Movies, Videos, Books, and Beer

RedBox Movie Rentals: Drive up. Pick a movie. Pay a dollar. While the movie selection isn't that great (Lindsay Lohan's "Labor Pains" is somehow always an option,) you really can't beat the price. Only $1.00 and no nasty rental store employees judging you for wanting to see "When In Rome" again.
Why I like it: It's completely idiot proof. Unlike a rental store, the omniscient machine keeps its record on your bank statement, tacking on a dollar a day for 25 days. And for the record, paying $25 for "Valentine's Day" isn't worth it unless you're an idiot. For the fools thinking to replace the DVD with some other disc to cheat the system, the code on the redbox DVD's won't let you. It's a full proof system RedBox has going on. Unless someone tried to copy the barcode on the original... then its like, "Free DVD!"

 Jake & Amir: Webisode series from collegehumor.com - I can't tell if Jake really hates Amir in real life or if he's just a really bad actor. Either way, the two comedy writers recently won the Webby People's Voice Voice Award for Best Comedy Series on the Internet, and deservedly so. Check them out here:

Actual books: I was wary of books-on-tape but enough is enough.. this new fad of digital books is equivalent to replacing music on CD's. I'm still waiting for the iPod fad to pass. Regardless, technology like Kindle or the nook takes away all the grandeur of reading an actual book No library smell, no pretentious book store employees, and obviously no color pictures*. Fact: the kindle is destroying Johannes Gutenberg's legacy.

*If Kindle updated to a color version, I'm totally in.

Magic Hat's Summer Sampler: I'm not a beer snob by any stretch of the imagination. I keep to Budweiser and maybe opt for the Great Lakes Elliot Ness every blue moon or so (see what I did?) However, I do declare myself an avid fan of the Magic Hat Brewing Co. I recently bought their Summer Sampler Pack and was instantly smitten, and consequently inebriated. Featuring the classic No. 9, Blind Faith, Odd Notion, and (my personal favorite) Wacko - the sampler pack is delicious at a barbecue, around a camp fire, or just drinking yourself to sleep on a balmy summer night. The only one I warn you against is Blind Faith, an I.P.A. boasting a 6.2 ABV and a bitterness factor of 60. Opt for the Wacko instead, a summer beer with 4.5 ABV and bitterness registered at 14.5. It's really crisp, not too hoppy, and just really refreshing. The other two are also really good but I'm not kidding - Blind Faith is disgusting.