If you've read my blog before, you know I have a love/hate relationship with television. Part of the hate thing is a reluctance to spend vast sums of money on a device that eats up my precious spare time without delivering much of value. Yes, I like shows about food and travel and home improvement, but I could get most of the same information online or from the public library for free.
I know, I know, video is sexier than merely reading - but not so sexy that I can justify paying my local cable company more than $100 a month for a fairly basic viewing package. That's why I discontinued the TV part of my cable subscription about 2 years ago and subscribed to Netflix.
At the time, I was able to stream Netflix via the Wii connected to my home wireless network for under $10 a month, and life was good. Until Netflix and the Wii folk had a falling out, and I was only able to access Netflix through the small screens on my tablet and smartphone. Adding insult to injury, Netflix has since raised the subscription price twice.
So, I backed down the level of my subscription and started looking for an alternate streaming device. After reading more Internet reviews than you want to hear about, I finally ordered a Roku Streaming Stick, which was serendipitously on sale.
The Roku arrived two days ago and I have already worked my way through the four episodes of "Cooked," Michael Pollan's amazing documentary about the history of human eating, and "Agatha and the Truth of Murder," a Netflix movie that imagines what Agatha Christie might have done during her 11-day disappearance in 1926.
The good: The Roku interface lets me access additional content channels, and a lot of the content is free. Even the Netflix channel appears to contain considerably more content than I could access through the old Wii interface, although that may be due to global changes that occurred at Netflix during the months I was not using it. Roku also allows me to view in HD, which the Wii interface did not.
The bad: I could become a couch potato pretty easily with all the additional content available.
The ugly: I have to turn off the sound on my TV when browsing the content, because unlike the old interface, this one insists on running a video trailer whenever I move to another selection. I just want to read the quick summary provided - SILENTLY - and move on. Still a Luddite reader at heart, I guess.
“I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book.” — Groucho Marx
Showing posts with label Television. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Television. Show all posts
Thursday, May 23, 2019
Monday, March 3, 2014
My 15 Minutes of Fame
I have a long history of discovering fabulous little restaurants about a month before they die. For a while I was beginning to think that my patronage was the kiss of death for any eating establishment. That's why when I looked around my favorite Thai place last year and realized that I was almost the only one there, I panicked; what if they were on the verge of going down the tubes? So, I decided to nominate it for Check, Please! Arizona.
For those of you who don't live in Arizona, Check, Please! is a show on our local PBS station, hosted by a professional chef. Every week they review three different local restaurants, and they have a bias toward small ethnic places. Viewers recommend their favorite spots; if your restaurant is chosen, you get to eat at your place and the restaurants recommended by two other people and then talk about them on the show. I went to their website and filled out the form to suggest Line Thai in Sun City.
Well, fast forward a year and my restaurant (and I!) made it on the show. With quite a bit of judicious editing, I even looked fairly articulate. I've lost track of how many people have told me they plan to visit Line Thai as a result, so mission accomplished. I hope the restaurant lives long and prospers.
(If you would like to see the show, visit the Channel Eight website at http://www.azpbs.org/checkplease/cp_player_1.php?vidId=6537)
"There is no sincerer love than the love of food." ~George Bernard Shaw
For those of you who don't live in Arizona, Check, Please! is a show on our local PBS station, hosted by a professional chef. Every week they review three different local restaurants, and they have a bias toward small ethnic places. Viewers recommend their favorite spots; if your restaurant is chosen, you get to eat at your place and the restaurants recommended by two other people and then talk about them on the show. I went to their website and filled out the form to suggest Line Thai in Sun City.
Well, fast forward a year and my restaurant (and I!) made it on the show. With quite a bit of judicious editing, I even looked fairly articulate. I've lost track of how many people have told me they plan to visit Line Thai as a result, so mission accomplished. I hope the restaurant lives long and prospers.
(If you would like to see the show, visit the Channel Eight website at http://www.azpbs.org/checkplease/cp_player_1.php?vidId=6537)
"There is no sincerer love than the love of food." ~George Bernard Shaw
There is no sincerer love than the love of food.
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/topics/topic_food.html#Uxgq6A0MZujx9F9v.99
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/topics/topic_food.html#Uxgq6A0MZujx9F9v.99
There is no sincerer love than the love of food.
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/topics/topic_food.html#Uxgq6A0MZujx9F9v.99
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/topics/topic_food.html#Uxgq6A0MZujx9F9v.99
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
Ladies Who Brunch
On New Year's Day I invited my sister Sue over for brunch and to watch the Rose Parade on HGTV, which has as commentators actual gardeners who can pronounce the names of the plants and never cuts away from the action for commercials or plugs for their other programs. She was happy to come, both to watch the parade and to browse the buffet. She admitted that a hearty traditional breakfast was her favorite meal, particularly if she didn't have to get up early to eat it. Since I love brunch as well, we've been occasionally going out for a late breakfast together on Saturdays ever since.
Last weekend was the annual Home and Garden show in downtown Phoenix. Sue wanted to go because she's looking for a reliable contractor to rebuild the watering system in her front yard. I was happy to accompany her because the Property Brothers (also courtesy of HGTV) were going to be speaking, and who can't use a little eye candy occasionally? Before cruising the show, however, we stopped for brunch at Cibo.
The full name of the restaurant is Cibo Urban Pizzeria Cafe, which doesn't sound much like a brunch place, but on Saturdays they serve items from their breakfast menu until 2:00, and mimosas, bellinis, and Bloody Marys are also available. This time we had crepes. Sue's was filled with a mix of mushrooms; mine was filled with salmon and nested on a bed of watercress and arugula, with a small bowl of fresh fruit on the side. The crepes themselves were perfectly done - thin and browned with no burning - and the fillings very savory. The Bloody Mary I washed mine down with was made with plenty of horseradish, just the way I like it.
