Thursday, April 30, 2009

Summer Movies I Wanna See - May 1

Welcome to my blog!

For the next few days, I thought I'd highlight some summer movies I'd like to catch on the silver screen (and those I'll wait for the DVD release).

For May 1, there wasn't a movie that really passed the "must see on silver screen" test, but I thought the following movie was interesting. Enjoy the trailer!

Lemon Tree - Based on a true story about a Palestinian woman trying to save her lemon grove after the Israeli Defense minister moves next door to her.



I'll wait for DVD:

X-Men Origins: Wolverine
Battle for Terra

Tomorrow I'll post my movies for May 8th!

Which movies releasing May 1 do you want to see on the silver screen? Let us know by leaving a comment below!

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Tuesday, April 28, 2009

More Collector Madness!

Welcome to my blog!

Previously, I posted some information about my "collection of collections". Today I remembered I have a few more collections...

Watches - mostly cheaper variety but a few collector ones too.

Lunchboxes - these are from Hallmark. Mini lunchboxes (not the tree ornament ones) that recreated classic lunchboxes from the '60s/'70s/'80s. I have about 10 of them - they're neat, but stacked away where I can't admire them properly!

Videotapes - various recordings off TV - maybe 20-25?

Credit cards - from various old accounts - I keep wanting to put them in a card binder. They bring back memories! :)

Actually, this post wasn't so much about enumerating more of my oddball collection of collections, but a cry for help! I can't stop buying stuff needlessly - for example, over the past 3 weeks, I've purchased 3 non-sport trading card base sets (that I remember)! Today I asked myself "WHY?" Why, in the name of all things good, did I buy more trading card sets when I have more than I'll ever need now? WHY!?! I have no clue. I'm trying to unload DVDs and CDs yet I go and buy more crap!

I was looking at some of my trading cards that I have squirreled away and I don't even like some of them any more! But to sell them won't be worth the effort.

Anybody have some ideas what I can do to stop this? I know I need to re-focus my energy off "spending" and onto "saving", especially now during this financial crisis we are in. But I also need to re-focus my energy on more useful pursuits, like reading some of the hundreds (OK tens!) I have lying around here. Or actually watching the DVDs I purchased way back when. Or use many of the other toys I have to play with!

Seriously.

Now I turn it over to you - my loyal readers. Any ideas on what I should do to re-focus my energies on something better than collecting more and more junk? Or should I throw in the towel and admit I'm a collect-a-holic and be done with it?

HELP!

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Monday, April 27, 2009

Free Antibiotics...at your SUPERMARKET???

Welcome to my blog!

I probably should have blogged about this issue earlier, but I didn't think of it until now.

Anywho - there are several large supermarket chains around the country that are providing 14 day supplies of antibiotics for free (you need a doctor's prescription). Originally these offers ended in March (it was for cold and flu season), but some have continued the offer until July.

Now, you might think, this is great! Free generic brand antibiotics! Wow - how kind of these stores. Well, if you do think that, do I have a rant for you!

First, antibiotics are not useful against a virus such as the cold or flu virus.

Second, as a nation, we are over medicated, especially with antibiotics. At the first sign of a child's illness, parents force Doctors to write antibiotic prescriptions -- and sadly many doctors do. Giving away free antibiotics only increases this over-medication PLUS it's contributing to an alarming increase in antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

Third, does it make any sense for food stores to encourage sick people to come to the store to possibly infect more people? OK, many food stores have had in-store pharmacies for years, so "sick" people have been going to food stores for just as long. But, we are talking about infectious diseases which are more easily transmitted from person to person.

My local supermarket has its pharmacy near the (fresh) baked goods department - isn't that a nice combination of food and germs? And what easier way to infect large groups of people than thru food such as fruits and vegetables that are wide open.

OK, I know this can happen at any time, but it's the idea that you are encouraging folks with communicable diseases to come into the store - that's what sticks in my craw.

What do you think of all this? Should supermarket chains (or any other retailer) offer free antibiotics? Does this encourage over use of antibiotics? Is such overuse harmful? Let us know your thoughts by leaving them below!

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Sunday, April 26, 2009

Moon movie Trailer - looks good!

Welcome to my blog!

Just thought I'd share a trailer for the upcoming movie "Moon". Watch it - I'm not going to give away the plot!



So what did you think?? Leave your comments below!


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Monday, April 20, 2009

What's your DVD collection's 're-watchability factor'?

Welcome to my blog!

As I mentioned, I have a decent size collection of DVDs. I've been trying to wean the collection down a bit, getting rid of those I probably won't be viewing any time soon.

