This has nothing to do with Deliverance. The full sentence is that on Super Bowl weekend, I spent 4 nights in a cabin in the woods in Wisconsin with 5 other guys. I’ve known these guys for 13 years but I had never met them face-to-face until Super Bowl weekend.
This post is not to regale you with tales from those 4 nights. The only other context I will give you is that we just played board games and Magic the Gathering (your basic nerd stuff) while drinking. Every. Single. Day.
When I was in college I had a ritual every Tuesday. After classes were done for the day I drove to Best Buy. Tuesday’s is when new releases hit the store shelves and they were always on sale the week their first week. Lately I’ve noticed a terrible trend. A dwindling supply of physical movies in stores.
I’ve noticed it at Best Buy, Meijer and Target. The movie section used to span several rows of motion picture delectation. I’ve also noticed a dwindling presence of Blu-ray players available for purchase. This is all very disconcerting! I don’t always feel like streaming a movie. In fact, I rarely feel like streaming a movie!
I’m not opposed to streaming services; actually I really enjoy them. We have accounts on several of the main services available, but I mostly use them to stream television series. My problem is I prefer to watch movies using my 4K setup with my own Blu-ray, sound system and television. I don’t want to always rely on an Internet connection to stream a 4k movie. Also, I don’t trust the steaming companies. They like to add things (ex: “MACLUNKEY!!”) or remove things to suite their political agenda.
It’s also not easy to find the movie I want. A lot of these streaming services cycle movies and no single streaming service has ALL the movies. Basically, if you want more variety, you have to subscribe to multiple services, which gets expensive. I got rid of cable so I didn’t have to pay the high price for television. I’m not going to turn around and pay the same amount of money subscribing to 14 different streaming services so I can access any movie I want at any given time.
Amazon still sells physical movies, which is fine, I can order it online and it’s “usually” delivered in about 24 hours. However, sometimes I don’t like to wait. Like most people these days, I want instant gratification. I’m curious about what the future of “home video” will look like. VHS replaced betamax, DVD replaced VHS, Blu-ray replaced DVD. Are streaming services on course to replace Blu-ray and, in turn, any form of physical movie? I’m not sure I’m a fan of that.
/cheers
The things that go through my mind when I’m alone with nothing but my thoughts for entertainment is dangerous. Some might even say eccentric. Consider this your warning about today’s Random Thought of the Day
Rest assured this is not a political post. I always say that I will not discuss politics on this blog and I stand by that. This post will, in no way, shape or form, allude to my political leanings or even discuss political hot topics. This topic stems from my recent Facebook post:
In all fairness, I can’t take credit for it. When I was out for a jog I saw a sign in my neighbor’s yard that said “This Sign Will Totally Make You Vote Differently“. I was laughing out loud for the rest of the block. The satirical context of the sign is funny because it perfectly expresses the futility of political signs. The same can be said for Facebook posts. I think it’s absolutely futile to post any kind of meme or article in hopes of convincing someone to vote (or think) differently.
Can you guess how many articles I’ve read that are from something shared on Facebook? Zero! Why? Because my mind is already made up. I hate to break it to you but chances are others have already made up their minds as well and nothing you share can change that. This goes beyond politics too. It can be anything really. Which Star Wars trilogy is better? Which Star Trek movie is better? What is the correct direction for the toilet paper roll?
It’s all moot and irrelevant because, at the end of the day, nothing changes. I know its probably cynical of me to think that but it’s like Dr. Greg House used to say:
/cheers
The things that go through my mind when I’m alone with nothing but my thoughts for entertainment is dangerous. Some might even say eccentric. Consider this your warning about today’s Random Thought of the Day
I learned a new word today: vicissitude (/vəˈsisəˌt(y)o͞od/). It means an unexpected and unwelcome change in circumstances. The word is fitting for my recent random thought. This week our daughter is losing another teacher to a change in circumstances. It’s unexpected and only unwelcome because they are a damn good teacher and those are hard to come by. As a parent it can be difficult to help your child navigate unexpected change, especially when your child refers to said teacher as “one of my favorite teachers”. It’s already difficult to quell their emotions at the end of each school year, but that is an expected turn of events. However the teacher-child vicissitude is one of the harder life lessons children have to endure early.
