Category Uncategorized

Feb 11 2011

Is that a snake?

This is hilarious, and actually gets funnier each time you watch it.  Check out the reactions of each different person.  The main guy in white is priceless though – the pause is so classic!

Jan 10 2011

2011 improving economy for general aviation?

Craig Fuller, the president and CEO of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, said 2011 should bring an improving economy for general aviation. "Uncertainty remains, but there’s more optimism in the land, I think," said Fuller.

Wow, that’s certainly something to bank on.  I think.

Jan 5 2011

Homeless man with a golden voice

This guy really does have a great voice – doesn’t look anything like he sounds at all!  Apparently he used to be a radio announcer, but drugs and alcohol took their toll and he is now homeless.  Since the video was shot he has been offered a full time position and a house by one organization, and has had several job offers from other sources!  What a great turnaround story:

Dec 22 2010

(un) Reality Shows

One of the big things in the last few years in TV land has been the advent of “reality” shows.  These shows seem to have gained a lot of popularity, which is great for the production studios, mainly because they are cheap to make.

There seem to be a couple of types of reality shows.  The “original” type is shot on location, with little or no script, capturing people doing something interesting or risky.  Examples would be “Dirty Jobs”, “Extreme home makeover”, “The Dog Whisperer”, “Salon Takeover”, “Dog the Bounty Hunter”, “The Apprentice”, or “Property Virgins”.

Here’s a dirty little secret about these shows, for those of you who aren’t already aware: They are fake.  Yes! It’s true! I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news.  I didn’t just read this somewhere, I was involved in the shooting of one of these for Animal Planet.  The scenario was manufactured, the scenes were set up minutes before shooting them, and there was precious little “reality” going on.

Another type is what I call the “staged” reality shows where it’s set in a studio of some type and they have “regular folk” appearing to provide the reality part.  Examples would be “Dancing With The Stars”, “The Bachelor/Bachelorette”, and “American Icon”.  If you think about it, “game shows” dating back to the ‘60s fit into this category.  So really, these are not “reality shows”, but just modern “game shows”.

Actual movies, or shows with a plot and card-carrying actors/actresses are a lot more time and trouble (and money) to make.  Personally, I think it’s worth the effort.  I find them much more entertaining.  I’m quite bored with the whole “reality” genre.

I frequently wonder when these boring reality shows will fall out of favor.  I mean, the networks usually cancel any decent series, so why not cancel a few of these duds?  For example, “Firefly” was a really unique show.  It had great writing, and a large, vocal, well organized viewer base who made it known to the studio how much they enjoyed the show and so forth.  Did it run for years then? Nope, it got cancelled after one season.  This seems to happen quite often, with shows running for multiple seasons and you are left scratching  your head and wondering “why would they keep THAT one?”

Dec 21 2010

Raw Onions – in Salad?

I don’t get it – who on earth decided it was a yummy thing to put great huge chunks of raw onions in an otherwise delicious salad?  Years ago, if any of the onion family were found on a salad, it would be finely diced spring onions (scallions).  These days, more and more I’m seeing big old red onions (not even sweet Myans) sliced up and thrown into the mix.

Of course, all you can taste in the resulting gourmet delight is onions.  And all you can taste for the next several hours is onions.  Personally, I’d rather taste a few of the other ingredients too, but maybe that’s a bit much to ask.

Cooked onions (especially caramelized) I really love, but please if you aren’t going to cook them, don’t bother including them.