dragonmojo

The worst loneliness is not to be comfortable with yourself.

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Fall TV

New TV season is almost here, and now that I've gotten back from the gym, I'm on the couch with the TV playing in the background. I checked the online TV guide and see that the season may have already begun. "Bones" is on right now with Cyndi Lauper guest starring as a psychic. Next up is a new episode of "Supernatural".

Just ramblin', since nothing exciting has been happening lately.

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Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Woo Hoo for Hulu!

This website (www.hulu.com) hit the internet last summer and took off like gangbusters... or so I've heard. Alec Baldwin is the company's pitchman on TV, but I won't hold it against them. Now I can catch up on TV shows and movies that I missed, or when I'm waxing nostalgic. As long as my bandwidth keeps up, all is good in my neighborhood.

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Wednesday, January 07, 2009

What I Really Watch

Okay, here's an update to what I really watch when I am situated behind the boob toob (and when I find the time), as of the beginning of 2009:

(shows in syndication included)
24
Boston Legal
Chuck
Cold Case
Criminal Minds
Crusoe
CSI:Miami
CSI:NY
Family Guy
Heroes
House
Law & Order (and SVU)
Life
Smallville
SNL
Supernatural
Two and a Half Men
and our various local news stations.

My must-see choices at the moment are probably Chuck, Heroes, Life and Supernatural... subject to constant change. It's kinda sad to have such a large list on which to waste away the hours. As Jim Carrey pointed out in his role in "The Cable Guy", the TV is my babysitter.

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Sunday, September 28, 2008

KOVR 13 - Sacramento, CA

This is our local CBS affiliate TV station. Many of the shows I watch happen to be on the CBS network, so this gives me the opportunity to be a guinea pig for KOVR's efforts to get up-to-speed on their digital transmissions. Whether I like it or not.

I have been receiving over-the-air (OTA) digital TV transmissions since January 2007, and KOVR happens to be one of the last local stations to completely convert. Hey, the equipment is expensive, so I understand. However, all too often I have witnessed problems with the quality of the KOVR transmissions. I ended up watching another TV program (or shutting off the TV) many nights over this past week due to the signal breaking up... badly. Video and audio are affected. Worse yet, it sometimes locks up my digital receiver, causing fine (green) vertical stridations and a high-pitched whistle. Talk about one powerful feedback! And if it is difficult to believe that this can be caused by a transmitted signal, I had the same thing happen on a different brand of digital receiver.

I would really like to know if anyone else has experienced similar problems tuning in to KOVR, or if a forum exists which tracks this. If for no other reason but to have a bit of company for my misery.

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Tuesday, September 09, 2008

Fringe

A new SciFi spooky TV series premieres tonight (and it is playing as I type), with the opening scene aboard a jet airliner. The passengers are overcome by some strange affliction; the co-pilot looks into the cabin to see what's going on, and upon turning back toward the cockpit, we see his horrified face melting away. His mandible manages to drop off before the scene changes to a view of the jet flying through the clouds on auto-pilot.

Yup. His mandible. How cool is that?

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Saturday, August 23, 2008

Leno on Bush

I got the folowing in the email from a friend:


Subject: Jay Leno on President Bush (Surprising)

The other day I was reading Newsweek magazine and came across some Poll data I found rather hard to believe. It must be true given the source, right? The Newsweek poll alleges that 67 percent of Americans are unhappy with the direction the country is headed and 69 percent of the country is unhappy with the performance of the President. In essence 2/3 of the citizenry just ain't happy and wants a change. So being the knuckle dragger I am, I started thinking, "what are we so unhappy about?"

A. Is it that we have electricity and running water 24 hours a day, 7 Days a week?

B. Is our unhappiness the result of having air conditioning in the summer and heating in the winter?

C. Could it be that 95.4 percent of these unhappy folks have a job?

D. Maybe it is the ability to walk into a grocery store at any time and see more food in moments than Darfur has seen in the last year?

E. Maybe it is the ability to drive our cars and trucks from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean without having to present identification papers as we move through each state?

