Why I Don’t Buy Digital Movies

With the availability of iTunes and other digital video services, I hear a lot of people talk about how they don’t buy DVDs any longer.  I hear things like “I don’t want to take up space with all of those cases” or “my kids destroy DVDs” – which make sense, but at the same time I can’t bring myself to give up my physical media.

For me, though, digital video distribution (DVD?) plays a supporting role rather than the primary role in building my video collection.  I don’t purchase movies digitally – I buy the discs.  Almost always Blu-ray discs, actually, since normally when I watch movies they’re being projected on a 100” screen, and DVD can fall apart at that size.  So do streaming services, to some degree, as well, but this isn’t the reason I choose not to invest in digital.  It’s more basic than that.

The main reason is that I don’t trust that these services are going to be around in ten years.  And I don’t want my investment to be lost.

History already tells us that we can’t rely on these services, no matter who is backing them.  Several big players have already tried and failed, including Wal-Mart and Target.  And when they fail, you lose what you’ve bought.

I know what you’re thinking… that Apple’s iTunes isn’t going to go away.  Maybe not.  At least not now.  But can you actually believe that Apple, if they’re still around in 20 years, is still going to be supporting a service that old?  They don’t support any services more than a few years old now.  There’s just no way that they’ll actually still make your movies available to you that far in the future.  Technology changes too fast.  Twenty years in the technology world is an eternity.  Very few tech companies make it that long. 

Owning the discs ensures that I’ll be able to watch them 10, 15, or more years in the future.  Even if (when) manufacturers stop making Blu-ray players in the future, the players I own today will still play those discs moving forward.  Yes, we’ll see improvements in picture quality with new tech like 4K and HDR moving forward, but Blu-ray is pretty good – it’s virtually the same level of quality currently projected in your local theater – and many movies have actually been shot in HD-like resolution, so in those cases a higher quality version usually doesn’t even exist.  And unless you’re sitting really close to very large screen, newer technologies won’t even provide any additional discernable picture detail. (Though HDR, if it catches on, has the potential to improve things considerably.)

The other big reason I still buy discs is convenience.  I don’t want to be without a way to watch a movie if my Internet goes down, I’m travelling somewhere where I don’t have Internet access, or it isn’t fast enough to stream a movie reliably.  Maybe in 5-10 years our Internet access will be more reliable and high speed will be more ubiquitous, but I just can’t count on it.  And will the streaming service you’ve invested n still be around at that time?  There’s no way to know.

That said, it isn’t like I don’t use digital video services, because I do.  They’re just my backup.  Most movies I buy come with a code to unlock digital versions.  And if they don’t, I’ve really found Vudu’s Disc-to-Digital program to be very handy.  (Tip: If you use the service, do the conversions at home on your own computer, and convert more than 10 discs at a time for a 50% discount.) I can’t convert all of my movies to digital, but I can certainly convert enough of them that I’m generally not left wanting when I want to stream a movie. I’ve got 241 on Vudu right now, so I’ve got plenty to choose from.

In any case, I know that everyone’s situation is different.  But I would encourage you to think about the future when making your video purchases.  Would you care if your selected service shut down in 5 years?  Would it bother you if you lost your investment because they’ve gone belly-up, or choose not to support it any longer?  It’s something to consider.

Best Kept Secret in Technology

Every once a while a technology product comes along which is just an absolute bargain.  And very often those bargains are unknown to the general public.

The one that I want to tell you about today is the Nokia Lumia 520 (or 521) smartphone.  I’m sure you’re thinking, “but I already have a smartphone!”  But I’m suggesting this not as a replacement for your current smartphone, but rather something that is neat to own in addition to your smartphone.  But it would be a great thing to own for anyone who doesn’t already have a smartphone of their own.

Nokia Lumia 520 Nokia Lumia 521

Most of the time when you buy a cell phone you have to buy it with a contract, or pay out the nose for it up front.  Most smartphones, if you buy them outright, will cost $500 or more, and if you don’t pay that out-of-pocket it is figured into your monthly bill one way or another.  The Lumia 520 and 521 are inexpensive (both are easily less than $150) and don’t require you to sign a contract or even activate the phone.  But why would you ever do that?

