Wmcmanus

Wow! That was close, Steve. Hope the smoke damage isn't too severe, but that's what insurance is for. Sorry for your neighbors. Hope none of them lost their homes.

This was pretty much the way it worked for me, especially in the early years when you couldn't buy entire seasons of HBO shows and the like on DVD. The real poison was when I'd be visiting my parents for several days and make the mistake of watching an episode of The Sopranos or Oz, and then think, "Damn, this stuff is good. I'm really missing a lot..." But nowadays, if you're the patient type, you can wait get everything you'll ever want or need once the box sets come out. I've got The Wire, Friday Night Lights, and Six Feet Under sitting here in the queue. It doesn't bother me that I didn't see them when they were being produced, and I like the fact that I can control when I happen to get around to them. I've listened to a hell of a lot more music in the past 25 years since I gave up TV (as an addiction in its own right). If I had cable, I'd sit and veg out in front of the TV day and night, surfing channels. What a waste of time! THAT'S WHAT THE INTERNET IS FOR!!!

I haven't had cable or anything remotely like it since my first year of law school in 1988. I was a full time student and half time faculty member, teaching accounting for the business school, so knew I couldn't afford to be tempted by any distractions and really needed to study as much as possible. I still had a TV and VCR and would rent a John Wayne or Jimmy Stewart movie once every other week or so. I've never looked back and quite frankly don't miss it other than live sports, but that gives me an excuse to spend more time in pubs. I buy a lot of Blurays of current movies, as well as complete series box sets (HBO stuff, etc.) of good TV programming, and also use my 65" plasma for watching baseball (through a feed from MLB.com which I subscribe to). What I miss mostly is college basketball, but there's probably an internet-based subscription for that as well.

Kim Kardashian is pregnant. Interesting...

Doesn't seem believable, but still funny. http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=510257249013272

This has been around for a while, but some of you may not have seen it before: http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=MZ35SOU9HTM

Happy birthday!

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Happy birthday, ole buddy ole pal.

^ Per the comments on this YouTube video, the two on the right (including the one he seems so fascinated with) are dudes.

Looks like I'm going to have to fly...

Nice pic, Grahame. Tell mum Santa says she doesn't look anywhere near 80 years old!

Any Ben Hur fans out there? An outrageous value for $26.49 on the Amazon Deal of the Day. Big BluRay box set with more than you'll even need to know about the movie. I bought it for a lot more money and felt it was worth it. http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=xs_gb_A12R7W0C2ZZ89Q?ie=UTF8&docId=1001047171&pf_rd_p=441937901&pf_rd_s=right-1&pf_rd_t=701&pf_rd_i=20&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1Y1FKBYMSAY2KX8CK1EK

Happy birthday, Colin.

Happy birthday, Steve!!!

Too many words for this thread/forum, but interesting nonetheless: Thanksgiving is inexorably set as the fourth Thursday in November. That means the latest any Thanksgiving can happen is on November 28th. As for Chanukah, the earliest it can occur is November 28th. The Jewish calendar repeats on a 19 year cycle. Thanksgiving repeats on a 7 year cycle. You would therefore expect them to coincide roughly every 133 years (19x7). Looking back, this is approximately correct. Once in an eternity will Chanukah and Thanksgiving overlap. They will this year on November 28, 2013. That’s never happened before... and it will never happen again. Here comes more than you wanted to know! – the last time it could have happened was in 1861. But Thanksgiving was not established until 1893. So that’s never happened before and won’t happen again. Why? Because the Jewish calendar is very slowly getting out of sync with the solar calendar, at a rate of 4 days per 1000 years (not bad for a many centuries old calendar!) This means that while Chanukah can be as early as November 28th, over the years the calendar will drift forward, so that the earliest Chanukah can be is November 29th. The next time Chanukah will fall on November 28th is in the year 2146 (which is a Monday). Therefore, 2013 is the only time Chanukah will ever be the same day as Thanksgiving. Of course, if the Jewish calendar is never modified in any way, it will slowly move forward through the Gregorian calendar, until it loops all the way back to where it is now. So, Chanukah will again fall on Thursday, November 28th in the year 79,811. Consider that as "never again".

Have a great one, Ed!

Would be fun to come to SF for a meet sometime, but can't make this one.

Dang, Ric!!!

Hang in there, everyone. My thoughts are with you. Stay safe.

I think he's the other kind of Gene, Tom... although he might look nice in a dress! That's an amazing car. You won't be disappointed if you decide to go for it.

Most outstanding post of the year so far. I'm planning to come, and of course will require a t-shirt or two, size as big as they come, i.e., 4X.

This gave me a chuckle. Happy birthday, Jeff.

The next door neighbor when I was a kid was Dr. Kneebone, a chiropractor. Cantankerous old bastard used to run out and steal our baseballs when they went in his yard.