I’ve already told you about my brush of celebrity with meeting Twisted Sister lead hair man Dee Snider, but with the 4th of July coming up, I suppose it’s high time I tell you about my favorite Independence Day memory.

It was probably about 12 years ago in beautiful sunny San Diego. It was July 4th weekend and I was out there for work at the big annual Comic Con event. (It’s a monstrous comic book/toy/sci-fi convention full of all sorts of shiny things, tons of freebies and loads of has-been actors like the guy who wore the Boba Fett costume or the guy who played Mike TV on the original “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” movie. I kid you not.) Anyways, I worked for a magazine about comic books, so I was at the show working our booth and shmoozing it up with all our industry contacts. It just so happens that one of my contacts was for a company called Dark Horse Comics (they put out all the Star Wars comics, Hellboy and a slew of other good stuff. Free plug for DH!) At the time, there was a new mini-series coming out called The Black Pearl, which was written by Luke Skywalker himself, Mark Hamill.

Since the comic was just coming out, Mark (yes, I can call him Mark) was at Comic Con that year promoting the book and doing a signing. So I was hoping to at least get a quick handshake with Luke, er, Mark courtesy of my Dark Horse contact. I was way off. My DH contact did me way better. He invited me and my editor to a real nice dinner with him, Mark and about 10 other industry type people. Dinner with Luke Skywalker. In San Diego. On July 4th. No way I was passing that up!

We got to the restaurant, met Mark and then sat down at one end of the table next to 2 other guys who I don’t even remember where they were from. Mark, unfortunately, sat alllll the way down at the other end. Sigh. Well at least we’re at the same table. Now, besides playing Luke in the Star Wars films, Mark’s also a huuuuge comic book geek too. And he voiced the Joker in all the Batman and Justice League cartoons. So he was putting on the voices, talking comics and me and my editor were being professional, yet having fun (all the while foaming at the mouth inside). And just as we finished eating, it happened…

Mark stopped in mid-sentence, and then said, “Y’know, I want to go sit and chat with the comic guys now.” So he got up and walked over right next to me and my editor and sat down with us (the other guys shifted over to make room) and chatted with us for the next 30 or 40 minutes. I don’t recall anythign we talked about, but it was just fun, geeky stuff. He was seriously a very nice, funny all-around kind of guy. Then we all walked out, talked some more. I even got his home phone number so I could follow up with any sort of interviews later on. That’s worth it’s weight in gold to a comic/sci-fi geek like me.

COUPON TIME:

All this talk of sunny weather and San Diego has me thinking of travel. And with gas prices the way they are, it may be cheaper to fly somewhere rather then drive! So here are some pretty sweet travel deals for you jetsetters.

$50 off select 3+ night vacations at CheapTickets.com
Use promotion code SUNSALE50.
Valid through: July 6, 2008
Book a qualifying hotel or flight + hotel package by July 6, 2008, for 3 or more nights for travel by August 31, 2008, via CheapTickets and instantly receive $50 off your purchase through the use of the promotion code. Limit one discount per hotel room and one promotion code per purchase. Discounts are not redeemable for cash for any reason. Any attempt at fraud will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Void where prohibited, taxed or restricted. CheapTickets reserves the right to change or limit the promotion in its sole discretion.

4th of July - save up to 30% at Expedia.com
Good for travel July 3 through July 6, 2008
Use this link for details.
Valid through: July 4, 2008

Theme Park Vacation Deals: Save up to 30% on hotels
Book by July 6; Travel by September 30
Use this link to get all the details.

Up to $100 Rebate on your Hotel stay
Use this link to view the coupon.
Get $20 with a 3-Night Booking
Get $30 with a 5-Night Booking
Get $50 with a 8-Night Booking
Get $75 with an 10-Night Booking
Get $100 with a 12-Night Booking
Valid for reservations booked online through July 31, 2008
Must travel by September 30, 2008

I know I’m getting older, but no way 36 is the end of the line. At least not for my head. See, I’ve always had a great memory, really really strong one. I still do, but not as sharp as it used to be. And yesterday, well, I couldn’t believe what I did.

