Retransmission Wars

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image of coxial cableLike clock work, the end of the year brings us some retransmission wars in cable television. The FCC allows local broadcasters to charge a fee to cable companies that retransmit its signal to subscribers. The local stations try to get a large fee while the cable providers try to pay as little as possible. When the sides can’t agree then either the channel is pulled from the cable system or some agreement is reached at the last minute. These retransmission wars are stupid and show how antiquated local and cable television is now.
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War Horse Is A Film About War That Doesn’t Splash Blood On The Kids

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image of the poster for the fim War HorseThere has been a trend in war films of late for extreme realism. For example in Steven Spielberg’s “Saving Private Ryan” the film opens with a long scene of fighting during the D-Day landings with all the blood and guts on full display. In Spielberg’s new film “War Horse” he seems to go back the other way, back to the old days when war movies were sweeping epics and the main characters barely were scratched in savage fighting. As an adult I enjoy the more realistic war films but I can appreciate “War Horse” for still showing the carnage of war without splattering my kids face with blood and guts.
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Where Have You Gone, Lindsay Lohan??

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image of Lindsay Lohan in the good old daysMost people know Lindsay Lohan as a spoiled party girl which made her look much older than her 25 years like a meth addict looks much older than they are after doing drugs for too long. Her hydrogen peroxide hair and rough look is far away from the red tresses and freckles of her child acting days. For the first five years of the 2000′s she hit on all cylinders even as her hard partying started taking its toll at the end of that period. This post will highlight the good times she brought for me and her fans with a nice assist from the Disney corporate machine.
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Stop Online Piracy Act Will Lead To Censorship

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image of FBI warningCongress is considering a law they say will stop online piracy. Stop Online Piracy Act or SOPA will force websites that host content to become digital police and would lead to their shut down just based on a mere whiff of copyright infringement without due process. It and the US Senate version called Protect IP (Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property Act of 2011), would stifle digital innovation, kill jobs, and would violate basic legal due process rights.
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This Is NOT Your Daddy’s Elevator Music

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image of The band Jingle Punks Hipster OrchestraElevator music is named for the instrumental arrangements of popular music used in common public spaces like medical offices, stores, and elevators. When I was kid there was a radio station that played a lot of elevator music so whenever I heard instrumental arrangements of popular music I get a bit nostalgic. One recent good tune is a cover of the Black Keys “Tighten Up” played by the group Jingle Punks Hipster Orchestra.
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NBC mid-season benches ‘Community’ and cancels ‘Prime Suspect’

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imag of the cast of NBC's CommunityTwo shows I like on NBC are being affected by mid-season schedule changes. “Community” that was on the killer time slot of Thursday at 8 PM has been put on hiatus while new show “Prime Suspect” that was on at 10 PM on Thursdays has been canceled and will only have its initial 13 episode order completed. These changes are being done due to ratings. It still sucks because these were shows I liked.
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Veteran’s Day Reminds Me Of Some Good Movie Music

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image of a movie cameraVeteran’s Day is a time to honor and remember all the men and women who have fought for their country. Today also reminds me of some great war movie theme music. In fact a movie about war or the military isn’t the same unless it has some music with power. Here are a few tunes that are iconic and on my list as the best of the war movie music.
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TV Sweeps Makes Local Newscast Breathlessly Overhype The Mundane

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Clip art of a TV setNovember is a sweeps month in the TV world. This is one of the four times during the year when local stations have their advertising rates set. They pull out all the stops to increase viewership. My local station tried to create a major case about a Teacher, accused of having sex with a student, returning to work after making bail. Due process doesn’t lend itself to “if it bleeds it leads..” journalism.
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Grace Helbig Makes The Internet A Better ‘Place’

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screencap of Grace Helbig on Attack of the ShowBelieve it or not I’m not hip. When it comes to pop culture I can be slow on the uptake so forgive me if this is not new to you, but Grace Helbig makes the Internet a better ‘place’ to visit.
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