This past Black Friday, I purchased a High Definition television.

The first thing I did was turn on a college football game. Whoa. It was an amazing image. I was blown away by the brilliance of the color, the sharpness of each player. It’s as if I could see every blade of grass, every drop of sweat, each personal feature that is usually lost in the translation from real life to screen.

Here’s the problem. I don’t remember a single play. I don’t remember anything I watched in HD. My mind spent all of its time marveling at the beautiful picture, placing the technology on a pedestal while ignoring the general content of the program.

In researching into a full HD package - a handful of channels other than the basic network offerings - I found that there were several HD exclusive channels. These offer exclusive content; movies, shows and sports you can’t find anywhere else. The main selling point is the HD - not the movies, not the shows, not the sports, but the fact that the picture is clearer than any other picture you’ll see on regular cable.

I got to thinking about the difference between good presentation and good content. We all know the power of presentation. Presentation sells products, whether it’s a classy looking advertisement, a well-designed product or a life-like picture image. Regardless of the true content, these things get high rankings because there is an illusion of worthwhile material inside.

But it’s the content that ultimately keeps the presentation relevant. As the old adage goes, you can shine a turd all you want - it’s still a turd.

A majority of the HD only channels offer great picture and a clear experience. But their content is horrible - recycled television shows that weren’t filmed in HD to begin with, secondary “sports” programming that Versus wouldn’t even pick up, and films I didn’t want to see in the theatre, let alone on the small screen.

Now I’m not talking about network channels, or ESPN or The Discovery Channel - these already have the content, and the HD visual is an added bonus. I’m looking at HD exclusive channels - channels like Universal HD, Mojo and HD Net. These channels tout their crispness, an incredible quality of picture that makes you feel as if you’re right there - in the studio, on the field, etc. But what good are they if the content is horrible?

Eventually, we all get over the image quality. The ironic nature of a clear screen muddling up our view of quality programming falls away. And sooner or later, we stop looking at the television and start looking into it.

I’m hoping this happens sooner than later. Maybe then I can remember a play or two.

Guitar Hero, like all other video games, is assumed to be a waste of time, and a creative (yet counterproductive) outlet for the stereotypical lazy American. Down with these closed-minded stereotypes!

‘What is this “Guitar Hero” you speak of?’ might you ask? It is a very simple, yet oh-so-creative concept. The player uses a plastic, guitar shaped controller to play the game. There are five (color coded) fret buttons on the controller. On the screen, you see a musical staff, using the five fret colors as its notes. These notes appear in a flurry across the screen, and the player attempts to hit as many as possible to complete the song. Hitting the correct note ‘unlocks’ the guitar track of the song. When you mess up, the game does not let you forget it — a loud SQUEAK bursts out of the speakers at an overexagerrated volume.

This game is surprisingly realistic. It’s the closest thing to playing an instrument besides… well, playing the instrument itself! You feel like a real rock star, whether you are playing on ‘Easy’ or ‘Expert’, whether you are playing ‘Slow Ride’ or ‘Through the Fire and Flames’.

Since the release of the first Guitar Hero game in 2005, the music-related video game industry has went nuts. To name a few, Wii Boogie, the Guitar Hero sequel and threequel, and Rockband have been released, each being great sellers. It is apparent that this industry has a very bright future.

The GH series is one of the most revolutionary video game series I’ve seen… and I’m saying this as a somewhat-’hardcore’ gamer. Saying that it defines our generation could be a broad step, but GH has opened up many doors and created many possibilities. It is truly one of the most unique video games ever created, and can be of serious aid to those with poor hand-eye coordination.

There needs to be a certification process for eco-friendly families. Al Gore tells me the planet is dying, so he needs to follow that up with an objective standard of when I’m doing enough to save it.

The Barker clan is a family of five. I think we’re reasonably eco-friendly.

• We recycle everything
• All the bulbs in our house are CFLs
• Both our vehicles get 22+ m.p.g.
• We don’t over-consume — my wife lives by Oprah’s motto of “Wear it out, or do without.”

But how do we know if this is enough? How can I step back and say with confidence, “I am part of the solution, rather than part of the problem”? Frankly, I don’t know if what I’m doing is enough. I think we’re better than most of our peers, but would Al look at our household and approve? Would he say, “If only everyone did at least this…”

To this end, I want a certification process. I want a clear, objective standard with which I can compare my family and work toward if we don’t measure up.

I need all the tree-hugging groups to come together and work out a scale for a “Green Household”. Give me multiple levels. “Green Household, Level 1,” for example, might have the following requirements.

