Unpacking from Convention Jaunts and Returning to Filing

I'm still coping with a travel cold. (I don't think I caught it from anyone at the convention, though a buddy pointed out that little sleep for a week just might have left me with my immune system slightly tweaked.)

But, even staggering around a bit, I'm able to do a few of the post-show chores that will make life better. Laundry, for example, is done (except for the partial box thereof that will arrive on the pallet with Convention Stuff before much longer). And I suddenly realized that I'd acquired a bunch of DVDs in a jaunt to Madison, Wis., the Friday before Con Week.

Madison, you see, is home to Four Star Video, a marvelous rental facility that prunes its stock and sells those cullings for $15 a DVD -- and, when you're a Gold Card member (as am I), you get them for roughly $10 a DVD. So I lolled about, pampering myself watching Season One of Eureka (recommended by my brother), yesterday and today, as I nursed my cold. And then it occurred to me that I might have other DVDs I hadn't checked out. What to my wondering eyes should appear but the following movies:

Charlie Wilson's War (2008, 1:42), The Corporation (2004, 2:25), Dan in Real Life (200X, 1:38), The Darjeeling Limited (2007, 1:31), The Golden Compass (2007, 1:53), The Jane Austen Book Club (2007, 1:46), Jumper (2008, 1:28), National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets (200X, 2:05), The Orphanage (2007, 1:45), The Other Boleyn Girl (2008, 1:55), Revolver (2005, 1:44), Sleuth (2007, 1:29), Sweeny Todd (2007, 1:56)

Then, there are the TV shows, each except Blue Murder at those $10 prices:

Blue Murder (1995, 3:17, $20), George Carlin: Doin' It Again (1990, 1:00), George Carlin: What Am I Doing in New Jersey? (1988, :58), Invisible Man Season One (1950s, 5:30), The Rutles 2: Can't Buy Me Lunch (2002, :56)

And, at Half Price Books:

The Comeback (2006, 6:30, $15) and Unscripted (2005, 5:00, $10)

And, ordered from Amazon (so there were a variety of discounts but not used copies):

Daleks Invasion Earth 2150 A.D. (1966, 1:24), Dr. Who and the Daleks (1965, 1:23), Burn Notice Season One (2007, 8:52), Eureka Season One (2007, 9:18), The Closer Season One (2005, 10:02)

Looks as if I'll have something more to watch while I get over this cold. (By the way, an ongoing annoying facet of prerecorded material from the Disney organization is its policy of avoiding identification of copyright date for its releases. Yes, I could check it on iMDB, but geez.)

How about yourself? What movies and shows would you buy for $10 each?

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Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was much fun in the theater: It barrelled along satisfyingly with just the right number of Eek! and Yes! moments.

And I picked up the hardcover by James Rollins, "Based on the story by George Lucas and Jeff Nathanson, and the screenplay by David Koepp."

It's nicely straightforward, an excellent reminder of the entertainment and a faithful transcription of the script as performed on screen, along with some bonuses. Such as this paragraph on Page 78, featuring the confrontation when Dean Stanforth (played by Jim Broadbent) breaks the news to Indy that he's in trouble.



Indy reminds him, "They're good kids."

Thanks!

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Ah, Those Good Intentions

It's what I get for declaring how often I'd be contributing blog entries. Mea culpa.

When I left the house on Friday to see Iron Man (which was well worth seeing: one of the best comic-book screen adaptations), my home Internet connection was working fine. When I got back, it wasn't working. Turn it off, turn it on again, three different computers, try each, yadda, yadda.

Trying again Saturday (Free Comic Book Day -- did you get yours?), it still wasn't working.

Sunday (a mini-convention in Oconomowoc) morning, Sunday evening, the same.

I'm at the office this morning -- which is why I can post right now. I've reported it to the provider. We shall see. Snarl.

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Oh, sweet comics, you rule my life

Or something. In any case, tomorrow is Iron Man Day, and the Appleton Hollywood theater has showings at 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10, 12:30, 3:30, 6:30, and 9:30, according to my.yahoo.com. (I have the Fox Trot Sunday strip among my my.yahoo.com choices -- and note that there's even an Iron Man reference there.

That should mean I can get shopping (including camcorder cassettes for Free Comic Book Day recording Saturday) done in the morning and still take my pick of afternoon show times. Mind you, it looks as if thundershowers and temperatures in the upper 50s will be the norm for the weekend -- but they grow us tough in Wisconsin. We can do it.

And I'll spend part of the weekend brainstorming with John Jackson Miller about this site to figure out what items I can add. We'll both be at a mini-comics-convention on Sunday -- and I hope to come out of it with a schedule of Stuff to Post. Stay tuned.

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Enchanting!

Since it begins to look as if a visit to Fred Kida is not going to happen, a large chunk of yesterday was spent lolling about in family entertainment. So I watched a terrific mystery movie, Green for Danger, with brother Paul and son-in-law Zander yesterday afternoon and the recent Disney release Enchanted with daughter Valerie and Zander yesterday evening.

Both were successes with the new audiences, so let me suggest both for your own viewing.

Green for Danger made a star out of its detective -- Alistair Sim -- and the script sparkles. Moreover, the mystery is fair and solvable -- and Zander noted and solved several bits in advance of The Big Reveal. See if your local library can find a copy for you.

I've had several people indicate surprise at my enthusiastic recommendations of Enchanted, but the delights of a Disney satire on its own film library and approaches to storytelling are many and rewarding. I gather the BluRay release is packed with more "footnotes" to elements of the film, and I'll add this to my shopping list when I finally go shopping for a player.

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