A Pilgrim’s Digression

One of the consequences of discontinuing our cable television service has been the renewal of our Netflix account.  We had unsubscribed from that service months ago because we were watching too much cable TV.

But, after a period of struggling vainly along with nothing to watch but fuzzy PBS programming with poor-quality, staticky audio, we decided that we just couldn’t stand it anymore.  So I signed us up for Netflix again.  I cleared out our queue, which Netflix had dutifully saved, and I added to the queue…several seasons of different television shows we like to watch!

Everybody Loves Raymond…Dr. Who…Law and Order…Lost

It was actually Dr. Who that precipitated the resumption of our Netflix service.  I was going to spend over a hundred dollars to buy Seasons 1 and 2 of Dr. Who, but after giving it some thought (and mentioning the plan to my wife, who is always more sensible than me about money matters), I decided it made little sense to disconnect cable and then spend hundreds of dollars on DVDs of the programs I like to watch.

I was paying the cable company over fifty dollars a month for basic service; at least Netflix only charges $18.00 a month for three DVDs.  And overall the service is quite fast, not always next-day as they lead new subscribers to believe, but fast enough.

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Among other podcasts I listen to regularly is NPR’s Story of the Day [link will open iTunes]. Usually, I don’t have a problem with NPR programming, but sometimes the bias is just a bit overbearing.

No, I am not talking about political bias. I have no problem with NPR’s politics. Their political reporting is the best of the best, as far as I am concerned. I am talking about their artistic bias in favor of the quirky, avant garde, and often outré.

For example, yesterday the Story of the Day was titled A Captive Audience for Subway Hip Hop by John Kalish.

The story concerns a group of young people (I use the term “young” loosely; at least two of the men are in their early 30’s) who entertain themselves by hopping on subway trains and ferries and freestyle rapping. They may be having fun, but the question is, are they entertaining other people?

Of course the crux of any good NPR “arts” story is that the reporter must go into the story with little or no appreciation of the art in question, in this case rap music; but he or she must end the story by finding “a new appreciation of the hip hop scene.”

I find the whole transformation of skeptical reporter to true-believer to be just a bit too pat. The story itself is rather unbelievable–not so much that young people would do something like this, but that apparently, no one minds. All of the citizens of New York riding this subway train with the reporter and his posse are just fine with a group of young rappers taking over a subway car. That’s what I find hard to believe.

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My wife sent me the following article from Fox news, yesterday. New Underwear promises to Ease the Pain of Passing Gas. I’m not sure if she was just being humorous when she sent me this, or if she meant for me to take this under advisement:

Letting loose in public may become less of a social faux pas with a new kind of underwear that promises to keep the air flatulence-free.

“Anti-farty pants” vow to stifle those nasty odors and help gassy individuals “relieve the pain without the shame.”

Under-Tec underwear makers have designed new “gas eater” underpants, an airtight undergarment that helps keep flatulence under wraps, reported Britain’s The Sun newspaper.

The pants have a built in replaceable filter that cuts the smell of bad human gas. Happy customers cited on the Under-Tec Web site include those suffering from Crohn’s Disease and Inflammatory Bowel Syndrome.

Testimonials on the Web site include: “Thank you. You saved my life. I can now go to school without worry” and “They really are working for me, an answer to my prayers because I like to wear them when I go out.”

I don’t know what would be worse, passing gas gradually throughout the day, even at the risk of embarassment, or releasing the gas all at once at night, when you take off those nasty underwear.

I can envision the headlines: “Family of three overcome by toxic fumes.” Or: “Gas explosion levels home when man takes off underwear.”

The Under-tec site is kind of humorous, really. On the right hand side is a picture of an older man and woman in bed. The man is sitting up reading, while the woman’s face is lying on a pillow close by his nether region. The man has a slight smile on his face, as if he just cut one, and yet his wife sleeps on, blissfully unaware.

In his State of the Union speech last night, on the subject of Iraq the President remarked that “We [meaning himself and the American public] went into this largely united — in our assumptions and in our convictions. And whatever you voted for, you did not vote for failure. Our country is pursuing a new strategy in Iraq, and I ask you to give it a chance to work.”

Presidents have to remain ever the optimist, always seeing the glass half-full rather than half-empty; but saying that “we” were “largely united” on the subject of Iraq seems a bit beyond the realm of optimism, bordering on delusional thinking.

That said, I remain willing to give the President’s plan a chance to work. It has irritated me to see many of the same Democrats and Republicans resist a rise in troop levels, who not long ago were complaining about how the President didn’t send enough troops to Iraq initially. I think that among the pols in the Senate and House, there is simply an overriding belief that the war is lost, and that they should distance themselves from the disaster as quickly as possible.

