Green Acres
* Aired: 1965-1971 (on CBS)
* Episodes: 170
* Seasons: 6
* Available on DVD: Seasons 1-3 on flipper discs (two sided)
In some ways Green Acres was a reverse Beverly Hillbilies - fish out of water type thing. Green Acres was the story of a New York City lawyer who lived out his dream of moving to his own farm (to watch the plants shoost from the ground). His trophy wife (and English mangler), did not exactly share those dreams - but she tolerated it. Those were the good old days - now they would have been divorced. For some Green Acres was the place to stay, but others might have been allergic to smelling hay.
So, this lawyer (and awful farmer) moved to the rural town of Hooterville in the Kangaroo state. He was a pretty bad farmer (though he was sold questionable farmland with bad equipment) who would occasionally wear his suit around the farm. The tractor alone was the source of much consternation. The town was filled with numerous colorful characters (and some less colorful, but useful in weird situations). You have such characters as con-man Mr. Haney (with a strange voice), inept county agent Hank Kimball, neighbors the Ziffels (who have a TV watching pig they treat as a son) and more. Arnold Ziffel is one of the coolest TV pigs in history. Oliver Wendell Douglas' wife (played by Eva Gabor) was not exactly suited for the farm life and lacked domestic skill such as cooking. Her hotcakes were surprisingly useful (though not for human consumption).
In some ways this is ahead of its time. For one, the credits would sometimes creep into the world (like eggs with people's names on them). Some of the situations would be kind of crazy. However, it seemed to be mostly the story of this lawyer and his reactions to the odd people and circumstances around him (all while being a questionable farmer).
If you want to see some of the cultural impact that Green Acres had, check out the IMDB movie connections section). The source for information was IMDB and memory (i have the 3 DVD sets).
Friday, July 8, 2011
TV
Finally post 100. Cue the fireworks. What no fireworks? ... cue the disinterested yawns.
Aging chronologically, i used to watch this thing called television. It was a magical 4:3 aspect ratio box with video and audio. The cool kids may have been out participating in the ritualistic act of dating members of the opposite sex, but i had TV to keep me company. Yes, hermits are more socially capable than i am.
Basically, i divide TV into the most awesome 3 decades: Oldies (60s), Eighties (awesome) and 90s. There are still a few shows that are somewhat decent today - but they seem to be in the minority, they may appear better by comparison. The most important TV days for me have been NBC's "Must Watch TV" (obviously not as much recently - i only like one of the shows) and ABC's TGIF (before it went the Urkel way). Luckily, i had Nick at Nite to fill me in some of these older shows.
i have been thinking about doing individual posts on shows from these eras. Lucky, lucky readers - you get to mostly not read these posts (unless your internet search brings you here).
Aging chronologically, i used to watch this thing called television. It was a magical 4:3 aspect ratio box with video and audio. The cool kids may have been out participating in the ritualistic act of dating members of the opposite sex, but i had TV to keep me company. Yes, hermits are more socially capable than i am.
Basically, i divide TV into the most awesome 3 decades: Oldies (60s), Eighties (awesome) and 90s. There are still a few shows that are somewhat decent today - but they seem to be in the minority, they may appear better by comparison. The most important TV days for me have been NBC's "Must Watch TV" (obviously not as much recently - i only like one of the shows) and ABC's TGIF (before it went the Urkel way). Luckily, i had Nick at Nite to fill me in some of these older shows.
i have been thinking about doing individual posts on shows from these eras. Lucky, lucky readers - you get to mostly not read these posts (unless your internet search brings you here).
Monday, July 4, 2011
Is It Just Me, Or is IE9 Kind of a Train Wreck
So, a while ago i updated to Internet Explorer 9 (64 bit) from IE 8. i have been using Internet Explorer in some form ever since the first version (as i never liked Netscape). IE 8 was stable and worked well for me.
The problem i seem to be having is that IE 9 seems to be a little less stable and slow. Basically, i have had numerous freezes, almost daily. Well freeze may be the wrong word, but if i see many more site not responding errors (when my connection is working), i can't be held accountable for my actions. i am pretty sure most of these are on the browser side. Some days it doesn't even load my home at start up without freezing. When it does load things, it seems seriously slow. It seems like IE9 was a big step backwards from IE 8. Maybe it is just the 64 bit version, is the 32 bit version any better?
i do have Google Chrome on my PC (as my backup browser - it is decent), but i'm so used to clicking the Internet Explorer icon (and all my password/etc cookies are on IE).