Cibo is another of the downtown restaurants located in a rehabbed historic home, in this case a 1913 bungalow with exposed brick walls, stained glass, stone fireplace, and a spacious patio with firepit for evening cocktails when the weather permits. For those who aren't as excited about breakfast as Sue and I are, their thin crust pizzas are also terrific, particularly the ones featuring locally-made artisanal Schreiner's sausage.
Out in the West Valley where Sue and I live, the main brunch options are Denny's and Village Inn. I'm thinking we need more reasons to visit downtown Phoenix at around 11:00 on Saturdays.
“When you wake up in the morning, Pooh," said Piglet at last, "what's the first thing you say to yourself?"
"What's for breakfast?" said Pooh. "What do you say, Piglet?"
"I say, I wonder what's going to happen exciting today?" said Piglet.
Pooh nodded thoughtfully. "It's the same thing," he said.”
~ A.A. Milne
Last weekend was the annual Home and Garden show in downtown Phoenix. Sue wanted to go because she's looking for a reliable contractor to rebuild the watering system in her front yard. I was happy to accompany her because the Property Brothers (also courtesy of HGTV) were going to be speaking, and who can't use a little eye candy occasionally? Before cruising the show, however, we stopped for brunch at Cibo.
The full name of the restaurant is Cibo Urban Pizzeria Cafe, which doesn't sound much like a brunch place, but on Saturdays they serve items from their breakfast menu until 2:00, and mimosas, bellinis, and Bloody Marys are also available. This time we had crepes. Sue's was filled with a mix of mushrooms; mine was filled with salmon and nested on a bed of watercress and arugula, with a small bowl of fresh fruit on the side. The crepes themselves were perfectly done - thin and browned with no burning - and the fillings very savory. The Bloody Mary I washed mine down with was made with plenty of horseradish, just the way I like it.
Cibo is another of the downtown restaurants located in a rehabbed historic home, in this case a 1913 bungalow with exposed brick walls, stained glass, stone fireplace, and a spacious patio with firepit for evening cocktails when the weather permits. For those who aren't as excited about breakfast as Sue and I are, their thin crust pizzas are also terrific, particularly the ones featuring locally-made artisanal Schreiner's sausage.
Out in the West Valley where Sue and I live, the main brunch options are Denny's and Village Inn. I'm thinking we need more reasons to visit downtown Phoenix at around 11:00 on Saturdays.
“When you wake up in the morning, Pooh," said Piglet at last, "what's the first thing you say to yourself?"
"What's for breakfast?" said Pooh. "What do you say, Piglet?"
"I say, I wonder what's going to happen exciting today?" said Piglet.
Pooh nodded thoughtfully. "It's the same thing," he said.”
~ A.A. Milne
Thursday, March 7, 2013
"What were you thinking, man?"
One of my guilty pleasures is Castle, a TV series about a crime novelist. In one of my favorite episodes, Castle's 70-ish mother Martha sets up a "My Face" page and posts a 30-year-old photo of herself on it. Her high school sweetheart, Chet Palaburn, sees it and sends her a "friend" request, which totally panics her - what happens if he wants to meet and thinks she looks like (in her words) "Dorian Gray in reverse?" She finally accepts his request and flips to his page, only to see a photo there that's even older - possibly dating back to his high school days. Her final words are, "Chet Palaburn. What were you thinking, man?"
Between my pre-Barry online dating experiences and the ones I've had lately, this (or its female equivalent) could well be THE question for members of the electronic lonely hearts clubs. Don't people who post photos from 10 years and 50 pounds ago want potential partners to recognize them when they finally meet in the flesh? One of my male friends showed up for a date with someone allegedly his own age and faded right back out the door again when he saw a woman old enough to be his mother waiting for him.
Old and Photoshopped photos are not the only way in which online daters mislead others. I've met people who lied about their height, hobbies, hair, and religious convictions. Perhaps the worst example of bait-and-switch I ever encountered was the man who claimed to be a non-smoking social drinker but turned out to be a chain-smoking recovering alcoholic. OK, in most of these cases I probably would have refused to meet the guy at all had he been honest - but wouldn't that be better than a personal rejection after the truth comes out? And no, buying me a drink or even dinner isn't going to overcome the fact that in person he strongly reminds me of one of Santa's less attractive elves. It's all I can do to keep from blurting out, "What were you thinking, man?"
I thought (silly me) that we were all looking for the best possible fit with another person. I was initially heartened by the number of men who list honesty as one of the key traits they hope to find in a woman - but some of the very guys who insist on an honest woman see nothing wrong with fudging the facts on their own resumes. WWYT, M?
Maybe it's time to go back to flirting with guys in the produce section of the grocery store.
"For every good reason there is to lie, there is a better reason to tell the truth." ~Bo Bennett
Between my pre-Barry online dating experiences and the ones I've had lately, this (or its female equivalent) could well be THE question for members of the electronic lonely hearts clubs. Don't people who post photos from 10 years and 50 pounds ago want potential partners to recognize them when they finally meet in the flesh? One of my male friends showed up for a date with someone allegedly his own age and faded right back out the door again when he saw a woman old enough to be his mother waiting for him.
Old and Photoshopped photos are not the only way in which online daters mislead others. I've met people who lied about their height, hobbies, hair, and religious convictions. Perhaps the worst example of bait-and-switch I ever encountered was the man who claimed to be a non-smoking social drinker but turned out to be a chain-smoking recovering alcoholic. OK, in most of these cases I probably would have refused to meet the guy at all had he been honest - but wouldn't that be better than a personal rejection after the truth comes out? And no, buying me a drink or even dinner isn't going to overcome the fact that in person he strongly reminds me of one of Santa's less attractive elves. It's all I can do to keep from blurting out, "What were you thinking, man?"
