"You Need Box"

Pronouncements of great import don't always come down from the mountain on tablets. Sometimes you just hear it over the phone from a faceless minion of Comcast.

"You Need Box" is what the Soviet civil-service refugee informed me when I asked why TMC, AMC, and TVGuide Channel disappeared when I switched from my old TV to the new digital-ready one.

In making the switch, I got to relieve myself from the burden of Comcast's digital converter box, its nasty handheld remote (which takes over all of your electronics but doesn't tell you how to control them yourself), and the annoyance of not being able to tape one program while watching another. Oh what a relief! Until I wanted to watch Idol Wrap on TVGuide Channel (shut up).

So I called Comcast to complain about my missing channels, with sleeves all rolled up and ready for a fight, and they'd just better not try to charge me extra for these channels.

"You Need Box"

I don't need no stinkin' box, I've got a digital TV.

"You Need Box"

But, but, I'm getting some stations that go up in the hundreds, how come I can get these and not TMC, AMC, and TVG?

"You Need Box"

Well, the thing is, I still have the box. Comcast isn't charging extra for it, so it's mine to use or not use as I please. Do I plug it back in so I can get my channels but lose my time-shifting record-for-later capability?

Choices.

I ended up exploring some of those upper channels. There are also lower channels with fractional points that come in through my Comcast pipeline. I explored a little - some alternative programming for the local channels. Fine. But in the upper reaches, in 107.300s, I found the music stations - 40 channels of music favorites. Well Top 40, you know, isn't my favorite, nor is country music. But I found (harps strumming, trumpets trumping) SHOW TUNES!!

Happy Dance!

I had the Show Tunes channel on pretty much all weekend. TMC? Heck, isn't that what Netflix is for? (Sorry guys - either open a Hulu channel or say goodbye to your Comcast Box Rejectors.)

So I'm a dork. I put on Broadway's best and got myself up off the couch. Cleaned the apartment, cooked a meal, did a goofball dance - a kickline of one - in the living room. I Feel Happy! (They even played some Spamalot!!)

That's life outside the box. In many ways, we still Need Box - if only to see the limitations that need to be overcome.

love, hosaa
Dancing outside the box