2 posts tagged “american idol”
It's nearly that time of year again where my unapologetic television habit comes to an abrupt end. It's not going to be so painful this time. Last year I enjoyed watching "Invasion", "Threshold" and the ungodly cheesy, albeit fun "Surface". Despite the fact "Invasion" started out slowly, but came to a great crescendo and a stellar season finale, and left me hanging all for nothing! All three shows were not renewed/canceled for the 2007 season. That was a bummer after last year's TV hiatus. Even the early Fall season's much critialy touted "The Nine", which I couldn't get into, which had the benefit of following "Lost", couldn't make a go of it. It seems networks aren't willing to build a following for thinking persons shows and the sci-fi genre is all but dead on the major networks. With the dumbing down of America, is the rise of game shows, reality TV and shows like "American Idol", "The Apprentice" and "Dancing with the Stars". Of course there are a few modern day "Melrose Place" shows like "Grey's Anatomy" and "Desperate Housewives". All are quick ratings hits, as they are truly mindless TV. That's fine, but a little variety and sticktuitiveness for the rest of us would be welcome. Frankly, I don't think "McDreamy" or "McTreemy" are all that and a bag of chips. I'd rather watch Anthony LaPaglia any day, one of my favorite actors who has had many a stand out series canceled before it's time. Come to find out that "Without a Trace" is starting to flag in the Sunday night ratings. Figures.
IMHO, the two best shows on network television are "Heroes" and "Prison Break". I still have been tuning into "Lost", and although it's moving a slightly better pace than in prior years, still fails to move at a pace that reveals enough to keep my frustration level with the show at bay. "24", a perennial favorite in the past has been darn near unwatchable for me. They have forgotten the formula that made the show an exceptional standout. The show has fallen prey to lack of character development, tired plot lines which require one to suspend reality to the point of absurdity, and have not made us care about any of the people in the show as individuals. It's slick Hollywood production and nothing more this season. I say kill Jack and come back next year with a hunt for his killer or end the series gracefully. How many more times can Jack Bauer be beaten, whipped, made to feel cheap, be left for dead and then cling to the bottom of a moving semi for 10 miles at full speed while talking on his cell phone at the same time and we still believe?
Thankfully "Heroes" and "Prison Break" deliver unique story lines (not the same old doctor/hospital or police/crime drama) well paced action, character we care about and that are well developed, intricate multi threaded, believable plots. It's reminiscent of the great Charles Dickens who mastered the art of intricate, interesting and suspenseful story telling, like his masterpiece, "Bleak House". (If you didn't see the PBS rendition of this classic with Gillian Anderson, I suggest it's not to be missed.) Both shows are well cast and there is lots of eye candy. I'll be glued to this season's last 5 episodes of "Heroes" which resumes after a long hiatus April 23rd. They've saved the cheerleader, now it's time to save the world...
PS. It looks like it's going to be a while before any of us X-philers get a File fix. The lawsuit between Chris Carter and Fox over syndication profits has finally settled and he is at work on a script, which will be a stand alone episode not related to the unfinished series business regarding the ongoing alien conspiracy (details). Potential release date for the movie? Don't hold your breath...2012. Gee, I could be dead from the effects of global warming by then!
Have you noticed a climate change in the area where you live over the past few years?
Sorry all you tree huggers, those too busy or brainwashed and who have not delved into both sides of an issue, or those who love to drink that Kool Aid (and there are plenty of you or at least, you're the vocal minority, aided by the big media), but I'm about to take a stand that's going to really piss you off today. (Many of you I call my friends, but that doesn't mean we have to agree on everything to get along in life, we just agree to disagree). Maybe, via comments, you'll piss me off too! I decided to answer the QotD, so you're gonna get my brutally honest opinion, not some PC milque-toast answer to keep you reading my blog if you don't agree with me...
