Out with the Old: Goodbye and Hello

I had to say a sad farewell to an old friend yesterday.  The 36" television that has been a part of our lives since early 2001 had to be put down.  It's been showing its age recently, making all of these strange noises that only an aging piece of electronics will make, the screen twisting and writhing in pain, the volume fluctuating between that of a scream and something close to a whisper, odd PIP boxes showing up then disappearing for no reason.  I don't think the set took to its two months of dusty idleness in the storage shed too well and had a hard time readjusting to life outside the box.  I have to say that the TV did give us five good years, and considering that I won it off a sports trivia contest, I think I got my money's worth.  Anyway, we're now the owners of a 30" flatscreen, HDTV.  I'm having to get used to the smaller size and the wider screen but I'm sure all will be fine once I do.  I may even pony up for an HD channel or two once football starts. 

Because I had to spend most of the afternoon dealing with the televisions and the evening making a mad dash to Babies 'R' Us for an important yet unmentionable item, I don't have much to offer today.  I will point out that you definitely should check out the Autumn Read This nominations at the LBC.  One of those happens to be a book I nominated.  Can you guess which one? 

{Brief aside:  I've come to the realization that my one flaw as a father so far isn't anything that I do or don't do as far as Marlie is concerned.  It's the fact that my "baby voice," the one I use when talking to Marlie or any baby, sounds too much like Lady Elaine Fairchilde from Mister Rogers Neighborhood.  You know, the odd looking woman that called everyone toots.  Hear for yourself here. Just scroll down to the August 19th post.}

Ed beat me to this and said it much better than I could have ever put it, but after reading David Foster Wallace's latest essay, the one in which he slobbers over Roger Federer, I'm worried that he's losing his touch.  With someone as talented as he is, it's worth waiting around for the next novel or even essay collection, but his latest output has been less than impressive. 

I'm looking forward to Mark Danielewski's new novel, Only Revolutions, which is being described as an "American road novel."  I can guarantee you that it won't be a novel you'll want to read while driving. {via Dogmatika}

Finally, if like me you're still waiting for Factotum to hit your local cineplex (or Netflix), you might want to check out this list of other Bukowski films.  I've seen all of the ones mentioned and I can tell you that the Italian adaptation of Tales of Ordinary Madness is bizarre.  If you want to spend a lot of time getting frustrated that there's a size limit to what you can upload to some of these video services, head over to Google Video where you can find The Bukowski Tapes split into about 300 chapters.  Worth the time if you have it.

Have a great weekend, your last before college football starts.

Comments

[georgekaplan]

Football, hell - I'll be over for HDTV hockey.

But I'm wondering, does HD take away from, say, the 100,000 at Neyland Stadium as one crowd-mass or does it add to the beauty that makes fans of all the other SEC teams so envious? Can you pick out the individual sausages on the grills on the decks of the Volunteer Navy on the river? Does the fur on the coonskin caps seem softer?

[Bonnie]

Whoa! That does sound a little like Lady Elaine—only a little spookier. You're gonna scare the kid!