Foxxtalk

2014-09-21T08:05:00.000-04:00

I have had a few days off to catch this kids. I implore you to watch the latest creation of the genius that is Ken Burns. The Roosevelts: an Intimate History is a fabulous documentary about an extraordinary family, that paved our future as we know it today. These were amazing people under unbelievable circumstances and the story of how they got us through the Great War, began & solidified the United Nations & created the foundation for the American Dream & Human Rights. http://video.pbs.org/program/roosevelts/

2014-06-17T10:37:00.000-04:00

My first year of playing Fantasy Baseball I joined a keeper league.
Meaning, we kept 5 players from our team the previous year.
Tony Gwynn was my first keeper that year, 1994.
That year was shortened by the strike. The one that cancelled the World Series, but gave birth to Ken Burns wonderful documentary "Baseball", the only thing that saved the sport that year.
This was the year he might have hit .400.
His season was cut short as he hit .394.
During his career he faced this years Hall Of Fame inductee, Greg Maddux, one of the greatest pitchers of all time and ace of the Braves staff through the 1990's, 107 times. More than any other pitcher. Maddux once said, in an interview, with the both of them, "He Owns Me!" Gwynn hit .415 against him and NEVER struck out. His stats & career speak volumes but as a person, Keith Olbermann says it best.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PXSVbLhyMY&feature=youtu.be

2014-05-11T05:48:00.001-04:00

Checkout the Net Neutrality rant by @padresj of twit.tv.
The FCC needs to reclassify ISP's as Common Carriers instead of Information services so they can't make deals with large companies to give them more bandwidth and throttle bandwidth to other services that don't pay, while charging us more & more for internet when the isp's are not delivering the internet speed & coverage they promised when they originally took all the tax credits, etc. to get their networks (that we paid for) built.
The rant begins about 8min. into the video & lasts until about 20min in.
Find out how you can help get back Net Neutrality!!!!! Ali Spagnola's interview is a major treat as well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVtCA4icmPI&feature=youtu.be&a

Hypothetically speaking about TV "Cord Cutting"!

2013-08-13T09:11:00.000-04:00

There's a lot of discussion going on about "Cord Cutting".

Essentially this refers to dropping cable TV and keeping your over the air broadcasts while supplementing your viewing with legal content Internet streaming options, including Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime and major networks.

Let's think about this logically for a minute.

For the sake of argument, lets say everyone dumped their cable/satellite service tomorrow.

Doesn't that mean that all the shows and movies that air on cable now would cease to exist due to the lack of money to produce shows like "Game of Thrones", "Walking Dead", "Mythbusters" and, heaven help us, "Duck Dynasty" or any hundreds of other popular shows that can rival the broadcast networks viewing figures enough to become commercially viable?

The only reason "Arrested Development" and "House Of Cards" exist now is because HBO programs paved the way for them. Face it, Netflix only has two original series.

Right now, the Internet is not going to suffice as a replacement for cable because collectively, across the U.S., we don't have enough bandwidth available to us to generate the viewing figures it would take to make these shows financially viable. Even if it could, they would just charge more for bandwidth. So there goes your bargain Internet.

If Cable was gone tomorrow, then Netflix would suddenly see a massive drop in available programming. So there goes Netflix, Amazon Prime...etc.

They only exist now because there is a plethora of programming to offer. If that well dries up, so do they.

The only reason Internet is as cheap as it is is because the majority of American citizens do not use it as their television choice preference.

What about ESPN & other live sports programming networks, MLB Network, NFL Network, etc. Yeah, they can stream, and do. MLBTV is one of the best/cheapest sports products out there but MLB & the other sports have too much money invested to limit their output to that. They need ESPN, CBS, NBC & Fox. You won't break all the players unions and AFTRA/SAG just to cut the cord.

All that would be accomplished is that we would go back to broadcast TV only along with a bit of fringe Internet content (You Tube) because the shows you want now for individual consumption would go away because there would be no cable/satellite money to fund them.

There is also the call for "Al A Carte cable".

I had Al A Carte cable on the "Big Ugly Dish" in the early '90's and believe me, to subscribe to only the channels you want and give up the rest, will cost you more than your bundled cable package, with all the crap you will never watch.

That cable bundle keeps all the fringe channels operating so that they can keep experimenting with shows you may want to watch and occasionally hit pay dirt with shows like "Walking Dead", "Gold Rush", "Breaking Bad", "Psych", "Mad Men" & "Doctor Who".

Yes 'Doctor Who' is a big hit in the UK but PBS was offered the new series & very few stations picked it up before SYFY picked it up a year late in 2006.

PBS barely did anything with the classic series when it was popular and a major network would never touch it. Hello torrents, but probably not much interest, if you even remembered the 'cult show'.

BBC America (not SYFY) gets the biggest kudos for launching this show in it's fourth season in the US, without them it would not be a hit here.

My whole point here is that if cable is not bundled then you lose the massive number of crappy networks that will take a chance on the shows you now want to only watch on Netflix, on demand.

Netflix is a fine service but it's just an on demand re-run service like Amazon Prime. Not bad, useful, a nice supplement, but not a major/minor network replacement. Netflix only has two 'original' shows and wouldn't have them if cable experimentation & cash hadn't paved the way.

Chris Foxx
The Devil's Advocate

How to uninstall McAfee software by John McAfee

2013-06-19T06:02:00.001-04:00

We love you Annette Funicello

2013-04-09T08:54:00.002-04:00

Celebrities come & go but I would be remiss if I didn't speak out and acknowledge for myself and the millions of young boys that shared with me, one of our greatest joys from 1955 to 1959....and beyond. That is, how much we are saddened by the passing of our first crush, our first love, Annette Funicello. Following tribute song sung by Jimmie Dodd (Mickey Mouse Club)

I was no where near the official recognized age of puberty at four years old but I do know that my heart skipped a beat or three every afternoon when I had my daily date with Annette on the Mickey Mouse Club.

Even now I can't say there was anything sexual about it, even though she did grow up to be a very beautiful, sexy & talented lady.

Hey, I didn't even know what sex was at 4 years old, but I did know that I was smitten. I waited each 24 hour period with baited breath for a chance to see Annette.

My Annette based obsession with the "Mickey Mouse Club" was so great, and I'm sure of millions of others, that you can ask anyone from my generation to spell "Encyclopedia" and they will unconsciously do it in the exact same rhythm that Jiminy Cricket used in each episode.

I would look forward each day for her to sing "Meeska, Mooseka, Mouseketeer. Mouse Cartoon time now is here" and the ending theme song each day, "Now it's time to say goodbye, to all our company. M-I-C (see you real soon) K-E-Y (why? Because we like you) M-O-U-S-E.'

Her face was seen during the singing of "K-E-Y" as if she new she had stolen the key to my heart.

As young as I was, I can't explain the phenomenon of my infatuation with her. I just know I had it and never lost it over the years.

Thank you Annette for being my first love, may you rest in peace. You will never be forgotten, and always be loved, by millions of us.

Here are some great memories of my first love!

By the way, a little trivia. My dad was the driver for Fess Parker while he was in Kentucky shooting on location for Davy Crockett.

March Madness 2013, do I care? Sort of.

