Angel's Back on UK terrestrial TV
Marcus L. Rowland
transmissions of Angel (starting where they left off) at 11.55pm on
Tuesday 30th.
--
Marcus L. Rowland http://www.forgottenfutures.com/
LJ:ffutures http://homepage.ntlworld.com/forgottenfutures/
Forgotten Futures - The Scientific Romance Role Playing Game
"Life is chaos; Chaos is life; Control is an illusion." - Andromeda
Marilee J. Layman
<forgotte...@ntlworld.com> wrote:
>Peter Wareham tells me that C5 will be resuming terrestrial
>transmissions of Angel (starting where they left off) at 11.55pm on
>Tuesday 30th.
You know it's being cancelled? The last ep will be in May.
--
Marilee J. Layman
Marcus L. Rowland
Layman <mjla...@erols.com> writes
C5 are still showing Angel S3 so there are still 50-odd episodes to show
here.
Nimrod
Marcus L. Rowland <forgotte...@ntlworld.com> wrote in message
news:+x+DVTAm...@00.d0.59.f5.d0.2a...
> Peter Wareham tells me that C5 will be resuming terrestrial
> transmissions of Angel (starting where they left off) at 11.55pm on
> Tuesday 30th.
series 3 episode 18 according to next weeks TVTimes.... lets see how long it
lasts this time!
---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.642 / Virus Database: 410 - Release Date: 24/03/04
Keith F. Lynch
> Peter Wareham tells me that C5 will be resuming terrestrial
Strange phrasing. As if C5 is currently beaming episodes of that
show to Alpha Centauri.
--
Keith F. Lynch - http://keithlynch.net/
Please see http://keithlynch.net/email.html before emailing me.
Marilee J. Layman
<forgotte...@ntlworld.com> wrote:
>In message <cg79601ndtj9m84fr...@4ax.com>, Marilee J.
>Layman <mjla...@erols.com> writes
>>On Fri, 26 Mar 2004 17:39:50 +0000, "Marcus L. Rowland"
>><forgotte...@ntlworld.com> wrote:
>>
>>>Peter Wareham tells me that C5 will be resuming terrestrial
>>>transmissions of Angel (starting where they left off) at 11.55pm on
>>>Tuesday 30th.
>>
>>You know it's being cancelled? The last ep will be in May.
>>
>
>C5 are still showing Angel S3 so there are still 50-odd episodes to show
>here.
Ah, sorry. I assumed you were on the same schedule because Angel
hasn't been shown here for a few weeks at least. May is sweeps, I
think, so they'll do the final eps then.
--
Marilee J. Layman
David G. Bell
k...@KeithLynch.net "Keith F. Lynch" wrote:
> Marcus L. Rowland <forgotte...@ntlworld.com> wrote:
> > Peter Wareham tells me that C5 will be resuming terrestrial
> > transmissions of Angel ...
>
> Strange phrasing. As if C5 is currently beaming episodes of that
> show to Alpha Centauri.
A lot of TV, especially from America, is initially broadcast to the UK
from direct-broadcast satellites. Not all of us have, or want to pay
the monthly fees for, a receiver system, so we wait for the broadcast
from the terrestrial transmitters.
Besides, Alpha Centauri is well below the horizon from the UK. They'll
be getting "Neighbours" direct from Australia, poor bastards.
--
David G. Bell -- SF Fan, Filker, and Punslinger.
"History shows that the Singularity started when Sir Tim Berners-Lee
was bitten by a radioactive spider."
Nick Atty
wrote:
>Marcus L. Rowland <forgotte...@ntlworld.com> wrote:
>> Peter Wareham tells me that C5 will be resuming terrestrial
>> transmissions of Angel ...
>
>Strange phrasing. As if C5 is currently beaming episodes of that
>show to Alpha Centauri.
It's very simple. "Terrestrial" means it comes through the air. "Sky"
means it comes through a cable burried in the ground.
--
On-line canal route planner: http://www.canalplan.org.uk
(Waterways World site of the month, April 2001)
Alan Woodford
Sig deliberately quoted.
Neat site. I'm about 200 yards from the Dudley Port Basin, and about
50 yards from the Old Main Line. She who must be obeyed occasionally
talks about hiring a narrowboat for overflow accommodation when we
throw parties :-)
Alan Woodford
--
Men in Frocks, Protecting the Earth with mystical flummery!
Harry Payne
>Marcus L. Rowland <forgotte...@ntlworld.com> wrote:
>> Peter Wareham tells me that C5 will be resuming terrestrial
>> transmissions of Angel ...
>
>Strange phrasing. As if C5 is currently beaming episodes of that
>show to Alpha Centauri.
The UK has good terrestrial (old-fashioned radio wave-type)
broadcasting. The "terrestrial" channels all get re-broadcast on cable
and satellite TV, but the latter are in the minority, albeit a rather
large and growing one.
"Terrestrial TV" seems to have a certain snob factor among the UK
literati who actually admit to watching the medium (none of whom, as far
as I am aware, post to this group), as if being forced to pay for the
privilege of possessing a television was in some way nobler than
voluntarily handing over money to actually watch something.
--
Harry
"We are less interested in actions than in attitudes."
- The Nightwatch, Babylon 5.
Kip Williams
I wanted to take a canal cruise next time we went to England, but
something else happened instead. I still think it's a great idea.
--
--Kip (Williams) ...at members.cox.net/kipw
"Bad enough having [expletive] flu, without being crucified." --John
Cleese (after Monty Python's Life of Brian)
Bernard Peek
writes
>Alan Woodford wrote:
>
>> On Sat, 27 Mar 2004 09:39:39 +0000, Nick Atty
>> <nos...@nandj.freeserve.co.uk> wrote:
>>>On-line canal route planner: http://www.canalplan.org.uk
>>>
>>>(Waterways World site of the month, April 2001)
>> Sig deliberately quoted.
>> Neat site. I'm about 200 yards from the Dudley Port Basin, and about
>> 50 yards from the Old Main Line. She who must be obeyed occasionally
>> talks about hiring a narrowboat for overflow accommodation when we
>> throw parties :-)
>
>I wanted to take a canal cruise next time we went to England, but
>something else happened instead. I still think it's a great idea.
It's a great way to spend a week, cruising along the canal at an
exhilarating 4mph, stopping every night to moor next to a pub.
--
Bernard Peek
b...@shrdlu.com
In search of cognoscenti
Andy Leighton
One of the best holidays I have ever had was canal cruising in the
south of France on the Canal du Midi. We managed to go up as far as
Carcassone, turn round come back the other way, down a side canal
(Canal de Robine) to Port-la-Nouvelle (a seaside resort) for a few
days at the beach. Then back onto the Midi and on towards
Beziers for a night before turning back to our drop off point.
--
Andy Leighton => an...@azaal.plus.com
"The Lord is my shepherd, but we still lost the sheep dog trials"
- Robert Rankin, _They Came And Ate Us_
Bernard Peek
<an...@azaal.plus.com> writes
>> It's a great way to spend a week, cruising along the canal at an
>> exhilarating 4mph, stopping every night to moor next to a pub.
>
>One of the best holidays I have ever had was canal cruising in the
>south of France on the Canal du Midi. We managed to go up as far as
>Carcassone, turn round come back the other way, down a side canal
>(Canal de Robine) to Port-la-Nouvelle (a seaside resort) for a few
>days at the beach. Then back onto the Midi and on towards
>Beziers for a night before turning back to our drop off point.
The folk club that I belonged to arranged a week's boating every year,
it was usually at Easter so I rarely made it. Most of the trips were on
British canals. One of the last trips was to Holland. We spent a week on
a sailing-boat in northern Holland, up on Ijselmeer. I thoroughly
recommend it.
Robert Sneddon
writes
>
>It's a great way to spend a week, cruising along the canal at an
>exhilarating 4mph, stopping every night to moor next to a pub.
I think you meant to write "stopping every late morning, lunchtime,
early afternoon, late afternoon, early evening, late evening and night
to moor next to a pub". The best boating trips are the ones where you
barely make it out of the hire place's pond.
--
Email me via nojay (at) nojay (dot) fsnet (dot) co (dot) uk
This address no longer accepts HTML posts.
Robert Sneddon
Keith F. Lynch
> The UK has good terrestrial (old-fashioned radio wave-type)
> broadcasting. The "terrestrial" channels all get re-broadcast
> on cable and satellite TV, but the latter are in the minority,
> albeit a rather large and growing one.
Same in the US. I've never had cable or satellite. Nor do my
relatives, or most of the people I know. Not many people want to pay
fifty dollars or more every month for the privilege of viewing more
channels just as clogged with commercials as the regular broadcast
channels. Especially considering how crappy the level of service and
customer support typically is. And considering the dramatic rate
increases. And the fact that it has various built-in limitations,
such as not being able to record one show while watching another.
Or, in some cases, not being able to record at all. Consumer Reports
magazine recently said that cable TV is the product consumers are
least happy with.
> "Terrestrial TV" seems to have a certain snob factor among the UK
> literati who actually admit to watching the medium (none of whom, as
> far as I am aware, post to this group), as if being forced to pay
> for the privilege of possessing a television was in some way nobler
> than voluntarily handing over money to actually watch something.
In the US, regular broadcast TV has always been free. There's never
been any license, fee, or tax for any kind of radio or TV receiver.
Quite a few Americans were miffed at laws against decrypting satellite
signals, pointing out that one has always had the right to receive
whatever signals enter one's own land, without paying anyone for the
privilege. (For values of "always" that extend back to 1919, anyhow.)
Keith F. Lynch
> Peter Wareham tells me that C5 will be resuming terrestrial
> transmissions of Angel ...
"Keith F. Lynch" <k...@KeithLynch.net> wrote:
> Strange phrasing. As if C5 is currently beaming episodes of that
> show to Alpha Centauri.
David G. Bell <db...@zhochaka.org.uk> wrote:
> A lot of TV, especially from America, is initially broadcast to the
> UK from direct-broadcast satellites. Not all of us have, or want
> to pay the monthly fees for, a receiver system, so we wait for the
> broadcast from the terrestrial transmitters.
> Besides, Alpha Centauri is well below the horizon from the UK.
> They'll be getting "Neighbours" direct from Australia, poor bastards.
I misunderstood, and thought "C5" was the name of a satellite. One
which sometimes does "terrestrial transmissions," i.e. transmissions
to earth. Which made me wonder what it was doing the rest of the time.
I'm well aware that Alpha Centauri isn't visible from the UK. Or from
most of the US. But it is visible from all geostationary satellites.
And from all other satellites at least some of the time.
Marilee J. Layman
wrote:
>Harry Payne <Ha...@menageri.org.uk> wrote:
>> The UK has good terrestrial (old-fashioned radio wave-type)
>> broadcasting. The "terrestrial" channels all get re-broadcast
>> on cable and satellite TV, but the latter are in the minority,
>> albeit a rather large and growing one.
>
>Same in the US. I've never had cable or satellite. Nor do my
>relatives, or most of the people I know. Not many people want to pay
>fifty dollars or more every month for the privilege of viewing more
>channels just as clogged with commercials as the regular broadcast
>channels. Especially considering how crappy the level of service and
>customer support typically is. And considering the dramatic rate
>increases. And the fact that it has various built-in limitations,
>such as not being able to record one show while watching another.
>Or, in some cases, not being able to record at all. Consumer Reports
>magazine recently said that cable TV is the product consumers are
>least happy with.
The Senate is currently considering to require cable companies to let
consumers get a la carte channels. I suspect the cable lobbyists will
get rid of that idea quickly.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A25188-2004Mar25.html
As to not recording and watching at the same time, that's only if you
get the cable box. All my stuff is cable-ready, so I bring the cable
in to a splitter and then the cables from the VCRs & DVD to the TV
(has three input sets). I can tape two shows and watch a third at the
same time, not that that happens often. I can't get TV over an
antenna out here.
--
Marilee J. Layman
Michael Kube-McDowell
left the following thoughtprints where they could be seen:
>Same in the US. I've never had cable or satellite. Nor do my
>relatives, or most of the people I know. Not many people want to pay
>fifty dollars or more every month for the privilege of viewing more
>channels just as clogged with commercials as the regular broadcast
>channels.
