If I Were King - Part Two

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The first time I posted on this subject, I ranted about stupid reality and talent(less) shows.

Today I am ranting about all the radio stations that started playing Christmas songs the first week of November.

So, if I were KING, any radio station that played any Christmas songs or ran any Christmas ads before December 1st would lose their FCC license for one year and would be fined a minimum of $50,000.

And further, any TV stations, including cable stations, that ran any Christmas commercials or aired Christmas movies or shows with Christmas themes before December 1st would also lose their FCC licences for one year and would be fined a minimum of $1,000,000.

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Goodbye AT&T; Hello Comcast

I have had to dump AT&T.

On Saturday, Oct 22nd, my DSL modem stopped working. So I called AT&T support and they determined that my modem was bad and said they'd send me a new one for $100! Of course I said NO and had the operator connect me with the lady who cancels accounts. She told me she could have new one sent to me for FREE; so I said okay. She said I would get it Wednesday or Thursday.

Come Friday I still hadn't received it so I called again. I was told there was a notation about the modem but the order had not been put in. So once again I told the lady to cancel both the phone service (which I've had ever since I first got a phone, many many many many years ago) and the internet service (I've had DSL for 10 years). She said the service would end at midnight.

I then called Comcast to get cable phone and internet. The installer showed up about 1:30 the next day (Sunday) and after an hour, everything was in and was working. The cost will end up cheaper than what I was paying for cable TV plus phone and internet.

Today (Oct 31) I had to call AT&T again because the phone service had NOT been canceled and I didn't want to pay for service I wasn't using.

So far, no problems with the cable internet, but it doesn't seem any faster than the DSL, but I haven't tried to download any large files yet, either.

We'll see.

Steve Job' Passing

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This past week the world mourned the passing of Steve Jobs. And anytime anyone of note dies there is a compilation of his/her accomplishments.

Most reports about Steve say that everyone has been touched by his innovative products. Which I suppose in a way is true.

But I have never bought an Apple computer, an iPod, an iPhone, nor an iPad. And I probably never will.

And the main reason is that they, in my opinion, are WAY overpriced. They could cut the prices in half and still make millions of dollars.

So, until the prices come down to a reasonable cost, I will continue to use my HP PC, my plain, ordinary Sony cell phone, and no mp3 player.

That's all.

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Not That Great

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Couldn't help but see that the 3D version of the cartoon movie 'The Lion King' is in theaters (or soon will be).

I saw the original, and In My Opinion, it wasn't that great.

I can think of three Disney cartoon movies that were much better - 'Alice in Wonderland,' 'Snow White,' and 'Pinocchio.'

Of course I am probably dating myself, but whatever.

That's all.

Oh, and for some reason this text is in italics and bold font and I can't change it.

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You Pronounced That HOW?

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I supposed that no matter what part of the country you live in, people from other parts pronounce words that just sound wrong.

For example, I live in north Florida, and everyone I know pronounces the word 'either' (and 'neither') as ee-ther. But in so many moves and TV shows, I hear it pronounced as eye-ther. And that just sounds wrong!

Also, I grew up pronouncing 'often' as offen, with the silent 't' as in soften, hasten and listen (but no one says soft-ten or list-ten or haste-ten). So when I hear off-ten, well, it just sounds wrong!

And it irked me to no end when, back in 1978 there was the mass suicide at the Jim Jones compound in Guyana, and everyone was pronouncing it Guy-ana, even though everyone who knew any Spanish at all knew it was pronounced Gu-ya-na (but, of course, like almost everyone else I pronounce Cuba as Q-bah even though the correct way to say it is Coo-bah. And as an aside, President Kennedy, who pronounced words like fathah and brothah, etc., pronounced it as Q-ber - go figure!).

And one more example -- how many times have you heard someone who is delighted at an outcome say voilá! and pronounce it wah-LAH, when, in fact, being a French word, it should be pronounced as V-wah-LAH. (And let me say for the record, after taking three years of Spanish in high school, I think French words have the most screwed up spelling of any language I can think of.)

I could write endlessly about such "mis-pronunciations", but I guess you get my drift.

Also, in this essay, I wrote pronounce, and it's many derivations, thirteen times, including in the title and in this paragraph.

That's all.

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Drive the Speed Limit, Dammit!

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Nothing irritates me more than people who won't drive the speed limit. I'm not talking about those who drive too fast, I'm talking about the ones who drive too slow!

As an example: I drive down a six lane highway (four car lanes and two bus lanes) to and from work everyday, about 15 miles each way. The speed limit is 45 mph, and since gas is so high, over $3.50 / gallon, I use the cruise control to keep from burning too much gas by going too fast. And it really pisses me off when I come up behind cars going 40, 41, 42, etc. miles per hour.

But if I try to pass them, I have to worry about being rear-ended by drivers going 50 - 55 mph in the other lane.

People think that speeding is the cause of auto accidents, but it isn't. It's cars going different speeds.

The slow drivers make the ones who want to drive the posted limits to slam on brakes, risking a rear-end collision. And the speeders weave in and out of traffic trying to get ahead of the car in front of them.

Dammit, people, just drive the speed limit!

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The Horrors of Television Programming

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Like everyone else (I presume) when watching our favorite TV shows, we often have the dilemma of trying to decide which show to watch that is airing on the same night at the same time (or sometimes, more than two shows) as another show we want to see.

I don't understand why networks do this. Why put on an obviously popular show opposite another one that gets big ratings? Wouldn't it make more sense to to air a popular show the same time another program on another station that isn't so popular, and therefore, make sure your show gets more viewers?

(Of course, the down-side to this for viewers is that a show they might like that doesn't get big ratings might be cancelled because of even lower ratings. This happens to me all the time, it seems.)

But maybe now that almost everyone has either a DVR or has a cable system's OnDemand, I suppose networks figure that eventually their shows will be seen.

I don't have a DVR, but I do get Comcast's OnDemand, so I can still watch shows I would otherwise miss. But it's still aggravating that so many shows (that I watch) seem to air at the same time, on the same night.

And to show you what I mean, below are the programs I watch during the week. (And when the Fall shows start up, I may post that list as well.)

Sunday -

8 pm --

9 pm --

10 pm --

"The Glades" A&E

"The Protector" Lifetime

"Falling Skies" ** TNT

"In Plain Sight" USA

Monday -

8 pm -- "Eureka" Syfy

9 pm --

"Switched at Birth" * ABC Family

"Warehouse 13" Syfy

"The Closer" TNT

10 pm --

"Alphas" Syfy

"Rizzoli & Isles" TNT

Tuesday -

8 pm --

9 pm -- "The Nine Lives of Chloe King" * ABC Family

10 pm --

"Combat Hospital" ABC

"Hawthorne" ** TNT

"Covert Affairs" USA

Wednesday -

8 pm --

9 pm -- "Royal Pains" USA

10 pm --

Thursday -

8 pm --

9 pm -- "Burn Notice" USA

10 pm -- "Rookie Blue" ABC

Friday -

8 pm -- "Flashpoint" CBS

9 pm --

10 pm --

"Haven" Syfy

Saturday -

8 pm --

9 pm --

10 pm --

The two shows on ABC Family with the asterisks ( * ) are shows that aren't offered On Demand so I have to watch them when they air.

And the ones with the double asterisks ( ** ) are the ones I watch at the time they are on.

So, as is pretty obvious, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday programming can certainly be improved.

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