Archives for March 2005

Because I can post it faster. I’m high-speed baby! High Definition. Roadrunner. Soon…internet phone.

The first show I watched was American Idol. Wow. You can see the dimples on people sitting in the third row (not that that’s a good thing, but it’s cool).

I don’t know if it’s possible to be as busy as I was and not get anything done. I spent nearly all day with Time Warner people. The first technician showed up early, which was good. He didn’t know I was getting anything other than Roadrunner. A phone call (pretty easy this time) gave him the order to do it all. Trouble was, he didn’t have the boxes for digital cable and HD cable. I waited 3 hours until the next technician came who only had the digital cable box.

The wait was good for me though. It took me that long to get my internet connection right and get the settings correct for mail.

The second tech told me he could bring my HD box…next week. Forget that. I drove to the Time Warner office to pick it up myself. By then it was 4 o’clock.

I’m hooked up…but can’t get some of the HD channels like TNT, ESPN and Discovery. The local channels are good though. Another tech will come by and get me set for good.

So…what’s the first place you go on the internet when you have high speed?

www.offcentertv.com

If you’ve got high speed, go there now.

I’m a big fan of “The Office” on the BBC. I’ve been watching it for a couple of years and love the humor. The lead character who created the show is spot-on as a goofy, needy office manager.

Now, America is hoping to do copy the success with “The Office”, airing on NBC Tuesday nights. I watched it last week and laughed. But couldn’t the producers at least be a little creative with the script? It’s almost verbatum to an episode from the original.

Steve Carell is pretty good as Michael Scott. Carell is the guy who played the mentally handicapped weatherman in “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgandy”.

But if you want to see how this show is it’s funniest, look for it on the BBC. Same with “Coupling”. NBC never got it right when copying the British version.

What are the comedy writers in Hollywood doing anyway? Their’s not that much work these days with all of the reality shows. Shouldn’t they be on a retreat or something coming up with ideas and scripts for original comedy shows?

By the way, I was intrigued by “Chasing Farrah” on Nick at Night, but highly disappointed. As a former fan of Farrah Fawcett Majors from the old Charlies Angels days, I wanted to see a: how she looks 30 years after that show and b: what really goes on in the life of a former celebrity. But it’s too contrived. Somebody get Ryan O’Neal a ticket to somewhere where video cameras don’t exist.

This show isn’t “reality”. It’s two washed-up stars trying to entertain again. How I wish the “Love Boat” was still on the air. At least when Captain Stubing was around these old celebs had a place to go, and they were kept in a one-hour window on a Saturday night. (see: Kirstie Alley, Gary Busey, Anna Nicole Smith)

Senator Joel Heitkamp of North Dakota wants to put Roger Maris back in front of Major League Baseball’s Career home run list.

Heitkamp says “if these folks are on the juice, and I believe they’re on the juice, then Roger should get his record back.”

His resolution would ask baseball commissioner Bud Selig to reinstate Maris’ record of 61 home runs.

I’m so thankful the two first cousins who’ve made national news by wanting to get married do not live in the south.

Have you heard the story? The Pennsylvania couple went to a judge to exchange vows, but when he learned they were first cousins he turned them away. The couple then went to Maryland where they promote in-breeding and tied the knot.

Jay Leno and Rush Limbaugh have been talking about it, but what’s interesting is that only about half of the states forbid first cousins to marry.

You can marry your cousin in Mississippi, my neighbor married his cousin back in the 1960s, I’m sure you know Jerry Lee Lewis’ story.

By the way, if you’d like to buy the happy Pennsylvania couple a gift, they’re registered at “Two-Headed Babies R Us”.

The Time Warner folks have come out and painted my lawn with lines for where the cable will be buried. They’re supposed to be here Wednesday afternoon meaning this weekend’s Final Four, the race at Bristol, and regular prime-time programming will be HIGH DEFINITION BABY!

I’ve never had a problem with DirectTV and wonder if I’ll miss the satellite choices, but I’m looking forward to telling BellSouth to take a hike. We actually had a BellSouth customer service representative tell us “well there’s nothing you can do about it (their service and rates) because we’re a monopoly. You have to have a telephone and we’re the only ones who can give you one”.

Not anymore dummy. We’ll drop BellSouth for Vonage as soon as the cable is in the ground. I may drop BellSouth before I turn on the tv! We’ll also be broadband for the first time. I’m stoked.

