TV – C-Ya CW!

Some thoughts about Tuesday’s announced merger of The WB and UPN into a new fifth network — the CW. First — the name is lamer than i (the new name of Pax — the former seventh network).

The CW seems to stand for the new dynamic duo of CBS and Warner Bros. But come on — CW? I tried coming up with good jokes about the new name all day and didn’t do so hot. How about CU — as in “C-U on some other channel”? People, including moi, quickly wondered if this new network follows “Conventional Wisdom” or if it will offer “Country Western” shows.

I’ll bet that we’ll see a better name when the new network launches in the fall. Here’s hoping.

(BTW, i apparently stands for “infomercials”, which is what they air in primetime.)

The deal seemed surprising because there didn’t seem to be any public word that it was coming — right now. At the same time, you could see that the “netlets” would need to do something — both WB and UPN were struggling to keep their own schedules filled with shows worth watching and getting people to watch.

Back at the 1995 launch, pundits said both networks couldn’t make it and that at least one would have to die. They were right — neither of them will make it intact to the fall.

There’s a lot of talk about which of the current roster of shows airing on both networks through the spring will survive. I don’t think it’s a big issue although I hope that my favorites (UPN’s “Veronica Mars” and “Everybody Hates Chris”) makes it through.

The new network will have to get serious about what it wants to be. Both have tried, with varying levels of success, to reach young adults, black families and the like. Both networks have stumbled when they try to switch gears on the audiences they’re trying to attract. I don’t know what the studios will do with The CW, I just hope they do.

There’s been a lot of chatter about what will happen to the local stations airing WB or UPN programming. Just to keep things clear regarding local broadcasters. This deal involves the networks at the national level. The networks own only a handful of the local affiliates that broadcast their programming (and they seem to have priority for the new network).

So WB 4 in Anywhere, USA may air WB programming, but the local station is owned by Smithco Broadcasting.

We still need to see what the fallout is at the local level. This deal might leave Smithco and the other station owners scrambling (especially if their UPN/WB rival station is owned by CBS or WB-partner Tribune).

Considering that local broadcasting stations are highly valued ($100,000s to tens of millions), they aren’t going to go away. I’ll bet some of them will go back to syndicated programming and do all right. They’ll probably be able to sell more local ads instead of airing national ads in primetime.

I think this merger may be an ideal time for many local stations to jump to ethnic-language programming. Spanish language programming is growing and getting increased recognition (this season, Nielsen started listing Univision’s ratings alongside the Big 4 plus UPN, WB and i).

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Parts of this commentary were first posted on the TrekBBS

First Impression: A MacBook?

Apple’s announced its first Intel-based computers at the MacWorld Expo. The computers include an upgraded iMac at the same price and a MacBook Pro. I’m impressed by the announced specs for the MacBook, but the name leaves something to be desired.

On first blush, the name “MacBook” doesn’t seem to roll over the tongue. It seems less sexy or impressive than “Powerbook” or even “iBook.” I don’t know why Apple wants to abandon the Powerbook name. Aside from some gaffes with the first Power PC-based ‘books (silly overheating batteries), Powerbook has had a pretty strong reputation for more than 10 years.

Time will tell if “MacBook” will catch on, but I wonder if it’s the best name out there.

Bulletins

Why do I keep reposting my bulletins? Because they’re solid gold and I don’t want them to disappear after 10 days. I know that things like this are transitory, but I like keeping track of things (well, at least keeping stuff around).

Me and music

Last week, I replied to a bulletin about the songs in my iTunes library. I determined that I have nearly 1,600 songs. Since there’s a Smart Playlist for the 25 Most Played Song, I wanted to see what my least played songs were.

I quickly found that there are 909 songs that I’ve played five times or less. On the surface, I’ve barely listened to the songs in my library. It’s not wholly accurate — many of the songs I’ve had on another computer for years. Needless to say, I’m trying to remedy the situation.

