The continuing story of...

[Stephen Hart]

Hi Don,

In a msg of <27 Apr 04>, Spamthis!***@jksrv.Com wrote:

Sm> You're not alone in your opinion BTW. Oh and speaking of violence vs.
Sm> sex, more news from that mislocated friend of mine down south. Apparently
Sm> where they are it's illegal to purchase, "import," or own sex toys or
any
Sm> media which may be considered to be pornographic. This includes

I dunno? This does not sound like a comfortable place to live and
work. Unless the pay is exceptional, or there or other benefits to
the area, I'd be tempted to ask why you haven't told him to give some
excuse for quitting that job and then running like hell. :-)

Sm> satellite/cable providers. While it doesn't surprise me given some of
the
Sm> other things Scott has told me about the area, I do find it to be just
a
Sm> touch surreal.

Would you tell me what southern state this is taking place in?

...Leaving aside things like the U.S. Bill of Rights, I
cannot believe major U.S. corporations would allow an area where it
was against the law to own a satellite dish or subscribe to cable.
Forget about personal freedoms, you're talking about about denying
corporations their right to advertise and sell their products!

With all due respect, is there any chance Scott is exaggerating or
misunderstanding the situation?

Canada. What recently surprised me was finding out that the SF show
_Andromeda_ is a "Canadian show", but I think it may mainly qualify
because of being filmed in Canada.

Sm> I really find that the only thing which catches my attention lately
is
Sm> sci/fi. For some reason Andromeda didn't though. :scratching head:

I've only watched it occasionally. While some of the actors and
scripts had potential, I just didn't relate to most of the plot
devices. Also, it seems as if the writing quality varied wildly from
season to season, tho that may just have been my personal reaction to
some of the plotlines.

The recent SF show that surprised me was Joss Whedon's _Firefly_, tho
this may seem a "left-handed compliment". Any time I've seen a new
episode, I've been impressed by the writing and fairly impressed by
the acting. What surprised me was that, when I happen to watch
television on a night when a _FireFly_ rerun airs, I have absolutely
no desire to watch the episode a second time.

I'm guessing that, for me, _Firefly_ seems like one of those "missed
opportunities" that people talk about. It did have good things
going for it, but something was lacking. After _Buffy_ and _Angel_,
having _Firefly_ cancelled after one season certainly put a crimp
in Whedon's track record.

Moving on...

So, what recent SF series have caught your eye?

...Anyway, it is very rare for a CBC drama to captivate me. I
think I was over-exposed to CBC quality programming by growing-up in

a

town where the only television station was a CBC affiliate.

Sm> Sounds like my own early exposure to radio. It wasn't until almost
the
Sm> end of elementary school that I discovered that there were choices other
Sm> than CBC on the AM band. Not for lack of availability though; it was
Sm> simply my mother's preferred station, and I wasn't allowed to touch
the
Sm> stereo. :-)

The horror! ;-) ...From around age eleven, I was fortunate enough
to have an older radio that had shortwave bands as my bedside radio.
As well as exposing me to culture and international news via the BBC
and stations like Radio Berne Switzerland, it also exposed me to
the world of amateur radio operators.

One of my minor regrets is that I never had the study time and the
spare money needed to indulge in ham radio. Somehow, I always had one
or the other. I'm still an occasional Short Wave Listener, tho.

I totally agree. I would also throw _American Idol_ and _Canadian Idol_
into the "reality television" genre, tho I guess they are partly based

on

the old-fashioned talent show idea?

Sm> Perhaps, but even these are still highly contrived, not to mention tuned
Sm> to the audience. I doubt they'd do nearly as well without the presence
of
Sm> at least one judge who's sole purpose it seems, is to humiliate people.

I've heard something about that. Apparently when they set up Canadian
Idol, they even followed the same formula; One sarcastic negative
judge, one supportive female judge, and a third judge who apparently
does not make much of an impression on people?

