Category: All Posts

Relax and float downstreaming

Netflix has a real winner with its Watch Instantly service, now that it uses the Xbox 360 as a set top box. With my FiOS Internet bandwidth of 20 Mbps — better than any other home Internet service — it wouldn’t be wise for Netflix to send HD content at its 19 Mbps maximum, as is seen with FiOS TV, so compression artifacts are apparent. SD material also has more noise than DVD, but it looks good enough, it plays smoothly, and being able to watch old Star Trek episodes on demand is something I’ve long wished for. Right now season 1 is online. I recorded a bit of “Shore Leave” off of the projection screen with my digital camera. Keep in mind the picture is about 70 inches diagonal.

[flv:http://www.dograt.com/Video/2009/FEB/ShoreLeave.flv 480 360]

And just for fun, here’s the same AVI source file converted to MP4 format instead of FLV. The contrast and color in MP4 more accurately reflect what the Panasonic PT-AX200U put on the movie screen, and it handles fast changes between frames much better than FLV, but you’ll need Adobe Flash 9 or higher to watch it.

[MEDIA=21]

Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares

As my friend Samjay knows from our lunchtime conversations at work, I’m not big on watching regular TV — gotta blog and run, y’know? — especially so-called reality shows that have little bearing on reality, because the scenarios are artificial and staged.

But there’s one reality show that has caught my fancy in a big way, for weekend viewing. It’s on BBC America and it’s called Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares.

As he struggles to save failing restaurants, Gordon Ramsay confronts disaster after disaster, and he’s as much a psychologist and therapist as he is a chef and restaurateur, dishing out more tough love than food. I give Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares my absolute highest recommendation. Go to the link and watch the preview videos, and I hope your cable service has BBC America.

LeVeille back on the nightbeat

The Boston Globe finally has a feature article about the return of WBZ AM 1030’s previously laid off overnight man, Steve LeVeille.

http://www.boston.com/ae/tv/articles/2009/02/08/this_time_the_listeners_were_heard/

Another departure from WBZ, but a permanent one, is longtime sports announcer Gil Santos, who retired at the end of January. Last week LeVeille, basking in the well-deserved glory of his triumphant return to Boston’s airwaves, saluted Santos.

[audio:http://www.dograt.com/Audio/2009/FEB/LeVeille.mp3]

Beeatles and Monkeeys

As I pointed out before, Davy Jones, of the pre-fab four band The Monkees, was on The Ed Sullivan Show the very same night that The Beatles first appeared. You’ll find him on the video player as the Artful Dodger in “Oliver!”, followed by a bit of “Making the Monkees,” recently shown on the Smithsonian Channel. Last year I highlighted Jack Nicholson’s involvement in the making of the Monkees movie “Head.”

[flv:http://www.dograt.com/Video/2009/FEB/DavyJonesMonkees.flv 480 360]

From The Beatles to Star Trek

Back at this link I showed the comedy duo Charlie Brill and Mitzi McCall on the Ed Sullivan show, stuck with the unenviable task of being the lead-in act to The Beatles. I’ll plop it here again, for your viewing convenience.

[flv:http://www.dograt.com/Video/2009/JAN/McCallBrill.flv 480 360]

Earlier I said there are two connections to Star Trek in the video. One of them is Sally Kellerman, who did the voiceover for the Pillsbury cake commercial. Kellerman was in the second Trek pilot, “Where No Man Has Gone Before”, which I think is, for a sci-fi/comics fan, one of the best hours of TV ever made.

[flv:http://www.dograt.com/Video/2009/FEB/NoMan.flv 480 350]

The second Trek connection is Charlie Brill himself, who appeared as a Klingon agent in one of the most popular of all episodes, “The Trouble With Tribbles”.

[flv:http://www.dograt.com/Video/2009/FEB/Tribbles.flv 480 350]

Hey, ya know what? Brill resembles John Lennon in this picture.

Waiting and Watching

The best comic book series I ever read was Watchmen. Now the movie of it is about to come out. I agree with everything that Boston Globe movie critic Ty Burr says about his own sense of anticipation.

http://www.boston.com/ae/movies/blog/2009/02/the_watchmen_wa.html

I thought 300 was one of the worst movies I’d ever seen. I scanned through most of it on DVD. Something I’m worried about for a general audience is that a full appreciation of Watchmen requires a vast knowledge of the history of comic books and their creators. Everybody knows Batman, but almost nobody knows that Dr. Manhattan was adapted from Captain Atom, and Rorschach is based on the work of Steve Ditko.

Who Watches the Watchmen?