Simpsons reality shows Jun 2, 2010
On a recent Simpsons episode (S21E23), a talent agent mentioned all the currently-airing reality shows on Fox: 
  • America's Ripest Bananas
  • So You Think You Can Judge
  • Who Wants to be a Welder?
  • Poodle Versus Elephant
  • Leg Swap
  • Old People Try to Figure Out Computers
  • American Idol
  • Dancing With Cars of the Stars
  • America's Drunkest Nobody
  • Let's Make a Veal
  • Somali Pirate Apprentice
  • Fix Andy Dick
  • Bottom Chef
  • My Life On Kathy Griffin
  • Pimp My Crypt
  • Are You Fatter Than a Fifth Grader?
  • Grave Robbers of Orange County
I would totally check out Leg Swap and Let's Make a Veal. #entertainment
Brits on FlashForward May 11, 2010
House's Hugh Laurie isn't the only Brit who can fake an American accent.  Of course FlashForward's Lloyd Simcoe (Jack Davenport) and Simon Campos (Dominic Monaghan) are British.  But it turns out Olivia Benford (Sonya Walger) and Mark Benford (Joseph Fiennes) are British as well.  Sonya Walger had a British accent on Lost, but her American accent on FlashForward made me think she was faking. 

Update:  Turns out Gabriel McDow (James Callis) is a Brit with a fake American accent as well. #entertainment
Sponsored by Austria Mar 25, 2010
When NPR isn't too busy trying to guilt me into giving them money, they often mention their strange sponsors.  Usually it's some "foundation" or non-profit group or obscure website.  But sometimes it's Austria, as in the country.  Every time I hear them say, "This program is sponsored in part by Austria," it catches me off guard.  Sure enough, the Austrian tourism industry is currently promoting events involving food and classical music, which happens to appeal to many NPR listeners. #entertainment
Flatland (3) Mar 15, 2010
Flatland is a book written by a British schoolmaster in 1884 about a two-dimensional being who lives in a two-dimensional world and is visited by a three-dimensional being from a three-dimensional world.  This may sound like possibly the worst topic for a book in the history of the universe, and I would agree with that premise, except that I read the book a few weeks ago and it kind of blew my mind.  It was mentioned on a recent episode of the geeky TV show The Big Bang Theory, and it turned out Wendy's former boss had given her a copy several years ago inscribed with the words, "I hope you like this better than the Bible," which is one of the more ridiculous things I've ever read, both because the book doesn't quite measure up in any significant way to the Bible no matter how you look at it (take, for example the fact that the average human has never even heard of Flatland), and because this was Wendy's boss.  The backstory makes a little more sense as Wendy had just started working and one of the few things her boss knew about her was that she read the Bible.  Regardless, thanks for the book. 

Anyway, the book is essentially about perspective.  It was nearly impossible for the two-dimensional being to understand the idea of a third dimension because he wasn't equipped with the ability to comprehend it.  He understood "length" and "width" because that's what his two-dimensional world consisted of, but the idea of "height" simply couldn't be explained rationally from the perspective of two dimensions.  It was only after visiting a one-dimensional world and having difficulty communicating the idea of two dimensions to the one-dimensional inhabitants that the two-dimensional being could fathom the possibility of a three-dimensional world. 

This theme has two main implications, both of which are at least slightly ridiculous, but which I will explore nonetheless.  The first is that there could conceivably be more than three spacial dimensions.  And while that idea sounds fantastical, our objection to it has the exact same basis as the two-dimensional being's objection to a three-dimensional world:  It doesn't fit in with our current understanding of things, therefore it can't possibly be true.  And just like the two-dimensional being was proven wrong by a visit from a three-dimensional being, so could we too be proven wrong by a visit from a four-dimensional being, or a five- or six-dimensional being, whatever that even means. 

Second, the human concept of "God" could be our interpretation of a visit from a four-dimensional being, which either means (a) our "God" is one of many gods, none of which are more worthy of worship than the next, or (b) we should aspire to learn about this being from another dimension so that we can expand our minds and understand our position in the grand scheme of things. 

