Battlestar Galactica nominated for 6 Emmy Awards! Fitness and exercise
2008 Emmy Award nominations announced on Thursday, July 17, 2008
The nominees for the 2008 Emmy Awards were announced on Thursday, July 17, 2008. The HBO miniseries John Adams garnered the most nominations, 23 in all. Two series on basic cable picked up a large number of nominations as well. Mad Men on AMC earned 16 nominations while the FX series Damages picked up 7.
The Sci Fi Channel made some noise too with its miniseries Tin Man (a non-musical reworking of The Wizard of Oz), which received 9 nominations. Most of those came in technical categories but it did receive a nomination in the category of Outstanding Miniseries.
Of course I can't overlook the take from Battlestar Galactica either. The Sci Fi Channel show picked up 6 nominations of its own including one in the category of Outstanding Writing For A Drama Series (for the 2nd consecutive year). Michael Angeli was recognized for his script of the episode "Six of One". "Razor" Flashback #4 earned a nomination in the category of Outstanding Special Class - Short-format Live-action Entertainment Programs. (Yeah, that's a mouthful.) Flashback #4 included the thrilling shot of the young William Adama falling through the sky while facing off against an old-sty1e gun-wielding Cylon Centurion. The other BSG nominations came in the categories of cinematography, editing, sound mixing, and special visual effects.
BSG received 3 Emmy nominations last year, in the categories of Outstanding Directing For A Drama Series, Outstanding Writing For A Drama Series and Outstanding Special Visual Effects For A Series, winning the award for special visual effects.
I thought some of the other episodes this season were a little better than "Six of One" including "Faith", "Guess What's Coming to Dinner?", "The Hub", and "Revelations" but "Six of One" was also an outstanding episode. Hopefully BSG will finally win an Emmy in the category of writing this year. Emmys in the other categories would be nice too.
The Emmy Award winners will be announced at the televised show on Sunday, September 21 at 8 pm ET on ABC. I don't usually watch the show but I might peek in this time to see if BSG wins in any of those categories.
---------------
Swimming, fitness and exercise
I got in about 2 1/2 hours of swimming this weekend. I've been pushing it a little but I find that it helps me to burn off energy and relieve stress. I was too tired to do any weightlifting. Maybe sometime during the week. If you decide to pick up swimming as one of your forms of exercise, be sure to get a pair of quality swimming goggles. The small racing kind are ideal like the ones that Speedo makes. The large masks that scuba divers use really aren't appropriate since the bulky shape will slow you down. That's about all the equipment you need for swimming. I would also avoid wearing baggy shorts since those will constrict your movements.
If you want to improve your technique, the BBC website has a good set of basic instructional pages for all the official Olympic strokes. For some reason, the pages are no longer accessible from the main BBC Sport page. They used to have a BBC Sports Academy section but it's no longer promoted. Fortunately you can still access the older pages if you have the full URLs. Click on the following links to view the pages for each of the swim strokes and bookmark them for future reference. There are pages for beginners, intermediate swimmers and advanced swimmers.
Breaststroke (the easiest stroke to learn and to use, and a good one for amateurs who swim for aerobic exercise and not for competition)
Front crawl (the fastest stroke but one that demands a lot of effort and energy)
Butterfly (probably the most difficult stroke to learn; I'm not sure I do it 100% correctly myself but I've been improving the last 2 years)
Backstroke (I don't do this one too much because it's difficult to keep to a straight line when swimming outdoors)
Swimming is a low-impact sport if you do it correctly. It's much easier on your knees than jogging is. You do have to be careful about overworking your shoulders but I've found that proper warm-ups help a lot. Occasional weightlifting sessions also help your shoulders. Swimming is a great aerobic fitness activity. It even builds up your muscles too if you swim on a regular basis. The only area it doesn't cover is your midsection (the abdominal muscles). Thus, you should probably do some additional work for your abs (upper and lower), your oblique muscles (the muscles on the sides of your midsection that allow you to twist and rotate your torso) and your lower back muscles. Hanging leg raises are great for the lower abs. Crunches (performed properly) work the upper abs. Side bends and cable twists work the obliques, while stiff-leg deadlifts with light weights exercise the lower back (but make sure you NEVER curl your lower back forward -- always keep it relatively straight).
Official U.S. government fitness guidelines recommend that every able-bodied adult exercise on a regular basis. This includes aerobic exercise (walking, jogging, swimming, rowing, etc.), flexibility (moderate stretching) and strength training. Strength training is important to combat the slow deterioration of muscle tone and bone density as we age. Not only do muscles become stronger but your bones also become stronger through resistance training/weightlifting. Much of the "symptoms" we traditionally associate with aging are actually symptoms of inactivity and poor diet. Studies have shown that many elderly people are wheelchair-bound because of muscle and bone weakness and lack of coordination, not because of disease or other condition. When nursing home residents begin a program of strength training with light weights, they can often do away with their wheelchairs. The improved strength and coordination also helps to prevent falls. When accidents do occur, they are much less likely to lead to broken bones because of the improved bone strength.
For younger adults, improved fitness can lead to better posture and less back pain, or even an elimination of back pain. Perhaps a majority of U.S. adults complain about lower back pain to some extent. I've read various articles that show that physical injury is the cause in only a minority of cases. Most of the time, the pain is the result of weak back and abdominal muscles (including the obliques). Most of us sit in chairs for much of the day. It really is an unnatural position that places a lot of stress on the lower back. This is why it's important to take a break every hour or so and stretch your back. It can be something as simple as standing up and reaching your arms up toward the ceiling. A regular routine of ab, oblique and lower back exercises will also help prevent many cases of lower back pain.
As I've said before, I'm not a medical or health professional, nor am I any kind of fitness expert. I periodically post about health and fitness issues on my blog because too many able-bodied adults in modern industrialized societies let themselves get out of shape. This leads to the pandemic of lower back pain as well as more serious issues like increased diabetes rates and heart disease (from obesity and lack of exercise). Hopefully this blog entry will spur people to pay more attention to their overall health and dietary practices. There are many quality sources of information available on the Web including exercise.about.com, Muscle & Fitness (primarily targeted towards men), Muscle & Fitness Hers (for active women), Shape (a fitness website and magazine designed for women), and Bodybuilding.com (for those who are a bit more intense about working out. Be careful of supplements like creatine and stay away from the steroids though!).
Familiarity with the major muscle groups of the body also helps one to keep focused on maintaining one's fitness. If you don't know about obliques and such, you are more likely to ignore them. If you have at least a basic understanding of these muscles (and we all have them), then we might be more likely to keep in shape. There are many online sources. Wikipedia actually has some good articles, which are based on the older versions of Gray's Anatomy for which the copyright has expired. Most of the anatomical illustrations seem to be accurate from what I remember of various books and articles I've read but read other trustworthy sources as well.
My ongoing concern with fitness issues is spurred in part by the problems with dietary practices, weight control and inactivity in most industrialized countries, including the U.S. The average life expectancy is actually starting to decrease in some areas because of heart disease, diabetes and lung cancer. Most people are aware of the enormous healthcare costs in the U.S. I'm not going to get into the debate about Social Security, Medicare and privatization here because in the end, all that does is move around money that shouldn't have to be spent in the first place. No insurance system will be able to handle healthcare costs if people eat poorly and remain inactive. Though there are other problems (such as unnecessary tests and overuse of some expensive medical technologies like MRIs), a major factor in the healthcare problem is the need to deal with health issues on such a wide scale that don't need to exist.
Heart disease is the number one cause of death for American adults, men AND women, not breast cancer, not AIDS, not strep infections, not salmonella poisoning (which usually isn't fatal) and not West Nile virus or any other prominently reported diseases. Though genetics plays a part in heart disease, so does aerobic fitness, body weight and other factors that people can change. Childhood diabetes is another growing problem that can be combated through exercise and proper diet. Though Type I diabetes is one matter, Type II diabetes can be greatly affected by dietary practices and exercise (or lack thereof).
Well, I guess this part of the blog ran longer than I had intended. I suppose this won't necessarily be too popular but I do hope to play a small part in helping everyone to consider personal health and fitness issues more carefully. It's important, not just for you but for your family members and friends.
---------------
Future blog topics
I saw a TV-related exhibit today (Sunday). Unfortunately photography wasn't allowed but I've still managed to put together a multimedia blog about it. I have some pictures that I took of a related exhibit back in 2006 along with some videos (from YouTube). I should be able to post it tomorrow since I already have all the pictures uploaded to the image hosting site. I don't have time to finish it tonight and this blog entry is about the Emmy Awards anyway (and fitness).
I promise that I won't talk about fitness issues in the next blog post. Well, at least I'll try not to. But for those of you who have been reading my blog since 2005 already know that I write up one of these fitness posts a few times a year, so this is nothing new. Hope everyone had a good weekend.
