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I have had this phone call TWICE now from the "Disney Planning Center":
386-673-4702 (female)
407-767-2065 (male)
(Wanna do something funny... search for those numbers online....they are on a lot of Police reports, Scam boars, and Reported Offending number lists)
I am getting this phone call because I contacted them at one time or I entered an online promotion of some sort. They are offering me a very rare "100 percent discount" for 4 days and 3 nights at the Walt Disney Wolrd resort. Plus a few more nights at Daytona Beach. BOTH said that I will only get this phone call / offer ONCE (HA HA HA)! I must be 21 or older to accept, and I have to go in the next 18 mos (I told them BOTH that I could not, and they BOTH insisted that I hear the whole offer). I must give them 30 days notice before I embark on my trip. Airline info was never discussed, so I don't think it comes with plane tickets. When I arrive there will only be a small registration fee of $75 per person (but only for the first two people). She mentioned the website www,mysummerbay.com is where I need to finish the whole process, BUT, OH, there is a one time $9.95 fee and that I have give my credit card over the phone right now. When I said "NO, I can not travel during the next 18 months," (AGAIN), they told me that I could TRANSFER the whole prize to someone else, "It would make a really great Mother's Day gift." I said, "No thank you," and I hung up the phone. It all felt VERY scammy.
I should write the REAL "Disney Planning Center" and tell them about this.
Tags: daytona beach, disney world, disneyland, my summer bay, mysummerbay, resort, scam
Current Location: Not mysummerbay that is for sure
Current Mood:  enraged
Current Music: "Parasite" by The Guys Next Door
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So, in trying to recapture my youth, I am constantly seeking out music I listened to (like Bullfrogs & Butterflies and Music Machine), and trying to figure out TV shows I watched on PBS and Nickelodeon (yes I watched other channels too… but then we would have A LOT MORE listed…some of these were also played on other channels). So far, I have come up with: The Great Space Coaster, Electric Company, Today's Special, Special Delivery, Sesame Street, Barbapappa, Simon in the Land of Chalk Drawings (the one that SNL parodied), Belle and Sebastian AKA Meiken Jolie (the cartoon with the little dog Poochie and the big white dog) The Mysterious Cities of Gold Chapi Chapo (which… I would NOT buy… its weirdness scared me) Mole (Krteček) Hattytown The Magic Roundabout (which "Doogal" was based on) Kalles Klätterträd (Charlie's Climbing Tree) Inspector Gadget DangerMouse Count Duckula Bananaman The World of David the Gnome (David, el Gnomo) (based on the Wil Huygen books) Maya the Bee (Mitsubachi Māya no Bōken) Mister Wizard's World Noozles (AKA Fushigi na Koara Burinkī, AKA The Wonderous Koala Blinky) Out of Control (with Dave Coulier and Diz McNally) Spartakus & the Sun Beneath the Sea ("Rainbow Dawn… Arcadia") (Les Mondes Engloutis) Turkey TV You Can't Do That on Television The Tripods Doctor Who Tomorrow People The Third Eye (with Into the Labyrinth, Children of the Stones, The Haunting of Cassie Palmer, Under the Mountain) The Adventures of Pete & Pete Flipper I recently found Pinwheel on Wikipedia. DANG! I remember all of those shows and cartoons it featured! There is one that I can't figure out. It was a cartoon I saw in the 1980s.... probably on Nickelodeon... maybe on HBO or even PBS. It may be a movie that was a part of the Special Delivery series or featured on Pinwheel. It might be a TV show, and it may have been translated to English (like many Nickelodeon shows were) It was similar in style to the light table, cut-out jumpy animation of the film "Twice Upon a Time" (which I haven’t seen in a long time)…I don’t think it was that movie though. I remember a fairy that would zip around and its mouth would move in a frantic zig-zaggy fast motion as it talked (not unlike early “South Park” episodes. I think the main plot was about a girl (whom the previously mentioned fairy followed around and flew around her a lot). It was set in a very industrial, dark city. I think I remember a lot of gears and a staircase. Thinking back, with a modern perspective… it felt “British” I could actually be mixing the show I am looking for with "Twice Upon a Time" but I know that Twice doesn't have the fast talking girl that I really remember. In 1999, I saw a book of “Alice in Wonderland” that was modernly-illustrated and it looked a lot like this film. It was on an art Professor’s bookshelf (no idea how old that book was, or who illustrated it). The book is what reminded me of the film. Please help. Tags: cutout animation, hbo light table, nickelodeon, pbs, pinwheel, retro, special delivery, television, tv, twice upon a time
Current Location: TV land
Current Mood:  nostalgic
Current Music: "Nick-nick-nick-nick-nick-nick-nick-nick Nickelodeon"
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Happy Mother's Day Mom!
