1.  Wow!! was it exciting to see Tom Watson nearly win golf’s British open last week.  The 59 year old got closer to winning a major tournament than anyone every had in the history of professional golf.   His accuracy and putting kept him on the top of the leader board all week.  He had about an 11 footer for par to win on 18 and pushed it to the right.    The Open’s 4 hole playoff proved too much for a worn out Watson.   If he had won, this would have been on the highest rungs of the modern sports history ladder.   Now it’s just an almost.

2.  Guaranteed upgrades.   If you absolutely need to buy a new Windows based or Mac computer, NOW, you don’t have to hold off until the new versions of Windows and Mac come out in the Fall.   Many new Windows based computers sold from here forward will offer you a free (plus shipping perhaps) upgrade to Windows 7 in late fall.  Please check before you buy.  All Macs sold between now and late September will offer a $9.99 upgrade to the new OS X 10.6, aka Snow Leopard.   Existing Mac users with OS X 10.5 will be able to upgrade for $29.99

3.  Movie review.   I really enjoyed King of New York (1990) starring Christopher Walken.  A young Wesley Snipes and Lawrence Fishburne also played critical roles.  The film is about the biggest drug lord in New York, Frank White (Walken), who gets out of prison and engages in fierce battles with rival gangs to regain his #1 position.    Unofficial support from elected officials give White an inflated sense of pride as he tries to be a virtuous crime boss.  If you like dark dramas and the eerie sort of characters Walken has played over the years, this film is for you.

If you are wondering where I get all of these films, I don’t bother with Rockbusters or buy the DVDs.  I am a Netflix customer.  I know many of you are as well.  While it is possible to pay a little more and get 2 or 3 DVDs at a time, I am on the 1 DVD at a time plan for $8.99 a month.   This allows me to get one movie shipped to me whenever I want with free postage both ways.  Netflix has distribution centers in Hartford and Worcester, so its usually never more than a day’s wait for a new DVD.  I usually end up renting 7 to 8 DVDs a month on this plan, a terrific value in my book.   Furthermore, with the $8.99 plan, you can watch an unlimited number of movies on Netflix.com.  They don’t have their full collection online, but there are about 12,000 streaming films to choose from.  If you have a laptop or a comfy chair at your desktop — this is perfect.