The problem i seem to be having is that IE 9 seems to be a little less stable and slow. Basically, i have had numerous freezes, almost daily. Well freeze may be the wrong word, but if i see many more site not responding errors (when my connection is working), i can't be held accountable for my actions. i am pretty sure most of these are on the browser side. Some days it doesn't even load my home at start up without freezing. When it does load things, it seems seriously slow. It seems like IE9 was a big step backwards from IE 8. Maybe it is just the 64 bit version, is the 32 bit version any better?
i do have Google Chrome on my PC (as my backup browser - it is decent), but i'm so used to clicking the Internet Explorer icon (and all my password/etc cookies are on IE).
Random Factoid: Mt. Rainier Name
Continuing with the 4th of July theme... Have you ever wondered who iconic mountain (at least where i'm from) Mt. Rainier was named after (by clueless cartographers)? If you don't know, Mt. Tacoma is the iconic Cascadian mountain.
Throughout its history, the volcano of awesomeness was known by many names. Many of the early names roughly became Tacoma in English. For some reason the Seattle residents are not open to the name Mt. Tacoma. Well anyway, Georger Vancouver named the mountain after his buddy Peter Rainier.
Unfortunately, the US decided that the name of the mountain should be Rainier. These people effectively disregarded everything about the local culture. i remember reading something with a map maker that said if they knew anything about the area or the local lore, they would have prefered the name Mt. Tacoma (or Tahoma). People thousands of miles away naming stuff they really shouldn't (as they knew nothing at all about the area). i would like a change of name for this massive landmark - one that actually reflects where it is.
Fun fact, Peter Rainier actually fought agains the US in the revolutionary war (at least that is what i have heard).
Throughout its history, the volcano of awesomeness was known by many names. Many of the early names roughly became Tacoma in English. For some reason the Seattle residents are not open to the name Mt. Tacoma. Well anyway, Georger Vancouver named the mountain after his buddy Peter Rainier.
Unfortunately, the US decided that the name of the mountain should be Rainier. These people effectively disregarded everything about the local culture. i remember reading something with a map maker that said if they knew anything about the area or the local lore, they would have prefered the name Mt. Tacoma (or Tahoma). People thousands of miles away naming stuff they really shouldn't (as they knew nothing at all about the area). i would like a change of name for this massive landmark - one that actually reflects where it is.
Fun fact, Peter Rainier actually fought agains the US in the revolutionary war (at least that is what i have heard).
Happy 4th of July (US)
So today is the Fourth of July in the US. As far as i'm concerned Independence Day is a movie about a failed alien invasion (i had such high hopes for our alien overlords too). Back when i was younger, this used to be a day where my father or brother would set off fireworks (sometimes with interesting resluts - like burned pants). i fail to see the point in celebrating this any more (basically 235 years after the fact). i guess the US is big on empty tradition and useless holidays.
For other people, this apparently marks a date that the government decided to use to commemorate the independence of the US from the UK. i've always thought that would have happened eventually even without the revolutionary war (maybe 10-20 years).
i've always wondered why the picked the 4th of July. After all, history is not always exact with the days. Basically i have assumed that they might have declared independence on that day. Why celebrate the day you allegedly declared independence, why not when you actually achieve it? What i don't get was that in that era information travelled very slowly. In other words, they could have declared independence without anyone else really knowing about it for days to months.
Why celebrate something that happened over 200 years ago anyway? The relevance seems to be a little lacking.
For other people, this apparently marks a date that the government decided to use to commemorate the independence of the US from the UK. i've always thought that would have happened eventually even without the revolutionary war (maybe 10-20 years).
i've always wondered why the picked the 4th of July. After all, history is not always exact with the days. Basically i have assumed that they might have declared independence on that day. Why celebrate the day you allegedly declared independence, why not when you actually achieve it? What i don't get was that in that era information travelled very slowly. In other words, they could have declared independence without anyone else really knowing about it for days to months.
Why celebrate something that happened over 200 years ago anyway? The relevance seems to be a little lacking.
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Movies i Didn't Like: The King's Speech
Recently, i have been watching a lot of movies. Who knew public libraries let you check out fairly new release movies? Most of them have been bad to "i'm glad i didn't pay to rent this".
The movie in this post was The King's Speech. There are numerous people out (oot in Canada) there who really seemed to like this film. If you hadn't guessed by now, i'm not one of them. i found this film to be pointless and very, very b o r i n g. On the bright side, the movie was in focus.
i have never been one to like movies that get critical approval (outside a few) or that show up in film festivals. The King's Speech was both. i would say that it seemed a little pretentious. The second thing is that i cared nothing for any of the characters or the plot. Why should i care if some British royal (i don't get that fascination) stammered/stuttered when he spoke. Dude, you have the money and some semblance of power - they kind of have to listen to you. Yeah, i can really relate to some older than me person whose greatest problem is a speech impediment - seems pretty lucky to me. Oh cruel fate...
