Free Entertainment

I have my little tricks for keeping sane - Lord knows, you all have had to hear so much about that here lately...

Movies have never been my big thing. I never have liked going out to stand in a ticket line to sit in a dark, crowded (usually dirty) place with a bunch of strangers. At the movies, you can't hit a Pause button, you can't (usually) get seat-side service on food, you can really stretch out and get comfortable, you can't (without repercussions) tell the loud-mouth nearby to "Hush!" So. I have never enjoyed the movie-going experience. Besides, I like too many things that don't play in most theaters: Agatha Christie mystery shows, Alfred Hitchcock, the Twilight Zone - all that kind of stuff.

Enter the beautiful World Wide Web. At my fingertips, at my leisure, in the comfort of wherever I am, and with myself in almost total control, I have entertainment. Movies, music, gossip, news, etc. I used ot subscribe to the old Yahoo Music Engine (then Jukebox), but I let it lapse only to learn recently that YME/B is no more. It's all gone to Rhapsody. (I downloaded the Rhapsody program as non-paying, just to check it out & the dang thing is so confusing, right now I can't see PAYING to be that puzzled over how to use the service...)

ANYway... I told you guys already how I discovered some of the old shows I love. I have been on an overload of Hitchcock shows and Dick Van Dyke, Andy Griffith, etc. The only thing I haven't been able to find much of are 2 of my faves: Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot. *sniff*

The whole point to this post is that since I first started talking about watching movies and television online, I have had friends and strangers sending me all kinds of links. It's how I found Hulu.com. Now, I have someone letting me in on news about a site called The Old Time Radio Show Catalog.  The name says it all, but maybe not enough since the catalogue if pretty lengthy. The thing is other than a "daily download," you have to order the CDs.

I'm not sure how the person who contacted me actually did find me at the email address they used, but find me they did. And, as I promised, I visited their site & dug what I saw. And - now I'm sharing it with you. (BTW - the person contacting me did NOT ask for a plug. I might get a free CD, but I admire their coolness!)

While we are on the subject of diversions, I found some really good free card game downloads over at CNET.com

And here are some other cool places to visit (forgive me if I have repeated any of these links here or on BLinks - my state of mind these days is a little foggy and loose).

Hulu (for great tv shows to watch online)
Like Television (more tv online)
Chess Kids (don't fall over, but I'm trying to learn to play chess!)
Find Your Spot (take a long quiz & see where the site says you'd love to live...)
Free Tube (and it's back to online tv again!)

And if anyone can explain that dang Rhapsody to me (ya know, the "For Dummies" version), fire away.

Peace
--Free