NetFlix

On the advice of friends and family, I recently signed up for a NetFlix account. For those of you who don't know, NetFlix is an online video rental store. You pick the movies you want, put them in a queue, and depending on your subscription plan, they send you 1-3 at a time. When you are finished, you return them and they send you the next one on your list....Or so I thought.

I started off my queue with seasons 2 and 3 of Nip/Tuck. My brother got me hooked on the show, and I'm trying to catch up on the past seasons before I watched the season 4 episodes I recorded this year. Well, after a few episodes from season two, I got tired of waiting 2-3 days for the next disc, so I went out and "acquired" the rest of season 2 on my own. I then moved a movie to the top of my list, just to change things up.

Well, apparently NetFlix didn't believe that I wanted another movie, so they sent me another episode of season 2, which I immediately sent back. I then went back in and deleted all the season 2 discs from my queue. Ok, now I should get my movie. Nope, NetFlix has apparently penetrated my subconscious and learned that I really want the first disc from season 3.

What the F*** is going on? What in the hell kind of sh*tty queue is this? Basically, I'm spending $10 a month to watch movies I may or may not want to see. I should just go get a girlfriend and take her to the movies. I might end up seeing a good action flick or a crappy romantic comedy, but at least I might get lucky at the end of the night....

Unlock Anything!!

I found this video online yesterday. The title was "How to unlock a car using nothing but a tennis ball". I figured they were going to just throw the tennis ball through the window. Well, I'm not going to spoil the video for you, but they actully use the tennis ball to unlock the driver's side door!!

As if it isn't crazy enough that you can unlock a car door with an object you can buy at the local sporting-goods store for a few bucks, my dad was telling me the other day about a story that WTAJ News did on "bump keys". A bump key is basically a key blank (a key that has not been cut to a specific bitting) or another key made for the targeted typed of lock, that has each groove filed down to the lowest level. The key is then inserted into the lock (almost the whole way) and then tapped by a mallet while applying a slight turning force to the key. Using this method, an unskilled person can pick a lock in a matter of seconds. The people at WTAJ were able to learn how to do this very quickly, and they actually used it to break into the police station. The kicker is that you can buy these keys online! Check out Wikipedia for more info.

Crazy....

High-Def

I watched the Super Bowl last night at my friend Mike's house, and I have to give him props for throwing a good party. Good food, good people, and 56 inches of high-def football. Now I have never been a proponent of high-def television. My thought always was that you're watching the same show, so the entertainment value should be the same. Yes, one might be a little clearer than the other, but its still the same show. Why pay the extra money?

Well, I changed my mind a little last night. Watching high-def is not like being at the game. Watching high-def is BETTER than being at the game. Real life is not as vivid as it is on television. Things aren't as bright, colors aren't as brilliant...high-def could make my basement look like the Taj Mahal. Mike was having some trouble with the sound on his high-def at one point, so he switched over to his satellite. It was a night and day difference. It was like watching the game underwater. we quickly decided that bad sound or no sound was better than crap picture.

There is a downside to high-def though. As my friend Jamie pointed out, all the imperfections of people are even more glaring and annoying in high-def. Dan Marino's hair looked curlier, Shannon Sharpe appeared more horse-like, and Boomer Esiason looked like an albino. It didn't make Prince look any shorter though...

Guitar Hero

You may ask where I have been recently, well I've devoted my entire life to playing Guitar Hero for the PS2. Ok, not really, but it sounds good.....Wait, I guess that doesn't even sound good.

I will admit that I was really into Guitar Hero for quite awhile, then 2 things happened: 1) I had to start practicing the REAL guitar again, and 2) My friends showed me a video of some 8-year old kid kicking ass at the game. That just totally depressed me. I as a 26 man should be able to do EVERYTHING better than an 8-year old. I'm stronger, faster, smarter, wiser, and I have hair in places that he hasn't even conceived yet (so what if I shave it). The only thing an 8-year old should even be in same ballpark as me in is coloring.

This kid had to have put some serious time into this game to get that good. Hell, he had the damn song memorized!!! I've been playing guitar for 8 years, and I can't even memorize a song on that game. At least with a real guitar, you can assign a note to a string/fret. On the game, you have to remember, "red-red-yellow-red-yellow-blue-orange". It's like playing that stupid Simon game.

Look kid, for your own good, put down the fake guitar and pick up a real one. I will admit that I'm jealous of your abilities, but where in the world are you going to get playing PS2? You've got a good start on the finger work. Maybe you'll be the next Eddie Van Halen. I saw a guitar in the background of the video, so maybe there's some hope...