Sampling error, Keith. More than 7 of every 10 households which have a
television subscribe to at least one pay TV service--cable or satellite.
K-Mac
--
Michael P. Kube-McDowell, author and packrat
SF and other bad habits: http://k-mac.home.att.net
Upcoming: VECTORS, Bantam Spectra, November 2002
Michael Kube-McDowell
<alter...@example.net> carefully left the following thoughtprints where
they could be seen:
>Sampling error, Keith. More than 7 of every 10 households which have a
>television subscribe to at least one pay TV service--cable or satellite.
Implied by context but not explicit--those figures are for American TV
households.
There are about 109 million households in the US, and more than 65 million
cable households. Add in the satellite TV contingent, and...
David Bilek
>Harry Payne <Ha...@menageri.org.uk> wrote:
>> The UK has good terrestrial (old-fashioned radio wave-type)
>> broadcasting. The "terrestrial" channels all get re-broadcast
>> on cable and satellite TV, but the latter are in the minority,
>> albeit a rather large and growing one.
>
>Same in the US. I've never had cable or satellite. Nor do my
>relatives, or most of the people I know. Not many people want to pay
>fifty dollars or more every month for the privilege of viewing more
>channels just as clogged with commercials as the regular broadcast
>channels.
Sheesh. Keith, how many times do you have to be called on this before
you *stop posting it*. This is at least the third time you've said a
variation on the above, and the third time you're being corrected.
Most people in the US have cable, satellite or other form of pay TV.
In point of fact, the great majority of Americans do.
Seems like every 9 months this comes up. I'll mark my calendar for
December or January.
-David
Thomas Yan
> "Keith F. Lynch" <k...@KeithLynch.net> wrote:
>
>>[...] I've never had cable or satellite. Nor do my
>>relatives, or most of the people I know. Not many people want to pay
>>fifty dollars or more every month for the privilege of viewing more
>>channels just as clogged with commercials as the regular broadcast
>>channels.
>
> Sheesh. Keith, how many times do you have to be called on this before
> you *stop posting it*. This is at least the third time you've said a
> variation on the above, and the third time you're being corrected.
>
> Most people in the US have cable, satellite or other form of pay TV.
> In point of fact, the great majority of Americans do.
I have cable TV. What about you all?
Oh, heck. I'll volunteer more info.
I have a widescreen (HD) TV. I have a DVD player. I have TiVo. I
have a VCR that I don't really use. I have a CD changer that I have
not used in years.
I have a land phone and a cell phone.
I have a cable modem.
I have a 15" iLamp; it can read DVDs and can read and write CDs. I
own a StarMax (Mac clone) that I left at my parents and that I hoped
to bring back with me to Boston but it wouldn't start up over winter
break so I'm not sure what I'll do with it. I'm thinking of buying
another computer, either a 20" iLamp or a dual G5. I have a color
printer.
I have an Xbox.
I have a treadmill.
I have a car.
I rent a partially furnished apartment. It has no dishwasher or
clothes washing machine. I own a microwave.
I do not have an iPod or portable CD player.
Eu. Harry Andruschak
>From: Thomas Yan tk...@rcn.com
>Date: 3/27/04 10:31 PM Pacific Standard Time
>Message-id: <m13c7t8o...@rcn.com>
>
>
>I have cable TV. What about you all?
>
No TV, video, DVD, or a home entertainment system. I have an FM radio to listen
to two classical music station and one jazz station. I also have a small but
adaquate refridgerator, a second or third hand microwave good enough for a
bachelor, and not much else. Living on the poverty line due to my Chapter 13,
not helped out by spending lots of money on the 4 cats. I have a 2002 Ford
Escort. I rent an unfurnished two bedroom apartment. I never eat out, since I
cannot afford it.Numerous health problems. "Always look on the bright side of
LIFE!"
Reply to harryandruschak AT aol DOT com
Honorary Menobabe with golden toenails
Abject, humble Cat Harem eunuch slave to
^..^ Conway, Czarina, Max, and Hestia (formerly Molly) ^..^
"Because Nice Matters"
David Goldfarb
>I have cable TV. What about you all?
I have cable TV. Mainly so that I can watch Cartoon Network. (Although
I'm not regularly watching anything on it these days.)
I have a VCR that I use regularly (although I don't have a TiVo; if
I had a TiVo I'm sure the VCR would mostly retire) and a DVD player
that I don't.
I have a three-year-old G4 Mac that is far more computer than I really
need. It has more RAM than my previous Mac had hard drive.
I do have a portable CD player, although it stopped seeing much
use at all once I realized the advantages of ripping my CD collection.
No car, although I rent one on occasion.
--
David Goldfarb <*>|"You are trapped in that bright moment where you
gold...@ocf.berkeley.edu | learned your doom."
gold...@csua.berkeley.edu | -- Samuel R. Delany, _City of a Thousand Suns_
Don Fitch
Kip Williams wrote:
<snips>
>>>On-line canal route planner: http://www.canalplan.org.uk
>> Neat site. I'm about 200 yards from the Dudley Port Basin, and about
>> 50 yards from the Old Main Line. She who must be obeyed occasionally
>> talks about hiring a narrowboat for overflow accommodation when we
>> throw parties :-)
>
>I wanted to take a canal cruise next time we went to England, but
>something else happened instead. I still think it's a great idea.
Yup -- three or more fans (to say nothing of a dog, of
course, or at least a cat) spending a few weeks mucking-
about in a canal boat (stopping to check-out each Pub en
route) sounds like Great Fun. My total experience along
those lines, mind you, was a 2-hour ride from a Canal
Museum, on which I was the only passenger (in a boat that
would have held at least a dozen people) -- and it's
indicative of something that when I offered to accept a
refund and not go, the boatman confided that he was a
volunteer, and really & truly _wanted_ to run the thing
for a few hours, even though the day was a bit chilly. (And
no, we didn't stop at any Pubs. *sigh*) Maybe next time....
Don Fitch,
idly speculating on the possibility of hiring enough canal
boats for a week or so to accommodate a Corflu or
plotka.con-size Convention.
--
Marilee J. Layman
>David Bilek <dtb...@comcast.net> writes:
>
>> "Keith F. Lynch" <k...@KeithLynch.net> wrote:
>>
>>>[...] I've never had cable or satellite. Nor do my
>>>relatives, or most of the people I know. Not many people want to pay
>>>fifty dollars or more every month for the privilege of viewing more
>>>channels just as clogged with commercials as the regular broadcast
>>>channels.
>>
>> Sheesh. Keith, how many times do you have to be called on this before
>> you *stop posting it*. This is at least the third time you've said a
>> variation on the above, and the third time you're being corrected.
>>
>> Most people in the US have cable, satellite or other form of pay TV.
>> In point of fact, the great majority of Americans do.
>
>I have cable TV. What about you all?
Yes.
>Oh, heck. I'll volunteer more info.
>
>I have a widescreen (HD) TV. I have a DVD player. I have TiVo. I
>have a VCR that I don't really use. I have a CD changer that I have
>not used in years.
I have a 32" TV, a DVD player, two VCRs (which I use, I mostly
timeshift), a CD changer, a digital camera.
>I have a land phone and a cell phone.
Two land lines (one for the computer, which will go away when we get
broadband over power lines soon), no cell or cordless phones>
>I have a cable modem.
Nope
>I have a 15" iLamp; it can read DVDs and can read and write CDs. I
>own a StarMax (Mac clone) that I left at my parents and that I hoped
>to bring back with me to Boston but it wouldn't start up over winter
>break so I'm not sure what I'll do with it. I'm thinking of buying
>another computer, either a 20" iLamp or a dual G5. I have a color
>printer.
I have a mostly-Gateway desk computer with a read-only CD drive, plus
an all-in-one printer. I have a Mitsubishi Amity which is a teeny
sub-notebook compurter. Both use programmable trackballs.
>I have an Xbox.
None of that.
>I have a treadmill.
Too dangerous for me.
>I have a car.
Yep
>I rent a partially furnished apartment. It has no dishwasher or
>clothes washing machine. I own a microwave.
I own a tiny condo with a dishwasher & stackable washer/dryer. I have
a microwave, food processor, electric grill, and lots of other small
appliances that I'm considering getting rid of, since I don't cook
anymore.
>I do not have an iPod or portable CD player.
Me neither, but I do have an old walkman.
--
Marilee J. Layman
Bernard Peek
<fitc...@aol.comDonFitch> writes
>Don Fitch,
>idly speculating on the possibility of hiring enough canal
>boats for a week or so to accommodate a Corflu or
>plotka.con-size Convention.
A few years ago the Eastercon was in Leeds, split between two hotels.
The canal basin was in between them. I toyed with the idea of hiring a
boat.
Every year there's a narrow-boat owners' convention somewhere in the UK.
Hundreds of boats converge on one place, usually some time around
Christmas.
Mark Atwood
>>>[...] I've never had cable or satellite. Nor do my
>>>relatives, or most of the people I know. Not many people want to pay
>>>fifty dollars or more every month for the privilege of viewing more
>>>channels just as clogged with commercials as the regular broadcast
>>>channels.
>>
>> Sheesh. Keith, how many times do you have to be called on this before
>> you *stop posting it*. This is at least the third time you've said a
>> variation on the above, and the third time you're being corrected.
>>
>> Most people in the US have cable, satellite or other form of pay TV.
>> In point of fact, the great majority of Americans do.
>
> I have cable TV. What about you all?
> Oh, heck. I'll volunteer more info.
I have analog cable TV. (My MSO is ComCast).
I own a 27" NTSC color TV.
I own a region-free DVD player.
I have a 160hr ReplayTV PVR.
I own a VCR (that I almost never use).
I own a home stereo that plays CDs, cassette tapes, and receives AM&FM radio.
I own a decent quality electronic keyboard.
I have a POTS landline. (Which will be replaced with Vonage soon.)
I have DSL. (Which will be replaced with DOCSIS soon.)
I have a home network.
I have 802.11b wireless.
I have a decent laptop, that can play CDs and DVDs.
It does not run Windows.
I have a cellphone, a PalmOS PDA, a 20G MP3 player (with a pair
of antinoise earphones), and a digital camera.
I rent a high connected server (I'm not sure exactly where it's
physically located, or even if it's an actual real piece of hardware
instead of virtual).
I subscribe to a 3rd party mail forwarding service.
I subscribe to a 3rd party USENET service.
I have about a half dozen domain names.
I have a LiveJournal account.
I own *two* SUVs. (Technically, I own one heap that is not street
licenced and is not insured and has not been driven for 8 months (I
start it every month to keep it from freezing up), that I need to get
around to selling. And I own a wreck, sitting in a collision yard. In
a few more days, the insurance company will own the wreck, and I will
own an identical brand new one.).
I have an assortment of pocket knifes and and multitools.
I own a gun.
I own a gun safe.
I have a carry permit.
I have a Washington driver's licence.
I have a US passport.
I have a social security card.
I have a medical insurance card.
I have have a half a dozen frequent flyer membership cards.
I have two supermarket cards.
I have a notarized copy of my own birth certificate.
I have a my high school diploma.
I have a my university diploma.
I own a 1oz Golden Eagle.
I own a pound of coin silver.
I have a checking account, a savings account, a business checking
acount, a PayPal account, an individually invested IRA account, an
online personal stock trading account, a 401k account, and a employer
provided Medical Savings Account.
I am a member of 4 credit unions.
I have a few credit cards, only one of which I use. I almost never
carry a balance.
I have employer provided Medical/Dental insurance.
I have a couple of random small life insurance policies.
I own over a thousand books.
I own 8 long boxes of comic books.
I own about 6 linear feet of magazines.
I own several hundred CDs.
I own several DVDs.
I possess 3 female spayed cats, two of them geriatric.
I have a closet and a chest of drawers, most of the clothes in which
are black (most of them cotton, some of them leather). I own a long
black oilskin duster, a black pigsuede broadbrimmed hat, and a pair of
black boots. (When Keith met me at WorldCon 60, he said he'd never
met a goth libertarian before.)
I own 5 handmade quilts, one that I made myself, the others were gifts.
I rent an unfurnished 1br+1ba+open kitchen apartment. It provides the
electric stove and the freezer/fridge. There is no dishwasher. It
has a shared coin-op washer/dryer set.
