If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. That's what all the cool kids do. Thanks for visiting!

When I was at a recent birthday party, I noticed that my friend had an XM Radio boombox and was playing the holiday music channel. I asked him how he liked it and he said it’s great. There are two major players in the satellite radio business right now…XM and Sirius. I don’t know that either is better than the other one. I’m sure I’d like them both.

Only thing is they cost $13 a month or so. I can’t really justify that since I’m not in my car very often. If I was a trucker, I guarantee I’d have satellite radio, driving all over the country. It’s a pain driving cross-country when you’re constantly losing radio stations and you have to search for new ones. Satellite radio would totally trump that situation. It’s one of those cool things I’d love to have but won’t get for myself.

Like a GPS navigation unit. I’d love one of those, too, but again I wouldn’t use it enough to justify several hundred dollars in cost. They are cool, though.

I was going to get my hair cut today but my barber wasn’t there when I dropped by the shop. It’s not like I have a ton of hair or anything. It’s just that time and I know I won’t get it cut in the next couple of weeks of holidays. Hell, I can barely work myself up to shave.

If you’re looking for some last-minute gift ideas, check out the 2HT sidebar on the left. The best book I’ve read all year (and one of the best I’ve EVER read) is "The Time Traveler’s Wife." Thanks to Sizz for that birthday present last year. Can’t say enough about that story. I’m giving it to a handful of people for Christmas. It’s basically the story of a man afflicted with a time-traveling disorder. He can’t control when or where he goes and can’t travel with anything except himself. It’s a pain in the ass because he always shows up somewhere without any clothes on. He meets a woman and falls in love and you spend lots of time with both him and the wife during all of their ordeals. Absolutely fantastic.

The other thing that may be an appropriate gift is an Amazon Gift Card. You can find an ad for that in the sidebar, too. Gift cards are part of my regular gift-giving season. You can get them for whatever amount you want and hey, they show that you really care about a person…and that you don’t have the slightest clue about what to get them.

And in case you haven’t guessed already, I’m not sure how often I’ll get a chance to blog next week while I’m in Boca. They’ve got a computer but I don’t know that I’ll have opportunity to plop myself in front of it for very long. No worries, though, I’ll have my trusty camera and my blog goggles on so I can relate some of the holiday madness when I return.

A few new movies coming out that I’d like to see: "Charlie Wilson’s War," "Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story," even "PS: I Love You," believe it or not.  Still want to see "The Mist," "I Am Legend," and "Bee Movie," too.

Right, that’s it for today.

Filed under Books | Comments (3)

More fun-loving photos from BlogHer. Here’s Erin giving me the treatment I most deserve.

This photo comes from a new site called Photrade. I found out about it at BlogHer. It’s in Beta right now, but the idea behind it is that you can get paid for photographs you’ve taken. Like Flickr but with kaching behind it. It’s a great concept, though the execution is still lacking a bit. Still, I’ll be keeping an eye on Photrade. When it becomes as user-friendly as Flickr, I just may find myself switching.

I don’t know about you, but growing up I was fascinated with the Guinness Book of World Records. I’d sit and read through that tome time and time again, cover to cover. Between the amazing and sometimes goofy records and all the photographs, it was perhaps the book I spent most time on over the years. There was the world’s tallest man, the dude with the longest fingernails, heaviest man in the world, shortest woman, the most swords swallowed, and the most number of people shoved into a VW bug.

I haven’t looked at the Guinness Book in many years, though it’s still published every year. But some of the records they have now are just plain weird. I’ve been watching World Record Breaking Week on Regis and Kelly this week…just witnessed a dog breaking its own record by walking up 17 steps with a glass of water balanced on its nose.

Here are some of the current records that the Guinness Book is tracking:

• Longest Lawn Mower Ride (14,600 miles)
• Greatest Distance Walked with a Milk Bottle Balanced on the Head (80 miles)
• Fastest Time to Pluck a Turkey (1 minute, 30 seconds)
• Most Cockroaches Eaten (36 cockroaches in 1 minute)
• Most Books Typed Backwards (58 books)
• Youngest Person to Wear a Full Set of Dentures (4 years old)
• Oldest Male Stripper (63 years old)
• Most Calves Born in a Single Birth (5)
• Heaviest Apple (4 pounds, 1 ounce)

Most books typed backwards? Why is this a record? Who the hell types books backwards but that one dude? And what kind of guy eats fucking cockroaches? Ugh.

I’d like to see a world record for most days never leaving the house. I’d be a cinch for that one. Most Guinnesses drank…or drunk. Drinked? Whatever. Most women ogled. Hands down, I’d win that one. Come on, give me something I can use here. I want to make the record book.

Is there a record for Most Apathy?

Filed under Books | Comments (6)

The other day I finished reading the final Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Without giving out any spoilers, I have to say that I found the last book disappointing. It was confusing and difficult to follow in places, I think. Maybe that’s because it’s been so long since Book 6 was released, but I couldn’t remember half the freaking characters involved and what had taken place before.

Perhaps a nice little three-page recap would have worked well in the beginning of the book.  Stephen Donaldson uses that technique in The Illearth War, which is the second in the Thomas Covenant series. Those books are far more complex in both characters and setting, and I’m having no trouble reading them.

Yes, J.K. Rowling wraps everything up. Yes, all the familiar characters are involved, and yes, there is more than one death, as she previously stated. But the deaths seemed kind of cavalier to me; at least I didn’t seem to really care. I don’t know, this book felt like she phoned it in. The denouement was rather anti-climactic and a bit too simple as far as I’m concerned. All six of the previous books built up to…that?

Harumph. Still, all those things aside, I really enjoyed most of the ride with Harry Potter. That is, up through Book 5. After that, I thought it fell short.

Am I the only person that feels this way? I don’t know. I’ve avoided spoilers like the plague these last weeks - hell, I’ve avoided any and all articles and posts regarding Harry Potter. I’m not the fastest reader in the world. Mix that in with my Chicago trip and I knew I’d be finishing the book far behind other readers out there.

I’m usually an in-for-a-penny-in-for-a-pound sort of guy when it comes to pop culture. Movies, books, TV, music…if I like the first part I’ve read or watched or listened to, I’m probably going to keep on reading or watching or listening. Only when you really disappoint me do I toss in the towel. I did it with Stephen King’s "Needful Things," which I found entertaining for the first half, but then derivative of King’s previous works. I’ve done it with U2, who really jumped the shark one or two albums past "The Joshua Tree." I did it with "Desperate Housewives," which really sucked in Season Two.

How about you? What did you think about Harry Potter’s final book? What series of books or TV, or whatever, have you felt rocked in the beginning but then sucked bad enough to make you quit paying attention?

Filed under Books | Comments (11)