Saturday, February 24, 2007
Smoking is still cool. Tv Tells me so daily.
I was watching this week's episode of LAS VEGAS just now. I just saw sweet Mary, who they're hardening up this season, smoking.
Her ex boyfriend, she show's white hunk said it was ok, because she was stressed.
I call the age card again, and start rambling like the grey haired father figure I made fun of when I wasn't one of them.
TV is still teaching us it's OK to smoke, and I believe somebody is behind it, on purpose.
Remembering a movie called WAG THE DOG, I wondered how the smart people would pull it off. They WAG THE DOG. It's an old trick. Change the news.
Britney Spears had to shave her head to get the news to shut up about Anna Nicole Smith.
We've heard a lot about product placements again in history. Commercials in the show, as some would describe. When done right, they make a show more believable, because no kid ever asked for a Cola. Kleenex and Hoover and windbreaker and elevator are all brand names we use in life like the product name. TV's just letting characters use brand names.
But when they up it a notch, and start talking like commercials, then we notice, and lose realty for a moment. The Zeppelin.
MAD TV has the most obvious product placement sketches among the shows I watch. I havn't decided whether they do it so blatent it's part of the joke, or whether they're just whores for free Yaris 4 doors for the staff.
I'd like mine in orange. The frequent mentions of Yaris wouldn't be so bad, because I sincerly believe Yaris owners probably do refer to it by name. Some cars you call cars, and some you call Keep, or Caddy or Corvette or Yaris.
The odd part is when MAD TV starts spewing about it's luxury features like they mixed up their cue cards with a dealer brochure. I know more about Yaris than I needed to.
I'm thinking of buying one. How did that happen?
But back to the topic I started with... TV has shown me it's a good idea to have some ciggarettes in my pocket or purse, or under my t shirt sleeve if I were to be so inclined to choose that atire. They're still bad, but everybody lets you smoke when bad things are happening to you. Then it's OK.
I wonder what the executive meeting with the writers was all about. Studio 60 has taught me that anybody can talk to anybody about anything in the real world. Did anybody try for ciagette use by the main characters in a positive situation was the opening bid, and this was what everyone settled on.
The ciagette lobby has always accepted that brand recognition and publicty are not always related. In the brand recogniotion game, no publicty is bad publicty, and such, maketing does care about image... it just cares you know it's name.
People buy brands they know are big. If you smoke to fit in, you don't buy independant brands. You buy what everybody else buys.
We know, through pop culture axioms, coke is #1 and Pepsi is #2. We know McDonalds beats Burger King. We do not however hear so much about who's #1 in smokes. But you can believe they do. Then again, maybe it's as obvious as Coke, but I just am out of the loop. I never smoked.
Not cigarettes anyway, he said with a TV style wink. A drum roll was noticable absent.
I need a drumroll and a rim shot on a button. My life would be better with a laughtrack. I am often the punchline guy.
SNAP BACK
The summary closing, that cigarette companies could have started paying or rewarding in some way, writers for including references to smoking again. Pop cul;ture needs to be smoking on TV.
On the one hand, it would be more realistic. Successful "Hot" men and women in the real world do smoke. So do many of the less-hot people in everyday life, although on TV, less of them smoke. The lower class always smoke on TV.
In order to lessen the complaints of the vocal few who love to complain. Give them a one two punch, although that is a horrible anaolgy for this.
West Wing taught me the technique. Use the news. Hide stories behind big stories.
Oh look, A Zeppelin.
UN-PAUSE
Her ex boyfriend, she show's white hunk said it was ok, because she was stressed.
I call the age card again, and start rambling like the grey haired father figure I made fun of when I wasn't one of them.
TV is still teaching us it's OK to smoke, and I believe somebody is behind it, on purpose.
Remembering a movie called WAG THE DOG, I wondered how the smart people would pull it off. They WAG THE DOG. It's an old trick. Change the news.
Britney Spears had to shave her head to get the news to shut up about Anna Nicole Smith.
We've heard a lot about product placements again in history. Commercials in the show, as some would describe. When done right, they make a show more believable, because no kid ever asked for a Cola. Kleenex and Hoover and windbreaker and elevator are all brand names we use in life like the product name. TV's just letting characters use brand names.
But when they up it a notch, and start talking like commercials, then we notice, and lose realty for a moment. The Zeppelin.
