They're in on it!!!

I don't know if I've told any of you this theory I have behind TV shows being cancelled while in their infancy, but while I was sitting back and watching Futurama (thanks!), I remembered it again. Now we all live in a commercial society and money makes the world go round (it certainly helps mine) - so how do the networks make more money? DVDs currently all the fad right now and shows are pumped out on DVD like never before. It used to be only movies, but now you're seeing TV shows and such. They're released almost right after the shows are over - heck, The Apprentice is on sale now. So why all this on DVD? Because there are tons of people out there who'll get suckered into buying their favourite shows. From Futurama to Family Guy, it's all out there on DVD now (even Married with Children, but it's only select episodes.) And the best thing (for them) is that these shows can last several seasons - allowing them to make more money! Coincidentally, Futureshop is putting select season 1 Fox titles on sale. My season 1 of The X-Files was not $50 as currently advertised. Try at least doubled that price! Anyway, once you go out and buy the first season, you've gotta now complete the series - they've got you hooked!

But why cancel shows that just came out? If we ignore the fact that reality shows seem to have everyone hooked (and I've no clue why), then this supports my DVD cash cow theory. Harsh Realm, which was created by Chris Carter (the man is a genius :P), was originally aired on Fox for a few episodes and then abruptly cancelled. Granted there were disputes between I think Carter and the network, but anyway, it's coming out on DVD. Similarly, Wonderfalls, which was also aired on Fox for a few episodes, is coming out on DVD late this year. Repeat with Firefly, Keen Eddie, etc. See the trend? Now tons of fans of these shows will undoubtedly consider getting the DVDs if they're decently priced. Just look at Family Guy - in fact, Family Guy is coming back (movie format first I believe) due to the DVD sales alone. Now it may have been cancelled because the networks got tired of fighting against Seth on everything in the show (for example, with the diamonds commercial where "she has to" - they fought frame by frame how low...) Anyway, I know networks make money off of advertisements and need high viewership, but who watches the reality shows they saturate their channels with? No one I know does - well, a couple watches the Amazing Race, but that's about it. Perhaps none of the ppl I know have TV set meters installed so they're not being represented... So anyway, I think after looking at sales of Family Guy shooting through the roof after it was released, these networks got an idea and said "lets cancel shows for now and force ppl to buy our DVDs at an outrageous price!" And indeed I have...

"I'll Be There for You..."

I am one lucky POS. Today just reaffirmed that. In case I don't show enough appreciation, I wanna say "Thanks!" to all of you.

No pain, no gain...

Sorry B, I don't know why your comment was removed, 'cause it sure wasn't me! But thanks, although my marks are around avg or perhaps lower... Anyway, this past weekend has been a blast! Never have I been more sore, but it was worth it. I got to see shooting stars, parts of the galaxy (seeing a whole cluster of stars in general is rare enough, let alone faint outlines of the rest of the Milky Way), learning how to kneeboard and water ski (I've yet to learn how to ski above water instead of underneath :D) To top it off, food was ready by the time we got back from the events! Oh yeah, we've also played an insane amount of volleyball... well, they did - I just did my usual stuff and stood around :P Next time, I want to learn how to sail or even go kayaking again, but for now, I must rest... Besides, I don't have the pics yet, so no point in describing them now...

Oh ya, while I was there, I noticed how quiet it was at night. No wind, or rustling leaves, nothing! Eventually you could hear dew drops, but that was faint also. It's just so cool to be in absolute silence. The down side of the trip was that we had to share mattresses. I remember that I could actually sense when someone was turned towards me - it was quite annoying actually! Felt like I was being watched or something, but I knew I wasn't... But I guess I wasn't tired enough as the next few days I slept soundly with like almost everyone snoring.

