Bad Luck City Blog

Not actually a transforming Pee-Wee, but two video clips that I came across this week. While watching a liquid propane plant explode, and needing to see more shock waves… JB and I came across this. A re-edit dub of some old Transformers cartoons… Shockwave’s Burden.

Also… I came across this Pee-Wee Herman PSA about staying away from rock cocaine. Sunshine commented that no one had commented on youtube “hamburger train”. She explained to me that Paul Rubens’s character in Cheech and Chong’s Nice Dreams… did a bucket of blow under a table and came out to exclaim hamburger train! She has since commented.

Also from JB… Nike Transformer sneakers.

DDog and I both commented how weird it is that neither of us have written about Macs or high def tv until his Phillips tube tv post last week. We’re passionate about both and spend most of our time at work arguing (over instant message) about Macs, music and TVs.

For the record, he likes highly modified old Macs with lots of cards crammed into them so he can take them apart daily. Me, I like to keep it simple; Mac Mini or iMac with dual monitor, updated every two or three years.

Music: He likes the new synth/80s revival bands. Me= roots reggae, soul, electronic, indie.

As for TVs, he’s a small guy so he loves the small tube tvs and I likey the large LCD.

One thing we agree on: Comcast sucks and free over the air (OTA) high def TV rules.

In Philly, we’re both blessed and cursed: This is Comcast central, so they gots the monopoly on cable. BUT: All of Philly’s major channels (CBS, ABC, NBC, PBS, FOX, CW, WB) are broadcast in crisp digital high definition. For free. All you need is an antenna. And with a little help with the multitude of articles online (linked below) you can tell Comcast and their lame set-top boxes with their rental fees and high prices to go to hell.

Did I mention that OTA actually has a better picture than cable and satallite? They both compress their signal to free up bandwidth. Verizon’s new FIOS doesn’t do this, but it’s only available in limited areas. My buddy has it out in the burbs, but the cable box is just as slow and clunky as Comcast’s.

I’ve been watching OTA for two years now, and I don’t miss cable at all much. I DO miss Discovery and maybe Comedy Central, but thank god, no more lame MTV.

So, to all my friends who stop by then snicker and call me a cheap-ass when I tell them I use an old-fashioned antenna:
Ya’ll keep bending over and letting Comcast have their way with you while I roll around nekkid on top of the 70+ dolla I save a month!

ARTICLES:

Terrestrial Digital antenna sales up 100% from engadget

OTA HD demystified by Ben Drawbaugh. The best quick how-to article reposted by engadget

AntennaWeb.org
THE place to visit to help select and position your antenna based on your location.

AVS Forums, OTA Philadelphia
Where to ask questions and get answers from others in the area. Also THE place to be for all things HDTV.

Places to buy besides Radioshack:

solidsignal.com
Great selection and excellent help with choosing the right antenna.

antennasdirect.com

UPDATE 5/18/07: Cable and satellite customers displeased with service
New survey shows Comcast still at the bottom of list of companies in which to do business with, even though their profits have soared a whopping 80%. Must be great to be a monopoly. Give shit service and rake in the money.

According to 3rd generation 1/2″ archival video, the glorious dark lord Satan has been paralyzed. It appears that the son of God has taken a bit of a violent turn. Jesus has supposedly broken the back and smashed in the teeth of Beelzebub. It is unknown why the Prince of Darkness is wearing a sling. One can only assume that J.C. roughed him up a bit more.

Church may not necessarily be the answer. But, be wary… the beast can be deceitful. He may not be hurt at all. He may have taken a dive. The Lord is kind of scrawny. I think it was a fix… besides… with all those stem cells at his disposal… I’m sure the Evil One will be on his feet in no time.

Was Ray Nagin right? (article here and another here)

The answer is a resounding YES.

I can’t even believe I’m siding with that blowhole Nagin, but let’s call a spade a spade.

Many other philly blogs agree with Nagin to a point. One blog said we weren’t as bad an NYC which I don’t agree with. We’re way dirtier, and NY has twice the population density. Don’t even TRY to compare us to Boston, Chicago, or Montreal.

