Glowing magic box.

TV now a days is more about whats on the DVR.

As a family we watch Top Gear, Big Bang Theory and Doctor Who. We are watching Star Gate Universe but if it continues at the current pace that is going by the wayside.

Top Gear is the greatest TV show ever made. Yes is it a show about Cars, but it does not stop there. Some of the funniest TV occurs on this show. Also, some of the coolest.

Big Bang Theory is another in a long line of character driven Situational Comedy. The writers really know the genre and any show with Evil Wil Wheaton is a must see.

Doctor Who has been around almost my entire life. The adventures of a time travelling 900+ year old Time Lord, who periodically 'regenerates' into an entirely different person (even if he has not been Ginger yet) has some of the most intriguing plots and subplots.

Star Gate was always a fun Sci-Fi romp. When it first started we were living in Long Beach. Then for quite some years we had no way of watching. Finally up here in Oregon the providers aligned in such a way we could watch. SG Atlantis was a good time as well. Even the movies had a great sense of Fun. SG Universe is kind of meh... It really seems like they wanted the Angst and darkness of Battlestar under the heading of a franchise.

I hover over the 'stop recording series' button often.

Why do they do this?

Reuters: "The US economy grew at a slightly slower-than-expected pace in the first quarter, held back by inventories and exports. Resurgent consumer spending offered evidence of a sustainable recovery. Gross domestic product expanded at a 3.2 percent pace, the Commerce Department. Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast GDP, which measures total goods and services output within US borders, growing at a 3.4% rate,"

of note: "Excluding inventories the economy expanded at a 1.6 percent rate following a 1.7 percent pace in the fourth quarter." Take out the census workers and you have a better picture. Recovery? What recovery??

CNN:"While there may be signs of greater strength, the report also detailed some of the headwinds facing the economy. Investment in residential real estate fell nearly 11%, ending a two-quarter rebound in that battered sector and subtracting from overall growth. And commercial real estate investment dropped at a 14% rate."

If residential real estate and commercial real estate are dropping at 11% and 14%, pretty much tells you there is no growth.

Yet this is spun like great news. I wonder why?

CNBC, August 28, 2008. The GDP was 3.3%. The media was reporting it like a recession. "Despite the surprising growth in the US economy in the second quarter, many economists and average Americans aren't convinced that the country has avoided a recession. 'The reason this feels like a recession is from the standpoint of the consumer it basically is,' said David Resler, the chief economist at Nomura Securities. 'Consumer spending is very weak. It isn't going to get any stronger at any time soon, and that's with the benefit of the economic stimulus.' The Commerce Department attributed the unexpected 3.3% jump."

Of course, this is right before the election. So the Commerce Department attributed the unexpected 3.3% jump in the GDP to stronger than expected consumer spending and exports.

So now we've got 3.2%, and, cheerleading! "We're coming back." Seems a bit dishonest that back in 2008 3.3% was DOOOOM!!!

Count down to April 17th!

Doctor Who Season is about to begin! The longest running sci-fi series has a new face in Matt Smith.

He replaced the beloved David Tennant last year who left us with a sad
David Tennants Regeneration into Matt Smith - Click here for the most popular videos">"I dont want to go" changing to a near manic Matt Smith.

The innovation of the series is the written in ability of a Time Lord to regenerate into another person or actor. Matt Smith being the 11th actor in the series.

Mr. Smith is the youngest Actor to take the role and has suffered many doubts of his ability based on Mr. Tennants favored portrayal. Which is pretty funny as Christopher Eccleston, the previous doctor to Tennant, was likewise deemed impossible to follow.

I myself have haunted the various Whovian websites getting those bits of information that only wet the appetite for us fanbois, and I have really liked what I have seen.

So this Saturday, tune into BBC America (check listings) or set the DVR. This is going to be quite a fun ride!

TV (US .vs. BBC) SPOILERS!

Dollhouse post mortem. The last five episodes when combined with the unaired Epitaph one give you an idea of what the show could have been. To me it appears Joss and FOX bumped heads and, like with Firefly, did not have the intestinal fortitude to hold his creative ground. Instead we got the Imprint of the Week with overt sexual overtones that did not appeal as most of the audience is not voyeurs.

