Reviews by jmd123

jmd123 says "Do we really want our sociopaths to have feelings?" about Dexter

jmd123 — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 03:29:33 GMT

It took me a while to decide, after seeing the first episode, if I wanted to invest the time in watching the series (I ordered it from Netflix), and I'm glad I did. I'm not an eye-for-an-eye type, so I don't like the killing; however, the relationship between the father and foster son has been interesting because it raises questions. In flashbacks, we learn the father, who is a police officer, recognizes the boy is a sociopath and trains him to survive (not get caught) by faking normal social behavior and killing only people who "deserve it" (one of the challenging discussion points).

Actually, Dexter doesn't fit in, and his struggle to navigate normal social situations suggests (softly, and sometimes with direct references) that perhaps Dexter is more average (and "normal" people darker) than his father led him to believe. By the end of the first season, there are other questions that arise about the morality of what the foster father did, who he was really serving with this "training"......

jmd123 says "Click and Pull Good Idea but Needs Improvement" about Sam's Club

jmd123 — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 12:03:59 GMT

I was excited about the concept of having my shopping ready for my husband to pick up on his way home from work (it takes forever to explain every product detail and location); however, although the shopping was easy online, there are several kinks Sam's Club needs to work out before I would want to use this service again.

1. The search feature is inconsistent. There are items I know the store carries, yet often it takes some creative key word selection to bring up the product. I do appreciate the shopping list feature; once I find the product, I store it there.

2. I read somewhere that Wal-Mart and Sam's Club are trying to be eco-friendly, so why do they wrap the cart in plastic? Even if you select only a few products, they wrap the whole basket in plastic. Even though you can check the cart with the list and even though they also have someone at the door check your cart with your receipt, they wrap the cart in plastic. And you get two plastic-wrapped carts if you also ordered something......

jmd123 says "Convenient and economical alternative to car purchase or rentals" about Zip Car

jmd123 — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 20:32:30 GMT

Living in a bicycle-friendly town like I do, I can live without the hassles and expense of owning a car because I use Zipcar for mega-buying and out of town adventures. Zipcar takes care of the maintenance and insurance and gives a generous allowance for gas (they provide a gas card and up to 180 miles per 24-hour reservation). It's also fun having a variety of cars to drive; most in my university town are compact, but there is also an SUV when needed.

I've been very pleased with their service. The website, zipcar.com, is informative and easy to use, and when you register your mobile phone, they make it even easier with less buttons to push and message subscriptions you choose. When I called customer service with a question about a promotion, they were friendly, helpful, and solved the issue (which came from another vendor).

The services seem well thought out, for example, resources are available online, in the car, over the phone, and even on your membership card. Reservations are easily......

jmd123 says "A well rounded home viewing movie" about Stardust

jmd123 — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 17:19:48 GMT

As I know others do, I categorize films/dv into whether they are worth seeing at the theatre. I enjoyed this film; however, I put it into the watch-at-home category. This categorization is not automatically a negative; I watch and enjoy a lot of movies at home.

The film has appealing special effects, but the sweeping expanses, which are lovely, seemed "seen a lot recently" rather than fresh, and not enough to warrant a theatre. This comment may stem from the relatively large amount of films with special effects I view. Other scenes were more unique and appreciated.

The characters, especially the number and variety of women (plenty of evil, in various degrees, shapes and ages as well as some good "guys," too), pleased me. I got an Inspector Lyndley fix too, which was a special delight (he's a PBS Mystery character), and one of the evil sisters looked just like my mother-in-law (well, not exactly, but it was fun comparing!).

The movie also has some subtle humor, which I enjoyed. Overall, it......