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On Streaming

I've never really been a huge television fan. There were some shows that I really like as a kid (the animated X Men and Batman shows come to mind), but I can't remember ever spending the whole day in front of the television. I would play video games for long stretches of time, but that seems different to me. I was trying to control the action, rather than just staring at the screen.

Either way, that means I missed out on a lot of shows and movies. There are classic movies that I know about as general cultural awareness, but that I've never actually watched. This includes movies like "Casablanca," for example (I'll get around to it eventually). This phenomenon also encompasses more recent small screen hits, like "Breaking Bad" or "Game of Thrones." I've heard a lot about both of them, and I even have some vague inklings of key events in those series (I know to be very wary of a Red Wedding). But I've never actually sat down to watch these shows and movies.

Well, I hadn't, until I subscribed to Netflix. I generally have a little bit of time to myself in the evenings, so I will often watch bits and pieces of something while prepping dinner or ironing shirts. I still can't quite make myself sit there with nothing else to do, but I do manage to include more screen time in my day. I still haven't caught up on all of the major cultural phenomena, but I'm catching up a little bit here and there.

However, I have also noticed that I generally favor more light-hearted fare for this type of multitasking. I tend to watch a lot of martial arts movies (I'm a sucker for those "white powder" martial arts movies), stand up specials, and shorter TV shows. Basically, things that I can still understand what's going on if I missed a line or two. I'm definitely not pulling up emotionally-heavy dramas or intellectual thrillers that require concentration.

All of that, however, culminates in an amusing exchange with the Mild Fiancée the other day:

Mild Fiancée: "Oh, whatcha watching?"
(I turn the laptop to her so she can see)
Mild Fiancée: "Oh lord, you're watching Star Trek."

As you can probably gather, I'm a little bit more geeky than the Mild Fiancée. We've long joked about Star Trek being the dividing line between mainstream culture and geekdom, so this was doubly amusing to us both.

Thanks, Netflix. You're like the gift that keeps on giving.

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