I own a microwave oven, a breadmaker, and a ricecooker.
I own a first aid kit, a 72 hour bug-out kit, a toolbox, and a fire
extinguisher.
Whew.
--
Mark Atwood | When you do things right, people won't be sure
m...@pobox.com | you've done anything at all.
http://www.pobox.com/~mra | http://www.livejournal.com/users/fallenpegasus
Damien Neil
I have digital satellite TV, a sizable (but not widescreen) TV, a DVD
player, an underused LD player, and some rather nice speakers. My
apartmentmate has a ReplayTV (equivalent to a TiVo). I rarely watch
TV, however, and could live happily without it.
I have a land phone, but no cell phone. I do have a pager from my
workplace.
I have DSL.
I have quite a lot of computer hardware, and I upgrade it regularly. I
have a PS2, a GameCube, and an X-Box--I like games.
I have many books, and not enough bookshelves.
I have a car.
I rent (half) an apartment to store all this, and myself as well.
- Damien
David G. Bell
b...@shrdlu.com "Bernard Peek" wrote:
> In message <20040328024139...@mb-m10.aol.com>, Don Fitch
> <fitc...@aol.comDonFitch> writes
>
>
> >Don Fitch,
> >idly speculating on the possibility of hiring enough canal
> >boats for a week or so to accommodate a Corflu or
> >plotka.con-size Convention.
>
> A few years ago the Eastercon was in Leeds, split between two hotels.
> The canal basin was in between them. I toyed with the idea of hiring a
> boat.
A few?
That was nearly twenty years ago. The first Eastercon I went to. I'm
not sure if it was '84 or '85, but it was what got Steve Glover hooked.
Karen Lofstrom
(both mostly unused now), DVD player. Computer, laser printer, scanner.
Cell phone, two land lines (soon to be DSL). PDA and portable CD player.
Two sewing machines (one regular, one serger).
Tech wish list: new PDA, new HDTV, digital camera, new computerized sewing
machine, new serger, proper sound system (right now I listen to music
either with the portable CD player or through the DVD player and TV).
--
Karen Lofstrom lofs...@lava.net
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Look! Leo's mutating into a fire truck!
aRJay
<fitc...@aol.comDonFitch> writes
>
Canal holidays are (can be) very restful.
The last actual holiday on a canal that I took was back in the early
nineties on the Caledonian Canal in Scotland, we cruised from one side
of the country to the other and back in a week near the end of the
season (around September/October) very pleasant though Loch Ness did get
lively on the way back.
The latest canal trip though was last year when I took my parents to the
Churnot Valley Railway where we road a steam train one way down the
pretty valley and then travelled back on the canal, it was quite
incredibly how peaceful and timeless the canal trip seemed.
--
aRJay
"In this great and creatorless universe, where so much beautiful has
come to be out of the chance interactions of the basic properties of
matter, it seems so important that we love one another."
- Lucy Kemnitzer
Marcus L. Rowland
<k...@KeithLynch.net> writes
>Marcus L. Rowland <forgotte...@ntlworld.com> wrote:
>> Peter Wareham tells me that C5 will be resuming terrestrial
>> transmissions of Angel ...
>
As opposed to satellite transmission / cable - C5 is one of the "big 5"
UK analogue signal broadcasting companies so anyone with a TV (apart
from a few small areas that C5 still doesn't reach) will be able to
receive it.
--
Marcus L. Rowland http://www.forgottenfutures.com/
LJ:ffutures http://homepage.ntlworld.com/forgottenfutures/
Forgotten Futures - The Scientific Romance Role Playing Game
"Life is chaos; Chaos is life; Control is an illusion." - Andromeda
Kip Williams
> Kip Williams wrote:
>
> <snips>
>
>>>>On-line canal route planner: http://www.canalplan.org.uk
>
>
>>>Neat site. I'm about 200 yards from the Dudley Port Basin, and about
>>>50 yards from the Old Main Line. She who must be obeyed occasionally
>>>talks about hiring a narrowboat for overflow accommodation when we
>>>throw parties :-)
>>
>>I wanted to take a canal cruise next time we went to England, but
>>something else happened instead. I still think it's a great idea.
>
>
> Yup -- three or more fans (to say nothing of a dog, of
> course, or at least a cat) spending a few weeks mucking-
> about in a canal boat (stopping to check-out each Pub en
> route) sounds like Great Fun. My total experience along
> those lines, mind you, was a 2-hour ride from a Canal
> Museum, on which I was the only passenger (in a boat that
> would have held at least a dozen people) -- and it's
> indicative of something that when I offered to accept a
> refund and not go, the boatman confided that he was a
> volunteer, and really & truly _wanted_ to run the thing
> for a few hours, even though the day was a bit chilly. (And
> no, we didn't stop at any Pubs. *sigh*) Maybe next time....
>
of it all than what one sees from a road. You get this from railroads as
well, but I've had a bit of that part -- I'm ready to get the watery view.
Chris Croughton
<mjla...@erols.com> wrote:
> As to not recording and watching at the same time, that's only if you
> get the cable box. All my stuff is cable-ready, so I bring the cable
> in to a splitter and then the cables from the VCRs & DVD to the TV
> (has three input sets). I can tape two shows and watch a third at the
> same time, not that that happens often. I can't get TV over an
> antenna out here.
Ah, you don't have digital transmission? Our cable and satellite
providers started phasing out analogue transmissions several years ago,
I'm not sure whether they have totally gone to digital now but I'm
pretty sure there are no new installations with analogue, several of the
providers said two years or so ago that they wouldn't be adding any new
analogue channels and the existing ones would disappear as the contracts
ran out.
And of course it assumes that none of the channels you want to watch are
encrypted. When I had analogue cable most of the non-free-to-air
channels were encrypted (the free-to-air channels being ones either
available on terrestrial broadcast or run by non-profit services, often
showing reruns of 20+ year old shows).
I can't get TV over an antenna here either (it seems that my house is in
a 'null' area), which is why I got able when it became available. I
then went to the digital service in order to get cable modem access...
Chris C
Thomas Yan
> In article <m13c7t8o...@rcn.com>, Thomas Yan <tk...@rcn.com> wrote:
>>I have cable TV. What about you all?
>
> I have cable TV. Mainly so that I can watch Cartoon Network. (Although
> I'm not regularly watching anything on it these days.)
Have you tried Witch Hunter Robin? Note that the last 2 of the 26
episodes are going to be shown Monday and Tuesday night, so if you
want to try, wait until Wednesday night, when it starts up again. Or,
wait until week after next, whereupon within some episodes it will
switch from monster of the week into story arc mode.
Robert Sneddon
>gold...@OCF.Berkeley.EDU (David Goldfarb) writes:
>
>> In article <m13c7t8o...@rcn.com>, Thomas Yan <tk...@rcn.com> wrote:
>>>I have cable TV. What about you all?
>>
>> I have cable TV. Mainly so that I can watch Cartoon Network. (Although
>> I'm not regularly watching anything on it these days.)
>
>Have you tried Witch Hunter Robin?
I downloaded this series at someone else's suggestion and I've watched
the first couple of episodes. Not dreadfully impressed although I can
see the production values are high. Very "Brazil". The CG and cel
animation interface is a little disconcerting -- the combination of
rounded backgrounds and flat characters takes some getting used to.
Problems I'm having with it: I have an almost irresistable urge to turn
up the brightness on my monitor. They seem to have mixed "Bladerunner"
with "Ghostbusters" and not succeeded, quite. The characters, with the
exception of Robin herself, are straight out of the stock box. This
might change in succeeding episodes but at the moment I'm not far off
reclaiming some desperately-needed hard disk space by deleting the rest
of the series. It's be a shame; it has somewhat of a Lain-type feel but
without (at least initially) the depth of story.
Marcus L. Rowland
<Ha...@menageri.org.uk> writes
>
>"Terrestrial TV" seems to have a certain snob factor among the UK
>literati who actually admit to watching the medium (none of whom, as
>far as I am aware, post to this group), as if being forced to pay for
>the privilege of possessing a television was in some way nobler than
>voluntarily handing over money to actually watch something.
The way UK law works, you have to pay for the licence even if you only
watch cable channels. Which is why I feel that the terrestrial channels
bloody well ought to be worth watching, considering they're costing me
ten quid a month now.
While there are 5 main channels, there are another 15 or so viewable
with a digital tuner (cost 40 pounds and up now, no subscription apart
from the usual UK TV licence fee), but there's little of SF interest on
them; mostly they're rock & pop, news, sport news, home shopping etc.,
although the extra BBC channels are sometimes quite interesting.
Keith F. Lynch
>> Same in the US. I've never had cable or satellite. Nor do my
>> relatives, or most of the people I know. Not many people want to pay
>> fifty dollars or more every month for the privilege of viewing more
>> channels just as clogged with commercials as the regular broadcast
>> channels.
David Bilek <dtb...@comcast.net> wrote:
> Sheesh. Keith, how many times do you have to be called on this before
> you *stop posting it*. This is at least the third time you've said a
> variation on the above, and the third time you're being corrected.
Corrected on *what*?
1. I've never had cable or satellite.
2. Nor do my relatives,
3. or most of the people I know.
4. Not many people want to pay fifty dollars or more every month
for the privilege of viewing more channels just as clogged with
commercials as the regular broadcast channels.
Please be specific as to which of these you disagree with.
> Most people in the US have cable, satellite or other form of pay TV.
> In point of fact, the great majority of Americans do.
Once again, I am very skeptical of this claim.
> Seems like every 9 months this comes up. I'll mark my calendar for
> December or January.
Do you also complain to others: "Hey, you posted about your cat nine
months ago!" or "you already mentioned that convention, last year!" or
"Yes, we already know you like chocolate. Shut up about it already."
No? Then why single me out for posting similar replies to similar
messages, months apart?
Marilee J. Layman
>I own 5 handmade quilts, one that I made myself
Picture?
--
Marilee J. Layman
Keith F. Lynch
> I can't get TV over an antenna out here.
In Manassas? That's strange, since you're much closer to DC than I am
to Baltimore. And I get not just the DC channels but the Baltimore
channels. That's with a standard indoor rabbit-ears antenna in my
basement apartment.
Bernard Peek
<k...@KeithLynch.net> writes
>4. Not many people want to pay fifty dollars or more every month
> for the privilege of viewing more channels just as clogged with
> commercials as the regular broadcast channels.
>
>Please be specific as to which of these you disagree with.
Does it cost $50 per month? It's definitely true that the majority of
American households pay for their TV channels. Do they pay more than
$50?
>
>> Most people in the US have cable, satellite or other form of pay TV.
>> In point of fact, the great majority of Americans do.
>
>Once again, I am very skeptical of this claim.
And once again, your scepticism has no factual basis.
Bernard Peek
<forgotte...@ntlworld.com> writes
>In message <Fd9LULCC...@menageri.tele2.co.uk>, Harry Payne
><Ha...@menageri.org.uk> writes
>>
>>"Terrestrial TV" seems to have a certain snob factor among the UK
>>literati who actually admit to watching the medium (none of whom, as
>>far as I am aware, post to this group), as if being forced to pay for
>>the privilege of possessing a television was in some way nobler than
>>voluntarily handing over money to actually watch something.
>
>The way UK law works, you have to pay for the licence even if you only
>watch cable channels. Which is why I feel that the terrestrial channels
>bloody well ought to be worth watching, considering they're costing me
>ten quid a month now.
The main effect of the license fee is that they set a standard for how
much TV companies are required to spend on their programming. To keep
their audiences the commercial channels have to match that spending.
It's an effective way of maintaining quality, I'm not sure about its
efficiency.
David Bilek
>> "Keith F. Lynch" <k...@KeithLynch.net> wrote:
>>> Same in the US. I've never had cable or satellite. Nor do my
>>> relatives, or most of the people I know. Not many people want to pay
>>> fifty dollars or more every month for the privilege of viewing more
>>> channels just as clogged with commercials as the regular broadcast
>>> channels.
>
>David Bilek <dtb...@comcast.net> wrote:
>> Sheesh. Keith, how many times do you have to be called on this before
>> you *stop posting it*. This is at least the third time you've said a
>> variation on the above, and the third time you're being corrected.
