The Lex Files

Merry 2007

It’s been a good year for the Friedman family.

We sold a condo and bought a house. We moved from the west coast to the east coast. We made, and later had, a baby. Lauren and I have each changed job titles… twice. I won a $5,000 video contest and scored a free TiVo, and free baby clothes from TiVo to boot.

2006 has been one hell of a year. And with our family of 2 + dog becoming a family of 3 + dog, and my work being more promising/engaging/rewarding than ever, and our home becoming ever-homier — I think 2007 is poised to dethrone ‘06 as the best year ever.

We’ll see.

What’s a TiVo: What’s the aftermath?

The kindly folks at TiVo really seemed to appreciate my What’s a TiVo? music video.

First, they blogged about it. Twice.

Then, they (with my permission, of all things!) played the video at a board of directors meeting.

Next, they sent us some presents. Including this pouch:

… inside of which was this adorable TiVo hat, bib, and booties:

Oh, and they also sent us a brand two, dual-tuner Series 2 TiVo. With a lifetime subscription.

“What’s a TiVo” is the song that keeps on singing.

Thanks, TiVo!

“What’s a TiVo” has a life of its own!

Now it’s on the TiVoBlog, in addition to the official TiVo Blog (twice!).

Okay, so I did some shameless self-promotion. Sue me!

“Hide and Seek” is a pretty good movie

Lauren and I have been enlisting the help of our friend TiVo, who has happily obliged. Our friend TiVo has been recording every single movie we ask him to off all the premium channels we receive. One film we watched recently was endorsement-worthy: “Hide and Seek.” It stars Robert DeNiro and Dakota Fanning, and is highly recommended.

Enjoy!

More on Lex, TiVo, the $5,000, and my baby on the way

Listen.

As I’ve mentioned repeatedly in recent days on this blog, I made a video for a website contest. I won a couple hundred bucks. I’m now a finalist in the contest to win $5,000, voted on by users.

One of the other four finalists is a guy I’m friends with who’s back in LA. I’d love to have had more time to hang out with this guy; he’s a good, smart, fun one to be around, and I wish him all the best. Of course, his movie that he’s a finalist with he didn’t make himself — he just linked off to it. And that’s allowed — but it’s certainly less effort than the hours I spent writing and recording the TiVo song.

He’s come up with a clever way to get people to vote for him. He asked people to “digg” his story (submit it to the social news filtering site digg), and in exchange, he’ll give $100 each to 10 diggers.

That’s noble.

So here’s my spin on his brilliant plan. If you and at least 29 other people digg MY blog’s plea for users to vote and I do win, I’ll donate $500 to a charity suggested by one of the diggers. That’s less money than my friend is giving away total, but it’s a more meaningful sum for a more meaningful purpose than the $100 piecemeal gifts. And frankly, I have a baby on the way, where my friend doesn’t.

So, to help me out:

1. Vote for my TiVo video at Answerbag
2. Digg this post
3. Tell your friends to do the same.

Cheers — and thank you!

I LOVE TiVo!

I forwarded my music video about TiVo to TiVo… (That would be the same TiVo video that’s up for a chance to win $5000 from Answerbag, if only the users of the Internet would go vote for it now.

Hi there, Lex. You will be pleased to know that you are the 3rd person to forward this to me. 2 other people inside TiVo had already sent it to me suggesting I blog about it. But I just watched it and did actually L-O-L. I’ll see what I can do about getting the word out. And best of luck to you in the $5000 contest! ~Nova P.s. I’m writing a blog about you now.

Update: Here’s the TiVo Blog story about the video!

Combining several of my favorite things at once: The Internet, TiVo, and the chance for me to win $5000. Good times.

HELP LEX WIN $5000!

So, my “What’s a TiVo” music video has been named as a finalist to win $5000 in the Answerbag.com contest.

Please, take the time to register for Answerbag.com and vote for the best video of the five contenders. If you don’t think it’s mine, that’s a-okay. I believe I am either the only submitter or one of only two submitters to create my own video, but don’t let that sway you.

Nor should you let your love for me sway you.

Just vote. This is way more important than a presidential election.

As electronics continue to change, such as how televisions are changing into plasma and LCD TVs being around, shopping online can help. This is because by shopping for electronics on the web you can more easily find reviews on televisions and other items.

Another $250 from Answerbag…

… this time, for the TiVo video.

The $5000 prize nominees are announced tomorrow…

What’s a TiVo?

Another fine music video by Lex Friedman, this one answering the question: “What’s a TiVo?” And, for the first time, the camera ventures OUT OF MY OFFICE!

Wow.

Series finales and the passage of time

Tonight, both “The West Wing” and “Malcolm in the Middle” air their series finales. The press has had fun pointing out that Bradley Whitford and his lovely bride Jane Kaczmarek star on those respective shows, and that their finales air opposite each other. In my two-TiVo household, that’s a non-issue.

What is an issue is that every time I watch a series finale, I feel some degree of melancholy. It’s usually not sadness about the show’s conclusion — series end, and I understand that. I could keep watching the Santos administration (though not Malcolm and his family; I agree with FOX that it’s time for them to call it a day), but I’m not broken up that the show is over.

For some reason, though, series finales always remind me that I’m aging. “I was only x-years-old when the show started, and now I’m in this totally different life stage.”

Consider this: “The West Wing” pilot aired during my freshman year at Brandeis, before I began dating Lauren. “Malcolm” began a few months later, 10 months before my first date with Lauren.

Now, we’re married, sold our condo here in LA, are moving to an as-yet-unpurchased home in New Jersey, and are expecting our first child in October. And Jed Bartlett is retiring.

Crazy.

As the They Might Be Giants classic song “Older” sings:

You’re older than you’ve ever been, And now you’re even older And now you’re even older And now you’re even older You’re older than you’ve ever been, And now you’re even older And now you’re older still. Time… Is marching on! And time… Is still marching on! You’re older than you’ve ever been, And now you’re even older And now you’re even older And now you’re even older You’re older than you’ve ever been, And now you’re even older… And now you’re older still.