Netflix...those Inglorious Bastards

On December 15th the movie inglorious bastards was released to DVD. A few days earlier, I had it in my Netflix queue. When it release its expected availability was "Very long wait" which according to nextflix "30 days, usually less". Two months later, its status "very long wait".

I'm typically a big fan of Netflix. I even bought a blue ray player with internet availability to stream movies directly to my TV. Recently I've streamed 5 seasons of the TV show lost.

But right now, it seems my best case senerio to see a good new release is 3 months or a quarter of a year AFTER it was released to DVD and they know it. When you click on "new releases" all of the A-list movies aren't even listed. They instead steer you towards the B-list releases as if they are what you were really looking for.

Other new releases that are in my queue yet not available That weren't even blockbusters:

And reminder, Very long wait = about a month.

Couples Retreat - Released Feb 9 - Very long wait

ZombieLand - Released Feb 2 - Very long wait

Paranormal Activity - Release Dec 29 - Very long wait

I can only imagine the wait for "Up in the air", the next movie i really want to see.

Perhaps my expectations are too high, but I continue to see prices of media access (cable, internet, netflix) going up, without quality and availability moving along with it.

Delivering the shopper vs littering

Here is the deal..... pardon the pun.

As i stepped out of my front door this morning, only to trip over a shopper wrapped in one of those weather condoms. I walked further down my front step to see another one in the snow in my yard.

I take partial blame, I don't always pick them up on my walk into the house, and throw them away. But then again, why should I have to? I did not ask for this role of ads to be thrown on my front lawn. In my whole time in mankato, i have never read one.

I can't just start throwing things on peoples lawns without getting ticketed for littering. So why can they? Can I gather up all the ones thrown in my yard, and throw them in the yard of the guy delivering them? Can he get mad or should he just be grateful for all the money I just saved him?

I hope you can reference this rant when you hear on the news "Man trips and dies, reason is classified"

No news is Good news.

Stepping away from Sports, Sports, Sports, Sports for a second to take a brief look at the rest of the news.

Its True.

Ignorance is bliss.

Over the past couple of years, I've tuned out of the news.

Not that I don't care about being informed, I just don't want to be mis-informed. It is almost impossible to read or view a news story that doesn't have some sort of political slant to it.

CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, Telemundo, they all inject a political view into even non-political stories. Each network also parades out their best pundits to either rial up the opposing political view, or stroke the egos of those who agree.

This has turned any kind of rational political discussion into a vomit-fest. Each side regurgitating the same talking points they heard on their respective network the night before.

So I confide in sports. Why? Because it doesn't really matter.

Subtraction by Addition?

Rumors continue to swirl about a Mauer deal in the works, with both sides inching ever closer to a long term deal. WCCO's Mark Rosen, aka Joe Mauer's real father, has stated for months now that a 10 year deal is in the works. But only recently has WCCO actually gone with that as a story. The report was immediately scoffed at by ESPN's Buster Olney, and Joe Christiansen of the Star Tribune, them citing their own sources to the contrary.

Rewind to this past summer:

Rosen was among the first to actually accurately report the Favre agreement. A report that was blasted by the national media who failed to get it right, time after time, only to have Rosen proven right a short time later.

Whether a deal is done or not, the two sides have been talking.

The recent Thome signing and current Orlando Hudson speculation leads me to think the Twins are taking a Subtraction by addition approach. Subtracting the, no doubt, enormous Mauer asking price, by adding talent in other areas.

When asked if he wanted to stay at home in MN, or Win, Mauer answered with a question of his own: "Why can't we do both"

I think the Twins are wisely bringing in talent, realizing that a supporting cast, is just as important as a deep wallet when it comes to signing Mauer and securing the fan base for years to come.

And We're baaaack.

Like the Vikings Bryant Mckinnie, I stopped caring about football in the middle of last week. But unlike Mckinnie, i stopped twittering as well. The only player that i've ever heard of being kicked off a pro bowl team, Mckinnie has added insult to injury for Vikings fans.

