Showing posts with label TV. Show all posts
Showing posts with label TV. Show all posts
20 October 2016
Is it just me or is there way too many people speaking Valley talk on TV?
It seems like I am hearing more and more people on TV talking like Valley girls with all the included timing, syllable emphasis and accents that were so noticeable decades ago. It is so like gag me with a spoon.
It might not be the over the top annoying chatter teens used to use and others made fun of but it is still present albeit in a lighter version. I still find it annoying. I also still do a fair version of it when I want to make fun of something.
I hope I haven't spoiled your favorite TV show because you will now be looking for it or at least subconsciously noticing it around you. From HGTV to CBS it rears it's ugly head and after an involuntary cringe I reach for the remote, because I can't take it in large doses, fur sure.
Maybe its just a fad. I sure hope so. This is Ed Nef with a view from the Farrwest.
07 July 2014
Summer Reading - Stephen Colbert
It used to be that this time of year would bring plenty of references to what to read at the beach or something along those lines. I haven't seen as much of it this year which is fine because I didn't pay a whole lot of attention to those list anyway figuring they were just paid advertisements in most cases.
Instead I would look for and spend my time on whatever caught my fancy. This is generally bad for my wallet when I come in close proximity to a bookstore as many things catch my fancy...and the basement is full of boxes of books that didn't retain my fancy...don't tell my wife because most of them still catch my fancy just not at the moment...I am going to read them, I promise...just don't make me come up with a deadline. Besides, I have learned how to flatten my borrowing card from the library instead of flattening my credit card at the bookstore.
Anyway, I am still reading like crazy and have covered a lot of different topics in a lot of different genres from a lot of different books. Some are worth the time and effort and many are not. I think time and experience helps immensely when it comes time to decide your reading material by judging a book by it's cover.
I got sucked in though by Stephen Colbert's 'America Again: Re-becoming the Greatness We Never Weren't' book. I didn't actually read this one, I got the audio book version and made him read it to me. As this one came out in October 2012 you can tell I am not hung up on having the latest and greatest but I would like to have the greatest. This one is sadly far from the mark.
I have enjoyed Stephen Colbert's sense of humor for quite some time now and although I don't always agree with his politics (come on people, you have to realize by now that his show is a caricature of a conservative talk show not the real thing) you could still see and appreciate the humor in what he did. Unfortunately as the show went on he would resort to more crude and vulgar humor. This book follows that format.
There are some good points made some of which provoke thought but then the low brow stuff is injected and you can't increase the play speed fast enough to get to the next section hoping for better. Thankfully it is a short book.
Which leads me to wonder what Stephen Colbert will be like as the replacement for David Letterman. It has been said that he will drop the current character he plays on his show. Does that mean he will now have a pronounceable "T" on the end of his name? Since it is Letterman's production company, I am sure he had say in the selection, did David pick Stephen because his politics are more closely aligned and how close will the marching orders be to keep it that way?
You can never replace what you once had and I for one do not believe you should try to. It is like trying to do a remake of the Three Stooges, it will never match the original so don't bother. Instead search for the new originality in the same genre and if there is enough love it just might stick. These two are very smart and talented people who should be able to figure it out as long as they don't egos and self importance get in the way. Right now I am giving them a 40% chance. What they do is not easy and lately they have been slacking off a bit but I am willing to give them a shot. How about you?
This is Ed Nef with a view from the Farrwest.
04 February 2012
It's all in the game.
I have finally gotten past my emotional frustrations and attachments to this year’s political shenanigans. My hopes have been dashed and disappointments have weighed heavy but are starting to fade. Those of you who were pulling for Obama 4 years ago know what I am talking about. All that talk of hope and change we have been fed turns out to be nothing more than the same old smoke and mirrors we have seen over and over again for years and years. 2012 is shaping up to be nothing less…or more for that matter.
The Republicans have assembled the same old mix of challengers (as is usually produced by the challengers), none of which can deliver the whole package that everyone would love to see. All have some fine qualities and bring some valid ideas to the table but they all come up short in other areas leaving much to be desired. It would be nice to have the ability to create a composite candidate that represented the best of all the rest. I am certain there are those that have tried to pull this off by presenting themselves as such but because it was not the person they really were they quickly faded out in superficiality. Looking for the candidates that stand on their own character without pandering to the polls and swaying their positions based on the desire of their financial supporters, is like searching for a soda that doesn’t use high fructose corn syrup. The cost of searching, finding and obtaining just doesn’t seem worth the effort.
The other thing that continues to amaze me in these races is the ability to call the game early. How many of you have gone to a basketball game and with the jump ball to start the game the announcer comes on and says first one to score a basket wins? Or who has tuned into the Boston Marathon just to see the start of the race and see who makes it to the end of the block first figuring surely they have it all sown up?
Surprise, this one is going past the first point scored but in my opinion, big fat hairy deal. The game will still be called before half time. A few states will get their 15 minutes of fame and then fade into obscurity with 38 of the other states that don’t garner a passing fancy. Nothing meaningful is coming of it and sadly doesn’t seem to matter. The talking points are the same old rhetoric and the solutions, or rather the appearance of solutions, are the same as well. I am getting tired of it all and have started to tune out which I am sensing is the same for many of the others out there. Besides, there is a football game coming up.
Some points to be made out of all this. Like a marathon race or a NASCAR race all the camera time and attention is given to those in front. If you are not in front then your only chance of catching some attention is when the guys in front come around to pass you or you are involved in a horrible crash and then you get the same amount of attention that is given to all wrecks (woo, glad that wasn’t me, check out the replay, alright commercial, time for a potty break). You might have some good ideas Rick and Ron but you are way behind at the moment and that means you will have to quadruple your efforts just to catch back up to the leaders and be considered as a candidate at this point. Most do not have the energy or stamina to accomplish this as you can see by the number of candidates that have dropped out already. Some never even made it to Iowa. Some are too dumb to realize just what it takes to create inertia.
The sad thing is the media in general and the public at large generates this inability to focus on anything beyond A vs. B. The reality of the matter is that the average person out there is way more interested in choices C,D,E,F,G,H… and has been for quite some time. Look at the channels on cable and the fact that there are more viewers collectively following them than the big three networks. The internet is full of niche players that cater to the interest of individuals. Their audience isn’t meant to be everyone, it is only meant to be those who enjoy a like view. Until the mainstream realizes this and figures out a way to serve the many individuals, we will remain stuck with the bland clichés that sway many but serve no one.
So why is the media so quick to focus on just this or that? I am guessing that cost might be one thing since it cost money to cover everything and they don’t think they can generate enough interest to justify worthwhile coverage of back of the pack.
Also, they have a distinct bias (no matter what they claim or choose to believe). Owners and operators of the media have pushed their points of view since their respective mediums were first invented. Don’t expect anything different at this point in the game. They all do. And we tend to tune into those that most closely align with our points of view or at least give us the most entertaining stirring of emotions.
The media also has the self perception of (and reality to some extend) of being influence peddlers. In other words, they say stuff, people listen and they think and feel and do based on what they are told. This is called power and the media likes to use this power to persuade their audiences in the direction they would like them to go. Sadly, reality suggests that it works. Therefore they frame the debates and topics of discussion only upon those areas they deem serving their purpose. “But Ed, I have seen polls that state that America is interested in this or that, and that our most pressing problems are this or that. How can you say the media is driving the agenda when they are just reporting what the polls show America is wanting?” Take any news story that you are familiar with and have some real knowledge about and then look at how it is covered and not just by one source but by several. Then tell me those slight differences in wording, sentence structure and turning of a phrase don’t hint at bias. Even the headline that tops many articles gives clues to the desired reader’s response. Some headlines are completely out of sync with the article, and are totally misleading but then there are many that don’t read beyond the headline.
Only two areas escape this treatment, one being the generic story report that is copied and pasted as is into several outlets (look at Google news feeds and read a story covered by many sources and you will notice that the articles referenced are all exactly the same, word for word), while the other is the only slightly interesting local interest story that is churned out by the local reporter because ‘we have to have so much of this kind of thing in our paper and I was the one that got stuck with it’ piece. The really juicy stuff, the stuff that gets you noticed, praised and awarded, requires an injection of something more. You are writing to please your audience, and your audience is always prioritized by the desires of the boss and owner coming first, the writer coming next, and the reader/viewer in the end. Just be aware of this next time you feel yourself jumping on the bandwagon. It might be time to take a break from it all, change channel or pick up a good book.
The next point I still find amusing is that the challengers may load the gate with a dozen horses for the race and quickly boil things down to one prime challenger but the incumbent party is pretty much stuck with no choice. They have to dance with their leftover. Oh sure, they might pretend at some point to offer up another choice or two but that would be like admitting making a mistake and that won’t do for the guys on top so they must continue to show (and sometimes “show” is all it is) support for their candidate. Mediocrity thrives on just this kind of practice. Kinda sad really.
Do you realize that there are probably another half dozen parties out there besides the Republicans and Democrats and we seldom if ever hear about any of them? They don’t even make first cut and because someone is deciding that there is no chance or probability for them to win, we lose the opportunity to choose for ourselves and learn of them and from them and sure enough their probability of winning becomes nil. A self fulfilling prophecy?