MAD TV has the most obvious product placement sketches among the shows I watch. I havn't decided whether they do it so blatent it's part of the joke, or whether they're just whores for free Yaris 4 doors for the staff.
I'd like mine in orange. The frequent mentions of Yaris wouldn't be so bad, because I sincerly believe Yaris owners probably do refer to it by name. Some cars you call cars, and some you call Keep, or Caddy or Corvette or Yaris.
The odd part is when MAD TV starts spewing about it's luxury features like they mixed up their cue cards with a dealer brochure. I know more about Yaris than I needed to.
I'm thinking of buying one. How did that happen?
But back to the topic I started with... TV has shown me it's a good idea to have some ciggarettes in my pocket or purse, or under my t shirt sleeve if I were to be so inclined to choose that atire. They're still bad, but everybody lets you smoke when bad things are happening to you. Then it's OK.
I wonder what the executive meeting with the writers was all about. Studio 60 has taught me that anybody can talk to anybody about anything in the real world. Did anybody try for ciagette use by the main characters in a positive situation was the opening bid, and this was what everyone settled on.
The ciagette lobby has always accepted that brand recognition and publicty are not always related. In the brand recogniotion game, no publicty is bad publicty, and such, maketing does care about image... it just cares you know it's name.
People buy brands they know are big. If you smoke to fit in, you don't buy independant brands. You buy what everybody else buys.
We know, through pop culture axioms, coke is #1 and Pepsi is #2. We know McDonalds beats Burger King. We do not however hear so much about who's #1 in smokes. But you can believe they do. Then again, maybe it's as obvious as Coke, but I just am out of the loop. I never smoked.
Not cigarettes anyway, he said with a TV style wink. A drum roll was noticable absent.
I need a drumroll and a rim shot on a button. My life would be better with a laughtrack. I am often the punchline guy.
SNAP BACK
The summary closing, that cigarette companies could have started paying or rewarding in some way, writers for including references to smoking again. Pop cul;ture needs to be smoking on TV.
On the one hand, it would be more realistic. Successful "Hot" men and women in the real world do smoke. So do many of the less-hot people in everyday life, although on TV, less of them smoke. The lower class always smoke on TV.
In order to lessen the complaints of the vocal few who love to complain. Give them a one two punch, although that is a horrible anaolgy for this.
West Wing taught me the technique. Use the news. Hide stories behind big stories.
Oh look, A Zeppelin.
UN-PAUSE
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Survivor controls it's Universe
Reality shows are not reality. That's not a new statement by any means. However, it's neat to see how a network or producer can make good TV, and stay within the confines of what they call reality. They don't script things, and they claim to not change the outcome, but they can change the rules.
A food competition for a tribal council challenge with one group that hasn't eaten in four days or more seems like a bit of an edge. The luxury, full and content team may not be as motivated. They've won two or three weeks in a row.
I don't mind. I like good TV. I'm not even sure how I'd feel if I found out the whole thing was scripted. To me, good TV is more important. I watch Survivor because I believe these are real people, and I'm fscinated at how the interact. I fast forward through the challenges sometimes, and listen to the personal interaction parts.
I love watching people be themselves, and surprise.
I don't so much need to watch them eat pig snouts.
As it turns out, they didn't win. The same teams loses again, back to back to back. It changes the game again. Still good TV, but you start to worry. If the underdogs don't win, you'll soon be wishing it was scripted.
I'm not saying misery isn't good TV, it's just not good TV over and over and over again. There is only so mucg we can watch. The underdog should rise. That's what we expect. We won't like reality TV if it seem to unreal.
The editors work overtime. I keep watching, season after season.
---
A food competition for a tribal council challenge with one group that hasn't eaten in four days or more seems like a bit of an edge. The luxury, full and content team may not be as motivated. They've won two or three weeks in a row.
I don't mind. I like good TV. I'm not even sure how I'd feel if I found out the whole thing was scripted. To me, good TV is more important. I watch Survivor because I believe these are real people, and I'm fscinated at how the interact. I fast forward through the challenges sometimes, and listen to the personal interaction parts.
I love watching people be themselves, and surprise.
I don't so much need to watch them eat pig snouts.
As it turns out, they didn't win. The same teams loses again, back to back to back. It changes the game again. Still good TV, but you start to worry. If the underdogs don't win, you'll soon be wishing it was scripted.
