So, I had thought my adventure with Titan Insurance was finished. They put it in writing that they would be paying for the repairs to my car, which was the only way the body shop would turn it over to me. Sure, my insurance company would be going after them for the money they had to pay for the car rental that Titan refused to pay for, but that's nothing to do with me.

So I get home, and in the mail today, I got a letter from Titan telling me that as of November 3 (two full months after the accident) they had received new information that proved that their client was not responsible for the accident, and that they were not obligated to pay for anything, so I shouldn't make any further claims against them. Which, okay, whatever, the work is done and paid for, by them, so I'm not sure exactly what the problem is. Unless I'm supposed to now be going, "Oh, look at what nice people they were to pay for the repairs out of the goodness of their hearts" or whatever. Because, certainly, I'm okay with the whole thing. I think they're lowlife shitweasels, certainly, who should probably die by leeching--oh, the irony--but now that they've finally done what they were supposed to do, which would be pay for the repairs, I'm pretty much done. What they wouldn't do, my insurance company did, which is why I pay them, and whatever happens between my guys and Titan is nothing to do with me.

But still, it was just one more kick in the head, just getting that letter. (And, quite honestly, whoever is ultimately responsible, it was their client's SUV that hit my car, and she took responsibility at the time, and they accepted that enough to pay for the repairs. So whatever they discovered two months later really has nothing to do with me, either.)

Bush Contends Partisan Critics Hurt War Effort - New York Times: "Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts, called Mr. Bush's speech 'a campaignlike attempt to rebuild his own credibility by tearing down those who seek truth about the clear manipulation of intelligence in the run-up to the Iraq war.'The White House, which has sought to define its opponents on the issue as liberals who are out of the mainstream on national security, struck back quickly at Mr. Kennedy as part of a new rapid-response plan through which administration officials hope to blunt the Democratic message about Mr. Bush.Scott McClellan, the White House press secretary, said it was 'regrettable that Senator Kennedy has found more time to say negative things about President Bush than he ever did about Saddam Hussein.'"

Yes, it is regrettable that Senator Kennedy--and others--have more negative things to say about the president than about Saddam Hussein. And what does that tell us about how people are viewing the president?

(Liar.)

Bush Contends Partisan Critics Hurt War Effort - New York Times: "'The stakes in the global war on terror are too high, and the national interest is too important, for politicians to throw out false charges,' Mr. Bush said. 'These baseless attacks send the wrong signal to our troops and to an enemy that is questioning America's will. As our troops fight a ruthless enemy determined to destroy our way of life, they deserve to know that their elected leaders who voted to send them to war continue to stand behind them.'"

Liar. Liar, liar, liar, liar liar.

Mr. president, your pants are on fire.

Liar.

So, amongst a bunch of the other blogs I read, the news that Fox has canceled the consistently low-rated Arrested Development, after giving it a mere three seasons to find an audience, seems to be a major talking point.

I don't know; I watched it once, and didn't have any interest in seeing it again. Sometimes it really is the responsibility of the TV producers to make something that people want to come back for.

Okay, got the car back yesterday, and the Girl in the Cafe is pretty much not an option I'll be pursuing at the present time. So expect less discussion/mention of those topics in the future.

Do, however, look forward next Monday and Tuesday to photos from Disneyland, because I'm getting out of town and heading there for a couple of days.

MiceAge.com: "We'll begin by telling you about one of the worst kept secrets on the Internet,
the upcoming rehab of Pirates of the Caribbean. We've been keeping you updated
on this topic for months now, and since our last update the project has been
officially greenlit and received its funding. The refurbishment dates have also
been firmed up, and the ride is now scheduled to close March 6th and reopen 15
weeks later on June 22nd. (The popular Blue Bayou restaurant will be closed that
whole time as well.) When the ride does finally reopen in time for summer
crowds, Disneyland visitors will find Jack Sparrow has moved in and tweaked the
storyline of the 39-year-old ride to align more with the second and third
sequels of the blockbuster original movie. Read on only if you want to learn of
the surprises Walt Disney Imagineering currently has planned for both the
Disneyland and Walt Disney World versions of the ride."

news from me - ARCHIVES: "My friend Buzz Dixon, whose name you've seen many a time on this weblog, is a writer of all sorts of things: Screenplays, animation, comics, games, etc. He has recently turned editor/packager with a new line of what his people are calling 'America's Premiere Inspirational Manga.' Serenity is a comedic teen soap opera about an unhappy girl who finds a happy ending in today's world. She's a lonely teen from a broken family who's coping with certain anger issues as she enrolls in a new school and gets 'adopted' by a Christian prayer group. Buzz wrote it and it was drawn primarily by Min Kwon, a young Korean-American woman who's steeped in Asian storytelling techniques yet immersed in American culture as well. I like the fact that the story is written with conviction but without hectoring, and that the kids seem to talk and act like actual kids."

