The New Old Busch Stadium

They're building a new baseball stadium for the St. Louis Cardinals. It will be ready for the 2006 season and will also be called Busch Stadium. The old Busch Stadium built in the 1960's was a modern structure inspired by the then new St. Louis Arch. The Arch is the most beautiful Modernist Monument in the world. Cutting edge in every way. I love the Arch and loved that the stadium reflected the style of the Arch. There was a cohesiveness to the two structures. It gave the city an identifiable character.

The new stadium is one of the retro style stadiums that have been built around the country over the last decade. This stadium is taking inspiration from another St. Louis landmark, Eads Bridge. This is a structure that was also cutting edge for it's day. That day, however, was the 1860's.

I'm sure the new stadium will be swell. It'll have modern amenities and feel architecturally cozy and old fashioned with it's faux brick exterior. People may say that it takes them back to when they were a kid at the old Sportsman's Park. I'm not sure this is a good thing. When do we move forward? When do we get the flying cars we were promised as kids? When do the cops get ray guns that'll stop you in your tracks rather than put 12 bullets in you?

Please don't misunderstand me. I'm a huge fan of old buildings. I don't think we should ever tear one down. They are precious reminders of a different era. An era when things were built with an attention to detail. Save the old buildings! In instances where a new building is being put on an empty lot, however, we should not try and build an old looking building. It's an insult to the designers and tradesman who made the old buildings. We should build something equally as cutting edge. We should be designing pneumatic tubes or transporters to move people around. That would be as cutting edge as elevators were in the 1890's.

People like old things. Retro is fashionable. Designers seem to be basing their designs on old fashioned items. Look at kitchen appliances now. All of the coolest contemporary ones look like they were made in the 50's. The toasters you buy now look like the one in your Grandma's kitchen when you were a kid.

The new Ford Mustang is another example. Ford created, and has been very successful in selling, a new Mustang that looks like it was built in 1969. I think it's pretty cool too. But Ford is not breaking new boundries. They did not create the Honda Insight or the Toyota Prius because they were too busy looking backwards. We need to look forward as a society. That is what Modernism is all about.

Architects, artists, designers help to shape our society. They move us forward. They show us that the past is no longer with us and that we are moving toward the future together. Or at least they are showing Asians and Europeans they are moving toward the future together. American designers are showing us that it's 1950 all over again. I hope everyone is comfortable in that.

W.W.E.S.B.? What would Eero Saarinen build?

Fashion confused

I love Fall (or Autumn if you prefer). It's a great time of year. There are overlap seasons though. There should be a name for the seasons that are between the 4 seasons. Right now it's mid November but it is 80 degrees (Indian Summer?). It's funny to go to public places and see how everyone is dressed. Some people dress for November. They picked up their new sweater and leather jacket in August and couldn't wait any longer to wear them. They're out in turtlenecks and jeans and have got to be uncomfortable. Some people dress for the temperature and are out in shorts and t-shirts. It's funny to get them in the same place. I wonder if they know how awkward they look together. If anyone snaps a good secret picture of fashion confused people please send them to me so I can post. stlstuff at sbcglobal dot net

New Life

Rehabbing: The house is coming along. I had one setback this week with my shower. I have a custom sized shower. It's 8 feet x 3 feet with a seat at either end. I need to have a custom shower floor made that slopes towards the drain. It's pretty important that water doesn't pool or leak below so I wanted to leave it to a professional. After having 4 "professionals" out to look at it and either give me a really high bid or not bother to get back to me at all I've decided to do it myself. This was the last thing I wanted to do, but I think in the end I'll be really proud to have done it myself.

I've also had a difficult time finding someone to install my kitchen/flex room floor. It's the entire back of the house and we wanted to do a sheet Congoleum in black. It would look very industrial and not have many seams which would leave fewer places for dirt to hide. After bids in the $4,000 range I called a place nearby in the city. The guy talked me out of the sheet material because it's going over a wood floor and not something more stable like concrete. He said tiles would work better because they have more flex to them. He also gave me a bid of $1,600 which made it easy for me to make the decision. So in the end we are going with an all black Congoleum tile floor.