I'm not saying misery isn't good TV, it's just not good TV over and over and over again. There is only so mucg we can watch. The underdog should rise. That's what we expect. We won't like reality TV if it seem to unreal.
The editors work overtime. I keep watching, season after season.
---
Star Trek First Contact - with Billy Bob Thorton
I haven't seen it. I've only seen the commercials.
It seems like the new movie The Austronaut Farmer seems like the story of First Contact, the Star Trek movie that tells the history of the first warp flight into outyer space. It almost looks the same. A farmer builds a rocket in his barn.
I wonder what other Star Trek stories I could change and retell. After all, many of those stories are from other stories, and many of those are from the Bible.
Things that go without saying should be said more often, and we need to retell our stories.
It seems like the new movie The Austronaut Farmer seems like the story of First Contact, the Star Trek movie that tells the history of the first warp flight into outyer space. It almost looks the same. A farmer builds a rocket in his barn.
I wonder what other Star Trek stories I could change and retell. After all, many of those stories are from other stories, and many of those are from the Bible.
Things that go without saying should be said more often, and we need to retell our stories.
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
It's Your Fault
Every time I hear somebody on TV hiccup, I wonder if the writers have seen my web site. I have a hiccup cure listed, and for a while, I was #1 on Google. It's free and easy and works really well for about 80% of the people who try it. It's lost ground to less successful cures that cost money, because that's how the Internet works sometimes.
The other source of pride from my web site is my invented childhood game. It's called IT'S YOUR FAULT and it has a small following of fans who may play it a few times, and then give it up. I do however, sometimes fantasize that it could be a popular game through time.
Today, I saw it played on TV, but characters from a popular prime time network sitcom.
HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER played my game today. To be fair, this is a stretch, fabricated by pride in my own mind. They didn't play my game as much as I dream.
They just wrote an episode by taking a fault, and progressivly, almost in tern, tell detailed stories of how this faul;t could not have occured, if it were not for - followed by passing the blame to somebody else. First, it wasn't my fault, it was Barney's fault, because he ran the Boston Marathon. Then it was Marshall's Fault because he bet Barney he couldn't do it, and then it was her fault, and then his fault, and then this guy pushing the airport luggage carts.
On an on with no repetition or craziness. They followed all the rules expect they had to actually say what it was that happened, but I forgive artistic licence.
I wonder if they visited my web site.
Pride Beats Shame, hands up!
The other source of pride from my web site is my invented childhood game. It's called IT'S YOUR FAULT and it has a small following of fans who may play it a few times, and then give it up. I do however, sometimes fantasize that it could be a popular game through time.
Today, I saw it played on TV, but characters from a popular prime time network sitcom.
HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER played my game today. To be fair, this is a stretch, fabricated by pride in my own mind. They didn't play my game as much as I dream.
They just wrote an episode by taking a fault, and progressivly, almost in tern, tell detailed stories of how this faul;t could not have occured, if it were not for - followed by passing the blame to somebody else. First, it wasn't my fault, it was Barney's fault, because he ran the Boston Marathon. Then it was Marshall's Fault because he bet Barney he couldn't do it, and then it was her fault, and then his fault, and then this guy pushing the airport luggage carts.
On an on with no repetition or craziness. They followed all the rules expect they had to actually say what it was that happened, but I forgive artistic licence.
I wonder if they visited my web site.
Pride Beats Shame, hands up!
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
Prepping Us
I used to dream of a scenario where aliens had landed in Roswell, or before. I used to think; how would the world be different, if that were the truth. Then, I look for signs in society that hint that it may be, using this story.
The way the people who know the secret, prepair the world for the time when they can admit it.
Fiction and history have shown us time and time again that we're not good at handling such drastic change. We need to believe in our various Gods and explanations for how the universe works. We can't be told it was a lie, or a misunderstanding, and that god doesn't exist, or is different from our history lessons.
I estimated a 50 year plan, starting with slow integration of the idea. First hints at the idea we are not the center of the universe. Other planets may contain life, confirmed vaugly by science, but not so certain as to topple the churches.
We start seeing aliens in fiction, and on radio plays, or TV. We test the market with a hoax radio show. Then, in television and movies and comics, aliens come in all shapes and sizes. Friendly and dangerous. We explore all sorts of possibilities in fantasy.
