Twin Pines Mall

What is the big deal with Spotify?  Everyone loves it so I think maybe I just don’t understand what it can really do.  It’s the same as Napster and Rdio, isn’t it?  I tried to use the mobile app a few weeks ago and it is useless unless you pay for a subscription.

I really wanted to see Cowboys and Aliens about six months ago when the advertising blitz began, and now that it has been released hopefully those will go away in a couple weeks.  Each trailer I see makes me want to see it less.   It’s getting good buzz but I am just so sick of all the ads that I don’t even want to bother with it.  I’ll save it for blu-ray and see Captain America this weekend.

Isn’t really so bad.

I looked up our streaming viewing history for the past three months and it looks like we average about 5 programs a month.  I was counting a movie as 1, or any number of TV episodes that would fit on a DVD.  So that’s like $1.50/program at the new rate of $8 for only streaming. 

We watch 3-4 discs a months, which makes them about $3 each at $10/month (blu-ray surcharge), a fair price for a rental.  Cable onDemand is twice that.

The streaming selection is way more crap than good, but using sites like instantwatcher.com help sort through it.  It may get better in the future, but even if the general quality of titles remains the same it’s worth it.

We have all been paying way less than we rightly should for a while now, and will until September when this kicks in.  It’s still a good deal if you put yourself on the proper disc plan.

I am a little surprised/pissed they don’t offer some kind of bundle discount.  If I am buying the 1-bluray plan and the streaming plan for $18, they should knock off a dollar or two since I am buying more.

Watched a lot of Harry Potter this weekend thanks to ABC Family.  The first two really aren’t that bad, the CGI is, but I think I’ve come down on them too harshly in the past.  They are kids movies and they work.

In Goblet of Fire, why the elaborate scheme to get Harry into the tournament, then waiting until the final event and hoping that he is the one that makes it to the end first?  Couldn’t they have just made one of his school books or a fork or a roll of toilet paper into a port key?  It seemed like all they really needed was to get him to that graveyard, which is easy, but they went about it with a Jokeresque overly elaborate plan with a “we sure hope everything goes perfectly” nature to it.  There is probably something in the book that clarifies this but I read that 10 years ago, so please let me know.

Also why the hell is Sirius Black to unnecessarily cryptic towards the end of part 3?  Does he realize how evil and crazy he sounds to these kids?  A quick “no worries Harry, I’m not here to hurt you, just chill out while I talk to Remus here” would have been good.