While I knew this was coming and can’t wait for as much high def content as possible, what I was amazed to discover is exactly what we are paying to make sure no one misses new episodes of “CSI”.

the government has allocated $1.5 billion to inform 17 million citizens about the digital TV transition

A little perspective:

the total proposed budged for literacy education in 2009 stands at a paltry $574.6 million

Amazing.

Obviously not because of my rant, Golden West added the NFL Network shortly thereafter and then the NFL Network also relented and allowed the remaining 60% of the country to see the Patriots-Giants game. Since my first rant worked so well (sarcasm), I figured I would write about my next pet peeve in regards to Golden West.

Being the proud owner of a wonderful 32 inch HDTV and on the eve of the biggest football game of the year, you would think that I would be drooling over the prospect of watching my first Super Bowl in high def. If you thought that you would be wrong. As with the other 35 plus Super Bowls I have seen in my life, this one will also be seen in less than stunning 480i because of my favorite cable company and their embarrassing selection of HD content.

At the beginning of this rant I mentioned that a recent announcement got me going. That announcement was from satellite television provider DirectTV who is getting ready to launch their next satellite which will up their HD capability to 150 channels. Did they say 150 channels, up from their current 85 channels? And here I am with Golden West’s paltry offering of 13 channels (4 of which are premiums like HBO and Showtime) that by the way doesn’t include the HD feed from our local Fox station KTTW.

So here I will sit this Sunday watching the Super Bowl in standard definition just like every other year while Golden West collects their ridiculously high rates from us for providing their normal horrible content. Ah the joys of rural living… <end rant>

P.S. Before anyone asks why I don’t just upgrade to Dish Network or DirectTV, numerous 100 year old+ trees directly in the line of site of the various satellites preclude that option, believe me I checked.

By the way, could the AP pick a more horrible picture of Pleshette for their story on her death?

It’s not available from any of the major download sites like the iTunes store so I had to find the CD from 1972 in which it appeared as it finally has been released. So to christen my new audio player plugin, I have included a small clip from Maynard Ferguson’s version of the Beatles’s “Hey Jude“.

Then I watched the clip below and my interest is no longer peaked. Unless this trailer is deceiving I think the Wachowski brothers would have been better off with Matrix #4. Does anyone remember Underdog? Exactly…

Do you believe that after this week the furor over this will end just as it did last year? What will be the reaction if the final week of the season finds the New England Patriots at 15-0 and facing a very good New York Giants team in what could be a history making game as they go for the first undefeated regular season since 1972? I will give you one guess as to which network has that game and if you guess CBS, FOX, NBC, or ESPN you would be wrong (thanks Golden West, may I have another?). If that happens, today’s fan backlash will be just a drop in the bucket.

Some might think based on my less than nice comments regarding my cable provider, Golden West, that I am blaming the cable operators exclusively for this issue. Of course the fact that their rates are ridiculously high, their HD offerings total 9 channels not even including our local FOX affiliate, and their basic and digital offerings aren’t much better might be clouding my judgment somewhat but I think the NFL is just as culpable. Like Golden West (thanks Golden West, may I have another?), current estimates have approximately 75 million households without easy access to the network but still the NFL decides to place 8 regular season games on the channel each year despite their claim that the NFL is the game for the masses. Which masses would those be Commissioner Goodell, the ones that can afford to subscribe to your partner in the financial rape of the masses, Direct TV and their NFL Sunday Ticket?

The cable TV industry is a mess and needs an overhaul. Many in Congress are starting to agree and the FCC is now looking into adding more regulations to the industry. Would I like to have the NFL network available without having to cut down 100 year old trees so I could have access the satellite networks? Of course but is the extra cost that would surely follow for 8 games a year of which only a few would be interesting to me and 7 months of useless content that is shown during the off season be worth it? Probably not and because of the NFL and Cable TV operator’s greed and stubbornness, the only losers will end up being their customers but because both pretty much have monopolies on their respective markets, they can get away with it and you can bet we will be having this same argument for years to come. But heck at least I still get the RFD and PTL networks…

I do have an issue with one thing I see, it appears Tony Almeida has miraculously returned from the dead ala Bobby’s return on Dallas only on 24’s version, Tony doesn’t take up where he left off. And for those looking to draw parallels between 24 and world events, get over it! It’s a TV show, just sit back and enjoy.

“(A Sioux Falls newspaper) made it sound like Sioux Falls stole the Elton John show from Rapid City,” Maliske explained. “But AEG made it clear they were only going to make one stop in the state and we were their first choice.

So the competition continues between our 2 largest cities. Many think that Sioux Falls won this when they landed Elton John, I personally think that Rapid City is getting the best end of this deal. 2 hard rockers for almost half the price? I might have to re-arrange my schedule to be in Rapid City on November 6th.

Concerts from the recent past have been hit and mostly miss, Aerosmith and Cher come to mind as for the most part Sioux Falls has a difficult time filling up the 7,000 seat mausoleum we call the Sioux Falls Arena. If the October 10th Elton John concert could sell out at whatever the tickets end up costing maybe other acts will see us as a city to consider when they tour. I am lucky, growing up in the 70’s and early 80’s, most acts I like end up playing at the Corn Palace or some local county fair (that is if they aren’t broken up, dead, or currently working at a 7/11 somewhere), but for those wanting to see currently relevant acts, this will be the latest best chance.