Well, consider all of the things that people like to do with their phones… browse the web, check for email, listen to music, watch videos, play games, get driving directions.  Imagine being able to do all of that without a monthly payment.  Zero.  None.  No contracts, no monthly payments, ever, unless you want to.  That’s what’s great about these two models of phone.

A few scenarios…

Much of the time when you want to listen to music, it is music you already own – you don’t need an active Internet connection to stream it.  Maybe you have an iPod Touch that you listen to music on.  But those start at $229.  The Lumia 520/521 play all of your music just like the iPod Touch does – and in my opinion does a better job of it.  And they are a lot less.  And with an iPod, if you run out of storage you have to buy an entirely new device.  With the Lumia 520/521, if you run out of storage you can buy a Micro SD Card (up to 64 GB) and pop it in.  The Lumia 520 + a 64GB of storage is less than half the cost of the cheapest iPod Touch.  And it has an FM radio too, which the iPhone does not.

Now say you want directions from A to B.  Yes, I know that smartphones already do that.  But to do that they nearly always require Internet access and a data plan.  Because the Lumia 520/521 runs Windows Phone 8, you can pre-download maps (state-by-state or country-by-country) at home over WiFi before you leave, and store them on the device for use even when you don’t have Internet access.  You get door-to-door directions, like a dedicated GPS unit, for a lot less than a dedicated GPS unit.  And unlike the budget GPS units, it even knows how to pronounce street names so directions are specific – “turn right on Juniper Avenue” instead of “in 300 yards, turn right.”  If you do activate the device as a phone or tether it over WiFi to a smartphone or tablet, you even get up-to-the-minute traffic information, so it can route you around problems.  And I actually believe that Nokia Drive is the best navigation software out there for any smartphone.  It’s fast, accurate, and touch-friendly so it works great in the car, and best of all, it’s totally free.  And since it doesn’t require a data connection, it works in the middle of nowhere when your cell phone won’t.  (Nokia, incidentally, owns Navteq, which easily has the best map data anywhere – easily besting Apple [cough] and Google – and this is where the map data for Windows Phones comes from.)

Watching movies is easy too.  Since you can pop a Micro SD card in, you can store a lot of video for the kiddies to watch in the car.  It isn’t the biggest or best screen, but it’s more than adequate.  And at 800x480 pixels, a lot higher resolution than you’d get from an Android device in the same price range.  Most of those are 320x240 – or maybe VGA if you’re really lucky.

Say you’ve got a kid that is bugging you about wanting an iPod Touch or iPhone to play games on, but you’re not excited about the cost.  These two Nokia phones do an excellent job of playing games.  It’s true that you won’t get the same selection of games you get on an iPod, but you also aren’t shelling out a ton of money for something that is probably going to get lost, broken, or stolen and have to be replaced over and over.  If one of these phones gets lost or broken, it isn’t that big a deal because they’re so inexpensive.


And of course whenever you’re in range of WiFi you get all of the benefits of a smartphone that you’ve come to expect.  It will check your email (best email client on a smartphone I think), it will browse the web (not the best browser, but certainly more than serviceable).  And play games.
So why a Windows Phone?  Well, because in this price range nothing else comes close.  Apple doesn’t make an i-device for less than $200, and anything in that price range running Android is just, well, a downright ugly experience.  The 520/521 might be the slowest Windows Phones out there, but they aren’t slow.  They feel very fast.  They’re certainly a lot faster than anything running Android at three times the price, and faster than any Apple device more than a year old.  And they don’t feel cheap like many similarly priced devices do.  They feel well built so they should hold up to the abuse that you or your kids throw at them.

The only difference between the two is that one is sold by AT&T and the other is sold by T-Mobile.  You don’t have to have an account with either carrier to buy one – just order it from Amazon or pick it up at Wal-Mart.  As of this writing, the Lumia 520 is only $59.99 at Amazon, and the 521 is $119.99.  Again, you don’t sign up with the carrier if you don’t want to.

These two phones are absolutely the best deal on technology out there today.  You get the functionality of a good smartphone at a tiny portion of what it would cost you to get it otherwise.  Nothing else even comes close right now.

