Well that is bit of an overstatement since I still have 2 TiVos of the low definition variety, but I did upgrade (or side grade) my HD units to the new DirecTV proprietary HD DVR. So here is my review (basic review but review nonetheless).
The unit is a pretty solid unit. There are some very quality features and differences between the units. Here are the pros and cons.
Pro:
- faster, MUCH faster programming. You can program a season pass with 2 clicks of the record button while it sometimes took my old TiVo minutes to resolve everything.
- the menuing is great. Different from TiVo but pretty intuitive. There is a quick menu that comes up over the image and allows access to the list of recorded programs, and other menus.
- when you go to full menu mode you still are able to watch the video feed via a small PiP type box in the upper right corner.
- much better extended guide data than the old unit.
- most importantly local channels in HD off of the satellite
- built in ethernet port which will hopefully allow some great network functionality
- USB ports as well
- potential for the recording of 3 things at once using the 2 Sat tuners and 1 OTA tuner
Cons:
- buggy software. From what I have seen and read things are improving but the software is still a little quirky/buggy. Sometimes the remote buttons don't do what you think they will and other times they do. One of my units locked up and we had to reset it (losing no programming). Not that surprising.
- no 30 second skip functionality. This is a function that I rarely used (yet many others swear by it) so I am not really all that put out by it not existing.
- no jump-back after fast forwarding. TiVo has a great feature that when you are doing the fast forward through commercials or other things and when you jumped out of the fast forward to standard play it would jump-back a few seconds (the amount of the jump would depend on the speed of FF you were using). The lack of this frustrates me to no end right now. There is jerry-rigged work around but I am hopeful that a software update will improve this.
- no dual live TV buffers. There is 1 90 minute buffer but no ability to switch between tuners. Again not a huge loss to me but frustrating that there aren't 2 45 buffers instead of 1 90.
So there you have it... Really a good unit that all should have if they don't already have an HD TiVo and would rather not put an antenna on their roof.
Sunday, November 05, 2006
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
Whoa Drucker Really Has a Blog?
Been quite a while since I have posted and think that because I am in the heart of the Fall TV Season and Cal Football Season is rolling along I might actually post more than once every 3 months. No guarantees (not that anyone really cares) but I might actually try.
So away we go....
What I Am Watching (and what I think of it):
Sunday (3 hours)-
The Wire - Simply some of the best television I have ever watched. Just a remarkable show in the way they show such complex social issues. Hard threshold of entry if you haven't seen much of it before but god it is remarkable.
The Amazing Race - Yes I am a sucker for reality TV in general but this is as good as network reality TV gets. Compelling things for the racers to have to do. Just good popcorn TV.
The Simpsons- Not nearly as funny as it used to be but still a sucker for the show. There is no way I can purge this out of my diet, ever.
The Family Guy - Funny, crass, well voiced, biting satire, and toilet humor. What more can you ask for?
Monday (3.5 hours)-
Prison Break - Really a silly premise but well produced and acted. Really simple popcorn drama but compelling nonetheless.
How I Met Your Mother - Silly title for a show but really funny. Definitely has its legs in its second season. All of the actors have improved timing. Neil Patrick Harris is just hilarious.
Heroes - Ummmm easily the best of the new shows across all networks. Just riveting. I love this show more than I can express in 3 sentences and look forward to its airing each week. So good! I just wish I really knew what the heck Ali Larter's 'power' is other than blacking out and killing people.
Studio 60 - My love of this show is slowly waining. I like it a lot and love the actors and writing but the show itself just isn't that compelling. I watch it but am not thrilled while doing so. To quote Lee: "meh."
Tuesday(5 hours)-
Gilmore Girls - So yes this makes me a bit of a girl but it is a good show to watch with the wife. Funny, but definitely losing steam in probably its last season.
Veronica Mars - So if GG makes me a girl this makes me a teenage girl? Probably not long for the CW but it is cute and a fill for the lack of funny teen dramas.
Friday Night Lights - I like it. Well produced and comes across more like a movie than TV. With that said, it is highly cliche and I cannot imagine several years of 22 episodes a season where this carries its load.
Law and Order CI and SVU - Yes, 2 shows but same franchise. I really enjoy them still. Both are really well acted so I cannot give them up. I am closer to dropping the original L&O than I am these 2.