I thought (silly me) that we were all looking for the best possible fit with another person. I was initially heartened by the number of men who list honesty as one of the key traits they hope to find in a woman - but some of the very guys who insist on an honest woman see nothing wrong with fudging the facts on their own resumes. WWYT, M?
Maybe it's time to go back to flirting with guys in the produce section of the grocery store.
"For every good reason there is to lie, there is a better reason to tell the truth." ~Bo Bennett
Friday, June 8, 2012
Leaping Backward
This has been fund-raising week at our local PBS station, so none of the shows I usually record to watch in the evening has been on. As a result, I’ve been channel-surfing for alternate entertainment. I was pleased a few nights ago to stumble across a station that every night airs two episodes of the late 80s/early 90s show Quantum Leap.
The hero of Quantum Leap, Dr. Sam Beckett (Scott Bakula), tried to build a time machine, but when he used it he unexpectedly leaped into another person in the past. (His personality did, anyway.) The first time that person had lived through the events in the episode, something terrible happened. Through Sam’s intervention, this time around disaster was averted, and as soon as that was a certainty (during the last 5 minutes of the program), Sam leaped into another individual in distress. During the 5 years the show ran, Sam leaped into men, women, children, people of other races, and a vet who had lost both legs in Vietnam. Every episode had the same basic plot – people in trouble, people saved, Sam leaps on – but the writers were a seemingly inexhaustible font of distressing situations and ingenious resolutions, and Scott Bakula was funny and endearing as the displaced scientist.
Because the show had a new cast every week, practically every not-yet star in Hollywood appeared on it sooner or later. One of the shows I watched last night, in fact, featured the pre-Friends Jennifer Aniston with her original nose and bouncy brown hair, while the other starred the young Brooke Shields. Talk about a time machine...
I didn’t get to watch Quantum Leap very often when it was originally on because I was in grad school for most of that period, with very little time for television of any sort, so I’m going to enjoy the back episodes for at least a few weeks. A little nostalgia every now and then never hurt anyone.
"Trapped in the past, Doctor Beckett finds himself leaping from life to life, putting things right that once went wrong, and hoping each time that his next leap will be the leap home." ~from the intro to Quantum Leap
The hero of Quantum Leap, Dr. Sam Beckett (Scott Bakula), tried to build a time machine, but when he used it he unexpectedly leaped into another person in the past. (His personality did, anyway.) The first time that person had lived through the events in the episode, something terrible happened. Through Sam’s intervention, this time around disaster was averted, and as soon as that was a certainty (during the last 5 minutes of the program), Sam leaped into another individual in distress. During the 5 years the show ran, Sam leaped into men, women, children, people of other races, and a vet who had lost both legs in Vietnam. Every episode had the same basic plot – people in trouble, people saved, Sam leaps on – but the writers were a seemingly inexhaustible font of distressing situations and ingenious resolutions, and Scott Bakula was funny and endearing as the displaced scientist.
Because the show had a new cast every week, practically every not-yet star in Hollywood appeared on it sooner or later. One of the shows I watched last night, in fact, featured the pre-Friends Jennifer Aniston with her original nose and bouncy brown hair, while the other starred the young Brooke Shields. Talk about a time machine...
I didn’t get to watch Quantum Leap very often when it was originally on because I was in grad school for most of that period, with very little time for television of any sort, so I’m going to enjoy the back episodes for at least a few weeks. A little nostalgia every now and then never hurt anyone.
"Trapped in the past, Doctor Beckett finds himself leaping from life to life, putting things right that once went wrong, and hoping each time that his next leap will be the leap home." ~from the intro to Quantum Leap
Sunday, February 12, 2012
The Battered Book Buyer
Maybe it's my imagination, but the VNSA Book sale seemed even more crowded than usual this year - lots of aisle-blocking shopping carts and whole families shopping en masse. I took one elbow in the ribs but otherwise escaped unscathed.
For $13.75 plus the $7.00 parking fee I bought (all in excellent condition):
“Good friends, good books and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life.” ~Mark Twain
For $13.75 plus the $7.00 parking fee I bought (all in excellent condition):
- a leather-bound hardcover edition of Postern of Fate by Agatha Christie, to replace my crumbling paperback; one of the "Tommy and Tuppence" mysteries
- trade paperback of The Blue Girl by Charles deLint; I had several of his early books but not this
- 3 books in one hardcover of the Lord Darcy mysteries by Randall Garrett, to replace the one I gave away years ago; Lord Darcy is a cross between Sherlock Holmes and Lord Peter Wimsey in a Victorian world where magic functions
- paperback copy of Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert; haven't read this yet
- hardcover copies of R is for Ricochet and T is for Trespass by Sue Grafton; I've read these but they were the only books in the Kinsey Milhone series I didn't own
- paperback of A Year in the World: Journeys of a Passionate Traveler by Frances Mayes; love Mayes, haven't read this before
- hardcover Provence A-Z by Peter Mayle; another new discovery
- hardcover of Rules of Engagement, a science fiction novel by Elizabeth Moon, a former career military officer; sequel to Once a Hero, which I loved
- hardcover of The Ship Avenged by S.M. Stirling; the last book in the Ship Who Sang series created by Anne McCaffrey, and another volume I haven't read yet
- VHS tape of Though Lovers Be Lost; last season of the cult fantasy TV show Beauty and the Beast, starring Linda Hamilton (The Terminator) and Ron Perlman
- VHS tape of Legal Eagles; great 1986 mystery starring Robert Redford, Debra Winger, and Daryl Hannah
“Good friends, good books and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life.” ~Mark Twain
Friday, February 10, 2012
Chicken Hacking at Home
Shortly after moving into this house I was intrigued by the ads for Top Secret Recipe, a new TV show on CMT. The premise was that every week the host, a self-styled "food hacker" named Todd Wilbur, would try to replicate a top-secret food industry recipe. The pilot program was going to feature the recipe for KFC original fried chicken.