The one thing to note is that these phones are locked to either AT&T or T-Mobile.  Which means you can’t just pop in a SIM card from the other carrier and have it work.  If you want to use one as a phone, only AT&T SIMs will work in the 520, and only T-Mobile SIMS will work in the 521.  So if you want to have one as a backup phone, buy the one that is tied to your carrier.  But, again, you don’t have to be (or become) an AT&T or T-Mobile customer.
They also only come with 8 GB of storage.  So you probably will want to consider getting a MicroSD card for additional storage.
Is this the perfect device?  Certainly not.  But for the price, nothing else even comes remotely close.
Bonus tip: If you do happen to be a T-Mobile customer, go to their web site or one of their stores and sign up for a free tablet account, even if you don’t have or plan to buy a tablet.  You get 200 MB of 4G data every month at no cost (and if you go over that data allotment they just slow you down – there are never any overage charges).  You can then use that SIM card in the Lumia 521 and use it to access the Internet on the phone without paying for a phone line – you won’t have to pay a dime in service charges, ever.  You won’t be able to make phone calls (unless you use an app like Skype over the 4G connection), but you can do everything else you'd be able to do on a smartphone, and it won’t cost you anything to do so.

Toy Story in HD!

Toy Story and Toy Story 2 are coming on Blu-ray on March 23rd!  Cool.

 

Please Pay For Your Software (and Music & Movies)

Probably everybody reading this blog knows that I write software for a living.  Many of you may also know that one of my pet peeves is people using software that they haven’t paid for.

The software I have been selling for the last 10+ years, FileBack PC, took me years to develop.  Actual years.  If I had to re-write it again, it would probably take me two full years of long (16 hr) days.  That represents a huge investment of my time.  Tens of thousands of hours even.

Imagine how it must feel to me to go out on the internet and find web sites that are devoted to finding ways to cheat software manufacturers by providing commercial software for free.  My own software has been found on such sites.  And I know that people are using them because occasionally someone who is using an obviously fraudulent unlock key has the audacity to ask me for help.  It is extremely disappointing to me that people will willingly take my work without placing any value on it.  It is if they are saying, “I don’t care that you spent 8 years of your life working on this, that time you spent means absolutely nothing to me.  So I’m going to take it from you anyway.”  These people are robbing me of my time and taking money out of my pocket by not compensating me for my efforts. 

Some will justify that they would never use the software anyway, if they weren’t getting it for free.  But they are still getting the benefit of having that software, which in some way is saving them their own time and effort (or they wouldn’t bother).  Even with this argument, they are saying that their time has value, but mine doesn’t.

Some will justify that the software they are using is too expensive, or that the company that produces it already makes enough money and won’t be hurt by people stealing it.  If it’s too expensive, find a less expensive (or free) tool to do the same thing.  (Or, better yet, write their own software to do the same thing.)  And if that company sold more copies of their software, they could employ more workers, or provide their employees with a better standard of living.  Or create more software.  Most companies aren’t interested in throwing away their money; most will re-invest it into growing the company, or their employees.

The whole “too expensive” argument is kind of funny to me.  If someone were to come to me and ask me to create something like FileBack PC for them, I’d charge them about $50/hour.  And it would take roughly 10,000 hours to do it.  So the project would cost $50 x 10,000 = $500,000.  And yet I only ask $55 for my efforts.  Think how many people and how much time it took to create something like Photoshop, or Microsoft Word.  Those products represent hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of hours of work by actual real people.  The price the company is asking in return really isn’t so bad.

Without making this post too long, I beg you to be honest in the way you use your software.  Somebody has taken time to create it.  And they are asking for a small amount in return. 

The same goes for music and movies.  It is very expensive to create and market both.  Considering the budget for most movies is multiple millions of dollars, for a movie studio to ask $20 for a copy of that effort is really kind of a bargain.  Recording studio time to create a song runs well over $100/hr for the better studios, and most songs take a lot of hours to record and mix.  Add marketing and distribution to that, and the $0.99 or $1.29 that music labels and artists are asking for their songs is really a bargain as well.

Freaky

I just picked up The Princess Bride on Blu-ray this week, and noticed something odd about the title… here’s the cover, both right side up and upside down… It’s pretty cool…

Things I’m Excited About

Forever Strong on DVD

The movie Forever Strong is now available on DVD.  This is an excellent movie!  I highly recommend it to all.  I just ordered my copy on DVD and it should be arriving in a few days.

