I recently watched the movie Finding Neverland, the story behind the writing of Peter Pan. It was a very good movie, with great acting all around. Johnie Depp is really a top notch actor - right there with Sean Penn and Russell Crowe. Those three are just head and shoulders above the other leading men, including some that I actually like more such as Brad Pitt and Ed Norton. Depp's performance is just super - watch, and compare with something like Pirates of the Carribean, where he is equally convincing while in a completely different role. Similar to Crowe's turns in A Beautiful Mind and The Insider after his stunning physicality in Gladiator.

Back to Finding Neverland: Kate Winslet is also very good. What I like even more, though, was the quality of the child acting. You see something like Harry Potter, and you might think children are just unable to act. Not so. The young actors in Finding Neverland are consistenly good - you don't feel like you are watching children try to act. You're just watching a story involving children, which is a lot more enjoyable.

Over all, this is a very good story movie, without special effects or violence or even much drama. Just a great performance of a touching movie, and really worth watching.

If you are looking for a quick energy boost, don't, I repeat do not accidentally get a Blended Creme Frappuccino instead of a Blended Coffee Frappuccino. Instead of a caffeine boost, you'll get a lactose coma. Trust me.

Starbucks does have a new flavor for the summer - Mint Mocha Chip. I gave it a try, and it's great if you like mint. Personally, I prefer mint with tonic water and, uh, rum.

Also note that The Dave Matthews Band has a new album out, Stand Up. It is only available (legally) through the iTunes music store. It occurs to me that this is a huge win for Apple versus their competitors. I don't know how long it will be exclusive to iTunes, but it's a pretty big deal. If I were Apple, I would be pumping the DMB dancer in an iTunes commercial pronto.

So we're back from Ocean City. It was a good news/bad news situation.

Good news: Everyone who saw the shoes liked them. Everyone who tried some on bought them. And everyone seemed comfortable with the price ($20), as many people bought multiple pairs.

Bad news: The weather was terrible, and our tent location was outside. So, instead of being inside the big tents where all the people were, we were outside where the 20-30 mile an hour wind was. Thursday the weather was cold and windy and we sold 5 pair. Friday there was a "Nor-Easter" which is not a holiday at all. We had wind and rain and flooding, so we didn't even set up. Saturday, we had about 3 good hours of weather, and we did well. Then at 6 pm the winds kicked in and we went 4 hours without selling a single pair. Ouch! Sunday was beautiful and the shoes went pretty well.

Also, bad news - the crowd was no where near the 100K that I had read on the internet. So let me lay this out so googlers have a good chance to find it:

SPRINGFEST, OCEAN CITY, ATTENDANCE IS ABOUT 20 THOUSAND, NOT 100 THOUSAND

Sorry about that, just trying to do a public service. Also note that all commercial vendors are in the parking lot (Midway), which is a CRAP place to be. The good places all go to the Arts & Crafts folks (90% made by the seller).

So, to sum up, it was a debacle. We took time off work, worked our asses off, suffered in terrible weather, and lost money. If I never step foot in Ocean City for the rest of my life, I would not be surprised at all.

The last bit of good news is that we still have LOTS of shoes, so we can launch the online store sooner, as we don't have to build up inventory. Look for an announcement there soon.

PS: I updated the Archive today. I'd forgotten all about that!