Personally, I'm sticking with option (b) because it better fits into my current system of understanding, which I fully realize is a perfect example of irony. #entertainment
Product placement Mar 12, 2010
I get annoyed by product placement ads on TV shows.  I'm fine with the Coke cups on the judges table on American Idol.  I understand that's a form of advertising, but it's unobtrusive enough to not even realize it's there.  The Jay Leno Show, or whatever that stupid hour-long commercial is called these days, is a little different.  And I'm not the only one who noticed.  The one episode I watched had a segment that consisted of the celebrity guest driving a car around a little outdoor track to try to get the fastest time.  The car was some new electric Ford sedan, and I couldn't help but notice that this was a really long commercial not even cleverly disguised as a segment of a TV show.  I mean, if you're gonna try to sell me crap I don't want, at least cut to commercial first so I know when to press the fast-forward button on my DVR. #entertainment
Pop culture illiteracy (1) Mar 11, 2010
I watched a little bit of the Oscars the other night, and I felt like I was from another planet.  I have no clue what movies they're talking about or who the presenters are.  You see, I don't watch many new movies.  Especially ones that win awards or have the tendency to do so.  It's the same with new music.  I don't know who Lady Gaga is, or T-Pain, or whatever else the young kids are playing through their fancy mp3-doohickeys.  I've pretty successfully removed myself from pop culture, and I don't really see that as a bad thing. #entertainment
Tax-funded news Feb 17, 2010
Most news coverage is entertainment.  That's how stories are chosen over other stories, and that's why everybody covers the same stories.  If it wasn't entertaining, people wouldn't watch, and then nobody would make any money.  It's the same with the weather:  Unless there's a winter storm warning, people won't pay attention.  I think that's why weather predictions are usually wrong.  If they predict a catastrophic storm that will kill all of humanity but it doesn't end up happening, hey at least you watched.  Made you look. 

With this in mind, I think there should be a taxpayer-funded news outlet that simply reports information.  NPR sort of does this already, but they're only partially taxpayer-supported.  They also require listener donations, which I don't do, and which I feel bad about.  A fully taxpayer-funded news outlet could tell you what the president did today, who won American Idol, one major death or natural disaster per day, and the weather, but only the weather that can be predicted to a reasonable accuracy, i.e. if you say it's snowing right now and I look out my window and it's not snowing, you're fired.  The problem of course would be who gets to decide what's newsworthy and what's not.  I don't have a solution for that problem.  The other problem would be who would do the reporting.  Reporters and journalists tend to get big heads based on how many people watch their pseudo news programs.  We don't need another Katie Couric.  I'm thinking we could either go with someone who already has a big head (e.g. Oprah, or Trump, or maybe Bill Gates), or it could just be an asexual colorless robot.  That way no one would get offended. #entertainment
Self-professed Jan 28, 2010
Jesse Thorn, host of the public radio show The Sound of Young America, calls himself "America's Radio Sweetheart," which would be one of the stupidest things in the history of the universe, except for the fact that it's sort of a joke.  He discussed it with comedian Mike Birbiglia, who prefers to be known as "America's Favorite Comedian."  I guess the bottom line is that if you say something out loud, it's true. #entertainment
Poop and explosions Jan 19, 2010
This line from Stumbling on Happiness made me laugh quite a bit:  "The last decade has seen an explosion of books about poop."  Excellent point, and well-stated. #entertainment
Podpeople Jan 15, 2010
NPR's On the Media's podcast, which I'll admit can be dry at times, is interrupted after the first minute of the show with the pleasing British voice of Katya Rogers, one of the show's producers.  She usually says something along the lines of, "Hi podcast listeners, we're sponsored by blah blah blah."  One time, though I can't find evidence to support it, she called us "podpeople," which, in her silky smooth British accent, sounded quite awesome.  I'm a podperson. #entertainment