As many know i'm a bit of a video-aholic. I wouldn't say videophile, because honestly i don't care whether i have 5.1 or 7.2 surround sound, but i definitely get a kick out of my electronic toys. And i therefore know a thing or two about setting these things up. In installing our new DVD home theater system, i found the new DVD unit/receiver was a bit too long to fit in our entertainment center. It went in ok, but didn't allow the rearmost sliding door to close. After reviewing my options, i decided to get some right angle RCA adapters to minimize the amount of space needed to connect the AV cables in the back. I went to Radio Shack and found some gold-plated ones for $3 apiece, and got 5 to handle the audio and component video connections. I go to pay, and the clerk looks at me and launches into this speech about how i shouldn't use these for video. I've been through this before with other electronics store workers giving me the spiel about how i should spend $100 on top-of-the-line cabling, so i said i knew. He asked me if i was using them for video, so i said no. He asked me if i was just using them for phono connections, so i said yes. One word answers i find discourage further sales pitches. After this he tells me, "unlike other stores we know what we're talking about". So do i, buddy. You're trying to get me to spend 10 times more money on something that will not significantly improve the quality of my setup. That crap drives me nuts. Maybe i'm outdated, but i refuse to spend $100 on freakin' cables. Cables should come with the hardware for free. At any rate, i got my connectors and the DVD receiver now allows the entertainment center door to close. And the picture and audio quality are fine.

Veronica just informed me that hero Paul Weller is playing three nights in NYC and LA, making each night specific to the phases of his career (night 1, the Jam, night 2, Style Council, night 3, solo). I would kill to see Weller play an evening of Jam songs, so i began inspecting eBay for tickets to the LA shows. However it turns out the themed nights are for New York only. Dammit. *sigh*