Yes, technically, Thanksgiving was yesterday. Nevertheless, today’s Roundtable seems like a good opportunity to give thanks for the things we’re grateful for this year.
Mike Attebery
Sad as it may sound, I’m thankful for over-the-air HD TV signals and wireless internet providers. After Comcast jacked up our monthly internet/phone/cable bill yet another $30 a month, I ordered up clear.com and bought a cheap HD antenna for our TV. Between the two, we get the same channels we always watched for free. I got iTunes season passes to the few shows I absolutely have to watch and rewatch, and the rest we view on HULU or ideally when they air. Since I work at home, the wireless internet keeps me plugging away on all things HDD, and I no longer have to pay more in Comcast extortion money than I spend on car insurance and gas. Thank you, wiggly invisible waves of technology! Oh, and the HD channels all look at least twice as good as they did via Comcast’s lousy compressed signals!
Wayne Rowe
I am thankful that I can count on my home theater and gaming gear. This year, I’ve had nothing but trouble with electronics. My laptop’s hard drive shit the bed. The iPhone 4S and Jawbone UP sucked and I had to return them. I’d go on, but you don’t want to hear it. My PS3, my Xbox, my HT setup… all of them have been rock solid since purchase. Thank you, oh gods of the consumer electronic, for sparing the components I love the most.
Adam Tyner (DVDTalk)
With as much as sales have dwindled for even high-ish profile catalog titles anymore, it’s gotta be rough out there for the smaller shops that specialize in cult cinema. As challenging as things are out there right now, I’m thankful that companies like Synapse Films, Blue Underground, Severin and Something Weird are still strongly supporting Blu-ray and putting out some of their best titles ever while they’re at it.
M. Enois Duarte
This may sound somewhat corny, but right now, I’m most thankful for having a job at all. I follow politics and keep up on current world events, mostly because of my job. So, I’m constantly reading about the ongoing job crisis (even in my line of work) and our present economic downfall. I genuinely feel lucky and endlessly thankful I’m still employed and can continue with my HT hobby, as well as support my family. Right now, I’m working on an HTPC and plan to upgrade my front speakers with B&Ws. I know that there are hard-working people out there far more talented than myself struggling just to pay bills and put food on the table, let alone buy the latest Blu-ray release or product. This holiday season, that’s really what I’m most thankful for and wish that things will soon improve for everyone.
Luke Hickman
I’ve got a lot to be thankful for this year, but the most high-def related of all would be my recently upgraded theater. It wasn’t until my family moved into a bigger home that I finally had the space, cash and motivation to make the much-needed upgrades. Because my wife doesn’t want me clogging the best rooms in the house, I’m confined to a decent-sized space where my wall-mounted 40″ Samsung LN40C650 is perfect for the room. I am extremely grateful for my Onkyo HT-R680 7.1-channel surround sound system. But I’m even more grateful for the sweet deals that allowed me to purchase both for a lower price than I should have gotten just one. My home theater is better than it has ever been. If only I could swap this loud, fat, second-gen PS3 for a sleeker, quieter PS3 Slim.
Dick Ward
This year, I am thankful for a lot of things. ‘Minecraft’ is on the list, of course, as are ‘Warcraft’, ‘StarCraft’ and ‘Skyrim’. I’m thankful for the MLG, the GSL and to Blizzcon for having some great ‘StarCraft II’ and ‘League of Legends’ tournaments that I finally get to catch up on.
Most of all, though, I’m thankful for my ‘Old Republic’ beta invite, which will allow me access to the game this weekend. I’ve played a bit at a friend’s house, and I can’t wait to sink far too much time into it.
Josh. Zyber
I’m thankful that the fabulous Mrs. Z continues to tolerate my home theater and movie collecting compulsions, and more-or-less allows me free reign to transform our spare bedroom into the small-but-potent Cinema Zyberdiso. It’s a little cramped in there, but the screen is very big and the movie-watching experience beats most of the commercial cinemas around here.
(Also, I swear that I did not solicit the next entry in any way. It was written totally independently from mine. Honest.)
Mrs. Z
I am thankful for my wonderful husband!
Tom Landy
I’m Canadian, so my Thanksgiving was actually in October, but as a fan of movies, I’m thankful that I get to spend a lot of time working on a fun and informative website like High-Def Digest. It’s a great community. Even though we may express the occasional difference of opinion, everyone in the forums and everyone on the blog are almost like a second family.
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What are you thankful for this year? Tell us in the Comments.
Adam Tyner
I feel badly for leaving Shout! Factory out of my list. Because they as a company cast a wider net, they didn’t immediately leap to my mind despite the tremendous effort they’ve put into their cult titles. Humanoids from the Deep, the original Piranha, Starcrash, and Battle Beyond the Stars are all pretty essential purchases, and I somewhat desperately need to add Rock ‘n Roll High School to that list at some point.
William Henley
This year has been rough on me, and its been hard for me really to find anything to be thankful for. I guess the thing I am most thankful for is that I have a God who cares about me enough that He wants a relationship with me, enough so that He sent His Son to take my place.
Yeah, I know, its religious, but my faith is an huge part of who I am. Without my faith, I would not have been able to get through the past couple of years. So, I guess to go hand and hand with my previous comment, I am thankful for my faith, and to live in a country where, not only can I practice it freely, but I can talk about it freely.
Going along with the previous two comments, I am thankful that several of my friends and family have become Christians this past year as well, and then just to see the transformations in their lives. Not that there was anything missing before, but just the happiness they have now.
For those who are not religious, I just ask that you not discourage people from practicing a religion, no matter what you think of it. Religions generally help people cope with things that otherwise they wouldn’t know how to deal with. It brings happiness and peace to billions of people. So I ask that you not take that away from someone just because you do not agree with their beliefs, whether that person be Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhaist, or any other religion.
Nate "the boss" Boss
I’m thankful I can mute anyone I want on any game I play online.
JM
I am thankful for Amazon.com, for their Black Friday lightning deal on Uncharted 3, for the UPS two-day shipping that is bringing it to me in three hours, for the shininess of the blu-ray format, and for Sony, for having the ambition to bend the world to its will.
I am also thankful for the success of the maiden test flight of the U.S. Army’s hypersonic weapon technology. May all our future wars require a smaller investment of human treasure.
But, most of all, I am thankful for butter. I can’t imagine what life would be like without it.
EM
I’m thankful for having won the Super 8 contest—whoo hoo!!!
I’m thankful that excellent older films—even grainy films, black-and-white films, 4×3 films, silent films—have been getting top-notch releases on Blu-ray.
While it can be frustrating to have many Blu-ray wishes still unfulfilled, I am thankful that the rate of releases interesting to me has been slow, since my finances of the last few years would not well accommodate more rapid acquisition.
Like E., I’m thankful that I have a job at all and have been able to maintain my A/V pursuits and much of my lifestyle in general.
And I’m thankful for High-Def Digest and the Bonus View. I’ve had a lot of fun here and gotten a lot of helpful information, too.