• All bulbs in your house are replaced with CFLs
• All vehicles in your house get more than 20 m.p.g. (which effectively rules out full-size SUVs)
• You have a programmable thermostat
• You have replaced your furnace filter in the last 12 months
• You have wrapped your water heaters in insulating material
• You recycle all disposable plastic
• Your water heaters are set a maximum of X degrees

Consider if 80% of households in America became a Green Household at Level 1. The improvement would be massive.

The levels could scale up from there. For example, Level 5 might include things like:

• You consume no meat (cows fart methane, it turns out)
• You refrain from using your car three days out of the week
• Your car gets 40+ m.p.g.
• You have planted at least five trees in the last 12 months

This wouldn’t be for everyone, but I know some people who would find the prospect of measuring their sacrifice against that standard downright seductive.

This would have to be voluntary. There can be no independent authority that comes to your house and checks everything out. But when I feel like I’ve acheived Level 1, I go to some Web site, register and pay a $5 fee to cover expenses, then I get a couple bumper stickers and another sticker for the window of my house.

This has two benefits:

1. It gives us something to work towards. I still think there’s a lot of confusion about exactly what we need to be doing to save the planet. Paper or plastic? I still don’t know, to be honest. Everyone has a different plan of action. Who’s right?
2. It gives someone an easy way to show that they care enough about the planet to work towards something. If I’m sportin’ my “Green Level 1″ bumper sticker, it says that I cared enough to find the standard, evaluate my behavior against that standard, and perhaps make a few changes to achieve that standard.Sadly, in a lot of social circles, worrying about the planet is considered a very “Democratic” or “Clintonian” thing to do. I’d like a nice, subtle way to show that my politics and caring about the planet are not mutually exclusive.

I could see this getting pushed in the school system a lot. If his teacher got my son all excited about earning this achievement, it would be a motivator for me to make the changes necessary to do it. Call it a merit badge for the entire house.

I’m not an eco-warrior. I’m a suburban dad who’s a little confused about what he should be doing and concerned enough about it to want to know that he’s doing enough.

Al Gore bums me out. He keeps telling me the planet is dying, and next time he does, I want to be able to relax and know that I’m doing enough to save it. To that end, give me a clear bar that I can jump over.

In the end, I just want absolution. Give me a way to achieve that.

In the US people are sleeping in or just now getting up and preparing to join their families for the great annual Thanksgiving feast, on what is hands down my favorite holiday, in concept and practice. Here in Japan, it’s Thursday evening and today is nothing special. Tomorrow, however, is the national “Workers Thanksgiving Day” holiday, which ironically but possibly not coincidentally coincides with the financial market close Stateside. Japan is one of the few odd-ball countries that, like the US, doesn’t recognize May Day. This day is the tastes great less filling substitute. But I can’t quite make out whether it means that the power structure is thankful to the workers or whether the workers are given a day to contemplate their thankfulness for the benevolent power structure. Anyhow, American-style Thanksgiving or no, the wa is is vibrating in high harmony this weekend here in the northern outback of the Land of the Rising Sun. I’m hosting a Thanksgiving dinner for a group of us foreign English teachers and Japanese friends at my local community event hall. For the occassion I ordered a Hokkaido-raised 4kg turkey for 9000yen (about $82) - reflecting Turkey’s status as tourist novelty around here. The farm I ordered from last year stopped doing turkeys and this was all I could find. But the feast must go on!

I wonder how the US public is taking three dollar gas. It’s up to the equivalent of about $5.05/gallon here; this, thanks to higher taxes. But that’s good because it means that increases in the price of oil have less effect by percentage on the overall price; thus less shock to the economy. Right now we’re burning through Africa’s demand destruction but by this time next year the supply curve will start tilting south while the bidding war between the OECD countries plus China will be game on, and the US will really have to show it’s cards (and not of the credit variety). Now (or yesterday) is a prudent time to diversify retirement portfolios into gold/silver, foreign currency CDs & bonds and energy or broad-based commodity funds. Peak oil is coming on. Times will get tough. If the US can stem the tide of creeping stratification and libertarianism, and pull together in family and community, we just might avoid a complete meltdown. Let’s all be thankful for what we have, where we’ve come from, and send our best hopes for future peace and security out with every holiday hug.

It’s an hour until Thanksgiving here in the Central Time Zone.

What am I thankful for?

I’m thankful that I’ve managed to convince a handful of friends, bloggers and other random vagabonds to poke into the Misc. Asst. lobby, check in for a second, post a word or two, and then leave. Sure, they can stick around if they like, but the popcorn’s pretty stale right now. We need a new batch.

So, let’s give thanks to the rebirth of Misc. Asst. - everybody’s favorite random access channel. And let’s hope it lasts a bit longer this time. If anything, Deane from Gadgetopia has an outlet for non-technological blather.

Welcome back, friends.
Corey V.