2013-04-07T07:09:00.001-04:00

I don't follow any sport but baseball but being in Clarksville, Indiana, I live too close to Louisville, Ky. to ignore March Madness.

Basketball, to me, is grown men in shorts, who dribble. However, I do hope Louisville wins the National Championship.

Reasons?

The entire state is basketball obsessed, it's either Louisville Cardinals or Kentucky Wildcats. (& sometimes at the border, Indiana Hoosiers as major rivals, as long as the coach knows how to correctly throw a chair).

It's a shame no one here really supports the minor league Reds team at Slugger Field (one of the best minor league parks in the nation).

It's like Alabama & football. I found by living in Birmingham that you can't drive into Alabama & only stop to get gas without the attendant asking you, "You for Alabama or Auburn?"

Well, Louisville is my "hometown team" and the city will be unbearable if they don't win.

Kentucky fans will cackle and the Louisville fans will either become internet trolls who will blame their final opponents of some sort of cheating or bad official calls, or they will become so depressed that there will be mass suicides across the city.

If they do win, Everyone in town will be pleasant, even if they do text more while driving, but Papa Johns Pizza will give me a 45% discount for an online pizza order the day after the Cards win.

Go Cards!!!!!!

How Obama can save America and become an icon, plus a few other baseball thoughts

2012-11-08T05:38:00.000-05:00

First, he's a Lame Duck President, in a liberal party. That means he can get away with "radical" support with 'the greatest of ease'.

He needs to help legalize marijuana and online poker.

It's that simple. The repeal of prohibition saved us once. Ask Ken Burns. Let's do it again.

This is untapped income.

The tax dollars from both would fix the deficit & create jobs in short order. Once he becomes responsible for fixing the economy from the worst recession in history, his legacy is set!

My, perhaps flawed & debatable but, logical reasoning.

An entire generation of hippies, beatniks and hipsters that smoked weed in the '60's and before, (Messrs Armstrong, Crosby, Nelson...et al.) plus it's young, would make the government BILLIONS of dollars in tax revenue.

Tobacco is legal, so is alcohol. Impose the same regulations and taxation.

The war on this drug is lost. Take advantage of it. Make some lemonade.

In fact, I am thinking of juicing up by joining Alton Brown in buying the Little Debbie distributorship in Colorado (maybe even Washington too) for my next job.

What an impact this could have on the snack food industry. Hey, Frito-Lay, Hostess, Hershey & Papa John, think about some "Lobby money". I hate lobbyists but if we have to have them, they might as well help us by 'accident', while going after their own greedy purpose.

At this point, thanks to local government, smoking restrictions and the anti-smoking groups, the consumption of marijuana (an illegal substance) is probably higher than tobacco at this point. Tax it while it's hot. It will get you a lot more than cigarettes does now, and create jobs.

Just do it & control it before you have to fight the "cartel" for control in the now, legal states. This would be an excellent way to save the jobs in the tobacco industry. Go on guys, you are already set up for it! You even have lobbyists. Do you really think I am pointing out something they don't already know?

Next, horse race gambling (strictly a game of chance as is the Lottery, which some states are actually thinking of putting online) is already legal online so why ban an actual game of skill?

This could bring in more tax dollars than imaginable. There are millions of players that would play online. The poker players in the U.S. that are waiting for return of account funds, from the D.O.J, at "Full Tilt Poker", after online poker's "Black Friday", are owed approximately $150 million. What is the tax available on that? That's while it was "illegal" in the U.S.

Regulate it, tax it (you are good at that...the tax part anyway) and check out the software, then get us all those tax dollars & programming jobs. It could probably be enough to give most of the U.S. taxpayers a tax cut.

You only have a problem with casinos if you shut them out from it. Just don't legalize slots online. Then you could kill the casinos brick & mortar stores.

If all the others go legal, online the slots could be next. Oh the dilemma, but what a bunch of revenue for us.

Legalize marijuana, that's the obvious one. Think tobacco & alcohol revenue.

However, the poker thing could spark a legalization of online sports gambling. I really don't care, but I don't like the idea of having the ability to create an environment that could possibly bring on another "Black Sox Scandal". Even though "tainted" doesn't bother me too much.

I just don't want players to try & throw games...in any sport. Especially Hockey & Football, those guys really get beat up for a living.

You would think/hope that the players are making enough now that the amount of gambling "profits" available to "buy a loss" would not be enough to persuade them to throw a game.

We can only hope. Thank you Marvin Miller & Curt Flood!

As far as steroids in Baseball is concerned, I say (maybe the other sports too, but I don't follow anything but baseball, so I really have no frame of reference)....Juice 'em up & let the balls fly! If you want to take the risk of killing yourself with steroids, to be better at your sport, then OK.

A lot of us wouldn't, but some of us smoke, do drugs, drink, jump out of airplanes or weather balloons from the edge of space & off cliffs with kites. It's all a big risk. We will always take a risk. We are human.

SO Lance Armstrong may have been juiced. Even juiced, would YOU have even TRIED to ride a bike in those competitions? Has anyone, since, from what I read, he wasn't alone when it came to being juiced anyway, ever challenged him, juiced or not juiced?

Hey, Mickey Mantle took cortisone since he screwed up his knee in his rookie year. It's kills pain, is a steroid and helps the athlete endure pain beyond the point to where it could cause permanent physical damage. If that's legal, then why not the rest?

There was nothing in sports more exciting than McGuire and Sosa's chase for Babe Ruth's record. They are both in the "shadow" of steroids.

No one can really match Ruth because of his "conditioning", so they ALL deserve asterisk's, but for a different reason.

The real test is for them do it on Babe Ruth's lifestyle. He ate junk and drank alcohol WAY more than today's players.

He lived on booze, beer and hot dogs, was overweight & lived a generally unhealthy lifestyle. He had no cortisone. Just a couple of aspirin & a daily Bloody Mary.

To say the least, it isn't a lifestyle emulated by many athletes today. However, Mantle nearly pulled it off, had he not gotten injured & fell behind Maris.

C'mon Mark & Sammy....AND Barry. Hit 73/70/66/61...OR EVEN 10.....DRUNK or HUNGOVER DAILY, after eating 33 hot dogs!

With or without steroids, 60 Home Runs was/is still an incredible feat, for the time and standards of both eras. Let's not judge the recent records on steroids. Look at their bodies. These guys were "BUFF" & their records were not easily attained, even with steroids. All they are guilty of is having enough strength to hit a few more, a little further. If Ruth was in shape & on steroids his records would have really been unattainable.

Steroids still do not improve eye hand coordination to the point that they can hit .400. It's still the hardest thing to do in any sport. Ted is still King there for the modern era.

So they didn't hit that much better, just farther. SO WHAT? Build up some muscle, make Tony Gwynn your personal hitting coach and if you have the natural talent to be able to see & hit the baseball, then you break everyone’s record. It doesn't happen much, enjoy it while it happens.

Oh, one more baseball thing. PUT PETE ROSE IN THE HALL OF FAME!!!

He hustled his ass off! He gambled, and was obsessive about it....but I really think he was competitive enough to where he never bet against a team he was with. Too much ego involved. He lost his ass as a gambler. I'm sure many can relate, but it did not affect his hit record.