Throughout this project I've had a mantra. It's "simplify and black". With any decision that needs to be made I think of ways to simplify the look which I believe will give me a more modern feel or I wonder if black would be appropriate. The doorknobs are all black enamel and that inspired the black thinking. Example: Picking wall colors. Black is not appropriate. So I thought of ways to simplify. In the end we are painting the trim and walls the same color (different finishes but the same color). This cuts down on the number of color decisions that need to be made (simplyfying my life) and it unifies the rooms making the space feel larger. This is pretty common in "modern" homes and I think it'll make our historic home feel more contemporary.

I also needed to make a decision about tile for the entryway. We had all of our wood floors refinished, but there was a space next to the front door that had different flooring that had been removed. I thought of my mantra and it made the decision easy. I ordered some flat black ceramic tiles with onyx colored grout. In the end it will be very elegant and tie in with the black floor in the kitchen at the back of the house. In a future project I'll probably have an alternate mantra (sunflowers and shiny? rectangles and stone?), but having a simple plan helps keep the project cohesive.

So, the shower not being done is holding up a lot of the finish plumbing and the kitchen floor not being done is holding up cabinet installation. Both of these things should be completed this week which would be a big step towards the completion of the project! Yippee.

Movies: We haven't been to the theater since having the baby, but we did rent a movie last night that was really interesting. The dvd was Millions directed by Danny Boyle of Trainspotting and 28 Days Later fame. It was unpredictable which is one of my 2 criteria* for enjoying a movie.


*My movie enjoying criteria: 1) The movie has to be unpredictable. If I know what is going to happen before it happens then the filmmakers didn't do a very good job. 2) It must show me a world into which I would not otherwise see. That world could be the world of my next door neighbor, but it would have to be an aspect of their life that I wouldn't see if it wasn't for the film. Movies can meet either or both of these criteria and I will usually enjoy some aspect of them. It would be the rare film that doesn't meet either criteria and I would still enjoy it.

Babies Rule

Nathan is awesome. I can already tell he's going to be a fun kid to have around. He doesn't do much right now except cry, sleep and chug formula, but a Father knows these things. We are already looking forward to the next step. We're ready for him to talk, walk, laugh, etc. We don't want to miss out on this precious time but there is so much to look forward to and we want to enjoy it all now.

Introducing.....Nathan

Our son has arrived. It was a tough birth. First Jen had the External Cyphilic Version which was successful in turning the baby head down, but which resulted in a little tear between the uteran wall and the placenta. Then they induced for 20 hours but were unhappy with the results. So finally in was cesearian section.

Regardless of the trip he is here and now the journey begins.

Big news. Not THE big news though.

Big, shocking news yesterday from the doctor. The baby is breach! Nobody else had detected this. Our own doctor is on maternity leave (she had a breach baby) so we've seen a different doctor nearly every time we've been in there. There are 5 doctors in the practice and we've seen all five. This was the first visit to see this new doctor. She herself is pregnant too.

Thursday, we are going into the hospital and they are going to try and turn the baby through external manipulation. If they are successful in doing that 2 things can happen. It can spur on labor or nothing. If they turn the baby they may just send us home and wait until Jen goes into labor. If they are unsuccessful in turning the baby they will do a C-section immediately. C-sections are common but it is surgery and there are risks. It wouldn't be ideal.

It is odd to have a due date (tomorrow! my birthday! and possibly my son's birthday!). We had gotten so used to the idea of Jen being a week or two late that it didn't occur to me that we could have the baby on the actual due date. A date that was named by the doctors many moons ago.

There is so much to do in one day. I've got to charge the camera, pack a bag, wrap up things with the new house, schedule subcontractors, make sure the old house is ready to show realtors and clients, and about 450 small things. Jeez Louise.

