Luck

So I went to my local Barnes & Noble today to put a hold on a copy of the new Captain Underpants book set to come out next Tuesday. And whattaya know, they already had it out on the shelves. Apparently, because it's not a major release, like the next Harry Potter book, it's not a crime to put it out a little early. At least not according to the people at Scholastic, who publish the Captain Underpants books. The books themselves are always a hoot, and guaranteed to have jokes that the target audience won't necessarily get. And they break down whatever serves as a fourth wall in books in just the right places, like referring to a voice as coming from the bottom of the right-hand page, or characters asking things like "Weren't you fired in the last book?" Dav Pilkey also pokes fun at his own story-telling abilities, joking that the storyline of the book itself is typical of authors who have run out of good stories.

Speaking of people who have run out of good stories, remember me puking over the idea of another CG-animated Garfield movie a few months back? Sure you do. I won't go into my disgust at the glut of computer-animated movies out there right now, but I will mention this. The plotline of the second Garfield movie is just another rehash of the Prince and the Pauper. Hasn't this story been done enough already. Golo and I think that overused plots like that should eventually be retired. For instance, it would be great if, whoever does the next Prince and the Pauper-type movie, they should bill it as "The Last Time You'll Ever See the Prince and the Pauper Re-Done! We Dare You To Make Another Movie With This Plot!" and just be done with it once and for all. Then do it with every other story that's used that way, and eventually force scriptwriters to come up with something new.