I don’t think life-long Philadelphians see it as much as us transplants; how on a windy day the trash blows up against your leg like autumn leaves.
Almost daily I see motorists- even police officers throw trash out car windows. Some are kind enough to throw it near the sewer grates (I have yet to figure out how philadelphians think that’s OK).
Once I taught Catholic school in Grey’s Ferry. While at recess a large group of kids shared a pack of gum and threw their wrappers on the ground. When I asked them to pick it up and stop littering, they seriously belly laughed. “are you serious?” they gasped. No one had EVER told them not to drop their garbage where they stood. I don’t even think they had ever HEARD the term “litter” before.
I’ve lived in all four corners of the city; it doesn’t matter which area: I can stand in front of my house and sweep, and even on a still day, an hour later it’ll be littered with soda bottles, plastic bags and chip wrappers.
My few neighbors who bothered to sweep outside never actually bagged the trash. Most would just sweep it to the curb. One always hosed her own windowbox clippings onto the sidewalk in front of my house. Another neighber would pick up trash but always plunged everything into the sewer grate.

The Inquirer asked readers to submit photos here under the question, “Philadelphia, dirty or not?” Coincidentally, the first photo submitted is around the corner from me.

Yes, Philly, I know I’ve been down on you lately, but you’re dirty. Dirtier than… New Orleans.

I’ve got some conservative friends visiting for the week, and in honor of Earth Day yesterday, we got into a discussion about conservation. I made a trip to Home Depot to pick up a free compact fluorescent lightbulb. Heard some snickering. Then I packed up my two week’s worth of recycling and put it out on the curb (along with the measly 6% of my fellow Philadelphians) More snickering.

I was raised in a conservative, religious family in a midwest state, so I know their angle on the issues:

GUN CONTROL: They’re avid hunters. They don’t want the government to take their hunting rifles away. I ask why hunters need semi automatic handguns, but I can see their side.

ABORTION: They’re religious. They feel for the unborn child. I’m on the other side, but I can relate.

WELFARE: They work hard and they believe everyone else should. I agree to a point, but argue that not everyone has the means that they have, and besides; welfare costs a fraction of what is spent on the military. Which brings me to…

DEFENSE SPENDING AND THE WAR: Yeah, they think we’re gonna be invaded by Commies any day now, so we have to give all our money to the war machine to “protect” us. Reagan and the warmongers before and after him have been spewing this nonsense forever, so I guess some Americans just start to believe it.

But this is the one I really have trouble with:

CONSERVATION: For the life of me I just can’t find ANY legitimate argument as to why a middle class American wouldn’t want to conserve our earth’s resources… I can see why maybe a lobbyist for big oil or the auto industry is against it- if the government forces stricter penalties on polluters, and I own a power plant, I’m going to have to upgrade my equipment to make it burn cleaner, and that cuts into my bottom line.
These corporations pay the Republicans the big bucks to vote in their favor, so we all know why Bush and co. pretend that global warming doesn’t exist. It’s against their best interest, which is basically MONEY.

But what happened to my relatives and conservative friends back home? How’d these law abiding middle-class Americans get brainwashed into thinking that trees are bad and sprawl is good? Since when did it become the norm to discount science, research, and just plain common sense?

Ahh, I’ve got it. Right wing talk radio. Limbaugh.

My dear conservative friends and family: Could you maybe just humor me and go along with the scientific research, just in case it’s true? Would it hurt to recycle, or plant a tree, or walk to the store? For my children’s sake?

There’s no shame in being a newbie. Welcome. For $300 you can have a hd set with an amazing picture.

PHILIPS 30PW8420/37B

Philips periodically sells its 30″ tubes at a discount. It’s probably last year’s (or several years) model. It don’t go bad. And… although even I feel the lure of the screen snug against the wall… you simply can’t beat the image quality of specks of phosphors on glass… in a cathode ray tube… with an electron gun smacking the phosphors 60 times a second. Blocky by nature with its forced raster quality… the panel simply won’t match up when you’re close to your television.

I’ve never followed you’re-sitting-too-close-to-the-television rules (I am usually between 3 and 10 feet away). A lot of gamma-rays and what-not must have passed through me. I’ve played a lot of upright arcade machines too. I used to operate an Evans & Sutherland Digistar CRT star projector in a planetarium (I loved that beam). It was controlled by a VAX computer about the size of a freezer. It used an 8″ floppy. The 4000×4000 LCD half dome projector they have now looks like a computer monitor. The old 3 gun Barco looked better (scanlines and all).

I’ve never owned Vectrex, but I am so happy that it exists and really want one. Vector games are so beautiful.

I guess I’ve got a thing for the CRT. You should too.

If you got the floor space… this is the TV for you. In my small space with minimal floor space… it fits in and looks huge. 30″ in a 16:9 flat tube is not too small and not too overpowering.