Every month I go for allergy shots. It’s about a 15 minute drive there, then I get 2 rounds of shots and have to wait 20 minutes after each round, then drive the 15 minutes back. So yeah it’s a bit of a pain (in the arm and in the schedule), but once a month isn’t so bad. My appointment was for 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday. I usually completely forget about the appointment and call and go in a few days later. Or I’ll show up 15 or 20 minutes late. So when I arrived at the office yesterday at 9:34 I was pretty proud of myself. Then I walked in the waiting room and almost jumped for joy literally… it was empty! Not one person. Awesome. I’ll be in and out in no time. Except…

Except… when I went to sign in, Angie behind the counter looks at me and says, “You’re early, Andrew.” I thought she was joking or something since I’m always sooo late and here I was only 4 minutes late. Then she says they don’t open for injections until 12:30.

Huh? I’ve been coming here for years and years, and they don’t open at 12:30 on Wednesdays. They’re open real early in the morning. She suggested I take a card with the hours on it, but I already have that. And while questioning her about this crazy newfangled time schedule… it suddenly hit me. My appointment was for Wednesday at 9:30… but I was standing in the office on Thursday at 9:30. Yeah. Somehow I completely missed a day.

Not sure what I was thinking (or wasn’t), but for the life of me, yesterday just felt like a Wednesday. And of course that trend continued throughout the day. Fun. So now I get to go back today for my allergy shots. And I made sure that they’re open, so I won’t be wasting 30 minutes driving for no reason.

If this is what 36 does to you, I may not make it to 40…

COUPON TIME:

I should post about memory supplements like Ginkgo biloba, but I’m sure I’ll forget about it before I finish this sentence. So instead, since I’ve been a slacker lately, I’ll just post up some awesome last-minute coupons from across the board. The end of the month is just about here so everyone’s got some sweet deals.

$300 off Inspiron Desktops priced over $1049 at Dell Home
Use coupon code 9RT9FL$18RLH42.
Valid through: July 17, 2008 5:55am CT or after 6,000 redemptions (whichever occurs first)
Cannot be combined with mail in rebates, dollars off, percentages, or select other promotions. Only one coupon may be applied per cart at checkout. Taxes, fees, shipping, handling and any applicable restocking charges are extra, and vary. U.S. Dell Home and Home Office new purchases only. Purchase limit of 5 systems per order, but coupon discount applies to only 1 system per cart.

10% off online orders over $50 at Company Kids
Use promotional code AFFGK08.
Valid through: July 6, 2008 11:59pm ET
One-time use only. Discount applies to new orders of in-stock merchandise only, on merchandise total exclusive of tax and delivery charges. Valid only for purchases made online at TheCompanyStore.com and CompanyKids.com. Offer does not apply to past purchases, as payment on any credit card account, to the purchase of Clearance items, Charisma products, gift cards, or club memberships, and may not be combined with any other offer.

$30 off online orders over $100 at ShoeMall
Plus Free Shipping!
Use coupon code TAKE30.
Valid through: June 28, 2008

20% off your order at PetFoodDirect.com
Use discount code PERJULY4.
Valid through: July 4, 2008
Cannot be combined with other offers.

Extra 60% off Dining Certificates at Restaurant.com
Use discount code MEALS.
Valid through: June 30, 2008 11:59pm CT
This discount is in addition to the everyday discounts at Restaurants.com. So if you buy a $25 Certificate for $10 and use a 60% off coupon, you pay only $4! The $10 gift applies to every order, not to every certificate purchase. Gift code will automatically appear on order confirmation.

$15 off any order of $50
$25 off any order of $75
$30 off any order of $100 or more at Gaiam.com
Valid through: June 28, 2008 11:59pm MT
Online purchases only. Does not apply to previous purchases. May not be combined with any other offer.

