Survivor - What Next?

the thirteenth installment of the 'reality' show pioneer begins tonight. unless you've been living on Mars, you've heard that producers have decided to segment contestants by race. while the media is largely responsible for making this decision 'news-worthy', i'm still trying to figure out why all the hype and criticism; claiming the decision was supporting segregation among various races and communities.

watch any cbs morning news program on sept 15th, and you're guaranteed to hear from the first contestant voted-off and from your local asian/african/latino support group on how cbs played the race card to expose their 'people.' i can only imagine that cbs executives are patiently waiting for one race to refer to another race (or to one another) as something other than the PC version..or referencing/suppporting certain stereotypes. i'm sure the producers will be able to bake up a controversial situation to help spurn some animosity...i'm sure the media can't wait.

let's be honest, the name of the game here is ratings...which equates to ad revenue. last season contestants were segmented by age (young / old) and gender...apparently this wasn't enough to gain/maintain the ratings that make producers happy.

what's next? i guess it would be more like what's left? how about gay tribe vs. straight tribe. convicts vs. lawyers. probably a matter of how far can they push the FCC.

in another few days, this whole hype surrounding the idea of segmenting contestants by 'race' will be long forgotten and the show will most likely see ratings that fade over the coming weeks...forcing producers to think of how they can draw out the 'live finally' with some other twist.

in a fast evolving media consuming society, i don't see how this decision was seen as so controversial. if producers tried this sort of segmentation back in season two or three, it never would have made it passed the brainstorm session. i'd like to think that the other real life 'reality' news bits (teacher raping student, student shooting spree, that thing happening in iraq) help put things in perspective.

how long before we're watching a real life execution similar to the Schwarzenegger movie The Running Man?

What Ever Happened To...

...that show on comedy central, 'shorties watchin shorties'?

some of the most classic stand up bits, by up and coming comics, animated.

just finished watching dane cook's vicious circle stand up act...if you 'get' his act, i strongly recommend it.

..which got me thinking that he had a few bits animated on that show...here's one of em..

Penn State vs. Notre Dame - The Rivalry Continues

in a little over two days, penn state football will revive their rivlary with notre dame for a home and home series. the last game played was back in 1992...which was a battle in the snow that ended with some last minute pass. hope this one is as exciting, but ends in favor of the nittany lions. timing couldn't have been better..cause lord knows if this game happened in the last six years, it wouldn't have been worth watching since PSU was struggling at the hand of zach mills.

with 1 in every 700 pennsylvania residents being a PSU alumni, i would expect a strong showing in south bend. after next year's game, i expect each team to enter a re-building phase..regardless of casey clausen's little brother taking over for the mighty quinn.

here's to a good game...

Rainy Saturday = Starbucks

what better way to start a saturday..tall regular venti and a wifi connection. sound serene and relaxing? it was until some woman decided to let us ALL involuntarily hear her cell phone conversation(s) about her trip to philly, how much she hates rain, how her carpet installation is going at home, her sump pump issues, what her kids think about grandma, and on, and on...SHUT IT!

forget about banning drinking during gametime at PSU, how bout getting a grasp on the 'cell yell'.

Are You Kidding Me?

Penn State recently imposed a ban on drinking DURING the football game OUTSIDE the stadium. As a PSU alumni, I never thought I'd hear the words 'ban', 'drinking' and 'football' in the same sentence. Officials claim that this is in response to an increase in underage citations, destroying of property and an overall 'big drinking problem.' This is college. The atmosphere almost requires drinking as a habit. I don't get it.

So if you prohibit drinking DURING the game, I would assume that drinking consumption would increase BEFORE and AFTER? This situation creates a 'necessity' that will become the mother to the college kids 'invention'. Back in the '90's, kegs were banned...that led to buying cases. Then they passed a 'ban' that required all tailgaiting to shut down one hour after the game was over. Regardless of the attempt to curtail drinking, fans always found a way to have a drink (or seven) and enjoy themselves.

Tailgaiting is a religion at PSU. It's part of the overall experience. Imagine the thirty-something professional being told to 'dump that beer' while enjoying the game on a tv outside of his/her RV during the game. Regardless of the fine, I'm sure they'll be able to afford it and won't care.

Despite what officials claim that this is positioned to clean up the drinking, I can't help but think that this is another means to an end of generating more 'revenue' from the student body and the already cash-cow football program.