I don't know if I told a lot of people around me, but I stopped going to Blockbuster. I boycotted them after they were trying to charge me 70 something bucks in late fees for two movies. The whole thing is irritating because Blockbuster is not supposed to have late fees, but thats just a technicality, symantics, avoiding the little fine print - Franchise stores are different than Corporate stores. Blockbuster franchisees can charge you all the late fees they want even though the company on TV advertises something different. And guess what, the blockbuster thats 5 minutes from my house is a stupid franchise store. I'd have to try all the way to Burlington to find a Corporate store - thats not convenient! Whatever.
So my girlfriend and I have been using REDBOX which I discovered in Denver through a friend, when I was cooped up in a hotel for three weeks during some work training. Redbox is pretty awesome. I was skeptical obviously at first because it was wierd to go rent movies from a machine but I figured if you get movies in the mail through one of those other scam companies, its worth it to at least try. So we did. It only costs a whole Dollar to rent one movie per day (plus tax). So if you watch movies fairly quickly, like me, you can watch it for the night and return it the next morning or you can hold onto it and it will only charge you a dollar a day. Eventually, you stop getting charged because the machine will just charge your credit card the cost of the movie which is like 15 bucks or something, at which point you own it. Technically and hopefully, you will never ever get up to a late fee of something ridiculous like 70 dollars. Its fair and simple. Thats what I like about it.
You should try it. Heather thought that they wouldn't have new releases, but I showed her that at our Redbox, they have new releases ever Tuesday and they have plenty of classics too. I got her hooked. Now I'm just trying to convince my brothers. Last time we rented Tyson and Gifted Hands. Let me know what you think ....
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Mr. Bedingfield, where did you go?
There was a really good CD out by Daniel Bedingfield. Never heard anything else from him after that. That cd was so good i would play it for hours straight in college while I would study.
I heard it (If you're not the one) on Delilahs radio show the other night driving in the car with Heather. I think she was surprised to know I knew that particular song and she was even more surprised to know that I knew all the words. She had never heard of him or the song and was laughing as I belted it out in the car at 11pm on a sleepy road in Medford, NJ.
Its always a shame that some talent goes away unnoticed and never comes back while not-so-taletented people keep shoving there exploits in your face trying to convince you that they're good. [clap, clap, clap, to Mr. Bedingfield].
I heard it (If you're not the one) on Delilahs radio show the other night driving in the car with Heather. I think she was surprised to know I knew that particular song and she was even more surprised to know that I knew all the words. She had never heard of him or the song and was laughing as I belted it out in the car at 11pm on a sleepy road in Medford, NJ.
Its always a shame that some talent goes away unnoticed and never comes back while not-so-taletented people keep shoving there exploits in your face trying to convince you that they're good. [clap, clap, clap, to Mr. Bedingfield].
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
new House, MD : Mayfield
No... thats not my address.. I'm talking about House.. the show with Hugh Laurie..
Yesterday was the 2 hour season premeire. I was glad to see a change of scenery for him but for me it seemed kind of weird to be in and out of that Phsyciatric hospital so fast. I mean maybe he was there for a month or so if it were in real time but for him to be there all in one two hour season premiere and then he gets released seems to short. It would have been neat if they stretched his stay longer and the writers got more in depth with some of the characters in the episode like Dr. Nolan, his Physiatrist, or that married lady who was his love interest, who btw was Jason Bourne's girlfriend in one of those Bourne movies.
Greg House could have even diagnosed a few patients, saved a few lives, at least they could have stretched out him aggravating the patients and staff for a lot longer...
I just feel they could have done a better job with being a whole new scene... its basic writing isn't it? if you change the scenery, the plot also changes and same goes with the characters?
What did you guys think?
Yesterday was the 2 hour season premeire. I was glad to see a change of scenery for him but for me it seemed kind of weird to be in and out of that Phsyciatric hospital so fast. I mean maybe he was there for a month or so if it were in real time but for him to be there all in one two hour season premiere and then he gets released seems to short. It would have been neat if they stretched his stay longer and the writers got more in depth with some of the characters in the episode like Dr. Nolan, his Physiatrist, or that married lady who was his love interest, who btw was Jason Bourne's girlfriend in one of those Bourne movies.
