I'm No Longer LOST

I've just started watching the hit ABC TV show LOST from the beginning on Netflix Instant. I now understand why so many of you really like that show. In the past week, I've seen about half a dozen episodes. I just watched the one where Jack goes into the jungle looking for his dead father.

Because LOST was so popular among both my real-life and online friends, I twice tried to jump in and watch episodes on TV, but I didn't understand what was going on and gave up. Now that I'm watching from the beginning, I am hooked! I even find myself talking to the characters as I watch.

It's more like seeing a movie than TV. And not only is it a good story, it's visually stunning as well.

Three is a Magic Number

You Say Tomato ...

In the spring of 2008, I saw the TV ad for the TopsyTurvy tomato planter. I am not one to buy the wacky things from TV ads, but I thought I saw some potential here for some good eatin'!

Anyway, it took a really long time to get the planter. The seller claimed overwhelming demand, and it was the end of June before I got it. So, I put it away fro this spring.

Last week, I stopped by a greenhouse and picked up four tomato plants (They wouldn't sell fewer). Today I set the thing up with two plants, as the directions said either one or two plants would be fine. I gave the other two to a neighbor who is also trying this thing out.



I'll try to keep you posted on the results as the summer progresses and, hopefully, my tomato crop explodes.

No, I Really Don't Want to Buy Your Product

This past weekend, I spent far too much time watching the first two rounds of the NCAA men's basketball tournament. I love it, though, and look forward to the big dance from the first tip of the season.

One really troublesome consequence of watching all this hoop action is that I tend to see the same commercials over and over. Some are good and I don't mind, the Pacific Life "whales" ad, for example. Unfortunately, many are annoying and that is only exacerbated through repetition.

Here are some of those I find most irksome ...

• the Chevy truck "man step" ad with Howie Long
• the Fidelity "green line" ads
• the Charles Schwab ads which are posterized
• any Lexus ad
• the Sonic "basketball injury" ad
• the Enterprise "grandma" ad
• the Burger King breakfast shots ad
  

I suppose irritating potential customers is a sound marketing strategy during tough economic times. What do I know?

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Honda Rube Goldberg-esque TV Ad

It is my understanding that there are no computer graphics or digital tricks in this Honda TV ad. Everything that you see happened in real time exactly as you see it.

Reportedly, the recording required 606 takes, and in the first 605 there always was something, usually of minor importance, that didn't work. Itwas necessary for the production team to install the set-up time after time. The recording cost $6 million and took 3 months to finish, including the engineering design of the sequence.


BTW, the voice over at the end is Garrison Keillor of NPR's Prarie Home Companion.

Watch the Super Bowl Ads via Hulu

Now It's Buy.com's Turn to **** Me!

Since my last post on this issue, I was finally able to reach Buy.com customer service. I had to do a Google to find their CS number which appears nowhere on their website (That's not a good sign!).

Foolishly I thought that since they were the merchant who took my money, they might be interested in helping me resolve my issue with Westinghouse Digital. Ha!

Buy.com told me that the defective TV had to be returned to the manufacturer. Now they tell me that since I returned it to the manufacturer instead of to Buy.com, they can't help me.

Buy.com has my money. Westinghouse Digital has the TV. I have nothing but annoyance, frustration, and aggravation!

Next stop, my credit card company.

No Joy from Westinghouse Digital

In a recent post I described my battle with Westinghouse Digital regarding my attempt to exchange a defective TV.

After waiting about two more days from that time, I again called Westinghouse Digital "customer service." They still claimed the returned TV was not in their system, whatever that means. I reminded them I have delivery verification. If they don't know where it is, that's their problem, not mine.

I suggested they just grab another TV, put a shipping label on it, and send it on its merry way. Then they can worry about locating the returned TV. Of course, "We can't do that." They say they can't send out a replacement until they locate the return. Does this mean that if they can never locate it, I'll never get a new TV?

I asked to speak to a supervisor, but the was "no supervisor available." The rep said a supervisor would call me within 24 to 48 hours. We'll see.

Stay tuned, no pun intended.

I am Being Screwed by WESTINGHOUSE DIGITAL

I bought a Westinghouse LCD HDTV from Buy.com in late November. It proved to be defective and it was necessary to return it to WESTINGHOUSE DIGITAL for exchange.
I shipped it by UPS back to WESTINGHOUSE DIGITAL on Dec 22, at MY OWN EXPENSE. It was signed for at WESTINGHOUSE DIGITAL's El Paso facility just before 11 am, Dec 30. I have called WESTINGHOUSE DIGITAL "customer service" at least three times since for a status report, most recently this afternoon. I CANNOT get ANY information as to what's going on. WESTINGHOUSE DIGITAL doesn't even acknowledge that they have received the TV.