Last point of things to notice this go around is that everyone loves a bandwagon. There is nothing more fun that to jump on a bandwagon, but you have to be very careful and choose the right bandwagon to jump on. If you choose the wrong bandwagon you might have to explain yourself or worse yet jump off one bandwagon and quickly jump on another. You can’t be “seen” as having picked the wrong bandwagon; it could harm a guy’s reputation. Rush has built his reputation around the fact that “I told you so”. He has had to be extra careful with his wording so that he will have just the right sound bites to fall back on when he needs help convincing you that he was right all along. And of course the Donald can do no wrong (just don’t look at his record too closely) so he is really going out on a limb this early in the race by declaring his support of Romney.
But it is all part of the fun of the game we call American politics and if you have gone through more than one race with an active interest or seen a couple of decades of elections come and go you will start to see that this really is a silly season. It is sad that we have to take any of it seriously because it is all so laughably absurd but there are serious outcomes and gravely serious consequences, and that forces us to participate. Once again I find myself wishing it didn’t really mean so much and because it does mean so much I am wishing we had better choices.
I wonder if we really do get what we deserve. That’s a scary thought.
This is Ed Nef with a view from the Farr West.
The Republicans have assembled the same old mix of challengers (as is usually produced by the challengers), none of which can deliver the whole package that everyone would love to see. All have some fine qualities and bring some valid ideas to the table but they all come up short in other areas leaving much to be desired. It would be nice to have the ability to create a composite candidate that represented the best of all the rest. I am certain there are those that have tried to pull this off by presenting themselves as such but because it was not the person they really were they quickly faded out in superficiality. Looking for the candidates that stand on their own character without pandering to the polls and swaying their positions based on the desire of their financial supporters, is like searching for a soda that doesn’t use high fructose corn syrup. The cost of searching, finding and obtaining just doesn’t seem worth the effort.
The other thing that continues to amaze me in these races is the ability to call the game early. How many of you have gone to a basketball game and with the jump ball to start the game the announcer comes on and says first one to score a basket wins? Or who has tuned into the Boston Marathon just to see the start of the race and see who makes it to the end of the block first figuring surely they have it all sown up?
Surprise, this one is going past the first point scored but in my opinion, big fat hairy deal. The game will still be called before half time. A few states will get their 15 minutes of fame and then fade into obscurity with 38 of the other states that don’t garner a passing fancy. Nothing meaningful is coming of it and sadly doesn’t seem to matter. The talking points are the same old rhetoric and the solutions, or rather the appearance of solutions, are the same as well. I am getting tired of it all and have started to tune out which I am sensing is the same for many of the others out there. Besides, there is a football game coming up.
Some points to be made out of all this. Like a marathon race or a NASCAR race all the camera time and attention is given to those in front. If you are not in front then your only chance of catching some attention is when the guys in front come around to pass you or you are involved in a horrible crash and then you get the same amount of attention that is given to all wrecks (woo, glad that wasn’t me, check out the replay, alright commercial, time for a potty break). You might have some good ideas Rick and Ron but you are way behind at the moment and that means you will have to quadruple your efforts just to catch back up to the leaders and be considered as a candidate at this point. Most do not have the energy or stamina to accomplish this as you can see by the number of candidates that have dropped out already. Some never even made it to Iowa. Some are too dumb to realize just what it takes to create inertia.
The sad thing is the media in general and the public at large generates this inability to focus on anything beyond A vs. B. The reality of the matter is that the average person out there is way more interested in choices C,D,E,F,G,H… and has been for quite some time. Look at the channels on cable and the fact that there are more viewers collectively following them than the big three networks. The internet is full of niche players that cater to the interest of individuals. Their audience isn’t meant to be everyone, it is only meant to be those who enjoy a like view. Until the mainstream realizes this and figures out a way to serve the many individuals, we will remain stuck with the bland clichés that sway many but serve no one.
So why is the media so quick to focus on just this or that? I am guessing that cost might be one thing since it cost money to cover everything and they don’t think they can generate enough interest to justify worthwhile coverage of back of the pack.
Also, they have a distinct bias (no matter what they claim or choose to believe). Owners and operators of the media have pushed their points of view since their respective mediums were first invented. Don’t expect anything different at this point in the game. They all do. And we tend to tune into those that most closely align with our points of view or at least give us the most entertaining stirring of emotions.
The media also has the self perception of (and reality to some extend) of being influence peddlers. In other words, they say stuff, people listen and they think and feel and do based on what they are told. This is called power and the media likes to use this power to persuade their audiences in the direction they would like them to go. Sadly, reality suggests that it works. Therefore they frame the debates and topics of discussion only upon those areas they deem serving their purpose. “But Ed, I have seen polls that state that America is interested in this or that, and that our most pressing problems are this or that. How can you say the media is driving the agenda when they are just reporting what the polls show America is wanting?” Take any news story that you are familiar with and have some real knowledge about and then look at how it is covered and not just by one source but by several. Then tell me those slight differences in wording, sentence structure and turning of a phrase don’t hint at bias. Even the headline that tops many articles gives clues to the desired reader’s response. Some headlines are completely out of sync with the article, and are totally misleading but then there are many that don’t read beyond the headline.
Only two areas escape this treatment, one being the generic story report that is copied and pasted as is into several outlets (look at Google news feeds and read a story covered by many sources and you will notice that the articles referenced are all exactly the same, word for word), while the other is the only slightly interesting local interest story that is churned out by the local reporter because ‘we have to have so much of this kind of thing in our paper and I was the one that got stuck with it’ piece. The really juicy stuff, the stuff that gets you noticed, praised and awarded, requires an injection of something more. You are writing to please your audience, and your audience is always prioritized by the desires of the boss and owner coming first, the writer coming next, and the reader/viewer in the end. Just be aware of this next time you feel yourself jumping on the bandwagon. It might be time to take a break from it all, change channel or pick up a good book.
The next point I still find amusing is that the challengers may load the gate with a dozen horses for the race and quickly boil things down to one prime challenger but the incumbent party is pretty much stuck with no choice. They have to dance with their leftover. Oh sure, they might pretend at some point to offer up another choice or two but that would be like admitting making a mistake and that won’t do for the guys on top so they must continue to show (and sometimes “show” is all it is) support for their candidate. Mediocrity thrives on just this kind of practice. Kinda sad really.
Do you realize that there are probably another half dozen parties out there besides the Republicans and Democrats and we seldom if ever hear about any of them? They don’t even make first cut and because someone is deciding that there is no chance or probability for them to win, we lose the opportunity to choose for ourselves and learn of them and from them and sure enough their probability of winning becomes nil. A self fulfilling prophecy?
Last point of things to notice this go around is that everyone loves a bandwagon. There is nothing more fun that to jump on a bandwagon, but you have to be very careful and choose the right bandwagon to jump on. If you choose the wrong bandwagon you might have to explain yourself or worse yet jump off one bandwagon and quickly jump on another. You can’t be “seen” as having picked the wrong bandwagon; it could harm a guy’s reputation. Rush has built his reputation around the fact that “I told you so”. He has had to be extra careful with his wording so that he will have just the right sound bites to fall back on when he needs help convincing you that he was right all along. And of course the Donald can do no wrong (just don’t look at his record too closely) so he is really going out on a limb this early in the race by declaring his support of Romney.
But it is all part of the fun of the game we call American politics and if you have gone through more than one race with an active interest or seen a couple of decades of elections come and go you will start to see that this really is a silly season. It is sad that we have to take any of it seriously because it is all so laughably absurd but there are serious outcomes and gravely serious consequences, and that forces us to participate. Once again I find myself wishing it didn’t really mean so much and because it does mean so much I am wishing we had better choices.
I wonder if we really do get what we deserve. That’s a scary thought.
This is Ed Nef with a view from the Farr West.
25 September 2011
Quick change the channel
Boring...change the channel.
Irritating...change the channel.
Annoying...change the channel.
Don't want to think about it...change the channel.
Not interested...change the channel.
Disgusting...change the channel.
I have tuned into too many things over the years I guess that my level of interest has waned a bit. I am not saying this is a bad thing. After you have spent so many hours seeing the same old thing played out in the same old way over and over again, perhaps it is better to change the channel in an effort to find something new, and if not new at least worthwhile and of good report. That isn't always easy to do these days.
Thing is there really isn't a lot of worthwhile stuff out there so you really have to make an effort to find something of good report.
I suppose that part of the reason finding something new is that I have experienced so much of it before and find the new stuff mere copies, imitations, sequels and out and out ripoffs of the previous stuff.
Sequels are o.k. if you are truly building upon the foundation and adding to the flavor of the original, but more often than not it is just someone cashing in on the popularity of the original and not putting a lot of effort into it. Think of any Hal Needham movie done the second time.
Or sometimes, someone thinks it would be a good idea to remake a classic. Trouble is it is seldom if ever as good as the original. They know this and yet they do it anyway. Why? Because they know that if the wait long enough to do the remake, they will have a new audience to play to, one that has not experienced the original and will have no basis for comparison. Do you think Pat Boone would have been anywhere near as successful with "Long Tall Sally" and "Tutti Frutti" if his audiences had heard them done by Little Richard first?
For those of you that do not get the above references, and for those that do but know of some that will not, that is my point. To the young, everything is new and it is all being experienced for the first time. It is still judged for its merit but with little baseline to compare it too it rates pretty well. How else can you explain some of the drivel out there?
