Why are video stores gone?

Why did the video store go the way of the dodo? The answer might surprise you. Who remembers the old Blockbuster and Movie Gallery stores that dotted the streets? Who remembers going out on a Friday night perusing the aisles for a movie then picking up a pizza and bringing it home?

If you were a child in the 90's or earlier you probably went to the video store to pick out a movie to watch on the weekend or for your families movie night. I distinctly remember going to the video store almost every week I was at my mom's to pick something up for Saturday night viewing pleasure.

The video store became a safe haven for my childhood and it has been a place i look back on often. It had it's own unique atmosphere and it's own smell especially back when they were filled with VHS tapes instead of DVDs and Blu-rays. An important institution of the weekend and of the family.

Sadly it has all but disappeared.

At Blockbuster's peak in 2004 it had over 9,000 stores across the United States. At Movie Gallery's peak it operated around 4,700 stores. Both, along with smaller chain stores, made up the video store landscape.

Where did it all go wrong?

Three things: Netflix, Redbox, and Lease agreements.

Being more convenient for customers putting the movies directly into their mailbox then right onto their screens with streaming service in the case of Netflix and getting rid of the need to interact with a associate or actually walk the aisles in the case of Redbox, made it hard for Blockbuster to compete.

But what do Lease agreements have to do with it?

There is a third video store that I visited as a child called Family Video. It has existed since 1974 and is eleven years older than Movie Gallery and Blockbuster both opening in 1985.

Family Video however did not disappear like the other two power houses. They still exist in the Midwest from Michigan to Kentucky and there is one not five minutes from my old house.

How did it survive while the others went under? The big reason is like I've stated above, Lease agreements.

Unlike Blockbuster, Family Video owns all of it's buildings, they don't lease them. When Netflix started to steal the market share from Blockbuster the lease holders started to pull the leases from the company forcing them to close some of their stores. That coupled with not being able to sustain their many stores and compete with Netflix, Blockbuster filed for bankruptcy in 2010.

They were then bought out by Dish Network who then closed all remaining stores, save a handful.

Family Video, being family owned and operated and franchised since 1974 is not subjected to such strife. They don't have leases and they now they don't really have any competition for that, what some would say, antiquated market.

Their business model also has them teaming up with Pizza restaurants such as Marco's Pizza, giving the restaurant part of the building, effectively turning it into a Video/Pizza Hybrid store. (Which by the way was an idea I had ten years ago but thought it'd be stupid now a days)

So coupled with the convenience of Netflix, not being able to compete with online services, and having the rug pulled out from under them, Blockbuster and other's like them fell to the way side.

I can only hope that Video Stores become enough of a retro novelty that they come back like Vinyls have in music or how fashion trends shift back to the past.

As always.

Keep reading. Keep learning.

Why doesn't money-made equal quality? (Movies)

What does "the #1 movie in America" mean and why does every movie seem to get that title?

We've all heard the movie commercials spouting out how this movie or that movie is the "#1 movie in america!" But what does that even mean?

The short and sweet of it is, that movie is the highest box office draw for that week or weeks. For example the new Ride Along 2 was the #1 movie in America its first week in the theater but it wasn't as well received with critics and viewers. It only ranked 15% with critics and 50% with audiences on Rotten Tomatoes.

The #1 movie in America should surely be better than this right?
Not when your metric is money made.

A good example of the dichotomy between what is good and what is perceived as being good is the Oscars.

Did you see the movie that won Best Picture? Need a recap of what was up for Best Picture? Here you go - Oscar Nominees 2016

Personally I  hadn't heard of Spotlight before that night. Why is that?

The winner Spotlight was not hailed on TV as the #1 movie in America for possibly two big reasons. It was released the same weekend as Spectre (007) and it was also a limited release. And yet it was given the award for the Best Picture at the most prestigious movie awards ceremony. I don't recall any awards for Spectre.

So while these commercials can be annoying they really hold no water beyond a monetary value. The title of #1 movie in America doesn't hold any weight for Oscar contending. And isn't that what we want for our movies? Big shiny awards?

