The impeachment trials have started as you've undoubtedly heard. They're are a good thing, I think. The only reason they wouldn't be is if they turn public favor toward our scurrilous president, but I don't think they will do that. They might not do much good in that regard, but I think they're unlikely to do much bad either. Plus, public opinion aside, somebody has to hold this guy accountable for his misdeeds, and it's certainly not going to be the Republican-held Senate. They're ride-or-die with Trump, as has been confirmed and reconfirmed many times. Reps give public rationales about why they still support Trump, but there really is only one rationale: He's their guy and they will defend him no matter what he does -- literally. That's it; that's the bottom line. Everything else is just spin.
I'm keeping up on the proceedings, but I'm not absorbed in them. It's the ongoing struggle of staying informed and staying sane. The NPR Politics Podcast has gone to a daily format, which is nice because each episode is only about 15 minutes long. At 1.5 speed (you get used to it), skipping the ads, you can usually knock those suckers out in under 10 minutes. Supplement that with The Weeds (twice weekly) and The Political Gabfest (weekly), and you've got yourself a pretty solid information base.
I also have a subscription to the Washington Post, but I don't read it all that often. I mainly have it to support my city's paper -- real journalism is important, y'know. The subscription was a Christmas gift my dad got me -- or, technically, that I got myself. We do a not-so-secret-Santa gift exchange each year in my extended family, and last year I drew my mom and my dad drew me. I asked for the subscription to the Post, and my mom wanted a subscription to Acorn TV, but it got too confusing setting up and paying for an account for the other person, so we just agreed to pay for our own thing and call it good. Actually, that's not a bad way to do gifts now that I think about it: You make a pact with a friend that you are each going to buy something nice for yourself. That way you get exactly what you want, and you still have that sense of connection with another person.
In other news, speaking of subscription services, it sounds like Disney+ is the new BMOC. I doubt we will get it, but maybe... I would like to check out The Mandalorian, and The Simpsons catalog is quite enticing, but my kids have never been specifically into Disney movies, and we already have Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Plus, and HBO Now. At some point you have to cry uncle on the streaming services or you will end up paying way more for TV than you did before you cut the cord.
Actually, you can get a package of Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ for $12.99, which isn't terrible. I would do that if ESPN+ actually was ESPN+ -- meaning it has everything ESPN has plus additional content -- but it's not. For example, you can't get Monday Night Football on ESPN+, and that's the only thing I watch regularly on ESPN. It's always the NFL, man. They're going to be the last thing traditional cable has. Their Sunday Ticket is probably single-handedly keeping DIRECTV in business, and their live games on NFL Network and ESPN are huge money deals. (ESPN paid in the billions for Monday Night Football.) So, I doubt the NFL is going to make their non-network games available on a $12.99/month streaming services anytime soon.
The model I would like is a pay-per-game model. Like, if I could stream a non-network NFL game the same way you can rent a movie -- a $5 one-off -- I would probably spend at least $15 a month doing that. But I'm just not going to pay $60 a month for a year-round DIRECTV subscription and then pay an additional $100 a month during the football season for Sunday Ticket. Although, I did do that for two years, and the Seahawks made the Super Bowl both years, so, hmm...
Right now I have a pretty good system going -- I have solid network reception with my HD antenna, and then I have my parents' cable login credentials for everything else. I still can't watch some Seahawks games, but that's fine -- it motivates me to spend more time with the kids. I also have my friend JY's cable credentials, but he has Xfinity, and they went to a "two step" authorization, so every time I want to log in, I have to hope he's looking at his phone to send me the temporary pass code.
"Hey, man, can you send me that five digit code you just got?"
"37861"
"It expired -- you didn't reply fast enough. Hold on, I'll get you a new one."
"Dude, I'm on vacation in Maui."
(Actual conversation.)
Well, I started out with a political post and somehow veered off into streaming services. I should probably wrap it up here, as my Lil' S2's Netflix (speak of the devil) show is about to end. He's really into Power Rangers these days. He loves fighting and wrestling and playing "football" (i.e., wrestling with a football involved). It's actually gotten to be a bit much. He will just walk up to S or I and start kicking and punching us. The other day he socked me in the ear -- like right on the tip of the ear -- and it legit hurt. I'm watching him for the day, while S is at an all-day robotics event with Lil' S1. It started at 8:30am and doesn't end until 4:00pm! She's been texting how boring it is. I would feel guilty for getting out of it, but we actually did stop by for a few hours. Plus, she's leaving for a work trip early tomorrow morning and not returning until Friday. So, I will be doing more than my fair share of childcare very soon.