I told WESTINGHOUSE DIGITAL that I would call back in a day or two and if I was not satisfied with the situation I wanted my money back. WESTINGHOUSE DIGITAL said they couldn't do that since I purchased from Buy.com, not directly from WESTINGHOUSE DIGITAL. I will contact Buy.com and if they're no help, I will try working through my credit card company.

I will NEVER buy another WESTINGHOUSE DIGITAL product. I will NEVER recommend a WESTINGHOUSE DIGITAL product to anyone I know.

All I Want for Christmas is ...

From Saturday Night Live: Calculator - Two brothers with a single Christmas wish

Netflix Watch Instantly Revisited

Image by via CrunchBaseA couple of weeks ago I posted a piece about Netflix Watch Instantly becoming available to Mac users like myself. After having had some time to play with it, I'm more convinced than ever that this is a really good thing. I've had a chance to browse the available titles. There is a lot of TV as well as theatrical films. I don't know the total number of available selections, but I'm pretty sure you'll have no trouble finding something you like.

As a fan of British TV, I was pleased to find a fairly respectable catalog of comedies and dramas, including a large selection of Dr. Who episodes. The quality is reasonably good, even in full screen. The load time is quite short. In a few minutes you'll be watching your selection.

I don't think you can watch part of a movie now and pick it up where you left off later. I need to experiment with that some more. I do like that you'll get a tip when a movie in your rental queue is available for instant viewing.

I am very pleased so far, now I need to get the mindset that I can watch movies any time I want to.

Why Do I Pay My Taxes and My Bills?

Why do I bother to pay my taxes? Why do I get my bills paid on time?

I ask myself these questions every time I hear or see one of those ads that purport to be able to settle your IRS or creditor debts for pennies on the dollar. If these ads are to be believed, I should just ignore my taxes and max-out all my credit cards, then get these guys to settle my accounts for a fraction of what I owe.

You Make the Call

I captured this still from CBSSportsline video of game 2 of the Eastern finals of the NHL's Stanley Cup playoffs between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. Sergei Gonchar's shot bounced off Flyers Martin Biron and Derian Hatcher and appears to have crossed the goal line. The on-ice signal was no goal and that stood as NHL officials said there was no definitive evidence the puck had crossed the line. What do you think?

March Madness 2008

This makes my spine tingle every time...

One Shining Moment sung by Luther Vandross for 2008 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Video Montage of the Tournament Highlights after the final game. University of Kentucky equipment manager, Bill Keightley who passed away during the tournament is also honored in video . Broadcast on CBS April 7, 2008.

Strokes, Hepatitis, Depression, Cancer, and ... Over 50?

Make of this what you will. Personally I feel rather insulted that being "Over 50" is being categorized with mental and physical disabilities such as schizophrenia and cancer.

I captured these two screenshots from a current TV ad for Pittsburgh lawyers Berger & Green.

On the other hand, though, is there somebody I can sue because I'm over 50?

Really Old Beaver

I've got TV Land on with a really old Leave It to Beaver. Wally is not Tony Dow, and he has different friends. Ward is not Hugh Beaumont. Lumpy's dad isn't Lumpy's dad, but works for a milk company. This must be the pilot episode. I don't think I ever saw it before.

It's about Wally and Beaver collecting 1000 bottle caps to win a bicycle from a TV show. But there really was no contest. Wally's buddies had made it up. But the milk company gives them a new bike anyway. Ward then explains to the boys why it would be wrong to keep the bicycle.

How much did we learn about appropriate behavior from TV like Leave it to Beaver and The Andy Griffith Show? How much did our parents learn about parenting?

The Irony of it All

Does anyone else see the irony of having Dennis Hopper do commercials urging retirement planning?

"You gotta have a plan."

Life After People

A fantastic History Channel documentary, Life After People, supposes that all humans suddenly and completely vanish from the planet. Using stunning effects, the program proceeds to theorize the relatively rapid decline and destruction of the world we know and the triumphant(?) return of nature.

Our human habitat is revealed as an extraordinarily fragile system dependent upon constant intervention and maintenance. Left unchecked, the elements of nature will inexorably reclaim the planet. For example, the last likely remaining generator of electricity would be the Hoover Dam power plant. However, a mussel the size of a thumbnail would inhabit the pipes that draw in cooling water for the turbines. With no one to clean them out, they would soon block these pipes causing the generators to fail.

WKRP Thanksgiving Promotion Episode

Fans of WKRP in Cincinnati will remember the classic episode in which the station drops turkeys from a helicopter over a shopping mall in a Thanksgiving promo.