I think I want a big HD TV. Yes, I know I said I had a 72” plasma in my previous post, but you should know by now that most of what I write is bullshit.

I blame this recent urge on the new paint. After six years, our home is finally beginning to feel finished, and I can’t help but think a nice flat screen mounted on the wall would work well with the overall aesthetic we’re going for (cross between a Four Seasons hotel room and a daycare).

I’ve even picked out the TV I want. It’s a Samsung 40” LCD, 1080p, with a contrast ratio of 20,000:1 and 3 HDMI inputs. I haven’t seen it in person, and I don’t actually know the difference between 720p and 1080p or what contrast ratio is all about, but it looks real nice in the Best Buy flyer.

Getting an HD TV is a slippery slope, though. First you buy a TV. Then you need to mount it on something. Then you need an HD box, and a monthly HD subscription. Add in Apple TV to stream downloaded programs, photos, and music. Don’t forget the Blu Ray disc player and the fancy new cables. Throw in a Nintendo Wii to use with the old TV that will now reside in the den, plus Guitar Hero 3 and Wii Fit, and suddenly I’ve got more debt than Merrill Lynch (insert laugh track here).

I worry that having an HD TV would actually make my life worse, not better. I should be trying to watch less TV, not more. If we have HD, I can just see myself sitting on the couch every night, pointing out the now-obvious imperfections on Teri Hatcher’s weathered visage.

So, despite the relentless advertising and words of encouragement from my friends, I’m going to resist the temptation, at least for now. Now if I can just resist the urge to buy a new 24” 3.06 GHz iMac, everything will be O.K.

Right now, millions of people are stressed out over the fragile state of the economy. The financial services industry is in crisis, stocks are crashing, and people are watching thousands of dollars disappear from their retirement savings.

It’s moments like this that I’m reminded of how great it feels not to have any RRSPs.

The so-called financial experts like to put the fear of God into you that unless you put a bit of money away every month, you’ll be destitute when retirement comes along. They preach about the value of long-term investing and the magic of compound interest, but they don’t tell you about the catastrophic market forces that will leave you depressed and destitute.

That’s why I say saving is for losers. All it causes is pain and misery. I would much rather have my 72” plasma TV, several Armani suits, the Patek Phillipe timepieces, my vintage comic book collection, and Sens season tickets than stash my hard-earned money away for a few decades. My TV is worth just as much today as it was last month, while your RRSP has declined about 12%. Who’s stupid now, Mr. Responsible?

So, what’s my retirement plan? That’s easy – the government and my kids.

I’m pretty confident that communism is going to win out in the end, and our beloved dictator will ensure a minimum standard of living for all of his comrades. If, for some reason, democracy prevails and the government isn’t forthcoming with a comprehensive social safety net, then I’m pretty sure one of my two boys will take care of me. I’ve already started dropping hints that I’m going to be looking for some quid pro quo down the line, and I’ve got 22 more years to play on their feelings of responsibility and guilt.

After six years in our little home, B and I are finally getting some new paint on the walls. It’s amazing that we’ve managed to last over 2,000 days staring at the original builder’s paint, Crisp Linen (or as I call it, beige). It’s a dreadful non-colour that serves as a blank canvas for an amazing assortment of children’s fingerprints, shoe scuffs, and crayon doodles.

The boys were really excited when Bob the Painter rang our doorbell at 8:00 this morning. A ran downstairs in his Bob the Builder hardhat and launched into the following conversation:

“Bob, I have a suggestion. Could you paint the sun and a blue sky and some white fluffy clouds on the wall? And some hot air balloons and a rainbow. And could you paint a picture of my house, and Cody’s house, and Freddy’s house? And maybe you could add some windows so it looks like we can see outside.”

As much as it would have been totally awesome to have such a vivid mural in our living room, we explained that such an elaborate project is probably beyond Bob’s current comfort zone and our budget. It’s not fun to dash your son’s hopes and dreams that early on a rainy Monday morning.

It will be interesting to see how our colour selection turns out. We had originally looked at a red accent wall that would have run the entire length of the house, but I chickened out. Instead, we’re going with a combination of Elk Horn (greeny-brown) and Pensieve (tan). I know, I know, it’s boring, but I want to make sure the walls don’t draw attention away from our extensive collection of 19th century French impressionists.

Today’s a big day.  At 11:00 this morning, we’re holding an event at the Roundhouse in Vancouver to officially launch BC Scene, the multi-disciplinary arts festival that I’ve been working on for the past year.  While the Ottawa launch won’t happen until February, this is our chance to give people in British Columbia a preview of the festival’s line-up.  In all, we’ll probably announce about half of the programming in theatre, music, dance, visual and media arts, and literature.

The launch also coincides with the unveiling of our new festival website.  I think it looks great, and I encourage you to check it out later today at www.bcscene.ca (or www.scenecb.ca for all my Francophone readers).  It’s still a work in progress – there are a few features that will be added over the next few months – but overall I think it’s a very clean-looking, well-designed site.

On the site, you’ll also find our BC Scene promo video.  It was created by a Vancouver film company, and I think it really captures the energy and diversity of the province’s arts community.  It also has a pretty catchy soundtrack…

If you haven’t made plans for April 21 to May 3, 2009 yet, you should definitely come to Ottawa to check out the festival.  I have a spare couch you can crash on, and I’m pretty sure I can set you up with some tickets.