Hrmmm, I just finished this blog today (wed) as the past few days I was just too busy packing/moving/chilling. We moved our furniture today to our new place in Loo and again, boy was that tiring! Moving sucks ass - you'd think by now, we would know enough to use inflatables or something (ie inflatable mattress/chair, not what you were thinking!!!) Oddly enough, I don't miss my old loo place yet, although I've been there for like 2 yrs now. It'll prolly sink in eventually though when I miss the use of a microwave as our new place doesn't come with a microwave!#@#@#%$!@@ Ah well, it was a good place, cozy place, albeit far... Now I just need to get my hands on a nice pic of our old and new place and a group pic or something... B, u have any :P

Break!

Oh man, just finished my last exam for 4A 2 hrs and 15 min ago. I certainly hope I pass this term! The good news is that 2 of my marks are out already and they're avg, but could be higher... Guess War3 during exam week isn't too bright eh? Ah well, as long as I pass the other 2 courses... but for now... War3! And I've gotta figure out what to do for my break...

"I'm going to california, going to live the life..."

Actually, unfortunately, no, not this summer. However, Waterloo's Solar Car team (currently Midnight Sun VII) is attempting to make a North American Tour AND a world record. Here's a blurb I pulled straight from their website:

The Midnight Sun North American tour will cross Canada and the United States, and will allow the Midnight Sun team to capture the World Distance Record for the longest single journey by a solar powered car. The tour, approximately 19 000km will last for about 40 days. During this time the team will be making loads of stops all along the tour route, including media stops, stops at camps, schools, community and corporate events along the way. The Midnight Sun Team has a long tradition of educating the public about solar energy. Our North American tour will allow the team to continure this tradition.

While I'm not part of the team, a couple of my good friends are, and I wish them the best of luck and I hope they have a great time (!@#@#!$@# wish I could go with them...) Below I've included a bit from CTV Newsnet on the day of their launch. Warning though, that the VOLUME MAY BE QUITE HIGH, so I suggest lowering it first and then raising it...



Anyway, back to studying...

Anime links

Okay, for those of us Narutards, here's a place where u can get your Naruto stuff (Naruto Chuushin). However, I personally like FMA better, but unfortunately, they've been licensed, so no more legit fansubbing... But here's a decent fansite (Fullmetal-Alchemist.com) Hrmmm, another decent group is Anime-Kraze. They're the ones who got me hooked... Indeed, the first one's always free...

Bizarro World

Well, I can't say this is an opposite world or something like that, but it reminds me of the Seinfeld episode where there's another person that's just like you. Well, Barry found this blog by accident while looking for mine and damn it's eerily similar, ha ha ha! Except it's in Portugese or something similar to that, so I can't read anything. I think it was created only days before I started mine though... odd eh? It'll be cool if someone can get that site translated for me, I'm quite curious what the person wrote.

I've also noticed recently that during midterms and finals for every term, I always find some new (well, 90% of the time they're new) game to play. Whether it be CS, Enemy Territories, CoD, UT, or even flash games like mini-golf or whatnot, I always manage to spend a great deal of time on them instead of studying. For example, my latest one is War3 (original) as I've just recently purchased Frozen Throne, so I decided to finish the damn campaigns first to practice. I started on friday (I think) and just this morning I finished the orc (3rd) compaign. I can pretty much guarantee that by this friday, after I finish 3 of my 4 exams, I'll be back fighting the scourge again.... Man it's addictive, but dammit, I still suck - I need to get better! But not during exams!!!!!


Oh yeah, it has been suggested that I like girls from video games (DOA doesn't count - like 90% of the characters are girls, so if you like a character, chances are, it's a girl... But then again, Ivy from Soul Calibur series... ;D) Anyway, I was truly offended when Chris remarked that this PERSON was yet another of my CG character fantasy... Does she look computer generated/fake? She's not enhanced like Lara Croft - she's a real person! Man, I should get some props for that! (If you really must know what my old wallpapers were - they were of Jessica Alba, X-Files and Ninjai (this one isn't a live action show but it still rocks!) That flash anime, though short, I found to be actually pretty good, considering it's free... So anyway, the next time I have some cute girl on my desktop, please don't automatically assume she's not real :D (Unless she's Ivy since who the heck has a sword that turns into a whip...)