Tag: television

Feb 07 2010

Super Bowl!

What a great game! Sure I was excited that the Saints won, but even if the Colts had won, it would have been an enjoyable game to watch. 

One thing that surprised me was how disappointing the commercials were this year.  Not really a stand out among any of them.  For as much money as these companies are spending on these things, put a little work into them.  I did however have two interesting connections to commercials this year.

First, the main guy in this Budweiser spot goes to my church…in fact my girlfriend and I sat next to him and his wife this morning:

And in this spot, one of my friends from church in High School is mentioned by name (turns out the writer of the spot is a buddy of his):

Permanent link to this article: https://www.rhinoblues.com/thoughts/2010/02/super-bowl/

Oct 15 2008

Pac-10 Football and TV

I pretty much agree with this post from the Oregonian’s Duck Football blog:

The Last Thing You Want Is For Fans To See The Games
Posted by

Bob Rickert October 15, 2008 07:10AM

Man is the Pac-10 screwed up. I could use harsher language, but I won’t. Brutal. Brutal leadership is what I’ll call it. Brutal in every way.

Now comes word that the Pac-10 won’t allow the Ducks to televise their own football game. And when you hear it’s ‘contractual’, because you know they’ll find an excuse/reason of their own, remember, these are the networks that quite honestly, are treating the conference like a little child anyway. The networks with very very little respect for the Pac 10. I’d put it on the same level as Conference USA actually. In all sports that’s the level of respect that Tom Hansen and his guys have sunk the conference to. Pathetic leadership.

Let’s see, if Tom Hansen had any guts, a clue about 19th century marketing, or any vision at all, THE PAC TEN WOULD HAVE IT’S OWN NETWORK AND EVERY SCHOOL WOULDN’T HAVE TO BE OUT THERE PLAYING COWBOY ON THEIR OWN.

Funny how all the USC games are on television, even when they stunk. Funny how that works for UCLA.

Incredible.

Well, I’ll be there in person. So I’m one of the lucky ones. I’ll fire reports as much as possible.

Ha, also makes me wonder.

What about instant replay? With no cameras, or only one or two cameras set up for the schools themselves, is it valid to even use it? Do the rules change because the teams playing aren’t in the national title hunt 5 games into the season?

Do the fans matter less because they’re not rooting for USC?

Yes. And, yes.

Thanks Tom Hansen. Well negotiated.

Permanent link to this article: https://www.rhinoblues.com/thoughts/2008/10/pac-10-football-and-tv/

Aug 12 2008

Britain From Above

Gizmodo reported on a new documentary series from the BBC called Britain From Above.

Air Traffic over Britain:

Ships crossing the English Channel:

Cell Phone Data Traffic:

Check out videos of the above photos on the Gizmodo site
(because you have to be in the UK to view them on the BBC site)

More about the series from the BBC website:

An epic journey revealing the secrets, patterns and hidden rhythms of our lives from a striking new perspective.

Join host Andrew Marr as he discovers how each and every one of us is interconnecting making Britain what it is today.

Britain looks very different from the skies. From a bird’s eye view of the nation, its workings, cities, landscapes and peoples are revealed and re-discovered in new and extraordinary ways.

Cutting edge technology allows you to see through cloud cover, navigate the landscape and witness familiar sights as never seen before.

Permanent link to this article: https://www.rhinoblues.com/thoughts/2008/08/britain-from-above/

Jan 07 2008

The State of TV (or the return of American Gladiators)

Granted, I don’t watch a whole lot of non-Sports related television anymore, but the writers strike is going to really damage television as we know it.  Without the ability to produce new episodes of the standard dramas and sitcoms, the networks are resorting to filling the schedule with new reality tv shows.  The sad thing is, even these they are managing to do poorly.

Sunday night on NBC saw the return of American Gladiators.  Originally run as a syndicated show from 1989-96, it has been “revived” for prime time viewing.  The basic premise is that two contenders compete against each other in a series of challenges that test physical strength and stamina.  Complicating this competition, is each event has “Gladiators” that they must face.  These gladiators are basically pro or amateur bodybuilders (or in the case of the men ex-football players).

Out of morbid curiosity, I watched Sunday’s special two-hour premier.  Having watched some of the original run, I was curious to see how it would be updated for the 21st Century.  In probably a good move by the producers, not much had changed.  There was perhaps more safety equipment, but the basic format and challenges hadn’t changed much.  What was sad, is that the production seemed to me to be worse in this new version.  At least in the first episode of the night, the editing seemed to be pretty shoddy and rushed.  Plus one contestant and one gladiator were injured.  Not a good way to start off a new show.  The second episode of the night did seem to improve a little in the editing department, however it still seems a bit rushed.  The transitions between show and commercials could also be improved.

I will not be watching tonights episode (in its normally scheduled time).  If the writers strike carries on much longer, I feel that it will definitely be a major blow to the networks.  Will even the people that like reality tv finally get sick of it all?  I know I am, and I barely watch tv as it is.  What will I watch tonight (Besides the BCS Championship Game)?  The Daily Show and Colbert Report’s return to the air without writers.

Permanent link to this article: https://www.rhinoblues.com/thoughts/2008/01/the-state-of-tv-or-the-return-of-american-gladiators/

Oct 24 2006

Special Comment: Advertising Terrorism

Another Special Comment from Keith Olbermann:

Advertising Terrorism

An excerpt:

But to forgive you for terrorizing us, we would have to believe you somehow competent in keeping others from doing so.

