That's Two Weeks in a Row

Guilty pleasure, a new book, and a photo spread, plus we win free songs from itunes…all that and more, so don’t flush just yet, you’re reading Air Time.

I never thought I would be one of those people who watches TV shows on DVD. I gave up on taping shows, figuring if I didn’t have then time to watch when it was on, I probably don’t have the time to watch it later. That, and I couldn’t figure out how to program my new VCR. But that aside, I still never understood why people buy TV shows on DVD. I mean, there is a reason the show isn’t on TV.

But I ran into a situation. I was watching DVDs while on the treadmill, and it would take three days to get through a movie (four or five if the movie was really long). This was flawed for several reasons. First of all, it was always hard to get back to the exact spot on the DVD where I was up to, so I would have to re-watch parts of the movie so I would be caught up. Second, if there was only 30 minutes left to the movie, I had to watch 15 minutes of the movie that I had already seen. And since I don’t a have a remote for my DVD player near the treadmill, I couldn’t skip around to the good parts.

I usually go on for about 45 minutes, so I had a brainstorm one day. As I was skipping through Netflix, I saw Sports Night had made it to DVD. This was a great show that lasted about two seasons, of which I missed most of the episodes anyway. Each episode is about 22.5 minutes without commercials. Two shows running back to back is 45 minutes, the exact amount of time I need for a show.

I watched the entire 45 or so episodes even discovering plot flaws, and sensing a difference in the writing from season one to season two.

But the season ended, which meant I had to find another show.

As they say Orange County, Welcome to the O.C., Bitch.

The O.C. is awesome. Only the first season is on DVD, which means in about three weeks I will have to go find another show to watch, but for now, I am all in. I have only seen five episodes, but I am literally thirsting for more. And it isn’t just the eye candy, of which there is plenty, or the self-inflicted teen angst, or the realizations that the OC crowd all has skeletons in their closet. Well, actually, it is all that. The show is great, and I recommend it.

Maybe I will go for 90210 next.

But I am no longer at Netflix. I made the switch to Blockbuster, which turned out to be a good move since they also give me in-store coupons for free rentals, something netflix couldn’t provide.

I ordered a book from Amazon today. It is called Beware of God, written by Sholom Auslander. Sholom Auslander is a contributor to This American Life on NPR, and has explained to the entire NPR audience why he left orthodox Judaism (he walked from Teaneck to MSG for a Rangers playoff game and the rangers lost. The nerve of God to do that to him), his experiences in the brochos bee as a third grader, and what it is like to be smoke pot while being a Shomer of a dead person.

It is only the second time I have used Amazon. I ordered Shmully Boteach’s Kosher Sex a few years back. In case you were wondering, I don’t recommend that book. It is too serious, the words are too small and there is a lot of them on every page. Basically, if you want to know what he is all about, all you have to know is he is buddies with Madonna, Howard Stern and Michael Jackson. Enough said.

As many of you know, we are planning on making Aliyah next summer (’06). Aviva felt it was important to tell everyone she possibly could as soon as we decided. I felt it was important to tell people who needed to know, and tell everyone else in a year from now.

So Aviva told all her friends. I told a select few people. With most couples, this would not matter, as husbands and wives are friends with the same people. But we have completely different crowds of friends, and they only have a few intersecting points.

Anyway, since those intersecting points have been crossed, if you did not know that we are planning on moving, you know now.

It wasn’t that I did not want to tell people. It is just this. Last Friday night we had some friends over for dinner who we are both friends with. The wife is quite upset about this upcoming move, the husband keeps telling her it isn’t going to happen and we are not moving. He and I have not discussed it at all, despite the fact that we play on the same hockey team together, and drive the 25 minutes each way to the game together.

For me it is not part of everyday conversation.

But back to the dinner. This friend’s wife kept getting very emotional that there were only another 15 months that we will be together. And there were all these comments going over the table about things in the future, always followed by, but you will be in israel then, or you won’t be around anymore.

Still, I am biting the bullet, and telling people we are going. Hopefully, every conversation I have won’t center on the move.

I felt equal sadness with the passing of Terry Schiavo as I did with the death of the Pope. Which is to say, I didn’t really care one way or the other.

If you are in the Detroit area next week pick up a copy of the Jewish News. Somewhere inside you’ll find a photo spread of your favorite Jerusalem Pizza hockey team. Now 4-1, we need one wil in our last five games to clinch a playoff spot.

You never really know how you look until you can see yourself through anotehr’s eyes. I saw myself through Angie Baan’s eyes, the photographer who came out and did the shoot. I had no idea I was that bald on top. It sneaks up on you.

Since Pepsi started its i-tunes promotion in January, I have purchased 11 Pepsi products with the yellow cap. I have won free songs on 10 of them, and on the one that I missed, I knew it was a loser when I bought it. Its not that I have some power to read the caps through the opaque top. Its just that if you hold the bottle at an angle, you can read the cap. Sometimes you can see it clearly, and other times you can just see that the message inside the cap is four lines (Winner) instead of three lines (Please try Again).

Not much has changed at work. Same cube, same uncomfortable chair. This week they gave me stuff to do, which was a nice change of pace. Next week they have me slated to go to a meeting…oh so much fun. I haven’t been to a work meeting in over two years. If nothing has changed, it will start with light banter, move on to the agenda that doesn’t apply to me, hit my section, move on, no decisions will be made because all the proper decision makers were unable to attend the meeting, and we will get an email in a few days saying that we need to reconvene to discuss some important points that an executive who was not there felt should have been made.

Here is the big work mystery, though. I can go to thekotel.org and watch the kotelcam and go to mlb.com and watch highlights without being stopped by the firewall. I cannot go to thislife.org and listen to one of their programs. So can I go to mlb.com and listen to games. That is the big question.

I have a feeling I can do it, but I am not sure. When I listen to This American Life at home, an .RAM Real Audio file gets dropped on my desktop. So does that mean that I had to download something, and downloading seems to be blocked, so I can’t listen to the show? I don’t remember anything being dropped on my desktop last season when I listened to games online, but it did use a real audio player, and that is the same software that TAL plays uses.

If the service was free I would try it and see what happens, but I will feel stupid signing up for MLB.com and then not being able to listen at work. As it is, there are usually day games on only a few times a week, but why should I pay for it if I am not going to use it. On the other hand, its not like it is that expensive. Its only about $15 for the season.

That should just about do it for today. You’ve been reading Air Time.

Have a good shabbos.