Parker Lewis Can’t Lose on DVD

I loved the TV show Parker Lewis Can’t Lose in the early 90s.  But almost nobody remembers it, so I feel like I’m alone in my love of it.  But finally, after literal years of waiting, the DVDs of the first season are coming out at the end of June.  Maybe I’ll even get it in time to watch it on the plane ride to Denver.

Celtic Woman Concert at Red Rocks

I’m very excited to be going to the Celtic Woman concert at Red Rocks in Colorado.  It’s only a month away now.  Is it ironic that I’m really excited about it, considering I have already seen the show?  Maybe its because I’m going to be in the front row!

Zune HD coming in September

The new Zune HD should be hitting store shelves in the first week of September.  It’s going to be a competitor to the iPod Touch, but with the usual Zune perks like WiFi syncing, well thought-out interface, and near-universal media compatibility.  Considering that the iPod Touch won’t play most of my music, mine has been of limited use. 

I’m still not a fan of music players without buttons to select tracks and adjust volume.  But the Zune HD looks like it is going to be pretty cool with its OLED display, high definition video capability, ability to play HD video out to televisions, and coming integration with the Xbox 360 for video playback.

This won’t replace my current 80GB Zune, but it will supplement it well.  Even though my 80GB has a pretty large screen and lots of storage, the screen on the Zune HD is going to blow away everything currently on the market.  This will probably become my primary portable video player.

We have achieved 600!

I’ve been right on the cusp of reaching my 600th DVD title for a little while now, but I’m pleased to announced that this milestone has just been reached.  The 600th DVD title to enter my collection is… (drum roll, please…) The 179th Annual LDS General Conference.

I was looking for something significant to become the 600th title to add to the collection, and this one arrived unannounced in my mailbox today.  Not quite what I had in mind for the 600th, but it will work.

If I’m ever bored maybe I’ll sit down and figure out what my 600th movie was.  The software I use to keep track of my discs tracks by title, and titles include boxed sets as single items.  So there are numerous titles with multiple movies in them (3 in Star Wars IV-VI, 3 in Indiana Jones, 6 in Rocky, etc.) so the 600th movie milestone was actually reached some time ago.  Unless TV shows on DVD don’t count, in which case I’d still have a few to go.  If you go by disc count, well, 600 would have been achieved a very long time ago with all of the multi-disc sets that I buy.

How long has it taken to reach this goal?  Well I bought one of the very first DVD players available in the spring of 1997.  And a few months later I actually bought the very first DVD player that came to Utah county.  I may not have been the first to own it, but the fact that I do now counts for something, right?  So I’ve been collecting for about 12 years, which works out to 50 titles per year, or about one per week on average.  The actual rate has picked up significantly recently, though… I reached 500 only a few months ago.  When I got my first player very few movies were available, so new movies that piqued my interest were rare.

At any time you can browse the whole collection here.

The disc format breakdown currently is: 544 DVD-only, 23 Blu-Ray, and 25 HD-DVD-only, and 8 HD-DVD/DVD combo.

600 Movies

My movie collection is fast approaching the 600 title mark… only 11 away now.  When I hit 500 a few months ago I thought carefully about what #500 would be (although I can’t for the life of me remember what it ended up being), and I’m now approaching another significant milestone. 

What do you think I should get for #600?  I’d like it to be something significant that somehow has been overlooked in my prior DVD purchases.  I know I’ve missed a bunch of amazing titles, and I’m curious what you think should be added.  Reply with your nomination.

My current collection listing is now (and always) available here.

P.S. Now that I think about it 600 sure seems like an awful lot.  If we were to attempt to watch all of them for movie night, it would only take 11 years, 6 months, 3 weeks to finish.  And that’s assuming we would finish each television season and several bundled trilogy collections in a single day, and that I not buy any more discs in those 11 years, 6 months, and 3 weeks.  Even one per day would take nearly 20 months.

Busy Week!

