Tivo is a Gateway Drug
You'd think it'd be enough for me to have what is essentially a high-powered digital VCR, replete with cool features like season scheduling, a decent content management system, episode info--the list goes on. I'm afraid though that it isn't. I've discovered the glory of On Demand programming.
Side note: I don't really have a Tivo. No cute little bubble noises as I push remote buttons, no funny little anthropomorphic TV set, no cutesy names for the recording functions... Nope, I've got the Time Warner/Scientific Atlanta equivalent. But "Tivo" is like "Band-Aid" or "Kleenex". And since I don't feel like referring to my cable box as a Scientific Atlanta Explorer 8000 Personal Video Recorder, TiVo Inc. can suck it up just like Johnson & Johnson and Kimberly-Clark and accept that its brand name has gone generic. Although I should note that I refuse to capitalize the v. Anyway, that was just a whole waste of a paragraph.
Sure, Tivo is nice, but you've got to plan for it. You've got to know what you want to record, when it's on, etc. And sometimes, I either don't know what I'm in the mood for or too lazy to queue something up. Also, sometimes I end up ending sentences in prepositions and don't care. Given all of that, it's obvious my fat American ass needs something more simple and convenient. Enter On Demand.
I was watching TV at Lyssa's sister's place in Madison this weekend (more on the weekend below) and she told me to check out her On Demand stuff. Until now, I've pictured VOD technology as being severely limited. I thought you could only get certain movies at certain time windows, with the little gimmick of being able to pause it. Maybe that's how it was, but anyway, the reality of it is much cooler. Depending on the channel, you can get all sorts of cool stuff. Adult Swim On Demand has the latest episodes of their original programming, and a bunch of anime, if you're into that sort of thing (I'm not). Comedy Central On Demand has a bunch of stand-up that you don't get to see anymore. And Oxygen On Demand (catching the creative renaming of the networks yet?) has karaoke, and I'd appreciate it if you didn't ask me why I know that. Coolest part? It's all free.
Kinda. I don't know how the Charter packages work, but for Time Warner, it'll work for any channel that you can get in your programming package, as long as it actually has an On Demand cousin (some don't--noticably SciFi, USA, and FX).
But, damnit, I wanted to watch Sex and the City and actually hear the swearing. And Curb Your Enthusiasm is cool. And I wanted to check out the big fuss over The Sopranos and Six Feet Under for myself. So I had no choice but to order HBO. Mind you, getting HBO ain't what it used to be. We had it way back when I was 6, and all I remember was being kicked out of the room whenever naughty parts came on the screen. That was when it was only one channel that was being pumped through a cable box that looked like little more than a cheap digital alarm clock. Now you get 12 channels worth of God-knows-what, and it's awesome. Still, never would have gotten this stuff were it not for the On Demand aspect. Even with 12 channels, the odds of me finding something I like at any given time are less than I'd like. And HBO On Demand (compared to the free network On Demands) is huge! Tons of movies, at least 10 episodes at a time of each of their original series, stand up specials (with no censoring!!!)--it's good stuff. Well worth the money.
Madison
Mike and I look guilty.It was a good time. I'm not going to go into a play-by-play, because it won't be as cool to anyone who wasn't there, and if you were there with me, you should remember it. (Except for Travis, who's damn lucky he can even remember his name anymore after his drunken Saturday night meltdown.)
A couple of highlights, though:
- I really love it when Christine and Christopher fight. Anything that makes me look better by comparison is a good thing. And besides, it's usually very entertaining. She actually Springer-slapped him!
- Yes, I puked. In my defense, it was 8am, after a night of hard drinking and sleeping on a hard floor. And I took it like a man. Just ask Mike.
My geek bone tingled. - Mike and I got a picture taken with Cloud and Squall! Excellent costumes; hooray for cosplay!
- Mike found Lyssa's tickle spot. Oddly, seeing another man make my girlfriend squirm and moan didn't piss me off; it made me chuckle.
- And finally, Lyssa looks great in a dress.
Well, that's all that's new and worth mentioning, I suppose. Maybe I'll actually rant about some area drama one of these days; it's building up and I'm getting tired of it. See ya on the flipside, people.
Side note: I don't really have a Tivo. No cute little bubble noises as I push remote buttons, no funny little anthropomorphic TV set, no cutesy names for the recording functions... Nope, I've got the Time Warner/Scientific Atlanta equivalent. But "Tivo" is like "Band-Aid" or "Kleenex". And since I don't feel like referring to my cable box as a Scientific Atlanta Explorer 8000 Personal Video Recorder, TiVo Inc. can suck it up just like Johnson & Johnson and Kimberly-Clark and accept that its brand name has gone generic. Although I should note that I refuse to capitalize the v. Anyway, that was just a whole waste of a paragraph.
Sure, Tivo is nice, but you've got to plan for it. You've got to know what you want to record, when it's on, etc. And sometimes, I either don't know what I'm in the mood for or too lazy to queue something up. Also, sometimes I end up ending sentences in prepositions and don't care. Given all of that, it's obvious my fat American ass needs something more simple and convenient. Enter On Demand.
I was watching TV at Lyssa's sister's place in Madison this weekend (more on the weekend below) and she told me to check out her On Demand stuff. Until now, I've pictured VOD technology as being severely limited. I thought you could only get certain movies at certain time windows, with the little gimmick of being able to pause it. Maybe that's how it was, but anyway, the reality of it is much cooler. Depending on the channel, you can get all sorts of cool stuff. Adult Swim On Demand has the latest episodes of their original programming, and a bunch of anime, if you're into that sort of thing (I'm not). Comedy Central On Demand has a bunch of stand-up that you don't get to see anymore. And Oxygen On Demand (catching the creative renaming of the networks yet?) has karaoke, and I'd appreciate it if you didn't ask me why I know that. Coolest part? It's all free.
Kinda. I don't know how the Charter packages work, but for Time Warner, it'll work for any channel that you can get in your programming package, as long as it actually has an On Demand cousin (some don't--noticably SciFi, USA, and FX).
But, damnit, I wanted to watch Sex and the City and actually hear the swearing. And Curb Your Enthusiasm is cool. And I wanted to check out the big fuss over The Sopranos and Six Feet Under for myself. So I had no choice but to order HBO. Mind you, getting HBO ain't what it used to be. We had it way back when I was 6, and all I remember was being kicked out of the room whenever naughty parts came on the screen. That was when it was only one channel that was being pumped through a cable box that looked like little more than a cheap digital alarm clock. Now you get 12 channels worth of God-knows-what, and it's awesome. Still, never would have gotten this stuff were it not for the On Demand aspect. Even with 12 channels, the odds of me finding something I like at any given time are less than I'd like. And HBO On Demand (compared to the free network On Demands) is huge! Tons of movies, at least 10 episodes at a time of each of their original series, stand up specials (with no censoring!!!)--it's good stuff. Well worth the money.
Madison
Mike and I look guilty.
A couple of highlights, though:
- I really love it when Christine and Christopher fight. Anything that makes me look better by comparison is a good thing. And besides, it's usually very entertaining. She actually Springer-slapped him!
- Yes, I puked. In my defense, it was 8am, after a night of hard drinking and sleeping on a hard floor. And I took it like a man. Just ask Mike.
My geek bone tingled.
- Mike found Lyssa's tickle spot. Oddly, seeing another man make my girlfriend squirm and moan didn't piss me off; it made me chuckle.
- And finally, Lyssa looks great in a dress.
Well, that's all that's new and worth mentioning, I suppose. Maybe I'll actually rant about some area drama one of these days; it's building up and I'm getting tired of it. See ya on the flipside, people.
