DVD overload.

One of the good effects of having a bad cold is that I can justify curling up in front of the TV and watching DVDs. And by coincidence, I've just signed up with Netflix, and I've been pretty pleased with it. For 20 bucks a month, you can get 3 DVDs sent to you, and when you return any of them, they'll send you the next on your list. You can have 3 out at a time, and how many you see in a month is limited only by how quickly the postal service gets the DVDs back and forth to Netflix for you.

The selection is a whole lot better than the local Planet Hollywood or Blockbuster, and so long as you see at least one DVD a week, the price is comparable (and the more you see, the better the price looks). They've been quick at getting movies out to me - usually arriving the day after they're sent - but haven't been quite so quick at acknowledging that I've sent them back (possibly due to most of them arriving at the Netflix P.O. Box the day after Christmas or New Year's, and if so, I can hope they'll be quicker in the future).

Among the movies I've seen so far are Z and Trekkies, neither of which I've seen in my local DVD rental stores, and Casino (which I'd somehow let slip past me all these years). I heartily recommend Trekkies, as it reassures me that I do, indeed, have a full and meaningful life, at least compared to some people.

One of the odd things about Netflix is their determination of what movies fit into which category ("Sci Fi & Fantasy," "Comedy," "Drama," etc.). James Bond movies, for instance, are to be found in their "Foreign Language & Int'l" section.