So General Conference was this last weekend.  But I didn’t get to see much of it; both of the guys I’m working with on our Point-of-Sale application were tied up with other things, so all customer questions and problems fell on my shoulders.  So I pretty much missed most of Conference.  The part of the Saturday morning session when I could have watched because I wasn’t on a support call was missed because I only got four hours of sleep so I pretty much dozed off right after getting off the phone.  Fortunately I did record it, so I can watch it over the coming weeks.

Saturday night after conference Brad and I headed up to Riverton to visit some old friends.  Our friend Jessica had flown into town from Dallas, and wanted to meet a bunch of friends at Lalis’s apartment that night.  Jenn and Ariel were also there as well as some other people I didn’t know.  It was fun to see everyone.  Lots of good memories.

Since we hadn’t seen Jess since before her mission, Brad and I went to lunch with her yesterday.  Brad had to leave to get back to his studies, but I brought Jess back to my place and we watched August Rush and played some Guitar Hero for a bit.   (Don’t worry, Jared, I had my laptop and cell phone nearby during the movie, and took care of the issues that came up during that two hour window.  I’m not a slacker.)

In a few days I’m flying back to Spokane to help install our software in another Little Caesar’s up there, and to have a multi-day powwow with the rest of the Custom Register Solutions party patrol personnel.    Have you ever noticed that the word powwow is half Ws?

While I’m gone my living room is going to be painted (hooray!!! no more 1980s sleeping bag wallpaper!).  So between now and then I have to move everything away from the walls.  It’s going to be especially fun moving a 300-pound desk that has been sitting in the same place for ten years.  And the bookshelves which have been there for eleven.  I can’t wait to see who what is behind those.  I spent a few hours tonight moving my TV and audio equipment away from one wall so the wallpaper can be removed from behind it tomorrow.  (I’ll have to remember to take a picture of the wiring involved in a fully equipped home theater setup while it’s visible… it’s impressive.)  I’ll need to finish moving everything before Saturday morning when they want to remove the rest of the wallpaper.  I’ll also need to do a bunch of rewiring between now and then to “neaten up” the room.  No more visible wires dangling from the ceiling or clinging on the base of the wall around the corner into the next room… at least as much as I can get away with it, anyway.

As part of the living room makeover I plan to remove the computer and desk behind the couch to add a second row of stadium seating, and to build a new professional rack for all of the A/V equipment.  I was also going to mount my new TV on the wall, but the more I think about that the more I think that isn’t such a great idea; it wouldn’t be visible at all from the kitchen or one of the couches if it were on the wall.  So I’ll have to build a nice (and simple) stand for it at some point.  Things to ponder.

My friend Dave is also getting close to needing my help wiring his studio.  He’s has built a video editing / audio recording studio in his dad’s back yard and it’s now time to run the wires before putting up the drywall.  We went over the last little details before purchasing the wires last night.  But I still need to figure out how to terminate the wiring.  We’re going to be installing about 2 miles of wiring in a couple hundred cables, and I’ll have to add ends to the vast majority of them unless I can teach him how to do it.  Fun.

The POS stuff is going well.  We’ve had about twenty sales in the last two weeks.  And we’re getting more referrals all of the time.  Nearly everybody we show the software to is buying it.  I also just found out that we are trying to get into a tradeshow/convention thing in early November.  Which means I’ll have some big changes, as well as a demonstration video, to make between now and then.

If only I had something to do with my time.

Movie Nights?

So about three months ago I bought a new projector for my home theater.  And it has been awesome!  I watch so many more movies now than I did with my last one, because... well, it really is just like being at a real theater; amazing huge picture, killer sound, seats rumbling.  I just need to add sticky floors and crying babies for an authentic experience.  But I have been thinking lately that I have kind of gotten away from my original purpose of setting up the home theater six years ago, and that was to entertain my friends.  Why not share the experience with others, right?

So I'm toying with the idea of having a semi-regular movie night for my friends.  About ten years ago we had movie night every Thursday, and we toward the end we had about 30 people showing up on a regular basis.  Crowded, definitely.  But very fun.  I don't think doing something every week is feasible, but maybe once a month?

So of those of you in the Provo/Orem area, if I were to host a movie night periodically, would you be interested in attending?  And if so, is there a particular evening that is better than others?

