Red envelope

Published 12:01 am Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Red envelope

Netflix on Tuesday announced that the base rate for both DVDs by mail and streaming video over the Web will soon rise from $10 to $16 a month.

If the price hike makes you want to parts ways with Netflix, there’s always Blockbuster … never mind. How about your old VCR and that cardboard box of VHS movies up in the attic?

Here’s a story: Sherwood Schwartz, creator of “Gilligan’s Island” and “The Brady Bunch,” has died at age 94.

At the pearly gates, Mr. Schwartz was informed that reruns of both shows can be seen every weekday afternoon on Afterlife Channel 17, and will continue to do so for eternity.

Bright lights: Conservative Republicans on Tuesday failed to garner enough votes in the House to throw out light bulb energy-efficiency standards that are nudging incandescent bulbs off store shelves in favor of fluorescent and LED units that consume much less electricity.

GOP congressional members affiliated with the Tea Party say that if the traditional light bulb was good enough for Thomas Edison and the other Founding Fathers, it’s good enough for Americans today.

— Mark Carlson, Herald staff