Last summer I wrote about how Maury was the anchor that held my summer together. This summer I would hope for something better, but while caring for a baby, it's hard to read and nice to have something going on in the background.
And that means Maury. More distraught women running "backstage." More irresponsible men insulting women and jumping around like kangaroos when the child isn't theirs. More DNA tests and lie detector tests. More teenage girls doing what they want in front of their crying mothers. More Maury fascilitating it all with a mixture of paternal judgment and paternal caring.
Other things I like about summer and TV:
The Geico Cavemen. I always laugh the first time I see a new Caveman commercial. "He doesn't say anything because he's a doll." Classic.
Dr. Phil. I hate Dr. Phil. Yet I watch Dr. Phil.
Law and Order. I believe I completely understand the justice system. I could practice law right now. Give me the bar exam; I watch Law and Order every freaking day. Of course, sometimes I skip the Law and just watch Jack McCoy with the Order.
Commercials for movies I won't see for a long time because I have a kid to take care of.
Homicide: Life on the Streets. Sadly, this show is on during Maury and sometimes I don't know what to do.
NBA Playoffs on TNT. Possible Flurries is very upset to find out the playoffs go on for another month. She thinks every night I have the playoffs on. That's true, but I actually haven't watched a single game from beginning to end.
More time for the usual suspects like Kare 11, Seinfeld, and The Simpsons.
Yes, in the early stages, it sure looks like I'm going to piss away my summer on nothing.
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Monday, May 07, 2007
The Discreet Charm of Sven Sundgaard
As you know, we have mixed feelings about Sven Sundgaard. His blog contributes much to our confusion over whether we should like him or not.
He reads books about weather to little children. Look at the picture of Sven with the kids: if you shrunk him a bit with photoshop, would you actually be able to tell he's an adult? The only giveaway is the riDUCKulous hairstyle.
Sven is also a big promoter of the Aliveness Project's eating program. Their motto is "Dine out, Fight AIDS!," which sort of reminds me of the line from RENT, "Act up, fight AIDS!," which the aliveness project may have been going for.
And of course, Sven has a pet goat.
Now you tell me whether you know whether to like Sven Sundgaard or dislike Sven Sundgaard. Perhaps you can see why we have mixed feelings. We don't like his wacky hair. We like his demands that we eat. We like his commitment to fighting AIDS. We have mixed feelings about his goat.
Please see the first WHMFASS post for our deeper thoughts on the meaning of Sven.
He reads books about weather to little children. Look at the picture of Sven with the kids: if you shrunk him a bit with photoshop, would you actually be able to tell he's an adult? The only giveaway is the riDUCKulous hairstyle.
Sven is also a big promoter of the Aliveness Project's eating program. Their motto is "Dine out, Fight AIDS!," which sort of reminds me of the line from RENT, "Act up, fight AIDS!," which the aliveness project may have been going for.
And of course, Sven has a pet goat.
Now you tell me whether you know whether to like Sven Sundgaard or dislike Sven Sundgaard. Perhaps you can see why we have mixed feelings. We don't like his wacky hair. We like his demands that we eat. We like his commitment to fighting AIDS. We have mixed feelings about his goat.
Please see the first WHMFASS post for our deeper thoughts on the meaning of Sven.
TNT's "Charmed" Commercial
On TNT's commercial for Charmed, the announcer says "Theyre sexy...and sassy."
After saying they are sassy, a clip is shown. Ubermensch Julian McMahon says to one of the girls, "You always were the smart one." And how does the "sassy" witch respond? "Cut the crap."
Cut the crap. That was the best example TNT could find during Charmed to show that this girl is sassy. That's it. That's really freaking sassy there, everybody. "Cut the crap." That's a whole lot of sass.
If you watch the show, you know that the one long haired girl (you think I'm going to learn the names of the characters on Charmed just because it is on after Law and Order and I can't grab the remote because I'm holding a sleeping baby?) really is sassy. But that's the best short bit they could find to prove it: Cut the crap.
After saying they are sassy, a clip is shown. Ubermensch Julian McMahon says to one of the girls, "You always were the smart one." And how does the "sassy" witch respond? "Cut the crap."
Cut the crap. That was the best example TNT could find during Charmed to show that this girl is sassy. That's it. That's really freaking sassy there, everybody. "Cut the crap." That's a whole lot of sass.