So did you notice that every paragraph stared with "so?"

The Dark Knight

We interrupt my string of geeky tech posts for this special brief movie summary.

Batman: The Dark Knight picks up shortly after Batman Begins left off... Gotham is getting cleaned up, and Batman is getting some respect from the community and at least some parts of the city government. The Joker is the main villain here (though Scarecrow makes a brief appearance just to get him out of the way, and a new villain appears 2/3 through the movie). The Joker makes his mark on the city pretty quickly, getting the best of even the city's toughest criminals. He has a way of knowing what people are going to do beforehand, and takes advantage of that, setting up traps, knowing where people are going to be ahead of time. He's also great at manipulating people mentally, able to turn people into something they never intended to be. Rachel is now dating the new District Attorney, Harvey Dent, and things appear to be serious, much to the dismay of Bruce Wayne. Bruce is struggling with his role as Batman, not only despite, but also because of his acceptance in the public eye.

I won't spoil any of the plot for those who intend to see it but haven't yet. Suffice it to say that I liked it, but didn't love it.

Heath Ledger did an absolutely amazing job as the Joker, it's too bad it's his last role. The movie definitely continues in the vein of Batman Begins, but lives up to its name with an overall darker tone. The story is good, but not excellent. There are a few "did they really need to do this?" and "that doesn't really make sense" moments; more-so than its predecessor. The special effects are excellent for the most part, especially the effects on Harvey Dent's character at the end (I won't spoil it but you'll know what I'm talking about when you see it).

It could have had one or two less action sequences would have been a better movie for it; as-is I was getting a little anxious for things to get wrapped up toward the end. It's one of those "well, things could be wrapped up right now if we wanted to... but we need to throw in another 30 minutes of story because it's a big budget picture" kinds of things. (This is one of my pet peeves of Hollywood; I wish they'd just tell the story without too many extraneous scenes or plot points.)

Probably not the best movie to come out this summer, yet certainly one with some of the highest expectations. On my new official "Doug's movie rating scale" I give it somewhere between a "See it at a matinee" or "Wait for the dollar theater" rating.

P.S. I enjoy movie trailers as much as anyone, but is 25 minutes getting to be too much?

Iron Man

I went and saw Iron Man tonight.  I liked it.

It seemed to take forever to get to the point where he is actually fighting crime, but it picked up about half way through. 

I think I really like Gwyneth Paltrow as an actress.  I haven't seen a lot of her movies, but she always does an excellent job.  I might have to make a point of seeing some more.

The action was a little over the top, but that's what you expect from the comic book-inspired movies.  It doesn't really take away from what the movie is, though.

Overall: Fun movie, worth seeing.

Lars and the Real Girl

I just watched the movie Lars and the Real Girl last night and actually really liked it. Not that I had low expectations going into it; I had heard from more than one person that it was good. But I found it very enjoyable: touching, and humorous all at the same time.

It's the story of a gentle young man (Lars) who has been living a secluded life and is experiencing feelings of isolation and solitude due to a family tragedy. His response to his loneliness is to order a life-size doll over the Internet, and he actually believes her to be not only a real person, but his girlfriend, whom he names Bianca. Lars' brother and his wife, concerned with Lars' mental state, consult their doctor who recommends that everyone go along with Lars' delusion, and that when he no longer needs the delusion it will go away. Everyone in the town is asked to participate, and in the process they come together to support Lars, helping him to deal with his condition. Because of this, Lars begins to come out of his shell, and begins his journey of healing.

One of my friends told me she thought it was the most hilarious movie she had ever seen in her life. I can see how it would be funny (I can't imagine how the actors pulled it off with a straight face) if you look at the way Lars and everyone in the town treat Bianca, but really it isn't meant to be intensely comedic. The overall tone of the movie is serious, but is kept light with many mildly comedic moments. One of the funniest is about a third of the way into the film where Lars is laying in a treehouse singing.

It was just released on DVD this week so it should be available for rental or purchase, but since it wasn't a well-known movie, there aren't a lot of copies around. It stars Ryan Gosling (from The Notebook), is raged PG-13 (Bianca is technically a sex doll, and there are a couple off-color jokes about that, but the doll isn't even suggested to be used in that way; the film is otherwise very clean). I highly recommend this movie.

