Tag: TV

Television

Catchup blogging lite

It’s been an insanely busy month; I’ve not bookmarked much this time. Hell, I might even be able to categorize them for you this time around…

G bought a rocket, and with the rains we’ve had recently, we MIGHT be able to use it soon:

And since we’re going to a wedding in Houston next weekend…

I’ve made it through the 4th season, and am giving it a second go…

And to riff on that; “There’s always sysadmin bookmarks in J’s catchup blogging…”

And just a few more things:

Texas parents of students taking STAAR tests, you can track the entire history of their scores here (and I learned G’s science score before it arrived int he mail!):

A game recommented by a new work colleague, probably friend…

And G want to cook up some flan:

Remarkably few bookmarks, now with annotations! Hope you enjoy…

Strength and lonliness

Normally, weekend nights when we are home, we watch PBS Britcoms.

Tonight, PBS Mystery — a Brittish adaptation of Dracula — ran long. Instead of britcoms, we were presented with a half-hour animated musing on lonliness called “A Room Nearby“.

Instead of feeling for these people, I felt smug. They are talking about how lonliness is isolating, and dwelling on the negative aspects thereof, whereas by the time I was 14, I relished my lonliness, and used every moment of it that I could grab to forge my own identity.

C’mon, folks. Lonliness is not an affliction. It is not a curse. It is not neccisarily rejection by society. Even if it were, so what if it is? Take this time to forge yourself stronger. I cannot deny the ability of wallowing insofar as it can be a tool to eventually strenghten oneself, as much of the time that I now realize has made me stronger involved nothing more involved than myself and a Rubik’s Cube — or less (but we won’t go there today, WILL WE!?!), and faced with the almost archival fact that nearly 1/3 of gay teens attempt suicide (isn’t that number lower yet?), I can understand the need for such — well, what is it? A Short Film? A TV show? A mini-series? I must not be the target demgraphic. I’ve always had soneone to talk to, no matter how young or old.

I keep saying that “I am nobody’s demographic.” Whenever I say that, I feel that I’m being disingenuious. Then I think about it — Aside from “Dexter”, what have I found in popular culture to attract me? Certainly not the Police performing tonight. I have a Simpson-esque attitude toward almost all awards shows — or is that Allen-esque? No matter, because both those terms imply a marketability, in the sense that “Pythonesque” is now in the OED, which has allegedly disappointed John Clesse as much as I presume I must also be disappointed.

I’m still not going to hold back about my concerns about weakness, which I think if one of my greatest strenghts. Combine the best of New York City — that is, the directness; the best of San Francisco (ummmm, no comment), and the laid-backness of Austin, and you’ve pretty much got me.

And that all said, I still get both 80’s film references, and Pynchon references.

Oh, and I’m one of the best unix geeks you’ll ever meet. I’ve learned from the best of the best of the cream of the crop. I can make perl and sh sing.

And PBS is still playing “Keeping up Appearnaces”. Sigh.

If only I had an extra $48,500 lying around…

So there was the big Trek auction at Christie’s last week.

And, the only thing I could be interested in, Picard’s flute from “The Inner Light”, went for $48,000, after being initially estimated at $800-1200.

Oh, to have that kind on money to blow on a non-functioning prop.

Anyone watched Trekkies lately? Or Trekkies 2? How about Galaxy Quest?

Oh, and if I had an extra $48,500 lying around, I’d buy Grace a really nice DVD player and that episode, and put them in storage for when she got older. I’d then put the other $48,000 and change into a nice long-term investment for her.

Flashback video!

Revisiting “The Inner Light”

So this morning Grace comes home from Grandparents, stopping with Daddy Cy at the store to get fingerpaints. Oh, some food, too.

Anyway, she’s using a paintbrush with the fingerpaints (Yay! Less mess!) when the brush falls off the table.

Paint-valanche!

she called out. I still hear myself whenever she opens her mouth…and I find myself wondering if she even knows the word “avalanche” that this particular recurring wordplay derives from.

Now, we go back to Friday. Conversation turned to ST:TNG, in particular, the poem about Data‘s cat, Spot, Ode to Spot. Why, you might ask? Oh, yes, now we go back a few weeks. We Grace got a new kitten Thunder when we first rescued him , and named it Thunder. End second level of recursion, so back to last Friday…

While researching the Spot Ode, I pulled out the one and only DVD of ST:TNG edpisodes we have, The Picard Collection. The entire reason we bought it was for The Inner Light – the only Hugo award winning television episode of anything in the past 35 years.

I haven’t watched this episode for years — I can tell from my emotional state. I remember it being good, but not this good. Especially the scene with the daughter growing up (which everyone is still quoting 15 years later).

Seize the time, Meribor. Live now; make now always the most precious time. Now will never come again.

I love you, father.

That scene hit me like the proverbial ton of bricks after the “Paint-valanche” moment.

Breaking?

So, the pope has been dead for about 12 hours, and CNN is still calling it breaking news?

I blame it all on post-nine-eleven hysteria.

Odd realization about Robert Blake

Isn’t is odd that the last time we saw Robert Blake in a film it was Lost Highway?

Isn’t it odd that Lynch now admits he got it from the OJ trial?

The more things change, the more they change.
Oh, wait. The more things stay the same, the more they stay the same.

Hey, why is the contrapositive of those two statements a cliche?

Anybody? Anybody? Bueller?

Good TV is rare

I finally got my hands on the first season DVD of Made in Canada (which ran as “The Industry” here in the US on PBS and Bravo).
Some of my favorite quotes:

  • (after the movie Vigilante Vengence is cancelled because Jemery Black has had his knee broken)

    Victor: The movie will still be finished, it will just be shorter and…on television.
    Jeremy: Network television?
    Victor: Oh, yes, I think so!
    Jeremy: American network?
    Victor: (Somberly)Too soon to say
    .Jeremy: (with disgust) What, Canadian?
    Victor: (Even more somberly) I don’t want to make any promises.

  • Richard: Hey! You! Lay off the Chez Whiz — that’s for the talent!

  • Victor: Variety is all the same.

  • Alan is getting a lifetime achievement award at the Gemini Awards Show

    Alan: I’m a humanitarian, understand, a humanitarian, and I want people to know it; so work it in or I will make it my personal mission to watch you starve to death!