After doing some reading up, I’m going to pass on the Averetec 3500. It’s priced low for a reason… a lot of issues, techwise. It has a real “lemon” feel to it, after an in-depth analysis.
Maybe I won’t do a tablet, after all…it’d be fun, but a notebook is a lot more economical, and I don’t really need a touchscreen factor outside of my palmtop. All I really want is a simple workhorse that has wireless, a decent cd/dvd multi-drive, a long battery life, and a screen I wouldn’t mind looking at for a few hours at a throw.
Newt’s been very talkative all weekend… I spent almost all of Sunday just goofing with him. The little guy makes me very happy.
I didn’t know Alex Ross did political cartooning! Recent cover of the village voice.
I remember an old issue of Iron Man where he had roller skate boots. Single-wheel rollerblades, it seems! 
Feel free to give more detail in comments.
Bidder pays $37,400 to have name placed on Disneyland tombstone
ANAHEIM, Calif. – (KRT) – The 999 spirits who live at Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion have been telling visitors for 35 years they have room for one more.
Finally, they got a volunteer.
Cary Sharp, a 37-year-old doctor from Baton Rouge, La., will become an honorary ghost in the mansion, with his name and a personalized epitaph etched on a tombstone in the attraction. Next week he gets a midnight “burial ceremony” at Disneyland and a replica of the tombstone to take home.
Sharp bid $37,400 for the once in an after-lifetime opportunity that Disney offered on an eBay auction. It was the most ever paid for a Disney charity auction and more than 60,000 people hit the site during the week-long auction that ended Thursday.
All proceeds benefit the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, with half going to Anaheim’s club.
The frenzied bidding revealed the heart of a fanatical slice of Disney consumers, the ones who keep the merchandise division busy cranking out limited-edition pins, figurines, art pieces and more. Disney collectors are a lively part of Disney’s Consumer Products division, which generated $2.3 billion last year.
“Collectors will do just about anything to do something they’ve always dreamed of – short of joining the company,” said Kim Petersen, a pin collector in Brea, Calif.
“Most collectors do this with their hearts, not their heads. They make the distinction of what Disney stands for – it’s a business – but their heart tells them it’s that thing that makes them happy when they walk through the gates.”
The tombstone is more of an experience than a collector’s piece, but it shows the extent to which people will go to claim a bauble, a signature or a symbol of Disney lore.
Walt Disney autographs go for $5,000 to $10,000, depending on how they’re authenticated. Disney ride vehicles have sold for $18,000, and Hollywood’s John Stamos paid $30,700 for the Disneyland sign that once signaled the entrance to the park on Harbor Boulevard. Even a basic pin – with the “Stitch” character in a Christmas theme – was going for $75 on a recent auction.
“I expected (the Tombstone) to go for a little more,” Petersen said. “It’s a quintessential Disney attraction. The mansion has the most avid collector base of all and this was a one-of-a-kind offer.”
But Jason Surrell, a Walt Disney Imagineer who has written two books about the Haunted Mansion, thought the Tombstone bidding might top out at $5,000. Now, given the huge enthusiasm for the item, he says Disney might consider similar offers.
“It might be that it was the Haunted Mansion,” he said of the big response. “It’s one of the crown jewels of Disneyland and it occupies a special place in the hearts of lots of people. As a fan, I’d have jumped at it, but then I’d get thrown out of the house.”
The Haunted Mansion first appeared in the park in 1963, but it remained a facade for six years while Walt Disney had his staff working on items for a World’s Fair. It eventually opened in 1969.
During that time, officials put up a sign that said, “Looking for residents. Contact Disneyland Ghost Relations. But please do not apply in person.”
“It goes back to an interview Walt did in London,” Surrell said. “He vowed to build a place for all the ghosts who were being displaced because London mansions were being torn down.”
What made the Tombstone auction so attractive was that it gave fans a chance to be “a part of Disney, which is an integral part of our culture,” Surrell said.
“Remember, Disney for a lot of people is a ubiquitous part of your childhood and you carry that with you all of your life,” he said. “Here was a chance to be a part of that in a very big scale.”
The tombstone will carry only the winner’s first name and a humorous epitaph written and personalized by Disney Imagineers. It will reflect the interests and hobbies of Sharp, who also works as a health-care attorney and is engaged to be married.
If Surrell had won the bid, he had an epitaph all ready: “Fair thee well, Mr. Surrell; he heard the knell of the requiem bell.”
He would have hung it in his office, “as a constant reminder that time is running out.”
Archives –
1 year ago – Shogun, total war, AoM, volcano, cone thing, lj-spam
2 years ago – Autumn Snoozies, trick or treat dreams, Grammy is 80, IMT Finn gets a journal
3 years ago – Eggo waffles and Angelina8’s bday, Reading antibiotics, Inspector gadget, sickness waning, memorial poll, story ideas, Evolution of scottobear.com, broken html ghost stuff (it worked before)
4 years ago – Wanting a road trip, sparking happies, alien fairies, Iron Crown went completely bankrupt, Phish, Getting warmer.
5 years ago – Newt’s first day with me.