Mother's day is coming. It may be a Hallmark ™ occasion, but it is a much deserved time of recognition. A few years back, after a marriage of six years, my (now ex-) wife and I got a divorce. I got full custody of my one and only child (who was 6 months old at the time). I could go into a whole diatribe about "how could a mother possibly do that to her child?" and the truth is, I really don't know… but I am not here to bash my ex-wife. She had her own life to live, and wanted to be commitment free to party as she pleased. Moving on. Being a single dad who had to play the roll of mother and father to my child was extremely difficult sometimes. I had a lot of fears, a lot of tears, and I had no family close by. There were some awesome times too. My child can always make me smile, even after driving-me-up-a-wall with their "No No No"s. My mother helped a lot. She was always available by phone and willing to talk me through any trying times. I drove the multiple hours to stay with her on plenty of weekends, and she always greeted me and my child with open arms. It wasn't all about her grandchild either (like I have witnessed with other Grandmas), it was about the two of us.
I have recently been re-maried, and she is an awesome woman, and a great mother to my first child. Happy Mother's Day to you too sweetie. I love you, and I love our growing child inside you. Mom, thank you for being there for me. Thank you for your love and support. Thank you for the phone converstaions that lasted for hours as my heart was breaking. Thank you for listening. Thank you for your stories. Thank you for raising me. Thank you. I love you, Mom. ~Robert (Mommy's bouncing baby boy)Tags: children, family, love, mom, mommy, mother, mother's day
Current Location: Mommyville
Current Mood:  thankful
Current Music: "Thank U" by Alanis Morissette.
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So, I took the Music Intelligence Institute's "Music Intelligence Quiz" today. I got one question wrong (according to the, POSSIBLY INCORRECT, writer of the quiz): "How many symphonies did Beethoven compose?" They wanted people to say "9" (because most people think that is all there was). I answered 10, because... well, out of the 138 Opp. that Ludwig Van Beethoven wrote, 10 were symphonies according to what I was taught in college: "Symphony #1" (Op. 21) "Symphony #2" (Op. 36) "Symphony #3" (Op. 55) (AKA "Eroica") "Symphony #4" (Op. 60) "Symphony #5" (Op. 67) "Symphony #6" (Op. 68) (AKA "Pastoral") "Symphony #7" (Op. 92) "Symphony #8" (Op. 93) "Symphony #9" (Op. 125 (AKA "Choral") and "Wellington's Victory" (Op. 91) (AKA "Battle Symphony" AKA "Wellingtons Sieg" AKA "Schlacht bei Vittoria" AKA "The Battle of Vitoria") "Wellington's Victory" is often forgotten just because it is not labeled, what would have been, "Symphony #7" (Making his famous 9th symphony, really #10. Labeling "Wellington’s Victory" "Symphony #6.5" would be wrong because it is not associated with "Symphony #6". So, Beethoven's trivia question… which is quite common as an "easy" question in game shows and online quizzes (and porno spam links, be careful)… is bound to be incorrect on all cases. If it multiple choice, and there is a "9" and a "10" there…. be careful. The safe answer is "9" but only because most people forget about "Wellington's Victory," or they will go into a whole spiel about “Wellington’s Victory” is not really a symphony. There can be validity to that… read on. Here in lies the rub: A "symphony" is a musical composition, often extended and usually for orchestra. Some argue that "Wellington's Victory" is not a symphony because it was reportedly written for a one-man-band contraption that a friend of Beethoven's invented called a panharmonicon… BUT, the musical piece was then extended out for full 30+ piece orchestration by Beethoven. It is also about 15 minutes long. By this definition, it is a symphony (long and for orchestra!). If you go with the more scholarly definition of: "symphonies" are tonal works in four movements with the first in sonata form, then some of Beethoven's "symphonies" are not "symphonies" (“# 6,” for example, has five movements) . “Sonata” just mean that it is music only (no lyrics). "Wellington's Victory" only has two movements, but it is music only. Who knows how many undiscovered symphonies Beethoven wrote under a different name, or hid from the masses too?! Therefore, the absolute true answer to the question “How many symphonies did Beethoven compose?" is unknown to me. The safe answer is still “9,” but it really depends on who is asking the question (we all know the real answer is "42," right?). I have a tendency to read too into things. Ha ha. Tags: battle of vitoria, battle symphony, beethoven, how many symphonies did beethoven compos, ludwig van beethoven, music, schlacht bei vittoria, symphony, wellington's victory, wellingtons sieg
Current Location: Music Land
Current Mood: Musical
Current Music: "Beethoven's 39th Symphony" by someone
