Thursday, July 17, 2008

The Future is Near

YouTube and TiVo are teaming forces to integrate YouTube content into TiVo's services. The story was reported here in The Hollywood Reporter. This marks what will certainly be the trajectory of future media, incorporating Web content on the TV.

I think this will class up the ever-erudite destination for sneezing pandas and crudely-made montages.

The partnership, according to the article, will only allow those with the latest series of TiVo to access the content.

Words of Encouragement

The Wall Street Journal ran "The Declining Value Of Your College Degree". It focuses mainly on older graduates, but I think the situation has worsened for recent grads.

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Splish Splash

The joys of unemployment and summer never cease. With a pal from university, I headed to the local water park for an afternoon of slides, ogling and luke warm agua. Leaving my Venice Beach lifeguard shirt at home, I had hopes of a possible Sandlot moment, where I'd be rescued by my very own Wendy Pfeffercorn.

It should be mentioned that my swimming ability is on par with that of the gorillas.

Side note if I may. So, as I was writing the above sentence I researched to find an animal that can't swim. Google led me to Yahoo! Answers. Beyond the numerous comedians, scroll down to Fallin' Angel's (apparently their wings are broken) post. I'm not sure why the person posted their message. Why would you go on Yahoo to promote Google? Do they work for Google? Are they trying to? Is Fallin' Angel a Google disciple, a goociple, if you will? That just sounds like a dessert no one wants.

-"I'm all out of ice cream. Can I interest you in a goociple?"
-"No. It's getting late. I should get going."

In no way does that assist the person. Why would you take the effort to post "check out Google"?

I also learned, according to Betty, that kangaroos can't walk backwards. I'll have to verify if/when I go to Oz.

Back to the pool...with my protective triple coating of Ocean Potion to prevent additional burnage, Brian and I surveyed the park's offerings. There was a kiddy pool with barely enough water to dip in my big toe. But, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't drown in the 2 inches of water. We skipped that and headed for the slides.

There were four slides. Two for body luging and two for tubin'. The teal slide was a leisurely descent into the pool. The pink slide was deceptive. I usually equate pink with peaceful. This slide made me scream like a six- and 3/8 ths-year-old girl. An added benefit was the nasal colonic. This wasn't mentioned in the brochure, if it had there might have been a larger geriatric representation. I think water managed to blast all the way through my sinuses and to my brain.

The tube slides were fun and cushioned my ever sensitive bum from the re-entry.

Another enjoyable activity, in addition to people watching, was the Coral Corral. The ideal for laziness. Step one: sit in inner tube. Step two: let water push you around. That's it. It was pretty relaxing aside from the kids that thought of the lazy river as some sort of bumper tubes game. I decided that someday when I have excess money and a large estate, instead of a moat I'll install a lazy river thing. For when I want to move in the water without any physical effort.

It was a fun time, but the park could have used a regular pool for those interested in that sort of thing. I'm not saying I'm at the stage to be swimming laps but I'd like the option.

Friday, July 4, 2008

Epic Display of Patriotism

"This is one of the greatest moments in sports history."

"The passion is raw, but the hot dogs are cooked."

Nothing screams American pride quite like competitive eating. Nathan's Hot Doge Eating Contest just finished after a five dog eat-off between Joey Chestnut and Takeru "Tsunami" Kobayashi, which apparently has never happened in the annual Coney Island-hosted event. This year marked the 93rd time eaters pitted their stomachs against others.

I love the hyperbole used in sportscasting. The announcers managed to hang the future of the world on the outcome.

Winning hot dog count: 59 (plus 5 dog eat-off).
My record for hot dogs eaten in a day: 4.



So this Fourth of July, be sure to load up on calories and forget about all those who are starving elsewhere in the world.

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

...And the Murrow Goes to


It struck me a bit odd today when I read that media awards themselves for disaster coverage. The RTNDA announced the 2008 winners of the Edward R. Murrow Awards, honoring excellence in electronic journalism. The awards will be presented at a swanky dinner on Oct. 13, in New York.

Isn't standard award procedure to announce the nominees, THEN have a dramatic reveal at the dinner? This sounds like a pseudo event. They are doubling their news coverage of the awards. Maybe we can secure a late award for best coverage of the awards?

Despite all of the negative press regarding Katie Couric as host of the CBS Evening News, the program won for best newscast. Take that NBC and ABC.

The awarding of disaster coverage reminds me of Mitch Hedberg's sketch regarding reservations at restaurants.

Sadly, our blog did not bring home any Murrow's. Consequently, there will be no after party. We'll get 'em next year.