Category: Television

The Olden Days

~ riggledo ~ 2 Comments

My television died yesterday.  I’m sad.  Now I have to replace it and money that I was going to use to pay off another credit card has to go to replacing my TV instead.

Discussing this on-line with my mother today lead to the following conversation:

Kevin says (3:45 PM):
So I’m getting a new TV tonight.  My one that I’ve had is kaput.  I’m not happy (except that I’m getting a new toy and that’s always fun).

Mom says (3:46 PM):
Sounds like fun to me.  Do you have one picked out?

Kevin says (3:47 PM):
Yes.  Vizio 37″ LCD HDTV.  Pretty much the same thing I already had.  I’d like bigger, but the cost is too much and since I wasn’t in the market for a TV to begin with…

Mom says (3:48 PM):
OK.  That means nothing to me, except the 37″ part.

Mom is not especially tech savvy.  I helped her to buy a TV on-line late last year and she pretty much just looked at the price and listened to what I had to say about the unit and took my word for it.

Kevin says (3:48 PM):
🙂

Mom says (3:48 PM):
well and the HD part

Kevin says (3:48 PM):
Pretty much the same as what you’ve got, except, I think yours was 32″?

Mom says (3:48 PM):
yep

Kevin says (3:49 PM):
I thought I was going to have to get a 32″ which probably wouldn’t really be that bad, except I’ve been looking at 37″ screen for four + years.
I think I’d notice.  But then I found this TV and with my Target Visa card I get 5% off so that’s not bad either.*

I’m getting a big enough income tax refund to more than cover it so I’m not really “charging” it exactly, but my refund will probably be another 7-10 days.

The part I’m unhappy about is that I planned to use that money to pay off another credit card.

Sigh

Mom says (3:50 PM):
Things are tough all over . . .

Kevin says (3:50 PM):
🙂
yeah

Also, I paid over $700, only four years ago for the TV that died.  Meanwhile, the 19″ tv I bought at Foley’s in 1994 is still going strong.

AND, the company that made the newer TV went bankrupt and was sold to Ericson who says right on their website, they don’t care about the old products and the people who own them.

Throughout the first half of my childhood we had a series of hand-me-down televisions in our house.  Several of them were cabinet units as big as a couch.  One of them was a mahogany monstrosity with sliding fabric panels that covered the screen and lift up doors in the top under which were an AM/FM stereo with 8-track player and a record player!!!  That one was nice while it lasted.  Back then no one had ever heard of such a thing as a “cable ready” television and each of these successive televisions had rabbit ears with aluminum foil flags at the ends that periodically had to be adjusted by someone for better reception.

And by “someone” I mean the youngest child.

And by “the youngest child” I mean me.

Three guesses whose job it was to change the channels…

In the mid 1987 my mother finally decided to use money from an income tax refund to buy the family a new color television.  She bought a brand new RCA model that must’ve been no more than 19″ and quite possibly smaller, but it was color with working volume and it came with a remote control!

Mom says (3:52 PM):
There’s a lesson in there somewhere,  Probably a history lesson.  They don’t make things like the used to!

My previous TV lasted, I’m not even sure how long.  Many many years

Kevin says (3:54 PM):
Oh, yeah.  You had that since… Shortly after we moved to Tulsa, I think… We didn’t buy it before we moved, did we?

Mom says (3:54 PM):
No, but it was soon after we got here.

Kevin says (3:54 PM):
Remember how excited we were, to have a brand new COLOR tv WITH a remote control?   Tiny little thing that it is.

Well, anyway I remember how excited III was, to have the remote control…

Mom says (3:55 PM):
Yes.  Hard to believe we used to actually get up and walk across the room to change the channel.

Kevin says (3:55 PM):
We?
😛

Mom says (3:56 PM):
Hey!  I was watching TV a looong time before you came along!

Kevin says (3:56 PM):
You had two other kids, too.

But yes, there was a time when you had to get up to change the channel.

Not long after I moved to California and my mother had no more tech support children at home she called me one afternoon and told me she had rearranged the furniture in her living room but now she couldn’t get her TV to work.  After asking some leading questions I determined that the television was coming on but that she was receiving no channels.  Back then, you had to “program” the channels in by allowing the television to “surf” through the frequencies looking for channels that came in tune.

I still remember the day you called me in San Francisco ’cause you had rearranged furniture and needed to reprogram your tv.  I told you to go push the “program” button or whatever it was called and you said you couldn’t find it on the remote.  I told you it was on the front of the actual television and you said, “You mean I have actually walk over to the TV???”

Mom says (3:58 PM):
Huff puff and wuff.

*For the record, I am receiving no compensation or consideration by Target, Vizio or Visa… Darn it.

Young Girl Don’t Stand So Close To Me

~ riggledo ~ 2 Comments

If you’re not a Glee Fan, this won’t mean much to you and you should go find something else to read.  I’m not ashamed to admit that I’m a Glee fan, if you are too… Well, read on!