Wednesday(3.5 hours)-
Jericho - For some reason because Skeet Ulrich is in this show I am almost embarassed to admit to watching it. But the show itself is good. Interesting backdrop of post apocolyptic US and a small town drama. I dropped it and then picked it back up and am enjoying it but expect that this is the first show to get purged when my TV diet gets too big.
30 Rock - Ok I don't like this show enough to remember to add it to my TiVo (soon to be DirecTV HD DVR) Season Pass list but I am enjoying it. Mostly because Tracy Morgan and Alec Baldwin are wry and funny. But only enough to watch it online, I guess.
Lost - So far what I think is the best season yet. Love how each of the 3 seasons have shown the crash from a different angle. Just remarkable television, ANNNNND with that said, I fear that this might be an X-Files scenario where it is great and interesting but confusing and annoying in that confusion.
The Nine - I like it but am not sold on it. Seems great but there are times where it just drrrraaaaaaggggggs. Not sure what happened in the bank and honestly I am not 100% sure I care.
Thursday(4 hours)-
Survivor - YES another reality show. This season is "meh" but I still come back for more.
My Name is Earl - Unique and quirky and just very funny.
The Office - Honestly I am not sure what I can type and not sound like and understatement or hyperbole. I think this is the best sitcom I have ever watched.
ER - Classic and maybe one of the best seasons in quite some time.
Grey's Anatomy - Maybe the best non-supernatural drama on TV. 'Nuff said.
Friday(1 hour) -
L&O Regular Edition - see above
So there you have it. Drucker reviewed more TV shows than necessary. Totalling 19.5 hours. then add in 1 hour for Top Chef and .5 hours for Real World/Road Rules Challenge, and we have a total of 21 hours of TV. Not that bad considering last year at this time I was watching 24.5 hours.
Stay tuned for a Cal post and a rant about stupid human college football polls.
Go Bears!
Saturday, April 22, 2006
Drucker Has a Blog????
Drucker Has a Blog?
New House:
One of the primary reasons for the complete lack of a blog for the past several months is because of the fact that we bought and sold homes and are planning a move. So that being said, on with the show.
AV Equipment:
In my last blog I had reported what equipment I was planning on buying. Well of courts that all changed once I priced things and came down to earth. The story begins with my figuring that I would get a TV that would require running proprietary cables through the wall, but this TV would allow me to just put the hook-ups for each device in the cabinet and only run one cable to the TV. All-in-all a great idea until I talked to the previous owner of the house that set up the existing equipment. He placed the existing Tv on a wall that is a dry-wall layer directly on top of cinderblock. They grooved out an area for the cable to go, then ran the existing cable into the mantle making it next to impossible to run a new cable. Thankfully the newer AV receivers have high definition video switching capabilities allowing me the single cable option, keeping the existing cable as the single cable and maintaining a media receiver. So here is the equipment that I decided to get:
So there we go. All this is being installed and set up on the 4th. Stay tuned.
Exercise:
Thanks to a herniated disc in my neck I am just starting my push-up and sit-up routine. Again, stay tuned.
TV:
Gotta save something for tomorrow.
New House:
One of the primary reasons for the complete lack of a blog for the past several months is because of the fact that we bought and sold homes and are planning a move. So that being said, on with the show.
AV Equipment:
In my last blog I had reported what equipment I was planning on buying. Well of courts that all changed once I priced things and came down to earth. The story begins with my figuring that I would get a TV that would require running proprietary cables through the wall, but this TV would allow me to just put the hook-ups for each device in the cabinet and only run one cable to the TV. All-in-all a great idea until I talked to the previous owner of the house that set up the existing equipment. He placed the existing Tv on a wall that is a dry-wall layer directly on top of cinderblock. They grooved out an area for the cable to go, then ran the existing cable into the mantle making it next to impossible to run a new cable. Thankfully the newer AV receivers have high definition video switching capabilities allowing me the single cable option, keeping the existing cable as the single cable and maintaining a media receiver. So here is the equipment that I decided to get:
- Receiver: Denon AVR 2807
- TV: Fujitsu P50XTA51US
- Power Conditioner: Monster HTS MKII
- DVD Player: Sony Progressive Scan player
- Game System: Brand new Xbox 360
- Media Streamer: Slingbox (duh)
So there we go. All this is being installed and set up on the 4th. Stay tuned.
Exercise:
Thanks to a herniated disc in my neck I am just starting my push-up and sit-up routine. Again, stay tuned.