Got r done. The church video is complete along with 50 DVDs they’ll pass out tomorrow morning after Easter Sunday services. My fantasy baseball draft was one of my best.

First pick of the draft, chosen by pulling team names out of the hat: Tuck’s Friars. Don’t you love that name?

I picked Albert Pujols first. After going through the rest of the teams and then back up the list, I was shocked and awed that my other first choice was still on the table: Miguel Tejada. Two huge hitters, maybe the best in the game at their positions. Here’s the rest of my team, as if you care.

1b Paul Konerko
2b Chris Burke
3b David Hamilton
ss Miguel Tejada
of Albert Pujols
of Shawn Green
of Jose Cruz Jr.
c Mike Piazza
p Tim Hudson
p Oliver Perez
p Roy Oswalt
p Eric Gagne
p Javier Vazquez

It’s a $300 cap league and I think I came out pretty well this year. I always tinker with my team all season and will end up dropping some of these players and picking up others.

Gotta get up early in the morning, the Easter bunny is coming after all and the kids will be knee deep in chocolate by the time I’d normally hit the floor. Then, I’ve got to drop off the DVDs to the church before heading off to Sunday school and church.

I hope you’re all able to be in a worship service tomorrow to remember the sacrifice Christ made for all of us. If you watched “Passion of the Christ”, don’t listen to all of the debate over “who killed Jesus?”. No one killed Jesus, it wasn’t a killing or a murder, Jesus went to the cross willingly because it was His purpose to die for our sins so that we all have the same opportunity of heaven.

By the way, we took the kids to Southaven’s annual Easter Egg hunt. Mayor Greg Davis welcomed everyone, gave us the rules, and then prayed that we all would remember the true meaning of this weekend. Thanks Mayor Davis, it’s nice to hear a sincere prayer from an elected official.

But I’ll try. I’ve been very blessed since I lost my job 9 months ago. Work keeps finding me and I manage to stay busy. When one video project wraps up…I have another one waiting.

Today I wrapped up shooting of a marketing type video for a church which will be put on DVD, mass produced and then given to visitors. It’s about a 7 minute project with about 4 hours of footage. I’ll finish the edit tomorrow, build the DVD and then burn enough copies for the church to hand out Easter Sunday.

It’s been a fun project and I’ve enjoyed working with the pastor and the rest of the staff.

The kids are out of school tomorrow so it’ll be a challenge to keep them entertained and out of my office long enough to get r done.

Some good news tonight, the guy who published the old South TV News site is thinking about a return. I am not about to tell you where, until he or she says it’s okay.

One of my biggest days of the year happens this weekend. What happens Saturday will deeply affect my life and my attitude over the next 6 months. It’s time for my annual FANTASY BASEBALL DRAFT!

I think I just lost some of you…

I’ve been in this Fantasy baseball league at WHNT in Huntsville since 1993 and the guys are kind enough to let me stay in the league even though I’ve been gone from there since ’97. It’s one of the things I enjoy and draft day is crucial. I haven’t put enough time into my research yet…but I will.

I’ve wondered about this, how will HDTV affect the star quality of some tv celebrities?

ONHD.TV has taken a “close” look at how celebrities appear in high definition. Their results? Not very good.

Cameron Diaz tops their list of hdtv losers, saying her “terrible acne” is hard to ignore. Michael Douglas: looks like Kirk. Renee Zellweger: Rosacea problem is very visible in high-def. Joan Rivers: count the stitch marks from various surgeries.

Their winners include Catherine Zeta-Jones: “gorgeous and it shows, Penelope Cruz: “Tom broke up with her?” and Anna Kournikova “she may not be able to play tennis, but God blessed her in other ways.”

My HDTV should be connected in the next week and I can’t wait to see what others are seeing. It’s six times clearer than normal television which is good for some celebs, but could spell the end of the road for others.

Wonder how far off HD is for local news? Can’t you just imagine what we’ll see? Which anchors forgot to shave? Which female anchors need to shave?

Many male reporters do not use makeup when they’re in the field, I seldom did. High Def may make that a necessity, (it would with me). Of course high-def field cameras are in use yet in the Memphis market, but they’re coming. Sony and Canon both have excellent high definition cameras that are dropping in price. I’m looking at getting one of the Sony cameras for my business. It won’t be that long before the local stations do that too. Especially after every home has high-def. Once one local station buys the cameras, every other station will jump on the bandwagon.

I can’t wait. Now that’s a reason to watch local tv news!