This new series airs on the Science Channel on Saturday nites at 9 p.m. local time. After watching one episode I've set my Tivo to record the show every week - partly because I enjoy seeing the sights (China in the first episode) and culture. I also enjoy British humor even though I have to hit the Rewind button quite a bit to understand what's being said. Blimey. The show is produced by Ricky Gervais. Check it out and offer your thoughts on the show. If you want.
Oh, and the clip linked on Eric's blog of the Shaolin monk throwing a needle through a pane of glass is one of the demonstrations The Idiot observed in the first episode of An Idiot Abroad. When the Idiot tried the stunt the needle bounced off the glass and stuck in the arm of his cameraman. Idiot.
(Ricky Gervais is the executive producer of the TBS series The Office and played the "Michael" character in the British version of that show.)
Friday, January 28, 2011
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
The Office Elf
I've mentioned here several times that most of the TV that I watch is on the Science and History channels but I do watch other stuff. I'm not totally a nerd. Well, maybe, but...
One series I really liked was The Office but I thought Steve Carell's character began to wane this past season. About the same time Carell became popular on the big screen coincidentally. Now it's been announced that Michael (Carell's character) is going to be replaced by a character to be played by Will Farrell. I can't say that I've been a fan of Farrell but I'm willing to watch and see how it goes. A brief article about the switch can be seen on msnbc.com here.
And speaking of Steve Carrel... Get Smart will be airing on TBS this Friday, Saturday and Sunday. As a fan of the original TV series (1965-1970) I've been wanting to see the movie so I plan to do so this weekend. IMDB reviewers give it 3 1/2 stars.
One series I really liked was The Office but I thought Steve Carell's character began to wane this past season. About the same time Carell became popular on the big screen coincidentally. Now it's been announced that Michael (Carell's character) is going to be replaced by a character to be played by Will Farrell. I can't say that I've been a fan of Farrell but I'm willing to watch and see how it goes. A brief article about the switch can be seen on msnbc.com here.
And speaking of Steve Carrel... Get Smart will be airing on TBS this Friday, Saturday and Sunday. As a fan of the original TV series (1965-1970) I've been wanting to see the movie so I plan to do so this weekend. IMDB reviewers give it 3 1/2 stars.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
History and Aliens
Two of my favorite TV channels are the History Channel and History International. There are several good series there I enjoy, such as Modern Marvels, Wild West Tech, History's Mysteries, and Ancient Almanac. But it agitates me a little to see so many shows on Nostradamus and UFOs and Ancient Aliens. Really?
The Ancient Aliens episode where they point out the Egyptian drawing of a person wearing a space helmet was interesting but I couldn't understand why the space helmet looked so much like a goldfish bowl. Maybe ancient aliens were quite capable of travelling faster than the speed of light but just never bothered with developing more sophisticated helmets. And, why did they show just one spaceman drawing in the show? Wouldn't you think if they were visited by space aliens the Egyptians would have drawn a lot more than just one picture of a guy in a space helmet among the thousands of drawings of servants and stone masons? And wouldn't it be a little uncomfortable travelling through space on that fire-belching chariot pictured on the wall? Was that really what it looked like?
And where have these guys (the aliens, not the Egyptians) been for the past 4,000 years? Did they find Earthlings so wretched they vowed to never return?
You can be sure that if I'm visited by aliens in a silver rotating-blinking-hovering-whatever craft, I'll try my very best to draw exactly that. Why would I record the event by drawing a Ford F150 with flames coming from the tailgate? I suspect aliens are really camera shy and that's why they haven't been back since good cameras were invented. Well, except for those brief visits to backroads in Arkansas.
And, don't even get me started on Nostradamus. But, those Nazca Lines [wikipedia.org] do have me baffled.
The Ancient Aliens episode where they point out the Egyptian drawing of a person wearing a space helmet was interesting but I couldn't understand why the space helmet looked so much like a goldfish bowl. Maybe ancient aliens were quite capable of travelling faster than the speed of light but just never bothered with developing more sophisticated helmets. And, why did they show just one spaceman drawing in the show? Wouldn't you think if they were visited by space aliens the Egyptians would have drawn a lot more than just one picture of a guy in a space helmet among the thousands of drawings of servants and stone masons? And wouldn't it be a little uncomfortable travelling through space on that fire-belching chariot pictured on the wall? Was that really what it looked like?
And where have these guys (the aliens, not the Egyptians) been for the past 4,000 years? Did they find Earthlings so wretched they vowed to never return?
You can be sure that if I'm visited by aliens in a silver rotating-blinking-hovering-whatever craft, I'll try my very best to draw exactly that. Why would I record the event by drawing a Ford F150 with flames coming from the tailgate? I suspect aliens are really camera shy and that's why they haven't been back since good cameras were invented. Well, except for those brief visits to backroads in Arkansas.
And, don't even get me started on Nostradamus. But, those Nazca Lines [wikipedia.org] do have me baffled.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
What's-her-name
We all do it. We're watching a movie and see a person we know we've seen in another movie/show but can't remember which one. Now (or soon), there's an app for that. Just hold your iPhone up to the TV and this app is supposed to identify the person(s) and find what else they've done.
I don't need the app because I have a wife.
I don't need the app because I have a wife.
Friday, January 07, 2011
It's Not CES. It's a Map
Cell phones and network-capable TV's are dominating at CES but I'm not (so far) compelled to comment on any of them. So here's a neat interactive demographic map from the NY Times.
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