When I was a child, I used to look through the Sears Christmas Wish Book for ideas of what I wanted for Christmas. Then one year, I hit upon the idea of creating my own Wish Book. Misha's Christmas Wish Book consisted of pieces of paper stapled into a book(let). Onto the paper I would glue pictures of things that I had cut out of the Sears Christmas Wish Book (and later, other publications.)
Once I went away to college, Misha's Christmas and Birthday Wish Book became even more important, and I would mail it to my family members each December. Until last year, my family would receive an e-mail with an attached document showing photos of the desired items (usually DVDs) and recommendations as to where they could be purchased most cheaply.
The thing is, the cheapest place to buy DVDs is from Amazon, or another web-based company. But my mother isn't going to be able to figure out how to create an account at Deep Discount, much less order something. If I tell her I want Fawlty Towers: The Complete Series, she will go to a record store in the mall and pay at least double what I could get it for on-line.
So this year, when I saw all of the amazing Black Friday deals the the WB Shop was offering on season box sets that I had been keeping my eye on for the last few years, I came upon the solution. I bought them myself. The Adventures of Superman: The Complete Fifth & Sixth Seasons cost me $10.00 with free shipping at the WB Shop. It is selling at HMV right now for $39.99!
I put all of my purchases into a box, each with a Post-it indicating the price, and dubbed it Misha's Christmas and Birthday Wish Box. I then engaged a Wish Box administrator, whose job it is to contact my family via telephone, describe the contents of the Wish Box, and find out if they would like to purchase any of these items for me for Christmas or my imminent birthday. The administrator will bring the items to my family when we go to visit them this Christmas, and will collect the appropriate amount of money and put it in the box for me to retrieve some time in the new year.
I get what I want. I don't get what I don't want. And my family saves 75% on my gifts. Everybody wins. Although my wife was heard to say, about her Wish Box Administrator duties, "I feel like the Grinch's dog."
Saturday, December 24, 2011
Monday, December 19, 2011
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Two Missing Doctor Who Episodes Found!
Two episodes of Doctor Who, thought to have been destroyed since 1978, have been returned to the BBC.
The episodes are Airlock the third part of the four part William Hartnell story Galaxy 4, and Part Two of the four part Patrick Troughton story: The Underwater Menace, of which one other episode exists.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/dw/news/bulletin_111211_01/Missing_Episodes_Recovered
The question fans are asking is, "When can I see these episodes?"
Some are calling for them to be aired on television. This is a mistake, in my opinion. When Tomb of the Cybermen was found in the early ninties, the new episodes were included in the syndication package being sold to North America. By the time the VHS came out, it had already aired and sales were dismal.
The biggest asset these episodes have is that they have not been seen by anyone. They need to be released on DVD simultaneously worldwide.
Since we know that the BBC is testing the waters of animating missing episodes with the already announced The Reign of Terror having its two missing episodes animated, this is a perfect time to test how willing fans are to purchase animations of stories that are less well regarded, like The Underwater Menace. Animating the two missing episodes of The Underwater Menace will give a great comparison to the success of The Reign of Terror, the existing four parts of which have previously been released on VHS.
If the sales indicate that the lost episode has truly increased sales of the release, then the same should be done for Galaxy 4, of which only 1/3 of an episode existed previously.
As of now, there is only one other animation on the schedule, and it is likely either the missing fourth episode of the four part The Tenth Planet, or the two missing episodes from the six part The Ice Warriors, neither of which has yet had a DVD release.
Hopefully sales will be good enough that further animations are deemed viable. The next likely targets being those stories already released on DVD with pieces missing: The Crusade (two of four missing), The Moonbase (two of four missing).
It may be too much to hope that these types of releases will sell well enough to be able to recoup the cost of animating more than two episodes per release, but if so, the following stories remain to be released in this way:
The Celestial Toymaker (3 of 4 missing)
The Myth Makers (4 of 4 missing)
The Massacre of St. Bartholomew's Eve (4 of 4 missing)
The Savages (4 of 4 missing)
The Smugglers (4 of 4 missing)
The Highlanders (4 of 4 missing)
The Macra Terror (4 of 4 missing)
The Faceless Ones (4 of 6 missing)
The Abominable Snowmen (5 of 6 missing)
The Enemy of the World (5 of 6 missing)
The Web of Fear (5 of 6 missing)
The Space Pirates (5 of 6 missing)
Power of the Daleks (6 of 6 missing)
The Evil of the Daleks (6 of 7 missing)
Fury From the Deep (6 of 6 missing)
Marco Polo (7 of 7 missing)
The Daleks' Master Plan (10 of 13 missing)
The episodes are Airlock the third part of the four part William Hartnell story Galaxy 4, and Part Two of the four part Patrick Troughton story: The Underwater Menace, of which one other episode exists.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/dw/news/bulletin_111211_01/Missing_Episodes_Recovered
The question fans are asking is, "When can I see these episodes?"
Some are calling for them to be aired on television. This is a mistake, in my opinion. When Tomb of the Cybermen was found in the early ninties, the new episodes were included in the syndication package being sold to North America. By the time the VHS came out, it had already aired and sales were dismal.
The biggest asset these episodes have is that they have not been seen by anyone. They need to be released on DVD simultaneously worldwide.
Since we know that the BBC is testing the waters of animating missing episodes with the already announced The Reign of Terror having its two missing episodes animated, this is a perfect time to test how willing fans are to purchase animations of stories that are less well regarded, like The Underwater Menace. Animating the two missing episodes of The Underwater Menace will give a great comparison to the success of The Reign of Terror, the existing four parts of which have previously been released on VHS.