Well, of course I watched the pilot. I love KFC original, but I almost never eat it any more due to the high fat and sodium content. However, I was hoping that if Wilbur could identify the famous "11 herbs and spices," I could make a baked version of it at home.
The show was fairly amusing, with Wilbur dumpster-diving for ingredient packages and wheeling and dealing to gain access to one of the pressure deep fryers that give the chicken its unique texture, and at the end a KFC bigwig admitted that Wilbur had come closer to the correct recipe than anyone else who had ever tried. The recipe, we were told, would be posted on Wilbur's website for our own use, although we would of course not have access to one of those pressure fryers.
I meant to keep watching the show and to try the recipe, but I got distracted by home improvement and did neither. Last night, though, staring at the chicken thighs I meant to have for dinner, I suddenly thought, "What about that KFC hack?" So I went on line and found the recipe.
The reasons for the high sodium count were immediately apparent - brining with salt and MSG, plus more salt and MSG in the breading. My chicken, like most supermarket birds, had been pre-brined, so I skipped that step. I also left out the MSG and cut back the salt in the breading. I didn't have savory or marjoram on hand so I used thyme and oregano instead, and I substituted panko crumbs for the flour. I also had to use coarse-ground black pepper instead of tellicherry and white pepper. I ended up baking the chicken for about 35 minutes at 450 degrees, covering it with aluminum foil when it had reached the desired shade of brown.
The results were actually pretty good. I thought the breading was still too salty and the black pepper a little too assertive, but overall the recipe is definitely worth making again. Next time I will plan ahead and buy all the correct herbs and spices.
Now I'm thinking I should go back to the CMT website and watch some of the videos of the other shows. Maybe I can learn the secrets of P.F. Chang's yummy lettuce wraps, or figure out how to make a Cinnabon roll with less than a gazillion calories.
"Creating Original Clone Recipes of America's Favorite Foods Since 1987" ~tagline on Todd Wilbur's website
Well, of course I watched the pilot. I love KFC original, but I almost never eat it any more due to the high fat and sodium content. However, I was hoping that if Wilbur could identify the famous "11 herbs and spices," I could make a baked version of it at home.
The show was fairly amusing, with Wilbur dumpster-diving for ingredient packages and wheeling and dealing to gain access to one of the pressure deep fryers that give the chicken its unique texture, and at the end a KFC bigwig admitted that Wilbur had come closer to the correct recipe than anyone else who had ever tried. The recipe, we were told, would be posted on Wilbur's website for our own use, although we would of course not have access to one of those pressure fryers.
I meant to keep watching the show and to try the recipe, but I got distracted by home improvement and did neither. Last night, though, staring at the chicken thighs I meant to have for dinner, I suddenly thought, "What about that KFC hack?" So I went on line and found the recipe.
The reasons for the high sodium count were immediately apparent - brining with salt and MSG, plus more salt and MSG in the breading. My chicken, like most supermarket birds, had been pre-brined, so I skipped that step. I also left out the MSG and cut back the salt in the breading. I didn't have savory or marjoram on hand so I used thyme and oregano instead, and I substituted panko crumbs for the flour. I also had to use coarse-ground black pepper instead of tellicherry and white pepper. I ended up baking the chicken for about 35 minutes at 450 degrees, covering it with aluminum foil when it had reached the desired shade of brown.
The results were actually pretty good. I thought the breading was still too salty and the black pepper a little too assertive, but overall the recipe is definitely worth making again. Next time I will plan ahead and buy all the correct herbs and spices.
Now I'm thinking I should go back to the CMT website and watch some of the videos of the other shows. Maybe I can learn the secrets of P.F. Chang's yummy lettuce wraps, or figure out how to make a Cinnabon roll with less than a gazillion calories.
"Creating Original Clone Recipes of America's Favorite Foods Since 1987" ~tagline on Todd Wilbur's website
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Really Rich Brownies
Last week I saw an episode of America's Test Kitchen that featured a brownie tasting on the streets of Boston. About half of the public testers preferred the made-from-scratch brownies because of their intense chocolate flavor, but the others liked the from-a-mix brownies better because of the chewy texture. That really surprised me. The recipe I use produces brownies that aren't particularly chewy, but I've never served them to anyone who didn't prefer them to the box mixes.
This is another of my mother's recipes, original source lost in the mists of time.
Cream Cheese Brownies
4 oz sweet chocolate
3 Tblsp + 2Tblsp butter
3 oz cream cheese
1/4 c + 3/4 c sugar
3 eggs
1Tblsp + 1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp + 1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp almond extract
1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Melt the chocolate and 3 Tblsp butter over very low heat or in a microwave; stir, set aside to cool.
Cream the cream cheese with the rest of the butter. Gradually add 1/4 cup of the sugar, creaming until fluffy. Blend in one egg, 1 Tblsp flour, and 1/2 tsp of the vanilla. Set aside.
Beat the remaining two eggs until light-colored. Slowly add the remaining 3/4 cup sugar; beat until thickened. Add the baking powder, the rest of the flour, and the salt. Blend in the cooled chocolate mixture, the rest of the vanilla, the almond extract, and the nuts if you are using them.
Grease an 8"x8" or 9"x9" baking pan. Spread half of the chocolate mixture in the pan. Top with the cream cheese mixture. Spoon the rest of the chocolate batter over the top. Zigzag a knife through the batter to marbelize it. Bake for 35-40 minutes and cool before cutting into squares and serving.
"If you want cakey, eat chocolate cake. Brownies should be dense and moist and fudgy." ~Houghton Mifflin
This is another of my mother's recipes, original source lost in the mists of time.
