Treasures From Half-Priced Books: Bon Jovi Picture Disc

I frequent Half-Priced Books and, while they sell mostly books, they also sell records. I collect records so I like to look through the vinyl just to see what they have. Sometimes they have some interesting LPs, but I never would have imagined that I would have found collectible vinyl at Half-Priced Books. During my most recent excursion I found Bon Jovi's New Jersey 12 inch picture disc.

New Jersey is Bon Jovi's fourth album. It was released in 1988, and the date of this posting is actually the 26th anniversary of the release of this album. Doing a little bit of online research it looks like the picture disc was a UK release. That's the band looking very 80s on the the front. The back is just their New Jersey logo (lots of blue with the band name and the name of the album).

My favorite song from New Jersey is Born to Be My Baby. You can listen to a 30 second preview on Amazon.

                              

 

 Their New Jersey album really solidified Bon Jovi's status as a great rock band. Their first album (Bon Jovi) was decent, but then their second album (7800° Fahrenheit) was a total flop. There is literally one song from their second album that I like - and I'm a Bon Jovi fan. Their third album, Slippery When Wet, is a great album that really sets the tone for the Bon Jovi we've come to know and love over the years. Then this album - their fourth album - is similar in style and quality to Slippery When Wet. With the release of New Jersey Bon Jovi demonstrated that they just needed to get their bearings and figure out what works for them, and from then on they've released hit after hit.                     

I collect rare records so this was a very exciting find for me. I seem to have good luck with Bon Jovi at Half-Priced Books. I recall one day I was looking for their album Slippery When Wet. I wasn't looking for it specifically, I just had awareness that that was an album I would like to get my hands on as I was flipping through the records. Then Slippery When Wet leapt out at me. The cover art is supposed to look like the album name drawn in raindrops on a dark car, so it took a few seconds for me to process what I had found. Half-Priced Books never disappoints.

How to Remove Web Protect Virus Without Using the Control Panel

A computer at my work was recently infected with the Web Protect for Windows virus. This is a particularly nasty virus. Not only does the virus get onto your computer, but it downloads other viruses onto your computer by affecting your web browsers (potentially all of them). The worst part is that when you try to uninstall Web Protect for Windows by using Add/Remove in the Control Panel it will actually try to install something else. Now, it's possible that if you select custom install and then deselect everything that it's trying to install that it will in fact uninstall Web Protect without installing something else, but I didn't want to take that risk and I wouldn't suggest that anyone else take that risk. So, while everywhere else on the web that I've seen suggests that you go to Control Panel and uninstall Web Protect from there I decided to do something different - something which worked without installing more viruses onto the computer.

To uninstall Web Protect for Windows without going to your Control Panel you have to download a separate uninstaller. I downloaded Revo Uninstaller. Run the uninstaller on Web Protect and when it starts to go through the uninstallation process that you were trying to avoid before close out of that uninstallation. So (this is with Revo, I'm not sure what it will be like with other uninstallers) Revo will start uninstall, then it will go through the Control Panel process where Web Protect tries to download more software at which point you close out of the Web Protect uninstallation (but not the Revo uninstallation). Then Revo should continue and it will give you a list of stuff from your Rootkit that was downloaded by Web Protect. Let Revo do its thing with deleting all of that bad stuff and at the end Web Protect will be completely uninstalled.

After this you should download Malwarebytes Anti-Malware. Run that on your computer to remove anything left that was downloaded by Web Protect (because Web Protect downloads other viruses onto your computer, too). Malwarebytes is wonderful software that will remove things that virus scanners don't. Of course, have a good virus scanner on your computer to try and prevent this from happening again.

Although I didn't keep having problems with my web browsers, if you still think your web browsers are being affected then go to Malware Tips. This page on Malware Tips has instructions for uninstalling Web Protect the bad way, but after that it has instructions for resetting all of your web browsers to remove anything that might be left over from Web Protect. However, when I used Revo and Malwarebytes I didn't have anymore problems with Web Protect at all. But the virus was only on the computer for a couple of days, so if you think it's been on your computer for longer then you might want to take this extra precaution.

