Is it endearing, or simply sad that I still think I can read a couple hundred pages while Iron Chef America plays in the background?
Why didn't I turn it off? It was Battle BEER. I mean seriously, I'm only human.
Showing posts with label TV. Show all posts
Showing posts with label TV. Show all posts
Monday, October 13, 2008
Wednesday, April 02, 2008
CNN Gets Worse Daily
I really do agree that autism is an important topic worth investigation in the news, but why has CNN suddenly become the Autism Channel? There was just a tease asking "What do the presidential candidates say about autism?"
Really?
Surely we need to ask Bernanke about it. I've no doubt that Mugabe would have some insight, too. "President Hu, do you think that the Tibetan people understand the dangers of autism?"
Really?
Surely we need to ask Bernanke about it. I've no doubt that Mugabe would have some insight, too. "President Hu, do you think that the Tibetan people understand the dangers of autism?"
Sunday, March 23, 2008
TV Tonight
What does it say about me that I am flipping back and forth between Emma and Tomb Raider? I'm pretty sure it must be a diagnosable illness, a chemical imbalance to be sure.
By the way, what are the odds that I'll be able to use those two tags again?
By the way, what are the odds that I'll be able to use those two tags again?
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Commercials That I Hate
So I'm watching some basketball today, and although I actually love good ads, boy are they craptacular. Even when I'm right in their target market. I'm sure this list will grow.
Coke vs. Coke Zero Taste Infringement series
- Inspires loathing. What a horrible useless campaign. Did they think it was funny? Why is it that idiocy is now considered a positive point? This has been around forever, and I just can't figure out why.
Degree Antiperspirant in the Future
- Ok, so you had a robot apply your antiperspirant in the morning and were nearly late for your meeting - especially after having to deal with that robotic dog who wanted to bit your butt. Should I just try not to think about why a robot would want to chase or bite you? Luckily there was a jet-pack thing there that got you to the meeting - with your holographic boss? And the hologram analyzes you for sweat? What. The. Hell?
Coke vs. Coke Zero Taste Infringement series
- Inspires loathing. What a horrible useless campaign. Did they think it was funny? Why is it that idiocy is now considered a positive point? This has been around forever, and I just can't figure out why.
Degree Antiperspirant in the Future
- Ok, so you had a robot apply your antiperspirant in the morning and were nearly late for your meeting - especially after having to deal with that robotic dog who wanted to bit your butt. Should I just try not to think about why a robot would want to chase or bite you? Luckily there was a jet-pack thing there that got you to the meeting - with your holographic boss? And the hologram analyzes you for sweat? What. The. Hell?
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
It's Got Bionics, That's Got To Be Good, Right?
You can watch to first episode of the Bionic Woman and a couple other NBC shows on Amazon Unbox for free. I guess that's NBC trying to dig themselves out of the whole they fell in when they pulled out of their iTunes deal. Anyway, it's pretty hard to imagine a show that I should like more. Geeky, gorgeous woman, tech stuff and nostalgia. Ah, should be great.
It's not.
Just like all the other nostalgia porn out there (Fantastic Four, Transformers, etc...), there's some good in it. I actually do like the main actress a bit. She is pretty, and she also seems to be able to act a little bit, even if she does have a bit of the Keanu Reeves disease (blank, stupified, but easy on the eyes). Hopefully that's just because most of the role in this episode called for it.
The other actress worthy of note is the 'other' women (you'll see what I mean if you bother to watch). She's just awful. I though maybe she was trying to go the cold heartless route, but no, I really think she's just an awful actress.
There is some good geek stuff in there, although I think the 'through the bionic eye cam' looked a little too reminiscent of the Terminator, but hey, maybe that's just me. There was also a nice bit when she's waking up from the surgery that was properly panicky and fairly well-done. This probably had a bit to do with the fact that there wasn't much dialogue there.
The biggest problem is the writing, of course. The things that those poor people were forced to say, the clichés, oh it was just embarrassing. Of course, there's a father-thing plot element. Of course there's a giant government related black-ops organization that's gone wrong with a past experiment on the loose. I'm going to go out on the limb and say that the leader of the group is of -gasp- ambiguous morals and loyalty! Of course, there's a insanely young looks-like-he-belongs-on-the-cover-of-Teen-Beat-Magazine doctor. Why wouldn't our heroine be a down on her luck bartender who just happens to have a genius IQ and knockout looks. Ugh, I could go on and on.
Still, I watched the whole episode. I probably won't watch any more, but it'll probably do ok. After all, this is what passes for female empowerment these days.*
* There was a really strained push for this in the show, too. Bionic Woman is running through the woods next to a road and a little girl in the back seat of an SUV sees her and tells mommy - a stern businesswoman cutout with a bluetooth headset. Mommy says something like, "what did I tell you about making things up." and the little (little little) girl says, "I just thought it was cool that a girl could do that." ugh.