Name: It looks like we are going with Samuel. It's kind of a last minute entry. Jen abbreviates or nicknames everyone. Samuel works as Sam for a grown up and Sammy for a baby. Our other favorite name is Nathan. Nathan works as Nate but not Nathy or Natey. Always was a problem. I thought of Samuel when I was looking up the name of my favorite blues musician. He went by the name Lightnin' Hopkins and it never really occured to me that he had another name. I looked it up and found out that his name was Sam Hopkins. Also Sam Cooke is one of my favorite Soul singers (#2 after Otis Redding and Otis just wasn't going to fly). So Sam seemed like a legitimate contender. We'll see. Jen says she wants to see him first. We could come home with a Woody or Mikey Jr. or who knows what. It could all go down tomorrow by 8:30am though.

Music: Loving the new Calexico/Iron & Wine album. Also putting in some time with the Fruit Bats "Spelled in Bones".

On tonight's episode of "The Rehab Project"...

Trim going up around the windows.

Floors in the baby's room yesterday.

Floors in the baby's room today.


All new trim taking up current residence in the kitchen.

What me worry?

Rehab: I've been busy. It's to be expected. I knew months ago it was going to be like this. It is 1:20am and I just finished working for the day. It's been about a 16 hour work day.

It's all because we have our first open house on Sunday. We're selling our current home so that we can move into our soon to be completed house next door. It wouldn't be so bad if I wasn't such a procrastinator. When we moved into our house there were still many things that needed to be done. When we got married in our house (it'll be a year ago Sunday) I finished a bunch of things but not everything. Now I have to finish everything so that we can get top dollar. I've been busting my ass.

All week I've been splitting my time between working on my current home and my new home. I've learned to prioritize very well. I have not been able to see more than 2 days into the future. I do what has to be done right now and can't worry about something that has to be done tomorrow. It's been eye opening.

This week in the new house I had a new basement floor poured (busting up and hauling out the old one was a joy and a half), sanded and primed the drywall, purchased vanities for the bathrooms, tiled 1 bathroom, started tiling another, ordered a stainless steel handrail, ordered a vanity top for the master bathroom, priced all new appliances and cabinets, and did a bunch of prep and painting in my house to get it ready to go on the market.

The baby is due in less than 3 weeks so it doesn't look like the new house will be done, but it is getting there. Everyone says the baby just sleeps in a bassinet in your room for the first couple of months anyway. So he won't know that his room in his new house isn't done yet. Why stress about things 3 weeks from now when I have a million things to stress about for tomorrow?

Listening: While I'm working I've been trying to listen to music more often. I frequently listen to NPR but I have had my fill of Katrina and Iraq coverage for now. I've been listening to the Fruit Bats, Lucero, the Mountain Goats and several other new releases along with all the old favorites. Helps keep me company.

Watching: Very excited about Lost starting up again. I also enjoyed the My Name is Earl premiere paired up with The Office for a solid hour of non reality tv on NBC. This week saw Martha's Apprentice, Donald's Apprentice, Next Top Model, and many other Fall shows broadcast across my screen.

Not clueless

Baby: Last week we took a tour of the hospital where my son will be born and yesterday we took a caregiver's class. In the class we learned rudimentary elements of taking care of a child that included feeding, changing and bathing. I don't think either of us learned anything surprising, but it did help reinforce the fact that we aren't completely clueless.

Rehab: The house is coming along. The taper/mudder finished up yesterday. The flooring guys made all of their repairs and started sanding the perimeter of each room. They have another job they need to go to for a week and then they'll be back to finish up. I'm going to spend the week priming the walls of the whole house and setting the tile in all 3 bathrooms. We've picked out our cabinets and are working on the counter tops. We've decided to go with inexpensive unfinished cabinets since we plan on painting them a custom color anyway and instead spend the money we'll save on the counter tops and get something really nice. I haven't completely eliminated the idea of doing concrete counter tops, but it is a time consuming project and I don't know if I'll have the time to spare.

