My anger at the Walmart situation from Friday is getting worse.
As if the actual incident wasn’t bad enough, more details are emerging of how people went on to purchase televisions as Jdimytai Damourlaid in the entry way, presumably already dead. No one stopped shopping until the Nassau County Police shut down the store as a crime scene.
Michael Daly of the New York Daily News has assembled more details of how the line started forming at 9 PM the night before. When the line reached the end of the parking a lot, a line began forming on the other side of the doors, leading to a presumption of line jumping. The doors were to open at 5 AM, but at 4:45 the crowd surged forward as the doors of the store buckled, leading to Mr. Damourlaid being knocked over and eventually trampled. There are also now reports that a woman miscarried her child in the melee.
How is this particular Walmart handling the situation? Business as usual. The glass in front of where the incident happened has been covered up with cardboard, the greeters are in place, and customers continue to shop. Why is this store not closed? The police are still investigating… You are asking employees and customers to walk over the spot where a man died… no, really, stay open and continue to sell your goods. Please do.
Of course, it isn’t just Walmart that is making me roll my eyes over this whole issue. According to CNN, Bruce Both, president of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 1500 in New York, the state’s largest grocery worker’s union, is also on my naughty list. He is taking this as an oppurtunity to say how Walmart failed, but it is an extremely thinly veiled commentary on how if the store had been unionized… you get the idea. The UCFW is also calling for an investigation “by all levels of government” to make sure that justice is served. I have this to say to the UCFW… you are no better than this Walmart staying open at this point. You are using this man as a martyr for your cause and you should be ashamed of yourselves. Let the police do their investigation, let Walmart deal with the family, and if after all that is said and done you still aren’t satisfied, which I’m sure you won’t be, then you can say something. Until then, sit down and shut up because you are just using this unfortunate incident to further your own ends.
Could someone else tell me why the gun battle in a Toys R’ Us in Palm Desert, California isn’t getting anywhere neat the coverage? Two women got in an argument, it is unknown if it was over a sale items, and the men with them both pulled guns and opened fire, resulting in both men dying. Luckily no one else was hurt, but, still… THERE WAS A GUN FIGHT IN A TOY STORE!!! It’s getting some coverage, but it is always followed by, ‘we don’t know if it was over a sale item’, and you can almost hear them want to add, ’so it doesn’t matter nearly as much.’
Thankfully no one else was hurt in the shoot out, but, still… guns… in a toy store… and no one seems to care nearly as much. I guess it’s okay since the two idiots only killed each other.
Enjoy Black Friday from here on out folks, I’m staying home no matter what is on sale.
In what is becoming an annual list, I’m going to share the holiday programming I enjoy every year. However, I am changing the format a bit this year with ones I think everyone should own on DVD, and then following it up with a list of what is airing in the month of December, and on what channels and times you can find them (if you are in the USA that is).
A Charlie Brown Christmas - It’s amazing this show has aired every year since 1965, and it never seems to get old. This was the first of the Charlie Brown specials, and was probably the best of them. Interesting how something that aired in 1965 still seems so relevant in how Christmas has become all about consumerism. A Christmas Carol - Patrick Stewart is a classically trained actor and he brings a powerful tone to the role of Scrooge. A fantastic version of this classic tale of Christmas spirit. This has become one of my first watch items each Christmas season.
A Christmas Story - Being set in the 1940’s does nothing to diminish the fun, or relevance, of this movie. Every kid has had that “dream” gift on their Christmas list that it seemed no one wanted you to have. Fun, cute and so many quotable lines. “You’ll shoot your eye out” if you miss this one!
Elf - I am shocked how fast I took a liking to this film, and I watched it multiple times last year around Christmas. I then spend the entire year screaming, “YOU SIT ON A THRONE OF LIES! You smell of meat and cheese!”
Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas - Sadly it seems the only version floating around of this Jim Henson special is somewhat cut up from the original version with Kermit the Frog cut out of the beginning and end. Still, Henson’s work was always magical, and this special from 1977 is just another example of how good he really was.
How The Grinch Stole Christmas - This is a special I really never got wild about, but it’s a mainstay of the season, so it makes it.
It’s a Wonderful Life - Come on…do I even really need to discuss this one? Is there anyone alive who hasn’t seen this? Actually I did find someone a few years ago…and I promptly pointed her out for the heretic she is… and then I bought her a copy and mailed it to her, forcing her to watch it. This is one of my all time favorite movies. Jimmy Stewart is amazing.
Love Actually - Really, the only connection to Christmas is the time of year, and a couple of holiday jokes, but it’s cute and sweet. Never mind it has a stellar cast of English actors and actresses.
Miracle on 34th Street - While some can believe it’s like a film length ad for Macy’s department store, it’s still a cute film with a central message that Christmas can be magical for any number of reasons.
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation - The Vacation movies have been a mixed bag (as has most of Chevy Chase’s career), but this film is so easy to relate to. We all have those dreams of the perfect family Christmas, just to have them dashed and never have them live up to our hopes. Plus, the Cousin Eddie scene in white sweater, with green dickie, is worth the entire price of the movie!
The Nightmare Before Christmas - Not only is it a sweet story, and amazing to watch, how can you not love a movie that can make both the Halloween AND Christmas movie lists? And without it, would Hot Topic have anything to sell.
Santa Claus - The Movie - This movie got ravaged by critics, but it is cute, funny and warm. Deal with it.