TV:
Gotta save something for tomorrow.
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
Liar liar...
Sex, Lies and Audio Equipment:So late last week I said that the Harman Kardon AVR140 was the receiver/amp I was going to get for my new spiffy home theatre at the new pad. Well I totally lied. While this is an extremely well reviewed receiver it really lacks any true muscle/power at 40W per channel output (thanks for the heads up Lee). So I am actually going to be getting the Denon AVR-3805 receiver/amp. 100W/channel, 4 optical audio inputs, HDMI switching (not that I would use it) and all the necessary surround features including DTS (nice, eh Dan).
House Stuff:
Ok so the process of finding a new house was a pain, as it took us 18 months. But really that is NOTHING compared to the process of selling, and getting a house ready to sell-
- Tuesday: home inspection (thankfully came out scot free)
- Thursday: termite inspection AND the stagers are doing a preliminary review
- Friday: door to door storage is coming to drop off a unit so we can load all the crap that needs to be out before the listing. I will be busting my tail loading it up this weekend.
- Next Tuesday: painters are coming to give a preliminary estimate
- THEN: painting, actual staging, moving out of the house for a week during the listing, and then taking offers
PHEW.... But I am crossing fingers that we will hit our #.
Sports:
Ok the Pac10 sucks, what more can be said. A shockingly mediocre conference. Right now there are 2 locks with UW and UCLA being them. After that I would say Cal is a soft-lock (really needing to go 3-2 in the next 5) but really close. AZ is the team that would be the 4th from the conference and Stanford is on the outside looking in. This being said the Big East might get 9 teams in. That is insane.
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
New to you...
New Stuff:
House:
Many/some of you know that we just bought a new pad. One of the cool things, which helps considering how many daunting things there are with regards to buying a new house and selling an old one, is that I get to buy a new TV. Also, because there is 6.1 surround sound in the ceiling of this house I need a new receiver to work that center rear speaker (for those of you that don’t know here is a break down of the different types of surround sound:
- 5.1 – 1 center speaker, 2 front speakers, 2 surround speakers – totaling 5 speakers and the .1 is the subwoofer.
- 6.1 – same as above but a center rear surround speaker
- 7.1 – same as above but with a left rear and a right rear
- 8.1 – same as above but with a left center and a right center
Receiver Specifics:
So this being said here is the receiver I will be getting from Harman Kardon. It is great since it is a) cheap, b) great reviews, and c) has multiple optical audio ins and the necessary surround abilities.
TV Time:
So we currently have a 57” rear projection HD Television which is in a word, great (anyone know someone that wants to buy it). Since this house will require us to place a TV on the wall above the fireplace we are going to have to get a plasma (or other flat panel) TV. Here is my rant on people buying plasma or other TVs in this day and age…. If you buy a TV that only displays 720p you are wasting your money, if you buy a TV that displays 1080p at this point you are wasting your money. Here is why… While many consider EDTV (720p) to be close enough to HD that you shouldn’t be able to tell the difference (and I am sure I cannot) it still seems like a waste when spending $1500 plus on a set not to throw another 10% or so into the TV to get the full HD output. This being said I am a hypocrite because for a premium of about 20-30% one can buy a TV that will output in 1080p which is the highest output available. The thing about 1080p is that there is a grand total of ZERO output in 1080p today. Blu-ray DVD will be 1080p and some TV stuff in 6 months will be but otherwise there isn’t any.
comes in they will call me and I will get my TV (they of course will also do the install). Pioneer has done something really quite brilliant where they have a receiver box that sits in the case with all the AV equipment and has 2 HDMI inputs, 2 coax inputs, 2 component inputs, 2 firewire inputs and other standard video inputs allowing you to not have to run tons of cables through the wall. It also manages the PIP for you even with HD feeds. Just seems like good tech to me is all.
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
Slingbox, Slingbox, Slingbox....
Current Plan:
For the past week and change I had been doing about 100 push-ups a day - most of these in the morning when I would do a set of about 20, followed by 2 sets of 15 or so. What I had been finding is that I would be beat after the first 2 sets and found it hard to do a set of 12 later in the day. In an effort to continue building strength so that 2 months from now when I have to do 100 a day I will be easily able to I am going to be doing 2x the daily allotment every other day until about the 60th day or so (2 more weeks). I rested yesterday and today I was able to do a solid set of 30 (most ever in one set for me) followed by a set of 20 (tougher but not terrible). Later in the day I was easily able to do 2 more sets of 20. I should be an exercise guru for goodness sakes. Also, I got another sucker, I mean person, at work to start on the plan.