Aside from podcasts, radio shows, audio books and the hour-long Beethoven concerts. I’m listening to those at least five times because it would be extremely trying.

Here’s the bulletin:

I (heart) iTunes Body: Open iTunes, go to your library, and supply the following: Answer, no matter how embarrasing it is!

  • How many songs: 1596 songs (6.9 days, 8.13 GB)
  • Sort by Song Title: First Song: ¿Donde Se Fueron? by Ozomatli Last Song: Zydeco Boogaloo by Buckwheat Zydeco
  • Sort by Time: Shortest Song: cnn_sting_5a_copy1 (:06) Longest Song: 61804 (an episode of the “American Who” radio show), 1:40:36 Longest Actual Song – Beethoven’s 9th Symphony – BBC Philharmonic, 1:07:24
  • Sort by Artist: First Artist: 3Style Last Artist: Yoshikazu Iwamoto
  • Sort by Album: First Album: 1st Magic (D’Nell) Last Album: You’ll Disappear (Augustana)
  • Top Three Most Played Songs-BE HONEST: 1. Duel of the Fates (Star Wars Episode 1) – 100 times 2. The Breaking of the Fellowship (The Lord of the Rings) – 95 times 3. Theme from “Battlestar Galactica” (original) – Stu Philips – 93 times
  • First song that comes up on shuffle: Entire Library (No Party Shuffle): Saturday Night Fish Fry – Louis Jordan Party Shuffle (Entire Library): Ballad of Ted Clampett – From “The Beverly Hillbillies”
  • Search for… “sex”: 2 out of 1596 “death”: 2 out of 1596 “love”: 43 out of 1596

Singing and stuff

OK, I’ve done a lot more singing than my blog would show. The brief highlights include a drunken kiss (while I was singing “Radar Love”) at the Last Call, the horrible wait at the Abbottswood (2 songs in four hours, well three if you count the beatbox version of “Battle Hymn of the Republic.”) and the power blackout at the Optimo last Saturday.

Monday at the Bear was probably one of the better nights at the bar in a while. Tim moved the setup inside after a chilly showing last Monday. People seemed to enjoy the songs I picked with people singing and dancing. That’s a rare occurance for me. Even if I’m the second coming of William Hung, at least we’re all having a good time.

  • Danger Zone
  • Man of Constant Sorrow
  • Cat’s in the Cradle
  • Soul Man
  • I’m gonna be 500 miles
  • Give it Away
  • Beast of Burden

My stab at MySpace humor

A couple of weeks ago, I replied to my first bulletin. Since MySpace (and Tom) delete bulletins after 10 days, I wanted to preserve this for posterity for all to enjoy (including Tom). – Ryan

Well, I’m responding to the most interesting bulletin I’ve seen in a while. Instead of the typical ’69 things I did to find good lovin’, someone is using the bulletins as a gauge to see if people are listening. Consequently, those that apparently didn’t post a reply to the bulletin may be dropped as a friend.

It’s an interesting approach, but it might be an imprecise tool. I don’t reply or repost bulletins because I’m just not into talking about ‘good lovin’ or propagating inane forwards about security breaches or promises of good luck. Oh, well. I’m here.

Since I’m on the soap box, I may as well respond to those burning questions. I hope no one’s offended — I’m trying to spice things up a bit.

Here we go:

  • Did you ever do it with a marsupial? Not yet.
  • What’s the last thing you saw before you blinked? This screen and my impending doom.
  • Could you please repost this bulletin so that Tom and the MySpace gang will know you’re still alive? No, for two reasons. One – I’m writing this darn thing. Two – if ‘Tom’ (if that’s his real name) needs users to repost lame bulletins to make sure a user account is active, then we’re all in poor shape.
  • Speaking of reposting this bulletin, what’s the most ominous threat you can conceive of to ‘encourage’ compliance? If you don’t pass this bulletin on, you will one day realize that you’ve lacked something for a long time. This feeling of loss is compounded by the fact that you didn’t miss whatever is missing until it was gone.
  • OK, now I need to ask a random, ‘wacky’ question: When was the last time you contributed to a compost pile? Never, unless you count using the bathroom. 😉
  • Seriously, nothing at all with the marsupial? I was tempted during a romantic cruise near Corsica, but the moment passed when I saw the marsupial for what it was — a pouched animal. I felt unworthy.

