Archive for September, 2006

So, I sat down last night to try to watch Heroes.  I was really excited.  Sure, I couldn't watch it on TV, but I was planning on watching it through the internets on NBC.com.

Heroes

So I sat down had some popcorn with me, and a nice big glass of pop and loaded up Firefox.  After using my super fast fingers I typed in NBC.com and went to their video section.  Found the “Watch full Pilot episode of Heroes here!” link and clicked on it.

I ate some popcorn with anticipation.  A pop up NBC media player opens up.  A commercial loads and I wait for the first trailer of Heroes to load.

Ok, trailer good, but let's see the real action.

Loading….

Another commercial, this time for a car….

Loading….

Eat some more popcorn and drink some caffinated fizzy drink…

Sorry, but this video is not serviceable in your area

WHAT THE SAM HELL?

I quickly refresh the screen

Loading..

Yeah ok get to the good part….

Loading..

Sorry, but this video is not servicable in your area

YOU SONS OF FRIDGES!

I freak out, I through popcorn at my screen.  Knowing that my computer didn't do anything wrong, but I needed to vent my frustrations on it.  It was the closest thing to me.   I realized that NBC only wanted Americans to see this and leave us in Canada out in the dust.

So, I furiously talked to my friend Google and asked, “Please, tell me there is a free-view of Heroes.”

Google answered with “Would you like to be a hero in bed?”

DAMN YOU TUBES!  DAMN YOU TRUCKS TO HELL!

But I did not despair.  I had my last trick up my computer geek filled sleeve.  I'm sorry to say this, but

I am officialy a pirate.

There I said it.  I'm a pirate.

I BitTorrented the episode.

There you happy now?!  You happy MPAA and RIAA with your FCC!  You ruined my internet experience!  I could have watched Heroes right when I wanted it to.  But you ruined that.

No I do not have a Tivo or a PVR….can't afford it

No I can't watch it on my Satelite….working when I could be watching it

No I can't watch it through the iTunes store…Canadian iTunes store doesn't have it.

No I can't watch it through NBC.com…I'm in Canada I can't watch it.

SO WHAT CHOICE DO I HAVE LEFT?  THAT'S RIGHT PIRATE!  YOU MADE AN HONEST PERSON A PIRATE YOU TUBE CLOGGING WHORES!!

YOU HAPPY NOW?!

…

By the way the episode was good.

Steve Saylor “Cap'n Snowbeard the pirate”

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ow the dust has settled in TV land, what new show do you love?This question was inspired to me by the PopWatch Blog over at Entertainment Weekly where they were debating as to what new TV shows in the fall lineup are the breakout hits, but what really inspired me though was the comments posted by readers.  They posted the shows that they love and don't want to be canceled.  Well I would like to sbmit this as a possible Question of the Day.

To answer this question myself, I must give a disclaimer.  I don't watch a lot of TV.  Don't get me wrong, I love watching TV.  There are shows that I love watching over and over again.  Smallville being one(go figure), Simpsons, Family Guy, Friends, Battlestar Galactica, Star Trek(All series), and The O.C.(Yes, I am willing to admit this one, but only as a further disclaimer that I liked the first season, the rest of the seasons are just ok).

Now that is just to name a few.

But the reason why I don't watch a lot of TV is mainly due to my work schedule that keeps me away from my TV all night.  But I do get to watch a few shows here and there.  Mostly what I do watch is podcasts.  Thats what I watch on a daily basis.  But that's another post all together.

Now granted with all the shows I listed above and the fact that I watch Podcasts more than I watch actual TV, I don't usually watch new series premiere shows when the new Fall season comes along.  Main reason, other than time constraints, is because the shows I latch onto usually get cancelled such as Firefly(obviously), and Threshold(Remember that little gem from the Star Trek creators and starred Brent Spiner as a Depressed Scientist?  It was a good show damnit!).  But this season after actually watching all the latest podcasts on my machine I decided to turn on the TV for the first time in weeks and lo and behold an actual new Series premiere was about to start!

What show was that?

It was “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip“

Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip promo

A little backstory for the show, this show was created by Aaron Sorkin of West Wing fame.   It starred Bradley Whitford(also of West Wing fame) as Danny Tripp, and Matthew Perry as Matt Albie.  The show is a fictionalized look at the behind the scenes of a Sketch comedy show similar to Saturday Night Live, but called Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.

I have to say I was very suprised with this show.  I liked the West Wing, but I couldn't understand all the political dialogue.  However, Studio 60 while still keeping the same kind of storytelling and visual style as West Wing had, Sorkin really blew me away with this show.  Not because I love the whole Television enviroment, but it has reinvigorated the passion and the fun of working in Television.  Sure networks can be a pain, with censors, Neilson ratings, advertisors, the FCC, and so on, but this gives a “ballsy” approach to all that, which I like.  It just makes me feel really good knowing the fact that I am working towards working in Television as a career.  And I actually understand the dialogue too!!!  Bonus!

