Asking About The Novel 'Rodney' By Dick Baldwin!

On this last morning of the Year 2008... I've been conversing with my new Facebook Friend Dick Baldwin about his novel!

Dick messaged me the following comment:

"Your blog sounds interesting, and my novel, "Rodney", fits into your field -- although in a corner somewhere. It's a conventional novel, but I have been told it reads like a "dark comic book", a surreal "Archie"."

This of course piqued my interest and I have checked out what I could of his novel which is in print and available from your usual sources of purchasing.

I have read the reviews of his novel, the comments by purchasers of the novel, and excerpts from the novel itself. Plus the promotional marketing for the book.

'Rodney', from what I can tell without reading the whole novel, is the fast-paced story of what happens when a teenage boy coming of age becomes an incompetent vampire.  It appears to be marketed to middle age teens, and is written in a black comedy style.  

If you have read this novel, I'd like to know your take on it! 

Is it a 'surreal Archie'? I'd like to know how You felt about it! 

Feel free to email me with your comments on this novel, good or bad!

Publishing Details for this Novel:

Yes... SnowCon

Happening On The Weekend Of

January 17-18th, 2009!

  We were sent an invite to the 2009 SnowCon... that is being held in Orono, Maine, during January 17th-18th!

Well, Tina and I just had enough of snow blizzards up in Flagstaff during our vacation last week, (see pic of Michael above), so we'll pass on this upcoming snow filled weekend! LOL!

However, as we see more and more cons have some room(s) or areas dedicated to gamers, and local comic book stores with their game tables set out... well I thought I would at least mention this Gamers Con that is being held up in Central / Northern Maine for our East Coast Blog readers!

I took a look at their web site: SnowConMaine.com, and found that they have an event and gaming packed weekend planned!

If gaming is for you, and you are close to the state of Maine, this just might be for you!  (Please Note: Tina and I have NOT been to previous SnowCons.)

Details for this Con:

Where: Black Bear Inn and Conference Center, Orono, Maine

Looking Forward To Attending A Con Soon? Then Don't Miss This One On January 11th, 2009!

 My Facebook Friend Vyxsin Fiala,(pictured at the left)... sent me an invite to this Con the same day I received a flyer for it in our PO Box!

Kynt and Vyxsin of the CBS TV Series 'Amazing Race' fame will be at this convention. They will be appearing in the autograph area. If you are a fan of theirs and can't attend, then check out their Facebook pages for additional photos! 

Also there will be Rhona Mitra (pictured at the top of the blog post in armor), and Kevin Grevioux attending. They are the stars of the Third 'Underworld' Film, 'Rise Of The Lycans', that will be previewed at 12:00 PM on January 11th.

Plus there is the World Premiere Exclusive of 'Kamen Rider: Dragon Knight', which will air on the CW4KIDS Television Network.  Attendees at this con will meet the directors and several of the stars who will be on stage at 2:00 PM. The program is intended to give you a 'behind the scenes look' at the series.

Details for this Con:

Where: SHRINE Auditorium Expo Center, 700 West 32nd Street, Los Angeles, CA 90007

When: Sunday January 11th, 10am to 5pm

Cost: $8.00, (5 Years and under are Free).

For those of you that are new to our blog today and can't go to the above Con, we also have an ongoing 'Comic Con and Pop Culture Convention'  here at "Make It So Marketing Inc.", what with our daily blog posts,  and new listings of items for sale in our online eBay Featured Store! 

It Was, Because Harkins Theaters Didn't Have 'The Spirit' Film Showing For Christmas Day!

Tina and I were all set to see 'The Spirit' on opening day, (Christmas Day)... which occured while we were in Sedona, Northern Arizona for our holidays week.

We figured for sure we would get to view it at the local Harkins theater... after all don't they have a big Film Festival each year in Sedona?

Well...unfortunately they weren't showing it during our week in Sedona. We talked to the manager about it, and looked to see what else we could view with our free theater tickets.

Tina and I looked at each other and knew, that our second choice of the films they were showing there was going to be 'Australia', starring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman. Or in Tina's view, starring Hugh Jackman!

We had been seeing the historical Cowboys and Indians sights of Flagstaff, Sedona, Jerome, Cottonwood, Cornville, and Clarkdale, so the 'western setting' of this film set in Australia got us in the mood to see it. As if a film with Hugh Jackman wouldn't get Tina excited to see it, LOL!

Well, after two and three-quarter hours later, we both knew we had found a great second choice! 

IMHO both Nicole and Hugh were outstanding in their roles, and the other cast members added greatly to the storyline. 

The 'western' aspect of the cattle drive looked like it was taking place in the area we were vacationing in!

The moral story behind the treatment of the 'half-caste' children in the Northern Territories was depicted very well by Baz Luhrmann. Even though you might think the film was a romantic and epic adventure, the story was really told by the young boy Nullah, who was born to an Aboriginal mother and an unknown white father. 

I kind of kid Tina about liking Hugh Jackman so much, but I have also liked his acting ever since his role in 'Kate & Leopold'. 

So although I was hoping to present our reviews of 'The Spirit' film here today... I am pleased to give this film a 9.5 rating!  

Tina and I are looking forward to Hugh's "X-Men Origins: Wolverine' film next year. Matter of fact we re-watched our X-Men DVDs during the rest of the vacation since this 'Australia' film was so good!  

We will try to take in 'The Spirit' film soon, so that we can review it here also...

For those of you that are new to our blog today, we also have an ongoing 'Comic Con and Pop Culture Convention'  here at "Make It So Marketing Inc.", what with our daily blog posts, (when we aren't at a dial-up location LOL), and new listings of items for sale in our online eBay Featured Store! 

We Are Back Says Michael and Tina!

We are back from on our Holidays Vacation Week... which we took this year in Red Rock Country, Sedona, Northern Arizona.

We arrived back early evening on Sunday evening in Carlsbad, California, just in time to see the San Diego Chargers play and win the AFC West Championship Game on TV.

Even though it was great to get back online with a cable connection for a short while last night to try to catch up, it was more relaxing to watch the football game that had some meaning, so that's what we did after unpacking the car!

For the first time since starting this blog back on June 7th 2006, we did not blog for almost a week due to the slooooow dial-up connection we had at the resort in Sedona... It was just too difficult to add photos for blog inclusion to do so. Plus we were on vacation, enjoying the sights, roads, and wineries of Verde Valley as seen in the photo above!

So we've taken off the 'vacation mode' from our online stores, turned off the auto-responders for our email addresses, and are getting back to acknowledging sales, replying to questions, invoicing, and getting shipments ready to mail tomorrow! Additionally we did pick up some new items to list while shopping in Flagstaff.

We also need to acknowledge our multiple Facebook requests that came in during our week off!

We will get back to our regular blogging style after doing all of the above actions!

We want to thank everyone for reading our blogs and / or buying from us this past year. AND we want to wish everyone a Happy Holidays to all, and hope you had a Merry Christmas while we were vacationing! We will have a short week this week, but we are staying close to home during the New Year festivities...

For those that are bought from us while we were gone, our listings did state that our Stores were on 'vacation mode', and that there would be a delay in sending your items...those will be mailed tomorrow. 

For those of you that are new to our blog today, we also have an ongoing 'Comic Con and Pop Culture Convention'  here at "Make It So Marketing Inc.", what with our daily blog posts, (when we aren't at a dial-up location LOL), and new listings of items for sale in our online eBay Featured Store!