Movies Seen per Year

I haven't been seeing a lot of films lately, at least not in the theater, and now, I notice, not even on video. Reasons? There are probably many--lack of time being one. But another is how much films in the theater cost (too much, in my view). And still another is probably my switch, this year, to DSL, which now allows me to stream stuff--I end up watching stupid random stuff online (TV shows, home cat videos, skits, speeches, vlogs) and sometimes the occasional movie (without even venturing to the video store). Here's how the number of films each year stacks up:

The 2011 total for theater movies went up as high as it did mostly because of the return of the French film festival to campus--probably the last one we'll have, since the professor sponsoring it was tired of doing it. Cheap foreign movies--it was great. The theater movies total this year was zero until the fall, when my friend Al started asking me to accompany him to a few films.

Percentage of Bands I've Seen Live in My CD Collection

What percentage of bands contained in my CD collection have I seen live? Here's how it breaks down:

People I've Been Compared With

I've been compared with seven people that I can remember: Woody Allen, Jim Carrey, Todd Solendz, Orel Hershiser, John Malkovich, the Peter McNichol character on Allie McBeal, Michael Stipe, and David Bilowus. The latter is a "church" celebrity (a chorale director), not one most people would know outside my faith. McNichol's character probably does have a similar personality, and I'm not terribly bothered by that. I think the only comparison I was ever flattered by was Malkovich--he's a kind of attractive guy.

Anyway, if we break this down by what these people actually do, what they're famous for, acting of course comes out at number 1, and it's the profession most in the public eye, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised.

Entertainment Spending 2011 versus 2002

I was thinking I don't go to as many concerts as I used to and that I more often am prone to just have a drink than to pursue any other form of entertainment, and the following graph of my entertainment spending this year from January to June confirms it. In fact, I haven't spent money on a single concert (though I can think of at least two free ones I've been to).

Movies appear on here quite a bit, but that's all from January and February, during which the French film series was occurring here in Athens, which skews the numbers upward accordingly. Last year, sans the series, I watched fewer than one film a month.

Dancing is here because there were some cheap lessons available that I was taking, but alas that's moved across town, and I'm not motivated enough to drive to them, so those numbers will likely drop off in the second half of this year.

Also not on here--coffee, or rather tea (since I hate coffee). It's a rarity, but still, I usually indulge in a trip to the coffee shop at least a few times in the winter.

Games includes things like bowling, pool, foozball, and so on.

This is all different from shortly after I moved here, or so I think. Let's see. Here's how the dynamics play out in 2002 from January to June.

Surprisingly I did spend less at bars in 2002, but only slightly (around 10 percent). Overall entertainment spending has decreased by 28 percent when comparing the first six months of 2002 and 2011.