As ugly and condescending as social media can be, it has its merits. Using programs such as Facebook to keep in touch with these teachers makes it easier to help your child accept change. It also allows us to continue to share our child’s development and growth. After all, these are the teachers that helped to influence said growth and development.
I’ve been reluctant to “friend” my child’s teachers because I didn’t know if it crosses some kind of parent-teacher separation of concerns barrier. I feel like I’m more encouraged to do it anyway. If the teacher isn’t comfortable with that kind of social commitment, I’m fine with that. This is a new area where I’m still feeling like a bit of a newb parent. When I was growing up I never saw my parents socializing with my teachers. Whenever we would encounter a teacher outside the classroom, it felt as though the exchange was kept professional. However that was the 90’s; the world is different now.
If you’re a teacher, I’m curious about your thoughts on this. Also, for what its worth, thank you again to all those amazing, under appreciated teachers (both school and daycare). I couldn’t do what you do!
On a final note …
Yea, you know who you are. 🙂
The things that go through my mind when I’m alone with nothing but my thoughts for entertainment is dangerous. Some might even say eccentric. Consider this your warning about today’s Random Thought of the Day
During one of my Covid updates I made the comment that a meme is not an accurate source of information. By the same token, Facebook is not always an accurate source of information either. Just because it’s on Facebook doesn’t mean its fact. However I imagine a majority of the time people just read the headline or image and assume the rest of the facts. What you should do before you share is verify the validity of the article and/or the website. It takes less than 30 minutes to create a WordPress site where anyone can write a blog post that cats are actually aliens from the planet Klemlark sent here to observe us.
I’m going to use an example I saw on Facebook very recently. Have any of you seen this post:
Tom Brady did not actually say that in any interview. If you go to the America’s Last Line of Defense website and you click on the About Us you will see:
Americaslastlineofdefense.com is a subsidiary of the “America’s Last Line of Defense” network of parody, satire, and tomfoolery, or as Snopes called it before they lost their war on satire: Junk News
They literally tell you that its fiction. I hate to burst everyone’s bubble out there but you really need to double check these websites before you share because people love spreading false gossip. In fact I’d be willing to bet that websites just like this one rely on the fact that people just take everything at face value.
This is how all the “False News” nonsense started.
/cheers
The things that go through my mind when I’m alone with nothing but my thoughts for entertainment is dangerous. Some might even say eccentric. Consider this your warning about today’s Random Thought of the Day
Actually this is more about if I won the lottery, I just felt the song by the Barenaked Ladies seemed fitting for this random thought. The age old question: What would you do if you won the lottery? They say money changes people and while that may be true for most I do know wealthy people, personally, that are still pretty down to earth.
So I want to start out by saying that, first and foremost, if I won the jackpot I wouldn’t let it change me. In fact I’d want to remain as anonymous as possible. I’d hire a lawyer or proxy to accept the winning on my behalf. I’d even try to maintain my anonymity from family and friends. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mean that greedily. I don’t want them to treat me any different and obscurity is the best way to maintain that dynamic.
I’d keep working and hope that I can work without becoming too cavalier. I imagine that when you have no fear of losing your job you tend to become lazy. Besides, I’d need something to do during the day or I’d go nuts. I wouldn’t move either. I’d stay in my current home for a couple more years and I’d keep my car until I actually needed to buy a new vehicle. In the meantime I’d make a few investments and some charitable donations (of my choosing). I’d also put together a couple of trust funds for my future generations.
The hardest thing, I imagine, is trying not to be too ostentatious. I’d still buy reliable vehicles, not something luxury just because I can afford it. I’d still only buy a new technology when it was necessary instead of always buying the latest model. I’d still keep my purchases simple and economical (no “dijon ketchup”). See I think the more money you have the more frugal you should be. After all a fool and his money are soon parted. Honestly, what will probably suffer the most is my DIY skills. Instead of attempting to remodel a room myself, I’d hire a professional to do it for me.
/cheers
The things that go through my mind when I’m alone with nothing but my thoughts for entertainment is dangerous. Some might even say eccentric. Consider this your warning about today’s Random Thought of the Day
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