19 Jan 2005
Netflix has finally decided that I'm worthy enough to receive Shaun of the Dead after having it at the top of my queue for like a month.
I understand that Netflix feels it needs to throttle users who burn through movies by not getting them new releases as quickly. It enables them to ensure that new customers can get any movie they want and have a good experience. That's completely cool with me.
But a month? Jesus.
Anyway, it's not enough to make me want to jump ship. Netflix has done some cool stuff with RSS (so you can see my queue over there on the right) and other cool collaborative features like letting me see what my friends like and dislike so I can use that to help judge movies I haven't seen. And the turnaround has generally been pretty good, though it's been much slower over the past couple of weeks than in the month before Christmas (maybe a subscriber spike after Christmas?).
On the whole, though, Netflix has been an amazingly good deal for me (at least in my opinion). I've had the service for a full year now. In that time, I've rented 109 movies at a total cost of $257.98, for a cost per movie of $2.37. Not too shabby. If I use about $4.10 as the cost of a Blockbuster rental, I've "saved" myself roughly $190.
09 Jan 2005
Dear Mark Blount,
I warned the Celtics about resigning you. You have the worst hands in basketball. You play softer than a European swingman, except your 7 feet tall and 230 lbs or so.
And now everyone can see how badly you suck and how you started coasting once you got your big money contract. If you weren't such a pathetically bad basketball player, it'd almost be funny.
But it's not. It stopped being funny a long time ago.
Please do us all a favor and tear your ACL or something. You can use your millions of dollars to buy yourself a stylish suit and sit on the end of the bench while the Celtics play better with Kendrick Perkins and Al Jefferson in the game - two young players who actually have a future in the league.
So, I'd like to say thanks. Thanks for mailing it in all season, being the low point of what is, at least, an interesting Celtics season. Thanks for making me look really smart when I told everyone I knew that they should never resign you and they should have kept Chris Mihm. Maybe Danny Ainge will see this and give me a job.
Sincerely,
A Celtics Fan
03 Jan 2005
Lightening the mood a bit, I tried to think of what I considered to be the best television episodes to air in 2004. Making it more difficult, I limited it to one per show -- otherwise, it probably would have been something like 6 episodes of Angel and 4 of The Wire.
- 10) Gilmore Girls - "Emily Says Hello"
I had a very hard time picking the #10 episode. A Gilmore Girls episode seemed like a good choice, but I couldn't think of one that really stood out. This one stood out the most. When Gilmore Girls is good, it mixes comedy and drama as deftly as any show on television. This episode might have done it the best, ranging from the humor in seeing Jackson deal with life as town selectman, to the very heartfelt scene where Emily breaks down realizing what has happened to her life. Good enough for number 10.
- 9) Arrested Development - "The One Where Michael Leaves"
An amazingly funny episode, with a number of subtle (and less subtle) parodies of Fahrenheit 9/11. And this episode had the line where Tobias says "I just blue myself" ... that makes the list.
- 8) Wonderfalls - "Karma Chameleon"
A simply marvelous show that Fox aired about 3 episodes of because they are insanely stupid. This ep was written by Tim Minear, and I just dig his writing. Pretty much every episode of Wonderfalls that aired was hysterical, so this one wins as a representative of the rest.
- 7) American Dreams - "Tidings of Comfort and Joy"
Ahh, the little show that could. American Dreams has no reason to be anything more than a trite, cloying 7th Heaven-ish show. Except it is. Using the 60s as both the basis for the storyline and as a metaphor for dealing with modern issues, it just generally pushes all of the right buttons. And it's loaded with 60s pop music which is awesome. "Tidings of Comfort and Joy" deals with JJ's homecoming from Vietnam and milks it for all it is worth. And it completely works. I'm a sucker for good melodrama.
- 6) The Shield - "Strays"
Damn. The Shield is a great, great show. Outside of The Wire, it's easily the closest thing to Homicide: Life on the Streets that's left on TV. Except it is a bit more over the top. Dutch finally gets the Cuddler Rapist and later strangles a stray cat ... which sounds ridiculous but was chilling on screen. This episode further ratchets up the tension in the Strike Team, which would seriously boil over in the last couple of episodes of the season.