However, the act tames the idea. Through time, we begin to wonder if the stories could be true, and if maybe life does exist elsewhere. The next few generations will be expecting the news; the truth. ALready conspiracy theories abound online about the signs that this story may be true.
Almost demanding to be told a truth we want.
Not all of us of course. We're not ready to accept multiple God stories we can't prove. I am certain a new version would be unwelcome to many. Religion has never worked when you knew your neiughbour had a different story. We've always killed those we couldn't convert. We still do.
We still are.
They can't tell us yet, but the bfiction improves. Gets more detailed. Prepairs us for less humaolid aliens and more "out there" possibilities.
I think it was Sagan who said something like about there being more in the universe than we cam concieve, but doubly so. I wish I coulkd remember the quote, but if I zeppelin off to lok it up, I'l lose my train of thought. That's why editing exists I guess.
The second portion to this blogged opinion, and the inspiration for the writing, was that I sat down to watch the first episode of THE DRESDEN FILES, and it occured to me.
The exact same scenario can be played out for paranormal, and I encompass it all under the categeory of "the unknown that exists without proof". I guess that is a good example of faith. If I include everything from magic to phyicic powers (which includes a lot of its own categories), I would say that something beyond my knwoledge exists. It's clear.
At least, current pop culture and fiction is leaning me that way. Of the 10 or so prime time shows I enjoy this season, an alarming amount are based in this world.
Dead Zone
Ghost Whisperer
Medium
Physch
Dresen Files
Smallville (A stretch, but people have powers)
I may even have forgotten some. The world is trying its best to convince me this is real.
But slowly, without bothering the people who still need to believe it's bunk.
The way the people who know the secret, prepair the world for the time when they can admit it.
Fiction and history have shown us time and time again that we're not good at handling such drastic change. We need to believe in our various Gods and explanations for how the universe works. We can't be told it was a lie, or a misunderstanding, and that god doesn't exist, or is different from our history lessons.
I estimated a 50 year plan, starting with slow integration of the idea. First hints at the idea we are not the center of the universe. Other planets may contain life, confirmed vaugly by science, but not so certain as to topple the churches.
We start seeing aliens in fiction, and on radio plays, or TV. We test the market with a hoax radio show. Then, in television and movies and comics, aliens come in all shapes and sizes. Friendly and dangerous. We explore all sorts of possibilities in fantasy.
However, the act tames the idea. Through time, we begin to wonder if the stories could be true, and if maybe life does exist elsewhere. The next few generations will be expecting the news; the truth. ALready conspiracy theories abound online about the signs that this story may be true.
Almost demanding to be told a truth we want.
Not all of us of course. We're not ready to accept multiple God stories we can't prove. I am certain a new version would be unwelcome to many. Religion has never worked when you knew your neiughbour had a different story. We've always killed those we couldn't convert. We still do.
We still are.
They can't tell us yet, but the bfiction improves. Gets more detailed. Prepairs us for less humaolid aliens and more "out there" possibilities.
I think it was Sagan who said something like about there being more in the universe than we cam concieve, but doubly so. I wish I coulkd remember the quote, but if I zeppelin off to lok it up, I'l lose my train of thought. That's why editing exists I guess.
The second portion to this blogged opinion, and the inspiration for the writing, was that I sat down to watch the first episode of THE DRESDEN FILES, and it occured to me.
The exact same scenario can be played out for paranormal, and I encompass it all under the categeory of "the unknown that exists without proof". I guess that is a good example of faith. If I include everything from magic to phyicic powers (which includes a lot of its own categories), I would say that something beyond my knwoledge exists. It's clear.
At least, current pop culture and fiction is leaning me that way. Of the 10 or so prime time shows I enjoy this season, an alarming amount are based in this world.
Dead Zone
Ghost Whisperer
Medium
Physch
Dresen Files
Smallville (A stretch, but people have powers)
I may even have forgotten some. The world is trying its best to convince me this is real.
But slowly, without bothering the people who still need to believe it's bunk.
Smoke em if you watch em
Wow. A lot of people smoked this week on TV. On Saturday Night live, at least three times. On Hero's, MAD TV, and on Studio 60. People I'd never seen smoking were smoking.
I wonder who paid who.
I wonder who paid who.
Labels: Saturday Night Live, smoking, SNL, studio 60
