Monthly Archives: August 2006

EyeTV Hybrid

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From Macworld:

Elgato Systems on Wednesday introduced EyeTV Hybrid, a “two-in-one” TV interface that enables Macs to view and record analog and digital TV signals. The tiny interface connects to the Mac using USB 2.0 and costs $149.95…if you’re using the system with a dual PowerPC G5 or Intel Core Duo system, you can also watch 720p or 1080i HDTV signals.

With The TiVo Series 3 still missing from the picture, I’m tempted to get an Intel Core Duo Mac Mini and an EyeTV Hybrid to make an HD PVR.

THX 1138

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I recorded THX 1138 a few days ago and watched it tonight. You may or may not know that THX 1138 was George Lucas’s first feature film.

It’s a weird film. It’s science fiction but nowhere near as compelling as Star Wars. It’s a slow-moving tale of a dystopia where people work slavishly and are drugged to keep them happy and productive. Love and sex are outlawed. It’s very reminiscent of 1984, Brave New World, etc. Somehow it just really struggled to hold my attention.

It’s really strange to think that the man who made this film is the same man who conceived of Jar Jar Binks.

Death Cab for Cutie

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My wife has been playing the latest CD from Death Cab for Cutie quite a lot in the car and I’ve liked it but haven’t been knocked out by it. We saw them on Friday at the Greek Theater in Berkeley (my wife won free tickets on the radio a few weeks ago) and it was surprisingly enjoyable. They are an excellent live band and they sound much more rocked out live than on their album, which perhaps was produced with a bit too much polish. It was also interesting to see that most of the band members can play each others instruments in addition to their own. Most surprising was to see lead singer Ben Gibbard playing the drums – it turns out that he actually plays drums on some of their albums as well.

I guess it just goes to show you that there’s no substitute for live music.

Firefly and burritos

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We finally finished watching the last 3 episodes of Firefly, accompanied as usual by the chowing of burritos. The last episode, “Objects in Space” was probably my favorite. Such a good show – too bad that it didn’t last. Oh well, next up, Serenity!