- 5) Deadwood - "Sold Under Sin"
The season finale of Deadwood. Just masterful in wrapping up the season, opening new storylines for next season, and aligning two characters who had been set up all year to be advesaries. If it wasn't for The Wire, Deadwood would be the best show on HBO.
- 4) Lost - "Walkabout"
The fourth episode of Lost is the number four show of the year. "Walkabout" dealt with Locke's backstory, including a remarkable reveal towards the end of the 3rd act (I think) where you learn that Locke had previously been confined to a wheel chair. It was one of thost moments where you realize that good television is all about pacing and act breaks, and there are few shows that do them as well as a Joss Whedon or JJ Abrams show.
- 3) Scrubs - "My Screwup"
Scrubs is probably the best sitcom on television. I move back and forth between this or Arrested Development, but when I sit back and think about it, I would be more upset if Scrubs left the air. A good example of why I feel that way is "My Screwup." Brendan Fraser, who's actually a pretty good actor (really!) plays Dr. Cox's brother-in-law Ben, who we first met in season 1 when he learned he had cancer. The entire episode deals with Dr. Cox dealing with Ben's return to the hospital. It is just an amazing episode with a wonderful twist at the end that forces you to rething everything that happened during the episode. Twist endings can be rather douchebaggian, but this one is pitch perfect.
- 2) The Wire - "Middle Ground"
It's all about conversations. Omar and Brother Mouzone. Avon and Stringer. Stringer and Bunny Colvin. Bunny and McNulty. Omar, Brother Mouzone, and Stringer. If you don't get this show, you shouldn't be allowed to watch tv.
- 1) Angel - "Not Fade Away"
Could there be another choice? The series finale of Angel was a huge "fuck you" to the WB Network, as it may have been the finest hour of television in a long time. Long character arcs (in some cases, 8 years) are brought to a logical end. The long time comic relief character kills someone in one of the coldest, surprising deaths ever. The tortured Wesley goes out on top, dying a heroes death and then some. Huge, huge battle scenes including a giant dragon. Tons of in jokes and meta-references for long time fans, but an episode that, for the most part, could completely stand on its own.
There it is. The Top 10 Television Episodes from 2004. If you're a TV dork like me, you'll notice a running theme of episodes written by former Buffy or Angel writers (episodes 10, 8, 4, and 1). Anyway, feel free to disagree with me. I'm more than willing to explain to you why you're wrong.
28 Dec 2004
Each of those cities has a population of around 60000 people (according to the 2000 Census data).
That's the only way I can get my head around just how large of a tragedy it is in the countries around the Indian Ocean, where they expect death tolls from the earthquake/tsunami to reach 60000 people.
Granted, this isn't even close to being one of the largest disasters of the past 50 years or so, but it's probably the first natural disaster since I've become old enough to comprehend the shear scale of the situation. Santa Fe, New Mexico -- wiped off the face of the earth.
Sadly, my above analogy is a very minor element of the ethno-centric view that the United States seems to be taking towards this calamity. Any time something befalls another area of the world, another people, especially people who are darker skinned and less westernized, the American media and people seem to be very slow on the uptake of the scale of the situation.
I can understand that point of view -- like I said, I couldn't really grasp just how large that is until I could couch it in terms of somewhere I've been. And, without getting off on too much of a tangent, that's the downfall of the American media. 99% of American citizens first reaction is to see the number of American dead, see that the number is low, and move on. The news organizations, having to deal with the ever fickle Mr. and Mrs. Nielsen, mix in coverage of tens of thousands of dead non-Americans with stories of the Michael Jackson trial and those cheerful Christmas travelers stuck in the airport.
I really do think this is one of the areas that the federal government needs to take advantage of its size and scale and bring this to the attention of the bulk of the populace. Not that smaller groups of citizens can't make a difference. The internet makes it much easier to feel like you know people from all over the world and get motivated to make a difference.
But the federal government could make a much bigger difference. And not in monetary terms -- even my warm fuzzy liberal tree hugging blue stated heart thinks the US government does a pretty good job of getting money out in aid. The government could raise the stature of the issue with the bulk of the American populace, those of whom haven't made the cognitive connection between the disaster and Santa Fe or Saginaw or Iowa City. Alas, our President remains mum on the issue, enjoying a vacation with his family in Crawford, TX.