Why I Love Being A Loner

I am a loner, and there are times that I am really grateful for my preference. This morning my coworker came into work three hours early because he woke up early and, it being four in the morning, no one else was up so he had nothing to do. As a loner I am seldom bored. I am engaged with my own mind. There is never a shortage of books to read or movies to watch or even puzzles to do. I am not dependent on having other people around to have a good time. My life doesn't stop because no one else is awake.

For all the times I've been accused of "doing nothing" or "vegging" because I spend most of my time alone, and for being accused of having no life because I don't spend time with friends I say: How is sitting at home and reading more "vegging" than going to a bar or going to see a movie? Why is doing puzzles or reading short stories alone "doing nothing" but going to a sports game is doing something?

I love being a loner because every day I get to take part in activities that are interesting to me and I don't have to wait to do them. I don't have to wait until the world starts to do something fun, and if all of my friends are at work it doesn't make a difference to me. I feel lucky that my plans aren't tied to someone else so I'm not at someone else's mercy for my fun.

If you're a loner and you get tired of people ragging on you for "never doing anything" or calling you boring because you never go out then remind yourself of how mentally diverse your life is. I know it's easy for the "socials" of the world to get us down, but how interesting is it really to go to a bar every weekend?

If this post resonates with you, then I suggest you read my article Being a Loner in a Social World.

Also recommended reading is Party of One: The Loners' Manifesto by Anneli Rufus - "a long-overdue argument in defense of the loner." Available as a Kindle ebook or paperback through Amazon (affiliate link).

                                                      

Treasures From Half-Priced Books: Poltergeist The Legacy on DVD

I occasionally wander around Half-Priced Books when I have nothing better to do. I promise myself that I'm just going to look at the books, I'm not going to buy anything. But I always end up buying something. Sometimes I come across something that I would not have imagined finding at Half-Priced Books.

This week I found Poltergeist: The Legacy first season on DVD. I didn't even know there was a DVD release of this show. Poltergeist: The Legacy is a show about a group of people who investigate paranormal phenomena. (It has no relation to the Poltergeist movies). It ran from 1996 until 1999 and it was on at two in the morning on Saturday mornings. It's produced by Richard Barton Lewis, who also produced The Outer Limits revival series. I didn't even know anyone but me watched this show. When I came home and looked up some information about it I discovered that it's actually a Canadian show, so it must have been on at a regular time up there. And not only is there a season one DVD, but there is also a season two DVD and the entire series is available on Region 4 DVDs. Update: The entire series has now been released on Region 1 DVD (for US/Canada). There is an Amazon link to the DVD collection below, as well as links to the first two seasons streaming on Amazon Prime.

More About This Show :

The main characters are Nick Boyle (played by Martin Cummins), Alexandra (Alex) Moreau (played by Robbi Chong), Derek Rein (played by Derek DeLint), Rachel Corrigan (played by Helen Shaver), Katherine (Kat) Corrigan (played by Alexandra Pervis), and for the first couple of seasons Philip Callaham (played by Patrick Fitzgerald), whose character left to become a priest. They all live in a big mansion in San Francisco and investigate occult phenomena throughout California. The Legacy is a worldwide organization that is set up to protect people from occult occurrences, with members stationed in various cities across the globe.

Derek is the Precept (or head) of the house and is the oldest member of the San Francisco chapter. He sometimes clashes with younger Nick, although he views Nick almost as a son so they work through disagreements quickly. Nick and Alex are the younger members so they do most of the research and investigating. Rachel is a psychiatrist who sometimes helps the Legacy although she is a skeptic. Her daughter, Kat, has shown some strong psychic abilities and this causes them to get drawn in to some of the cases.

Since the beginning of time mankind has existed between the world of light and the world of darkness. This journal chronicles the work of our secret society, known as the Legacy, created to protect the innocent from those that inhabit the shadows and the night.

Poltergeist: The Legacy season one and two are streaming exclusively through Amazon Prime. The entire four-season series is only available on DVD (affiliate link).