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I found a Blue Raspberry flavored " Big Bite Gummy Bear" (Labeld "Giant Gummy Bear" on the nutrition label) (Made in China) at my local World Market ... ONE HUGE blue 3/4 pound (350 gram) gummy bear. This sucker is 1,120 calories, 280 grams of carbs, and 24 grams of good for you protein (from those yummy Chinese cows) . It is FAT FREE! So, I can eat it on my diet, right?? I can skip breakfast toworrow, and eat this at work for Brunch (maybe with some coffee). If I do, I could: A) Fall into a sugar induced diabetic coma. B) Get really fat. C) Say, "Hmm, that was tasty." D) Say, "I can't believe I ate the whole thing." E) Throw up. F) Feel good all day. G) Get a tummy ache. H) Sit in one place looking around and wondering why everyone is looking at me...maybe it is because I am naked at work with copious amounts of "blue raspberry" juice running down my chin and chest. I) Die Hmm.... I think I'll do it! It isn't as big as Matt's world famous 13lb giant Gummy Bear, but it looks like it was made in a similar way. It comes in a large hard plastic bear... maybe they melted a bunch of small Blue Raspberry gummy bears and made this one. I have never seen small Blue Raspberry gummy bears, and that is half the reason I chose this flavor. Tags: big candy, giant gummy bear, gummi, gummy, gummy bear
Current Location: Gummy Land
Current Mood:  hungry
Current Music: "Sugar Sugar" by the Archies
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My old LG phone decided to die on me in March 2008 (it wouldn't turn off when closed, so the battery ran out quickly). So, I checked Cingular / AT&T to see if I could get, what used to be called, a "free" upgrade (since I had the LG for about 2 years). They told me that as of April 4th, I could. So, I waited until April 5th just to make sure. I went to the website and there actually were a couple of old-school phones that were "re-furbished" and free. The "refurbished" word scared me a bit… so I started just looking for a phone that fit my main needs. What I wanted out of the phone was the ability to have a wired headset, because that way I could do handsfree for the car. My state is passing the law of handsfree devices only in the car, but that isn't the whole reason that I want a wired handsfree device. I do not want to have microwaves/RF right next to my head. Cell phones and Bluetooth headsets both have a level of Microwaves/RF, so I don't like to hold them up to my ear. If you buy a new cell phone nowadays, you will get a warning pamphlet about this that states the research on it "goes both ways"… Meaning some research says it is harmful, and other research says that some of the harmful research is unrepeatable in a laboratory… It seems to say if you already have brain cancer it will accelerate it, and if you don't have brain cancer, animal testing is inconclusive on if it causes it (so, I guess they have animals in cages with cell phones or Bluetooth headsets strapped to their heads!?). It further states that if you have a warming sensation in or around your ear, to stop using the phone for awhile, and it recommends only using it for short periods of time to reduce microwave/RF exposure. Anyway, if any research and testing says it could be bad to hold a cell phone up to your ear, I don't want to do it. So I want a wired handsfree listening and talking piece, and NOT a wireless Bluetooth one. Almost all of the modern phones do not have a wired hands-free earpiece jack on them. So, they are all Bluetooth or some other wireless headset only (maybe Bluetooth gives them a grant for this as a part of a monopoly scheme). I also wanted at least a 2.0 mega pixels camera. All of the refurbished phones that were available were less then 2.0mp. I saw a phone I liked that looked like it had a wired headset that came with it called the Sony Ericsson W580i (walkman), but it would have cost me $289.00 online, even with my "free upgrade"! They, however, did have the W580i listed with the refurbished ones that were labeled as "free", but they were not in stock (and probably never are…this phone was the only "modern" phone listed in the refurbished section). So, I went to my local "Authorized Retail" shops. All of them had the W580i listed as $89.00 - $99.00 regular price, and then $50.00 off with a two year contract. I had them open it and show me the features. I was told that I could put my MP3's on it and use them as my ringtones (not exaclty, read on). This sounded AWESOME! I could hand pick from all my music what I wanted every person calling me to sound like… "Jaws theme" for when daycare calls to say my child has pink eye, "Diane" by Guster for when Diane calls me, etc… I was told that the headphones that came with it could be used for handsfree calling and for listening to music (Very hard to figure out). I asked about refurbished because of what I saw on the AT&T site, and I was told that there were no usual problems with the phone and that "refurbished" ones would just be because someone returned it for a different phone (nope). He also refused to let me buy a magnetized horizontal hip case for it. He would not take it out of