Just a quick post to point out that the awesome 20% off coupon for Deep Discount.com has been extended to June 29. Woot!

If you’re looking for any good DVD sets, this is just about the best deal you can find online…

20% off DVDs at DeepDiscount.com
Also valid on posters, puzzles/games, and storage accessories.
In your shopping cart, enter promotional code DDAF.
Valid through: June 29, 2008 11:59pm CT
Excludes pre-order DVDs. Not valid on previous purchases. Does not apply to video games, CDs, books and electronics. Coupon may be used only one time per customer.

Today’s flashback video is dedicated to the New York Yankees. They’ve been blowing games left and right all season. Blamed the injured players. Blame the young, inexperienced pitchers. Blame Joe Torre for leaving. Blame Joe Torre for not leaving soon enough. Blame Joe Girardi for being too inexperienced to manage. Blame all you want. That all means nothing, since the Yanks are finally getting their act together. They’ve won 7 straight (sure, most were against pretty poor National League teams), but they should keep the momentum going as they head on into a Subway Series with the Mets next week, and then a tough battle against the evil Red Sox empire to kick off July 4th weekend. Yeah, there’ll most definitely be fireworks then…

So to give them some moral support, I’m dedicating this week’s flashback video to them. This one’s by one of my all-time favoritest bands ever. And certainly my favorite cheesy ’80s hair band! I’ve had the privilege of meeting the group’s lead singer, hanging out with him and even talking on the phone a number of times. And while this one song isn’t my favorite of the group’s, it’s certainly the most overplayed and one of the best videos ever created. So get your head banging, ’cause here comes that drumbeat intro…

Twisted Sister - We’re Not Gonna Take It

Sure there are a zillion Sporting Goods coupons, but I’m gonna follow through on what I did last time with Dee Snider, and list some coupons good for beauty supply type merchants. After all, you need to look your best when you’re sitting in the 90-degree weather at Yankees Stadium, right?

Free Shipping on orders of $25+ at Drugstore.com
Non-prescription orders only.
Valid through: June 24, 2008
Not valid on prescriptions, contact lenses, gift cards, gift certificates, magazine subscriptions, bulk orders, applicable shipping charges or sales tax. Offer doesn’t apply to preorder, backorder, heavy or oversize items. Shipping surcharge applies to AK, HI, U.S. Territories and APO/FPO, and shipping surcharge may apply to preorder, backorder, heavy or oversized items. Limited to once per order.

$5 off and Free Shipping with a $30+ order
OR
$10 off and Free Shipping with a $50+ order at Drugstore.com
NEW CUSTOMERS ONLY.
Non-prescription orders only. Can be used once per household.
Use this link to activate the offer.
Valid through: August 31, 2008

15% off one item on your first purchase at hsn.com
NEW CUSTOMERS ONLY
Use coupon code C56574.
Valid through: June 30, 2008 11:59pm ET
Coupon C56574 is valid for 15% off your highest priced item on your first purchase from hsn.com (maximum savings of $50). Coupon can only be used once per customer. Excludes shipping & handling, sales tax, Today’s Special, Electronics, Toys, Clearance Department, and sale priced merchandise. Coupon cannot be applied on HSN Protection Plus or combined with other coupons or offers, and coupon is not valid on items purchased through Shop by Remote, purchases of alcoholic beverages or items Shoebuy.com.

15% off online orders over $100 at SpaLook
Use promotional code Spa15.
Valid through: June 30, 2008
Cannot be combined with any other offer.

$3.50 off your next purchase of $10 or more at ULTA.com
Use coupon code 93849.
Valid through: June 28, 2008
Some exclusions apply. Cannot be combined with any other coupon offer. Not valid on prior purchases. Limit one per customer.

10% off online orders at FragranceX.com 
Plus Free Shipping on orders over $59
Use coupon code CJD2008.
Valid through: December 31, 2008
Limit one coupon per customer. Cannot be combined with any other offer.

