Toy Runs Are Great

So Pete and I hit a bunch of stores Friday and I/we went to some other places too. Due to leaks of things that shouldn't be out and me not wanting to piss on anyone's parade, here's some of what I got.

CDs
Tom Waits "Glitter & Doom Live"
Melt Banana "Cell-Scape"
Les Savy Fav "Go Forth"

Movies
Fifth Element (Blu-Ray, $13, woo)

Books
TMNT Collected Year 1

Toys
DC Universe Green Lantern, Green Arrow, Black Canary set ($5.00)

Games
Xbox 360 LEGO Batman and LEGO Star Wars Complete Saga ($17 for the pair, not each)

Soda
Ruby Red Squirt (Fry's Marketplace)
...Pop Soda was all out of Jolt. Again. Tons of diet, of course, none of the regular stuff. WHY DO YOU MOCK ME SO.

Pete was looking for "Kill City" from Iggy Pop/James Williamson and we could not find a copy on CD. A pity. It's a pretty good album.

...in terms of "catch and release" finds, there were tons of Dewbacks, AT-ST, Geonosis Assault (Gun Pod) Battle Packs, Jurassic Park TRU toys (in short supply in my usual haunts), Masterpiece Skywarps, Legacy Wave 9, and other goodies in great numbers. As usual, Phoenix does not disappoint.

This Root Beer Is Totally Real

Found this at Pop Soda in Tempe, AZ while I'm on assignment. (Otherwise I'd post this to 16bit.com first.)



It's Judge Wapner Root Beer. The label reads "I sentence you to drink my Root Beer." I haven't tried it yet, but it's from the same people that did Leninade and that was pretty good stuff. I'll be keeping an empty of this on my desk at work, too.

Bands That Piss Me Off With Their Hiatus

Hey bands-- if you've ended your career, let us know, rather than making us wonder if you're still around or not. Not updating your web site? Bad form. Post that you're done or over or something. In particular:


Man or Astro-Man (no real updates since 2005, no releases since 2001)
Pilot Scott Tracy (last update ???, last album 2006)
Spoozys (last US release 2000, last release 2003, last website update 2003)
Tiki Tones (last update 2007, last album 2000)
Tyro (last update, album 2000)

Seriously, I'd totally love to give you people some money. I can't be alone here.

Also for a dishonorable mention, Supernova released a 7-inch in 2008 and let their web site lapse into expiration. Good job. Nerf Herder did not make the cut because, apparently, Nerf Herder IV was released in 2008. Which means that this has been the longest freaking year ever. Bah.

And while I have your attention, does anyone know if Jonny and the Shamen released a third album? I've got Adventures in Espionage and Operation: Twang!, but I remember seeing a third one, if memory serves, as some early digital-distro exclusive. I can't find any evidence of this. It may have been MP3.com or eMusic or something, but nothing seems to remain. Little help? There's basically no useful record of the band existing-- no official site, no Wikipedia page, nada.

Soda Marketing, 2009: Cats

We went to Target to peruse the graveyard of Halloween items, as I was hoping to get a deal on the LEGO Power Miners sets in the polybags. No dice, but we did find this amusing artifact.

Each bottle has a different label, but one side of the packaging (and one bottle) seems to have grafted on to the internet craze that refuses to die (or stop being entertaining), LOLcats. Or people that dress up cats. Either way, there you go-- clearance Monster Mojitos, with a pirate cat.