Archive for April, 2009
Comcast Offers Upgraded Service to Customers, Anticipates Loss of NFL Network
Apr 24th
Today I received an envelope in the mail from Comcast. It was addressed to “Comcast Customer” and through the window in the envelope I could see the words “Important update re: your programming.”
I expected it to be a procedural letter of minimal importance, but I opened it anyway. At the top of the letter there was some more text: “POSSIBLE NFL NETWORK CHANGES.” If you haven’t read about it in the news, Comcast (abd I believe all of the cable companies) are in disagreement with the NFL over whether NFL Network is a premium channel or a basic channel, how much the NFL should charge the cable operators, and how much the operators should charge customers for the channel.
Also from the letter: “The NFL Network may stop providing its programming to Comcast on May 1, 2009.”
Because of this, the letter offers me Starz free for 12 months, or an Internet speed upgrade free for 12 months. Starz isn’t bad, but it only offers one HD channel, so I went with the speed upgrade.
When the NFL Network started showing live NFL games, I added a package to my Comcast service so that I could see it. I wonder if this offer has been extended to all Comcast customers, or only those who currently pay to have the NFL Network as part of their service.
Nuke the Fridge … to the Future?
Apr 13th
If you haven’t seen Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, you may not be familiar with the phrase “nuke the fridge.” In the film, Indy finds himself on a nuclear test site in Nevada and climbs into a lead-lined refrigerator to survive the blast. The phrase has been adopted by popular culture and has a meaning similar to “jump the shark.”
I recently read the Wikipedia article on Back to the Future. From the section on the film’s development:
Originally, Marty was a video pirate, the time machine was a refrigerator, and he needed to use the power of an atomic explosion at the Nevada Test Site to return home. Zemeckis was “concerned that kids would accidentally lock themselves in refrigerators”, and the original climax was deemed too expensive.
The footnotes seem to indicate that this information comes from Empire magazine, but I couldn’t find the article.
Steven Spielberg produced the three BTTF films. He also directed the four Indiana Jones movies. Did he pluck this (previously) impractical scene from an old project? Who knows.