$5 Shipping on your order when you spend $75 or more
on beauty & fragrance items at Macys.com
Enter promotional code BEAUTY during checkout and then click on “Apply to Total”.
When you purchase $75 or more of beauty or fragrance items online, we ship your order for $5. Minimum purchase amount does not include gift wrap charges or tax. Offer applies to Standard Shipping to one location and may be applied to Premium or Overnight Shipping for an upgrade fee. $5 flat-rate shipping does not apply to Coach, area rugs, furniture, mattresses, gift cards, purchases on macysweddingchannel.com, purchases in Macy’s stores or prior purchases. Enter promo code BEAUTY at checkout. Only one promo code may be used per transaction. When shipping to multiple addresses, only shipping to the first address will be $5; Standard Shipping will apply to all other addresses. $5 flat-rate shipping offer cannot be applied to purchases being shipped to Alaska, Hawaii, US Territories or APO/FPO addresses.

Just got a great one-day coupon for DisneyShopping.com so I thought I’d share it with you, my loyal readers. And yes, even you non loyal readers too.

But I can’t just post a coupon and nothing else, so I’ll use this opportunity to briefly tell you about my mom. She’s a little goofy. No, make that a lot goofy. As in the Disney character Goofy. I don’t know why, but somehow that became her “thing” long ago and besides ton of magnets, pencils, mugs, a back scratcher and T-shirts all featuring Goofy, her house is littered wtih Goofy. I think there’s probably something (even a Goofy stuffed animal) in just about every room in her house. My favorites, though, include the Goofy teapot in her breakfront, the Goofy gumball dispenser (It’s in the shape of a bowling alley and when you press a button, Goofy swings his arm around like he’s bowling, and a gumball rolls out!), and the Giant Goofy Pez dispenser. It’s so big it dispenses an entire roll of Pez each time.

For her birthday a few years ago, we got her an adult Goofy costume, but unfortunately it didn’t fit right, so she returned it. Otherwise, she could literally be Goofy 24 hours a day. How many people can say that about their mom? Wait, never mind…

More Disney Shopping Coupons

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I don’t watch too many TV shows regularly these days. In fact I could probably count on one hand the shows I regularly watch: LOST, Battlestar Galactica, The Office and Dr. Who. Yeah, that’s probably it. And no, I don’t have 4 fingers on my hand either, I just couldn’t think of a 5th show I watch regularly. Oh, I guess you could throw the awesomely geek-filled Chuck in there, if it ever gets renewed and starts up again.

And not even counting the recent writer’s strike, I realized the biggest problem I have with TV now. It’s so scattershot. Used to be that you didn’t need a watch to tell time; you’d just turn on the TV and based on the show that’s on, you’d know exactly what time it was. Things didn’t move around time slots nearly as often as they do these days. They also all started up around the same time in September and all had their season finales around the same time too, with the summer months dedicated to endless reruns. Yes, I’m getting crotchety in my old age I guess, but I liked it that way. Now you’ve got season finales happening every other week. Time slots jumping all over the place.

Not to mention that if we get 13 episodes of LOST uninterrupted, we consider it the greatest gift ever. How sad is that? How come Japan can crank out literally hundreds of episodes of some of their most popular anime series (that have insanely higher ratings than any US show I’d gather), with nary a rerun. Heck they barely have a hiatus for finales. Is it too much to ask for the networks to get their act together and try to have series launches and finales timed together? It used to be a big event as the last few weeks of the season kicked into high gear. Now it’s a show by show basis. At this point, I suggest networks just completely do away with time slots and instead just release everything at once on a DVR-type deal, so everyone can watch whatever they want, whenever they want.

Anyone out there agree with me or am I just completely losing brain cells in my old age?

COUPON TIME:

Not that there’s anything to watch, but here’s some coupon/deals for electronics stores offering great buys on TVs and other cool-out techie stuff.

