I have just learned that today is International Talk Like William Shatner Day. :spock:<\/p>\n
<\/param><\/param><\/param><\/embed><\/object><\/p>\nMaurice LaMarche, for anyone who doesn’t know, is the voice of The Brain, from Pinky & The Brain & Larry<\/i>. And I actually had no idea, until just now, what Maurice LaMarche looked like.<\/p>\nNot what I wanted to write about today, however.<\/p>\nLet’s talk Big Lots.<\/p>\nI went to Big Lots yesterday. No reason, except I needed a bubble mailer. And, naturally, I ended up leaving with stuff I didn’t even know<\/i> I needed.<\/p>\nLike Dennis L. McKiernan’s The Silver Call Duology<\/i> (written as a sequel to The Lord of the Rings<\/i>, believe it or not) for thirty cents.<\/p>\nAnd an Indiana Jones action figure.<\/p>\nAnd Hollywoodland<\/i>. For three dollars.<\/p>\nLet’s ponder this for a moment.<\/p>\nThe Indiana Jones action figure I bought was the Grail Knight from The Last Crusade<\/i>. (And now I’m feeling the itch<\/i> to watch The Last Crusade<\/i>. I’m a sucker for anything even vaguely<\/i> Arthurian.) I’ve seen Indiana Jones action figures everywhere<\/i>, clogging up clearance racks like there’s no tomorrow. Clearly, Kenner bet wrong that retailers would want this stuff, and retailers bet really<\/i> wrong that consumers wanted this stuff.<\/p>\nBut looking at the Grail Knight, I see why<\/i> people didn’t want these. Yes, it looks great. But it also looks, well, cheap<\/i>. It doesn’t even look articulated. And I don’t get the 3 3\/4″ scale at all<\/i>. It’s so freakin’ tiny<\/i>. So, Kenner invested in a whole line of toys based on films that came out twenty-plus years ago, whose audience is now in their thirties, who want something a little more substantial<\/i>.<\/p>\nNo wonder they’re clogging up stores like Big Lots. \ud83d\ude10<\/p>\nBut then we have Hollywoodland<\/i>, the Ben Affleck film about the murder of The Adventures of Superman<\/i> star George Reeves.<\/p>\nNow, when this came out, I wanted to see it. Really, I did. But I never got around to it, and at ten dollars for a local movie ticket I couldn’t justify the price.<\/p>\nBut three dollars for a DVD? Hell yeah<\/i>.<\/p>\nIn some ways, the theatrical release of a film is becoming more and more a big-budget advertisement for the home market revenue stream. You can pay ten dollars for a movie ticket and a single viewing, or if you wait a few months you can pay fifteen or twenty dollars and watch the movie forever<\/i>.<\/p>\nOr you can be like me and pick it up at Big Lots later for three bucks.<\/p>\nDoes this mean I have any plans to watch Hollywoodland<\/i> this weekend? Alas not.<\/p>\nWhat Would William Shatner Say?<\/p>\n“Allyn,” he would say breathily, with a long dramatic pause. “Watch… itwhen… you… feel… … better.”<\/p>\nBecause, yes, thanks to my sinuses I feel craptacular and sneezetastic. :sick:<\/p>\nAs for the McKiernan book, I don’t know when — or if — I’ll ever read it, but thirty cents was too good to pass up. I read nearly ten years ago The Iron Tower Trilogy<\/i>, which was McKiernan’s Lord of the Rings<\/i>-like story so that The Silver Call<\/i> could be published as a sequel to that when his publisher couldn’t secure the rights to publish The Silver Call<\/i> as a true sequel to Tolkien’s story.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I have just learned that today is International Talk Like William Shatner Day. :spock: Maurice LaMarche, for anyone who doesn’t know, is the voice of The Brain, from Pinky & The Brain & Larry. And I actually had no idea, until just now, what Maurice LaMarche looked like. Not what I wanted to write aboutContinue reading “On Random Big Lots Musings”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[52],"tags":[85,364,4113],"class_list":["post-2260","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-life","tag-big-lots","tag-indiana-jones","tag-tolkien","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.allyngibson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2260","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.allyngibson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.allyngibson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.allyngibson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.allyngibson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2260"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.allyngibson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2260\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.allyngibson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2260"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.allyngibson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2260"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.allyngibson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2260"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Maurice LaMarche, for anyone who doesn’t know, is the voice of The Brain, from Pinky & The Brain & Larry<\/i>. And I actually had no idea, until just now, what Maurice LaMarche looked like.<\/p>\n
