AMF: Wherein the Fly Stimulates the Economy
Hey folks. I still feel... Well, really terrible, actually. Beyond my current existential crisis, I woke up Wednesday after having spent Tuesday with Captain John and First Mate Annie, and felt horrible. Wednesday night, I went to bed at around 20:00 (8:00 PM) and still felt lousy. I woke up at about 01:00 Thursday morning, sick, and laid awake for two hours before I finally fell back asleep. On the plus side, Radio Havana Cuba is still broadcasting that late, so at least I had something to listen to.
So, I have a couple of items that I wanted to share with you folks, but I've only had time to write up one of them. Yours truly, the Fly, has been hard at work, stimulating the economy. What follows is a description of the several categories of non-government economic stimulus that I've recently engaged in.
Shortwave Radio
Yeah, no shock there, eh? I've been meaning to try a different antenna for my Grundig S350, so I forked over the $17.95 for a Sangean ANT-60 antenna that I'd had my eye on for a month or two. I also hadn't gotten a new copy of the Passport to World Band Radio since May of '07, so I also ordered the '09 edition. Given that the '07 edition reminds me of an ex-girlfriend, I really ought to get rid of it, but I may just pack up all of the her-related stuff into a box and tuck it away. Anyway, there's category one.
Music
I've all but gotten out of the habit of buying CDs since I finally figured out how to download music from outlets like Amazon and the now-defunct Yahoo(!) music store in August of '07. However, sometimes the downloaded version just doesn't cut it - or isn't even available. On the latter point, I ordered the No Mercy greatest hits disc from one of the Amazon Marketplace sellers, and haven't had a chance to yank any of the songs and put them on my mp3 player yet, but I will at some point. Chris Isaak released Mr. Lucky a couple of weeks ago, and being a huge Chris Isaak fan, I ordered it. And what else? Oh, just the U2 - No Line on the Horizon Limited Edition Box Set - the first U2 album released since I was dating Katherine. It's important.
Entertainment
Since I don't have cable, and even though I've started watching some shows online, I still tend to buy some shows in DVD box set form. Given that the makers of South Park have made all of theirs available on demand, I've kind of been regretting buying four of the seasons on DVD; however, South Park has always been a sort of special case. I've been on a Battlestar Galactica kick lately, given that the series is in its final weeks, but that can only last for a while. At any rate, over the last few weeks, I've purchased several series' on DVD, some of which just plain aren't available anywhere else, including online.
One of my favorite shows when I was in middle school (and then when it was rerunning in college on the SciFi Channel) was Space: Above and Beyond. A few years ago, Best Buy released a DVD box set; unfortunately, the initial pressing had a design flaw that caused it to skip, and the packaging was also lousy according to various reviews. The later pressings apparently fixed these flaws, and I ordered the set last week. Being older and wiser, I'm disappointed that they thought it was just fine to either forego an actual military consultant, or just ignore said consultant's advice. I guess you can't have everything - still a cult classic, and I seem to remember the show getting better as it got to the end of the first and only season.
As mentioned previously, I've fallen in love with the most excellent show Chuck, so last week I ordered the complete first season. I'm watching it as I write this, having decided to pre-empt S:AAB - and to give the BSG sets a bit of a break. Once I finish BSG, S:AAB, and Chuck, I'm going to start from the beginning of the (currently) six year run of MI-5/Spooks, which will eventually bring me to the still-shrink-wrapped Volume 6.
Oh, and just for good measure, I picked up two great and hilarious science fiction comedies: Mars Attacks, and Galaxy Quest.
Gifts
I've often opined about how much I loved reading An Unorthodox Soldier by LtCol Tim Spicer, OBE. I got a second loaner copy in one of my recent orders (and need to get my original copy back from the Desert Rat one of these days). That's not technically a "gift" purchase, but I didn't know where else to put it in the pecking order.
