Helping the Future

A couple weeks back now (I wrote this about a week ahead, and I'm referencing a show from about a week ago), something struck me in a Once Upon a Time episode. It had to do with Rumpelstiltskin and his prison cell...

(Honestly, it doesn't matter. If you've seen the episode, you know to what I'm referring. If you haven't, you won't lose anything by not having the details.)

What if you could see the future? What if you knew your predictions would come true? Would you allow a bad thing to happen to you (or would you remain in a bad situation) if you knew that by doing so you'd help someone else out later?

Ten Things

I watch a lot of TV. I have to have something on in the background while I'm knitting.

I watch the usual prime time shows, and I watch shows that I won't tell you about because I refuse to admit that I watch them. Recently, I stumbled across a new show that The History Channel's H2 is presenting called 10 Things You Don't Know About.

Every half hour episode tackles a new topic. While some of the facts they present don't surprise me, most of the time they are true to the title. In the eight episodes I've seen, I already had heard maybe two of the "things" before (one for sure).

(I didn't know this one.)

And here's the 30 second commercial about the series...

I find stuff like this fascinating. And it's nice to learn something while I'm knitting my nephew a stuffed owl for his upcoming 2nd birthday.

Do you have any good shows to recommend? Or would you rather hear about my Vampire Diaries obsession?

An App for That?

A little while ago, I was looking to do something with the blog (I forget what), and I stumbled across the Mobile setting in Template. (This is all on Blogger, by the way.) It turns out, you can set it so your blog shows up better on cell phones and the like. Mine was turned off, so I turned it on.

This was all before I got a smart phone. Now that I have one, I see the difference having the Mobile settings enabled makes.

I mention this in the hopes that if you were not aware, you are now. Go and fix it so your blog shows up a little bigger and easier to read for those reading your blog via their smart phones.

I'm such a newbie with my smart phone. I don't know what to do with it. I've figured out email, Facebook, and Twitter, but that's about it. There are so many apps out there, I don't even know where to begin.

(This came up in conversation yesterday. That's why I'm bringing it up.)

I'm looking for recommendations. What should I add to my smart phone? What cool stuff am I missing?

There is an app that I desperately want, but I don't know if it exists yet. If I had any idea how to do this myself, I would have long ago. As it is, I need to find someone who knows how to do this and hope to convince them to do it.

You know when you're watching a TV show (or a movie), and you see an actor that you know from someplace, but you just can't place where you saw this actor before? Sometimes you can figure it out, and sometimes you are with someone who can place the actor for you. But then there are times when it just isn't coming. This drives me crazy.

I want an app for that. There's got to be a way to input the show or the role (or a picture) into something and get a list of everything that actor has been in. What I do now is to remember to go onto IMDB when I'm on my computer (if I still remember by then), and look it up the hard way. That is, if I manage to get the actor's name in the credits of the show (not always possible).

(I know. I've mentioned this before. I will continue to bring it up until someone manages to program this app.)

Do you have mobile settings enabled on your blog? Have you seen the app I want? (Can you program it for me?) And what apps should I get for my smart phone?

About the States

Are you watching How the States Got Their Shapes? Just me?

Last year, The History Channel did a two hour show. This year, they extended it into a weekly series. And it's fascinating. It's history and geography with all sorts of tidbits that I have never heard before.

Check out an episode. I think you'll enjoy it. (And here ends my Friday recommendation.)

Finishing a Scarf

Last Wednesday, I was knitting while watching "Pretty Little Liars" which I had recorded on my DVR.  Well, I wasn't so much knitting as stitching together the finished squares of the Chameleon Scarf that I started on July 1st.  Of 2008.

I'm not really that slow of a knitter.  I started the scarf, worked on it for about a month, and then I got distracted by other projects.  I only picked the thing up again a couple weeks ago.

(Oh, and about the choice of shows?  I'm ashamed.  I only started watching it because it was "from the producers of 'The Vampire Diaries'," another show I'm ashamed to watch.  I'm so done with vampires.  But "The Vampire Diaries" is really, really good.  It's twisty and surprising.  I liked that I didn't see things coming.  So, I was hopeful that "Pretty Little Liars" would be similar.  We'll see.)