Until next time...
I'm keeping up on the proceedings, but I'm not absorbed in them. It's the ongoing struggle of staying informed and staying sane. The NPR Politics Podcast has gone to a daily format, which is nice because each episode is only about 15 minutes long. At 1.5 speed (you get used to it), skipping the ads, you can usually knock those suckers out in under 10 minutes. Supplement that with The Weeds (twice weekly) and The Political Gabfest (weekly), and you've got yourself a pretty solid information base.
I also have a subscription to the Washington Post, but I don't read it all that often. I mainly have it to support my city's paper -- real journalism is important, y'know. The subscription was a Christmas gift my dad got me -- or, technically, that I got myself. We do a not-so-secret-Santa gift exchange each year in my extended family, and last year I drew my mom and my dad drew me. I asked for the subscription to the Post, and my mom wanted a subscription to Acorn TV, but it got too confusing setting up and paying for an account for the other person, so we just agreed to pay for our own thing and call it good. Actually, that's not a bad way to do gifts now that I think about it: You make a pact with a friend that you are each going to buy something nice for yourself. That way you get exactly what you want, and you still have that sense of connection with another person.
In other news, speaking of subscription services, it sounds like Disney+ is the new BMOC. I doubt we will get it, but maybe... I would like to check out The Mandalorian, and The Simpsons catalog is quite enticing, but my kids have never been specifically into Disney movies, and we already have Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Plus, and HBO Now. At some point you have to cry uncle on the streaming services or you will end up paying way more for TV than you did before you cut the cord.
Actually, you can get a package of Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ for $12.99, which isn't terrible. I would do that if ESPN+ actually was ESPN+ -- meaning it has everything ESPN has plus additional content -- but it's not. For example, you can't get Monday Night Football on ESPN+, and that's the only thing I watch regularly on ESPN. It's always the NFL, man. They're going to be the last thing traditional cable has. Their Sunday Ticket is probably single-handedly keeping DIRECTV in business, and their live games on NFL Network and ESPN are huge money deals. (ESPN paid in the billions for Monday Night Football.) So, I doubt the NFL is going to make their non-network games available on a $12.99/month streaming services anytime soon.
The model I would like is a pay-per-game model. Like, if I could stream a non-network NFL game the same way you can rent a movie -- a $5 one-off -- I would probably spend at least $15 a month doing that. But I'm just not going to pay $60 a month for a year-round DIRECTV subscription and then pay an additional $100 a month during the football season for Sunday Ticket. Although, I did do that for two years, and the Seahawks made the Super Bowl both years, so, hmm...
Right now I have a pretty good system going -- I have solid network reception with my HD antenna, and then I have my parents' cable login credentials for everything else. I still can't watch some Seahawks games, but that's fine -- it motivates me to spend more time with the kids. I also have my friend JY's cable credentials, but he has Xfinity, and they went to a "two step" authorization, so every time I want to log in, I have to hope he's looking at his phone to send me the temporary pass code.
"Hey, man, can you send me that five digit code you just got?"
"37861"
"It expired -- you didn't reply fast enough. Hold on, I'll get you a new one."
"Dude, I'm on vacation in Maui."
(Actual conversation.)
Well, I started out with a political post and somehow veered off into streaming services. I should probably wrap it up here, as my Lil' S2's Netflix (speak of the devil) show is about to end. He's really into Power Rangers these days. He loves fighting and wrestling and playing "football" (i.e., wrestling with a football involved). It's actually gotten to be a bit much. He will just walk up to S or I and start kicking and punching us. The other day he socked me in the ear -- like right on the tip of the ear -- and it legit hurt. I'm watching him for the day, while S is at an all-day robotics event with Lil' S1. It started at 8:30am and doesn't end until 4:00pm! She's been texting how boring it is. I would feel guilty for getting out of it, but we actually did stop by for a few hours. Plus, she's leaving for a work trip early tomorrow morning and not returning until Friday. So, I will be doing more than my fair share of childcare very soon.
Until next time...
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