Star Wars Holiday Special - This thing has never been released to video, and aired only once on television on November 17th, 1978. It is two hours of solid pin set in the Star Wars universe. What is even sadder is the original cast of Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Anthony Daniels and so on all appear in the special… along with the likes of Harvey Korman, Art Carney and Bea Arthur. Yes… you read all of that correctly. You can find the Star Wars Holiday Special online, but be prepared to cringe. The only cool thing is that it does feature the first appearance of Boba Fett, albeit in an animated form.
And yes, I know a lot of these movies show up on TV, but if it’s something like It’s A Wonderful Life, PLEASE don’t watch it on commercial television. It is deserving of your hard earned money being spent on a DVD of it. Same with Christmas Vacation. Christmas Story I don’t mind because it’s a 24-hour marathon, I usually watch it 3 - 4 times through out the time period. Yes… 3 - 4 times, I love it that much.
2008 Holiday Specials On TV Schedule
I will be putting this list up by network and in order of airing.
ABC:
Dec. 1, 8-9pm: Shrek the Halls and Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas (animated version)
Dec. 2, 8-9pm: Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town
Dec. 5, 8-10pm: Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas (live-action version)
Dec. 8, 8-9pm: A Charlie Brown Christmas
Dec. 9, 8-9pm: America’s Funniest Home Videos Christmas Special
Dec. 13, 8-9pm: America’s Funniest Home Videos Christmas Special
Dec. 13, 9-11pm: Surviving Christmas
Dec. 14, 8-10pm: The Santa Clause 2
Dec. 15, 8-9pm: I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown
Dec. 16, 8-9pm: A Charlie Brown Christmas
Dec. 20, 8-9pm: I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown
Dec. 20, 9-11pm: Dr. Seuss’ The Cat in the Hat
Dec. 22, 8-8:30pm: Shrek the Halls
Dec. 23, 8-9pm: Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas (animated version)
Dec. 30, 8-9:30pm: Happy New Year, Charlie Brown and Rudolph’s Shiny New Year
CBS:
Dec. 3, 8-9pm: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
Dec. 12, 8-9pm: Frosty the Snowman and Frosty Returns
Dec. 20, 8-10pm: Elf
Dec. 23, 8-9pm: 10th Annual Home for the Holidays with Faith Hill
Fox:
None… apparently they have no holiday spirit!
NBC:
Dec. 3, 8-9pm: Christmas in Rockefeller Center
Friday, Dec. 5, 8-9pm: Greatest Holiday Moments: TV & Film Countdown
Dec. 10, 8-9pm: Little Spirit: A New York Christmas
Dec. 12, 8-9pm: Greatest Holiday Moments: Songs of the Season Countdown
Dec. 13, 8-11pm: It’s a Wonderful Life
Dec. 17, 8-9pm: A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa (BRAND NEW, MUST WATCH!)
Dec. 19, 8-10pm: Greatest Holiday Moments: TV & Film Countdown and Greatest Holiday Moments: Songs of the Season Countdown
Dec. 22, 8-9pm: Greatest Holiday Moments: Hilarious Home Video Countdown
Dec. 24, 8-11pm: It’s a Wonderful Life
Dec. 25, 10-11pm: Greatest Holiday Moments: Hilarious Home Video Countdown
MyNetwork TV:
Dec. 6, 8-10pm: Miracle on 34th Street
Dec. 8, 8-10pm: Blizzard
Dec. 9, 8-10pm: Olive the Other Reindeer and Santa’s Funniest Moments
Dec. 10, 8-10pm: Home Alone
Dec. 16, 8-10pm: Soul of Christmas
Dec. 17, 8-10pm: Christmas is Here Again and Santa’s Funniest Moments
Dec. 18, 8-9pm: Wrestlemania Holiday Special
Dec. 22, 8-10pm: The Spirit of Christmas
Dec. 23, 8-10pm: Babes in Toyland
The CW:
Dec. 5, 8-9pm: Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer
Dec. 5, 9-10pm: The Story of Santa Claus
2008 Holiday Special on TV By Date
(All times listed are EST)
Dec. 1, 8-9pm: Shrek the Halls and Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas (animated version), ABC
Dec. 2, 8-9pm: Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town, ABC
Dec. 3, 8-9pm: Christmas in Rockefeller Center, NBC
Dec. 3, 8-9pm: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, CBS
Dec. 5, 8-9pm: Greatest Holiday Moments: TV & Film Countdown, NBC
Dec. 5, 8-9pm: Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer, The CW
Dec. 5, 8-10pm: Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas (live-action version), ABC
Dec. 5, 9-10pm: The Story of Santa Claus, The CW
Dec. 6, 8-10pm: Miracle on 34th Street, MyNetwork TV
Dec. 8, 8-9pm: A Charlie Brown Christmas, ABC
Dec. 8, 8-10pm: Blizzard, MyNetwork TV
Dec. 9, 8-9pm: America’s Funniest Home Videos Christmas Special, ABC
Dec. 9, 8-10pm: Olive the Other Reindeer and Santa’s Funniest Moments, MyNetwork TV
Dec. 10, 8-10pm: Home Alone, MyNetwork TV
Dec. 10, 8-9pm: Little Spirit: A New York Christmas, NBC
Dec. 12, 8-9pm: Greatest Holiday Moments: Songs of the Season Countdown, NBC
Dec. 12, 8-9pm: Frosty the Snowman and Frosty Returns, CBS
Dec. 13, 8-9pm: America’s Funniest Home Videos Christmas Special, ABC
Dec. 13, 8-11pm: It’s a Wonderful Life, NBC
Dec. 13, 9-11pm: Surviving Christmas, ABC
Dec. 14, 8-10pm: The Santa Clause 2, ABC
Dec. 15, 8-9pm: I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown, ABC
Dec. 16, 8-9pm: A Charlie Brown Christmas, ABC