>
>Corrected on *what*?
>
>1. I've never had cable or satellite.
>2. Nor do my relatives,
>3. or most of the people I know.
>4. Not many people want to pay fifty dollars or more every month
> for the privilege of viewing more channels just as clogged with
> commercials as the regular broadcast channels.
>
>Please be specific as to which of these you disagree with.
>
Come on. Taken in context, the clear implication of your post was
that most people don't have pay television. This interpretation is
confirmed both below when you say you are skeptical of that "claim"
and by the fact that you've repeatedly made that claim in the past.
>> Most people in the US have cable, satellite or other form of pay TV.
>> In point of fact, the great majority of Americans do.
>
>Once again, I am very skeptical of this claim.
Some people are skeptical of evolution, too.
>
>> Seems like every 9 months this comes up. I'll mark my calendar for
>> December or January.
>
>Do you also complain to others: "Hey, you posted about your cat nine
>months ago!" or "you already mentioned that convention, last year!" or
>"Yes, we already know you like chocolate. Shut up about it already."
>No? Then why single me out for posting similar replies to similar
>messages, months apart?
Because you are making incorrect factual claims and *continue to do
so* after being called on it repeatedly. Talking about a cat or
whatever isn't a false factual claim.
-David
Cally Soukup
> In article <m13c7t8o...@rcn.com>, Thomas Yan <tk...@rcn.com> wrote:
>>I have cable TV. What about you all?
> I have cable TV. Mainly so that I can watch Cartoon Network. (Although
> I'm not regularly watching anything on it these days.)
I have cable TV. Mostly I use it to watch documentaries and Junkyard
Wars.
> I have a VCR that I use regularly (although I don't have a TiVo; if
> I had a TiVo I'm sure the VCR would mostly retire) and a DVD player
> that I don't.
I have a VCR that I use to record Junkyard Wars, and the occasional
documentary, a VCR used to timeshift old time radio shows off the air,
another otherwise dead VCR to allow me to see and hear the signal from
that one on the tv (the f-connector output doesn't work, but the rca
jacks do), and yet another otherwise dead VCR (a betamax, yet) that I
use to send a video signal to the radio recording VCR. Specifically,
the cable tv listing channel, which has a time and date as part of it.
Recently, Comcast changed the channel for what they laughably call the
"TV Guide Channel" to a channel far above what a geriatric VCR can
read, but a bit of scrolling of the ancient analog channel tuning
wheels and I found such a channel that appears to be for a different
branch of Comcast. But I'm not complaining; it still has the day and
date.
I'm not sure how big the TV is. Maybe 20 inch. Mono. No RCA inputs.
Which was a bit annoying when I hooked up the relatively new DVD
player. (Region 1 only, Macrovision(?). And unchangeable, as far as I
can tell. Fortunately, I've not yet needed to view a non Region 1
DVD.)
> I have a three-year-old G4 Mac that is far more computer than I really
> need. It has more RAM than my previous Mac had hard drive.
I've got something-or-other that's a hand-me-down from my husband the
geek. It's running Debian Linux. I've got a brand new as of a week
ago flat screen monitor (oooh, ahh).
There are a number of other computers in the household, but they're all
Martin's territory.
> I do have a portable CD player, although it stopped seeing much
> use at all once I realized the advantages of ripping my CD collection.
There's a five-disk CD changer in the livingroom, and Martin's got his
own CD player in his office with his fancy membrane speakers.
> No car, although I rent one on occasion.
One car for each of us; Mine is a 2003 Toyota Echo, and his is a 1990
Civic hatchback. We're hoping Toyota or Honda comes out with a
base-model car that a) is comfortable for both of us to sit in, and b)
has a hatchback. We'd really like to keep having a hatchback in the
family.
--
"I may disagree with what you have to say, but I will defend
to the death your right to say it." -- Beatrice Hall
Cally Soukup sou...@pobox.com
Mishalak
> I have cable TV. What about you all?
I do not have cable TV, nor have I ever had it, but most people I know
who are not writers do have it. I sometime go over to a friend's house
to watch a program on cable. E.g. Farscape when it was still on Sci-Fi.
I was almost ready to get cable service until I learned they were
cancelling Farscape and then I had basically no reason to get it.
> Oh, heck. I'll volunteer more info.
>
> I have a widescreen (HD) TV. I have a DVD player. I have TiVo. I
> have a VCR that I don't really use. I have a CD changer that I have
> not used in years.
I have a 13" 1976 color TV. I do not own a seperate DVD player, but I
do have a CD player I use somewhat regularly. It is more than 10 years old.
> I have a land phone and a cell phone.
>
> I have a cable modem.
I have DSL, no moblie phone.
> I have a 15" iLamp; it can read DVDs and can read and write CDs. I
> own a StarMax (Mac clone) that I left at my parents and that I hoped
> to bring back with me to Boston but it wouldn't start up over winter
> break so I'm not sure what I'll do with it. I'm thinking of buying
> another computer, either a 20" iLamp or a dual G5. I have a color
> printer.
I have two window boxes, both of which can play DVDs. Both have
monitors that are much bigger (both are 21") than my TV. I am thinking
of getting a flat screen monitor in a year or two.
> I have an Xbox.
I do not own any game play units. I have not ever had one. The last
time I played one was back when Super Mario Brothers was a hot game.
> I have a treadmill.
I have a bicycle for exercise.
> I have a car.
I own a car.
> I rent a partially furnished apartment. It has no dishwasher or
> clothes washing machine. I own a microwave.
I rent a tiny apartment with my own furnature. No microwave, no washer,
no dryer, no dishwasher. Radiators for heat.
> I do not have an iPod or portable CD player.
Ditto. I once had a portable CD player, but it has been lost for years.
Since about the first year of college.
Mishalak
--
Remove nowhere to email me.
Kip Williams
> Because you are making incorrect factual claims and *continue to do
> so* after being called on it repeatedly. Talking about a cat or
> whatever isn't a false factual claim.
Actually, David, most people only *imagine* they have cats. Sad, but
it's a common delusion. Harms no one, but the cans of uneaten cat food
tend to pile up after a while.
Mark Atwood
> On Sun, 28 Mar 2004 09:24:52 GMT, Mark Atwood <m...@pobox.com> wrote:
>
>>I own 5 handmade quilts, one that I made myself
>
> Picture?
The most recent aquisition, a birthday present from my sister and mother,
is shown here:
http://www.livejournal.com/users/fallenpegasus/189100.html
The one I made myself is extremely simplistic, being just two large
pieces of fuzzy nubby polarfleece with a sheet of padding between
them, inside stitched together. It was one of a set of three my ex
and I made with my grandmother's supervision as donations to a
children's shelter. (We kept the most imperfect one.)
Mark Atwood
> Corrected on *what*?
>
> 1. I've never had cable or satellite.
> 2. Nor do my relatives,
> 3. or most of the people I know.
Define "know" in this context. Most of the people you "know" here on
USENET have a pay tv feed of some sort.
Mark Atwood
>> In point of fact, the great majority of Americans do.
>
> Once again, I am very skeptical of this claim.
Keith, I work for a company that supplies technology to the MSOs (the
in-the-trade term for "the cable companies").
All of the MSOs *know* how many installations they have. All of the
satco's also know how many registered receivers there are. (They have
to, they send them each a bill every month). All of the MSOs and
satcos know, from the US census data, how many people and how many
households there are in their coverage areas. All of the MSOs and
satcos also know all this same information w.r.t. all of the other
MSOs and satcos. (I have a color-coded geodata map of exactly that
information, down to the zipcode level, for the entire US, just down
the hall from my cube.)
From this (public and well known) data, it's a simple matter of
tabulation and long division to compute the market penetration of pay
TV.
The phrases "the sun rises in the east" and "big rocks are heavy" are
less true and have more opportunties for quibbling than "most people
in the US have pay television".
You are burning up a *LOT* of credibility arguing otherwise.
Jenn Ridley
>David Bilek <dtb...@comcast.net> wrote:
>> Sheesh. Keith, how many times do you have to be called on this before
>> you *stop posting it*. This is at least the third time you've said a
>> variation on the above, and the third time you're being corrected.
>
>Corrected on *what*?
>
>1. I've never had cable or satellite.
>2. Nor do my relatives,
>3. or most of the people I know.
I guess most of us don't count as people you know, since many people
here on this ng seem to have not only basic cable, but some kind of
premium package.
Nearly everyone I know in person (not just as a screen name) has some
sort of cable or satellite.
>4. Not many people want to pay fifty dollars or more every month
> for the privilege of viewing more channels just as clogged with
> commercials as the regular broadcast channels.
How do you define "not many"? Apparently, most of the US is 'not
many'.
IMO, broadcast TV sucks rocks. I rarely watch it, and even more
rarely in prime time. At least I run a decent chance of finding
something to have on if I've got satellite. (The cable service out
here isn't very good, so we have satellite.)
jenn
--
Jenn Ridley
jri...@chartermi.net
David Bilek
>In rec.arts.sf.fandom Bernard Peek <b...@shrdlu.com> wrote:
>> In message <c47i4i$apq$1...@panix3.panix.com>, Keith F. Lynch
>> <k...@KeithLynch.net> writes
>
>> >> In point of fact, the great majority of Americans do.
>> >
>> >Once again, I am very skeptical of this claim.
>>
>> And once again, your scepticism has no factual basis.
>
>it's certainly turned into a middle-class norm, but it's expensive enough
>that it would not surprise me if it were simply a substantial plurality and
>not a majority of all households.
http://www.tvb.org/rcentral/mediatrendstrack/tvbasics/04_Cable_and_VCR_HH.asp
In 2004, 68.1% of households had wired cable. Note that this does not
include satellite or other forms of TV, just wired cable.
http://www.tvb.org/rcentral/mediatrendstrack/tvbasics/11_ADS-Natl.asp
Show "alternate delivery systems" in 2003 at 18.2%.
So it's obviously rather more than a substantial plurality have pay
TV. I think it is fair to call 86% (68% cable, 18% satellite and
other) a "great majority".
-David
Michael Kube-McDowell
the following thoughtprints where they could be seen:
>I have cable TV. What about you all?
Mid-level analog cable (no premium channels, no digital channels). Six rooms
wired.
>Oh, heck. I'll volunteer more info.
>
>I have a widescreen (HD) TV.
I've bought 11 televisions since 1976. Seven of them are still with me--six
scattered around this house, and one at my brother-in-law's (in the room the
kids use). All are (or were) standard-format CRTs; the biggest is the
6-year-old 27" in the living room.
>I have a DVD player.
As of this week, we have three here--one in the office, one in the living
room, one in the kids' bedroom. We were not early adopters, for the same
reason we weren't with the CD format--because of library inertia. (Too much
invested in a previous format.) We acquired the first of them in Jul 2001. But
the first DVD player was in an HP computer we bought in 1999. First DVD title
was THE MATRIX.
>I have TiVo.
Nope.
>I have a VCR that I don't really use.
I've had eight VCRs since 1983, including one TV/VCR combo and one DVD/VCR
combo. Three have died, the other five of them are still in use. Very
occasionally in simultaneous use. (How many channels can a TiVo record at
once?)
>I have a CD changer that I have
>not used in years.
The 1989 Sony changer was replaced in 1998 by a Teac. There's also a Walkman
portable, a clock radio with a CD player, and four portables (boom boxes) in
various states of functionality. And all of the computers have CD drives
(three even have decent 3-speaker systems).
>I have a land phone and a cell phone.
Two lines land, one for the office, one for the family. No cell for me, though
my wife has had a prepaid for about a year now (because of her health and the
fact that she drives alone a lot).
>I have a cable modem.
Broadband since January 2003.
>I have a 15" iLamp; it can read DVDs and can read and write CDs. I
>own a StarMax (Mac clone) that I left at my parents and that I hoped
>to bring back with me to Boston but it wouldn't start up over winter
>break so I'm not sure what I'll do with it. I'm thinking of buying
>another computer, either a 20" iLamp or a dual G5. I have a color
>printer.
There's a Frankenputer running FreeBSD that serves as the router for the rest
of the network--four desktops, and three portables (two of which have wireless
cards). But we are a lot closer to the dumpster edge than the bleeding
edge--the fastest of the lot is a PIII-500, and they all run Win98.
