Confessor
CCF Mod Squad
Not Bucky O'Hare!
Posts: 10,181 
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Post by Confessor on Jul 21, 2022 13:23:26 GMT -5
I am terrible at binge watching. I can't do more than 1 or 2 episodes at a time, no matter what the length, but then I am not much of a fan of sitting and passively watching my entertainment for long periods of time. Yeah, I'm much the same. I love a good TV show or a good movie, but after a couple of hours or so of watching, I'm done. My wife, on the other hand, will sometimes sit all afternoon and evening binge-watching TV series or watching movie after movie. I just don't have the patience for that. It's particularly a problem for me on long haul fights where there's very little else to do other than watch movies. I have to watch a film, then listen to a couple of albums on headphones, then read a book for a bit, then get up for a walk round the plane, then maybe try and sleep etc, etc. My wife will just sit there and watch 5 movies one after the other until we reach our destination. I kind of envy her ability to do that. |
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Post by impulse on Jul 21, 2022 14:15:52 GMT -5
From the Daily Star: Full story here: www.dailystar.co.uk/tv/netflix-boss-says-streamers-kill-27535611He may be right. People want to watch soaps in a linear fashion. Sporting events and anything political are best watched live (I doubt many people record a football match so as to watch it 7 days later). Everything else is at our pleasure. Why would I want to watch an ITV cop drama over six weeks, watching at 9pm every Sunday, when I could binge them in a week? Or watch them on a Friday evening? Just one example. And yet the Disney Plus model of releasing an episode a week of the Marvel and Star Wars series is creating "appointment TV" again and doing much better than the Netflix model of sustaining subscriptions for the long term rather than taking the free trial and cancelling after you binge the handful of shows you want or taking 1 month subscriptions then cancelling. Disney Plus has a fair share of those too, but they do much better as sustaining subs than Netflix does and they are growing while Netflix subs are shrinking. -M There is a small but important distinction, I think. It is not quite "appointment TV" in that you are not screwed if you miss the time slot. It is just available at a certain time. It has the benefits of both creating water cooler buzz but also the flexibility of not just being out of the loop until it syndicates if you miss it. Regular appointment TV sucks and I don't want to see it back, but this hybrid approach is doable. I still prefer binging when possible, and I loathe commercials though. |
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Post by badwolf on Jul 21, 2022 17:03:26 GMT -5
I am terrible at binge watching. I can't do more than 1 or 2 episodes at a time, no matter what the length, but then I am not much of a fan of sitting and passively watching my entertainment for long periods of time. ... I prefer interactive entertainment (such as reading where your imagination has to be engaged to complete the entertainment process, or ttrpg or whatnot). I am the same. Can't watch multiple movies in a row either.
As for regular broadcast TV, I haven't watched it in over 20 years.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 22, 2022 7:23:21 GMT -5
I miss the days when you don't have to research "how to watch" a show you want to try out. Even if you just type a show's title in your search engine, a lot of the results are "how to watch", so I know it's not just me. And when it's something I've started watching, I have to remember which service I was watching it on for the cheapest cost. Last night I went through Netflix, then Prime, and saw the show I started was not on Netflix, and was gonna cost me extra money on Prime. I know I didn't pay for the first episode, so I was confused. I forget that HBO Plus/Max/Whatever-it-is is a distinct service that's part of our cable, but eventually thought to try it. It turns out that's where I got it without paying extra.
Which gives me another opening to complain about the absurd fake-documentary look that's been in vogue for a while now. The show was Succession, and the first episode was ridiculous with the hand-held BS, like the guy holding the camera was struggling to keep up with the action, like they didn't have any rehearsal, like the camera guy never saw a copy of the script. No, you brain-dead artsy trend-following director/camera-guy, it doesn't make me feel like I'm right there peeking in on these characters, it makes me feel like you're an unimaginative trend-follower. I never finished the first episode, but I otherwise liked everything else about the show. Hoping that the show hadn't totally settled on this look, I skipped to episode four, and it was improved enough to be watchable. It's still hand-held looking, but at least the characters' full heads more-or-less remain fully in frame (I can't believe this has become a point of praise in film-making). The worst part remains the frequent, pointless little zooms they do like clockwork.
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Post by impulse on Jul 22, 2022 8:23:13 GMT -5
Shaky cam is a trend I won’t be sorry to see the back side of.