The Daily Show:
I seem to keep blogging about this but yesterday was another classic. I think that the Cheney thing just inspires quality comedy. How could it not?
Sports:
Cal has another really tough weekend and if we sweep this weekend I think we can be considered a lock for the NCAA tournament. Good times. Fingers crossed.
The Angels are about to sign a solid free agent pitcher but still need a good power bat to hit behind Vlad. Just my thoughts is all.
Slingbox:
One of the people that I was able to preach the Slingbox to has been working in Hong Kong for the last month and might be more in love with the device than me as he has been able to watch all his DVR’d shows ½ way around the world. Slingbox you guys certainly do rock. I will keep the customers coming. (
For the past week and change I had been doing about 100 push-ups a day - most of these in the morning when I would do a set of about 20, followed by 2 sets of 15 or so. What I had been finding is that I would be beat after the first 2 sets and found it hard to do a set of 12 later in the day. In an effort to continue building strength so that 2 months from now when I have to do 100 a day I will be easily able to I am going to be doing 2x the daily allotment every other day until about the 60th day or so (2 more weeks). I rested yesterday and today I was able to do a solid set of 30 (most ever in one set for me) followed by a set of 20 (tougher but not terrible). Later in the day I was easily able to do 2 more sets of 20. I should be an exercise guru for goodness sakes. Also, I got another sucker, I mean person, at work to start on the plan.
The Daily Show:
I seem to keep blogging about this but yesterday was another classic. I think that the Cheney thing just inspires quality comedy. How could it not?
Sports:
Cal has another really tough weekend and if we sweep this weekend I think we can be considered a lock for the NCAA tournament. Good times. Fingers crossed.
The Angels are about to sign a solid free agent pitcher but still need a good power bat to hit behind Vlad. Just my thoughts is all.
Slingbox:
One of the people that I was able to preach the Slingbox to has been working in Hong Kong for the last month and might be more in love with the device than me as he has been able to watch all his DVR’d shows ½ way around the world. Slingbox you guys certainly do rock. I will keep the customers coming. (
Thursday, February 09, 2006
Daily Show and Colbert...
Daily Show:
So this morning I just watched last night's Daily Show and it had to be one of the funniest episodes ever. From the King funeral bits, to the Gonzales testimony, to the Klassic Kolbert, and finishing with a VERY funny Harrison Ford interview. Just a top to bottom hilarious episode.
Colbert Report:
So this has been a joyful addition to my TV diet (perfect for viewing via Slingbox at the office, ahem Slingmedia... listening still?). Colbert is absolutely hilarious at his dead pan delivery. In talking with Dan about this (or was it Ken) I have no clue either how he can maintain this momentum. He has to carry 30 minutes a day every weekday.
Regimen:
Did about 110 push-ups yesterday. That is all.
This is just an interim report until I actually have something marginally interesting to write about.
So this morning I just watched last night's Daily Show and it had to be one of the funniest episodes ever. From the King funeral bits, to the Gonzales testimony, to the Klassic Kolbert, and finishing with a VERY funny Harrison Ford interview. Just a top to bottom hilarious episode.
Colbert Report:
So this has been a joyful addition to my TV diet (perfect for viewing via Slingbox at the office, ahem Slingmedia... listening still?). Colbert is absolutely hilarious at his dead pan delivery. In talking with Dan about this (or was it Ken) I have no clue either how he can maintain this momentum. He has to carry 30 minutes a day every weekday.
Regimen:
Did about 110 push-ups yesterday. That is all.
This is just an interim report until I actually have something marginally interesting to write about.
Wednesday, February 08, 2006
Conversions
Slingbox:
After all this time I bet you thought I forgot about the love affair I am having with a lovely device called the Slingbox. Read this post to get refreshed on how much I love this thing. Umm it rocks. So I believe it recently won the best in show award or something like that at CES. Enough of that onto the real content - Sunday was the Super Bowl and ABC was airing a new episode of the show that always makes my friend, the baby, Dan cry. Well as it always does the Super Bowl ran a bit long which means that people with a TiVo but without the forethought to pad the end of Grey’s Anatomy would miss the last 30 minutes or so of the program. Well one of those aforementioned people is Dan. I receive a franticish call from him asking if I could save Grey’s and somehow he would watch it. Just at that moment a light bulb went off above my head… “Hey Dan, want to just watch it via my Slingbox?” Ta da. Dan was able to view it and said the quality was great. There we have yet another converted fan Slingbox. I think I should get some free schwag or something if you are listening.