>I have an Xbox.
My youngest son has a Game Boy Advance. I have lots of computer games I wish I
had time to play. I used to own an Atari SuperPong.
>I have a treadmill.
I think we've collected the whole set--treadmill, stationary bike, Gazelle,
CardioFit, inversion swing...you wouldn't know it to look at us, though.
>I have a car.
I bought my first car in 1975, a 1969 Ford Custom ($1200). My current is my
seventh motor vehicle--a 1998 Grand Voyager. My wife drives my eighth--a 1997
Sable wagon. The rest are all gone (two accidents, one divorce, one trade-in,
two sold or donated as junk). Six of the eight were "pre-owned" vehicles,
including both the ones we drive now.
>I rent a partially furnished apartment. It has no dishwasher or
>clothes washing machine. I own a microwave.
A 40-year-old ranch, the smallest house on our block and smaller than all the
newer homes between here and the kids' school. The kitchen is state of the art
1977, with an Amana RadarRange built in, a dishwasher skating just this side
of having to be replaced, a Jenn-Aire electric grille that's mostly more
trouble to clean than it's worth to use. A big piece of counterspace goes to a
giant 20-year-old Montgomery Ward microwave, and we use the two microwaves a
lot more than we do the electric range/stove. I did buy new spatter guards for
the range last month, which made it look only 10 or 12 years old.
>I do not have an iPod or portable CD player.
I don't have any sort of PDA. In fact, I don't carry any personal electronics
with me.
I don't have a suit, a tuxedo, or even a sport coat. Or a robe. Or a bathing
suit.
I have lots of ties, but no dress shirts.
Decorating and storage problems most people don't have: a grand piano, a
concert harp, congas, a string quartet, and about six guitars. A collection of
diecast airplanes. A collection of 11-1/2" fashion dolls. A multimedia library
that still includes 450 cassettes and 300 LPs.
K-Mac
--
Michael P. Kube-McDowell, author and packrat
SF and other bad habits: http://k-mac.home.att.net
Upcoming: VECTORS, Bantam Spectra, November 2002
Joyce Reynolds-Ward
snip
>I have cable TV. What about you all?
Nope.
>
>Oh, heck. I'll volunteer more info.
>
>I have a widescreen (HD) TV.
One standard large TV, two smaller ones.
> I have a DVD player.
One.
> I have TiVo.
Nope.
> I
>have a VCR that I don't really use.
Two VCRs here.
> I have a CD changer that I have
>not used in years.
Nope. Boom boxes only.
>I have a land phone and a cell phone.
Yep.
>I have a cable modem.
Nope, just dialup (but faster since we moved).
>I have a 15" iLamp; it can read DVDs and can read and write CDs. I
>own a StarMax (Mac clone) that I left at my parents and that I hoped
>to bring back with me to Boston but it wouldn't start up over winter
>break so I'm not sure what I'll do with it. I'm thinking of buying
>another computer, either a 20" iLamp or a dual G5. I have a color
>printer.
Kid bought a used P233, I've something faster which is 3-4 years old.
>I have an Xbox.
Kid has Game Cube.
>
>I have a treadmill.
Nope.
>
>I have a car.
Yep.
>
>I rent a partially furnished apartment. It has no dishwasher or
>clothes washing machine. I own a microwave.
Own a house with dishwasher, washing machine, and micro.
>I do not have an iPod or portable CD player.
Portable CD player. Getting addicted to my PDA for scheduling.
jrw
Mishalak
> I don't have a suit, a tuxedo, or even a sport coat. Or a robe. Or a bathing
> suit.
>
> I have lots of ties, but no dress shirts.
You are desperately in need of some Fannish Queer Eye. Want to go
shopping? <grin>
I own several dress shirts, even though I am not required to wear them
to work. I have a small collection of ties, a suit, and I'm currently
shopping for a good classic tux. I own a robe, three swiming suits,
night clothes, four hats (none baseball), six leather coats, three other
coats, 15 or more belts, dress shoes, leather boots, innumerable shirts
from silk to microfiber, and all sorts of jeans, slacks, sweaters...
I am the fannish version of Carson.
Keith F. Lynch
> I guess most of us don't count as people you know, since many people
> here on this ng seem to have not only basic cable, but some kind of
> premium package.
I meant people I know in person, whom I also know whether they have
cable or satellite or both or neither.
Of those people, I'd say 1/3 have no TV at all, and at most 1/10 have
either cable or satellite. And some of those only have cable for
Internet, not for watching TV. Some of those with a TV only use it
to watch tapes and DVDs, not broadcasts.
> IMO, broadcast TV sucks rocks.
The Simpsons isn't bad. I'll agree that if I turn the TV on at a
random time and tune around, there usually isn't anything worth
watching, even though there are over a dozen channels I can get
good reception on. I wonder who watches most of that stuff.
Keith F. Lynch
> The phrases "the sun rises in the east" and "big rocks are heavy"
> are less true and have more opportunties for quibbling than "most
> people in the US have pay television".
> You are burning up a *LOT* of credibility arguing otherwise.
I don't know what to say, except that this differs radically from my
experience. I know very few people with cable or satellite. They
don't subscribe for the obvious reasons that it's expensive, the
shows aren't that good, there are *still* vast numbers of obnoxious
commercials, and cable has a very poor reputation for reliability
and customer support.
It's easy for me to generalize my experience to the rest of the US.
Maybe it doesn't apply to non-fannish wealthy people. Maybe it
doesn't apply to people living in the middle of nowhere where there
are *no* broadcast stations. It still seems strange to me that there
would be cable service somewhere so rural that there's no over-the-air
service, as I've always thought of cable as being very urban. But
that doesn't apply to satellite, of course. In fact, until recently,
satellite antennas were forbidden here in Fairfax County, because
many people thought they were unsightly. I'm glad that has changed.
Thomas Yan
> On Sun, 28 Mar 2004 01:31:10 -0500, Thomas Yan <tk...@rcn.com> carefully left
> the following thoughtprints where they could be seen:
>
>>I have TiVo.
>
> Nope.
>
>>I have a VCR that I don't really use.
>
> I've had eight VCRs since 1983, including one TV/VCR combo and one DVD/VCR
> combo. Three have died, the other five of them are still in use. Very
> occasionally in simultaneous use. (How many channels can a TiVo record at
> once?)
A TiVo can record only one channel. You cannot watch another live
channel on TiVo while it is recording, but you can watch another
recorded show. I have an A-B splitter so in theory I could watch live
TV on my TV while TiVo is recording, but so far I've never done that.
Also, TiVo does not understand HDTV and probably does not understand
digital cable or whatever that non-HD digital format is called. I
find this irritating. Oh well.
I don't know remember if I mentioned all of these have-nots:
I have no scanner.
I have no toaster.
I have no camera, digital, video, or otherwise.
I have no PDA or portable e-book reader.
Thomas Yan
> Thomas Yan <tk...@rcn.com> wrote:
Oh, I also own a George Foreman grill, but I have not used it in
months. I haven't really cooked in months. During the week, I buy
two meals at the cafetaria in my office building: One is lunch, one I
save for dinner. I eat out on weekends.
I really should start cooking again. Still, I appear to have lost
weight this year. Roughly 3 pounds in 3 months. I think this means
that last year I ate out way too much -- once or twice or more during
the week in addition to the weekends.
>> I have a widescreen (HD) TV. I have a DVD player. I have TiVo. I
>> have a VCR that I don't really use. I have a CD changer that I have
>> not used in years.
>
> I have a moderately-big (32") non-HD tube TV and another one (27") in the
> bedroom of a 1-br apartment. One DVD player, and a playstation 2 that
> pretends to be one in the bedroom (and an XBox, currently on loan to a
> friend, that functions as a 3rd DVD player, should I need one).
My widescreen TV is not that big. 30", which means it is the same
height as a 25" or 23" TV (I forget). I wish I had gone with a 32",
which would make it the widescreen equivalent of a 27" TV with a 4:3
aspect ratio.
In my apartment is also a second Xbox and a 2nd TV. My friend Matt
left them with me, along with his Xbox games on the theory that if he
had those things, he would be in danger of flunking out of school. I
have so far basically resisted trying any of his games. I figure I'd
spend all of my free time plus some of my sleep time on games,
particular Knights of the Old Republic.
Jenn Ridley
>The Simpsons isn't bad. I'll agree that if I turn the TV on at a
>random time and tune around, there usually isn't anything worth
>watching, even though there are over a dozen channels I can get
>good reception on.
A *dozen* channels. On a good day, I can get five; six if I'm willing
to deal with either ghosts or snow (and one of them is the local PAX
affiliate, which seems to run mostly old PBS shows and bad movies,
based on the program listing in the paper). I don't live *that* far
out in the boonies, just in the dead area between markets.
I have lived in areas where there was *no* broadcast TV available.
(mostly a matter of geography and topology .... 50 miles of iron
filled hills between you and the nearest broadcast antenna will do
that.)
Thomas Yan
including your comments; I'd also provide a DejaGoogle URL to this
article. Is that ok with you?]
Robert Sneddon <no...@nospam.demon.co.uk> writes:
> In article <m1r7vc7...@rcn.com>, Thomas Yan <tk...@rcn.com> writes
>>gold...@OCF.Berkeley.EDU (David Goldfarb) writes:
>>
>>> I have cable TV. Mainly so that I can watch Cartoon Network. (Although
>>> I'm not regularly watching anything on it these days.)
>>
>>Have you tried Witch Hunter Robin?
>
> I downloaded this series at someone else's suggestion and I've
> watched the first couple of episodes. Not dreadfully impressed
> although I can see the production values are high. Very "Brazil". The
Huh? I don't understand the comparison to "Brazil". My first
reaction to "Brazil" being invoked is always, "oh, you mean how
appalling violence is treated casually?". I guess it's rarely the
intended reaction.
> CG and cel animation interface is a little disconcerting -- the
> combination of rounded backgrounds and flat characters takes some
> getting used to.
That didn't bother me.
> Problems I'm having with it: I have an almost irresistable urge to
> turn up the brightness on my monitor.
The downloaded episodes I got were a bit dim, but I'd word complaint
as lack of contrast rather than being too dark. Perhaps we're talking
about the same thing? The ending credit sequence is particularly
murky, and made me wonder if the PC gamma setting would make it look
better than on my iLamp. Your comments suggest to me that perhaps
it's bad there, too.
> They seem to have mixed "Bladerunner" with "Ghostbusters" and not
> succeeded, quite.
"Ghostbusters"? I forget Cartoon Network's graffiti-card description.
Something about "X-Files" meets something-I-do-not-remember. When I
see it, I always think, don't you mean "X-files" plus "Buffy"?
Somehow WHR strikes me as supposedly being set in a more realistic
world than Buffy, so it bothers me that such a young girl is trained
to hunt and kill witches.
Anyway, what it really reminded me of was "La Femme Nikita". You've
got this young girl who is new to (this branch of) a murky
organization with a mysterious, moody male superior. Plus, the male
young computer geek. (Confusingly, he's named Michael, whereas in LFN
Michael is the moody superior.) I wondered if they intended an homage
to LFN, and esp. later in the series, I started wondering about Amon's
attitude towards Robin. Was it like LFN's Michael's attitudes towards
Nikita, or not?
> The characters, with the exception of Robin herself, are straight
> out of the stock box. This might change in succeeding episodes but
> at the moment I'm not far off reclaiming some desperately-needed
> hard disk space by deleting the rest of the series. It's be a shame;
> it has somewhat of a Lain-type feel but without (at least initially)
> the depth of story.
There are 26 episodes. The first 8 or 9 are pretty much just monster
of the week. The next episodes hints at more. But it's not until a
few episodes later that an arc definitively appears, and near the end
lots of things happen really quickly.
I liked it from the start, so I couldn't say whether it gets much
better. I almost didn't start watching it. I figured I already
watched a lot of TV, and somehow the title put me off. "Robin: Is
that supposed to invoke Robin from Batman?" [1] I didn't realize Robin in
the title referred to a girl [2]. But the previews looked kind of
interesting, so I watched the 2nd episode and after watching some
more, realized this was a series I did like. I wanted to see the
first episode, so I downloaded the Rice Box fansubs of all episodes.
