TV Can Be Smurt
I finished watching through the first two seasons of Heroes. It is a good show. Hiro is still my hero. I have no idea why the second season is ten episodes shorter than the first, but they had a nice, complete story arc in there (even though I liked the story of the first one more).
I watched the first season through Netflix instant viewing. I watched the second on the NBC website. In doing so, I discovered why I don't really watch TV. The NBC website has most of their TV shows online, and you can watch them with "limited commercial interruptions"--one commercial per break from the show's sponsor. Heroes was sponsored by JC Penny's and Superbad. When JC Penny's held the advertising slots, they would cycle through two different songs regarding Christmas and everything you want and rocketships or something. The same two songs. Every time. When Superbad held the slots, they would attempt to convince me to buy their movie by showing me some of their perverted jokes and exclaiming that the director's cut is unrated and includes a Lewdity Count, which keeps track of the amount and type of rude joke as it appears in the movie. Apparently they thought I am the type of person who would be influenced by this. I could feel my IQ dropping every time it came on. I could pause or mute the video, but then I'd just be staring at a frozen storefront or a jeering teenager for twenty seconds. It was worth it after the first few times through, though.
If they found a more compelling way to advertise things, I'd be perfectly happy to watch their ads, and I'd probably be more inclined to watch good television when there is good television to be found. In the meantime, I think I'll stick with DVDs and DVRs.
I also just finished Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut. That was a weird book. It was good, I guess, but it was definitely strange. Next on the list is possibly a Dune sequel or two. I'd like to work on Asimov's Foundation series, though that would require me to get myself over to the library (and find my library card). My mom is also borrowing The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime from a friend of hers. I've heard good things about it (largely from my senior English teacher), so I might read it, too.
I watched the first season through Netflix instant viewing. I watched the second on the NBC website. In doing so, I discovered why I don't really watch TV. The NBC website has most of their TV shows online, and you can watch them with "limited commercial interruptions"--one commercial per break from the show's sponsor. Heroes was sponsored by JC Penny's and Superbad. When JC Penny's held the advertising slots, they would cycle through two different songs regarding Christmas and everything you want and rocketships or something. The same two songs. Every time. When Superbad held the slots, they would attempt to convince me to buy their movie by showing me some of their perverted jokes and exclaiming that the director's cut is unrated and includes a Lewdity Count, which keeps track of the amount and type of rude joke as it appears in the movie. Apparently they thought I am the type of person who would be influenced by this. I could feel my IQ dropping every time it came on. I could pause or mute the video, but then I'd just be staring at a frozen storefront or a jeering teenager for twenty seconds. It was worth it after the first few times through, though.
If they found a more compelling way to advertise things, I'd be perfectly happy to watch their ads, and I'd probably be more inclined to watch good television when there is good television to be found. In the meantime, I think I'll stick with DVDs and DVRs.
I also just finished Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut. That was a weird book. It was good, I guess, but it was definitely strange. Next on the list is possibly a Dune sequel or two. I'd like to work on Asimov's Foundation series, though that would require me to get myself over to the library (and find my library card). My mom is also borrowing The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime from a friend of hers. I've heard good things about it (largely from my senior English teacher), so I might read it, too.