Monday, December 21, 2009

Merry Christmas from Mel Tormé 2; bailout meets zeitgeist; my new TV

Overwhelming demand from last year made me go back to the vault for this gem. You will not find it on Facebook, YouTube, MeTube, or anywhere else. Until some genius at PBS puts together the Best of Mel on PBS, this is your go to site for rare and impossible to find Mel. I still can't figure why they run great stuff like this as an inducement to pledge. It disappears as soon as pledge week is over.



BAILOUT MANIA
More common themes in the culture: in SUNSHINE CLEANING, a woman gets in a big money jam and gets bailed out, kind of like the last post where I referenced Broadway's SUPERIOR DONUTS. The bailout has entered the zeigeist. In real life, George Bailey jumps off the bridge. There may really be angels but the fantasy is people throwing piles of dough at you when you're in the hole.

NEW SONY
My old Toshiba died after 16 years. The last image: Gene Kelly, SITR. A 20 amp house blew when it died. I had thought the microwave was on the fritz (making a lot of funny noises lately) but when I put in the new fuse, it blew that too.

The new Sony Bravia rocks in over the air HD. First show we saw was a CHARLIE BROWN CHRASTMAS (not in HD). Football is awesome and I can't wait to see how bad the Mets are in 16:9. For now I'm putting off gettng Cablevision's "free" HD. They charge you a premium fee for the HD box, not the service, and somehow the FTC lets them get away with this fradulent claim of free HD.

[Correction: I got my bill and can confirm that the HD box from Cablevison carries no extra charge.]

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for this clip. Mel was the greatest singer ever. I've been a fan of his ever since I was a kid.

Anonymous said...

Which "Cablevision" are you talking about? If it's the Cablevision of MSG, The Knicks, Rangers, Rockettes etc. you're looking at the pricing sheet upside down or backwards. The charge for an HD box is the same as it is for a regular box and there's no charge for HD programming (currently up to 106 HD channels). You Cable bashers are all alike. Stop being in so much of a rush to criticize and get your facts straight. You must be confusing HD with DVR. The DVR box costs Cablevision about three times as much as a regular box. The charge for the box is the same but the DVR SERVICE is $9.95 a month. Even at that rate the initial cost for the box is never recouped. That is one of the main reasons that Cablevision will soon be launching it's groundbreaking Remote Server CVR (rs-dvr) then you'll be able to record programming from any regular box in the home and watch the recorded content from any TV with a regular box.

Brigid said...

Here's to a new year of underdog NY sports teams breaking our hearts. At least this time around it'll be in a crystal-clear display.

-BB

Brian said...

"Which "Cablevision" are you talking about?"
I assumed they were either going to screw me with a Premium service charge like they add on to other Premium services, or add it on in the future.

"it's groundbreaking Remote Server CVR"
This kind of admirable enthusiasm you usually only see in a crusader for social justice or a defender of widows and orphans. Please note, there is not an apostrophe in "it's" in this usage.

"The charge for the box is the same but the DVR SERVICE is $9.95 a month. Even at that rate the initial cost for the box is never recouped."
Let's say the box costs $400 as reported. At $10 box a month the cost of the box is recouped in 40 months. What do you mean by "never recouped"? Never recouping would be a bad business model.