Thursday, August 28, 2008

Yeah?... And?... So?...

Last night I watched a documentary about Ub Iwerks on Ovation TV (channel... 130 something or so). In my home. Sitting on my bed.

For most of you, I can see you scratching your head and wondering what the big deal is about. But for my siblings, right now someone is picking them up off the floor or calling for a defibrillator. The spell has been broken. The seal has been torn. The apocalypse is nigh.

"WE WILL NEVER, EVER, EVER HAVE CABLE IN THIS HOUSE!!!!"

I've heard the mantra so many times, I could recite it in my sleep. Truth be told, after having cable in every single barracks, apartment, dorm, etc... that I've ever lived in away from home, the pleasure of cable had long since worn off anyway. I stopped caring that I was one of only a few people left on this planet that didn't have cable. It was, and still is, an excuse to throw away money to see the same amount of crap that I can see for free without cable.

But that all changes in February of next year. Like it or not, Congress has finally decided to switch every TV station over to digital. Come February, we were going to have to either buy converter boxes (A $40 dollar rebate won't go far on a house with four different TV's and three unique television tastes) or simply go without TV. Now, my Step-mom still has her preference and was stocking up on books and candles (in case electricity went digital, apparently ;) but my Dad and I realized that maybe the battle was over, the windmill wasn't going to fall, and that it was time to give in to the cable giants and surrender. And we wanted to beat the new year rush when all the late comers reach the same conclusion.

So, as of yesterday, I have some 200 new channels to explore plus Sirius radio and CD music and pay-per-view and a gazillion sports stations and... Well, in all 200 channels last night, I managed to find a documentary about Ub Iwerks on Ovation TV.

I'm not sure I'm really going to change my opinion about cable, but until its all free on the internet, I guess I don't have a choice.

1 comment:

Will Robison said...

P.S. The documentary was really good. Leslie Iwerks, Ub's daughter (or grand-daughter, I can't remember) created this loving tribute and managed to get interviews with most of the remaining animators and people who had worked with him, or, in the case of Lasseter, who had benefited from all his advances.