Actually had this dream on 10/12/2021, but it’s just been sitting in my drafts folder and I forgot about it till now.
A new Star Wars movie came out. It was the last in a trilogy, I think it was Episode IX? And it almost had the plot of the prequel trilogy, where Padmé and Anakin were gearing up for their wedding. But a time traveler from the future had traveled to Anakin’s past to undo his birth (most likely to prevent Darth Vader from happening). Padmé had no idea why they were doing this, and followed them back in time to undo the damage the other person caused, which involved going to Asgard (yes, THAT Asgard), cuz…yeah.
Picnic dress
After the climax, there was a quiet post-battle scene with just Padmé sitting on the edge of the Bifrost just outside the city, in her wedding dress (which was just the “picnic dress” she wore in Ep. II). Before she was about to head back home, she was asked to do another job, which was to be a caterer at a wedding (not hers, since she’s still in the past and this was before her and Anakin even met).
Back to the Future
When she returned to the present just in time for her wedding, she forgot to change her outfit, so she was still wearing her chef’s outfit (the same chef’s outfit from Animal Crossing). There was no time to change, because the ceremony was just about to start, and it worked out, because Anakin was also wearing the same chef’s outfit for some reason, but with pants. Something funny happened, but I didn’t see it because I was on my phone and was completely turned away from the screen (and I thought, uhhh, well I guess I’ll watch it again when it comes out on DVD).
Post-Credits Scene in Star Wars????
There was a post-credits scene in a present day kitchen on Earth during the evening, where someone—I think Nick Fury got into a fight with an unnamed person. The fight ended when Fury pressed the open button on the microwave, and KO’d the other guy–since his head was in the way. Fury took a mug of warm milk from the microwave and drank it. And I had a hard time watching this scene because I was too tired, and decided to watch it when it comes out on DVD.
Then I had the thought, WAIT if they actually included a post credits scene, does this mean they’re bringing Star Wars to the MCU?? (And not because, you know, Padmé—not Jane actually went to freaking Asgard. Or the fact that said post-credits scene featured a prominent character from the MCU.)
(And also I thought “wait, did I just get out my phone in a movie theater while the movie was playing?” and was disturbed).
Anyway! Here’s what Japanese folks have for a #VeryAsian New Years breakfast. 😏
(Disclaimer: I only know this from what we have on New Years ourselves as a 3rd-4th generation family. Had to go to Wikipedia for some info, so it might not reflect 100% what they actually have overseas.)
Ozoni, featuring (can vary from region to region in Japan, according to Wikipedia) mochi, spinach, daikon, nori, and would usually have a couple of slices of fish (if non-vegan/vegetarian). Usually, my relatives have it with fish stock but in my case, made from kombu (edible kelp—cuz vegan).
Using this HDMI monitor. I think this setup will work with any monitor.
HDMI switcher plugged into one of the inputs with these two HDMI devices:
Nintendo Switch
Roku Streaming Stick 4K (with simple remote)
There are two HDMI inputs on this monitor, and this monitor does not support CEC apparently, so changing inputs has to be done manually with the hardware toggle. Accessing the menu for this is a pain in the bum. You have to press on the toggle and wait for the circular menu to show up, so you can navigate to the input menu. I have a tendency to accidentally trigger the volume level, by navigating with the toggle instead of pressing on it and got really annoying. So HDMI switcher it is!
Display
Monitor stays in sleep mode 24/7.
Roku
This monitor does not seem to have any sort of CEC support, so instead of having it act like a TV, this is how I turn the player on and off:
“Turn on” by bringing it out of sleep mode (press the OK button on the remote’s “D-pad”)
“Turn off” by letting it go into sleep mode (I think the timer is set to 20 minutes. Not sure if it’s possible to change this)
The power button doesn’t do anything in this case, FYI.
HDMI input needs to be changed manually without CEC support.
Nintendo Switch
Using the Switch with a monitor is nothing new to me. When you’re not using it, you can just put it in sleep mode and wake it up with the joycons/Pro controller (just as if it were connected to a TV).
Volume
Using the monitor’s built-in speakers, so to adjust the volume or mute/unmute, I use the hardware toggle on the monitor. Whatever TVs have that let HDMI devices control the volume is non-existent in monitors, even ones with built-in speakers (since I’m assuming the manufacturers intended for people to use with a computer, which already their own volume control). And computer monitors almost never come with remotes of their own, sooo…
Roku
You can try to set this up in Settings > Remotes & devices > Remotes and select your remote, then go to Set up remote for TV control. The player will start playing music and if you’re lucky, one of the TV codes will turn the music off. For me, it went through all 7, without any luck. The only thing I could think of is the streaming stick was plugged in behind the monitor and the instructions say to make sure it’s not plugged in behind the display??? (I think this is exactly what it was made for?) But plugging in the HDMI switcher in the front also didn’t do anything either.