I just counted and I have 32 days before this baby arrives. That also means I have 32 days before our new house needs to be done and our old house needs to be on the market and preferably SOLD. It's going to be an exciting month. If you don't hear from me don't worry. I'm just working myself to death before a take an 8 week paternity leave.

Gallery Opening

This weekend was a fun one. I've been working on promoting a gallery opening for the past couple of weeks and the show was on Saturday. The show was called Paper Cuts and Track Marks and was a gig poster show inspired by my own collection. There were 11 artists involved and a couple of the artists came from out of town to be at the show. We received some good press and hung posters throughout town. There were family members of the artists, people I knew, people I didn't know, people I wanted to know and they all seemed to have a good time and get along. I hope we can do another poster show in the future and maybe even make it an ongoing show every 6 months or so. There are plenty of artists making posters on an ongoing basis making it possible to do frequent shows of new material.
Andrew Vastagh of Memphis, TN

The work of Brady Vest of Hammerpress in KC, MO

Bob Boring of Boring Inc. and Steve Walters of Screwball Press Chicago, IL

Admiring Crowd

Aaron spinning tunes

Drywall is up!

Framing complete.

Insulation installed.

Couldn't even wait for the dust to settle to take this picture! Drywall is complete. Inspection is tomorrow and then the taping and mudding begins. Our flooring guy may even get started before Labor Day if the weather stays agreeable and the mud dries quickly.

Computer Insurance

I had a small problem in that there was a power surge and my hard drive seized. I lost everything. Pretty much 4 years worth of photos and thousands of songs that I only had in a digital format. I have now purchased a new, larger harddrive and a DVD burner so I can store everything on a couple of discs as well as a battery backup to avoid this problem again in the future. Just a bit of advice for y'all...back up your data. It too can happen to you.

It's going to take me awhile to get back up to speed and upload a bunch of cd's again. The one silver lining is that this happened before the baby came. I will now be better prepared and not lose all of my son's baby pictures due to some randomn surge in power on my street.

Baby Name Game

Baby: My sister-in-law's due date was 3 days ago. She's not happy about that. It's hot and she's not sleeping and is taking care of a 2 year old during the day. Honestly though I hope Jen is late. I'm really anxious to see my son for the first time, but I could use every extra minute I can get to finish the house and prepare for the new addition to our family.

We do not have a name yet. I will not be able to choose a name. Our baby will go nameless. At least that's how I feel in this moment. My wife is pushing to name him after me. Michael was the most popular name for boys for over 30 years. It has declined while names like Jack and Max have increased, but naming your child after yourself seems self indulgent. Will he feel he has to live up to something? There are plenty of good names out there right? I just can't think of them.

Lots of people name their kids after people they admire. I've searched hard and come to the realization that I don't admire people. I don't admire things in general. I tend to admire specific things. I admire a painting, but not the artist because the artist did a bunch of crap in their later years. I admire a song or an album, but not the singer/songwriter because he was also an alcoholic that beat his wife. I admire a film but the director was a one hit wonderchild that hasn't put anything worthwhile out in 8 years. I just don't admire people. I see the flaws. I don't judge or hold their flaws against them. I just don't respect them enough to name my child after them.

One caveat is that I admire my Dad but he hates his own name and doesn't want us to burdon our child with his moniker.

Excuses, excuses

It's been tough to blog lately. My harddrive fried due to a power surge. Occasionally Jen brings her laptop home from work so that I can log on and keep in touch. I think the heat has just as much to do with not publishing too. It's been in the upper 90's for 2 weeks and is supposed to hit 102 today. I'm really working hard to get my rehab project ready to move into, but I feel like I'm moving underwater. It's so hot that I work at about half the speed I would like to be working. It's supposed to cool off this week. They are calling for the high on tuesday to be 84 degrees.