That got me to thinking - do I really need any of the DVDs I have? I mean - how many times am I gonna re-watch them? If I get too many, will I run out of time to view them a second or third time?

I know I need my Space:1999 DVDs, but other than that - do I need any of the rest? Did I need to purchase two versions of Daredevil? Daredevil?!? Or the latest James Bond release when I had a perfectly good earlier version? Do I need the complete The Prisoner series? Couldn't I have rented that?? What's the re-watchability factor of my collection?!?!

What's the re-watchability factor of your DVD collection? Let us know your "must haves" and those you can do without by leaving a comment below!

BTW, don't forget to vote in our "Your Favorite Pony car" Poll on the right!

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Saturday, April 18, 2009

Your Favorite Pony?

Welcome to my blog!

Do you like Pony Cars aka Muscle Cars? If so, you're in luck as model year 2010 will see the release of three updated muscle cars from America's auto companies:

2010 Chevrolet Camaro:


2010 Dodge Challenger:


2010 Ford Mustang:


I've created a simple Poll (see the side bar on the right) ... vote for your favorite pony car and then defend your choice by leaving a comment below!

Poll closes Saturday April 24, 2009 9:00am ET!

Start your engines....!

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(photos from http://autos.msn.com)

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

When does 1 + 1 = 1?

Welcome to my blog!

OK, the title to this entry isn't from some weird math course that you took in college and never used again. It has to do with DVD releases - specifically, single TV seasons that are split into 2 Volumes. Thus 1 (volume) + 1 (volume) = 1 TV season!

Is there anything more annoying than having a company take a TV series and split it into 2 volumes for each season release? So far, the only company I am aware of doing this consistently is CBS/Paramount. They have done it with The Mod Squad, The Untouchables, The Fugitive and Dynasty, to name just a few off the top of my head.

It's not so much that they split one season into two volumes, it's the fact that they charge about the same price as a full season set for each volume! So Dynasty at $25.99/volume is equal to $52/season! That's outrageous! It's not like this is for a current series like Lost or even a Blu-Ray release!

Another insult is that your TV series can suddenly be stopped if "sales slip". OK, I know that any TV series (from any distributor) can suddenly be stopped without all the seasons being released, but it's so much more of an outrage when you've faithfully been paying volume by volume for a series and its release is suddenly stopped mid-series. I mean, you're paying double for each season -- isn't that enough to keep the series being released to the end??

While I haven't purchased The Fugitive (or the Untouchables), it looks like these series may not see a full release. It's been 9 months between The Fugitive's Season Two Volume 1 (June, 2008) and Volume 2 (March, 2009) releases. That's outrageous, too!

Come on CBS/Paramount - STOP THE INSANITY! Please release TV series season-by-season (like you do for Mission: Impossible!). If you must release a TV series volume-by-volume, then please keep the price LOW - like no more than $19.99/volume! Please!

Whew. Sorry for the rant, but I needed to get that off my chest!

Are you buying a TV series "by the volume"? Perhaps refuse to buy a series by the volume? Rant all you want in the comment section below! Maybe if enough of us rant and rave (here and elsewhere), CBS/Paramount may listen to us - the customer!


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Wednesday, April 08, 2009

Are You a Collector? Part 2 of 2

Welcome to my blog!

In Part 1 of "Are you a Collector?", I briefly went over my weird habit of collecting things and asked for input from other collectors.

In this entry, I thought I'd outline some of my collections. When I went to sketch some of the details, I was amazed at some of the stuff I collected and other items I had forgotten to think about in terms of a collection.

Well here goes....


DVDs -

  • Movies
  • TV series
  • Sports-related
  • Other
CDs -
  • Performers
  • Movie/TV Soundtracks
  • Christmas music (a semi-obsession of mine, but I think it's cured!)
Books -
  • Non-fiction (esp biographies)
  • Personal Finance
  • TV/Movie related
Trading Cards -
  • Non-Sport (movies, tv, art, etc)
  • Sports (mainly one time champion sets, ie World Series, Superbowl)
Matchbox Cars - no real breakdown - dates from childhood.

Mugs - mainly from places I've (or others) visited

Collector plates - Star Wars and Bond

There's probably a ton of other little things but the above represents the bulk of my collections.

OK - now it's your turn to share! List some of your categories in the comments section!

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Tuesday, April 07, 2009

Are You a Collector? Part 1 of 2

Welcome to my blog!

As I look around my room, I find that I am a collector -- more accurately, a collector of collections. I have tons of stuff that I have picked up over the years -- forgetting about more things than I remember about.