Cream Cheese Brownies
4 oz sweet chocolate
3 Tblsp + 2Tblsp butter
3 oz cream cheese
1/4 c + 3/4 c sugar
3 eggs
1Tblsp + 1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp + 1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp almond extract
1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Melt the chocolate and 3 Tblsp butter over very low heat or in a microwave; stir, set aside to cool.
Cream the cream cheese with the rest of the butter. Gradually add 1/4 cup of the sugar, creaming until fluffy. Blend in one egg, 1 Tblsp flour, and 1/2 tsp of the vanilla. Set aside.
Beat the remaining two eggs until light-colored. Slowly add the remaining 3/4 cup sugar; beat until thickened. Add the baking powder, the rest of the flour, and the salt. Blend in the cooled chocolate mixture, the rest of the vanilla, the almond extract, and the nuts if you are using them.
Grease an 8"x8" or 9"x9" baking pan. Spread half of the chocolate mixture in the pan. Top with the cream cheese mixture. Spoon the rest of the chocolate batter over the top. Zigzag a knife through the batter to marbelize it. Bake for 35-40 minutes and cool before cutting into squares and serving.
"If you want cakey, eat chocolate cake. Brownies should be dense and moist and fudgy." ~Houghton Mifflin
Friday, January 13, 2012
Electronic Dementia
This has been a tough week - watching one of my loved ones slipping deeper and deeper into senility, and helpless to prevent it. Which loved one, you ask? My cable box.
First it started to forget to record my regular programs. Then it started wiping out already recorded shows well before their expiration date. Next it prematurely terminated recordings I'd manually programmed, stopping halfway through the plot. Finally it denied knowing how to access live TV. For most of the week I was able to bring it back by rebooting, but last night even that didn't work. My little buddy had apparently stroked out.
I called my cable provider, worked through the automated menu (which told me to do all the things I'd already done), and finally got a live person, who rebooted the box remotely. No improvement.
Today a repair person came to check out the situation and confirmed my diagnosis - the box had lost a good portion of its tiny mind. She left a new box and took my old friend away.
I'm devastated. It wasn't just a cable box - it was a cable box containing Ratatouille, Up, the latest Masterpiece Classic, and 40 episodes of French in Action. Maybe it's time to invest in an external hard drive for backup.
"Defect-free software does not exist." ~Wietse Venema
First it started to forget to record my regular programs. Then it started wiping out already recorded shows well before their expiration date. Next it prematurely terminated recordings I'd manually programmed, stopping halfway through the plot. Finally it denied knowing how to access live TV. For most of the week I was able to bring it back by rebooting, but last night even that didn't work. My little buddy had apparently stroked out.
I called my cable provider, worked through the automated menu (which told me to do all the things I'd already done), and finally got a live person, who rebooted the box remotely. No improvement.
Today a repair person came to check out the situation and confirmed my diagnosis - the box had lost a good portion of its tiny mind. She left a new box and took my old friend away.
I'm devastated. It wasn't just a cable box - it was a cable box containing Ratatouille, Up, the latest Masterpiece Classic, and 40 episodes of French in Action. Maybe it's time to invest in an external hard drive for backup.
"Defect-free software does not exist." ~Wietse Venema
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Drama on the Dance Floor
If you've been reading this blog for a while, you know that Dancing with the Stars is one of my favorite TV shows, and I've already written that one apparent reason for its success is that it's a beacon of politeness in a world of surly reality shows. That theory was definitely put to the test this week.
During this season, official show bad boy pro Maks Chmerkovskiy has been paired with Hope Solo, a professional soccer star. Hope is tall and athletic, with an amazing body, but she's also a self-professed tomboy without much patience for learning the grace and sensuality that the show's judges expect from female contestants. This Monday chief judge Len Goodman came down particularly hard on Hope's rhumba performance (which I thought myself deserved criticism for being too flat-footed), and Maks exploded, going so far as to suggest that it's time for Goodman to retire. He publicly apologized on the Tuesday night results show, but the damage was done. Maks and Hope were one of the two couples at risk for elimination this week.
That means one of two things: either ABC was so annoyed by the incident that they put the couple under the red spotlight as punishment, or the fans were so annoyed that they voted for others in droves. Either way, Maks had better watch his mouth, or next season's show may have a large, Maks-shaped hole in it.
"It's becoming clearer and clearer that Maks is all about Maks and his star partners are nothing but window dressing. Maybe this explains why he's never won on this show." ~Lenni G., guest blogger for NewsObserver.com
During this season, official show bad boy pro Maks Chmerkovskiy has been paired with Hope Solo, a professional soccer star. Hope is tall and athletic, with an amazing body, but she's also a self-professed tomboy without much patience for learning the grace and sensuality that the show's judges expect from female contestants. This Monday chief judge Len Goodman came down particularly hard on Hope's rhumba performance (which I thought myself deserved criticism for being too flat-footed), and Maks exploded, going so far as to suggest that it's time for Goodman to retire. He publicly apologized on the Tuesday night results show, but the damage was done. Maks and Hope were one of the two couples at risk for elimination this week.
That means one of two things: either ABC was so annoyed by the incident that they put the couple under the red spotlight as punishment, or the fans were so annoyed that they voted for others in droves. Either way, Maks had better watch his mouth, or next season's show may have a large, Maks-shaped hole in it.
"It's becoming clearer and clearer that Maks is all about Maks and his star partners are nothing but window dressing. Maybe this explains why he's never won on this show." ~Lenni G., guest blogger for NewsObserver.com
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Mainlining Fashion
Last week I finally gave up and hooked up the cable box and the TV. I still have a lot of other equipment that's lying in the bottom of the entertainment center with its loose wires waving pathetically in the air, but at least I'm no longer cut off from TCM, Masterpiece Mystery, and my guilty pleasures, What Not to Wear and How Do I Look? If you've never seen either show, their premise is that some hopelessly unfashionable (usually female) person is ambushed and made over by professional stylists.