So, I was sitting when I started to feel something.  Was I being paranoid, or was it an earthquake?

I dropped the scarf into my lap.  I hit pause on my DVR.  I sat still.  The room was swaying.  It was an earthquake.

It seemed to last for a while.  But if I hadn't been sitting, I probably wouldn't have felt it.  The earth stopped moving.  I hit play on the DVR.  I picked up my scarf.

I finished the scarf shortly thereafter.  Here's what it looks like:

And here's another shot:  

Okay, so enough with the earthquakes already.  It's beginning to feel like high school all over again. 

The Corporation

One of the things I like about my TiVo (and miss in the other DVRs) is that it'll record programs that I might like. Many times these programs are things I've already seen, but sometimes, it finds something that I would never have noticed on my own.

Last week sometime, my TiVo recorded a documentary from LinkTV. It was called The Corporation. I finished watching it this morning. And I just had to share. (It has its own website here.)

It's one of those things that makes you think. Of course it's not on again in the near future (I checked). Look out for it. It's worth it.

Can't Look Away

I just started watching Hoarders. I think I'm hooked.

I don't know what it is about shows like this (Clean House fascinates me too). It's not like I'm a messy person. I'm more of "a place for everything, and everything in its place" person.

Maybe I'm just bored. Work is slowly starting to pick up. And then when the new fall season starts...

August TV Viewing

This time of year is so bad for TV viewing. I've gotten desperate. I've been watching educational programs.

It's not that bad, really. I like watching stuff that teaches me stuff. And since the blog's been suffering through the same doldrums as the TV schedule, I thought I'd share what I've been watching.

It all started with Stephen Hawking's Universe. Some of the stuff I knew (yes, I get that gravity bends space), but some of the stuff was new to me. I like this sort of thing (see title of blog).

So, then I started scouring the listings for stuff to record to my DVR, and I came across The Universe on the History Channel. Oooh. More fun for me.

I had gone through all my recorded shows, and I was looking for something to watch (I was knitting, and I needed some background noise). That's when I found The Ascent of Money on PBS. Since economics is a weak subject for me, I figured I might as well see if I could learn something.

The show is your basic history show, but the focus is on business and money matters. It was just the sort of thing to make business stuff make sense to me--sort of. I actually understood it, and that's a bonus for me.

Last summer I found The Adventure of English on History International. It's on at like 5 AM during the weekend, so it's strictly DVR viewing, but it was fascinating.

And then, I've had more time to watch new episodes of something that isn't very educational. But it's fun, and I need some fun. It's Clean House. I only discovered this show last summer, so I'm still catching up on episodes. It'll take me some time. Once the fall shows start, I'll forget all about Clean House only to find it again next summer.

Any other good shows that I should know about?

The Cool Stuff

Occasionally I stumble upon interesting shows. Earlier this week I recorded a show about Stephen Hawking called Master of the Universe. I finished watching it tonight.

Singularities. String theory. 11 dimensions. M theory. 'Brains.

Man, I miss physics classes!

Slow News Day

Since I usually hear about these things last, I'm sure you've already heard about this (it was on The Countdown last night).

That got kinda ugly, didn't it? So, in case you didn't know...

You can call me Liz.

What a View!

I was up late last night (no school today--four day weekend!), and I caught this on the news.  Go ahead, watch the video.  I'll wait...

I want to ride on a zeppelin.  I was salivating over the idea, until I heard the price of a ticket.  Ouch!

Rapt Attention

Today was day 2 with the opportunity class.  After they took their spelling test I was to put in a video.  They were excited that a video was on the lesson plan until they learned that it was a history video.  Then they were disappointed.  Oh well.

As usually happens, the video had not been rewound after the last viewing.  So, while we were waiting for the video to finish rewinding, I turned on the TV.  Usually all I get is a blank screen, but this time the TV had some reception, and Good Morning America was on.  