Dec. 16, 8-10pm: Soul of Christmas, MyNetwork TV
Dec. 17, 8-10pm: Christmas is Here Again and Santa’s Funniest Moments, MyNetwork TV
Dec. 17, 8-9pm: A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa (BRAND NEW, MUST WATCH!), NBC
Dec. 18, 8-9pm: Wrestlemania Holiday Special, MyNetwork TV
Dec. 19, 8-10pm: Greatest Holiday Moments: TV & Film Countdown and Greatest Holiday Moments: Songs of the Season Countdown, NBC
Dec. 20, 8-9pm: I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown, ABC
Dec. 20, 8-10pm: Elf, CBS
Dec. 20, 9-11pm: Dr. Seuss’ The Cat in the Hat, ABC
Dec. 22, 8-8:30pm: Shrek the Halls, ABC
Dec. 22, 8-9pm: Greatest Holiday Moments: Hilarious Home Video Countdown, NBC
Dec. 22, 8-10pm: The Spirit of Christmas, MyNetwork TV
Dec. 23, 8-9pm: 10th Annual Home for the Holidays with Faith Hill, CBS
Dec. 23, 8-9pm: Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas (animated version), ABC
Dec. 23, 8-10pm: Babes in Toyland, MyNetwork TV
Dec. 24, 8-11pm: It’s a Wonderful Life, NBC
Dec. 25, 10-11pm: Greatest Holiday Moments: Hilarious Home Video Countdown, NBC
Dec. 30, 8-9:30pm: Happy New Year, Charlie Brown and Rudolph’s Shiny New Year, ABC
Black Friday needs to be ended as we know it, and it needs to happen immediately.
This morning in Long Island, NY, a 34-year-old overnight stock clerk was trampled to death as he attempted to assist in holding back the crowds. According to reports from the Daily News, the crush was powerful enough that the doors were knocked from their hinges, and the clerk was knocked to the floor and crushed to death.
A later report from the Post Chronicle lists that a pregnant woman was knocked to the ground and later miscarried at a local hospital from the trauma.
I’ve done the Black Friday sales in the past, but I’ve given them up because 1) my sleep matter more to me than saving a few dollars and 2) I didn’t enjoy the antics of the other shoppers. More and more companies are taking their Black Friday sales online, and I am at the point that if it isn’t online, I don’t really know if I need it.
Do I think Black Friday sales will end? No, they won’t, but precautions are going to have to be taken to prevent situations like this. Looking at the Walmart, it appears to not be one of their 24/7 stores, and that probably added to the problem, but whatever caused it, it was wrong. Some reports I saw through out the day said that a few people stopped to check things out once paramedics were trying to save the man, but otherwise people were too focused on their cheap TVs and $1.50 towels to be worried about the man they were trampling over or was laying there in pain as time passed.
Friends of mine worry about the fact I rarely leave my property unless I absolutely have to. Tell me why I should? People worry about the fact I like to do my grocery shopping at 12 or 1 AM. Fewer people, folks, why should I go during the day? We’ve all seen my feelings about grocery shopping etiquette. I don’t want to turn in to a hermit to be honest, but can someone tell me what motivation there is to go out in to public with people that will crush a man to get a cheap TV?
Mankind never ceases to amaze me. My deepest condolonces to this man’s family and to the woman who had her miscarriage. To those who trampled and crushed forward… I have no words for you.
I did not intend to skip doing the show this week, but since I can not currently breathe through my nose, and the pressure in my head makes it near impossible to swallow, talking for a half hour on a podcast isn’t going to work well.
So, sorry to all 10 or 11 of you who listen to the show each week. I will save my rant for this week (it’s about turkey, and what people do to it…) for an episode closer to Christmas so it will be relevant again.
This is a definite drawback to doing a one man podcast show, but oh well, hopefully this will be the only time it happens, and I am trying to think of ways to avoid it happening again in the future. Be sure to check back next week for episode 20 of Scattercast.
Remember the picture of my dinner from last Thanksgiving? Pretty wasn’t it? I was going to share a picture again, but 2 hours after finishing our dinners… we’re still waiting on the turkey to be done.
Now mind you this is not the fault of anyone here, it is the fault of we got a new convection oven this year, which is supposed to cook faster… well… yeah, about that… um… yeah, not so much.
So the turkey looked to be done when the rest of dinner was ready, but once we cut into it, it wasn’t, so we ate all the fixings… just not the turkey. While disappointing, it wasn’t a deal breaker. Oh well, just that many more turkey leftovers… bring on the turkey goulash!
Otherwise, sinus problems made my day miserable, but the rest of dinner was excellent. mmmm stuffing and gravy…
In January, Fox will end its contract with the 4Kids cartoon block, which will then move over to The CW. Considering the health of that “network” (I use the term very loosely), this is pretty much the death throes of the Saturday morning cartoon as we knew it.
