A few years ago, this wouldn’t have happened. It would have been unthinkable, too terrible even to imagine. No, a few years ago, I never would have missed the season premiere of Lost.
So imagine my surprise when my boyfriend and I were minding our own business, watching our previously recorded Top Chef two nights ago, when, during a commercial break we were barreling through in fast forward, I happened to catch the words “Lost returns tonight.” Stop. Rewind. What?
(Credit: ABC)We backed up to the beginning of the ad, and sure enough, Bravo HD was proclaiming that Lost had returned a few hours before!
Had we set it to record? No. Had we even known it was coming back this week? No! We don’t watch ads anymore. Ever. But without them, we are apparently living in a dark age so backwards it’s as though TV Guide hasn’t been invented yet. Now my grandpa is more informed than I am about television culture.
If we didn’t have a DVR, we surely would have known, because I bet Lost ads have dominated the airwaves for the past few months. Lost isn’t a show to announce itself softly: it usually has weeks of setup, marathons of previous seasons, call-in shows, etc. If we didn’t have the ability to fast forward through that dreck, we would have known to be home, in front of the TV, at 8 p.m. on Wednesday. Sure, we would also have been brain-washed by a desire for a Snuggie and Wendy’s new chicken sandwich, but information comes at a cost. As Tina Fey would say, “a doy.”
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Continue reading about DVR imperfection leads to ‘Lost’ night
Editors’ note: From now through the end of December, various Crave editors will be sharing their top five (mostly) tech-related wishes for the holiday season. See what we crave, and maybe you’ll get some ideas!
It would be tiny, but it would be home.
(Credit: Modern Cabana)
1. An entirely wired tiny home. Have you heard about the tiny home movement? Basically, people are buying these storage containers-cum-homes and living in them. (Local San Francisco company–and, incidentally, my neighbor–Modern Cabana makes some beauties.) The movement is about downsizing to the bare essentials. Now, I’m all for decluttering, and I totally agree that I don’t need many square feet in which to exist comfortably, but what I do need are three things: wireless Internet, a ton of television channels, and an HD TiVo.
So Santa or kindly benefactor, I would like, first, a large swath of land on the West Coast (easy, right?), and second, a tiny home (equipped with these three comforts) plopped right in the middle of it. Then I and my pet-sitting robot (see below) can live in peace and quiet, while the cats roam around our vast property, hunting down vermin.
2. A robotic cat-sitter. Do you know how much an in-home, human cat-sitter (who visits just to feed, water, and scoop your cats’ litter) costs? A ton. Average where I live: 30 bucks a visit. But on the other hand, do you know how indebted to your friends and neighbors you’ll be if you cajole them into watching your animals? Try a few nice dinners, a bottle of champagne, and the use of your car when they need to pick up something they bought on Craigslist, i.e. shove a couch into your Honda Accord.
So, for Christmas (and preferably before Christmas, so I can take advantage of it this vacation season), I want a robotic cat-sitter. Ideally, it would provide not only food, water, and litter box cleaning, but also love, cuddles, and a steady stream of water to spray at the little rascals when they lounge on the dining table. I’m thinking something Jetsons-esque; something with attitude that my cats can grow to love and respect, so that they don’t see my leaving for a few days as an opportunity to shred the curtains and drink out of the toilet.
Maybe its feet could be a Roomba, and while it’s chasing the cats (or giving them a ride), it can clean the floor! Shablam! Someone make this please.
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Continue reading about ‘Tis the season to Crave: Emily Dreyfuss’ picks