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I’ve posted this on MySpace and my new TV Guide blog Phiring at Phosphors, but I’m so excited about this news I _had_ to repost it here.

Screw NBC’s “Football Night in America”, Sunday is going to be “Hockey Night” at my home.

I’m bursting with excitment about my previous hometown’s pending television date. For 3.5 years, I worked in Houghton, Mich. in the rural Upper Peninsula. One of the highlights of my time there was the pleasure of taking part in the 100th anniversary of the brith of professional ice hockey in the town.

On Sunday, Canadian TV viewers can see Houghton’s role in the evolution of a sport beloved by millions. The Canadian Broadcasting Corp. will air the first two parts of the ten-part Hockey: A People’s History. The second episode, “The Money Game” details how a game previously dominated by amateurs transformed into a sport where athletes are paid.

Here’s part of the blurb from the CBC site:

Pro hockey is born in the heart of Michigan’s mining country, while heavy-handed amateur bosses drive Canada’s top talent south of the border.

The Daily Mining Gazette, my former newspaper, has the story.

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NOTE — I’m referring to CBC’s “Hockey Night in Canada” which predates “Football Night” by more than 50 years. Sadly, I won’t actually be able to watch the show because I’m several hundred miles away from the Canadian border.

Originally posted on my MySpace blog at 4:06 AM on Thursday, September 14, 2006

Current mood: drowsy

Just in case people couldn’t get more obsessed with karaoke, Griffin Technologies has a new toy.

Meet iKaraoke

It’s a mic that plugs into the base of your iPod so you can fade the vocal track on your favorite songs and add your own voice when piping the whole thing to a stereo. It looks pretty cool although I’m curious how they’ll be able to “fade” the vocals.

Notice the product doesn’t have a firm release date (Winter 2006) and a price tag. Clearly, there’s more to come.

I had a much longer post, but a browser crash ate it. Sunday marked the fifth anniversary of the launch of my first “official” blog. Aside from the first two test posts, I didn’t really start posting in earnest until a year later.

As a historical note, I find it eerie the county changed forever after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks just a few hours after that first post. I regret not posting more in the aftermath and generally over the past five years.

Ultimately, I’ve enjoyed keeping a chronicle. I hope it’s been enjoyable for those that drop by. Including work, I’ve created nine blogs over the past five years. This week, I’m going to launch a podcast and start blogging about TV at TV Guide’s community site.

The site’s 10-year anniversary is in October. I’ll have more to say and show off then.

Originally posted on my TV Guide blog at 1:41 AM on 09/11/06

I’ve been jonesing for a “Battlestar Galactica” fix before the Season 3 premiere on Oct. 6. Thankfully, Sci Fi is showing a 10-part online series leading up to the premiere. New episodes (or “webisodes” if you insist) of “The Resistance” debut each Tuesday and Thursday on scifi.com. It’s good to see the series, but the short running time of each capsule leaves you wanting more.

It’ll be interesting to see all the pieces put together. Sci Fi will apparently air the whole 10-part series over the “air” shortly before the launch of the new season. Chances are, the story will be more coherent and enjoyable.

That brings up another point about “webisodes” that I’ll probably expand on later — the short, online episodes are nice, but they’re kinda disappointing because they’re not on the larger canvas of the television screen. They’re also _way_ too short.

This isn’t a new phenomenon, networks have been producing new content for the Web off and on for a decade (going back to NBC’s “Homicide: Second Shift” which detailed the other, previously unseen crew that worked in the Baltimore homicide unit).

On the other hand, it’s nice to see extra material on a new platform. I’m looking forward to see where things are going.

I’ve been jonesing for a “Battlestar Galactica” fix before the Season 3 premiere on Oct. 6. Thankfully, Sci Fi is showing a 10-part online series leading up to the premiere. New episodes (or “webisodes” if you insist) of “The Resistance” debut each Tuesday and Thursday on scifi.com. It’s good to see the series, but the short running time of each capsule leaves you wanting more.

It’ll be interesting to see all the pieces put together. Sci Fi will apparently air the whole 10-part series over the “air” shortly before the launch of the new season. Chances are, the story will be more coherent and enjoyable.

