Midterm Elections
A thoroughly educational video from the fine folks at “The Daily Show” (weren’t they supposed to have removed all Viacom content by now?) about the upcoming midterm elections.
A thoroughly educational video from the fine folks at “The Daily Show” (weren’t they supposed to have removed all Viacom content by now?) about the upcoming midterm elections.
“I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book” - Groucho Marx
For the first time since 1984, I will be living in a house without a television connection. Today morning, after mulling about it for a week with the spouse, I called and canceled our satellite TV connection. No more “Survivor,” “Amazing Race,” “Naked Chef,” “Simon Cowell,” and most importantly, no more Donald! We have been emancipated.
This was a big decision and we were wondering if we should experiment for a while by not switching on the telly for say, a month. We realized that this wouldn’t work and we would eventually go back to switching it on and sneaking a glimpse of Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, at the very least. So, the decision was made to stop it completely. We haven’t been watching that many shows anyway this year but this total blackout will ensure more candlelit dinners, reading, music listening, and other productive activities. Or so, we hope. Last year, I read more books than any other since leaving high school and I hope to read more this year. Now only if I have the courage to walk away from broadband at home.
Stay tuned for more updates as we cope with this drastic lifestyle change.
In the age of TiVo, DVRs and even the good old VCR, the folks who advertize their companies on tv commercials have a reason to be concerned. The tv consumer who records his/her favorite programs for later viewing, will in all probability fast forward through the commercial breaks. Isn’t that one of the beauties of these devices? Well the people who at KFC marketing have come up with a novel idea to get people to pause at their tv ads. Apparently they have masked a message in their commercial that can be seen if the commercial is played slowly. The reward is a set of instructions on how to redeem a coupon for one of their chicken sandwich offerings. I haven’t seen the ad but have to say that it is a rather simple but brilliant concept that tackles a headache for the tv advertizing industry today. With new fangled technologies affecting every aspect of how we see, hear and absorb entertainment these days, creativity is as usual at the forefront of advertizing business.
When she was 32, Holly Morris quit her book editing job and decided to travel the world in search of intrepid and risk-taking women like herself. After traveling to countries as varied as Brazil, Niger, Mongolia and India, she made a documentary that was serialized on PBS. All her experiences are also chronicled in a book called Adventure Divas published last year. She is now planning to start an adventure travel outfit for women.
During her travels she met women in many walks of life that fit her definition of a diva:
“Divas are all over the world; they’re women who’ve not simply waited for their ships to come in, but rowed out to meet them. Be they musicians or mountain climbers, activists or poets, the common denominator in their lives, besides a healthy sense of humor, is a compass set on passion.”
Among those who make the cut are two Indian women I have high regard for: Kiran Bedi and Bachendri Pal. I haven’t read the book nor seen the series but my curiosity has been aroused primarily because of the courage it took for Morris to pack up and leave. A true paragon of wanderlust.
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On Friday, Steven Soderbergh will release “Bubble”. While this piece of news might sound mundane what is notable is that this is the first movie to debut simultaneously in theatres, on a cable TV network as well as on DVD. This goes against the grain of a long established pattern of releasing it in movie theatres followed by PPV and then DVD. Reuters story here
The strategy to simultaneously distribute the movie presents a direct challenge to movie theatres. Regal, USA’s largest movie chain that owns United Artists, Edwards and Regal Cinema brands has already announced that it will not carry “Bubble” in its theatres. (Read more…)
Now I am not typically a fan of any Britcom idea that is imported and then repackaged for an American audience. We’ve had enough of those shows that were classics on the island but were huge busts after being brought here from across the pond. Some that come to mind: ‘America, Oh What A Country’ (early 80s) was a ridiculous attempt at replicating the classic ‘Mind Your Language’. We had ‘Coupling’ (American) that bombed so badly and tragically caused the original British series to be left high and dry with no closure because the show’s creators ran away to the US for the bigger paycheck. In the process, they left behind a very talented group of actors in a very popular series with no place to go. How sad.
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The man who is credited with changing the staid sport of Cricket from its plodding and dreary 5 day test matches (and rules controlled exclusively by the MCC) and ushering it into an era of ODIs and big money has died. Kerry Packer recruited 50 of Cricket’s biggest names (Tony Greg, Lloyd, Greenidge, Richards come to mind) with big money to break away from the establishment to create WSC and make Cricket the TV sport that it is today.
A friend of mine sent me this recent story about the abuse that call center operators in India (and probably elsewhere) have to endure from irate callers in the US. While anger and frustration at the outsourcing phenomenon are understandable, it’s impossible to condone the kind of gratuitous rudeness mentioned in the article, especially when it’s directed at some poor sap at the lowest rung of the corporate food-chain merely trying to do his or her job. Thanks to such incidents, sitcoms in India are now depicting the typical American as “comically rude”, which I find amusing because Indian society is not particularly polite either.
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