Cable Free in 2011!

It is done. The call was made, the service canceled, the boxes have been delivered to the UPS store for proper packaging and free shipping back to AT&T. But, I'm getting ahead of myself.

It has long been my SOP to embrace what's new just after the early adopters. The George Foreman Grill. Digital Photography. Cell Phones. Not rich enough to pay top dollar for all the new tech (STAR-TAC!) and not patient enough to wait another year for the prices to really drop.

That, and honestly, to try to be efficient with a dollar where I can - especially now - in Michigan's economy. So since the time I first heard about Media Centers, and since I have a Mac Mini and since I hate spending $120 a month for cable television and channels like The Hallmark Movie, O!, The Food Network and several hundred other channels of content which are ridiculously irrelevant to me, I figured all those people disconnecting their cable and getting their TV from the Internet must have something going for them; either they're incredibly cheap, tech-headed nerds, and/or all the above.

Well, that train pulled into Royal Oak, MI, and I am on board!

May I segue for a moment and indicate this drives my wife absolutely bonkers? It does. Am I concerned? Not really. Did I mention the $1200 a year savings? I am not concerned...

Back to me getting on the train. It started with the development, er, ahh building, of an HDTV antennae made from coat hangers:
which now hangs in my attic. With this I was able to disconnect a cable box from the kitchen TV and run a coax line from the attic to that TV...the 720p broadcast picture is equal to, if not better than what I was getting through AT&T U-Verse. It was only a matter of time before the whole cable system went away.

This decision isn't without contemplation. There's much to take into account especially when you have little ones in the house who require a steady stream of PBS programming, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year (Believe me...The Cat in the Hat does, in fact, Know a lot About That). Where will all the programming come from? How will programs be accessed on demand? How? How? HOW?

Enter the Internets.


Pretty much every ounce of content you might want to watch is available on-line. Either free at the networks .com site (ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX), or for a smallish fee via iTunes, Sony's Playstation Store, Netflix, Hulu, Vudu and many more...and even then, programs like BOXEE work to aggregate content from across the web and deliver to your TV. It's really just a matter of finding it and bringing it in.

Which is what I'm doing now.

The Mac Mini has been relocated to near the TV, a mini-DVI to HDMI cord has been plugged into the receiver and runs out to the TV to give me all I need. Except live sports.



Live sports (unless on a network) is out of my life, at least at home. No FSN Detroit, no ESPN, no Big Ten, no Versus, no joke. I look at it this way, it gives me reason to get together with friends at their homes and/or bars where live sports are aplenty. Which I will be doing New Year's Day for the bowl games.

So, the good folk at the UPS store took my two cable boxes, one with a DVR, and are sending them back to AT&T. I've boosted my internet connection from 3 Mbps to 12 mbps allowing for better/faster downloading of programs. I receive HDTV free, over the air via my homemade antennae. My kids have all their favorite programs via PBSkids.org, I get to spend time with friends to watch sports.

All in all, the price of change is worth it. I'll keep you all posted, from time to time, as to how it goes.

A Wild and Woolly Weekend!

This past weekend was one filled with joy, then cautious concern and then a bit of adventure. It was, all in all, a wild and woolly weekend.

It began on, really, on Saturday night, almost Sunday morning when the Michigan State Spartan football team, on a gutsy call by their coach Mark Dantonio, decided to put the fate of the game, now in overtime, in the hands of the team via a play called "Little Giants" after the movie of the same name.



To witness this, as a long time Spartan fan and alumni, was downright amazing as this is the type of event that often happens TO Spartan teams, not in favor of Spartan teams. We all head our breath as the play unfolded, first in disbelief then unbridled enthusiasm as, for once, the pass was perfect, the ball was caught, the goal line crossed, not a flag was tossed, the clock didn't expire and the Spartans won. To witness adult males, aged 40+, jumping for joy, high five-ing, embracing each other (there were no tears - we'll save that for another game - fingers crossed).

Now, to the Woolly part.

The Mrs., myself, and our two boys traveled about an hour to the quiet hamlet of Romeo, Michigan to see and experience the Sheep and Wool Festival as presented by Peter and Yvonne Uhlianuk (your guess on pronunciation is as good as mine). As it turns out, we were one weekend off (it's scheduled for Sept 25 and 26, 2010).

http://www.sheepstuff.com/Festival.html

Fearing a lot of disappointment among the wee ones, I stepped out of the car in an effort to see if we couldn't, at least, see some sheep as there would be no sheering, or demonstrations of sheering that day.



Yvonne, and later her husband Peter, we incredibly welcoming to us city folk who had driven to their part of Michigan see the sites and smell the smells of their farm...including Rams and Ewes, Border Collies, Geese (who are very loud when children approach), a barn cat or two, hundreds of pumpkins and a great deal of well manicured acreage.

What's most important to note is that next weekend is really when the Festival occurs and there is much to be seen and to experience. Bee keeping, Border Collie demonstrations, sheep sheering, a store filled with woolens and more. Yvonne and Peter (who hail from New Zealand) maintain a working farm, and this is a big production to them. Their hospitality was genuine and we'll be going back to check it out, in its full glory, next weekend.









Would love to see you there, and I know Yvonne and Peter would as well.

S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y Night is alright for fighting!