It's not.
Just like all the other nostalgia porn out there (Fantastic Four, Transformers, etc...), there's some good in it. I actually do like the main actress a bit. She is pretty, and she also seems to be able to act a little bit, even if she does have a bit of the Keanu Reeves disease (blank, stupified, but easy on the eyes). Hopefully that's just because most of the role in this episode called for it.
The other actress worthy of note is the 'other' women (you'll see what I mean if you bother to watch). She's just awful. I though maybe she was trying to go the cold heartless route, but no, I really think she's just an awful actress.
There is some good geek stuff in there, although I think the 'through the bionic eye cam' looked a little too reminiscent of the Terminator, but hey, maybe that's just me. There was also a nice bit when she's waking up from the surgery that was properly panicky and fairly well-done. This probably had a bit to do with the fact that there wasn't much dialogue there.
The biggest problem is the writing, of course. The things that those poor people were forced to say, the clichés, oh it was just embarrassing. Of course, there's a father-thing plot element. Of course there's a giant government related black-ops organization that's gone wrong with a past experiment on the loose. I'm going to go out on the limb and say that the leader of the group is of -gasp- ambiguous morals and loyalty! Of course, there's a insanely young looks-like-he-belongs-on-the-cover-of-Teen-Beat-Magazine doctor. Why wouldn't our heroine be a down on her luck bartender who just happens to have a genius IQ and knockout looks. Ugh, I could go on and on.
Still, I watched the whole episode. I probably won't watch any more, but it'll probably do ok. After all, this is what passes for female empowerment these days.*
* There was a really strained push for this in the show, too. Bionic Woman is running through the woods next to a road and a little girl in the back seat of an SUV sees her and tells mommy - a stern businesswoman cutout with a bluetooth headset. Mommy says something like, "what did I tell you about making things up." and the little (little little) girl says, "I just thought it was cool that a girl could do that." ugh.
Monday, April 16, 2007
VT
I guess it's not surprising, but I've gotten very caught up in the coverage of the Virginia Tech shootings. I talked briefly before class about it, but many students hadn't even heard the news. Several didn't seem to be very impacted at all. I'm not sure how to take that. Maybe they'll deal with it later.
I am getting frustrated with so many people on tv saying that we as a society are programming violence into ourselves with our films, TV and video games. I have no evidence to support this, but it seems that, if anything, the people of the world now are more willing to not kill each other over their differences than in the past. What has changed is that we have more effective technology to carry out the violence that does exist. A small group of extremists can terrorize a global power. One man can destroy more life with a pair of guns than he could with a knife. The end result of this raging simply could not have been as horrific if he didn't have access to the pistols. I don't think effective gun control is possible or even practical in the US, at least in the foreseeable future, but I do hope this spurs debate leading into the election year.
That being said, it's naive to say that because one man can cause such damage that we as a society are inherently more violent. Movies and video games didn't give this man the idea to go out and kill people any more than watching Medea makes you want to kill your children or reading the bible makes you want to commit genocide. After investigation, we may discover that he played Grand Theft Auto, or watched 300 or Grindhouse. Many people will try to use this to push against these media. I hope they fail. I hope that we can see past such a simplistic argument, but I'm probably wrong.
To my friends and family, I'm not at Virginia Tech, but I'm ok, and I hope you are too.
I am getting frustrated with so many people on tv saying that we as a society are programming violence into ourselves with our films, TV and video games. I have no evidence to support this, but it seems that, if anything, the people of the world now are more willing to not kill each other over their differences than in the past. What has changed is that we have more effective technology to carry out the violence that does exist. A small group of extremists can terrorize a global power. One man can destroy more life with a pair of guns than he could with a knife. The end result of this raging simply could not have been as horrific if he didn't have access to the pistols. I don't think effective gun control is possible or even practical in the US, at least in the foreseeable future, but I do hope this spurs debate leading into the election year.
That being said, it's naive to say that because one man can cause such damage that we as a society are inherently more violent. Movies and video games didn't give this man the idea to go out and kill people any more than watching Medea makes you want to kill your children or reading the bible makes you want to commit genocide. After investigation, we may discover that he played Grand Theft Auto, or watched 300 or Grindhouse. Many people will try to use this to push against these media. I hope they fail. I hope that we can see past such a simplistic argument, but I'm probably wrong.
To my friends and family, I'm not at Virginia Tech, but I'm ok, and I hope you are too.
Friday, January 26, 2007
In A World...
This post is built off of a comment over at Ianqui's wherein she suggested that there should be a
You could get rotating hot young things cast to play the undergrads (think pop star de jour). This would be great to draw in the younger audiences. Maybe the next Backstreet Boy comes out of the closet to his gruff and closeted English Comp prof in a paper. Maybe tomorrow's Britney gets caught plagiarizing her World History final and shows up in tears at her prof's office hours.
