogging as my tool of choice for communication. I had looked around at what was out there for the would-be blogger and after careful consideration, I selected your company to use. Yes, there was a $6.95 a month charge involved, but I thought it was worth it.And we had some good times. But there have been some problems. There was the time I spent hours deleting comments that were spam and p@rn (I have to spell it that way because basically said you couldn't stop all of it and I have to work to stop it, too.
And there's the hours that my blog is offline because of all the work you're doing on your system.
And there was the problem you had with billing me, where you sent me an e-mail that I suspected was spoofing. And when I raised the question about it, your customer service rep, John Keegan, could have been more helpful if he weren't such a jerk. He apparently couldn't understand my statement about keeping an eye on things (and inferred that he was shocked that I would suggest that something improper may go on with the information I provided, as the Internet is such a secure bastion of commerce),; nor my suggestion that perhaps payment could be better handled than a secured e-mail, say via their web-site. His reply was that there was no other way to let people know about billing problems, as they don't blog all the time, why he only blogs every couple of months, as he is so busy providing sterling customer service (I'm unemployed while he has a job? Lord, you have no sense of justice)
Gee, if there was only some way I could vent my frustration with how I am being treated, to get the word out, like a blog...wait a tick! Oh, and there's this, too (fans might be well advised to bookmark this spot, in case something "happens" to this site) And did you know they don't charge me for keeping a blog there? If it weren't for seeing everything I wrote disappear into the ether, I'd pull the plug right now. As it is, I'm thinking about it.
Those of you who came here from Newsweek as a result of my posting about this article, or anyone else that came here and feel inspired to start a blog, may I suggest this company?

1st Post

2005-11-15T18:08:00.000-08:00

Well, this is a back up plan just in case the owners of my previous blog (or, more accurately, one of it's employees) continues with their attitude over my concerns about their security. Will I switch over here? Stay tuned.