regarding recording television

TONIGHT (wed)

I know I'm writing this with only thirty minutes until 60 MINUTES, but i just read today's Gawker and Choire suggests that tonight's 60 MINUTES interview with Maxim's FELIX DENNIS "is a total Must- Vo." Choire of course follows that up with TiVo Bad Libs.

slooow weeek

I'm currently watching the AMERICAN MUSIC AWARDS. I'm not sure why this is happening. Clay Aiken is performing. I need to turn off the television.

The only exciting, non-regular show that I plan to record this week is something I read about in Time Our New York. Joe Grossman writes the descriptions for the week in television and makes the section worth reading. This week he tipped me off to Monday night's THE AMC PROJECT. Two half hour shows air back-to-back starting at 10pm and supposedly go behind the scenes of an aspect of the movie making industry you don't normally see. The first one's about the porn industy and the second is about Bollywood. Alabama just won an American Music Award (their 23rd!). Who knew they were still recording and performing? When do I get to see Jimmy Kimmel say something funny? Why haven't I seen Kimmel yet? Where is ALIAS? No wonder I'm able to record ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT and the British COUPLING between 9:40 and 10 tonight.

I feel uncomfortable writing about the porn (scratch that) "adult film" industry. I don't know much about it. And I'm torn between wanting to know everything and not wanting people to know that I want to know. See? I've already said too much.

Ooooh! There's Kimmel - and he's wearing what looks like a blue velour jacket. Or maybe it's velvet. I'm not really sure. Maybe it's one of those high-tech jackets that makes him invisible.

Fleetwood Mac is currently on tour in Germany.

Upcoming Recordings 11/11-11/16

If you’ve got the patience for talk of video making and computers, it’s “Home Video Crash Course” week on TechTV’s THE SCREEN SAVERS. I think I’ll be recording Friday’s episode (about making your own DVD’s) and sampling some of the others. The whole thing will probably convince me to wait until consumer HD video cameras are available before I replace my 8mm video camera that broke three or four years ago. Of course, knowing me, it’s possible I’ll end up buying a Hi8 camera sometime in the next three months in an attempt to convert all those old videos into DVD’s.

I never made it to Coney Island to ride the Cyclone this summer, but if you’re unfamiliar with the coaster FineLvg presents a segment about the ride on a show called BORN AMERICAN (Wednesday, 3:30am). Of course, I don’t think too many people are unfamiliar with the wild wooden coaster. It’s always featured on those coaster shows.

TRIO ON TOUR presents THE JAM (Wednesday, 10:30am) could be interesting. Maybe the show will convert me into more of a fan of The Jam.

Fans of Neko Case should be tuned to PBS this week. A new episode of AUSTIN CITY LIMITS features Rosanne Cash followed by Neko Case. The show airs midnight Friday (officially Saturday) on New York’s WLIW 21. Of course, my DVR will also be recording SUBTERRANEAN UK at the same time. The show airs monthly on MTV2 before SUBTERRANEAN. I’ve yet to catch an episode, but I’m ready to be hip with what’s happening in the UK scene. Hee. Who am I kidding?

On Sunday at 1am I’ve got the device set to record OPENING SOON. This episode of the show that airs on FineLvg is about the opening of a restaurant at a winery in Canada. Wine. Canadians. What’s not to love?

By the way, what is the deal with OVATION, The Arts Network? I want this to channel to be a great country-wide public access channel featuring crazy, ridiculous culture programming all the time. I want to see shows about books and music and movies and painting and sculpture and design. And the channel runs the same 25 shows over and over and over. I’ve recorded about four things on the channel during the past two months. And those same things keep catching my interest over and over. Is programming that expensive? Can’t they syndicate old episodes of 120 minutes from MTV? What about buying some programming from colleges and universities? We’re living in a world where video cameras are recording cultural activities at a ridiculous pace. Why can’t I watch any of it? Why hasn’t the “what’s new” section of Ovation’s website been updated in a year? Why am I verging on a tirade about how I want to program a television network?

better than poker?

