Movie Rental Wars

Where do you rent your movies? I've had a subscription to Netflix for about 4 years now...I haven't rented a movie anywhere else in that time. This is not an advertisement...it's a fact. I pay $17.99 a month for how ever many movies and/or TV show DVDs I can watch in that month...3 discs are at my house at a time and I keep them as long as I want. No late fees...no due dates...no bullshit. I've always figured...based on rentals of 3.99 each, which is what I used to pay at the rental store; if I watch 5 DVDs a month (which is easy), I've made back my money.
Today...I decided to sign up for a Blockbuster membership in the event that I wanted to get a particular movie on a particular day. Blockbuster says that they no longer have late fees or due dates. However, if you don't return a movie when they tell you to...they just charge your credit card for the movie. WHAT? How is that NOT a fee?

Anyway, here's the point of my story. Today I rented 3 movies...I figured it would be $12 since they were new releases. I learned that Blockbuster DVD rentals are no longer 3.99...they're $5 each! FIVE DOLLARS! How is that worth it?

UPDATE: By the way...one of the three movies was "When a Stranger Calls"...the new version...I thought it was going to be only fair, but it's one of the best suspense movies I've seen in a LONG time. Don't watch it before you go to bed.

Yearly End of Season Recap

So many shows and so little time to watch them. Some are ending for the season, some have ended permanently. Are you watching any of them? Did you say you're watching LOST. Me too! OK, you all know by now that I'm totally addicted to LOST...so addicted that I must capitalize the title everytime I bring it up. LOST. I feel like I'm part of some crazy sociology experiment. Some of you are part of that experiment too. The season finale was great! Loved it! Lots of questions answered...lots of new things to wonder about.

What's ending this year? Alias, which I'm not caught up with so now I have to BUY the episodes from iTunes and watch them...or something. Only 5 more to go and I'm done with this! The Sopranos...one more episode for this season...I have them On Demand...sort of. I'm not impressed with The Sopranos this year; they made people wait a year and a half for what has amounted to a giant snoozefest. Drag it out another year HBO...it's all you've got left and even your star show is not that great anymore. Charmed had it's final episode last week...yes...I watch it....I own the DVDs. You probably watch something that I think is stupid too.

What's coming back for another run (besides LOST)? Battlestar Galactica...a cliffhanger, not returning until October damn it. Nip/Tuck...September 19th I read somewhere on the Internet (a reliable source?). The Office...another cliffhanger, but there will be new episodes on NBC's website over the summer. Not sure I trust NBC anymore...they cancelled Surface. Did you know that? Neither did anyone else because they've tried to be secretive about it. Check out the DVD cover art on Amazon...it says "The Complete Series". Fuckers.

And that leaves room for at least one new show for me to watch next season since Surface, Reunion, Charmed, Alias, and The Sopranos are gone (for the most part). My new show will be "Heroes" on NBC. Hopefully they don't cancel this one.

What are you going to watch?

In a World That Already Has Enough Caffeine

I was flipping through a magazine just a few short hours ago and I came across something that I can only imagine is as foul tasting as it gets. As if the world is not caffeinated enough, and I drink my share of caffeinated beverages as most of you know...Coca-Cola has just released Coca-Cola Blak, which is "a fusion of rich, cold Coke taste with coffee essence to awaken your mind and lift your mood". I think they forgot ROT YOUR GUT and INCREASE YOUR HEART RATE. Who is drinking this shit? Probably the same people that thought White Chocolate Reeses and Kit Kat - Inside Out were cool. Can't we find a perfect product and leave well enough alone? NO...we have to make "well enough" disgusting.

Someone drink this crap and tell me how it tastes because I'm afraid...yet strangely interested at the same time.

HUGE CRAVING!

by Katharine

I have a HUGE craving right now for roast beef and yorkshire pudding with gravy. Is my sister reading this?? She needs to get her ass in gear and invite Jeff and I over for homemade roast beef and yorkshire pudding. Oh wait... don't invite Jeff since he doesn't eat red meat. Just invite me!!!!! It's all about me! I haven't had yorkshire pudding in years and years and years and I'm feeling very deprived. Karen... I think as my Maid of Honor that you should cater to my every whim and my current whim is a nice meal!!!!! And for desert I want a make your own ice cream sundae bar with all the toppings... whipped cream, jimmies, m&m's... hot fudge, carmel.... And I want to eat until I'm stuffed and can't move. Jeff will have to roll me home. Oh! And then Jeff will have to listen to me the day after complain about how fat I am.. that I'm a chunky monkey and enormously huge.. He LOVES that! Seriously.. it makes his day!!!