As always.

Keep reading. Keep learning.

Have you heard of ASMR? What is it?

Why do certain sounds make us feel tingly? Why do certain sights fill us with sudden emotion?

Have you ever been watching a movie, witnessed a moving scene and were immediately filled with a rush of tingles or vibrations through your body? Have you ever felt this while being whispered to by a lover? Not a sexual feeling mind you, but a feeling of calm wash over your body. Or maybe even an urge of some strong emotion or euphoria?

What I speak of is called ASMR or Autonomous sensory meridian response. This is when certain stimuli trigger a feeling of euphoria in your body. It can feel like a tingling sensation that travels down your neck, or a shudder or chill that goes through your core. 

For me ASMR is triggered by strong scenes of emotion in film, such as King Theoden's speech in Return of the King, the Battle of Cowpens in The Patriot, or the scene in the television show Dragon Ball Z when a character becomes stronger with a burst of energy. 

Each instance showered me with a strong emotional response. But what causes it? 

Frankly, not much is known about this phenomenon that has only really been a talking point in the public eye for about six years. 

Most people describe having felt this sensation since childhood from varying stimuli but had no name for it. 

Some stimuli include, listening to soft spoken speech, hand movements, certain sounds (crinkling, crunching or scratching) and being in close proximity to other people in conjunction with these. For example many ASMR Roleplayers on sites such as YouTube describe getting haircuts, doctor and dental visits, as well as personal attention from a significant other as being stimulating experiences.

ASMR Videos have grown in number substantially over the past four years as new content creators seek to help viewers with stress, anxiety, and depression. By creating soothing, softspoken ASMR tingle inducing videos, that calm and relax the listener. 

I've been listening to these types of videos for years and they always help me in reducing my stress and unwinding.

If you're interested in viewing some ASMR videos here are some of my recomendations - 
GentleWhispering
MassageASMR
HeatherFeatherASMR

As Always 

Keep reading. Keep learning. 

What's in a dream?

Why do dreams recycle old faces and names? Why does the brain drudge up old feelings when in the waking world they haven't had sway in years? How do I dream of genie?                 


Hello everybody! Do you ever wake up from a dream and wonder why you had it? Why did you brain spit out those weird images? Why a crush from high-school starts talking to you in your subconscious? 

When I was young I used to believe that if you were in my dreams you were there for a reason. My subconscious mind was trying to tell me something and I had to listen. I also used to think that if I was in their mind the same was true. Thinking about one another in the silence of sleep meant that we needed to connect in the day. Try to make something happen.

As my years went on though I learned more about dreams and the mind itself. Turns out your dreams, research is always forthcoming, are used to recycle your thoughts from your conscious thinking and to redistribute your memory. Kinda like computer memory defragmentation. 

Dreams held your mind in coping with stress and loss, rebuilding the brain's pathways, and giving your conscious mind a break from the heavy lifting of wakeful thinking. 

As you drift into sleep your brain transitions through different phases or stages of consciousness until you hit phase 4 sleep also called REM (rapid eye movement) sleep. In this phase your brainwaves go through a change and start emitting different wavelengths. 

All of our dreaming is done during REM sleep. 

Imagery appears, certain people appear, certain ideas appear. All with no real significance or order, or so it seems. Study into dreams and the human consciousness has been a point of interest since the days of the Egyptians. Dream interpretation has been the major study point for famous philosophers as well, such as Freud or Faraday. Looking into the inner workings of the human mind, conscious or subconscious, has always brought about more questions than answers. 

Why did I have a dream about a girl I haven't talked to in years? Was it just memory waste being pushed to the forefront? Or have I been subconsciously thinking about her or girls in general from my past and my brain brought her image forward? Or was I right all along back in school, should I try to pursue this with her?

Doubtful.

Dreams are hypothesized to do many things. Real and surreal from transporting our bodies across dimensions, letting us speak with the dead, showing us the future, or the past. Shining a light onto a path we need to follow. Or showing us the visage of our apparent soul mate. They let us speak with God or let us become gods for a night. The expanses of our brain and the mystery's within are boundless. 