For those of us that have been around the block a time or two, the bar is raised. Sadly the bar does not have to move up much to exclude 80% of what is presented in the way of T.V., movies and music.
And that leads me to a problem. My attention span (that was pretty short to begin with) has been cut in half yet again. I can scan the preset radio stations on my car faster by hand than with the scan button. I can scan T.V channels faster than anyone in the room is ready to appreciate and not experience a small case of motion sickness. I can peruse web pages faster than they are meant to be enjoyed. (Don't even bother getting me started on staff meetings.) What I am saying is I can name that tune in three notes (another obscure reference for those keeping score) and decide if it is something that I want to continue with or move on to the next object faster than Simon Cowell can make a buck, euro, or pound. (That reference was at least a little more current I hope.)
And move on is what I do best. Because I have too spend more and more time trying to locate something worthwhile, I have less and less time to spend enjoying that something worthwhile which should. This tends to drive the bar higher still in an attempt to only spend my time on the best of the best.
This behavior also tends to push me outside the typical marketing demographics. I don't seem to mind except now advertising increasingly tends to be an annoyance and intrusion more than the communal interaction intended. In other words, they don't get me and I don't get them.
Let me expand on that just a little with an example. If you search on a news item to get a little more information and it takes you to a news media web site that has an inserted video to go with the text, my advice is to just read the text. More often than not the video, even if it is interesting though short on depth, will begin with an inserted, irrelevant video advertisement. These ads have been shortened to 15 seconds usually but that seems like an unusually long amount of time to put up with to watch a 2 minute segment in this day and age. I have and will regularly hit the mute button on these ads while I wait for what I am really after, but lately I find myself hitting the back button, leaving the site entirely and searching for what I am after elsewhere. And all because 15 seconds has become too long.
It isn't has if there are no other ads being flung at us as the web page itself is usually littered with them. They are static, passive unless clicked on and mostly unobtrusive. These video inserts are more demanding because they have what is essentially a captive audience. That is they are captive only in so far as the person desires to see the content provided. Kinda like regular T.V. in that way. But I am not captive or captivated and so I "change the channel". Often.
So what is the real downside here? There is nothing wrong with trying to avoid crap in whatever form it takes.
The downside is when you get in hyper scan mode it becomes difficult to take it down a notch when you finally come across something worthwhile. It is hard to slow down to a pace that will let you appreciate what you have found let alone slow down to the point that you can immerse yourself in the topic at hand.
And sadly I find myself slowing down less often for other things besides T.V, movies and music. I find myself having a hard time slowing down for people. I mean really connecting with others without having my mind racing off in half a dozen other directions. I find that to be one of the saddest things of all. But awareness is one of the first steps to recovery so I am putting forth effort to keep myself in the present as much as possible and especially around others.
That doesn't mean I will turn off my crap meter, it just means I wont be so quick to hit the next button when I am dealing with a human.
Non-humans on the other hand don't have any feelings so they shouldn't feel offended when I "change the channel".
This is Ed Nef with a view from the Farr West.
Irritating...change the channel.
Annoying...change the channel.
Don't want to think about it...change the channel.
Not interested...change the channel.
Disgusting...change the channel.
I have tuned into too many things over the years I guess that my level of interest has waned a bit. I am not saying this is a bad thing. After you have spent so many hours seeing the same old thing played out in the same old way over and over again, perhaps it is better to change the channel in an effort to find something new, and if not new at least worthwhile and of good report. That isn't always easy to do these days.
Thing is there really isn't a lot of worthwhile stuff out there so you really have to make an effort to find something of good report.
I suppose that part of the reason finding something new is that I have experienced so much of it before and find the new stuff mere copies, imitations, sequels and out and out ripoffs of the previous stuff.
Sequels are o.k. if you are truly building upon the foundation and adding to the flavor of the original, but more often than not it is just someone cashing in on the popularity of the original and not putting a lot of effort into it. Think of any Hal Needham movie done the second time.
Or sometimes, someone thinks it would be a good idea to remake a classic. Trouble is it is seldom if ever as good as the original. They know this and yet they do it anyway. Why? Because they know that if the wait long enough to do the remake, they will have a new audience to play to, one that has not experienced the original and will have no basis for comparison. Do you think Pat Boone would have been anywhere near as successful with "Long Tall Sally" and "Tutti Frutti" if his audiences had heard them done by Little Richard first?
For those of you that do not get the above references, and for those that do but know of some that will not, that is my point. To the young, everything is new and it is all being experienced for the first time. It is still judged for its merit but with little baseline to compare it too it rates pretty well. How else can you explain some of the drivel out there?
For those of us that have been around the block a time or two, the bar is raised. Sadly the bar does not have to move up much to exclude 80% of what is presented in the way of T.V., movies and music.
And that leads me to a problem. My attention span (that was pretty short to begin with) has been cut in half yet again. I can scan the preset radio stations on my car faster by hand than with the scan button. I can scan T.V channels faster than anyone in the room is ready to appreciate and not experience a small case of motion sickness. I can peruse web pages faster than they are meant to be enjoyed. (Don't even bother getting me started on staff meetings.) What I am saying is I can name that tune in three notes (another obscure reference for those keeping score) and decide if it is something that I want to continue with or move on to the next object faster than Simon Cowell can make a buck, euro, or pound. (That reference was at least a little more current I hope.)
And move on is what I do best. Because I have too spend more and more time trying to locate something worthwhile, I have less and less time to spend enjoying that something worthwhile which should. This tends to drive the bar higher still in an attempt to only spend my time on the best of the best.
This behavior also tends to push me outside the typical marketing demographics. I don't seem to mind except now advertising increasingly tends to be an annoyance and intrusion more than the communal interaction intended. In other words, they don't get me and I don't get them.
Let me expand on that just a little with an example. If you search on a news item to get a little more information and it takes you to a news media web site that has an inserted video to go with the text, my advice is to just read the text. More often than not the video, even if it is interesting though short on depth, will begin with an inserted, irrelevant video advertisement. These ads have been shortened to 15 seconds usually but that seems like an unusually long amount of time to put up with to watch a 2 minute segment in this day and age. I have and will regularly hit the mute button on these ads while I wait for what I am really after, but lately I find myself hitting the back button, leaving the site entirely and searching for what I am after elsewhere. And all because 15 seconds has become too long.
It isn't has if there are no other ads being flung at us as the web page itself is usually littered with them. They are static, passive unless clicked on and mostly unobtrusive. These video inserts are more demanding because they have what is essentially a captive audience. That is they are captive only in so far as the person desires to see the content provided. Kinda like regular T.V. in that way. But I am not captive or captivated and so I "change the channel". Often.
So what is the real downside here? There is nothing wrong with trying to avoid crap in whatever form it takes.
The downside is when you get in hyper scan mode it becomes difficult to take it down a notch when you finally come across something worthwhile. It is hard to slow down to a pace that will let you appreciate what you have found let alone slow down to the point that you can immerse yourself in the topic at hand.
And sadly I find myself slowing down less often for other things besides T.V, movies and music. I find myself having a hard time slowing down for people. I mean really connecting with others without having my mind racing off in half a dozen other directions. I find that to be one of the saddest things of all. But awareness is one of the first steps to recovery so I am putting forth effort to keep myself in the present as much as possible and especially around others.
That doesn't mean I will turn off my crap meter, it just means I wont be so quick to hit the next button when I am dealing with a human.
Non-humans on the other hand don't have any feelings so they shouldn't feel offended when I "change the channel".
This is Ed Nef with a view from the Farr West.
22 March 2009
Product Review: Vacuum food savers.
I am sure many of you have seen the infomercials advertising home vacuum sealers to preserve food. The idea is to buy in bulk and save money then repackage with the vacuum sealer to use the food in a more suitable manner, either through sizing or just allowing more time to use the food before it spoils. It is a great idea and I was hooked.
I am a great conservative and love to save money and with careful shopping you can find some items that are cheaper when bought in bulk (though that is not always the case, so shop smart and read the labels and calculate and compare) and if not you can always wait for a really good sale and stock up. Problem is when you stock up really big on a really good sale, will you have time to eat it all before it goes bad? When I was single I had a hard time finishing half a loaf of bread before it started growing penicillin in its natural state. Vacuum sealing food sounds like just the answer I was looking for.
Next problem, as many of you may have seen the same infomercial and have been tempted to jump on board, is the price of these popular units. Foodsaver which is the company that made the idea of vacuum sealing so popular has several different units on their web site beginning at $79.99 and running up to $299.99. The one on T.V. seems to have been priced around $129. That rates an ouch in my book and I just couldn’t justify it so I never bothered, though it was always in the back of my mind that if I could find a decent price on one I would probably go ahead and get one.
Years went by, I got married and I came across a Rival brand sealer that was on close out at the local megalamart. Since there were now two of us to share one machine’s usage and the price was around $50 I quickly talked myself into it.
The Rival machine works pretty much the same as the Foodsaver machine as near as I can tell. Looking at the two side by side they look very similar and comparing our usage method to that seen in the demonstrations given for T.V. I would say that they are comparable.
I must say that we did have fun with it…for a time. It was way fun to put food in a bag and suck the air out. We created a mini production facility and went to work sealing away blocks of cheese and family pack purchases of meat for later use. We felt like we were doing ourselves good by our efforts. The packages went into the freezer and the food stayed useable long after other buys would have been tossed. The idea worked.
