Posted inTelevision

Apple TV’s Tehran is a great series to watch anytime, but especially now

Iran, once again, has been convulsed by massive protests against the country's totalitarian rulers by citizens fed up with hyper-inflation, cruel repression, and lack of basic human rights. A disturbing Political story, "You Might Not Like What Comes Next in Iran: Chances of a democratic transition are slim," says: Iran’s repressive, clerical regime is fighting for its life. There are lots of reasons to hope that it collapses. The Islamic Republic is violent, corrupt and theocratic. It systematically discriminates against women and minorities, and its policies have led to economic disaster. When Iranians take to the streets to protest, the…
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Posted inEntertainment Television

The Pitt is much more enjoyable to watch than I thought it would be

I'm not a big fan of medical shows. I never watched ER. I've liked a couple of old television shows about doctors doing their thing, but House is the only one that comes to mind. So at first I wasn't interested in The Pitt, which was released by HBO on January 9, 2025. Then as December rolled around, I saw The Pitt was consistently featured in lists of 2025's best television shows. I decided to give it a try. And am really glad that I did. It's set in a Pittsburg emergency room. The fifteen episodes in Season 1 mirror…
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Posted inCurrent affairs Entertainment Television

I hugely enjoyed The American Revolution on PBS. And I’m not a big fan of documentaries.

When I started watching The American Revolution on the Apple TV PBS app, I looked upon this as sort of a civic duty to see the newest documentary from the talented Ken Burns -- especially since documentaries aren't my first choice for evening entertainment. Well, six episodes and about 12 viewing hours later, my first impression was completely wrong. I was enthralled by every minute of the series, even though obviously there were zero photographs or videos of our Revolutionary War. Burns and his co-creators skillfully wove together voiceovers, documents, commentary from historians, maps, battle plans, reenactments, and such into…
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Posted inSports Television

Watching Oregon – Boise State football game on Peacock was miserable

Last night wasn't pleasant for me, football-watching-wise, for a couple of reasons.  One, the Oregon football team played a crappy game against Boise State, an opponent they were favored to beat by 19 points, but ended up winning 37-34 on a last second field goal. This follows their crappy initial game against Idaho, a team they were expected to beat by around 50 points, but won by only 24-14. Two, the Oregon - Boise State game was on Peacock, NBC's streaming service. We subscribe to Peacock for entertainment, so I had no problem accessing the game at 7 pm via…
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Posted inEntertainment Television

I like to watch TV with subtitles on. Half of Americans agree with me.

My wife, Laurel, and I agree about most things. That's one reason we've been married for 33 years. But we differ when it comes to watching television with subtitles (a.k.a. closed captioning) on.  I enjoy subtitles considerably more than Laurel does. So when I'm watching on my own, I almost always turn subtitles on, especially with streaming services like Netflix and Hulu. With sporting events and news programs, I usually leave subtitles off. Though I'm 75, firmly in the Baby Boomer generation, not being able to hear dialog isn't why I like subtitles. I can hear what actors are saying…
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Posted inEntertainment Television

Here’s how our (not so) wild New Year’s Eve went

If you think that your New Year's Eve was mild, not wild, in comparison to how others celebrated the last day of 2023, take heart: likely our night was just as unexciting. We did go out. To a neighbor's house. Which took a whole three minutes of driving. (They have a really long driveway out here in rural south Salem; otherwise it would have been quicker.) The get-together started at 6:30 pm. Most of the attendees were old, so there's no way we were going to party on until midnight.  After snacks and conversation, Pictionary took center stage. Laurel, my…
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Posted inSalem Starlink Television

Five miles from Salem city limits, our neighborhood is unserved by broadband

Our neighborhood, Spring Lake Estates, is only about five miles from the city limits of Salem, Oregon's capital. So it isn't like we're in Outer Mongolia -- though when it comes to broadband access, we might as well be. For one of the things I learned by my phone conversation with a guy from the Oregon Broadband Office today, is that our neighborhood is unserved by broadband according to the federal definition:  An unserved location is defined as a broadband-serviceable location that the Broadband DATA Maps show as (a) having no access to broadband service, or (b) lacking access to…
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Posted inHome life Television

Another DirecTV year with no Pac 12 Networks. Curses!

Since 2012 I've been cursing DirecTV and the Pac 12 Networks for not working out a deal to offer us Pac 12 sports fans a way to see ALL of the football games and other events, not just the ones shown on ESPN, Fox, or other channels.  Every year around this time I Google "DirecTV Pac 12 Networks" to see if there's any hope that I'll be able to watch ALL of the Oregon and Oregon State football games this fall.  I put ALL in caps, because early on DirecTV had the annoying habit of telling me that I'd be…
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Posted inEntertainment Television

Will 2016 be the year DirecTV carries Pac-12 Networks?

This is the freaking fifth year I've complained about DirecTV not carrying the Pac-12 Networks. Count 'em: 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016.  (See here and here for links to my previous blog post rants.) Today, once again, I had to scramble to watch the Oregon Ducks football opener against UC Davis. Yes, after some Googling I found a free online stream of the Pac-12 Networks broadcast. But I'd much prefer to watch the game on my big screen television than on my 13" MacBook Pro. I hope both DirecTV and the Pac-12 Networks realize they're acting like idiots. Their five…
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Posted inEntertainment Television

Curses on DirecTV and Pac-12 Network after I miss Mariota’s last home game

This being a halfway family-friendly blog, I'll let readers of this post mentally fill in their favorite profanities to shower on DirecTV and the Pac-12 Network after...  Once #%!@#! again yesterday, I missed a U of O football game that I #%!@#! wanted to see because you two #%!@#! corporate idiots have persisted in your pissing match over DirecTV being able to show Pac-12 Network games, which has now gone on for three #%!@#! years!!!!!!! That said, I readily admit that I too may be a #%!@#! idiot. Because, as noted in this post, I renewed our DirecTV subscription last August even though I…
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