TV Shopping Like Goldilocks

02.13.2010

I mentioned previously how my 5 year old Hitachi big boy 60" DLP tv had decided to bite the dust. I took advantage of some Super Bowl sales and got a replacement. A 52" Toshiba LCD TV. I bought it at HH Gregg, and it was the last one in stock/floor model, so I got a good deal on it. Unfortunately, after getting it home and setting everything up, I found out the first HDMI port didn't work. At first I thought maybe the XBox was on the fritz, but after switching around components it didn't matter which thing was plugged into HMDI 1, it just wasn't working.

So back to HH Gregg I went, and with far less hassle than anyone expected, I soon left with a 55" Samsung LCD TV.

So many different sizes, so many different brands. With the influx of the new LED tvs, why didn't I get one of those? And what's with getting a smaller tv? Never downsize the tv!

I'm just getting older. 60" really was a little bit too big for where I watch tv. 52" seemed a little too small though :) Sure, LEDs are the hot new cool thing, but for the same size it was going to cost an extra $700. I think I'll be old and cheap and wait for this tv to die before going on to the new hotness. Besides, my computer is chock full of new hotness, so I'm not completely over the hill.

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Feb 1, 2010 Raw

02.02.2010

The last time I went to a wrestling show was a Raw house show at the VBC on Sept 1, 2006. It was Jerry's first (and so far last) trip to see the wrestling. My good close personal friend Evil Mathias was also part of our little crew that night. This past Monday night Matt and I went to see the televised Raw from Nashville. Neither of us thought of inviting Jer.

Early last week Matt tracked down some ramp-side tickets for us. We would be on the side you could actually see form the camera, so there was a chance we would be on TV. Even more importantly, since this was a televised show Jason would be there, so after not seeing him in over 5 years I could once again bear hug the little dude. I can't help it, it's just one of those things I have to do when I see him. From here I'll try to hit the high points :)

Matt and I got to our ramp side seats after the doors opened. We were on the floor, 8 rows back from the ring, 2 rows forward of the stage, and about 15 chairs away form the actual ramp. It sounds good, but being on the flat floor when everybody gets excited and jumps up to look around and they're between you and world famous wrestling superstars limits the viewing pleasure. But I digress.

About 10 minutes before the first match (a taping for WWE Superstars, check your local listings on WGN) Jason managed to sneak up behind me, totally throwing off my bear hug trap that I was planting for him. I introduced Matt and Jason offered to take us backstage and give a quick tour, at which point he asked if I had ever been backstage before. This was my 14th wrestling event to attend, the 10th one that I've seen Jason at. The only time I've been backstage was once in Birmingham when he brought me in through the back before a show, then took me back out the back afterward. So, hell no Jason's never taken me backstage, at least not like some whore in the night! He said he was going to get 2 passes and would be right back.

I looked at Matt and told him no matter what, this was going to be the best night ever. I was going backstage! I may have peed my underbritches a little.

Jason showed back up with passes in hand, but before he gave them to us he said "Ok, 3 rules. No autographs, no pictures, no marking out." Hopefully I covered my slack jawedness at this, after all I had a little pee in my underbritches. No marking out? I'm only human! Ok, I can try. Matt and I stuck passes to our shirts and Jason began the tour.

Jason showed us the cabinet with all the title belts they keep for TV. We saw the props trailer (I touched a rubber sledgehammer Triple H hits people with!). We saw another props trailer that carries ring equipment (it has one of Undertaker's caskets stored too). We saw offices that are really props for vignets they show on TV. We saw wardrobe people sewing, and lots of pyro canisters.

Along the way we saw some wrestlers... no wait, I should call them "talent" so I don't mark out. We passed Jack Swagger, who seemed awfully polite along with being a lot bigger than he looks on TV. We passed Big Show, who I've actually seen enough to not be shocked by his size. On the way to one of the offices we passed by catering, and there was the biggest collection of wre... talent I've ever seen. Stephanie McMahon, Triple H, Kofi Kingston, Ted DiBiase (Jr), and even more that I tried not to stare at because we really weren't supposed ot be there. We got to the office Jason wanted to show us and I had to make him stop for a second. Everything caught up to me for a moment and I swear I sounded like Beavis & Butthead for a couple of seconds. "Sorry, nobody's around and I had to mark out for a second."