So Karen.... when are we coming over? Or should I pick a date too????

That's RISK(y)

Last night, I played a board game. For some, this is not shocking, but for me in today's world of computer games and videogames...it's rare for me to sit at a table and play a game with other people that I can see. The game was RISK by Parker Brothers...and not just any version of RISK, but the 1959 version...the original. That's right Al...you have what's now referred to as the "Nostalgia Edition".

Anyway...I did OK for a game I haven't played since I was about 12 years old. I think it was my brother's game...he probably got it for Christmas and hasn't thought about it since the one time we played it 22 years ago. It really was fun I must say. Charging your armies into the enemy territory and fighting with the throw of the dice. If you've never played...I recommend it. I might even have to pick up the current version of the game which actually uses little tiny army people instead of Roman Numerals for pieces. Wanna play?

Stupid Things We Write on Products

Now I know we've gone too far as a society. I opened up a package of Glad Tall Kitchen garbage bags...pulled out one of the bags and immediately saw words printed across the bag in all capital letters:

INFANTS MAY SUFFOCATE IF BAG CLINGS TO NOSE/MOUTH

What the fuck is this? Is this really something we need to print on plastic bags?! You KNOW somebody sued Glad because this happened. Keep that in mind the next time you're around an infant...for that matter...keep the plastic bag away from an adult mouth and nose as well because they won't do well either.

What's the stupidest thing you've ever seen on a product?

What Do YOU Eat?

What do you eat for dinner? Do you come home from work and eat crap or do you make a complete meal that's fairly healthy? For the past several weeks, Katharine and I have shopped for food on Sunday (or had it delivered by Peapod when we're really busy of feeling lazy)...we buy good food...food that we plan on cooking...then, I'd have to say about 50% of the time, we end up eating takeout. Why is this? Because, even if we...I...felt like cooking, neither one of us wants to wait for it to cook. Let's eat cereal instead!

So I suppose I'm looking for ideas. Recipes even. Come on people...if there was ever a time to contribute to this blog...it's now. We need to eat NEW things.

Gone Batty

A couple of weeks ago, I posted a dilemma...which picture to hang on the wall...Batman or the Warhol Monkeys. After several compelling arguments; the most convincing by my friend and former roommate who suggested Batman was the ONLY choice explaining that:

"every time you see batman standing there, in majestic silhouette, you can think of bruce wayne's amazing journey of transcendence to become something better than "mere man"; something capable of returning justice to the people and, thereby, giving *hope* and the possibility of a *future* to a people who have lost *everything* to corruption festering in the worst weaknesses in mankind."

How could I go with monkeys after that? There was much more to her argument, but you can look back and see that for yourselves. But before you go...here's what you helped me to choose (try to ignore the reflection)!

Assumptions

When you tell people that you're engaged, people assume a lot of things.

The first thing they assume is that you can't wait to have children. "Oh, you're engaged...when are you having kids?" Give me a minute people...first, I'd like to get married. Then...LATER....IF we decide to have kids (I know it's shocking, but everyone doesn't want them or want to have them right away), then that'll be that. If you want new babies in the world immediately, then you should have one.

The second thing you hear is, "Well, your money is all the same now anyway." This comes up when I tell someone that Katharine paid for dinner...or that she has her own money for shoes. My grandfather was flabergasted when Katharine pulled out her wallet to pay for dinner one night when we all went out. "She shouldn't be paying for dinner...when you go out to dinner with a woman, you should pay," he shouted across the table. No...I don't think so...you have to go a little bit back in time for that one. Don't get me wrong...I ENJOY taking her out to dinner (and I have to say that I think she enjoys taking me out just the same). So that goes back to "your money is all the same anyway". Sort of. There's 3 piles of money...OK, well, maybe it's not PILES of money...that may be overstating it a bit. Basically, I have my money, Katharine has her money, and then there's that whole shared money thing. See all those shoes in the post below? I can't afford all those shoes!!! I have DVDs to buy! If I had to pay for all those shoes...I couldn't get the Special Edition Directors Cut of Underworld Evolution or the second season of LOST on DVD. Stop that...I only chose Underworld Evolution because it's next in line on my Amazon Wish List...not because of THAT scene.

There are so many things that people assume when you're engaged, married, or in a relationship. Try to keep in mind that people do things differently, and if having a baby before you're married and completely sharing money works for you, then that's fantastic. Just don't think that everyone is going to do it your way.

This has been a public service announcement for anyone who has ever been bugged by others about babies and sharing money.

How Many Shoes it Too Many Shoes?

by Katharine

How many shoes is too many shoes?? 6 pairs? 7 pairs? How about 10 pairs??