For those who shrugged and voted with the remote, here is what you missed. Echo is able to load past imprints at will. The company behind the Dollhouse designs a way to imprint the world and they do. For the next 10 years as a rag-tag bunch of survivors, Echo and company work to set things right. It is rushed and you get the feeling you missed quite a few episodes. In my way of thinking yanking the fluff episodes that are "required" for a US series and following a storyline would have helped this series.

We are treated to story driven television via the BBC America channel. They do more with a series with less episodes, by focusing on an actual story.

Heroes ended its season and it was tiring seeing the safe, uncreative drivel that crept into this one time favorite. I wonder if, at some point, the production team decides to sacrifice story to stretch out the job as long as possible. Frankly I have a tough time watching any of the CSI shows anymore. They break down into Crime, cute line, montage, plot, montage, close. Most of the show revolves around the exciting world of lab coats.

Juxtapose that with the Children of Earth, Torchwood. The ended of this tale was disturbingly well written. Salvation at such a horrible cost.

Superbowl Abortion advertisement

Copy Pasted from here: By Jeff Miller

Being both a Catholic pundit and living in Gator country by contract I am required to comment on the Im Tebow Superbowl ad. A lot of pixels and ink have already been spilled over this so I will spill some more.

Those who support legal abortion often chaff at being called pro-abortion - the much prefer pro-choice. No doubt they believe this is the case, but in reality there are few if any who see abortion and not having an abortion both a morally neutral acts of exactly the same weight. After all what was the last time you saw a Planned Parenthood Maternity Ward or a NARAL Home for Unwed Mothers.

The fuss over the Tim Tebow ad really proves this. The ad presents one side of choice so what is the big deal to them? A mother talking about the decision to choose life is not exactly controversial since all of our mothers did exactly the same thing.

The obvious reason they hate they so much is that it shows the reality of "choice" the existence or the snuffing out of a human being. Over the years more and more people whose mothers considered abortion and decided against it have been talking about this fact. They are survivors of a "choice". There is also the case of abortion survivor Gianna Jessen who lived despite the attempt to abort her. The pro-abortion side is upset that they can't run similar ads. In fact they have been able to find zero aborted babies willing to film a Superbowl or any other ad for them. They can't even find people who want to take their mothers to task for having them. Those that each day regret their mothers did not abort them.

Tim Tebow does not represent a tissue mass or any other ecumenism euphemism for a child in the womb, but the normal consequence of not stopping life while in the womb. A Heisman Trophy winner is present because he mother choose life over the doctor's suggestion. Though Joy Behar said he could just as easily have become a "racist." Great idea Joy Behar - we should kill all children to prevent such an occurrence. Seeing Tim Tebow and hearing this story can remind us of the 50 Million individual persons who did not survive their mother's choice.

The abortion industry and abortion supporters have always been about minimizing or hiding reality. Women are told across the world falsehoods about the stages of the child in their womb. Terms are used to describe this that have no bearing on the reality. Over and over Ultrasound has been called a weapon because it helps to visualize reality. Laws requiring that women be properly informed about the life in the womb and presented with factual medical and scientific information about this are blocked time and again by the pro-abortion crowd.

A mother choosing life is polarizing and divisive. What a sick culture we live in.

A rather odd fact is that Planned Parenthood is responding to this ad by having two men, an ex-footbal player and a Gold Medalist, talking about women's rights being respected. Now could you imagine the outcry of a pro-life ad involving two men talking against abortion? The pro-abortion crowd would go crazy criticizing it for being so out of touch and not being able to speak for women.

Though I guess Planned Parenthood could get lots of men who favor abortion to do commercials for them. They could speak how abortion saved them from being trapped in a relationship. How abortion enabled them to maintain their lifestyle of treating women as objects and to keep pretending their was not natural consequence of sex. Predatory males certainly love legal abortion. In the meantime pro-abortion supporters want to remain to keep their head in the sand and to deny that a women's choice determines if a person will continue to live or not. Tim Tebow should just go away and not remind them of the consequence of "choice".

For us who are pro-life it reminds us to pray for those mothers in difficult situations that are considering abortion as a solution and to help them in every possible way that we can.

Fr. Barron comments on the Vampire craze

I enjoy his commentaries.

Dollhouse

Maybe it was heightened expectations. After all Firefly had such untapped potential that it was crushing to see it die too soon. It is still one of the best shows never seen. Funny in that if it was BBC it would be a full series....