the glass display case, and he would not let me even read its box. He said "I won't let you buy that because there are problems with it and the magnet unlocks the phone instead of locking it like it is supposed to do…there might be a recall on the case" (unconfirmed) HEADPHONES THAT COME FREE WITH PHONE DID NOT SEEM to be HANDSFREE: Now, don't get me wrong, I like the phone, but I couldn't use it to talk in the car because the headphones, as far as I could at first tell, were for listening to music only, and did not have a microphone attached. I received a call while wearing them and I could not hear the person talking through the headphones. I tried to call out with them attached, nothing. They are great for music though, and it is stereo sound. The jack on the phone is a unique one inch wide one that takes a special huge stereo plug in... it is also the recharge plug in. So, you can't recharge and listen to music through headphones at the same time. See "well documented problems" for info about battery life. I eventually figured out that this phone had "modes" that you could set it to, one of these was "Handsfree mode" after going through the menus and selecting this, the heaphones worked as handsfree. I can picture myself driving and getting a call, putting the headphones in, and then going through the menu to select handsfree, and then answering...twenty minutes or one car crash later. I guess I have to prepare for a phone call before I start my car. REGULAR MP3s CAN NOT BE USED AS RINGTONES: I bought a 1 GB card for it and put my favorite songs on it for ringtones. When I told the phone to use them, it said "CANNOT USE THIS FILE" as a ringtone. This is a common thing, as I found online. You CAN NOT use a regular MP3 file as a ringtone with the W580i. According to a little bit of Internet research, you can "edit" you Mp3 file so it is about 30-32 seconds, and about 599 kb for it to work, but you will have to download software like Audacity or something else in order to do it. Audacity is free, but it will take a little work to get your phone to play "Heigh Ho" when your cheating ex calls about wanting their black t-shirt back. I have yet to download the software and finagle the MP3s for my phone, so I can not confirm that this works. I had Audacity before on my previous computer (that died on me) because I was recording audio books for Librivox in my spare time. It is pretty easy to use. Oh, and the adapter that came with the 1GB card didn't really fit any of my slots on my computer perfectly. It finally went into one of the really big ones, and my computer recognized it. I put my MP3s in the "Ringtones" folder (they still didn't work) "Refurbished", WELL DOCUMENTED PROBLEMS WITH THIS PHONE: According to Amazon reviews and other places, the number keys on the keypad crack and break easily! Sometimes within days! This would be why the phones would be getting refurbished. I don't text and I got my numbers transferred from my old phone to this one…so, I won't be using my keypad much. If you are a text-aholic, then sorry, the keys on this phone might break on you. Your provider won't fix it because it is a physical phone problem, and not their fault. If it is still under warranty, then you can pay the shipping, send it in for 6-8 weeks, and they will fix it for "free" (but you will also be "free" of a phone for awhile too, eek). If your warranty has expired, you might just have to buy a new phone, because each key replaced may be $25.00 plus $50.00 per hour of labor. There is also talk on the Internet about a really low battery life on this phone too. The official site just talks about talk time, and non-use-sitting-on-the-shelf time. It doesn't talk about ring time and listening to music time. I have had my phone for three days, I haven't experienced any battery problems yet, or cracked any keys. MAGNATIZED HIP CASE: I can't find any info about this. The cheap-o soft leather one he sold me is very non-compatible with the phone. I can answer and talk through the case, but it doesn't immediately auto lock afterward because it can not be slid open or closed while it is in the protector. I have already pocket dialed and accidentally got on the net with it just from sitting down and standing up. I did eventually discover that the phone has two auto-lock modes. One is for when you slide it closed, and the other will auto-lock it after a few seconds of total non-use. I am now using it to protect me from erroneous charges. I have read that because the unlock is push one button on side and then another button on the other side, that it can still unlock easily in your pocket… but I don't carry mine in my pocket. Another problem with this case is in order to use the keypad I have to fully remove it from the soft tight leather case. The phone sticks to the case and is very hard to remove after being in there for a couple of days. The other magnetized case was just a holder that when you take the phone out of it, you have just your phone and no need to take it out anything. Which also has its drawbacks as far as screen