(If I used Azureus or some other Bittorrent client I might have
downloaded just the first episode, but I'm just using the plain
Bittorrent client so I had to download all of them.) I then raced
through all the fansubs (except I think I accidentally skipped episode
20 altogether, or noticed I skipped it and watched it a few episodes
late, or somehow forgot large portions of it, perhaps because I
watched it way past my bedtime).
[1] I was looking for a good price for the DVDs. I see they're not
all out yet. One place referred to the main character as
"Rachel". Um, how do you screw up the name of the title character
that badly?
[2] Since I missed the first episode, when I went back and watched it,
I was surprised to learn that Robin was only 15. I figured she
was at least late teens if not in her early 20s.
It's interesting that you mention Lain [3], which I felt ended rather
weakly. I felt WHR ended reasonably well, but still felt the ending
was not up to the implied promise of the preceding episodes.
[3] There was one point where Amon was in profile, and I thought he
looked a lot like the American agent in the pair of agents with
eye scopes tailing Lain.
I don't feel there was anything new in WHR, but I really liked the
execution. I guess if you didn't like the first few episodes, then I
agree that it is probably not worth pushing on.
Now, here are some random thoughts.
***may include spoilers for the entire series***
My friend Gene says you should look carefully at the clothes they
wear. Robin is obviously dressed very conservatively, but that's
pretty much all I noticed. Gene says he thinks Karasuma (or Doujima)
is dressed in expensively tailored clothes like Scully did in late
X-files, and that Amon is wearing a Renaissance (I think) dueling
jacket. I confess to not being able to confirm that. I was a little
surprised that when Robin became a biker, she wore the characteristic
tight-fitting clothes (to cut down resistance I guess): I figured
she'd be too body conscious to do that. Her conservative garb
obviously fooled me.
Amon's attitude towards Robin was hard to figure out. He seemed
hostile, but then gave her eyeglasses. He then continued to alternate
between hostility and kindness, with it frequently seeming like he was
out to get her. Sometimes I wondered if, like in LFN, the latter was
a ploy to protect her. Then, when Robin and the STN-J office got
attacked and he saved her, I felt vindicated: It *is* like Michael and
Nikita in LFN! I don't quite remember my thoughts when Amon said he'd
hunt Robin. I guess I expected he'd turn around, and since I
immediately watched the next episode(s), this quickly was shown to be
the case.
What does STN stand for? I quickly guessed that J was Japan, and a
little later that S was Solomon, but what do the T and N stand for?
Is one of them the Japanese name for "company" or "corporation"?
What does Orbo stand for? (The fansubs first transliterated that as
"Orugumo".) The Orbo that the STN-J hunters wore: Did they always
wear the same vials, or did they get replaced weekly, or what? It was
only a few episodes before it got revealed/hinted that I began to
suspect that Orbo was made from witches. I don't think I suspected
that they killed witches to get it.
At one point, Karasuma seems to forget that witch hunts usually killed
the witches. Michael or Sakaki has to remind her in complete detail.
Huh? She was the one who told Robin that STN-J is different from
Headquarters in that (allegedly) they don't kill witches.
The fansub translation confused me. When Robin kills the earth-craft
hunter, in the fansub Amon says, -"Can't you see? Robin has
become...big brother"-. I interpreted that to mean that Amon
approved, that Robin had become a champion, rather than Amon wondering
why Nagira didn't see how dangerous Robin had become. I didn't notice
until late / recently that Amon and Nagira both have scruffy facial
hair. I guess that was supposed to clue us in to their being
brothers.
It's funny that Zaizen says he didn't detect Robin having a hidden
agenda: Robin did have a hidden agenda. So did Zaizen. So did
Doujima. I guess this ties into Nojay's complain that most of the
characters are straight out of the stock box. They probably made
Doujima seem like just an airhead so that her being a double agent
would be more surprising.
Thomas Yan
> [...] I work for a company that supplies technology to the MSOs (the
> in-the-trade term for "the cable companies").
What does MSO stand for?
OK, ok, ok, let's not give the spirit of Gary Farber a cow without at
least a token effort. Lessee if I can quickly find it. The first 10
hits on Google don't seem relevant, unless you mean Marketing Services
Organization, which seems doubtful to me. The first page from
acronymfinder.com doesn't seem relevant, but they are *lots* of
results. Ah, maybe from the 2nd page: Multimedia Service Operator?
Thomas Yan
> Thomas Yan <tk...@rcn.com> wrote:
>> David Bilek <dtb...@comcast.net> writes:
>> > Most people in the US have cable, satellite or other form of pay TV.
>> > In point of fact, the great majority of Americans do.
>>
>> I have cable TV. What about you all?
>
> No cable; I receive OK signals on all the major broadcast networks, except
> for NBC which is essentially no signal.
I forgot to mention: IRRC, You need a cable to get even the major
broadcast networks in Ithaca. There's no reception without it. Does
that still count as cable if you're getting only the basic channels?
David Goldfarb
>I have no PDA or portable e-book reader.
No PDA? I'm surprised. You should get one, I bet you'd like it.
(For myself, one of the people who works at the store got one of
the Tungsten models with a high-resolution screen. I note how much
better the text looks than on mine, and am tremendously tempted to
go and get one for myself.)
--
David Goldfarb |"Neckties are Satanic symbols. They represent
gold...@ocf.berkeley.edu |Judas's noose. Those who wear neckties signify
gold...@csua.berkeley.edu |their identification with the man who betrayed
|Our Lord." -- IHCOYC XPICTOC on alt.gothic
Marilee J. Layman
wrote:
>Marilee J. Layman <mjla...@erols.com> wrote:
>> I can't get TV over an antenna out here.
>
>In Manassas? That's strange, since you're much closer to DC than I am
>to Baltimore. And I get not just the DC channels but the Baltimore
>channels. That's with a standard indoor rabbit-ears antenna in my
>basement apartment.
Yep. I scheduled cable install for the day after I moved and the day
I moved, I tried the rabbit-ears I'd used for years, and all I could
get was a very snowy channel 4. So I didn't cancel the install.
--
Marilee J. Layman
Marilee J. Layman
wrote:
>In message <c47i4i$apq$1...@panix3.panix.com>, Keith F. Lynch
><k...@KeithLynch.net> writes
>
>
>>4. Not many people want to pay fifty dollars or more every month
>> for the privilege of viewing more channels just as clogged with
>> commercials as the regular broadcast channels.
>>
>>Please be specific as to which of these you disagree with.
>
>Does it cost $50 per month? It's definitely true that the majority of
>American households pay for their TV channels. Do they pay more than
>$50?
I pay Comcast $46.37 a month for the expanded basic tier. I thought I
might get the basic tier in the beginning, but it doesn't include the
PBS stations so I went with the expanded tier and now there are
several non-network channels I watch: A&E, Lifetime, SciFi, USA, TCM.
I occasionally consider dropping back to basic, but I'd miss some of
the cable shows.
--
Marilee J. Layman
Leroy F. Berven
> Actually, David, most people only *imagine* they have cats. Sad, but
> it's a common delusion. Harms no one, but the cans of uneaten cat food
> tend to pile up after a while.
Conversely, the mats of hair that accumulate on every horizontal
surface in such households are real -- but professional opinion is
divided as to their source. Neither simple involuntary teleknesis,
nor the hypothesized existence of vast, shaggy pan-dimensional beings
briefly manifesting themselves in 3-space for the purpose of shedding
excess folicles, seems to provide a fully adequate explanation for
this material's continuing appearance.
It should be noted, however, that the same investigators seem to think
that if cats _were_ real, we would be able to understand them. This
IMO is convincing evidence that they haven't a clue.
Leroy Berven
Marilee J. Layman
<alter...@example.net> wrote:
>my wife has had a prepaid for about a year now (because of her health and the
>fact that she drives alone a lot).
The doctors think I should get one of these, for the same reason.
Where did she get it?
--
Marilee J. Layman
Marilee J. Layman
>I have no toaster.
I have a toaster oven/broiler which is used at least every other day
while the big oven is used not even once a year.
--
Marilee J. Layman
Marilee J. Layman
>Marilee J. Layman <mjla...@erols.com> writes:
>> On Sun, 28 Mar 2004 09:24:52 GMT, Mark Atwood <m...@pobox.com> wrote:
>>
>>>I own 5 handmade quilts, one that I made myself
>>
>> Picture?
>
>The most recent aquisition, a birthday present from my sister and mother,
>is shown here:
>
>http://www.livejournal.com/users/fallenpegasus/189100.html
Ah, very nice.
>The one I made myself is extremely simplistic, being just two large
>pieces of fuzzy nubby polarfleece with a sheet of padding between
>them, inside stitched together. It was one of a set of three my ex
>and I made with my grandmother's supervision as donations to a
>children's shelter. (We kept the most imperfect one.)
I've only made small quilts, I haven't the patience to keep making
tiny stitches. I have three quilts my grandmother or
great-grandmother made. (There was a fourth, but my stepmother let
her kids take it to the beach before I could liberate it.)
--
Marilee J. Layman
Marilee J. Layman
<sou...@pobox.com> wrote:
>We're hoping Toyota or Honda comes out with a
>base-model car that a) is comfortable for both of us to sit in, and b)
>has a hatchback. We'd really like to keep having a hatchback in the
>family.
I'm hoping someone will come out with a hybrid minivan. I have a lot
of trouble getting things out of trunks without falling in.
--
Marilee J. Layman
Marilee J. Layman
But the real trick is you know how to put them together.
--
Marilee J. Layman
Mike Rennie
Have the Americans arrived?
:-(
Sparks
Mike Rennie
"Mike Rennie" <m.re...@psychology.york.ac.uk> wrote:
Sorry couldn't resist....
Me bad....
Sparks
Mark Atwood
>
> The Simpsons isn't bad. I'll agree that if I turn the TV on at a
> random time and tune around, there usually isn't anything worth
> watching
That's what PVRs are for. :)
There are less than half a dozen hours of TV I watch each week. (At
present, I'm regularly getting new episodes of "Queer Eye", "Clean
Sweep", "Century City", and "Tripping the Rift". "Mythbusters",
"Samari Jack", "Teen Titans" keep getting flushed as "already seen.
Occationally I get a new episode of "L&O:CI" and "CSI". Oh,
and "Clone Wars" is back on!
But I get to watch those 6 or so hours, at times of *my* choosing.
The rest of the lineup can be complete sludge for all I care, so
long as there remains the occational nugget of what-i-like.
Mark Atwood
>
> random time and tune around, there usually isn't anything worth
Chris Malme
m.re...@psychology.york.ac.uk:
> Good grief it's starting to look like rasff in here!!
>
> Have the Americans arrived?
Not really - Marcus cross-posted his heads-up on Angel to both groups, and
the ongoing thread has carried on with the same cross-posting. Many peope
are probably unaware that they are posting to the uk group.
To be fair to Marcus, I doubt he ever thought his original post would cause
such contention.
Followup set to upsff. Suggest that people arguing over TV delivery methods
in the US set their followups as appropriate.
--
Chris
Minstrel's Hall of Filk - http://www.filklore.com/
Filklore Music Store - http://www.filklore.co.uk/
To contact me, please use form at http://www.filklore.com/contact.phtml
Mark Atwood
>>
>> So it's obviously rather more than a substantial plurality have pay
>> TV. I think it is fair to call 86% (68% cable, 18% satellite and
>> other) a "great majority".
>
> Yes, that's definitely a great majority.
Indeed. As an even higher number, the CATV infrastructure covers over
94% of households. Only just over 5% of households are now someplace
where the cable does not at least run thru their neighborhood.
(The equivalent number for the SATV companies, of course, is
effectively 100%, or at least, 100% minus the apartment dwellers that
live on the wrong side of the building, that does not have a shared
dish.)
Mark Atwood
> Mark Atwood <m...@pobox.com> writes:
>
>> [...] I work for a company that supplies technology to the MSOs (the
>> in-the-trade term for "the cable companies").
>
> What does MSO stand for?
"Multiple System Operator".
The name is an artifact of the early part of the era of consolidation
(which is now in it's endgame). Way back when, each local CATV system
was a local small company or co-op.
