Tag: life

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HBO Teams Up With Apple For New Streaming Service

I grew up in a “television household.” I can’t imagine not having TV.

Over the years, friends have more and more told me “Oh, I don’t watch that. I don’t watch TV. I don’t have a television.”

I couldn’t imagine that. Period.

But, with the internet becoming more and more a part of our lives in every facet, I can see it now.

The price of a full spectrum of cable or satellite TV stations costs close to $100 a month. And then we flip through channel after channel saying, “there’s nothing on” because so much is crap.

Well, now, I can actually see life without cable subscriptions at this point. Most of what I make a point to watch is on HBO. And starting in April you can subscribe to HBO via internet for only $14.99 a month.

Via press release:

Apple will give viewers the ability to enjoy HBO programming via HBO NOW. Upon launch, customers can subscribe using the HBO NOW app on their iPhone, iPad or iPod touch, or directly on Apple TV for instant access. Users can purchase HBO NOW directly in-app for $14.99 a month. Upon registering, subscribers will also be able to watch at HBONOW.com. HBO will offer a 30 day introductory free trial period to new HBO NOW customers who sign up through Apple in April.

That’s a deal. And if you sign up in April – you get a free month. I love free!

Plus, since you already have internet at that point, most networks offer the bulk of their shows online for free now. So even ABC or CBS TV series are available.

And if you want to watch all this on your TV, get an Apple TV unit (one-time purchase at $99 with cable), connect that baby up, and go! Widescreen wonderfulness.

Seriously, why do we need cable or satellite TV at this point?

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The Real Houseboys of Las Vegas?

Had an impromptu pool party yesterday with our friends Greg Chase, Chad Saunders and Matt Zarley.

Someone on Facebook quipped that this looked like a new Bravo reality series.

Regarding the cups – I had others for the pool, but majority rule dictated that Olivia cups were the container of the day.  Don’t think of it as product-placement.

However, Olivia is currently holding court at the Flamingo Las Vegas with her new show “Summer Nights.” Just throwing that out there 🙂

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Anti-gay people die earlier

NOM President Brian Brown may want to consider his health when campaigning against rights of gays

A study in the February issue of the American Journal of Public Health shows that people who have anti-gay animus tend to live shorter lives.

The study included the responses of 20,226 heterosexuals who participated in General Social Survey interviews between 1988 and 2008, 4,216 of whom had died by the end of the study period.

From Business Insider:

People who espouse anti-gay views die younger than those who don’t, found a sure-to-be-controversial study in the February issue of the American Journal of Public Health.

“Anti-gay prejudice is associated with elevated mortality risk among heterosexuals, over and above multiple established risk factors for mortality,” wrote the researchers, led by Mark L. Hatzenbuehler of Columbia University.

In fact, those who were not highly prejudiced against gay people lived an average of 2.5 years longer than those who were.

Researchers hypothesize that the increased anger and stress of anti-gay prejudice could lead to risk of higher heart disease.

More at Business Insider.

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Jury Duty today

I’ll be serving on Jury Duty today, so it may be a bit light in terms of posts for a Monday.

I’ve somehow never done the Jury Duty thing.  Work kept moving me around the country or I’d be on tour with a show, blah, blah…

I don’t cringe from it as much as many do.  Although I’m not digging the 8am report time.

More coffee…

UPDATE: Yay!  Wi-fi in the house.

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Cocktails with Brenda Braxton and Roz Ryan

Brenda Braxton (L), me and Roz Ryan (R) drinking, boozing, having a few laughs…

I’m currently in Sacramento, Calif, choreographing a new production (in the round; with a stage that often spins) of CHICAGO the Musical at Sacramento Music Circus.

On a lightning fast schedule, we’ve already staged half the show (Overture, All That Jazz, Cellblock Tango, All I Care About, Both Reached for the Gun, Roxie, Tap Dance and My Own Best Friend) in three days. Whew!

Great cast and crew here, especially two of my FAVORITE peeps from my CHICAGO past – the fab Roz Ryan and Brenda Braxton – who I had dinner and drinks with last night as we head into our one day off before opening. Love these two stunning, talented ladies. I can’t imagine a better time anywhere than laughing with them.

From cocktails with the ladies I got back to my hotel, showered up and headed to the Music Circus’s closing night performance of The King & I, which featured old friends Alan Ariano and Telly Leung. Amazing production. Looked great in the theater, the cast was fantastic, and the theater of over 2,000 looked to be sold out! Congrats to Music Circus.

So proud of NYC bud (and former gym partner) Alan Ariano – his performance
in The King & I was fab!

Time for a day off….

Forward.

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Peru: A billboard creates drinking water out of thin air

The billboard pictured here is real, it’s located in Lima, Peru, and it produces around 100 liters of water a day (about 26 gallons) from nothing more than humidity, a basic filtration system and a little gravitational ingenuity.

The billboard is located in Lima, Peru, the largest city in Peru and the fifth largest in all of the Americas, with some 7.6 million people (closer to 9 million when you factor in the surrounding metro area). Because it sits along the southern Pacific Ocean, the humidity in the city averages 83% (it’s actually closer to 100% in the mornings). But Lima is also part of what’s called a coastal desert: It lies at the northern edge of the Atacama, the driest desert in the world, meaning the city sees perhaps half an inch of precipitation annually (Lima is the second largest desert city in the world after Cairo). Lima thus depends on drainage from the Andes as well as runoff from glacier melt — both sources on the decline because of climate change.

According to Mayo DraftFCB, the billboard has already produced 9,450 liters of water (about 2,500 gallons) in just three months, which it says equals the water consumption of “hundreds of families per month.” Just imagine what dozens, hundreds or even thousands of these things, strategically placed in the city itself or outlying villages, might do. And imagine what you could accomplish in any number of troubled spots around the world that need potable water with a solution like this.