Saturday, October 07, 2006

Yahoo, MeeVee and TV Movie Static

So I've been deeply frustrated with my Internet TV grid offerings...

Normally I use the Yahoo TV grid. This past week it has been up and down terribly. Don't know if someone forgot to pay the bill for a while but either nothing is posted in the grid, or just a handful of sporadic channel offerings. At first I thought it was me, but when it happened in all my different browsers and at work also, well....

My backup is MeeVee. Unfortunately, it wasn't loading the grid either. It would just sit there and spin the little "downloading" logo for "my guide" and "my interests". Wouldn't work in IE or Firefox. Not for about a week or two.

I think my MeeVee issues had something to do with my decision to upgrade to the latest Java release. When I had done that, it stopped working.

Good news is they are both finally working normally again.

And by the way guys...how come neither one of you have the AZN channel listings? Huh? Seems I've got to get my letter writing campaign going.

I've started watching a Japanese soap opera on Sunday nights..."101st Proposal". It's got an awkward, clumsy kind-hearted guy who is not handsome and not rich. Rejection is his speciality. He makes a chance encounter and is hopelessly smitten. Will True Love prevail?

Lavie is kinda watching it with me. The problem with Japanese soap opera's I've watched is that they are very rarely dubbed or sub-titled. So I'm watching them and listening to the Japanese dialog. That's fine and kinda fun, but since I don't speak Japanese it's kinda touch-and-go on the deeper plot intricacies!

We loved the Korean drama, Winter Sonata, and it was sub-titled. Almost every Korean drama I've watched to date is either dubbed or sub-titled. While only the Japanese anime and movies are either dubbed or sub-titled. Wonder why...

TV Movie Static...Part I

So I get home from work Friday and the girls are watching Disney's "Little Mermaid." I'm beat so I go take a catnap for an hour. When I get up they are watching extended scenes....

Me - "I didn't know our tape had these on...the picture looks really good on our "new" TV."

Girls - (silence)

Me - "This is our VHS copy right?"

Alvis - "It's the new DVD."

Me - (silence)

Alvis - "It's the Platinum Edition, Dad. Come on!"

Me - "Oh....what was wrong with the VHS copy?"

Alvis - "Nothing, it just wasn't the newest release and didn't have the bonus features."

Me - "OK"

Being from the "Home Media" generation, we have at least a hundred or more VHS tapes, over half are Disney movies. It appears my daughter feels we need to expand our collection so it contains a DVD copy as well. I should invest in a stack of DVD's and convert the VHS versions we own to disk...if that is legal...but I suspect it will become an investment as sound as Enron stock.

TV Movie Static...Part II

Alvis - "We need to watch Castaway this weekend...They've been advertising it on TNT."

Me - "Have you seen it?"

Alvis - "I think I watched part of it, but not the whole thing. I really want to, when can we?"

Me - "Maybe we can watch it on Sunday."

Alvis - (frowning) "I don't think it's on Sunday."

Me - "We have the DVD. Widescreen version!"

Alvis - "But that's not what I mean. I want to watch it on TV."

Me - "Why? We can skip all the commercials that way."

Alvis - "It's not the same, I like the commercial breaks..."

Me - (silence)

I can't win....either way.

--Claus

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