mosker

Grumpy, grumpy, grumpy

This past weekend has been filled with a series of potentially limb- and/or life-threatening mishaps and minor irritants. I emerged relatively unscathed (there's just a small bruise from the slip and fall on the stairs from the kitchen) as well as relieved that it wasn't worse (that car definitely could have hit me as I spun in circles on the icy highway--well, my truck spun in circles with me in it). I can even live with having to drop power to my DSL modem 4 or 5 times a day in order to access the wireless network in my home (for a while, anyway). Not having a satellite signal on any receiver in my home, however, is really starting to wear thin.

My DirectTV service has been out since Thursday evening. I didn't worry about it initially because we'd had a couple of inches of snow that day, although I don't usually lose reception unless there's a heavy rain shower or snow storm. I watched a couple of programs that were stored on the Tivo and figured it would be fine the next day.

Only it wasn't, and when I tried to watch a program stored on the hard drive of the DirecTV DVR while I walked on the treadmill the next morning, the darned thing just whined about not having a signal from the dish. Tivo receivers let you watch what's recorded even when there's no signal from the satellite, but apparently DirecTV didn't think that was important when they decided to build one of their own. I would love to have an hour with a DirecTV product engineer. I called DirecTV on Friday evening, and although he was very polite, the representative couldn't do anything to help other than schedule a service appointment (it's still under warranty, thankfully). How about Tuesday morning? Oh, hello?! I'm not going to take a half-day of vacation for that, and Tuesday? As in, the whole weekend without? We finally settled on Tuesday afternoon, during that very specific 4pm-8pm window.

I really do spend time in my house without the television, but you'd have never known it from the withdrawal-like symptoms I suffered this weekend. I like having the television on, particularly the news, when I putter around the kitchen. It allows me to multi-task while keeping up with current events. It was awful, and compounded by the icky weather conditions, I was darned grumpy about it. I can only hope the technician actually shows tomorrow and is able to fix the problem. 'Cause I like Matt Damon and Brendan Fraser just fine, but I can only watch The Bourne Identity and The Mummy Returns so many times before they cease to provide enough distraction for a treadmill workout.

What a wonderful world

CSI

This has turned into an all-about-television week, but it's been that kind of week (meaning not particularly noteworthy--not filled with television).

Let's talk CSI...the original one that is set in Las Vegas, not the spin-offs. A few years ago they ended the season with Nick (George Eads) buried in a booby-trapped casket underground. There was room there to kill of the character and fire the actor, but I didn't think that was likely. I'd read an interview with the director of the episode, I think it was Tarantino, who said that it hadn't really mattered which of the characters they put into the box. If it didn't matter, I reasoned, then they weren't going to kill him off.

Last season the cliffhanger involved Sara (Jorja Fox) trapped out in the desert by the miniature killer. They could have killed her off--the story line between her and Grissom (William Peterson) is getting old, and she does whine an awful lot--but I didn't hear (read) any rumors that she was moving on. Not that that means anything, of course, but she did live.

But now I am hearing rumors that Jorja Fox will appear in only six or seven episodes and will be gone by the end of the year. Assuming that's true, here's my question: how will they write her out? They can't (or at least I hope they won't) kill her off. That would lack believability, so close to her escape from the serial killer, and it wouldn't would be very creative either. I suppose they could just stop writing her in--she's changed shifts and we just don't hear about her any more.

Seriously though, if they're going to replace one of the female characters, I'd almost prefer it were Katherine. She's annoying.

Not as good as the original

When I signed up for DirecTV, I got one of their receivers with Tivo. I had seen the Tivo advertising and how they claim it will change the way you watch television. It's true. Nearly everything about their product is well-designed and easy to use: the season pass feature, the ease of navigation through most of the menus, and the very minor learning curve. Their remote control (the one on the left in this picture) is a thing of beauty. It's comfortable to hold and all of the buttons you use the most are easy to find, even in the dark.

I mention this because I upgraded my other receiver to a DVR recently and was astonished at the difference between the Tivo product and DirecTV's version. I'm guessing DirecTV thought they could create their own version and avoid having to pay those licensing fees, but it is no where close to the original.

To be fair, this one has a larger hard-drive, so it can record more episodes, and you can pause live TV for 2 hours, rather than Tivo's 30 minutes. Everything else though? I am not impressed. The menu navigation is not intuitive and takes multiple button presses where one would do. The worst part of the package is the remote (on the right). Where Tivo's is comfortable to hold with buttons logically located, the DirecTV DVR remote is like a brick. You have to have a light on in order to find the button you want, and the DVR controls are way up at the top. There are even five buttons on the brick-shaped remote that don't have labels. How is that helpful? I'm not going to memorize the manual just to use their remote control. Maybe they didn't want to pay for product testing either.

I wouldn't tell someone not to get a DVR just because DirecTV abandoned Tivo's excellent product--a DVR is still so much better than a VCR--but DirecTV didn't do their customers any favors by cheaping out.