BBC - Doctor Who - Cybermen Revealed: "Filming is now underway in Cardiff for the long-awaited return of the Cybermen. The two-part adventure, written by Tom McRae, sees The Doctor and companions battle against a new, more deadly breed of Cybermen who are out to convert humanity into their own kind."

Here's a surprise: car not ready yet. Thanks to Titan "the body shop is taking longer than we think is appropriate, so we're not paying for your rental car any more as of a week ago" Auto Insurance taking a week to respond to the body shop's messages. Punks. Maybe tomorrow. Not crossing my fingers.

Watched the first episode of Boondocks and the final episode of Extras this morning. Extras ended with a lot of heart, and I'm looking forward to the new season already. (HBO is rerunning the whole first season starting next Sunday, I think.) Boondocks was fun, but, like all half-hour shows based on daily comic strips, fails to capture the pace of the strip. But it feels like the strip, so that's all okay.

Sci Fi Wire -- The News Service of the Sci Fi Channel: "Threshold To Try Tuesdays
CBS is moving its SF drama Threshold to Tuesdays at 10 p.m., ET/PT, following The Amazing Race, from its current Friday timeslot, Variety reported. Close to Home, which currently occupies that timeslot, will move to Threshold's old timeslot, following Ghost Whisperer, at 9 p.m. Fridays.
Threshold moves to Tuesdays on Nov. 22 and 29. (The Tuesday slot is pre-empted on Nov. 8 for a two-hour Race and on Nov. 15 for the Country Music Awards.) If all goes well, the show will move in permanently, the trade paper reported.
Threshold has performed decently, but not tremendously, in the ratings. Executives reportedly feel that the SF thriller could potentially hold on to more Race fans than those of Whisperer, who skew more female.
"

Across the street: candy cane lights the first week of November. Jeez.

Again, comics stuff...

Expanding some on last night's post about the new Previews order:

A couple of weeks ago, some creators and editors from Tokyopop came to our libraries, a series of programs I had set up. They were mainly promoting their new manga-inspired graphic novels, produced by American creators. One of the creators who came was Amy Kim Gantner, creator of Sorcerers and Secretaries. And of the three books Tokyopop sent me to read, I enjoyed that one the most. (Well, the chapters they sent me, anyway, the book wasn't finished yet at that point.) So I'm looking forward to reading the whole thing. At the programs, one of the editors (Luis Reyes) had talked up a book called MBQ, and I asked him to send me a copy. I read it, and enjoyed it as well, although I thought it was maybe a little over the top in places. But I liked it enough to want to read the next book, so that's why these two made my November order.

And just a quick word about the Seven Soldiers of Victory collection... I have been complaining about the four Infinite Crisis lead-in miniseries, and that's because I think they're pretty deeply flawed comics. But one of the biggest flaws is, for comics that are intended to showcase the diversity of stories that can be told in the "DC Universe," they all feel pretty much the same. The science fiction one just feels like superheroes in space. The magical/mystical one still feels just like a big superhero fight story. They don't really have their own flavors.

With his Seven Soldiers books, though, Grant Morrison has created a bunch of diverse-feeling stories that come together into one whole. This project showcases the sort of variety that DC Comics ought to be offering in a way that the Crisis stuff--thus far--has completely failed to do. And it's a bunch of differently-toned stories all written by one writer, whereas the Crisis lead-ins should have felt more different due to being written by different people. And I don't want to be one of those guys venerating Grant Morrison as a comic-book god with a golden touch, but at least he seems to be trying harder than his peers...

Plus, he seems to be interested in telling new stories, instead of devoting his entire career to building on stories created by others. (And yes, I suppose I am calling Geoff Johns a parasite. Wanna make something of it?)

Okay, saw Mirrormask. Loved it. Unsurprisingly, it's like a Neil Gaiman/Dave McKean graphic novel come to life, and every bit as weird and wonderful and magical as you'd imagine that could possibly be.

Oh, don't forget that Boondocks premieres tonight on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim. Check your local listings for the time, because I can't actually be bothered to remember it or look it up. But it promises to be cool.

Have just purchased a ticket to Mirrormask from Fandango.com. Yes, this means paying the princely sum of one dollar extra for the movie. But I am absolutely not in the mood for standing in line behind... well, anyone, really. Not the family of 27 who can't decide which movie to see, and apparently haven't pondered this conundrum until they actually get to the box office window. Not the lovey-dovey teenager making out directly in front of me. None of the variety of the great, unwashed masses who might potentially be there in front of me or directly behind me. (Not even the cute goth girls who love Sandman and are there to see the exact same movie as me.) No, I just want to park my car, go to the theater, and go get seated right away. And that's worth the extra buck to me.