I have no idea

by | May 3, 2011 | Aggravation

I seriously don’t even know why I watch TV any more. 90% of it is crap and the 10% I enjoy usually gets cancelled.

Syfy channel, really? You show wrestling! Honestly, what were you thinking?

Stargate Universe, cancelled.
Southland, cancelled.
Walking Dead, mini-series only, WTF.
BBQ Pitmasters, cancelled.
Special Ops Missions, cancelled.
Solving History, cancelled.
The Colony, not renewed for a 3rd season.

And that’s what I could think of off the top of my head. Don’t even get me started on classics like Firefly, Farscape, Sports Night or the giant cluster fuck with Futurama.

Apprently what the general public “needs” is more shitty semi-reality shows on Discovery and History. There hasn’t been a new episode of Man vs Wild in ages but there’s new Ghost Hunter or Swamp People crap every damn week. Bullshit like Pawn Stars, Ancient Aliens and Monster Quest are allowed to be on TV but the History channel cancels documentary shows like Solving History with Olly Steeds, or History of the Pyramids all the time.

Why do I even watch TV anymore? Seriously. SyFy is right, you’re not allowed to be called SciFi anymore. The History Channel should be changed to just “Paranoia TV” based on how many “End of the World” specials they air. The Discovery Channel could become simply “Reality TV” and just show specials on the dumbest most back-woods morons they can find.

You know what’s in my “series” list on my DVR? Here, I’ll literally copy and paste:

Alaska State Troopers
Archer
Conan
Futurama
MythBusters
NOVA
Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares (BBC, not Fox)
Stargate Universe
The Big Bang Theory
The Daily Show
The Killing
Top Gear
White Collar

The only real standouts in that bunch are Archer, funny adult cartoon on FX, NOVA because it actually still contains science (take notes Discovery Channel!), The Big Bang Theory because nerd humor is still fun, and Top Gear which is always a classic. Mythbusters, Kitchen Nightmares, The Killing and White Collar are all on the bubble and have nearly been deleted from my list. Stargate Universe is cancelled and the others either long running staples (Daily Show) or mild curiosities (Alaska State Troopers).

I could honestly watch 6 channels and be completely happy. American TV, you have completely failed as an institution. I hope you’re happy. Enjoy your ad-revenue in hell.

I’m going to go read a book. FYI, Spin by Robert Charles Wilson, very solid book. Thanks for the recommendation Jason!

Budget Conscience

by | May 3, 2011 | Games

Having a baby drastically changes both your free time and your budget. So much so that I’m actively evaluating what games to purchase this year far in advance of their actual arrival. Battlefield 3 for example, is not only an instant purchase, but also something worth upgrading the TV and/or PC for. That’s a given. Other AAA titles are still worthy of a purchase, but it’s hard to justify getting ALL of them. For example, this month sees the release of Brink, which I’ve been waiting patiently for for months, and LA Noire, which is supposed to be quite fantastic and a perfect follow up to Rockstar’s Red Dead Redemption, which was my personal “Game of the Year” last year. Rockstar has really grown up as a company. Both of those games hit in less than two weeks. Do I purchase them immediately and expand my “pile of shame” (the pile of games I’ve yet to complete – Fable 3 I’m looking at you!), or do I wait the obligatory 2-3 weeks for them to drop in price (and player base) and miss out on potential multiplayer goodness. Or, is that an illusion? Will people continue to play multiplayer games in a diminishing community after tepid releases, resulting in the “seriously, are there really only 2 servers running for this?” scenario. Or does that really matter if your friends are playing it as well, which they won’t be.

Sadly, I don’t have a group of gamers to play with any more. Obviously I count all of you as friends, and a good number of you have an Xbox, but we don’t really game “together”, and that’s ok, I’m just pointing out that my motivation to play multiplayer games is unfortunately based on playing with strangers (and killing them) and not so much as a “team” sport anymore. It used to be, which is maybe why the transition is so hard. God, I haven’t been to a LAN party in forever.

Regardless, the point of this post wasn’t to lament on past FPS glories, but to emphasize the point that life truly has changed and that video game purchases are now further down on the list of priorities, although still well within the top 10. So, what will it be? To buy or not to buy? Who knows. I guess that really depends on how my diapers I need to buy this weekend, lol.

Goodbye Netflix

by | Apr 29, 2011 | Aggravation, Movies, Tech

I thought I would feel more sadness, instead I’m actually kinda pleased. As nearly a 10 year member of Netflix, it’s been my sole source for DVDs for quite some time. Unfortunately for Netflix, I have far better things to do with my money than wait 4-6 weeks for new releases only to have them arrive on crappy scratched disks with unskippable ads.

It’s clear that I’m no longer the key Netflix demographic. I don’t stream content and I don’t have my video game console in the living room. It’s also completely obvious that Netflix really doesn’t want to be in the disk shipping business anymore. That’s been plain to see since they announced deals with all the major game consoles. I have precious little video gaming time these days and odds are that when I turn on my Xbox, I’m doing it to play a game, not to watch a movie. Plus, although it’s no fault of Netflix, my 360 launch console is loud as hell, movie watching simply isn’t going to happen in the same room with it.

As for renting DVDs, the movie industry has created such turds in the past couple years that nearly all new releases are things I’m not going to watch and any movie I did enjoy I’ve purchased. Batman, The Hangover, Star Trek, Up, Tangled, etc. I purchased them all MONTHS before they were available on Netflix. Somehow Netflix got royally fucked on the release dates and movie are available for purchase, on pay-per-view, in Redbox and at Blockbuster long before making it to Netflix. After they finally do, they aren’t “retail” disks anyway, meaning that it’s the movie, in a fixed format, with unskippable ads and trailers in front of it. Ever time I received a disk from Netflix I felt like I was being punished for my choice of movie acquisition.

We had also completely ran out of things to watch. As I’ve already mentioned, New Releases were a joke, but we had worked our way through our back catalog of movies we had wanted to see over the years. We were literally watching old Jimmy Stewart movies when I canceled. We had the last disks sitting on the coffee table for almost 5 weeks.

So, no new movies, no old movies, no streaming and not retail disks. What exactly was I paying for? That’s what I thought.

For the price I was paying Netflix I can rent, in full HD, 3 movies from UVerse a month, which was about our going frequency with Netflix in the first place. I also have on-demand access to a backlog of TV shows. No, it’s not as extensive as Netflix, but it’s there if I want it. Lastly, if all else fails, I have the internet. If I really need to stream something, I can guaranty you that I can find it online in nearly the same amount of time it would take a Netflix stream to buffer.

So, there you have it. I ditched Netflix and I don’t feel sorry about it at all. Actually I took the money I would be spending and signed up for Amazon Prime, which is much more handy…  AND they just announced that they have streaming videos, lol. That wasn’t even planned.

So long Netflix! Next time trying sending me a disk without bullshit on it. Fuckers.