I was browsing through some old photos on the computer and came across some of our first attempts of delaying the shutter to get some cool time delay pictures at night…
We also pulled out the tri-pod in an attempt to capture the moon in all it’s glory.
Derek and I have had Comcast cable for years and a one of their HD/DVR’s for the past year, and this past weekend we made a big push to pry ourselves from the cold clammy grasp of this evil cable giant. (I would also like to add that they have the worst commercials for their product offering…but that is another discussion)
Today, I want to show everyone the amazing set-up my dear husband created for us so that we can begin our exit strategy from Comcast Cable. Derek with a little help from a teeny tiny company most have never heard of, Microsoft. Simply by using Window’s Media Center (MC), that comes on most home editions of Windows & a tuner card in our home computer, Derek feeds a coax cable (your standard cable cord) to the computer, and streams cable TV to his X-Box 360 in the living room. Media Center Extenders (MCE), like an X-Box 360, allows anyone with the right computer hardware & running Windows with Media Center to stream media to their xbox console and display it on the connected monitor or TV.
Below is a view of Comcast’s HD/DVR menu (what we previously had)
Yikes….they offered different colored themes that more so made you not want to watch TV due to the lack luster and dismal color selection. Seriously, who wants mauve and faded gold for anything accept silk jogging suit that you borrowed from your eccentric aunt Louise? Seriously!
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Now take a look at our menu using the MCE over the xbox!
The MCE interface is sharp, sleek, bold, and not to sissy on the colors either.
A couple years ago my dad, who is also a technology geek, bought Derek a Harmony Remote. Derek loves this thing. The remote lets you assign tasks to individual buttons. However, unlike most other remotes, it also lets you create new functions to specifically match your component, such as when controlling multi-angle playback or zoom on a DVD player. (This works well for our xbox MCE set-up) So, Derek has created a lovely little set-up on the Harmony Remote so that the task of operating MC on the computer upstairs from the xbox & TV downstairs is a dream.
I almost forgot to brag about all the nifty things you can do & access with this sweet cable set-up. First up, there is the main menu that allows you to browse all types of media. The MC menu allows you to browse cable TV listings, pictures, home movies, music, movies, and recorded TV you have stored on your network.
For the cable TV portion of our set-up we still have basic cable with Comcast, and have an HD antenna for over-the-air channels. (Yes, I know…we hope to one day cancel basic too, but internet TV like Hulu, Boxee, and Joost still need a bit more content for my viewing pleasure.) Believe it or not, but MC shows more info on a live TV show than I could ever seem to locate on the Comcast DVR.
:: Movies ::
Or if you are tired of the ridiculous amount of reality shows on TV and you would rather watch a movie…MC will search for and display, with album art I might add, all movies currently on the channels you receive. This feature will list movies up to two weeks into the future. You can search by date, title, year, or rating.
* Side Note: MC will display a small PIP of the channel you are currently watching.
Once you have found a movie worth looking into you can then view info about the cast, a brief description of the plot, ratings, year released, other dates the movie airs, and set up advanced recording for future dates.
Select the Cast + More link to view cast info, a full review of the movie, or a listing (including air dates & channels) of similar movies set to air in the next few weeks.
:: Sports ::
Sports nuts, you’re going to love this feature……
If you are in a fantasy league or just like following players from college to pro, like say uhhhhh, Derrick Rose this will float your boat. You have the option to choose from NBA, MLB, & NHL players and track their stats throughout the season. How sweet is that!?!
Watching one game, but wanna see the score to another? What’s that…you can’t stand to miss a minute of the action on your current game? Don’t worry MC has got you covered. While still watching your current game, you can peruse the score ticker just by using the sports “scores” feature in MC. And if you see a game in the ticker that you have to switch to for just a second, just hit select and the game will appear in the window just below the ticker. This makes it really simple to jump back & forth between games on game day.
Wanna see what games come on later today, or how about this week? The sports “on later” module gives your scheduled games set to air for up to 2 weeks.