That's Crawford, TX, approximate population: 700. Erase Crawford, TX 85 times over and you'd have the same number of dead as in the countries affected by the earthquake/tsunami. I'm just trying to help make the connection.
That's enough rambling for now.
For the five folks who read this, if you're unsure of how to contribute, The Command Post has many ways to help. (Link found via Scoble.)
28 Dec 2004
Each of those cities has a population of around 60000 people (according to the 2000 Census data).
That's the only way I can get my head around just how large of a tragedy it is in the countries around the Indian Ocean, where they expect death tolls from the earthquake/tsunami to reach 60000 people.
Granted, this isn't even close to being one of the largest disasters of the past 50 years or so, but it's probably the first natural disaster since I've become old enough to comprehend the shear scale of the situation. Santa Fe, New Mexico -- wiped off the face of the earth.
Sadly, my above analogy is a very minor element of the ethno-centric view that the United States seems to be taking towards this calamity. Any time something befalls another area of the world, another people, especially people who are darker skinned and less westernized, the American media and people seem to be very slow on the uptake of the scale of the situation.
I can understand that point of view -- like I said, I couldn't really grasp just how large that is until I could couch it in terms of somewhere I've been. And, without getting off on too much of a tangent, that's the downfall of the American media. 99% of American citizens first reaction is to see the number of American dead, see that the number is low, and move on. The news organizations, having to deal with the ever fickle Mr. and Mrs. Nielsen, mix in coverage of tens of thousands of dead non-Americans with stories of the Michael Jackson trial and those cheerful Christmas travelers stuck in the airport.
I really do think this is one of the areas that the federal government needs to take advantage of its size and scale and bring this to the attention of the bulk of the populace. Not that smaller groups of citizens can't make a difference. The internet makes it much easier to feel like you know people from all over the world and get motivated to make a difference.
But the federal government could make a much bigger difference. And not in monetary terms -- even my warm fuzzy liberal tree hugging blue stated heart thinks the US government does a pretty good job of getting money out in aid. The government could raise the stature of the issue with the bulk of the American populace, those of whom haven't made the cognitive connection between the disaster and Santa Fe or Saginaw or Iowa City. Alas, our President remains mum on the issue, enjoying a vacation with his family in Crawford, TX.
That's Crawford, TX, approximate population: 700. Erase Crawford, TX 85 times over and you'd have the same number of dead as in the countries affected by the earthquake/tsunami. I'm just trying to help make the connection.
That's enough rambling for now.
For the five folks who read this, if you're unsure of how to contribute, The Command Post has many ways to help. (Link found via Scoble.)
27 Dec 2004
2 hours * 1 me = 1 assload of snow moved
24 Dec 2004
I've had Netflix for just about a year now, and it's simply a fantastic service. For the most part, I get 1 day turnaround on movies (or 2 day ... I don't know exactly how you'd describe it). For instance, I'm on vacation, so I'm trying to get through a bunch of movies. I watched one on Monday, get it in the mail that day, and I'll have a new movie on Wednesday.
Over the course of a just about a year, I've never had a single problem. Occasionally I've had a delay in getting a movie, but that's rare.
Today, I had my first problem. I received Swimming Pool and I sat down to watch it. My DVD player starts making that tell-tale noise where it's having trouble reading the disc. Sure enough, no matter what option I pick, my DVD player chokes and I can't watch the movie.
Booo.
However, Netflix handles the whole situation pretty well. I just go to my account, tell them there's a problem and that I want a replacement DVD sent to me ASAP. Hopefully, that means I'll get it on Monday. We'll see.
In the meantime, I'm down to just having Kurosawa's Ran at home. While I do really want to watch it, I have to be in the right frame of mind to watch a 2.5 hour Japanese movie. So, I'm probably going to watch a few episodes of Angel Season 4 instead.