The gambling ban was created by Landis because the "Black Sox" 'threw' the World Series in 1919. A time when the owners were making tons & paying peanuts while the gamblers paid more.

The owners had absolute control over player’s careers & salary (& by the way, before Landis imposed the lifetime ban, the courts found the accused Black Sox innocent!).

They have no proof that Pete threw a game. HE IS the all time hit leader. Induct him!

Ok, I'm done..... for now.

I'm in another Larry King mood!

2012-10-25T01:48:00.001-04:00

It's been quite a while since I've updated this blog so I probably need to explain the "Larry King mood" to the kids in the audience. (like Alton Brown said on "Good Eats", " My favorite Pizza Peel (google it) is Emma.....Emma Peel!? ...You kids are just gonna have to look that one up!)
Larry King used to do a column for USA Today where he just wrote random thoughts about various topics, here is an example....when a baseball team (let's say the Giants) were on a roll he would say "How 'bout those Giants!?", and there would be several of those that comprised the column. Ok here we go!!!!!!
Hey Moff & the BBC....6 episodes of "Doctor Who" per year is not enough for us Yanks! The show is too damn good for that. (I won't even bring up the marvelous "Sherlock" that only gets 3)
Best NEW show of the year.... "Arrow" (the CW's adaptation of DC Comics Green Arrow).
Funniest shows on TV: The Big Bang Theory & The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (Craig is the funniest SOB on TV).
To break a recent (5 year...I'm guessing, it could be more) tradition, I am actually going to see a film in a theatre, (IMAX) "Skyfall". Great reviews so far. The real test is if I walk out of the theatre with the James Bond theme running through my head and I am walking out feeling taller & feeling cooler. I haven't had that feeling for decades. So far the Daniel Craig films haven't felt like "Bond" films. More like "Bourne" films ("Quantum" was really mediocre, Casino Royale was a nice start though). The last Brosnan film that was any good was "The World Is Not Enough" (Tracy references...see "On Her Majesty's Secret Service").
"How 'bout those Giants!?" Wow!!!!! Kung Fu Panda hits 3 home runs & an RBI single and Verlander loses game 1 of the World Series. Team of destiny or are the Tigers just victims (like the Rockies) of too many days off waiting?
One of my favorite memories was when I covered the Cards beating the Braves in the NLCS (yes, champagne in the eyes stings) and my girl friend was pissed that she wasn't thrown out of the locker room when another lady (trying to disguise herself as a guy) was thrown out for being there. Hey....you got to stay didn't you...It was fun!
More to come! (Thanks Johnny....look it up kids)

I'm really pissed now!!!!!!!

2012-06-07T05:33:00.001-04:00

I haven't updated this blog in over a year...but now it's time.

I hate social networking sites. I have accounts at Facebook, Twitter, Linkden and My Space and I rarely if ever use them because I don't trust their privacy issues. By the way, Facebook's stock is REALLY set to tank, but I digress.

I put no personal information on them at all and I try to never be political, but damnit, something on Facebook really pissed me off.

My good buddy, whom I have tons of respect for, from years ago at WERC in Birmingham, Steve Sanders, now in 'the show', doing news at WGN TV in Chicago posted this:

"A ban on tans for kids: Chicago aldermen are expected to approve a bill today... that would prohibit anyone 18 years-old and younger from using tanning beds... even with parental permission. Your thoughts? It's our WGN Midday News question."

How stupid is that??? My immediate response (which I rarely do on Facebook) was:

"Steve, this country is getting nuts. Already, you can't smoke in, & possibly, order more than 16 oz of soda at a fast food place, in NYC.

Now you are saying that you could be banned from "under (18) age tanning even if your parents approve, in the Windy city? Hello Hitler!

As I understand it, "Upon turning 18, the individual can function independently from his parents. Rights and privileges include the ability to vote, work unrestricted hours and sign into a legally binding contract, such as marriage for example." Can't they get married with parent approval under 18? If so, then which is worse?

Mr. Bradbury was right...(why did he have to die NOW? I guess because he predicted all this shit & wanted out before it actually happened,,,actually he wasn't predicting, he was warning & trying to prevent) lets burn some books, but just those that count.

We need the government to keep us "safe". Give me a break!!!!!"

end of quote, now I rant!!!!!!

I don't care if you smoke or not, drink soda or not, tan or not or whatever.

As soon as you give up the rights to do what you can now legally do, anywhere, you set a precedent for government to control everything you do.

Prohibition worked, didn't it????? (In the immortal words of Bill Cosby & his "Noah" routine...."Riiiight!")

This should not happen in a "free" society!

We can't play poker online, which is a skill game, but we can bet horse racing in many states, which is all left up to chance. You might as well be betting slot machines.

Something has got to be done to protect us citizens from government controling what we do.

There are states that want to stop all cell phone communication in cars. Not just texting. I mean hands free talking.

I'm all for killing texting for drivers and those idiots that show drivers their phone screens while they are driving, not to mention those that put on makeup & eat coco puffs while they drive. I've been behind them, but if you outlaw hands free conversation on cell phones while driving then you need to outlaw all car radios and passengers.

Hands free cell phone conversations can't possibly be as dangerous as dealing with passenger conversations, where you have to turn your head, pushing a button to swap radio stations. or dealing with unruly children in cars.

There has to be a limit on what you can regulate. Humans & government can only control SO much.

You could regulate farts. I'm sure laughing at them or doing them causes some sort of disruption to concentration.

Just outlaw the damn cars & make us all walk or take a bus or cab. (As long as the drivers don't fart) That will solve the problem...and REALLY kill Detroit,, the car industry & overpriced gas. We NEED more unemployment. (Can you spell sarcasm?)

America, I leave the rest for you to ponder!

For an explanation of WHY scroll down & see my video post from Red Skelton for Saturday, July 03, 2010.

By the way, I met him once and it was such an honor. It makes his pledge that much more substantial in my eyes.

Doctor Who, Craig Ferguson, Smallville & such...yes, I'm in a Larry King Mood again...only more detailed....with links. Welcome to the 21st Century

2011-05-14T05:48:00.014-04:00

For those interested, somewhere amongst these blogs I explain the 'Larry King Mood" (see USA Today) Anyway....

Matt Smith, with some help from Steven Moffet, is becoming "THE" Doctor for this century. Doctor Who, now in it's 6th season (Series) since the re-birth (not reboot) has never been better. 9pm Saturdays on BBC America. For you non believers.....it really works with REAL special effects....stories are GREAT!!!!!! Great Tardis....but I still like McGann's Tardis better...more 'homey', he plays 45rpm records while relaxing & drinking tea while reading "The Time Machine".

Kudos to Craig Ferguson for having Matt, Karen, Alex and a dalek on his show.
Check out his lost Dr. Who open they were talking about in the interview, that they didn't get music clearance rights to do the night Matt appeared

and of course he has a Tardis on his desk....nightly. He didn't grow up with the Doctor in Scotland did he...???

I thought that the writers of 'Smallville' had written themselves into an unrecoverable corner where the Superman legend was concerned but the finale proved me wrong and even used the John Williams score to drive it home. Welling, in Reeve's world, wearing Routh's costume (or may I say...Logo) they really finished well. I was not disappointed, but not overwhelmed...I should have been....I could go on...and at some point I may.....but as I recall...after Superman, in the Silver Age of comics, moved a planet....the writers/DC Comics decided to find more weaknesses for our buddy Kal-El.