Jason took us down another hallway where wardrobe was. There was a gaggle of Divas standing in the hall talking. John Cena walked by and said "Hey fellas". He was really talking to Jason, but Matt and I are going to back each other up and say he was talking to us too. Past the Divas, Jason stopped us and explained the inner workings of wardrobe, while just beyond Jason, Sheamus, Edge, and CM Punk were animatedly talking over what I just know was something that was going to happen in a match.

Jason started to take us back out of the hallway to the stage area since it was getting close to time for him to work. Jason and Matt are little guys, especially compared to me. Plus, they walk faster than I do, so I tend to lag behind. There was enough room to get by the gaggle of Divas when Jason and Matt got there. As I got closer, one of the girls that had her back toward me decided to hear something funny and started to laugh. She also started stepping backwards into that gap that Jason and Matt had just gone through. I couldn't just politely stand there, I couldn't get too far away from Jason. I couldn't keep going, I'm 4 times the giggling girl's size. Luckily, I've had to manage my way through many a crowded strip club and the skills I learned are instinctual! As I got closer to the giggling Diva she started to turn, probably enough to notice that it was getting darker because I was blocking out the light. Seeing me caught her off guard and she brought her hands up to her face as she stopped backpedaling - just enough to be in the way! At this point, I non-threateningly placed my hands on her hips, flashed my best teddy bear smile along with a dash of surprised eyes and said "whoops, excuse me" as I guided her out of my way.

Yes, I'm good. Turns out the giggly Diva was one of the Bella Twins. She looks a lot better in person than on TV.

From there we went out front and sat behind Jason for a couple of matches. Jason started to get busy so Matt and I went to our ramp side seats. After two matches, Matt came to the conclusion that the seats over by Jason were a lot better, so we went back and watched the rest of the night's festivities from there. Like most live, televised shows I go to, I then spent more time talking to Jason when he wasn't swamped, looking at the lighting gadgets, and peeking over Jason's shoulder as he got on his laptop and worked on the design for the entrance stage for Wrestlemania.

After the last match, Matt and I got to talk a little more to Jason. In all honesty, Jason is one of those guys I just love to talk to. He has a job that he loves (he doesn't, no matter how match of a pain it can be). I know enough about what he does that I can carry on a conversation with him - I think half the time I know where he's going to be over the next couple of days better than he does. I try not to talk about wrestling too much, it is the equivalent of him talking about work all the time, after all. But deep down, Jason is just a nice guy, and from that he's fun to talk to.

I had told Matt years ago the Jason was "Gina's Ex-Uncle" or "Gina's Aunt's Ex-Husband" to try to explain how I knew him. Along the way, Matt started calling Jason "your cousin" and it was just easier to let him go with that. If anybody asks, I'll quickly tell them Jason's my cousin. He's family. Not necessarily by blood. He's family by bear hug!

Every time there's a live wrestling event, I first think "That would be fun to go to" followed by "but there driving back and forth, and getting in, and all the people". I usually dread it a little and may try to think of an excuse not to go. Every time, I'm glad when I get there and I manage to have fun. I think I might have had the most fun this time. Thanks Matt & Jason! Oh, and thanks A Bella Twin!

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Time for an Update

01.29.2010

I've been quiet online for the past week and a half. Yes, I'm still alive - life is just keeping me busy.

My first Accounting II test is next week, and I'm not sure how prepared I'm going to end up. The chapter covers short term liabilities, payroll, and long term liabilities. It sounds simple enough, but the examples don't seem consistent to me. The cut-off point from short-term to long-term seems to jump around. On top of that, I have a different teacher from the previous class and I'm not sure how 33 multiple choice questions will work on an accounting test.

