The Smarmy Carny

Here are some movies that are the third of three in its series:

• Godfather Part III: D- This is the classic "ruining a classic series by making one too many". The Godfather Part II was a great sequel and even won six Oscars . . . and then they had to go and make this.
• Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves: F Execs knew this was a lousy idea, I think, so that's probably why it went straight to video. They did shrinking, then they did enlargening. And now we're back to shrinking again? Been there, done that.
• Major League: Back to the Minors: C+ This one isn't up there with the original, but it really wasn't that bad a movie for its genre. The only real problem is the oxy moron between the title and the subtitle.
• Naqoyqatsi: A- If you enjoyed Koyaanisqatsi and Powaqqatsi, this one lives up to the same standards.
• Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over: C- This one really played like a direct-to-video film. It lacked the luster of the first two Spy Kids movies.

Please feel free to leave a comment. What do you agree or disagree with, and why?

For the latest game on the official Blogathon site, the question is: Do you collect anything? What is it, and why?

I collect movie ticket stubs from movies I have gone to. I suppose it's simply a unique log of my life. A few stubs stick out more than others in my mind:

• There's the Wayne's World ticket stub I got when I went and didn't see Wayne's World.
• There are the three Back to the Future movies I have stubs for — I took my mom to see them all because they came out around her birthday.
• There's the ticket stub for Pay It Forward, the first movie I saw with my then-girlfriend, now-wife.
• There's the most recent ticket stub I have for Blades of Glory, the not-so-romantic movie from my most recent anniversary getaway with my wife.

Lots of big memories on little pieces of paper.

• Call Waiting: B+ Call waiting is a great feature because you don't have to worry if being on the phone is blocking someone else from calling. This is especially handy if you have a teenage girl in your house. Coupled with caller ID, this feature is even better because you know if it's worth the while to switch over or not. Coupled with Caller ID on TV, I can see an incoming call and who it's from, even if my wife is talking on the phone already.
• Caller ID: A (Caller ID on TV: A+) Caller ID is great. Unlike *69, you get to know who it is before you answer the phone. We no longer had to screen calls via the answering machine message. Plus, it seems that anyone I wanted to talk to never left messages on the machine, so I just never talked to anyone. With the advent of Caller ID on TV, I'm in heaven. When the phone rings, all I have to do is look at the TV (assuming it's on) to see who is calling. No more jumping off the couch to see who's calling!
• Last Call Return (*69): D This may have been useful in the days before caller ID was widely available. Now, it's just outdated.
• Three-Way Calling: C- Three-way calling is overrated. Its only practical use is at work for conference calls, and I'm not even sure if those are considered three-way calling. Outside that, the feature is reserved for teenagers with nothing better to do. If you really did want to use three-way calling to talk to two people, you spend five minutes just trying to make sure you got the person on the line without dropping the initial caller.
• Voice mail: B Voice mail on its own would probably score much better, but we already had the answering machine. The pros and cons between the two really just balance each other out.

Please feel free to leave a comment. What do you agree or disagree with, and why? Which items do you wish were included that I didn't cover here?

We're now 34 posts into Blogathon, and the time really flies by — mostly because there's not much time to think about how long you've been blogging without a rest!

At this point, my body is getting a bit drowsy. Normally I'm still fine at 1:30, but staring at a computer screen and sitting in a computer chair for a large majority of over 16 hours can really wear you down.

I've also noticed that I've done so much blogging that I am now thinking, "Did I already post about that? Naah, I don't think so — or did I? I can't remember. And why am I talking to myself?"

Why and how Scooby Doo got so many guest stars is beyond me. Just to clarify: Technically, the show in question here is The New Scooby-Doo Movies. Here are five guests who appeared on Scooby Doo:

• Batman and Robin: D When you're bringing on other fictional characters from another television series, you know you're scraping the bottom of the barrel for guest stars. Perhaps it made for good entertainment for the kids, but it's just a lousy match-up. A superhero millionaire hanging out with a bunch of hippie kids? Ack.
• Don Knotts: B Don Knotts appeared as his usual bumbling character, being comical in a butt-of-the-joke manner. It worked out well enough, though I thought Don was always drawn more realistically than the rest of the characters on the show.
• Harlem Globetrotters: A- The Harlem Globetrotters were a treat. There were so many of them, you really only knew Curly. They kept the action going and provided a bunch of laughs. The only problem is that their whole shtick is basketball tricks. In the cartoons, Scooby can perform those same tricks!
• Sonny and Cher: C+ I was never a fan of Cher, and I'm not sure the duo came across all that well in Scooby Doo, either.
• The Three Stooges: B+ Somehow, the Three Stooges' slapstick carried over to animation when they appeared on the show. It wasn't quite as edgy as the Three Stooges episodes, but they got the job done.

Please feel free to leave a comment. What do you agree or disagree with, and why? Which Scooby Doo guest stars do you wish were included that I didn't cover here?

One Economy's The Beehive offers low-income people and families plenty of information on various categories. One of those categories is Money.

Since this is a fairly large section, The Beehive's Money category is split out into a quite a few various subsections:

• Taxes
• Saving & Investing
• Banks & Credit Unions
• Budgeting
• Loans
• Credit & Debt
• 401Ks and Retirement
• Sending Money
• Paying Bills
• Child Support
• Becoming a Homeowner

The Money section of The Beehive will show low-income users how to create a budget, open a checking account, send money to people, pay bills, collect child support, and obtain a credit report. One entire section explains how to make sure you are getting all the credits you qualify for on your taxes and even allows those earning under $40,000 a year to file their taxes online for free. The Beehive will also explain the process of how to buy a home or get a loan.

This section really does cover a wealth of information. (Yes, pun intended.)

Ask anyone whether they would choose invisibility or flight, and it's an instant personality test. Generally, people who choose invisibility would do so for selfish reasons — to be able to do things without being seen.

• Flight: B Flight certainly seems like a fun super power to have, until you discover that you're flying through swarms of disgusting bugs that get stuck in your teeth.
• Healing Factor: B+ Definitely a nifty power to have in the comics when you're constantly getting beaten up, but I wouldn't really use this all that much in real life. I guess this would be better used on a professional athlete.
• Invisiblity: C I know that if I had invisibility, I'd get hit by a truck the first day . . . and you can't blame the driver for that.
• Luck: A+ If you've got luck on your side, what else do you need? This is the only obscure super power I included, but I tossed it in because I love Longshot.
• Superhuman Strength: B Strength is fairly basic, and you'd know how to deal with it. But superhuman strength could prove to be tricky. How many things would you crush accidentally?
• Telekinesis: A Now this is a super power for the truly lazy, so it's right up my alley. Just think of all the things you could do from your couch.
• Telepathy: A- Who wouldn't want to know what others are really thinking? The problem is whether or not you could control it, or if the thoughts of everyone within a certain radius would seep into your mind constantly. Try getting to sleep with that going on!
• Time Travel: C Time travel sounds like fun, doesn't it? But what would you do with the power? Travel forward or back? I guess I'm just content to stay where I'm at, just like everyone else.

Please feel free to leave a comment. What do you agree or disagree with, and why? Which items do you wish were included that I didn't cover here?