---------------
The nominees for the 2008 Emmy Awards were announced on Thursday, July 17, 2008. The HBO miniseries John Adams garnered the most nominations, 23 in all. Two series on basic cable picked up a large number of nominations as well. Mad Men on AMC earned 16 nominations while the FX series Damages picked up 7.
The Sci Fi Channel made some noise too with its miniseries Tin Man (a non-musical reworking of The Wizard of Oz), which received 9 nominations. Most of those came in technical categories but it did receive a nomination in the category of Outstanding Miniseries.
Of course I can't overlook the take from Battlestar Galactica either. The Sci Fi Channel show picked up 6 nominations of its own including one in the category of Outstanding Writing For A Drama Series (for the 2nd consecutive year). Michael Angeli was recognized for his script of the episode "Six of One". "Razor" Flashback #4 earned a nomination in the category of Outstanding Special Class - Short-format Live-action Entertainment Programs. (Yeah, that's a mouthful.) Flashback #4 included the thrilling shot of the young William Adama falling through the sky while facing off against an old-sty1e gun-wielding Cylon Centurion. The other BSG nominations came in the categories of cinematography, editing, sound mixing, and special visual effects.
BSG received 3 Emmy nominations last year, in the categories of Outstanding Directing For A Drama Series, Outstanding Writing For A Drama Series and Outstanding Special Visual Effects For A Series, winning the award for special visual effects.
I thought some of the other episodes this season were a little better than "Six of One" including "Faith", "Guess What's Coming to Dinner?", "The Hub", and "Revelations" but "Six of One" was also an outstanding episode. Hopefully BSG will finally win an Emmy in the category of writing this year. Emmys in the other categories would be nice too.
The Emmy Award winners will be announced at the televised show on Sunday, September 21 at 8 pm ET on ABC. I don't usually watch the show but I might peek in this time to see if BSG wins in any of those categories.
---------------
Swimming, fitness and exercise
I got in about 2 1/2 hours of swimming this weekend. I've been pushing it a little but I find that it helps me to burn off energy and relieve stress. I was too tired to do any weightlifting. Maybe sometime during the week. If you decide to pick up swimming as one of your forms of exercise, be sure to get a pair of quality swimming goggles. The small racing kind are ideal like the ones that Speedo makes. The large masks that scuba divers use really aren't appropriate since the bulky shape will slow you down. That's about all the equipment you need for swimming. I would also avoid wearing baggy shorts since those will constrict your movements.
If you want to improve your technique, the BBC website has a good set of basic instructional pages for all the official Olympic strokes. For some reason, the pages are no longer accessible from the main BBC Sport page. They used to have a BBC Sports Academy section but it's no longer promoted. Fortunately you can still access the older pages if you have the full URLs. Click on the following links to view the pages for each of the swim strokes and bookmark them for future reference. There are pages for beginners, intermediate swimmers and advanced swimmers.
Breaststroke (the easiest stroke to learn and to use, and a good one for amateurs who swim for aerobic exercise and not for competition)
Front crawl (the fastest stroke but one that demands a lot of effort and energy)
Butterfly (probably the most difficult stroke to learn; I'm not sure I do it 100% correctly myself but I've been improving the last 2 years)
Backstroke (I don't do this one too much because it's difficult to keep to a straight line when swimming outdoors)
Swimming is a low-impact sport if you do it correctly. It's much easier on your knees than jogging is. You do have to be careful about overworking your shoulders but I've found that proper warm-ups help a lot. Occasional weightlifting sessions also help your shoulders. Swimming is a great aerobic fitness activity. It even builds up your muscles too if you swim on a regular basis. The only area it doesn't cover is your midsection (the abdominal muscles). Thus, you should probably do some additional work for your abs (upper and lower), your oblique muscles (the muscles on the sides of your midsection that allow you to twist and rotate your torso) and your lower back muscles. Hanging leg raises are great for the lower abs. Crunches (performed properly) work the upper abs. Side bends and cable twists work the obliques, while stiff-leg deadlifts with light weights exercise the lower back (but make sure you NEVER curl your lower back forward -- always keep it relatively straight).
Official U.S. government fitness guidelines recommend that every able-bodied adult exercise on a regular basis. This includes aerobic exercise (walking, jogging, swimming, rowing, etc.), flexibility (moderate stretching) and strength training. Strength training is important to combat the slow deterioration of muscle tone and bone density as we age. Not only do muscles become stronger but your bones also become stronger through resistance training/weightlifting. Much of the "symptoms" we traditionally associate with aging are actually symptoms of inactivity and poor diet. Studies have shown that many elderly people are wheelchair-bound because of muscle and bone weakness and lack of coordination, not because of disease or other condition. When nursing home residents begin a program of strength training with light weights, they can often do away with their wheelchairs. The improved strength and coordination also helps to prevent falls. When accidents do occur, they are much less likely to lead to broken bones because of the improved bone strength.
For younger adults, improved fitness can lead to better posture and less back pain, or even an elimination of back pain. Perhaps a majority of U.S. adults complain about lower back pain to some extent. I've read various articles that show that physical injury is the cause in only a minority of cases. Most of the time, the pain is the result of weak back and abdominal muscles (including the obliques). Most of us sit in chairs for much of the day. It really is an unnatural position that places a lot of stress on the lower back. This is why it's important to take a break every hour or so and stretch your back. It can be something as simple as standing up and reaching your arms up toward the ceiling. A regular routine of ab, oblique and lower back exercises will also help prevent many cases of lower back pain.
As I've said before, I'm not a medical or health professional, nor am I any kind of fitness expert. I periodically post about health and fitness issues on my blog because too many able-bodied adults in modern industrialized societies let themselves get out of shape. This leads to the pandemic of lower back pain as well as more serious issues like increased diabetes rates and heart disease (from obesity and lack of exercise). Hopefully this blog entry will spur people to pay more attention to their overall health and dietary practices. There are many quality sources of information available on the Web including exercise.about.com, Muscle & Fitness (primarily targeted towards men), Muscle & Fitness Hers (for active women), Shape (a fitness website and magazine designed for women), and Bodybuilding.com (for those who are a bit more intense about working out. Be careful of supplements like creatine and stay away from the steroids though!).
Familiarity with the major muscle groups of the body also helps one to keep focused on maintaining one's fitness. If you don't know about obliques and such, you are more likely to ignore them. If you have at least a basic understanding of these muscles (and we all have them), then we might be more likely to keep in shape. There are many online sources. Wikipedia actually has some good articles, which are based on the older versions of Gray's Anatomy for which the copyright has expired. Most of the anatomical illustrations seem to be accurate from what I remember of various books and articles I've read but read other trustworthy sources as well.
My ongoing concern with fitness issues is spurred in part by the problems with dietary practices, weight control and inactivity in most industrialized countries, including the U.S. The average life expectancy is actually starting to decrease in some areas because of heart disease, diabetes and lung cancer. Most people are aware of the enormous healthcare costs in the U.S. I'm not going to get into the debate about Social Security, Medicare and privatization here because in the end, all that does is move around money that shouldn't have to be spent in the first place. No insurance system will be able to handle healthcare costs if people eat poorly and remain inactive. Though there are other problems (such as unnecessary tests and overuse of some expensive medical technologies like MRIs), a major factor in the healthcare problem is the need to deal with health issues on such a wide scale that don't need to exist.
Heart disease is the number one cause of death for American adults, men AND women, not breast cancer, not AIDS, not strep infections, not salmonella poisoning (which usually isn't fatal) and not West Nile virus or any other prominently reported diseases. Though genetics plays a part in heart disease, so does aerobic fitness, body weight and other factors that people can change. Childhood diabetes is another growing problem that can be combated through exercise and proper diet. Though Type I diabetes is one matter, Type II diabetes can be greatly affected by dietary practices and exercise (or lack thereof).
Well, I guess this part of the blog ran longer than I had intended. I suppose this won't necessarily be too popular but I do hope to play a small part in helping everyone to consider personal health and fitness issues more carefully. It's important, not just for you but for your family members and friends.
---------------
Future blog topics
I saw a TV-related exhibit today (Sunday). Unfortunately photography wasn't allowed but I've still managed to put together a multimedia blog about it. I have some pictures that I took of a related exhibit back in 2006 along with some videos (from YouTube). I should be able to post it tomorrow since I already have all the pictures uploaded to the image hosting site. I don't have time to finish it tonight and this blog entry is about the Emmy Awards anyway (and fitness).
I promise that I won't talk about fitness issues in the next blog post. Well, at least I'll try not to. But for those of you who have been reading my blog since 2005 already know that I write up one of these fitness posts a few times a year, so this is nothing new. Hope everyone had a good weekend.
