First, I would like to say that I have always been bothered by the way they spell "Nite". It's "night" people! Stop promoting incorrect spelling!
Second, I would like to say that I spent my childhood years staying up all hours of the night watching this channel. Often times, people I work with say things like, "Oh, this one time on the Mary Tyler Moore Show... oh you're probably too young for that." Well guess what, old people, I watched that show all the time when I was 6. I know what you're talking about.
Anyway, Netflix has started posting some of these old shows. I literally spent most of my day today watching Dick Van Dyke. This was probably my favorite show as a kid. It's a wonder why we don't have shows like this anymore. Something that the whole family can sit down and watch together. There is no programming like this at all today. TV parents don't love each other, kids are not obedient or innocent. Wives and husbands don't come together and talk out their problems, talk about how to raise their kids, talk about their day, talk at all. Today on TV, you'll see married couples sleep in the same bed, and the same bed of the lady /man down the street.
I can understand that times have changed, and now we're supposed to show diversity on TV. We're supposed to let kids know that not every family is the same, and that's "OK". But has this gone so far as to create bad role models for families?
Is there even any programming out there for families to watch together? Sure, Lifetime still has those original movies about moms looking for their kidnapped children, which are great for scaring your kids into staying in the yard.... Well... that's not any fun. Oh! We have the Disney channel, where the programming is made exclusively to promote tween-pop. The content is sometimes so ridiculous that it doesn't even make any sense. Sometimes they play classic movies, which are pretty good, but neither the programming or the movies are really all that entertaining for adults on a regular basis.
There is such a split in what's on TV. Everything is made for a specific demographic, but families are not made out of one demographic. Families are all demographics under the same roof.
TV families used to represent the perfect model for the perfect family. Today, they reflect the worst possible relationships imaginable. Today, we have nothing to look up to, no goals to reach. What we have, is a very low bar, that we try not to go under. We see the dirt on everyone, and try to justify our immoral lives by saying, "well at least I'm not as bad as [insert trending celebrity couple here]". Wouldn't it be better to try to be the best we can be for the betterment of mankind?
Saturday, June 16, 2012
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Netflix! Why you no Break Bad?!?!
I have been waiting for AMC's Breaking Bad season 4 to be added to Netflix instant streaming since it finished airing on TV. Season 5 airs in July, and still no season 4!
Seriously Netflix! get with the program here!
Breaking Bad is the epic tale of Chemistry teacher Walter White (Brian Cranston) who starts dealing meth to help create a pretty nice cushion for his family to live on when he dies. In season 1, he was diagnosed with cancer, his 15 year old son has paulsey, and his home-maker wife finds out she's having another baby.
His brother in law, Hank, is a DEA agent, and one day while Walt is on a "ride along" with Hank, he sees one of his former students flee the scene of a lab bust. He later confronts this student and asks him to help him get into the drug trade. Hilarity ensues.
Walter finds himself forced to make one tough decision after another. You follow him along this journey from High School Science teacher to hardened criminal. At first, he doesn't even want to touch a gun, and later, you find him masterminding elaborate plans to wipe out high rollers in the drug trade. All the while, the DEA seems to be closing in on him (or rather they're really portrayed as complete morons, who haven't been hot on anyone's tail throughout the whole series).
Anyway, Netflix come on already and post season 4 before season 5 starts, I'd really like to watch the series in order. Could be totally confusing if I don't know who key players are at this point.
Seriously Netflix! get with the program here!
Breaking Bad is the epic tale of Chemistry teacher Walter White (Brian Cranston) who starts dealing meth to help create a pretty nice cushion for his family to live on when he dies. In season 1, he was diagnosed with cancer, his 15 year old son has paulsey, and his home-maker wife finds out she's having another baby.
His brother in law, Hank, is a DEA agent, and one day while Walt is on a "ride along" with Hank, he sees one of his former students flee the scene of a lab bust. He later confronts this student and asks him to help him get into the drug trade. Hilarity ensues.
Walter finds himself forced to make one tough decision after another. You follow him along this journey from High School Science teacher to hardened criminal. At first, he doesn't even want to touch a gun, and later, you find him masterminding elaborate plans to wipe out high rollers in the drug trade. All the while, the DEA seems to be closing in on him (or rather they're really portrayed as complete morons, who haven't been hot on anyone's tail throughout the whole series).
Anyway, Netflix come on already and post season 4 before season 5 starts, I'd really like to watch the series in order. Could be totally confusing if I don't know who key players are at this point.
Roger Waters Presents :The Wall
My 27th birthday! Happy birthday to me!
Tonight, (June 11, 2012), I went to see The Wall, a concert put on by Roger Waters. It was a pretty fantastic performance. I had at this point only seen the movie once, and that was about 6 years or so ago, so I didn't really know what to expect.
If any of you have ever seen a Pink Floyd show, you would know that it is more than a concert, it relies heavily on storytelling elements. They used props and projections, and puppets and carefully timed construction to tell the story of a man named Pink Floyd, who is building a mental wall to keep people out, but then finds that it also imprisons him, and his struggle to get back out.