There was a time when Thursday night would roll around, and I'd start to look forward to Saturday night. Because Saturday night was alright for...just about anything.

Working at the local party store as "Ol' Easy" would come in early in the evening, grab a sixer of Old Milwaukee, then head on out. He'd be back before closing time, usually to grab three more. Every Saturday.

Hanging out with high school friends, going to football games, chasing after cheerleaders, racing to points on the label of a Miller Lite 40.

Spending time in the summer, chasing fireflies, talking to the neighbors, the glow from the garage seen from the street, a haze of smoke hangs in the air above the car my dad would be working on, smoke mixed with an obscenity just loud enough for those familiar with its tone and intonation to hear, but no one else.

Walking down Grand River Avenue, saying "hey" and stopping for a beer at the Peanut Barrel while gearing up for a fraternity/sorority party, wondering who'd be there, would it be the same old same old, or would tonight - somehow - be different than the previous 51?

Hoping in a cab and blasting North to Wrigleyville to get the Cubby Bear before the game let's out so you could shoot a game of pool and still a seat at the bar after the shark ran the table on you. Or,

Maybe dinner. At that little Italian place you'd go when things were good. And you'd share a bottle of wine, and talk about careers in limbo, or progressing nicely - so you thought - or what would be the topic of class this week? Meisner or that "in the moment" thing Victor always like to see use flail at?

Perhaps the Santa Monica pier is worth walking to tonight, as the sounds of the Strand between Marina Del Rey and Venice mix between loud and soft, English and other, selling and buying.

Formosa Cafe and dreams tonight would be different from the previous 51.
The dog and I see the sunset and keep on going around the big block, past the park - did I just hear that? - and then up the drive, the roses they left behind are coming into bloom early this year.

Main Street is pretty quiet tonight, after the blackout you'd expect that, most people are home trying to salvage what they can, or clean up what they've lost. three days without power will damage melt a lot of ice and ruin a lot of food.

There's a good movie on tonight, grab another slice and glass of wine, tuck the feet under and pull her close, still a blanket's required.

7 am. Right on the money. Up and out of bed wanting to go downstairs for something to eat, and to help with the dog, and to watch TV when it's TV Time.
Wash rinse repeat x 2 now, they both launch themselves at me from the top stair one in each arm, somewhere my age - and their combined weight - will intersect and begin to show a downward trend.

Saturday Night is alright for fighting, but right now I have to get a glass of water for someone who's feet are ensconced by fleece jammies, bearing the mischievous eyes and pointed teeth of a smiley monster. Just like the previous 51.

And it's called entertainment?

I've pretty much fallen hard for certain television programs. In the past it went from "Lost in Space" to "Brady Bunch, a few years later it's "SWAT" and "The Six Million Dollar Man" then "M*A*S*H" and "Saturday Night Live". Fast forward to "Seinfeld", "Arrested Development", "Chapelle's Show" and bring it home with "Lost", "Modern Family" and "Parenthood".

But, I gotta tell you...what are these people selling?

"Lost". Really? What the F is going on here? Flash forwards, backwards and sideways? It's either genius, or I, along with a million+ others are the laughing stock of all those folks sitting in Hollywood coming up with this stuff and getting it on air.

"Parenthood". A delightful little movie with Steve Martin and Rick Moranis back in the late 80's. Now? It's an unbelievably unbelievable look at the trials and tribulations of one family, and their associated associates. Sort of a re-constructed "thirtysomething" (Yes, please add that little program to my list above).

"Modern Family". Perhaps more appropriately named "Ripped off from Arrested Development". Even if it's brought to us by the same folks who brought us "Arrested Development", it's not nearly as good as "A D" was, and let me tell you something "A D" was a really, really good TV program (go find it and enjoy the three seasons of its existence).

Dave Chappelle. "Chappelle's Show". Pure genius. Unrelentingly funny. Completely honest and unlike any other comedy variety program on TV. At the time, maybe ever. Not counting "The Flip Wilson Show", "Laugh-In" and "The Carol Burnett Show".

So, I don't know...if someone were to take TV from me, would I survive? Yeah, I would. But I don't think I'd enjoy watching, talking about, or chastising myself over doing all the above since, well, I was about 5 years old.

How Much Ego is Required?

I'm late to the game. I'm the first to admit it. Blogging, micro-blogging, mlogging, whatever kind of blogging you embark on, the journey is one I haven't been able to understand - and not that I do, but, what the hell, here I go.

My reason for not engaging, apart from time being an issue, is that I've not been able to find the reason someone might be interested in what it is I have to say - about whatever it is I have to say anything about.

Does this make my life uninteresting, I don't think so, but does it make it interesting to someone else...? I'm not sure about the answer to this one. So, to me, in essence, it take a pretty good sense of self, or ego, to put yourself out there thinking anyone's interested.

So, putting that aside - for the moment - why else?

Perhaps it's cathartic. To practice phraseology and putting words around thoughts and thoughts on paper, and maintaining that for future generations to find and summarily dismiss.

Aha! I can recount all that I've learned for current members of Gaulzettiville to read and understand in the later years.

Which brings us back to sense of self and/or ego. I must feel that what I have to say, to share, to impart, is worthwhile enough to spend time to input and post.

So, with that, let's just say apparently as I hit PUBLISH POST, I have just enough ego to leave the porch and journey forth.