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Post by Ish Kabbible on Jul 22, 2022 9:38:33 GMT -5
I miss the days when you don't have to research "how to watch" a show you want to try out. Even if you just type a show's title in your search engine, a lot of the results are "how to watch", so I know it's not just me. And when it's something I've started watching, I have to remember which service I was watching it on for the cheapest cost. Last night I went through Netflix, then Prime, and saw the show I started was not on Netflix, and was gonna cost me extra money on Prime. I know I didn't pay for the first episode, so I was confused. I forget that HBO Plus/Max/Whatever-it-is is a distinct service that's part of our cable, but eventually thought to try it. It turns out that's where I got it without paying extra. Which gives me another opening to complain about the absurd fake-documentary look that's been in vogue for a while now. The show was Succession, and the first episode was ridiculous with the hand-held BS, like the guy holding the camera was struggling to keep up with the action, like they didn't have any rehearsal, like the camera guy never saw a copy of the script. No, you brain-dead artsy trend-following director/camera-guy, it doesn't make me feel like I'm right there peeking in on these characters, it makes me feel like you're an unimaginative trend-follower. I never finished the first episode, but I otherwise liked everything else about the show. Hoping that the show hadn't totally settled on this look, I skipped to episode four, and it was improved enough to be watchable. It's still hand-held looking, but at least the characters' full heads more-or-less remain fully in frame (I can't believe this has become a point of praise in film-making). The worst part remains the frequent, pointless little zooms they do like clockwork. Use the website Just Watch. Type in the name of the movie or TV show and it'll display what streaming services offer it and if it's for free or for pay www.justwatch.com/us?release_year_from=1970&release_year_until=1979 |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 24, 2022 2:16:35 GMT -5
This has been an amazing weekend for my inner geek and my geek hobbies. Gem City Comic Con on Saturday, amazing trailer drops for the Dungeons & Dragons movie, Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, Sandman on Netflix (plus the Vanity Fair video of Neil Gaiman breaking down the trailer), a bunch of new Marvel trailers, a bunch of new Marvel announcements for Phase 5 and 6, and tomorrow (technically later today) is our regular Sunday D&D session. In a world full of Covid, war, divisive politics, and other scare the crap out of me things, it was a welcome respite and a chance to catch my mental wellness breath for a second and reset myself by indulging in things in my happy place for a short while.
-M
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Post by Deleted on Jul 24, 2022 10:39:12 GMT -5
This has been an amazing weekend for my inner geek and my geek hobbies. Gem City Comic Con on Saturday, amazing trailer drops for the Dungeons & Dragons movie, Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, Sandman on Netflix (plus the Vanity Fair video of Neil Gaiman breaking down the trailer), a bunch of new Marvel trailers, a bunch of new Marvel announcements for Phase 5 and 6, and tomorrow (technically later today) is our regular Sunday D&D session. In a world full of Covid, war, divisive politics, and other scare the crap out of me things, it was a welcome respite and a chance to catch my mental wellness breath for a second and reset myself by indulging in things in my happy place for a short while. -M Not sure if Hero Quest fits D&D exactly, but your post gives me the opportunity to share this from my photo gallery, I am wondering if you had any interest:  |
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Post by Icctrombone on Jul 25, 2022 17:48:51 GMT -5
In Sundays Zoom meeting Bert checked in and he was in the Hospital where his husband has been staying for a collapsed lung. Please keep him in prayer and reach out to him if you are iso inclined.
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Jul 25, 2022 18:54:32 GMT -5
Thanks, Icctrombone. Bert and his husband are in our thoughts. |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 25, 2022 19:10:20 GMT -5
In Sundays Zoom meeting Bert checked in and he was in the Hospital where his husband has been staying for a collapsed lung. Please keep him in prayer and reach out to him if you are iso inclined. Yeah all our best wishes and positive vibes are headed Bert and his husband's way. -M |
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Post by Farrar on Jul 25, 2022 20:02:31 GMT -5
Sending good thoughts to bert and his husband.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 26, 2022 3:34:43 GMT -5
Best wishes to Bert and his husband.
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Post by kirby101 on Jul 27, 2022 9:27:20 GMT -5
Also keeping bert and his husband in our thoughts.
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Post by Ish Kabbible on Jul 27, 2022 17:54:19 GMT -5
I had a number of potential problems bothering me the past few days. They all ended happily today
One- I'm probably buying a new pc at the end of the year. I purchased a Microsoft Office Suite seperately 6 years ago to activate excel, word etc.
The purchase came with a card with the activation key code. When I get my new pc and transfer my programs and all from the old to the new, I'm sure I'll need the code as well. But I couldn't find the card. Went thru many YouTube tutorials on how to retrieve the code, all to no avail. But I did find the card today. The codes those tutorials revealed were all garbage
Two- I'm enrolled in a rent freeze program and I was approved for 2 more years at the beggining of June, continuing with the rent I've been paying since 2016. Saves me a nice sum each month. My rent is on auto-pay. In july they deducted the full amount. Found out I was wrong assuming my approval would work automatically. Had to send the building mangement a copy of the approval. Which i did a few weeks ago and now i see my August rent is at the correct rate and they credited the overpay from last month as well
Three- I'm barely qualified for the SNAP food program and was only getting $16 a month. But when the pandemic hit, they no longer pro-rated people and everyone gets the maximum amount which is about $230. That's a game changer for my monthly budget. In NYC the day the money gets deposited changes month-by-month and finding a current schedule is hard to find. The one I did find for the 2nd half of 2022 shows it was due last week but didn't arrive. Was not looking forward to dealing with the bureaucracy to find out my status.But today the SNAP money came thru
All those soon to reach retirement, make sure you check the programs you are entitled. It all varies state by state, programs can be available by just reaching age 62 and most programs don't count what you have as savings, only income is part of it's calculations. For instance, I do qualify for the mass transit program with 50% off all subways and buses. I get 50% off Amazon Prime monthly fees too
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