Sleepless in Midland

Top ten things I learned from watching "The Following"

The Following is a TV show on Fox that's just about to close out its first season. It's a cat and mouse thriller in which FBI agents pursue a serial killer with a cult following. It's a decent enough show, but it's one of those bits of fiction that either requires the viewer to suspend reality while watching or teaches things heretofore not obvious. Let's give it the benefit of the doubt and say it's teaching us new stuff.

Having watched all the episodes except the finale, which hasn't aired yet, here are ten useful life lessons the show has taught me, so far:

1. A psychopath with a British accent can be so charming that he can attract dozens of cult followers who are willing to maim, kill, kidnap, or commit suicide for him. Handsome men, pretty women and law enforcement officers, seem especially vulnerable to that charm. African Americans seem to be immune.

2. Convicted killers have access to prison computers with which they can secretly recruit cult followers.

3. Convicted killers in prison have direct contact with visitors. Conversations with visitors are not recorded. Some day prisons might have stations in which visitors will be separated from inmates by protective glass and talk via telephone. But that day has not yet arrived.

4. Be cautious when entering into a romantic embrace with a cult member. You might get lucky. But there's a fair chance a sharp blade will enter your body somewhere between your navel and your chin.

5. Satellite phone calls routed through foreign countries are untraceable.

6. In a there's-only-one-man-who-can-solve-that-case scenario, a low level FBI supervisor can deputize and arm a former rogue agent without the need of approval from higher-ups.

7. Listen for ominous music. You can rummage through the bomb making material of a cult member without fear UNLESS there's ominous background music. In that case there's a villain hiding nearby who'll lunge when you turn the next corner.

8. The innocent wife of a serial killer is as likely to hinder as help with the rescue of her own kidnapped son.

9. Some FBI agents and cult leaders are so resilient that they can be beaten, stabbed or shot and be back on the job before the episode ends. Innocent bystanders and minor characters who experience the same thing are DOA.

10. Law enforcement perimeters have more holes than Bonnie and Clyde's last car.

Bonus lesson!

11. A renewal for a second season is a sure guarantee of a cliff hanging 1st season finale.

The Following.
Main characters include:
Kevin Bacon as Ryan Hardy
Natalie Zea as Claire Matthews
Shawn Ashmore as Mike Weston
James Purefoy as Joe Carroll
Annie Parisse as Debra Parker
Valorie Curry as Emma Hill and
Nico Tortorella as Jacob Wells.

NBC's Brian Williams -- hey look at me, I know the difference between full auto and semi auto

Last night as the local TV news was about to give us the weather report both NBC and CBS burst in dominating the news with reports of shots fired in Boston. And there were the star anchors filling time until the real news broke.

Granted, once the real news came an hour and a half later, it was real news of the second bombing suspect's apprehensive.

In the meantime, the star anchors had to keep blabbing away and injecting themselves into the news story. So we got to hear an NBC field reporter telling about having heard gun shots. Celebrity anchor Brian Williams interrupted with what could be the most inane question of the day.

"Did it sound like fully automatic or semi automatic gunfire?"

That question was extremely out of place. The odds that either of those kids would have a fully automatic weapon are extremely low. And if Boston law enforcement was using automatic weapons in a residential neighborhood that would be startling news. So there's only one reason for Williams' question.

He was showing off. Two months ago news celebrities were using "automatic," "semi automatic" and "fully automatic" interchangeably -- they're anchormen, how could they have known there was a difference? But now Williams knows, and anyone who still gets news from NBC knows he knows. And that was the real point of the question.

Yeah, thanks Brian. We get it. Now get off and put "Grimm" on.

Televised city council meetings

There was a teaser in the Midland, Texas, City Council wish-list that showed up in the paper the other day.

On the first day, the council came up with a list of ways to make the city more technologically advanced. The council listed possibilities such as public Wi-Fi, electronic site plan submittals, a better smartphone app and televising City Council meetings.

