As some of you might know, I cancelled my Netflix subscription when they practically doubled their price -- just to show them who was boss. I'm sure they don't give a shit because I haven't even received a single "we want you back" email since I quit. Reed Hastings has a plan, and I'm apparently not part of it. I may join again at some point in the future, but right now I figure I'll try RedBox in combination with a few other things. I already have an Amazon prime account so I get that streaming for free. I recently purchased a Roku box that I really like and have subscribed to Hulu Plus, so I'm very close to cutting the cord on regular cable TV. True, Hulu makes you watch commercials, but generally only a single 30 or 60 second spot (for now). It's really amazing to me how un-annoying a single commercial is. Seriously you barely notice it. It makes me realize how out of control regular TV has become.
Just the other day, Amazon announced they are now streaming the entire family of Star Trek shows -- Classic, STNG, DS-9, Enterprise, Voyager, and the movies. I recently finished Wil Wheaton's book, Memories of the Future Vol. 1, in which he looks back on the first season and grades each episode after making merciless fun of each with some truly hilarious commentary. When I heard that they were streaming all this, I decided to watch the first episode of STNG to see if it could possibly be as bad as he remembered it to be. It was, in fact, horrible, and other than the fact that they introduced Q, the main highlight for me was that they separated the saucer section from the engines and guns. I am pretty sure that never happened again as long as the series ran. Before doing that, however, they had to evacuate the families and get them all into the saucer section. During the evacuation, I saw something else that I am pretty sure never happened again in the show, and I, for one, am extremely glad of it, because it was horrible:
WTF is THAT??
Is that what we're going to be wearing in the future? If it is, then just kill me now. I don't want to have to use spray tan on my legs. That actor? I can almost guarantee he spends every day of his waking life just praying none of his friends or family see that shit. That's practically a mini-dress. Or maybe we should call it a mani-dress.
If he worked in Engineering and dropped a wrench by mistake, Geordi would probably herniate himself trying to get to it first just so he didn't have to watch his guy bend over and flash his grundle, because even in the electromagnetic spectrum that would be something you can't unsee.
Also in my search for TV alternatives, I messed around with Boxee. I think it started out as a computer-only thing, but now they have a hardware box like Roku, except it's a really weird shape, it's twice the price and doesn't support Hulu Plus. Last night I was playing around with Boxee for the mac, just to see what was new, and I stumbled on this icon for one of their channels:
At first I thought it was a channel for "Yay! I pooped!" but it turns out it's just an exercise station.
In other news, the wife and I took a trip to Ogunquit Maine with our friends Vidna and Pootie last weekend. We stayed right on Marginal Way and it was awesome. It was an amazing trip and we had some serious fun and I'll tell you about it in a bit. Vidna and Pootie, as usual, took a million pictures. Here's one of my favorites of his and another of hers. And yes, that's me on the rocks. Both of these pictures were taken at one in the morning using nothing but a long exposure and the light of a full moon. It was an amazing night. One more, with a poem our friend Paul wrote.
OK. I think lightning just almost hit my house so I'm gonna shut the computer down for now. Pager duty tomorrow! I can't wait. It makes my life complete.
Sad thing is that a lot of us expats would pay willingly for internet access to netflix, amazon, hula, BBC player,etc, but they don't seem to want our money. Which means that we are forced to resort to piracy. Then the above mentioned companies whine about it, sorry but if they are looking for sympathy, they will find it between shit and syphillis.
ReplyDeleteThank goodness I'm not the only person who noticed the guy in the skirt and thought "WTF?"
ReplyDeleteIt could be worse. They never put Worf in one of those skirts.
I always wondered why Scotty never showed up in a kilt? Of course I always wondered why he (as a good Scot) drank Saurian Brandy, and not Single Malt...
ReplyDeleteI remember a similar faux pas in Babylon 5. I can't remember what season, but the two main (male) characters were going to the loo and chatting at the urinals.
ReplyDeleteBut before they entered the clearly marked men's room, they passed a woman going to the opposite direction.
But seriously, I watched TNG some time ago, and the man in the skirt did make me do a double take.
I just priced the entire NG series - it's ridiculous. But after Gates McFadden left it sucked anyway, so I might just buy the first few seasons. I don't care if it was cheesy, with mani-dresses (and that guy looks better in it than many of the women on that show would have).
ReplyDeleteGorgeous pictures. If we ever get up to the NE, I'm hiring you to plan my itinerary because you always find the most beautiful, peaceful spots. Enjoy your pager duty - more glue might help.
WTF? They can't do better drag queens in the 24th-and-one-half Century?
ReplyDeleteLots of people are cutting the cable. I think unless the big providers get a clue, they're in for some slack times.
ReplyDeletePeace <3
Jay
Rick, yep. That's when they start up with lawsuits to make an example of someone.
ReplyDeleteMike, that hurts my brain-eyes.
Rick, they never put him in one? Never?
Anon, I never saw that show. Worth a rental?