They may be right. In fact, I have very little hope that the “surge” in Iraq can work. Yet I think it ought to be tried, for the Iraqis’ sake. I have always tried to look at the aftermath of our invasion in terms of what is best for the Iraqis. American losses in Iraq are grievous, but hardly as significant as what Iraqis have lost. Perhaps I am taking an overly paternalistic view, but I believe in making right what we have done wrong, if at all possible.

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As a parent, one sometimes observes intellectual growth in a child over a long period of time, and sometimes growth occurs in a sudden spurt. At some point during the past year of Kindergarten, Brendan learned to read.

I noticed it happening, but it did not seem so dramatic, until recently. For one thing, suddenly Lynn and I can no longer spell out words we don’t want him to hear. Used to be, we’d entertain–or confuse–each other by spelling whole sentences. We don’t curse much, but still, no more exclaiming, “Oh, s-h-i-t!” Last time Lynn did that, Brendan said, “Mom, you said shit. That’s a very bad word.”

Can’t fool him anymore.

Yesterday, I took Brendan out to breakfast. We do this once a week, just me and him. Sometimes we go to the Waffle House, sometimes to another local diner-style restaurant. Like his Dad, Brendan loves diners, loves sitting at a bar and eating breakfast amongst a group of other solitary paper-readers and coffee-drinkers.

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In reading a New York Times article titled Apple Profit Rose 78% in Quarter, I came across this interesting passage.

Apple may also benefit in the coming months as consumers begin to consider replacing their computers after Microsoft introduces its Vista operating system. Many industry analysts say they believe that the delay in getting that system to market significantly hurt the sales of Windows-compatible PCs in the last quarter.

On Wednesday, Microsoft introduced new price plans for PC users who wish to upgrade their existing systems. The company said that high-end versions of Vista will ship with new PCs even though consumers will have access initially only to the more basic functions. They will then be able to unlock additional features by purchasing upgrades. [Emphasis mine]

Mr. Jobs noted that Apple’s operating system, Macintosh OS X, comes in only one version, and that sophisticated features like its FileVault, which protects data privacy, are standard. Microsoft users will have to buy the most expensive version of Vista, Vista Ultimate, for as much as $199 above basic Vista, to obtain BitLocker, a similar feature of that operating system.

It never ceases to amaze me that Microsoft can unload a steaming pile of crap into the Operating System market–late, mind you; then the company gimps less expensive, home user versions by locking certain features, while charging people $200.00 for the full operating system.

And many, many people pony up the bucks, take a big ol’ whiff of Bill Gates’ steamy pile, and call it roses.

For a number of reasons, we have decided to stop our cable TV service. Now, lest you think I’ve reached some pinnacle of moral enlightenment and have decided that no more will my home be flooded with the swill that passes for cable television programming, let me say first that the primary reason is money.

I love trashy TV programming. I have a good, American appetite for TV swill, from Dog the Bounty Hunter to Court TV.

But we pay Comcast $121.00 a month for basic cable service (no pay channels) and high speed internet. When Lynn recently found out that, apparently, you can divorce your cable TV service from your Comcast Internet service, she suggested that we could cut our bill more than half if we could get by without TV. Also, there is the fact that our service has sucked anyway, since Adelphia was purchased by Comcast. My posts on our crappy Comcast service (here and here) received the most comments from strangers than any blog posts I have ever written. I can’t stick it to Comcast by leaving them entirely, but I can stick it to them by reducing the amount I pay them every month.

Anyway, I think it’s a good idea, and we are going to try it. I am taking the DVR back to the cable company today. Yes, I know I feel that DVR is the greatest invention since the iPod. I will weep, when I hand it over.

But seriously, after thinking about it, we really don’t watch much TV anyway. I’d rather be playing World of Warcraft in my spare time. Lynn thinks she would read more, if she did not have TV to distract her.

I have been watching “Lost” season three on the iPod, not on television. And other than “Lost” and “Dr. Who,” there is not much else on TV worth watching. The other shows we record on the DVR, such as “Judge Judy” and “The People’s Court” are just time-fillers. Time could be better filled in other ways.

As for Brendan, he watches DVDs rather than television. He won’t miss anything. And maybe Lynn and I will start watching DVDs again, too. We haven’t watched a movie at home in ages. All in all, it’s going to be a good experiment.

[Update: I took the DVR back to the local Comcast office and had our service downgraded. First, the woman tried to sneak in additional services, however. Despite the fact I clearly said several times I only wanted Internet, she said "OK, so I am setting you up with only high speed Internet and classic cable service."

"What is classic service?" I asked

"Oh, you get channels 2 thru 72, but without a cable box." "And does that cost anything?" I asked.

"Well, 45 dollars for the Internet and fifty for cable."

I laughed. "No thanks, I only want the Internet."

Our cable bill next month should only be $45.95 + tax. That is an incredible savings.]

