I couldn’t sleep last night. It wasn’t so much insomnia as much as I just wasn’t sleepy enough to go to bed at “bedtime”. So, I ended up staying up until 3:00am watching a short marathon of “Lizard Lick Towing” on TruTV. As entertaining as it can be, let’s just be honest folks. So called Reality TV is so full of shit. Don’t get me wrong. This blog isn’t going to be me trashing Lizard Lick Towing, or any other reality TV show in particular. As I’ve mentioned in the past, I’ve never been a particularly big fan of reality TV, other than cooking shows. They do, however (and unfortunately), have a way of sucking you into watching them, especially when they're on late at night and you can’t sleep.
“Lizard Lick Towing” isn’t the only one that ends up being a guilty pleasure of mine to watch. I also get caught up watching “Hardcore Pawn” (also on TruTV) from time to time. It’s not hard to watch these shows and figure out that, at least some of it, is totally staged. Now, I can image that folks that work in the repossession profession do have people assault them, or even shoot at them. And having worked retail, I can see how the folks on “Hardcore Pawn” do have customers that want to show their ass and act a fool. But, here’s the thing; almost every episode of these shows make it look like that’s all that ever happens, that it’s a daily occurrence. I have to call bullshit on that. I also have to call bullshit on the “we’re broke, so I gotta do this” angle as well. Come on guys. We all know TruTV pays you for being on television. You can’t seriously tell me you’re that behind on your bills that you have no choice but to take a shady repo job for $20,000 cash money out of state.
On top of shows like the ones mentioned above, it seems like reality TV is taking over the airwaves. I blame MTV, frankly. They started this shit with “The Real World” back in 1992. Now we have craptastic shows like “Jersey Shore” and “The Real Housewives” that feature vapid wastes of oxygen starting fights and generally acting like an argument against evolution and making you really wonder about the validity of public education.
Yep, I think I’m glad I bought that Nook a few months ago. If the future of TV is “reality” programming, then I’m glad I really enjoy reading.
~ JC
Sunday, July 22, 2012
Sunday, July 15, 2012
The Great Book Debate
I already own books that I have yet to read, both hard copy and electronic. I also have a growing list of books on my wish list in my Nook account. There are books by authors I have never read (or even heard of before) as well as ones by authors that I have considered amongst my favorites. The challenge here is, do I go with an author, and genre, I am familiar with and, based on experience, am fairly sure to enjoy, or do I take the gamble of reading something completely new?
To add to this conundrum of what to read, and in what format, is the option of audio books. I’ve not ever really used audio books before (3), although I do see the appeal of them. To a certain extent, I view audio books as sort of cheating. It’s not really reading; it’s listening to someone else read. One of the things about reading that I love is that it allows me to tune out for a bit. I typically try to find a quiet place to read, where there are few, if any, distractions. However, in our current society of “go, go, go”, finding time to do that isn’t always so easy. There are only so many hours in a day, and even when I get home from work, there are household responsibilities that have to be taken care of (laundry, taking out the trash, etc.). Even on the weekends when it would seem I have more “free” time, there are errands to run. These things lend themselves to wanting to give audio books a try.
Whatever the format, one thing is certain - with the declining quality of television, I really need to make more time to read.
~ JC
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(1) Note: the collection I have listed on LibraryThing does not (yet) include all of the ebooks and various gaming materials I have in PDF.
(2) Aldiko is actually the first ebook reader I ever used. After attempting a few ebooks on my Android phones and determining that I liked the idea of ebooks, I bought a Nook in order to enjoy ebooks on a larger screen.
(3) The only time I can recall using an audio book was in college, when I had tons of required reading to do. I remember listening to the Old Testament on cassette to satisfy the reading requirements for my Old Testament Survey class while simultaneously reading various textbooks.
Sunday, July 08, 2012
The Game Is Afoot
Most people I know play games of some sort or another, be they online, table top RPGs, console video games, board games, card games, miniature war games, etc. We all feel the need to be entertained, or at least occupy our free time in some way, shape, or form. We have games on our cellphones and I can’t go a week without someone hitting me up with a game invite on Facebook. Quotes from games become memes (until they take an arrow to the knee, that is).
I’m no different. I’m a recent convert to the addiction known as “Angry Birds”. I build and paint little plastic army men from the distant future so that I can use them to play Warhammer 40,000. I used to play role playing games on the weekends until my gaming group folded. As much time as I feel I lost to playing WoW, sometimes I do miss it. It was a nice pastime, especially on weekends. And my addiction to “Angry Birds” causes me to have to charge my smartphone a lot more often than usual. Still, there is always that nagging feeling to play a game. Maybe it’s because I refuse to “grow up”. Maybe it’s because my mind likes all the colors and sounds and the stimulation of having solve puzzles or figure out what my opponent will do next.
Whatever the reason people play games, just remember this. It’s just a game. Try not to take it too seriously.