---------------
Print
Comment
Tag
Facebook
Digg thisTV.com: an Entertainment site of CBS Interactive, as of June 30, 2008
In case you hadn't figured out the news yet, TV.com and the rest of the CNET Networks websites officially became part of CBS Corporation on June 30, 2008.
The CNET Networks sites have been folded into an expanded CBS Interactive division. The business unit has been organized into five vertical categories: Technology, Entertainment, News, Sports and Business. The former CNET Entertainment sites now fall under the Entertainment category of CBS Interactive. In the official CBS Corporation announcement, TV.com received top billing in the Entertainment section, above CBS.com. Here is the relevant paragraph:
Entertainment: Representing the third largest online entertainment group on the web, the collective reach of CBS Interactive's entertainment portfolio will now exceed 24 million users each month, and include many of the leading brands on the web today, including: TV.com, CBS.com, The CBS Audience Network, theInsider.com, GameSpot.com, Last.fm, and CHOW.com, among others. These are among the most visited entertainment destinations on the web today, each with their own identity and audience profile, and they continue to grow in users and time spent visiting. This past year, for instance, CBS.com market share grew a category-leading 41 percent. Combined with the power of America's most watched network – CBS Television – CBS Interactive offers unparalleled consumer reach online and offline.
To read the full press release, visit the official CBS Corporation website at www.cbscorporation.com.
You may have noticed the addition of CBS websites to the news ticker that appears toward the top right of each TV.com page. Articles from CBSNews.com, Last.fm and theInsider.com join those from former CNET sites like ZDNet.com, TechRepublic and CNET's News.com.
Three years and one month after the birth of TV.com, we enter a new era under the banner of CBS Corporation and CBS Interactive. Keep in mind that TV.com is no longer a successful independent TV-related site. It is now a cousin of the most popular television network in the United States. Some CBS shows already appear on the TV.com guides with complete episodes available as streaming video. I imagine that this arrangement will become more common with other CBS shows. Maybe we'll even see streaming episodes added to former CBS shows like Hawaii Five-O, which set a record in its time as the longest-running police/detective show on television, airing 12 full seasons all on "the CBS Television Network." (Law & Order broke that record. However, one could say that Law & Order is not a pure detective show since half of each episode is devoted to the courtroom side of the criminal justice system.)
Though most of you are familiar with my interest in the Battlestar Galactica series, you may not know that I spend much of my TV.com time at the Sports forum on the site. Perhaps we could see some changes over there. It's an interesting forum but there aren't any special features and the group isn't too large. CBSSports.com and its affiliated sites (NCAA.com and CBSCollegeSports.com) are one of the most popular groups of sports-related sites on the Internet. Now those are part of the CBS Interactive division too.
I haven't seen any wholesale changes on the site so far, nor do I expect to. CBS paid a lot of money for CNET Networks. CNET had a broad reach on the Internet and it was a profitable company (contrary to what some might have thought after the shareholder rebellion last year). The new CBS Interactive becomes the eighth-most-popular group of websites in the entire world in terms of monthly unique users. The entertainment group alone draws over 24 million unique users every month.
The corporate identity of CBS Corporation
So what exactly is CBS Corporation anyway? Well, there is actually good reason for confusion about the corporate identity of the new owner of TV.com. The famous CBS Network was part of a company called CBS, Inc. The Federal Communications Commission ruled that TV broadcast networks couldn't own cable or other television distribution businesses so Viacom International was spun off from CBS Inc. in June 1971. Viacom Inc. was formed at this time. (Viacom Inc. is the precursor to CBS Corporation.)
Viacom Inc. distributed CBS television shows in syndication at this time, in what was a very profitable business. Viacom also purchased radio stations and the MTV cable channels during the 1970s and 1980s. National Amusements, a movie theater company, bought Viacom International and merged it into Viacom Inc. by 1987. Sumner Redstone, the head of National Amusements, proceeded to cut deals for Paramount Communications (including Paramount Pictures) and Blockbuster Video in the 1990s.
In 1999, Viacom Inc. announced plans to buy its former parent, CBS Corporation. The purchase was finalized in 2000. The Viacom media empire now included the CBS network, Paramount Pictures, Spelling Entertainment, MTV, Country Music Television, TNN (now Spike TV) and BET.
With the retirement of Sumner Redstone, Viacom Inc. was split up into two companies. Viacom Inc. was renamed CBS Corporation. It retained the CBS network, CBS Radio, Simon & Schuster, Showtime and most of the television production properties. A new company was spun off and given the name of Viacom Inc. (sometimes called "the new Viacom"). It included most of the cable channels as well as Paramount Pictures.
CBS Corporation announced its plan to purchase CNET Networks in 2008. That purchase was completed on June 30, 2008, at which time TV.com became part of the Entertainment unit of CBS Interactive.
TV.com itself has had a couple different corporate identities, beginning as TVTome in June 2000. MovieTome was created in August 2003. CNET bought out TVTome in 2005 and moved it to TV.com, which it had acquired in 1996 for use with a syndicated television series that aired under the name of TV.com. TV.com came online on June 1, 2005 with a different format than TVTome.
And now three years and one month later, CNET (including TV.com) has been absorbed by CBS Corporation (the "old Viacom").
But you don't need to know any of this to use and enjoy the site. It's still TV.com although it is now a CBS Interactive site, not a CNET Entertainment site.
Bottom line: TV.com belongs to the Entertainment category in the CBS Interactive division of CBS Corporation. Everything else seems to be the same for now aside from the new sites in the ticker at the top right.
***
I'll continue with some of my other blog series soon. Among these are Part 2 of the Thomas Dolby 2008 series; the Washington, D.C. tourist blog series; and new chapters of my original online Battlestar Galactica-related novel (to be posted on my other TV.com account).
I've continued to swim between 4 and 6 hours a week and I started back up with the weights last weekend. Work is also keeping me busy. I hope everything is going well in all those corners of the TV.com community around the globe. It's still strange to think of TV.com as a CBS site but I'll get used to it.
-------------------------
The CNET Networks sites have been folded into an expanded CBS Interactive division. The business unit has been organized into five vertical categories: Technology, Entertainment, News, Sports and Business. The former CNET Entertainment sites now fall under the Entertainment category of CBS Interactive. In the official CBS Corporation announcement, TV.com received top billing in the Entertainment section, above CBS.com. Here is the relevant paragraph:
Entertainment: Representing the third largest online entertainment group on the web, the collective reach of CBS Interactive's entertainment portfolio will now exceed 24 million users each month, and include many of the leading brands on the web today, including: TV.com, CBS.com, The CBS Audience Network, theInsider.com, GameSpot.com, Last.fm, and CHOW.com, among others. These are among the most visited entertainment destinations on the web today, each with their own identity and audience profile, and they continue to grow in users and time spent visiting. This past year, for instance, CBS.com market share grew a category-leading 41 percent. Combined with the power of America's most watched network – CBS Television – CBS Interactive offers unparalleled consumer reach online and offline.
To read the full press release, visit the official CBS Corporation website at www.cbscorporation.com.
You may have noticed the addition of CBS websites to the news ticker that appears toward the top right of each TV.com page. Articles from CBSNews.com, Last.fm and theInsider.com join those from former CNET sites like ZDNet.com, TechRepublic and CNET's News.com.
Three years and one month after the birth of TV.com, we enter a new era under the banner of CBS Corporation and CBS Interactive. Keep in mind that TV.com is no longer a successful independent TV-related site. It is now a cousin of the most popular television network in the United States. Some CBS shows already appear on the TV.com guides with complete episodes available as streaming video. I imagine that this arrangement will become more common with other CBS shows. Maybe we'll even see streaming episodes added to former CBS shows like Hawaii Five-O, which set a record in its time as the longest-running police/detective show on television, airing 12 full seasons all on "the CBS Television Network." (Law & Order broke that record. However, one could say that Law & Order is not a pure detective show since half of each episode is devoted to the courtroom side of the criminal justice system.)
Though most of you are familiar with my interest in the Battlestar Galactica series, you may not know that I spend much of my TV.com time at the Sports forum on the site. Perhaps we could see some changes over there. It's an interesting forum but there aren't any special features and the group isn't too large. CBSSports.com and its affiliated sites (NCAA.com and CBSCollegeSports.com) are one of the most popular groups of sports-related sites on the Internet. Now those are part of the CBS Interactive division too.
I haven't seen any wholesale changes on the site so far, nor do I expect to. CBS paid a lot of money for CNET Networks. CNET had a broad reach on the Internet and it was a profitable company (contrary to what some might have thought after the shareholder rebellion last year). The new CBS Interactive becomes the eighth-most-popular group of websites in the entire world in terms of monthly unique users. The entertainment group alone draws over 24 million unique users every month.