Lost on the U.P.: Guess I was wrong

Well, folks. I’m pulling the plug on my nascent project to document examples of people excluding the Upper Peninsula of Michigan from their maps. I’ve been told I’m wrong and I now heartedly admit the error of my ways.

Steven Colbert, of “The Colbert Report,” took a phone call from a Mustard County, Mich. resident last Monday. The resident pointed out that the show’s map of every congressional district omitted the U.P. (which is part of Michigan’s 1st). Colbert denied the allegation and told the caller that if it isn’t on his map, those people live in Canada.

Thanks for straightening that up, Steven.

Un-bear-able

Just another Monday at the Bear.

  • Hell – Squirrel Nut Zippers
  • Speak Softly Love (Theme from The Godfather) – Wow, I so didn’t know that song.
  • Beautiful Day – It was U2’s song, I only sang it.
  • This Love – From Maroon 5. I thought I didn’t know it, but it came through in the end.
  • Just the Way You Are – Much better this time out although I doubt it will ever become a crowd pleaser.
  • Good Morning Starshine – Nooby Nobby Low Low.
  • Folsom Prison Blues – Johnny Cash sang it right the first time.
  • Take Me Home, County Roads – Mountain Momma.
  • Wanted – I took the lead after providing back-up for months.
  • Rawhide – Another song about a cowboy (but with real horses, not metal ones)

R.I.P., Pat Morita

Word is that Pat Morita has died. While I pretty much only recall Morita in his memorable roles as Mr. Myagi in the Karate Kid films and Arnold in “Happy Days,” this CBC Arts story revealed parts of his career that I didn’t know about. I didn’t even know he was nominated for an Oscar for Karate Kid.

I last saw him playing himself on the Adult Swim series “Robot Chicken.” It was funny that he was poking fun at himself.

He will be missed.

Missing U.P.: Fact-checking the Wal-Mart movie

Just got back from seeing Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Prices at the Pageant Theater. It was an interesting film — they had a lot of ground to cover and I don’t know how effectively they navigated it.

Before landing on some towns that successfully fought off the discount retailer, the film bounced around from how Wal-Mart is against small-town businesses, the employees, the customers and the workers making their goods. They were interesting in their own rights, but they could’ve been tied better into the film’s overall message.

Anyway, there were at least two errors in the film that I’m interested in.

1 – What U.S. map were they using? It looked to me that the tip of the Keweenaw Peninsula was missing. Not cool, especially because the map looked pretty good otherwise.

2 – During the segment where the film detailed the number of violent crimes occurred in store parking lots, they listed a number of crimes that they said happened in the “first 7 months of 2005” (which drew a response from the audience).

Unfortunately, one of the listed crimes may not be accurate. I saw a knife assault at the Houghton, Mich. Wal-Mart listed. I remember when the assault happened and it wasn’t in 2005.

According to a Jan. 27, 2005 item from The Associated Press, the knife assault on the 92-year-old man occurred on Sept. 28, 2004. I recall the assault’s brutal details — the man’s throat was allegedly slashed in broad daylight (the man survived).

So if these details are inaccurate, how reliable are the film’s other details?

UPDATE – I was checking the list of parking lot crimes on WalMartMovie.com. Houghton isn’t currently on the list. I distinctly recall seeing it on the big screen (and I’m fairly certain I saw it on the on-screen list).

Interesting.

I’m also seeking a better name for this “Missing U.P.” segment. I would welcome ideas for something catchy and memorable. Drop me a line, ryan -at- rtomedia.com