[Emphasis added.]

With record dollar amounts rolling into the city coffers through property and sales taxes the money is burning a hole in their pockets. They'll spend it, that's for sure. Unfortunately, they'll probably make long range commitments on the assumption that the good times will last indefinitely.

The cost of televising City Council meetings is pittance compared with what they'll spend, but there's still a way to do it economically. The city already owns some cameras, there are employees and volunteers who either know or could easily learn how to operate them, and Suddenlink provides a government access channel to them. (That channel currently broadcasts a pretty black screen with a pleasant white noise.)

I stood up in front of the council on two occasions asking if they would televise the meetings but got a cool reception both times. So I can't complain if they finally do it. If only they weren't so accustomed to doing everything the most expensive way.

Previously: Tall City TV Should Broadcast the City Council Meetings and City Should Televise City Council Meetings.

TThe good thing about the commie spies in "The Americans" -- they don't kill babies

Oh sure, they're murderers and they want to destroy the United States, but they love children.

It's the FX show The Americans about a sleeper cell of Soviet spies operating in Washington, D.C., in 1981, the year Ronald Reagan was inaugurated. But these spies weren't sleeping, they were very active.

In each episode so far the commies murdered someone or came close to it. For example, a Soviet spy who defected had to be murdered. And in order to get a maid to plant a bug in an administration official's home they surreptitiously poisoned her college age son with an umbrella tip and withheld the antidote until she complied.

The latest episode involved the newly discovered wife and newborn baby of a dead spy. He had fooled her. She thought he was a drug dealer. But she figured it all out after his comrades kidnapped her to find out how much she knew. So she had to die, too.

But they had a good side. They didn't kill the baby! The Soviets shipped him off to live with his grandparents in Donetsk, Russia, but at least he was alive when that episode ended. They should name him Elian Gonzalez.

The series is not without its cliches. The main guy spy is hotter than James Bond, at least to a blond bombshell he recruited to spy for him. She's blindly in love with him, and he endures it for Mother Russia. To everyone else he's an average looking guy. And although he never trains and doesn't look very threatening, he's a super MMA fighter who can render two larger opponents unconscious in a half minute's time. Now we're talking serious spy movie stuff.

Meanwhile, Ron Radosh sniffs out the motive behind this homage to cold war commies:

The show was created by Joe Weisberg, the brother of liberal journalist and editor-in-chief of the Slate group Jacob Weisberg. Its producers evidently want American audiences to root for the Soviet agents to win! Executive producer Joel Fields actually told The Hollywood Reporter that “it might be a little different to believe and get used to, but we want you to root for the KGB. They’re trying to get the Soviets to win the Cold War.” As the trade paper commented, believe it or not, the creative team behind the high-profile launch expressed a confidence that more than enough time has passed for American audiences to not hold a grudge.

"The Americans." Only in America, folks. Only in America.

A square mile in Midland, Texas

Received an email from Mr. Carl Crum about a PBS TV show about to start filming (or whatever they call it now) a television series featuring stories from within designated square miles in various Texas cities. The image you see on the right shows Midland's square mile.

From Mr. Crum:

We are not looking for tourist's perspective of this square mile, but rather a first person perspective of what it is like to live in this community on a day-to-day basis.The five themes we will be filming in this square mile are:

Community - What role does community play in this square mile. How do residents interact and socialize? Is community involvement centered at the school, the barber shop, the cafe or the home?
Family - What is the role of family in this square mile? What is it like to live, grow up or raise a family in this square mile?
Work - How do people earn a living in this square mile?
Food - How is food a part of the culture in this square mile?
Future - What is the future of this square mile?

We are looking for the obvious and the obscure. Anyone within the community can make a suggestion on the OSMTX website at:

http://www.osmtx.com/tv/Midland.html.

OK, no fair answering every question with "Walmart."

