#TraintoBusan Egads! #Zombies #FilmFan #MovieReview

Watched Train to Busan last night. It was a bit of a slow burn to start, but I enjoyed it overall. I keep wondering how I would have handled the situation. Zombies will get us one day. You know they will.

What I'm Watching... #Movies #Television #Watchlist #NowPlaying #Queue

I've recently been bombarded with several limited time redemption codes for free movie rentals and have acquired some new movies (and television seasons and/or episodes) through promotions & sales/deals. Additionally, I'm also trying to see as many of this year's Academy Awards nominees as possible prior to the awards show broadcast. As a result, my movie + television watchlist of titles in my viewing queue is stacked. Luckily, there's no particular hurry to watch the movies that I own (the impetus here is desire), so, of course, limited term movie rentals take precedence. Check it out:

My Watchlist - Alphabetical Order
Bunyan and Babe (own)
Central Intelligence (Vudu movie rental)
Ghostbusters [2016] (FandangoNow movie rental)
In a World (Vudu movie rental)
Inspector Lewis, Season 8 (own)
Magnificent 7 (own)
Sully (Google Play movie rental)
War of the Arrows (own)

Two Months #Free #Audible Membership -- Two Free #Audiobooks

Although I'm not good with audiobooks, I'm trying to get better... as I genuinely like the idea of listening to a book (specifically, having Alexa read an audiobook to me) while working on other things. I'm having to retrain my brain, which expects books to be self-read. I've started slowly, listening to free audio shorts that I've found online. And I've reached a point where I can generally make it through a few audio snippets at a time without losing focus. (I actually enjoy the New York Times Audio Digest, but then again, I'm an information junkie and it's not a book, so this may not count.)

Recently, one of the group deal sites (I believe 'twas Groupon) put up a totally free offer: a voucher granting Two Months Free Audible Membership which includes a free audiobook purchase credit each month. And while I have no idea what to use said credits to purchase, I thought this would make a good opportunity to expand my digital library of audiobooks (without risk) and provide more fodder for my "learning to listen to stories told" experiment.

It's odd really, when one thinks about it, because I love radio. I can listen to music, news and even talk radio all day, without issue, but try a true audiobook and my mind wanders. I'm certain it's only psychosomatic and once I replace my negative childhood associations of "being read to" with enough positive experiences, all will be well. We'll see, however, as the brain is a quirky organ. Tiny steps...

Friday = #Movie Night + #Pizza Dinner @PapaJohns @vudufans #StarTrek #UltraViolet

It's a loooooong weekend for me beginning later today, so I've plotted out some fun activities... tonight is Dinner + Movie Night!

I'm planning to watch both Star Trek: Into Darkness and Star Trek: Beyond --- downloaded each UltraViolet Digital Copy from my Vudu library to my media server (basically a custom SmartTV box) yesterday, so the show is ready to go on this evening. While I don't mind streaming movies, I prefer to download a digital copy when I have the option in order to remove any worry about network performance issues. (One would assume) that the likelihood of a service slowdown or complete outage increases around the holidays as a lot off people get time off and use their breaks to binge watch. Nothing ruins the fun like having your movie watching experience disrupted.

I love movies and I love pizza. The two make a great combination. So, of course, pizza is on the menu for Dinner + Movie Night. In preparation, I also cashed out yesterday for a free Papa John's eGift Card reward at My Points that should cover the pizza. As a bonus, there's also a VISA Checkout promotion to get a free pizza later on, when you order a pizza now. (At least a penny of the pizza cost must be charged to your VISA card via said payment service.) This will take care of dinner tonight and another night, perhaps tomorrow. Two (nearly) free pizzas? One can never have too much pizza!

As luck would have it, my free 12-Pack Sparkling Coupons from My Coke Rewards Holiday Catalog are starting to arrive. (I cashed out for the maximum of four free 12-Pack coupons.) So, I'll probably pop by a store at some point later today and pickup beverages. Yes, you heard that right. In addition to free movies --- I received both Star Trek UV DCs for free from different promotions --- and free pizza, throw in some free soda. It's a Freebie Fiesta! Win, win, win!

I'm due to wrap up a client project today before officially starting my holiday break this afternoon, so right now I'm doing a fair imitation of Grumpy Cat. But if I'm feeling in a more generous mood once the day's work is done, I may invite someone special over and turn Dinner + Movie Night into Date Night. Wink, wink. Well, my Friday night is set. What's on tap for you?

DISCLOSURE: This post may include referral link/s.