In response to criticism for missing 4 out of the 5 pro bowl practices and not showing up for the team photo, Mckinnie tweeted: "HATERS MAKE ME STRONGER SO THANX 4 THE FAVOR! I DON'T BREAK SUCKAS"

Haters? Your first pro bowl selection, you spent all of your time partying, not showing up to practices, and then pulling out the "I'm injured" card after people finally became fed-up. People that call you out on that aren't "haters", they're just calling a douche bag a douche bag.

I can't show up one day out of the work week, and then call the HR department haters when I get fired.

I think removing the word "pro" from his Pro Bowl Selection would be accurate.

I guess I would be more upset about his representation of my favorite team if this years pro bowl setup wasn't already a joke.

This is the first year the Pro Bowl has come BEFORE the Super Bowl. Which may sound like a good idea, to keep a captive football audience in the bye week prior to the super bowl.

This leaves out the logic that the best two teams will not only have the most pro bowl selections, but will be playing the following week in the Super Bowl and won't have their selections attend. If the Vikings had made it to the Super Bowl 10 pro bowl selections would not have played.

Despite that flawed logic, the masses tuned in anyway to watch their favorite pro bowl replacement, replacement, play a half hearted football game. Unfortunately the ratings were up over years past, assuring the same format next year.

All the Negativity thats in this town Sucks! (Mankato Edition)

The Vikings are done, Timberwolves are horrible, and the Wild are treading water. If you're waiting for those three to come walking through the door with a championship you're going to get grey and old.

Rick Pitino had it right. Stop worrying about what you don't have and look at what you do have.

Minnesota State's mens basketball team is 17-1 is atop the NSIC, and is the 5th ranked DII basketball team in the country.

Coach Matt Margenthaler, now in his 8th season, has continued his tradition of putting a exciting basketball team on the floor.

Minnesota State never seems to re-build, just reload. Players like Jefferson Mason, Travis Nelson, Jermaine Davis, and Jesse Clark, may not be household names, but they bring the tempo, and excitement that fans crave without the price tag they don't.

Also don't forget MSU's Women's Basketball Team. I have only three words to describe them: Defending, National, Champions.

This weekend the Mavericks take on Bemidji State on Friday and the Univeristy of Minnesota - Duluth on Saturday with both womens games starting at 6:00pm, Men at 8:00pm.

Check out more at www.msumavericks.com

Mankato sports fans, don't stay negative about what you don't have. Go down to the Taylor Center this weekend and cheer on what you do.

Outside of Mankato: you have pockets of positivity to hold on to as well. You just need to look for it, even if its a local high school team.

You betcha Minnesota Signed Thom-Eh.

Minnesota signs another aging veteran as Jim Thome agrees to a 1 year deal.

Pieces are in place?

Well, it certainly hedges the Twins bets that Delmon Young's bat will heat up and stay consistent. The low price tag of the deal makes it a no brainer. Thome will be making less than 1/2 of Nick Punto's salary.

Thome, who provides a solid bat against right handed pitching, also relieves the Twins right handed pitching of having to face him. Thome who is 12th on the all-time home run list (564) has hit 57 of those round-trippers off of Minnesota pitching, most of any other team in his career.

Some fans are scoffing at signing another aging player at the end of their career. But most of them will admit this isn't the Rondell White's, or Brett Boone's that have played that role for the Twins in recent history. And Unlike those previous players, (White and Boone), Thome has continued to produce after the MLB's crackdown on steroids.

The Twins are obviously excited about bringing Thome to Target field at a reasonable price. They've already implemented a Thome ticket deal, for 8 bucks you get a seat, the only catch is you have to move 1 section over when Thome comes to bat.

Despite this good signing, it only leads Twins fans to ask, when are we going to get to the one that really matters? When are we going to sign Mauer? The speculation continues to be an announcement at Twins-Fest. We'll just have to wait and see if they'll roll the stone away and announce he will be siteth in the right dugout Target Field almighty after this season.