Mostly..., as I mentioned, we would set up a mini production facility I meant that in a fun way but the reality is that you almost had to set up a small production run whenever you wanted to use the sealer. Because there was extra effort involved in set up and clean up, the sealer got used less and less as time went on.
Also, you had to buy rolls of material and create your own bags in the size you wanted or buy pre-made, pre-sized bags. There are also canisters that you can buy that are supposed to attach easily to the machines and provide a quick reusable platform for storing rice, sugar, pasta and such. Well, the bags were easy enough to make though we sometimes made them bigger than they needed to be thus wasting some material. We seldom did the 'cut open the bag take out what you need and reseal the bag' because it was a pain to retrieve the machine each time for what should have been a simple set up. No wonder they say that many people leave them out on their countertops, it's just easier that way. The special design canisters worked about twice and we were never able to get a seal to hold after that. They are pretty much just like any other canister now.
The sealing of the bags was a wonderful thing to do and watching as it happened…when everything went right. Sometimes it didn’t, or wouldn’t. Sometimes the machine would just whirr away and nothing would happen because we didn’t have the flap just right or there was an uneven cut along the leading edge when we tried to make our own bags. That is my guess anyway. Also if there was any chance of a liquid being involved there was also the chance of a mess being involved. It is hard to suck out air without sucking out the liquid so if you were going to save soup for a later microwave reheat at work, be very careful. That applies to juicy things like fresh fruit, and marinating steaks and chicken breasts like they show on T.V.
Well, we did use it for quite some time (but nowhere near as much as I thought we should) before one day the pump was running like crazy and nothing was happening no matter what we tried. Our machine had given up. We still liked the idea of a food sealer and thought that we would get another one at some point but we never made it a high priority or found ourselves willing to pay the going rates for a new machine. We thought about switching to the Foodsaver brand but still couldn’t justify the price even with two of us using one.
Normally the story would end there but we were walking through the store the other day and came across a hand held battery operated food sealer vacuum pump put out by Reynolds (the same people that bring you Reynolds wrap). The price was a blowout bargain by comparison to the units we had been looking at. The Handi-Vac starter kit with the pump and a couple of bags was less than $10. I think that included the batteries. I could live with that so we bought it, brought it home, broke it out and gave it a try.
I can tell you right now this is the way to go. If you have ever thought of getting a food sealer and you are not going into the business and need a commercial unit, this makes sense. The pre-made, pre-sized bags are a wonderful design. If you can operate a self-locking bag you can definitely operate this system. And its reusable.
Put the food in the bag, press out as much air as you normally would closing these bags, seal the bag with the self locking seal, then apply the hand vacuum pump to the bag at the spot indicated while on a hard flat surface and begin to remove the air with the push of a button. Air comes out, just like the big boys and its done slick as a whistle. If you want to readjust things inside, or get something out, go ahead and open it up at the self-locking seal, pull out what you need and reseal it and put the vacuum pump to it again and your done. I like this, a lot. It works.
I think a big part of the difference is that with the Foodsaver you suck the air out first and then try to seal the bag with a heat source that fuses the material together, while the self-locking stirp on the Reynolds bag is operated by running your thumb across it like we are all used to from using sandwich bags and then applying the vacuum pump after the bag is sealed and ready to go. This simple reversal of steps in the process makes all the difference.
Some things to remember are to not overfill the bag and when filling it be sure to leave the pump corner empty enough to create a flat surface to run the pump on. The bags are a special design with a pump spot that is a one way valve to allow the air to escape but seal tightly after the air has been removed. The bags also have a rough surface inside. This is to allow the air a pathway out of the bag around whatever you are storing when the vacuum pump is working.
So what is the cost of these special bags? I was just in the local store looking for some replacements and found packages of the quart size for about $0.23 each and gallon size around $0.30. Not too shabby when you consider what it gets you as well as the easy reusability feature.
There is one other entry level vacuum food sealer competitor and that is Ziploc. They have a system that is even cheaper but it uses a manual pump to create the vacuum function. From my experience, using a manual pump is a two handed operation most of the time and that would mean you would still need a third hand to work the bag. Since I am looking for simplicity and functionality I think the better pick is the battery operated unit Handi-Vac from Reynolds.
Bags from both Ziploc and Reynolds have similar design features. There are some lettering and highlighting differences but not enough to change the functionality of either bag. The Ziploc bags do have a textured inner lining that runs across the whole of one side for the air pathways where as the Reynolds bag only textures a couple inch strip across one side. Both work equally well.
The pricing on the bags seem comparable to so the only difference is in the cost of the manual pump vs. battery operated, or $3 vs. $10 in the starter kits. Since the store I went to was out of the Reynolds bags in the size I needed I decided to try the Ziploc bags and they worked just fine. Both seem to make a quality product and at a whale of a difference in price compared to the popular Foodsaver brand but then again, you don’t have to pay for all that late night T.V. advertising time.
So what did we do with it? We bought a 5 pound bag of shredded cheese at the local Costco for about $2 more than the normal 2 pound bag at the local grocer, broke it down into 5 one pound bags, vacuum packed and put them in the freezer. Then we did the same thing with a 5 pound bag of pepperoni, first wondering how much to put in each bag to cover one pizza and then remembering that it is no trouble to open it up, take out what we needed and reseal the remainder. How cool is that?
Now I know that this is no consumer reports with a comparison done over months of testing with detailed analysis of vacuum rates, seal pressures, freezer burn protection and time intervals, but this is also not a paid endorsement, (if it was I would tell you so). This is just my shared experience and opinion on a pretty good idea. I hope you find it handy.
This is Ed Nef with a view from the Farr West.
I am a great conservative and love to save money and with careful shopping you can find some items that are cheaper when bought in bulk (though that is not always the case, so shop smart and read the labels and calculate and compare) and if not you can always wait for a really good sale and stock up. Problem is when you stock up really big on a really good sale, will you have time to eat it all before it goes bad? When I was single I had a hard time finishing half a loaf of bread before it started growing penicillin in its natural state. Vacuum sealing food sounds like just the answer I was looking for.
Next problem, as many of you may have seen the same infomercial and have been tempted to jump on board, is the price of these popular units. Foodsaver which is the company that made the idea of vacuum sealing so popular has several different units on their web site beginning at $79.99 and running up to $299.99. The one on T.V. seems to have been priced around $129. That rates an ouch in my book and I just couldn’t justify it so I never bothered, though it was always in the back of my mind that if I could find a decent price on one I would probably go ahead and get one.
Years went by, I got married and I came across a Rival brand sealer that was on close out at the local megalamart. Since there were now two of us to share one machine’s usage and the price was around $50 I quickly talked myself into it.
The Rival machine works pretty much the same as the Foodsaver machine as near as I can tell. Looking at the two side by side they look very similar and comparing our usage method to that seen in the demonstrations given for T.V. I would say that they are comparable.
I must say that we did have fun with it…for a time. It was way fun to put food in a bag and suck the air out. We created a mini production facility and went to work sealing away blocks of cheese and family pack purchases of meat for later use. We felt like we were doing ourselves good by our efforts. The packages went into the freezer and the food stayed useable long after other buys would have been tossed. The idea worked.
Mostly..., as I mentioned, we would set up a mini production facility I meant that in a fun way but the reality is that you almost had to set up a small production run whenever you wanted to use the sealer. Because there was extra effort involved in set up and clean up, the sealer got used less and less as time went on.
Also, you had to buy rolls of material and create your own bags in the size you wanted or buy pre-made, pre-sized bags. There are also canisters that you can buy that are supposed to attach easily to the machines and provide a quick reusable platform for storing rice, sugar, pasta and such. Well, the bags were easy enough to make though we sometimes made them bigger than they needed to be thus wasting some material. We seldom did the 'cut open the bag take out what you need and reseal the bag' because it was a pain to retrieve the machine each time for what should have been a simple set up. No wonder they say that many people leave them out on their countertops, it's just easier that way. The special design canisters worked about twice and we were never able to get a seal to hold after that. They are pretty much just like any other canister now.
The sealing of the bags was a wonderful thing to do and watching as it happened…when everything went right. Sometimes it didn’t, or wouldn’t. Sometimes the machine would just whirr away and nothing would happen because we didn’t have the flap just right or there was an uneven cut along the leading edge when we tried to make our own bags. That is my guess anyway. Also if there was any chance of a liquid being involved there was also the chance of a mess being involved. It is hard to suck out air without sucking out the liquid so if you were going to save soup for a later microwave reheat at work, be very careful. That applies to juicy things like fresh fruit, and marinating steaks and chicken breasts like they show on T.V.
Well, we did use it for quite some time (but nowhere near as much as I thought we should) before one day the pump was running like crazy and nothing was happening no matter what we tried. Our machine had given up. We still liked the idea of a food sealer and thought that we would get another one at some point but we never made it a high priority or found ourselves willing to pay the going rates for a new machine. We thought about switching to the Foodsaver brand but still couldn’t justify the price even with two of us using one.
Normally the story would end there but we were walking through the store the other day and came across a hand held battery operated food sealer vacuum pump put out by Reynolds (the same people that bring you Reynolds wrap). The price was a blowout bargain by comparison to the units we had been looking at. The Handi-Vac starter kit with the pump and a couple of bags was less than $10. I think that included the batteries. I could live with that so we bought it, brought it home, broke it out and gave it a try.
