Why I hate retail sales weasels
For those that don’t know me, one of my pet peeves is retail sales. The whole “can I help you find something” may be well intentioned but if you don’t know anything then you can’t very well help someone. Today’s example took place at Wolf Camera, a retail photo/videography shop. Normally I would never be caught dead in a retail storefront like this but one of my co-workers told me that the prices were reasonable and the staff was quite knowledgeable so I figured I’d give it a shot.
I was in the market for a remote shutter release cable for my EOS 20D. The first thing that I noticed about this place is how EVERYTHING is locked behind glass. It reminded me of a jewelry store. I explained to the lady that I had a Canon EOS 20D and what I needed for it. She tried to sell me a wireless one but I insisted on a cable. So I get home and find out that what she sold me doesn’t fit the plug on the 20D. Oh I was livid. I really wanted to take some night shots tonight and I needed that cable to do it properly. I loaded up my camera and drove back to the store. Class was about to begin. Find out what happened next after the jump.
Satellite Update
So it’s been 24 hours since I unwrapped all of my satellite presents (except for the DVR 722 which should be here next week). My initial thoughts are well...mixed. The external hard drive rocks! It takes a while to archive because it’s USB 2.0 but you can archive in the background while you’re watching TV or while the receiver is “off.” Video playback from the external is flawless. I watched a little bit of Star Wars and the last scene of The Sopranos and both played back without a hitch.
The new HD is where I’m really torn. It’s not really all that it’s cracked up to be. Most of it is stretch-o-vision. That’s where they take a show that was shot in 4x3 aspect ration and stretch it out to fit on a 16:9 TV. Animal Planet and Discovery are the worst about it. TLC has American Chopper on in HD right now but they’re bad about it outside of prime time. The only channel that is truely 24/7 HD is MHD. The problem with that is you have to wait for something good to come on. Today must be CMT day because it’s nothing but country music videos and Reba. This has me wondering if DirecTV subscribers really want 100 channels of HD if half or more will be stretched out.
DISH’in it out!
Woah today has been an awesome day in Satellite Technology for me! So this morning was like Christmas morning. I jumped out of bed and ran to the TV, flipped it on and saw that there were 6 new channels! Thanks Charlieclaus! Here’s the skinny on the new channels: MHD (MTV, VH1, CMT had a baby and called it MHD), Discovery HD (not HD Theater...think Mythbusters and Dirty Jobs in HD!!), TLC HD, Animal Planet HD, Science Channel HD, and Golf/Versus HD. To be honest I’ve been watching MHD more than anything (surprised?) This must be Green Day hour. I just watched their VH1 Storytellers performance in HD and now there’s some Green Day concert on. Pretty sweet! Oh but that’s only the start! Wanna know more? Find out after the jump.
SICKO makes me sick, yo!
I just got back from seeing Michael Moore’s SICKO and I’m pissed me off. I guess that’s Moore’s MO. Well mission accomplished. If you don’t know what SICKO is, it does to the health care industry what Farenheit 9/11 did to the Bush administration. Now I know this is a typical Michael Moore film so I’m taking it with the usual “your results may vary” attitude but I’m still pissed off. In the film he goes to Canada, England, France, and even Cuba to show how socialismzed is working throughout the world. We’re better than France right? I know we’re better than Cuba...they’re just a tiny little island with nothing more than old cars and good cigars. So why is it that these countries give their citizens affordable health care? America has so many resources at its disposal. The country has so much yet it gives back so little when it comes to health care. Now I’m not saying that I’m scared to get sick because I’m afraid I won’t be covered. I’m just saying that we shouldn’t have to worry about health care in the most powerful nation in the world. This isn’t some third world po-dunk country that can’t afford health care. This is America damnit! Our police, firefighters, and libraries are available to us free of charge (after taxes) so why is something equally important out of reach for most Americans? Why are hospitals operating a for-profit business? Why are their CEOs multimillionaires?
Go watch the movie and let me know if it pisses you off as much as it has pissed me off. If you think Moore’s just making false claims again, check out this fact checking analysis of the movie. If you don’t want to pay the $9.50 to see SICKO like I did (maybe that’s why I’m pissed off) you can catch Moore on CNN’s Larry King Live tonight. He was supposed to be on Wednesday night but more important things came up (Paris Hilton granted King an interview) and he was bumped.
KNOE SOLD
Well it was bound to happen but the children of the late James A Noe Jr have sold the TV station that his father, then Louisiana Governer James Noe started some 60+ years ago. I can’t say that I’m surprised that the children cashed in on their fathers station. It’s a shame to see another locally owned and operated media outfit get gobbled up by an out of state conglomerate. Also looking for a buyer is KNOE’s FM102 where I once worked. The Radio People will probably buy that frequency since they recently acquired KNOE’s AM talk station that I helped startup some 4 years ago. There were so many fun times had in the KNOE “compound” that will evaporate now that everything is out of local hands. If one good thing comes out of the sale, maybe this company will spend well deserved money on KNOE TV8. That station was so low budget at times it made public access cable look good. I hope Bobby and the rest of the Crew of FM102 land on their feet after all is said and done. That was a great little radio station that would have been so much better if it had money for a promotions department.
Source: KNOE to be Sold to Hoak Media Corporation