Although I suppose I'd be mortified if my friends and family actually turned me in to the fashion police, I can't help fantasizing about someone offering me a free trip to New York or LA, a new wardrobe, and a fabulous makeover; I think I could manage to overcome the initial embarrassment after receiving The Full Treatment. Well, maybe I'd be scarred for life by the sight of my rear end in the 360 degree mirror, but at least I'd emerge from the experience with better camouflage for all my lumps and bumps.
Since I'm unlikely to be rescued from fashion failure by Stacy and Clinton or Jeannie Mai in the flesh, I do try to benefit from their electronically delivered advice. Over the past few years I've stopped wearing baggy giveaway T-shirts unless I'm refinishing furniture or painting walls. Since I can't find pants that fit off the rack, I found a tailor who can alter them appropriately. I've even made my makeup brighter to counteract my fading tan. I still need a personal visit from Ted Gibson to magically improve my hair, but maybe if I keep watching the shows I will eventually see a style that's right for me and that a local stylist can replicate.
I must admit, though, that I don't want to invest too much money in a new and improved look. If I manage to lift my look completely out of schlumpiness all by myself, I'll never get that professional fashion ambush.
"The finest clothing made is a person's skin, but, of course, society demands something more than this." ~Mark Twain
Although I suppose I'd be mortified if my friends and family actually turned me in to the fashion police, I can't help fantasizing about someone offering me a free trip to New York or LA, a new wardrobe, and a fabulous makeover; I think I could manage to overcome the initial embarrassment after receiving The Full Treatment. Well, maybe I'd be scarred for life by the sight of my rear end in the 360 degree mirror, but at least I'd emerge from the experience with better camouflage for all my lumps and bumps.
Since I'm unlikely to be rescued from fashion failure by Stacy and Clinton or Jeannie Mai in the flesh, I do try to benefit from their electronically delivered advice. Over the past few years I've stopped wearing baggy giveaway T-shirts unless I'm refinishing furniture or painting walls. Since I can't find pants that fit off the rack, I found a tailor who can alter them appropriately. I've even made my makeup brighter to counteract my fading tan. I still need a personal visit from Ted Gibson to magically improve my hair, but maybe if I keep watching the shows I will eventually see a style that's right for me and that a local stylist can replicate.
I must admit, though, that I don't want to invest too much money in a new and improved look. If I manage to lift my look completely out of schlumpiness all by myself, I'll never get that professional fashion ambush.
"The finest clothing made is a person's skin, but, of course, society demands something more than this." ~Mark Twain
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Back to the Box
If you've been reading this blog for a while, you probably remember my rant about Barry's insistence that we buy a giant TV for our living room. You won't be surprised to hear that he retained custody of the leviathan and I kept our original TV plus the entertainment center we had built for it when we first moved into our house.
Before I bought my new home I carefully drew the floor plan on graph paper and pushed the little to-scale cutouts representing my furniture around to be sure everything would fit. And it did. Almost. I forgot one thing: the ceilings in this house are a foot lower than the ceilings in our previous place. The center section of the entertainment center wouldn't stand up in the living room here, or indeed in any of the rooms.
Enter Super Dad with his Skil saw. My father was able to remove the top 8 inches of the center section so it's now the same height as the side pieces and will (just barely) fit into the house. Of course, it's almost solid oak so it took the two of us plus my sister and a small wheeled furniture cart to get the thing into its final resting place, but it's there now and the living room looks less like I'm camping in it.
The next phase, of course, is to find and connect all the audio and video paraphernalia that go into the entertainment center along with the TV. If I can find my trusty wiring diagram, I should have everything up and running in a couple of days. If I can't find it, I may be cut off from PBS and TCM for weeks.
I guess that's not all bad, though. If I go back to spending my evenings in front of the box I will probably lose all my unpacking momentum. I could still be wondering where my favorite saucepan is at this time next year.
"I hate television. I hate it as much as peanuts. But I can't stop eating peanuts. " ~Orson Welles
Before I bought my new home I carefully drew the floor plan on graph paper and pushed the little to-scale cutouts representing my furniture around to be sure everything would fit. And it did. Almost. I forgot one thing: the ceilings in this house are a foot lower than the ceilings in our previous place. The center section of the entertainment center wouldn't stand up in the living room here, or indeed in any of the rooms.
Enter Super Dad with his Skil saw. My father was able to remove the top 8 inches of the center section so it's now the same height as the side pieces and will (just barely) fit into the house. Of course, it's almost solid oak so it took the two of us plus my sister and a small wheeled furniture cart to get the thing into its final resting place, but it's there now and the living room looks less like I'm camping in it.
The next phase, of course, is to find and connect all the audio and video paraphernalia that go into the entertainment center along with the TV. If I can find my trusty wiring diagram, I should have everything up and running in a couple of days. If I can't find it, I may be cut off from PBS and TCM for weeks.
I guess that's not all bad, though. If I go back to spending my evenings in front of the box I will probably lose all my unpacking momentum. I could still be wondering where my favorite saucepan is at this time next year.
"I hate television. I hate it as much as peanuts. But I can't stop eating peanuts. " ~Orson Welles
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Poetry in Stop Action
Our local cable provider had a major outage this week. For some reason our television service was out for about five minutes but our Internet service wasn't restored for a day and a half. Oh, well, we're back online now.
Last night Barry and I watched See Them Dance, an absorbing documentary on PBS about Steven Caras. Caras studied ballet despite his ex-military father's disapproval and became first a member of George Balanchine's American Ballet Theater and then their official photographer. The story of his journey is recounted by Caras, his friends, family, and co-workers, and illustrated with still photos and video clips from his childhood and both careers. We are also treated to much of Caras's best work; his sense of composition and his ability to stop action at the moment of maximum impact are absolutely astonishing.