Perhaps one day we will be able to transfer our brain waves to a viewing screen and finally see with waking eyes what our brains are seeing in the night. Or maybe we'll finally unlock the true purpose of such activity only evolution can explain. One can hope and dream.

Until then I'll silently talk to people from my past, fly in the open sky and dance with the proverbial devil that is wishful thinking related to prospective futures. Hoping some of these will come true.

As always. 

Keep reading. Keep dreaming. Keep learning. 

How many pillows should you sleep with?

Why do I always wake up with a stiff neck? Is it my pillow? Or is it me?

Hello again. Do you ever wake up with a sore neck? Or just feel sore in general after what is supposed to be a "good nights sleep"?

I tend to wake up feeling sore in my neck more times than I care to count and recently I've been wondering what's to blame. Is it my pillow? My bed? Or me?

Two years ago I bought a brand new bed from Ashley's' Furniture Home Store and thought, "Finally all my sleep woes will be over." I had been sleeping on a mattress that was 20 years past its prime and was frequently plagued by back pain and fatigue. I figured it was because my mattress wasn't comfortable enough for me.

So I spent the money ($1500) and got a new pillow top that was slightly firm and thought, "Yes! I'll finally sleep well."

Sadly, my problems weren't fixed overnight. My body had to adjust to the new bed and I didn't get a real good night sleep for a few months. But after that I thought I was in the clear, no more sore mornings.

That was not to be the case. Stupid ole me forgot one important thing. I needed new pillows to go with my new bed.

I've been using the same pillows for as long as I can remember. They are thinner than a fall jacket and have no more oomph. Probably why I usually double them up or fold them over to get any comfort from them. Turns out to be safe you should replace your pillows every two years.

Great, I'll replace them then. But how many should I use?

We all need different things from our beds and pillows, so what I need won't be the same for you, but let's see what we can find out.

Pillows come in more shapes, sizes, and materials than ever before. Originally used only by the wealthy, pillows were filled with feathers or straw or in some cultures were solid pieces with fabric over top of it.

Over time and many changes we see pillows now filled with cotton, wool, down, beads, polyester, or foam, and are used not only for the head but the lower back, leg support and for the propping up of limbs. (There are also decorative pillows, body pillows, neck pillows and others but this conversation is strictly about bed pillows)

While firmness and size vary, it's hard to know what kind to use for yourself without testing all of them out first. (Probably why I've been using the same pillows for so long.)

You might be asking, "Does my sleeping position matter?"

Yes, it does. When you sleep on your back, stomach or side a different level of support is needed, to make sure your spine and neck stay in alignment. Back sleepers needing a medium firmness pillow to contour the neck, stomach sleepers needing a softer pillow for support and side sleepers needing a firmer pillow to keep the spin in alignment.

As I sleep on my back most now, I guess that means I need a medium firmness. But how do I know what medium is? And what filler should I get?

Knowing what the firmness is, is rather simple since most pillows have their firmness on the packaging. And sites online will let you choose how filled you want it. That is easy enough.

For the filler it comes down to how long you want the pillow and how much you want to spend.

This list breaks down the advantages, disadvantages and price points for multiple pillow types. I'll go over a few.

Down pillows are soft but they require constant fluffing to maintain shape and are costly. They last longer than polyester pillows (replaced at 2 years) but not much longer.

Memory Foam pillows last over 15 years if kept in good condition. They hold their shape and offer great support for back sleepers. (Yes!) They are however very expensive. (No!)

Polyester pillows are cheap, easy to clean, and did I mention cheap. Although they don't last very long (2 years remember) and don't offer much in the way of initial support. However they can be bent in half.

"But wait, how many should I have?"

I used to think I needed two pillows to sleep. I had done it for so long I assumed it was okay. The problem was I had the wrong pillows and they were long since useless for support and comfort. All it should take is one pillow suited for your comfort depending on your sleep position and your body contour.

That's it. Just one. That is, for your neck. People do choose to use pillows for their feet, for their back and so on. And that is okay, just make sure the pillows you use increase your comfort level. Not decrease it.