You know, I do believe scientifically that the earth's temperature has gone up a degree or two. I don't believe it's going to wipe out the species. Many of the phenomenon currently attributed to global warming were occurring before the rise of the industrial age, with no explanations of those events, even 100 years ago. We certainly are finite in our knowledge and don't know everything about our planet to explain every phenomenon. If you believe the earth has been around for billions of years, then you must know, as many scientists on the other side do, that we've gone through cyclical climate changes. Or do you really believe this is the first climate shift?
Here in metro NY, the first half of the winter was unusually warm, I mean like late spring warm. If you believe all the hype, allow "inconvenient truths" to permeate your mind, boy, that's all the evidence one might need to jump on the global warming bandwagon. The second half of the winter was so unbelievably bitter cold and we had snowfall after snowfall. That, in one fell swoop, would have you believe that there is no warming trend, the first half of the winter was a cyclical fluke. Are either evidence, one way or another?
That being said, there is no consensus among scientists that global warming exists, but if you pass around one sided information long enough, it becomes "truth", no matter how inconvenient, and starts to brainwash the sheep. Movies made by Hollywood and politico's passed off and honored as "documentaries". Progressive big media droning out their ideology as objective reporting. Most good people who believe the hype are far too busy with their daily goings on, and if asked, barely know who name of their representative, who is secretary of state or what the "D.C." in Washington D.C. stands for, yet have adopted opinions they've heard touted as iron clad scientific "truth" presented over the airwaves, rather than bothering to investigate the whole of the argument for themselves and coming to their own conclusion. Sad but true.
The rest of the true believers are for the most part are, IMHO, ideologues, their beliefs rooted in elitist neo-socialism (btw, show me one good model, I challenge you, or will you show me yours, which can't fail like the rest, LOL? ) and this is all part and parcel of their "progressive" mindset. Some even believe it's part of a bigger global conspiracy, but I'm not touching that with a ten foot pole. Funny, the media, political factions, even the internet, unless you really dig deep, flood you with arguments FOR global warming, but never are so open minded, as they claim to be, to present the opposing arguments for the silent majority on the other side. Unfortunately, digging for the other side of the argument so one can make up their own mind after filtering the facts, takes considerable time and effort, which few expend.
From the Wall Street Journal, this article quickly and succinctly sums up how I feel (written by an MIT science professor):
Don't Believe the Hype
Al Gore is wrong. There's no "consensus" on global warming.
BY RICHARD S. LINDZEN
Sunday, July 2, 2006 12:01 a.m. EDTAccording to Al Gore's new film "An Inconvenient Truth," we're in for "a planetary emergency": melting ice sheets, huge increases in sea levels, more and stronger hurricanes, and invasions of tropical disease, among other cataclysms--unless we change the way we live now.
Bill Clinton has become the latest evangelist for Mr. Gore's gospel, proclaiming that current weather events show that he and Mr. Gore were right about global warming, and we are all suffering the consequences of President Bush's obtuseness on the matter. And why not? Mr. Gore assures us that "the debate in the scientific community is over." [full article link]
Anyway, 'nuff said, that's my opinion. I don't see any direct evidence in my day to day life that it is any warmer or cooler than at any other time in my 43 years of life. I'd call myself an independent thinker, I hold no particular overall philosophy where someone could pigeon hole me to ascribing to one mindset, ideology or world view or another. This is what my considerable research and my own powers of deduction have lead me to. If I'm wrong, I'm prepared to go to hell in a hand basket. Until then, I my advice to Al Gore is you better get some solar panels or a windmill, as you're massive home is taking tons of fossil fuel to heat. Your private jet travel too. If you're gonna preach "green", your lifestyle better be "green", or you got no street cred with me. It's just more greenhouse gas polluting the atmosphere for a world wide progressive agenda...can you say Kyoto**?
**Touted as a world wide treaty against global warming, but proven that it's initiatives would not impact the reduction of emissions. It's really a protocol for socialistic redistribution of wealth, hindering the efforts of 1st world countries and giving 3rd world countries a leg up and a license to pollute.
