HBO considering offering HBO GO w/o cable

[keefe]

To be clear (and to not purport to be something I'm not), I only took the ASTB; I was booted during my pre-comm at Great Lakes...  evidently, my right eye wasn't quite as sharp as I thought it was (20/50).  Incidentally, I came to find out much later that the USAF would have welcomed me with open arms when my cousin - who was reserve USMC during college and has worse vision than I do - got accepted to OTS.  So instead of being a grunt in a Jump Jet, he's now a KC-135 bus driver, and I'm just damn good at giving him sh%# about it.  He's on deployment right now, so I appreciate you helping me keep my skills sharp.

The Navy has always had the tougher eye test. You experienced the NAMI Whammy which is an anal assault through the eye socket. The best score ever recorded on the Navy eye test was by Ted Williams. People might not know The Splinter was a Marine fighter pilot who served in both WW2 and Korea. Imagine his numbers if he didn't miss those seasons in his prime.

Be sure to let your cousin know that he passes gas for a living. Those guys form the sky bridge that keeps the 24/7 airlift moving. While not as glamorous as flying a fast mover it is a critical link in our strategic superiority.

[ChicosBailBonds]

The Navy has always had the tougher eye test. You experienced the NAMI Whammy which is an anal assault through the eye socket. The best score ever recorded on the Navy eye test was by Ted Williams. People might not know The Splinter was a Marine fighter pilot who served in both WW2 and Korea. Imagine his numbers if he didn't miss those seasons in his prime.

Be sure to let your cousin know that he passes gas for a living. Those guys form the sky bridge that keeps the 24/7 airlift moving. While not as glamorous as flying a fast mover it is a critical link in our strategic superiority.

The splendid one will be back in 100 years when he thaws out from cryogenics. 

[reinko]

The splendid one will be back in 100 years when he thaws out from cryogenics. 

Well at least the top part of him.

[keefe]

The splendid one will be back in 100 years when he thaws out from cryogenics. 

Certainly one of the most morbidly grotesque family sagas out there. I believe Walt Disney is also kept in the same cryogenic facility. There is a doleful pathos about such desperation. Just a small measure of poise and grace serves one's memory far better than wistful lunacy. 

[Coleman]

I believe Walt Disney is also kept in the same cryogenic facility.

That's a myth. I was just up at Disney studios for work, and asked about that myself.

[ChicosBailBonds]

That's a myth. I was just up at Disney studios for work, and asked about that myself.

Correct....as a former employee of Disney (Angels and Mighty Ducks), I can confirm.

[Benny B]

Correct....as a former employee of Disney (Angels and Mighty Ducks), I can confirm.

Is his unfrozen head on display somewhere that only Disney employees are allowed?

[keefe]

Correct....as a former employee of Disney (Angels and Mighty Ducks), I can confirm.

Chico

What is correct? That Walt's head is in storage or that the story is a myth? Is Walt Disney's Cranial Disposition part of New Employee Orientation? While nowhere near enthralling as the Richard Gere Gerbil Legend it would be a damn shame to ruin a perfectly wonderful cocktail anecdote.

[ChicosBailBonds]

Is his unfrozen head on display somewhere that only Disney employees are allowed?

He was cremated....but fun stories abound where his ashes are buried.

[ChicosBailBonds]

Chico

What is correct? That Walt's head is in storage or that the story is a myth? Is Walt Disney's Cranial Disposition part of New Employee Orientation? While nowhere near enthralling as the Richard Gere Gerbil Legend it would be a damn shame to ruin a perfectly wonderful cocktail anecdote.

He was not frozen, he was embalmed two days after death for his wake.  Then cremated and buried at Forest Lawn in Glendale, CA.

[keefe]

He was not frozen, he was embalmed two days after death for his wake.  Then cremated and buried at Forest Lawn in Glendale, CA.

Chico

If this is true then how is it that Disney's dying words were, "Kurt Russell?" There is something very sinister about this.

And how do you explain Walt Disney's Quest for Global Domination?


http://www.jinxmagazine.com/disney.html

[jesmu84]

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/13/business/media/gatekeepers-of-cable-tv-try-to-stop-intel.html?ref=technology&_r=0

no monopolies here... nope... nothing at all but us poor cable companies...

[keefe]

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/13/business/media/gatekeepers-of-cable-tv-try-to-stop-intel.html?ref=technology&_r=0

no monopolies here... nope... nothing at all but us poor cable companies...

The State of Wisconsin once banned the sale of "Oleo," seeing it s a threat to the dairy industry.

[Spotcheck Billy]

I recall the oleo runs to IL in my youth with my parents smuggling contraband across the IL/WI border

[Benny B]

Chico

If this is true then how is it that Disney's dying words were, "Kurt Russell?" There is something very sinister about this.

And how do you explain Walt Disney's Quest for Global Domination?


http://www.jinxmagazine.com/disney.html

"Kurt Russell... make sure you keep casting him... must make him forget... about Fred MacMurray's advances."

[keefe]

I recall the oleo runs to IL in my youth with my parents smuggling contraband across the IL/WI border

I seem to recall that when WI finally allowed oleo sales it forbade the use of yellow dye so that margarine was an industrial gray color. Government's patronizing oversight is ridiculous if not insulting.