The companies that started buying up all these mom-and-pop operations
were running "multiple systems", and thus the name.
Today, pretty much *all* CATV is run by one of the MSOs, and the ranks
of the MSOs thin by about one per year. (AT&T was the most recent
exitant from the field.)
Mark Atwood
>
> A TiVo can record only one channel. You cannot watch another live
> channel on TiVo while it is recording, but you can watch another
> recorded show. I have an A-B splitter so in theory I could watch live
> TV on my TV while TiVo is recording, but so far I've never done that.
DishTivos have two input tuners already right now today.
All of the major PVR designers are working on multituner designs. The
holy grail is "all channel tuning", which is no longer black magic, or
even rocket science, its mostly just a matter of licencing all the
parts into the same die. (Of course, that moves the bottleneck to the
system bus or the disk i/o bandwidth).
If you want to "roll your own", the open source project MythTV handles
multiple tuners per card, multiple cards per tuner box, and multiple
tuner boxes per setup easily, it's falls out of it's fundamental
architechture. (It also goes the other way, handling multiple
*outputs* the same way.)
> Also, TiVo does not understand HDTV
Several HDTV PVRs were demoed at CeBit. HDTV PVR is actually a bit
easier to do, technically, than NTSC PVR, tho, once again, budgetting
bus bandwidth becomes critical.
> and probably does not understand digital cable or whatever that
> non-HD digital format is called.
And that is what *my* employer brings to the table. *grin*
> I have no toaster.
I forgot to mention that I have a toaster. It's been awhile since I've
used it. (I don't eat bread much anymore.)
Robert Sneddon
>[Nojay, I'd like to repost this article of mine on my LiveJournal,
>including your comments; I'd also provide a DejaGoogle URL to this
>article. Is that ok with you?]
>
>Robert Sneddon <no...@nospam.demon.co.uk> writes:
>
>> I downloaded this series at someone else's suggestion and I've
>> watched the first couple of episodes. Not dreadfully impressed
>> although I can see the production values are high. Very "Brazil". The
>
>Huh? I don't understand the comparison to "Brazil". My first
>reaction to "Brazil" being invoked is always, "oh, you mean how
>appalling violence is treated casually?". I guess it's rarely the
>intended reaction.
Terry Gilliam's movie "Brazil". The retro look of the architecture and
the tech (like the telephones) and the costumes brought this movie to
mind.
>
>> CG and cel animation interface is a little disconcerting -- the
>> combination of rounded backgrounds and flat characters takes some
>> getting used to.
>
>That didn't bother me.
I've run into this in some other series and OAVs. Mostly CG in anime is
integrated into the image rather than simply being dropped into the
composite cel. There are tools for the artists which can "flatten"
3D-modelled objects and scenes to match hand-drawn work to provide more
consistency; they have not been used in this series.
>
>> Problems I'm having with it: I have an almost irresistable urge to
>> turn up the brightness on my monitor.
>
>The downloaded episodes I got were a bit dim, but I'd word complaint
>as lack of contrast rather than being too dark. Perhaps we're talking
>about the same thing? The ending credit sequence is particularly
>murky, and made me wonder if the PC gamma setting would make it look
>better than on my iLamp. Your comments suggest to me that perhaps
>it's bad there, too.
It's a "dark" series with a dark plot so that's why, as far as I can
tell, the producers have gone for a dark look. They may have taken it a
bit too far though. The action scenes are difficult to maake out with
people in black costumes in dark locations shooting black weapons.
>
> When I
>see it, I always think, don't you mean "X-files" plus "Buffy"?
"Buffy" fits better, I suppose. The Japanese have a long tradition of
stories about ghost hunters and vampire slayers, in anime, movies and
the written word. Robin might be in that vein (so to speak).
>Somehow WHR strikes me as supposedly being set in a more realistic
>world than Buffy, so it bothers me that such a young girl is trained
>to hunt and kill witches.
Seen "Gunslinger Girl" yet? Henrietta is nine, maybe ten and very cute.
In one scene in ep. 8 she's begging the doctor to let her continue
working with her "Fratello", Jose-san. "Though I've only killed four
people this month, last month I killed ten."
>
>Anyway, what it really reminded me of was "La Femme Nikita".
This is the theme of "Gunslinger Girl" too, with some "Six Million
Dollar Man" and "Manchurian Candidate" thrown in.
>There are 26 episodes. The first 8 or 9 are pretty much just monster
>of the week. The next episodes hints at more.
OK. I'll give it more time. It just had the feeling of
"monster-of-the-week" from the two episodes I've seen.
>
>I liked it from the start, so I couldn't say whether it gets much
>better. I almost didn't start watching it.
I skipped "Gunslinger Girl" and "Hikaru no Go" for a long time because
of the capsule reviews I caught. Glad now I finally did watch them, but
they grabbed my attention from episode 1 whereas "Robin" is not having
that effect. One thing is I am personally not that enthused about "dark"
stories with brooding mysterious figures -- the whole vampire schtick
bores me.
> I wanted to see the
>first episode, so I downloaded the Rice Box fansubs of all episodes.
I've got the ANBU subs.
>(If I used Azureus or some other Bittorrent client I might have
>downloaded just the first episode, but I'm just using the plain
>Bittorrent client so I had to download all of them.)
I've got bandwidth to spare until the new season animes start coming
out in April so I thought what the heck. The Azureus client needs Java
and other crap that I'm not happy about running on an otherwise stable
setup so I'm sticking to the Shadow client. they've got something new
coming out, BitTornado, which is still in early beta but it's going to
be programmable up the wazoo, I understand. One feature I'm looking for
is cappable downloads so I can control multiple simultaneouss downloads
better.
>
>[2] Since I missed the first episode, when I went back and watched it,
> I was surprised to learn that Robin was only 15. I figured she
> was at least late teens if not in her early 20s.
A Japanese trait -- the infamous Minnie Mae from "Gunssmith Cats" is of
a variable age in the English language translations as more of her
backstory as an ex-prostitute is revealed; in the original manga it is
made very clear she was working in the sex trade at age 12.
>
>It's interesting that you mention Lain [3], which I felt ended rather
>weakly.
I think ABe ran out of ideas about episode 9 of "Lain" and after that
he was spinning his wheels somewhat to fill in the time till the end of
the series. "Haibane" has filler too but it's much less whizz-bang than
Lain, of course, and the filler is more spread out through the series.
The last two episodes are definitely *not* filler.
--
Email me via nojay (at) nojay (dot) fsnet (dot) co (dot) uk
This address no longer accepts HTML posts.
Robert Sneddon
John Hall
Marcus L. Rowland <forgotte...@ntlworld.com> writes:
>Peter Wareham tells me that C5 will be resuming terrestrial
>transmissions of Angel (starting where they left off) at 11.55pm on
>Tuesday 30th.
On seeing the Subject line, I couldn't help thinking that I'd rather
watch Buffy's front. :)
--
John Hall
"Acting is merely the art of keeping a large group of people
from coughing."
Sir Ralph Richardson (1902-83)
Philip Chee
>>> CG and cel animation interface is a little disconcerting -- the
>>> combination of rounded backgrounds and flat characters takes some
>>> getting used to.
> I've run into this in some other series and OAVs. Mostly CG in anime is
> integrated into the image rather than simply being dropped into the
> composite cel. There are tools for the artists which can "flatten"
> 3D-modelled objects and scenes to match hand-drawn work to provide more
> consistency; they have not been used in this series.
The integration is done very nicely in the latest incarnation of Sakura
Taisen (Paris Division). The mecha battle in the third episode is CGI
but carefully flattened to sync with the traditional cel animation.
However the bullet time sequence in the second episode *must* have been
3D CGI but it certainly *looks* 2D
>> When I
>> see it, I always think, don't you mean "X-files" plus "Buffy"?
> "Buffy" fits better, I suppose. The Japanese have a long tradition of
> stories about ghost hunters and vampire slayers, in anime, movies and
> the written word. Robin might be in that vein (so to speak).
In Devil Hunter Yohko, you have a young teenager coming from a long line
of demon hunters. Her handler spends most of the time trying to keep
Yohko from getting too hot and heavy with her somewhat demonic boyfriend
because if she goes all the way, really, really terrible things will
happen. ... I wonder if Joss Whedon watches anime?
> Seen "Gunslinger Girl" yet? Henrietta is nine, maybe ten and very cute.
> In one scene in ep. 8 she's begging the doctor to let her continue
> working with her "Fratello", Jose-san. "Though I've only killed four
> people this month, last month I killed ten."
I thought they were just maximising the lolicon factor in a cynical
ploy to attract the otaku-heads.
I suspect it will all end in tears; or at least a Tarantino style
bloodbath.
Phil
--
Philip Chee <phi...@aleytys.pc.my>
Guard us from the she-wolf and the wolf, and guard us from the thief,
oh Night, and so be good for us to pass.
Kip Williams
> I have no toaster.
And I must scream.
--
--Kip (Williams) ...at members.cox.net/kipw
"Bad enough having [expletive] flu, without being crucified." --John
Cleese (after Monty Python's Life of Brian)
Robert Sneddon
<phi...@aleytys.pc.my> writes
>Robert Sneddon wrote:
>> There are tools for the artists which can "flatten" 3D-modelled
>>objects and scenes to match hand-drawn work to provide more
>>consistency; they have not been used in this series.
>
>The integration is done very nicely in the latest incarnation of Sakura
>Taisen (Paris Division).
>3D CGI but it certainly *looks* 2D
There's the bullet-time kiss sequence near the beginning of the first
episode of Fooly Cooly where you can't see the join -- it all looks like
the regular style of FLCL animation but then they used a lot of CG
assistance for that series. Another one I've mentioned before is in the
title sequence of Full Metal Panic:Fumoffu where the camera
helicopter-pans around the two main characters. Again CG-assisted but it
looks like classical cel animation.
>In Devil Hunter Yohko, you have a young teenager coming from a long line
>of demon hunters.
The vampire hunter Ceres Victoria in "Hellsing" is a convert to the
cause (so to speak). No cute stuff with wards or holy water, just a
kickass gun. Her boss uses two kickass guns...
>> Seen "Gunslinger Girl" yet? Henrietta is nine, maybe ten and very
>>cute.
>
>I thought they were just maximising the lolicon factor in a cynical
>ploy to attract the otaku-heads.
It's not very a very lolicon series (IMO) -- no overt fanservice, no
naked flesh except when the girls are getting bullet-holes patched up.
They just decided that having adolescent girls as programmed cyborg
assassins would add to the shock value of the series. Mostly the stories
would work with older girls in their place except when they want to make
their point about the Society Welfare Organisation and what it's doing
with the Fratello system. Several of the storylines examine how human
the girls remain even with their programming and their treatment by
their Frastellos, some of whom are right bastards (Jan for one, and of
course Lauro). Henrietta's holiday in Sicily is a good example of how
human she has managed to remain thanks to Jose, and how inhuman she
still is under the appropriate stimulus.
>I suspect it will all end in tears; or at least a Tarantino style
>bloodbath.
The first Tarantino-style bloodbath starts (just checking on the other
machine...) seven minutes and six seconds into the first episode. We see
the aftermath of another one (courtesy of Triela and her Trench Broom)
before that, though.
Michael Kube-McDowell
carefully left the following thoughtprints where they could be seen:
We went with a Virgin Mobile phone, which I bought at Target. At the time, it
was the cheapest minimum-annual-cost option for a phone we envisioned being
used lightly--you had to add $20 to your account every 90 days to keep it
active. So the minimum outlay is $80 a year. The per-minute charge against
your balance is $.25 a minute (with a reduction after 10 minutes per day), but
we generally hit the 90-day reminder before we hit a zero balance.
There is so much thrash in this market that there may be a cheaper option from
someone else now--I haven't tried to keep up.
K-Mac
--
Michael P. Kube-McDowell, author and packrat
SF and other bad habits: http://k-mac.home.att.net
Aaron Denney
> But I get to watch those 6 or so hours, at times of *my* choosing.
>
> The rest of the lineup can be complete sludge for all I care, so
> long as there remains the occational nugget of what-i-like.
6 hours/week * 4 weeks / month is ~ 25 hours / month.