Netflix is a perfect example of a modern, Web 2.0 type company. They give me the ability to decide what I want to watch and (for the most part) when I want to watch it. No forcing down my throat the new releases. If I want to watch a random crappy horror movie, I can do it by just throwing it in my queue and waiting for it to show up. When they screw up, they make it very easy to get restitution. Pretty great.
I've just requested that they send me my rental history. I'm curious to see how many movies I've been able to see over the past year or so using Netflix. If I had to guess, it's probably in the range of 100 movies or so.
21 Dec 2004
Argh.
That's the sound I make when another one of the shows I like a good deal gets killed by the network it's on.
In this case, it's Dead Like Me, Showtime's quirky, supernatural comedy.
My TiVo Season Pass list keeps getting smaller because the networks keep cancelling good shows and replacing them with crappy reality shows. Oh, and procedural crime dramas. I guess I have to start watching CSI: Des Moines.
Ridiculous. The only upshot is that if HBO kills The Wire, I'll probably just cancel both HBO and Showtime and save myself a bunch of money (on car insurance.) The only shows really left worth watching on the two cable networks would be Deadwood (HBO) and the Penn & Teller show (Showtime). And that's what BitTorrent is for.
Blah. TV depresses me sometimes. Everytime a good show comes along, they kill off two good ones. It's like some backwards ass evolution, only the shitty survive. This season we get Lost and Veronica Mars, but lose out on Angel, Wonderfalls, Dead Like Me, and potentially The Wire.
Phew. Good thing they can make space for "Who's Your Daddy?" -- what would life be without a show about some poor human trying to figure out who their biological father is on national TV?
Yeah, and somehow the Red States thought Buffy was the most dangerous show on TV.
21 Dec 2004
I'm not going to jump on the bandwagon of folks who are saying good riddance to Pedro Martinez, who most people know has left the Red Sox for a 4 year, $53m deal with the New York Mets.
Pedro's had a lot to say about the Red Sox, the front office, and the negotiations that took place -- none of it good. Many people are accusing him of simply leveraging the Sox to get a better offer. I've seen no proof to say that's the case.
Much of what Pedro has said echoes what Derek Lowe, Todd Walker, Jason Varitek,Nomar Garciaparra, and a number of other free agents have said about the Sox brass and their negotiations. Some of it is sour grapes, but there's probably an inkling of truth to it. The Red Sox front office has a philosophy and they stick to it. Part that philosophy seems to involve leaking stories to the press to spin the PR in favor of the front office and against the player. I'm not sure if it is systemic, or if it's one random guy in the front office, but it is obviously happening (c.f. the Manny Ramirez stories from 2003). It is easily the least attractive aspect of an organization that has had very few missteps since they purchased the team a couple of years back.
Hell, maybe if we had a real sports media in Boston stuff like this wouldn't happen. Instead we're stuck with Dan Shaugnessy, Tony Massarotti, and Steve Buckley doing most of the heavy lifting in Sox coverage. Between the three of them, I don't think there's a popular baseball player they couldn't defame.
The point being -- I hold no ill will towards Pedro. He put together arguably the best stretch of pitching ever in his 7 years in Boston and was instrumental in the Red Sox winning the World Series. I find his willingness to speak his mind refreshing in the days when 99% of players soundbites are interchangeable. I also feel he's more likely to earn his money over the next 4 seasons than will Jason Varitek, Matt Clement, or even Edgar Renteria.
But he'll be doing it for the Mets, and that makes me sad. I can't root for the Mets, but I'll be rooting for Pedro each time he pitches (as long as it's not against the Sox).
20 Dec 2004
I've just finished watching the season finale of the The Wire on HBO. If that episode turns out to be the season finale, I really do think that it will be the finale to the greatest three season run in television history.
Better than Buffy Seasons 1.5-4.5 (it's hard to pick a 3 season stretch of Buffy that was completely solid).
Better than Angel Seasons 2-4.
Better than Farscape Seasons 2-4.
Better than The West Wing Seasons 1-3.
I can't explain the show's greatness. If you watch it and give it a couple of episodes, you generally get it.
So, just in case HBO is checking the blogosphere for reactions on the show and whether they should renew it, let me add my piece:
Dear HBO,
If you cancel The Wire, I will burn your house down.
Love,
Ryan