I can tell you right now this is the way to go. If you have ever thought of getting a food sealer and you are not going into the business and need a commercial unit, this makes sense. The pre-made, pre-sized bags are a wonderful design. If you can operate a self-locking bag you can definitely operate this system. And its reusable.
Put the food in the bag, press out as much air as you normally would closing these bags, seal the bag with the self locking seal, then apply the hand vacuum pump to the bag at the spot indicated while on a hard flat surface and begin to remove the air with the push of a button. Air comes out, just like the big boys and its done slick as a whistle. If you want to readjust things inside, or get something out, go ahead and open it up at the self-locking seal, pull out what you need and reseal it and put the vacuum pump to it again and your done. I like this, a lot. It works.
I think a big part of the difference is that with the Foodsaver you suck the air out first and then try to seal the bag with a heat source that fuses the material together, while the self-locking stirp on the Reynolds bag is operated by running your thumb across it like we are all used to from using sandwich bags and then applying the vacuum pump after the bag is sealed and ready to go. This simple reversal of steps in the process makes all the difference.
Some things to remember are to not overfill the bag and when filling it be sure to leave the pump corner empty enough to create a flat surface to run the pump on. The bags are a special design with a pump spot that is a one way valve to allow the air to escape but seal tightly after the air has been removed. The bags also have a rough surface inside. This is to allow the air a pathway out of the bag around whatever you are storing when the vacuum pump is working.
So what is the cost of these special bags? I was just in the local store looking for some replacements and found packages of the quart size for about $0.23 each and gallon size around $0.30. Not too shabby when you consider what it gets you as well as the easy reusability feature.
There is one other entry level vacuum food sealer competitor and that is Ziploc. They have a system that is even cheaper but it uses a manual pump to create the vacuum function. From my experience, using a manual pump is a two handed operation most of the time and that would mean you would still need a third hand to work the bag. Since I am looking for simplicity and functionality I think the better pick is the battery operated unit Handi-Vac from Reynolds.
Bags from both Ziploc and Reynolds have similar design features. There are some lettering and highlighting differences but not enough to change the functionality of either bag. The Ziploc bags do have a textured inner lining that runs across the whole of one side for the air pathways where as the Reynolds bag only textures a couple inch strip across one side. Both work equally well.
The pricing on the bags seem comparable to so the only difference is in the cost of the manual pump vs. battery operated, or $3 vs. $10 in the starter kits. Since the store I went to was out of the Reynolds bags in the size I needed I decided to try the Ziploc bags and they worked just fine. Both seem to make a quality product and at a whale of a difference in price compared to the popular Foodsaver brand but then again, you don’t have to pay for all that late night T.V. advertising time.
So what did we do with it? We bought a 5 pound bag of shredded cheese at the local Costco for about $2 more than the normal 2 pound bag at the local grocer, broke it down into 5 one pound bags, vacuum packed and put them in the freezer. Then we did the same thing with a 5 pound bag of pepperoni, first wondering how much to put in each bag to cover one pizza and then remembering that it is no trouble to open it up, take out what we needed and reseal the remainder. How cool is that?
Now I know that this is no consumer reports with a comparison done over months of testing with detailed analysis of vacuum rates, seal pressures, freezer burn protection and time intervals, but this is also not a paid endorsement, (if it was I would tell you so). This is just my shared experience and opinion on a pretty good idea. I hope you find it handy.
This is Ed Nef with a view from the Farr West.
31 October 2008
Politicians promise scary Halloween
I have been hearing a lot of very scary things this Halloween. I understand there is an election going on where the very fabric of our Society is at stake. It appears that there is an attack on the core values that made America great, Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness (Property).
I also understand that we are down to two finalist, (were there really ever going to be any more than two?) and both our out to destroy your way of life. Our job is comparing too what degree of destruction we are willing to accept.
This nation struggled throughout its lifetime to obtain and maintain the values that have stood the test of time as being preferable to anything else the world had to offer. But, at this point in its history, all of those past efforts are threatened to become null and void by the results of one election.
The reason it is different this time, is that those that oppose American values have stacked the cards in their favor. Whichever candidate gets the nod this time is a move in their direction. They win, we lose. And whichever candidate wins, they will take it as a mandate for them to continue to pursue and implement their Socialist policies and agendas.
And of the two remaining candidates that are essentially running unopposed, by far the worst offender to grace the stage has to be Barrack Hussein Obama. Where McCain is an old hand Democrat and has worked hard to one up the traditional Democratic party by pandering to its traditional campaign plans, Obama has raised the gamut completely past that stage to full on socialism.
(Lest ye think otherwise, I have been warning of and calling the traditional Democratic party socialist for far longer than the recent use by host and pundits on the airwaves.) The warning extends now to this fact. The next step beyond Socialism comes when it is no longer able to be enforced by persuasions political correctness but needs to be enforced by force and that is usually representative of Communism, and Dictatorships.
So do I really think we are on the verge of destruction? Actually I am not sure. I do find it hard to believe that this nation has spent so much time and energy to defend and promote these two candidates and in particular Obama as he appears to be the furthest removed from traditional American values. Obama seems poised to ruin the fabric of democracy from the first day in office whereas McCain might take an extra week to get there. It really scares me that a seeming majority of America's citizens would actually embrace what these two are proposing. Once we have gone over the half way point is there hope of bringing things back?
Actually there is hope. I have talked to quite a few Americans that still believe in America, what it stood for and what it stands for. They still have America's core values at their core. They do not want to give up and will not give up. They are just struggling to know what action to take to try and help ensure that those American values are not threatened. They want to put their voice with others and be heard. They want to have something to vote for, but once again they have a contest of choosing what to vote against. If you have to vote against then by all means vote against, but be sure that you make your vote against the absolute worst possible scenario, then work like mad to make sure that next time really will be different, and work like mad to preserve real American values.
This is Ed Nef with a view from the Farr West.
I also understand that we are down to two finalist, (were there really ever going to be any more than two?) and both our out to destroy your way of life. Our job is comparing too what degree of destruction we are willing to accept.
This nation struggled throughout its lifetime to obtain and maintain the values that have stood the test of time as being preferable to anything else the world had to offer. But, at this point in its history, all of those past efforts are threatened to become null and void by the results of one election.
The reason it is different this time, is that those that oppose American values have stacked the cards in their favor. Whichever candidate gets the nod this time is a move in their direction. They win, we lose. And whichever candidate wins, they will take it as a mandate for them to continue to pursue and implement their Socialist policies and agendas.
And of the two remaining candidates that are essentially running unopposed, by far the worst offender to grace the stage has to be Barrack Hussein Obama. Where McCain is an old hand Democrat and has worked hard to one up the traditional Democratic party by pandering to its traditional campaign plans, Obama has raised the gamut completely past that stage to full on socialism.
(Lest ye think otherwise, I have been warning of and calling the traditional Democratic party socialist for far longer than the recent use by host and pundits on the airwaves.) The warning extends now to this fact. The next step beyond Socialism comes when it is no longer able to be enforced by persuasions political correctness but needs to be enforced by force and that is usually representative of Communism, and Dictatorships.
So do I really think we are on the verge of destruction? Actually I am not sure. I do find it hard to believe that this nation has spent so much time and energy to defend and promote these two candidates and in particular Obama as he appears to be the furthest removed from traditional American values. Obama seems poised to ruin the fabric of democracy from the first day in office whereas McCain might take an extra week to get there. It really scares me that a seeming majority of America's citizens would actually embrace what these two are proposing. Once we have gone over the half way point is there hope of bringing things back?
Actually there is hope. I have talked to quite a few Americans that still believe in America, what it stood for and what it stands for. They still have America's core values at their core. They do not want to give up and will not give up. They are just struggling to know what action to take to try and help ensure that those American values are not threatened. They want to put their voice with others and be heard. They want to have something to vote for, but once again they have a contest of choosing what to vote against. If you have to vote against then by all means vote against, but be sure that you make your vote against the absolute worst possible scenario, then work like mad to make sure that next time really will be different, and work like mad to preserve real American values.
This is Ed Nef with a view from the Farr West.
23 September 2008
Energy solutions?
I have seen a couple of commercials lately that have caught my interest but then created disappointment and just a touch of anger. The two I am talking about are the ones espousing T Boone Pickens Plan and the other being the We Can Solve It group.
It seems like every other ad these days has an internet address attached to it for further information and in some cases the only way to find out any information about the company that is doing the advertising. In most cases, probably 98 times in 100 I don’t give the ad a second thought and very seldom if ever actually go to the web site. In fact I am almost anti web page advertising and actively ignore some of the more gimmicky ads like the one that starts you off on some adventure and then wants you to go to their web page to see what happens next. Sorry I haven’t done it yet and don’t intend to. I just don’t manipulate that way.
Curiosity did get the best of me on these two though because they are covering topics that I have had an interest in, or at least I thought I did.
As when American with a pulse knows the price of gasoline has gone up a little bit lately and it has caused some concern. T Boone Pickens, an oil man who has made a fortune from the oil industry is also concerned and has decided to put his money into letting us know of this concern and at the same time offer up a proposal on how to solve this dilemma we now face.
His proposals for the most part are sound with the stated goal of getting America to do some basic things that would significantly reduce our dependence on foreign oil. He suggest converting some of our transportation vehicles such as trucks and buses to run on natural gas which burns more cleanly and is a product that this nation has a rich abundance of.
