Summer "Slacker Solutions"

I’m not much of an outdoorsman during the summer; it’s far too hot. The way I see it, a cold climate is preferable to a sweltering one, since, in the cold, you can always put on another sweater. You can only get so naked in the heat.

As a result of holing up in the shade of my living room for most of the summer, there’s been an especially driving need to entertain myself. Seeing as how I work at The News Record, there’s not much money to spare outside of the necessities. This is where the Internet comes into play.
 

HULU: This website has made cable television completely obsolete to me. Recently, I was house sitting for my aunt, who owns a gigantic television. After channel surfing for less than an hour, I was bored. As an alternative to hours of mindless, idiotic TV programming, I spent a bulk of that time with a recliner pulled up to the computer desk, where I was able to watch whatever I wanted from approximately 2,000 programs, television series and feature films. You can also watch trailers for upcoming productions, music videos, video game reviews and much more.

Some recommended viewings on Hulu.com:

“Zatoichi: The Blind Swordsman” – The story of a man who wanders feudal Japan, this is a classic tale of the blind, masterless-samurai known as Zatoichi. There are currently 18 chapters of Zatoichi’s tale available on Hulu, each clocking in at approximately one and a half hours. With approximately 27 hours of Zatoichi to watch, there’s no time to get forlorn with summer boredom.

“Shin-Chan” –  This updated, Americanized version of the Japanese anime is dark and seriously hilarious. Produced by Funimation, Shin-Chan focuses on a 5-year-old boy named Shin Nohara and his family, friends, neighbors and teachers. With little common sense and an overactive imagination, Shin’s antics are a source of befuddlement and joy. 52 half-hour episodes are on Hulu.com.

NETFLIX: Honestly, I don’t pay even for Netflix, which has a monthly fee starting at $4.99 that allows you to rent one DVD at a time and watch only 2 hours of streaming content a month (not recommended). Paying $16.99 monthly allows you to rent three DVDs at a time and watch an unlimited amount of streams. My roommate has Netflix and I’ve been using his name to watch streaming television shows and movies all year. Suckers. If Hulu is a cheap date, then Netflix is a classy whore. Aside from being able to rent DVDs through them, the bigger perk (in my humbly overstated opinion) is definitely the online content.

Some recommended viewings on Netflix:

“Avatar: The Last Airbender” – If you plan to see the film adaptation, it’s absolutely essential to watch the cartoon series. Netflix has all three chapters (61 half-hour episodes) of this animated epic. Martial arts, magic users known as benders who control the elements, flying six-legged bison; this show is one of the best cartoon series available… and to think Nickelodeon is responsible for something beyond decent.

“Dead Snow” – For zombie aficionados, this is a strange treat. “Dead Snow” is a Norwegian film about a group of friends vacationing in Norway’s mountainous region, only to discover they’ve disturbed a platoon of Nazi zombies hungry for flesh. “Dead Snow” is funnier than it is scary, which makes it a perfect zombie film for a relaxed evening in with friends.