Roku?

Mrs. Frances used to come to my house every morning. She would talk to me through that little magic screen. Once she asked me to send her an ornament for her Christmas tree. I sent her one that Mama had made from a gum ball she had painted gold. We were too poor to buy her a real one. I was so sad and embarrassed. I thought I would never hear from her again.

She must have felt sorry for me. I was so happy when she sent me a thank you letter and an autographed picture of her. I lost it when we moved. I think Mama must have forgotten to take it out of the trash can. Gee whiz, gang, television sure has changed since then.

Please say you got it ...

Have you ever heard of a Roku Player?

A few years back, I subscribed to Netflix. Soon after Only Daughter and Third Favorite Child, who was living at home for a spell (too long), ordered one. She used it to stream Netflix's "watch instantly" movies from the Internet directly to her television.

I didn't pay that much attention to it because my good friends down at Cable One had me covered up with more quality entertainment choices than I could ever watch, with the exception of RFDTV (hint, hint).

Last year I was hot on the trail for a new cellphone. I began checking in daily with engadget.com, a highly respected web site that features up-to-the-minute updates on the latest and greatest tech offerings.

I began to notice more and more blurbs about Web TV. Apple and Logitech were making boxes similar to the one Only Daughter had -- the coming thing. I had to have one, even if the last thing I needed in this world was something else to make it easy for me to sit around on my hiney.

I researched them all and concluded that out of all the Web TV boxes on the market, Only Daughter had chosen the go-to brand. (that's my girl). CNET gave it four out of five stars over its closest rival, which got three. I decided on the ROKU XDS for $99, the top of the line, as I couldn't let her outshine me .

When I wrote my letter to Santa Claus last year, a ROKU XDS was at the top of the list. Thanks to three of Santa's best helpers, he didn't let me down.

If this has piqued your interest, visit roku.com and read about what it does and all the different models. I understand Walmart now stocks the XD model for $79.

The XDS model has a USB port that makes it possible to watch homemade camcorder movies, listen to MP3z and view digital pictures from a thumb drive right on the big screen -- very convenient. If you should decide to get one, take it from me: Go with the XDS, if for nothing else than having a quick tool to run company off with, with home movies from your last vacation.

Music man

As you'd expect, Netflix is the go-to channel; however, there are many more. They have video and audio channels that feature programming on everything from guns to Jesus.

I really like the music channels. I've connected it to my stereo. I can listen and play along with Lightnin', Muddy and Sam back to back, wide open ... so can my neighbors.

Anyways, check one out because when there's nothing on, it's always good to have -- one more thing around that nothing's on.

Oh, before I forget: The Almost Blind Rev. Loo E. Jaxon is getting the band, Rooster Hill, back together for a soon-to-be-announced Columbus Bluegrass Night Out once a month at a great restaurant tailor-made for pickin' and grinnin'. Stay tuned, and "Y'all Come!"