Save up to $600 on HDTVs at Circuit City

Up to 10% off select TVs at BestBuy.com

$10 off a purchase of $200+ at Buy.com
New Customers only.
Use this link. Valid through: June 30, 2008 11:59pm PT

5% off online orders at 6ave.com
Use coupon code AFL5.
Online only. Excludes: Apple, Bose, Samsung, Velodyne, and Control 4 Products.

Free Shipping on all orders over $50 at SonyStyle
Valid through: June 24, 2008

$5 off online orders over $50 at Target.com
Use this link to activate the discount.
Valid though: June 30, 2008
Offer applies to purchases of $50 or more based on merchandise subtotal. Merchandise subtotal based on one shipping destination per order. GiftCards, e-GiftCards, gift wrap, tax, or shipping and handling charges will not be included in determining merchandise subtotal and are not discountable. Cannot be combined with other promotional offers or discounts or applied to previous orders. Offer available for Target.com orders only and does not apply to Peg Perego, Apple iPods, Bose electronics partner businesses, custom clothing, personalized gifts, or Amazon.com product purchases. Discount not available when using 1-Click ordering online.

Just a super quick post to wish all you proud poppas out there a very Happy Father’s Day! Hope you have a great one and spend it the way dad’s do best, like my buddy Peter here…

It’s Friday the 13th. Forgetting about the evil horror series that saw some dead camp kid come back to slaughter innocents, head off into space and eventually make it to Manhattan… it’s still a scary day. I could post about Home Depot coupons, Shoes.com coupons or even Kohl’s coupons.

But to be perfectly honest, I’m too scared to post anything today. I’m just afraid something horrible will hap

It’s hot. It’s humid. And it’s Hump Day. So instead of reminiscing about the time i hugged a freshly painted fire hydrant as a kid, I’ll choose instead to spotlight one of my favorite online stores that’s currently having a crazy deal. And this post goes out to my blog buddy Tish, who’s always challenging me to find the lowest prices for the crazy DVD sets she’s always buying. I can’t always deliver gigantic savings, but this time I was glad to come through with shining colors.

First off, DeepDiscount.com has very competitive prices. Generally they’re as low, if not quite a bit lower than other stores, both online and offline. Yeah, yeah, lots of online merchants can be cheaper, but the shipping kills ya. Well, not only does DD offer a Guaranteed Lowest Prices on all DVDs, but you get Free Shipping. On every order. So yeah, it’s generally a great place to shop. Except they also have coupons. Good coupons. Like 20% off coupons. Like the following:

20% off DVDs at DeepDiscount.com
Also valid on posters, puzzles/games, and storage accessories.

In your shopping cart, enter promotional code DDAF.
Valid through: June 22, 2008 11:59pm CT
Excludes pre-order DVDs. Not valid on previous purchases. Does not apply to video games, CDs, books and electronics. Coupon may be used only one time per customer.

So for my buddy’s request, I hunted down Season 4 of Rescue Me. Normally $49.95, but on sale at DD for just $29.89. Subtract the 20% and you’ve got yourself a full season of Dennis Leary for just $23.91, including shipping. That’s less than 50% of the original price. I just took a quick look and here’s a few other great deals you can snag now:

Season 4, Rescue Me
Price: $29.89
Price w/coupon: $23.91

Indiana Jones - Adventure Collection
Price: $36.86
Price w/coupon: $29.49

Rambo: The Complete Collector’s Set
Price: $34.89
Price w/coupon: $27.91

Bleach - Box Set 1
Price: $33.81
Price w/coupon: $27.05

Final Fantasy: Unlimited - Complete Collection
Price: $33.74
Price w/coupon: $26.99

Fantastic Four: World’s Greatest Heroes - Complete Season 1
Price: $28.89
Price w/coupon: $23.11

Fugitive - 2nd Season V.01
Price: $28.55
Price w/coupon: $22.84

That’s just a small handful of titles. I tried to find some of the bigger sets, as you’ll get the bigger discount, obviously. Be sure to check our DeepDiscount.com Coupons page for regularly updated deals and codes! Happy bargain hunting.

