Nerding Out: Lessons From SG1, Doctor Who and The Gang

What can I say? I am a nerd. A big one. Normally I'm more of a theatre/movie & TV kind of nerd, but I dabble all over. I wanted to do a post about what we learn from SciFi Tv shows and here it is:

• You are NEVER really dead, hello Daniel Jackson (SG1)! What was it like 13 times? I think at least one member of all the good SciFi shows has been resurrected a time or two.
• Anyone can fall in love with anyone/anything: Samantha Carter (SG1), Ct Jack (Doctor Who/Torchwood), Cpt Kirk (If you need me too tell you then turn in your nerd id card right now), etc...
• Upgrades never are/come at a price: The Borg/Cybermen/Cylons...
• If you don't know what is DON'T touch it. I could do an entire post on this one. Humans are so arrogant messing around with technology we don't understand all over the darn universe and mucking things up.
• Reading people's minds sucks. It's not a gift it's a curse and it falls into the wrong hands a lot.
• Be nice to the neighbors. Every respectable show has an homage to The Day The Earth Stood Still
• You never profit from alien technology for long. It's kind of an extention of if you don't know what is don't touch it. You always pay in human life when you exploit the things you don't understand.
• People suck, or more aptly humanity on the whole is greedy and cruel, but there are small factions standing up for what's right in every crisis.
• Memory lies. Let's face it having your memory wiped or manipulated in some way is standard practice on SciFi Tv.
• The trip is never as short as you think it's going to be, (ahem Voyager)
• NEVER open the rift in space time. Like hotels forgotten by the interstate and parking garages in the movies nothing happy comes from there. Just leave it alone.
• All of history can be explained by alien intervention. From the great pyramids to the extinction of dinosaurs, aliens played a part.
• Not quite yourself today? Go see the doctor now! You could be mutating, carrying alien larva, suffering from a horribly contagious pathogen of alien origin, undead, etc

Damn the Man!

We disconnected the cable this month. I know, I'm such a rebel. Sticking to the man is so satisfying. Although I guess it all comes out in the wash because now Netflix is the man instead of Verizon, but oh, well, I like them better.

Economically the cable plus equipment was running us $60 without a contact and Netflix is $10 a month and works on the equipment we already own. Plus we were renting the occasional movie for $4 each on demand. We are not a video game house. I have an awesome blu-ray player that streams Netflix, Hulu and YouTube. After our 30day free trial (unlimited streaming and one DVD at a time) we were sold. It's all “on demand” now.

Besides the savings, the thing I love most about Netflix is no commercials! I never had issues with the kids watching PBS or NickJr because they weren't any commercials, but the Nicklodeon and Cartoon Networks commercials were horrible. Just an onslaught of loud, obnoxious, junk pedaling. Which is almost as bad as the cursed video on demand channel's 24hr adds for itself. I'm pretty sure you have to listen to that garbage for eternity in one of the circles of hell.

Another big thing for me as a mom is the instant gratification. Anyone who has ever fast forward through 20min of previews before a Disney movie while a toddler cries for Nemo knows what I'm talking about. Beyond all that, getting your entertainment this way gives you a lot more control of what your kids are watching. With cable boxes we could set it to block ratings, have the guide display only the channels we favorited, and not allow video on demand. That still meant whatever was on at even given time with the appropriate rating or no rating was fair game. Who knows what Isaac's brain was soaking up some weekends.

Beyond inappropriate (or non-preferable) material and all the commercials we were slave to the cable companies scheduling and programing choices. Isaac and I bonded many an afternoon watching Time Warp Trio on the Discovery Kids Channel and then they dropped it in favor of a channel that sprinkles re-makes of 80's cartoons in with their commercials now and then. It was a devastating blow. Now mom and dad make the line-up with educational shows, family friendly movies and the original 80's versions of the cartoons. Riley loves She-ra, my little Princess of Power.

The empty spaces where the cable boxes used to be makes me smile. The increased selection and cash flow thrill me. I just feel liberated. It was the right thing for us all the way.