Author: King Tom

The Network Goes Off The Air

At noon tomorrow, the TV station where I had my first real job after college will go off the air.

Although technically, since the Ohio News Network is a cable news channel, the signal will cease to be carried over the cable wires.

A few weeks ago, the Dispatch Broadcast Group, the company that owns ONN, announced it would be shutting down the channel because of “changing viewer attitudes.”

Despite the fact that rumors of ONN’s shutdown were circulating the day I started in January 2000, the station grew. Still, the decision to close came as a complete surprise. Whatever the reasons behind the shutdown, they were beyond the control of those who worked hard every day to report the news of Ohio.

For almost four years, that was me. It took me a while after graduating to find a job. When I finally landed the job at ONN, I packed up my 1986 Buick Century Limited and drove it out to Ohio (with some help from King Classic). Like pretty much everyone who worked there, I had every non-9-to-5 schedule possible, including weekends and holidays. I worked with a lot of people who were at a similar place in life and who also devoted their lives beyond normal working hours to the place. But by the end of my time there, I realized I didn’t want my life to revolve around TV. Besides, I had worked on enough big stories (September 11, the conflict in Iraq, the 2000 presidential election, some guy who built his own ass kicking machine and many more) in my time there that I felt like I wanted to tell different stories.

I grew a lot at ONN, learning, working and building friendships that I have to this day. I’ll never forget my time there. And I can say that if it weren’t for ONN, I wouldn’t be where I am today (possibly including meeting The Civee and all that other stuff). But for me, I needed a change from TV. And I hope all my former co-workers can recover from the station’s shut down.

When I was there, I worked in the news department. But the most fun I had working there was as an honorary part of the sports department. At the time, ONN was very involved in high school sports. From August through March, the network aired a half-hour show Friday nights at 11:30 carrying scores and highlights from football (in the fall) and basketball (in the winter) games from around the state. If you’ve paid any attention to the Kingdom, you’ll know that I don’t have any use for basketball and I could care less about football. However, my first fall there, I was asked to help work on the show, collecting scores to run in the ticker.

I worked at least four extra hours every Friday, eventually moving on from scores to coordinating satellite feeds and helping with the lower third graphics in the control room. Each Friday from about 11:00 to 11:57 was extremely stressful. But working on the show was fun. As seriously as people take high school sports, the show got very light-hearted, especially in the intro video that opened each show. For the last show of the 2001-2002 season, we decided to do something a little different. The result was one of the most fun times I’ve ever had working:

 

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The Smile Era

I can confirm that Luke has reached a milestone: the era of non-gaseous smiles has begun.

Luke is starting to respond to other people to the delight of The Civee and I and (especially) Hope. He’s been giving us a lot of this lately:

For comparison, here’s one of the first pictures of Hope smiling , also at the same age (six weeks and a few days):

We went to the Zoo today, about an hour before closing. It was the first time we’ve ever seen the kangaroos awake and moving, which was entertaining. So if you want to see the kangaroos moving around, eating and getting into kangaroo fights, visit them at the end of the day. Any other time for them is nap time.

King Tom

Stupid Network Tricks

One of the stages of dealing with a problem is acceptance. If that’s the case, then NBC has finally confessed to a problem it’s been having for years. Although things aren’t going to get better for the network.

According to Time, NBC’s president earlier this week said the network would be moving away from creative, sophisticated shows (specifically naming Community) and try to focus on shows that could attract a broader audience. His network has actually been doing this for years, starting with deciding to run The Apprentice during the Thursday night comedy block about 10 seasons ago. They’ve made a number of similar decisions since (such as choosing the current host of the Tonight Show) and while they’ve had some creative, different shows (like the aforementioned Community), they haven’t done much to support or market them. And these shows they’ve aired for broader audiences haven’t always attracted viewers.

This declaration is seemingly reversing course for NBC. In the early 80s, NBC was last in the ratings and because it took a chance on many niche shows, by the end of the decade, it was the highest-rated network for more than 10 years. NBC thinks these shows with broader appeal will bring it more viewers. The thing is, it doesn’t always work that way. The creative shows, the shows people are passionate about are not always the same shows large audiences watch.  But they are the shows people invest in, whether it’s patronizing a sponsor to save a show (like the Save Chuck campaigns which made Subway a lot of money) or buying DVDs. The creative shows don’t always start out with a large viewer base, but that doesn’t mean it can’t grow into one.

Consider NBC’s biggest money maker of the past 20 years, Seinfeld. I’ve been watching a lot of Seinfeld DVDs recently so I’m familiar with the story- the pilot premiered in 1989 and the show didn’t develop a decent following until mid ’92. Additionally, were the pilot presented to NBC today, the network would take a huge pass on the show. The Seinfeld pilot tested horribly, with viewers complaining the show was “too New York” and “too Jewish,” hallmarks of a show that could be considered niche. Yet given time, the  show became the highest rated and helped NBC become the top rated network of the 90s.