KC - usually I'm ready to start hitting myself in the face with a hammer by the end of the week.
Jay, the next fight is going to be between the ISPs charging more for bandwidth and capping it because everything is moving toward streaming and the "cloud." It's going to be interesting but somehow I think it's going to be the consumers who ultimately get screwed.
If it was up to me, cable TV would get the boot around here, but this is a democracy and not a dictatorship I am told. Aside from some sports programming, there is so little currently being produced for television that I want to see.
ReplyDeleteWhen you said you went to Ogunquit I expected you to mention being terrorized by victims of some evil disease, a possessed dog, etc.
ReplyDeleteThis is my reaction on hearing any of those strange Maine names. I think I read too much Stephen King as a child.
Long time reader, still enjoying it. Thanks!
I dumped cable almost 6 years ago. Huge chunk of money and headaches saved.
ReplyDeleteThose photos, for just having the light of the full moon are gobsmacking fantastic! Most especially the one of the cool dude on the rocks.
We canceled our Dishnetwork awhile back.
ReplyDeleteWith internet sites like sidereel.com and letmewatchthis.us, I can catch every episode of every show in the history of EVER for free. Including new release movies.
Sure, you have to wait until it airs originally and is uploaded, but it usually only takes about an hour after the original air time before its available.
Takes a little finagling, like clicking on other links and closing an occasional pop up, but its worth it.
I cancelled my Netflix account in protest, too... like you, they don't seem to care. Though I did take a bit of satisfaction in seeing that their quarterly earnings dropped in response to people like us. :) I'm sure they'll probably rebound, but for now the drop in profit makes me smile. Is that wrong?
ReplyDeleteHey. We just cut the cord this past month with our Roku already in place. The next day Netflix got all the Star Trek series up on live streaming. Another reason to come back if you're into that. I'm not missing the satellite TV yet. I hooked up my TV to a digital box and antenna too. Reception is a bit iffy, but I'll work on it. At least I can get Fox for the home Bears' games this season, and my kid can get PBS for Sesame Street.
ReplyDeleteThose photos are amazing! I hope women in the future do not find the mani-dress appealing...can you imagine Obama in one? Hee-hee!! Run!!!
ReplyDeleteIt appears that I was mistaken as to Scotty not appearing in a kilt, must have missed those two episodes.
ReplyDeletehttp://memory-alpha.org/wiki/Kilt
They say that the memory is the second thing to go, and buggered if I can recall the first...
The verification word is sanes??? Is there a message there?
Actually they did the saucer-sep. thing in one of the Borg episodes - Commander Ambitious Cutie-legs suggested the idea, which Riker pooh-poohed - then decided to do later anyway, & then took the credit for it. Smooth operator.
ReplyDelete[ /Trek geek]
I ditched my cable over 10 years ago, when F-1 racing went to satellite & Comcast start putting the screws to us. (Yeah, *what* democracy, indeed.) And am about to ditch Netflix too, in protest.
And yes, amazing photos. Thx for sharing!
- Mike in CA
p.s. wheee my Verification word is "medic"...
I live in the sticks my home internet is a hot spot device and I get charged a bucket load for it. I reduced netflix to the disk only option because to stream a movie would kill me. Some day we will join the rest of the world. I'd love a no limit option but its not available where I live now.
ReplyDeleteHoly what the... how did I never notice that man-dress on NextGen? It is pretty hilarious how back then that show seemed so cool, but when you watch the episodes now, you just think... um... what? That was so lame. I don't care, though, really. I still love that show. The pinnacle was the scene where [SPOILER ALERT] Picard was assimilated by The Borg and they did this close-up on his creepy Borg eye and a single tear rolled down. Oh yeah, classic. And am I the only one who wonders if that was just a banana clip from some 80's cheerleader's wardrobe that Geordi wore as his special blind guy visor thingie? I am going to have to read Wheaton's book. I had a major crush on Wesley back in the day. Have you seen his guest spots on Big Bang?
ReplyDeleteI would be interested to hear your "reviews" of the various options for streaming and watching movies, e.g., Hulu, Netflix, Amazon, and such. I am thisclose to cancelling NF, too, as I feel like they pretty much took a big, fat dump on their customers. I cut off cable a few months back to save some bank and ever since have been trying to figure out the best alternatives.
I'm looking forward to reading your book. Bummed, though, cuz I bought it via Whispernet, but it's still not showing up on my Kindle. I just haven't had a chance to look into it yet. Hope the thing isn't broken. :/ Has anyone else happened to mention to you having the same issue?
Think it's time for some more Paul stories... just sayin'. If only he knew how many people have read about him because of your blog. Your buddies' pics are fantastic.
Wow, this comment was long. Sorry!
Oh thank you! My friends had almost convinced me that I had imagined the guy in the skirt on Star Trek. And I could never remember which episode it was on. You've saved my last shred of sanity!
ReplyDeleteJohnny Virgil on the rocks.... Has a nice rythm to it.
ReplyDelete;-)