:: Music ::
Occasionally, I get the itch to clean the house from top to bottom, and want something besides the hum of the vacuum & silence to surround me, so I crank up the radio. Now, instead of listening to the same song 3 times in a two hour period on the local radio station, I can listen to our massive music library. The best part is that the music library on MC gives you album art in a cover flow type interface.
You can search your music by artist, album, year, playlist (I love me some playlists), or just pick something the old fashioned way…song title. Below I am doing a search for all music released in 2007.
On the “now playing” menu you can view your music queue, play a slide show, buy music, or just handle the basic shuffle/repeat options.
:: Pictures + Videos ::
Unfortunately we haven’t set up the picture + video portion of our MC, but judging from the seamless & like mannered flow of the other menus one can imagine this option isn’t far off.
In all…I am grinning from ear to ear over our new TV set up.
Thanks Microsoft!
BTW :: My darling husband just ran downstairs to tell me that a Hulu plug-in is in the works! Check out a short video of it…here.
For info on how to convert your computer & xbox 360 to a media center mecca…go here.
P.S. – Thanks to my lovely assistant…
I took off work yesterday and brought the puppies to the vet. Cohen went in for his annual check up and Wrigley had her annual blood work done. 
Cohen (a.k.a. – fat kid) weighs a gnarly 66.5 lbs, and little Mrs. Wrigley come in at a trim 62 lbs. (Wrigs is all muscle…btw)
Once we made it home for the day both puppies were worn out…
Oh yeah….Cohen barfed in my car!
We are in the process of painting the dining room & living room. Both rooms have been a tan color since Derek bought the house in 2006, and we are sick of it. So we decided to go with a little color. The name of the paint is hilarious….Jalapeno Jelly. I’ve never tasted Jalapeno Jelly myself, but if I had the chance I would guess my immediate reaction would be to gag! Nasty!!!
Derek, painting in his nicest Hooter’s t-shirt. C-L-A-S-S-Y!
Finished View #1
Finished View #2
The puppies stayed on their bed and watched us paint….for the most part.
Memphis had it’s first snow of the year, and it came rather early this year compared to last year’s first snow fall….March! Here are some pictures of the house and the dogs going nuts in the snow…..Enjoy!
I found little tiny bird tracks in the snow in our driveway. They we too cute to not have a picture of. 
When Derek and I got married my mom asked for only one thing…a picture of me & her just like a picture that she had taken with her mom on her wedding day.
I’m glad she asked.
I realized that I didn’t have a close-up picture of the heels I wore on my wedding day…so I took some last week. The shots turned out really amazing. (I attempted to use a technique our wedding photographer used on some of our wedding photos)
After editing the pictures turned out quite well, if I do say so myself. I am quite proud of them. Yes, I know they are just pictures of shoes, but powerful pictures of shoes! Enjoy…
Wrigley was upset that Cohen was playing with her toy. So she decided to drag him on the dog bed he was on.
I offered to watch my nephew, JD, Saturday night so my brother & Derek could go to the Memphiss basketball game. Knowing that most boys love video games, no matter what age, I thought that we could find some kid friendly games on Derek’s x-box. When JD said here I want to play this game and handed me the Call of Duty :: World at War box I paused and pictured in my mind the massive amounts of nightmares this bloody & violent game would bring on for this 5 year old. So I said “ummmm…..how about we find an even cooler game on the x-box?” (this meaning kid friendly)
We played the movie inspired game Cars, a bit of pac-man, and finally my nephews new favorite game…..Colning Clyde. The premise of this game is that someone was cloning sheep & wanted to move onto people & Clyde was that person. The experiment went wrong and so Clyde has decided to escape in his, opened in the back, hospital gown.
Yes, that is his butt you see.
Here are some pictures of us during our game night…
He took this picture and the one below.
The last two pictures are of him telling Wrigley that he is disappointed in her, because she was being too crazy. At one point he even had his hands on his hips….how cute!
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