Personally, I'd spring for the more expensive reliable pillow since we spend about a third of our life sleeping. Why not spend the money on getting the most comfortable equipment for that practice? A good night's sleep can shape your whole day. No one wants to always wake up on the wrong side of the bed.

As always.

Keep reading. Keep learning.

What is Meditation and why should you try it?

Why is Yoga so big yet Meditation hasn't fully caught on in the west? What benefits does Meditation have?

Hello everyone. I'm here today to talk a little bit about the practice of meditation and mindfulness. A practice widely followed by peoples of the eastern religions Buddhism and Hinduism. 

Now I'm not here to prescribe a religious doctrine or ask anyone to join a temple. I'm simply here to shine some light on this rather obscure practice. 

Most of you probably do, have done or know someone who has done yoga. Yoga, for those who don't know, is a set of exercises that strengthen the core, improve balance, relieve stress and improve flexibility. All very beneficial for the human body. But why has Yoga become so popular a practice?

Perhaps it has to do with its rather immediate and visible show of benefits. After a few sessions of yoga you can feel yourself becoming more flexible or balanced. With someone like meditation the benefits aren't so easily seen. 

Where yoga is a physical exercise and decompression, meditation is a mental exercise and decompression. 

Taking 5, 10 or even 30 minutes out of a day to exercise is normal; some people would even say it is routine. But how often do we take time out to do nothing and just breathe?

Meditation was originally practiced for religious transcendence and deeper meaning of the universe. It has been practiced for thousands of years, originating in prehistoric India. From India it became a practice in most of Southeast Asia as  Buddhism and Taoism spread in the east. 

Now it has broken from its religious roots to become a mental health practice the world over and yet it hasn't seen the same popularity as yoga in the western world. 

Meditation in its simplest form is a set of breathing exercises and mental practices to relieve stress and to the help the mind become unclouded. According to the Mayo Clinic it has far reaching benefits which include reduced stress levels, helping cope with depression and even help with sleep.

Students involved in a mindfulness program reported reduced stress, anxiety and depression after six months of the program.

Mindfulness/Meditation can change the shape of your brain and help with mental cognition.

According to a documentary done by NHK, 47% of our day is spent on mind wandering, where our thoughts are on the past and future instead of on the present. When this happens stressful events are multiplied by our own imagination and cause increased levels of stress. The stress hormone Cortisol is triplicated when under chronic stress. This causes brain cell death, memory loss, and emotional swings.

By doing meditation for 30 mins a day you can greatly reduce "mind wandering" and chronic stress induced Cortisol levels.

So let's break out the incense, sit criss-cross applesauce, and start chanting mantras!

Don't have incense? Don't think you can sit like that anymore? What's a mantra you ask?

Thankfully we don't need anything special to practice meditation. All it takes is a comfortable seat, about thirty minutes of time, and no distractions. This might sound impossible but how often are you sitting down watching TV, or spending an hour on your phone playing Candy Crush? If you translate that time into meditation you will soon feel the benefits.

"How will sitting here doing nothing help me?"

That's the thing you aren't doing "nothing". In meditation you concentrate on your breathing, let go of intrusive thoughts and just let your mind slow down from running 80 miles a minute.

So, take a seat in comfortable chair or even lie down. close your eyes, put on some soothing music, and just breathe. Or better yet there are guided meditations online for free. Many of which walk you through breathing exercises and visualizations.

It's rather simple once you take the time to try it out but just like everything else it requires discipline. Adding it to your routine, just like working out, will help you stay on a schedule.

So the next time you feel overwhelmed and stressed out by work or life, take a second to chill out and breathe. Once you make a habit of it, it will become easier and easier to unwind.

As always.

Keep reading. Keep learning. 

Why don't Americans travel?

Why don't Americans travel as much as the British?

Hello everyone! Matt here again and this time I'm bringing up a subject that has only recently piqued my interest.