It is true that this is partially being done because they don’t feel they can compete with channels like Cartoon Network, Boomerang, Toon Disney and so on, so kids won’t be totally without enterteinment, but it is still sad. What bothers me the most about this decision is that Fox isn’t replacing the cartoons with educational shows or the like, but instead they will be treated to “longform ads”… yeah… infomercials.
By no stretch of the imagination am I saying that cartoons were ever educational, though they tried, but replacing a tradition with commercials for the likes of cleaners, the Handy Switch and you just know Billy Mays will be in there somewhere. Why not run something educational? Heck, bring back School House Rocks! Sure their animation may be dated, but not much about what they taught has changed… unless… was there one about our solar system having nine planets?
It just saddens me on some level to see this coming to an end. I can remember as a kid living for Saturday mornings, and always being torn about which cartoon would win if there were two on at the same time I wanted to watch. All the while, munching down on a giant bowl of cereal I had concocted from mixing 4 to 5 different styles together. You know, now that I think about it… maybe it was Saturday morning cartoons that led to my weight problems!
One of my hard rules on this blog since I started was no serious discussions of religion… with the exception of Scientologists. Well, welcome to me breaking that rule.
I have not attended church with the exception of weddings and funerals since December of 1985. I remember that so clearly because it was Christmas Eve of the year I was 14 that I finally spoke up that I had no interest in going to midnight mass. I have nothing against people worshiping in the ways they see fit, so long as it does not infringe on another person.
Just because I don’t go to church doesn’t mean I have no faith, I just don’t see why a person has to go to a designated building, on a designated day to display their faith. Even at 14 I saw too many people that were holy only for that one hour on Sundays, and never at any other time. I just had no interest in going anymore, but that’s just me.
When I did go to church, I was raised in the Episcopal church, and I still consider myself Episcopalian. For those of you unfamiliar with the faith, it is better known as the Anglican Communion in Europe, and was the church formed by Henry the VIII when the Pope would not grant him a divorce from Anne Boleyn. To say that the Episcopalians tend to be a bit more liberal than most Christian faiths would be an understatement. We allow our priests to marry, we have no confession, as I have always explained it, “think of us as Catholic Lite, same great faith, half the guilt.’
“Conservative Episcopalians” sounds to me like “vegetarians that eat meat”, the two don’t go together well in a sentence. That isn’t to say that Episcopalians aren’t a diverse group of people in everyday life, but when it comes to matters of the church, it just seems odd. At the core of their fight with the higher ranks of the church is over the acceptance of gays into the clergy, the blessings of gay commitments and, the one that shocks me, women being allowed into the clergy.
Women have been part of the clergy for quite some time now, and there was even a British sitcom, The Vicar of Dibley, which revolved around a female member of the clergy. That has been around for quite some time now, so I find it odd people are taking issue with it now.
So far six dioceses in the United States have broken away from the church and have aligned with a new Episcopal church from Argentina. Why Argentina? I have no clue, but it appears that is where this movement has come from. I find it odd that six complete dioceses have voted to leave the main church, and that says to me that their ministers are leaning that way to begin with, and convincing their congregations to follow along. My question is if these people were so unhappy in the church, why hadn’t they left already for another church? Maybe it’s just me, just seems a little over dramatic the way it was done.
So, why do I blog this? For some reason it cracks me up that a church that was formed as a revolt against another church, now has a splinter group forming as a revolt against it. As for me, if I still went to church, or was to ever return, it would still be to the main Episcopal church, because, as Eddie Izzard said in Dressed to Kill, “But you can’t do that in Church of England, you can’t say, “You must have tea and cake with the Vicar, or you die!” You can’t have extreme points of view, you know. The Spanish Inquisition wouldn’t have worked with Church of England”
And with that, I leave you with this parting shot also from his show that really sums up the difference between our church and others.
So the Pagan religion I don’t know a huge amount about, but it was this earthy thing. Christianity had split into many different areas - Catholicism still has the fire and brimstone,( beating drum ) “Row, you bastards!” You know… Original sin! What a hellish idea that is! People have to go,
“Father, bless me for I have sinned, I did an original sin… I poked a badger with a spoon.”
“I’ve never heard of that one before! Five Hail Mary’s and two Hello, Dolly’s.”
“Oh, all right…”
“Bless me, Father, for I have slept with my next door neighbor’s wife.”
“Heard it! I want an original sin.”
“Oh, I’m terribly sorry!”
The Anglican faith doesn’t have that. You’ll never go,
“Vicar, I have done many bad things.”
“Well, so have I.”
“What shall I do?”
“Well, drink five Bloody Marys and you won’t remember.”
Yeah… that pretty much sums up my confusion over the idea we have “conservative Episcopalians”.
With another year under their belt, why does Blu-ray still seem to be another “also ran” in the home media market?
It was one year ago today that I announced that I had decided to go with HD-DVD, and I knew full well that probably meant I had picked the wrong format in the high def war. I was proven right in February of this year when HD-DVD threw in the towel, and it looked like a lock that Blu-ray would become the dominant format.
So, why hasn’t it happened? Blu-ray is still languishing with only a single digit percentage of the home media market, and it doesn’t look to be gainging more traction with the economy in its current uncertain state. As I see it, Blu-ray is fighting a multi pronged fight that it didn’t even ponder it was going to have to.
As people have said everywhere, DVDs still look too good on a high def television to warrant people running out and buying yet another format. With upconverting DVD players pushing standard definition discs to near HD quality, and those players still selling for less than a Blu-ray player, it’s hard for people to make the justification for going with Blu-ray.