Exercise:
Speaking of conversions I got another sucker, I mean person, here at work doing the ‘regimen’. He like me started with ‘girly’ push-ups but really thinks this is a great motivator to actually do exercise he wouldn’t otherwise do. I am still floored that there is nothing really written about this anywhere on the internet.
For me I am doing my daily (39 today) sets and then tacking on a good 3 or 4 extra sets of 10 or 15. I feel that the extra sets will pay dividends in a few weeks when I am ‘required’ to do that many. I hope my strength improves because I feel like a weakling during my 2nd full set to complete the days quota.
Sports:
Cal v. StanfUrd tomorrow night. Crucial game for both teams chances to make the dance. That is all for now for fear of being a jinx.
After all this time I bet you thought I forgot about the love affair I am having with a lovely device called the Slingbox. Read this post to get refreshed on how much I love this thing. Umm it rocks. So I believe it recently won the best in show award or something like that at CES. Enough of that onto the real content - Sunday was the Super Bowl and ABC was airing a new episode of the show that always makes my friend, the baby, Dan cry. Well as it always does the Super Bowl ran a bit long which means that people with a TiVo but without the forethought to pad the end of Grey’s Anatomy would miss the last 30 minutes or so of the program. Well one of those aforementioned people is Dan. I receive a franticish call from him asking if I could save Grey’s and somehow he would watch it. Just at that moment a light bulb went off above my head… “Hey Dan, want to just watch it via my Slingbox?” Ta da. Dan was able to view it and said the quality was great. There we have yet another converted fan Slingbox. I think I should get some free schwag or something if you are listening.
Exercise:
Speaking of conversions I got another sucker, I mean person, here at work doing the ‘regimen’. He like me started with ‘girly’ push-ups but really thinks this is a great motivator to actually do exercise he wouldn’t otherwise do. I am still floored that there is nothing really written about this anywhere on the internet.
For me I am doing my daily (39 today) sets and then tacking on a good 3 or 4 extra sets of 10 or 15. I feel that the extra sets will pay dividends in a few weeks when I am ‘required’ to do that many. I hope my strength improves because I feel like a weakling during my 2nd full set to complete the days quota.
Sports:
Cal v. StanfUrd tomorrow night. Crucial game for both teams chances to make the dance. That is all for now for fear of being a jinx.
Saturday, February 04, 2006
Random Druckerness
Blogger Spell Check = DUM!
So I completed the blog that you will soon read below and did a spell check via the tool on blogger. The blogger spell check gagged on the words 'blog' and 'blogged'. How the hell can this be the case? That is a bad dictionary.
Fried v. Exercise:
The thing I think I have to be aware of is that my previous blogs site that I have a fryer and I have started this new crazy exercise regimen. Well I have used the fryer a total of 3x and sure I will use it again but eh... fried foods are good. Exercise balances it, right? That is my rationale.
Cal Basketball:
8-3 in conference and starting to play a bit more consistently. We are looking like we might finish in the upper third of the conference (in 2nd right now), and honestly if we finish the regular season in the top 3 in the conference I cannot imagine us being denied a bid to the NCAA tournament. I guess he punchline is what the hell do I know?
TV:
Been a while since I posted a list, day by day, of the crap I watch on TV. The last time I blogged this drivel I was watching 17.5 hours a week of prime time TV. Let's see what I am watching now:
Sunday: Simpsons, Family Guy, Grey's Anatomy, L&O CI - total of 3 hours
Monday: How I Met Your Mother, Las Vegas - 1 1/2 hours
Tuesday: Gilmore Girls, Scrubs x2, L&O SVU - 3 hours
Wednesday: Veronica Mars, Lost, L&O - 3 hours
Thursday: Survivor, The OC, My Name is Earl, The Office, ER, Everybody Hates Chris - 4.5 hours
Friday and Saturday - 0 hours
Total - 15 hours. Hey I am both slimming myself and my TV diet. Go Drucker.
So I completed the blog that you will soon read below and did a spell check via the tool on blogger. The blogger spell check gagged on the words 'blog' and 'blogged'. How the hell can this be the case? That is a bad dictionary.