Greg House could have even diagnosed a few patients, saved a few lives, at least they could have stretched out him aggravating the patients and staff for a lot longer...
I just feel they could have done a better job with being a whole new scene... its basic writing isn't it? if you change the scenery, the plot also changes and same goes with the characters?
What did you guys think?
Brave New World: Shake Shack
This past Sunday I was fortunate enough to spend a day with my friends and we went to NYC with no plan at all other than to get on the train and see the big beautiful apple. On this journey however we ended up at the Shake Shack near Madison Square. It was a nice setting: a big grey building with grey contemporary lettering nearly hidden in camoflouge against the natural darkenss of the parks trees, birds chirping and watching overhead, and of course a serpent - like line that wrapped around the sand of the parks bottom.
I had heard so much about the Shake Shack: from my cousin who took the Path in from Jersey City just to get a cheeseburger and a shake, and from various colleagues who say rationalize their long travelled trips to get a burger and fries. So as I waited in line, I mused. I though how ridiculous is it to stand in line for over an hour in a park for a Shack-cago dog and a Rootbeer Float? I'm in NYC, the big apple, a culinary capital, with thousands, maybe millions, of eateries, many with no lines, many more with better food.... HOW INSANE is it that I'm standing in this line waiting....?!? similar to standing in line at church trying to get the body of Christ on Christmas day or Easter. It was ridiculous. But I thought to myself, if the food is amazing, it would all be worth it, and if all these people are here waiting - its got to be good right? And how come so many people know about this place and its this small?
First of all, its everybodys delight to know about a secret hole in the wall place that only a few people know about so that they can discover and then pass that secret on to the world. They want to be the gatekeepers of the worlds great things. By simply being able to tell their friends about a great place to eat, they themselves will look like the knowledgeable foodie and go to guy on all things hip. So thats why we try places that we hear about. We want to know about a secret place that sells the forbidden fruit, and we want to be the ones that tell everyone. That's why all of us stood in line on that Sunday, midafternoon, on a perfect, cloudless day. I waited over an hour for a hotdog and float when on any other occassion I would never even wait five minutes at a restaurant, thinking to my snobby self that I can spend my good hard earned money somewhere else... somewhere that doesn't make their guests wait. And in the end... I was ... not sad... but not delighted either. If anything The Shake Shake woke me up.
The Shake Shack spoke to me that Sunday. It said tell us why you are stupid! Please tell us why. I knew it was stupid to be there in that line and I still did it, reassuring myself along the way. It reminded me of a book I read in high school.... A Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (1931), where in part of the book Huxley describes the mass of people standing up and sitting down during some kind of ceremony, over and over again, mindless.... That was us - the mindless mass of species waiting in a park for the same thing... all because something or someone had told us that that it was somehow better. Many of us were tricked to go there.... "go try it out at least if you're ever in the city." You think to yourself you come all the way to the city and you don't know that much, so you should go to that place that your buddies have been telling you about.... if you don't go, you're missing out.
I went. Wasn't that great. I missed out on something better.
When did we become such food snobs? Why do we really take advice from people not qualified to give it and why do we think that certain foods are better than others? I told my friend Phyllis that hot dogs were N.G. - NO GOOD. Society has told me to hate hot dogs because they are made from leftover meat. I mean look at it, it doesn't look natural, how can it be okay for you? But i've been doing research since I ate my hot dog at the shake shack... hot dogs are made of good quality meats AND some are made of not so good meat... you have to know what you are buying. The best I have seen is Hebrew National all beef franks, no fillers, no preservatives and nothing but the best cuts of meat, 100% beef. I don't know what was in the hot dog I ate at the Shake Shack but at least i'll know to be on the look out for better hot dogs if I can now.
To answer the question of snobbery.... we are snobs because we want the best. Nothing wrong with that. We just have to be a little more careful on who and where we get our information from.