Not what I wanted to write about today, however.<\/p>\n
Let’s talk Big Lots.<\/p>\n
I went to Big Lots yesterday. No reason, except I needed a bubble mailer. And, naturally, I ended up leaving with stuff I didn’t even know<\/i> I needed.<\/p>\n
Like Dennis L. McKiernan’s The Silver Call Duology<\/i> (written as a sequel to The Lord of the Rings<\/i>, believe it or not) for thirty cents.<\/p>\n
And an Indiana Jones action figure.<\/p>\n
And Hollywoodland<\/i>. For three dollars.<\/p>\n
Let’s ponder this for a moment.<\/p>\n
The Indiana Jones action figure I bought was the Grail Knight from The Last Crusade<\/i>. (And now I’m feeling the itch<\/i> to watch The Last Crusade<\/i>. I’m a sucker for anything even vaguely<\/i> Arthurian.) I’ve seen Indiana Jones action figures everywhere<\/i>, clogging up clearance racks like there’s no tomorrow. Clearly, Kenner bet wrong that retailers would want this stuff, and retailers bet really<\/i> wrong that consumers wanted this stuff.<\/p>\n
But looking at the Grail Knight, I see why<\/i> people didn’t want these. Yes, it looks great. But it also looks, well, cheap<\/i>. It doesn’t even look articulated. And I don’t get the 3 3\/4″ scale at all<\/i>. It’s so freakin’ tiny<\/i>. So, Kenner invested in a whole line of toys based on films that came out twenty-plus years ago, whose audience is now in their thirties, who want something a little more substantial<\/i>.<\/p>\n
No wonder they’re clogging up stores like Big Lots. \ud83d\ude10<\/p>\n
But then we have Hollywoodland<\/i>, the Ben Affleck film about the murder of The Adventures of Superman<\/i> star George Reeves.<\/p>\n
Now, when this came out, I wanted to see it. Really, I did. But I never got around to it, and at ten dollars for a local movie ticket I couldn’t justify the price.<\/p>\n
But three dollars for a DVD? Hell yeah<\/i>.<\/p>\n
In some ways, the theatrical release of a film is becoming more and more a big-budget advertisement for the home market revenue stream. You can pay ten dollars for a movie ticket and a single viewing, or if you wait a few months you can pay fifteen or twenty dollars and watch the movie forever<\/i>.<\/p>\n
Or you can be like me and pick it up at Big Lots later for three bucks.<\/p>\n
Does this mean I have any plans to watch Hollywoodland<\/i> this weekend? Alas not.<\/p>\n
What Would William Shatner Say?<\/p>\n
“Allyn,” he would say breathily, with a long dramatic pause. “Watch… itwhen… you… feel… … better.”<\/p>\n
Because, yes, thanks to my sinuses I feel craptacular and sneezetastic. :sick:<\/p>\n
As for the McKiernan book, I don’t know when — or if — I’ll ever read it, but thirty cents was too good to pass up. I read nearly ten years ago The Iron Tower Trilogy<\/i>, which was McKiernan’s Lord of the Rings<\/i>-like story so that The Silver Call<\/i> could be published as a sequel to that when his publisher couldn’t secure the rights to publish The Silver Call<\/i> as a true sequel to Tolkien’s story.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I have just learned that today is International Talk Like William Shatner Day. :spock: Maurice LaMarche, for anyone who doesn’t know, is the voice of The Brain, from Pinky & The Brain & Larry. And I actually had no idea, until just now, what Maurice LaMarche looked like. Not what I wanted to write aboutContinue reading “On Random Big Lots Musings”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[52],"tags":[85,364,4113],"class_list":["post-2260","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-life","tag-big-lots","tag-indiana-jones","tag-tolkien","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.allyngibson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2260","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.allyngibson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.allyngibson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.allyngibson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.allyngibson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2260"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.allyngibson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2260\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.allyngibson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2260"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.allyngibson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2260"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.allyngibson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2260"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}