Bluejake

I thought I would use this week's entry to inform my non-existent audience about some of my recent interests.

First, there is my electronics fetish. I am ashamed to admit how much time I spent researching audio-visual components for my home entertainment system over the last few months. As my resources for this project were fairly limited, I began by doing a cost-benefit analysis to identify which purchase would make the greatest impact on my home theatre experience. While I have been developing a DVD collection (recent favorites include Un Flic, the new edition of M*A*S*H and Rififi), most of my couch time is spent interfacing with my TiVo and normal cable television. Based on my needs, I felt that most of my money should be invested in a new TV. After debating the pros and cons of buying a 480p/1080i HDTV monitor, I decided that I wasn't comfortable enough with current HDTV standards and decided to go for a normal NTSC 480i TV instead. While there were a number of good models on the market, I eventually decided on the the SONY KV-32FV27. This one had everything I was looking for- good speakers (I'm not ready to invest in a new receiver and speaker system), a decent picture, and the necessary inputs (I'm running the DVD through component inputs, and the TiVo through S-Video; I also have the regular cable coming in on a split for the PiP on normal 75-ohm cable wire). I've been very satisfied with the TV since I installed it last week, and I would recommend it to my friends. Next step: X-Box!

To balance out my unhealthy interest in electronics, I've been developing a number of hobbies. To ensure that I stay at my fighting weight, I've been hitting the gym three times a week. To enhance my love and appreciation of music, I've been taking a guitar class at the New School (amazing fun- I've already learned like 10 chords, and my teacher is actually a real folk singer). To fill up the little free time I have left that wasn't taken up by grad school applications, OVEN, and teaching IA, I spent ten minutes every day for the last ten weeks teaching myself how to juggle five juggling balls. Throw in a little Tuesday night bowling action at Bowlmor, and my week is pretty much full up.

In more weighty matters, I've been following developments in Israel pretty closely. I recommend the coverage in the Jerusalem Post and Ha'aretz over the stuff you read in the NYTimes- it seems like you get a more accurate picture of what is going on by going to the source.

That's it for today- I hope that these links have given you some ideas.

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