Weird Stuff on Cable

I have actually watched Toddlers and Tiaras. It's like watching child abuse--young children spray-tanned, fitted with artificial adult-sized teeth, forced to endure the piling on of make-up, false eyelashes, huge false hair pieces, just to briefly strut across the stage, in a $1500 little dress, for the delight of their generally overweight mothers, and the chance to win a tacky, cheap, over-sized crown, and the chance for the kid to feel like a complete failure if she doesn't get it. It is horrifying. Very upsetting.

There seems to be a huge market for programs that show people behaving badly. I think you have to be pretty vacuous to find that sort of thing entertaining.

What's with all the fishing shows? Top Hooker, Unhooked, Hooked, Semi-Hooked. I don't know all the titles. Haven't watched any of them. Mystified at this sudden spate.

I'm not sure they're about fishing, Virginia. ; )

Roberta wrote:


Same here, Virginia. Of what use is such crap? Even so, I googled "hook" and came up with a few more listings.

Hook Cable Box to Computer
Hook Cable Box to TV
Hook Cable Box to PC
Hook Cable TV to Computer

I was fishing for one titled "Hook Cable TV to Trash Bin," but didn't get a single byte.

deb, Yes, I'm sure. I've flipped past. Water. Fishing rods.

Debacle, You playing hooky?

There's a show on NBC called Get Out Alive (I think). That Bear Grills person is overseeing a group of couples as they trek/schlep through the wilderness of New Zealand. This show ain't awful. It's not so much a contest (although couples are sent home) as a real survival journey. Very difficult tasks. Assignments. Attitudinal issues. And you learn a lot about surviving in the wild.

What are the chances of my being stranded in the wild? About .00000000000001. But if it happens, I now know that I gotta eat grubs. They also showed how to make a boat out of a tent and a stretcher out of a rope.

I wonder how long it'll be before a McGrub will be the most consumed sandwich in America, with a twelve-inch Grubway meatball running a close second.

The following is a snippet from The Economist magazine.

Why eating more insects might be good for the planet and good for you

WHAT we eat is dictated as much by culture as by choice or necessity. If you ask a Westerner to name the most disgusting thing they have eaten, there is a good chance that a crunchy cricket or a chewy grub could be mentioned. Yet around 2 billion people (around 30% of the world's population) eat insects as part of their traditional diet says the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation. In a new report, the FAO extols the merits of eating more of them. Meat has been the main source of protein in rich countries for years and consumption is increasing in middle-income countries such as China and Brazil, where eating meat is a signifier of wealth. But eating animals exacts a high toll on the planet. The bigger the beast, the more food, land and water is needed to produce the final edible product, resulting in higher greenhouse-gas emissions. A cow takes 8kg of feed to produce 1kg of beef, but only 40% of the cow can be eaten. Crickets require just 1.7kg of food to produce 1kg of meat, and 80% is considered edible. Insects are also high in protein, minerals and micronutrients. This is good news for epicurean Americans awaiting the imminent invasion of cicadas.

I ain't eatin' no steekin' wormy things. If other people eat them, like them, and get nutrition from them, good.

Not this kid.

I tried not to notice the photo. Thud.

Well then, kiddo, it's probably best to limit your survival tactics to a picnic hamper and bottle of bubbly in Washington Square Park.

Or perhaps a Grub Street menu somewhere in the Village.

I gotta schlep down to Washington Square when Cental Park is three blocks away?

It wouldn't surprise me at all if there was a bug restaurant in the Village.

I just did some googling. Definitely bug places in NYC:

Shark Week

This year Shark Week has become a mega production with a late night talk show to discuss the preceding programs.

The programs mostly show scientists harassing sharks. Enough already with the chumming, the phony baloney rubber seal, and the underwater following devices.

The first show was about the possibility that megaladon (sp?) is not extinct. This was an enormous shark (maybe 60 feet long) that theoretically died out about sixty million years ago. Some folks are now saying that it didn't die out. It's just hanging out in deep waters and occasionally makes an appearance. They say that there is some evidence that it's still around.

I've always believed that if there's some huge monster-like animal lurking around, it wouldn't be in a lake or the woods. It would be in the deep ocean. However, the two times they had the chance to photograph said extinct creature, the camera pooped out.

So now what we've got is another monster myth.

The second show was about the return of jaws = great white sharks off the coast of Massachusetts. Can this be such a surprise? The seal population is increasing.

There was also a show about bull sharks in the bayous. It's been known for decades that bull sharks do quite well in fresh water. What's the news?

As an aside, I caught a bit of a show on Animal Planet. Not about sharks. The narrator referred to a tiger as a siberian bengal. Huh?

A new show with potential. Is this possible?