I’m sitting here, doing random non-blogging things and Don’t Stand So Close To Me by The Police comes on the trusty ole iPhone.  Good song.  I’ve liked it for years.

I’m splitting my attention about 70/30 between the task at hand and enjoying the music.  The 30% is tapping my booted toes and bopping my head along with the music.

Suddenly, the 70% is completely distracted from the task at hand with the realization that some portion of the brain (not sure if it’s the 70 or the 30) is looking for lyrics that aren’t there.  Something is wrong.  The lyrics are supposed to be different…

Young teacher, the subject of school girl fantacy
She wants him, so badly, knows what she wants to be
With all the charms of a woman
You kept the secret of your youth…

Clearly, I’ve listened to the Glee soundtrack a few too many times!

By the way, Glee comes back with new episodes on Tuesday!  Yay!

Get Lost

~ riggledo ~ 2 Comments

There is a little-known fact about me – or maybe it’s not so little-known – that I like disasters.

I mean, I don’t literally like disasters.  I don’t enjoy seeing people suffer and  when things happen in the world (Haiti) that cause very real suffering for  very real human beings, it moves me… Although, to be fair it does not move  me to the extent that it does most people.

What can I say?  Life is hard, shit happens.  It sucks but you get through it and you move on.  I haven’t sat glued to my TV to watch the coverage of the  devastation in Haiti.  I haven’t watched and cried as they showed images of the hundreds of thousands of homeless and destitute.  I haven’t watched and clapped my hands giddily at the images of the completely demolished and  unrecognizable buildings that once stood on that island.

Truthfully?  I haven’t donated any money.  I didn’t watch “Hope for Haiti,  Now” and call 1-800-SOB-STORY with the hope of speaking to my favorite  celebrity and giving my credit card number.  I didn’t text Haiti to 90909 so that an additional $10.00 could be added to my already too high cell phone bill.

I have my own financial hardships to alleviate and since I’m a tax paying citizen and it was a given that President Obama would write yet another big check that we can’t really cash, I think it’s fair to say that I’ve already made my donation to the relief efforts and I really can’t afford to do it twice.  I know, I know that sounds cold and heartless…  What do you know?  Another little-known fact about me.

No, I don’t like to see people suffer, but if there has to be a disaster, I want to see it.  If I can see it happen, so much the better.  I watched enthralled as the second plane crashed into the World Trade Center and experienced equal  parts grief and morbid fascination as each of the towers fell.  I can’t even tell  you how many times I’ve watched Titanic and every time, I’m struck by the  incredible and, I’ll say it, exciting scenes as the ship sinks.

For ten months, I lived in San Francisco and worked in San Carlos on the peninsula.  I used to drive highway 280 twice a day, every day and there is a  stretch of highway 280 that passes, at the top of the mountain-ette (too big to be a hill but not really big enough to be a mountain) that looks over San  Francisco International Airport.  On my way to work I would look over and  see the planes coming in to land on the runways and all the bustling activity  at the airport.  On the way home, driving in bumper to bumper, start and stop traffic, I would frequently see planes that had taken off toward the mountain-ette (too big to be a hill but not really big enough to be a  mountain).  The planes had to make a steep climb to clear the mountain and once cleared they made highly perceptible banking turns to achieve their plotted flight plans.  The planes were generally higher in the air than they  seemed, I’m sure, but they were still low enough that you could usually easily make out the airline and the sounds from their straining engines were  piercingly loud!

I used to sit in my car and watch the planes climbing overhead and I would imagine them suddenly exploding mid-air much like in the opening scene of the first Final Destination movie.  Of course I never wanted that to happen!  “That would be a tragedy,” I would think, “but if it’s going to happen, I really want to see it!”

Tomorrow night is the season premiere of the final season of the television show Lost.  I have mixed feelings about it being the final season.  I’ll be glad when it’s over because they’re going out on their own terms, their own  schedule, and have promised to answer the majority of the outstanding  questions.  I’ll be glad when it’s over because I’m tired of the seemingly  endless periods of time between seasons with no repeats so I forget what was  going on at the end of the previous season.  I’ll be glad when it’s over because, frankly, I watch too much TV as it is.

But it’s a really good show and I’ll be sad to see it go, too.

When I first heard the premise of Lost my first thought was, “Bunch of people ship-wrecked on a deserted island?”  I remember watching that show when  they called it ‘Gilligan’s Island’!”  My second thought was, “Bunch of people  stranded on an island and having to survive on their own?  I remember  hating that show when it was called ‘Survivor’!”

Side note:  When I first heard about Survivor and the premise for it, I thought, “That’s so stupid!  That sounds like a lawsuit waiting to  happen.  Nobody will ever watch that show!  Nice move CBS!  That  show won’t last!”

Word to all television executives: I’m ready and willing to help you  pick successful TV shows, because clearly I know what I’m talking about!