As far as gifts go, I bought several for people who I appreciate. (That means that I should have bought some stuff for Mighty Mo and Father Time, but they'll just have to wait.) What I did get is three Stikfas Alpha Male Legionnaires - one for me, one for Professor Augustus, and one for Big Red - and an additional gift of a copy of the 300 Two-Disc Special Edition for Professor Augustus. Also, for my hockey buddy Boomer, I got a Stikfas G2 Alpha Male Hockey Player. He's gonna love it... When I can actually meet up with him in order to pass it on. In fact, the big challenge on all of these gifts is going to be the distribution bit.
I'll discuss some future spending plans in an upcoming post. I had also intended to post a conversation between me and the Crypto King that discussed beef as an aphrodesiac, but that will have to wait for another occasion. Have a great weekend, folks!
UPDATE: For the record, I feel better than I did when I wrote the bulk of this post. I think I'm going to market reruns of Chuck, Papa John's pizza, and Guinness as a cold remedy.
So, I have a couple of items that I wanted to share with you folks, but I've only had time to write up one of them. Yours truly, the Fly, has been hard at work, stimulating the economy. What follows is a description of the several categories of non-government economic stimulus that I've recently engaged in.
Shortwave Radio
Yeah, no shock there, eh? I've been meaning to try a different antenna for my Grundig S350, so I forked over the $17.95 for a Sangean ANT-60 antenna that I'd had my eye on for a month or two. I also hadn't gotten a new copy of the Passport to World Band Radio since May of '07, so I also ordered the '09 edition. Given that the '07 edition reminds me of an ex-girlfriend, I really ought to get rid of it, but I may just pack up all of the her-related stuff into a box and tuck it away. Anyway, there's category one.
Music
I've all but gotten out of the habit of buying CDs since I finally figured out how to download music from outlets like Amazon and the now-defunct Yahoo(!) music store in August of '07. However, sometimes the downloaded version just doesn't cut it - or isn't even available. On the latter point, I ordered the
Entertainment
Since I don't have cable, and even though I've started watching some shows online, I still tend to buy some shows in DVD box set form. Given that the makers of South Park have made all of theirs available on demand, I've kind of been regretting buying four of the seasons on DVD; however, South Park has always been a sort of special case. I've been on a Battlestar Galactica kick lately, given that the series is in its final weeks, but that can only last for a while. At any rate, over the last few weeks, I've purchased several series' on DVD, some of which just plain aren't available anywhere else, including online.
One of my favorite shows when I was in middle school (and then when it was rerunning in college on the SciFi Channel) was Space: Above and Beyond. A few years ago, Best Buy released a DVD box set; unfortunately, the initial pressing had a design flaw that caused it to skip, and the packaging was also lousy according to various reviews. The later pressings apparently fixed these flaws, and I ordered the set last week. Being older and wiser, I'm disappointed that they thought it was just fine to either forego an actual military consultant, or just ignore said consultant's advice. I guess you can't have everything - still a cult classic, and I seem to remember the show getting better as it got to the end of the first and only season.
As mentioned previously, I've fallen in love with the most excellent show Chuck, so last week I ordered the complete first season. I'm watching it as I write this, having decided to pre-empt S:AAB - and to give the BSG sets a bit of a break. Once I finish BSG, S:AAB, and Chuck, I'm going to start from the beginning of the (currently) six year run of MI-5/Spooks, which will eventually bring me to the still-shrink-wrapped Volume 6.
Oh, and just for good measure, I picked up two great and hilarious science fiction comedies: Mars Attacks, and Galaxy Quest.
Gifts
I've often opined about how much I loved reading An Unorthodox Soldier by LtCol Tim Spicer, OBE. I got a second loaner copy in one of my recent orders (and need to get my original copy back from the Desert Rat one of these days). That's not technically a "gift" purchase, but I didn't know where else to put it in the pecking order.
As far as gifts go, I bought several for people who I appreciate. (That means that I should have bought some stuff for Mighty Mo and Father Time, but they'll just have to wait.) What I did get is three
I'll discuss some future spending plans in an upcoming post. I had also intended to post a conversation between me and the Crypto King that discussed beef as an aphrodesiac, but that will have to wait for another occasion. Have a great weekend, folks!
UPDATE: For the record, I feel better than I did when I wrote the bulk of this post. I think I'm going to market reruns of Chuck, Papa John's pizza, and Guinness as a cold remedy.
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