February 2007 Archives

Hey man, you want a snack? You wanna know all the dirty laundry and humble beginnings of that Cadbury Creme Egg you just ate? Want to see if Mrs. Freshley and Willy Wonka have some kind of sordid history together? Want to know what the heck Jujubes are, once and for all? Trying to track down that weird candy you bought for a nickel in elementary school that left your tongue purple and your head spinning from a sugar daze? All tensed up from a week of midterms, grueling work, and very little sleep? Tired of me asking questions yet?

Then you should check out WASAW (Writers & Artists Snacking At Work) and laugh a little. The website isn't quite cutting-edge in terms of presentation, but quite a few of the food reviews sure are funny. Thanks to Gina for the link heads-up!

Hey, remember when MTV still played music? I don't. Not really. When I got old enough to really care about MTV, they had already started phasing out the music video, relegating it to the morning hours when nobody but kids faking sickness would be home to watch. The Real World, Beavis and Butthead, and The Grind were already starting to take up the afternoon hours. Stuart and I still had our phase of keeping up with videos, though (and Sunday nights were still good with 120 Minutes), but we ultimately shifted to VH1 for a while until that channel also decided that actual music on a music channel didn't make any sense.

The reason I'm taking this side trip into basic cable history is that Gerritt, Melanie, and I stumbled onto a really cool channel on our digital cable: The Tube Music Network. It's Channel 804 on Cox up here and 207 on Comcast. We were channel surfing when we stopped on an image of a sweaty, toothy Freddie Mercury banging through a song in some enormous stadium while the other members of Queen rocked around him. That set us on a discussion of what Mercury's real name was (Farrokh Bulsara, according to Wikipedia) and how he died (complications from AIDS). Before I had a chance to change the channel, however, a string of more live performances and videos from the likes of Joe Walsh, KT Tunstall, Fleetwood Mac, and Dave Matthews convinced us to stay. Rod Stewart's video in the purple tights almost convinced us to leave, but we persevered.

You see, the retro concept of The Tube is to be a music network that actually plays music. Live concert footage, officially released videos--you name it. What's more, there are no commercials - just Tube promos that tend to run a little too long, but that's a small price to pay for actually getting some content. The channel probably trends to the more popular musicians, but we did see the actual video for Enigma's "Sadeness - Part 1," so I'm sure there's plenty of variety. You might not see the latest indie media darling's video on there, but then again, their vault seems to be sizeable. For me, it hearkened back to the days when Stuart and I could catch 70's bands dancing weirdly on old reruns on VH1 so we could laugh at how they looked while listening in awe to how they rocked. This makes sense, because the founder of The Tube, Les Garland, was also a co-founder of MTV and VH1.

"The Tube presentation is honest, intelligent, and respectful of music and the people who love it." If that isn't a marketing slogan that will draw me in, I don't know what is. Check it out if you've got it.

A few weeks ago, I started subscribing to The Washington Post. I found a good deal in a daily issue I randomly bought for the crossword puzzle one day and decided to try it out. So far, I've been enjoying it - it's nice having an extra crossword or two at my disposal. Now, I know many people in my generation have completely foregone the daily ritual of thumbing through a newspaper, opting instead to get their news real-time on the Internet. And who can blame them? Newspapers simply can't deliver your news at the click of a button, on-demand, streaming with video and pictures hours or even minutes after the events took place, all for free.

So, given the breakneck pace of the Internet news media, why stick with an old-fashioned print paper? Maybe it's because I have a few bits of old-fashioned in me. Maybe it's because I just like the smell of fresh newsprint. But I think there are other reasons, and logical ones at that. For years, I've had access to Internet news, but I can easily say that I am at my most informed these last few weeks since subscribing to the paper. I think the reason is that, sure, I can look at any news category I want on the Net, but many times I simply wouldn't bother, or I'd say I wouldn't have enough time. At least with the paper, though I may not have enough time to look through it every day, I can at least check it out on my commute if I want, and I get the unique local spin on this crazy town that isn't available anywhere else.

With all that being said, the verdict is still out with me. Will I continue my contributions to Old Media and maintain my subscription a few more weeks? Or, having grown accustomed to being in the know about things (more than I ever was in college), will I drop the paper but pick up several more online news sessions? That story and more as it develops.