Home Alone the movie -- good thing Kevin didn't have a real gun

It's Sunday afternoon, the TV is on, and I'm thumb surfing through channels. And right there on the small screen is little Kevin (Macaulay Culkin) doing some target practice with a pump action BB gun 20 minutes into the Christmas favorite, Home Alone.

All I could think was how grateful we should be that he didn't have access to a real gun. He would have dispatched those two burglars the first time they stepped into the house. The movie would have been over in about half an hour. And worst of all, there would have been no "Home Alone" 2 through 5 or the video game. The horror.

Norman Lear tries to equate Wayne LaPierre with Archie Bunker

All in the Family was a sitcom from decades ago featuring a lovable curmudgeon at odds with his hipster daughter and son-in-law. Norman Lear gave us a TV show to serve as a primer on political correctness, and Archie Bunker was presented as a caricature so as not to leave any question about which side was the correct side.

These days Lear is pulling out scene from the show in an effort to ridicule gun owners. Link.

In the scene the audience sees a spot Archie did on a public access channel about gun rights. The audience gets a good laugh, and Norman Lear wants to remind us of that now with this remark:

[Archie] finds himself suggesting that the best answer to avoid skyjacking is to "arm every passenger" and the audience erupts in laughter. You can see the clip:

Can we possibly have any other reaction to Wayne LaPierre's similarly insane idea to provide armed guards for every school but to laugh? Or cry. I find myself doing a lot of both lately.

Lear, who is old enough to have been shocked by the Tate/LaBianca knife murders, is probably no stranger to armed guards himself.

Lear has overlooked the fact that many of the people who laughed along with him back then have grown up and now look with deep suspicion at the progressive causes he promotes. Taking rights away from the people and giving more power to government is not progress.

"All in the Family," by the way, was a knock off of a British TV show called, Til Death Us Do Part about a working class conservative and his socialist son in law.

Al Jazeera Gore

Al Gore has been rightly criticized for selling his TV network to Al Jazeera. But give the guy a break. By selling to the highest bidder he was trying to teach his fellow Americans that greed is good. By beating the tax hike he was merely demonstrating good business sense separate from political propaganda. By accepting oil money he was only demonstrating that U.S. dollars are the same color whether they come from green energy or black gold.

Forbes lays out an issue not so obvious. The Real Problem With Al Gore's $100 Million Payday From Selling Current To Al Jazeera. Excerpt:

For a channel available in 60 million households, Current has a tiny audience ...

Almost all of its value, therefore, was tied up in its reach. That distribution to 60 million homes was what underlay Al Jazeera’s willingness to spend a half billion dollars ...

Distribution is dear because it’s hard to build. So how did Current succeed in building so much so fast? Through “a combination of personal lobbying and arm-twisting of industry giants” by Gore himself, according to Brian Stelter of The New York Times. Gore “leaned on” Rupert Murdoch, then in control of DirecTV, and other operators of cable and satellite systems, not only to carry Current but to pay it a carriage fee out of proportion to its actual viewership.

If Murdoch et al didn’t push back too hard, it’s because they knew they could simply pass the carriage fee along to their subscribers

Al Gore has certainly proved that he is a good business man. One has to wonder, has there ever been a President or Vice President who parlayed his former government job into a greater profit?

One Second After -- one scary book

My holiday reading consisted of the novel by William R. Forstchen titled "One Second After." The title was obviously a nod to The Day After, the made-for-TV cold war movie about the horrors experienced by survivors of a series of nuclear bomb strikes on the U.S. That movie surely caused nightmares across the country the day after it was broadcast.

"One Second After" is about what happens to the inhabitants of a small community in North Carolina following an EMP explosion high above the U.S. The effect was the destruction of everything electrical, sparing only components built before the circuit board became a part of practically every electrical item manufactured. With no electricity or hope of rebuilding the generators and replacing the lines, things went to hell in short order. With no trucks bringing in food, the severe rationing of available food stock brought on starvation. Medicine for the entire community was in short supply, anyone with a medical dependency suffered or died, and epidemics became deadly.