Life

Are you watching Life? It's only two episodes old, so there's no telling if it'll hold up, but I like this show.

The main character is a cop exonerated of the brutal slaying of a family after serving 12 years of a life sentence. In addition to an apparently substantial, yet undisclosed,  financial settlement, he got his job back and is working as a detective. It is yet another police procedural, but the real strength is the lead actor, who does a great job playing a man working through his re-entry to the real world. Everyone believed he had been guilty--his wife divorced him, his father wouldn't let his mother visit, his partner abandoned him. And, not surprisingly, he wasn't exactly popular with his fellow inmates.

I'm not doing the show justice, but if you have time you should watch. Wednesday, NBC.

House

I was a little slow getting to the season finale of House this year, and because of the delay I hadn't thought about what they would do for that episode. Sure, they'd left us thinking that Foreman was going to leave, but he's a main character and a great part of the show, so I knew they'd find some implausible excuse to keep him there. But oh-my-gosh! he left. And House had a fit and fired Chase. And Cameron quit in solidarity. What's that about? Ah, good cliff-hanger. I wonder how they'll bring them back.

And then I read this article today, which suggests they won't be back after all: Olivia Wilde, Kal Penn, Peter Jacobson and Anne Dudek have reportedly been hired for the fall season. Jacobson is too old to be believable as one House's interns (I'm not saying he's old, just that he's not 20 any more), but I expect that's how they'll use the other three.

I admit I was growing tired of Cameron's self-righteousness and hopeless crush on House, and Chase needed to grow a backbone, but I will miss Foreman's character on the show. Still, I suppose it makes sense--it gives them more storyline options, and you've got to wonder about a doctor who never finishes a specialty residency.

Fall promos

I would love to tell you that I don't watch much television. It is not, after all, the best use of my time, which could be put to much better use writing my thesis or working on the yard, or on any number of home improvement projects.

Except I actually like television. Some programs I watch regularly have some redeeming value, but others are out-and-out fluff. I don't necessarily admit to these, you understand, but I'm not apologizing for it either.

And now is the time of year where we start to see the promos for the fall season. There's something so hopeful about the promos. Despite the fact that some of the programs will be lucky to get a month's airtime before going on permanent hiatus, until the premieres have aired there is still the hope that something new or unusual or worthwhile will be in the offing.

Or maybe I should hope that none of the new shows, so I have that much less to distract me?

Maybe he just watched too much Star Trek when he was a kid?

I think David Caruso attended the William Shatner school of acting.

Do you remember how William Shatner as Captain James T. Kirk had those quirky mannerisms and weird speak patterns? Dramatic pauses big enough to drive a semi through and poses that must have excruitiating to hold.

David Caruso must have been a huge fan of Shatner, because he plays Horatio Caine (CSI Miami) with a similar set of ridiculous and predictable speech patterns and mannerisms. It's like watching a train wreck--it's often horrifying, but you can't look away. He doesn't look at whomever is speaking to him, he pulls his jacket away from his side so he can rest his hand on the hip to which his gun is strapped, and he tilts his head in just the same way every time when he wants to appear that he is listening. If he wants to emphasize his statement, he pauses dramatically to put on his glasses--that's how you know he means business.

And how many bad guys does one cop get to shoot? Seriously--he's a perfect shot every time, when every other cop around him freezes up or has a dirty gun or whatever. And never a moment of regret. Oh Horatio, he's our hero! Please! The funny part is that CSI Miami is a huge hit overseas.

We can only hope it's for the Florida backdrop rather than the acting.

The Abrams Report

Thus says Suzanne...

I have loved watching the Abrams Report.  I find Dan (may I call him Dan?) clever, witty, informative and just downright cute!  I loved the format of the show, the topics he covered, and (most of) his guests. 

That said, MSNBC has decided to promote him to the head honcho, meaning that I'm left without my daily Dan fix.  They've had other people filling in on the show while he decided what would take its place but they've all left me cold.  Obviously the show just isn't the same without him.

Today I learned that he's decided to have Tucker Carlson take that time slot!  What the *$&#&@ heck is that about?  Tucker Carlson?!?  I would rather clean the toilet and empty the cat litter boxes than watch Tucker Carlson.  I have instructed my TiVo to not record during that time slot anymore. 

Alas, I fear that without Dan there will be no further need for me to watch MSNBC.  But, because Mr. Cutie is now running the network and I want him to be successful I will keep an open mind to his programming changes.  If I might be so bold as to make some suggestions?  Ditch Tucker Carlson, ditch Keith Olberman, put Joe Scarberry on probation.  Rita Cosby's Live and Direct show has reportedly been discontinued and she is now going to focus on documentaries for the network which will air at the 10 and 11 PM time slots.  We shall see.

I want Dan back!

Wild and crazy cats!

Thus says Suzanne...

I had to replay this several times because I was laughing so hard I kept missing parts!