WTF Baby Life Insurance

So I was at a restaurant with the Mrs. yesterday and an add for baby life insurance came on several of the TVs in the place. As I looked up at the screen all I could think was WTF?!

The screen read something to the effect of, "Protect Your Baby's Future with Gerber Life Insurance". I looked online and couldn't find the same graphics/text from the commercial. I'm guessing that whoever put the advert together didn't get that life insurance pays out after death, so at best it protects your investment in deciding to breed.

Now before getting all high & mighty on me, I know that in this instance they are peddling some term life insurance that has a cash value that can be taken out in the future. The idea is that if the policy isn't paid out due to the baby's death, at a certain age they can pull X amount of cash out of it, allegedly for something like college tuition, but more realistically for one semester of books. If you want to save for your kid's education then actually save for the education, not let someone peel off a good percentage and not earn decent interest.

I was just going off of the ad that I could see and not hear on TV. That ad looked pretty messed up.

Funny Homage to a Stupid Meme Song

I fondly remember...way back in the day...that staying up "late" on a Saturday night was measured by if you managed to watch Saturday Night Live. My curfew in High School was before the ending of SNL, so getting to watch the whole show was really being up late.

Of course, like so many things, it seems that the SNL of my youth was better than it is now, but I think that is just as much on me as it is on them.

One thing I've always enjoyed were the SNL shorts. These filmed bits started creeping into the "live" show decades ago. I fondly remember Mr. Bill at a time when kids my age would say, "Mr. Who?" Of course these same kids didn't have a clue who Dr. Who was, but that is a different issue for a different post.

I didn't stay up to watch SNL....I'm getting too old, it isn't "live" in my time zone anyway, and it's unfair to my wife who has to get up early AM to go to work. Luckily for me NBC likes to put the shorts online so I can see some/all of the show later.

Awesome Breaking Bad/Walking Dead Mashup

I was planning a different post today, but this morning I came across a most excellent video.

Not the usual funny-stuff from the folks over at College Humor, but pure awesome nonetheless.

Enjoy....

GentleBot Hell from MisterMulluc

In the home stretch of a relatively big project, but I needed a break.

Thank you Kotaku for sharing this awesome video mashup between Team Fortress 2 and Futurama.

I hope you like it as much as I did:

Upside Downton Abbey

About a month ago the Mrs. and I decided to watch an old (I mean really old) episode of Sesame Street on Netflix.  It was pretty cool in a flashback kind of way, but trippy since there was such an innocence back then that seemed so shocking by today's standards.

There were shots of the project high-rises in the background (set dressing), adults were creepily chatting up young girls, and there was no Elmo or Mr. Snuffleupagus.  Contrast all this with the super catchy learning shorts that transitioned the segments.  Deep down in my mind I had remembered all of those shorts but forgotten about the rest of the show. One, two, three, four-five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, el-le-eh-eh-ven twelve!

Ok, that last sentence is much more lyrical in my head.

Arrested Development on Netflix, in More Ways Than One

Netflix has completely changed the way that Carolyn and I watch TV.  We try to find a series we like and just sit down and start watching from beginning to end.  Right now we are on a pretty good stretch of Arrested Development.

This completely dysfunctional family has given me so many deep belly laughs......the dialogue and one-off jokes makes this series the funniest thing I have seen in ages.

Right now we are on the 3rd series premier and knowing that this is the last season is a bit much......until I find out that Netflix, the very medium we are watching the show on, is giving them a new life with a fourth season.

Sweet.....

Blink to the Future, and a Bonus Video

Once again I need to thank io9 for pointing me to some awesome video(s).

This mashup of Dr. Who and Back to the Future is pretty cool and I think you'll enjoy it as much as I did.

Last weekend I saw Monty Python's The Meaning of Life, and was surprised at how different this movie was from my memories of watching it as recently as a couple years ago.  Last week io9 had another short video, a commercial really, that hit home because I had just seen the movie.

It's Bigger on the Inside

Dr. Who is pretty cool.

I got on the Dr. Who bandwagon during the Tom Baker era and while I do enjoy watching the show, I'm not nearly as much of a fan as my wife Carolyn is.

She has a bunch of TARDIS......(as an aside, what is the plural of TARDIS?) in her office and honestly, if I had the space and the skills I'd love to make her a full-sized model.  I could think of a couple of cool uses for such a model.

This morning I came across a cool TARDIS model I just had to share.

Dumbing Down of TLC

I do not get what the hell is up with people actually wanting to watch "Here Comes Honey Boo Boo" on TLC.  Have we jumped the shark right on past Geek Chic on into White Trash?