Grad students could be another great source of drama - think drugs, sex and rock and roll (all the drudgework can be shown in CSI-style montages - rotating camera angles over TAs hunched over massive tomes with hard-pounding music playing over it all). The bad-boy slacker who has a savant-like ability with obscure formulas or Latin or something (done before, but it's a rich vein - it'll hold). The deeply troubled and troubling rising star character actors could be your source for actors. Maybe throw in a lost idealist in there too. Fewer pretty folks, but more troubled - it balances out. This would also be a great source for farewell episodes. We get to know the grad students and then they leave in a couple of years. That's drama.
The key would be the profs though. Bardiac's (one of the commenters over at Ianqui's) right - The Lilith-From-Cheers sexy Shakespeare specialist would be perfect. She/he gets all the smitten undergrads to take her/his class and they struggle and actually learn! She/He is brilliant and frustrated that all anyone wants to do is oggle. This is very marketable. You get a beautiful actor and you get to deal with image and gender issues too! And she/he is an alcoholic.
Let's see...
Then there's the comic relief clueless chair who screws everything up.
You'd also need more second-tier pretty but backstabbing folks, too.
Your main love interest couple would be a prof with a trailing spouse going through marital and career troubles while trying to settle in at the new campus. They'd be in separate departments so the plots don't get to heavy in one specialization, but you get good crossover in the characters. You'd have to specify the departments though, and they'd have to be fairly mainstream, but with very technical upper echelons. I'd say maybe English and Chemistry. Everyone can approach both subjects on a basic level, but you could show the incomprehensibility of the elite levels of each - and as a bonus, if the series goes downhill, the entire campus could be wiped out in a chemical explosion brought on by a spurned TA. Or a umm... Wordsworth virus? hmmm... That needs work. English department folks need to be more dangerous.
Finally, there's the dottering old emeritus who actually knows and understands everything secretly keeps everything from falling apart. He'll show up every now and then and dispense wisdom and yoda-like confusing sayings that prove true only in sad tear-stained hindsight.
It's perfect I tells ya!
Hollywood! Give me a call!
(Last post of the night - I promise)
TV show called "Ph.D, The Series". The students were going to be in the fictional field of Mathematical Forestry. There was going to be all manner of hijinks and drama. Sabotaged experiments. Sticky TA-undergrad romances. Imperious liberal elite professors. You know how it is.I've always loved the idea of a PhD TV show. I've put way too much thought into it, too. It's perfect! Here's my cast breakdown:
You could get rotating hot young things cast to play the undergrads (think pop star de jour). This would be great to draw in the younger audiences. Maybe the next Backstreet Boy comes out of the closet to his gruff and closeted English Comp prof in a paper. Maybe tomorrow's Britney gets caught plagiarizing her World History final and shows up in tears at her prof's office hours.
Grad students could be another great source of drama - think drugs, sex and rock and roll (all the drudgework can be shown in CSI-style montages - rotating camera angles over TAs hunched over massive tomes with hard-pounding music playing over it all). The bad-boy slacker who has a savant-like ability with obscure formulas or Latin or something (done before, but it's a rich vein - it'll hold). The deeply troubled and troubling rising star character actors could be your source for actors. Maybe throw in a lost idealist in there too. Fewer pretty folks, but more troubled - it balances out. This would also be a great source for farewell episodes. We get to know the grad students and then they leave in a couple of years. That's drama.
The key would be the profs though. Bardiac's (one of the commenters over at Ianqui's) right - The Lilith-From-Cheers sexy Shakespeare specialist would be perfect. She/he gets all the smitten undergrads to take her/his class and they struggle and actually learn! She/He is brilliant and frustrated that all anyone wants to do is oggle. This is very marketable. You get a beautiful actor and you get to deal with image and gender issues too! And she/he is an alcoholic.
Let's see...
Then there's the comic relief clueless chair who screws everything up.
You'd also need more second-tier pretty but backstabbing folks, too.
Your main love interest couple would be a prof with a trailing spouse going through marital and career troubles while trying to settle in at the new campus. They'd be in separate departments so the plots don't get to heavy in one specialization, but you get good crossover in the characters. You'd have to specify the departments though, and they'd have to be fairly mainstream, but with very technical upper echelons. I'd say maybe English and Chemistry. Everyone can approach both subjects on a basic level, but you could show the incomprehensibility of the elite levels of each - and as a bonus, if the series goes downhill, the entire campus could be wiped out in a chemical explosion brought on by a spurned TA. Or a umm... Wordsworth virus? hmmm... That needs work. English department folks need to be more dangerous.
Finally, there's the dottering old emeritus who actually knows and understands everything secretly keeps everything from falling apart. He'll show up every now and then and dispense wisdom and yoda-like confusing sayings that prove true only in sad tear-stained hindsight.
It's perfect I tells ya!
Hollywood! Give me a call!
(Last post of the night - I promise)
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