So a few days ago, my TiVo hard drive crashed. Since it also acts as a digital cable box, I basically have not watched TV since Tuesday. It's a somewhat weird feeling but what I'm beginning to find is that television may not be quite as necessary to my daily life as I once thought. With Hulu.com, I basically get to watch all of the shows I usually watch anyway (House, Chuck, Heroes, 30 Rock, Family Guy, etc). I hit ESPN.com for my Sportscenter highlights and with video on all the major news networks, I pretty much get the rest. One thing I will miss is the ability to channel surf. You never know when Commando or Batman Begins is playing. Then again, if I didn't watch the same shows or movies for the hundredth time, I'd probably have more time to do other stuff.
 
Don't get me wrong. When the new hard drive arrives in a few days, I'll be back to my happy TV watching self. It's just a nice change of pace to not have the TV on pretty much every waking hour when I'm at home.

I was at the local coffee shop the other day and while waiting for my drink, I browsed through a full stack of New York Times. It got me to thinking, when was the last time I actually bought a newspaper? This isn't a commentary on whether newspaper companies are dying (they are) but the curious observation that I actually don't read printed newspapers any more. I used to have a subscription to the San Francisco Chronicle but canceled that around 2003 once I realized that everything I was reading was old news. I had already gotten the sports scores from Sportscenter and ESPN.com, stock quotes and business articles from Yahoo Finance, even local news from SFGate.com. It just got to the point where I was tired of paying for stuff I had already read (plus having to take a sack of newspapers to the recycling bin each week).
 
Nationally recognized publications like the New York Times and Wall Street Journal might still have a printed news audience but eventually, I just can't see how even they can keep up with the increasingly real-time demand of content. To be fair, most newspaper companies have a website but when will the cost and inefficiency of printing newspapers outstrip the newspaper subscription fees generated, if it hasn't already? I'm sure there's a demographic of folks who enjoy sitting down with a nice cup of coffee and the paper (I used to be one of them), but those folks are dwindling in number.

I've been watching a lot of videos on Vimeo lately and I really dig the design of the site. Very clean, big fonts where needed, nice colors. I think the layout of the site doesn't lend itself to watching lots video or exploring for new videos but maybe it's quality over quantity? Anyway, this video was forwarded to me and it's hilarious.
 

It took me about 2 months but I finally had time to finish this movie. Pretty funny look at the Asian acting scene circa the 70's. Even the grainy video adds something to the movie. My favorite is Troy Poon! Justin Lin (Fast and Furious, Better Luck Tomorrow) is the director. Good to see more up and coming Asian directors get their due.  Look for MC Hammer, James Franco, and Ron Jeremy in small but memorable roles in the movie.

Another story forwarded by a buddy. This one doesn't really make me mad, just makes me sad that there are still people out there who think this way. Betty Brown, a state representative from Texas, thought it might be easier for Asians to vote if they adopted a name that was easier for American poll workers to deal with. In and of itself, it's not really that big of a deal. I've had many conversations with older people where harmlessly racist statements have been made and I understand they grew up in an era when Asians were not so common. I just wished a publicly elected official would have a little more sense.