Starting to look like a Turnaround…

I have decried the quality of programming on Cartoon Network here in the past, but it appears that they’re getting it together over there, thanks to their new series coordinator, who’s bringing in shows like ‘Chowder‘, and THIS.  This looks AWESOME, I just want to say.  And judging from the creator, it will likely be as good as it looks.  I really can’t wait to see this one.

More Deep Thinking

Go and read this right now.  I would like to point out that this idea was briefly touched upon in ‘Future Shock‘, in 1970.

Thanks to Warren Ellis for the link.

This Week In Dada, #3

This week, a little cognitive dissonance for all you boppers out there…

Wil Wheaton Tells It Like It Is

It’s all right here; I don’t need to add anything, except to say I’ve been told he’s been to see the Dirtbombs twice. 

Deep Thoughts

I’ve begun to check out this blog, because I like a lot of what gets talked about there.  I think I’m gonna add it to the Blogroll over on the side.  This is my kinda stuff.

Tonight Show clip with Steve Allen, 1953

     Earlier tonight I was checking out this article about the future of television.  I found it interesting that people are more likely to watch the commercials if they can time-shift the program to whenever they want.  That’s fine and all, but what I really want is better shows to watch.

Cartoon Network is decreasing in quality by the month, and the poor Sci-Fi Channel should, at this point, be taken out ’round back of the barn with grandpappy’s #5 shooting iron, and, as they say, sent on.  I used to make time to watch the Sci-Fi Channel.  Nowadays, if it wasn’t for their atrocious original movie series, I wouldn’t watch at all, and I almost never watch THOSE, although I do tune in to see if the latest will be, if not halfway decent, then bad enough to laugh at.

American television is terrible.  There’s no point in owning all of the admittedly cool television gadgets like a TiVO if there’s NOTHING ON WORTH LOOKING AT.

Which leads me to these gem-like clips of the Tonight Show from 1953, with Steve Allen hosting a live halloween party with Jayne Meadows, Kim Novak, Edie Gorme’, Gene Rayburn, and a bunch of other people milling around on the stage.  There’s an impromptu musical number, a bit of song-and-dance, and a show-stopping game of Crazy Grapefruit which was just AWESOME to watch, and which would probably never happen on TV today.

Television sure was interesting to look at in 1953…

Better Than The Real Thing

By that, I mean that some of these posters are better than the real posters for the movies they advertised.

Before I Forget…

…..like I’ve forgotten just about everything else this week (we’ve had to cancel a show because I forgot to check everybody’s schedule before I said yes to it)(not the first time that’s happened): Ben said some really nice things about the loss of my show and all the other music shows on WDET on his blog (He doesn’t have permalinks, so you’ll hafta scroll down to it).

Dogs Might NOT Be Devolved Wolves. Huh.

Deep Science Moment here: While clicking through across the ‘net, I came across this at The Anomalist.  Apparently there’s been a fair amount of research into the origins of dogs which suggests that they might not have come from wolves originally, but might have been a distinct species all along.  Even though I saw this at The Anomalist, this is real, hard science by real scientists.  The article is pretty complete, if long, but may require some small knowledge of cladistics, morphology, and some of the outside works referenced, such as the one about Dimitry Belyaev’s nigh-legendary attempt to breed a strain of silver foxes, and what he actually GOT.  Pretty common stuff if you’re a furry fan, though.  Anyhow, here it is.

Our Watches Are Ready

     They are available here, for about $365, and they have everything we need: accurate sun and moon positions, and tracking for Sirius and Arcturus.  If you have to ask why tracking for Sirius and Arcturus is needed, then these watches aren't FOR you; they're for…those of us who need these things.