Home Theater: Things to Consider

  For many men having a giant TV with picture so good we can see Cameron Diaz's ass dimple and speakers that can blow women's clothes off is a dream we all work for.  It's the American Dream to rock out in our own homes.  No more having to pay 10 dollars a ticket for a movie.  We can wait and put it on the big screen in our own home.  The issue is that when it comes to the world of electronics we don't understand what everything means and how to make this dream a reality without wiping out our bank accounts.

  The first step is having a spot for all these toys.  Knowing the space is as important as what is put in there.  Does the space large, small, wide, long.  The space you plan on will dictate the size of your TV and the type of speakers and furniture you should buy.  If I have a short, squat basement room I plan on putting in my stuff then having floor speakers with a 60" TV would be mean I have to swivel my head to see the whole TV and have to have a very small couch to accommodate the speakers.  Or the opposite is true.  You don't want to have to have a small TV you need binoculars to see.  Or the need of a sub woofer because you plan on setting it up beneath the babies room.  These and other decisions need to be considered in the space you decide on. 

 
 

  Once you know where your going to set up your new theater, the next is to figure out is: What is your budget.  There are two options with the money.  The first is to have a large sum and go out and get it all at once.  This will require saving money int the bottom of your golf bag to make sure the wife doesn't spend it on shoes or some other pointless thing.  For decent equipment you will need about $5,000.  This is a great feeling and can be a good start to building your ultimate theater.  But if your like me and bills eat your pay check faster than crack head smokes a bag than this is another option.  Build your speaker system piece by piece.  Take a look at what you have and as you get the money start replacing and adding pieces.  If you already have a TV or one that is good enough you might want to get a receiver rather than upgrade the TV.  As TVs go, buying a new TV is best around March when you can pick up last years model at abut 1/2 of the new style.  Also this gives you the opportunity to score big in pawn shops, clearance sells and other deals that come around randomly.  The key to this is to sock the money away and have a small reserve when you run across a deal to good to be true.  For example this happened to me.  Walking through a big brand store I was able to pick up a Klipse 10" sub for my living room for 60% off.  For $200 I was able to get something that makes my house rattle.  Also by looking constantly for these pieces you teach yourself the prices and products that are out there and worth owning.

  The last piece is your homework with patience.  Do your homework.  This is such an important aspect of buying these products that you can save thousands of dollars if you do the research.  My first big TV I paid an extra $1500 for because I didn't know what I was doing.  Because I got caught in the beautiful picture and size I got suckered.  Don't let this happen to you.  Make sure you look at what's out there and wait for the right moment to go out there to fulfill your dreams.  When you do your research your realize that what one store sells you is a whole lot less somewhere else.  For instance:   you can get cords for about 1/2 price on-line and the big wear house stores sell wall mounts hundreds of dollars cheaper than electronic stores.  The store you buy your electronics isn't the same place you buy the tools to put them together.  Those stores can tack on a few hundred dollars of shit you don't need and find somewhere else cheaper. 

  The key to the right system is the right receiver.  the receiver is the heart and soul of your theater and can be the greatest or worse product you buy.  Buying the right receiver and will most likely be the hardest decision to make.  I personally find pioneer a very solid product that is well priced.  Pioneer is by no way the top of the line.  Its the Cadillac of receivers as the best way to think about.  Solid and stylish with all the same features at half the price.  Everyone has the brand they prefer its a personal thing.  If your a builder like me you know in the future you will want this and that to add to your collection.  If this is the case then you want to make sure you have extra ports for HDMI and Digital Optics for these pieces.  Something else to consider is the 5.1 and 7.1 speaker set ups.

  For those that don't know the .1 is your sub woofer.  Personally I'm running a .2 in my living room because I can.  The other numbers represent the number of speakers.  2 Front, 2 rear, center speaker and a sub woofer make a 5.1 if you had 2 mid range than you have a 7.1.  The thing to recognize with this is that unless you only watch blue Ray having a 5.1 is more than efficient.  As TV shows run 2.0 because there are only 2 speakers on it, plus if your movie collection is mainly DVD's they don't get higher than 5.1.  By eliminating two speaker outputs on your receiver you can save yourself some money.

  Finally you are ready to put everything together.  This is another decision you need to make.  How comfortable are you in installing everything.  For me I love putting it together, cutting the speaker wire and figuring out the puzzle of how I want to set everything up.  But I want that control over my system.  Other people are happy to let someone else come in and do it for them.  This isn't a bad idea if your planning on some seious installs such as in-wall speakers and in wall wire runs.  Everything else can be done at home if you have the confidence and the basic knowledge of how to plug things in. 