My big boy TV in the living room died last Sunday. There was a bad storm in the wee hours of Sunday morning, so although the TV was plugged into a surge protector, some bad mojo might have sneaked through. It was only 5 years old, but I had already had a handful of problems with it in those 5 years. I'm hoping to take advantage of some Super Bowl Big TV sales in the upcoming week.

Monday I head to Nashville with my close personal 1st tier friend Evil Mathias to attend Raw, live! It's been a few years since I went to a wrestling show. Matt picked us up some tickets that are supposed to be by the entrance ramp. Although there's great potential for being up close when the guys go to the ring, I keep thinking about the loud and fiery pyro we're going to be close to. Maybe I'll just hang out at with Jason and the lighting/sound guys?

Somehow I've picked up some little web projects to work on between work and various people I know. I've been playing around with WordPress which I've avoided for years. Pretty soon I'll have to go ahead and start looking into Joomla so I can check it off my list!

My homemade video game development had a forward spurt that's stalled out over the past week or so. Mainly I need to purchase a library that better manipulates the camera and allows interaction between the player and objects on the map. I need to purchase it because I sure don't want to write it - that stuff looks complicated.

So, to summarize:

• Still alive.
• Busy.

That's all until I'm less busy, or less alive?

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[Censored]

01.19.2010

This makes me laugh way too much.

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Busy Busy Busy

01.09.2010

Lots going on in the upcoming week. Part of the busy-ness of the week will undoubtedly be due to me missing a couple of days of work due to belatedly catching my Christmas Cold. I'm down to irritating sniffles now, so the pressure is finally gone from behind my eyes.

Sunday is Gina's birthday - Happy (early or late, depending on if you ever read this) Birthday! Hopefully it will be a fun birthday for her, as I'm promising not to pick on her or point out her advanced years. I was the one that was given the senior's discount at Capt D's last year, after all. She and I still need to go finish up getting her belated christmas present, too. Luckily I've already gotten her a birthday trinket and a card!

Class starts back Monday and I'm enrolled to take Accounting II online. I've got access to the Calhoun student website and nothing is showing up as yet, so I'm hoping they're just waiting until Monday and that there's not something wrong with my registration that will force me to go scurry about the campus trying to fix.

Tuesday the open beta keys for Star Trek Online are to be sent out. I've been waiting for around 3 years, so to say I'm excited is a bit of an understatement. I pre-ordered the game at Amazon just to get a beta key, and I have no idea how any of this works. I'm still excited. On the verge of giddy, actually.

If I don't come up for air for a little while, the above is why. Most of it will be because of the Star Trek I'm betting.

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1/14 Update
Instead of committing a whole new entry, I'll just sort of continue the one above.

After a day and a half spent downloading the Star Trek game from various site to take part in the beta test, I found out after about 10 minutes of play time that I don't like it. It's not due to the still-in-development problems, I was expecting that. It just doesn't feel like Star Trek. Running around through the tutorial section, it's just a vaguely sci-fi game with a lot of other people playing. There's something about the play environment that's not right. I gave it a couple of hours of play time, but I never felt any better about it. So with that, I went and canceled my Amazon order (thus saving me $75 of collectors edition goodness) and will go back to World of Warcraft. I may try out Eve Online later since I have no preconceptions about it.

My Accounting class that I signed up for because it had the same teacher as the previous class (thus I would know what to expect) now has a different teacher - some guy from UAH. The class is already different in that the class grade will come from 4 tests, period. I'm giving him until the weekend to see if he posts any more information about the class outside of the syllabus that lists a timeline for chapters, suggested homework, and dates for those 4 tests. If, unlike the previous class, he doesn't provide answers to the homework to a little more detail about what will be on the tests (for example, the previous teacher didn't include vocabulary/definitions on the tests, just problems) I'll be seriously thinking about dropping this one. I'm old and curmudgeonly now think that if I'm paying for a class I should be given the proper tools to learn. I can fight away on my own and hack at problems for free if I want to do it the hard way.

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