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The Blackout

Back on August 14, 2003 there was a major east coast blackout. The power was out in my area for a little over a day. Some places were without power for 10+ days.

I was working in Lower Manhattan close to the World Trade Center when the lights went dark. The boss announced that the whole neighborhood was out and to go home by walking past the World Trade Center zone. By the time I reached the subway I walked halfway down the steps when I noticed it was the blackest black I ever saw.

If the subway was dark I thought so is the entire city. Walking to Union Square people with cars blasted their stereos with news that most of the east coast was out. Every payphone was working but full of anxious callers. Nearly every cell phone was non-functional.

I decided to walk back home over the bridge to my section of Brooklyn, it was about 8 miles (13 km). It was also in the high 90s and high humidity. All I had was half a bottle of warm water and about $50.

The only criminal activity I saw was frozen water being sold at five times normal value.

By the time I got home a few hours later I went to a local pizzeria ordered some slices and soda. They used two ovens one a wood burner the other a gas burner both worked well. My apartment uses natural gas stoves so it also was unaffected and I didn't open he fridge so nothing spoiled.

I spent the night listening to my Sony Walkman and staring at the star filled sky. The day brought electricity and TV. It was a good time New Yorkers acted like they always do with calm and logic.

food

Food Network, Channel #97

Food, gluttonous food!

I'm not a foodie although I do appreciate a fancy meal and every blue moon I think I'm a chef or bakery and will try to make something grand.

What I most often want is a pill you take on January 1st and for the rest of the year you don't need to eat.

Back in my youth I would watch hours of PBS cooking shows including Julia Childs and would be fixated. Now I can go months skipping cooking segments or shows.

For research purposes I saw...
Behind the Bash - Some lady goes to the kitchen to watch very fancy food get prepared.
Giada's Weekend Getawayys - I think that same lady eats local Rhode Island food.
Chefography - Rachel Ray is profiled. She intrigues me, just not enough to watch her talk show.
Chef vs. City - Teams of two run around Vegas in reality-show food stunts.
Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives - Burgers, pizza and chili that raises your cholesterol just by watching them being cooked.

They do have a candy show that is great or maybe since I watch it at 3am when I have the munchies.

HBO2

Home Box Office 2, Channel #96

Just everything from HBO plus one or two more movies.

Currently worth watching on HBO2:
Held Up - Nia Long and Jamie Foxx in this underrated comedy about mistaken identity.
August Rush - Keri Russell in a wonderfully magic modern day fairy tale.
Fool's Gold - It's cute and funny enough.
The Ruins - Killer plants from the Mayan empire, I actually want to read the book after watching this film.

PPV, PPV2, PLAYBOY, XCESS

Pay-Per-View, Pay-Per-View 2, Playboy TV, Spice Xcess, Channels #92, #93, #94, #95

These are the channels blocked by cable unless you pay to watch the individual programs. Most of the programming is smut but they also show boxing, soccer, and wrestling (fake). Bars and restaurants are they main customers but occasional house parties where the host ask $2-$5 per guest for the PPV bill.

The only time I ever ordered PPV was for American Pie Uncut, it was just when the local video rental store closed and I was bored (pre-internet for me).

Those cage girls will catch a cold if continue on that path.

Girls Gone Wild classic.

Clever pun.

Oh those n00bs.

SHO2, Flix

Showtime 2, Flix, Channel #90, #91

Both are part of the Showtime family.

Showtime 2
Mostly movies and reruns from Showtime. Unfortunately they also show reality. Big Brother After Dark shows us the uncensored stuff the networks can't air. Before you get too excited it is mostly 3 hours of talking and cursing.

Currently worth watching:
Valmont (1989) - Anything with Colin Firth and Fairuza Balk is always worth watching.
Hostel 2 (2007) - Gore films can be enjoyable, to a point.

Flix
Older movies but that doesn't necessarily mean quality.