This past summer I worked at a camp with a group of people from Europe and other places around the world. While we worked, one subject seemed to come up a lot. Travel. Where they wanted to go after camp let out, where they had been in Europe or Asia, and where I had traveled. Sadly I could only answer with a "nowhere" to their great surprise.

"Why haven't you been anywhere? Don't you have your passport?"
To which I would also reply, "No, I don't." To their even greater surprise.

After the end of camp my new found friends proceeded to travel across the US while I visited family in the area then promptly went home. They visited Boston, NYC, Philly, Miami, Orlando, DC, Chicago, LA, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Seattle, and some even traveled to Canada.

One of my closest friends and I talked about her travels as she toured the US for the second time of her life. I mentioned, "You've seen more of the US than I have." Which she responded with, "How? Why don't you travel?"

Which brings us to our question of the day: Why oh why don't Americans travel?

Before we get started you know I have to bring up some numbers.

According to Census results from 2011 83% of people from England & Wales have their passports, when only 46% of Americans have theirs.

Why is it so low in comparison?

A big reason is probably money. Flying might be the safest and fastest way to travel but it isn't the cheapest. I was looking up flights to the UK this year to see my friends I made from camp and one round trip ticket out of Cincinnati was $1400. This is outrageous! In comparison a flight from Manchester, UK to Paris, France is only $130 and a train from London is less than that.

So it's cheaper for Brits to travel. What else?

Time. American's don't have any time. Americans only having an average of 2 weeks of paid vacation when Brits have almost 6 weeks, Brits have a gap year, where  Americans move straight from high-school into college into the workforce. Leaving little opportunity for us to leave and spend time abroad.

We simply don't have the time to travel as much as others do. This in part due to the fact that the rest of Europe is closer for Brits making it easier for them to travel more frequently and to more places.

Americans don't travel abroad because we don't have the time and money. Drew from The Hungry Partier calls bullshit on these excuses for not leaving our own country, while citing more reasons for our lack of travel. But surely we travel our own country right?

Not really.

My good friend that I mentioned before who traveled the US for a month asked me why I haven't personally seen more of the US. And frankly the same reasons apply. Time and Money.

The United States of America is only 200,000 sq mi smaller than all of Europe (including Alaska). There's a lot here to see and a lot of land to cover. While flights to destinations inside the US are cheaper there is still a big fee if you fly to multiple places. My friend said she spent about $5000 on her trip around the US.

Not to say American's don't travel. I know plenty of people who've been to the same places she has at least once. But I also know people that have never left their hometown. Not once in their entire lives (80 years for some of them).

Americans have a problem with leaving their comfort zone. Even to see places inside their own country. People from the south don't venture to the north. People from the east don't venture to the west. Most people from my own community have never left the county they live in. Neither have their parents, or their grandparents. Generations of people living in the same small town not seeing anything.

This seems more prevalent in more rural or southern areas and I think this has to do with their mentality. And the American mentality to the world in general. We don't want to leave our comfort zone.

Issues with other languages, issues with unsafe zones, and a lack of understanding of culture all make travelling abroad seem scary and not worth the trouble.

Now the last thing I want to touch on is Citizenship before I end. A large number of countries accept Dual/Multiple Citizenship, which means you can be the citizen of two or more countries and receive the benefits of both.

While the US does accept Dual Citizenship the government doesn't promote it to its people. In comparison in countries like Switzerland and Australia, multiple citizenship is encouraged. They want their people to travel the world and see more things beyond their borders.

Americans, not all but most, have had a very isolationist stance when it comes to the world. "It's happening over there," "It isn't our problem." "They are a world away."

And it's easy for an American to say, "I can't afford it." or "I don't have the time." and just stay in their small community. While there isn't an issue with wanting to stay in your comfort zone, having a close minded mentality towards travel and the world outside our own walls isn't healthy. Considering how interconnected the world is.

Americans of all ages should strive to see another country, and experience another culture even if it is as close as Mexico or Canada. Leaving the safety of our borders will help us grow as individuals and a community of people that cherishes its relationships with the world.

I got my passport this fall and I plan to have it filled before too long. Here's to joining the minority.

As always.

Keep reading. Keep learning.