The corporate identity of CBS Corporation
So what exactly is CBS Corporation anyway? Well, there is actually good reason for confusion about the corporate identity of the new owner of TV.com. The famous CBS Network was part of a company called CBS, Inc. The Federal Communications Commission ruled that TV broadcast networks couldn't own cable or other television distribution businesses so Viacom International was spun off from CBS Inc. in June 1971. Viacom Inc. was formed at this time. (Viacom Inc. is the precursor to CBS Corporation.)
Viacom Inc. distributed CBS television shows in syndication at this time, in what was a very profitable business. Viacom also purchased radio stations and the MTV cable channels during the 1970s and 1980s. National Amusements, a movie theater company, bought Viacom International and merged it into Viacom Inc. by 1987. Sumner Redstone, the head of National Amusements, proceeded to cut deals for Paramount Communications (including Paramount Pictures) and Blockbuster Video in the 1990s.
In 1999, Viacom Inc. announced plans to buy its former parent, CBS Corporation. The purchase was finalized in 2000. The Viacom media empire now included the CBS network, Paramount Pictures, Spelling Entertainment, MTV, Country Music Television, TNN (now Spike TV) and BET.
With the retirement of Sumner Redstone, Viacom Inc. was split up into two companies. Viacom Inc. was renamed CBS Corporation. It retained the CBS network, CBS Radio, Simon & Schuster, Showtime and most of the television production properties. A new company was spun off and given the name of Viacom Inc. (sometimes called "the new Viacom"). It included most of the cable channels as well as Paramount Pictures.
CBS Corporation announced its plan to purchase CNET Networks in 2008. That purchase was completed on June 30, 2008, at which time TV.com became part of the Entertainment unit of CBS Interactive.
TV.com itself has had a couple different corporate identities, beginning as TVTome in June 2000. MovieTome was created in August 2003. CNET bought out TVTome in 2005 and moved it to TV.com, which it had acquired in 1996 for use with a syndicated television series that aired under the name of TV.com. TV.com came online on June 1, 2005 with a different format than TVTome.
And now three years and one month later, CNET (including TV.com) has been absorbed by CBS Corporation (the "old Viacom").
But you don't need to know any of this to use and enjoy the site. It's still TV.com although it is now a CBS Interactive site, not a CNET Entertainment site.
Bottom line: TV.com belongs to the Entertainment category in the CBS Interactive division of CBS Corporation. Everything else seems to be the same for now aside from the new sites in the ticker at the top right.
***
I'll continue with some of my other blog series soon. Among these are Part 2 of the Thomas Dolby 2008 series; the Washington, D.C. tourist blog series; and new chapters of my original online Battlestar Galactica-related novel (to be posted on my other TV.com account).
I've continued to swim between 4 and 6 hours a week and I started back up with the weights last weekend. Work is also keeping me busy. I hope everything is going well in all those corners of the TV.com community around the globe. It's still strange to think of TV.com as a CBS site but I'll get used to it.
-------------------------
2008 Smithsonian Folklife Festival
This is the first of my 2008 Washington, D.C., tourist blogs. I've posted some of these "tourist blog entries" in the past but I don't think I've written any this year. Since Washington, D.C., is located very far from many of you (in Europe, Australia, Canada, Texas, Florida, California and so on), I thought it might be interesting to showcase some of the cultural attractions found in the U.S. capital city, a sort of virtual tour.
Every summer the world-famous Smithsonian Institution sponsors the Smithsonian Folklife Festival on the National Mall between the U.S. Capitol building and the Washington Monument. The 2008 edition was the 42nd festival held in downtown Washington. The festival began as a way to highlight the folk arts, crafts, cuisine, costumes, religious practices, sports and music of various regions of the United States. Over time, the scope of the Festival expanded to include international cultures and regions. The Festival is always held in late June and early July, on or around the Fourth of July (the Independence Day holiday in the U.S.).
[NOTE: You can click on all of the pictures below to see much larger versions. This will allow you to see the details of the pictures while keeping the overall blog entry to a manageable download size.]
The most elaborate Festival I remember is the 2002 version, which focused on the cultures of the ancient Silk Road. Yo-Yo Ma co-sponsored the examination of the cultures of Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, India, China, Japan and other countries, with a particular focus on folk music. The Silk Road Festival was one of the best events I've ever attended in the D.C. area. It had particular significance because of the timing.
The Washington region was affected greatly by the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. The Pentagon was hit directly by one of the hijacked planes. The center of the city was abandoned for much of that day. In the weeks and months that followed, security gates, concrete planters and solid metal bollards were erected to secure key government facilities in and around Washington. The federal government and American society in general became much more conscious of the possibility of further terrorist attacks. (Contrary to what some people think, the threat was very real as we saw with subsequent terrorist attacks in London, Madrid, Pakistan, South-east Asia and elsewhere.)
At the same time, American culture has always been a melting pot of cultures from around the globe. The ideals may not always have been observed faithfully but the basic idea of a mixing of cultures is something not always present in many industrialized countries. The Silk Road Festival was a legitimate and welcome celebration of folk culture and music from Central and East Asia, and from the Middle East. When I watched many of the musical performances that year, I could sense the relief among many of the people for the opportunity to celebrate their folk cultures in an open and mainstream forum in the very heart of Washington, D.C. It's too naive to think that such celebrations can solve all the conflicts around the world, particularly those arising from the Middle East, but I think it's necessary for a civilized society to have such opportunities to remember that there are good aspects of human cultures, to get a sampling of cuisine, costumes, crafts and music and enjoy other cultures from time to time in various outlets. No celebration of folk culture is more prominent and visible than the Smithsonian Folklife Festival just blocks away from the Capitol and the White House.
The 2008 Festival featured the Himalayan country of Bhutan, the U.S. state of Texas and NASA, the U.S. space agency.
Bhutan is a small landlocked country located between India and China. It is one of the most isolated countries in the world and yet its people were found to be among the "happiest" in a 2006 worldwide survey. Over 100 weavers, dancers, monks, artists, carpenters and farmers came over from Bhutan for the Festival, the largest cultural group to ever visit the U.S. from Bhutan.
A Buddhist temple was constructed on the National Mall as you can see in this picture. (Don't forget that you can click on any of the pictures to see larger versions with more detail.) This picture also gives you some sense of how many people attend the Festival each year, over a million people over the course of two weeks (Wednesday to Sunday, a break, and then the following Wednesday to Sunday).
The intricately decorated wood panels were carved in Bhutan, then assembled in Washington.
There were long lines to go inside the temple although I managed to get there when the wait wasn't too long.
Here's a look at the decorative details from the inside of the temple. A group of Buddhist monks were sitting on one side of the interior, chanting and tapping on traditional drums. After each "verse," one monk would blow on a very deep bass horn, which sounded something like a foghorn.
For more information about the Bhutan activities and exhibits at the Festival, visit the Bhutan: Land of the Thunder Dragon page at the official website.
NASA was represented by astronomers, astronauts, physicists, engineers, and others who represented the 18,000 employees of the U.S. space agency. I didn't have much time to listen to many of the talks or ask questions of the NASA employees on hand but I did see some of the scale models and test engines stationed on the Mall. The following picture features a test model of the Space Shuttle's engines and nozzle.
At one of the tents, I listened to an engineer talk about astronaut spaceflight training procedures.
A man sitting on her right had an interesting background for a NASA employee (or contractor). He said that he got his job because of his skills in sewing and painting. Why sewing? Well, some of the recent Mars spacecraft have utilized parachutes to slow their rate of descent as they attempt to land on the Martian surface. Creating heavy-duty parachutes means lots of sewing. He also said that he paints conceptual works to help plan space missions and to help the engineers design spacecraft and scientific equipment. So even if you aren't scientifically or mathematically inclined, you could actually have a future with NASA.
Browse through the NASA section of the official Festival website for more information.
The food tents featured cuisine from Bhutan and Texas. Interestingly the Houston area is home to several hundred thousand Vietnamese residents. Thus, one of the Texas food tents focused on traditional Vietnamese dishes.
I saw a tent devoted to Texas wine making but I didn't have time to visit. Apparently Texas is one of the top five wine-producing states in the U.S. Of course many Americans are familiar with Tex-Mex cuisine. There were several cooks, restaurant owners and winemakers on hand.
Though all of that is interesting to peek at, what I usually enjoy most about the Festivals are the musical performances. Unlike a small regional folk festival, the Smithsonian usually brings in some of the best folk musicians from around the country and the world. Some of the groups are traditional family-based outfits but others are award-winning professional singers and instrumentalists. Among the latter was Marcia Ball, an amazing blues and rock pianist and singer from Austin, Texas. She has won "Blues Album of the Year" and "Piano Player of the Year" awards at the Blues Music Awards. She has also been nominated for two Grammy Awards for her mix of Texas and Louisiana blues, boogie-woogie, zydeco and Cajun swamp rock.