Brought to you by RudestDad

Reconnecting with your Partner

Life is the biggest fucker out there.  It will piss on you when your down and kick you in the balls when your standing.  It will tear apart your marriage and everything you have.  What we don't realize as we are busy trying to make ends meet in the race of buying shit we don't need is that in any marriage the most important aspect is you and your partner.  If you and your partner are not happy then everything else is fucked.  As parents we are the number 1 role model, having the most influence in our children's lives.  If mom and dad suck at being man and wife then how are they going to be when they grow up.  Remember that life will attempt to get in your way so you have reconnect with your partner when you realize you have drifted apart.  Think of a marriage as two planets that are in geosynchronous orbit with each other.  Without proper maintenance this orbit gets F.U.B.A.R..  When things get F.U.B.A.R.ed bad shit happens.  

  Sex is the number 1 reason your marriage is out of sync.  Sex is the foundation of all marriages in this day and age.  Where people think getting married is the equivalent of "going steady".  Shake that up with long hours at work, kids, bills, debt and a whole bunch of other shit you wind up with a lot of exhausted nights wondering how your going to get through the next day.  Sex is the answer!  It's the number one indicator if your marriage is going down the crapper and it's time to reconnect.  

  But there is never enough time.  Bullshit!  That is an excuse there is always time.  I'm not attracted to my partner.  Well that sucks, might be why your not getting any.  We don't have anything in common anymore.  We don't, We don't We don't... are all excuses as to why your not bumping uglies, screaming "oh, God, Ala, Jehovah, Buddha, etc" or "YES! Oh Yes!"  We live in an "I can't" society, no longer a "We Can" America.  Everyday there are opportunities to do the nasty.  The problem is will she let you?

  So you have all these excuses, yet you don't want your marriage to end.  Well the biggest thing you have to do is reconnect with your partner.  This is a big concept with a great deal of many small parts.  This requires work and effort on your part.  But will result in a great deal of sex if your not a prick. 

  Number one reason sex is taken off the table by women is because they expect things you don't give them anymore.  Most women have told you in their top secret language we have no fucking clue how to read.  And because we haven't decoded their wants: Guess what, "NO MORE DOING THE NASTY".  Which causes the spiral of a loveless marriage ending with the divorce after all the kids leave.  Is it our fault we don't know the language of crazy?  That's debatable.  What isn't is taking our partners for granted, not doing anything nice for them.  Yes, we got married, they won and wenare now whipped.  We fight against this caging by not doing the things we are told to by our jailers.  We wait to be nagged and nagged before theyir throwing things.   Well our defiance to our imprisonment is us rallying against authority, attempting to get our way without having to do anything.  Men I learned this is just a slow way in killing ourselves.  I find that doing what is necessary without being told gives me a lot less bitching and a lot more sexy presents.  I'm well trained but I'm also well rewarded. 

  Reconnecting means doing things you don't have to, without the expectation of something in return.  "What the hell?".  Remember the end goal, Porn Sex.  Just because you took the trash out last week without being told doesn't mean your going to get a reward.  Women don't understand that if they want us to do things we need positive reinforcement.  We have to train them to do this.  And taking out the trash regularly doesn't deserve a treat in their irrational world.  For a reward it means you do all your chores without being told, and do the ones she hates the most for at least a month.  Once this month is over you can't drop her chores like a bad habit you have to drop one a week or so so it's not obvious.  We don't want her expecting you took over her chores.  Women have a problem with selective memory disease.  They only remember the shit you did bad, because you don't do enough good to counteract the bad.  Why give them a reason to talk shit.  This is the first small step in reconnecting.  The trick is to balance it without overdoing it.  If you do something long enough women come to expect it.  And as Chris Rock said, women do not go backwards.  Take the kids once a month on an all day trip, leaving a note and a flower to relax and take the day to do nothing (This takes some skill as you have to get everything prepped before you leave and with young kids this is a hurricane rapped in a tornado.)  Doing these small things similar to this randomly sets the tone letting your partner know you want to get rid of the kids for a weekend.  But it also signals to a woman that you care and you appreciate them (I don't know why but that's what it means).  Which wants to spend the weekend with you.   

  When this weekend happens don't make it about sex.  Make it about you and your partner.  Making it about "having" a good time implies sex later.  But you aren't home free and you have to continue to set the tone.  Remember your training her to reward you with all your hard work.  Don't screw it up. 

  Make sure the week before your weekend: talk/text, clearly telling each other what you want out of the weekend.  If you say naked porn action right off the bat your fucked and I can't help you because your a dumb ass.  Make sure you include a TV series you both can tolerate or movies.  Things that keep you at home or in a hotel room.  Having a weekend without kids, means you need to decompress.  If your still like to go out drinking make sure this option is put in on your recovery day.  Your partner wants to spend time with you.  Having hours of TV gives them that and you don't even have to talk.  Having a weekend on the couch catching up on Game of Thrones or Mike and Molly with a few glasses of wine/bear/liquor gives you better odds of some naked time.