Fried v. Exercise:
The thing I think I have to be aware of is that my previous blogs site that I have a fryer and I have started this new crazy exercise regimen. Well I have used the fryer a total of 3x and sure I will use it again but eh... fried foods are good. Exercise balances it, right? That is my rationale.
Cal Basketball:
8-3 in conference and starting to play a bit more consistently. We are looking like we might finish in the upper third of the conference (in 2nd right now), and honestly if we finish the regular season in the top 3 in the conference I cannot imagine us being denied a bid to the NCAA tournament. I guess he punchline is what the hell do I know?
TV:
Been a while since I posted a list, day by day, of the crap I watch on TV. The last time I blogged this drivel I was watching 17.5 hours a week of prime time TV. Let's see what I am watching now:
Sunday: Simpsons, Family Guy, Grey's Anatomy, L&O CI - total of 3 hours
Monday: How I Met Your Mother, Las Vegas - 1 1/2 hours
Tuesday: Gilmore Girls, Scrubs x2, L&O SVU - 3 hours
Wednesday: Veronica Mars, Lost, L&O - 3 hours
Thursday: Survivor, The OC, My Name is Earl, The Office, ER, Everybody Hates Chris - 4.5 hours
Friday and Saturday - 0 hours
Total - 15 hours. Hey I am both slimming myself and my TV diet. Go Drucker.
Friday, February 03, 2006
Getting Ripped
Push-ups:
So today was 34 push-ups and sit-ups. I am getting closer to being able to do about 20 or so in 1 set (I did 2 sets of 17 today). In an effort to build up more strength and kind of catch up, I did an additional 6 sets of 10 push-ups (totaling close to 100 push-ups today). So there we go. Good times but hey when I get super buff look out! Also, I think that with the 3 people at Dan's company, myself, R, a buddy at Genentech there are 6 members of our cult. Good times.
TV:
What is Drucker watching? Less and less these days. Again The Office was amazing. Just freaking hilarious. My Name is Earl has also been consistently amusing and funny.
Movies:
Because H is about to turn 3 and she just chose to get rid of her pacifiers we are going to treat her with a trip to the movies. Fortunately Curious George the movie is about to come out next weekend. Should be the most expensive 30 minute trip to the movies ever. That is our expectation as to how long H will last.
So today was 34 push-ups and sit-ups. I am getting closer to being able to do about 20 or so in 1 set (I did 2 sets of 17 today). In an effort to build up more strength and kind of catch up, I did an additional 6 sets of 10 push-ups (totaling close to 100 push-ups today). So there we go. Good times but hey when I get super buff look out! Also, I think that with the 3 people at Dan's company, myself, R, a buddy at Genentech there are 6 members of our cult. Good times.
TV:
What is Drucker watching? Less and less these days. Again The Office was amazing. Just freaking hilarious. My Name is Earl has also been consistently amusing and funny.
Movies:
Because H is about to turn 3 and she just chose to get rid of her pacifiers we are going to treat her with a trip to the movies. Fortunately Curious George the movie is about to come out next weekend. Should be the most expensive 30 minute trip to the movies ever. That is our expectation as to how long H will last.
Thursday, February 02, 2006
Exercise, TV, Sports
Exercise Program: Today is the 8th day of the new regimen and I have done my push-ups. 100% of them non-girly style. Getting easier. Still laboring when I get close to 15 or so (did 2 sets) but I am noticing them becoming easier. I realized yesterday that as I was doing them I wasn't breathing properly, or at all. I was holding my breath as I did push-ups (and sit-ups for that matter). Amusing at some level until I pass out. The good news is that now I am breathing and noticing small changes in my body already. Dropped to 197 (small fluctuation I know but it is an update). R started doing them as well although she is going to cap out at 100 push-ups and when she hits like 50 she will go 50/50 regular style and girly style hoping to achieve 100 push-ups a day regular style. I enlisted another guy at work to participate as well. Dan gave me the cool code at the top that allows for the auto-incrementation announcing the number of push-ups (and sit-ups) I am doing each day. He also whined that I didn't like his blog. happy Dan? Stay tuned for further updates.
