I shopped for a great value TV for my parents. (Bought at Wal-Mart.) The only problem is that the volume of the commercials is often extremely LOUD.
I mean very LOUD.
What can we do?
I see one device advertised which promises to maintain a constant volume, automatically:
Audiovox VR1 Automatic TV Volume Controller
Are there other solutions?
New research confirms what we already knew — The Daily Show is as “substantive” a source of US political news as the real news shows.
Using the entire half-hour programs as the basis of analysis yielded the same results: there was just as much substance to The Daily Show’s coverage as there was on the network news. And The Daily Show was much funnier, with less of the hype—references to photo ops, political endorsements, and polls—that typically overshadows substantive coverage on network news, according to the study.
The Daily Show is as substantive as the “real” news
Fox News is actually funnier than The Daily Show, but Fox is trying to be serious.
My Mom treated me to an entertainment by Arthur Black.
He spoke just down the street at the Parksville City Hall. Black was on tour flogging his 11th book, Pitch Black.
After the late, great, beloved Peter Gzowski, no other personality was more the voice of Canadian radio to me than Arthur Black. He retired to Salt Spring Island, BC 11-years-ago — but he is still in fine form, as sharp and witty as ever.
I had forgotten that Black first introduced the comedian who played Father Guido Sarducci who went on to Saturday Night Live fame. The Stephen Colbert of the 1970s, Sarducci posed as gossip columnist and rock critic for a Vatican newspaper.
» next travelogue post on this trip – flee to Coombs, BC
Ron Johnson seemingly hauled in a pass that would have put Calgary on the Toronto five-yard line. However, the pass was ruled incomplete and replays confirmed the call on the field.
That’s it. I am boycotting the CFL.
I watched one game of the recently successful Canadian Football League and suffered through an insanely bad (reviewed by replay) call by the referees.
In the dying seconds Toronto got a lucky call when it looked Calgary was sure to tie the game. What happened there? The media did not seem to cover the injustice. The Calgary players and coach did not react to the mis-call.
If I want fixed fights, I will watch professional wrestling.
Simpsons famously pokes their viewers in the eye with the couch introduction every episode.
Someone edited together all the “Intros (Runs To Couch) of the 16th/17th Season”.
Click PLAY or watch the montage on YouTube.
Just finished Congo, Crichton’s 1980 book exploring themes of communication with great apes and the possibility that man and chimpanzee had inter-bred at some point in the distant past.
What I like about Crichton is that his books are accessible by a 10-year-old yet are based on serious scientific research. He is a medical doctor by training.
Of course he has had fantastic success translating his work to film and TV. I never realized until recently that Crichton wrote and directed one of my formative early films Westworld
I liked Crichton even better after I read his autobiographical book Travels:
In some ways Crichton’s heir is Canadian author Robert J. Sawyer…
Actually, (after I had written the statement above) I got the chance to ask Robert if he was influenced by Crichton and he said he had not read him since age 12. Though both have a scientific background, Crichton is “anti-Science” — in his books the scientific breakthrough always goes wrong. The dinosaurs run amok.
Everything this guy does breaks me up.
And Hodgman is everywhere right now.
He is the Bill-Gates-like PC in the hilarious Apple computer Get-a-Mac ads.
His bits on the Daily Show are classic. Here’s one where Hodgman explains Net Neutrality. Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Smugly, I was not one of the millions who watched viral videos on YouTube from Lonelygirl15.
Even Om Malik thought she was for real.
Turns out Lonelygirl was a 19-year-old actress in a carefully scripted new kind of internet “TV show”.
There must be dozens of similar videos in production right now. Don’t believe what you see on the internet.
I tuned in last night for the season finale of Rock Star: Supernova.
There’s something I like about that show. Dave Navarro is great, and I am intrigued with the twist that all these hard-core, heavy weight rock stars are so … nice.
No surprises. Edgy Lukas Rossi won the contest. He will front Supernova on the coming 2007 tour.
The token female in the final who’s name is already forgotten was the most talented as usual — but could she really lead that band? Hard rock is mostly a boys club.
I like The Amazing Race, of course. Travel adventure.
So You Think You Can Dance is a great concept and a showcase of talent I would otherwise not see.
But the future is in the direction of shows that feel less formulaic and scripted. For example:
These lowest budget productions remind me of the best of the video blogs of MoBuzzTV and Rocketboom.
Gourmet chef Dave Adlard tipped me on to The The Thirsty Traveler series on TV hosted by Kevin Brauch.
I had never heard of it.
But I got my hands on the “cookbook” — if you can call tinkering in the kitchen with vodka, tequila, single malt scotch and other fine alcohol, “cooking”.
It’s excellent.