Caras speaks as though he was lucky to have been given two great talents and two professions he loves, but he obviously worked like a demon for his chances and seized them with both hands when they arrived. This is a fascinating film for anyone interested in dancing, photographing the human form, or forging one's own destiny. Since this is fundraising week on PBS it will probably air again soon; check your local schedule to see whether it will be available in your area. If not, check out some of his work here.
"Steven Caras’s critically acclaimed photo archive is one of the most important dance image collections of all time. How it came to be is a chronicle of the birth and rebirth of the artistic spirit, and of the physical and emotional hurdles all professional dancers face." ~review of See Them Dance on Ahwatukee.com
Last night Barry and I watched See Them Dance, an absorbing documentary on PBS about Steven Caras. Caras studied ballet despite his ex-military father's disapproval and became first a member of George Balanchine's American Ballet Theater and then their official photographer. The story of his journey is recounted by Caras, his friends, family, and co-workers, and illustrated with still photos and video clips from his childhood and both careers. We are also treated to much of Caras's best work; his sense of composition and his ability to stop action at the moment of maximum impact are absolutely astonishing.
Caras speaks as though he was lucky to have been given two great talents and two professions he loves, but he obviously worked like a demon for his chances and seized them with both hands when they arrived. This is a fascinating film for anyone interested in dancing, photographing the human form, or forging one's own destiny. Since this is fundraising week on PBS it will probably air again soon; check your local schedule to see whether it will be available in your area. If not, check out some of his work here.
"Steven Caras’s critically acclaimed photo archive is one of the most important dance image collections of all time. How it came to be is a chronicle of the birth and rebirth of the artistic spirit, and of the physical and emotional hurdles all professional dancers face." ~review of See Them Dance on Ahwatukee.com
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Back on Park Avenue
I have a small number of TV shows that I record for viewing when Barry is not around. Last night I was watching one of them from HGTV when a commercial flashed on for Selling New York, a show I've never seen. Instead of fast-forwarding through the ad, though, I was riveted by it. Apparently one of the properties that will be featured this Thursday is in a building Tom and I lived in for two and a half years; from the brief clips shown, it may actually be our former apartment.
When Tom and I started dating, he lived in a rented apartment in New Jersey and I owned a coop apartment in Brooklyn. Neither place was really big enough for the two of us, let alone all our stuff, and we both worked in Manhattan, so as soon as we were engaged we started house-hunting. We were lucky to find a gorgeous two-bedroom apartment in an early 1960's building on the corner of 38th Street and Park Avenue. We were able to rent the apartment below market price because the previous tenants had trashed it and the owner was still renovating. We moved in as soon as the varnish on the floor had dried and stayed there until the landlord decided the location was really worth $5000 per month; at that point we headed back to Brooklyn.
Living there was great fun while it lasted, though. We were right below Grand Central Station, where something was always going on. When Men in Black was being made, we watched from our living room window as the scene where Will Smith jumps onto the top of a bus was filmed. We were within walking distance of the main public library (and the cafe in Bryant Park), the theater district, Macy's flagship store, and (if we were feeling ambitious) the greenmarket in Union Square. On the Fourth of July we went up to the roof with most of the other tenants for a first-rate view of the fireworks on the East River. Between Grand Central and all the buses that stopped on our block, we could go anywhere and do anything. If we could have afforded it, we (or at least I) would probably be there still.
So why do I think the apartment for sale there now might be the one we lived in? Because when we were leaving, the landlord was thinking of chopping the living room up to create another bedroom and renting the apartment to a group of singles, and the ad for Selling New York said the featured apartment was in a great location but really beat up.
I've already set my DVR to record the episode. Even if the show doesn't feature "my" apartment, I'll have fun seeing the building again.
When Tom and I started dating, he lived in a rented apartment in New Jersey and I owned a coop apartment in Brooklyn. Neither place was really big enough for the two of us, let alone all our stuff, and we both worked in Manhattan, so as soon as we were engaged we started house-hunting. We were lucky to find a gorgeous two-bedroom apartment in an early 1960's building on the corner of 38th Street and Park Avenue. We were able to rent the apartment below market price because the previous tenants had trashed it and the owner was still renovating. We moved in as soon as the varnish on the floor had dried and stayed there until the landlord decided the location was really worth $5000 per month; at that point we headed back to Brooklyn.
Living there was great fun while it lasted, though. We were right below Grand Central Station, where something was always going on. When Men in Black was being made, we watched from our living room window as the scene where Will Smith jumps onto the top of a bus was filmed. We were within walking distance of the main public library (and the cafe in Bryant Park), the theater district, Macy's flagship store, and (if we were feeling ambitious) the greenmarket in Union Square. On the Fourth of July we went up to the roof with most of the other tenants for a first-rate view of the fireworks on the East River. Between Grand Central and all the buses that stopped on our block, we could go anywhere and do anything. If we could have afforded it, we (or at least I) would probably be there still.
So why do I think the apartment for sale there now might be the one we lived in? Because when we were leaving, the landlord was thinking of chopping the living room up to create another bedroom and renting the apartment to a group of singles, and the ad for Selling New York said the featured apartment was in a great location but really beat up.
I've already set my DVR to record the episode. Even if the show doesn't feature "my" apartment, I'll have fun seeing the building again.
“I miss New York. I still love how people talk to you on the street - just assault you and tell you what they think of your jacket.” ~Madonna
Monday, February 14, 2011
Deja Vu All Over Again
Last night Barry and I watched The Forbin Project, a 1970 science fiction movie about a colossal defense computer (unimaginatively named Colossus) that becomes self-aware. The movie has a few interesting twists, but for the most part the plot could be predicted by anyone who ever read Frankenstein or saw 2001: A Space Odyssey. I think this film is probably most noted as containing the break-through role for Eric Braeden, the German-born actor who went on to TV fame as Victor Newman in The Young and the Restless; here he plays Dr. Charles Forbin, the creator of Colossus.