Sooo, I just got a 4K monitor to use as a dedicated display for my Nintendo Switch. Previously I had the console plugged into an HDMI switch, which also connected my laptop and Windows desktop to the same monitor.
The display situation worked great for lazy people, but in order to have audio come from the Switch, I needed to manually plug speakers into the audio port (because, noooo my monitor does not have speakers. I get this question a lot for some reason). I have a Y-adapter that splits the audio cable between my desktop and laptop. And in order for my Switch to have sound, I would unplug the laptop audio cable into the Switch. And because the cable wasn’t long enough, I had to move the Switch dock onto the space where my desktop mouse lives. And would have to move it aside when I needed to use my desktop. So I decided it was time for an upgrade.
This was the monitor I ended up getting. It supports up to 4K, and ironically the Switch doesn’t do 4K. 😀 But it’s working great so far! I finally get to have a “TV” in my room!
Why a monitor and not a TV?
I chose a monitor instead of a TV, because well…I don’t have a lot of space. And the only decent TVs I could find where the giant 55in displays. The space I had planned only had room for 32in.
Also, I learned that there are no “dumb TVs” anymore. All TVs made these days come with its own built-in OS and media player. I never use the built-in media player on my parents’ smart TV because quite frankly, it sucks really bad. The Crunchyroll app is pretty garbage (to be fair, the Crunchyroll app on PS4 is also garbage). And the general consensus is to never use the built-in media player on smart TVs, because eventually the hardware will show its age and no longer be able to support the newer OS versions. And then what? Get rid of the entire TV for a new one because it can’t run the latest OS? It’s easier and cheaper to just upgrade your Fire TV or Chromecast than the whole TV. So why have something installed if I’m never going to use it?
And then came the Roku
And then I decided “I wonder if I could make it more TV-like. 🤔” I settled on Roku players, because:
They’re pretty mobile OS agnostic, but support iDevices pretty darn well.
I have a laptop made by Apple, a phone made by Apple and 2 tablets made by Apple. Music streaming service is also from Apple, so I think it’s not a bad idea to have a little brand name variety. (Smart speakers aren’t made by Apple btw, but had to feed money to Bezos to get them. But they work well with Rokus 👍).
I went with the Streaming Stick 4K. The monitor I just bought has 2 HDMI ports, which is great because I put my spare HDMI switch down somewhere and it disappeared. D: And here is where the fun starts.
Things I learned
When I first tried turning off the streaming stick with the remote, it said something about enabling CEC on the “TV” with instructions to go to a help article on their site. (So when powered off, the TV would also turn off along with the Roku. And if you turned on the Roku, the HDMI input would automatically change over to the port the Roku was plugged into.) So this was enabled by going into the TV settings (in the TV’s OS). I thought I would find this under the monitor settings, but no dice.
And also, it wanted me to turn on ARC, which lets the player control the speakers. But uhhh….yeah, found no such thing. So, the sound comes through the speakers quite well. I just can’t control the volume with the remote. I have to adjust it with the monitor’s built-in toggle. (Luckily, I’m sitting right in front of it whenever I use it, because bed is too faraway, so reaching over to adjust it isn’t the worst.)
Because there is no CEC support, I can’t actually turn off the Roku. I found that I can just let it go to sleep. Eventually, the monitor goes to sleep as well and when I want to watch something, I just need to press the OK button (right in the middle of the D-pad on the remote) to wake it up. The power button will just be ignored.
You know, most modern game consoles have media players built right in?
The only game console I have is the Switch (and before that, I was 100% a PC gamer). And it’s like I can find a PS5 or XBOX Series S/X right now. :/
TL;DR
So yes, this is possible. But here are some things to think about first:
If you want sound, either:
find a monitor with built-in speakers (with fancy ARC support, if you want to control the volume through your HDMI device)
get an audio extractor, which is like a splitter but for HDMI and audio ports, and then plug the speakers of your choice into the audio ports
If you want your media player to control HDMI on your monitor, look for a monitor with CEC support. Apparently, they exist(ed–post was 3 years ago, so dunno if they still do). Otherwise, when you’re not using the media player, let it (and the monitor go to sleep) and when you want to use it, press OK on the remote. If you want it to turn off right away (because let’s say, the monitor is in your room and you want to sleep without this bright-ass display glaring at you for ~10 minutes), you can just physically turn off the monitor itself.
(Sidenote: A lot of HDMI monitors support DDC/CI as an alternative. It’s what makes the monitor plug and play, instead of the user having to install drivers. The monitor supports it, but apparently neither the Nintendo Switch nor Roku devices know what to do with it.)
[EDIT: 2021/11/27] Updated to mention that fancy ARC support (or whatever it’s called) is needed if you want to control the volume with your HDMI device (Switch or media player). Barebones ARC support is what lets HDMI send audio signals to the display. (source: Wikipedia)
