Coffee keeps me alive

I love my wife, books, video games, movies, friends and coffee. Either your with me or against me but at least come by my house, drink some coffee with me, and we can talk about it.

Monday, February 09, 2009

Netflix: The first 14 days....

I have done it. I have moved into the a new and strange world where the "new thing" the cool new way to get DVDs is through what is affectionately known as 'snail' mail. That's right, despite the fact that Netflix is facilitated through the Internet the circle is complete. Now new technology uses old technology, it is beautiful!!! And by the way so is Netflix. Two weeks in and I have gotten 4 DVDs through the mail and watched 13 other movies INSTANTLY on the computer. I know I might not have rented them all at Blockbuster but they would have cost me about $60 instead it is only $14/month. I feel occasionally like I am robbing someone but I am pretty sure it's legal. Also in a really neat additional option you can invite friends that can see your ratings and you can peruse their queues (Yeah I know it sounds dirty but it's not). If you have Netflix just press the link and you can be my friend :)

Peruse My Queue

Also there are some other quick links that I wanted to post. I have been enjoying a new website where you can find lots of neat interviews, previews and reviews on anything from movies to comic books. It's called The A.V. Club.

Also a week or so ago we had some of our best college friends in from out of town to stay with us for the weekend. We had a blast and our friends brought with them a game that is absolutely awesome. We played like 28 games of Marble Pursuit.

It may be the most fun team board game I have played. On the surface the game can be described as alot like "Sorry". Your pieces start at home and you have to work your way all the way left around the board to your base that is only a few spaces to the right of home. The difference here is that you don't have dice you use two decks of cards and from your hand of six cards you move your marble around the board the number of the card. The interesting and strategy inducing part is the cards that don't just move you forward. Joker's allow you to take the place of anyone on the board and 8s move you backwards 8. There are a few more rules but I won't go into all of them. My wife really loved it as well, enough to get beat like 27 out of 28 times and still wanting to play another one. Team John-Mike was absolutely dominating!!!

I have been reading several books this month some quick reads so here goes.

The Monster of Florence - Douglas Preston & Mario Spezi (4 out of 5) A true crime story about a mass murderer in Florence who killed couples consummating their relationships in vehicles on the outskirts of the city. He killed 14 people over 20 years and they still have yet to catch him. The book is a look at the investigation that is still ongoing to this day. The author is actually part of the story since he is indicted in Italy for conspiracy while researching for the book. Thomas Harris researched this story when writing Hannibal, and if I remember correctly based his detective after Spezi, the coauthor.

The Associate - John Grisham (4 out of 5) New law thriller from the man himself. Best he has written in a while but still not up to his amazing originals like "The Partner". An inside look at big wall street firms and the fact that they will go to any links to save face, protect major clients and bill them $300/hr for a guy who hasn't even passed the bar to sort files. It's hard to go into too much detail without giving away the plot but the story follows a new law school grad as he starts his career, a ghost from his past comes back to bite him and he is forced to start down a dangerous path to try to keep everyone from finding out.

In Cold Blood - Truman Capote (4 out 5) A true story about a family in Kansas that is horrifically murdered with no apparent motive or suspects. The murder has the whole small town pointing fingers and the K.B.I (Kansas Bureau of Investigation) for months. Interspersed within the story of the search is the escape of the murderers and the things they do while everyone in the state is in morning. So well written I can see why it is a modern classic.

The Enemy Within - Kris Luundgaard (5 out of 5) A quick read but so much information. It looks at sin as "the flesh" and it's power over us if we let it and don't turn to got for the strength to overpower it. I especially liked the chapters that dealt with identifying sin and how to die to self. Would be great for a Bible study.

The Zombie Survival Guide - Max Brooks (4 out of 5) Written as a all encompassing guide for zombie outbreaks. This guide includes how to choose your weapon and why. Guidelines for survival when under siege, on the run or on the attack. It also covers chronologically zombie outbreaks in history including some unexplained real events like Roanoke Colony. Very funny book that really feels like it's preparing for true life threatening events.