Even when people do go with Blu-ray, they are not buying films in the numbers they were with regular DVDs.
Streaming media is becoming more common, and on numerous devices people already own. For instance, the fact that you can stream Netflix films via the XBox 360 now. Why purchase what you can stream, and be out more money and space in your home?
The prices for Blu-ray players and their accompanying discs are still just too high compared to their standard definition counterparts.
You add up all of these problems, and it doesn’t look too promising for the high def format. Yes, I fully admit that this may sound like sour grapes over me goign HD-DVD, but it isn’t, because I have been very close to throwing in the towel and buying a Blu-ray player several times since February. At this point I don’t think buying into an HD format is a wise choice for any one. Streaming is becoming more and more prevalent, and I don’t see standard def DVDs going anywhere, so I’m thinking it may be wise to just sit out this home media iteration and see where the chips land.
In short, don’t be me and put all your money on what could be a losing horse.
Those of you have read this blog for any amount of time, you know I think Arrested Development was one of the finest shows to ever grace television airwaves, and now it may be gracing the silver screen also.
The series ran for three seasons on Fox, and was possibly one of the most well crafted sitcoms ever. While you could sit down and watch one episode, there were numerous things in each episode that would make the loyal viewers smile. Each episode progressed each and every storyline at least a bit, and when you got to final episodes, things you totally missed came blindingly clear. It was possibly one of the most well planned out shows ever.
The nice thing is that the cast was as passionate about the show as the fans were, and ever since the show went off the air in 2005, they have been doing everything they can to get a movie follow-up in to theaters. As of Friday that dream got a little closer to reality as the producers, Mitch Hurwitz and Ron Howard, signed dealswith the proper companies to bring a film to reality.
As it stands, it appears all of the main cast is ready to come back with the exception of one. (rumor is that it is Michael Cera who played George Michael, if true, you ain’t that big of a movie star yet, kid) There is no script in place yet, but Mr. Hurwitz has said many times he has the movie all plotted out in his head, and Ron Howard is all set to return to his role as “The Narrator”.
For those of you haven’t tried the series yet, what are you waiting for? You don’t even have to rent DVDs as both Hulu and Internet Movie Database have all three seasons online for you to watch for free! I’ll even get you started by embedding the first episode of season 1 right here in the post for you! Try it, it is well worth your time, and you can be all prepared for the movie. Now… excuse me, I need to watch the entire series for the umpteenth time.
One of my favorite television shows of the past few years has met with cancellation.
Pushing Daisies was one of those shows I pretty much knew from the moment it was announced it would end up getting the ax. The only reason it probably made it to the second season was because the first season got cut short by the writer’s strike last fall. While that was probably the reason the show got to season 2, it is also probably what made it lose viewers when it came back this year.
For those who never gave it a try, now that you know it won’t have many episodes, I highly recommend you give it a shot as a DVD rental. It was highly imaginative, well acted, beautifully shot and just a lot of fun to watch.
If you’re curious as to what it was about, Ned (Lee Pace) discovered at a young age that he could resurrect the dead, but this power came with a price. Anytime he brought something back for longer than 60-seconds, something else had to die to replace it, but the resurrected item would stay alive until he touched it again. This led to the oddest relationship between a master and his childhood dog, but that was part of the charm of the show. Later in life, the first girl Ned ever kissed was murdered while on a cruise ship, and when he resurrected her to discover who had killed her, he couldn’t bring himself to cut her off at 60-seconds…
The show was far more complex and deep than just that brief paragraph, but I loved every second of the show. So, like I said, treat yourself to a DVD rental and check it out, or you can see episodes on the ABC site.
So long Ned, Chuck, Emerson, Olive, Vivian, Lilian and the Narrator, I’ll miss you.
Rick Wagoner of GM, Alan Mulally of Ford, and Robert Nardelli of Chrysler all deserve to be strung up by their toes.
I am sure by now you have heard that these three CEO’s went to Capital Hill to beg for the bailout money for their car companies on Wednesday. The “delicious” irony is that these three gentleman arrived in Washington D.C. on private jets instead of flying commercial. To add even more insult to injury, Mr. Mulally of Ford took one of the eight private jets owned by the company according to the Washington Monthly.
According to Money Central, it is estimated that each roundtrip on the GM plane for Mr. Wagoner costs the company $20,000. As Mr. Wagoner lives in Seattle, WA, GM ferries him back home every weekend from Detroit on the private plane, meaning they are dumping an estimated $20K a week in to letting him go home. Lets say that he takes 52 trips a year on the private plane, it is costing the company $1,040,000 a year to move him around the country. First class averages out to about $1,600 between any two destinations domestically, so even if they flew him first class every where, you are looking at a cost of $83,200 a year, a savings of $956,800. How about coach? Approximately $30,000 a year, a savings of over $1 million a year. (I personally find first class for domestic flights for anyone to be excessive and ridiculous)
This is only a very small slice of the problem with these companies, but if this is any indication of the mismanagement of funds at these companies, then I almost wish they would fail. Mind you, I have no desire to see factory workers lose their jobs, but this climate of CEOs being treated like messiahs who walk on water has to end. No CEO is worth a $28 million dollar pay package. Golden parachute clauses, insane perks, excessive pay packages, no CEO is worth the amounts of money these men receive.
