My first experience with RightStuf

I've never shopped with RightStuf before, but after realizing that the expected delivery and cost on Amazon was outrageous, I decided to give them a try. I ordered some novels, and on Amazon the price came to $133.22 including $10.62 for tax. On top of that, there was a two-month estimated shipping time. I ordered on May 4th, and after realizing the better deal on RightStuf, I cancelled my Amazon order. With RightStuf that total came to $94.43 with zero tax, and the expected delivery is May 15th. I placed my order on May 7th and it shipped today (May 9th).

One thing I didn't like about RightStuf though is how they handle notifications. On Amazon, as soon as you place an order, you can see it on the website with an estimated delivery (and sometimes shipping) date. On RightStuf, the "order status" page was blank until it actually shipped. For two days I had no idea when it would ship or what the delivery date would be. Then this morning the website finally showed my order, with the status of shipped and an expected date of the 15th.

For a website that has the reputation of having the lowest prices, Amazon charged quite a bit more, with the most expensive book being $16.19. Whereas the most expensive book on RightStuf is only $13.49. Same books, but Amazon was charging over $3 more in some cases. In their defense, Amazon did charge $2 less on one of the books, but the price is offset by the fact they charge tax, so even their cheapest book still ended up costing more.

I'll have to wait until my package comes, before giving a final thought about RightStuf, but so far so good.

Who Framed Roger Rabbit, the frames lost to history

Recently Who Framed Roger Rabbit was released on Blu-ray for its 25th anniversary. Packaged inside are two discs, one Blu-ray Disc and one DVD and you can get it in either the blue case (BD packaging) or black case (DVD packaging). Initial shipments included a DVD with the incorrect aspect ratio, but as of March 15th Amazon.com has started shipping the set with a corrected DVD inside (albeit without the slipcover).

You haven't been able to buy this film in its original theatrical release since the days of VHS and LaserDisc. This is because certain gags/jokes have been made clearer thanks to frame-by-frame technology. Thanks to LaserDisc and 4-head VCRs (2-head VCRs didn't look as good when paused), people noticed things that they might not have otherwise noticed.

The three changes that people notice the most are the scenes with Baby Herman, Betty Boop, and Jessica Rabbit.

The first is when Baby Herman pokes his finger up a womans' dress.

The second is when Betty Boop is fixing her dress, and her chest is briefly exposed.

And the third is when Jessica is thrown out of the cab and you can see she's not wearing panties.

However what I'm most surprised about, that they did keep in and you can see on the BD, are the murders on the train. At the end of the film, as the train goes by in Toontown, each train car features people being murdered in different ways. You can see a hanging, a stabbing, and a shooting among other things.

It's puzzling why Disney would remove certain frames but not others (considering films released under their Touchstone banner were more mature anyway, why not just leave it alone), but it could have something to do with the American culture. It seems in America people have no problem with showing violence, but showing any hint of sexuality is a no-no. The phrase "Make love, not war" has been changed in America to "Make war, not love" – it seems we as a society love killing others so much so that we have no problem having it in every aspect of our lives. Movies, TV shows, video games, billboard advertisement, depictions of violence are everywhere in America.

Help Me Howard is a horrible person.

After asking for help via Facebook, Howard had this reply:



Which begs the question, is this really how you help people? For the record, I wasn't wearing a batman mask, someone 'shopped a mask on a photo of me and I decided to keep it as my profile picture.

Regardless how someone looks in a photo, that is no way for someone to treat others. For a person that made a career of helping others, Howard was downright cruel and not at all helpful. Is this really the type of person we want representing us? Maybe it's time Howard was forced into retirement? What are some of your thoughts.

Update: Shortly after publishing this, Howard deleted the evidence from his Facebook page. Good thing I took that screenshot before he deleted it.