Why can't we play Poker online if we can bet the Derby and all other ponies online? Can you spell Hypocracy?

The batlle of the Superheroes is on....

Thor is in theatres and X-Men - First Class, Green Lantern, Captain America, Avengers are on the way....with more next year, including Superman, Spiderman, Batman and James Bond. I may actually go to a theatre or 2 soon. You are welcome Stan, Joe & Jerry....et all.

I will be so sad if there are no new episodes (as rumored) of "Good Eats" w/ Alton Brown. I must have Julia child crossed with Monty Pyhon & Mr. Wizard.

Happy 4th of July from Red Skelton

2010-07-03T06:30:00.001-04:00

I am so proud to have met you sir!

And now for a little “shop talk”

2009-03-01T02:45:00.001-05:00

Any time Paul Harvey reported anything in the media he would introduce the story as "shop talk'. Well the saddest "shop talk" of all has been reported as legendary broadcaster Paul Harvey left us on Saturday.

No other broadcaster had or could even effectively use a full fifteen minutes a day to deliver "news and comment' and another five minutes to tell "The Rest Of The Story". Paul Harvey did, and did it better than anyone else ever could.No one could mix hard news and human interest stories the way he could.

For each story about politics and the general state of the world, he would have a story about some 'regular person' and their good fortune, humorous incident or deepest sorrow and all those stories seemed equally important, because he knew they actually were and he treated them as such.

There is absolutely nothing I can say that hasn't already been said by thousands of others, in various blogs and news reports, about this giant of broadcasting.He was a great part of my life as both a broadcaster and as a listener andthe only way I know to honor him is to recall my favorite Paul Harvey story.

It was sometime in the early 1960's, during the height of the cold war.He made mention that, through sign language, an American fishing boat and a Russian fishing boat had arranged a trade. Russian cigarettes for American beer.

Details were worked out and the day of the trade came about. The Russians handed over the cigarettes and the Americans handed over the beer.

Being the early '60s, the beer was in cans that sported the brand new convenience of a "pop top". The Russians had never seen a "pop top" before and were a bit aprehensive about pulling on the mysterious ring attached to the top of the can.Finally one brave Russian took a chance and popped the top only to hear the "pop, ssssssssss" sound of the carbonation releasing upon opening it.

He immediately threw it overboard and the crew of the boat hit the deck waiting for the explosion...that never came.

I'm not sure where Paul got all the gems he reported, nor do I care. I'm just glad he did, for over a half century. We are all richer for it.

Thank you Paul Harvey. Regardless of how bad things were in the world, every day you were with us was a "Good Day".

Pokerus Interuptus

2008-05-15T01:29:00.001-04:00

Poker’s most prestigious event, the 2008 World Series of Poker $10,000 buy-in Main Event, will be a bit different this year.
Perhaps as many as 8000 players will start play on July 3 and the event will work its way down to the final 9 players on July 14. Then play will stop...because Harrah's has decided to postpone the final table of the Main Event until November 9, 2008, more than three months later.
I really don't like the idea of moving the date of the final table at all. Especially a ridiculous three months after the main competition. The WSOP is an event, not a 'to be continued' movie serial.
From a player standpoint I would rather play the final table while I am still juiced from the days leading up to that finale and I would not want to lose any momentum I may have gained during that period.
After all, the Colorado Rockies had a great winning momentum prior to the 2007 World Series, only to have that enthusiasm squelched by having to wait nearly a week after they won the NL title, having to play practice ball & 'warm-ups' in snow covered Coors Field while they waited for the Red Sox to win their title. Their momentum was quashed by that delay.
From a spectator standpoint the same applies. I don't want to watch the entire NFL season playout and have to wait till the Fourth of July for the Superbowl. By that time most casual interest is lost by the time the finale rolls around or the excitement of the games that lead up to the finale are possibly ignored by those who are only interested in the outcome. Viewership of one or both of those entities will suffer.
Why would a casual fan care to watch all the competition when all it leads to is a three month delay before the final battle. Just watch the final battle.
I also don't agree with Daniel Negreanu's argument of 'preparing for the final table with pro coaching & watching the competitors videos'.
First, if you haven't been working on your game you aren't going to wind up at the final table anyway, plus there aren't tapes of all players at the WSOP, only what ESPN has shot and that won't include everyone involved at the final table. So I guess it just means that poker pros get to spend some quality time hiring themselves out to help train the finalists.
I know I would stop playing in tournaments altogether if I had to stop my play when I got to the final table then had to wait even a few days, to come back & wrap up the game.
In a field even as big as the WSOP, one day, maybe two off is plenty to get some rest & strategize. You don't need to lose your edge or momentum. That is too important.
What if something comes up and you can't make the final table in three months for some reason like illness, a death in the family or God forbid your own death.If those things happen during the course of the regular tournament you deal with them the way any athelete would, you either play through it, go on the DL, get a bereavement leave & don't show up.
Those are the breaks, but those breaks should happen during the 'season', not after you have delayed Game Seven of the World Series till Valentines Day to attract more ladies to the ballpark.

The writers return...for Dave & Craig

2007-12-29T11:28:00.000-05:00

It seems, in retrospect, not getting the Tonight Show was great for David Letterman. Kudos to him for negotiating a contract with CBS that gave his company, Worldwide Pants, ownership of The Late Show and Craig Ferguson's The Late, Late Show.
That gave him the ability to negotiate an interim deal with the Writers Guild that allows his writers to return to action.
On Friday, 12/28, 'Pants' reached that interim agreement with the Writers Guild and both shows will return on Wednesday with writers in fold.
That agreement will be eventually be replaced by any future agreement reached by the writers and producers, but it immediately gives the CBS stable of late night shows a tremendous advantage over the likes of Leno, Conan and Kimmel in two major areas.
Not only does it mean that both shows will be able to run with all the features that the writers are responsible for in tact, including Dave's Top Ten List and a monologue, but celebrities can appear as guests without crossing picket lines, which most won't do.
"Tonight Dave welcomes Paul Neuman."
"Tonight Jay welcomes the manager of the McDonald's on Rodeo Drive."
Well, you get the idea.
That alone will be a major hurdle for the other late night talkfests to contend with in addition to not having the luxury of monologue and bit writers.
With no seeming end to the strike in sight this could give Dave and Craig a major advantage over the other shows for quite awhile. Maybe even long enough to establish major ratings increases. I am personally looking forward to more "Great Moments in Presidential Speeches" and "Will It Float".
Good work Dave.

The Writers Strike is justified

2007-12-13T03:11:00.000-05:00

This is a post I made to a forum questioning why the WGA would like to get reality show writers in their fold.

I will try to give a little perspective to the union issue from personal experience.

I worked at a country radio station in a group of radio stations (2) in the mid '90's. We were members of AFTRA (American Federation of Radio & Television Artists).

For those of you who think the union people are overpaid, be it known I was making $7.60 an hour at the time, union minimum.

When radio was deregulated and companies could start buying up a ton of stations instead of owning only 7 AM, 7FM total and only one of each in each city (market) our group began by buying our country competition.