My HVAC guys finsished the rough in on Thursday and the plumbers start their rough in on Monday. I've been working all weekend to buy fixtures and tile so that the plumbers have everything they need to do the job. Hopefully I can get the electricians in either while the plumbers are there or shortly thereafter. Then the drywall goes up. All 3 mechanical contractors come back and finish up. The floors get sanded and refinished. The trim goes up. The painting happens and then we move in. Simple. Only problem is that there are a million jobs and decisions that need to be done and made in that time all by me. Yikes. In that time I also need to finish some of the things I've never completed on our house so that we can put it on the market. Hopefully Jen doesn't go into labor early and we can have a completed home for our baby to come home to. From past experience I can say that it will all work out. What I don't know is exactly how it will work out. I'm keeping my mental fingers crossed while I work away each day. Wish me luck.

July Mix Exchange

Volume 3 In the ongoing saga of my Gigposters cd mix exchange: July was a hard one for me. I wasn't feeling inspired at all and the guy that I was making the mix for likes the opposite kind of music I do. He likes really edgy industrial electronic music. I like very organic indie rock and roll.

Once I decided to just give him a mix of what I like and hope that he finds something in their for himself I was able to throw the mix and artwork together in one day. I made 2 discs. One that is more upbeat and one that is a little calmer and more peaceful. Disc one was called Keep it Up! and disc 2 was called Keep it Down!

For the artwork I used and old super 8 film tin that I found in a second hand store. I scanned the reel and used that as the art on the front of the actual discs. I left the sticker that was on the front of the tin. It was something about Christmas 1962 at Edna Jones' house. That seemed worth keeping. I also cut the liner notes out of one piece of paper and cut it to fit inside the tin.

















Keep it Up!
1. Kings of Leon - Four Kicks
2. the White Stripes - Red Death at 6:14
3. Mule - We Know You're Drunk
4. Low - Monkey
5. the Hives - Main Offender
6. the Stooges - No Fun
7. the Sights - Just Got Robbed
8. Spoon - My Mathematical Mind
9. Yo La Tengo - Speeding Motorcycle
10. Andrew Bird's Bowl of Fire - Satisfied
11. the Black Keys - Heavy Soul
12. Love as Laughter - Every Midnight Song
13. Broken Social Scene - cause=time
14. the Kinks - Milk Cow Blues
15. My Morning Jacket - Dancefloors
16. the Afghan Whigs - Hated
17. Von Bondies - Lack of Communication
18. Elliott Smith - Shooting Star
19. Big Chief - My Name is Pimp
20. Rugburns - Me and Eddie Vedder

Keep it Down!
1. Tilly and the Wall - Bessa
2. Lou Barlow - High School
3. Bright Eyes - Land Locked Blues
4. Cat Power - I Don't Blame You
5. Ryan Adams - Halloween
6. Jay Farrar & Kelly Willis - Rex's Blues
7. Superchunk - Detroit Has a Skyline (acoustic)
8. Ben Kweller - Lizzy
9. Brendoan Benson & the Wellfed Boys - Alternative to Love
10. Lightnin' Hopkins - Feel So Bad
11. Willie Nelson - Too Sick to Pray
12. Evan Dando - Why do you do this to yourself?
13. Nina Simone - Nobody's Fault but Mine
14. Kasey Chambers - Lost and Foundd
15. Josh Rouse - My Love Has Gone
16. Weezer - Butterfly
17. Clem Snide - Don't Let the Sun Go Down on your Grievience
18. Kelly Joe Phelps - That's Alright
19. Jon Langford - Everyone Speaks Elton John (from This American Life)

5 Stitches

Rehab: I received my worst injury pertaining to rehabbing yesterday. I was cutting through a brittle cast iron pipe in the basement with my sawzall when it snapped off and one end bounced off the ground and the other jagged end landed on my arm. It didn't hurt very much and I thought about how lucky I was that it didn't land on my face or head. Then I saw the blood. After I rinsed off the dirt and saw the size of the gash I realized that it was more than a bandaid could fix. I figured I shouldn't drive myself to the hospital so I called Jen and she gave up a dinner with the gals from work to take me to the ER. I ended up getting 5 stitches. The most painful part of the entire thing was the 6 hours in the emergency room.

