As I write this, I’m aware that there is currently a debate going on between the blowhard and the fogey. I’m not watching it, though; though I have a rather nice 32-inch Vizio HDTV (I got it at Costco, who has ’em at a great price; I kind of regret not just opting for a smaller size, though. I could barely fit the box for this thing in my car), I don’t have cable or satellite service, nor an antenna.
But I’m not one of these cocky jerks who are all like, “Oh, I don’t watch TV because there’s nothing good on.” Hells no; to the contrary, when I first moved in to this apartment, I did have cable service and I watched TV quite often. And if I still had cable service, you can bet I’d be watching all the pro wrestling and cartoons and budgetless reality TV I could - and, yes, maybe even a presidential debate every once in a while. But one day the cable service to my apartment got shut down. They never sent me a bill for it, and I sure as hell didn’t want them to start sending me a bill for it. So I just did nothing.
So instead of spending my four hours a day watching TV, I’ll spend it on my computer or playing video games. But sometimes I need a “lean back” activity that provides maximum entertainment stimulation with minimum brain activity. Enter Netflix.
I won’t bother telling you what Netflix is - you’ve seen the commercials, I’m sure. (I saw them all the time back when I had cable!) So let me just say that it’s totally worth it. For about a third of the price of basic cable, DVDs magically appear in my mailbox every few days. (Netflix’s plans vary by how many discs you may have out at once; I’m on the three disc plan, which runs me $16.99 a month.) I watch ‘em, pack ‘em back up in their envelope and toss them in an outgoing mailbox. Wash, rinse, repeat. Thanks to Netflix I’m currently watching Avatar: The Last Airbender on DVD. I’m currently halfway through Season 2, and convinced that this just might be the finest American action ’toon ever created - sorry, Samurai Jack. Recently I also rented Linda Linda Linda, a Japanese movie about a high school rock band (very good!), and Apocalypto, an action flick about a cat-and-mouse chase set during Mayan civilization (good, but often seemingly violent for violence’s sake). Just today came Pirates of Silicon Valley, an old made-for-TV dramatized (but quite accurate) documentary about the early years of the Microsoft/Apple feud. And when I finish that and send it back, Netflix will send me the next movie in my queue, which is currently 53 discs long and includes discs from Kids in the Hall: Brain Candy to Mirrormask to Burn Notice to Speed Racer to Alice in Wonderland. (Turn off the lights, put on your headphones, turn the sound up, and watch that video in high-quality mode on full-screen. It’s a substance-free mind trip, maaaaaan…)
Not all is perfect with them, though. They claim to be able to ship movies out in one business day, which is probably true if you don’t live in BFE like I do (I’ll let you guess which one of these I have in mind). Also, they offer a service which lets you watch streaming movies over the internet so that you don’t even have to use a physical DVD to enjoy the movie, but - surprise surprise! - it only works on Windows. However, I hear that later this fall they’re going to offer the service up to Xbox Live subscribers, so I’ll be able to use it in that case. But for the time being, it’s a bit of a bummer that I’m paying the same price as those who actually do receive one-day shipments and can watch movies on their computer, but I’m denied those benefits.
Anyway, Netflix has sent me some coupon codes to give to my friends which will give them a free month of Netflix service to try it out. And since I don’t have any friends (slight exaggeration), I figure I’ll post them up on the internet instead, first come, first serve. Each code will only work once, so try a code, and if it doesn’t work, move on to the next one. Go here to redeem the codes. Here they are:
- M308649191125
- M318689191095
- M368619191375
- M308609191385
And yes, in case you’re wondering, I did totally steal this idea from this guy. Of course, my (and his) act isn’t entirely selfless; every time someone redeems one of these codes, Netflix will temporarily bump up my allotment of DVDs I can have out at one time. So do us both a favor and use up those codes!