Now granted I will watch Tina Fey's 30 Rock which is technically the same type of show, but from a person who actually worked on SNL.  So I will resevere judgement as far as which one I like the best, but Studio 60 has a slight edge just because I saw it first.

Now after watching this show I started to look into the other new shows that are on the Satelite box, and I am sorry to say I do not have a lot of love for a lot of them as I do have for Studio 60.  Here is a quick rundown of what the ones I have seen.

Circling the results

Shark:  Pretty much House at a Lawfirm, James Woods is ok though.
Justice:  Didn't like it.
The Class:  What the hell is this show about anyway?!
Smith:  Definitely has promise, I like the premise, but predicting that the same plot is going to be used over and over and over and over again.  Ray Liotta is good in it though.

Shows that I can't wait to watch:

30 Rock:   (See above)
Heroes:  I know I missed it last night, but I am going to try to watch it streaming from NBC.com before they take it down.
Ugly Betty:  Looks interresting, but same situation as Smith.  Hoping it doesn't get repetative fast.

Other than that, it seems to be a very decent new series line up this fall.  I think I may just invest in a Tivo or something(now that we can get them in Canada) so I can keep track of them all.

With all that in mind, what are your favorite new shows, and why do you like them?

Comment below and if you know how to get this questions submitted to the QotD, let me know.  I actually really want this one to get picked up.

Toodles!

Steve Saylor “Snowball”

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Hehe, this is cool.

Go here to make one of your own

Snowball in South Park
1 comment

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I'm sorry to report, I have just received some bad news…

My iPod is dying.

Yes that is true, my iPod is dying.

It's really sad for me, because I love my iPod.  It is so hard to see it suffer so much.  One minute we have a synergy between each other where he knows exactly the type of music and podcasts I want to listen to, and the next minute he dies from exhaustion.

We didn't use to have this problem.  He used to last for hours upon hours at a time, but now my iPod can barely scrape 2 and a half hours of life.  I'm only just trying to prolong his life by charging him each night, but I fear I must let him go.  Even after several headphone and battery replacements, I've tried to keep him going, but now I'm just prolonging the inevitable.

We've had such a long life together.  Three years is a long time for an iPod to last.  We've had some health scares in the past, he's had his fair share of bumps and bruises, but he always toughened it up and still played anything on it's hard drive to his life's content.

Now I've talked it over with him and he definitely wants me to see other iPods.  He wants the music to continue on and never stop.  And as his last request I will honor it and will consider getting one of those Video iPods.  It will never replace my original 3G iPod, but I must do what I must do.  So if anyone is out there and willing to help me in this endeavor, and help me through a tough time.  Please respond.

A troubled young Snowball

Steve Saylor “Snowball”

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Goodbye Blog – The Poem

This poem is dedicated to the blogs we all have left behind.

Hello Blog, how have you been?
Your RSS feed has been lacking lately
And I think that's a real sin.

You used to be so vibrant,
So personal and fun.
But now I sit here wondering
Why no current post has been posted
Not a single one.

From HTML to Ajax
You have grown so much
Its sad that no one updates you
Lacking that personal touch.

I sit here looking.  Watching you fade away
To a distant Google Graveyard
Where Netscape blogs stay

It's sad that no one will update you,
As your blogger has moved on,
But don't worry dear old blog
In my Hard Drive you will always live on.

Don't worry I'm not saying goodbye to this blog, quite the opposite, I just wanted to write something for what will soon to be my defunct blog at http://www.stevesaylor.net and for all those other blogs we have had throughout the years that we have all moved on from to another blog.

Now I know my poem writing skills may not be the greatest, but give me a break, last time I wrote a poem was when I was 16!

Anyway, let me know what you think.

Toodles!

Steve Saylor “Snowball”

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Ok, so I've just finished my very first full week of school this week, and I have to say I'm dog tired.  Now there are different types of tired for those of you not in the know.  There is just plain tired, sick and tired(which has 2 meanings depending on how you use them) there is also effing tired, and there is Dog tired.  I'm at the high end of the spectrum and that is Dog tired.  You would think that effing tired would be at the top of the list, but that is why I can say this without conscience that I know more about tired than you do.

Oh sure you can make wild claims on the fact that “I don't know what tired is,” but we all exaggerate on how tired we actually are.  I'm just the only one who tells the truth.  I never exaggerate on how tired I am.  So to say that I am Dog tired, you better believe me, or I'll have to Triple Dog dare ya to prove me wrong.

