Almost immediately after I posted yesterday's remarks, we lost phone service here in Iola. Seems a cable was cut about 10 miles away, and repairs were under way. When would service return? Well, later in the day. (Just before I went to bed last night, my cell phone was operative again, so we were offline less than 12 hours.)

So no problem. Except that we don't yet know whether e-mails out or in have been lost forever in the aether. And we don't know who tried to reach us unsuccessfully. And, wow, it was frustrating trying to get our jobs done. (I'll just check this spelling via Goog ... Oh. No. Never mind. I'll just call my buddy ... Oh. No. Never mind. Maybe my cell phone? No. Never mind. And so on.)

Which brings up dark thoughts about what we could do if we had a real emergency. What ever happened to the Civil Defense system, anyway?

... for a total of $13, a bunch of public domain silents. Quality of prints is almost certainly mediocre, with film run at the wrong speed, but the films are excellent and will do until Kevin Brownlow or someone similar does The Perfect Restoration:

Blood and Sand 1922 [One of Rudolph Valentino' hits.]

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde 1920 [John Barrymore in the dual role]

The General 1927 [This is one of my favorite movies, and I'm sure the print doesn't come up to the magnificent Brownlow restoration of the Buster Keaton classic, but it was part of the set.]

The Hunchback of Notra Dame 1923 [A Lon Chaney classic.]

The Mark of Zorro 1920 [Douglas Fairbanks buckling swashes.]

Pollyanna 1920 [Mary Pickford playing "the glad game." Hayley Mills was great 40 years later, but I'm curious to see this earlier version.]

Robin Hood 1922 [Douglas Fairbanks at the top of his form.]

Every so often, I head for Madison, Wis., which is where my son and his family used to live and which is one of my favorite cities, though I moan about my inability to sleep over free, now that Stephen and his crew live in Maryland just so's he can produce music for National Public Radio.

This time around, the Madison expedition came about because Four Star Video announced to its Gold Card Members (of whom I'm one) that it was going to start a two-for-one sale on its pre-viewed DVDs this morning.

I was apparently one of the first in the door to take advantage of the sale and, ever on the alert for the opportunity to suggest cool pop culture purchases, I thought I'd tell you what today's pile stacked up to be. (Top price per DVD was $10, and I haven't bothered to check to see whether I got two for $10 or two for $15 -- since $15 is the price non-Gold-Card Members pay. I mean, what a deal, right?)

Breathless, 1959, 1:30 Maltin 3.5 stars [Hey, it's a classic I haven't seen since the early 1960s.]

Confidentially Yours 1983, 1:51 Maltin 3 stars [Truffaut's last film with summary sounding very Hitchcock.]

Deja Vu 2006, 2:06 Maltin 2.5 stars [Fantasy, intriguing premise, Denzel Washington, what the heck?]

The Departed 2006, 2:31 Maltin 3.5 stars Best Picture, Director, Adapted Screenplay, and Editing Oscars [Obviously, "must" viewing.]

The Eleanor Roosevelt Story 1965, 1:30 Maltin 3.5 stars Best Documentary Oscar [Ditto.]

The Great Rupert 1950, 1:28 Maltin 2.5 stars [George Pal, Jimmy Durante, fantasy -- again, what the heck?]

Hollywoodland 2006, 2:07 Maltin 3.5 stars [I should have watched this a year or so ago, right?]

Hot Fuzz 2007, 2:01 Maltin 2 stars [Maltin isn't crazy about this, but I admire Pegg and Shaun of the Dead and figure this'll be at least a turn-off-the-brain-and-enjoy sort of film -- and maybe better than that.]

The Man in the Glass Booth 1975, 1:57 Maltin 2.5 stars [Hotly discussed when it came out; I'm curious.]

Severance 2006, 1:36 [OK, this was a total gamble and is probably not going to be to my taste, as a "horror-comedy." But the one-paragraph summary sounded intriguing.]

She 1935, 1:34 Maltin 3 stars [Hey, it's H. Rider Haggard produced by Merian C. Cooper; this I want to see.]

Suspect Zero 2004, 1:39 Maltin 2 stars [Again, a total gamble, but I like to give fantasy mysteries a try.]

300 2007, 1:56 [Yes, I should have bought this ages ago. Heck, I tried to schedule getting to a theater to see it, and that didn't work out. Now, though, it's mine, mine, mine.]

Val Lewton Double Feature The Leopard Man 1943, 1:06 Maltin 2.5 stars; The Ghost Ship 1943, 1:09 Maltin 3 stars [Lewton's usually worth checking out, and I don't think I've seen either film, not to mention that Leopard Man is directed by Jacques Tourneur.]

And for $50 extra total (that is, for $25 each) I bought Volumes 2 and 3 of SCTV (which still annoys me, because what I want is earlier SCTV material that remains uncollected to this very day; how could I not yearn to have John Candy as Curly of the Stooges as Ben Hur?).

I must say that Four Star Video makes it worth my while to check out the stock every few months. Do you have a DVD rental place that has this sort of material on sale as used videos?

If anyone tried to access the Collins post just preceding this and was bewildered at the absence of text ... Well, so was I.

I had to leave immediately after hitting "Post to Weblog," so I didn't catch that, yet again, The Blog Gremlin chuckled to itself and failed to enter the text. Tiresome.

