Jerry Orbach succumbs to cancer. Sigh.
(So, what’s going to happen to Trial by Jury?)
[Edited to add: Well, here’s my answer.]
Yearly Archives: 2004
Welcome to the 11th Dimension
KLRU is airing part two of The Elegant Universe on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. I ran across this special on NOVA while channel surfing one weekend earlier this year. I got so riveted by it that when I discovered a second airing on KLRU2 on the same day, I tuned in again.
Based on the book by Brian Greene, The Elegant Universe explains string theory in a way not unlike Alton Brown’s explanation of food science on Good Eats. Greene, who also hosts the program, breaks the theory down for the non-scientific audience, and the special effects are a lot more pronounced than most PBS science documentaries. The show is also pretty suspenseful.
I had thought about doing the cheap thing and trying to tape the show off my VCR, but it’s available on DVD, so I figure I’ll just be a big old nerd and add it to my wish list. Or I could just watch it online.
Damn liberal media
I gotta wonder …
With all the screeching about indecency on television, how does it feel for all those Puritanical zealots in those Red States — mine included — to face very sympathetic portrayals of gay life in TV drama?
I’d insert links to the whole Desperate Houswives/Monday Night Football and Saving Private Ryan snits but I’m way too lazy and you’ve all heard about it by now.
I’m thinking about some recent episodes of Jack & Bobby on the WB and Cold Case on CBS.
A little sheet music
Now that I’ve been going haywire with my piano rehearsals, I’ve actually become rathy picky about the sheet music I buy.
So much so, I’ve actually developed a favorite.
(Doing It) Our Way
You know what would be cool? An MP3 of Johnny Cash performing the theme song from Laverne & Shirley.
He did it in 1997 for a Nissan commercial. I nearly fell out of my seat with laughter the few times I caught that commercial on TV.
Johnny Cash may be famous for a lot of things, but how can anyone not admire a guy with the balls to cover that theme song?
I just want to hear a good beat
[Double-posted from Musicwhore.org]
You know … I really ought to be paying attention to the presidential debates.
But VH-1’s week-long documentary on hip-hop, And You Don’t Stop (sucky Flash site — unusable as hell), has totally grabbed my attention.
And I’ll be the first to admit I’m no fan of hip-hop. But the makers of the documentary do such a thorough job explaining the history and context behind hip-hop culture, it’s riveting.
I’ve always believed that a person who doesn’t like a form of music just doesn’t know what to listen for. Take classical music — it requires work to puzzle out something like sonata form, but once you learn it, it’s easier to listen to a Franz Josef Hadyn symphony for the first time.
And You Don’t Stop is a great crash course on how to understand hip-hop. I just may have to find some Public Enemy, and I may not be so quick to be dismissive of Dr. Dre. I’ll put up with Eminem, but I still think he’s an asshat.
Ice-T compared hip-hop to country music, and it made sense. Speaking of which, the BBC documentary, Lost Highway (which aired on CMT), is also rather fascinating. Since it was made by Britons, the tone of the documentary is much more reserved and objective than most CMT productions, which are nothing but country music pep rallies anyway. (Yay, Kenny Chesney!) I hope CMT will air it again.
WTF thoughts on Outkast
I like the fact the name Big Boi drops as an influence is Kate Bush and not Tori Amos.
WTF thoughts on matrimony
It occurs to me …
… it would be nice if gay marriage were to become socially acceptable, because then it could lead way to arranged gay marriages. And mail-order husbands.
What a day it would be when I can sit in a movie theater to watch a comedy of errors about an arranged gay marriage. Or an episode of a crime drama centered around a mail-order husband.