This is a test post from 
, a fancy photo sharing thing.
After watching the first two seasons of The O.C. on DVD, I was hooked on the show. Sure, the second season storylines dropped off significantly in terms of quality and believability from Season 1, but that didn’t seem to matter too much for this particular show. I was already fully invested in the characters, and just had to see how their lives played out. That’s why I continued on and bought S3 on DVD.
The O.C. — The Complete Third Season contains all 25 episodes from Season 3, as well as some nice extra features. These eps aired on FOX from September 8, 2005 – May 18, 2006, and included “The End of the Innocence” (where Ryan and Marissa FINALLY consummate their relationship), “The Day After Tomorrow” (the whole sweatshirt bonfire/Seth college angst storyline), and “The Graduates” (where Marissa dies). Yes, there were only three memorable eps for me in the entire season. What can I say, S3 was terrible!
But, I would never leave an entire season out of a DVD collection, so I purchased this one. At least I got my box set on sale for just $16.99 a couple months ago, which is far more palatable than the current $46.99 list price at Amazon.com.
Oh, before I forget, some of the bonus features include:
- The Party Favor: From Script to Screen
- Making of The Subways Video
- What’s in a Name?
- Pass the Remote: Selected Scene-Surfing Commentary
- Gags and Goofs
“The Party Favor” featurette is about how an episode of The O.C. (in this case, the prom ep) goes from concept to screen in a couple of weeks, and was actually very interesting. “What’s in a Name?” was also fun, as it tells about how producer Josh Schwartz used the names of a lot of his friends for characters on the show.
This Complete Third Season box set comes in fold-out packaging with some nice shots of the main cast on the flaps, as well as individual portraits on each of the seven discs. When stored, a couple of the discs sit on top of each other, so you’ll have to remove the top ones to get to the bottom ones — no biggie for me, but I know some people find this annoying. There’s also a nice episode guide that gives a brief synopsis of and photo from each ep, making it easy to find exactly what you’re looking for.
Overall, despite the lack of quality in The O.C. — The Complete Third Season, this is a box set that every true fan of the show must have for their collection. I recommend waiting for another price drop at Amazon.com so you don’t end up paying more than $20 for it!
My skin generally looks terrible in the summer, what with all the excess oil and sweat that my body decides to produce. This usually leads to bad breakouts or at least clogged pores (which results in bumpy, uneven skin). Gross, I know.
But this summer has actually been pretty good so far, and I think it’s because of the new skin care regimen that I follow religiously. First, I cleanse only twice a day (washing excessively leads to other problems) with Purpose bar soap ($3.29). After that, I pat dry and follow with a toner. I’m still using my Paula’s Choice toner ($14.95) and am getting far better results from it than I experienced at first. I then give my face 5 minutes to absorb the toner before applying a benzoyl peroxide-based pimple cream ($9.99) on problem areas — which for me is my forehead and chin.
This might sound like a pretty basic regimen, but it’s actually working for me. I also use a Biore pore strip ($4.49) on my nose once a week, and I also exfoliate ($12.50) once or twice a week depending on how my skin looks and feels.
Yes, I’m spending a bit more on my skin than I usually do, but I know I’m nowhere near what other women shell out. I think I’m getting a bargain here!
(Click to enlarge)
If you’re a pet lover like I am, then I know you’ll be interested in a website called ZooToo.com. Even though I just discovered ZooToo a couple of days ago, it’s already becoming one of my favorite sites! That’s because it’s a very active social networking site devoted to people who love pets of all kinds, from the usual dogs and cats to fish, birds, horses, reptiles, and more.
It’s free to register on the site, and once you become a member, you can do things like create a profile, upload pictures of your pets, participate in lively discussions, engage in “Pet Wars” to see who has the cutest pet on the site, or enter photo contests. Best of all, you can meet new people and make tons of friends who have the same interests as you!
And if you need even more incentive to join ZooToo.com now, check this out: they regularly have different promotions designed to benefit pet shelters and animal rescue groups across the country. It’s social networking for a good cause… you can’t beat that!
Although I’ve been using iPods for about 5 years now, I have only used the iTunes store on a few occasions. I’m not much of a music fan, so I’m content with filling my iPod with audiobooks borrowed from my public library. I do have some music on my iPod, but all of those songs are either from CDs I already had or from discs I borrowed from friends. To date, I’ve purchased exactly one song from iTunes.
