Sarcastic Bastard

i have a new understanding of why star trek fans are generally considered to be the nerdiest folks in existence. now, i'm not talking about the casual fans, but the hard-core, dress-like-spock and talk with lisps fans. i was on the aint it cool news web site today, browsing through comments about last night's "24" season premiere (i was extremely bored). here is part of a comment that was on AICN's site, about 24 (this person is talking about what he liked about the episode):
"There are TWO former Star Trek actors in the show so far: Ensign Ro Laren (Michelle Forbes) and the President's advisor (who played a lieutenant cmdr while under Data's command on a blockade to stop Commander Sela from supplying the Duras family)."
can someone explain to me how this is AT ALL relevant to the quality of 24? it's quite sad when that level of devotion causes completely irrelevant excitement about another show. and then there are the people like kal, who'll watch anything with the star trek brand name (ie. "enterprise"), even if they don't actually like the show all that much. (i just had to throw that one in there, even though it has nothing to do with my thoughts today)

but all this is really just a preamble about my thoughts on the comment sections on web sites, or call-in shows on radio/tv stations. it blows my mind to read/hear what people say sometimes. their slavish devotion to a particular subject/sport/tv show, or whatever else, is sick! back in the summer, on an american idol board, i came across a header that read "YOU'LL REGRET THIS!" because a particular contestant had been voted off. a couple of the 24 comments read as follows:
"What in the hell is wrong with people??? 24 should be in the top 5 for the Neilsens every week!!!!"
"Are you out of your mind!?!"

and then, of course, there are the comments on web sites like tsn.ca...angry leafs fans, people who hate the leafs more than anything else in the world, people who are convinced they can do a better job, people who know all the answers, etc. the ironic part about this message board culture is that people who will swear up and down that they hate something can't seem to get enough of it! "buffy sucks this year, i can't wait till next week's episode!" or "i never watch that show, it sucks...remember the one when...?"

i can't figure it out...these people seem to believe that they have the pulse on the world. they are oblivious to the fact that they are a minority. back to the 24 example. i'm a fairly new fan of the show (i watched a few times last year, but missed enough shows that i gave up), and it really is extremely well done. but i'm not about to start telling people they're crazy if they don't watch it, or tell them that whatever they're watching is shit! the fact is, the audience ultimately decides the fate of tv shows. back when american idol was on, voters called in to support the one they wanted to win. arguing against ratings and poll results is pretty pointless. not that i agree with it - i'm just as disappointed when millions of people watch lowest common denominator crap like "fear factor" and "the bachelor". but it looks like that stuff may be what the public wants, at least for now. (though this subject brings out a whole other ball of wax regarding sociological issues, politics, escapism, economics...countless issues that determine what goes to air and what doesn't)

oh man, i think i lost focus somewhere here! feels like i've been working on an essay :)

Dr. Leor

posted by leor @ 13:42 0 comments

yesterday, i wrote about the inability of a single person to make a change in the world. today, i had a sudden realization that this is true in so many other ways that i never considered before. just imagine all the people out there...there are probably many people out there with brilliant, revolutionary ideas, but no means to bring them to life. i can't count the number of ideas i've had for products that would be really cool and useful. meanwhile, companies release all sorts of stupid products. LG actually has an internet refridgerator. WHY???

one of the ideas that i've been thinking a lot about for a while has been the digital video recorder. i myself own a tivo, but i don't (can't) use the features that make it so popular in the states. but the thing is, i don't WANT those features. all i want is a video recorder that replaces a VCR, and some of the features that come with a hard disk based medium. (for example, the "instant replay" and pausing live tv). i DO NOT want to pay a fee to a company so that i can do the same thing i could with a vcr for free! (namely, program shows to record). sure, my tivo works without paying, but i get bombarded by messages from my box telling me that my service has been suspended, i don't have the local channel lineup in it (so it thinks that channel 15 is HBO, for example), and i can't change certain settings (the internal clock is 3 minutes off, so it screws up recordings...but i can't change the clock manually, unless i find a hack or something).

