Shut Your Mouth, Double Your Money

When I was making my DVD and label last week, one of the things I had to investigate was where I could find an empty case to put them into. As it turns out, it's harder to do than you think, because everyone today is pushing either the slim DVD cases or advocates using a CD case to put movies into. Well, I'm not a big fan of either of those, so I kept an eye out for some generic, empty DVD cases. The staff at the local Wal-Mart, by the way, was less than helpful in my quest. I found a place online to buy them and while 5 cases would only cost me $10, shipping would be another $5. There has to be a store around here that would have them in stock so I don't have to pay to ship a package that would weigh less than a pound.

Anyway, as I was standing in line at another store, I started looking at the crappy items that they put near the registers in an attempt to make you buy something on impulse, hoping you will make it home before you realise that even though you only paid $4 for a full-screen copy of Lord of the Rings, it still wasn't a good deal. That's when it dawned on me: I could just buy a terrible movie, take out the label, toss the DVD and keep the case. I ended up passing because now that I know how easy it is, I feel like I'm about to go on a DVD-making binge and might need a few empty cases. However, was doing the math on the way home and realised that if could get 5 cases for $15, that works out to $3 a case. A bad movie, which I would get only for the case, would cost me $4. So, if these movie studios hadn't spend a single cent on cast, crew, production, editing and marketing, not only would their costs be down, they would be making only $1 less in profit. From that, I must assume the empty case business is booming.

-You ever want to see a holiday party come to a screeching halt? Have a two year-old walk into the room and declare that she can't find her juicy cup. The next 10-15 minutes will feature everyone pausing their conversations to look under tables, chairs, plants, coats and literally crawling on the floor to locate the juice cup, because we couldn't possibly drink out of a blue cup if the green cup is in the house somewhere. As if you needed more proof that the next generation is in charge.

-I wasn't surprised that Ndamakong Suh, the Nebraska defensive tackle, didn't win the Heisman trophy last night. I would say the only surprising fact was that he didn't finish last in the voting. You need to be a defensive force at a glamour position like cornerback to win the Heisman and d-tackles fly too far under the radar to generate the buzz needed to pull of an historic win. It was kind of a weird year for the Heisman, cause it seemed like no one really wanted to distinguish themselves from the rest of the pack. All it took was three good weeks and you were suddenly a Heisman finalist. Contrast that against the last couple of years, when I doubt Suh would have even been invited to New York.