Last week I mentioned that I was ordering an Up-Converting DVD Player and it got here on Friday. I hooked it up yesterday, did the set up (which took all of 2 minutes) and then watched Miami Vice. I’m impressed.

It’s not HD like sporting events are & it’s not quite HD like regular TV shows are, but it’s a lot better than the regular DVD player that I have (which I now have to find a home for - lol)

One of the cool things that Samsung DVD-HD960 Up-Converting DVD Player lets you do is cycle between 480, 720 & 1080, which means you can see what it used to look like compared to what the player can do.

For $160, I highly recommend it.

Since it’s a hot topic this week, I might as well throw my 2 cents in.

I do like fighting in hockey, but I like what I call “emotional” fighting, meaning that the fight breaks out in the middle of the play. 1 guy checks another a little too hard & they drop the gloves or a bigger guy comes in & they go at it. That’s fine by me.

What I really hate is what I call “fighting for the sake of fighting”. It’s when the 2 “goons” line up before a face off, decide that they’re going to fight & when the puck drops, they drop the gloves & go at it. To me, that seems to serve no purpose at all. In this growing scenario, the fighters are not playing the roll of “enforcer”, which is what their roll should be. More proof of this is when the other team does not have a fighter, so the other team sits theirs.

What happened to the guys that could actually play as well as fight? The 1st name that comes to mind is Probert. He could skate & play at a decent level & he could fight with the best of them.

I know Buffalo the best. Peters seems to be a great guy & he can fight, but he’s useless for the rest of the game. Hell, he’s often called of the ice mid-shift so that someone that can actually play is on the ice. Mair, on the other hand, is a decent player - he can skate, he can pass, he can shoot & he can fight. He’s an enforcer & that’s what every team needs.

Think about it: When was the last time you saw a “fighter” in the lineup during the playoffs? It does happen from time to time, but for the most part, they’re a healthy scratch. No team wins the Stanley Cup because their guys can fight. They win games because they can play hockey. If your fighter can score, that’s all the better. But you’re not gonna see any coach put their fighter in the lineup during the playoffs just so he can play 2 shifts in the 1st period & sit on the bench while other guys double shift for the rest of the game.

It’s a shame that most of the sports coverage in the news in regards to the NHL is when their’s a fight.

I can’t believe I’m about to type this up, but I’m really rooting for Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, Calgary & Vancouver to make the NHL Playoffs. Why? Because that means I’ll get to watch some of the NHL Playoffs in HD on CBC via my antenna. (since I’m convinced that Versus HD doesn’t actually exist)

I even have a best case scenario:
Toronto & Montreal each actually make the playoffs (right now, they are both 1 point out) Hopefully, the Sabres are 1st, Toronto is 8th, Ottawa gets 4th or 5th & Montreal gets 6th or 7th. Buffalo would play Toronto and I get to see all the away games in HD since the CBC channel I pick up is out of Toronto. We beat Toronto and Ottawa & Montreal each win their series. With any luck, we’d play Montreal, beat them, have Ottawa win & then face Ottawa for the conference finals. Calgary or Vancouver (I could care less) make it to the finals. BINGO! All of the Buffalo games are in HD & we’d have beaten 4 Canadian teams

Even if that scenario didn’t play out (and odds are against me) it’d be nice to watch any of the playoffs games in HD on CBC, so GO CANADA!

Apparently, Versus has a High Def channel. How one goes about watching it is beyond me.

I have Time Warner Cable & they don’t carry it (but I have requested it)

I looked at DirectTV & Dish Network and neither of them have it.

So I decided to go to the source & ask. I’ve emailed Versus as well as called them (203-406-2500) but I’ve got no reply to either.

The NHL Playoffs are approaching really fast & without the Versus HD channel, I’m gonna be stuck watching most of the games in SD and after watching all of the games on INHD last year (Versus simulcast their games on the now defunct INHD2 channel last season) that’s really gonna suck.

As promised (and hopefully this will keep the complaint emails & comments to a minimum) here’s some new silly, stupid, time consuming, worthless, waste of space websites for you to kill hours of time with:

Horny Manatee
“Will It Blend?” Blended iPod w/ New Total Blender
Ice Slide
The Top 10 Creepiest Fast Food Mascots
Monkey Kick Off
Ask A Ninja
Skidoo TT
Live Cheddar Cheese

As always, please email me your silly sites.

I don’t think I’m ready to buy a High Def DVD player just yet. 1st off, the obvious problem is which one to buy. The 2nd problem is the cost (everyone knows that DVD players were really pricey when they 1st came out)

But I was in the doctors office today reading an old Popular Mechanics and on their Christmas 2006 Wish List, they had a small review of the Samsung DVD-HD960 Up-Converting DVD Player which allows you to play regular DVD’s on your HDTV at near HD quality. And since my DVD player is about 8 or 9 years old and this one is only $160, I decided to order one today. Stay tuned for the review.

I wrote this email to Time Warner late Saturday night (3/10) after being rather pissed off at not being able to watch the Sabres game in HD:

• Subject: Sabres/Devils Game Not Shown On HDNet 770

  Why was the Sabres/Devils game not shown on HDNet channel 770 this evening?

  I have a feeling that I know the answer: blackout rules. If that’s the case, I can live with it. But could you please not have it in the guide as being on the HD channel?