That meant that if we were fired, as talent, we had nowhere to go in town and there was no other country station to be offered a job from to create a competitive balance for talent.

The group, at the time in negotiations with our union, hired 'tons' of part time talent for rates above union minimum & promised them the moon if they voted out the union.

The union was dumped, the new hires got fired and from that point on pro union employees were fired or never got another raise. Well, 2 years later I did get a 1 cent per hour raise. Talk about predjudice...

The new hires were fired and they reverted to hiring people for minimum wage.

Illegal? Yes. Proveable? No.

Moral of the story is the union wants all eligible writers (those who write for major networks and any other venue they cover) to have the same protection they have. That is why they want the reality writers in their fold.

If not, they are subject to the same abuse we got when the union was voted out. The owners & suits have control and you have no bargaining power.

That means, like Siegal & Schuster, who created Superman, have no rights or income from their creation from future films, tv, cartoons, reprints of the material they wrote or drew, or merchandising.

They were paid a weekly (nominal) wage for their work and the company owns their creation(s) and benefits forever from any sales of that work, be it DVD, internet....any media, while the creators get nothing.

That is not fair.

Writers, on the surface, are paid well, but in tv & film they don't work much and that income has to last during the times when they are unemployed, which for the majority of writers, is most of the time.

Doctor Who and its place on US TV

2007-12-13T03:08:00.000-05:00

This is a post I wrote for a similar topic on the Doctor Who forum at the SciFi channel.

Unfortunately, even with the writers strike, I have to agree with most posters that Doctor Who will never see the light of day on a major network in the US.

First, networks don't run imports these days because they spend too much on their own productions to pay the BBC, or whomever, the money for the rights to something they have no control over.

However, Doctor Who could have been a much bigger hit on cable had it been promoted at all.

For example, take Torchwood. BBC America promoted Torchwood tremendously. It became the biggest show in the history of the channel.

If BBC America had the in home saturation/penetration that SciFi has (number of homes where it is available) it would have gotten 3 or 4 times the audience that it DID get. That would have put it among the top 10-15 cable shows, probably around 3-4 million viewers.SciFi doesn't even run promos of Who in their biggest show "Eureka". To their credit they did run Series 3 spots on BBC America (oh pinch me I must be dreaming).

Had SciFi promoted Doctor Who with the same resolve that BBC America promoted Torchwood, considering their household availability and penetration (they ran promos for "TinMan" on NBC) Doctor Who, with it's built in PBS recognition factor, could have ranked among the highest cable shows.

That, however would have meant that the BBC could have charged more for subsequent series of Doctor Who.If SciFi can get their 1M viewers for a bargain price with a British import and maintain a ratings quota , why make it a hit and have to pay more for it later or outbid another channel for the rights after it becomes a hit.

It's all about money and spending less of it. Especially if it isn't a show they own a piece of.

I'm in A Larry King 'Fringe TV Show' Mood

2007-12-04T04:53:00.000-05:00

I have been asked what a "Larry King TV Mood" is.

Damn, at 55, 56 on Dec. 23, I already have had to explain to some readers that Paul McCartney was with a band before Wings.

Has it really been so long since Larry King did his little weekly column for USA Today? It was only 2001 when it was dropped. Only about a decade. Oh......maybe I am AM old.

Larry used to write a short column that had even shorter references to things he wanted to comment on. One line comments on many topics.
Actually they were barely comments. Mostly, they were one line incomplete thoughts. I stole some of these actual excerpts from an article on Medsacape Today. The parenthesis are my comments. Wouldn't want you to think Larry was too wordy or talked to himself.

"Sandy Koufax really likes egg cremes" (Does anyone but Sandy care? Or should they?)
"Jimmy Breslin never told a lie -- ever" (Would his wife agree?)
"Madonna, it is said, is fond of ficus" (of what???? A sacred FIG????)
"Gary Cooper's right arm was 4 inches longer than his left arm" (No wonder he was picked to play Lou Gherig)
"Last week, I shaved my feet" (Top or bottom Larry?)

You get the idea.

So my short little "mood" pieces are thoughts I don't really have sufficent time to devote for them to become blog entries of any real substance, but I wanted to mention these random thoughts I might, but probably won't, elaborate on someday.

The red bold face type is all Larry would have said. I like to think my thoughts have a LITTLE more substance.

So here we go!!!!!!

Have you seen Food Networks' "Seasons Eatings" promos with their claymation type versions of their stable of stars? Most are fairly resemblent of their real life counterparts, but my little sweetie, Rachel Ray, needs to back hand them through next Sunday. Somehow she came out looking like Michael Jackson on ice skates. Have Oprah take a hit out on 'em for that girl!

For years I wanted to grow up to be David Letterman, who by the way is Mr. Class for paying his non writer staff during the writer's strike, and being the FIRST of the Late Night Talk show brotherhood to do that. Way to go Dave!

Now, I want to be Anthony Bourdain, or at least his buddy. We could be great friends. We are nearly clones anyway. On his Travel Channel show "No Reservations", he travels the world, smokes like a furnace, drinks like a fish and eats pork to excess.
I do that too. However, due to lack of a tv budget I am forced to confine those activities to my backyard.

I was shocked to find out that the Discovery Channel's "Cash Cab host, Ben Bailey, whose hair style I emulate, passes out 'stage money' to his winners and they have to wait till the network sends 'em a check. Damn I hate corporate broadcasting since deregulation.
I do love the show & Ben is great.
I also find it interesting how many people answer in the form of a question as if they were on Jeopardy. If you did that on Comedy Central's 'Win Ben Stein's Money' you would be penalised for that.

Does anyone have a tougher job than Les Stroud on the Science Channel's 'Survivorman'? This guy survives with less stuff than MacGyver, in deserts, swamps, & the Arctic Circle for 7 days. No food, water & no camera crew. That's right, no crew. He carries around his own camera equipment & films it all himself. Even walking away from his camera. Then he comes back a mile or so just to get it. All he usually has with him is one match, 3 Fritos Corn Chips, a shoe string and a harmonica. What a pain. You are right Les! You're not paid enough for that shit, but it's great tv.

Honorable mentions:
Dinner Impossible on Food TV
Mythbusters on the Discovery Channel
Cash & Treasures on the Travel Channel
High Stakes Poker on GSN, This season all players had to put up a $500,000 buyin, with their own money. That means some hands, so far, have been worth nearly $1,000,000 each.
Who does Doyle Brunson's taxes?

By the way, Torchwood, Series 2, will premiere on BBC America 1/26/08, about the same time it begins on the BBC across the pond.

No word yet on Series 4 of Doctor Who in the states, featuring the return of Billie Piper as Rose Tyler.

Since leaving the Doctor Who, where she won several Best Actress awards co-starring with both Christopher Eccleston & David Tennant, Billie is wowing brit audiences, in "The Secret Diary of a Call Girl" renewed for a second series on ITV, and she returns to the role of Sally Lockhart this Christmas as the BBC adapts a second Philip Pullman book "The Shadow in the North" for television. Her first, "The Ruby in the Smoke", was seen here on PBS's 'Masterpiece Theatre'.
Britian's former pop princess, Billie Piper, has really shown she can act with all these diverse roles she has taken. She was even nominated for the prestigious Evening Standard theatre award for her first major stage role as best actress for her work in the Christopher Hampton play Treats.

