Bon Amis. There is something delicious and satisfying about time spent with good friends. The food tastes better, time rushes by, we gush to update each other with life’s hills and valleys, and even my bad jokes are funny over a couple glasses of wine. Here’s to our talented friends Kathy and Jon.
AvatarX2. The second time – with Will, Chon and Anyta – was even more entertaining because I was able to better focus on the details of Pandora’s world and the characters. The story is engaging, but not profound. The topics of development and natural resources, greed and kindness are timely but secondary to the dazzle and action. I’d like to be a Na’vi (except for the tail.) Will 3D save the first screen: TV?
Digital/Web TV. Can you smell the panic? The cable companies are fat and rich providing bloated packages of largely unwatched content. Like Prix Fixe restaurants, nice, but many of us would prefer a cafeteria style where we pick what we want and pay for what we actually put on our plate, ala carte. The cable companies are like the old trusts of bygone days monopolizing both content and connection. Instead of TR and the progressives they will be overthrown by new technology and their own greed. This round goes to the geeks! The first screen becomes the second screen’s sister. Watched/streamed Jeff Dunham for the first time, last night. I grew up with Paul Winchell.
Nexus One and Two and Three. The smart phone platform – the third screen – Blackberries, iPhones and now the Androids, may be what’s happening, but for some of us who spend enough time in front of the second screen, there’s not much added value. Back in the day, I would have had two – very cool. BTW, Skype is so prime time, works well and so easy to set up and use. A techie “end around” the big carriers?
Baltimore’s Mayor. What I hear on the news: Shelia Dixon is guilty of stealing, but resigned under a special deal that will yield her a $84K annual pension starting in February. Whoa, that’s more than my Social Security allowance and I didn’t steal anything. Hmmm, Where’s the outrage? Plus, in 2007 she was opposed to a special pension deal for a police commissioner who left his post early. Hmmm… time to lower my expectations again.