Oh yeah, large armed gangs roamed the countryside taking over communities to steal what food they might have and/or cannibalize the inhabitants.

"One Second After" ends one year after the event with a community of survivors transformed by the loss of 80% of its population.  But hey, it was a very good book.  Just scary.

So could something like that really happen? Many people think so. See North Korea EMP attack could destroy U.S. — now in which Peter Vincent Pry lays out credible reasoning that North Korea currently has the capability to deliver and explode an EMP bomb over the U.S.

For more information, see the EMP Commission Reports .  And Futurescience.com has some survival suggestions.

For more background see the Commission's first Executive Report from 2004 which contains the quaint suggestion the cost of improving our security over the "next 3 to 5 years is modest by any standard." Too bad we haven't done it. Further, "We must persuade nations to forgo obtaining nuclear weapons or to provide acceptable assurance that these weapons will neither threaten the vital interests of the United States nor fall into threatening hands." That the current administration seems more intent on taking guns away from the citizenry than protecting against this type of threat seems laughable in light of what the fictional characters of "One Second After" endured.

I bought the ticket, the set belongs to me! -- Kramden vs Norton

"The Honeymooners" just came in as the 2nd funniest TV comedy of all time in at a poll reported by NYPost.com.

One of the cable channels is running the old Honeymooners shows in the early AM, and I've been recording and watching them. And they really are funny. A viewer can actually have some real laughs at those shows, unlike the comedies of today which sometimes don't even earn a smile at their best.

One that played the other night showed how the Kramdens and the Nortons celebrated Ed Norton's birthday. Ralph and Alice took Ed and Trixie out to a movie for the evening. A night at the movies was the cheapest thing Ralph could come up with, and he managed to place all the credit on that decision on Alice. But that just led up to the big joke.

Cut to the movie theater entrance. The foursome exit the theater pushing a big TV set that Ed won by holding the lucky ticket. Since Ralph purchased the tickets his reaction is predictable. But the buildup is true comedic art. You can see Ralph moping around in the background, barely holding back his rage at the unfairness of it all. You can see the joke coming a mile away, but Jackie Gleason's timing is terrific. And they pull off a very funny joke.

Watch it to see if you agree. Youtube link.

Obama Style

Nothing says Christmas in Washington quite like a performance of Gangnan Style by a South Korean performer who is now back-tracking from hostile remarks toward Americans.

Hey, he apologized, didn't he? Obama was of the same state mind at the time of Psy's anti-American remarks, so he certainly didn't need that apology. But Obama knows the value of famous fans, so none other than the President of the United States himself was supposed to be in the audience at the filming Sunday night. Don't be surprised if we learn Psy and the president had a meeting.

Meantime, while we wait for Obama to apologize to Americans for what he's done to the country, enjoy this Obama Style parody.

Nomination for worst TV commercial of 2012

It's an ad for Suddenlink Internet. Viewer see two adolescent boys who find an aerosol can of Easy left behind by the cable guy.

"What should we do with it?" "Let's get girls to pay attention to us." "Yeah!"

The boy holding the can sprays them both, and presto! They turn into horses. Girl comes in and exclaims, "Ponies!" Commercial ends. Viewers scratch heads.

What exactly is the message here? Boys using Suddenlink internet will turn into animals? Girls like boys transformed into domesticated beasts of burden?

Click to watch it on Youtube.

[You could just say "neigh." Robo-ed]

Hurricane reporters wading the path to greatness

It's hard not to laugh at TV reporters sometimes, especially in hurricane season.

They are so earnest and exited. Newcomers to hurricane prone territories become jaded by about the second season they are there. That's the case on the Gulf Coast, anyway. Sometimes it pays to get exited, but usually most of the gusting wind comes from the reporters' mouths.

Now granted, hurricane Sandy did bring a large amount of water on land. But in the midst of it the streets of NYC looked damp but not flooded as people strolled in view of the Times Square web cam.

