The Smarmy Carny

Eccentric Holidays

Tonight, celebrate Haunted Refrigerator Night. Dig your way to the back of your shelves — especially the bottom shelf — and see what frightening items you might find.

What will you find tonight? Three month old eggs? Six month old cheese? That bagel with cream cheese from last Christmas? That moving mystery item that scurries away before you can grab it? Every year brings new, surprising adventures!

Haunted Refrigerator Night is copyrighted by Thomas and Ruth Roy and Wellcat Holidays.

I was skimming through some lists when I came upon a "Top 10 Pet Costumes" list.

I have to wonder — who actually dresses their pet up, even at Halloween? I've seen plenty of dogs on TV dressed up in funny costumes, but in real life, I've really only seen a handful of short-haired dogs wearing "functional" sweaters during the winter months.

I have to admit, some of these costumes here are cute and look like good ideas, but I just haven't seen any pets dressed up for Halloween. Perhaps I just don't run with the "dress up your pet" crowd.

1. Men in Black: Frank the Dog
2. Darth Vader
3. Superman
4. Snow White
5. Dracula
6. Spiderman
7. Zorro
8. Raggedy Ann
9. Wonder Woman
10. Prisoner

For goodness' sake, if you really dress your animal up like this, please comment here and let me know. I'm curious about how much you spend on your pet's costume, how you decide which costume your pet will wear, and what sort of reaction you get out of people when they see your pet. Also, do you take it trick-or-treating?

Borat Sagdiyev, Kazakhstan's sixth most famous man, is headed to America in Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan. The movie releases on November 3, 2006 and stars Sacha Baron Cohen, best known for Da Ali G Show, in which he plays a wide variety of characters, including Borat.

According to an MSN article, Cohen may be headed for an Oscar:

Critics of all ages love it and we mean love it. So much so that Time magazine's Richard Corliss has suggested that actor Sacha Baron Cohen, who created and plays the title character, should be nominated for, of all things, an Oscar. . . . But he's not the only one who jumped on the bandwagon. Variety's Todd McCarthy started his festival recap with mammoth praise for the flick, and even People magazine's Leah Rozen floated the Cohen nomination buzz as legit.

Just a helpful hint: If you play in Oscar Nomination Pools, don't get too excited about this lead. Of course, given the Academy's recent lust over pseudo-documentaries, anything is possible.

For the latest Black Friday posts, check out blackfriday.smarmycarny.com

Black Friday Deals!

GottaDeal has done it again! GD posted a listing of K-Mart's Black Friday specials! I guess this turns their "blue light specials" into "black light specials." Sorry, but I couldn't resist.

For the full list, be sure to head over to GottaDeal, because there are dozens of items on the list! There are lots of clothes that are 50% - 70% of (and some as low at $3.99). Much of the electronics will probably be bested by other stores, though. For instance, K-Mart has the Fisher-Price Kid Tough Digital Camera for $55.99 — an item you can buy today at Wal-Mart for just one dollar more.

GottaDeal has also posted a list of Thanksgiving Day sales from K-Mart as well. Take a look at those and show up before the turkey is done cooking!

To keep up on the very latest deals, rumors, tips and tricks for Black Friday this year, be sure to keep checking at GottaDeal's Black Friday forum!

For the latest Black Friday posts, check out blackfriday.smarmycarny.com

Black Friday Deals!

GottaDeal has posted its first confirmed Black Friday ad! Today, they released the ad for Ace Hardware.

Included in Ace Hardware's Black Friday deals are items such as:

• George Foreman large electric grill — $19.99
• A DeWalt 14.4V cordless drill kit — $99.99
• A Huffy 12" Bicycle — $19.99
• Various Stanley hand tools — $1.99 each

The release of the first ad also brings the activation of GD's Shopping List feature! Once you have registered, you will be able to enter the Shopping List feature, click on any store with BF ads and add individual deals to your shopping list. The list shows you the item name and whether a rebate is part of the deal or not. You can also type in notes for each item, which will show up on your printable list. The list is, obviously, ideal for printing and carrying along on Black Friday. We have been promised even more shopping list features in the coming weeks!

To keep up on the very latest deals, rumors, tips and tricks for Black Friday this year, be sure to keep checking at GottaDeal's Black Friday forum!

Want to win a Macy's shopping spree? Simply protest Macy's!

Max Goodlet learned that there's serious money to be made by protesting Macy's — so long as you don't mind spending your winnings at Macy's.

Marshall Field's in Chicago was taken over and renamed to Macy's in September. Marshall Field's was considered by many Chicagoans to be one of the city's historic traditions, so a number of people came to protest the renaming and opening of Macy's.

Max Goodlet stood in front of the store to protest Macy's, along with many other people who were there to protest or to attend the store's grand opening. Goodlet ended up winning a $1,000 Macy's gift card. By the time reporters caught up with him, the anti-Macy's message had been replaced with a message of appreciation. He was bogged down with merchandise, waiting for family to help him carry his bags.

Another protester,Helen Bezanes, claimed her $10 Macy's gift card, but she proffered the lame note that she was shopping "under duress."

Next time a Chicago store changes its name, protesters will brandish signs stating "Don't change the name — but if you do, give us free stuff while you're at it."