protection and stuff goes, but they make static cling screen saver things for that. If you drop your phone that is another story. The tight leather case he sold me was $19.99, and according to the Internet, the Magnetized Hip Pouch cases are about $11.99. Yeah, he just wanted more money. As far as recalls go, I haven't seen any evidence of that either. If you don't have an iPod, then this phone can work with up to 2 GB extra memory (for $69.99, or 1 GB for $39.99) for a few of your favorite songs. The documentation with the phone says it only takes up to 2 Gigabytes, but some Internet sources mention 4 GB. Who knows? So I spent $159.98 for my phone and accessories, with a $50.00 mail in rebate (for a $50.00 Visa card) . I traded in my old broken LG for $9.98, and they gave me a five dollar accessory price break. That gives me a total of $95.00 for my $89.00-$99.00 (retail) phone. Not horrible, but not what I expected for my “Free Upgrade.” Now if I want a car charger, insurance, a hands free device, etc. We are talking mayb $200 plus. Sony Ericsson is releasing a Bluetooth Car Speakerphone called the HCB-150. I am guessing that it will cost about $150.00, but at least you won’t be microwaving your brain. Tags: at&t, battery, cell phone, cellphone, cingular, hands free, headphones, headset, lies, locking, mp3, phone, ringtones, sony ericsson, upgrade, w580i, walkman, wired, wireless
Current Location: Phoneland, USA
Current Mood: disappointed
Current Music: "Heigh Ho" from Disney's Snow White
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I could write this like… “in 1975, I was born. Also in 1975 Adam Ant’s band “Bazooka Joe” had an unknown group named The Sex Pistols playing their first gig as their opening act”….. but no. Let us start with when I first discovered Adam Ant…. Well, it was actually the 1990 single "Room at the Top" for me. I loved that song, and Jane Child's "Don't Wanna Fall in Love" which were constantly being played on my local station in Southern California (I think it was KROQ). I was 14 and ripe for a male role model. I bought the cassette of "Manners & Physique" and loved it through and through (especially the title track). It was one of my first self-purchased cassettes. I also bought a 12" of "Room at the Top" to see what these "remix-things" were, and loved them. My next purchase about two months later was the US cassette version of Adam and the Ants' "Kings of the Wild Frontier" (with "Physical (You're So)" and "Beat My Guest" & "Stand and Deliver" bonus tracks on it)…. *insert record needle scratch here*. "What the f…?", was my first reaction. Second listen, "I have never heard ANYTHING like this…" Third listen "I LOVE THIS!" I played "Beat My Guest" for whomever would listen. It was like finding a naughty song in your parents' record collection. My mother called it "crazy jungle music" and it gave her a headache. That didn't make me like it more, like some teens would… it just made me use headphones more. The next album I procured was "Antics in the Forbidden Zone" (a greatest hits) cassette from my step sister, Kat. She saw my "Manners" cassette when I visited (my parents are divorced, and she lived with my father, whom I only visited a couple times a year). Kat, who is four years older then me, was like, "you like this guy, I bought this for his hit 'Good Two Shoes' but I didn't like the rest of his songs, here you can have it." That did it, now I had a sampler of all of his albums, and I loved all of the songs. This hits album contained a song on it called "Prince Charming" that I instantly recognized. It was played for me once by a teacher in 7th grade when I got the title role in a play that my 7th grade drama class wrote called "The Prince who Lost his Charm" (Prince Charming was on trial for having too many princesses in his life…. hee hee). Those screams at the beginning are quite jarring, and hard to forget. Now, with this new hits album, I knew I had to earn money so I could purchase all the rest of Adam Ant's albums. I worked part time in after school jobs and I worked at a few summer camps (oh there are a lot of stories there). I eventually had them all on cassette and LP (The LPs were for display and lyric sheet purposes…I didn't have CD player yet). My prize was the black and white Do It records version of "Dirk Wears White Sox" (both cassette and LP). I eventually got the ultra expensive ($29.99) VHS of "Antics in the Forbidden Zone". While watching the VHS, I got a huge flashback. I remembered the "Goody Two Shoes" video from when I saw it ONCE on MTV back in 1982. I only got to see MTV for a few minutes before my parents turned it off. It was really close to the day of my parents divorce (when I moved from Oregon, to southern California, and never had cable again at home), and I never got to see MTV again until around 1990 (at a friend's house). I never knew what the song was but I had that image of a man in red leather pants jumping over a "naked" woman on a bed for 8 YEARS until I bought that video. Yes, she did become naked in my imagination (I still have a