F. Or possibly the hundreds of clean and safe motels we would find along the way that can provide temporary shelter?

G. I guess having thousands of restaurants with varying cuisine from around the world is just not good enough either.

H. Or could it be that when we wreck our car, emergency workers show up and provide services to help all and even send a helicopter to take you to the hospital.

I. Perhaps you are one of the 70 percent of Americans who own a home.

J. You may be upset with knowing that in the unfortunate case of a fire, a group of trained firefighters will appear in moments and use top notch equipment to extinguish the flames, thus saving you, your family, and your belongings.

K. Or if, while at home watching one of your many flat screen TVs, a burglar or prowler intrudes, an officer equipped with a gun and a bullet-proof vest will come to defend you and your family against attack or loss.

L. This all in the backdrop of a neighborhood free of bombs or militias raping and pillaging the residents. Neighborhoods where 90% of teenagers own cell phones and computers.

M. How about the complete religious, social and political freedoms we enjoy that are the envy of everyone in the world?

Maybe that is what has 67% of you folks unhappy.

Fact is we are the largest group of ungrateful, spoiled brats the world has ever seen. No wonder the world loves the U.S. yet has a great disdain for its citizens. They see us for what we are. The most blessed people in the world who do nothing but complain about what we don't have, and what we hate about the country instead of thanking the good Lord we live here.

I know, I know. What about the president who took us into war and has no plan to get us out? The president who has a measly 31 percent approval rating? Is this the same president who guided the nation in the dark days after 9/11? The president that cut taxes to bring an economy out of recession? Could this be the same guy who has been called every name in the book for succeeding in keeping all the spoiled ungrateful brats safe from terrorist attacks? The commander in chief of an all-volunteer army that is out there defending you and me? Did you hear how bad the President is on the news or talk show? Did this news affect you so much, make you so unhappy you couldn't take a look around for yourself and see all the good things and be glad?

Think about it... are you upset at the President because he actually caused you personal pain OR is it because the "Media" told you he was failing to kiss your sorry ungrateful behind every day. Make no mistake about it.

The troops in Iraq and Afghanistan have volunteered to serve, and in many cases may have died for your freedom. There is currently no draft in this country. They didn't have to go. They are able to refuse to go and end up with either a "general" discharge, an "other than honorable" discharge or, worst case scenario, a "dishonorable" discharge after a few days in the brig. So why then the flat-out discontentment in the minds of 69 percent of Americans?

Say what you want but I blame it on the media. If it bleeds it leads and they specialize in bad news. Everybody will watch a car crash with blood and guts. How many will watch kids selling lemonade at the corner? The media knows this and media outlets are for-profit corporations. They offer what sells, and when criticized, try to defend their actions by "justifying" them in one way or another. Just ask why they tried to allow a murderer like O.J. Simpson to write a book about how he didn't kill his wife, but if he did he would have done it this way... Insane!

Turn off the TV, burn Newsweek, and use the New York Times for the bottom of your bird cage. Then start being grateful for all we have as country. There is exponentially more good than bad. We are among the most blessed people on Earth and should thank God several times a day, or at least be thankful and appreciative. With hurricanes, tornados, fires out of control, mud slides, flooding, severe thunderstorms tearing up the country from one end to another, and with the threat of bird flu and terrorist attacks, are we sure this is a good time to take God out of the Pledge of Allegiance?

Jay Leno

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Friday, August 15, 2008

TV Soundtrack Volume

I'm posting a pissy rant here. Ever watch a TV show that has a soundtrack (especially music) inserted for additional emphasis during a dynamic scene? This seems to be a popular cinematic formula for fast-action cop dramas, such as "NUMB3RS" (which is on the boob toob as I type) and the "CSI" triumverate.

My beef is the volume imbalance between the script's dialogue and the music. I assume it's the producers to blame, but why must they crank up the decibels for the music to an irritating level? Maybe my TV system isn't sophisticated enough to have some sort of adjustment that automatically regulates these volume changes; I just find it inconvenient to have to manually adjust the volume for these passages.

Am I the only one sensitive to the loudness?

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