Why do people collect? There are many theories out there - some suggesting it goes back to our days as cavemen (hunter, gatherer roles). I read an interesting article about collecting in an issue of AARP magazine (and, no, I'm not a member!!). Don't remember the details, just that it was interesting and that it let me know I'm not alone! (which I knew - but it was nice to know that there are people out there that obssessively collect things - I don't think I'm there yet!).

I wonder if some form of depression or other mental state has something to do with the collecting gene? For those that collect, there's a bit of high when you get that new piece to add to your collection. That high usually diminishes and it's off to add more items to the collection (or better yet - start a new collection!).

In the next post, I'll list some of my collections.

Do you collect? Are you obssessive? Casual? Why do you collect? Why do humans collect? Share your thoughts and theories on collecting -- but NOT your collections (that's for Part 2!) -- in the Comments section below.


Thanks for reading my blog!

Monday, April 06, 2009

Are you a 'Law and Order' person like me?

Welcome to my blog!

Are you a Law and Order guy or gal? Do you believe all crimes should be neatly tied up in an hour - after a few false leads mixed with some twists and turns? If so, you've come to the right blog entry!

In case you haven't figured it out yet, I'm talking about the TV series "Law & Order" and its various spin-offs. Actually, the only one I've taken a shine to is Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. I really enjoy the cast (except for Ice-T ... he just doesn't seem to be acting) and the stories are usually interesting too.

I assume all the series share similar traits - a murder or similar crime committed at the beginning of the episode. The detective team gets involved - follows the path of least resistance to the culprit and finds out - lo and behold, that culprit is not the culprit they want! So back to the investigation trail following more leads and twists till finally the guilty party is found. And put away for good by the end of the hour - usually. Occasionally someone goes free or can't be convicted due to various legal loopholes.

So, are you a Law & Order guy or gal? Which is your favorite series? Let us know by leaving a comment below!

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Sunday, April 05, 2009

Cleaning My Labels Up...and enhancing my Blog

Welcome to my blog!

Well, I've been blogging for a while and have been using Labels with most of my recent blog entries. For some odd reason, I was thinking labels worked like search terms - instead of as a grouping mechanism for 'like entries'. Actually, I think I knew about the grouping mechanism aspect of blog entry Labels (or tags), but somehow the knowledge got lost in my empty head.

Anywho - I think I've cleaned up my Labels, streamlining the list and adding the listing to the menu items on the right ------------------------------------------->

Tell me how my labels are doing - am I using them effectively? Can they be further refined to reduce the list? Or should they be added to for nuance?

Leave your comments below!

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Friday, April 03, 2009

Do endings diminish beginnings?

Welcome to my blog!

So I finally started to watch the 2nd season of the 1960's short-lived sci-fi drama "The Invaders" and thought to myself "How many seasons could this have gone had it not been canceled prematurely?" and then thought "How would this series properly end?"

As I pondered how to satisfactorily end The Invaders, I wondered if having a neat ending would have diminished what came before it? For example, if David Vincent had caused the aliens to suddenly stop invading Earth (in the series finale), would that have made all the adventures before hand some how less thrilling?

This same train of thought could be applied to many series - had the Robinsons found Earth, would Lost in Space have been as exciting? If the castaways were rescued from Gilligan's Island, would the series have been less funny? Of course, there's always the question "Does knowing that the series ends on a positive note take some of the 'edge' off the preceding episodes?" For example, would knowing that the Robinsons find Earth in the last episode take the 'edge' off of Dr Smith's stupidity throughout the series? Or similarly would Gilligan's ineptness be forgiven if the castaways get rescued in the end?

There are a few series with an ending, namely Star Trek: Voyager and The Fugitive. How did having a resolving episode affect those series (if at all)? I've been renting The Fugitive and find it fascinating even though I know in the end they find the one armed man.

OK then over to you - what are your thoughts on endings diminishing beginnings?

Leave a comment below!


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Thursday, April 02, 2009

Court TV shows junky!

Welcome to my blog!

Do you watch Judge Judy? The People's Court? Perhaps Judge Mathis?

I do as much as I can. I just love the 15- 20 minute 'soap opera' aspect of these shows. Some of the law suits are so silly as to be laughable, but you tend to learn something every time you tune in. Of course, don't ask me to recite anything I've learned - I forget it until the next show!

It seems the more animated the judge is, the more popular the show. It's that mix of Judge's personality and lawsuit that really makes the show for me.

My 3 favorite shows are Judge Judy, People's Court and Judge Mathis, in that order.

Here's the granddaddy of them all:



Are you a 'reality court junky'? If so, let us know your favorite Judge and any thoughts below!

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