The Smarmy Carny

Here at The Smarmy Carny, I like to have theme days such as Movie Monday and Thilly Thursday. Theme days help keep me focused when I'm drooling on myself, trying to figure out what topic to post on.

After some thought, Movie Monday and Trailer Tuesday were just too repetetive and too close together to work out well. Trailers can be posted just as well on Movie Monday, so I'm making room by merging the two. Besides, I don't have a day set aside for television.

While I would prefer to have my television day on Thursday (after Lost has aired), Tuesday was the best choice. Besides, Thursday starts with "th" and Tuesday starts with a hard "t" sound.

I hope the change is amicable to all. If not, you'll just have to deal with it, or pay me $100 to change it back. Your call.

Feel free to comment with your thoughts, suggestions, or $100+ offers.

LolliLove is an independent film that might be worth a look. The DVD release is tomorrow, and if you're interested, buy LolliLove at Amazon.com.

James Gunn and Jenna Fischer play a wealthy couple looking to give back to the homeless community through their new charity, LolliLove. LolliLove gives out lollipops to homeless people with inspirational artwork and cheery slogans on the wrapper. They believe this will eradicate homelessness by transforming homeless people into happy people.

You will recognize Jenna Fischer as Pam from NBC's The Office. You might recognize James Gunn as Minute Man from The Specials. If not, you'll still probably have seen his writing work for the Scooby Doo movies as well as Dawn of the Dead and The Specials. James and Jenna are married both in real life as well as in this film.

For more about LolliLove, head over to the film's page on MySpace Film, where you can watch the trailer and get plenty of other updates on the movie.

Jenna Fischer received the Tromadance Kodak Independent Soul Award for feature directorial debut. She was the first femal to receive this award.

And the winners are . . .

I made my annual Oscars predictions again. For the second year, I am opening myself up and showing exactly how horribly I do on these predictions. Last year, I went 13 of 24. This year, I improved my record by one: 14 of 24!

I missed many of the odd categories, as do most people. I also missed the huge upsets that many, many others missed. I missed on my upset predictions, too, which didn't help much.

1. Best Picture
   Winner: Crash
   My Pick: Brokeback Mountain
2. Best Actor
   Winner: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Capote
3. Best Actress
   My Pick: Reese Witherspoon, Walk the Line
4. Best Supporting Actor
   Winner: George Clooney, Syriana
   My Pick: Paul Giamatti, Cinderella Man
5. Best Supporting Actress
   My Pick: Rachel Weisz, The Constant Gardener
6. Best Director
   Winner: Ang Lee, Brokeback Mountain
7. Best Original Screenplay
   My Pick: Crash
8. Best Adapted Screenplay
   My Pick: Brokeback Mountain
9. Animated Feature
   My Pick: Wallace & Gromit in the Curse of the Were-Rabbit
10. Art Direction
    My Pick: Memoirs of a Geisha
11. Cinematography
    Winner: Memoirs of a Geisha
    My Pick: Brokeback Mountain
12. Costume
    My Pick: Memoirs of a Geisha
13. Documentary Feature
    My Pick: March of the Penguins
14. Documentary Short Subject
    Winner: A Note of Triumph: The Golden Age of Norman Corwin
    My Pick: God Sleeps in Rwanda
15. Film Editing
    My Pick: Crash
16. Foreign Language Film
    My Pick: Tsotsi
17. Makeup
    My Pick: The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
18. Original Score
    Winner: Brokeback Mountain
    My Pick: Memoirs of a Geisha
19. Original Song
    Winner: "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp," Hustle & Flow
    My Pick: "Travelin' Thru," Transamerica
20. Short Film, Animated
    Winner: The Moon and the Son: An Imagined Conversation
    My Pick: The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello
21. Short Film, Live Action
    Winner: Six Shooter
    My Pick: Ausreisser
22. Sound Editing
    My Pick: King Kong
23. Sound Mixing
    Winner: King Kong
    My Pick: Walk the Line
24. Visual Effects
    Winner: King Kong
    My Pick: The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

I would also like to report that I was able to (intentionally) incorrectly guess 22 of the 24 categories. I accidentally picked the winners for Original Song and Animated Short Film.

Head to Arby's on Thursday, March 9, 2006 between 11:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. for Free Chicken Tender Day! From the looks of it, they are promising "a free Chicken Tender," so I believe you only get a single nugget-sized piece, though I could be wrong.

Head over to the Arby's Chicken Naturals page for more details. While you're there, click on "TV" and check out the fun Hulk Hogan commercial they've got.

The ESLEDBB in action!

Have you ever wished your pants could do the talking? Well, now's your chance.

Brain Buster Enterprises has created The Electronic Scrolling LED Belt Buckle. (I'm going to call it ESLEDBB for short. Won't you?) Is it electronic? Yes! Does it scroll? Yes! Does it use an LED? Yes! Is it a belt? Umm, no. Is it a buckle? Yes!

The belt allows you to store six separate messages of up to 256 characters each. I'm curious about how you change the messages. Is there some sort of keypad on the back or under a panel, or do you connect it to your computer? For $30 plus S&H, you can get your very own ESLEDBB. Batteries and directions are included, but the actual belt is not.

Head on over to the ESLEDBB webpage (and I mean webpage literally!) and check out the details.

On the website, you can also see a brief quicktime movie of the ESLEDBB in action. Spoiler Alert! The video will bring you no surprises.

And when it comes to putting messages on your pants, the possibilities are endless.

A couple weeks ago, I came up with a joke of my own that is dog-related. Therefore, here are a string of dog-related jokes. (Mine is the first one.)

Q: What type of furniture do dogs prefer to relax in?
A: A Barkalounger.

Q: What's worse than a shaggy dog howling outside your window all night long?
A: Two shaggy dogs howling outside your window all night long.

Q: Where do dogs park their cars?
A: In the barking lot.

Q: Where do you find a dog with no legs?
A: Right where you left him.

Guy: My dog has no nose.
Girl: That's terrible! How does he smell?
Guy: Awful.

Got any more dog jokes? Feel free to comment and add your own!

Jason McElwain, a Greece student, is also the student assistant for his high school basketball team. He is also diagnosed as "highly functioning autistic."

After Jason's team gained a substantial lead, Jason entered the game and promptly airballed a three-pointer. He then missed a layup. After that, however, Jason hit six three-pointers, tying a team record in just ten minutes of play.

You can also view another video report at break.com