If the sales indicate that the lost episode has truly increased sales of the release, then the same should be done for Galaxy 4, of which only 1/3 of an episode existed previously.
As of now, there is only one other animation on the schedule, and it is likely either the missing fourth episode of the four part The Tenth Planet, or the two missing episodes from the six part The Ice Warriors, neither of which has yet had a DVD release.
Hopefully sales will be good enough that further animations are deemed viable. The next likely targets being those stories already released on DVD with pieces missing: The Crusade (two of four missing), The Moonbase (two of four missing).
It may be too much to hope that these types of releases will sell well enough to be able to recoup the cost of animating more than two episodes per release, but if so, the following stories remain to be released in this way:
The Celestial Toymaker (3 of 4 missing)
The Myth Makers (4 of 4 missing)
The Massacre of St. Bartholomew's Eve (4 of 4 missing)
The Savages (4 of 4 missing)
The Smugglers (4 of 4 missing)
The Highlanders (4 of 4 missing)
The Macra Terror (4 of 4 missing)
The Faceless Ones (4 of 6 missing)
The Abominable Snowmen (5 of 6 missing)
The Enemy of the World (5 of 6 missing)
The Web of Fear (5 of 6 missing)
The Space Pirates (5 of 6 missing)
Power of the Daleks (6 of 6 missing)
The Evil of the Daleks (6 of 7 missing)
Fury From the Deep (6 of 6 missing)
Marco Polo (7 of 7 missing)
The Daleks' Master Plan (10 of 13 missing)
Sunday, December 11, 2011
#6 Money is NOT Green.
The last time we purchased a car, we looked at the Echo, and, wanting to do our part to keep Canada's carbon emissions down, checked out the Prius as well.
The Prius was about $25,000 more than the Echo. The Prius, a hybrid capable of using gasoline and electricity, was being marketed as a Green car, and, I suspected, being sold for much more than its value as a result.
My previous car was barely drive-able after eight years and we had to pour money into it to get it to its tenth birthday. So with an optimistic lifespan of ten years, did it make sense to spend the extra $25,000 for a Prius?
Doing some quick calculations, it didn't seem like the money we would be saving much money on gasoline would exceed the difference in price between the two vehicles.
However, looking at the reduced emissions from burning less gasoline, even factoring in the coal BC burns to generate electricity, it looked like a Prius is a greener choice than an Echo. The only thing you have to do to be Green is pay more money.
The thing is, money is not Green.
That $25,000 price difference represents a LOT of carbon (and other pollution). In the worst case scenarion, at minimum wage, it takes a person two years to earn that much money.
During those two years they make 500 trips to work and 500 trips back from work. If I remember my days working at minimum wage, those trips are probably being made in a car that barely passes Air Care.
During those two years, the worker purchases food, clothing, shelter and heat, and adds to the environment all of the carbon associated with those purchases.
For financial reasons we went with the Echo, but based on the massive price difference, I am sure we did the right thing environmentally as well.
With a large purchase, like that of a car, it is easy to see how much pollution was generated to create $25,000. But of course every cent has some amount of pollution associated with its making its way into your pocket.
And therefore, every time I pay for something, I am contributing to the pollution of the planet.
Every time I OVERPAY for something, I am polluting the planet for no good reason.
Every time I choose to purchase a more expensive item, I have to think about whether or not I are getting as much extra value for the item as the amount of pollution that has already been put into the environment by the extra money I would have to pay.
I always remember: Money is Not Green. Now if only people spending taxpayer money would remember that as well. But that's for another article.
The Prius was about $25,000 more than the Echo. The Prius, a hybrid capable of using gasoline and electricity, was being marketed as a Green car, and, I suspected, being sold for much more than its value as a result.
My previous car was barely drive-able after eight years and we had to pour money into it to get it to its tenth birthday. So with an optimistic lifespan of ten years, did it make sense to spend the extra $25,000 for a Prius?
Doing some quick calculations, it didn't seem like the money we would be saving much money on gasoline would exceed the difference in price between the two vehicles.
However, looking at the reduced emissions from burning less gasoline, even factoring in the coal BC burns to generate electricity, it looked like a Prius is a greener choice than an Echo. The only thing you have to do to be Green is pay more money.
The thing is, money is not Green.
That $25,000 price difference represents a LOT of carbon (and other pollution). In the worst case scenarion, at minimum wage, it takes a person two years to earn that much money.
During those two years they make 500 trips to work and 500 trips back from work. If I remember my days working at minimum wage, those trips are probably being made in a car that barely passes Air Care.
During those two years, the worker purchases food, clothing, shelter and heat, and adds to the environment all of the carbon associated with those purchases.
For financial reasons we went with the Echo, but based on the massive price difference, I am sure we did the right thing environmentally as well.
With a large purchase, like that of a car, it is easy to see how much pollution was generated to create $25,000. But of course every cent has some amount of pollution associated with its making its way into your pocket.
And therefore, every time I pay for something, I am contributing to the pollution of the planet.
Every time I OVERPAY for something, I am polluting the planet for no good reason.
Every time I choose to purchase a more expensive item, I have to think about whether or not I are getting as much extra value for the item as the amount of pollution that has already been put into the environment by the extra money I would have to pay.
I always remember: Money is Not Green. Now if only people spending taxpayer money would remember that as well. But that's for another article.
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