Last year we upgraded the Tivo to HD and then the Tivo people came out with their new snappier Premiere model. I'm grumpy with them for that, but do you know what else they did? The new one can completely be controlled over your network with your iPad, but not the Series 3, which is what we have.
The "old" HD version can still be controlled in many ways from the network and your computer and even via the internet... so some limited controls via ye old iPad, but not like the Remote app from Apple. That experience for swipping through your music and movies on the AppleTV is absolutely beautiful.
The Tivo interface is still light years beyond most of the other DVRs offered by the cable and satellite people. I haven't seen anything I like better, except Netflix's instant browsing features on the NEW AppleTV.
Here's the parenting part: the girls will watch a program and then when it's over they turn the set off if there's nothing else recorded in the Kid's Zone. Since the machine is typically recording something most of the time, they don't channel surf.
I am one of his fans that grew up listening to him argue and discuss films with Gene Siskel and then several other extremely great film reviewers.
I share this TED talk today to catch anyone up with the latest Ebert news because his voice has been reinvented in a few remarkable ways through technology.
His words celebrate the human voice and how every day YOU and I are part of this new dynamic conversation. How are you sharing your voice?
November was a funky month for me. I was making great strides with a novel for the NaNoWriMo, where you chunk out a 50,000 word novel in 30 days with a few thousand of your pals, but about half way through the month I became a little encumbered by some medical issues and couldn't finish.
I learned a lot though and my family loves the story. They helped me by inspiring the characters. It's a story about us in the future. It's what we'd like to see happen next year if we could just up and "Green Acres" ourselves to the country, but 60 years in the future. What would Eddie Albert or Ava Gabor do in 2076? It turns out that my story ends up reading like Forrest Gump meets Petticoat Junction. Dunno if anyone other than Red1 will think that's funny or remotely interesting.
This is a great list from last week, but it's sure to be a classic. Super zoom in, bad cell phone reception, copy the data off the enemy's computers, all cliches that we must put an end to.
I promise not to put any of these into my book.
Hilarious clips in the article including this one, which is one of my very own personal pet peeves.
Yet another distraction, but look at this scene from The Force Unleashed II.
It's so exquisitely acted by the digital characters. The stormtroopers move so very realistically. It's an excellent piece of game cinematics. Even the human character is rendered with exceptionally high level of craft.
It makes me sad to hear about the live action Star Wars television series is on hold when a snippet of the universe delivered here is so nice. Perhaps we're waiting for the next big leap, like the "dinosaur leap" that green-lighted Episode I. This was our ability to create the dinosaurs so realistically in Jurassic Park that impressed George enough to be able to bring Jar Jar to life. {Yes, this is me being more sarcastic than Mr. Lucas deserves. I really like Jar Jar... now. But that's a whole other post.}
So it would be too expensive to produce right now, Mr. Lucas? Really? I'm so sorry to hear that. I would like to put my vote in for seeing the new series verses having 3D versions of the 6 movies, but I know it's a good move. We will all go see them in the theater again as they come out. I promise. And we'll bring our kids.
And THEN, when we're all excited about Star Wars again, you can launch the new TV series and we'll line up to buy the new action figures.
Promise.
I haven't experienced the first Force Unleashed game but I'm interested in reading the book by Sean Williams. The story has gotten some high marks. Too bad this new installment isn't getting the rave reviews. I'm sure it's going to be pretty fun to play regardless.
Plug the big speakers in and send the kids away for the weekend kind of fun.
... because we so often leave our geek at home, right?
Don't miss Friday, "Dean of Invention" on Green Planet, a US cable station. Have it? If not, here's a link to their site where you can catch an episode. It promises to show us the things we are so used to thinking are science fictions.
This is right up Red1's alley, and mine, too.
Bionic humans, flying cars? I'm there. Are you?
"Yeah," he said taking a last long drag before tossing his cigarette over the railing. "Until your daughter blew her up."
I'm still not as into Caprica as I was Battlestar Galactica, but I do keep coming back to it. They're really taking their time with the characters and plots. It's very different, very refreshing, very not for the kids. It's strictly the Loren Greene version for the kiddos.