Back to the TV. I don't remember which network it was, but there was the typical hurricane reporter standing out in the wind and rain talking to the camera. And he remarked about all the other people out and about as the hurricane was just off coast and how they should not be there. He was so quick witted he immediately recognized that he himself was violating his own advice. But it was OK because he was a trained reporter. Hilarious!

Dan Rather blazed the hurricane reporting trail, and intrepid reporters have been following the soggy footprints of that questionable roll model ever since.

TV show "Revolution" -- NBC writers plug in Joe Biden's name

There's a TV show in its first season called Revolution which is supposed to depict a time 15 years from the day someone cast a magic spell across the planet which acted as a universal "off" switch shutting off everything that ran on or used electricity.

It looks like another of those serials that goes on for season after season with sympathetic characters in an endless quest for some holy grail of electrical power, which somehow involves a dozen magic medallions.

Anyway, the citizens of the former United States become unwilling subjects of a militia run by a ruthless leader. But take heart, there are some revolutionaries out amongst the people. And our handsome heroes and beautiful heroins have teamed up with them.

And here's the reason for this particular post. In the latest segment one of the revolutionaries connects with a fellow revolutionary by way of a pass phrase which assures each of them that the other is a brother/sister. Here it is:

"I'm looking for a biography of Joe Biden."

Hilarious. Gold plated irony.

Good fiction has to be believable. And this was one of those moments that strained credulity to the breaking point.

It was a laughable attempt by the writers to dabble in today's politics, and here's why it's so funny. The revolutionaries in the show are supposed to be the good guys. And the rulers, with their harsh anti-gun rules, suppression of opposing ideas, and disregard for the U.S. Constitution, are the bad guys. That describes the current administration. And Old Joe is a big part of that administration.

The script writers are supposed to be injecting propaganda for "Obamacare" into their shows, but maybe they just couldn't fit Obamacare into the script knowing that it required a bureaucracy bigger than anything else so far revealed in the series. So "Joe Biden" was the best they could come up with. It's every bit as out of place as the scene in the last episode of Life on Mars when the hero is told that one of Barack Obama's daughters is president in the year 2035.

It's almost enough to make a TV viewer yearn for a blackout.

Happy birthday Media Research Center

Today is their 25th birthday. Media Research Center has made a major contribution to the public discourse by exposing media bias in a way that gets noticed as well as providing a voice for those who are disgusted by it.

Unfortunately, the reporters MRC highlights are usually so biased they are unable to recognize it in themselves. Or more likely they just don't bother to hide it anymore.

Last week MRC had its 25th Anniversary Gala and 2012 DisHonors Awards program. Among those dishonored along with their awards were as follows:

"Obamagasm Award" winner was Chris Matthews.
"Vast Right-Wing Knuckle-Draggers Award" winner was Thomas Roberts (daytime MSNBC host).
"Damn Those Conservatives to Hell Award" winner was Ann Curry.
"The Barbra Streisand Political IQ Award for Celebrity Vapidity" winner was Sean Penn. (David Letterman was a runner up. Better luck next year, Dave.)
"Worst Reporter in the History of Man" winner was Katie Couric.
This next one was a genuine honor:
"William F. Buckley Award for Media Excellence" was awarded posthumously to Andrew Breitbart.

Click the link to watch the clips.

Happy b'day MRC! And thanks for continuing to lampoon those reporters who can't stop sucking up to Obama and belittling people who don't agree with them.

Stephen Colbert to be guest on "The Office"

Steve Carell really nailed the Michael Scott character -- self unaware, socially immature, lacking in leadership skills and void of business sense. He was an exaggerated composite of people we all have known but with all their bad traits rolled up into one hilarious low level manager.

He made that show. And when he left the show it struggled to hold onto the fans he brought in. The show suffered a mortal wound, and it was sad watching a TV show die a slow death, or in most cases, not watching.

