I have to admit that I am a sucka for TV theme songs. Sometimes I enjoy the intro more than episode. I think it is because the intro is a constant and reminds me of all the goodness from every episode I have watched. Holly bought me season 5 of the Mythbusters for Christmas, and the intro at the beginning of each DVD just puts me in a good mood. It is not the “theme song”, but in this case it is even better. Several times I have power-cycled the DVD player, because I missed the intro while I was switching inputs on the TV. As a bonus the kids love it too (especially when the tribal guy delivers an enthusiastic “BOOMDIYADA!”). I defy you to be in a bad mood after enjoying this clip.
We stopped subscribing to satellite/cable TV when we moved into the new house almost a year ago. Since then, we have been running on over-the-air HD only. Needless to say, this leaves us with a greatly diminished selection of programming. Also, it messed up my beautiful MythTV setup (I don’t have an HD tuner for that box), so we have less programming AND we have to watch shows when they air <gasp>.
All of the major TV networks have been experimenting with distributing their shows online. I have sampled the offerings from the big three on various occasions. CBS really stinks. Their innertube service is poor quality, and locks up several times during each show (each lock up requires about 5 minutes of reconnecting and watching the commercials you’ve already seen again). ABC has a decent service, but not much selection. NBC’s Hulu is my favorite. It really hits the sweet spot for me: no fee (most important feature), limited commercials, easy to navigate, massive selection, easy to share. They have all their current shows (including cable programming like Battlestar Galactica) and a huge back catalog (can you say Airwolf?) that even includes a lot of edited for TV movies they have the rights to. Of course, it is not without it’s drawbacks. They are pulling some annoying stuff on some of the newer and more popular shows. For example, they only have the last 3 episodes of Battlestar Galactica (wish I new this before I missed about 6 in a row).
This show alone will keep my TV watching needs satisfied for months –
We are doing the landscaping on our house this spring. We are hiring out most of the work, but one project I decided to take on myself was to put in a ground-level trampoline. I spent a lot of time looking around online for a good way to do this, but I found a surprising lack of information. Fortunately, our landscape contractor pointed me to a nice solution. It turns out that Trampolines Down Under makes a nifty retaining system that is simple to install and fits right up against frame of the trampoline (and they are based in American Fork).
Their web site describes the whole system, so I will just throw up some pictures of how my installation turned out.
I got to use a tractor! I know it doesn’t look all that impressive, but it was actually pretty cool.
This is the part where I uncover a little surprise. It turns out that a concrete pillar left over from a former irrigation ditch was right in the spot where I wanted to put the trampoline.
Here I am chipping away at the monolithic beast.
Here is a shot of the trampoline in place with the retaining system attached.