but no, companies have to make things more complicated, and intrude on our lives even more, because apparently they don't control us enough yet. i wish i had the money to develop a DVR of my own and market it as a competitor to tivo and replay tv. surely there must be other people like me out there! i mean, i could use my computer with a tv tuner card and get the same results, but i want a dedicated set-top box to do it, in place of the vcr (i truly want to believe that it's better that way, though part of me might just be trying to fight the nerdiness of using the computer for tv)

so...who has an idea for an environmentally safe fuel? :)

posted by leor @ 11:46 0 comments

you know what? the world is a stupid place. anyone who reads this (if there is anyone) has read my past posts about the drivers that i have to deal with on a regular basis. but it's so much more than that. i look around and i see so much crap that i know i can't have the slightest effect on. ooooh, the guy at that restaurant was an ass, what am i gonna do, boycott the restaurant? maybe, but what's it gonna prove? it's not gonna go out of business because i refuse to go there anymore (even if i tell all my friends, a) i don't have a huge circle of influence, and b) at least half of them would keep going there anyway! lol). it's the same with so many things out there. why do we put up with this shit in our lives? so many times i look around and think: "if only i could make people understand". it's not about wielding power over others (though how sweet would that be, eh?), but about doing something that makes society better for others.

kal and i were talking about the ttc the other day. i think it's completely ridiculous that the union has so much power there. for fuck's sake, they're BUS/SUBWAY DRIVERS, making more money than a lot of other people out there. not that they're completely to blame for the financial woes of the transit system. management is clearly out of control and bloated, and the system gets very little support from high levels of government. it's sad that few people care enough - about improving traffic flow in the city, protecting the environment, and saving money - to fight for an efficient and inexpensive transit system.

that's all i have to say about that right now. i want to talk more about work, but i'm not in the mood right now.

posted by leor @ 12:32 0 comments

shit it's been a long time since i've posted to this! it's just tough to get into a pattern...

so what can i say today? in the past few months, i've been keeping relatively busy with work. the plasma shit is causing me more grief than ever lately. people have been coming and going around here, and it's just ridiculous. i don't want to be here anymore, and hopefully my dream will come true! i've got a possible job prospect coming up that i'm very excited for, so i'm keeping my fingers crossed. in the meantime, i just keep chugging along with these stupid plasma screens. today i came up with my new law, which is pretty coincidental, because not 5 min after i wrote it, kal sent me to read robin's blog, and his latest post also includes a bunch of laws! but mine is different, and it goes like this:

Leor's law #332: The number of things involved is inversely proportionate to the amount of pain caused to the ass.

such a statement may surprise some, who'd expect it to be directly proportionate, as opposed to inversely. but t'is not the case, and i'll give some examples to prove my point.
1) when working on a basketball game for TV, there is a small camera mounted behind the net, called the "slam cam". this is one of the longest parts of the setup day (getting it in the perfect position isn't easy because of the way it mounts), yet it is the least used camera, and is generally knocked out of position by the middle of the first quarter.
2) plasma screens (yes, it all comes back to those fucking things). of our many screens mounted around the stores, TWO are vertical, while all the others are horizontal. yet i spend much more time (hours of extra work) trying to flip all the content around to play properly on those two stupid screens.

not much else to say about work. personal life is pretty good, though i'm not seeing some of my friends as much as i'd like...conflicting schedules and such make it hard, but my number 1 priority is to make a steady income so that i can move into my own place and settle down. not quite ready, but maybe i should start a countdown to my target, which is the end of next summer at the latest.

that's it for now. hopefully it'll be less than 2 months between this and my next post. if i can get myself into a routine, then it'll be perfect. but routines don't happen very easily for me. i'm having enough trouble trying to find time to make it to the gym regularly! (though i am making sure to do more exercising, even when i don't go, so that's a start!)

leor

posted by leor @ 15:49 0 comments