The section of the movie that is the verbal equivalent of ominous music in the background is Braeden's early speech about the potential of Colossus to solve the problems that have plagued humanity since the beginning of time. Colossus will be able to do this, he maintains, because the computer is incredibly fast, incredibly powerful, and (dum, dum, dum) able to learn on its own.
OK, so tonight we're watching the PBS News Hour, and they're showing a clip of correspondent Miles O'Brien challenging Watson, the new Jeopardy-playing supercomputer. The story included a speech by an IBM representative about Watson's ability to learn and adapt based on experience, and how computers like this will be able to help solve the problems that have plagued humanity since the beginning of time.
Dum, dum, dum...
Miles O'Brien included a meant-to-be humorous reference to 2001 in his report. It wasn't as funny to me as it would have been before last night. The Forbin Project is scarier in retrospect than I originally thought.
I will definitely be watching the full one-hour show about Watson scheduled for Wednesday on Nova.
"I am a machine vastly superior to humans." ~Colossus, The Forbin Project
The section of the movie that is the verbal equivalent of ominous music in the background is Braeden's early speech about the potential of Colossus to solve the problems that have plagued humanity since the beginning of time. Colossus will be able to do this, he maintains, because the computer is incredibly fast, incredibly powerful, and (dum, dum, dum) able to learn on its own.
OK, so tonight we're watching the PBS News Hour, and they're showing a clip of correspondent Miles O'Brien challenging Watson, the new Jeopardy-playing supercomputer. The story included a speech by an IBM representative about Watson's ability to learn and adapt based on experience, and how computers like this will be able to help solve the problems that have plagued humanity since the beginning of time.
Dum, dum, dum...
Miles O'Brien included a meant-to-be humorous reference to 2001 in his report. It wasn't as funny to me as it would have been before last night. The Forbin Project is scarier in retrospect than I originally thought.
I will definitely be watching the full one-hour show about Watson scheduled for Wednesday on Nova.
"I am a machine vastly superior to humans." ~Colossus, The Forbin Project
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Comfort Food? Not So Much...
The latest season of The Biggest Loser is well underway, and we've been watching it every week. This Tuesday the contestants faced a truly diabolical temptation; two at a time, they were shut for several minutes into a room lined floor to ceiling with their favorite foods.
The foods fell into two general categories: overloaded with sugar (chocolate cake, monkey bread) or overloaded with fat (fried chicken, monster cheeseburgers, pizza, ribs). Interestingly, some of the dieters said they had previously found these foods irresistible, but after several weeks away from them, found their sight and smell repulsive. This confirms some of the information found in a book that everyone concerned about nutrition should read - The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite by David Kessler, M.D., former head of the Food and Drug Administration. I mentioned it briefly in an earlier post, but I'd like to give it a longer plug now.
Barry and I found out about the book late in 2009 when we saw an interview with Dr. Kessler on PBS in which he discussed his own past problems with eating and the addictive qualities of fat, sugar, and salt. Intrigued, we read The End of Overeating and were appalled by the extent to which our natural appetites have apparently been subverted by the food industry in this country. Barry in particular has a strong dislike of being manipulated, and The End of Overeating clearly demonstrates that those who process the things we eat have manipulated our taste buds at least as thoroughly as their advertising agencies have managed our expectations of food.
The bad news: some foods containing high levels of sugar, fat and salt hit the pleasure center of the brain so hard that they override the body's natural feeling of satiation and we continue eating them long past the point at which we should feel full. The good news: as with any addictive substances, we can "kick the habit" with healthier food choices. Except for a few lapses over the holiday season, Barry and I have been doing just that for the last year, and for the most part we are no longer tempted by foods that are dripping grease or coated with sugar.
Except...I don't know whether I could have turned away from all the plates of macaroni and cheese in The Biggest Loser's temptation. That alone is enough to make me believe that Dr. Kessler is correct about the addictive qualities of fat.
The foods fell into two general categories: overloaded with sugar (chocolate cake, monkey bread) or overloaded with fat (fried chicken, monster cheeseburgers, pizza, ribs). Interestingly, some of the dieters said they had previously found these foods irresistible, but after several weeks away from them, found their sight and smell repulsive. This confirms some of the information found in a book that everyone concerned about nutrition should read - The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite by David Kessler, M.D., former head of the Food and Drug Administration. I mentioned it briefly in an earlier post, but I'd like to give it a longer plug now.
Barry and I found out about the book late in 2009 when we saw an interview with Dr. Kessler on PBS in which he discussed his own past problems with eating and the addictive qualities of fat, sugar, and salt. Intrigued, we read The End of Overeating and were appalled by the extent to which our natural appetites have apparently been subverted by the food industry in this country. Barry in particular has a strong dislike of being manipulated, and The End of Overeating clearly demonstrates that those who process the things we eat have manipulated our taste buds at least as thoroughly as their advertising agencies have managed our expectations of food.
The bad news: some foods containing high levels of sugar, fat and salt hit the pleasure center of the brain so hard that they override the body's natural feeling of satiation and we continue eating them long past the point at which we should feel full. The good news: as with any addictive substances, we can "kick the habit" with healthier food choices. Except for a few lapses over the holiday season, Barry and I have been doing just that for the last year, and for the most part we are no longer tempted by foods that are dripping grease or coated with sugar.Except...I don't know whether I could have turned away from all the plates of macaroni and cheese in The Biggest Loser's temptation. That alone is enough to make me believe that Dr. Kessler is correct about the addictive qualities of fat.
"Kessler identifies the cues that lead to overeating and offers some simple, practical tools to help control one's impulses." ~Booklist
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