I'm not going to post any pictures of Marcia Ball's performance. That wouldn't be too interesting. Instead, I'm going to post a video of her performance of "Down the Road," an original Marcia Ball tune. She performed with a saxophonist, a guitar player, a bass player and a drummer. She has an unusual posture when she plays. She sits with one leg crossed over the other almost the entire time. I don't think I've ever seen a pianist perform like that before. It certainly didn't affect her ability to play. She can really groove on the keys! Check it out:
(Click on the picture to watch the video at YouTube. Once there, select the "watch in high quality" to see the high-definition version.)
To learn more about Marcia Ball, visit her MySpace page. You can listen to four additional tracks.
The official site of Marcia Ball includes information about all of her albums. You can listen to excerpts of all of the tracks although you will need to open up the site in Internet Explorer (or the IE View extension in Firefox) to hear the music there.
For more information on "Texas: A Celebration of Music, Food and Wine," visit the section at the official Festival website.
You can see the entire "Lone Star Dance Party" Saturday evening concert from July 5 featuring Guy Clark and Marcia Ball at this link. The video is hosted on the official Smithsonian Global Sound website.
You can also watch any of the other evening concerts from the 2008 Smithsonian Folklife Festival at this page.
I hope you enjoyed this look at one of the most popular attractions held in Washington, D.C., each year. Hopefully you will be inspired to explore the music and culture of Texas and Bhutan and the operations of NASA through the Smithsonian websites.
---------------
Every summer the world-famous Smithsonian Institution sponsors the Smithsonian Folklife Festival on the National Mall between the U.S. Capitol building and the Washington Monument. The 2008 edition was the 42nd festival held in downtown Washington. The festival began as a way to highlight the folk arts, crafts, cuisine, costumes, religious practices, sports and music of various regions of the United States. Over time, the scope of the Festival expanded to include international cultures and regions. The Festival is always held in late June and early July, on or around the Fourth of July (the Independence Day holiday in the U.S.).
[NOTE: You can click on all of the pictures below to see much larger versions. This will allow you to see the details of the pictures while keeping the overall blog entry to a manageable download size.]
The most elaborate Festival I remember is the 2002 version, which focused on the cultures of the ancient Silk Road. Yo-Yo Ma co-sponsored the examination of the cultures of Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, India, China, Japan and other countries, with a particular focus on folk music. The Silk Road Festival was one of the best events I've ever attended in the D.C. area. It had particular significance because of the timing.
The Washington region was affected greatly by the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. The Pentagon was hit directly by one of the hijacked planes. The center of the city was abandoned for much of that day. In the weeks and months that followed, security gates, concrete planters and solid metal bollards were erected to secure key government facilities in and around Washington. The federal government and American society in general became much more conscious of the possibility of further terrorist attacks. (Contrary to what some people think, the threat was very real as we saw with subsequent terrorist attacks in London, Madrid, Pakistan, South-east Asia and elsewhere.)
At the same time, American culture has always been a melting pot of cultures from around the globe. The ideals may not always have been observed faithfully but the basic idea of a mixing of cultures is something not always present in many industrialized countries. The Silk Road Festival was a legitimate and welcome celebration of folk culture and music from Central and East Asia, and from the Middle East. When I watched many of the musical performances that year, I could sense the relief among many of the people for the opportunity to celebrate their folk cultures in an open and mainstream forum in the very heart of Washington, D.C. It's too naive to think that such celebrations can solve all the conflicts around the world, particularly those arising from the Middle East, but I think it's necessary for a civilized society to have such opportunities to remember that there are good aspects of human cultures, to get a sampling of cuisine, costumes, crafts and music and enjoy other cultures from time to time in various outlets. No celebration of folk culture is more prominent and visible than the Smithsonian Folklife Festival just blocks away from the Capitol and the White House.
The 2008 Festival featured the Himalayan country of Bhutan, the U.S. state of Texas and NASA, the U.S. space agency.
Bhutan is a small landlocked country located between India and China. It is one of the most isolated countries in the world and yet its people were found to be among the "happiest" in a 2006 worldwide survey. Over 100 weavers, dancers, monks, artists, carpenters and farmers came over from Bhutan for the Festival, the largest cultural group to ever visit the U.S. from Bhutan.
A Buddhist temple was constructed on the National Mall as you can see in this picture. (Don't forget that you can click on any of the pictures to see larger versions with more detail.) This picture also gives you some sense of how many people attend the Festival each year, over a million people over the course of two weeks (Wednesday to Sunday, a break, and then the following Wednesday to Sunday).
The intricately decorated wood panels were carved in Bhutan, then assembled in Washington.
There were long lines to go inside the temple although I managed to get there when the wait wasn't too long.
Here's a look at the decorative details from the inside of the temple. A group of Buddhist monks were sitting on one side of the interior, chanting and tapping on traditional drums. After each "verse," one monk would blow on a very deep bass horn, which sounded something like a foghorn.
For more information about the Bhutan activities and exhibits at the Festival, visit the Bhutan: Land of the Thunder Dragon page at the official website.
NASA was represented by astronomers, astronauts, physicists, engineers, and others who represented the 18,000 employees of the U.S. space agency. I didn't have much time to listen to many of the talks or ask questions of the NASA employees on hand but I did see some of the scale models and test engines stationed on the Mall. The following picture features a test model of the Space Shuttle's engines and nozzle.
At one of the tents, I listened to an engineer talk about astronaut spaceflight training procedures.
A man sitting on her right had an interesting background for a NASA employee (or contractor). He said that he got his job because of his skills in sewing and painting. Why sewing? Well, some of the recent Mars spacecraft have utilized parachutes to slow their rate of descent as they attempt to land on the Martian surface. Creating heavy-duty parachutes means lots of sewing. He also said that he paints conceptual works to help plan space missions and to help the engineers design spacecraft and scientific equipment. So even if you aren't scientifically or mathematically inclined, you could actually have a future with NASA.
Browse through the NASA section of the official Festival website for more information.
The food tents featured cuisine from Bhutan and Texas. Interestingly the Houston area is home to several hundred thousand Vietnamese residents. Thus, one of the Texas food tents focused on traditional Vietnamese dishes.
I saw a tent devoted to Texas wine making but I didn't have time to visit. Apparently Texas is one of the top five wine-producing states in the U.S. Of course many Americans are familiar with Tex-Mex cuisine. There were several cooks, restaurant owners and winemakers on hand.
Though all of that is interesting to peek at, what I usually enjoy most about the Festivals are the musical performances. Unlike a small regional folk festival, the Smithsonian usually brings in some of the best folk musicians from around the country and the world. Some of the groups are traditional family-based outfits but others are award-winning professional singers and instrumentalists. Among the latter was Marcia Ball, an amazing blues and rock pianist and singer from Austin, Texas. She has won "Blues Album of the Year" and "Piano Player of the Year" awards at the Blues Music Awards. She has also been nominated for two Grammy Awards for her mix of Texas and Louisiana blues, boogie-woogie, zydeco and Cajun swamp rock.
I'm not going to post any pictures of Marcia Ball's performance. That wouldn't be too interesting. Instead, I'm going to post a video of her performance of "Down the Road," an original Marcia Ball tune. She performed with a saxophonist, a guitar player, a bass player and a drummer. She has an unusual posture when she plays. She sits with one leg crossed over the other almost the entire time. I don't think I've ever seen a pianist perform like that before. It certainly didn't affect her ability to play. She can really groove on the keys! Check it out:
(Click on the picture to watch the video at YouTube. Once there, select the "watch in high quality" to see the high-definition version.)
To learn more about Marcia Ball, visit her MySpace page. You can listen to four additional tracks.
The official site of Marcia Ball includes information about all of her albums. You can listen to excerpts of all of the tracks although you will need to open up the site in Internet Explorer (or the IE View extension in Firefox) to hear the music there.
For more information on "Texas: A Celebration of Music, Food and Wine," visit the section at the official Festival website.
You can see the entire "Lone Star Dance Party" Saturday evening concert from July 5 featuring Guy Clark and Marcia Ball at this link. The video is hosted on the official Smithsonian Global Sound website.
You can also watch any of the other evening concerts from the 2008 Smithsonian Folklife Festival at this page.
I hope you enjoyed this look at one of the most popular attractions held in Washington, D.C., each year. Hopefully you will be inspired to explore the music and culture of Texas and Bhutan and the operations of NASA through the Smithsonian websites.
---------------
Independence Day and news updates
Happy Independence Day to all of you in the U.S. and elsewhere.
I thought I'd post a brief update today, along with some various news items.
THE SCREEN ACTORS GUILD and AFTRA
In television news, the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) contract expired on Tuesday morning at midnight. The actors are continuing to work under the terms of the expired contract. No strike authorization has been requested by SAG leadership at this time but the situation is uncertain. The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) split from SAG earlier this year and reached a separate agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). A battle is brewing over the confirmation vote for the AFTRA-AMPTP agreement. Results are due to be announced on July 8. No SAG action is likely before then.
