What's New With Mick

Tag: television

  • Netflix again

    Back in 2003, we dropped cable TV in order to save money when I was unemployed. When my employment became stable again, I decided against monopolistic and customer-unfriendly Comcast and signed up with DirecTV. Part of the package included a dual-tuner Tivo with which I immediately fell in love. It didn’t take long before I had used up the 50 hours of available space and started to feel the pressure to watch my shows before they disappeared. As a result we dropped our Netflix subscription since we were watching Tivo all the time and never had time for DVDs.

    2009 has brought the advent of the HD age to our household and things are changing in our content consumption. Before I purchased our new LCD TV at Costco, I promised myself that I would not spend a bunch of money after to make all our content HD. In fact, the main reason we got the TV was because of the Xbox. The impending HD switch-over was a consideration but not a big one because DirecTV provides our television content and they will continue to provide the same service for some time.

    (more…)

  • Vital Statistics

    Bike odometer: 2523
    Van odometer: 154364
    Weight lost (in pounds): 0
    Aches & pains: sciatica
    Current reading: My Name Is Red by Orhan Pamuk, Cross-platform GUI Programming with wxWidgets
    Recent listening: Christmas music, Bob Dylan, Tom Waits
    Recent viewing: Bounce, It’s a Wonderful Life, Spurs at Suns, King Corn, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Kingpin, Outback Bowl, The Shining, The Covenant, United 93, The Weird Al Show
    Recent playing: Chain Factor, Galcon, Rock Band
    Recently accomplished: Purchased new TV, Christmas shopping, snow removal, recycling
    Imperative To Do: Get rid of office junk, freecycle, activate new Tivo, clean garage, get rid of MacRenewal Macs, trim bushes, pull blackberries

  • Vital Statistics

    Bike odometer: 2523
    Van odometer: 154292
    Weight lost (in pounds): 0
    Aches & pains: n/a
    Current reading: My Name Is Red by Orhan Pamuk, Cross-platform GUI Programming with wxWidgets
    Recent listening: Radiohead, Tom Waits, Beck, R.E.M., Willy & The Poor Boys by Creedence Clearwater Revival
    Recent viewing: The Hoax, Heroes, Fringe, How I Met Your Mother, Colts at Browns
    Recent playing: Chain Factor, Guitar Hero, Lego Star Wars, Galcon
    Recently accomplished: Quicken Online migration, purchased Xbox 360, Christmas shopping, mouse cleanup & execution
    Imperative To Do: Get rid of office junk, freecycle, activate new Tivo, clean garage, get rid of MacRenewal Macs, trim bushes, pull blackberries

  • Vital Statistics

    Bike odometer: 2523
    Van odometer: 154235
    Weight lost (in pounds): 1
    Aches & pains: n/a
    Current reading: My Name Is Red by Orhan Pamuk, Profiles in Courage by John F. Kennedy, Cross-platform GUI Programming with wxWidgets
    Recent listening: Tom Waits, Leonard Cohen, R.E.M.,
    Recent viewing: Next, Blowout, Indecision 2008, Grindhouse presents Planet Terror, The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, Blood Diamond, Colts at Steelers, Penn State at Iowa, Suns at Rockets, Fringe, Heroes, My Name Is Earl, The Office
    Recent playing: Chain Factor, GlueFO
    Recently accomplished: Cleaned garage enough to fit Scion again, foam recycling, doctor appointment, cat boxes, paid bills, packing for Foster City
    Imperative To Do: Get rid of office junk, freecycle, activate new Tivo, clean garage, get rid of MacRenewal Macs, trim bushes, pull blackberries

  • Vital Statistics

    Bike odometer: 2510
    Van odometer: 154218
    Weight lost (in pounds): 1
    Aches & pains: post-nasal drip (remnants of cold)
    Current reading: My Name Is Red by Orhan Pamuk, Profiles in Courage by John F. Kennedy, Cross-platform GUI Programming with wxWidgets
    Recent listening: R.E.M., NPR Story of the Day, Science Friday, The Jimi Hendrix Experience (Box), This American Life
    Recent viewing: Countdown, The Rachel Maddow Show, The Daily Show, The Colbert Report
    Recent playing: Chain Factor, GlueFO
    Recently accomplished: Blackberry removal, cleaned cat boxes, hazardous waste recycling, apple/pear pickup, garage cleanup & organization, apple & cider delivery
    Imperative To Do: Get rid of office junk, vote, freecycle, activate new Tivo, oil change for van, clean garage, office organization, get rid of MacRenewal Macs, trim bushes, pull blackberries, foam recycling

  • Vital Statistics

    Bike odometer: 2510
    Van odometer: 154057
    Weight lost (in pounds): 4
    Aches & pains: numbness in left leg at times, stye (left eye), sore throat and cough
    Current reading: My Name Is Red by Orhan Pamuk, Profiles in Courage by John F. Kennedy
    Recent listening: Down by the Old Mainstream by Golden Smog, Accelerate by R.E.M., Science Friday, Coverville, DrugMusic
    Recent viewing: The Daily  Show, The Colbert Report, Numb3rs, Meet the Press, Patriots at Chargers, 60 Minutes, Nashville, Made, Dan in Real Life, Presidential Debate
    Recent playing: Chain Factor, GlueFO
    Recently accomplished: Cancelled gym membership, mowed lawn, paid bills, stored air conditioner for the winter, mailed packages
    Imperative To Do: Get rid of office junk, freecycle, activate new Tivo, oil change for van, clean garage, office organization, get rid of MacRenewal Macs, trim bushes, pull blackberries

  • Vital Statistics

    Relatives seen: 30 (approximate)
    Weight lost (in pounds): 0
    Aches & pains: sciatic
    Current reading: My Name Is Red by Orhan Pamuk, Profiles in Courage by John F. Kennedy
    Recent listening: “Grandma music”
    Recent viewing: CBS Morning News, The Fugitive, Presidential debate
    Recent playing: Chain Factor, Spaceward Ho!
    Recently accomplished: Travel to Iowa, birthday celebrations with my birthday uncle, Spam Museum (outside only)
    Imperative To Do: Return home, cancel gym membership, get rid of office junk, freecycle, activate new Tivo, oil change for van, clean garage, office organization, get rid of MacRenewal Macs

  • David Letterman Reacts to John McCain Snub

    Dave’s point about having Palin continue the campaign is a good one. Of course, they are too scared to put her in front of the press.

  • Vital Statistics

    Bike odometer: 2510
    Van odometer: 154024
    Weight lost (in pounds): 2
    Aches & pains: numbness in left leg at times, dry left eye in the morning
    Current reading: My Name Is Red by Orhan Pamuk, Profiles in Courage by John F. Kennedy
    Recent listening: All Hope Is Gone by Slipknot, Quadrophenia, Pink Floyd
    Recent viewing: Superbad, No Country For Old Men, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Countdown, The Rachel Maddow Show
    Recent playing: Chain Factor, Spaceward Ho!, foosball (at Yahoo!)
    Recently accomplished: Prepped “new” computers for Thomas & Graham, installed Tina’s bike computer, Craigslist ad for Thomas/Graham, freecycle, Goodwill runs, booked trip to Iowa, book trip to Foster City, returned cans, office organization, returned Xbox
    Imperative To Do: Cancel gym membership, get rid of office junk, freecycle, activate new Tivo, oil change for van, clean garage, office organization, get rid of MacRenewal Macs

  • No Heroics

    This upcoming sitcom on British television looks fun: