A good reason to turn back the clock

I was perusing a copy of the local daily rag at Rebecca's this morning when I came across an article that stated that Monday is the 50th anniversary of "In God We Trust" on U.S. currency. Then, just few minutes ago, I was skimming old unread emails and came across a forwarded spam email expressing outrage and demanding a boycott of the new dollar coins because "In God We Trust" is not printed on them.

Setting aside the fact that IGWT is, in fact, engraved on the new dollar coins (it's on the edge of the coins except for a few batches where it was accidentally left off), this just reminds me how much I wish our coins and currency were god-less, as they were before October 1, 1956. Of course, I wasn't born yet, but I still occasionally come across some of the older bills and they always make me smile.

Donkey Kong and Harmony

It's been miserably hot and humid the last few days, so much so that it's tough to do anything during the day. So, Kara and I snuck out this afternoon to catch the 5:05 showing of The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters at the Ken Cinema. I almost got to see this at a sneak preview during Comic-Con, but I passed because I was too tired at the time. Luckily for us, the producer of the film, Ed Cunningham, was there for our showing and he answered our questions after the showing.

We both really liked the film and I recommend it highly, especially if you spent far too many quarters back in the 80s on video games, as I did. (I played my share of Donkey Kong back in the day, but Tempest was my game.)

On a separate note, Jimmy G. showed me his Harmony 880 universal remote that he bought online a few weeks ago and, as soon as I saw it, I knew I needed one. So, I found a deal on Amazon and it arrived the other day. I think I've finished tweaking it and it replaced the 4 remotes that I had been using. I love the interface and the customizability and if you've got $120 or so to spare and too many remotes cluttering up your coffee table, I highly recommend it. I've got it set to control the following devices:

1. HDTV (Samsung HL-T5689S)
   
2. DirecTV HD-DVR (HR20-100)
   
3. DVD/CD player (no Blu-Ray or HD-DVD player yet)
4. A/V Receiver (Sony STR-DE995)
   
5. Cassette deck (which I rarely use anymore)
6. Air Conditioner (Haier ESA3105)