Netflix

Recently, Netflix has made news with its abruptly-announced price increase. Customers have jumped ship by the thousands, and although I’m still happy with the service, I’m also looking into cheaper alternatives.

A while back, Amazon added unlimited free video streaming for its Prime members. Guess what — I’m a Prime member! I didn’t pay much attention at the time, because I was already using Netflix. But here are the details on Prime: It’s $79 per year, and includes free 2-day shipping, and inexpensive upgrades on overnight delivery.

Available on Amazon Prime video streaming

If you do a lot of shopping and shipping through Amazon, Prime is a good deal. Now, Prime also includes unlimited streaming of a growing selection of movies and television shows. So, let’s compare.

Netflix’s new price on unlimited streaming is $7.99 per month. That’s $95.88 per year.

Amazon Prime is $79 per year.

Which would you choose? Yes, I’m afraid I may have to cancel my Netflix streaming service. Amazon may not have DVD mailing service, but it has a decent collection of streaming video, with more on the way. And I can catch most of my regular network shows on Hulu if I miss them in primetime.

I’m not getting anything from Amazon to promote Prime. (You can get a free one month trial of Amazon Prime.) I just wanted to share a service I’ve been using, and which I think is a good value. Let me know about your favorite video streaming source.

J.K. Rowling, author of the wildly popular “Harry Potter” fantasy books, has introduced a new site for Potter fans. Pottermore will be available to users later this year, and you can now submit your e-mail address to be notified when it’s open. There’s no doubt the site will become an online mecca for fans of all ages. Not only does it promise to provide a way to keep in touch with the world of wizardry, magic, and muggles, it will also feature some new content!

Pottermore logo

Pottermore is a free website that builds an exciting online experience around the reading of the Harry Potter books.

Early users will be granted access to the site July 31, and it will be open to the public in October.

I love playing Angry Birds on my iPhone! My husband got me started on it. I played the Halloween version first, then the full version, and then the Halloween app automatically updated to include Christmas levels! I don’t want to know how many hours I’ve spent slinging birds at green pigs… But I still enjoy it!

So I’ve heard rumors about Angry Birds being made into a movie, but I hadn’t checked out the trailer until now. If you’re addicted to Angry Birds, you will enjoy this. Here you go!

If you’re not a regular watcher of Family Guy, you probably missed Seth Macfarlane’s animated version of Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back. (If you’re wondering, that’s the one that starts on the ice planet Hoth, and Han Solo gets frozen in carbonite.) That’s okay, though, because it’s now available on hulu.com, and you can see the whole thing online for free!

And even if you’re not a fan of Family Guy, you’ll still understand the parody and humorous asides, as long as you’re familiar with the dialogue and jokes from the original version of “Empire.” Enjoy!

P.S. I’ve watched all of the Star Wars movies more times than I can count, and I’m embarrassed to admit that I still don’t know what a nerf-herder is. Am I the only one who doesn’t know?

Bag End Hobbit Hole by Maddie Chambers

Happy Mother’s Day to all of my geeky mom friends out there! I have a quick site to share with you today, which is guaranteed to make your geek heart happy.

Fellow mom and admitted geek, Maddie Chambers, created this beautiful miniature version of Bag End, and she has posted photos and descriptions on her blog.

Her attention to detail, from the design on the rug to the food on the table, will warm the little hobbit holes of your heart. Check out the fireplace, which she made from her own backyard stone, and the barrel of Longbottom Leaf pipeweed in the pantry. Also, notice the stained glass windows, miniature statues of Sam and Frodo, Gimli’s axes, and Baggins family tree… It is all wonderful and amazing!

Thank you, Maddie, for undertaking this project and sharing it with us. Happy Mother’s Day to you!

Maddie Chambers and Bag End dollhouse

Hello, friends and fellow Twilight fans. It’s finally here! We’ve been waiting and waiting (and waiting!) for a peek at the next movie, and here it is — the first official trailer for The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, which is due in theaters in June 30, 2010. Turn down the lights, turn up the volume, and enjoy this 90 second glimpse at Bella (Kristen Stewart), Edward (Robert Pattinson), Jacob (shirtless! Taylor Lautner), Jane (Dakota Fanning), and the new Victoria (Bryce Dallas Howard)! What do you think???

New Moon Soundtrack USB Drive

Here’s a short intro for a new product coming out any day now! I will be carrying these in my Twilight shop, and I’m pretty excited!

This is an officially licensed Twilight product, and it is a sweet combination of style and function. It’s a 2GB USB flash drive, with the Cullen family crest on the outside, and the New Moon movie soundtrack pre-loaded on the inside.

You can read the details and pre-order the New Moon USB drive now. I expect to have them ready to ship in late October 2009. Cheers!

If you know me, I rarely include ads in my posts. In the sidebar, yes, but rarely in my posts. I have to really, sincerely like something before I’ll put an ad for it here.

I’ll just say it now: I like love Netflix!