July 4, 2005

So Jen and I decided to make a pretty much last minute trip to Michigan to see my family for the long July 4th holiday. Lately we've only been going up for Christmas and we've wanted to make more frequent trips. With the baby coming Jen has been hoarding vacation time to supplement maternity leave and the long weekend gave us an opportunity to dash up there without using up accrued vacation time. Her one request was that we go to Ann Arbor so she can get a hot dog and waffle fries at Red Hot Lovers (her fave lunch spot when she lived there). Everytime we go up for Christmas it's closed for the holiday.














Unfortunately it was also closed for the Independence Day weekend. Maybe next year? At least we got to have a lovely dinner with Ken and Nicole so it wasn't a total bust.

On Sunday my parents had a BBQ and one of my cousins
brought her 3 and 5 year old girls, 6 week old son and husband. The girls went berry picking in their bare feet and turned them purple. It was a great image of being a child in the summer.

The girls came over with a makeup kit and were offering makeovers for a very reasonable fee. The "boy" makeovers consisted of grape hand lotion. I asked the 3 year old, Riley, what she planned to do with the money she earned. She said she wanted to buy a diary. I asked her if she could write? She is only 3. She said she can write her name and "I heart you". I thought that was the sweetest thing I heard the whole trip.

On our way home sunday we ran into a little car trouble. I heard a flapping sound under the hood 400 miles into our trip and 150 miles from home. Almost immediately the car felt humid. I was 1 mile out from a rest area just south of Terre Haute, IN. We pulled into the rest area, I popped the hood and saw that the main belt was splintering off into shards and one of the shards cut through the air conditioning hose. The belt had shredded like this once before. My 2002 Liberty has 60,000 miles! This shouldn't happen twice in 2 years with a vehicle just 3 years old. The last time this happened we were in town and had it towed to the dealer where it was repaired under warranty.

I have little knowledge about auto repair and was underprepared for this emergency. I went in the rest area where they have a staff person positioned to answer tourist questions. I found out that a small town was 2 miles down the road and since it was after 5pm on a holiday we'd probably have to get a hotel room and wait for a repair shop to open in the morning.

I came back out to the car and just stared at the engine. I was dumbfounded. Having experienced this before I knew it wouldn't make the couple of miles to the next town. A man came up to me and asked if I was having trouble. I wasn't in a great mood but explained to him what was going on. He told me he could fix it if I could get a new belt. It was a holiday! Where was I going to get a new belt? He said the auto parts store was open the previous evening (Sunday) until 9pm in Ohio and he thought it'd be open on the 4th too.

I went back inside and called the nearest Autozone. They were in fact open until 8pm and had the belt for $7.99. The man offered to drive us the 9 miles back to Terre Haute to get the part and he'd install it for us. This was a strangely generous offer. I spoke to Jen (noticably pregnant which may have helped in getting attention or attracting a serial killer) and we decided to go with him. If we were going to get murdered in Indiana at least it was going to happen to us together.

In his vehicle we found out the man's name was Tom and that he was the head mechanic at a Dodge dealer in Ohio near Dayton. He had 3 weeks off and was wrapping up a visit with his daughter and heading to Vandalia to spend time with his son's family. We had an uneventful trip to the store. Jen and I later confirmed that we both were breathing sighs of relief every time he made a turn that brought us closer to the store as opposed to some dark dead end.