It’s a monitor so you’ll need the Samsung HDTV tuner from B&H or where ever else you can find it. It’s like a buck fifty. Any UHF (very few markets use VHF) antenna will get you crystal clear local affiliates (the affiliates themselves usually have several channels) plus like 12 religious stations including the cool hip JCTV… lots of extreme sports. You’ll need an external antenna in some parts of the city. Check antennaweb if you want good reception. You’ll also get menus, information, and program schedules.

Ikea makes a stand that’ll hold it. You’ll know the one… It’s usually a one of their display carcasses. The stand will hold a bunch of components. I have a Gamecube, PS2, Sony Laserdisc player, a dvd player, and my hd tuner all placed neatly in there… no need to cram. There’s even room for a cat.

It doesn’t need a long time to warm up- it’s far from energy star compliant. ELECTRON GUN! Come on… what else still shoots electrons? It’s pretty damn cool.

I had mine for a couple years before getting HDTV… (DTV). My OTA (over the air) is better than the HD that I initially got from cable… and I have a huge building between me and the broadcast towers. I just used it for 480p out of a progressive scan DVD player. The blacks look black which important for a film snob or buff or anyone who wants an accurate representation of the films contrast.

If you have the budget the newest most amazing panel that uses filters and mirrors and new technologies to make it look as crisp as a tube… go ahead and do it… If you want look good for next to nothing… buy this. Buy two. Build up some static and radiation in that house…

It’s not the rounded tubes that you remember… it is flat. Flat and glassy.

I am considering replacing mine with a 32″ lcd… when I find one by a major manufacturer for the right price (probably the Philips outlet).

Space will be your biggest issue. It’s got girth.

Dr. Dog played along with the Spinto Band, Bardo Pond and Illinois as part of the Philly Popped Festival last Friday night. I woulda got this post up earlier but we had no power at work all day Monday on account of the storm. Couldn’t get it done over the weekend at home cuz I was busy bailing out my flooded basement. 25 buckets of water so far… There goes my record collection.
Anyway, about the show:

-It was a packed show and most everyone I talked to A. was there to see Dr. Dog, and B. lives in a warehouse in West Philly or Fishtown and was having a party the following day.

- I love that venue. The Starlight is a bitch to get to via car because of the Vine St. Expswy., but although it’s large there’s not really a bad sightline in the house. And the dudes running the shows are always chill. I can (and did) walk in with an open beer. No patdowns, no rude musclehead bouncers, no attitude. This goes for most R5 shows there too.

-Dr. Dog are amazing. And no, I don’t like them just because they’re local. I actually DISlike a lot of bands because they’re local. Don’t know why that is… maybe because I hear so much hype about local bands from the local press JUST because they’re local, NOT because they’re good. Which brings me to…

-Bardo Pond. Man, I’m sorry, but they suck. Saw them years back, gave them a chance again, same thing. Loud droney stuff that was popular back in the early 90s. It sucked then, it sucks now.

-Illinois and Spinto Band were good. Both bands are probably made up of rich kids from the suburbs, and, based on the way they dressed, Spinto Band aren’t ashamed of it.

I realize I must do something about my horrible photography skills. Ddog’s the better photographer, but he refuses to carry anything but his lame camera phone, so we’re useless together.

**Check out an interview and four free mp3s of Dr. Dog in studio tunes courtesy of webzine Daytripper.

Minnesota Public Radio has an interview and an in studio performance with tracks which are better than the album tracks.

Philly Popped Fest posted video snippets of the actual show (Dr. Dog and Spinto Band sets only) on YouTube.

Dr. Dog were added to the (always rained on) Jam On The River lineup at Penn’s Landing over Memorial Day wknd.

Back Porch Video was a Dearborn/Detroit public access music video show put on by High School students. I’ve been looking at their early synth-pop / new wave stuffs. These kids did a pretty good job. I would have watched it the first time around if I was around there. Be sure to check out The Cure’s Caterpillar Girl to get a sense of the scene. Sift around and find stuff you forgot about… or stuff you never knew existed.

“Back Porch Video” itself is the space between scan lines.

Just happy that the Pall Mall’s weren’t the cause. If you run into that son-of-a-bitch Trout be sure to smack him around a bit.

I have to start reading their blog. Facebook made a number of improvements today. One of them is treating networks as entities. Networks have their own walls, interests (collective popularity), and of course random six. Calendars too. Their security, which I haven’t looked at in a while seems to be tighter. I know things change and possibilities are endless… I’m just hoping it stays good. I miss google. Facebook… where are you going? Borg? Zuckerborg?
Today also brought about closure to that guy… the facebook logo. It sounds like they’re serious about not turning back. Just change the name to myface already. Jebus! I stole your gift haha.