The show is currently in its ninth and final season, so why are we talking about it now? Simply because of this little plot description of the October 25 episode. Stephen Colbert is supposed to be a guest as a Broccoli Rob, the former member of "Here Comes Treble." Excerpt:

In the Halloween-themed episode, Andy (Ed Helms) discovers that the smarmy, competitive Broccoli Rob is singing a different tune about the history of the group and stirring up drama, which only intensifies the rivalry between these two frenemies.

That's what she said!

Political Animals

The short run of Political Animals reaches its climax this Sunday night with the episode titled "Resignation Day" to end the six episode run.

It was originally billed as a "limited series event" which, at least to this viewer, implied it would end after this short run. But no such luck. Click this link to see it described as "season 1."

The show features Bud Hammond as a womanizing ex-president and Elaine Hammond as the Secretary of State, having been appointed by the Democrat president against whom she lost the race for the nomination. If that sounds familiar the show is probably another of those liberal creations of an alternate world of Bill and Hillary Clinton except with the Bill Clinton character having much more backbone and the Hillary Clinton character as some combination of saint, genius, and sex object.

Viewers are anxiously waiting to see whether the Hillary character will run for president against the incumbent. And with the season finale titled "Resignation Day" and the notion that this is only season 1, the odds are very good that she will.

Meanwhile, the real Hillary, we learn, may have recently declined an invitation to replace Joe Biden in the VP slot in the November election. Hmm. Has team Obama been watching "Political Animals," too?

And what have we here? All of a sudden Chelsea Clinton is considering politics. She must be watching the show, too.

In any event, if Hillary does eventually run for president and win, one thing we should hope for is that she brings back all that stuff she and Bill took from the White House.

What exactly is that Middle Scool Concept?

We all make mistakes, and in this world of twits and tweets, spelling may have gone the way of the studious student.

As seen on TV.

I think what they meant to address with this pormo was middle school concept.

What do you say to a zombie you meet on the street?

AMC and Dish Network are in a battle over a contract, and both side are using the weapons at hand. Dish dropped AMC from its schedule, and AMC is trying to get it back on with appeals to fans. But AMC had a trick up their sleeve: zombies!

"Walking Dead" makeup artists went to work, and zombies were set loose on the streets of New York City.

It ends with "Zombies don't belong here. Put them back on TV." Link to the video at Youtube.

As for the title question, "What do you say to a zombie you meet on the street?" I think in NYC you're supposed to keep cool and not make eye contact. But being the friendly sort, I'd give them directions to the nearest cemetery.

Via Heavy.com.

Letterman keeps jumping the shark

David Letterman's off beat humor in the early days was a big part of his appeal. And there are probably people among his fans today who have stuck with him all this time since he got his first big break with a TV show of his own following Johnny Carson's show.

But the last few years he seems bent on alienating people who don't agree with his liberal politics. He's become the quintessential cranky old man yelling at the kindly neighborhood kids to get off his side of the street.

Here he is haranguing oil company fracking at Youtube.com.

Via Carpe Diem who adds:

Letterman starts by saying "I'm not smart enough to understand fracking." He should have stopped there, it was the only intelligent and truthful part of his deranged diatribe.

Top ten reasons to keep watching David Letterman:

Number 1 -- Because you find him mildly amusing but love the way distorts facts to ridicule people who disagree with Democrats and/or their standard beliefs.

Numbers 9 - 10 -- Oh what the hell. There's only one reason.

Nip/tuck, stab/shoot

Lubbockonline.com:

Powell and Lubbock police Capt. Jon Caspell confirmed Lubbock police continue to investigate leads and conduct interviews in Amarillo, where on Monday, law enforcement officers arrested Amarillo plastic surgeon Dr. Thomas Michael Dixon and David Neal Shepard on first degree felony murder charges.

Police accuse Dixon of hiring Shepard to kill [Dr. Joseph] Sonnier, who was dating Dixon’s ex-girlfriend. Police say Dixon paid Shepard three silver bars worth about $9,000 for the job. Both men remain jailed on $10 million bail.