Recent Favorites

Music

Wreck of the Day by Anna Nalick – She had a big hit with Breathe (2 AM) a couple years ago (yes, this CD is that old), but in a day and age where most CDs coming from the big labels are released with only one or two good songs, this one bucks the trend. My favorites here are "Satellite" (you may have heard this one) and "In the Rough." The lyrics are just so poetic they're inspired. General rule on this CD: the odd numbered tracks are great, with the even numbered ones being good. Anna is actually the songwriter on this CD, something else that is becoming more and more rare all of the time. She's got some real talent.

Coco by Colbie Caillat – Yes, I know that Bubbly has been played way too much, but fortunately this isn't the only noteworthy song on the disc. Oxygen, One Fine Wire, Feelings Show, and Older (hard to find outside of iTunes) are all fabulous.

Pocketful of Sunshine by Natasha Bedingfield – She's back with her second (third?) CD. And you've probably heard Love Like This with Sean Kingston. Fortunately this isn't the best song on the disc. That honor goes to the first track, Put Your Arms Around Me, but there are plenty more that are not without charm. The first half of the disc is excellent (with one brief stop in Okayland with the title track), with things slowing down a little toward the end. However, Freckles is just great. Quoting the chorus: "…a face without freckles is like a sky without the stars, why waste a second not loving who you are, those little imperfections make you beautiful, loveable, valuable, show your personality inside your heart, reflecting who you are…" I like it.

The DVD performances of Celtic Woman – A group of 4-5 women vocalists performing Celtic music. There are CDs available, and they are okay, but the DVDs are the best way to experience the talent of these women. They're kind of hard to find for rental unless you subscribe to Netflix for Blockbuster Online, but they're worth the search if you have any interest in Celtic music at all.

Ready to Wake Up by Shannon Hurley – Who? Yeah, she's an independent artist I found on Amie Street. Normally I scoff at independent artists, not because they aren't talented, but because for the most part the recordings are so horrible that I can't stand listening to them, but there are a few standouts worth looking for. While Shannon's music may not be sophisticated from a perspective of its chords and progressions, this is actually one if its appeals. Lyrically and musically it is clean, simple, and refreshing. This CD is as good as anything you can pick up at your local music store.

Strip by Selena Cross – Another independent artist from Amie Street. Where Hurley keeps things simple, Selena goes more electronic with a heavier beat. It's upbeat, fun, and she's got this crispness to her voice that I just love. You shouldn't expect to be lead to any sort of intellectual epiphany while listening, but you can be guaranteed to have a good time here.

Picking up some older stuff

Absolute Garbage by (none other than) Garbage – I didn't think much of Garbage back when they were more popular, but my recent engagements with Rock Band and Guitar Hero have helped to reintroduce me to some stuff that had dipped below the horizon for me. You know all of the ones I like here… Only Happy When it Rains, Stupid Girl, I Think I'm Paranoid, Special.

And just for fun… Rock Swings by Paul Anka – I'm not quite sure how to interpret this CD, but it is certainly good for getting a look of confusion out of your friends. Mr. Anka redoes some popular songs from the last twenty years in his classical style. Somehow "Smells Like Teen Spirit" being performed in a style reminiscent of the Rat Pack is just weird, but kind of enjoyable at the same time. A couple of the tracks work rather well in their new home, such as "True" (a remake of the Spandau Ballet hit from the 80s) and "Tears in Heaven," while others just make you scratch your head. But still a CD worth trying out.

Most of what I mentioned above is available in Amazon's MP3 store, which is where I have been buying nearly all of my downloadable music for several months now. Since the files are in standard MP3 format, they'll play on any device and in any software, and they're cheaper than the versions in iTunes.

Non-Music Favorites

I've recently become a huge fan of the juices made by the Simply Orange company. Their orange juice is quite good, but I think their other products standout more than the OJ. They've got apple, lemonade, limeade, orange, and grapefruit. In my opinion the apple is far and away the best, but each stands out heads and shoulders above juices from other companies. Highly recommended.

A note to DVD distribution companies...

Stop putting those stupid clips on the sides of DVD cases. They're annoying, and serve no purpose!

Just venting...