I do have to applaud the Representatives who called them out on this debacle. From Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.), as quoted by the Washington Post:
“I’m going to ask the three executives here to raise their hand if they flew here commercial,” he said. All still at the witness table. “Second,” he continued, “I’m going ask you to raise your hand if you’re planning to sell your jet . . . and fly back commercial.” More stillness. “Let the record show no hands went up,” Sherman grandstanded.
I think “grandstanded” was unnecessary in the article, and I am sure it was a bit of a play, but it was a question that did need to be asked of these men. The commentary was continued by Rep. Patrick T. McHenry (R-N.C.):
“I’m not an opponent of private flights by any means, but the fact that you flew in on your own private jet at tens of thousands itself dollars of cost just for you to make your way to Washington is a bit arrogant before you ask the taxpayers for money.”
I have mixed feelings about the bailout, and I almost always come back to, “Would the government help my family out if our business was in a similar situation to these companies?”, and the simple answer is ‘no’. I understand the theory that these companies are too big to allow them to fail, with tentacles reaching in to too many other industries, but I have to wonder why my tax dollars have to be involved in cleaning up the poor management of companies.
As I said, this is just one small slice of the problem with the American car industry, but it is an insulting situation to say the least. If anything good comes out of this whole thing, I hope that every one takes a look at every last one of these CEOs with their horrendous paychecks and perks. And, as a side note, if you know of one good reason why these men and women are paid these insane amounts of money, please explain it to me. I have never gotten it, and I’m not sure I ever will.
My first concert in just over two years, and I wish I had better things to say about it. This was one of those shows where you buy the ticket based solely on the headlining act, and actually no opening acts were announced when I ordered my tickets. During that time, two bands I had never heard of were announced, they then had to pull out and two other bands I had never heard of replaced them. I am always cautious with opening bands, but sometimes you do discover band you like because of it.
… this wasn’t one of those times.
Everybody Out!
What… was that? While the band is obviously punk, and founded by former Dropkick Murphys lead guitarist Rick Barton, it was like some sort of flashback to the late 1970’s. The lead singer, Sweeney Todd, has obviously watched a few too many videos of Johnny Rotten singing with the Sex Pistols, and possibly a few too many concert films of Iggy Pop from his Iggy and the Stooges days. When he wasn’t trying to slither across the stage (poorly), he was too busy adjusting his mic stand for the thousandth time, or attempting to stumble around like he was drunk.
As for the music itself, it seemed like something that could best be described as barely controlled sonic chaos. It was more a cacophony of musical notes than something resembling music in the idea that all members of the band play the same song at the same time.
In short, I was not impressed and I highly doubt you will ever find this band in my music collection. You can see (poorly shot) images from this set on my Flickr account.
Angel City Outcasts
The mid to late 1980’s were a great era for bands to come out of the Los Angeles, CA music scene: Guns N’ Roses, LA Guns, Faster Pussycat and so on. It would seem someone forgot to tell Angel City Outcasts that not only that this style of music is pretty much dead, but there is also no burning desire to see it return.
ACO seemed to suffer from another case of “We’ve seen bands act a certain way on stage, and it was cool, so we will just wholesale rip it off.” The lead singer, Alex Brugge, is obviously just slightly in love with himself, and enjoys far too many live performance videos from the 80’s LA bands. (Really, the foot on the floor monitor thing is still cool? You sure seemed to think so) Lead guitarist Tak Boroyan… oh, where do I even begin. He is an adequate guitarist (no, that is not a compliment), but everything about his stage presence screams “I practiced these moves for hours in the mirror in my bedroom when I was in high school!” Their drummer, Travis (no last name apparently), is a barely passable drummer who is obsessed with his snare, barely leaving it for any other drum in his kit for the vast majority of songs. And, by the way guys, the suit vests as a “uniform”? That only works if you do a complete outfit, some wearing a t-shirt under it while others wore a collared shirt… yeah, it just made you look like idiots.
If I sound like I am being a bit harsh on them, I am, but my opinion seemed to be shared by the audience. There was an enormous amount of milling around, cell phones being whipped out to check messages, and next to no audience engagement. More in fact there seemed to be a complete audience disconnect from the happenings on stage.
Besides a few sojourns into attempts at punk and one song that was a bit rockabilly flavored, ACO stuck to their outdated fad music of the 80’s, and was quite forgettable and unremarkable. The style of music was also an incredibely poor match for the styles of the other two bands.
When the Dropkick Murphys took the stage, a lot could be forgiven, but then my hatred turned to the person behind the mixing board for the show.
The Murphys are well known for their inclusion of instruments such as banjos, bag pipes, tin whistles, mandolins and so on. It would have been nice to have heard them. While you could hear some of them at times, the bag pipes were horribly lost in the mixing, and that is a damned shame.
Beyond the sound problems, the Murphys put on a heck of a show, taking few breaks between songs so as to lose no momentum to the energy. There was one thing I noticed in stark contrast to the other two bands… the Murphys, who have been around for twelve years, realize people are here to listen to the music, not to watch onstage antics. While they did move around some, there was no wild over acting, no staggering to feign drunkenness, no putting a foot up on the monitor, there was music, and only music. Perhaps this comes with age and experience? Sure, they brought people up on stage for two sing-a-longs, but those made sense as they were… you know… sing-a-longs, but as for the rest of the show, it was just straight forward Murphy’s doing what they do best: playing music.
