The Smarmy Carny

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

As expected, once we hit the "2 weeks to BF" mark, the BF ads are really picking up steam now. The ads have now probably been printed and are in more people's hands, making them more readily available.

In addition to all the stores mentioned in the previous post, we have access to quite a few more stores already.

• Bass Pro Shop
• Costco
• CVS
• Ikea
• Kohl's
• Lowe's
• RadioShack
• Sam's Club
• Staples
• Target
• Toys R Us
• Tractor Supply Co
• Value City
• Walgreens

Keep in mind that these are all the stores that have been released in the past 30 hours! BF season is truly upon us!

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

Black Friday Deals!

On November 9, the Wal-Mart Black Friday ad scans were released! Besides Black Friday itself, this is easily one of the most anticipated Black Friday events of the year.

If you enjoy seeing the items rather than reading bland descriptions, take a look at the Black Friday scans available for download. Not all stores have scans available, but you can already download scans for Wal-Mart, Best Buy, Circuit City, Sears, OfficeMax, Kmart, Linens 'n Things, Ace Hardware, EB Games, Harbor Freight, Fred's, and Boscov's.

I prefer to look through the text descriptions of sale items available at GottaDeal's Shopping Cart feature. Both the scans and lists of items for each store are available on their respective forum pages (registration required). So far this season, we have:

• Wal-Mart
• Best Buy
• Circuit City
• Sears
• KMart
• Kmart (Thanksgiving Day)
• OfficeMax
• K•B Toys
• JCPenney
• Linens 'n Things
• EB Games
• GameStop
• Ace Hardware
• Harbor Freight
• Military BX (AAFES)
• Boscov's
• Fred's

Hopefully this all helps you out in making Black Friday plans! Show up early and buy often!

According to Reuters, 69-year-old Russell Teeter has been sentenced to 22 months of wearing a shirt saying "I am a registered sex offender."

Why? For one, because he is a registered sex offender. What's more, however, is that he exposed himself twice to a 10-year-old girl at the gardening business he runs. If this weren't enough, just add the 10 or so previous convictions in the last 30 years, and you've earned yourself a t-shirt.

I have a problem with this whole t-shirt idea — They should make him pay for the shirt, too.

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!