thing for that naughty librarian look, rrrrawr). In mid-1991, I made my own air brushed black and red Adam Ant T-shirt (all caps with a reversed "D"), and I wore it to school at least once a month. It was my individualism. My non-conformist self shining through. I had my "cool thing" that almost no one else knew. Only one person knew who it was. She was a really hot "Goth" girl named Emily that I would never have talked to otherwise (because Goths scared me back then). She is now a famous fetish model with a new name (I won't give away her secret identity though). She stopped me in the hallway, pointed at my shirt and said, "That is so cool dude. Adam Ant rules." Then she went back to her Goth friends. A few people asked about the shirt, but most kids in High School really don't give a rip about anything but themselves and what others think about them. In 1993, I think I was the only one at that High School who came as Adam for Halloween in over ten years. The "Strip" album was a good album to play for those yummy High School make-out sessions too. Sometime around 1992, Adam came through my town (Riverside at that time), and an article and picture of him were in the newspaper (my mom cut out the article and gave it to me). Even if I had known he was coming, he played at a 21 and over club. The article mentioned a new "bluesy" album called "Persuasion" was being released soon. I asked about this album every time I went into Sam Goody and the my local punk specialty record shop (I was a very straight laced kid, and the shop scared me…so I didn't go in there often). I know they got sick of me asking about it. Sam Goody actually had it listed in their catalog, but the release date came and went. "Persuasion" was never released, but a friend gave me a white long sleeve t-shirt from the concert. I was the lead singer in a high school band from 1993 - 1994 with my friends Michael and Mahlon, but we never sang any Adam Ant songs, and to be honest, I didn't want to mar them like that…ha ha. Plus, we were a Christian praise and worship band on top of being a band that played our own stuff. Adam didn't fit the bill. If we did do an Adam song, it would have been "Physical." We recorded a mini-album in December, 1993, and we all graduated and separated in June, 1994. I didn't know what to do with my life, so I signed up for the Air Force. The military eventually told me that I would be going in on the Ides of March (March 15th), 2005. Little did I know that Adam had a surprise for me. The single "Wonderful" came out around February 2005. A whole new sound for Adam (and a bunch of B-sides on the 2 UK CD import singles that I had to special order). The album itself came out March 9th, 2005, AND Adam was singing live the day of the release at the Hollywood Virgin Mega Store. I bought the album (on CD) that morning and had it on repeat all day. My girlfriend at the time, Heather, and I drove the couple of hours to Hollywood (listening to the album) and stood in a massively crowded room. Heather and I were about three rows from the stage, and there was an official video being filmed right next to my head (I think this video was used as a Virgin in-store promo reel). I had never seen so many antfans. Some had make-up, and a lot had real concert shirts (I had my Persuasion shirt on). As we waited people started doing different chants from the "Kings" album ("Dog Eat Dog" etc). It was so cool to hear and experience people doing these things. I know that if there was an Adam concert today, people would still be doing this… just as they probably did in 1981. Then, I saw Adam live for the first and only time (so far?) that night. It was announced that there would be autographs for everyone, and they would stay open for as late as it took. After about 4 or so acoustic songs, the fire marshal showed up, and closed the whole thing down. Adam was too popular (BIG GRIN), and the "man" had to shut him down. That fire marshal got a LOT of mean looks and boos. I hung around awhile, hoping they would let Adam sign some autographs, but no. All were denied access to Adam. The next week I went into the military. In 1997 I got an "Antmusic for Sexpeople" tattoo….on my back… "it hurt!" I went to college. I got married. Adam got charged with threatening bar patrons with an imitation firearm. Got the AntBox. Had a baby. Got all of the Ants Remastered albums. Got divorced. Got full custody. Got re-married. Currently working on a second child. Waiting for the 7" box set due possibly in October 2008. At this point, I have all his albums (multiple versions of each) on CD, Cassette, and LP, all of his singles, books, Kings jacket replica, and some various other ephemera. I went a little gonzo over the years (especially in High School). I have slowed down my Adam Ant-osity now…. mostly. Not just because of budgetary constraints. I am just setting my priorities. I still buy any new CD versions and box sets, but I have stopped buying all of the slapped together hits collections (unless there is a rare alternate version of a song on them). I have the Stand