That brings up another point about “webisodes” that I’ll probably expand on later — the short, online episodes are nice, but they’re kinda disappointing because they’re not on the larger canvas of the television screen. They’re also _way_ too short.

This isn’t a new phenomenon, networks have been producing new content for the Web off and on for a decade (going back to NBC’s “Homicide: Second Shift” which detailed the other, previously unseen crew that worked in the Baltimore homicide unit).

On the other hand, it’s nice to see extra material on a new platform. I’m looking forward to see where things are going.

I was watching VH-1’s Reality Show Secrets 2 (or something like that), the whole episode dealt with how “fake” reality shows are. While it was pretty fun to watch, I was entertained by the fact the show featured clips from “The Joe Schmo Show 2” (which parodies how reality shows cliches). So the show has clips from the show, but they don’t talk about the show. At all.

I thought it was a little ironic. I was also a little bummed because I liked the show and cast and crew. Oh well.

It was also weird that I’m watching VH-1 on a Friday night.

Two of my favorite tech companies in the world, Apple and TiVo, are on the verge of some big announcements next week. On Tuesday, Apple will make an announcement in San Francisco. In the other corner, PVRblog has a post referring to wild rumors that TiVo will release its new Series 3 HD-capable DVR on Tuesday.

The fact that both of these announcements is supposed to come on Tuesday has got me thinking — what if they’re related in some way?

They’ve been rumored to get together in the past, but nothing ever came of it. Well, let me just add my wacky, pie-in-the-sky prediction — Apple and TiVo are going to jointly announce something on Tuesday. I don’t know what, but I can see a minor/major announcement including TiVo finally releasing TiVo-to-Go for the Mac which Apple could somehow integrate into its Front Row home entertainment suite.

Having the TiVo service that ports recorded programs to the computer and the iPod could bolster Apple’s efforts to integrate its box into the living room. That could benefit both companies, while playing up the technologies that both are known for.

More journalism related stuff on pro blog.

POWAY — Although the anniversary has come and passed, I’ll be celebrating my 10-year high school reunion tonight.

My early enthusiasm to see everyone again is slowly giving way to trepidation. It may surprise some of my loyal readers, but I wasn’t the most popular kid at Poway High School.

Without a circle of close friends, I’m largely going to the reunion to see how everyone has changed. I’m an observer so I know I’ll have a good time on that score alone.

One of my regrets is that I won’t be able to be in two places at the same time. Roswell High School choose this night to have their reunion as well. Having transferred to Poway in 1994, I don’t know if I would be welcome there, but it would be great to see some familiar faces if only for a night.

It’s a big reunion weekend. In addition to the Poway and Roswell events, my parents are attending their 20th reunion in SLC.

All these events hearken back to an earlier time. I recall some of the things that I was when I was 10 years younger. Obviously life doesn’t always live up to expectations, but I wonder about all those days that went past.

One of the things that our organizer is providing is an e-book of photos and people’s updates. I had to condense 10 years of my life down into a few paragraphs. It was tough but this is what I came up with:

The decade since PHS has been a messy blur of challenges, most positive.

I went to UCSD, graduating in 2000 with a B.A. in Communications and minors in history and theater.

After stints as a cafeteria worker serving the Chargers, working for a dot-com and temping, I launched my career as a reporter.

From 2001-2004, I was at The Daily Mining Gazette in Houghton, Michigan (avg. 180 inches of snow per year).

Returning to California in 2005, I’m working at the Enterprise-Record in Chico. In addition to writing, I’m spearheading the paper’s efforts to expand Web reporting.

Music remains a part of my life. I play clarinet in the UCSD Pep Band. Spun discs as a college DJ. I’m often found singing karaoke at various Chico nightspots.

Currently single, I’m hoping to star in the next edition of “The Bachelor.”

For more, check out http://my.rtomedia.com

It’s pretty concise of the bright highlights of the past 10 years. I’m off to check some old yearbooks and to get ready. Here’s hoping they have karaoke. 😀