Last night, President Bush took full credit for the lack of progress in Iraq, nearly four years after he decided to invade.  And among other turnabouts, he essentially set a deadline of November 2007 for the Iraqi government to get a grip on the violence in its country.  To address the errors of the past, the President is sending 20,000 more troops to the country to secure Baghdad.  Additionally, the Generals who have reviewed the plan to end the violence say that it addresses the chief military complaint: that there were too many restrictions placed on American troops.

Too little too late?  Probably, yet I support the effort.  I think it’s the last chance to stop Iraq from imploding.  I remain a pessimist and believe the implosion is more likely to happen than not,  but we can’t just let it happen without trying one more thing.  And as yet, no one else has proposed anything better.  A military solution seems like the only option.

As a liberal, I cannot stand on the sidelines saying “I told you so” while the Iraqi people suffer.  I dislike George W. Bush and believe he has been wrong all along, but that is really beside the point.  The Iraqis are suffering, and it is our fault.  The death toll wrought by George Bush’s war is pretty staggering, when you factor in the number of civilian casualties, and the dead from among Iraq’s military and police.

I’ve always thought it disingenuous and callous to count the toll of the war only in the number of dead Americans.  Of course there are going to be fewer American casualties.  In World of Warcraft, a player who absorbs damage so that other friendly players might live is called a tank, or meat shield.  The Iraqis are the American meat shield.

The Iraqis take the brunt of the terrorism, while the armchair Hawks sit back and say, “This war ain’t so bad compared to World War II.”

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The subject line of this post raises an interesting question, I think. In all the articles I read yesterday about the iPhone and the Apple TV, no journalist remarked on the fact that at the MacWorld Expo, for the first time in human memory, Apple Computer did not make a single product announcement involving actual Mac computers.

Don’t get me wrong, the gadgets Apple unveiled are exciting. The Apple TV is especially intriguing for me, a person who has come to adore DVR boxes as the Second Coming of the iPod.

Furthermore, if I didn’t already have a cell plan with verizon…and if the iPhone weren’t so damned expensive…I’d probably buy one. It’s basically a handheld computer, not a phone or a juiced-up iPod, or even a Blackberry. It’s all those things and more. It’s a beautiful, small computer.

What I found interesting–not disappointing, but interesting–was that there was nothing new unveiled involving Macintosh computers. No new laptops. No new iMacs. Not even the same old Macs, but with improved specs.

One thing that was unveiled, perhaps significantly, is a name change for the company. The Washington Post put it like this:

There was even a surprise name change for the company. Effective immediately, Apple Computer Inc. is dropping the “Computer” from its name and will simply go by Apple Inc., a sign that the Mac computer line is no longer the flagship product of a company that is increasingly a trendsetter in music, video and wireless networking.

I’m not sure how to feel about this. I love the gadgets; I miss seeing some advances in the computers. The Mac computer is why I buy Apple products in the first place.

I had hoped that at the very least, Apple would upgrade the Macbook or the Mac Mini’s video card, making them capable of playing World of Warcraft. Or failing that, maybe Apple would release a new widescreen iPod (I guess they did, sorta, if one regards the iPhone as a widescreen iPod). I could see myself buying a widescreen iPod in the next few months. Between Brendan and I, we actually watch quite a bit of film on my iPod.

I downloaded Cars for him, and I also have another Disney film, Chicken Little, on there, as well as many other short cartoons. For myself, I have been watching Lost on my iPod, rather than on TV. I watch it at night, lying in bed, and sometimes on my lunch break at work.

So did Apple release a widescreen iPod, or upgraded Macintosh computers?

No. Nada. Rien de rien. No soup for you.

Strange, don’t you think? This ain’t your daddy’s Apple Computer, Hon.

[Note: the best article I've found on the iPhone is this one from Time. Apple's New Calling: The iPhone. It's a bit frothy with adulation, but it makes me want one of these devices. I want one very badly. I've just gotta think...when is my contract with Verizon up?

I think if the next generation of the device is cheaper, has more storage, and if I can use it on Verizon's network, I'll probably have to buy one. That's a lot of "if's", so I don't think my wife has to start balancing the checkbook anytime soon. Still, it's a sweet item, a sweet, misnamed item. This device really is a small computer that happens to allow you to make phone calls.

Also, I disagree with the author's assertion that the iPhone is NOT a luxury item. At $499 for a 4 gig model, and $599 for an 8 gig mdoel, yes that is a luxury item for most people, including myself. The 8 gig model is more expensive than a Mac Mini desktop computer.]

I’ve decided that I need to read something. All my life, from the time I was very small, reading has been good medicine for me. As a complement to reading, writing also used to benefit me psychologically and spiritually.

Lately, however, I feel like my love of both reading and writing have succumbed to whatever psychic malaise plagues me. Depression is like a cloud of disease spreading through every crevice of my mind and soul. All the things I once loved–from memories of family and friends, to activities that once kept me sane–everything this funk touches turns into a piece of gray, rotting meat that turns my stomach. I have no interest in reading anymore, not like I once did. But I know I need to read.

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