Rough Cut Lady

I just about died when I first heard this.  So awesome.

TiVo Woes

The time has come.  I have been a staunch supporter of TiVo, it's products, and what it stands for since getting my first TiVo in 2006.  It was the first (and best) DVR interface I had ever seen, it was fast, reliable, and had an apple-like fanboy effect on me.  I was stoked on anything and everything TiVo.

Over the years, things changed at the company.  They stopped selling lifetime subscriptions (of which I was never a part), they stopped offering points for referrals, but they remained reliable with hardware and software.  Their desktop software even went to Mac (although only with the Toast Titanium package) but the networks started cracking down and it got to the point that while a trip to Costco or Fry's would get you an expandable HDD for your DVR, you couldn't even transfer recordings into the other room anymore.  What was going on with my beloved company?

My wife and I just moved and when the Time Warner guy came to re-route the cable in our new living room to the place where we wanted it to be, I really thought about what I had and what was out there.  Times had changed.  People we unplugging all around me and even AT&T's U-Verse was offering wireless boxes for those that still wanted to be plugged in.  Why, in 2012, was someone at my house re-wiring ANYTHING?  It really hit me.  Even more recently, I noticed

Since we have been in our place (just under a month) the thoughts of unplugging have been swarming in my head.  Back at the end of 2010, TiVo had released a new box - The TiVo Premiere.  This box had it all: streaming, HD menus, etc.  It seemed that while they had fallen behind the big cable companies that had been trailing behind all these years, they had made the comeback.  They were going to show all the cable companies how to do it all again, right?

Well, I had read the reviews then and read some more now that the box had been around just over a year and the outlook is still bleak.  What happened?  What's going on with the (basically) inventors of the DVR?  Why did they get passed up by all of their competitors (and I use that term lightly -- they were the only game in town for years)?

Now I am faced with the decision: do I stick with what I have - a series 3 HD TiVo box that still runs great but has an admittedly out-of-date UI that is no longer getting support from the company?  Or do I unplug completely?  Getting a TWC box or switching providers, to me, is out of the question all together.  Why would I want to get inundated with information of which I am only watching maybe 2%?  Why not pay for exactly what I watch?

I may be answering my own question so then let me ask this: what do I go with?  I am an Apple devotee.  I love their products, I love their UI and aesthetic, but they don't have Hulu on Apple TV.  I know I can get season passes for shows, etc. but if I am going to unplug all together, why even buy a download of something?

This leads me to the Roku or Boxee boxes which I hear nothing but great things about.  They stream all the stuff I want them to but I am a fan of integration.  Does anyone have any great stories of integration with their Apple products and these third-party developer?  I feel like if it's not Apple, it needs to be TiVo for me but TiVo has yet to announce anything in this market.

I would love to know what everyone else is doing?  I just want to stream and have it all on-demand.  Don't want to download, don't want to store things on a HDD, just want to pay my subscriptions and go about my business.  Does everyone have Amazon Prime, Hulu, and Netflix all at the same time?  Do you supplement with iTunes season passes?

Even my Xbox already has Netflix and Hulu and I think the Zune (cringe) marketplace has season passes for shows as well.  I just want to do the right thing... once.  No more physical media storage (although I did just get Drive on Blu-ray from my mother-in-law) just streaming or nothing.  Pay for what I watch.  WHAT DO I DO?!

 

Party Down and other things from this week.

I have been CRAZY suck over the past few weeks. But with sickness comes the watching of new shows. I had only heard of "Party Down" from a few co-workers and that was it. I have always loved nearly everyone involved with this project but had never even heard of this show.

Now, I have watched both seasons in full and am SUPER bummed out that it's gone. I do love that I can see Adam Scott in "Parks and Recreation" every week but his relationship as Henry with Casey and Roman and Kyle and the rest of the Party Down catering crew was so real and tangeable... it's just a shame it didn't last longer.

I highly recommend you go and cop that -ish on Netflix this week. Both seasons are streaming in their entirety and are waiting to be enjoyed. I have started many-a-show before -- "Arrested Development," "Mad Men," "Weeds," "Dexter," etc. but none had captured me like this show. It will truly be missed!

On another note, the wedding planning is going well! We are about to send out our Save-the-dates, our minister has been ordained, our guest-list is finalized, and we just have a few things to take care of with the venue (fire permits, etc.) In fact, to tie these two thoughts together, if you watch the season finale of "Party Down's" first season, the location their wedding is at is also Suzi and my wedding location! Not the same location on the property but just walking distance. Maybe we will have a "Party Down" themed wedding and both get married in long-sleeved collared shirts with pink bow-ties. Hey, it could happen!

I am also working on a few projects that will be added to my web reel soon as well as some projects that will take you to an entirely different site! If you have actor or director friends or you are in need of a reel, hit me up! All the recent reels I have done are up at www.dparke.com. I am also writing a script with a good buddy for a short film that we hope to shoot more than likely this winter (after the wedding.)

MobileMe: Recently I took to the twitters and the facebooks to ask what people thought of MobileMe vs. Gmail. I got my responses and have made my decision. I am now switching over to MobileMe full-time. I will still get the emails sent to my Gmail address but will no longer be using that address. If you'd like my new email address, just hit me up and ask!

I think that covers a plethora of things going on in my life right now. Let me know if I should do more update-y type stuff here or not. Maybe this will be like my "Doogie Howser, M.D." journal.