Joss himself lamented over the problems with season one and boy were they deep. Every so often (not often enough) you would get a glimpse of something, only to tune in next week to find it was nothing. I have considerably lowered expectations now, the last week was more "meh" then riveting, still it was better then the entirety of last season. I really have a wait and see attitude that is yawningly away from loosing me.

With my DVR I decided to watch Angel. I had never gotten a chance due to the WB oddness that occurred (suddenly it wasn't a broadcast channel, then it was dumped from various services) . As luck would have it, TNT shows it early in the AM. Two shows a day, so I can play catchup in a minimal amount of time.

This show has everything that Echo and crew are missing. A flawed hero, character conflicts, confused loyalties, plot twists and delicious dialog. It is character driven with a weave of plot lines that get to the edge logic and reason, with that lucky device of a magical world.

I can only imagine that Joss has lost his mojo for creating interesting, engaging characters when looking at Dollhouse. At this point I am biding my time for Chuck to start up.

Oh, White Collar started this week. It was pretty fun and on my keep watching list.

Adventures in Media Bias

What makes for Bad news and or Good news about the recession (depression?). It only matters who is in the White House. If its a Democrat look for the bad news to be shed in the most positive of light! If it is a Republican, it is all bad and going to get worse!

Unemployment is currently at a 26-year-high of 9.7 percent and expected to continue rising. The last president to govern with such high unemployment was President Ronald Reagan.

But in 1982, when unemployment was rising similarly to the way it has in 2009 the network news media were merciless quoting attacks from Democrats, union leaders and the unemployed to attack Reagan's "sadistic" fiscal policies.

2009 was a different story, for a different president. Even though unemployment has shot up from 8.1 percent since February, network reporters looked for "hopeful signs" of an economic turnaround in their jobs report.

The Business & Media Institute just released a Special Report: Networks Flip Flop on Jobs that exposes that double-standard of unemployment coverage from 1982 and 2009.

It is really no wonder that the viewer ship of several seemingly state run media outlets has fallen?

Being Human

This is quickly becomming a favorite show of mine. Again it is BBC America and again it is the writing that is outstanding.

That really is not fair of me. The Acting is top notch, the premise is wonderful and the directing works amazingly well at making the most of a small budget.

It stars Lenora Crichlow, Russell Tovey and Aidan Turner as three apparently twenty-something characters sharing a house in Bristol UK, trying to live a normal social life, despite being a ghost, a werewolf and a vampire. It is witty and thought provoking about dealing with being different. There is a great exploration around what the various conditions are, what they mean and they do not follow all the old and dusty plot devices of the past.

Bizzarro World?

I feel that I am living in Bizzarro world. There is so much weird stuff going on, and it sort of explains itself.

Lets start with Joe Bidens take on fiscal responsibility: “Now, people when I say that look at me and say, ‘What are you talking about, Joe? You’re telling me we have to go spend money to keep from going bankrupt?’”

Biden said. “The answer is yes, that's what I’m telling you.”

The push by Obama for the Government take over of health care was given a "no thanks" by the Mayo Clinic. Good luck finding that on the news. Then the Zogby polling (that seems to follow with workplace scuttlebutt), "By a 50-42 margin, Americans oppose the House of Representatives' bill introduced July 14".

This is a 1200 page bill that few have read and what is coming out is not sounding like reform.

I wonder if no confidence in the government doing anything efficently has to do with the failed pork filled stimulus and horridly corrupted TARP?

I'm sure of course with Health Care they will do everything better?

Walter Cronkite passed away and with the memorials and remembrances there is a strong attempt to re-write his Liberal Bias that was well known and documented.

There was quite a bit to reflect on Mr. Cronkite's career, being unbiased is not one of them.

Which brings up fallen comic Janeane Garofalo, with this Bizzarro quote "I mean there is almost no liberal outlet for news commentary or editorializing."

I guess, ABC, NBC, CNN, MSNBC are just too far Right for her?

Lastly,

I keep reading, from the left, how Fox News is a horridly biased media outlet that is extreme and it should be censored and pulled off the air.

How do you account for the popularity?

I turn off news items that are not-interesting or irksome and offensive. For broadcast news I am far more interested in my local stationl. Consider that the bulk of peoples do not really care about the political landscape. Most of the newswatching is to see what is happening outside our bubble.

