Saturday, September 27, 2008

Shameless Exploitation in Pursuit of the Common Good

Ok.  Well, I think nearly everyone has their lights back on.  However, it took long enough that the generosity and patience wore very thin.  Evidence of the storm is still everywhere you look.  I happened to go further north into the city this afternoon and saw considerable piles of branches and tree trunk pieces all over the place.

In other news, I am saddened by the loss of Paul Newman today.  I enjoyed his acting, and his principles, and how can I not love a guy who starts a [successful] food company so he can make more money to give away?  Seriously.  Need more people like that around.

I was also considerably saddened today by watching ER.  This week's episode included a theme that was apparently still very close to my heart, and still very painful.  Assuring myself that "it's just a TV show" didn't help.  It never does.  That show makes me cry every episode.

And speaking of TV, has anyone caught any of the new Knitting Daily episodes?  Is anyone else disappointed?  Maybe it's just the newness of it, but I'm having a hard time getting into it.  Firstly, they aren't being shown in order; I saw one episode that included what seemed to be a second or third installment of a knitalong, but I don't know when it started, or how it will end.  Secondly, the hosts, while enjoyable enough when guests on Shay's old show, are not very good at hosting themselves and making the small talk.  We get a lot of "um"s, and then they run out of time and the segment ends very abruptly.  I'm not convinced that Kim Werker is actually interested in anything she's talking about.  A lot of the show feels very rote and monotone.  And Shay just has a little segment each episode and she's the best part.  She has the experience, why don't they use it?  Like I said, maybe it just needs time to come together, but I'm not sure.  The music is kind of wonky, and they keep saying "we'll be right back" even though they're not going anywhere, it's public TV.  However, it's the only knitting show on, so I'll watch it no matter what.  [sigh]

1 comments:

Unknown said...

I agree with all your Knitting Daily observations. The hosts seem uncomfortable, the writing is stilted, and production values are amateurish. I was so looking forward to this program - before I saw it. I'm still hopeful that this first season is a learning experience for them.

My biggest - and easiest to remedy - complaint is the straight-on camera angle. I would much prefer an over-the-shoulder view of the techniques being demonstrated.