I recently saw the movie “Waking Life.” What a strange movie. It’s definitely not for everyone. Visually, it’s a unique movie. The movie was filmed live-action, then animators basically drew over the video. Even without considering the animation though, it’s pretty unique. The majority of the movie consists of the protagonist having conversations with a series of eccentric people – and by conversations, I mean he listens to them talk. This sounds like a formula for boredom, but the strange animation style, the quirky characters, and the subject matter discussed makes it quite interesting. If you are interested in existensialism or any related or derivitive movements, the subject matter will definitely appeal to you.

As I said, the protagonist spends a lot of time listening. His behavior is startling because for most people, it’s hard to imagine having “conversations” without actually speaking. It’s natural to want to chime in with your own opinions, thoughts, and experiences, but one of the advantages of being human is that we don’t always have to act “naturally.” In this case, taking the unnatural path can lead to interesting results. People tend to say a lot when you just let them speak. Try it. Of course if you don’t speak at all, the other person would probably stop speaking too, but try keeping your thoughts to yourself for a while. Let other people guide your conversations and see what they have to say.

People constantly joke about how they have 100 (500? 1000?) different channels but they still can’t find anything to watch. Have you ever realized how true that joke is? I’ve found a much better alternative.

Netflix.

I was a member several years ago but cancelled because movies were sitting on my desk for weeks instead of getting watched. I’m home a little more now than I was back then, so a few months ago I decided to give it a try again. I am so glad I made that decision. It’s such a simple but good concept. Make a list of every movie you want to see, then they’ll get sent to you one (or more, depending on your plan) at a time. Shipping is super fast (at least in my area). If I put a movie in the mailbox before the morning pickup, Netflix receives it the very next day and I receive the next movie on my list the day after that. In addition to that, I can watch a lot of their stuff online without having to wait two days for the mail. Now I rarely find myself hopelessly flicking through channels trying to find something the slightest bit interesting.

Hmmm, this might not just be a Netflix thing. Maybe I’m becoming a convert for the subscription media thing. I just tried out the free trial of Microsoft’s Zune pass, and I will probably be purchasing a subscription. With the Zune pass, I get unlimited access to most of their catalog of music. In the time that I’ve been trying it, I’ve discovered tons of new music and found a bunch of songs that I’ve always liked but never had. I’ve been tempted to get Zune Pass for a while, but what finally won me over is the new feature that lets you keep 10 songs per month.

Yep, I think I’m definitely a subscription convert if the price and terms are right. With Netflix, the speed of shipping combined with the always-available online content makes it well worth it’s cost, which is about what you’d pay to rent two movies. With the Zune pass, $15 a month always seemed like a bit much for me considering the fact that if I cancelled my subscription, all my music would be gone. However, $15 for temporary access to the full Zune library and 10 songs to keep permanantly is a great bargain.

OK. Gushing rant over