Johnny Depp, Brad Pitt and Remember Whens?

I though today I would write a light-hearted post, kind of Remember When? of the movie stars.

First we'll pay a little visit to 21 Jump Street with a YouTube clip that not only features Johnny Depp but Brad Pitt too! Enjoy!


Next mosey on over to Celebs as Kids Here you can see Halle Berry, Angelina Jolie, Sarah Jessica Parker, David Duchovny and more.

Do you remember...

Johnny Depp in The Nightmare on Elm Street?
Bruce Willis in Moonlighting?
Harrison Ford in American Graffiti?
Halle Berry on Knot's Landing as Debbie Porter?
Tom Cruise, Diane Lane, Patrick Swayze, Rob Lowe and Matt Dillon in The Outsiders?
Sally Field as Gidget?
Robin Williams in Mork and Mindy?
Kurt Russell in an episode of Gilligan's Island as the Jungle Boy?
Gene Hackman in The Posideon Adventure?
Anthony Michael Hall and John Cusack in Sixteen Candles?
Angelina Jolie in Hackers?

Many stars have long, long resumes. It's fun to look them up and see what shows they guest starred in or made brief uncredited appearances. Every once in a while I'll send some time surfing through the International Movie Database reading through the actors ages and movie tidbits.

Hope you enjoyed this brief, but fun, flashback to the past with me.

The Wii, the Competition & the Wait!

Last week, my son convinced me to take him to Gamestop for the Super Smash Brothers Brawl Competition. This was held at 10:00pm as a prelude to the midnight release of the game. So we started out and much to my dismay, it was lightly sleeting and snowing. I took it slow, even though my sons eyes were glued to the digital clock in the car, ignoring his reminders we needed to get there at least 30 minutes before the competition started. We got there with plenty of time to spare.
He met his two close friends and they excitedly chatted about FINALLY getting their hands on a game that was delayed way too many times to count. We registered, which brings the importance of why I was there, anybody under 18 yrs old had to have a parent sign a consent from. Then the first disappointing news of the night hit our ears. He wouldn't be able to buy a copy of the Super Smash Bros. Brawl game because we hadn't pre-ordered it! What? I don't remember reading about that on the Gamestop website. It almost defeated the point of being there for the release. Well the kids enjoyed the competition, my son made it to the third round and lost to his friend who went on to win first place.
Okay so no game for us, but his friend, who did pre-order, was going home with his. This also meant that I would be driving home alone, as now my son would be going to his friends house to play the rest of the night away.
Next morning, pick up my son, who didn't sleep more than an hour or two, and we head to Walmart in hopes of snagging the elusive game. Thank goodness..we score one. Get home and what this? The game doesn't work. Faulty disc? NOT. Wouldn't you know, Nintendo has released a news statement admitting that the golden game of the year, will not work in some Wii's. A very small percent, they say. Well, yes, we fall into that slim group. Next step, printing out Fed Ex shipping labels and boxing the Wii and game back to Nintendo. What a hassle but thankfully this isn't going to cost me a dime.
Flash forward to today, a battered box, which makes me wince, arrives from UPS. Inside the newly "fixed" Wii and game. My son comes home from school, tears the box open, sets up the game and proceeds to reload all the information back into his system. I'm looking in the empty box for maybe a coupon or SOMETHING for this major disappointing delay, nothing. Fifteen minutes later, a hurrah from both my sons and they slip fresh new batteries in their wiimotes and load the game. I never remember putting my parents through this much. What we do as parents for our kids! And yes, I'm guilty, I was one of those parents that stood out in the freezing cold the first year the Wii came out, just to score my son a Wii for Christmas. Ah heck, he's a good kid. High honors in school. I can't complain...or can I?
Come on Nintendo, will ya give parents a break ?

YouTube, iTunes and free education

Okay so here I am this past weekend, trying to get into the flow of Social Marketing and much to my surprise I am finding that I am learning about things I never knew existed on the internet!

Here I was at Digg and came across Top 10 Universities With the Best Free Online Courses. This sounds interesting so I check it out. And from there I find Free Online Courses from Great Universities which can be downloaded as podcasts through iTunes no less. It's getting even more interesting. From there I end up at YouTube where I find Berkeley University at California courses. By now I am hooked on all this free education!

Okay so these are courses you won't get any credits for and they probably are a bit lacking from the full classroom courses, but still, can one really complain? Everything from Anthropology to Physics. Most of the stuff comes from places we would only dream about attending: Stanford, UCLA, Yale etc. MIT was really most impressive at 1800 online courses as well as a nice variety of High School Student geared courses, geared toward Advanced Placement.

My son decided he is going to sign up for Japanese and Kitchen Chemisty.

As for me, I'm starting with the Search Engine Berkeley Courses at Youtube and The Future Of the Internet iTunes Podcast from Stanford.

Not bad for not having to step out of the house or open my wallet huh?

Think Spring? See our collection of Tees!

