The death of television as we know it....

Believe me, this is not a bad thing...it's a good thing! How many times, especially in recent years have you sat there flipping though the channels and said, "there isn't crap on TV!" Come on, you know you've said that a million times, just like I have. Recently though, I realized that I've only been watching about two hours of TV a week for the last couple of months. That's right, a week, not a day.

I've just recently realized that probably about 90% of my entertainment these days is coming from the web, not broadcast television. I've been watching classic TV shows on great websites like HULU and IN2TV. HULU is the better of the two, but both offer classic and new programming. I've been watching favorite old shows like Johnny Quest, Buck Rogers and the Partridge Family, and there are hundreds of others available. They stick four or five 15 or 30 second commercials in there, but they're less bothersome than commercial breaks during network television.

Even better, is the burgeoning amount of original user-created content on the internet. I now never miss two of my favorite shows, DIGGNATION and THE TOTALLY RAD SHOW. Both these shows are created by regular people like you and me about things that get them excited.

It's shows like these that are sounding the final curtain call for television as we've known it. Now, anyone with a camcorder, computer and high-speed internet service can create their own unique television program and put it out to a world-wide audience. No longer do we have to sit back and watch only what a select few think we need to see. The greed of television executives who only see the bottom line are hastening the death of traditional television. Like CBS canceling the fantastic show "Jericho", simply because six to eight million viewers weren't enough for their liking. For network television, if it's not a blockbuster hit week after week, it's just not good enough, and they dump it like yesterday's trash. I've become so fed up with that mentality, that I've decided it's time to abandon ship, and swim towards better shores!

I myself participate in this new entertainment medium, through YOUTUBE, making my own short pieces which I share with the world. More and more people are finding out every day that we can entertain each other, better than Hollywood can entertain us.

Slowly feeling better...

Tomorrow, it will have been two weeks since I wrecked on my scooter. For having managed to not break any bones, it's certainly taking long enough for me to heal! I am finally feeling better though. I guess at 44 years old, you don't bounce back as quickly as you did at 18! And I did bounce pretty good on the pavement. :)

I went out to the shed yesterday for the first time since the accident, and got into the seat storage compartment on the scooter to get my jacket out of it. Since I was feeling much better compared to the day I last put the scooter away, I checked it out, and found that it wasn't too badly damaged at all. The wind-screen was busted in half, (no big deal there, the rest just needs to be unscrewed and it can go away). The right hand mirror is broken in half, and there are some small scratches down the right-hand rear side. It seems I came out of the accident worse than it did. Everything electrical seemed to be working fine, didn't even bust a tail-light. I didn't feel up to starting it, but I did ride it home about six miles after the crash, so I'm sure it still runs just fine as well.

I should be able to get close to what I paid for it this summer when i put it up for sale. I hate the thought of putting it up for sale, I've put less than 50 miles on it, and have yet to ride it in decent weather. Even though I'd been riding it in 30 some degree weather, it was still a lot of fun. I haven't even been able to just go out on a fun jaunt on it. My experience with healing though has made it obvious to me that I'd be better off leaving scooter riding to those younger than me. I felt really bad that night in the E.R. watching my wife sit worriedly next to me for 5 hours. She deserves better than to have to worry each time I'd go out on it. Funny thing is though, she's the one that's always wanting to have these "wild adventures". Thing is, wild adventures end up badly about as often as they do well!

Who...for our next president?

I've been very critical of the Bush administration over the last seven years, and for good reason. I've also been critical of the Republican party, mostly because of the Bush administration, and perhaps that's not such a good reason.

I know for a fact that I do not want to see Hillary Clinton become President of the united States, not because she is a woman, but because she isn't the "right woman". Hillary Clinton as President would be a huge mistake. I've been promoting Barak Obama as a good candidate for our next president, but I sometimes wonder as others do, does he have the experience to be a good president?

On the Republican side, I used to like John McCain years ago, but thought in recent years that he was coming off as fake. Perhaps I was just letting my judgment be colored by my views on George W. Bush. I hate it when I hear McCain talk about being in Iraq for years to come...but he's probably right. We, (America) have made a huge mess in Iraq, and it would be a morally reprehensible act to leave it in the state we've created through the Bush Administration's inept handling. Senator McCain, being a military veteran himself would likely have a good perspective on the kinds of things that need to be done in Iraq to stabilize it, and eventually, get American troops reduced there to the point that they would once again govern themselves.

Certainly, the Democrats who have controlled both the Senate and the House for the past year and a half haven't shown any ability to improve the situation at home or abroad. So who says that a Democrat in the Oval office would be any kind of improvement?! Between now and May when Indiana will hold it's primary, I've got some thinking to do, and a lot of research to do before I decide which way my vote will go. I'm hoping that others around the country also will take a long look at what will steer this nation back onto course.

My new ride...not so new now!

Well, I don't have a picture of it to show you, but I managed to have a wreck on my new scooter Sunday afternoon. I'm just now feeling well enough to sit at the computer and type this up. I lucked out and didn't break anything, or worse yet, die! I did get pretty banged up, and my scooter isn't in such mint condition anymore.

I was going around a corner that I'd negotiated four or five times in the past week with no problem. I swung out a little wide to avoid a depression in the intersection and wound up losing control on some loose gravel left behind by snow-melt. I hit the curb, the scooter flipped around 180 degrees and I flew off and slid about five feet along the ground. Thank GOD, there were several wonderful people in the traffic around me. One gentleman stopped, got out of his car and after checking to see if I was all right, helped me get the scooter out of the street. Several other motorists and one policeman stopped and asked if I was ok. I'm really grateful to each of these people who took time out from their commutes to help me / check up on me, I didn't think people would do that anymore.

I was hurting badly, but was able to pick up all the pieces lying along the street, get back on the scooter (after assuring myself it was safe enough to ride) and continued on home. My wife was none too happy with me (she didn't like the fact I'd got the scooter in the first place), but she was more concerned about my health. After a couple hours at home, I decided that my wife was right and that I should go to the E.R. and get checked out. Long story short, I had no serious damage, but it was going to be a couple of rough days while recuperating. I feel better enough now, I should be back to work tomorrow, (minus the scooter). I guess I'm going to buff the scratches out of it the best I can, and put it up on the market. I promised the wife that I'd not ride it anymore, it's not worth the worry and pain I'd be putting her through, just to ride the scooter back and forth to work.

My new ride

Well, with the price of gas soaring through the roof, and the break-down of my old vehicle I got back to forth to work in, I've opted for a new style of transport...behold my new ride which I've named "Git-Git".

Spies of the future...here now!

These robots will soon be everywhere, spying on you in your home and where you work...privacy is soon to become an atiquated idea.