‘Cause it’s feeling a lot like Christmas around here. Or at least Black Friday. With Wal-Mart’s deal on HD DVD players ($99 – if you’re reading this and you haven’t bought one, don’t bother trying – they’re sold out) it’s been a little like an Audioholics feeding frenzy. The Montessori school I send my kids to was off today (teacher planning or something – which is complete BS but that’s another rant) so I had the kids this morning. Being the pseudo good father I am, I take them to the zoo (the “good” comes from taking them to the zoo, the “pseudo” comes from dressing them in shorts and t-shirts when it ended up being pretty cold). While I’m on the playground, watching them imitate the monkeys, I get a call from J.

“Do you want me to pick you up an HD DVD player?”

“Um… what?”

“They’re on sale for $99. You want one?”

“Um… what?”

“I already got one for me and one for Clint. I’m calling Gene next to see if he wants one.”

“Um… what?”

“OK, well, think about it and call me back.”

“Um… what?”

So, I spend the next few minutes letting that whole thing set in. Honestly, I wouldn’t mind having one but at the time I didn’t know how to react. $100 is a great price for a DVD player (much less an HD DVD player) but J had that “Oh my GAD! This deal is so good I don’t care how crappy the player is” sound to his voice. We just had a review done on Audioholics on the player but I couldn’t really remember it plus Jim wrote it and we all know how I feel about that Tom impersonator. So I put it out of my mind…

Or so I thought. By the time I was driving home, I was stopping by Wal-Mart to pick up my very own HD DVD player. I had caught whatever it was that J was infected with (don’t worry, I don’t feel the need to buy an iPod or iPhone or sacrifice an iVirgin at the iFeet of iSteve Jobs). Of course, both the kids fall asleep in the car on the way home. And if I’ve learned one thing in the last 4 years, it is that when your 19 month old falls asleep, you don’t wake him up for anything. Sure, you’ll have a shiny new HD DVD player, but your wife will break it over your head when your son pulls an exorcist because he didn’t get a long enough nap.

Take them all home, put them to bed, make lunch, and take a delivery (UPS guy actually talked to me this time). Finally, the kids are up so I pack them in the car and speed off to Wal-Mart. Short version – sold out. Long version – sold out HOURS and HOURS ago. So long ago that the clerk looks at me like I just stepped off a UFO. “HD DVD players? In this store. No sir… sorry. Are you feeling all right because you’re wearing an Audioholics shirt and yet you weren’t here at 6am like all the other HT freaks.”

Oh well, so I head home to call every Wal-Mart in the area. Nothing. Either they sold out or they are so far in the middle of nowhere that they don’t stock them. Resigned that it was not meant to be, I finally check my Skype. Message from Clint: You have an HD DVD player right?

Response: Nope. Tried to find one today but all sold out.

Clint: Well, don’t worry, I picked up an extra one for you.

And so begins the online saga of Audioholics and AVRant being HD DVD biased. Is it because HD DVD is funneling us money? Is it because we have a vested interest in seeing Sony fall? (maybe not vested but it would certainly be cathartic – especially if they hit Apple on the way down and took them out as well) No. Simple economics. We will now all have players because we all bought players because they are finally affordable.

Now that’s a crazy idea. And affordable player. Who would’ve thunk it?

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