The complicated part of the AFTRA vote is that a majority of the members of AFTRA are also members of SAG (44,000 out of 70,000 total). Many prominent names have chosen sides in the AFTRA battle. Tom Hanks, Alec Baldwin, Sally Field, James Cromwell (a former SAG board member), Morgan Fairchild (a current SAG board member), Adam Arkin, Tim Daly, Susan Sarandon and Kevin Spacey have come out in support of the AFTRA deal. On the other hand, Jack Nicholson, Ed Asner, Sandra Oh, Louis Gossett Jr., Holly Hunter, Viggo Mortensen, Edward James Olmos, Sean Penn, Jeanne Tripplehorn and Ben Stiller are among the actors who are publicly opposing the AFTRA deal.
If the AFTRA deal is approved by the membership, then SAG will have much less flexibility. Some observers think that SAG leadership would have to send along the AMPTP's final last-minute proposal to SAG membership for approval, probably without an official recommendation. That proposal includes expanded Internet-based royalties similar to those that the writers and directors received in their recent contracts, and similar to those in the AFTRA agreement.
It would be difficult to call another strike so soon after the writers' strike last winter. Everyone in the television industry was affected by the work stoppage, and the effects will carry on well into the 2008-2009 television season. There are fewer pilots for the fall, meaning fewer positions for writers and actors.
If the AFTRA deal is rejected by the membership, would the AMPTP re-open negotiations with the SAG team? Maybe. I don't think anyone wants to see another extended strike.
So what's the difference between SAG and AFTRA? The vast majority (about 90 percent) of primetime network television shows fall under SAG jurisdiction as well as all major studio movies.
The movie industry is doing well this summer, a trend that matches previous times of economic downturns. The thought is that movies are a relatively affordable form of entertainment, much less expensive than sports events, amusement parks and out-of-state travel destinations. The movie business could probably weather a short-term strike. The television industry is a different story. Viewer numbers dropped this year, even after the networks began showing new episodes again in the spring. The entire network television business model is slowing changing due to competition from basic cable channels, video games and Internet broadcasts. [The most popular Internet TV sites are owned by the networks themselves: Hulu.com (co-owned by NBC Universal and News Corp., the parent of FOX), CBS.com and ABC.com.] The writers' strike may have helped speed up the transformation of script-based video entertainment from a broadcast model to a hybrid model that relies much more on Internet streaming.
BATTLESTAR GALACTICA NEWS
BSG TV movies
News reports indicate that filming for the final episodes of Battlestar Galactica wrapped up in June. Post-production work remains to be done. That would include editing, audio dubs, sound effects, special visual effects and the music soundtrack.
At least one BSG TV movie seems to be approved but production hasn't begun yet. At least the actors haven't been notified of shooting schedules at this time.
A possible Emmy nomination for Mary McDonnell?
Mary McDonnell (President Laura Roslin) has apparently been included on a shortlist of candidates for possible Emmy nomination in the category of Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series. The list includes ten names and will be pared down to five. If she does make the "final five" (pun intended, for all you BSG fans out there), it would be a well-deserved accomplishment.
BSG has already received Emmy nominations for Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series and Outstanding Directing in a Drama Series last year, but no acting nominations. It's about time that Emmy voters recognized the great performances from the BSG cast. It's no surprise that Mary McDonnell caught the eye of the list compilers this year. Several of the Season 4 episodes of BSG focused on Laura Roslin and her struggles with cancer and questions of the afterlife. One of the most effective episodes of this season (and of the entire series) was "Faith," in which President Roslin met a fellow cancer patient, Emily Kowalski. Emily explained why she listened to Baltar's religious sermons even though she didn't like Baltar. She believed that Baltar had inadvertently stumbled onto a real insight about the existence and nature of the afterlife.
PERSONAL UPDATES
No earth-shattering news to report but I thought I'd add a few notes here. The fireworks display is scheduled to proceed on the National Mall in downtown Washington, D.C., despite the fireworks shortages caused by a warehouse explosion in China earlier this year. The weather might not cooperate, however. It's pretty cloudy here and we might have some thunderstorms tonight. Tomorrow too.
The Smithsonian Folklife Festival continues on the Mall as well. This year the focus is on the "cultures" of Bhutan, Texas and NASA (the U.S. space agency). I haven't had a chance to go yet but I'll try to head down there this weekend. Maybe even if there is a thunderstorm. I'll bring along my camera too and get some photos and videos.
I'll continue my Thomas Dolby blog series soon, and start up the museum blog posts as well. I've been doing A LOT of swimming lately, close to 6 hours total over the past 7 days (4 hours last weekend and 90 min. one day this week). I've figured out that even though swimming is a low-impact sport, that you still need to warm up properly. This helps to ease the stress on your shoulders in particular. Last year I had some shoulder soreness because I wasn't warming up properly. This year I do a couple laps just kicking before I swim with regular strokes (breast stroke, freesty1e, butterfly). It helps to loosen up my shoulders and prepare them for the work ahead.
I hope everyone is getting a chance to take advantage of the warmer weather (at least in the Northern Hemisphere) and trying to keep your heart and body healthy. A couple of easy tips: Drink plenty of water and always eat something for breakfast (preferably something healthy like a low-fat, low-sugar granola bar, low-sugar yogurt and whole-grain cereal or egg whites and whole-grain toast).
Oh yeah, I just remembered that I never continued the TV.com timeline. Well, I'm not sure when I'll get a chance to return to that blog "series." Maybe in the fall.
I'm still not watching much television these days except for baseball and older movies on the Encore movie channels. Maybe I should watch a few episodes of Hawaii Five-O from the DVDs. I did manage to watch another Season 1 episode, "Six Kilos." It's a strange story that features Steve McGarrett going undercover as a safecracking expert. It felt more like a 1960s mystery/spy movie than an episode of Hawaii Five-O, particularly since McGarrett is undercover for nearly the entire episode. No one calls him McGarrett except for in a couple scenes. Instead, they call him Harry Brown. Anyway, I managed to fix the cast list for the episode guide. I added all of the crew from the onscreen credits along with notes, trivia and a quote. It wasn't a great episode but it was decent enough. Now I only have one more episode to finish off for Season 1. Hmm, it's only taken me 17 months to watch the Season 1 DVD.
THE BSG ONLINE NOVEL
I've been reading through some of the earlier chapters of the novel this year, to help refresh my familiarity with the characters and ongoing story line. I also have plenty of notes and outlines for future chapters. This should make it easier to pick up the writing process again without having to start from scratch.
I still haven't written anything this summer but I think I'm close to picking up the pen again. With BSG on hiatus at least until January, I won't have much urgent work on any of my guides for the rest of the calendar year. I've received a few submissions for the Hawaii Five-O guide after the recent release of the Season 4 DVD but it's been manageable, less than 10 submissions a week.
----------------
Enjoy the rest of this holiday weekend.
----------------
I thought I'd post a brief update today, along with some various news items.
THE SCREEN ACTORS GUILD and AFTRA
In television news, the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) contract expired on Tuesday morning at midnight. The actors are continuing to work under the terms of the expired contract. No strike authorization has been requested by SAG leadership at this time but the situation is uncertain. The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) split from SAG earlier this year and reached a separate agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). A battle is brewing over the confirmation vote for the AFTRA-AMPTP agreement. Results are due to be announced on July 8. No SAG action is likely before then.
The complicated part of the AFTRA vote is that a majority of the members of AFTRA are also members of SAG (44,000 out of 70,000 total). Many prominent names have chosen sides in the AFTRA battle. Tom Hanks, Alec Baldwin, Sally Field, James Cromwell (a former SAG board member), Morgan Fairchild (a current SAG board member), Adam Arkin, Tim Daly, Susan Sarandon and Kevin Spacey have come out in support of the AFTRA deal. On the other hand, Jack Nicholson, Ed Asner, Sandra Oh, Louis Gossett Jr., Holly Hunter, Viggo Mortensen, Edward James Olmos, Sean Penn, Jeanne Tripplehorn and Ben Stiller are among the actors who are publicly opposing the AFTRA deal.
If the AFTRA deal is approved by the membership, then SAG will have much less flexibility. Some observers think that SAG leadership would have to send along the AMPTP's final last-minute proposal to SAG membership for approval, probably without an official recommendation. That proposal includes expanded Internet-based royalties similar to those that the writers and directors received in their recent contracts, and similar to those in the AFTRA agreement.
It would be difficult to call another strike so soon after the writers' strike last winter. Everyone in the television industry was affected by the work stoppage, and the effects will carry on well into the 2008-2009 television season. There are fewer pilots for the fall, meaning fewer positions for writers and actors.