Overall, they put on an enjoyable set, and the pain of the first two bands was quickly forgiven.
As a parting note to the venue, The Blue Note, if you post rules about no moshing, no crowd surfing, etc, perhaps you should inform the bands of this? Everybody Out actively encouraged excessively dangerous behavior, including pulling someone up on stage so he could leap into the crowd. If you’re going to lecture us about “the rules” while we are standing outside in the freezing cold, telling us to behave ourselves, well, what do you do when the bands tell people to do it? Yeah, you did nothing, just like I have seen you do so many times before.
There’s a reason I always get there early and race for the balcony, it’s because I know you have zero control on that floor. After I got caught up in it back in 2000, I realized you guys had no clue what you were doing when it comes to security, and glad to see you continue to prove me right.
I think it’s time for a small change in how blogs give credit to one another for where stories come from.
Back in May 2007, I wrote an article about “The most insane trackback ever?“, and how a picture of some storage under stairs had made it’s way from blog to blog without any acknowledgement given to the original site that had posted it. Here we are a year and a half later, and I have found another situation that seems to follow in the same… vein. (you’ll get the joke in a moment)
The victim this time is a antique vampire hunter’s kit that sold recently at an auction for $14,850. I first read the story at The Inquisitr yesterday, it got my interest, and I decided to go to the source they listed to read more about it. SlipperyBrick was next, and they didn’t have much more info, so I decided to go to their source in hopes of more information. PopTherapy was next and… yeah, still had to go to their source for more info. Neatorama failed me also. FINALLY! Antiques and the Arts Online seems to be the source! Not only are the source, but they ran the story five days before The Inquisitr.
So, it took four jumps for me to get back to the source of the image and the story, and that is where I don’t think this is fair. Now, mind you, I am not specifically saying the four sites involved are bad sites, or that they have done something wrong; this is a common practice on the Web, and that is what I am speaking to. While I feel credit should be given to the site that brought the story to your attention, I feel it is only right you should also try to give credit to the original also. So to give credit, you would do something like:
Why is this important? Well, I think credit should be given to those who deserve it, and I also think that it is only fair from a search engine optimization standpoint. By giving credit only to someone that is three steps removed, you are giving them the search engine credit, but none to the people who did the real work.
Again, I am not slamming the blogs involved in this bread crumb trail, this happens all over the web, and it has become what we tolerate in this business, but I think it’s time for this to end, and credit should be given properly. Do I think people will change their policies? Doubtful, but I think it is worth at least some thought, especially on a niche story like this. Considering some of the complaints I’ve seen over linking policies, it surprises me that no one else has brught this up yet.
Who’s with me? Just do a couple clicks on stories like this, find the original source, give them credit when and where possible.
Oh good grief, I love people with too much time on their hands on the weekend.
I was swamped this weekend with working on numerous projects, and only caught the briefest of glimpses of a brewing controversy on Twitter. For those of you unfamiliar with the microblogging site, if you want to have a running conversation on a subject, you use a thing called hash tags. Well, the hash tag #motrinmoms popped up this weekend in relation to a new ad campaign started by Motrin. You can see the ad embedded below.
As I was going through my RSS feeds tonight, Duncan Riley at The Inquisitr posted a great piece about his thoughts on it, and he got me to researching it. It only took me a few minutes to come to the conclusion that this, like so many things people get worked up over, is much ado about nothing.
What gets me more than anything is that the people who are irked can’t even agree as to why they are offended by it. Some say it is because it implies that mothers who wear their babies are doing it for fashion or for their egos. Others say it is the part where is says “Supposedly, it’s a real bonding experience.” Well, to that part, I can tell you bluntly, unless your kid has said ‘Oh thank you mother, I feel so much more bonded to you now’, then guess what, “supposedly” is the correct word. You can mention all the studies you want, but your kid could be a lot quieter simply because you just keep jostling them with every step.
As to those who are offended by the fashion angle, while I am sure some parents do it for bonding or other reasons, I can also tell you I have seen numerous parents that truly do it for fashion. They pay no attention as their child’s head rolls around at dangerous angles right in front of them, or the child is on their back putting everything they can get a hold of into their mouth. So, yes, I am afraid to tell you, there are many parents out there that aren’t doing it for the “bonding” experience.
I fully realize that 99% of my blog entries deal with me complaining about something, but I would like to think that usually I am at least somewhat constructive. In this case, these offended #motrinmoms are demanding an apology from Motrin, claiming they will never buy the brand again and discussing how there should be boycotts of the brand, the ad agency and everything else.
In this day and age, is there really anything that can be said in an ad that won’t end up offending some random group of people? Doubtful. The energy being expeneded in this whole ranting and raving could be used in about a million other constructive ways, or you could just ignore the ad and go on about your day. Demanding an apology from the company is just flabbergasting to me, it’s not like they have some how offended a minority or ethic group, they have “offended” a group of people who choose a way to carry their child. True, Motrin could have picked any way of carrying a child as the source of your back pain, because, guess what, moving a child from place to place is not easy work! Be it on your hip, pushed in a stroller or some other way I am not even be familiar with, children can hurt your back.
If we keep up this culture of being offended at everything out there we will soon have ads that are black words of the brand name on white backgrounds with nothing else being seen. Course, that will last until the Mauve Lovers of America get offended at the lack of mauve in advertising.
In short… get over it folks. Not just the people offended by Motrin, but in general. Every sub-culture of a sub-culture that gets offended by some random word. Grow a thicker skin and move along.
