Monday, March 16, 2009

Adventures in HD

My new HD tv has finally arrived! As with most things in life, actually procuring it was not as simple as I’d hoped, especially when I spent all of last Monday waiting for its arrival in vain since the delivery company forgot to actually put the tv in the truck. Sigh. They even told me it was 15 minutes away and then when I called back and hour later, they figured out it had actually never left the loading dock. Argh.

But the story has a happy ending, for last Wednesday my television was delivered and ever since then I have been living in a world of HD. While there was nothing wrong with my old tv and watching things on standard cable still looked pretty darn good, I can’t deny that it’s kind of cool to see things with such crispness and clarity, especially Jensen Ackles. But more on him in the next paragraph.

I don’t watch sporting events, aside from the occasional figure skating and gymnastics, so many would argue that HD is wasted on me. But I beg to differ! You have not lived until you can count the pores on Jensen Ackles’ face, or seen each leaf on the trees on Planet Earth, or truly appreciated the popping colors used to set-dress the Mode office on Ugly Betty. Actors look more like actual people, less tv-fake, which lends an air of realism to shows that was previously missing.

But not everything is hunky-dory in HD land. I started noticing things that have now become irritatingly distracting. Most notably, the amount of make-up some actors have slathered onto their skin. Look, I know most people don’t have great complexions. But when I look at Jared Padalecki, all I can see now is the massive amount of foundation he wears for Supernatural. And it’s really distracting and really annoying. He’s hunting demons, not trying out for the Mr. Demon Slayer with Psychic Powers and Potentially Evil Side pageant.

But overall, I have found that while HD is not essential, it just makes watching tv a little more fun.

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