If the AFTRA deal is rejected by the membership, would the AMPTP re-open negotiations with the SAG team? Maybe. I don't think anyone wants to see another extended strike.
So what's the difference between SAG and AFTRA? The vast majority (about 90 percent) of primetime network television shows fall under SAG jurisdiction as well as all major studio movies.
The movie industry is doing well this summer, a trend that matches previous times of economic downturns. The thought is that movies are a relatively affordable form of entertainment, much less expensive than sports events, amusement parks and out-of-state travel destinations. The movie business could probably weather a short-term strike. The television industry is a different story. Viewer numbers dropped this year, even after the networks began showing new episodes again in the spring. The entire network television business model is slowing changing due to competition from basic cable channels, video games and Internet broadcasts. [The most popular Internet TV sites are owned by the networks themselves: Hulu.com (co-owned by NBC Universal and News Corp., the parent of FOX), CBS.com and ABC.com.] The writers' strike may have helped speed up the transformation of script-based video entertainment from a broadcast model to a hybrid model that relies much more on Internet streaming.
BATTLESTAR GALACTICA NEWS
BSG TV movies
News reports indicate that filming for the final episodes of Battlestar Galactica wrapped up in June. Post-production work remains to be done. That would include editing, audio dubs, sound effects, special visual effects and the music soundtrack.
At least one BSG TV movie seems to be approved but production hasn't begun yet. At least the actors haven't been notified of shooting schedules at this time.
A possible Emmy nomination for Mary McDonnell?
Mary McDonnell (President Laura Roslin) has apparently been included on a shortlist of candidates for possible Emmy nomination in the category of Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series. The list includes ten names and will be pared down to five. If she does make the "final five" (pun intended, for all you BSG fans out there), it would be a well-deserved accomplishment.
BSG has already received Emmy nominations for Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series and Outstanding Directing in a Drama Series last year, but no acting nominations. It's about time that Emmy voters recognized the great performances from the BSG cast. It's no surprise that Mary McDonnell caught the eye of the list compilers this year. Several of the Season 4 episodes of BSG focused on Laura Roslin and her struggles with cancer and questions of the afterlife. One of the most effective episodes of this season (and of the entire series) was "Faith," in which President Roslin met a fellow cancer patient, Emily Kowalski. Emily explained why she listened to Baltar's religious sermons even though she didn't like Baltar. She believed that Baltar had inadvertently stumbled onto a real insight about the existence and nature of the afterlife.
PERSONAL UPDATES
No earth-shattering news to report but I thought I'd add a few notes here. The fireworks display is scheduled to proceed on the National Mall in downtown Washington, D.C., despite the fireworks shortages caused by a warehouse explosion in China earlier this year. The weather might not cooperate, however. It's pretty cloudy here and we might have some thunderstorms tonight. Tomorrow too.
The Smithsonian Folklife Festival continues on the Mall as well. This year the focus is on the "cultures" of Bhutan, Texas and NASA (the U.S. space agency). I haven't had a chance to go yet but I'll try to head down there this weekend. Maybe even if there is a thunderstorm. I'll bring along my camera too and get some photos and videos.
I'll continue my Thomas Dolby blog series soon, and start up the museum blog posts as well. I've been doing A LOT of swimming lately, close to 6 hours total over the past 7 days (4 hours last weekend and 90 min. one day this week). I've figured out that even though swimming is a low-impact sport, that you still need to warm up properly. This helps to ease the stress on your shoulders in particular. Last year I had some shoulder soreness because I wasn't warming up properly. This year I do a couple laps just kicking before I swim with regular strokes (breast stroke, freesty1e, butterfly). It helps to loosen up my shoulders and prepare them for the work ahead.
I hope everyone is getting a chance to take advantage of the warmer weather (at least in the Northern Hemisphere) and trying to keep your heart and body healthy. A couple of easy tips: Drink plenty of water and always eat something for breakfast (preferably something healthy like a low-fat, low-sugar granola bar, low-sugar yogurt and whole-grain cereal or egg whites and whole-grain toast).
Oh yeah, I just remembered that I never continued the TV.com timeline. Well, I'm not sure when I'll get a chance to return to that blog "series." Maybe in the fall.
I'm still not watching much television these days except for baseball and older movies on the Encore movie channels. Maybe I should watch a few episodes of Hawaii Five-O from the DVDs. I did manage to watch another Season 1 episode, "Six Kilos." It's a strange story that features Steve McGarrett going undercover as a safecracking expert. It felt more like a 1960s mystery/spy movie than an episode of Hawaii Five-O, particularly since McGarrett is undercover for nearly the entire episode. No one calls him McGarrett except for in a couple scenes. Instead, they call him Harry Brown. Anyway, I managed to fix the cast list for the episode guide. I added all of the crew from the onscreen credits along with notes, trivia and a quote. It wasn't a great episode but it was decent enough. Now I only have one more episode to finish off for Season 1. Hmm, it's only taken me 17 months to watch the Season 1 DVD.
THE BSG ONLINE NOVEL
I've been reading through some of the earlier chapters of the novel this year, to help refresh my familiarity with the characters and ongoing story line. I also have plenty of notes and outlines for future chapters. This should make it easier to pick up the writing process again without having to start from scratch.
I still haven't written anything this summer but I think I'm close to picking up the pen again. With BSG on hiatus at least until January, I won't have much urgent work on any of my guides for the rest of the calendar year. I've received a few submissions for the Hawaii Five-O guide after the recent release of the Season 4 DVD but it's been manageable, less than 10 submissions a week.
----------------
Enjoy the rest of this holiday weekend.
----------------
Thomas Dolby's 2007 tour -- with the Jazz Mafia Horns (Part 1)
Just nine short months after I said I would post this music-related blog entry, here it is.
Before I get into the overview of Thomas Dolby's life and career, here's a short song that he performed with the house band at the notable TED (Technology Entertainment Design) conference this February. [The TED conference has featured varied and notable speakers like Nobel laureate James Watson, Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, and former U.S. president Bill Clinton.] I'm posting it early in the post to show that Thomas Dolby is about much more than just "She Blinded Me with Science."
The song is titled "Hell I'd Go," another quirky song written by Dan Hicks, who combines old-fashioned roots music with surreal lyrical imagery. In this case, the song is a goofy look at alien abductions (thus the title "Hell I'd Go"). By the way, Thomas Dolby himself posted this video onto YouTube. (Click on the picture to watch the video.)
A brief introduction to Thomas Dolby
Thomas Dolby is a singer, composer, keyboardist, synth programmer, session musician, music producer, software developer and businessman, originally from England. His father was a noted archaeologist and professor at the University of London and Oxford University. He spent a large part of his childhood accompanying his father on archaeological expeditions around the Mediterranean Sea.
He started in the music business on the technical side, working on electronic instrument setups. Eventually he began to record electronic-based songs of his own. In the early 80s, he hit the big time on the strength of popular singles like "Europa and the Pirate Twins," "One of Our Submarines," "Airwaves," "Leipzig," and of course his biggest hit "She Blinded Me With Science."
He played keyboards on U.K. pop-metal group Def Leppard's massive hit album "Pyromania" (under the name of Booker T. Boffin). He provided synth work for a popular album by Foreigner and co-produced an album from George Clinton of Parliament-Funkadelic fame. Though many still remember him as the "Science" guy, only his first album ("The Golden Age of Wireless" (1982)) could truly be c1assified as 80s new wave/pop. His second album ("The Flat Earth" (1984)) is best described as atmospheric and quirky, though he included a couple of up-tempo songs, one of which is still popular to this day. ("Hyperactive!" was included on the Grand Theft Auto: Vice City video game.) His third album ("Aliens Ate My Buick" (1988)) was much more jazz-influenced, along with traces of Frank Zappa surrealism, calypso and melancholy historical observation (in the memorable song "Budapest By Blimp"). His final studio album in his first music period was "Astronauts & Heretics" (1992), which brought him into the adult contemporary scene. The Cajun-influenced song "I Love You Goodbye" was a highlight.
In addition to his own concerts, he played keyboards and synthesizers for famous artists like David Bowie at Live Aid, Depeche Mode in 1988 and Pink Floyd for a 1990 performance of "The Wall" in Berlin. He stopped touring as a solo act after the "Aliens Ate My Buick" tour in 1988.
Thomas recorded a soundtrack album for a computer-generated atmospheric movie titled "The Gate to the Mind's Eye" in 1994. Around that time, his interests moved into software for cell phone ringtones. He founded Beatnik Inc., which licenses audio-related software and development tools for cell phones and other devices. He later founded Retro Ringtones, which produces the RetroFolio software suite for cell phone ringtones. He had something to do with digital polyphonic (more than one note at a time) ringtones, but I'm not really up on that industry. Apparently he did quite well for himself financially.
