Jay McGavren's Journal

Went to Wal-Mart over lunch to score birthday presents for Mom and John (figured I’d save some shipping since I was going to Omaha anyway). Unsure whether Mom had a DVD player (did we buy her one last year or not?), I checked out the prices just in case…

Wow. A 5-disc DVD changer for $60. A compact DVD player for $40. And the real surprise - a DVD RECORDER for $150. (It can record TV, video, or firewire input.) These aren’t exactly top-quality, of course; they all looked plasticky and had subpar components (and the recorder was from some company call ILO, who I’ve never heard of). But they’re obviously exerting downward pressure on prices from major manufacturers - Sony had a player on the shelves for $90.

Oh, did I mention the $350 digital camcorder we bought? Yeah, they’re finally cheap enough for us to join the crowd. Diana’s camera work definitely needs editing for length, though. :) Sometime next year I’m gonna get a firewire card so we can clean it up and distribute DVDs.

Don't be so sure about the reasoning behind this.

Evidently Blockbuster, tired of losing eyeballs to Tivo and Netflix, is axing late fees. You have a one week grace period (fee-free) after the due date, after which they’ll charge the item to your credit card (minus the rental fee), and it’s yours to keep. You can return it anytime within 30 days for a refund (minus a $1.25 restock fee).

I’ve racked up late fees that are more than the cost of the movie before, so this is a needed change. I’m not giving up Netflix anytime soon, but at least now when I want a movie tonight, I’ll be willing to CONSIDER going to the video store. And this also makes me view Blockbuster as a promising alternative to retail stores - it’s like a no-paperwork return policy. Best Buy, hope you’re watching…

Looks like Viz has just released both the anime and manga for Here is Greenwood. Finally, I can get rid of the last of my VHS tapes! (Hmm, wonder what they’d brin on eBay?) I also no longer need to feel guilty for just letting the fan translation drop for the manga.

Of course, I should probably save my purchasing/auctioning/rejoicing until I see how badly they’ve screwed up the translations…

So the ending for EarthSea was abrupt and rather crappy. In fact, there were a lot of plot points and characters that weren’t properly fleshed out, as the story rushed on to the next event. Do the producers have attention deficit disorder or something? Bad CG, too.

I’m noticing this as a general theme for SciFi original productions. I mean, what do you expect when the average budget is $750,000? But they’d been promoting this one for months; I actually had my hopes up. Never again.

Christmas shopping’s done (except for a gift exchange where the one thing I know my giftee will like will be difficult to find on short notice). I got some actual sleep last night. I have convinced myself that our program launch problems Monday really are not my fault.

My family may hate their presents, I may miss my flight, and I may yet be fired, but at least I have achieved a state of mental balance again. I still hate Christmas, though.