Throw in the three pieces of silver and this is a made for TV movie if there ever was one.

Mermaids aren't real? Dang. Just when we thought it would be fun to go back in the water.

NOAA makes it official: No evidence of aquatic humanoids has ever been found.

That news release was probably triggered by one of those fact/fiction TV shows that pop up on TV these days. This one on Animal Planet was called Mermaids - The Body Found. From Discovery.com:

Animal Planet’s Mermaids: the Body Found Paints a Wildly Convincing Picture of the Existence of Mermaids, What They May Look Like and Why They’ve Stayed Hidden…Until Now

Two-hour CGI Special Unravels Mysterious Underwater Sound Recordings, Dives Deep into the Aquatic Ape Theory and Questions if Mermaids are Related to People

Mermaids: The Body Found is the Culmination of Animal Planet’s First-Ever Monster Week, Airing May 21-28

There is a fair degree of gullibility in the population. Maybe the school system is to blame. Critical thinking isn't in the course of study -- people have to learn that on their own, but many don't. And if politics gets involved then look out below. Olly Stone and Michael Moore have certainly capitalized on that unfortunate phenomenon.

So the Discovery network took a stab it it. And someone at NOAA felt the need to step in and set the record straight. If only they would do that on global warming.

In case you missed it -- the infamous head on pike scene

The Last Tradition has a link to the Youtube video clip from the Game of Thrones episode in which the producers used a prop George W. Bush head on a pike. I watched it with the sound off, and it's still pretty gruesome. (If you just want to see the part with the head, which starts at about 1:08 and continues for about two seconds, here's a link to the same vid starting at 1:07.)

I understand the show is quite popular. But who can account for some people's taste?

The show's creators are quoted in Dailymail.co.uk:

"It's not a choice. It's not a political statement," one says. "It's just.. we had to use what heads we had lying around."

Nevertheless, they couldn't resist the urge to boast about it in the DVD commentary.

As others have said, there's simply no way on earth that they would have used Obama's head.

Keeping up with the Martians

There's a very ambitious reality show show in the works which will involve people traveling to, living on, and colonizing the planet Mars. Actually Mars One is a scientific mission. But it will cost $6 billion to send the first four pilgrims up there. And the financing will come if someone wants to pay to have the astronaut selection, preparation, launch, landing, and life on Mars televised.

One of the project ambassadors is Paul Römer, co-creator of the TV show Big Brother, so the groundwork is being laid for this hot TV property.

They are hoping to get the first team off of Earth in the year 2022:

All water, oxygen and atmosphere production will be ready by early 2022, which is when the Earth crew gets a go-ahead for the launch of team one. Each component of the Mars transit vehicle is launched into a low orbit, and linked together. September 14, 2022 goes down in history as the first four astronauts are launched on their journey after last checks. Every part of this adventure will be available to watch on our website, 24/7.

They'll extract water from the soil, separate oxygen from the water molecules, and grow food in greenhouses. One question not answered in their FAQ: Where do the players go who get voted off the planet?

Watch Promotional video.

Via.

Hysterical or historical -- the Television laugh track

Ran across this over at by Ken Levin. It seems that someone took an original laugh track machine - then called a "laugh box" - to Antique Roadshow for an appraisal.

Take a look at the video to see what it looks like.

It probably seemed like a good idea at the time when Charles Douglass invented the laugh track.  And they eventually became the life blood of the TV sitcom. But it took talent to use it in a way that actually enhanced a joke. And too often it served as a reminder to the TV audience that they were merely wasting away their time in a stupor until they took the next step and actually went to sleep.

This wiki-article provides some history and such anecdotes as this one:

Comedian Milton Berle, while witnessing a post-production editing session, once said, "as long as we are here, this joke didn't get all that we wanted." After Douglass inserted a guffaw after a failed joke, Berle reportedly commented, "See? I told you it was funny."