This past weekend I packed up my "fall/winter shoes" and now have my "spring/summer shoes" out. When Jeff and I were giving his cousin a tour of the house.. she thought the shoes displayed in our bedroom were both of ours. Sadly... no. Just mine. But is 10 pairs a lot? I mean... a lot of shoes?? I thought it was pretty manageable myself.

Let me explain the rationale behind the 10 pairs: I have the black peep toe pumps (1) that I wear almost every day to work, the gold flat sandals (2) for kind of dressy/casual, the gold espadrilles (3) for the same sort of dressy casual thing (usually with long jeans), there's two kinds of tan/nude colored sandals (4,5) that look great with khakis and jeans and are super comfortable, the black thong sandals with bow (6) for kind of everyday or just for switching off with the black peep toes shoes, the LL Bean flip flops (7) for weekend or for late night/early morning gotta take Monty out to pee, I have a pair of sneakers (8) that I never wear outside but are solely for working out inside the house, and sneakers (9) that I wear when I'm running to catch the orange line. Oh.. and the final pair.. shoes that I **adore** but have never worn... sparkly, copper, stilettos (10).. 4.5 inch heels to be precise. I'm thinking they'd be perfect for my bachelorette party or a girls' night out.. but so far I don't think I'm quite skinny enough to wear them. Those shoes demand another 5 pound loss before I dare slip them on!!! But still... LOVE THEM!!!

Ladies… what do you think? Is 10 pairs too many shoes?

Watch Your Mulch

I hate mulch. Katharine hates mulch. When I stepped out of the home ownership game in 2002, I swore I would never buy mulch again. I hate having it delivered, hate shoveling it into a wheelbarrow, hate spreading it...just hate it. So now I'm a homeowner again...couldn't stand getting screwed in the rental market any longer. Last weekend, we started looking around our yard...otherwise known as "Monty's Personal Wonderland Racetrack" and decided we had to do SOMETHING to improve our property. The part of the yard formerly known as the GRASS is too far gone, so we figued something to decorate areas around the yard. Maybe a brick patio. Maybe some flowers. Possibly some crushed stone around the edges. Wait a minute...crushed stone is friggin heavy...shoveling that is worse than shoveling mulch. We debated for days...what we should do. And debated some more. One of the reasons I hate mulch so much...about 1/2 of the 5 yards you usually have dumped, sits dumped in your yard forever...through the summer...and the winter...and then you use it up NEXT spring, but you have to get MORE delivered when you run out and it starts the cycle again.

We went to Home Depot, my least favorite place on the planet, and bought BAGS of mulch to get around the "pile" issue. We bought 6 bags (which Katharine happily loaded into the truck since I can't lift shit)...we went home and spread that out...decided we needed more. We went back to the loathesome Home Depot and picked up 8 more bags. Only used 4 of the 8, so guess what? Now instead of a pile in the yard...there's a pile in the back of my truck. Fuck. Maybe we'll get those patio blocks this up-coming weekend...

I Got Electrocuted By My Chiropractor's Assistant

Have you ever received Electro-Muscle Stimulation? Electro-Muscle Stimulation is a special form of electrical current. It is administered at the site of soft tissue injuries and muscle injuries. I've had this is the past for a lower back injury and it was very helpful so I thought I'd try it again for my stomach muscle/tendon/joint (whatever the fuck it is) injury that I've have for a year and a half now. I've had three sessions of this over the past week...two of them were good. I'm here to talk about the BAD one. I was hooked up to the machine...the machine that was pushed out of my reach. The electrode pads were placed along my left side. The juice was turned up...by juice, I'm referring to the electric current runnng through my body. "I'm going to come back in a few minutes and make sure it's not too high," says the nurse. She left. Jolt. Jolt. JOLT. JOLT! Sonofabitch...that hurt. JOLT, JOLT, JOLT...each JOLT got more painful as the muscles tensed up. I would have turned it down, but as I stated previously, the machine was out of reach. JOLT, JOLT, TORTURE....TORTURE. After being punched in the side by electric current about 50 times, she finally returned. "How is it? OK?" NO! IT FUCKING HURTS! WHERE'S MY CALL THE NURSE BUTTON? She turned it down...and down...and down...from a 17 to a 12 on a scale of 1-40. They use 40 to prevent muscle atrophy.

If this is anything like one of those Electric Ab Stimulators that people who don't want to workout use for the "perfect" abs...good luck to those of you who are using it. I'll pass. I'll also add for those concerned that I might be going to the wrong chiropractors office, that the chiropractor kicks ass...this was a temp nurse filling in for the regular one who was sick. The regular one is awesome. Just my bad luck that day I guess.