Adult Story Time? Being Read to vs. #Reading. #Audiobooks #SmartAssistants #DigitalLibrary

I am an inveterate reader. I was lucky enough to obtain a public library card at a young age and I made extensive use of it. As I have mentioned previously, I grew up materially poor (in poverty) but educationally enriched. Obviously, periodically lacking basic necessities like food, water and shelter made an impact on me. Poor childhood health care made an impact. But excepting daily sustenance requirements, the only thing I have sought my entire life is Knowledge.

To be honest, I didn't realize I was "poor" until I went to school and first encountered "rich kids". Prior to enrolling in kindergarten, I'd assumed with the naivety of childhood that being "working poor" was the standard, as it was all I'd known beforehand. I can't say I was much impressed with "the other side." Not being materialistic, the lack of having random things didn't matter to me, but "ownership" certainly seemed to be the end all and be all for many of my neighbors. (Don't get me wrong, I enjoy creature comforts and like having my toys, but at the end of the day it's just stuff and will never outweigh what truly matters.)

The other children with whom I went to school would often ask me silly questions. How'd I get so smart? (DNA and curiosity leads me to read.) Did my parents pay me for getting good grades? (As if.) Did I go home and read the encyclopedia for fun? (Sometimes.) Learning is fun. Not school, but the ability to learn. School is an often unpleasant institution. The majority of my learning occurred away from school immersed in books, often at the local library. Being self-taught also made me an oddity, as I would often know more about a subject than the person who was supposed to teach it to us in school. I'm not boasting, my expertise on specific subjects often resulted in my teachers turning over a class to me. For instance, I taught a mini-course on Greek Mythology in high school.

I guess it was difficult for other schoolchildren (not to mention the teachers and administrators) to understand me. According to what had been ingrained in them by a segregated, conservative, and patriarchal society, I was an anomaly or perhaps worse, an aberration --- a female child "from the other side of the tracks" who effortlessly outperformed everyone else by leaps & bounds. If since birth, you've been given to believe that you're special, that you're superior to others and that certain privileges are your God-given right (think Divine Right of Kings), then I suppose meeting someone like me is a rude awakening. Welcome to the real world, lad.

I did not apologize then, and I do not apologize now for being myself. My very existence does not require justification, regardless of what others were told. The very thought of which is ludicrous. And so went school. I ate the fruits of the Tree of Knowledge while surrounded by Philistines (Education is indeed a great leveler. It is not a perfect pill nor a magic wand, for our world is no meritocracy, though I wish it were, but Education is a boost that can make things more equitable.) In league with Descartes, I embodied Cogito ergo sum (I think, therefore, I am).

I might have been born and raised in a small (and often small-minded) town, but I knew that the world was not flat. No, the world was pregnant with wonder, for I had read it. The existence of books and the Knowledge contained within their pages sustained me, kept me sane. Trapped in a society that could not give me succor, I chose to inhabit a world of my own creation inside my head. Reading became such an integral part of my personal development, I could not imagine my "self" without it. This is still true today.

As a result, it is difficult for me to accept being read to. As a wee child, attending story time in school or at the local library meant that I would fidget. Impatient, my mind would wander. I wanted to hold the book myself, to turn its pages, to see the words. Where was the excitement in having someone else tell you a story when I could very well read it for myself? This mentality has carried over into my adulthood.

In spite of the popularity of audiobooks, I can feel no warmth toward them. The voice inside my head is a much better narrator than those people speaking various books aloud. I have tried to adjust my abhorrence of audiobooks through logic mentally chiding myself with statements like "Think of the multitasking advantage, listening to an audiobook means your hands are free to do other things." It hasn't exactly worked. I usually give up on listening to an audiobook within 10 minutes.

The only audiobooks I have ever been able to get through is the Harry Potter series, and I believe this is for two reasons: 1) I already knew and loved the stories before I attempted to listen to them and 2) Jim Dale's (the narrator of the American editions) retelling of them is very similar to the narrator inside my own head. Thus, I am able to suspend my knee-jerk reactions at having a story read to me. (I know this second part is true because I could not, in turn, cotton to the British editions of Harry Potter audiobooks. You'd think the British editions would be more authentic, considering it's Harry Potter, but I prefer the way Dale does them.)

I'm trying to embrace audiobooks more than I have in the past. Audiobooks will never supplant books in my heart, and I wouldn't wish them to do so, but I hope to use them as a supplement for times when I have other things going. Ever the geek, I do like the idea of asking a Smart Assistant like Alexa to read to me while I tinker in my lab or experiment in my kitchen. But this will take some doing. Right now it feels like ripping a part of myself away, giving up the privilege of reading in order to be read to. It flies in the face of my mile-wide independent streak. I keep repeating that doing this will allow me to be augmented in other ways. But so far I'm not buying it.