MNXMFan's Blog

Well, I thought this appropriate, since I am a big Netflix supporter and fan, but it’s absolutely amazing to see long time video stores closing.  As it stands, the closest video rental store (a Blockbuster Video) is about 4 miles away.  The closest Movie Gallery/Hollywood Video is soon to be 12 miles away from me, once the stores in Lakeville and Farmington finish liquidating.

This year has been particularily rough on the Burnsville area, as we have lost both Blockbuster Video locations (they closed last month), and (this one I missed) the nearby Savage location of Hollywood Video closed as well.

In the 80s and 90s, I lived in Prior Lake.  We had 3 movie stores in Prior Lake, all owned by the same company.  Main Avenue Video & Tanning.  In the mid 90’s, they consolidated locations into a new, bigger store located at 13&42, and in the late 90’s, that location was bought out by Video Update.  Due to mismanagement of Video Update, they were later bought during bankruptcy by Movie Gallery, which was later bought by Hollywood Video.  Also, in 1999/2000, Blockbuster Video came into town and so did Hollywood Video.  Now, all that remains is the Blockbuster Video on 13/42 in Savage.  Burnsville no longer has any video rental stores, whereas at one time they had either 3 or 4.

But that got me thinking, when was the last time I was in a video rental store?  What with Redbox charging $1 a night, and Netflix providing all you can eat plans starting at around $10 a month, it seems kinda silly to spend $4-$5 for a rental from Blockbuster.  The last time I was in a Blockbuster was in 2005 because I was a Total Access member (and not a very profitable one at that, I got 30 movies a month for $17!).  Of course, that program has since been altered (and I got a “thanks for being a customer, but goodbye” email from them).  Of course, this program is exactly why Blockbuster is struggling so badly today.  They have a DVD By Mail service simular to Netflix, but I have always gotten better service than Netflix (and the “see you later” email still leaves a bad taste in my mouth).

So, if you still have a video rental store in your neighborhood, it might be time to start saying “goodbye”.  Within the next 10 years, we can probably also start phasing out DVD by mail (or DVD in general) in favor of internet VOD.

As I type this, as a matter of fact, I am watching an episode of South Park on Netflix’s “Instant Watch” service over the Roku box.  I can do the same thing on my PS3, laptop, computer, etc.

Hey everyone, just thought I’d stop in and say I’m still alive and chugging along.  Life has been crazy, and fun, all at the same time.

If I get some time, I’ll sit down and give some updates.

Yeah, I’m not calling it easter.  Perhaps I should, but I don’t see the religious meaning of this holiday.  Who thinks god, jesus, etc when they think of easter?  To most of us who are not super religious, its all about a bunny that hides his (or HER) eggs (and what was the bunny doing with eggs anyways??) while we all go out and find them.

And, if that wasn’t enough, after we find the eggs, we are rewarded with a chocolate version of said bunny.  As if to say “haha, I’ve found your eggs, and you will be punished by me eating you!”

Oh well, not to be totally cynical, I hope many of you use this to see family that you might not otherwise see.  I know I’ll be using it as an excuse to do that while eating food and doing laundry for free.  Viva la parents house!

So, now that Adam Sandler has been in the recent Disney flick Bedtime Stories, my question is, has Adam gotten THAT family friendly, or has Disney gotten that laxed on policy? 

So, I thought the site could use a refreshed look.  The old theme was good and everything, but it was also getting really old.  This one is a bit darker than the last one, but to me looks a bit more modern.  What do you think?

OK, so the more I hear about this, the more it makes me sick.  Too many people extended themselves too far, and now we are all paying for it.  People bought too much house, charged too much on credit, and those of us who were responsible are paying the price.

Yes, I know, good people got screwed.  That’s because we allowed a government to get out of control serving commercial interests.  Mortgage rules were laxed, both parties were responsible for that.  And because of that, crooked companies were allowed to use crooked methods to sell people houses that they couldn’t afford.

But you know something?  It’s a self fullfilling prophecy.  And it’s time for the media to realize this.  Every time people (sorry, consumers) read in the paper about how much the economy sucks, they are going to spend less money that they really could afford to spend.  Then, the economy gets worse, and then people start spending less, until it cascades out of control.

And, I’m guilty of it too.  The mainstream media has done a pretty good job of scaring us all into little cocoons, and now it might be too late.  Because now, the unemployment rate is spiking.  And obviously, if you are working for a company that is not doing well, it might be time to save for that rainy day.  And if you have NO savings, maybe its time you start.  But, if you have a pretty healthy savings and a decent stable job, do us all a favor and spend some money.  We will all be better if you do.

So, today I found this great service by Posterous (www.posterous.com) that lets you simultaneously post to your blog, Facebook, Twitter, etc.  I'm thinking this will let me do more blogging, and less apologizing for not blogging.  Anyone out there used it?

Posted via email from mnxmfan’s posterous

Yes, Again 2009 has yeilded another consistancy.  I have been terrible at keeping up my blog, to the point that I’m almost positive nobody is reading it anymore anyways.

I guess what it boils down to is that life is just going right now.  Life isn’t good, it also isn’t bad, it just is.  Thats a weird feeling to have, but its stable.  Not much new to report on pretty much any front.  I still have my job, and my apartment, and all in all life is going along pretty good.  Not to say their couldn’t be improvements, but it is what it is.

Then again, maybe I am at least slightly down because winter has gotten the better of me.  I’m sure it’s something any Minnesotan can agree with.  Winter starts to get really old when your still seeing snow in April.  But baseball gets rolling again starting today, so spring can’t be far behind it, right?

And, add all that to the current economic conditions, and you have someone like me who is starting his own life suddenly desiring to live in survival mode, which is to say life is on “pause” right now.  I’m keeping a low profile to try to get that nest egg built up, and with any luck I might actually come out of this whole downturn in one peice.  Like I said, I’m still employed, and I hope to be for a long time to come, but these are uncertain times.  Blah blah blah insert another catchphrase here, i know i know.

This is not saying that I don’t still have some rather graphic opinions, because I do.  And I am in a period of “transition” that I can’t seem to get myself out of.  Life is changing, and has changed, yet I haven’t picked a path, nor have I found my new hobbies or expanded on my social circles as of yet. 

So, I’ll try to keep updated here, and I still have some rather scathing words for my former favorite pay service, which was XM radio until 11/12/08, and my thoughts on some alternatives.  So, if your out there, keep your eyes on that monitor.