If you watch the show, you know that the one long haired girl (you think I'm going to learn the names of the characters on Charmed just because it is on after Law and Order and I can't grab the remote because I'm holding a sleeping baby?) really is sassy. But that's the best short bit they could find to prove it: Cut the crap.
Sunday, May 06, 2007
Fiction's Best Anchors
We obviously watch a lot of local TV news. We've also seen a lot of fictional TV newspeople. Who are the best?
All the people on Anchorman.
Ron Burgundy, Veronica Corningstone, Champ Kind, Brian Fantana, Brick Tamlund, all the rival news networks: they're all wonderful.
Nicholas Cage in The Weatherman.
You should see this movie: an underrated beauty of an angsty comedy. The things that happen to Cage's weatherman are wonderfully memorable.
That guy in Network that is mad as hell and unwilling to take it anymore.
Clearly that's a guy that sticks in our memories.
Kent Brockman from The Simpsons.
Kenny Brocklestein is a classic. From "I for one welcome our new insect overlords" to "It's in Revelations, people!," he's had some of the show's very memorable lines.
There are others, but these are my faves. Do you have any worth mention?
All the people on Anchorman.
Ron Burgundy, Veronica Corningstone, Champ Kind, Brian Fantana, Brick Tamlund, all the rival news networks: they're all wonderful.
Nicholas Cage in The Weatherman.
You should see this movie: an underrated beauty of an angsty comedy. The things that happen to Cage's weatherman are wonderfully memorable.
That guy in Network that is mad as hell and unwilling to take it anymore.
Clearly that's a guy that sticks in our memories.
Kent Brockman from The Simpsons.
Kenny Brocklestein is a classic. From "I for one welcome our new insect overlords" to "It's in Revelations, people!," he's had some of the show's very memorable lines.
There are others, but these are my faves. Do you have any worth mention?
Tuesday, May 01, 2007
How the Might Have Fallen
I am curious to know what happened to Tim Sherno. He used to co-anchor the Fox9 Morning News with Alix Kendall, and then one day a few months ago, he just vanished. Now, he has reappeared on KSTP as an occasional reporter. For example, today he had a very insightful story about the sewer controversy in Mahtomedi. Exciting stuff. So evidently, you can go fall quite a bit in the world of TV journalism. Although some would argue (A Bit More Humid, for example) that occasional reporting for KSTP is a step up from anchoring FOX9.
Monday, April 30, 2007
Big News
As a person who blogs about local news and events, I feel I would be a failure if I didn't at least mention the fact that some local anchors are in a film that was recently released at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York. The docu-horror, called "The Poughkeepsie Tapes," was made by two local St. Paul boys, and features Leah Mclean, Brad Sattin, Jennifer Griswold, and Tom Hauser as anchors and reporters.
I was going to link to the KSTP page about this, but I think I gave you as much info already as you would find there, at least at the page I saw. But I encourage you to google it and see what you learn.
By the way, how is it that local news people are in a movie and one of them isn't Sven? He is so Hollywood! Which leads me to wonder if he's ever been in any movies...? Something to think about, anyway.
I was going to link to the KSTP page about this, but I think I gave you as much info already as you would find there, at least at the page I saw. But I encourage you to google it and see what you learn.
By the way, how is it that local news people are in a movie and one of them isn't Sven? He is so Hollywood! Which leads me to wonder if he's ever been in any movies...? Something to think about, anyway.
Sunday, April 29, 2007
Two TV comments
Fox 9 News: misleading commercial?
I just saw a Fox 9 promo that went like this:
Jeff: The rumors are true: Randy Moss has been traded.
Robyn: And you won't believe where he's going.
Here's the thing: Moss was traded to the Patriots, even though there have been recent rumors that he'd be traded to the hated rival Green Bay Packers. I think Fox 9 used the language ambiguously enough to suggest that Moss might be traded to the Packers to get people to watch. Of course, it's also ambiguous enough not to be obvious, so this accusation could easily be refuted.
Where have you gone, Classic Diet Mountain Dew?
(before reading this, a few facts you should know. 1) I used to drink Diet Mountain Dew straight out of the 2-liter bottles, 2) about a year ago Diet Mountain Dew's flavor changed, 3) this new flavor is awful, and 4) I've been giving up pop: I've had 4 cans in the last 17 days, and one of those was just to cut my gin).
