Coinstar

I seem to collect loose change. As a habitual swiper of plastic I rarely have a chance to use coins. Over the past several months I amassed a significant quantity of change. While watching Modern Marvels I learned of Coinstar. I had seen the Coinstar machines in various locations nearby but had never used one -- until today. Coinstar machines count your loose change (just pour it in and watch the numbers climb). Those coins are sorted inside the machine, removed by an armored truck service (such as Brinks) and taken to one of their processing facilities to be recounted and repackaged for redistribution to banks, retail establishments, and more. Normally, Coinstar charges 8.9 cents per dollar counted/accepted (the machine kicks out damaged or unrecognized coins), but they now offer FREE counting if you use their gift card or eCertificate service. Being a regular customer of Amazon.com I thought I'd give it a try today. So, thank you Coinstar and Amazon.com for converting my $77.85 of loose coins into something I'm more likely to use!

Mimis Cafe

Stephanie and I tried out Mimis Cafe recently for breakfast. In our area there are locations in Hendersonville and Murfreesboro, but they have many others. Great atmosphere! The food was delicious and plentiful. I highly recommend their blueberry muffins which are made with applesauce making them incredibly moist.

The Dark Knight & Hancock

This weekend I saw "The Dark Knight" as well as "Hancock". DK was, in a word, awesome! Christian Bale is the definitive Batman and Heath Ledger is hands-down the best Joker. Bale easily portrays Bruce Wayne in a way that Michael Keaton, Val Kilmer, and George Clooney (was that even worthy of 'Batman' status?) never could. Let's hope he continues the Batman saga and doesn't disappoint with Terminator 4. Ledger's performance as The Joker was evil, dark, unyielding and overall stellar. It's a shame he will no longer be able to give another powerful performance. Dark Knight's two and half hours didn't feel that long thanks to the intense action and steady plot. No spoilers here but one question for my audience -- where can I get one of those Batmobiles?

"Hancock" was a decent movie and worth seeing in the theater (compared to the wasted $17 dropped on "The Happening"). Will Smith was good in this movie and the one-liners were hilarious! Jason Bateman's role was nondescript basically serving as a cast filler to make the story work with Smith and Charlize Theron bringing the brawn and beauty, respectively.

"Across the Universe"

This week I had the pleasure of watching (in Blu-ray goodness) one of the past year's greatest movies -- "Across the Universe".

This movie tells a story of love, war, hope and peace told through the music of the Beatles. Nearly 20 Beatle hits, sung in a myriad of ways, provide one of the most amazing soundtracks I've heard. One scene in particular, centered around 'Let It Be' is one of the most heart-wrenching scenes, depicting the Detroit riots in the early 60's.

I encourage you to make this one of the next movies you see.