Tired of sitting at home and flipping channels on the telly? But what else do you do when friends are busy? Sigh. Life sure is unfair. Or, wait, is it really so?

If you are a movie buff you can make the most of those long summer afternoons. Visit Nathan’s Rock Salad (Nungambakkam), pick out the cool new Hollywood flick and opt for a “time-pass” staring at Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock falling in love. Hollywood not your calling? Never mind; chose a Bollywood thriller and spend the rest of the afternoon on the edge of the seat, wondering what’s going to happen next. If you do not have the patience sitting through a two-hour-long melodrama, not to worry. Nathan’s shelves are filled with TV soaps as well. Catch up on “Grey’s Anatomy” or “Sex and the City”. If you are into foreign languages, experiment with the elaborate section.

Got a weekend lined up babysitting your brat of a brother? Make the most of this torturous time with action-packed movies from Cinema Paradiso (RA Puram). Grab a DVD of the latest flick in English, Hindi or Tamil for a reasonable price and let the weekend roll by. It has an awesome collection that will have your head reeling for more.

Lurking about this area, you will also find Tic Tac (Raja Annamalai Puram), a snazzy movie rental store, with a mind-blowing collection of movies and soaps. Romantic comedies, thrillers, cartoons, you name it and they take it out for you. Just make sure you return the movies before the due date, else you will have to shell out a fine.

If you are a single in the city and find the evenings after office pressing down heavy on you, just grab a membership at RIC library (Nungambakkam). Rain or shine, their doors are open all the time, for you to relish Spielberg movies back to back or catch up on your favourite "Godfather" series for the nth time. Dive into this reel pool and enjoy the ride.

So what are you waiting for?