At any rate, school was not too bad this week.  I'm really starting to enjoy the classes that i am in.  The good thing is that since Broadcasting has around 100 students in First Year and we are all learning the same things, they break us up to smaller classes based on Alphabetical order.  So since my last name is Saylor I was at the bottom of the Alphabetical list, but at the top of the list in my Lab classes.  That being said since the majority of our work is in labs, our small Lab classes have about anywhere from 15 to 20 people.  Which is good because you start to get to know the people in your class really well, and we are all there having a good time inside and outside of class.  It's pretty cool, because last year in General Arts and Science, our classes were never really the same as each other's.  so each class I had different people for each, and it really started to take a toll on me.  I felt a lot of times that I was alone and had very few friends.  It sucked a lot.  However, this year is great.  Good thing is too is that the people in my class are easy to get along with, and that makes it easier for me to fit in.  I like outgoing people, and being in a Broadcasting course, you definitely need to be outgoing.

Anyway, enough random rants.  I need some sleep.  It's been a Hard day's night

Does that make any sense?

Toodles!

Steve Saylor “Snowball”  zzzzzzzzZZZZZZzzzzzzZZZZ

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It's amazing how used you get to being on the Internet at all times.  Whenever I am home i cannot do anything on the computer without having to use the Internet.  It's so engrained into our Computer/Tech lives.  If I ever lose Internet connection at home, I go bonkers.  Thankfully my ISP has been extremely good to me, and I've only had 1 outage for over the 2 years that I've had Cable in my house.  Furthermore, that outage wasn't even during a peak online time for me.  It happened at like 2 or 3 am, and I was just heading to bed when it happened.  Now granted, I have had times where I had to reset my modem every once in a while, but usually when I reset, the Internet is working perfectly.  Mainly I think that has to do with the Satelite in my house.  I have Bell Express-Vu Satelite TV, and we have 3 TV's in our house that if they are on at the same time, will cause my connection to slow down or disconnect.  Mainly due to the fact that in order to wire each Satelite receiver in the house it uses the existing Coax Cable in the house.

Now I've said all that to say this, when I bought a Router 2 years ago so that my Dad and I could share Internet Access, I never had the need to go Wireless in any way.  All I had was my PC, and I didn't move it anywhere, and Ethernet cables were not that hard to wire.  But since I've gotten my iBook, and my PSP Wi-FI has become more and more and option to use.  I hated having to keep an extra Cat 5 Cable around just so I could plug in my iBook.  I couldn't sit on my bed to use it, because the cable would be too short.  I was literaly bound by a chain that I needed to get out of.  So when I bit the bullet and bought a Wireless router instead of the wired one I had.  I have never looked back at using Cat 5 again.  Having the ability to sit on my couch upstairs and look out the window while I surf the web, is a massive blessing for me.

So to say the least that I am also sitting on a couch at my school writing this post using a freely available school subsidised Wi-Fi Connection brings a massive smile on my face.

I remember last year the school did not have that option.  There was this desk, that was more like a tall counter, that had Ethernet plugs for those Laptop users that didn't want to use the Lab to surf the web or play Video Games.  I was one of those people.  I hated having to tie myself down to a small cable and siting in a very uncomfortable high stool that felt like you were sitting on an unsteady rock.  they said last year that they were supposed to have Wi-Fi, but they lied and didn't add it in.

but liek I said all that changed, and I'm glad to say that at least we are now officially better than Lakehead.  If you know what I mean.

Toodles!

Steve Saylor “Snowball”

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I'm in school.  Yes that is the truth, I have finally after 3 years of working my ass off trying to get into Broadcasting, I am finally in that program.  It is about bloody time!

It's kind of weird.  I got into Broadcasting when I started working for Radio free Zion back around Janurary of last year, and it was only then that I decided that working in Radio and Television is what I wanted to do as a full blown career.  Great thing is I have the support of friends and family behind me 100%.  Even people who I respect and admire the most, and are working in the industry, are always there for me.

Of course sacrificies will need to be made.  Which sucks.  No more free time, less sleep, more work, and less money. Also, there will be other major decisions I will need to make within the next few weeks that I really don't want to make.  It's the first major decision of my life, and I just don't want to make the wrong decision.

I am going to try to keep this blog updated while I am in school, I think I should be able to on a regular basis mainly because I do have quite a few gaps in my timetable that warrent time to update my blog.  They are not by choice mind you, they are just gaps that I had because I took specific classes last year.

Anywyay, I will be doing a Life update soon her on this blog, so stay tuned for that.

You know what?  I can't believe that I just wrote all that crap I wrote above.  This post has to be the most boring post I have ever made!!

I apologize on behalf of Blog readers/Blog creators everywhere.  The opinions expressed above are those of a non caffeine stimulated participant and do not legally speak for Blogs as a whole in any way shape or form.

Toodles!

Steve Saylor “Snowball”

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