~JC
I’m no different. I’m a recent convert to the addiction known as “Angry Birds”. I build and paint little plastic army men from the distant future so that I can use them to play Warhammer 40,000. I used to play role playing games on the weekends until my gaming group folded. As much time as I feel I lost to playing WoW, sometimes I do miss it. It was a nice pastime, especially on weekends. And my addiction to “Angry Birds” causes me to have to charge my smartphone a lot more often than usual. Still, there is always that nagging feeling to play a game. Maybe it’s because I refuse to “grow up”. Maybe it’s because my mind likes all the colors and sounds and the stimulation of having solve puzzles or figure out what my opponent will do next.
Whatever the reason people play games, just remember this. It’s just a game. Try not to take it too seriously.
~JC
Sunday, July 01, 2012
Burnt Offerings
I’ll admit it; I love cooking shows. And while I profess to hate reality TV, I’ve gotten rather addicted to watching reality cooking shows. Kitchen Nightmares, Restaurant Impossible, Next Food Network Star, Hell’s Kitchen, Master Chef; yep, I like them all.
I do watch other food related shows as well. I loved ‘Good Eats’ and was a little sad when I found out that Alton Brown had decided to stop doing it. Watching actual cooking shows, where the host shares a recipe and technique is great. It gives me ideas for new things to try instead of just the same old standards all the time.
The “reality” shows, though, do provide entertainment. Each week trying to figure out out who gets cut from the competition, or can [insert celebrity chef here] turn around that restaurant and get it back on track or will it fail despite [celebrity chef]’s efforts?
The “reality” model seems to be seeping into cooking shows more and more. There’s already Gordon Ramsay’s ‘Kitchen Nightmares’ on BBC America. Not to be outdone, the Food Network has ‘Restaurant Impossible’ with Robert Irvine, which is, frankly, a ripoff of Ramsay’s show with the slight twist of a limited budget ($10k) and limited amount of time (only 2 days). I’ve also seen advertisements for a couple of new Food Network shows that follow the “save a struggling restaurant” model, one in which Bobby Flay has only three days to help a new restaurant prepare for opening night, and another one with Anne Burrell auditioning candidates to become the new head chef for an existing restaurant. Does that mean I won’t watch them? No. I’ll still probably watch them even if they aren’t completely original.
The problem with the reality cooking shows though is that they tend to get away from the cooking and focus too much, sometimes, on drama. Sure it’s fun to watch Gordon Ramsay or Robert Irvine get into an argument with the clueless head chef or restaurateur, but you find yourself asking, “what really happened?” Let’s be honest here; we don’t get to see everything that was filmed. These guys spend anywhere from two days to a week at a location helping them change things, but all we get to see is what’s been edited down to a one hour television program.
What would be really fun to watch, in my opinion, if we’re really going to keep running with the reality motif, would be to pit Gordon Ramsay vs. Robert Irvine in a ‘Kitchen Nightmares vs. Restaurant Impossible’ battle. Would be interesting anyway. But really, at some point, I just want to see good cooks sharing great recipes and cooking techniques or shows like ‘Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives’ that feature great food from around the country. That’s what a cooking show should really be about - the food, not the drama.
~ JC
I do watch other food related shows as well. I loved ‘Good Eats’ and was a little sad when I found out that Alton Brown had decided to stop doing it. Watching actual cooking shows, where the host shares a recipe and technique is great. It gives me ideas for new things to try instead of just the same old standards all the time.
The “reality” shows, though, do provide entertainment. Each week trying to figure out out who gets cut from the competition, or can [insert celebrity chef here] turn around that restaurant and get it back on track or will it fail despite [celebrity chef]’s efforts?
The “reality” model seems to be seeping into cooking shows more and more. There’s already Gordon Ramsay’s ‘Kitchen Nightmares’ on BBC America. Not to be outdone, the Food Network has ‘Restaurant Impossible’ with Robert Irvine, which is, frankly, a ripoff of Ramsay’s show with the slight twist of a limited budget ($10k) and limited amount of time (only 2 days). I’ve also seen advertisements for a couple of new Food Network shows that follow the “save a struggling restaurant” model, one in which Bobby Flay has only three days to help a new restaurant prepare for opening night, and another one with Anne Burrell auditioning candidates to become the new head chef for an existing restaurant. Does that mean I won’t watch them? No. I’ll still probably watch them even if they aren’t completely original.
The problem with the reality cooking shows though is that they tend to get away from the cooking and focus too much, sometimes, on drama. Sure it’s fun to watch Gordon Ramsay or Robert Irvine get into an argument with the clueless head chef or restaurateur, but you find yourself asking, “what really happened?” Let’s be honest here; we don’t get to see everything that was filmed. These guys spend anywhere from two days to a week at a location helping them change things, but all we get to see is what’s been edited down to a one hour television program.
What would be really fun to watch, in my opinion, if we’re really going to keep running with the reality motif, would be to pit Gordon Ramsay vs. Robert Irvine in a ‘Kitchen Nightmares vs. Restaurant Impossible’ battle. Would be interesting anyway. But really, at some point, I just want to see good cooks sharing great recipes and cooking techniques or shows like ‘Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives’ that feature great food from around the country. That’s what a cooking show should really be about - the food, not the drama.
~ JC
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