WHERE HAVE YOU GONE, VIDEO CASSETTE RECORDER?

I grew up using a VCR. I remember my uncle showing me how to use two VCRs to take a rented movie and make a copy of it. Heck, I still have a VCR in my room that I use several times a week.
Yah, the DVR has taken over the world. Most people can't remember how they ever lived without the damn thing. People feel like they can watch more TV now because it is so easy to record.
I agree. I do. The DVR is far superior to the VCR.
But in my limited experience with the DVR, I have found several advantages for the ancient VCR.

1) A VCR records on a tape. You can bring the tape to somebody else's house to show them it. A DVR can't do that. Your friend would have to record the show himself. Or come to your house. Tape trading used to be huge.

2) My digital cable went out the other day. My mom was recording. When the cable turned back on, she rushed to re-record the Bold & the Beautiful. Whew. She didn't miss anything. But if we weren't home, she would have been really pissed. And apparently, a VCR will turn back on and keep recording. According to her, anyway. I'm not sure how that works.

3) If I tape something for say four hours but only want to keep the beginning, I can just tape over the rest with a VCR. On a DVR, I have to keep the whole thing or delete the whole thing. I know a DVR has more memory but if you try to keep a lot, eventually you have to delete stuff. Or buy a separate DVD recorder and make DVDs. With a VCR, you just fill up one tape and go to the next.

4) It is easier to watch live TV and something recorded at the same time on a VCR. Say I miss the first five innings of a Cubs game. I set the VCR to record and when I get home, I watch the game live. But in between live pitches, I watch the part I missed. Watch a live pitch. Hit play on the remote. Watch a couple of taped pitches. Hit stop. Bam, right back to live action. You can do this fairly quickly. On a DVR, there is a little bit longer process. Watch live. Click DVR list. Select the game from the list. Watch taped game. Pause it. Type in station to go back to live. Not as easy, and I'll miss pitches. Same goes if I'm trying to watched a taped sitcom and a live game.

5) (Updated Jan. 22, 2009.) You can't start recording something on the DVR in the middle of the showing. You can start recording earlier and extend the time. But you can't have a game start recording an hour into it, unless you are sitting right there. With a VCR, however, you can start taping at any time you damn well please.

If I think of more, I'll update them right here. Or you can send me other ideas. Or tell me how I'm an idiot about any of these reasons. Or figure out how to make the DVR better. My mom said: "For the money you pay for the motherfucker, it ought to be fucking incredible."

IT’S BEEN A LONG DAY

This is an oft used expression that I hate. You're talking to someone and they say, "Boy, I’ve had a long day." Oh, really? How long was it? About 24 hours? Because that’s how long days usually last. I understand that the person has probably had a hard day. It might have been stressful. They could even be exhausted from the problems that they had to face. But I seriously doubt that it was a long day. I like to respond with: "Well, that sucks. I hope tomorrow is back to 24 hours for you." or "Really, what did you do with the extra time you had?"

DAILY TOP LIST
My top 10 favorite wrestlers of all-time. Nicknames, finishing moves and signature catchphrases in parentheses.

1) Bret Hart (The Excellence of Execution. Sharpshooter. I am the best there is, the best there was, and the best there ever will be).
2) The Rock (The People's Champion. Rock Bottom. If you smell what the Rock is cooking?)
3) Kurt Angle (The Olympic Hero. Ankle Lock. It's true. It's true.)
4) Randy Savage (The Macho Man. Flying elbow from top rope. Oooo yeah. Dig it.)
5) Diamond Dallas Page (DDP. The Diamond Cutter. Bang!)
6) Randy Orton (The Legend Killer. RKO. You're now living in the Age of Orton.)
7) Hulk Hogan (The Hulkster. Running leg drop. Watcha gonna do when the 24 inch pythons run wild on you?)
8) Sting (The Man Called Sting. Scorpion Death Lock. It's showtime folks.)
9) Chris Jericho (Y2J. Walls of Jericho. You will never E-VVVVVER be the same. Again (in Canadian accent).
10) John Cena (The Doctor of Thuganomics. The F-U. You can't see me.)