I was driving down State Street in Boise yesterday and saw this big purplish-pink billboard with this child on it.  The billboard was for a local radio DJ and the sign read something to the effect that the DJ was Honey Boo-Boo's Go-Go Juice.

I've seen some ads online and read a bit about this popular show, but I just do not get it.  Is this the message we want to send out to the world about Americans?  Does anyone I know actually watch this garbage?  Something gnaws at the back of my mind imagining that some of my family back in Iowa watches this drivel.  I can see some getting a good laugh out of it, but I don't think it has enough entertainment value to overcome the abject horror I feel just watching a 30 second clip.

My Thoughts on the NFL Season Opener National Anthem

NBC Screenshot

While I'm not really a professional football fan, I did manage to see the beginning of the NFL season kickoff last night while eating dinner out with the Mrs.

Two things struck me as odd and I've had mixed feelings about them.

The first was Queen Latifah's rendition of our National Anthem.  I know she's gotten a mixed reaction concerning her performance and my feelings have nothing to do with how well she sang, which I think the bulk of the bad reactions are on about.  For me, it is how she sang the Star Spangled Banner.

I thought her voice was great and she did a bang-up job.....but, and this is a big one for me, she did not sing the Star Spangled Banner, she sang most of the first stanza and added some words (really just a repeat of the last line) at the end.  While I get artistic licence and expression, I don't think that our National Anthem should have that much artistic wiggle-room.  Part of the issue for me is that I liked her performance, which should make it OK, but that is the rub......it is only OK because of my judgement call.  I don't have any more a right to approve such an alteration of the Star Spangled Banner as she had to alter it.

Those that dismiss her performance simply because they don't like her singing....they can stuff it.

My second issue went hand-in-hand with Queen Latifah's performance.  If you watch the video you'll see that there are a bunch of servicemen in the background holding a huge American Flag off the ground.  My first reaction was positive because.....hey, a flag....but also because I knew that all those folks were getting to see the game for free in exchange for wearing their Class A uniforms (I know they don't call it that anymore) and a few minutes of work.  I hope they got good seats.  This was all fine and good until they showed a shot of the arena from overhead.  I wish I could find a screenshot.

IT WASN'T A US FLAG!!!

Instead of a proper flag, the servicemen were holding onto a giant piece of cloth made up of stars and stripes like a traditional flag, but this cloth was in the shape of the continental US.  The song was barely cut up, but this flag was positively butchered!  This felt so wrong to me on so many levels.  I was actually a bit pissed off at seeing this.  Seriously, who in their right mind thought this was a good idea?

I think whomever was responsible should go ahead and pay up their taxes for the year, have their citizenship stripped and be made to re-apply.  Make them sit through the classes and learn a little respect for the Flag and what it stands for.  I can understand a mistake like placing the flag on the wrong side of the room or doing an inexperienced job folding it up, but to hack it into the shape of the Continental US?  That is just inexcusable....an EPIC FAIL if I have ever seen one.

Are Zombies Overdone?

Is is me?  I'm thinking zombies, as much as I love 'em are starting to be over-used.  Either that or New Yorkers are just too damned hardened against much of anything these days.

A group calling themselves "Put Zombies Back" did a little experiment.  Their aim is to get the Dish Network to bring back AMC and the Walking Dead.

Their experiment had some mixed results, but you really want to check it out for yourselves:

Futurama Season Seven Launches Tonight

Futurama's one-hour season premiere will air tonight at 10/9C on Comedy Central.

I wish that we had cable and could watch the premier, but at least we have Netflix.  With season seven starting tonight that means we can watch all the way up until the end of season six now.

I can wait...especially since they've put up this awesome clip of the live-action opening sequence.  That's right....LIVE ACTION.  Check it out after the break.

Funny "Private" Muppet Clip from the 70's

Recently I watched The Muppets, and I really liked the movie.  Of course it didn't hurt that I like Marshall.....er, I mean Jason Segel and Amy Adams, but growing up on a semi-steady diet of the Muppet Show I really liked Animal and Dynamite Harry*.

Harry had a lot more screen time in this movie than is normal, which I liked.

The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes!

Carolyn and I practically tore through the 26 Episodes of The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes! on Netflix.

There have been a lot of cartoon superhero shows available on Netflix, and I haven't liked a single one of them.  I'm not talking about Anime, but traditional American comic book superheros with animated shows.  This is the first show that I've liked.

Another HIMYM "Fictional" Website

Another How I Met Your Mother website was mentioned in and episode.

The website http://www.itwasthebestnightever.com/ is basically just an in-character "music video" and not the actual website shown in the episode.