By way of Tom Heald's Remote Patrol I'm now aware that the "2003 Scrabble All-Star Competition" airs at 3:30pm SUNDAY on ESPN. I'm hoping for a behind the scenes report from More Than Donuts on Monday.

Upcoming Recordings 11/3-11/6

Is it safe to say that excessive consumption of bourbon wrecked my Saturday? Not in a bad way. Just in a “I’m not 22 anymore and getting up early after a night of heavy drinking is tough” kind of way. After spending three weeks planning to dress as a blog for Halloween, I abandoned that thought Thursday night when I realized that no human actually looks good sandwiched between giant white foam board, no matter how many cool bloggers they have fake linked to on their fake weblog. Then it hit me on Friday afternoon – I’ve got this beard that I haven’t managed to shave or trim or do anything with. Why don’t I don a long coat and shave the beard like Kevin Smith’s and go as “Silent Bob” for Halloween? The added bonus of the costume? It allowed me to wear shorts and sneakers.

But what does this have to do with bourbon? And what in the world does this have to do with television? As “Silent Bob” I felt comfortable at the party and may have had too much bourbon. Or maybe the right amount. I did manage to party late into the night. But I was frustrated at one moment when I tried to have a conversation about Kentucky with someone. Turns out I don’t know enough about the state or the manufacture of bourbon. Hopefully, that will change after I watch Simply Wine With Andrea Immer (Monday @ 3pm on FineLiving, airs throughout the week). I’m not sure how a wine show came to do an episode about bourbon, but I’m looking forward to learning more about Maker’s Mark and bourbon making.

Sometime before or after halfway watching a show about bourbon (let’s face it, I watch one show per week about distilled spirits), I’ll cue up Bollywood Bound (Monday @ 8pm on Sundance Channel, airs throughout the month). Shot in 2001, this documentary follows four Indian-Canadians as they set out for Bombay in the hope of making it big in the massive film community there. Perhaps the Sundance Channel is setting the stage for Deepa Mehta’s upcoming film Bollywood/Hollywood?

Of course’s Monday’s most talked about program will be Average Joe (Monday @ 10pm on NBC). Kathy Griffin hosts this new reality dating show where a woman has to choose a guy among a group of “average joe’s.” By the way, how did “Joe” become the hot name in reality television show programming? And when is it going to stop? Are the rights locked up to a show called “G.I. JOE” about the exploits of young American soldiers in combat zones? What about a dating show called “Cup of JOE?” which features a different single woman each week selecting a man based on who can brew the finest pot of coffee? Yeah, the naming situation is out of control.

Late Tuesday night I’m planning to record The Knack and How to Get It (Wednesday @ 4:35am on Sundance Channel, airs twice more during the month). This Richard Lester film from 1965 was made between “A Hard Day’s Night” and “Help.” A few years ago I read “Getting Away With It” by filmmaker Steven Soderbergh. The book fluctuates between interviews with Lester and journal entries from the 12 months Soderbergh spent making “Schizopolis” and “Gray’s Anatomy.” It’s a funny and insightful book and I should be embarrassed that I didn’t immediately rush out and rent any films by Richard Lester. Let’s hope I can make up for that this month.

One possibly interesting show on Wednesday is More Highway Hangouts: Fun along the Road (2pm on The History Channel. It’s part of the Time Machine series, I think.). Interesting signs. Odd stops along the American roadside. That kind of thing. (I imagine Meredith & Sarah of popcrazy.com touched on a lot of these places when they traveled cross country during summer 2002.)

Before the week concludes, I’ve made a point to have the DVR record Weekend Entertaining (Thursday @ 11:30pm on DIY Network). This episode features a backyard grilling competition between couples. They’ve got an hour and need to prepare delicious and unique meats. Well, the guide on the television told me the couples would be preparing unique meats. I think they’ll just be preparing chicken or beef in unique ways. No zebra on the DIY Network. I will go on record saying that I’m all for grilled meats. What I don’t understand is how many food shows air across the cable/satellite spectrum each week. How do people keep track of all these shows? The real reason I don’t watch most of these shows is because I’m afraid to cook, isn’t it?