Feeding the Habit

So, for the past three months I've been without access to cable television (Yea, I know. Woe is me...). It's been a difficult time. I suppose I have an addiction to a constant stream of information and stimulus that may or may not be healthy. I don't think it's adversely affected me. I mean, I would much rather be out with my family and friends, performing, going to concerts or other cultural events, or even riding my motorcycle than sitting at home vegetating to Fear Factor. But, I would prefer the option of tuning in to MSNBC, CNN, or even the Discovery Channel during the interim. No matter how flawed they might be, they are providing information to the community that should be considered and processed.

Since I've been sans-cable and sans-satellite, I have been able to find marginally adequate alternatives such at Netflix and Hulu (I still can't find any Mythbusters episodes!). However, I have to give the most credit to a website called Live Times - The Live News Chat Blog. On this fantastic site there are links to live streams of MSNBC, CNN, Current TV, Al Jazeera, BBC News, and half a dozen other television news organizations. Although it isn't perfect, (The feed frequently has pauses and hiccups that disrupt the programming, although that may be due to overloading the household bandwidth.) this site has allowed me to hang on to some sense of connection to the world. I still feel like I know a little about what's going on out there.

So I offer a big thanks to the folks over there at Live Times. Thanks for keeping me in the loop.

peace.

For Nerd Eyes Only

So, I get home tonight from our first preview of This Is the Week That Is (Come see it! It's great!) and begin the usual youtube surf session. As you may or may not know, if you cruise youtube long enough they will start suggesting videos for you to view. For tonight, I was given this:

So, you mean to tell me I can watch a show about science hosted by Jeremy Clarkson? Yes, please.

peace.

The Best Medicine

Here's the prequel to this post.

So, I've been preoccupied with laughter recently. I'm gearing up for a show with 1812 Productions, a theatre company here in Philadelphia that does nothing but comedic work. It's a frighteningly exciting prospect, especially because this show will be conceived and constructed by the company of actors who will also be performing.

I've never done this type of work before, and I'm incredibly eager to get started. Of course, I've watched stuff like The Daily Show or The Chapelle Show and laughed until I was blue in the face (which is especially difficult for me). And as I take it in, I'm constantly reminding myself of the levels of brilliance, awareness, and humility is takes to convert dense and weighty sociopolitical concepts into workable, repeatable humor. Jon Stewart describes it as "articulating an intangible". To witness someone grapple with these essential ideas of the human condition, observe the irony or absurdity in these ideas, and connect those aspects to almost non sequitur but oddly congruent bit of digestible and unexpected storytelling is a truly awe-inspiring experience.

Awe-inspiring, and infectious. In fact, try watching this without laughing. It ain't easy.

peace.

Challenger Deep

I offer you Richard Hammond's Journey to the Bottom of the Ocean. This is the first of four parts.

I discovered these videos today while search for an old Top Gear segment. I think they're marvelous; Hamster is an appropriate and entertaining guide in journeys of the world. Be sure to check out his other special "...Center of the Planet."

peace.

"I Am A Child."

Funny. I've just posted the link to this video on the facebook wall of my friend Gary. Fourty-five minutes later, I was charged with potentially ruining a child with fanciful flights of speed and horsepower. I'm now smiling from ear to ear.

Enjoy. This is a really good one, too.

peace.

Suck it, Prius! (A Quick Thought)

As a car and motorcycle guy, I really do hope this car represents the future of consumer vehicles.

This is the Honda FCX Clarity. (See here for more.) It's powered by an electric motor that gets its juice from an on-board hydrogen fuel cell instead of batteries or a tiny gasoline engine. The fuel cell makes its electricity by combining compressed hydrogen with oxygen, meaning the only thing that comes out of the "exhaust" is vaporized water.

The thing that makes this car better than the Toyota Prius, however, is that to refill it with hydrogen takes about the same time as it does to fill the tank on an average internal combustion automobile. Therefore, this thing is way more practical than the standard electric car that runs on batteries. And since the Toyota Prius is a hybrid (which means it has a gas engine as well as an electric motor), it has a much greater carbon footprint than the Clarity.

James May of Top Gear fame believes this is the most important car produced in decades, (LOOK!) and I agree with him. Cars like this will be the saviors of our motoring future.

peace.

Osmosis

Every night I go to sleep with a video or movie playing as I doze off. It's usually something I've seen a few times before so I don't have to process too much new information and I try to begin in a new place every night. I've found this allows my mind to stay restfully aware of something happening so as not to wander from thought to thought. When attempting to fall asleep without a movie or a video, my thoughts keep me uncomfortably awake for quite a while.

For a while during my senior year of high school my nightly movie was Die Hard with a Vengeance. The next big one was The Hunt for Red October, and after that I was using Porco Rosso. Since I got my iPod touch, I've been making a move towards extended youtube videos and Top Gear episodes on streetfire.net.

Tonight it will be this:

I've yet to make it all the way through this video, but I've been chipping away at it for a couple weeks now. My hope is that perhaps, somehow, I'll absorb on some of Dr. Tyson's brilliance by osmosis. Maybe I'll be smarter in the morning.

!!!

peace.

The Very Top

I'm going gearhead tonight.

There was a brief period back in the early part of the last decade when Top Gear aired in the U.S. on The Discovery Channel. I distinctly remember stopping by to watch James, Jeremy, and Richard during many of my numerous channel surfing escapades. I was curiously drawn to their unique brand of British buffoonery added to their magnanimous praise or unrelenting criticisms of some of the world's most expensive and revered automobiles. Even though I was no where near the gearhead then that I am now (I was a late-bloomer.) I still found the show thoroughly entertaining. So I was a bit disappointed when it quietly disappeared from Discovery's line-up.

Fast forward to somewhere around early 2008. By now, I had developed an interest in muscle cars, motorcycles, and anything to do with internal combustion. I was working at Friendly Honda-Yamaha, a motorcycle dealership in Baton Rouge, as a parts/accessories guy. So I was inundated with all sorts of fascinating vehicular shenanigans. Much of my web browsing had to do with finding information on maintaining or modifying my 2000 Suzuki SV650 or watching videos of people in cars or on motorcycles doing dope stuff. I eventually found my way to streetfire.net, and you know how these things go. You click on one link, then another, then another until making a remarkable discovery. For me, this discovery was full length episodes of Top Gear!

Between then and now, I believe I've seen about 80% of Top Gear episodes available on streetfire.net. There are still a few seasons I've yet to get all the way through and some episodes are missing for one reason or the other. But if you are interested in having a good time watching middle-aged Brits goof off with $400,000 supercars or $2000 jalopies, go check 'em out. If you're reading this from anywhere but the United States, you probably already have.

peace.