I dunno? When you think about reality television and then consider
some of the talk shows, it's enough to make you worry about the
mentality of the "average person". Since many people must be
watching this stuff in order to justify advertising support, it is
enough to scare me. (I know that sounds a little too dramatic, but I
really do wonder about the level of intelligence of the average
television viewer. Then, I worry about exactly how many of these
"average people" there are wandering around loose.)

'Course I also wonder about people who are willing to risk humiliation
to participate in a contest or a talk show, but there is no sense
getting into that question.

By the way, how _did_ the term "reality television" get applied to
television shows like _Survivor_? :-/

Sm> Well it's a real-life situation dontcha know. Isn't it every day that
Sm> people get dumped in an island in the middle of nowhere with nothing
but a
Sm> teddy bear, and have to scratch out a living while competing for cash
and
Sm> camera exposure?

Well, it _is_ getting more common. ;-)

Meanwhile, what with Tony mentioning that the _Survivor_ producer has
said that _Survivor_ is not part of the reality television genre, I'm
hoping he can shed some extra light on the topic.

...It's not that I'm overly interested. This is just a slight
amount of morbid curiosity. Somehow, watching the success of the
reality television shows as "cultural or social phenomena", induces
the same urges in me that some people have when passing a traffic
accident. It's an ugly situation, but nevertheless fascinating...:-)

So, I guess this is the point where you both need to exhibit willpower.
That, or move to a larger place.

Sm> Willpower, so far. Moving to a larger place is coming, but we're not
sure
Sm> when yet. As much as financial institutions like to tell us that we
can
Sm> borrow from RRSP's, or our line of credit to contribute to a down-payment,
Sm> the idea of
Sm> borrowing money for a down-payment just plain irks me.

Good for you! That _is_ an old-fashioned outlook, but it is less
likely to turn you into a long-term "wage slave".

Hell, even tho "being social" is often considered a "good thing", I'm

not

sure about the actual worth of common social activities like spending
night after night out drinking in clubs.

Sm> Like, it's to score, right? Or is there more to it? ;-)

Depends on the place, I guess.

I'm almost ashamed to admit that I used to go to some hotels mainly to
listen to the music. I also liked to "admire the scenery" but I was
never too big on the whole "pick up" idea. If it happened, sure, but
I usually did not work at it too hard. (After AIDs came along, I was
even less enthusiastic. Just because heterosexuals are a low risk
group, the idea of a few hours of pleasure running a significant risk
of resulting in a death sentence really makes me think. In fact, I'm
still amazed when I run across a woman who does not insist on condom
use as standard practice. Hell, even with a condom you are still
running something like a three percent risk of infection.)

Well, enough for now. While it may spice up the message area
slightly, I'm wondering how I managed to stray into areas like
contraception, safe sex and personal dating philosophy. Lemme tellya,
tho, it's hell being single! :-/


TTYL, ...Steve

-
Frisbetarian: when you die your soul goes up on the roof.

[Don Guy]

...and in the spirit of taking a while to reply, we bring you this brief interruption while I take a few moments away from trying to prep two 20-year-old pseudo-sports cars for a 5,000km road trip which takes place in two weeks. ;-)

On 04-05-17, ***@f127.n249.z1.fidonet.org (Stephen Hart) had a few words to say about
The continuing story of......

I dunno? This does not sound like a comfortable place to live and work.
Unless the pay is exceptional, or there or other benefits to the area,
I'd be tempted to ask why you haven't told him to give some excuse for
quitting that job and then running like hell. :-)

Actually I ~have~ suggested that Scott & his family bug outta there a few times now, but he still seems to feel that his employment prospects up here are bleak. Given that he's a software developer, and that most of his practical experience lies with a slightly off-mainstream database front-end, he may be correct. :shrug:

I know a few people from a former employer who are managing to find local spot work with this particular platform, so there's always the possibility that he's correct.

Would you tell me what southern state this is taking place in?

Alabama. Montgomery, AL to be precise.