FNC – 981,000 viewers

CNN – 573,000 viewers

MSNBC –343,000 viewers

CNBC – 179,000 viewers

Popularity is not a measure of quality, Longevity is! FNC has both. What is popular is mainstream.

(Note here, Rush Limbaugh has an audience between 14.25 million and 25 million)

Torchwood: Children of Earth

The BBC has some of the best sci-fi shows written. Torchwood is one of my favorites. A bit x-files, a bit SG-1, a bit Doctor Who, with a dash of Blake's-7. They opted to do this season as a mini series called Children of Earth.

It's gonna be a fun five nites!

Julia and Julia

I grew up watching Julia Child cooking. I would either be captivated or flip over to something else. This trailer impressed me with Meryl Streeps portrayal is so perfect. Plus, the concept just seems fun.

Julia Child the person has a colorful history. She worked with the OSS (CIA) helped develop shark repellent, she received the Emblem of Meritorious Civilian Service as head of the Registry of the OSS Secretariat.

she attended Le Cordon Bleu cooking school and studied privately with master chefs. With her knowledge she began teaching cooking, translated recipes from French with precise attention to detail and made fine cuisine accessible. With this she co-wrote Mastering the Art of French Cooking.

She was not the first TV cook, but her show was the most widley watched. Her personality trancended the media. Her Second book The French Chef Cookbook, was the recipes she had done on the show. She was on the air in various venues from in 1963 through the 1990's.

She founded the educational American Institute of Wine and Food She received the French Legion of Honor and the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom. Child also received honorary doctorates from Harvard University, Johnson & Wales University.

Quite a life, quite a lady.

Daddys Day story.

When our oldest two were small, I came home from work one day to find my wife, stir crazy. She had not had adult conversation for quite awhile and being stuck in a condo in Long Beach was not helping. The previous weekend while at the mall I had noticed a help wanted sign on a clothing store.

It took little prompting for Tina to apply, she got the position and began working nights. This got her out of the house, made a little extra cash and clothing at bargain prices. More importantly it gave her adult time.

As such I got to spend the evening just me and the kids. After a couple of nights, I came up with a routine for the kids to follow. After Dinner we would play, then watch their TV show. At the conclusion they would get dressed for bed, brush teeth, give kisses and go to bed.

Tina's first few weeks at the new job was fairly busy and she really did not experience the kids routine, which had become ingrained with the consistency. Neither had I explained that I had set up the routine.

One evening off we all were sitting watching the kids Television show. As it ended I said my usual. Okay Kids, time for bed. To which the dutifully got up, got into PJ's, brushed and gave kisses marching off to bed.

Tina shockingly looked at me and said "What did you do to our kids?"

You would think the tale ends there but not quite. Not with Connor.

While in Canada yesterday, They had a very windy evening. Connor spent a lot of it up at the gazebo just looking out over the neighborhood & toward the lake. He'd come in for a while, then go back out to the gazebo. A bit later he came up and said, "Get on the night clothes, melatonin, and brush teeth." He kissed Diana, Omi and then went downstairs with Tina to do just that.

Magical Glowing Box

I was saddened at the eminent cancellation of Chuck and Dollhouse.  These are two shows of a dwinding list I find consistently entertaining.  

Dollhouse is the weaker of the two, but this is Joss Wheadon.  I am glad he is getting the chance that they never gave FireFly.  The series did start out slow, but built up considerably over the season.  There were creative differences with Joss and the suits, which made for rewrites and a confusing direction.  The last two episodes really made a solid storyline that I am hoping to see go forward.

Chuck had a wonderful season finale.  The last few shows really change a lot of dynamics. Timming would be perfect to Jettison the elements that were becomming drab and avoid the "Not this again"

Both budgets were cut to ensure a next season.  This could be a good thing, if you have read The Trouble with Tribbles, by David Gerrold.  You get a really good feel for what writers go through.  With the belt tightening on sets  and extra's ands stunts, you have to focus on the writing and dialog.  Both of these shows excel in this.

(Burn Notice starts up in June!)

Gotta love pop-culture Easter Eggs

WoW is pervasive.  We have seen references on various Television shows and some fun commercials etc.

In German with Smudo Schurke Thomas D. Sprinter

Mr. T talking smack to the director.

