DD’s End of Summer Round Up, “To be Continued…Edition”

I see from all the TV promos for new shows that the Fall TV season is about to begin.  Which is too bad because it feels like summer was just starting.

As a kid I remember that all my favorite TV shows would end with a thrilling spring finale with a killer cliffhanger.  That way I knew summer had started. The summer would be full of reruns and in the fall all my favorite shows would come back on.

I don’t know about you, but I hate cliffhangers!  And by hate, I mean that I secretly love them.   In my recent library post, I announced my affinity for the TV show Lost.  It seems like every episode ends with a cliffhanger.

I hate it (I love it!!!)

They are so frustrating.  Just when you think everything is going to be wrapped up nicely…BAM! Someone gets shot, drowned, drugged, lost, found, kidnapped, or a million other crazy things that you didn’t see coming.

Keeping us in anticipation for the next installment.

That is the idea I’m shooting for with this round up.  The following were my favorite summer reads that had us coming back for more:

• J Money @ Budgets are Sexy had a two part series on the Confessions of an Online Poker Player.  I really liked these posts.  I’ve never been much of a card shark myself, but I really liked Rounders, and one time while traveling I watched a World Series of Poker Marathon. So these posts brought me right back to the fantasy of making it as a professional gambler.
• Smithee @ Consumerism Commentary asked whether or not Is it Ever Okay to Steal Entertainment. He then revisited the idea a week later. My wife makes her living taking pictures, so we do our best to honor copyrights, because we like it when people honor hers.  But we live in a right click world, so this can be tricky at times.
• JD @ Get Rich Slowly held a two week tryout for potential staff writers. As much as I love GRS, I really liked the 2 weeks of auditions.  That probably speaks for the part of me that loves competition.  After it was done, I kept waiting for the results, “Who was it going to be…”   Told you I hate Cliffhangers.
• The King of the two-parters is Bill Simmons, ESPN’s The Sports Guy. He ended summer with a two part column about a trip he and his friends took to Vegas.  Good times!  Here is Part One & Part Two.
• Brainy @ Pants in a Can took time out from his Mommy blog(j/k) to describe the process of getting some trees removed.  It ended up being a rather interesting five part series.  Check it out:  Part 1, Part 2, part 3, part 4, & part 5.    My favorite was the video & pics in Part 4.

To really hammer the “To be Continued…” point home, allow me to bookend my summer posts with Pearl Jam.

Back in June I gave you some investing advice.  That investment is already paying dividends! Pearl Jam’s new album will be out soon (I’ve already pre-ordered my copy.  The best $13.99 I ever spent!!!)  They currently are on a mini-tour and have released a new video:

At least this way you can’t say that the summer of 2009 didn’t rock!

Until next time,
-DD