Black Friday - If you're going out there, bring this with you

Oh, lordy. I don't even want to go to the grocery store today. But good news! For the commando shopper, there are sites like blackfriday.gottadeal.com and bfads.net that are great for keeping track of what's out there. bfads.net seems to have a community of some kind, even, for this day of all days for bargain hunters and group experience seekers.

Here in Colorado, as I write this at twenty minutes to midnight, I'm sure there is a pretty big crowd at several of the outlet malls including Castle Rock, because they will be opening at midnight. You heard that right. If you wind up your day at somewhere like Wal-Mart which usually closes at midnight, you will have spent twenty-four hours shopping on Black Friday. Surely someone out there is going for it!

Snopes.com, the spoilsport's delight, says that even Black Friday is somewhat of a myth - there are a lot of people out there shopping, but the cash registers ring louder closer to Christmas. Since they are calling it on a technicality, it's a great factoid to use to piss people off.

Oh, here's another Black Friday ads site, though this one doesn't call itself "official" at least. They did pay for a Google search ad, though! Maybe I should put up a site with links to all the blackfriday sites.

Nothing's unique on the Internet, so here's another instance of Black Friday - the 1993 bombing in Mumbai, made into a movie. According to the Times of India, a judge was annoyed when the movie was to be released during active legal proceedings against those accused in the incident.

Speaking of lawyers and judges, Wal-Mart apparently has shaken a mighty legal finger at the websites which were posting their Black Friday ads long before, saying 4 days before was enough, says CNET. Since it's a case of Goliath versus David's hamster, the websites apparently caved. Other retailers, they said, preferred the free publicity over tight-fisted control.

MSNBC has come up with ten tips for surviving Black Friday, and an alternative, number 11 - just avoid it. Go online. Why not? While they don't come out and say it, by their mention of an American "Embarrassment of Riches" or, as they put it, an "obnoxious and distasteful display of unrestrained consumption" suggests that Black Friday implies dark shame for the arrogant capitalist pig. I seem to recall pictures similar to the crowds on Black Friday - they were called "shopping in Moscow." I'm thankful people only have to stand in line for Playstations, not bread and milk. Adbusters magazine is busy sponsoring "Buy Nothing Day" which is kind of refreshing - but not as self-condemnation, just a reminder that we can choose restraint, can't we?

With the emphasis on big box stores and malls on Black Friday, it's refreshing to see a website called "shoplocal.com" with their own Black Friday listings, based on zip code cookies already in my browser from somewhere. Hey, what's this? Wal-Mart, Best Buy, JC Penney - yes, they are local, but...

Well, enjoy the shopping, and don't forget to visit some truly local stores on your way to the mall!