and Deliver 2 disc DVD (region 2), and it actually plays on one of my DVD players! I have convinced most of my nephews that Adam Ant is cool (which took years… and mentioning the Sex Pistols a lot) . We have to pass this on to the next few generations! Don't let them all be "oh, that 'Goody Two Shoes' guy, he's cheesy." Play them "Stand and Deliver." Play them "Ants Invasion." Play them "The Human Beings." Play them "You're so Physical" (which my nephew insisted that Trent Reznor wrote, ha ha). Let's get Adam Ant back into the public eye as a great musician. I am trying to do my part, but I haven’t gone as far as to put any Ant-make-up on my son for Halloween at Daycare..... yet. Tags: adam & the ants, adam and the ants, adam ant, ant_music, antbox, antmusic, antmusic for sexpeople, concert, dirk wears white sox, dog eat dog, friend or foe, goody two shoes, kings of the wild frontier, life, manners & physique, persuasion, prince charming, strip, virgin megastore
Current Location: Good Mood, Oregon
Current Mood: ecstatic
Current Music: "Manners & Physique" by Adam Ant
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When I was a wee young lad, there were three comic book series that changed my life forever. Well, actually, there were three key series that really clicked with my 10 year old brain. I don't know if they changed my life or not. Previous to this time, there was Whitman's Daffy Duck, Bugs Bunny, Archie, Harvey's Richie Rich, Star Comic's Top Dog the Talking Dog, Planet Terry, Wally the Wizard, Heathcliff, Disney's Mickey Mouse, and Uncle Scrooge, and I enjoyed them all (especially the epic and adventure filled Uncle Scrooge and the fun filled Top Dog stories). First off, let me state that I still like the occasional comic book. Nowadays, I enjoy ones that are fun, and/or scary. I still will read Disney comics (most are reprints of the classics anyways). A comic has to entertain me nowadays, because I read them mostly for fun and escape. It still weirds me out that the date on the comic books is not the date they came out, but 1 to 3 months after they come out. As a child I asked about this, and a guy in 7-11 told me it was the day that he was supposed to "rip the covers off, send them back for cash, and throw away the rest" (which was very shocking for a 10-year-old to hear). Because of this cover dating system, I have to question my memory on when all of this occurred, but I am going with my memory, not cover dates. Here they are in random order… Interesting fact, they all came out, or started, in 1985… okay, they aren't random, they are in order of how much I like them (3 being the best): 1) Marvel's, Peter David written, "The Death of Jean DeWolff" story arc in "Peter Parker the Spectacular Spider-Man" #107 - #110 was one of these series (well, story-arc to be exact). When I talk about this Arc, I usually call it the "Sin Eater series," but it has been labeled as "The Death of Jean DeWolff" by most people. I was sick around August 1985, and Mom bought me the "All New, All Daring" issue #107 to read with fever addled brain. I thought the cover was cool, and I had NEVER read Spider-Man before at all. I had seen him on TV in cartoons and the live-action TV series. I was actually disappointed in my mom for buying it. I read comics for entertainment and giggles. Why was she buying me THIS? This was a comic for "big boys." Well, I read it…. three pages later there was the dead, bloody, shot up corpse of Captain Jean DeWolff bleeding all over her bed and a mangled look on her face. I almost screamed in shock. I didn't know who she was, and I didn't care who she was. There was a dead body in my comic book. That didn't belong there! Why did Mommy buy me THIS? If I wasn't sick I probably would have stopped reading it and asked her why. Oh, I finished reading it, and it was TO BE CONTINUED! Now, it took me THREE years to get the next three issues and finish this story arc. I had to go into my first real comic book shop to buy the last one (a huge store in southern California). I had dreams about this series, desperately trying to finish it on my own. I can't say I was satisfied by the real ending, but it was enough for me to know that it did end. I also can't say that I really liked this story arc. It just was a gap that I had to fill. This series made me buy a lot of other Spider-Man books, but most did not really compare with my first Spider-Man story arc (except the really old Amazing Spider-Man comics). 