  Make sure a dinner is in there as well.    For some reason women have this notion they have to be wine and dinned.  So to reconnect we have to do this.  Now it doesn't have to be a flashy, break the bank kinda thing.  Your trip can be to the grocery store for dinner ingredients, the redbox for movies.  The key is to sleep in and spend all your time together.  If your relationship is on tenuous ground, most of the time you will have to talk about things that are not personal.  Politics, food, What would be a cool place to visit, etc.  This is a reconnection not an inquisition unless you want a full out should we stay together weekend.  For most of us life just got in the way and we forgot about keeping each other in orbit.

  Now that you have your weekend and life comes back to invade your world you still need to do the things you did before to keep that reconnection alive and healthy.  Which means buying a bunch of roses randomly every few months to say I love you.  Doing your chores without being told (this will be the hardest but is also the most important).  Remember begging for sex is beneath us.  Our partners should want to fornicate with us and by doing the small things right without fuss we train them to give us what we want: SEX.

  Remember this if nothing else: Women gauge a man's love for them by what is done for them.  Men gauge a woman's love for them by how much dirty sex they get. 

-Brought to you by RudestDad

Is America Stupid?

  If you get all your information on things from FOX News or CNN than you are not informed.  You are being bias.  If your bias and don't read all the information except what you are given, then you are STUPID.  When's the last time you made a decision that wasn't influenced by a 30 second spot on TV, an ad in a magazine or a blurb on the radio?  When is the last time you read the research behind the information you are given?  Just because you believe something to be true, DOES NOT MAKE IT TRUE!

  Truth is a subjective matter in America as we learned in Return of the Jedi.  Perspective on our issues is an easier thing said than done because we are kept so busy with work, kids, errands, wife, in-laws, sports, etc.  We seek something that is in-line with our values, the things we have been raised to believe.  When is the last time you asked questions on the most important choices in your life?  When's the last time you questioned the choices you make every day?  How do you relate to the world around you?  How educated are you, not how educated you think you are? When is the last time you tried everything first before making a decision instead of swallowing what you where raised or told to believe?  In a world where more information is accessible than ever before we are more susceptible in ignoring the truth. 

  As a parent making a decision in how I raise my child is not something I take likely.  I have an end goal in how my child will turn out.  Not only do I want my child capable of being successful, I want them to have a good foundation in how to decipher, process and make a decision that will be beneficial to them and those in their life.  But without a foundation in knowledge how can I expect my kid to be able to be successful.  If I don't demonstrate a positive role model, how can I expect my kid to be better than me. The days of having a 6th grade education in America is over.  Without the letters behind your name you can't even be considered for a job regardless of your experience and ability.  The last economic crash has facilitated this understanding.  Denying this basic fact only shows your ignorance of America.  Making sure your child has those letters is an important part of being a parent. 

  With the new presidential debate coming this November we are going to have to make an educated decision based on facts.  But we must do so based on an education of who these two men are and what they really stand for.  The choices we make will not only effect our country in a pivotal point in our economy but throughout the world as we have been at war for over 10 years and could continue for generations with the next election.  This election will set the tone for our children as the way our children are educated will be a hot topic in the coming years with the "No Child Left Behind Act" coming into play.

  This being said:  Is America Stupid?  Look at our country as a whole, what drives you to buy the biggest TV on the block and the newest gadget, the newest trend, or the tons of other worthless shit we don't need.  I know I'm doing the same as you.  I buy the shit I don't need everyday and scold myself for doing that.  My kids got more toys than the 3rd world country and yet when his birthday comes I add to the collection.  Does this make me stupid.  Well if I choose a pile of crap rather than putting my money away into saving so one day I may retire.  Yes that makes me Stupid.  Am I always an idiot?  I try not to be, but sometimes I need to buy myself something to make me feel better.  But God Dammit, its the American Way to buy, to make ourselves feel better through spending.  This thinking is a LIE, I am STUPID because I believe this!

  The American Way is not to buy and spend until we are broke and borrowing money from people who charge 30% interest.  When did the mob infiltrate corporate America?  When did I realize I was an addict to the corporate tit?  (But titties are so nice.  Especially the big ones that have all the right stuff.)  That's not America.  America is about earning what we have, socking money away so we can retire and enjoy our grandchildren.  America over the last 20 years has moved from a Country of hardworking rugged men to a pile of stupid people subservient to metro-sexual bullshit.  Men don't Shop.  Men build things, move things and drink beer afterwards as we talk about what a great job we did.  We know when we are being cheated and stand tall against ignorance, haters and liars.

  Until we reclaim America's true values of earning rather than taking.  Building instead of destroying.  Educated rather than ignorant.  Galvanizing Creativity rather than dampening imagination.   America will remain Stupid until we embrace the values we lost somewhere along the way.