I just saw a Diet Mountain Dew commercial. For a moment I thought I was about to be told that Diet Mountain Dew was switching back to the old flavor. Had the commercial informed me of a return to the old flavor, I would have stormed out of the house and would have drank two bottles before I got home.
I just saw a Fox 9 promo that went like this:
Jeff: The rumors are true: Randy Moss has been traded.
Robyn: And you won't believe where he's going.
Here's the thing: Moss was traded to the Patriots, even though there have been recent rumors that he'd be traded to the hated rival Green Bay Packers. I think Fox 9 used the language ambiguously enough to suggest that Moss might be traded to the Packers to get people to watch. Of course, it's also ambiguous enough not to be obvious, so this accusation could easily be refuted.
Where have you gone, Classic Diet Mountain Dew?
(before reading this, a few facts you should know. 1) I used to drink Diet Mountain Dew straight out of the 2-liter bottles, 2) about a year ago Diet Mountain Dew's flavor changed, 3) this new flavor is awful, and 4) I've been giving up pop: I've had 4 cans in the last 17 days, and one of those was just to cut my gin).
I just saw a Diet Mountain Dew commercial. For a moment I thought I was about to be told that Diet Mountain Dew was switching back to the old flavor. Had the commercial informed me of a return to the old flavor, I would have stormed out of the house and would have drank two bottles before I got home.
Friday, April 20, 2007
"The best meat's in the rump"
Via The Consumerist, there's a blog focusing on ad campaigns featuring animals that want to be eaten. Hilarious.
Suicide Food
(They may mean it to be critical rather than funny, but I'm a struggling vegan relying largely on my sense of humor).
Suicide Food
(They may mean it to be critical rather than funny, but I'm a struggling vegan relying largely on my sense of humor).
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Coverboy
Congratulations to Sven Sundgaard for his cover feature in the current issue in Lavender. As Carla Waldemar writes in the article, "Sven Sundgaard’s cherubic mug beams from the cover of this issue."
It's amazing how quickly Sven has become a Twin Cities icon.
It's amazing how quickly Sven has become a Twin Cities icon.
Monday, April 16, 2007
Local Coverage of VA Tech
I know everything news-related that anyone is thinking and saying and writing today is probably about VA Tech. I don't have anything particularly original or insightful to say about the tragedy itself, other than how bad I feel for everyone involved (I know what you are thinking: that is neither original nor insightful. Oh well.). But I do have a complaint about local coverage.
Most of the afternoon, I watched MSNBC's coverage and listened to NPR's, both of which were clear and full of facts, as news should be. But for some reason I flipped to Fox 9 news at 5 or 6 (I don't remember what time), and I was appalled by the way they were overdramatizing the situation. Maybe overdramatizing is the wrong word. What I mean is, the situation is so dramatic in nature that the fact that they were seemingly trying to jazz it up and sensationalize it was offensive. And I don't easily get offended.
The three main things I noticed in the, what, 45 seconds I waited before flipping back to MSNBC were:
1. video footage of the VA Tech campus shot in black and white
2. The cameras were shaking and doing crazy close-ups, a la Blair Witch
3. The story was introduced by a guy using a voice that was identical to the guy who does the voiceovers for horror movie trailers
Isn't the story horrific enough on it's own? Can they ever just report information and facts without trying to out-do everyone else? It's pretty sickening. For shame, Fox 9 news.
Most of the afternoon, I watched MSNBC's coverage and listened to NPR's, both of which were clear and full of facts, as news should be. But for some reason I flipped to Fox 9 news at 5 or 6 (I don't remember what time), and I was appalled by the way they were overdramatizing the situation. Maybe overdramatizing is the wrong word. What I mean is, the situation is so dramatic in nature that the fact that they were seemingly trying to jazz it up and sensationalize it was offensive. And I don't easily get offended.
The three main things I noticed in the, what, 45 seconds I waited before flipping back to MSNBC were:
1. video footage of the VA Tech campus shot in black and white
2. The cameras were shaking and doing crazy close-ups, a la Blair Witch
3. The story was introduced by a guy using a voice that was identical to the guy who does the voiceovers for horror movie trailers
Isn't the story horrific enough on it's own? Can they ever just report information and facts without trying to out-do everyone else? It's pretty sickening. For shame, Fox 9 news.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)