...Leaving aside things like the U.S. Bill of Rights, I cannot
believe major U.S. corporations would allow an area where it was against
the law to own a satellite dish or subscribe to cable. Forget about
personal freedoms, you're talking about about denying corporations their
right to advertise and sell their products!

Hmmm, am I reading this wrong, or was my last message not worded very well? As I understand it subscribing to satellite or cable services in general is not prohibited--the providers are apparently not allowed to make dedicated "adult" programming available to their customers however.

With all due respect, is there any chance Scott is exaggerating or
misunderstanding the situation?

Definitely. I really do have to take all this with a grain of salt.

The recent SF show that surprised me was Joss Whedon's _Firefly_, tho
this may seem a "left-handed compliment". Any time I've seen a new
episode, I've been impressed by the writing and fairly impressed by the
acting. What surprised me was that, when I happen to watch television on
a night when a _FireFly_ rerun airs, I have absolutely no desire to watch
the episode a second time.

I've seen it in the listings, but never landed on it for any length of time I'm afraid. Though I'm guessing that it is completely unrelated to the Piers Anthony book of the same name. :-)

So, what recent SF series have caught your eye?

Enterprise is probably "it". Though now that Witchblade is carried by something other than HBO, I do find myself watching it from time-to-time. Mind you Witchblade to me hovers more on the blurry line of sci/fi-fantasy than it is true s/f.

...and speaking of s/f, I find myself intensely curious about Will Smith's new movie "I, Robot." Mostly in terms of whether or not there is much correlation between the movie and Asimov's novel. Then again never having read the novel, I likely wouldn't recognize any commonalities between the two if they bit me.

One of my minor regrets is that I never had the study time and the spare
money needed to indulge in ham radio. Somehow, I always had one or the
other. I'm still an occasional Short Wave Listener, tho.

My short wave listening was limite to a short stint as a kid, when I discovered that if one fiddled with some of the "non user-serviceable" components in battery powered radios, one could receive broadcasts in other languages. :-) I had no idea what I was doing at the time, or what I was actually receiving, but it was neat.

I've heard something about that. Apparently when they set up Canadian
Idol, they even followed the same formula; One sarcastic negative judge,
one supportive female judge, and a third judge who apparently does not
make much of an impression on people?

Interesting, and not surprising. I wonder how many people who watched Scary Movie 3 cheered when American Idol's "Simon" was gunned down after delivering one of his standard critiques on a rap contest?

I dunno? When you think about reality television and then consider some
of the talk shows, it's enough to make you worry about the mentality of
the "average person". Since many people must be watching this stuff in
order to justify advertising support, it is enough to scare me. (I know
that sounds a little too dramatic, but I really do wonder about the level
of intelligence of the average television viewer. Then, I worry about
exactly how many of these "average people" there are wandering around
loose.)

You and me both. I can't help but thinking about the statement "80% of people on the road think that they're an above-average driver" though, and how a similar one may apply here. Then again when it comes to television audiences, is there really an "above" and a "below" average watcher, or just "not average"?

'Course I also wonder about people who are willing to risk humiliation to
participate in a contest or a talk show, but there is no sense getting
into that question.

LOL 15 minutes of fame, even if on the Jerry Springer show, is still a glorious 15 minutes to some. I must admit that part of me does enjoy watching things like Fear Factor once in a while. Mostly to see what sort of loony-tunes "stunts" they have the contestants performing, but also to sit there and wonder whether or not I could do that. :-) Eating disgusting items aside, there have been some interesting tests of endurance & coordination on there that no one would think of trying in real life.

Good for you! That _is_ an old-fashioned outlook, but it is less likely
to turn you into a long-term "wage slave".

Hey while there's little I can do to avoid the ridiculous service fees that financial institutions like to slap on like bumper stickers, I do at least have some control over how much interest I pay them. ;-)

Well I think the coffee has finally engaged. That must mean it's time for me to head back out in to the garage, and continue persuading some old brake parts to start behaving as though they're new brake parts. Will someone please remind me why we thought that moving the date of our road trip from late-August to mid-July was a good idea??? :-/


-d.