A reality show called the Great Santinis. The Santini Brothers is a fairly well-known moving company in the Big Apple. These guys have been around for ages. It's a family run business.

The fathers want to retire, but the sons aren't doing so well.

The first episode had me laughing out loud. The second episode, not so much.

I like the show not just because of the Santinis but because of the New Yorkers--and what they've got in their apartments. I also like seeing the neighborhoods.

Sounds like it could be interesting. I'll have to check on it...hmm, it's on the History Channel. (and apparently I can see it on the website history.com).

I hate my hair.
I hate my butt.
I hate by belly fat.
I hate by ugly feet.

These are all infomercials on late at night. I don't watch them, but I pass them on my way somewhere else. What's with all the hate?

There's also an actual program called, I Hate My Yard.

Have I detected a trend?

Yes, another remarkable marketing moment. I hate something, voila, Ron Popiel (sp) shows up with the perfect remedy and the first 500 people will get two crappy items for the price of one (shipping, taxes and handling extra). Within the blink of an eye, the magic item shows up on your doorstep and you open it up and voila deux into the attic, basement or closet never to rear it's plastic head again.

I just learned about another reality show at the hairdressers (where else), I was complaining that I had just been invited to the 3rd sweet sixteen party being held for my DIL's niece. I was grousing because I only get invited when the occassion requires a gift. (Well more issues actually, I'm getting tired of being Aunt checkbook). All hell broke loose when I sent regrets because of a conflict. My actual conflict is that the girls mother allows underage drinking, actually provides the booze. Hypocrite alert, yes I drank underage when I could get away with it, but just because I was young and stupid doesn't mean I have to be old and stupid. I thought saying I had a conflict was nicer than saying "if I see one underage kid drinking, I'll call their parents or police as I'm exiting the house".
I digress, Sandra, my hair wizard asked me if I had seen any of the TV shows where everybody competes to have the best and most elaborate sweet sixteen party the world has ever seen. I hadn't, but then the lightbulb went on
Well how stupid do I have to be, of course there must be such a show and of course the girls mother has been having it IV version, along with all the bridal excess shows. Mom still doesn't have custody of daughter, but that's another story.
Another disclaimer, I am too old to go around and lecture 40 year olds what they can't do in their homes, and I know views on weed are more relaxed than they were in the 70's, but I didn't grow up in Haight Asbury, I'm on the East Coast and I worked for the federal government. I retired but I still maintain my security clearance to do consulting (getting less as years go by) and mr. glitterbag works part time for a defense contractor which also requires a clearance. It's not exotic, it's basically a license to perform your job. Without the clearance, no work. I wasn't willing to risk it when I was in my twenties and had to opt out of functions where old friends would be "experimenting", I sure as hell am not going to place myself somewhere with pinhead adults being pals with the 15-17 year olds. My son told me at the recent BD party for a cousins 2 year old, the mom and stepdad were so drunk, the sixteen year old with a learners permit had to drive with her half high idiot sullen boyfriend back to Arnold from Hurlock (over an hour and a half) because she had to go to school the next day.

Wow, I guess I'm still angry. I'd like to blame it on the Irish or my red hair but sometimes I'm just a pain in the ass.

Sorry folks, the dog woke me up at 4AM to drink huge quantities of water, got to call vet when office opens and get that checked out. Haven't gone back to sleep, might have lost the bubble on that today. We will be staying with granddaughter (2 1/2) later today to give son and wife a night out. Got to get rested for that. Alright, I'm done, everyone have a good day, and best wishes for Dutchy who is feeling poorly.

Have you ever watched "Switchblade TV" ? Its a knife show that's on on the various members of the History Channel Network. Its a show where this kinda hillbilly sounding little dude is hawking all kinds of knives, from stilettos and switchblades to Samurai swords. I think its mostly for bikers cause the steel used on these things (except for maybe the CAse knives) are CRAP.



IM A BIG FAN of DUCK DYNASTY. These guys are a bunch of really intelligent folks who run a duck decoy and duck call company. We follow them through their daily lives. its not like some of the others where, by the stars stupidity we are meant to feel superior.

Me too. My sister corrected me when I called it a non-scripted show but I really appreciate the honesty and love between the parents, sons and their families.
These are good people.

Generally speaking, TV has got boring over the years, I hardly watch it at all because there's lots of great older stuff around for free on Youtube or Dailymotion etc, I'm currently ploughing through old Twilight Zone episodes.
For examp in this one an Elvis impersonator is accidentally thrown back in time to 1950's America and hitches a ride into town in a truck that just happens to be driven by the young as-yet unknown real Elvis Presley-

While flipping through the late night channels the other night, I came across a program called Sturgis Raw.

Are you a late-night porn star?