It's another list. This time we're counting down the top ten TV shows according to SF Daddy!
As always, I'm gearing this list with the kiddos in mind. No it's not going to be a teletubbie list, they were way out there even for this freaky SF dad.
Torchwood - I'm not going to pretend that I've seen this whole series yet, but after the first few episodes and the praise I've been reading, as a spin off of Dr. Who which also has some smart kick-butt female action stars, this one makes it to my list.
Star Wars The Clone Wars - Star Wars is known for its leading ladies with attitude. The storyline in this animated venture is not short on them either. Joining Padme is Ahsoka, a Jedi sidekick for Anakin who is almost more hotheaded than he is. Season two introduced Arra Sing an awesome bounty hunter with a taste for collecting Jedi. We fanboys have been talking about Ms. Sing since her 2-second cameo in Episode I. Next season we're treated with more from her and another Jedi favorite who was spared at the last minute from death in Episode III in the edit room floor. Shak Ti joins the show this fall. Great thing about this series is that it's available online. http://starwars.com/theclonewars/guide/episode001.html
We're starting a theme here... much like Moonlighting and Cheers, where the two leads are cursed in some way from ever being together. In most cases the show's demise is the only thing that ever comes out of the leads finally getting together. Pushing Daisies was a great confection. Literally. The Pie Man made magical pies from rotten fruit he brought back to life with his magically touch. He can do that trick on animals and people too, but a second touch sends them back to their death. Too bad he brought his secret love back to life one day. Now if he ever touches her again she's dead for good. So instead they bake pies and solve murder mysteries together in a beautiful technicolor dream like comic book land created by Bryan Fuller and EP'd by Barry Sonnenfield- another personal hero.
Legend of the Seeker - The ladies in this house love this show mostly because of Kahlan Amnell – the Mother Confessor.
As a Confessor, she has the power to magnify the love a person has within them for her, allowing her to control the person. This power allows her to serve the people of the Midlands, who respect and fear her. In Kahlan's quest to defeat Rahl, her role is to protect the Seeker with her life. She develops a deep love for Richard, which is torment for them both since her Confessor's powers would be inadvertently unleashed in a moment of intimacy, making it impossible for Richard and Kahlan to act on their feelings for each other. Executive producer Robert Tapert describes Kahlan as "a female action hero for 2009.
Firefly - That's right! Yee Ha! This is one of those shows you're going to hear a lot about until you actually sit down and rent it. You just have to give it a try. We attempted to watch during it's run but the networks messed us all up. So we eventually discovered this gem on DVD. Go ahead and put it in your Netflix cue now...
Georgia Outdoors - Our Georgia PBS station presents topics about our state from gardening to paleontology. Take that Pokemon! Check out your PBS station to see what you can learn about your own backyard.
Let's continue to bend the parameters of this TV list. As TV is evolving, let's add some space to for a couple of internet shows and series.
The Guild - Sweet little nuggets of pure fun. Just geeky enough to try out a few online games and even more dairing to actually go out and meet some of the guild in real life when invited to a Pirate meet, I know this series a little too well. The DVDs are available from Netflix and they stream as one long 'movie' but if the short nuggets are more you speed, check them out on their native site: http://www.watchtheguild.com/
Sad, but here's a Flash video of the first episode. Sad because it won't show up on your iPad (yet?).
TED Talks. If you haven't discovered TED yet, go now. It's more Science and Fantasy than fiction. Real people with fantasies of how we can change the world one person at a time. Here's one on the Happiness Index. Love these things... they even show up in your Tivo if you let them! We've blogged about several of these in the past.
Riveting talks by remarkable people, free to the world
Buffy the Vampire Slayer & Angel - The monsters in these shows are a bit much for our smaller audience, but the kick-butt girls are certainly a good frolic when we're older. Our most-est favorite episode "Hush" just made it onto the SyFy / Blastr list of best episodes ever. What qualifies as a best episode? You know the episode by name is a good indication! Buffy is so well written and smart. We were just married and growing up a few years ahead of Buffy, but Ms. SF Daddy used the show as a topic of conversation with her high school kids. She often found common ground with the kids through the shows they both enjoyed. She liked using this show in particular to talk about teen issues and the portrayal of women in media. Good Stuff.