This approach has a lot of merit but will take a little time and some commitment on people and companies willing to break some new ground. The infrastructure for refueling vehicles with natural gas is not nearly as abundant as it is for gasoline and diesel. As demand goes up so will the facilities. I have a friend right now that is converting to natural gas powered cars and he is loving it. He has to plan his fuel stops but when he fills up it only costs 8 or 9 dollars as compared to the 45 to 50 it has been costing me. He deserves those bragging rights.
The downside is planning a long cross country or even a short trip to grandmothers house will take extra effort to make sure there is fuel available along the way. There are some cars that are dual fuel machines and can run either or but most are single fuel choice. Another setback is the added weight for carrying the heavy high pressure tanks that hold the fuel. This will reduce the performance of the vehicle and I am including handling as part of that.
Another key ingredient to the plan is to really start harvesting one of the energy sources that America has an abundance of, namely the wind. We have all seen the pictures of big wind turbines and some of us have actually seen them in action. They can be quite impressive. Some of the wind farms are immense and make quite an impact by its presence. I have seen wind farms in the hills of California to the high Wyoming valleys. I have seen giant windmills on the hilltops of Greece from 35,000 feet wondering what they would look like at ground level if they where that easily seen from that height. I have seen large single windmills set within city limits and on military installations supplying energy to their communities. I have also seen small single units and testing units churning away producing energy. Each time a see a modern era windmill silently working away I am impressed.
I have often driven through the back country of America, for lack of a better term, and have past often old and forgotten windmills that used to serve the ultimate off the grid user, the ranchers and farmers of the west. These old windmills had one important function, bring the water from the well to the surface to water crops, livestock, and family.
There is so much potential for wind and I hope that it begins to be realized. If interest grows then technology advancements will also grow and increased efficiencies will be injected into the equation making the cost benefit analysis of wind a great alternative energy source. The one thing missing in most all of these arguments is a true comparison of costs.
I think that the cost issue may account for the lack of mentioning of photovoltaic or solar cell technology. Again though, as interest grows technology advances and possibilities increase.
More information about the Pickens Plan can be found at:
http://www.pickensplan.com/index.php
The other advertisement that has had a lot of airplay lately is a group of people taking about the current problems we are having with the high cost of oil but ends with the collective resolve that we can solve it by demanding action.
Before I go any further let me tell you up front what it took a very little digging to find out. This web site is a front for Al Gore and his politics. It is totally centered on his vision of the environment and his environmental manifesto. Just know that going in. I for one was greatly disappointed by this fact.
The commercial has great power in that it alludes to the people of this land banding together as individuals and making changes within their own lives and actions they can take that will lead to a ground swell change. The kind of changes made for individuals by individuals. Changes that come from ideas that are freely shared, and expanded upon by individuals, with the common goal of freeing ourselves from the oil crisis.
What you get is a call to become a political activist and demand Al Gore’s environmentalist programs be turned into Congressional mandates. He has already conned more than 1.5 million into signing up. This means he can weld some influence in Washington which is easily pushed over by such silliness. Do all of those that signed up on the web site really understand that they are giving their voice to the personal fancy of one man?
There are the solutions already mentioned but without any detail nor again any cost benefit analysis which is to be expected of a long term politician. It is easy to say we should enhance energy efficiency and adopt the use of renewable energy; it is a whole other ball game when you actually infuse it with a real plan of action. And that is where Al Gore fails. He wants to set the goal that sets the agenda and he wants others to figure out how to met his goal and then he can take credit for it while he calls it innovative leadership.
Al Gore’s web site can be found at:
http://www.wecansolveit.org
My biggest gripe for both of these movements and especially Al Gore’s is that they both call for government action. Both want government intervention to force and fund full implementation of their plans. That funding would come from taxpayer dollars and changes would be mandated is where these plans break down. If they are viable worthwhile goals, both economically and environmentally, (which I think they are), they should be able to be implemented directly without the need for government mandates, infusions, or interventions.
Of the two plans at least Pickens is putting some of his plan into real action by starting wind farms to harness and produce a real change. I can assure you that he will only do this as long as it is economically viable and that is the other reason for him to seek government subsidization, but a better way would be to continue to seek ways that would make it profitable on its own.
The last energy crunch of the 70’s created a surge in wind generators and solar cells that were heavily subsidized with tax breaks. Because the cost break even points were artificial, true cost benefits were not needed. The quality of the products that were rushed to market to fill the new tax subsidized industry were subpar and new technologies were not needed because existing or old tech would meet the rules for tax write off purposes. When the wind generators broke they sat there broke because it was not worth putting any money in to fix them.
I don’t want to see us head down that path again. We can’t afford to waste time and energy on more knee jerk reactions that continually shift the problem. We need real solutions from real people for real people, not government solutions for the masses. If the government would kindly leave some money in my pocket rather than continually confiscate it for ill conceived plans, then maybe I as a consumer could create an influence through my actions and choices that would make a real difference. Maybe I could afford to support by investing in a wind farm of my own, or at least buying a solar system for my house. One that put money back into my pockets because of savings and sell back would make it all the more sweet. That is where you start and that is how you make it work.
This is Ed Nef with a view from the Farr West.
It seems like every other ad these days has an internet address attached to it for further information and in some cases the only way to find out any information about the company that is doing the advertising. In most cases, probably 98 times in 100 I don’t give the ad a second thought and very seldom if ever actually go to the web site. In fact I am almost anti web page advertising and actively ignore some of the more gimmicky ads like the one that starts you off on some adventure and then wants you to go to their web page to see what happens next. Sorry I haven’t done it yet and don’t intend to. I just don’t manipulate that way.
Curiosity did get the best of me on these two though because they are covering topics that I have had an interest in, or at least I thought I did.
As when American with a pulse knows the price of gasoline has gone up a little bit lately and it has caused some concern. T Boone Pickens, an oil man who has made a fortune from the oil industry is also concerned and has decided to put his money into letting us know of this concern and at the same time offer up a proposal on how to solve this dilemma we now face.
His proposals for the most part are sound with the stated goal of getting America to do some basic things that would significantly reduce our dependence on foreign oil. He suggest converting some of our transportation vehicles such as trucks and buses to run on natural gas which burns more cleanly and is a product that this nation has a rich abundance of.
This approach has a lot of merit but will take a little time and some commitment on people and companies willing to break some new ground. The infrastructure for refueling vehicles with natural gas is not nearly as abundant as it is for gasoline and diesel. As demand goes up so will the facilities. I have a friend right now that is converting to natural gas powered cars and he is loving it. He has to plan his fuel stops but when he fills up it only costs 8 or 9 dollars as compared to the 45 to 50 it has been costing me. He deserves those bragging rights.
The downside is planning a long cross country or even a short trip to grandmothers house will take extra effort to make sure there is fuel available along the way. There are some cars that are dual fuel machines and can run either or but most are single fuel choice. Another setback is the added weight for carrying the heavy high pressure tanks that hold the fuel. This will reduce the performance of the vehicle and I am including handling as part of that.
Another key ingredient to the plan is to really start harvesting one of the energy sources that America has an abundance of, namely the wind. We have all seen the pictures of big wind turbines and some of us have actually seen them in action. They can be quite impressive. Some of the wind farms are immense and make quite an impact by its presence. I have seen wind farms in the hills of California to the high Wyoming valleys. I have seen giant windmills on the hilltops of Greece from 35,000 feet wondering what they would look like at ground level if they where that easily seen from that height. I have seen large single windmills set within city limits and on military installations supplying energy to their communities. I have also seen small single units and testing units churning away producing energy. Each time a see a modern era windmill silently working away I am impressed.
I have often driven through the back country of America, for lack of a better term, and have past often old and forgotten windmills that used to serve the ultimate off the grid user, the ranchers and farmers of the west. These old windmills had one important function, bring the water from the well to the surface to water crops, livestock, and family.
There is so much potential for wind and I hope that it begins to be realized. If interest grows then technology advancements will also grow and increased efficiencies will be injected into the equation making the cost benefit analysis of wind a great alternative energy source. The one thing missing in most all of these arguments is a true comparison of costs.
I think that the cost issue may account for the lack of mentioning of photovoltaic or solar cell technology. Again though, as interest grows technology advances and possibilities increase.
More information about the Pickens Plan can be found at:
http://www.pickensplan.com/index.php
The other advertisement that has had a lot of airplay lately is a group of people taking about the current problems we are having with the high cost of oil but ends with the collective resolve that we can solve it by demanding action.
Before I go any further let me tell you up front what it took a very little digging to find out. This web site is a front for Al Gore and his politics. It is totally centered on his vision of the environment and his environmental manifesto. Just know that going in. I for one was greatly disappointed by this fact.
The commercial has great power in that it alludes to the people of this land banding together as individuals and making changes within their own lives and actions they can take that will lead to a ground swell change. The kind of changes made for individuals by individuals. Changes that come from ideas that are freely shared, and expanded upon by individuals, with the common goal of freeing ourselves from the oil crisis.
What you get is a call to become a political activist and demand Al Gore’s environmentalist programs be turned into Congressional mandates. He has already conned more than 1.5 million into signing up. This means he can weld some influence in Washington which is easily pushed over by such silliness. Do all of those that signed up on the web site really understand that they are giving their voice to the personal fancy of one man?