Southpark featured an entire episode "Make Love, Not Warcraft" (It won an Emmy)

The TV show Leverage had a Warcraft "For the Horde!" sequence.

It was the "question" on Jeopardy.

Willy Toledo is a Paladin (spanish)

Jean Claude Van Damme plays a mage (It's either French or Dutch)

And one of the best Truck Commercials ever! 

Even How I Met your Mother.

The latest is a reference in the Wolverine game.  You see the Lich Kings sword, Frostmorne and an NPC quest giver (with !) laying on the ground!

Finally, my all time favorite William Shatners Shaman!

So Whats YOUR game?

Reliable Resources.

The best news is from an earnest reporter who has multiple sources who independently confirm the information.   Over time this reporter would gain a reputation for providing unassailable information.  

There are obviously tainted organizations, which internally can have some good reporting.  Seperating the wheat from chaffe is where the work begins.

As the Devils Dictionary defines: REPORTER, n. A writer who guesses his way to the truth and dispels it with a tempest of words.

The words they are a changin'

So President Obama has ended the "Global War on Terrorism."  and started the "Overseas Contingency Operation."

Oh and we no longer have to worry about "Toxic Assets"  those are now "Legacy Loans" or "Legacy Assets"

"Man Made Global Warming" is now a thing of the past look out for "Climate Change"

How about the term "Liberal"  that is so passe'  you need to be "Progressive"

Be very aware that the very words the policy makers are using, have changed into something other then what Webster has listed.  They are more mallible and have a warm fuzzy feel.

The MSM appears to be in cahoots as well, turning a blind eye to news and reporting propaganda in its place.

BBC America

I really enjoy the bulk of BBC shows that have made it to our side of the pond.  This in and of itself makes me happy I switched to DirecTV.  Trying to narrow down why the appeal is tougher.

Yes, it is new so it has that new car smell going on.  However, I have been a fan of UK television shows for quite some time.  Going back to Captain Scarlet, The Avengers and Doctor Who,  which are decidedly different from the US counterparts.  

There seems to be greater risk on the part of the producers.  The Avengers started out with Honor Blackman and John Steed, then transitioned into Diane Rigg.  How many shows in the US survive the replacement of a main character?  How about eleven replacements of the main character over a 46 year period?  Doctor Who did just that, with its cheesy sets and over the top science the characters intrigued people to keep tuning in week after week, year after year.

So we have the appeal as lack of predictability, more emphasis on quality over quantity,  stories that have an ending  and a smaller talent pool for acting.

When watching desk and couch shows from the UK, you see more reasonable expectations of the celebrity.  That is to say, they appear to be less 'stars' and more actors.  More approachable, humble and understanding of where they fit in society.  Political correctness has not gored humor.

Could be I'm just tired of hearing the latest tabloid gossip being touted as headline news.  Maybe its the fact we never had a caste society.  

Whatever it is, I am enjoying the entertainment and news they are delivering.

Dollhouse begins!

I'm a fan of Joss Whedons work. Starting with the Original Buffy the Vampire slayers. 

Tonite on Fox is his latest show.  Dollhouse is about a group of people called 'Actives' who have had their personalities wiped clean so they can be imprinted with any number of new personas, including memory, muscle memory, skills, and language, for different assignments. They're then hired out for particular jobs, crimes, fantasies, and occasional good deeds.

Here is a collecction of Video's about the show.

Just like FireFly, Joss has a viral campaign going on as well Save Hazel!

Or you can just try your luck.  I am hoping for some exciting, entertaining moments and Joss has always provided them.  If you check local listings and tune in or DVR this show, I am hopeful you will not be disapointed.

Digital converter

Well, I got $80.00 back from the government to buy a converter box for my Televison.  It was so nice of them to give me back my $80.00...

So it is a cheapie thing in ugly packaging.  Functional. Made in China.

I still had the antenna feed in the wall so it was a simple matter to hook it up.  The stations look pretty good (both stations).  It was nice seeing local commercials again.

What wasnt easy was removing the Old VCR (non-functional).  The Tivo (un-subscribed) and the Dish network (un-subscribed).   Now the coolist part was being able to watch CBS shows.  Our Dish Network ran into negotiation problems.

Thanks to the internet, I can watch any missed programs.  So it is all good.