If you didn't think that was funny, go here to add a laugh track.

Jon Lovitz is sure to catch hell

Jon Lovitz's rant about Obama rang true with most Americans. But it couldn't sit well with his show biz pals. With George Clooney's big Obama fundraiser coming up tonight, show biz Democrats don't need dissenters among their ranks.

Saturday Night Live has carried on a long tradition of attempting to influence elections following Alinsky's rules for radicals number 5 and 12 -- ridicule and isolate. And there are too many people whose image of Sarah Palin was shaped by Tina Fey's theatrics.

One has to wonder, now that Lovitz has gone public with his feelings about Obama, will SNL try to isolate and ridicule Lovitz?

Photo source.

Get out your handkerchiefs and watch this great commercial -- hint: Olympics 2012

The music, the cheering crowds, the thrill of victory. It's all here in this short Youtube clip.

Never mind that it's a soap commercial, it's a touching presentation. And it should leave no doubt that today's Mad Men are as good as they've always been.

Via MissCellania.

In defense of Mike Wallace

The late Mike Wallace will probably get a royal sendoff from his old 60 Minutes friends when they eulogize him in the next show. So let's leave the plaudits to those who feel they owe it to him. The purpose of this blog post is to highlight one particular talent he had.

I stopped watching 60 Minutes many years ago after happening upon an article written by a target of a 60 Minutes' hit piece. The writer made a very compelling case for the other side of the issue. A loyal 60 Minutes viewer might scratch his head and ask, "There was another side?"

Yes, there was. But in a typical 60 Minutes episode there was only the most modest hint of it, like the ubiquitous, "He's presumed innocent until proven guilty by a court of law," we hear at the end of those true-crime style documentaries after they've laid out the most damning of evidence.

That's why there are trials with rules of evidence and both sides having an opportunity to make a case most favorable to their side. Take away that right from one of the sides, and the jury, or viewers of 60 Minutes, will come away with their minds closed on the issue. And that was the 60 Minutes way.

But enough about that. Here's the reason for this blog post.

One time in an interview in which Mike Wallace was the subject, he was asked to respond to the characterization that he was liberal. And this is a paraphrased version of his answer, "If being a liberal means siding with the little guy when he is being bullied by the big guy, then I guess that makes me a liberal." What a remarkable way to respond. He didn't deny it. He merely redefined the charge in a way that made him seem like the purest of angels. It was a trick, and that trick was a demonstration of the talent that made him a media star.

A surreptitious peak at Clint Eastwood reality show transcript -- satire alert

Sleepless in Midland's ace reporter was dumpster diving in a posh Carmel neighborhood and found a discarded transcript from the new Clint Eastwood reality show. As follows:

Producer: OK everyone, thanks to the hospitality of the Eastwood family we just started filming our new reality show right here in their home.

Clint Eastwood: (Whisper whisper whisper.)

Producer: Huh?

Clint Eastwood: (Whisper whisper whisper.)

Clint's wife: Clint honey, you have to speak up.

Clint: (Whisper whisper whisper.)

Co-producer: I'm sorry, I can't hear a word he's saying. Mic him up.

Producer: He's already mic-ed up. Haven't you seen any of his movies? All he ever does is whisper. That's as loud as he gets.

Clint: (Whisper whisper whisper.)

Co-producer: Dammit. This won't work. We need some personality.

Producer: Relax. We only need his name. The only reason we're here is because the wife is  trying to promote a band.  We'll slip in a Kardashian from time to time to keep the viewers tuned in. After all, it ain’t Shakespeare, it's reality.

Quote of the day

This one comes from Neal Boortz:

"I’m waiting for Jackie Chan to climb down a drainpipe, throw away all of Susie’s lemonade, and then force her to drink a V8."

BTW, there's a message in those Susie's Lemonade commercials: "If your preteen daughter isn't a business tycoon it's because you are such a cheapskate. Would it kill you to buy her a smart phone?"