There are the solutions already mentioned but without any detail nor again any cost benefit analysis which is to be expected of a long term politician. It is easy to say we should enhance energy efficiency and adopt the use of renewable energy; it is a whole other ball game when you actually infuse it with a real plan of action. And that is where Al Gore fails. He wants to set the goal that sets the agenda and he wants others to figure out how to met his goal and then he can take credit for it while he calls it innovative leadership.
Al Gore’s web site can be found at:
http://www.wecansolveit.org
My biggest gripe for both of these movements and especially Al Gore’s is that they both call for government action. Both want government intervention to force and fund full implementation of their plans. That funding would come from taxpayer dollars and changes would be mandated is where these plans break down. If they are viable worthwhile goals, both economically and environmentally, (which I think they are), they should be able to be implemented directly without the need for government mandates, infusions, or interventions.
Of the two plans at least Pickens is putting some of his plan into real action by starting wind farms to harness and produce a real change. I can assure you that he will only do this as long as it is economically viable and that is the other reason for him to seek government subsidization, but a better way would be to continue to seek ways that would make it profitable on its own.
The last energy crunch of the 70’s created a surge in wind generators and solar cells that were heavily subsidized with tax breaks. Because the cost break even points were artificial, true cost benefits were not needed. The quality of the products that were rushed to market to fill the new tax subsidized industry were subpar and new technologies were not needed because existing or old tech would meet the rules for tax write off purposes. When the wind generators broke they sat there broke because it was not worth putting any money in to fix them.
I don’t want to see us head down that path again. We can’t afford to waste time and energy on more knee jerk reactions that continually shift the problem. We need real solutions from real people for real people, not government solutions for the masses. If the government would kindly leave some money in my pocket rather than continually confiscate it for ill conceived plans, then maybe I as a consumer could create an influence through my actions and choices that would make a real difference. Maybe I could afford to support by investing in a wind farm of my own, or at least buying a solar system for my house. One that put money back into my pockets because of savings and sell back would make it all the more sweet. That is where you start and that is how you make it work.
This is Ed Nef with a view from the Farr West.
24 May 2008
Sometimes you need to tune out to tune in
I was just glancing at the news and nothing is catching my attention. I know I am supposed to be swayed by the headlines to delve into the altogether typical journalistic fare that is offered but this morning none of it looks the least bit appetizing. So I am not going to write about any of it. No Clintons, no Obamas, no McCains, no Congress, no celebrities, no weather, no sports, no science, no tech, no anything.
I have been watching that stuff all week long and frankly it has just brought me down with woes and worries that are unnecessary. I really don’t need to know what these other people are doing all the time. Sure some of their actions make an impact on my life, especially when they are prone to passing stupidity on to the rest of us, but from a day to day stand point most of what they do is pointless and should remain in that category when compared to my own importance to me.
What I am saying is that from time to time I notice that I tune in to way too much of the noise (and it is really just noise) and it starts affecting how I am and how I am thinking. If I listen to too much talk radio on the way to and from work it tends to make me just a little bit on edge to a whole lot on edge and driving in public is enough to do that on its own so I am pretty sure I don’t need any additional catalyst working to compound the problem. If I start the day out with the local news cast I notice that my sarcasm meter is pretty close to pegged before I even leave the door.
When I find myself getting this way, the first thing I try to do is to tune it out. To do this I generally need to start tuning into something else. This is where music comes into to play, at least that is what works best for me. I also find that tuning into another station in search of music doesn’t always work because of the insistence on all that intermittent chatter that clutters things up and gets in the way of playing any real music. Current stations are lousy that way. It is a good thing a have a fairly large library to choose from.
My musical tastes are fairly large and I like a wide range of music. There are also some definite areas of so called music that I do not care to go and will actively avoid whenever possible. Music is almost magical in that it can lift us up, energize us, commiserate with us, console us, give us hope, and share our joys. It can bring back fond memories of happy times, sad times, and romantic times.
Because music has the power to magnify good thoughts and feelings it also has the power to magnify the bad. If used unwisely, it can take you farther down the path that you are trying to get away from. Be mindful of this, as you are being mindful of yourself.
If you notice that you are not in the place you want to be, then it is time to start changing the place that you are or start moving to a new place. Sometimes it is as simple as changing the noise around you. When the noise coming from the outside is impacting the noise you make on the inside, then it is time to start tuning out what you don’t need and start tuning in to what you do need. Follow the admonitions of Paul. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after those things.
And that is why today I am tuning out all of those things that seem to get in the way of being able to tune in to those things that matter most. I am pretty sure I will be better off for it.
This is Ed Nef with a view from the Farr West.
I have been watching that stuff all week long and frankly it has just brought me down with woes and worries that are unnecessary. I really don’t need to know what these other people are doing all the time. Sure some of their actions make an impact on my life, especially when they are prone to passing stupidity on to the rest of us, but from a day to day stand point most of what they do is pointless and should remain in that category when compared to my own importance to me.
What I am saying is that from time to time I notice that I tune in to way too much of the noise (and it is really just noise) and it starts affecting how I am and how I am thinking. If I listen to too much talk radio on the way to and from work it tends to make me just a little bit on edge to a whole lot on edge and driving in public is enough to do that on its own so I am pretty sure I don’t need any additional catalyst working to compound the problem. If I start the day out with the local news cast I notice that my sarcasm meter is pretty close to pegged before I even leave the door.
When I find myself getting this way, the first thing I try to do is to tune it out. To do this I generally need to start tuning into something else. This is where music comes into to play, at least that is what works best for me. I also find that tuning into another station in search of music doesn’t always work because of the insistence on all that intermittent chatter that clutters things up and gets in the way of playing any real music. Current stations are lousy that way. It is a good thing a have a fairly large library to choose from.
My musical tastes are fairly large and I like a wide range of music. There are also some definite areas of so called music that I do not care to go and will actively avoid whenever possible. Music is almost magical in that it can lift us up, energize us, commiserate with us, console us, give us hope, and share our joys. It can bring back fond memories of happy times, sad times, and romantic times.
Because music has the power to magnify good thoughts and feelings it also has the power to magnify the bad. If used unwisely, it can take you farther down the path that you are trying to get away from. Be mindful of this, as you are being mindful of yourself.
If you notice that you are not in the place you want to be, then it is time to start changing the place that you are or start moving to a new place. Sometimes it is as simple as changing the noise around you. When the noise coming from the outside is impacting the noise you make on the inside, then it is time to start tuning out what you don’t need and start tuning in to what you do need. Follow the admonitions of Paul. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after those things.
And that is why today I am tuning out all of those things that seem to get in the way of being able to tune in to those things that matter most. I am pretty sure I will be better off for it.
This is Ed Nef with a view from the Farr West.
17 March 2008
Local television news is in trouble.
Local television news is in trouble. Like newspapers, they are in danger of losing out on the very markets they are striving to serve. They are driven by a standardized formula, which is fine if the formula you are using is working, and I admit that so far it is working, at least enough that most viewers are unwilling to change. In fact the formula is so popular in the industry that it is hard to tell one channel from the next other than having a different face reading the sound bites too you.
But it is that sameness that is going to be the downfall. The stories are the same. They are reported in the same style. They are usually reported in the same sequence. The national and world stories come from the same feeds. The stories are seldom in depth studies and accuracy is seldom a concern. If you really have an interest in a story, you are forced to pursue other means to get any meaningful detail. So when you factor in the teasers, the advertising breaks and the excess banter, you are luck to get 34 minutes of real content per hour and only half of that will be of value.
I hate the teasers. They are the worst form of journalism to inflect on the viewing public. Teasers before the show and teasers at every break. There are some that give you more information in the teaser than they do in the actual story. There are some that sound very promising but then deliver so little that you feel ripped off. There are teasers that make you stay tuned but two minutes later you can’t even remember what it was you were waiting for. I hate teasers.
If you have ever had to stay home sick and ended up watching the morning news for more than the typical 30 minute stint you will notice that the same stories will appear over and over. You will also find traffic reports that are of no value to anyone but those that like to rubber neck at accidents. If you have a commute that is long enough to need a traffic report then using the one on the TV before you leave probably won’t do you any good any way. I never understood why the traffic reports started well before the morning rush hour did. They now show pictures from roadside cameras that let you know just how ridicules it is to be reporting on traffic that early in the morning.
Then there are the six versions of weather reports per hour, not counting the teasers. The weather reports have got to be the biggest joke out there and yet it seems to be the only thing I want to watch on the news anymore. First let it be known that weather reports are only good for about three days at best. Anything beyond that is just fluff. If I’m lucky, they show a satellite loop that will give me a good enough picture of the weather pattern that I can make my own fairly reliable predictions. I like to watch for the 7 day outlook and then notice the changes to the seventh day as it gets closer throughout the week. It can fluctuate quite a bit. If you want a really good laugh, there are some out there that are giving a 14 day outlook.
The weather reports also tend to match the desired weather, in other words if you need water they will be overly optimistic with their rain or snow forecast, and if you have a holiday coming up they will try to predict good weather for the weekend.
I have to give credit to those that present the news. They are able to make everything seem wonderful or awful as the teletype dictates. They can act surprised at the right time even though they did the same story just an hour ago. They can feign interest in even the most fabricated of stories. And they have figured out how to turn it on and off, day after day after day. That is talent.