The movie was R rated for marketability to the cadre of drama fans. The only reason i could think for the rating was use of "strong language". They used the "F" word several times. i'm sure my neighbors hear stronger language when i'm playing video games.
Maybe i missed some of the deeper undertones and how it was a metaphor for the human condition (or that pretentious stuff teachers say about literature), but i didn't see any. i'm sure there was some kind of plot, but it didn't keep me interested. To me, this movie moved little faster than the pace of paint drying. Was it really 118 minutes, it felt like weeks? There were no car chases, explosions or nudity. To me, there also was not real point. Yeah, you can give a wartime speech over the radio (whatever that is) as the grand finale. i was so thoroughly moved as the credits finally rolled - that i uttered the word "finally" and immediately put this back in the case, never again to see the light of day in my household.
The movie in this post was The King's Speech. There are numerous people out (oot in Canada) there who really seemed to like this film. If you hadn't guessed by now, i'm not one of them. i found this film to be pointless and very, very b o r i n g. On the bright side, the movie was in focus.
i have never been one to like movies that get critical approval (outside a few) or that show up in film festivals. The King's Speech was both. i would say that it seemed a little pretentious. The second thing is that i cared nothing for any of the characters or the plot. Why should i care if some British royal (i don't get that fascination) stammered/stuttered when he spoke. Dude, you have the money and some semblance of power - they kind of have to listen to you. Yeah, i can really relate to some older than me person whose greatest problem is a speech impediment - seems pretty lucky to me. Oh cruel fate...
The movie was R rated for marketability to the cadre of drama fans. The only reason i could think for the rating was use of "strong language". They used the "F" word several times. i'm sure my neighbors hear stronger language when i'm playing video games.
Maybe i missed some of the deeper undertones and how it was a metaphor for the human condition (or that pretentious stuff teachers say about literature), but i didn't see any. i'm sure there was some kind of plot, but it didn't keep me interested. To me, this movie moved little faster than the pace of paint drying. Was it really 118 minutes, it felt like weeks? There were no car chases, explosions or nudity. To me, there also was not real point. Yeah, you can give a wartime speech over the radio (whatever that is) as the grand finale. i was so thoroughly moved as the credits finally rolled - that i uttered the word "finally" and immediately put this back in the case, never again to see the light of day in my household.
Movies and How i Feel About Them
i did a couple series of posts on music that i liked, so i though i would do occasional posts on movies i liked/disliked.
Basically, the last movie i saw in the theaters (or theatres) was Shrek Forever After. It is not that there were no decent movies released since then - i don't know of any (by my standards).
Disclaimer time: i tend to watch mostly action and comedy. Dramas bore me (maybe you have to be able to relate more to, i think they are called, humans to get them). My life is tragic and unfulfilling enough as it is. You may have guess, but i love the 80s. The new millennium - not so much (or is it not at all). Maybe my taste will be sort of weird - i liked Godzilla (the Matthew Broderick one), Last Action Hero and some other maligned movies. i think that John Hughes was kind of a movie genius.
You can only see so many sequels and adaptation of other mediums (like books/video games) before you start to wonder if Hollywood has run out of ideas. It feels to me like every concept has been done, now it is just how the movies are arranged that differentiate them from the predecessors. The movie going experience has also gotten a lot more costly. Way back when i was younger, they used to have $2.00 (or was $1) movie ticket deals. Now even matinee showings are approaching the $10 mark. Don't get me started on 3D. Also, it seems the movie going experience is getting less necessary.
In 5-10 years (hopefully less), we may get to bypass the theater and stream the movie directly to our residences on release day.
Basically, the last movie i saw in the theaters (or theatres) was Shrek Forever After. It is not that there were no decent movies released since then - i don't know of any (by my standards).
Disclaimer time: i tend to watch mostly action and comedy. Dramas bore me (maybe you have to be able to relate more to, i think they are called, humans to get them). My life is tragic and unfulfilling enough as it is. You may have guess, but i love the 80s. The new millennium - not so much (or is it not at all). Maybe my taste will be sort of weird - i liked Godzilla (the Matthew Broderick one), Last Action Hero and some other maligned movies. i think that John Hughes was kind of a movie genius.
You can only see so many sequels and adaptation of other mediums (like books/video games) before you start to wonder if Hollywood has run out of ideas. It feels to me like every concept has been done, now it is just how the movies are arranged that differentiate them from the predecessors. The movie going experience has also gotten a lot more costly. Way back when i was younger, they used to have $2.00 (or was $1) movie ticket deals. Now even matinee showings are approaching the $10 mark. Don't get me started on 3D. Also, it seems the movie going experience is getting less necessary.
In 5-10 years (hopefully less), we may get to bypass the theater and stream the movie directly to our residences on release day.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)