2) During Christmas break of 1985, I ran across "Nightcrawler" #1 and #2 (of 4 in a limited series), written by Dave Cockrum, sitting on a shelf at the gift shop at Diamond Lake Resort while I was learning to cross-country ski with my family. I had never even heard of the X-Men before, but that didn't matter. I flipped through the two books and was fascinated by the completely bizarre and fantastic story line. Those first two comics got read about 20 times during that week, and, if I remember right, a few days later the gift shop had the next two issues in their shop too. It was a Christmas miracle to have the complete series all together like that. Dimension hopping Nightcrawler, Kitty, and the Bamfs fighting the big shark like creature. I loved it. This being my first X-Men related series, of course, has made me compare all things X-Men to it. Nothing I have run across has been better (I haven't read many X-men story lines yet). The first Trade Paperback and few issues of the Excalibur series came close to the fun feeling, but it made me lose interest after awhile and I stopped reading it. Plus, cross-overs and continuity make reading a lot of X-Men lines a chore. It used to be that you would see an " * " with a footnote of "See issue #blah" at the bottom of one or two panels in a comic book. Eventually, more and more of these appeared ("See "Excalibur" Volume #blah, issue #blah and "X-Men Unlimited" Volume #blah, issue #blah). Nowadays, I think they stopped doing this because there would be one of those on each panel. 3) This brings me to my all time favorite series. A few months before Mom bought me that issue of Spider-Man, around April or May 1985, I bought my first comic with my own money. It was the Bill Mantlo written "Rocket Raccoon" #1 (of 4 in a four-issue Limited Series). I expected a "Funny Animal" series. What I got was a very interesting adventure. Now, I wouldn't say that I laughed during this series, but I was thoroughly fascinated. These animals weren't cracking jokes, and some didn't look very cute. There was real danger and there was real excitement. There was a whole universe contained in the series that revolved around Edgar Allen Poe, Keystone Cops, The Beatles (the lyrics of the song "Rocky Raccoon" play some key roles in the series), Western Philosophy, The Bible, etc… and it is all wrapped in up in a Pink Floyd-ian daydream / nightmare that is secretly disguised as a children's comic book. It was not written for kids, it was very wordy, and the in-jokes are for very literate people. I had read Poe, and I had seen Keystone Cops, but I had never heard the Beatles song (and I wouldn't hear it until my 7th grade English teacher played it for the class). At 10 years-old, I loved its heroism, great story, characters, excellent artwork (by Mike Mignola), and much more. Having re-read this as an adult, I can see so much more of the complexities that this story was inundated with. This was my first comic that had that dreaded "to be continued" written at the end of the first issue. And, because of this, I frequented the local 7-11 every day asking if it was in yet. I constantly talked about this series with everyone (friends, family, the owner of 7-11, etc) while it was coming out. I think that I was talking on deaf ears because no one else had read the series, but I did not care. I loved it. I guess you would call it a Space Opera, and as an adult I can see comparisons to Star Wars in that whole romantic, melodramatic, boy-meets-girl, boy-loses-girl-to-evil-space-guy, boy-travels-in-space-to-get-his-girl-back, boy-saves-the-world, etc… sort of thing. This series would make a great animated PG-rated movie (maybe CG if it was Pixar-quality, but hopefully cell animated). Eventually, I started reading more and more comics. Groo, Power Pack, Howard the Duck, Captain Marvel (the Shazam! version), Superman, and more became some favorites. Then one day, I stopped. This hiatus lasted for about 16 years. Recently, while working on Wikipedia, I discovered that Rocket Raccoon has had some other appearances. He has come back a couple times since his series, and he had a couple of Bill Mantlo written appearances prior to the mini series including the Incredible Hulk (#271, 1982) story "Now Somewhere In the Black Holes of Sirius Major There Lived a Young Boy Named Rocket Raccoon". Marvel Preview #7 (Summer, 1975) has a character named Rocky who is a Raccoon and some sources say that he is Rocket Raccoon, he looks very similar, and he is obviously a play on the Beatles song again, but the similarities sort of end there. I think Mr. Mantlo liked the idea, and eventually developed it into Rocket Raccoon. I have since bought all (?) of his appearances, and they were fun. Issue #415 of the "Incredible Hulk" series supposedly shows that Rocket died (*GASP*, "Noooooo!") by having a pelt on a bad guy's wall, but he has since come back during the recent (2007) "Annihilation Conquest" and "Star-Lord" series. He is also set to be one of the stars in the new team series written by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning called "Guardians of the Galaxy" that is scheduled to start in May 2008. There have been rumors that the new "Guardians of the Galaxy" series will be tied into the Secret Invasion crossover (where shape-shifting Skrulls have infiltrated Marvels super-power teams as fellow members… sort of like "Who Goes There?" by John W. Campbell Jr.). Now, since Rocket may have died, if it turns out that the recent appearances of Rocket Raccoon are really a Skrull in disguise it will "really make my fur fly." Tags: al gordon, andy lannin | | |
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