TV:
The Office has continued to be stellar. There have been a few melancholy moments but all in all I am impressed with the timing and delivery of the material. Steve Carell won the Golden Globe for best comedic actor which means that 2 different actors have won a Globe for playing essentially the same role, as Ricky Gervais won it last year (or the year before). Speaking of Ricky Gervais, he and Stephen Merchant (The Office co-creator) have a podcast that is freaking hilarious. Go to: Guardian Unlimited to get it (or iTunes). Very amusing stuff and the most downloaded podcasts ever.
Sports:
Super Bowl - Here are my picks (so be sure to bet against them):
Over/Under - 47 - take the under, 2 really solid defensive teams
Spread - Pitt -4.5 - honestly I would take the Hawks, I think they will at least cover
Coin flip - Take heads, Lee
College Basketball (Pac -10 edition) - the Pac sucks this year. Dan said it was 'cool that UW lost both games in the bay area last weekend which is crazy talk (happy I linked you twice now). Having ZERO premiere teams in the conference means the Pac will get a whopping 3 teams in the dance. Unless a team goes on a tear I expect it is UCLA, UW, and UofA. Cal is too up and down. That is it.
TV:
The Office has continued to be stellar. There have been a few melancholy moments but all in all I am impressed with the timing and delivery of the material. Steve Carell won the Golden Globe for best comedic actor which means that 2 different actors have won a Globe for playing essentially the same role, as Ricky Gervais won it last year (or the year before). Speaking of Ricky Gervais, he and Stephen Merchant (The Office co-creator) have a podcast that is freaking hilarious. Go to: Guardian Unlimited to get it (or iTunes). Very amusing stuff and the most downloaded podcasts ever.
Sports:
Super Bowl - Here are my picks (so be sure to bet against them):
Over/Under - 47 - take the under, 2 really solid defensive teams
Spread - Pitt -4.5 - honestly I would take the Hawks, I think they will at least cover
Coin flip - Take heads, Lee
College Basketball (Pac -10 edition) - the Pac sucks this year. Dan said it was 'cool that UW lost both games in the bay area last weekend which is crazy talk (happy I linked you twice now). Having ZERO premiere teams in the conference means the Pac will get a whopping 3 teams in the dance. Unless a team goes on a tear I expect it is UCLA, UW, and UofA. Cal is too up and down. That is it.
Monday, January 30, 2006
The Exercise Experiment
The Motivation:
Dan’s brother Dave made a resolution last year to do 1 push-up and 1 sit-up (or crunch) per day for the number of days that it is in the year. For example if it is January 20th one would do 20 push-ups and 20 crunches, then on December 31st one would do 365 of each for that day.
The Conversation(s):
During 2005 Dan mentioned this resolution to me and it really sounded like a clever and great idea. Then on January 26th Dan was mentioning to me that he was trying it this year and well I said why the heck not start.
The Problem:
I hate exercising and need the motivation of Dan doing it and R yelling at me about it. This blog is a furtherance of my publicizing it to ensure I don’t back down.
The Beginning:
So I began on the 26th and did 26 (girly) push-ups and 26 crunches. That was the most push-ups I think I have ever done in my life. At the point I began I weighed 198lbs and had a waist of 34”.
Current Status:
I have just finished my 5th day and I did ½ the push-ups non-girly and they are getting a bit easier. Still not that easy but I am improving. My hope is that by the end of next week (when I am at about 40) I can easily do 2 sets of 20 normal push-ups.
Updates:
Stay tuned.
Dan’s brother Dave made a resolution last year to do 1 push-up and 1 sit-up (or crunch) per day for the number of days that it is in the year. For example if it is January 20th one would do 20 push-ups and 20 crunches, then on December 31st one would do 365 of each for that day.
The Conversation(s):
During 2005 Dan mentioned this resolution to me and it really sounded like a clever and great idea. Then on January 26th Dan was mentioning to me that he was trying it this year and well I said why the heck not start.
The Problem:I hate exercising and need the motivation of Dan doing it and R yelling at me about it. This blog is a furtherance of my publicizing it to ensure I don’t back down.
The Beginning:
So I began on the 26th and did 26 (girly) push-ups and 26 crunches. That was the most push-ups I think I have ever done in my life. At the point I began I weighed 198lbs and had a waist of 34”.
Current Status:
I have just finished my 5th day and I did ½ the push-ups non-girly and they are getting a bit easier. Still not that easy but I am improving. My hope is that by the end of next week (when I am at about 40) I can easily do 2 sets of 20 normal push-ups.
Updates:
Stay tuned.
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