Yet, last week, construction workers repairing a subway line in New York City, were cleaning out an abandoned manhole on the edge of the World Trade Center site, when they stumbled on to the impossible:  human remains from 9/11.

Bones and fragments.

Eighty of them.

Some as much as a foot long.

The victims had been lying, literally in the gutter, for five years and five weeks.

The families and friends of each of the 2,749 dead–who had been grimly told in May of 2002 that there were no more remains to be found–were struck anew as if the terrorism of that day had just happened again.

And over the weekend they’ve found still more remains.

And now this week will be spent looking in places that should have already been looked at a thousand times five years ago.

For all the victims in New York, Mr. Bush–the living and the dead–it’s a touch of 9/11 all over again.

And the mayor of this city, who called off the search four-and-a-half years ago is a Republican.

The governor of this state with whom he conferred is a Republican.

The House of Representatives, Republican.

The Senate, Republican.

The President, Republican.

And yet you can actually claim that you and you alone can protect us from terrorism?

You can’t even recover our dead from the battlefield–the battlefield in an American city–when we’ve given you five years and unlimited funds to do so!

Permanent link to this article: https://www.rhinoblues.com/thoughts/2006/10/special-comment-advertising-terrorism/

Oct 19 2006

The death of habeas corpus

The President finally signed the Military Commissions Act of 2006.  This is a scary bill, that hopefully will get wiped off the books, either by the Supreme Court or by the next Congressional session.  A lot of the stuff going on at the governmental level reminds me of the Antibalas’ song “Who is this America?”  Honestly I don’t know.

A Special Comment by Keith Olbermann.  See below the cut for the text of Olbermann’s comment.  (He says this much more eloquently than I could)

Glenn Greenwald’s take.

 

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://www.rhinoblues.com/thoughts/2006/10/the-death-of-habeas-corpus/

Oct 06 2006

Olbermann’s Special Comments

Perhaps the harshest mainstream critic of the Bush Administration is Keith Olbermann of MSNBC.  In resent weeks he has used the “Special Comments” section of his show Countdown to intelligently attack the stupidity of the administration.  Finally more of the media is beginning to wake up and acknowledge the uniqueness of his work. (from the Washington Post)

Last night’s Special Comment

It amazes me (and Olbermann) the stuff that comes out of the Bush Administration.  The seem to try to bend everything to perpetuate a culture of fear.  Trying to make us blind to the principles from our constitution that they are infringing on every day.  Make no mistake, if we continue down the road set out by this administration, we will be attacked again.  The actions of this administration do not protect us.  We are heading towards some sort of theocracy.  That is not a country I want to be a part of.

Permanent link to this article: https://www.rhinoblues.com/thoughts/2006/10/olbermanns-special-comments/

Sep 27 2006

A Definition of Cowardice

On Monday’s edition of Countdown, Keith Olbermann chimes in with another Special Comment.  The subject of this comment, Fox News interview of former President Bill Clinton.  [View Transcript (video is also available on the MSNBC site)]  I’ll quote a highlight below:

 Bill Clinton did what almost none of us have done in five years.

He has spoken the truth about 9/11, and the current presidential administration.

“At least I tried,” he said of his own efforts to capture or kill Osama bin Laden. “That’s the difference in me and some, including all of the right-wingers who are attacking me now. They had eight months to try; they did not try. I tried.”

Thus in his supposed emeritus years has Mr. Clinton taken forceful and triumphant action for honesty, and for us; action as vital and as courageous as any of his presidency; action as startling and as liberating, as any, by any one, in these last five long years.

The Bush Administration did not try to get Osama bin Laden before 9/11.

The Bush Administration ignored all the evidence gathered by its predecessors.

The Bush Administration did not understand the Daily Briefing entitled “Bin Laden Determined To Strike in U.S.”

The Bush Administration did not try.

Moreover, for the last five years one month and two weeks, the current administration, and in particular the President, has been given the greatest “pass” for incompetence and malfeasance in American history!

President Roosevelt was rightly blamed for ignoring the warning signs–some of them, 17 years old–before Pearl Harbor.

President Hoover was correctly blamed for–if not the Great Depression itself–then the disastrous economic steps he took in the immediate aftermath of the Stock Market Crash.

Even President Lincoln assumed some measure of responsibility for the Civil War–though talk of Southern secession had begun as early as 1832.

But not this president.

For me this is a scary thing.  The current administration seems to have no concept of humility.  As a country we have a huge responsibility to act as true leaders in the world.  We have done that in the past.  We are not doing it anymore.  If unchecked, we are heading to an authoritarian style of government.  Slowly our supposed “freedoms” are being whittled away in the name of “security.”  But are we safer from the actions of the current administration?  I would say in fact that we are moving further away from a world were some sort of peace is possible.  A place where instead of dividing, we as a world would be coming together.

Permanent link to this article: https://www.rhinoblues.com/thoughts/2006/09/a-definition-of-cowardice/

Sep 26 2006

one deep breath: windows & doorways

television (a haiku)

our windowed world
brought to us on cable news
safely packaged

 

more windows & doorways from one deep breath

Permanent link to this article: https://www.rhinoblues.com/thoughts/2006/09/one-deep-breath-windows-doorways/