As an online business seller I realize you always have to be ahead of the game. Like always looking ahead to the next holiday and the next season. When your product has to travel through the mail, you really need to think about advertising weeks before the fact. So I sit here and think about the coming of Spring. Not as easy as it sounds. We are currently getting hit with another snowstorm, the 2nd one this week, and they are calling for 10" of snow to fall before morning. Welcome to winter in Upstate New York!

For those of you already basking in 60 and 70 degree weather, or those of you who wear T-shirts no matter what the temperature,(My daughter fits that description)please take a look at the fun and cool tee shirts we have in stock:

Disney Couture Dumbo T-shirt Jrs size S
Nightmare Before Christmas Jack Skellington Face Mens Tee sz M
Nightmare Before Christmas Turquoise Striped Jack Face Boys T-shirt sz L
Nightmare Before Christmas Juniors Jack Skellington Neon Tee
Mighty Fine Invader Zim Juniors Tee Shirt sz S
Invader Zim Gir Toddler Tee Shirt sz 2T

Are you thinking Spring fashions yet?? Stop by our store and browse even more Tees:
Rock Band T-shirts, Disney T-shirts, Nightmare before Christmas T-shirts, and much much more

And for those of you still stuck in the winter doldrums, like we are, check out our winter clearance section for some good bargains!

See you tomorrow after all the shovelling! Maybe I'll post some photos!

Social Networking for Your Business

First off, what is social networking? And how does it involve our business?

From wikipedia:
Social networks connect people at low cost; this can be beneficial for entrepreneurs and small businesses looking to expand their contact base. These networks often act as a customer relationship management tool for companies selling products and services. Companies can also use social networks for advertising in the form of banners and text ads. Since businesses operate globally, social networks can make it easier to keep in touch with contacts around the world.

This is easier said than done though. New social networking sites are popping up on a daily basis. Just this week, I was introduced to Qassia. But as many online small business sellers, I also battle with time contraints and the confusion as what sites are the best. Which ones will bring me not only the traffic but potential customers and sales?

I came across this link to the Top 100 Social Marketing Sites. I figure if I am going to create a worthwhile social marketing campaign, I should focus on the more popular sites and provide a quality effort instead of hundreds of thrown together social pages scattered throughout the web.

One of the easiest ones I have been able to create and keep up with on a regular base that has provided me with steady traffic and sales has been Squidoo. I only have three lenses and one group but I have found it very easy to go in and update the content and links each month.

Another good article that helped me prioritize and focus on social marketing was this article from SiteProNews, "How To Start A
Social Marketing Campaign" by Jack Humphrey. I also found the author's website, Friday Traffic Report, to be absolutely LOADED with important and useful information complete with video tutorials!

This is by no means a complete how-to on social networking and marketing your online business but visit the links and you'll be off to a good start.

Ebay Boycott Week is Winding Down...who is Victorious?

As most of you might know, this past week Ebay buyers and sellers have been boycotting in protest to the many recent announcements of changes. Although the numbers at Ebay have fluctuated up and down all week long, I believe the true impact to be what the numbers can't tell you.

Who is Victorious? I believe the victory this week belongs to the many buyers and sellers who have not only boycotted Ebay but have actually started to buy and sell at other alternative sites, such as Ecrater and Ebid. They have cut the apron strings from the "Big Bad Bay" and gone out on their own.

I had read post after post on such forums as PowerSellers Unite and Ecrater, from sellers AND buyers alike; sellers who have either moved their products to another site or created their own website and buyers who have searched and bought products from sites for the 1st time. Alternative sites, have seen their sites grow 3x's their size in this week. These people, my friends, are the real winners. They are the VICTORIOUS!

I have had buyers email me after they bought my product, telling me how happy they were to find what they were looking for, WITHOUT having to look at Ebay.

I have shared stories with other sellers. At the beginning of the week, I listening to their fears, hearing the uncertainty in their future. By the end of the week, many of them were already receiving sales in their new "habitat", their tone was a sigh of relief, their conclusion..Yes, it can be done. There is life after eBay!

On the short term it does not seem like the boycott has impacted ebay at all. But Ebay better be careful on their shrug of the shoulders attitude because the effects of Ebay's new business module, is still yet to be felt. Those who haven't jumped ship, are waiting until May. Those who already have, are taking their customer base with them. It shall be a long year for Ebay...

Super Bowl Champs: New York Giants

Born and bred in New York, I watched last night's Super Bowl game in excited anticipation. It was a definate nail-biter with alot of yelling at the TV in my household. Kudos to the NY Giants for pulling off what most critics and fans thought was impossible.

How great it was to see Eli Manning prove himself the quarterback he is and become more than just Peyton Manning's little brother. How great it was to see the Giants come together and win the Super Bowl as a team.

Poor Patriots went sulking away last night. Brady's cool demeanor become undone. It was time for the Patriots to step down for the limelight and it was done by the only team this season that gave New England a reason to worry.

Well done New York Giants from an appreciating New York fan!

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