Alternatively, I was debating calling this post “There are 36 inches of meat inside of me” but thought better of that. More on the meat in a minute…

Yesterday, the New York Yankees played the final game of their 3-game series against the Toronto Blue Jays. Yankees catcher Jorge Posada played his first game in a long time after coming off the disable list. The weather was cloudy but no rain. Which meant, despite that it wouldn’t be a crazy hot and humid day. Which worked out pretty darn well, considering I took my five-year-old son to his very first major league baseball game.

Over the past year or so, he’s definitely shown an interest in baseball and the Yankees in particular. He’ll sit and watch a few innings with me on TV, asking the usual questions and quickly learning the rules of the game. He’s never sat for more than a few innings with me, though, so I honestly didn’t expect much from yesterday’s game. If we made it through the 4th inning and left, I would’ve been proud. Well, he did gangbusters and we went all the way to the top of the 9th. We would’ve stayed through the whole game (and man do I wish we had!), but we went with some friends and they were getting very antsy at that point (not to mention the insane traffic we’d be stuck in and it being rush hour and all), so since my little guy didn’t seem to mind leaving, I said, okay. After all, the Yanks were losing 8-6 and in danger off giving up a few more runs in the top of the 9th.

Yeah. On the car ride home, my dad calls me to say that was the most exciting comeback victory ever, with Jason Giambi hitting a towering home run with 2 outs left in the bottom of the 9th, to win the game. That would’ve been the perfect capper to the day. But I’m just glad they won and my little guy had a great time.

Oh, the meat thing. Yeah. Well see, they sell hot dogs at the stadium, obviously. And they also sell foot long dogs, which literally are a foot long. So are the buns. And they’re soooo good. So I bought 3. Heh. I ate 2 and my son only ate half of his. And, well, I just couldn’t let a good dog go to waste, so I finished his too. So do the math and yeah, I had 2 1/2 foot long hot dogs. And I will so do it again!

COUPON TIME:

It’s baseball. What more could I offer up then some sweet coupons for sporting goods like hats, jerseys, shorts, even tickets to a game!

10% off a purchase of $40 or more at Lids.com
Use sale code JUNE08LIDS10OFF.
Valid through: June 30, 2008
Not valid with any other coupon or discount including Passport Club Membership. Valid on orders shipped to the U.S. only.

10% off any order online at Eastbay
Use this link to activate the coupon. You should see LKS4AFD in the Source Code box during checkout.
Items excluded from this coupon will say “This item is currently excluded from any promotional discounts.” Not valid on gift cards or team orders. Does not apply to prior purchases or open orders and cannot be combined with any other coupons/discounts.

$10 off your order at RazorGator
Use Discount Code RGAFCPN in your shopping cart. (Click where it says “Add Discount Code”, then enter the code and click apply.)
No minimum order size. Cannot be combined with other coupons.

15% off your online order at Dick’s Sporting Goods
Eligible items will have the following note on their product page: “Receive 15% off of your order”
Use this link to activate the coupon. If there’s a problem, enter promotion/discount code DSP_15608.
Valid through: June 30, 2008 11:59pm ET
Restrictions apply. See site for details.

15% off your order at The Sports Authority
Eligible items will have the following note on their product page: “Ultimate Coupons - 15% OFF Your Entire Order”
Use this link to activate the coupon. If there’s a problem, enter promotion/discount code ULTIMATE15 in your cart.
Valid through: June 30, 2008 11:59pm ET
Restrictions apply. See site for details.

15% off your order at Modells.com
Eligible items will have the following note on their product page: “Get 15% off your entire order”
Use this link to activate the coupon or use Promotion/Discount code MOD_1508 at checkout.
Valid through: June 30, 2008 11:59pm ET
Restrictions apply. See site for details.