Thomas Dolby back on tour after 18 years
In 2006, Thomas surprised almost everyone by diving back into the music business again. He played a series of small venues in California and a mall opening in Colorado in early 2006. Then he launched what he called the Sole Inhabitant Tour in April 2006. One of the stops was at the Birchmere music hall in Alexandria, Virginia, not far from where I live. Of course, when I found out about the concert (an actual Thomas Dolby concert!), I had to go. I posted a review after the May 2006 concert on my blog. Some of you may remember that blog entry but it's understandable if you don't. That was more than two years ago.
Thomas hit the road again in late 2006 on another limited tour with an electronic music performer named BT. (Sorry to any BT fans out there but I've never heard of him.) Since Thomas was only going to play for half of the show, I missed that tour.
Then I found out that he was on tour again in 2007. After 18 years of very limited live performances, Thomas was going to play at the Birchmere for the third time in 16 months? Yeah, you bet I went to see that performance too, on Friday, Sept. 21, 2007. The concert was billed as Thomas Dolby and the Jazz Mafia (Horns).
A multimedia review of the Birchmere concert
The Birchmere is a very small music hall. The main hall only seats a couple hundred people. Everyone sits at tables where you can order dinner and drinks. The closest tables are literally just two feet away from the edge of the stage. I got there early and was able to sit about 10 feet away from Thomas himself.
Unlike some electronic music performers, Thomas is not an introvert. Nor is he a wild and crazy rock star. He's an intelligent and well-spoken gentleman who still performs his music with energy. He introduced most of the songs with a brief talk about the inspiration behind them. (He wrote nearly all of his recorded songs himself. He also created the quirky synth sounds and patches too.)
Instead of describing the story behind his song "I Live in a Suitcase," I'll let Thomas describe it for you. The following video is posted on his official website thomasdolby.com. (No bootleg videos on this blog.) The song was released on the "Astronauts & Heretics" album. I have to admit that the studio version never caught my attention but this live version quickly became one of my favorite Thomas Dolby songs, even more so after hearing the story behind it. Like many of his songs, it reveals some of his character. But unlike with some other singer-songwriters (which Thomas is), it's not melodramatic or artificially tragic. Thomas has always been a grounded, clear-headed individual with both an artistic side and a practical side. It's kind of refreshing to see someone like that in the music business after reading about people like Kurt Cobain, Amy Winehouse and R. Kelly all the time.
(Click on the picture to watch this video from Thomas' official website.)
***
I'll end Part 1 of my June 2008 Thomas Dolby blog series here. I've learned that if I post more than two videos or songs in a single blog entry, that no one will watch the third one. In Part 2, I'll provide more of a review of the Sept. concert, including a look at the different feel the Jazz Mafia Horns lent to some of Thomas' older songs.
I hope you enjoyed reading, listening and watching this blog entry. Stay tuned for Part 2, coming soon.
***
Before I get into the overview of Thomas Dolby's life and career, here's a short song that he performed with the house band at the notable TED (Technology Entertainment Design) conference this February. [The TED conference has featured varied and notable speakers like Nobel laureate James Watson, Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, and former U.S. president Bill Clinton.] I'm posting it early in the post to show that Thomas Dolby is about much more than just "She Blinded Me with Science."
The song is titled "Hell I'd Go," another quirky song written by Dan Hicks, who combines old-fashioned roots music with surreal lyrical imagery. In this case, the song is a goofy look at alien abductions (thus the title "Hell I'd Go"). By the way, Thomas Dolby himself posted this video onto YouTube. (Click on the picture to watch the video.)
A brief introduction to Thomas Dolby
Thomas Dolby is a singer, composer, keyboardist, synth programmer, session musician, music producer, software developer and businessman, originally from England. His father was a noted archaeologist and professor at the University of London and Oxford University. He spent a large part of his childhood accompanying his father on archaeological expeditions around the Mediterranean Sea.
He started in the music business on the technical side, working on electronic instrument setups. Eventually he began to record electronic-based songs of his own. In the early 80s, he hit the big time on the strength of popular singles like "Europa and the Pirate Twins," "One of Our Submarines," "Airwaves," "Leipzig," and of course his biggest hit "She Blinded Me With Science."
He played keyboards on U.K. pop-metal group Def Leppard's massive hit album "Pyromania" (under the name of Booker T. Boffin). He provided synth work for a popular album by Foreigner and co-produced an album from George Clinton of Parliament-Funkadelic fame. Though many still remember him as the "Science" guy, only his first album ("The Golden Age of Wireless" (1982)) could truly be c1assified as 80s new wave/pop. His second album ("The Flat Earth" (1984)) is best described as atmospheric and quirky, though he included a couple of up-tempo songs, one of which is still popular to this day. ("Hyperactive!" was included on the Grand Theft Auto: Vice City video game.) His third album ("Aliens Ate My Buick" (1988)) was much more jazz-influenced, along with traces of Frank Zappa surrealism, calypso and melancholy historical observation (in the memorable song "Budapest By Blimp"). His final studio album in his first music period was "Astronauts & Heretics" (1992), which brought him into the adult contemporary scene. The Cajun-influenced song "I Love You Goodbye" was a highlight.
In addition to his own concerts, he played keyboards and synthesizers for famous artists like David Bowie at Live Aid, Depeche Mode in 1988 and Pink Floyd for a 1990 performance of "The Wall" in Berlin. He stopped touring as a solo act after the "Aliens Ate My Buick" tour in 1988.
Thomas recorded a soundtrack album for a computer-generated atmospheric movie titled "The Gate to the Mind's Eye" in 1994. Around that time, his interests moved into software for cell phone ringtones. He founded Beatnik Inc., which licenses audio-related software and development tools for cell phones and other devices. He later founded Retro Ringtones, which produces the RetroFolio software suite for cell phone ringtones. He had something to do with digital polyphonic (more than one note at a time) ringtones, but I'm not really up on that industry. Apparently he did quite well for himself financially.
Thomas Dolby back on tour after 18 years
In 2006, Thomas surprised almost everyone by diving back into the music business again. He played a series of small venues in California and a mall opening in Colorado in early 2006. Then he launched what he called the Sole Inhabitant Tour in April 2006. One of the stops was at the Birchmere music hall in Alexandria, Virginia, not far from where I live. Of course, when I found out about the concert (an actual Thomas Dolby concert!), I had to go. I posted a review after the May 2006 concert on my blog. Some of you may remember that blog entry but it's understandable if you don't. That was more than two years ago.
Thomas hit the road again in late 2006 on another limited tour with an electronic music performer named BT. (Sorry to any BT fans out there but I've never heard of him.) Since Thomas was only going to play for half of the show, I missed that tour.
Then I found out that he was on tour again in 2007. After 18 years of very limited live performances, Thomas was going to play at the Birchmere for the third time in 16 months? Yeah, you bet I went to see that performance too, on Friday, Sept. 21, 2007. The concert was billed as Thomas Dolby and the Jazz Mafia (Horns).
A multimedia review of the Birchmere concert
The Birchmere is a very small music hall. The main hall only seats a couple hundred people. Everyone sits at tables where you can order dinner and drinks. The closest tables are literally just two feet away from the edge of the stage. I got there early and was able to sit about 10 feet away from Thomas himself.
Unlike some electronic music performers, Thomas is not an introvert. Nor is he a wild and crazy rock star. He's an intelligent and well-spoken gentleman who still performs his music with energy. He introduced most of the songs with a brief talk about the inspiration behind them. (He wrote nearly all of his recorded songs himself. He also created the quirky synth sounds and patches too.)
Instead of describing the story behind his song "I Live in a Suitcase," I'll let Thomas describe it for you. The following video is posted on his official website thomasdolby.com. (No bootleg videos on this blog.) The song was released on the "Astronauts & Heretics" album. I have to admit that the studio version never caught my attention but this live version quickly became one of my favorite Thomas Dolby songs, even more so after hearing the story behind it. Like many of his songs, it reveals some of his character. But unlike with some other singer-songwriters (which Thomas is), it's not melodramatic or artificially tragic. Thomas has always been a grounded, clear-headed individual with both an artistic side and a practical side. It's kind of refreshing to see someone like that in the music business after reading about people like Kurt Cobain, Amy Winehouse and R. Kelly all the time.
(Click on the picture to watch this video from Thomas' official website.)
***
I'll end Part 1 of my June 2008 Thomas Dolby blog series here. I've learned that if I post more than two videos or songs in a single blog entry, that no one will watch the third one. In Part 2, I'll provide more of a review of the Sept. concert, including a look at the different feel the Jazz Mafia Horns lent to some of Thomas' older songs.
I hope you enjoyed reading, listening and watching this blog entry. Stay tuned for Part 2, coming soon.
***