Currently worth watching:
The Perez Family (1995) - Great movie about an informal Cuban family. Plus Marisa Tomei is at her best here.
The Gate (1987) - Claymation demons terrorize children. Actually scarier than it sounds.
From Dusk til Dawn (1996) -Great action vampire movie.


Part 3
Bolllywood Hero concluded on typical happy ending note, I think. The timing was off and TiVo did not record the last 5 minutes and I don't know when they rerun it.

YES

Yankees Entertainment and Sports Network, Channel #89

All Yankees all the time, except when they are showing infomercials.

Yankees baseball is unique among all baseball and they are simply the greatest. How they win so much is quite simple. They never give up. A typical baseball game last 3 hours, the typical Yankees game is 4 hours + and they often comeback during the 8th and 9th innings.

Sure the lack of consistent pitching may be a problem but they focus on getting hits and they are equally prepared during the 15th inning as they are in the 1st.

Sidenote: I'm a Yankees fan.

Update: Forgot the also show NJ Nets basketball games but no one watches.

MSG, MSG Plus

Madison Square Garden Network, Madison Square Garden Plus, Channel #87, #88

MSG plays a lot of old games and other sport events from Madison Square Garden.

MSG Plus plays more modern games including soccer and other lesser sports. They use to show arena football but as of last week the league has been disbanded. Now we must watch Candian Football for all our off season football fix.

Both MSGs have sports talk but again MSG Plus is more current sports talk.



Part 2
Bollywood Hero has Kattan becoming more likable as he tries to make up for kissing a women in India. They barely touch on the hypocritical state of India as pioneers but not leaders in women's rights. Just as you start to like Kattan, the character, he messes up his new relationship by talking too much.

TMC

The Movie Channel, Channel #86

Once independent now part of the Showtime family. Get ready for a shock. This station shows nothing but movies! Cue dramatic music... ♪ ♫ ♪ ♫

Themes:
Yesterday's theme was Splatterdays on Saturdays featuring movies like the new Halloween, Scream, and other slasher-comedies and horrors of recent years.

Other themes can include That Guy You Know by Face, Blondes, Heroes Who Die, etc.

MAX

cinemax, Channel #85

Lots of popular movies but they have a deserving reputation for peddling softcore p0rn. At this moment they are having Busty Cops: Protect and Serve! the plot makes no sense and they are not effective cops but then again I maybe missing the point(s).

Part 1:
Back to yesterday's premiere of Bollywood Hero on IFC it was ok but Chris Kattan could have done it a bit more serious or at least less physical comedy. Everyone else is playing it straight and comfortable then you have Kattan being so uncomfortable that it is distracting. I get he is in a strange land trying something new but it doesn't come off as a sincere effort. Plus one hour long is too short.

SHO

Showtime, Channel #84

A lesser HBO but it has some goodness its own rights. While the other premium cable channels battle over the crappy-blockbusters Showtime goes for better quality.

Recently they have hit hard with original programming.

Currently watching:
Dexter - A serial killer with a heart of gold. Season premiere September 27.
Californication - A sex addict with a heart of gold. Season premiere in winter?
Nurse Jackie - Just another bad drug addict.
Weeds - Funny show about a family of drug dealers.

Gave up watching:
Secret Diary of a Call Girl - Hooker with a heart of gold that made prostitution look like a day at Disneyland and not the drug filled abusive black hole it really is in life.
United States of Tara - A psycho with a heart of gold. Again the candy coated psychotic behavior to the point were no one can relate to the main character.

Heart of Gold Theme
While HBO goes for the ensemble cast Showtime puts a lead for each show and surrounds them with great supporting casts. To make sure you won't hate the lead when eventually they do something out of character or just plain dumb they give them a heart of gold.


Pop-ups from hell.

During Weeds a fully loud and annoying video pop-up announcing some webisodes featuring the Andy character. So at a critcal moment of the show on this commercial free channel they blast a huge pop-up for no good reason. I refuse to watch the webisodes because this little stunt which has been stopped recently.