On the return trip we stopped at a gas station to fill up Tom's truck and got back to the car without incident. It took him all of about 10 minutes to change the belt with the wrench I purchased and we were on our way, sans A.C., but at least we didn't have to stay in a crummy motel for the night. Tom was our hero. If we were driving some other kind of vehicle he wouldn't have offered since he only works on Chrysler vehicles. Our tale turned from tragic to a simple 1 hour delay. Thank you Tom! I'm unsure of whether this was a reward, instant karma like, or if I need to now pay it forward. I am very grateful regardless.

it's the heat

I have not been blogging much. It's too hot. 98 degrees today with no end in sight. I'm working hard on my rehab project. Framing is nearly complete. Windows are being wrapped up today and tomorrow. HVAC rough in begins next week. Then plumbing and electrical rough ins to follow. I still need to install the cement board in the kitchen and bathrooms and repoint the basement walls. We have set aside time next weekend to shop for tile, cabinets, light fixtures and other decorative elements. So much to do. So little energy to do it.

The timing of the completion of the project, the baby coming, putting our house up for sale, moving next door, etc. is like a perfect storm. It's looming in the distance and it could be a disaster of epic proportions. Nothing to do about it now but put my nose to the grindstone and hope for the best. Wish me luck.

What I'm doing this summer

Wearing: Got some Chuck Taylor Converse navy low tops for the summer. Haven't had any since I was a kid. First time I wore them I rubbed all the skin off of my heals. Got to remember to break them in. Also wearing cargo shorts. I need them to hold my perscription sunglasses, phone, notepad, ipod mini, camera, etc. I'm migrating away from printed tees to solid color better cut and quality tees. I also picked up a pair of super lightweight khakis that are great for summer nights.
Planning: To go to Canada for my cousin's wedding in August and see my brother and new niece/nephew due in July.
Listening to: the new White Stripes on my ipod mini.
Reading: Mixtape edited by Thurston Moore and A Long Way Down by Nick Hornby
Watching: The Detroit Pistons beat the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA Finals, Six Feet Under, and a slew of embarrassing reality shows.
Bored of: People ranting
Happy with: My new Sony Cybershot 7.2 megapixel camera
Snacking: Charleston mini chews and Junior Carmels (from the makers of Junior mints, they're like soft Milk Duds)
Drinking: Newcastle, Sierra Mist, Minute Maid light Mango Passion
Loving: How cute my wife is in her maternity clothes.
Anticipating: My son being born in October.

Moxie

Television: We've got Moxi! Moxi is our local cable company version of a Digital Video Recorder (DVR). DVR's are routinely referred to as Tivo since that is the first recognizable brand name. I like this one because I didn't have to get an additional phone line installed.

Moxi is changing my life. First of all it has streamlined my entertainment area. Moxi is the same size as my previous digital cable box, but it also replaces my VCR. Thereby eliminating one of the electronic black boxes surrounding my tv. It is pretty easy to use and is changing my tv watching habits.

Last night Jen and I decided that it would be a wonderful evening to sit outside at a restaurant and eat dinner. But wait, the Pistons are playing the Spurs in game 3 of the NBA finals. Moxi to the rescue. I programmed the DVR to record the game with about 2 buttons pushed. We went to dinner at Syberg's. We had a relaxing dinner sitting outside. I had a chicken quesadilla and Jen had a giant chef's salad and we split a basket of fries. Yum. We got home about an hour into the game. I was able to go back to the beginning of the game and start watching while Moxi was still recording. After fast forwarding through the commercials I caught up to real time by the 3rd quarter and was able to watch Detroit stomp San Antonio along with the rest of the world.

In the past we would have to program 1 or 2 of our vcrs to catch all of our shows and if you got home 10 minutes into a show you would have to decide whether you wanted to dive in and miss out on the first 10 min or wait 50 more minutes until the show was completed and start watching from the beginning. Now we actually try to start shows late or we'll randomly pause in the middle to grab some dessert. When we get back to the show we can blow through the commercials and enjoy the show even more.

This invention is great because it allows me to watch more tv (hard to believe) in less time, and when I want to watch it. Eventually they won't even broadcast programs. They'll just download programs to your home device and you'll get a message when new programs are available. Can't wait.