This story was on when I turned on the TV.  The entire class was mesmerized.  I had silence and attention.  The video finished rewinding, but instead of interrupting I left the show on.  I was not about to ruin that wonderful moment of them focused on something other than acting out.  

But the story eventually ended, and a commercial came on.  It was time to start the video.  All I got were groans.  And they proceeded to ignore the video for the remainder of the period (not even bothering to take the required notes).  

A Waste of Paper

We just got another bill from the cable company. It seems like they send us one every month. It's weird, because we got rid of cable and got a satellite dish in 2004.

The cable company was horrible. I have stories about missed service appointments and service appointments that they showed up for but forgot to tell me about (so I was not home when they arrived). They got rid of the Sci Fi Channel in the middle of a "Stargate SG1" season, but we could not upgrade to the package that had it because our complex was not wired for digital. And the complex didn't get wired for digital until two years later. And I'd better stop now or I'm going to start screaming again.

They were horrible. We fired them. We love DirecTV. (And by the number of satellite dishes in the area, I don't think our horrible experiences were unique.)

But here's the thing. Our condo complex has a deal going with the evil cable company--a monopoly thing. (So, they have the monopoly, but they don't upgrade the service? Let me move on before I start ranting.) And somehow, our home still has an account.

There is no name on the account (it's addressed to "RESIDENT RESIDENT"). The bill is for $0.

We get three pages mailed to our address. So, they're wasting money (paper, postage, time, computer space, etc.) sending us a bill every month. See why we got rid of these idiots?

Time Shifted

I just got caught up. But now the TV is off, so I'm officially behind again. Sigh.

I've been trying to watch the Olympics. The DVR is set. Last Friday is where the problem began. I was not going to stay up past midnight to finish off the opening ceremony, so that got pushed to Saturday. Then Saturday there was so much on that some of that got pushed to Sunday. But by Sunday night I was nearly caught up.

Monday was where it all went wrong. By Tuesday I was two days behind (still watching Sunday's events). I remained two days behind all week.

The lovely thing about the DVR is that I can buzz through commercials and all the stuff that I don't really want to see. But when I'm two days behind (and trying to avoid any headlines that would spoil the drama of the event), suddenly what I don't want to see turns into what I don't need to see. Heats. Semi-finals. The beginning of the race.

I suppose I should just give it up. But I'm too stubborn for that. I just anticipate another week being two days behind. So, don't tell me who gets the gold. I don't want to know yet.

Another Search Function

Recently the DVR's software was upgraded by DirecTV. A couple new features were added. One was something that I wanted--a way to search a specific station for all of its upcoming programs. But the thing I really want? I'm still waiting.

I will probably be waiting for a while. I've been asking for this for years. I would do it myself, but I don't have the technical skills to make it happen. So, I'm stuck just whining about it. As it's been a while since I've whined about it in public, I figure that I'm due.

Have you ever been watching some show on TV only to see an actor and wonder where you've seen him/her before? And you just can't place him/her?

This happens to me all the time. First I try to remember everything I've seen lately. Usually this doesn't work, mostly because if I had just seen the actor, I would have placed him/her right away. Then I'm stuck resorting to imdb. Actually, that's not a bad method, assuming that the computer is on and I'm not busy with other things. But I have a different wish.

There has got to be a way to program the DVR or other device to do that search for me. I see an actor who I know I've seen in something before. I push a couple buttons on the remote. I get a listing of all the actors in the show. And then from there I can select the actor who I know I've seen before. Then a filmography pops up, and I'm no longer going, "What was that actor in before?"

Really, is that too much to ask?

I know, I'm living in a dream world. But I can't be the only one who wants this.

Slim Pickings

With most of my TV shows on strike induced hiatus, I find my weekends rather empty.

It's the stupid DVR. It used to be that I'd watch what I could at night, and what I missed I missed. Then I got a DVR. I no longer had to choose between shows. I could record two at the same time. By the end of the week I'd have a surplus of shows to watch. And I'd spend my weekends catching up, usually watching a few hours of the week's prime time offerings.