And okay, this one's for the very little ones: Have you seen Dinosaur Train? Really? Another PBS offering. We don't graze through the channels like a lot of kids do, but one morning we had a flat tire and found ourselves at the local Firestone. While waiting for the tire to get fixed, we sat through an episode of Dinosaur Train. My 6 year old (Red2) fell in love. Sure it didn't hurt that there's a little Henson magic behind the scenes. Figures. They aren't just cute dinos, but they actually get the real names out in a catchy way.
Very much a different list for you. Can't wait so see your list!
Visiting at Grandma's the other day I caught a glimpse at "real TV" and thought that the little Rugrats had aged a bit. Since being in Tivo-land for almost 10 years, we've really been successful at making ourselves oblivious to these things. The babies of Rugrats grew up and had a whole other series for FIVE years while we've been time shifting other shows. It seemed to be just as funny and gross and the original, I really groaned and felt pained as they announced that they had painted the carpet. We miss some good shows I'm sure, but I hurts a little to see the girls sit and watch a stream of shows and commercials that endlessly flow out of the screen.
Tivo's Kid's Zone parental controls features work great. I choose the programs they subscribe to and pepper in some things I think they'll tolerate. When their show is over if they want to watch a documentary about pharaohs, they can, but otherwise the TV gets turned off with few hassles.
I've heard that this creates quite an issue at school since they cannot keep up with conversations about Pokey Mans and Cyber Chasing. But most of the other 3rd graders aren't reading 900 page books either.
Red One and Red Two (yeah we call them that!) have a project underway for the summer. R2 graduated kindergarten and was a part of a writers group. I want her to write a story over the summer. I don't want just any story though. I'm steering her to write a story for an episode of one of her favorite TV shows. Get this: Legend of the Seeker. All of the girls started watching this a few months ago. Thanks, Netflix!
It's all about extremely powerful women. Not bad. I haven't had the pleasure yet to catch up, but I have time. I also get lots of recaps from little ones about the magic that's done. They love that one class of character can make you tell the truth.
So we're talking about this episode and R2 who is 6 and 1/2, may end up writing about an adventure a 6 year old girl might have in that world. Looking forward to seeing how it turns out.
Oh, Sookie. What sort of trouble are we heading for? The reviews are not looking great!
Will this be our first e-book on the iPad? Or will we patiently wait in line with 500 people over at The Paperback Book Swap? (It's usually not a very long wait...)
When the Weres and shifters finally come out, the residents of Bon Temps, Louisiana, must deal with the violent aftermath. But a far greater danger threatens. A race of unhuman beings--older, more powerful, and more secretive than vampires or werewolves--is preparing for war. And Sookie will find herself an all-too-human pawn in their battle.
Our new friend, Alton Brown, from "Good Eats", shares some behind the scenes goodness. We see 'how they do that'. Extra credit if you can name the editing software our video editor is using!
Image via CrunchBase
- I'm not going to pretend that I've seen this whole series yet, but after the first few episodes and the praise I've been reading, as a spin off of Dr. Who which also has some smart kick-butt female action stars, this one makes it to my list. 
- That's right! Yee Ha! This is one of those shows you're going to hear a lot about until you actually sit down and rent it. You just have to give it a try. We attempted to watch during it's run but the networks messed us all up. So we eventually discovered this gem on DVD. Go ahead and put it in your Netflix cue now...
& 
- The monsters in these shows are a bit much for our smaller audience, but the kick-butt girls are certainly a good frolic when we're older. Our most-est favorite episode "Hush" just made it onto the SyFy / Blastr list of best episodes ever. What qualifies as a best episode? You know the episode by name is a good indication! Buffy is so well written and smart. We were just married and growing up a few years ahead of Buffy, but Ms. SF Daddy used the show as a topic of conversation with her high school kids. She often found common ground with the kids through the shows they both enjoyed. She liked using this show in particular to talk about teen issues and the portrayal of women in media. Good Stuff. 