I had heard so much about the Shake Shack: from my cousin who took the Path in from Jersey City just to get a cheeseburger and a shake, and from various colleagues who say rationalize their long travelled trips to get a burger and fries. So as I waited in line, I mused. I though how ridiculous is it to stand in line for over an hour in a park for a Shack-cago dog and a Rootbeer Float? I'm in NYC, the big apple, a culinary capital, with thousands, maybe millions, of eateries, many with no lines, many more with better food.... HOW INSANE is it that I'm standing in this line waiting....?!? similar to standing in line at church trying to get the body of Christ on Christmas day or Easter. It was ridiculous. But I thought to myself, if the food is amazing, it would all be worth it, and if all these people are here waiting - its got to be good right? And how come so many people know about this place and its this small?
First of all, its everybodys delight to know about a secret hole in the wall place that only a few people know about so that they can discover and then pass that secret on to the world. They want to be the gatekeepers of the worlds great things. By simply being able to tell their friends about a great place to eat, they themselves will look like the knowledgeable foodie and go to guy on all things hip. So thats why we try places that we hear about. We want to know about a secret place that sells the forbidden fruit, and we want to be the ones that tell everyone. That's why all of us stood in line on that Sunday, midafternoon, on a perfect, cloudless day. I waited over an hour for a hotdog and float when on any other occassion I would never even wait five minutes at a restaurant, thinking to my snobby self that I can spend my good hard earned money somewhere else... somewhere that doesn't make their guests wait. And in the end... I was ... not sad... but not delighted either. If anything The Shake Shake woke me up.
The Shake Shack spoke to me that Sunday. It said tell us why you are stupid! Please tell us why. I knew it was stupid to be there in that line and I still did it, reassuring myself along the way. It reminded me of a book I read in high school.... A Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (1931), where in part of the book Huxley describes the mass of people standing up and sitting down during some kind of ceremony, over and over again, mindless.... That was us - the mindless mass of species waiting in a park for the same thing... all because something or someone had told us that that it was somehow better. Many of us were tricked to go there.... "go try it out at least if you're ever in the city." You think to yourself you come all the way to the city and you don't know that much, so you should go to that place that your buddies have been telling you about.... if you don't go, you're missing out.
I went. Wasn't that great. I missed out on something better.
When did we become such food snobs? Why do we really take advice from people not qualified to give it and why do we think that certain foods are better than others? I told my friend Phyllis that hot dogs were N.G. - NO GOOD. Society has told me to hate hot dogs because they are made from leftover meat. I mean look at it, it doesn't look natural, how can it be okay for you? But i've been doing research since I ate my hot dog at the shake shack... hot dogs are made of good quality meats AND some are made of not so good meat... you have to know what you are buying. The best I have seen is Hebrew National all beef franks, no fillers, no preservatives and nothing but the best cuts of meat, 100% beef. I don't know what was in the hot dog I ate at the Shake Shack but at least i'll know to be on the look out for better hot dogs if I can now.
To answer the question of snobbery.... we are snobs because we want the best. Nothing wrong with that. We just have to be a little more careful on who and where we get our information from.
Monday, September 7, 2009
No such thing as FREE lunch...
I know I always talk about my dad. But thats because he is a big influence in my life. He inspires me and pisses me off at the same time. On this labor day I check in because my dad has recently been annoying enough to inspire a blog.
My dad was born in the 50s. Most people of that era were financially responsible for lots of reasons, mainly because they were products of great depression parents, and probably because financial ir-responsibility fertilized by unfair marketing tactics by credit card companies and loan companies did not yet exist as prevelantly in his time as they do now. Anyhow my father is financialy responsible. So responsible in fact, that his children view him as frugal.
And while I defend my father for being frugal for his justified reasons reasons like having a family and having money set aside for emergencies, I cannot defend him and I will not stand and listen as he makes comments about people spending money on things like dinner or haircuts. Yes.. haircuts. And movie rentals. And donuts.