The little touches are pretty cool.

More HiMYM Goodness...

I know I've already blogged about how me & the Mrs. have been watching How I Met Your Mother, but tonight we came across something totally worth my new awesome sauce pic.

Whenever I hear about a "mythical" web address used in the media, I try to go straight to my computer and punch it in to see what pops up.  In the Season 3 Episode 14 "The Bracket", one of Barney's conquests mentioned she put up a website informing the world how big of a d-bag.

How I Met Your Mother

Carolyn and I have just started watching How I Met Your Mother on Netflix.  I had no idea that this show was not only good, but still on the air.  For some reason I tend to skip anything on CBS.  Growing up our only station was ABC and I've always liked NBC.  CBS was only worthwhile if you wanted to watch sports.

It is important to note that I've always had a crush on Alyson Hannigan.  Always......

Anyway, enough of skimming a Google image search on Alyson (I'll save that link for later).  How I Met Your Mother is a funny little show.  Each episode only runs 22 minutes long which would normally be just too damned fast, but the pacing is good and the forced jokes kept to a minimum.  I think in the past week we've managed to get midway through season 2 and there is at least another 5 1/2 seasons left, maybe more.

If you have Netflix, or CBS, the Alyson Hannigan Show, er I mean How I Met Your Mother is a good watch.

Parking Wars and the Xbox Kinnect

The Mrs. isn't feeling well so a normal Monday night in the Stogdill house of watching TV was replaced with....watching TV.  We spent most of this evening watching Netflix movies we have seen before and probably have DVDs of.

After watching Billy Madison and Never Been Kissed. We popped in Parking Wars, which is fricken hilarious to me.  These people of Philadelphia get their cars ticketed, booted, and then towed and they act like they've been raped or had their firstborn killed.  On the show they post little factoids, like there are over 55K vehicles that are in the system for being towed.....and to get into the "system" they were talking about you had to have over $700 in fines.  Before getting booted, owners have to have three parking tickets (or a super serious violation) AND they've been sent 6 written notices about their cars.  OK, some quick math means that there is over $38.5 million in unpaid tickets just for that one class of violators.  When people act surprised that they get booted or even towed, it is epic fun.

Don't even get me started that the fine, upstanding folks of Philadelphia cannot understand that they need a current license, registration, and proof on insurance before they can get their vehicle picked up from the impound lot.  When they lose their shit 'cause they can't understand or chose not to get what "the man" says they must do to get their rides back.  Except for a few folks who admitted they screwed up, everyone tries to blame the PPA (Philadelphia Parking Authority).

Good times.....

As we've been getting used to using the voice commands for the Xbox Connect we've been using it more and more.  It's great.  When the one episode of Parking Wars (or any episodic show) ends we can just say, "Xbox Next Episode" and bing, the next episode starts.  The unit responds to my voice and my wife's voice without issue.  I've been having fun with it, trying other accents and weird voices, but it has no problem picking up what I've said.

Carolyn suggested I try to speak to the Xbox in German.  I'm not that fluent, so I looked it up using Google Translate.  One "Xbox nächste folge" later and bing, the next episode starts playing.  That was awesome!  I start playing around with other languages.  The Xbox doesn't understand Africkans, Dutch, Arabic, or Japanese.  Now to be honest, I couldn't read, much less say anything in Arabic or Japanese, so I let Google Translate and my computer speakers do the talking for me.  Kinnect did understand Spanish, but it went to the previous episode instead of the next one.

Another Great Show You Probably Aren't Watching

With Betty White's 90th Birthday earlier in the week, I went back in to my Netflix queue to see if Hot in Cleveland had the second season available.

It was....

If you don't have Netflix, you can see some of the episodes online at the official TV Land website.

The shows are quick at 20-21 minutes, and all of the jokes are close to predictable, but still funny.  I swear all the best lines go to Betty White, probably 'cause she's the best one to deliver them.

Susan Lucci's appearances on the show are pretty epic also.  There is an ongoing feud between Susan and Victoria Chase (Wendie Malick) and in the 5th & 6th episodes of Season Two the cast heads back to LA.

There aren't many shows on TV with more than one strong female lead.  Hot in Cleveland is nothing but strong female leads.

It's worth a look if you haven't seen it already.

Betty White Turns 90 Tomorrow, Tuesday the 17th!

Wish her a happy birthday on Twitter!

Really, do I need to post more than that?

Well, you can always watch "Hot in Cleveland" on Netflix or TV Land.

She also has a new show coming out called "Betty White's Off your Rockers"

I've embedded a few clips here for your viewing pleasure.