Is it worth it to you to pay $2 / hour?
--
Aaron Denney
-><-
rksh...@rosettacondot.com
>>
>>>relatives, or most of the people I know. Not many people want to pay
>>>fifty dollars or more every month for the privilege of viewing more
>>>channels just as clogged with commercials as the regular broadcast
>>>channels.
>>
>> you *stop posting it*. This is at least the third time you've said a
>> variation on the above, and the third time you're being corrected.
>>
>> Most people in the US have cable, satellite or other form of pay TV.
>> In point of fact, the great majority of Americans do.
>
> I have cable TV. What about you all?
>
>
> I have a widescreen (HD) TV. I have a DVD player. I have TiVo. I
> have a VCR that I don't really use. I have a CD changer that I have
> not used in years.
36" and a couple of 27" non-flat non-HD TVs. Waiting for the technology to
stabilize before I decide on what sort of HDTV to get. Cheap DVD players.
Two DirecTivo units, both with DIY drive upgrades. I mainly watch History,
History International and BBC America on the satellite. Just about everything
is Tivo'd so I can skip the commercials. We time-shift several shows off PBS
Kids for the little one.
> I have a land phone and a cell phone.
Land phone, cell phones for wife and myself. The cell phones went from luxury
to essential in record time.
> I have a cable modem.
Currently on wireless because of my distance from everything. In withdrawal
from cable modem.
> I have a 15" iLamp; it can read DVDs and can read and write CDs. I
> own a StarMax (Mac clone) that I left at my parents and that I hoped
> to bring back with me to Boston but it wouldn't start up over winter
> break so I'm not sure what I'll do with it. I'm thinking of buying
> another computer, either a 20" iLamp or a dual G5. I have a color
> printer.
Lots of computers... iBook and XP desktop for the wife. Two XP desktops for me
(curse you Mythic Entertainment), Gentoo and FreeBSD doing file service and
routing/firewall. The PCs are all cheapo DIY boxes. 802.11b and 802.11g (mixed
mode stinks).
> I have an Xbox.
Me too, because I was a Bungie addict from way back and wanted Halo.
> I have a treadmill.
I'm on my second treadmill. I did one belt replacement on the previous unit,
then replaced it with a "new" used one when the motor died. Used treadmills
are a bargain.
> I have a car.
I'm in Texas, so I have the required pickup truck.
> I rent a partially furnished apartment. It has no dishwasher or
> clothes washing machine. I own a microwave.
Microwaves are wonderful, particularly in the summer. Stoves and regular ovens
mean you pay twice... Once to heat the room and again to cool it back off.
> I do not have an iPod or portable CD player.
My wife wants an iPod, but settles for a cheap generic MP3 player. We have had
bad luck with CD players, with my wife and the 2 year old running about even
on number of players killed.
My personal indulgence is my telescope, a Celestron C8. I'm wavering between a
replacement scope and some upgrades on the current one.
Robert
--
Robert K. Shull Email: rkshull at rosettacon dot com
Janice Gelb
>
> The integration is done very nicely in the latest incarnation of Sakura
> Taisen (Paris Division). The mecha battle in the third episode is CGI
> but carefully flattened to sync with the traditional cel animation.
>
Saw this title when I dipped into raseff to post the DUFF
announcement and had to respond just to say that my brother
is doing the voice of Kobari in WITCH HUNTER ROBIN.
-- Janice
jgut...@brokersys.com
> I have cable TV. What about you all?
I have Dish Network. Mostly to watch the Teutle's and Alton Brown.
--
Jonathan Guthrie (jgut...@brokersys.com)
Sto pro veritate
Karen Lofstrom
Marilee J. Layman wrote:
> I've only made small quilts, I haven't the patience to keep making
> tiny stitches.
Yabbut you can machine-quilt. Or if you don't want to do it yourself, you
can get it hand or machine-quilted by someone else.
I'm machine-quilting these days, when I quilt at all.
--
Karen Lofstrom lofs...@lava.net
----------------------------------------------------------------------
inconceivable!
jgut...@brokersys.com
> Mark Atwood <m...@pobox.com> wrote:
>> The phrases "the sun rises in the east" and "big rocks are heavy"
>> are less true and have more opportunties for quibbling than "most
>> people in the US have pay television".
>> You are burning up a *LOT* of credibility arguing otherwise.
> It's easy for me to generalize my experience to the rest of the US.
> Maybe it doesn't apply to non-fannish wealthy people.
When I was a college student, back in the early 80's, me and some guys I
knew all moved into this house that we rented from somebody one of the
guys knew. Now, we were bottom feeders, with little income and
surviving on takeout pizza and ramen, but the first thing we had
installed, before the phone or even the gas (so we could have hot water
and a stove to cook on), was cable TV. As I recall, there wasn't any
discussion, it was just sort of assumed that it would be so. And it was.
We were then pretty fannish, what with Bruce Coulson showing up to play
D&D with Steve Schwartz (who was on the ConCom for Marcon for several
years until he died) and Phil and Steve Ringley (another Marcon veteran)
every week or so.
Now, I will admit that the dish is first on the list of things to go
away should my financial situation take a nosedive, but I have to agree
with Mr. Atwood: You are mistaken. It is fairly rare to find a house
without some sort of non-broadcast television.
Kate Secor
> David Bilek <dtb...@comcast.net> writes:
>>Most people in the US have cable, satellite or other form of pay TV.
>>In point of fact, the great majority of Americans do.
>
>
> I have cable TV. What about you all?
>
> Oh, heck. I'll volunteer more info.
>
> I have a widescreen (HD) TV. I have a DVD player. I have TiVo. I
> have a VCR that I don't really use. I have a CD changer that I have
> not used in years.
We have a wide screen HD TV and DVD player. No TiVo (this is a
longstanding argument between my boyfriend and I, but he refuses to get
either cable or a TiVo on the theory that we'll eventually get
DirectTiVo). No VCR. No CD changer.
> I have a land phone and a cell phone.
We each have cell phones, and I have a pager for work, but no landlines.
(Again, I think we should have one and he doesn't.)
> I have a cable modem.
We have DSL of some sort. (Er, it's quite good DSL.)
> I have a 15" iLamp; it can read DVDs and can read and write CDs. I
> own a StarMax (Mac clone) that I left at my parents and that I hoped
> to bring back with me to Boston but it wouldn't start up over winter
> break so I'm not sure what I'll do with it. I'm thinking of buying
> another computer, either a 20" iLamp or a dual G5. I have a color
> printer.
Ooooh, a printer! We each have 15" PowerBook G4s, along with a slew of
other things, none of which I use aside from the PC gaming box. And
AirPort.
> I have an Xbox.
We have a PS2 and a SNES, which still works. Yay, Zelda!
> I have a treadmill.
I keep thinking about getting one, but since our building has a gym, I
can't convince myself to spring for a treadmill just so I can read
Usenet while I walk (aka "the Keith Lynch exercise plan").
> I have a car.
We have 2 cars, but then we work 40 miles apart from each other. What
kind of car do you have?
> I rent a partially furnished apartment. It has no dishwasher or
> clothes washing machine. I own a microwave.
Partially furnished? Our apartment is unfurnished, but it has a
dishwasher and a washer/dryer set, and a microwave, along with the
standard fridge/stove. Oh, and a garbage disposal in the sink.
> I do not have an iPod or portable CD player.
I have an iPod and a portable CD player I haven't used in ages.
Also, a digicam. (More cat photos as soon as I can get it hooked up.)
Aiglet
(Current crop of cat photos at <http://www.pdti.net/~aiglet/pictures/cats>)
Kate Secor
> One car for each of us; Mine is a 2003 Toyota Echo, and his is a 1990
> Civic hatchback. We're hoping Toyota or Honda comes out with a
> base-model car that a) is comfortable for both of us to sit in, and b)
> has a hatchback. We'd really like to keep having a hatchback in the
> family.
Well, if you're willing to move out of the Honda/Toyota family, VW has
the Golf, which is a nice small stationwagon and a fairly large
hatchback (yes, that's two cars, one has three doors and the other has
five).
I have the next size up from there, the Jetta, and I really like it.
Aiglet
(Max power at 3200 RPM is nice...)
David Bilek
>Mark Atwood <m...@pobox.com> wrote:
>> The phrases "the sun rises in the east" and "big rocks are heavy"
>> are less true and have more opportunties for quibbling than "most
>> people in the US have pay television".
>
>> You are burning up a *LOT* of credibility arguing otherwise.
>
>experience. I know very few people with cable or satellite.
They are atypical.
98+% of Americans have a TV. 86+% have pay TV. This has been pointed
out to you repeatedly!
>They
>don't subscribe for the obvious reasons that it's expensive,
This is relative and depends on what you compare it to.
>the shows aren't that good
Opinion, and an unsupported one at that. There are many excellent
shows, especially on cable.
> there are *still* vast numbers of obnoxious
>commercials
Not on cable channels.
>and cable has a very poor reputation for reliability
>and customer support.
This isn't 1982 anymore Keith. I haven't had my cable TV go out in
years.
>It's easy for me to generalize my experience to the rest of the US.
>Maybe it doesn't apply to non-fannish wealthy people.
It doesn't apply to almost anyone. The vast majority of people have
TV, including poor people.
All of which has been pointed out to you before.
-David
Kate Secor
> In article <m1isgo6...@rcn.com>, Thomas Yan <tk...@rcn.com> wrote:
>
>>I have no PDA or portable e-book reader.
>
>
> No PDA? I'm surprised. You should get one, I bet you'd like it.
> (For myself, one of the people who works at the store got one of
> the Tungsten models with a high-resolution screen. I note how much
> better the text looks than on mine, and am tremendously tempted to
> go and get one for myself.)
I have a T2 I bought open-box at Best Buy, and it's a wonderful thing to
read e-books on. My boyfriend has a Treo with the low-res screen, and
he keeps trying to steal mine to read on.
Aiglet
Marcus L. Rowland
>
>Oh, I also own a George Foreman grill, but I have not used it in
>months. I haven't really cooked in months. During the week, I buy two
>meals at the cafetaria in my office building: One is lunch, one I save
>for dinner. I eat out on weekends.
I was given one of those for Christmas. The problem I have with it is
that things seem to taste very "dry" when cooked in it, as though a lot
of the flavour is going with the fat and water that comes out. For
example, I normally cook gammon steaks under the gas grill in my cooker,
and they taste good when I do so, but the taste isn't nearly as good
when cooked in the Foreman machine. Given that the steaks are the "lean
and low" brand and supposedly only contain a couple of percent fat
anyway I've gone back to cooking them under the gas.
--
Marcus L. Rowland http://www.forgottenfutures.com/
LJ:ffutures http://homepage.ntlworld.com/forgottenfutures/
Forgotten Futures - The Scientific Romance Role Playing Game
"Life is chaos; Chaos is life; Control is an illusion." - Andromeda
Nels E Satterlund
And I had hoped you were here for a nice long visit.
Nels
--
Nels E Satterlund I don't speak for the company, specially here
Ne...@Starstream.net <-- Use this address for personal Email
My Lurkers motto: I read much better and faster, than I type.
Damien Neil
<k...@KeithLynch.net> wrote:
> It still seems strange to me that there
> would be cable service somewhere so rural that there's no over-the-air
> service, as I've always thought of cable as being very urban.
My home town has cable service to most households, and approximately
two channels which may be received over the air.
Mountains do that.
- Damien
Bernard Peek
<forgotte...@ntlworld.com> writes
>In message <m1ekrc6...@rcn.com>, Thomas Yan <tk...@rcn.com> writes
>>
>>Oh, I also own a George Foreman grill, but I have not used it in
>>months. I haven't really cooked in months. During the week, I buy two
>>meals at the cafetaria in my office building: One is lunch, one I save
>>for dinner. I eat out on weekends.
>
>I was given one of those for Christmas. The problem I have with it is
>that things seem to taste very "dry" when cooked in it, as though a lot
>of the flavour is going with the fat and water that comes out.
It almost certainly is. The electric grill probably cooks the meat right
the way through, making it as tough as leather. The gas grill probably
sears the surface and seals the juices in.
--
Bernard Peek
b...@shrdlu.com
In search of cognoscenti