To illustrate the situation... My sister asked my dad if he got a haircut, a simple question for most people. My dad retorts back, "It was free, I don't have money like you." I was close by at the dinner table and didn't say anything even though anger built inside my face. I was turning red. My sister didn't even respond. Nobody does anymore. We used to try to convince him that spending money here and there would not send us to hell, but my father being the way he is just doesn't want to hear what we have to say.
At the dinner table, I had chinese food in front of me. Chinese food that my mother bought so that we could eat dinner. That dinner cost money. My dad had some earlier before I sat down to eat. He didn't ask where it came from or who bought it or how much it was. He never goes to the store to buy food, thats my mothers job in his eyes. We never say anything when my father buys something like a truck that stays parked in a lot, or a rental property that sits in the Philippines useless to us, or when he buys electronics he has no idea how to use like a dvd recorder. My dad buys things. That's my point. And sometimes I want to stand up and say to him when he says stuff like "i'm not rich", you have a ton of money to waste on your stuff and I have money to waste on mine.
My point is... relax when people spend their OWN money. Or at least keep the comments when its called for. Don't just bust out with some comment that you've been holding in at an inappropriate time like when someone asks you if you got a haircut. There is no such thing is free. So he didn't get a free haircut. Because it cost me thirty bucks or so to buy those clippers way back whenever I bought them... and my brother had to drive 30 minutes over to our house which costs gas and my brother took time out of his day to cut his hair and listen to his grumbling. So... while the haircut was free in fact for my dad, it costs his kids a whole bunch just so he got his haircut today. It cost me my feelings and now I write this blog.
Nothing is going to change my dad's frugality. And me and my siblings are going to continue to spend money on normal things, things we want to spend money on, the American way. Checking in with my readers to tell them my situation is really the only thing I can do....
My dad was born in the 50s. Most people of that era were financially responsible for lots of reasons, mainly because they were products of great depression parents, and probably because financial ir-responsibility fertilized by unfair marketing tactics by credit card companies and loan companies did not yet exist as prevelantly in his time as they do now. Anyhow my father is financialy responsible. So responsible in fact, that his children view him as frugal.
And while I defend my father for being frugal for his justified reasons reasons like having a family and having money set aside for emergencies, I cannot defend him and I will not stand and listen as he makes comments about people spending money on things like dinner or haircuts. Yes.. haircuts. And movie rentals. And donuts.
To illustrate the situation... My sister asked my dad if he got a haircut, a simple question for most people. My dad retorts back, "It was free, I don't have money like you." I was close by at the dinner table and didn't say anything even though anger built inside my face. I was turning red. My sister didn't even respond. Nobody does anymore. We used to try to convince him that spending money here and there would not send us to hell, but my father being the way he is just doesn't want to hear what we have to say.
At the dinner table, I had chinese food in front of me. Chinese food that my mother bought so that we could eat dinner. That dinner cost money. My dad had some earlier before I sat down to eat. He didn't ask where it came from or who bought it or how much it was. He never goes to the store to buy food, thats my mothers job in his eyes. We never say anything when my father buys something like a truck that stays parked in a lot, or a rental property that sits in the Philippines useless to us, or when he buys electronics he has no idea how to use like a dvd recorder. My dad buys things. That's my point. And sometimes I want to stand up and say to him when he says stuff like "i'm not rich", you have a ton of money to waste on your stuff and I have money to waste on mine.
My point is... relax when people spend their OWN money. Or at least keep the comments when its called for. Don't just bust out with some comment that you've been holding in at an inappropriate time like when someone asks you if you got a haircut. There is no such thing is free. So he didn't get a free haircut. Because it cost me thirty bucks or so to buy those clippers way back whenever I bought them... and my brother had to drive 30 minutes over to our house which costs gas and my brother took time out of his day to cut his hair and listen to his grumbling. So... while the haircut was free in fact for my dad, it costs his kids a whole bunch just so he got his haircut today. It cost me my feelings and now I write this blog.
Nothing is going to change my dad's frugality. And me and my siblings are going to continue to spend money on normal things, things we want to spend money on, the American way. Checking in with my readers to tell them my situation is really the only thing I can do....
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