KCET is no longer channel 28, at least on Time-Warner cable

late last night, i was confused when i saw a black, empty screen on channel 28, which, since childhood (at least in Orange County), was usually the former Los Angeles PBS station KCET. i thought it was a TiVO mixup, but today, even worse fears were confirmed, as stated in this press release (or programming alert?) issued by Time Warner cable:

"Beginning on or about January 17, 2011, KCET, which is currently made available to customers in an analog (or both analog and digital) format will be made available in a digital format only. KCET will remain on the Broadcast service level. Viewing on certain television sets may require additional equipment that can be provided by Time Warner Cable or that may be available for purchase from retail stores in certain locations. "

as we all know, KCET no longer carried PBS as of the first of the 2011 year. i was surprised to see just one other analogue cable 'dinosaur' on a local Los Angeles Yahoo! forum was noticing, let alone complaining, this recent development, that 'TWC drops analog KCET (ch.6)'.

what's worse is, even if we HAD digital KCET in Orange County, we would be forced to accept KCET's 24/7 Kids and Family channel, rather than their so-called "new" independent programming...which i was kinda digging, what with all the cool cooking shows (YOUR JAPANESE KITCHEN, RICK BAYLESS, ERIC RIPERT etc.), plus H.R. PUFNSTUF and LIDSVILLE!!?!

give the TSA something to look at...

thanks to my TiVO casts, i was turned on this evening to 4TH AMENDMENT WEAR, which uses metallic ink to make messages appear (actually, the Constitution's Fourth Amendment) under airport body scans. you can even purchase some of the garments on Etsy.

via Creativity Online

Justice John Paul Stevens is my hero.

and he's America's hero, too! the honourable JPS was on 60 MINUTES this week.

the entire episode was pretty cool, actually. you should check out the segments about the crazy Spiderman + U2 musical and training the Afghani police force.

Free TiVO cookie cutter!?

First, NPR buttons, and now TiVO is giving away cookie cutters!

African Swim on Adult Swim

so i'm fast-forwarding past the commercials while watching the VENTURE BROTHERS last night, and i stumble upon a trailer of a crew of rappers dancing onstage like i've never seen before. i hit play and rewind and learn it's a promo for a new area on the Adult Swim website, called AFRICAN SWIM.

(BTW in case you can't see it, the above is supposed to be an mp3 player of African Swim music, with shitty embed code supplied by the shitty website...)

of course, African Swim is completely buried in the "looks-like-i'm-stuck-in-a-tween-stickerbook-and-vomiting-ADD-drugs" craphole known as the Adult Swim website.

i also hate not being able to embed videos from the stupid site. all this being said, if you wanna see something like you've never seen before, check all the videos. to see some incredible dancing, check the JOZI video first!

look what my TiVO dragged in

From Adrian Molina



From Flickerlab.com

Both courtesy of Channel Frederator.

The Bechdel Rule is new to me

if you know me, you know i love TiVO. or rather, watching TV on TiVO.

so... have you ever made up rules about the things you will and will not watch on TV? i think it would be difficult to come up with rules and exclude shows before you ever see the show, because you have to see the show to find out it doesn't adhere to your rules...but i know i have STOPPED watching shows, for whatever reasons. i never systematically laid out the reasons why i stop watching a show, but maybe i should and see if any of the characteristics fall into any subsets???! nah. too much work. but this 'BECHDEL RULE' is interesting to think about, at the very least. the comic is below, and if you want to hear a radio take on this phenomenon, listen to this story on NPR.

oh and if that was too difficult to read, i think there's a bigger version of it HERE.

A TV ADDICT'S TAKE ON THE WRITER'S STRIKE

if you know me, you know that i really, really love television. i refer to my TiVO as an animate object. i want to teach a graduate course on "television and its impact on ____" with my friend FraKa, complete with weekly podcast. i rewind an episode after i've watched it, just to see who the writer(s) was (were), and the directors, too (some of the time). tv is something i hold dear to my heart and i spend as much time watching tv as most people do watching films.

in any case, i noticed in the past few weeks that the quality of writing in television programmes has become, i don't know, better...or at the very least, different.

it's as if all the writers knew how imminent the strike was, and so they decided to go balls out, so to speak. it's as if the writers wanted us to realise that there is something to be said for shows that do not rely on the reality factour. it's as if the writers knew they didn't know when their stuff would get made next, so they decided to put their best foot forward and give us some tv that would make us, the true tv fanatic, miss their writing.

i've been rationing out my new television episode broadcasts (read: i've been hoarding on my TiVO) over the past month or so. i like how the networks have tried to make their new episodes/shows last over the duration of the season. but, the tap is running dry.

please, directors, actors, studios: negotiate with the writers! admit it, they've got what you need. television needs writers.

and god*@&^ it, KCRW fundraiser started today. S%^# !!!