Anyway, I decided to watch the first episode of Lost because I wanted to see the plane crash.  Fictional disaster is always better (and usually more  spectacular) than real disaster anyway.  I wasn’t going to watch the series.  I  had no interest, but I wanted to see how they would handle the plane crash.

After the first episode I was hooked and I haven’t missed a single episode since!

My friend* Jorge Garcia posted this YouTube video on his blog recently to help us refresh our memories about the goings on of the island over the last five seasons.  Please enjoy as much as I did!

*By “friend” of course, I mean, I’ve never actually met him and don’t
imagine I ever will, but I happened across his blog and subscribe to the feed
and therefore he is now, of course, “my friend Jorge Garcia.”

Conspiracy Theorists Unite!

~ riggledo ~ Leave a comment

Dancing with the Stars
I have been a fan of Dancing with the Stars since the beginning and as far as I am concerned it just gets better each season.  More stars, more extremes, less training time and more injuries, all make the show more and more compelling to watch!

The elimination of two of the show’s stars before the curtain even went up was certain to make for an eventful season premiere.  Nancy O'DellThis season the stars only had four weeks of rehearsal time, which seems little enough time already, but then when disaster struck for two of the contestants and producers announced that they would recast those two couples, it seemed sure that the replacements would be among the first to go.

When the show began and the thick plotened, it was announced that Nancy O’Dell had dropped out of the competition on Friday, giving her replacement only 48 hours to prepare for the premiere episode on Monday night.

JewelPoet and singer Jewel, it was announced, had fractured tibias in both legs and was unable to continue in the competition.  Producers replaced her with former “Girl Next Door” Holly Madison (not to be confused with Dolly Madison, something the “star” is clearly not particularly familiar with).  Holly’s bio on the DWTS web page states her profession to be “Reality Star”. (Hmmm…  Reality… star… By definition that doesn’t seem possible, but I digress.)

Holly-madisonMy hopes were not high for this former Hugh Hefner honey, but I was pleasantly surprised to see her do a passable job on the dance floor.  After scoring a mere 18 points, things look less than certain for this insane brave young woman, but given that she’d had only one week to learn the dance there’s a chance that she’ll improve in the ranks and make a decent showing.

Melissa_rycorftThe real surprise came when it was announced that Nancy O’Dell had a torn Meniscus, a piece of cartilage in the knee intended to evenly distribute your body weight in your knee, which left unrepaired could result in arthritis in the knee.  O’Dell dropped out of the competition on Friday and was immediately replaced by recently jilted Bachelor “star”, Melissa Rycroft, who is beginning to come across as a little bit of a media whore.  With only two days to learn and “perfect” her routine it seemed unlikely that Rycroft could possibly make a good showing so it was quite a surprise when she tied for second place with Olympic Gymnast Shawn Johnson (who, by the way, slipped just walking down the stairs in the shows opening).

Actually, Melissa Rycroft’s performance was quite impressive and she absolutely deserved the 23 points she got.  Head Judge Len Goodman, however, outed Rycroft as being a trained dancer, pointing out that she clearly had some dance training and he believed it to be ballet.  (Correct you are, sir!  Plus when not plastering her face all over your reality TV shows, she works as a Dallas Cowboy’s Cheerleader.)

Can you say “Ringer!”?  It has got me thinking…

Now, I should probably be wearing a tinfoil hat, as I’m turning into a bit of a conspiracy theorist, but here’s what I think is going on here.  Ms. Rycroft wants to be famous (and really, who can blame her.)   This is why she studied ballet to begin with.  This is why she became a Dallas Cowboy’s Cheerleader.  This is why she auditioned to go on The Bachelor.  And things were looking really good for a while there.  I never have, and never will, watch an episode of the Bachelor so I can’t speak to how things went for Rycroft while she was there, but I know that she made it to the end and received the marriage proposal.  I also know that in the “after the final rose” special that immediately followed The Bachelor Season Finale, this past Monday, she was unceremoniously, and from what I’ve read (thanks bloggers) rather cruelly dumped.  What a bitter end to an otherwise decent run.  What to do?  What to do!?

And then it became abundantly clear!  Dancing with the Stars was just about to start and she had a background in dance!  She may not win the entire competition but at least she can make a nice showing for herself.  But, damn!  The show has already been cast.  No problem!  Tonya Harding has nothing going on and she needs to eat… A lot!  (Seriously, have you sent his?)

tonya-harding1

So she hired Tonya Harding who conspired to attack Nancy O’Dell and injure her knee, put her out of the competition and then Melissa can step in at the 11th hour and save the day.  A brilliant plan!

On the other hand, I suppose it’s possible that Nancy suffered her injury legitimately and Melissa was the first person they could get to take on the challenge with such short notice and she only did it because she already has some dance experience and won’t look a total fool.  I suppose it could be that.  Maybe.