Now, most nights I go to bed early, and everything that needs to be watched is watched and deleted way before Saturday. So, now I'm back to trolling for something to watch on the weekends. And there's nothing on. I used to find stuff to watch. I think I used to find stuff to watch.

Well, I did find something. Last Saturday and this Saturday I stumbled across a very interesting show: Download: The True Story of the Internet. It appears to be a four-parter (I've only seen parts 3 & 4), and I found it fascinating. The link will give the basic overview (just click on "about the show"), so I don't have to load this down with details.

I like shows like this. And I would have missed it entirely (probably) had it not been for my strike induced boredom.

Chocolate Ice Cream

Yeah, it's winter. This is not the time to be talking about ice cream. But I'm going to anyway. I haven't been working, so it's this or nothing.

I'm not a big fan of Food Network, but I do like the show Good Eats (and I was happy to hear that Alton Brown's contract has been renewed for another 3 years). Occasionally I try some of the recipes, and they usually turn out pretty well. And so when he did his premium ice cream episode, I was drooling. I had to try it.

My first attempt was a fiasco.

So, I dreamed of another ice cream freezer. I found one that I liked, and I asked for it for Christmas. And I got it.

I made the recipe on Saturday. I put it into the freezer on Sunday. And the freezer worked like a dream. It was supposed to take 20-30 minutes, but it only took 10.

I've been enjoying the ice cream for a couple days now. It is so smooth. It is so chocolaty. It's so nice when things work like they should.

'Tis the Season

...for cheesy TV Christmas movies.

I rewatched my favorite one last night. Though, being my favorite, I wouldn't exactly term it "cheesy".

(Sorry, I have no good subbing stories at the moment. I've been working. I just don't have much to say about the classes.)

Right, so the movie... It's called "The Christmas List". Luckily, they replay it every year now on ABC Family (I think they've rebroadcast it three times this season already). I highly recommend it...if you're into that sort of thing.

I'm not sure why I love it. No, not true. I have a pretty good guess. When it originally aired, I was stuck in a stupid retail job at Christmas, and the whole making-a-list thing resonated with me.

Though, that job of hers--not very true-to-life. I mean, there's no way that she had that kind of time during working hours during the Christmas rush. No way.

Retraction

The other day I spent some time lamenting that I missed the premiere of Hogfather on ION. I should have known. It would turn out all right in the end.

First, I complained that I had not seen and ads for the thing. Well, I hadn't. That doesn't mean they didn't exist. It was much later in the week (like Friday) when I finally got around to watching the previous Saturday's Torchwood (on BBC America), and sure enough, there was an ad for Hogfather. Whoops. That's what I get for taking a week to get to the shows recorded on my DVR.

Second, I complained that Hogfather wasn't going to be on again. It wasn't going to be...for the two weeks following the first airing. I did another search more recently and found that they're going to be replaying it over two nights: the 12th and the 13th. I have my TiVo set and I'm ready.

Now I have something to look forward to (especially since many shows have gone on their now annual winter break). And I hope it'll live up to the book. It's a great series; I recommend it highly.

Missed

It was about 7:30 this evening. I was flipping through the guide on the TV, looking for something to turn on when I saw Hogfather on ION. Hogfather?

Hogfather sounded like the title of one of the Discworld novels written by Terry Pratchett. It couldn't be! Could it?

I called up the information on the show, and sure enough, it said "based on a book by Terry Pratchett". About then I would have been jumping for joy except that the "miniseries" started at 4, and it was 7:30. There was less than a half hour left.

I went about searching for when it would be on again, and I got nothing. I then searched online, found this on imdb, and just about lost it. Notice the "premiere" date?

So, what I want to know is: did they want anyone to see it? I'm a huge Discworld fan, yet I had no prior knowledge of this premiere. I found out about it way too late to see it, and it's not scheduled to be on again. And I'm pissed. Where were the advertisements?

I guess I'm out of the loop here. You'd think that they'd have advertised this thing someplace that I would have seen it. I would have made a plan to watch it (well, I'd have recorded it, but still!), and I wouldn't be this upset. But none of that happened (I only saw announcements for this when I searched online for the show after I found out about it). Way to go, ION!