Satellite Media Production, P.O. Box 638, Walkersville, MD 21793 has been recording the past few years of the Newark Friends of Old Time Radio Convention. I have a flyer that encompasses events from 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2006 -- and 2007 will be available ere long.

I'm finally able to sit down at a computer (as opposed to Super-Phone) to post the briefest possible gloat about the wonderful annual Friends of Old Time Radio convention in Newark. As with any convention, you never know what to expect -- but this was an exceptional treat. The convention is tiny by comics standards; that means that it consists of what amounts to a circle of friends united in admiration of an art form.

It's not about what's expensive or hotly collectible; it's about shared enjoyment of Old Time Radio and being able to express admiration -- one on one -- with delightful professionals. This year, daughter Valerie and I got to hang out with my brother, Paul, and his friend (now mine, too) Lydia. She's new to the con (though an old hand at Old Time Radio itself), and we just had a tremendous time.

(We're talking around the CBG watercooler -- or would be, if there were one -- about podcasts and posting video and the like. And I managed to shoot some more shaky video of raconteurs telling delicious tales of entertainment experiences. Though the theme of Old Time Radio might seem to be limiting, I'm telling you it's not at all, and weekend anecdotes included one about Shel Silverstein taking an OTR giant to Hugh Hefner's mansion, because of the latter's interest in radio.)

I see I'm being inarticulate -- for which, apologies. More after I've actually had some sleep...

I had two in my Golden Age. For comics, it was Walt Kelly. For fantasy and science fiction, it was Edd Cartier. Cool thing is that Cartier is still alive -- and living not too far from this con. I know I won't get to see him, but it makes me feel good, nevertheless.

I've been exploring exactly what it is that I found. For example, one place I look to find out what printing something is or what is being asked for a certain title is Bookfinder.

So I checked Isobel by James Oliver Curwood (New York: Grosset & Dunlap, May 1913), which I found, complete with the original dustjacket. And I actually can't find a copy listed (in four pages of listings) with the original jacket. So is it -- oooo! -- rare? But who's looking for it these days? Not many, I'd bet.

(And I'm re-posting this, because The Evil Glitch attacked my first attempt to post this, too. OK, last post of the evening then.)

Another type of book collecting was brought to mind, as I went through what I bought last night. (Did I mention that the books cost 50 cents each?)

It's the books that were illustrated with photos from films based on them. I bought one deliberately to give to a photoplay book collector at work. But I discovered there were three other books that I'd bought for myself that were also photoplay books: Rafael Sabatini's The Sea-Hawk, Gene Stratton-Porter's Michael O'Halloran, and Booth Tarkington's The Turmoil. I wonder whether any of the three films has survived ...

I take my hat off to myself!

The Evil Blog Bug that likes to delete my posting has been thwarted again, thanks to my remembering to copy the posting before hitting "Post to Weblog."

Not that its loss would have bugged anyone but me. Nevertheless, my meanderings about what I bought last night have been preserved. Have atcha, Glitch!

I've finally noted a list of the 73 books I bought last night. At one point, I thought of posting them here, but my guess is that anyone's interest but mine would quickly lag.

A few items come to mind, though.

For example, I bought:

Robert W. Chambers, The Common Law, New York, D. Appleton and Company, August 1911

-- and found later it contained many illustrations by Charles Dana Gibson. Moreover, it was dedicated to Gibson. Sweet!

Of most comics interest was probably a beat-up copy of:

Palmer Cox, The Brownies Kind Deed Stories and Sketches for Young Readers with Pictures Specially Designed to Please the Little Ones, Chicago: W. B. Conkey Company, 1903

I found it intriguing because there was work therein by other contributors in addition to Cox. (Visitors to the Geppi Entertainment Museum in Baltimore will know that Cox was a pioneer in the world of licensed pop culture, thanks to his Brownies.)

It's a sign of how long it took my Super-Phone to log on that the line behind me now seems to be 30 or more long. It's out of sight behind the bookshelves, anyway. Memo for next year: It's a good idea to get here half an hour early. Woo hoo!

So I'm standing in line at the Neenah Public Library. A dozen people are standing in front of me (and more are sitting), as we prepare to wait for 20 more minutes to pay $3 to take the first crack at the annual book sale here. A couple years ago I bought more than 100 Nick Carter dime novels for less than 75 cents each here (of which 8 were ones J. Randolph Cox didn't have -- till I sent them to him), so you never know what you'll find. Happy people are chatting with each other about favorite authors, building bookshelves, and what's in public domain. Nice.

On Talk of the Nation at the moment, he is discussing the death of Lisa. It'll be available shortly online, complete with comments from callers.

I see there's a copy of Trump #1 (Jan 57) on sale at the Heritage Auction website. At the moment, it's at $3, which would be a bargain -- but I bet it goes for more. Bidding ends Oct. 7 at 11 p.m. ET, and I thought I'd point it out to folks who might not be aware of this delicious humor magazine.

After Harvey Kurtzman left Mad, Hugh Hefner offered him the job of creating a top-of-the-line satire magazine, and Trump was the result. It lasted for two issues, both of them comedy gems, and it's the sole example of what the unfettered genius of Kurtzman could provide with a great budget and high production values. Just sayin' ...