But since I recently received a $25 iTunes gift card, I decided to spend a bit more time browsing around the store. There isn’t really any music I want right now, so I looked at movie rentals instead. Paying $2.99 for the right to watch a film in 24hrs before having it magically disappear from my computer seemed a bit steep, but I did want to give the service a try. I ended up renting Brian’s Song, a film that I’ve been meaning to see for years now.
The download was pretty quick (I think about 10 minutes for a 700+MB file). Once the file was in iTunes, I had a couple of different viewing choices. I could transfer it to my video iPod and watch it on that; I could watch it on my computer; or I could watch it via Apple TV. I don’t have Apple TV and didn’t feel like hunkering down over my Nano for an hour and a half, so I tried watching it on my computer.
Tried being the operative word there.
No matter what I did, I couldn’t get the damn movie to play! I thought if I clicked on the file, it would automatically open in QuickTime or something, but nothing happened. I tried searching the iTunes store for a Help section regarding watching movies, but that turned up nothing. I couldn’t even find any helpful tips by running a general Google search. I eventually got the audio to start playing, but never did get a picture to come up.
So I had to transfer the file to my iPod and watch it on that. This method worked perfectly; however, as I said before, that wasn’t really the way I wanted to watch an entire movie.
Twenty-four hours after I first pressed “Play” on the movie file, it expired from my iPod and vanished without a trace. (BTW, you have 30 days to start watching the movie after you download it, otherwise it’s gone.)
Overall, I wasn’t too impressed by the movie rental aspect of iTunes. Perhaps I’m missing an obvious point here, but not being able to view the rented flick on my PC was a major hassle. I doubt I’ll ever rent another movie from this source again.
One of the keys to having a successful online shopping experience is to do your research before spending any money. The best way to do this is by checking for reviews of both the product you plan to buy as well as the merchant you plan to purchase from. This could end up saving you a lot of grief in the long run by steering you away from faulty products or disreputable sellers.
For example, I know a lot of people like to buy diet supplements and pills online because of availability and price. However, there are so many products on the market today that it can be tough figuring out which ones are worth paying for and which ones aren’t. So my advice is to read a few reviews before plunking down your money for Leptitrex, Phentermine, or similar items. ResearchDietPills.com is a good place to start for finding these types of reviews, and you can go on from there.
As someone who has been disappointed with many diet supplement purchases in the past, I can tell you that I’ve saved a lot of money by reading reviews first!
I just read that Steve & Barry’s, the clothing store that sells almost everything on its shelves for less than $10, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. According to Wikipedia, Steve & Barry’s had been seeking about $30 million to fund operations since late June, but couldn’t raise that much capital.
The AP reports that Steve & Barry’s officials claim the sluggish economy has impacted their ability to borrow, so filing for Chapter 11 seemed like the next best move.
Although I’ve never actually shopped at Steve & Barry’s, I’ve heard some good things about the store. They actually sell (sold) quality products even though everything was so cheap. They’re a big hit in college towns, as you might expect, but their strategy of setting up shop in struggling malls (for the cheaper rent) seems to have come back to haunt them.
Hey guys, those malls are struggling for a reason, the reason being that few customers go there!
I could have sworn that just a couple of months ago, I read a different article about Steve & Barry’s that said the chain was going strong and were even looking to open more stores. That article, which I can’t find now (of course), stated that the bad economy was actually a plus for Steve & Barry’s, as more people would be looking for bargains.
Oh, the irony.
Web hosting is one of those services that you never actually think about until you need it. It’s only after you decide to create a website that you start researching hosting options, at which point you’re positively bombarded with information. There are so many different services and hosting packages available these days that it’s practically impossible for a newcomer to sift through all the offers to find the best one — which is where Web Hosting Geeks comes in handy.
WebHostingGeeks.com is a site that provides comprehensive ratings and reviews of all the top web hosting companies out there. Web Hosting Geeks goes beyond simple price comparisons to break down exactly what you’ll be getting for your money, such as data transfer limits, web space, email accounts, and even Google AdWords credits. Moreover, you can also read comments and reviews from actual customers to see what it’s really like to deal with a particular hosting company.
In addition, Web Hosting Geeks has published a number of informative articles to help would-be customers navigate through the process as painlessly as possible. For example, their article about How to Choose the Best Web Hosting Service is a great place to start if you’re doing this for the first time.
All I can say is I wish I had found WebHostingGeeks.com back when I signed up for hosting a couple years ago. If I’d had access to all the information on that site, I likely would have gone with a different provider and would have saved myself some money along the way. Now I just have to wait until my current contract is finished before switching over.
Don’t make the same mistake I did. Be sure to check out WebHostingGeeks.com to discover the best and most affordable hosting package for your needs!