So where is the danger to local news? It is the fact that it is no longer local news or news that is well tailored to the local populace. It is becoming more and more homogenized. And that means that it is less and less specialized. With the population growing and the definition of what local is expanding it is not that amazing that there is so much of the local populace that gets left out. It is this alienation that has led many to go elsewhere for their news and information.
This is happening in print, radio, and television. As the media moves farther and farther from the public it serves, the will have less and less relevance to that audience and will in turn they will have a smaller audience. This should open up opportunities for small players to step in and return a sense of community to the community. I still run into this on occasion and on a small scale. Small local print is very refreshing even if it is irrelevant to your world. It is hard to start up a small outfit and to compete with the big boys for advertising revenue and for those that make the attempt I wish them all the best.
When the big boys do it right, they are hard to beat, but when they just churn out the same old thing then there is room for others to make a valid alternative. As each of us is somewhat unique and as there are more and more sources to feed us our daily need for information, there will continue to be a market for individual specialized media. The hard part is turning off the noise and finding the right media for each person. As you define your world the media will follow, and then you will know that one size does not fit all.
This is Ed Nef with a view from the Farr West.
But it is that sameness that is going to be the downfall. The stories are the same. They are reported in the same style. They are usually reported in the same sequence. The national and world stories come from the same feeds. The stories are seldom in depth studies and accuracy is seldom a concern. If you really have an interest in a story, you are forced to pursue other means to get any meaningful detail. So when you factor in the teasers, the advertising breaks and the excess banter, you are luck to get 34 minutes of real content per hour and only half of that will be of value.
I hate the teasers. They are the worst form of journalism to inflect on the viewing public. Teasers before the show and teasers at every break. There are some that give you more information in the teaser than they do in the actual story. There are some that sound very promising but then deliver so little that you feel ripped off. There are teasers that make you stay tuned but two minutes later you can’t even remember what it was you were waiting for. I hate teasers.
If you have ever had to stay home sick and ended up watching the morning news for more than the typical 30 minute stint you will notice that the same stories will appear over and over. You will also find traffic reports that are of no value to anyone but those that like to rubber neck at accidents. If you have a commute that is long enough to need a traffic report then using the one on the TV before you leave probably won’t do you any good any way. I never understood why the traffic reports started well before the morning rush hour did. They now show pictures from roadside cameras that let you know just how ridicules it is to be reporting on traffic that early in the morning.
Then there are the six versions of weather reports per hour, not counting the teasers. The weather reports have got to be the biggest joke out there and yet it seems to be the only thing I want to watch on the news anymore. First let it be known that weather reports are only good for about three days at best. Anything beyond that is just fluff. If I’m lucky, they show a satellite loop that will give me a good enough picture of the weather pattern that I can make my own fairly reliable predictions. I like to watch for the 7 day outlook and then notice the changes to the seventh day as it gets closer throughout the week. It can fluctuate quite a bit. If you want a really good laugh, there are some out there that are giving a 14 day outlook.
The weather reports also tend to match the desired weather, in other words if you need water they will be overly optimistic with their rain or snow forecast, and if you have a holiday coming up they will try to predict good weather for the weekend.
I have to give credit to those that present the news. They are able to make everything seem wonderful or awful as the teletype dictates. They can act surprised at the right time even though they did the same story just an hour ago. They can feign interest in even the most fabricated of stories. And they have figured out how to turn it on and off, day after day after day. That is talent.
So where is the danger to local news? It is the fact that it is no longer local news or news that is well tailored to the local populace. It is becoming more and more homogenized. And that means that it is less and less specialized. With the population growing and the definition of what local is expanding it is not that amazing that there is so much of the local populace that gets left out. It is this alienation that has led many to go elsewhere for their news and information.
This is happening in print, radio, and television. As the media moves farther and farther from the public it serves, the will have less and less relevance to that audience and will in turn they will have a smaller audience. This should open up opportunities for small players to step in and return a sense of community to the community. I still run into this on occasion and on a small scale. Small local print is very refreshing even if it is irrelevant to your world. It is hard to start up a small outfit and to compete with the big boys for advertising revenue and for those that make the attempt I wish them all the best.
When the big boys do it right, they are hard to beat, but when they just churn out the same old thing then there is room for others to make a valid alternative. As each of us is somewhat unique and as there are more and more sources to feed us our daily need for information, there will continue to be a market for individual specialized media. The hard part is turning off the noise and finding the right media for each person. As you define your world the media will follow, and then you will know that one size does not fit all.
This is Ed Nef with a view from the Farr West.
12 January 2008
TV is not good for insomniacs
I have a feeling that insomnia is seldom a good thing. I found myself awake in the middle of the night, still very tired but too tired to fall back to sleep. So I went ahead and got out of bed after flipping through many channels of lame TV, got on the computer and played way, way, way too many hands of spider solitaire. This has happened before but not in a long while. I know I am going to pay for this later, probably before lunch time.
If you get up in the middle of the night and are a TV addict like I am, the first thing you notice is that the state of middle of the night television is extremely weak. I had cable when I lived in an apartment many years ago that I gave up when I bought my first house. I lived in that house for 12 years without cable and only saw what cable had to offer when visiting friends and family or staying in motels on the road. After a couple of days viewing I got the idea that I wasn’t really missing much. Definitely not enough to be paying for it, however I did miss my Formula 1 races, and Tour de France.
I have since gotten married and my wife had DirectTV and is a fan of HGTV in particular, so we kept the dish and the programming but it still gives me frustrations. It was bad enough to have thirteen channels with nothing worth watching but now to have 100+ channels with nothing worth watching and to be paying for it seems like the definition of madness.
Why is it that we have to pay for all these channels when they are still driven by commercials? And in the middle of the night it is even worse. 2/3 of the channels are devoted to infomercials, the worst form of punishment to mankind. There has got to be a better business model to follow, one where the advertisements pay to support the producers, and the producers try the best to produce something that the audience will want in order to get a large enough audience so that they can charge the advertisers for reaching said audience enough to pay for the cost to produce and distribute the product to the audience. Wait just a minute. That is the business model used since the inception of TV. Why aren’t they doing that now?
Don’t get me wrong, I like many of the channels on DirectTV, such as SPEED, History, Discovery, BBC, and CNBC. I have also been known to hit VH1 classics to see if there is anything good on, but each of these channels has commercials. Each of them is being paid by advertisers to draw an audience with their content. Why then do we have to pay for them to deliver it to us? Shouldn’t we as the target audience be the ones as consumers to generate sufficient demand by the advertisers that they would willingly provide enough revenue to cover the costs for delivery into our homes?
Local broadcast TV and radio have provided a service of entertaining programming that has been funded by advertisement for years. It is the thinning out of quality content that allowed pay services to establish a foothold as an alternate source but at what cost. And now that the quality of content is thinning out again where will the consuming public turn? If you are reading this, you already know one of these competing outlets. The internet can provide a great deal of tailored product but if you have used it very long you quickly realize that there is a great deal of noise out there.
I just wish it was white noise, it might help me fall back to sleep.
Pleasant Dreams.
This is Ed Nef with a view from the Farr West.
If you get up in the middle of the night and are a TV addict like I am, the first thing you notice is that the state of middle of the night television is extremely weak. I had cable when I lived in an apartment many years ago that I gave up when I bought my first house. I lived in that house for 12 years without cable and only saw what cable had to offer when visiting friends and family or staying in motels on the road. After a couple of days viewing I got the idea that I wasn’t really missing much. Definitely not enough to be paying for it, however I did miss my Formula 1 races, and Tour de France.
I have since gotten married and my wife had DirectTV and is a fan of HGTV in particular, so we kept the dish and the programming but it still gives me frustrations. It was bad enough to have thirteen channels with nothing worth watching but now to have 100+ channels with nothing worth watching and to be paying for it seems like the definition of madness.
Why is it that we have to pay for all these channels when they are still driven by commercials? And in the middle of the night it is even worse. 2/3 of the channels are devoted to infomercials, the worst form of punishment to mankind. There has got to be a better business model to follow, one where the advertisements pay to support the producers, and the producers try the best to produce something that the audience will want in order to get a large enough audience so that they can charge the advertisers for reaching said audience enough to pay for the cost to produce and distribute the product to the audience. Wait just a minute. That is the business model used since the inception of TV. Why aren’t they doing that now?
Don’t get me wrong, I like many of the channels on DirectTV, such as SPEED, History, Discovery, BBC, and CNBC. I have also been known to hit VH1 classics to see if there is anything good on, but each of these channels has commercials. Each of them is being paid by advertisers to draw an audience with their content. Why then do we have to pay for them to deliver it to us? Shouldn’t we as the target audience be the ones as consumers to generate sufficient demand by the advertisers that they would willingly provide enough revenue to cover the costs for delivery into our homes?
Local broadcast TV and radio have provided a service of entertaining programming that has been funded by advertisement for years. It is the thinning out of quality content that allowed pay services to establish a foothold as an alternate source but at what cost. And now that the quality of content is thinning out again where will the consuming public turn? If you are reading this, you already know one of these competing outlets. The internet can provide a great deal of tailored product but if you have used it very long you quickly realize that there is a great deal of noise out there.
I just wish it was white noise, it might help me fall back to sleep.
Pleasant Dreams.
This is Ed Nef with a view from the Farr West.
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