I really liked the use of the bricks in the wall. As the first half of the story played out, stage hands were building the wall out of white bricks. The bricks were each about 5 ft by 3 ft, and looked like they were pretty light, leading me to believe they were made of light Styrofoam, or card board. I sat in the far balcony, so I couldn't get a good look at their construction. By the time intermission rolled around, the wall was complete. The second half of the show was really cool because the wall served as a projection screen to show some pretty awesome imagery. A lot of which was taken directly from the movie, but some was changed for the show. The story deals a lot with WWII, but during the concert, a lot of things were changed to reflect the recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The same message is sent however in that people are used as stepping stones for the country to bring terror onto others. There was actually a written message on the wall that said something to the likes of,
:: update:: I found the quote I was looking for,
This message was pretty in your face the whole time, actually. In the first half of the show, the really precise projection system showed a picture of a different soldier, or civilian who has lost a life because of the war, on the face of each brick. It looked like one of those pictures made out of 1000 photos. This basically is supposed to mean that we are just tools that are used by the government to keep people out, and to keep us in. Like we're just livestock or something. This imagery also reminded me of the Great Wall of China, wherein people who died while building it were just built into the wall serving as mortar. I am not sure if this is true, but that is definitely the rumor.
There were obviously some more, "don't trust your government" overtones, but I wouldn't say that the narrative is actually all that shallow. There were a lot of other themes, such as the loss of innocence, the damage of overbearing parents, the realization of the state of the world, self destruction, and many others. This is the story of every man, and his struggles. Of every person, and their individual wall. It's really deep. Watch it, and then watch it again.
Actually, you can find the movie legit on Youtube on RogerWatersChannel http://www.youtube.com/user/rogerwaterschannel
Here is the direct link to the movie
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jTmMU6sMgM
Also, the song "Hey You" was cut from the official release of the film. It is supposed to go between "goodbye cruel world" and "is there anybody out there?" . Here is the link for the cut portion of the film.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-B4N_-NIBZA&feature=plcp
While watching the movie, or after watching it the first time, I highly suggest reading the complete analysis of the film because there is a lot of symbolism and metaphor used in the film and it is explained in the analysis.
http://www.thewallanalysis.com
If you'd like to see some pics from the concert, check out this guy's page:
http://clarencegrad72.blogspot.com/2010/10/wall.html
Tonight, (June 11, 2012), I went to see The Wall, a concert put on by Roger Waters. It was a pretty fantastic performance. I had at this point only seen the movie once, and that was about 6 years or so ago, so I didn't really know what to expect.
If any of you have ever seen a Pink Floyd show, you would know that it is more than a concert, it relies heavily on storytelling elements. They used props and projections, and puppets and carefully timed construction to tell the story of a man named Pink Floyd, who is building a mental wall to keep people out, but then finds that it also imprisons him, and his struggle to get back out.
I really liked the use of the bricks in the wall. As the first half of the story played out, stage hands were building the wall out of white bricks. The bricks were each about 5 ft by 3 ft, and looked like they were pretty light, leading me to believe they were made of light Styrofoam, or card board. I sat in the far balcony, so I couldn't get a good look at their construction. By the time intermission rolled around, the wall was complete. The second half of the show was really cool because the wall served as a projection screen to show some pretty awesome imagery. A lot of which was taken directly from the movie, but some was changed for the show. The story deals a lot with WWII, but during the concert, a lot of things were changed to reflect the recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The same message is sent however in that people are used as stepping stones for the country to bring terror onto others. There was actually a written message on the wall that said something to the likes of,
"Every weapon, every tank, every bomb represents in it's final sense, a theft from those who are hungry and not fed, from those who are cold and not clothed."
:: update:: I found the quote I was looking for,
"Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies in the final sense a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed."
This message was pretty in your face the whole time, actually. In the first half of the show, the really precise projection system showed a picture of a different soldier, or civilian who has lost a life because of the war, on the face of each brick. It looked like one of those pictures made out of 1000 photos. This basically is supposed to mean that we are just tools that are used by the government to keep people out, and to keep us in. Like we're just livestock or something. This imagery also reminded me of the Great Wall of China, wherein people who died while building it were just built into the wall serving as mortar. I am not sure if this is true, but that is definitely the rumor.
There were obviously some more, "don't trust your government" overtones, but I wouldn't say that the narrative is actually all that shallow. There were a lot of other themes, such as the loss of innocence, the damage of overbearing parents, the realization of the state of the world, self destruction, and many others. This is the story of every man, and his struggles. Of every person, and their individual wall. It's really deep. Watch it, and then watch it again.
Actually, you can find the movie legit on Youtube on RogerWatersChannel http://www.youtube.com/user/rogerwaterschannel
Here is the direct link to the movie
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jTmMU6sMgM
Also, the song "Hey You" was cut from the official release of the film. It is supposed to go between "goodbye cruel world" and "is there anybody out there?" . Here is the link for the cut portion of the film.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-B4N_-NIBZA&feature=plcp
While watching the movie, or after watching it the first time, I highly suggest reading the complete analysis of the film because there is a lot of symbolism and metaphor used in the film and it is explained in the analysis.
http://www.thewallanalysis.com
If you'd like to see some pics from the concert, check out this guy's page:
http://clarencegrad72.blogspot.com/2010/10/wall.html
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