I'm In a Larry King TV Mood

2007-10-25T19:01:00.000-04:00

Time for mini thoughts on parts of the new TV season.

Heroes (NBC): Up to it's usual wonderful standards. It's a continued episodic program. It's great, like 24, which I haven't seen since Season 3, but I have problems keeping focused unless I can watch the whole season at once. Continued episodic television frustrates me.

Bionic Woman (NBC): Pretty good. Heads & shoulders above the original but my jury is still out.

Chuck (NBC): Not bad, sorta cute in a "Sledge Hammer" sorta way.

Boston Legal (ABC): Still the best show on network TV.

Journeyman (NBC): I love the premise but there is really a lot going on here. Hope I can keep up.

Smallville (CW): With all the revisions on the Superman legend and canon, how long can it possibly be before he puts on the tights and why won't anyone recognize Clark as Superman after all is said & done? When he goes to the Fortress for his training will he morph into Brandon Routh?

Samantha Who? (ABC): I didn't expect to like this but it really is funny and will be a hit just because of its time slot. Christine Applegate and Jean Smart are hilarious.

Pushing Daisies (ABC): The weirdest show on TV. VERY frustrating comedy, but pretty cool..... I don't care about the girlfriend he can't touch, JUST DON'T KILL THE DOG!!!!!!

The Price Is Right (CBS): Drew Carey is really a perfect choice to replace Bob Barker. He is still feeling his way but he will get it eventually.

Survivor-China (CBS): This is really getting predictable and old hat. I'm bored with this.

Torchwood (BBC America): I saw this early with thanks to a friend in Great Britain. I had forgotten how good this Doctor Who spinoff was. This is quality Sci-Fi.

It's gonna be a LONNNNNNNG October

2007-10-02T00:09:00.000-04:00

Padres/Rockies.....WHAT A GAME.....

Atkins shoulda had a home run early that was scored a double.

WHAT AN ENDING.

Two runs down, bottom of the 13th.

Matt Holiday who missed a catch to give up the lead earlier scored the winning run and batted in the tying run.

Holiday may not have even touched the plate during his collision with the catcher when he scored the winning run. Even he isn't sure. He busted his chops. The Ump hesitated on the final safe call.....

GREAT PLAY, LOUSY CALLS, THIS ONE HAD IT ALL!!!!!!!!

Except a decent broadcast venue!!!!!!

If we must be stuck with TBS to cover the ALDS, NLDS AND the NLCS, PLEEEEEEASE get some announcers that sound excited to be at the game.

The Rockies/Padres playoff is one of the most exciting games I have seen in some time. These guys wake up just in time to go to break & throw it to Ernie Johnson Jr. & Cal Ripken, who also have nothing to add.

As far as Atkins double that could have been a home run, Fox & ESPN would have dissected that hit for three innings & replayed it from every angle & super slo motion. It barely got noticed by TBS.

Also, I know there are people in the stands. I can see them. Why can't I hear them? Lets run a few mikes out there or at least turn up the gain on the one you are using.

Damn baseball is fun this year!!!!!

2007-09-30T02:32:00.000-04:00

By the time anyone reads this it will be old news, but........
There are 5 teams in Major League Baseball fighting for their lives.
The Diamondbacks are 89-72.
They could lose, Padres win and they are tied at 90-73 with a playoff imminent.
Mets, Phillies and Rockies are all 88-73.
Padres are 89-72 going into Sundays games with the NL East & West titles and NL Wild Card up for grabs. Phils & Mets are battling for the NLEast title. While all are basically fighting for the Wild Card.
Additional sample scenarios.
Padres lose, Rockies Win, they are tied 89-73.
Mets win Phils lose, Mets win NL East (89-73), Phils (88-74).
Phils win Mets lose then reverse that.
If both win or both lose...they are either 89-73 or 88-74.
Both Rockies and Padres figure into the mix for the wild card & maybe the NL West.
In a perfect world... there's a four-way tie among the Mets, Phillies, D-Backs and Padres then the Phillies would host the Mets to determine the NL East champ and the Diamondbacks would host the Padres to determine the NL West champions.
The two losing teams would play Tuesday, Oct. 2 to decide the Wild Card. The Phillies or Mets would host the Diamondbacks; the Padres would either host the Phillies or travel to New York; the Rockies would host either way.
Who says the wild card system doesn't improve baseball?
Personally...I want Mets in the NLE and the Rockies as the Wild Card, but not without one game playoffs... TOO MUCH FUN!!!!!!!

Perhaps, Perhaps

2007-09-26T03:31:00.000-04:00

Yeah I'm just a stupid Yank, but I have really become enthralled with British television.First it was The Avengers. God, I love Emma Peel. Then it was Patrick McGoohan as The Prisoner, even before Danger Man and Secret Agent.Then there was a lapse until I decided to produce a video about comics, fantasy and that stuff when the "Doctor Who" tour came to the U.S. and I worked in an interview with the third Doctor, Jon Pertwee while he was in town.
It was a great interview and I spent a wonderful evening at a Japanese steak house with Jon and found him totally enchanting, much to the dismay of his superiors who were pissed I bought him dinner and he still got his per diem.
I then took my film crew to Columbus Georgia for a fan convention featuring many Star Trek and Doctor Who stars. I was there when the second "Doctor" Patrick Troughton unfortunately passed away at that convention.
I then began my obession with Doctor Who.
The Birmingham Alabama PBS station was showing the Pertwee "Who" episodes and I followed them through all seven incarnations of the "classic" Doctors.
I doubt I would have had the patience to follow them through the normal 30 minute episodic format. I hate continued stories. Thank goodness the PBS station ran the "edited "movie" versions of them.
Cheesy special effects and the switch from film on location to video tape in studio, was difficult to handle, but I kept up with it. It was absolutely an aquired taste. However the plots, characters and acting overshadowed the production values of the program and I became a great fan.
The series, but not my interest, ended in 1989.
Somewhere along the line I discover "Absolutely Fabulous" and fell in love again. Two Brit babes, Patsy & Edina, stuck in the 60's coping with the present.
Joanna Lumley as Patsy is a treasure. My favorite lines from her are...when she thinks that customs have found cocaine in her baggage and detain her, only to find out that the powder is talc, she beats on a door yelling, "Do you know how much I paid for that white powder?" and when Eddy says "You quit drinking once", and she answered, "The worst eight hours of my life". Too damn funny, in context.
Fast forward to 1996.
Paul McGann played the Doctor in a one off TV movie jointly produced by the BBC and FOX, who "wisely" scheduled it against a huge season finale of Rosanne where Dan had a heart attack, and it never got picked up as a series due to ratings. It did well in the UK and was a great show though. FOX's loss.
Fast Forward to 2005.
Russell T. Davies, creator of the original "Queer As Folk" brings back Doctor Who for the BBC with great stories, a great cast and to tremendous ratings in the UK.
It enthrals me once again.
I then discover the BBC comedies on PBS, "As Time Goes By" With Judi Dench, the bawdy "Are You Being Served" and BBC America. Great stuff.
I must say that Stephen Moffit is the best writer in Britian. He created the original version of Coupling. This has been compared to Friends but is so much funnier. I have yet to see our version so I have no comparison, sorry. It was cancelled after the 4th epsode.
He has also created a wonderful adaptation of the Jekyll & Hyde saga as "Jekyll" that will chill you to the bone.
Not only that he has written some of the best Doctor Who episodes written for the new series. "The Empty Child & Doctor Dances" in series one and "The Girl In The Fireplace" in series two, have won Hugo awards for best short form science fiction.
I suspect "Blink" which is one of the scariest TV episodes of any show you are likely to see will be nominated again this year.
That is amazing just because it is a "Doctor Lite" episode. That means that the Doctor doesn't appear much. This is due to the fact that the way the programs filming proceeds through the 9 months of filming. One episode is very "Doctor free".
It still ranks as one of the best Doctor Who episodes ever.
Back on track though. BBC America, would be a major cable channel if it was on basic cable & not an extended digital subscription basis.
Shows that should not be missed here are "Torchwood", "Robin Hood", "Doctor Who", even if they are a season behind the SciFi channel with thier broadcasts, Coupling...so much funnier than "Friends" and what a great theme song, "Perhaps, Perhaps" by Mari Wilson, "Jekyll" and "Absolutely Fabulous".Once you have delved into these shows you are ready for the rest of their lineup. You might turn on closed captioning though. We yanks really can't hear the British accect well enough. Enjoy!!!!!