I was skeptical at first. I didn’t sign up right away. In fact, this is a bit embarrassing to admit, but I initially joined Netflix mostly to get “points” for some Facebook game. Probably Mafia Wars or something like that.

I had intended to use the service during the free trial period, and then cancel it. But that was several months ago, and the free trial has long since elapsed, and I’m still using Netflix. My hubby and I share the movie queue, and I usually try to alternate action flicks with romantic comedies, but he gets into the account and adds thrillers and stuff. We rarely get out to the movies, and it’s really handy to add new releases to our queue and watch them at home whenever we want to.

Plus, a night at the movies runs us $20 for the tix, probably another $20 for snacks and drinks, and $40 for babysitting. And that’s if we don’t go out for dinner, too. It’s crazy!

I enjoy the on-demand viewing, too. It’s fun to play an old favorite movie (I recently watched Say Anything, one of the best movies from the 80s!) while I’m working around the house. I even used it a couple of times to help potty train my daughter, who was always too busy to take time to sit on the toilet. I put my laptop on the bathroom counter and fired up an episode of one of her favorite cartoons, and she’d stay there long enough to take care of business. Hey, don’t judge me. Potty training desperation can lead to all kinds of parental ploys. Some of you know what I mean!

So I’m giving Netflix my recommendation. If you haven’t tried it, click on that ad and sign up. I get credit if you do, and I’ll use it to keep my own subscription going. Cheers!

LEGO Star Wars watch kit

I love shopping at Target, and I go there at least once a week for groceries. The grocery shopping is not really enjoyable, but what makes the outing enjoyable is browsing the other departments. My favorites are the dollar bins, seasonal decorations, and TOYS!

When the kids are with me, we always cruise through the LEGO aisle. I love those cute little bricks, because they are versatile, timeless, durable, and don’t require batteries. They run on brainpower and imagination! Brilliant! Okay, there is a down side to LEGO, and you know what I mean if you’ve ever stepped on one with bare feet in the dark.

But check out this awesome find! It’s a LEGO watch kit, with a working timepiece, and it’s STAR WARS!! There were several designs to choose from, including this Darth Vader one. The box includes the watch itself, links to make a custom-sized wrist band, an action figure (Darth and Luke even have light sabers), and a few extra pieces for good measure.

I loved them so much, I got one of each design! One for me, and one for each of the kids. I think I’ll be going back for more, to keep on hand for gift occasions and such. The parts are interchangeable (duh, it’s LEGO!) so the kids have enjoyed swapping links to make their watches unique and colorful. I forgot to get the price in the photo, but I think each kit was about $5.99. What a deal!

I don’t get out much, but Hubby and I are celebrating 13 years of marriage today, and we went out to dinner and a movie on Saturday night. The kids asked “What’s a date and why can’t we come?” I explained that we were celebrating the anniversary of our wedding, which happened before any of the three kids were here, and we wanted to remember what it was like without them! LOL

I’m not really a Trekkie. I saw one of the earlier Star Trek movies when I was a kid. It was on an airplane, so I didn’t have a choice, and it was the one with that nasty bug that went into the guy’s ear. Well, it made me sleep with my pillow wrapped around my head to prevent any such bugs from getting in at night, and perhaps turned me off of Star Trek for a while.

We were really planning on seeing Night at the Museum, but we missed it, so Star Trek was Plan B. I’m so glad we saw it, because it was AWESOME!

First of all, I’m kind of a J.J. Abrams fan. I loved ALIAS and some of his other television projects. Also, I love Heroes, and Zachary Quinto (a.k.a. super-villian Sylar) played young Spock. I’ve been known to enjoy a space story (crazy for Battlestar Galactica and Star Wars), and finally, I grew up in Iowa, so I have that in common with James Tiberius Kirk. I figured I’d probably like the movie. I was surprised by how immensely entertaining it was for me! Here’s the trailer: (more after the video clip…)

Without getting into lots of detail about the story, let me highlight a few things that made it so much fun. There were plenty of amazing special effects, including black holes and big explosions. I love it when you see an explosion and then hear and feel it a moment later as the shock wave blasts through the theater. There was lots of humor to keep it moving along happily, a little romance, some old-fashioned hand-to-hand combat, and enough of the well-known Star Trek character bits and trademark lines to appeal to even the casual Trek fan.

Since I’m not a Trek scholar, I can’t address how this film fits into the existing Star Trek canon. But as a geek who enjoys quite a bit of space and sci-fi stuff, I give it two thumbs up! Even at $10 per ticket, plus another $20 for a popcorn and two sodas (outrageous!!) it was worth it to see it in a real theater with a huge screen and monster speakers.

So if you’re looking for a fun, fast, fantastic flick, I recommend Star Trek! Bonus: Watch for appearances by a well-disguised Winona Ryder, the icy planet Hoth, either Harold or Kumar, and a Rambaldi sphere. I’ll be impressed if you find them all.

photo from the official Star Trek movie site (which is really a cool site)