Archives for June 2007

The Weekly ‘Loper – June 17, 2007

June 17, 2007 by Jim Connelly

While you were desperately trying to get that fracking Journey song out of your head, once and for all, here’s what we were looking at:

Goodbye, Dear Television, Goodbye – Kassia says goodbye to her TV for the summer. I would suggest she try Big Love, Rescue Me & Flight of the Conchords (if it’s as good as all of the reviews say) now, and Eureka, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and Life on Mars a little bit later. But that’s me.
A Modest Proposal For the Next Season of 24 – . . . and then, at the end, a twist! Everything is fine. Jack Bauer has no worries at all! They’ll never expect it.
The Day Analog TV Died – “And they were singing: ‘Bye, bye to American Idol’, no more Chevy product placements or that mean Simon Cowell. And Paula Abdul was drinking whiskey and wine, saying ‘Seacrest went and got his hair dyed.'”
A Curious Addiction – Kassia discusses why she likes Talking Points Memo.com and reveals that her grandmother didn’t like Richard Nixon for exactly the same reason Roxanne doesn’t like John Madden.

The Daily Loper – June 16, 2007

June 16, 2007 by Lopy

Todays links of interest:

Tony Soprano didn’t just get whacked; he practically got a funeral
Apparently David Chase was serious when he said "anybody who wants to watch it, it’s all there." It’s so obvious now, how could I have possibly missed all the clues?
Mike Gravel’s existentialist campaign video
The point most people miss is that Mike Gravel is a performance artist.

The Daily Loper – June 15, 2007

June 15, 2007 by Lopy

Let’s Have A Moratorium on the Phrase “Wrapped Up In A Bow” Edition

Todays links of interest:

The Sopranos Ends Perfectly
That’s the opinion of "Battlestar Galactica’s" Ron Moore, who is going to have his own "how in the hell am I going to end my show?" moment coming up next year.
LA DirecTV Customers Can Now Get NY’s WNBC, Experience NBC’s Amazing Shows 3 Hours Early
We like this. We’d prefer to sit down at 6:15 on Monday and watch the new episode of "Heroes" on our TiVo instead spending all of Tuesday praying not to get spoiled. Of course, it has to be in HD, or no deal — which is why getting the East Coast HBO like we currently do but in SD, does us no good at all, CHARTER!
Populations of 20 Common Birds Declining
From the "Global Warming, Yay! Dept:" 100 years now, some old fogey will make a joke about "the birds and the bees," and their grandchild will be all, "what the hell are you talking about?"
My Year Of Flops Case File # 40: Joe Versus The Volcano
For years, I thought I was crazy because I was the only person who liked this movie. Guess not.

A Curious Addiction

June 15, 2007 by Kassia Krozser

I make no secret of the fact that I’m a news junkie. Probably there’s a support group for my problem, but, you know, I’m not sure that being informed is a real problem. Once upon a time, I thought I was going to be a real journalist when I grew up. I thank MaryBeth Lucas, my journalism teacher at Cabrillo High School, for teaching both great journalism and the fact that straight reporting simply isn’t my thing.

One of the many lessons that sticks with me is that you cannot truly write without bias. Can’t be done. To write without any sort of bias is to write like matzoh. Sure, you can report the facts, the straight, dry facts, but what is news without color? The man on the street interview? The details that set the scene (do you mention the jacaranda or do you note the burned out vehicle three houses down)?
[Read more…] about A Curious Addiction

The Daily Loper – June 14, 2007

June 14, 2007 by Lopy

In The Name of All That’s Holy, Please Stop Believin’ Edition

Todays links of interest:

McCartney’s Starbucks album percolates at No. 3
For those who miss Tower Records, there’s a new player in town. Yeah, that was a joke.
Coming soon to a theatre near you: trailers for plays
The UK’s National Theater uses YouTube to promote productions — it seems that these days, the video’s the thing.
Congress can outlaw boot-leg recordings: Court
In which copyright laws grow even more muddled.

The Day Analog TV Died

June 14, 2007 by Kirk Biglione

Medialoper: February 18, 2009 — Yesterday morning Herbert Cackin turned on his television set to find nothing but static. Cursing, he assumed his 25 year old Zenith had finally “konked out”. Next he turned on the television in his bedroom only to find the same problem. Finally he tried the set in the bathroom — same thing. At that point Cackin jumped to the conclusion any logical person would come to.

“I was damn sure we’d had another one of them 9-11 style attacks and that this time the terrorists killed our TVs”.

Despite the FCC’s best efforts to inform the public about the new law that requires television stations to abandon analog broadcasts in favor of digital broadcasts, it seems that not everyone got the message. Yesterday, after the switch finally took place, complaints poured in to local television affiliates around the country, and television repair shops were inundated with frantic phone calls.

“If all those sets had really been broken I’d be planning my retirement right now” said Delmore Floyd of Delmore’s Television Repair Service in Cody, Wyoming.

The Daily Loper – June 13, 2007

June 13, 2007 by Lopy

She’s No Fun, She Fell Right Over Edition

Todays links of interest:

Don Herbert, 89; TV’s ‘Mr. Wizard’ taught science to young baby boomers
"Help me, Mr. Wiz- uh, oh."
Journey’s Steve Perry Kept Sopranos Boss Waiting On Song
Steve Perry: 30 years of being a pompous ass.
McSweeney’s Internet Tendency: Now Would Be a Good Time.
In the wake of their distributor’s bankruptcy (mismanagement strikes again!), McSweeney’s seeks creative ways to regain lost earnings.

A Modest Proposal For the Next Season of 24

June 13, 2007 by Jim Connelly

An Open Letter to Joel Surnow and Kiefer Sutherland,

Joel and Kiefer,

As you probably know, a lot formerly loyal viewers of your show chose this year to get off of the bus. And as you probably also know, it probably wasn’t just because the concept of Heroes seemed more realistic that what you putting out there.

I’d like to help: I think that part of the problem is that you have to find a crisis that can start and be stopped within the space of the 24 hour timeframe that’s the concept of your show. Well, I’ve come up with one: a perfect combination of ripped-from-the-headlines international intrigue and Jack’s relationship with his family as he has to recover a stolen object within — you guessed it — 24 hours. But not just any stolen object, but one of the most revered objects in all of sports: The Stanley Cup.

It goes a little something like this . . .

The Daily Loper – June 12, 2007

June 12, 2007 by Lopy

I Guess That’s True Edition

Todays links of interest:

Apple pitches iTunes movie rental to studios
Studios aren’t sure if they like the idea, because they’re already shakey on Apples still-too-expensive .99 price point for actual download sales. Naturally, they think it’s too cheap.
David Chase speaks!
To the suddenly everywhere Alan Sepinwall. Naturally, he doesn’t give up much about that awesome "Sopranos" ending, except that he wasn’t intentionally trying to piss people off. "Anybody who wants to watch it, it’s all there."
"Caged" Paris Finds God, Phones Walters
There goes our Paris-free week.

The Daily Loper – June 11, 2007

June 11, 2007 by Lopy

Damn! We’re gonna win this thing! Edition

Todays links of interest:

Golden Era TV meets the Digital Age
What happens when people start posting for free old TV shows that no one could make a penny from if they tried to sell them?
L.A. indie music retailers closing their doors
And yet, weirdly enough, it’s not downloading that is causing one of the indies to close his doors. He just suddenly started hating his customers. Which, of course, makes him like the major labels . . .
Microsoft May Be Forced to Alter Windows, State Official Says
The specific issue here is Google’s Desktop Search, which doesn’t work as planned with Windows Vista.