While monitoring my Twitter feed today, I learned of an enormous earthquake hitting Indonesia via my boss at Mashable, Pete Cashmore. Mr. Cashmore lives in Scotland, by the way. So I am receiving news of a major world event via Twitter… from a man living in Scotland.
Okay, fine, but what did the major news sites in the USA show? (please note that the following links take you to huge screenshots of the news sites named at the time I was looking) Well, CNN was talking about if GM was worth saving. Over at MSNBC, they were talking troops in Iraq, and just as I took the screenshot, they did add something up in their “Breaking News” banner. Google News, which aggregates news from thousands of sites, had nothing on their main page at the time I visited it. The only news site with something up when I first looked, a full 1 hour and 8 minutes after the event, was Fox News, and even at that, it was just a news blurb marked “URGENT” in red, while a story about Jones Town was the dominating story at the top of the page. Because, really, the 30th anniversary of the Kool Aid drinkers is just that important.
I understand that it takes some time to report news, but a full 68 minutes after the event, and that’s all I could find? Is Twitter the new news stream? Will I have to rely on citizen journalism to get important news stories and links first? It isn’t just me making some observations as you can see from the message Pete sent out on Twitter just a little while ago.
While I certainly would not say that this is the death of major news outlets, it certainly does not bode well for their future when a guy in Scotland is getting me news about Indonesia faster then they can.
According to X17Online.com, around 1 AM Paris time on November 15th, Lindsay Lohan was entering a nightclub in Paris when a member of PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) threw a bag of flour at the actress. As the activist did this, she was also heard to be screaming, “Lindsay Lohan - fur hag!” Ms. Lohan was fine, and the activist was hauled off by club security.
You know, don’t get me wrong, I love animals, and while I don’t agree with the wearing of fur, I don’t feel anyone has any right to commit what amounts to assualt on another person because you don’t agree with what they choose to wear. I wouldn’t even be writing about this normally as this is a common occurence for PETA, but it was the tact they decided to take on their blog, in a post written by Joel Bartlett, that I found more disgusting than the attack itself.
Lindsay Lohan’s tan turned noticeably paler tonight after an anti-fur activist showered her with flour at a nightclub in Paris. Lindsay was on her way into the VIP room on the Champs-Elysées just after 1 a.m. early Saturday when she had an entire bag of flour dumped over her head.
When Lindsay was named to PETA’s annual Worst-Dressed List earlier this year, her entry read: “I Know Who Killed Me isn’t just the title of Lindsay Lohan’s latest bomb, it’s the cry of the animals snuffed out so that this ‘mean girl’ can pose in their pelts. Lindsay, there’s no road to recovery for the foxes who are anally electrocuted so that you can look skanky.”
This was followed up by comments from PETA Europe’s Robbie LeBlanc in the same post:
There is nothing remotely ‘fashionable’ about the torture and death of animals killed for fur. Lindsay Lohan might be able to ignore images of bloody animals skinned alive for their pelts, but we hope a dash of flour will help her rise to the occasion and forsake fur once and for all.
I would love to see people stop wearing fur, but this does not mean you have the right to commit assault on them, throw things at them or attack them in any other way. All of this does is show you to be extremists and, if anything, hurts your cause in that it drives people like myself who might normally stand with you to get as far from you as I possibly can. It was bad enough when you were suggesting Ben & Jerry’s should switch to using breast milk in their ice cream, but attacking people for wearing something you don’t agree with is just ludicrous. You are not the fashion police… the state of Florida is the fashion police.
What I wonder is what are you going to do when you throw flour incorrectly, someone inhales too much of it and chokes to death? What if the person has asthma? An allergy? Is all of that ‘justified’ because they wore something you don’t agree with?
Every person has a right to their own opinion, but you have to respect other people’s rights to follow what they believe in. I am a meat eater, but if I am around vegetarians, I don’t eat meat in front of them out of respect, but that is a choice I make, and if it is unavoidable, i ask them if they mind. Or I could throw flour on them and scream insults at them… which do you think is more effective?
Get over yourselves PETA. Take your fight to the lawmakers, but stop acting like 2-year-olds that throw things when you don’t get your way.
My anger at the Walmart situation from Friday is getting worse.
I did not intend to skip doing the show this week, but since I can not currently breathe through my nose, and the pressure in my head makes it near impossible to swallow, talking for a half hour on a podcast isn’t going to work well.
Remember 
Remember getting up on Saturday morning to watch cartoons? Well, 
One of my hard rules on this blog since I started was no serious discussions of religion… with the exception of Scientologists. Well, welcome to me breaking that rule.
With another year under their belt, why does Blu-ray still seem to be another “also ran” in the home media market?
Those of you have read this blog for any amount of time, you know I think 
One of my favorite television shows of the past few years has met with cancellation.
Rick Wagoner of GM, Alan Mulally of Ford, and Robert Nardelli of Chrysler all deserve to be strung up by their toes.
I think it’s time for a small change in how blogs give credit to one another for where stories come from.
Oh good grief, I love people with too much time on their hands on the weekend.
1 hour and 8 minutes since 
I understand that it takes some time to report news, but a full 68 minutes after the event, and that’s all I could find? Is Twitter the new news stream? Will I have to rely on citizen journalism to get important news stories and links first? It isn’t just me making some observations as you can see from the 
PETA has pulled yet another bone headed move.