BLAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHRRRRRRRGG!
I'm irritable this Bullet Sunday. But that's not surprising, I've been irritable all week. I really need to plan a vacation soon.
• Debt! As I type this, President Obama has announced an agreement has been reached on a deficit deal. It hasn't been approved by the three-ring-circus clown show we call the US Congress, but, well... formalities and all. Personally, I don't pretend to comprehend the political strategy of a president folding like a wet tissue yet again with an election coming up, but, well... politics and all.
• Runway! I am not a "reality television" fan. So many of them are nothing more than spoiled assholes acting like douchebags which I don't find entertaining at all. I still watch "the original" reality show, Survivor because the challenges are creative and fun... but "Housebitches of Beverly Hills," "Jersey Whores," (or whatever) and the rest are just garbage I have no interest in. And yet there are exceptions, as I kind of like the creativity to be found in Project Runway and Top Chef. Usually, these are kind of throw-away shows that I half-watch while working, but sometimes they surprise me.
And the new season of Project Runway has a big surprise... former Miss Trinidad and Tobago from the Miss Universe Pageant, Anya Ayoung-Chee, is competing!
Photo by Ian M.S. Royer (public domain)
It's surprising for a few reasons... 1) She only learned to sew four months ago, and yet is easily one of the most talented contestants. 2) She's rocking a mohawk and yet still looks brutally hot. 3) There's a sex tape floating around online.
Oh... and some of the other contestants are interesting too. And Tim Gunn is still there.
• Plus? I am a very casual Netflix customer. I rent maybe one DVD plus two or three Instant Watch shows a month... if that... which averages out to around $3 a rental ($9.99 a month), which is fine. But now the same plan is going to cost me $15.98 a month, or $5 a rental, which is absurd. Which is why I'll be "downgrading" to their "limited" plan which allows one or two DVDs a month and two hours of Instant Watch for $4.99. Problem is that a measly two hours of Instant Watch isn't going to cut it when I'm traveling and want to watch a couple movies. So I decided to test-drive Hulu Plus (also $4.99 a month) with a free trial membership to see if I can supplement my Netflix plan to get where I want to be.
Um. Yeah. Hulu is a steaming (streaming?) pile of shit.
First of all, they CONTINUE TO FORCE YOU TO WATCH ADS, EVEN THOUGH YOU'RE NOW PAYING THEM FOR THEIR SHIT! Ads to finance a FREE service, I get. But paying for ads? I don't think so. What's so high-larious is that Hulu has the balls to position their shitty ads as entertainment. Every time I clicked on "NO" when they asked "is this ad relevant to you?" (because no ad EVER WILL BE), they say "Thanks! We'll use your input to improve your ad experience." Shyeah. Right. "Experience." Though I guess getting kicked in the balls is an "experience," so whatever.
Isn't the giant Verizon ad intrusive enough without being forced to watch a video ad too?
Guess I'm going with iTunes video rentals. Non-HD movies are $2.99 ($3.99 for new releases) and TV shows are 99¢ which seems about right. And since I pay only for what I watch, I may end up saving money. Nice.
Netflix could have saved my business entirely by offering an option for $1 per hour streaming past their $4.90 plan. Now half the money (or more) I used to give them is going to Apple. Genius economic business plan, Netflix. Truly genius.
• Miley! It's no secret that I am a big Miley Cyrus fan (probably because I am such a huge Hannah Montana fan). Some of her songs are pop gold (The Time of Our Lives and Liberty Walk are beyond gold!). But here's the thing. The thing is this. Miley isn't just big poppy fun. She's also smart, compassionate, respectful, and open-minded.
On Twitter the other day, she tweeted about getting a marriage equality tattoo on her finger. One of her fans tossed up Bible verse to say that Miley was wrong about gay marriage. Miley replied that only God can judge people, and love was love. This (naturally) caused Miley's fans to attack the Bible quoting fan (who calls themselves "@MileyCyrusLuver"). To which Miley replied thusly...
Dude everyone lay off @MileyCyrusLuver Love u! Everyone is entitled 2 opinions! 'if u don't stand 4 something you'll fall for anything.' :)
I mean, seriously. Miley Cyrus has a better head on her shoulders than most adults.
With each passing day I grow more horrified at the polarization of this country. People don't respectfully debate any more... they just hate. And it just keeps getting worse and worse. Then here comes Miley who, with a single tweet, completely restores my faith in the future of humanity...
Could not possibly be a bigger fan right now.
Though, given my luck with celebrities, she'll be arrested for burning down a church while high on meth after kicking a puppy in front of the paparazzi, so there's that.
And, on that happy note, I get to go back to work!
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That pen video…so wrong, yet so right.
The Netflix rate change didn’t affect me at all because I had switched to streaming only several weeks before it had occurred. The last few Blu-Rays we rented sat on the shelf for weeks at a time before we watched them, and we were mostly watching the streaming content anyway. So we ditched the Blu-Rays, and I’m happy with the price for the unlimited streaming service.
But I feel your pain. Especially about Hulu+. I gave it a try and absolutely hated it. The ads really bothered me too. By the way, same with the ads on talk radio on XM. WTF?
I know what you mean about ads. There used to be a Pay-per-View sports channel called PremPlus over here, where you could pay £5 to watch a football (soccer) game – on top of the £40/month subscription for Sky Sports and a £20/month subscription for a satellite or cable TV package – and they still had the nerve to show adverts. Suffice to say the channel closed in 2007…
I would have expected Hulu Plus to be ad-free – if it’s not, that’s outrageous.
Dude,
I just shot Dr. Pepper out of my nose after watching your video. Fucking made me laugh so loud my co-workers stormed into my office to wonder why.
BTW, you’re totally hot in a mancrush kind of way (and yes, I know you’re not gay).
Thanks for making me guffaw and starting my day off on a good note.
Faithful fan–DrRuss
If you have Amazon Prime, they have some movies you can stream for free. Not the latest stuff by any means, but they just added a bunch more to their selection, so that’s another possibility when you travel. You can also rent on demand from them. Not sure how price compares to itunes.
As I blogged about, we are dropping our our 1 out DVD plan w/ streaming to just streaming. DVD rentals for new releases will be via Redbox.
As for Hulu Plus, I’ve been subscribed for a year now. Last year, it was pretty bad. Buffering times were high, hardly any selection of shows, iPad app sucked ass. Today, I’m very happy with them. I don’t mind the ads. And that’s paying $7.99 a month. I figure it’s like cable. People pay cable rates and get ads on just about every channel. HGTV, Fuse, AMC, TBS… they all have ads. Yet people pay the cable fee every month. But Hulu charges and shows much fewer ads (which are easy to navigate from onto email, another browser tab, etc).
Plus, the Hulu Plus apps on the PS3 and the iPad 2 work much better than 12 months ago. It’s got me watching more TV in more places than just on the TV.