Torchwood: The Confusion Factor

2007-09-16T21:31:00.000-04:00

First off there are a couple of minor spoilers in the following rant, but hardly enough to ruin the enjoyment and surprise in future episodes of either Torchwood or Doctor Who. I will warn you in advance so they can be skipped.

The BBC hit SciFi spinoff of "Doctor Who", "Torchwood", premiered to overwhelmingly good reviews and record ratings for the fledgling BBC America cable outlet. By the way I really love their "Closed Captioning" announcements. A couple of my favorites are:

"The following program contains accents you would have heard a lot more if you hadn't thrown our tea into Boston Harbor"

and

"The British accent is ridiculous. So much so that I'm struggling to keep a straight face talking to you right now. Perhaps you might like to use closed captioning."

But I digress.

Torchwood, stars John Barrowman in a reprise of his Capt. Jack Harkness role originated in the final five episodes of the first season of Russel T. Davies revived version of Doctor Who. It's cheeky, scary, sexy and fun. It will also become confusing. Especially to those viewers who are oblivious to or have no interest in Doctor Who. First, a bit of history.

The name Torchwood is an anagram of "Doctor Who", originally used as a title to disguise early tapes of "Who" shows in the first season to confuse would be pirates who might illegally distribute them before the premiere.

After his five story arc on "Who", Capt. Jack became almost as popular as the Doctor himself, Davies decided to pull out his old idea called "Excalibur", a program with the same premise as Torchwood, renamed it Torchwood and cast the wildly popular Captain as the head of this alien catching troupe.

The confusion lies in the fact that even though Doctor Who and Torchwood are separate entities and due to the adult nature of Torchwood, the Doctor will never cross over into that show (....spoiler alert....the sound of the Doctor's space & time ship "Tardis" appears in the season finale of Torchwood) they are joined at the hip through shared story arcs.

If you are a Torchwood viewer who has not followed Doctor Who on SciFi and are following it for the first time as it preceeds Torchwood on Saturday nights at 7 on BBC America, you will no doubt notice, and later be bombarded with Torchwood references all through this second season of Doctor Who.

....spoiler alert....

Without giving away too much plot, the Torchwood in the second series of "Who" is a predecessor to the Torchwood headed by Capt. Jack. Same, but different. This was referenced in Jack's meeting with Gwen in the bar scene in episode one of Torchwood.

In Britian the First season of Torchwood originally ran between the second and third seasons of Doctor Who. Not so here.

Torchwood is currently running on BBC America simultaneously with the Second season of the Doctor and concurrently with the third season, which is on the SciFi channel. ARRGH!!!!!

Torchwood viewers have already seen Jack's obsession with a severed hand he keeps alive in a jar at Torchwood headquarters. What they don't know is that is the hand was severed from the "Doctor" in the Doctor Who special "Christmas Invasion", which has run on both the SciFi
channel last spring and a mere week ago on BBC America as the premiere of the Second Season of Doctor Who.

This is never really explained, but is vaguely referenced to in Torchwood. To add to the confusion....MINOR SPOILER ALERT.... the resolution to the hand mystery will not be
resolved in Torchwood. It will be resolved in Season 3 of Doctor Who, now running on SciFi. The 3 episode story arc begins at 8pm this Friday night (9/21) with the episode "Utopia".

BBC America really dropped the ball on this one. In the beginning the BBC had a difficult time finding a U.S. channel to buy Doctor Who in 2005. They even planned to release the DVD box set here early because they had no outlet for the show. Suddenly, I guess, they cut their price
& got DVD promotion from SciFi to get them to take the show and then delay the DVD release till after the U.S. first run. SciFi has done a pretty good job as far as running the show is concerned. Few time edits and they retain the 16:9 aspect ratio of the show, but a lousy job of promoting it. This year I have yet to see a promo for it run during their biggest hit Eureka".

BBC America however, edited out 15 minutes of the Christmas Invasion to get it to fit into a one hour time slot and have decided to run the second season in pan scan format instead of widescreen as they did with series one. Shame on you. Get a clue gang. Treat your own shows with a little respect. If BBC America can't get BBC product right, who can? You don't edit down episodes of Coupling and Absolutely Fabulous. Those and other sitcoms you air always run 40 min with commercials. I don't see a problem with odd airtimes if the shows remain intact. The edits in "Invasion" really took away a lot from the charm & humor of the episode and eliminated one of Billie Piper's best dramatic scenes.

I would have thought that BBC America would have taken a little more pride in Doctor Who and given it the same attention and respect that they are giving Torchwood. After all, the Doctor has been an icon of British TV since 1963 and has surpassed the Star Trek franchise as the longest
running SciFi show in TV history.

In my opinion, and like orifices, we all have several, after BBC America finishes their run of both Torchwood and season two of Doctor Who, they should immediately pick up their rerun option on the Doctor's third season and get the first broadcast rights to season four away from SciFi.
Then they could rerun everything in the original broadcast order.

First, Season one and two of the Doctor, followed by season one of Torchwood and season three of Doctor Who. This could all lead up to a great spring with the premieres of Season two of Torchwood and season four of Doctor Who first run on BBC America about the same time as their runs on the BBC.

This would really cutback on illegal torrent downloads and improve the ratings of both shows.
So far both programs have been hurt by downloads as there has been almost a year between their first showings on the BBC and here in the U.S.

I must admit though, SciFi did pretty well with season 3 of Doctor Who, broadcasting it almost immediately after its run on the BBC.

One final suggestion to BBC America. The next time you run "Christmas invasion" why not run it as a movie event as you occasionally did with the two part episodes from series one.

Edit the final episode of series one, "Parting Of The Ways" where Eccleston regenerates into Tennant, into the short "Children In Need" segment broadcast on the BBC, but not here, that was a buffer between "Ways" and "Christmas Invasion". It would be a nice addition to see how Rose adjusts to the regeneration of the Doctor before they return to earth in "Invasion".