  It’s bad enough that 99% of the HD hockey I get watch is on channel 5.1 off my antenna, but to basically tease that a Sabres game will be on in HD is not necessary.

I got my reply back today:

• Thank you for using Time Warner Cable Online Customer Support.

  I am sorry for HDNet showing the Sabres game would be offered on this channel. We, as Time Warner, can’t make a network change the information that unfortunately shows on our guide. The issue is if MSG is broadcasting the game they have exclusive rights to the game, which disallows HDNet to broadcast. However, if Versus has the right to the game they may allow HDNet to broadcast. I understand it’s frustrating, and all I can suggest is that if you know the game will be on MSG it won’t be broadcasted on HDNet.

  Thank you,
  Time Warner Cable Customer Support

My reply:

• Thanks for writing me back.

  You’re saying that Time Warner can’t manually edit their own guide? Doesn’t that seem kinda silly.

  And I think you’re confusing HDNet with INHD2 (the now defunct channel) as Versus used to show their games on INHD2 (HDNet’s NHL contract is separate)

  Put in the good word for me & request that Time Warner get the Versus HD channel before the NHL Playoffs start

So not only can’t Time Warner edit what’s on their own guide, they also have personal working for them that confuse HDNet with INHD as this is the 2nd person I’ve spoken to via email that didn’t know the difference.

I’m not saying that the reps should know what’s on every channel, but they don’t have to make guesses.

I can’t believe that I did this, but I actually stopped recycling after two street magicians told me it was a bad idea. But I started back up a couple months ago & my family thinks I’m nuts every time they see me digging thru the garbage for things to put into my recycle bins.

I’m putting about 3 or 4 full recycle bins out to the curb each week. Last month, I noticed my garbage man putting all my recycling in with the regular garbage (the trucks have 3 bins on the front - 1 big one for garbage & 2 smaller ones for paper & containers) I called the garbage company to complain & when I told the lovely lady that answered the phone that the garbage man mixed my recycling in with the garbage, she promptly told me “No he didn’t.” I asked if she could see my house from her desk, which seemed to upset her. She told me she’d have a talk with him when he got back & then hung up on me. I was livid! I instantly typed up a letter to the company and cc’d our small local paper as well as the town. 2 days later, the paper called & said they were going to print the article. The next day, the town supervisor called & informed me that I was not the only one that had noticed this. It seems my garbage company has “too much recycling” and not enough trucks, which is why they mix it in with the garbage from time to time. She agreed that this is completely unacceptable.

So now the garbage company is reviewing their recycling practices. Whoever was in charge got fired (I sorta feel bad, but not that much) They are looking into creating an incentive based recycling program where we’d get a large bin that’s for nothing but recycling. It’d have en electronic control panel on it & they’d weigh it before it was put into the truck. The more weight you recycle, the more reward points you get for discounts & whatnot at local merchants. We shall see.

Things I have done so far to try & conserve energy (and these things have contributed to me cutting my electric bill almost in half in the last 6 months as well as my gas bill)

• I have pretty much replaced every light bulb in the house with fluorescent light bulbs. You can find them for about $2-3 each if you buy 4 or more. And, if you wanted to by hip & different, they also have colored fluorescent bulbs: black light, bug repellent yellow, red, blue, green and more. They even have different sizes for refrigerators, ceiling fans & more. Just click here to see a lot of different options.
• Based on the recommendations from An Inconvenient Truth I have turned down the heat in my house. They recommend 2° and I really don’t remember what we had it set on last year, but I’ve been keeping it around 66° during the day & 64° at night. I usually pump it up to 68° when I wake up so that the house gets warm before The Bride wakes up & yells at me. I also have AC and I’ll be making sure that’s not set too low during the summer.
• I’m using an indoor dryer vent during the winter. This serves 2 purposes: it heats the house with something that would have just been completely wasted and it also ads moisture to my house, which is very dry in the winter. I came up with this one my self
• I had an energy efficient hot water tank installed & I will be having a 98% efficient heating unit installed shortly.
• I’m having areas of my house re-insulated.
• I’m turning off unused lights & electronic goods.
• I’m washing all my clothes in cold water (my family would never have known if I didn’t tell them)
• I’m trying out some organic cleaning products.
• I’m also recycling, but you can read more about that on the recycling page.

Things that I hope to do in the near future:

• Use recycled paper (I’ve got about 1/2 a ream sitting here that I need to use up 1st)
• Install low-flow shower heads (I have to get one & hook it up to see how it is before I ask The Bride if it’s ok, if she even notices)
• Buy a Fuel Efficient Car. I’ve got a Yukon Denali now - and I do love it - but 13.7 MPG is not gonna cut it. Lease is up on October & I’m really hoping that there’s a decent SUV on the market by then (I need 4 wheel drive - we live on a hill & it’s almost impossible to get up the driveway in the snow)
• Plant some trees & get some indoor plants (The Bride has a tendency to kill them)
• Buy Organic Food

While I’ve never thought of myself as a “tree hugging hippie” and I know for a fact that I am not even close to being 100% environmentally friendly, after watching Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth I decided to step it up a notch.

This area will cover some of the things I am trying to do so that my family & I are a little more conscious of the environment.