[ChicosBailBonds]

Chico

If this is true then how is it that Disney's dying words were, "Kurt Russell?" There is something very sinister about this.

And how do you explain Walt Disney's Quest for Global Domination?


http://www.jinxmagazine.com/disney.html

Kurt was my assistant Little League coach in Thousand Oaks, CA about 35 years ago.  His sister, Jill, was our head coach (she was married to Larry Franco...producer of Batman movies, Whitehouse Down, Jurassic Park, etc).  Jill's son, Matt Franco was on my Little League team and eventually played for the Chicago Cubs, New York Mets and Atlanta Braves (ultimately caught up in the Mitchell report).  Kurt, in his own right was a very solid baseball player.  A few years later, my sister (an outstanding softball pitcher) played with Matt's sister throughout high school (Kurt's niece) and Kurt would bring Goldie Hawn to the games.  Down to earth guy, very pleasant...just one of the boys.

An article from the LA Times when we were in high school.  http://articles.latimes.com/1987-07-01/sports/sp-508_1_minor-league-baseball

To this day, if you watch a Kurt Russell movie that Larry Franco was involved in (Escape from New York, the Thing, etc) watch the entire credit listing and you can see Matt Franco listed as an "assistant to the assistants".   Trivia you can only get here boys and girls.

[Spotcheck Billy]

Sponsored by the same industry that made sure WI had butter yellow license plates for years. IIRC it took changing the state constitution to change the plate color to anything but yellow

I seem to recall that when WI finally allowed oleo sales it forbade the use of yellow dye so that margarine was an industrial gray color. Government's patronizing oversight is ridiculous if not insulting.

[ChicosBailBonds]

Like I said, we would do a la carte very easily, but the media companies make it financially impossible.

Testifying in front of Congress yesterday...one of my bosses.

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/la-et-ct-directv-executive-blasts-broadcasters-congress-20130612,0,7516703.story

[Chicago_inferiority_complexes]

Like I said, we would do a la carte very easily, but the media companies make it financially impossible.

Testifying in front of Congress yesterday...one of my bosses.

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/la-et-ct-directv-executive-blasts-broadcasters-congress-20130612,0,7516703.story

Wow. Is the public position of DirecTV in favor of government enforced ala carte?

[ChicosBailBonds]

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/13/business/media/gatekeepers-of-cable-tv-try-to-stop-intel.html?ref=technology&_r=0

no monopolies here... nope... nothing at all but us poor cable companies...

They're not monopolies, they have to compete with two major satellite companies as well as the phone companies.  What is at play here are MFNs. 

[keefe]

They're not monopolies, they have to compete with two major satellite companies as well as the phone companies.  What is at play here are MFNs. 

Not entirely accurate. The cables were granted territorial exclusivity, thereby giving them market monopolies. Challenges through choice came only later with tech innovation in the form of satellite then OTT Content delivery.

[ChicosBailBonds]

Not entirely accurate. The cables were granted territorial exclusivity, thereby giving them market monopolies. Challenges through choice came only later with tech innovation in the form of satellite then OTT Content delivery.

Yes, territorial (or franchise) monopolies which they pay dearly for.  My point is that just because they have a franchise territory (which they bid and paid for from the gov't), a citizen does not have to use them.  They have two satellite options, a telco option, rabbit ears, OTT, etc.

[ChicosBailBonds]

Wow. Is the public position of DirecTV in favor of government enforced ala carte?

I believe his point was fairly clear, the laws put on the books years ago in the form of "MUST CARRY" and other such laws (SHVERA) have resulted in much of the mess the public hates now.  Fix the laws.

[Benny B]

You would think that at some point, one of the cable network families (because no one has just one cable network anymore) goes rogue and decides to offer a la carte.  Hypothetically, let's say Viacom.

So DTV, Dish, Comcast, TW, Brighthouse, etc. start offering an a la carte option that offers any combination (or all) of Comedy Central, Logo, BET, Spike, TV Land, Nick at Nite, Nickelodeon, TeenNick, Nicktoons., Nick Jr., MTV, VH1, MTV2, Tr3s, CMT, & Palladia for - say - $6.95/mo for 1, $12.95 for any 4, $15.95 for 8, or $19.95 for all 16 -- in lieu of a full cable/sat package.  IMO, that's something that would appeal to many households with children and teens - personally, I would certainly reattach the cable for a 4-pack.  Some of the smaller networks who get a mere penny or two per subscriber now see opportunity for growth and decide to put their offerings on a la carte.  With expanded options, more and more households drop the full package for a la carte.  But there's one holdout -- the conglomerate who makes the most from per subscriber fees: The Mouse.  So Mickey and Minnie start seeing their subscriber numbers fall and are forced to either i) cut per subscriber fees or ii) start offering a la carte.  Disney and others never wanted a la carte and never would have gone a la carte voluntarily, but they ended up being forced into doing so.

That's how this goes down -- it's not a matter of changing laws, it's a matter of time before the first network figures out how to be profitable in a la carte... the rest of the dominoes will fall in time.