I finally got caught up on some movie watching

2007-08-08T06:02:00.000-04:00

I really love movies but I find it difficult to make time to watch them. That said, I'm really picky about what I want to see with the limited time I have to devote to them.
I have compiled this list of films I have made time to see over the last year. Mind you all of them were seen after I had a chance to digest many reviews, which in most cases probably gave me a mindset going in. What follows are my mini takes & ratings based on a scale of 1-5.

Casino Royale ****
This one was under scrutiny ever since Craig was announced as the replacement for Brosnan and the nay sayers were sent home crying when the audience, media & reviewers all gave it 'thumbs up' and hailed it as one of the best of the series, "A great re-boot of this tired old film series".
I've watched this one 3 times. Once in the theatre and twice on DVD. As a Bond fan since "Doctor No" I have mixed feelings about it. First off, I didn't walk out of the theatre a foot taller and humming the Bond Theme in my head as I left. That, as every Bond fan knows, is the true mark of a passing grade on these films. However, it IS a very good film. I always enjoyed the gritter Bond films like From Russia With Love, On Her Majesty's Secret Service and the Timothy Dalton Bonds.
I became disgusted with the producers when they had Roger Moore pick up Jaws by his teeth with an electro magnet & dump him in the shark tank. Mainly because ten years earlier, Dean Martin had picked up some guy with a metal plate on his head with an electro magnet. I felt at that point, when Bond had to steal a bit from a Matt Helm Bond spoof, he became a parody of himself.
Final verdict...Daniel Craig did a great job. It had a terrific script. Casino Royale was the 'origin' story. I didn't buy into his romance with Vesper as much as I did Lazenby/Rigg in 'OHMSS'. The torture scene was great, as was the ending.
I'm not saying they should go back to the excess of the Moore era or "Die Another Day" overblown cgi wind surfing, but Craig just isn't Bond...yet. I'll wait for the next one to pass final judgement.

Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer ****
With all the dark, obsessed, brooding superheroes in film today it was really nice to see that this one stayed true to its source material. Lots of funny bickering between the characters and great cgi of the Silver Surfer. This was a great 90min, short by todays standards, popcorn movie. I even liked the first film, but this one was much better.

..and in the category of:
Nowhere near as bad as reviewed by the media

Ghost Rider ***
Pretty faithful adaptation of the comic book.

My Super Ex-Girlfriend ***
Nifty mindless comedy with a really funny premise.

These were much Better than I expected

Cars ***, Happy Feet ***
I'm not the biggest fan of this new 3-D animation but these two films were fairly amusing. I have to give the bigger nod to Happy feet though because of the music.

RV ***
Much funnier than the reviews led me to believe.

The Lake House ***
I wanted this to be good & was afraid it would really suck. I was pleasantly surprised. Then again I am a sucker for time travel type stuff.

Transformers ***
I expected the worst, even after positive reviews because I hated the cartoon & comics of these characters. I was actually facinated by this one. Could have been a half hour shorter though.

The Pink Panther ***
Going in I was thinking I had seen all the funniest stuff in the trailer. I was surprised at how funny it was. The best of the non-Peter Sellers Panther films. Steve Martin was suprisingly good as the bumbling Clouseau.

Good Night & Good Luck ****
Terrific film! One of the best films in recent years. David Strathaim was channeling Edward R. Murrow as eerily as Brandon Routh did Christopher Reeve in Superman Returns.

Thank You For Smoking ****
One of the funniest films I've seen in a long time. Great stuff.

Live Free Or Die Hard ***
I'm glad this one was as good as it was. Not the best of the series but a lot better than it could have been.

Night At The Museum **
Another case of great trailer, fair to good film. This wasn't terrible by any means. Pretty funny. Great supporting cast. Good mindless entertainment but I just didn't buy into the whole 'I need to impress my kid' subplot. I especially enjoyed seeing Mickey Rooney, Dick Van Dyke & Ben Stiller's mom, Anne Meara.

These were as good as expected

Sin City ***
Great adaptation of the comic, especially the visuals.

Spiderman 3 ***
Forget Spiderman 4. You can't top this finale to the trilogy.

Superman Returns ****
Great casting choices! Brandon Routh, mentioned earlier, Kevin Spacey, terrific as Luthor. The scene where Luthor stabs & kicks the crap out of Superman was so real that it was really painful to watch.Unfortunately Kate Bosworth was horribly miscast as Lois Lane. Nice 'sequel' to the Donner films. I can hardly wait for "Man of Steel" when Bryan Singer gets all "Wrath of Khan" with it.

The Bourne Ultimatum ****
Another teriffic end to a trilogy. Wraps things up nicely with enough of an open end to bring Bourne back, but now that he knows who he is, where do we go from here?

These were disappointing

The Good German **
I was really anticipating great things from this film. It had great Casablanca-esque photography but came no where near the heart tugging story or feel of that fabulous film.
In fact this is one of the most depressing films I have seen in a while. Shoulda, coulda......

Man Of The Year *
Another case of funny trailer, lousy film. Good cast, but who wrote this? All of Robin Williams funniest bits are in the trailer.

Endings....

2007-06-25T20:55:00.000-04:00

I can appreciate that producers want you to keep you hooked on a tv show but I don't have the patience for soap opera style weekly cliffhanger endings that go on forever. Waiting years between "The Empire Strikes Back" & "The Return Of The Jedi" is probably responsible for that attitude. However, there is 'some' wonderfulness incurred if all the waiting leads to a great ending.

I even gave up on "24" after season 3 and vowed to wait for the future DVD sets for marathon viewing. I have yet to actually make time to do that.

I have also avoided "Lost" and most weekly reality game shows. I have sat through a season or two of "Survivor" & did have a fondness for the first couple of seasons of "The Mole" with Anderson Cooper as host.

My affection for "24" & those other shows would never have happened without TIVO though. I actually recorded all the episodes and waited till the seasons were done before watching them. Even at 80 hours though, there is only so much room on the hard drive for storage and other shows I want to time shift.

I tired of "Desperate Housewives" after season one and as big a fan as I am of "The Doctor", I also prefer the classic series/stories of "Doctor Who" edited together in a continuous movie type format, as it was on my PBS station, as opposed to its original 30 min weekly cliffhanger format, sorry purists. The old series was an aquired taste anyway. Had I been subjected to cliffhangers, the sub-par FX AND quick jumps from filmed exteriors and videotaped interiors, I never would have sat through the show to begin with.

All of this leads up to the fact that all popular episodic television deserves a great ending for it's fans.

I've never seen, nor cared to see, The Sopranos. Everyone I know said it was a great program and I don't doubt their word but I am probably the only male on the planet who didn't care much for "The Godfather". The fan outcry in the media about the universal dissappointment in the final episode actually made me glad I never did see it.

I really hate when great programs get a lousy ending or send off, like "M*A*S*H" & "Seinfeld". I do, however love a great ending.

I'm sure I am forgetting a bunch but among the greatest show endings were, "The Mary Tyler Moore Show", "St. Elsewhere" & "The Fugitive".

I was never a big fan of, but occasionally enjoyed "Newhart". The final episode though, with Bob waking up in bed with Susanne Pleshette was the best ending to an episodic program ever.