feeling a bit nostalgic

I've run across a few written pieces of late that have made me yearn for that time when life was so much simpler: childhood. No bills. No meetings. No responsibilites.

I ran across this mental_floss blog homage about Mr. Rogers by Mangesh. I loved growing up with Mr. Rogers and travelling on the trolley to the Land of Make Believe. I adored the Platypus family, Lady Elaine, and the Owl. How could you hate someone who taught you fun things and actually educated you without acting like a "teacher"? Anyway, the blog post is sweet and endearing.

I also ran across a blog which turned me over to this multi-part article from the UK paper, The Telegraph, "100 Books Every Child Should Read." Although I have read many on the list, I can't agree that they are definitive--no list ever is. However, it is a place to start for families who just don't read that much.

I read all the time growing up--and I've got all the books to prove it. I have books in my bed, stacked on the night stands, books in the kitchen island, downstairs, upstairs, in the garage and in the attic. I don't think I could live without them--in practice, that may not be true, but it feels true. I remember reading a small piece in Poets & Writers magazine a while back about a writer who evacuated New Orleans before Katrina hit. And when she went back, all her books were destroyed--quite a few of which had been signed by authors. It made my heart ache.

a slight snert

Ok. I get the writer's strike. No problem.

But why on earth did the bigwigs think they could put on the Golden Globes as a "newscast"? I watched all of five minutes in stunned disbelief. I'd rather watch reruns. Hell, I'd rather clean the bathroom with a toothbrush--yes, that boring.

And I've seen reports on "damage to the local economy" and how party planners and designers have worked for a year only to be shut out. Terrible. Terrible. Holy crap--there are much worse things in the world than some designer not being able to dress a starlet.

Yes, I'm snerty.

[I made this word up. Actually, just partially made it up. There is an episode of M*A*S*H where Frank Burns says something like "Nerts to you." But the word "nerts" in practice comes off a bit stiff. So I just inverted it a bit and came up with snert. It works much better. Feel free to use it as a verb, noun, adverb--whatever part of speech fits the situation best.]

So if the strike is going to continue through the Hollywood awards season, I hope that all the networks get wise to the "newscast" not being a good idea.

TV More Interesting

We've hit the bottom of the television barrel. Not only are shows crippled by the writer's strike, but we are in full political "me-me-me" over-coverage and overanalysis. So we are left with Bowl games, annoying reruns that sucked the first time around, and some half-assed crap like "Best Beer Commercials of the World Played by Unknown Actors with Famous Actor Voice Overs." Frankly, I'd rather chew tin foil and lick batteries.

I have a solution: my secret love of UK tv. Ok, so it really is not a secret--I own some of the DVDs. There's just something to be said about a different perspective. Way too many American shows are clones and attempted imitations--it's terrible. The major networks are terrified of anything that breaks boundaries or makes people think. If you get one good show in a season, consider yourself blessed. Would M*A*S*H even make it on the air now?

Some of the following shows I picked up from the BBC feed on my local PBS station on Saturday evenings. Some I stumbled across on my own. I hope you enjoy the small clips.

Keeping Up Appearances

Patricia Routledge and Clive Swift

Midsomer Murders

John Nettles, Daniel Casey

As Time Goes By

Judy Dench and Geoffrey Palmer

This is a blooper reel. I couldn't find one with an embeddable video. After the video are links to an un-embeddable YouTube video.

See a YouTube clip from the show.

Father Ted

Dermot Morgan, Ardal O'Hanlon, Frank Kelly, and Pauline McLynn