Yet today, with the goal of a “broad audience,” shows like Seinfeld, The Cosby Show or Hill Street Blues (all revolutionary at the time that ended up being huge hits) would never have gotten on the air.

Warming Glow raises another good point, that with its new focus, NBC could also be giving up the edge in something important to advertisers, young viewers:

CBS is the highest rated network, but the average age of a CBS viewer is 52! Those old people are dying off. Nielsen ratings will soon be replaced with a more accurate ratings system. Streaming video on laptops, iPads, and smart phones is the future, and no one is going to stream f****king Two and a Half Men or Mike and Molly on their iPads. Who is going to download episodes 2 Broke Girls on iTunes?

You want to get the most bang out of your advertising buck? You need appointment viewing shows, and shows that are talked about on the Internet (Warming Glow is like a second marketing arm for NBC’s Community. No, strike that. NBC doesn’t actually market Community, so we’re their primary marketing team). Television sets should be considered a way for viewers to sample programming that they’ll get invested in enough to watch in other mediums, where we actually have to 1) buy an episode or download it, or 2) watch on the network websites were commercial skipping is not an option, 3) order seasons on DVD (or digital downloads), or 4) watch on Netflix or Amazon, which will pay huge licensing fees for them (in the future, Netflix and Amazon Instant will be the new syndication money).

Read more: http://www.uproxx.com/tv/2012/07/nbc-will-stop-making-great-shows-like-community/#ixzz21kGb88Xx

The way broadcast stations make money is based off of Neilsen numbers. But people don’t watch TV the same way they did when the Neilsen system is developed. I rarely watch live TV anymore. Even for shows like Community, I’ll watch it on my computer nine minutes after it starts so I can skip the commercials. And I’m sure I’m not the only person who does this.

I’m not the one with a billion-dollar broadcast network. So NBC can make its decision to keep shooting for the big (but not loyal) audience it will never get. Admitting a problem is one thing. Taking steps to fix the problem is another.

King Tom

Male Bonding

Getting around with two kids isn’t easy, especially at first.

Before Luke was born, The Civee and I got a sit-and-stand style double stroller (thanks Grandma). It’s great for places we do a lot of walking. But it’s also heavy and not easily maneuverable. For situations where a double (or single) stroller would be overkill, we also have a Moby (no relation to the bald singer (thank The Civee for that line)) wrap, essentially a long piece of fabric you wrap around your body a number of times and then just stick the baby in.

We had tried a carrier with Hope, but she wasn’t into it because she liked to move a lot and because we think we didn’t start her in it early enough. So we’ve been using it frequently over the past two weeks with Luke and he’s gotten used to it- a little fussing at first, then eventually he falls asleep.

The first few times, The Civee would don the Jedi robe-like wrap and walk around with Luke snugly secured to her body. But earlier this week when visiting a park where we knew we’d want to go off-trail, she offered me the chance to carry Luke in the wrap. I have to admit at first I resisted, for reasons I’m not even sure of. But then I thought, “hey, I’m a father, I can do this.” So with The Civee’s help, we twisted the wrap around my body (I don’t see how anyone could get the thing on without help) and stuck Luke in next to my chest.

It was different. But pretty comfortable. I felt like I had to hold him with one of my arms, even though he was secure within the hundreds of feet of fabric (or so it felt) I had wrapped around my body. My only complaint was that the thing got hot. But then again, in 90-degree weather, anything would be hot.

Even though the orange wrap and blue shirt I was wearing are the colors of the Mets, I can’t complain. At least we didn’t get a red or pink one.

I would happily carry Luke around in a wrap again. Although, I wouldn’t do it if it were just him and I. I could never get the wrap on without someone else’s help.

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Hope Meets Luke

For the past few months, The Civee and I had been talking up Luke’s arrival to Hope (although because we didn’t know if he would be a boy or a girl, we referred to him simply as “the baby”). We gave her the basics about babies and told Hope her brother or sister would be here around fireworks time. Some days, all Hope would talk about was the baby, while others, her interest waned. We tried to keep everything as positive as we could, but didn’t know what to expect.

The day after Luke was born, Hope’s grandparents brought her to the hospital to meet her new brother. She walked in the room, excited to see her mother and me. Hope gave The Civee a big hug and then noticed Luke in my arms. Her first reaction was “baby…fireworks time!” Hope then launched into a long stream of stories, things she had done and seen, like feeding the goats at the farm last Columbus Day or seeing a bird land on a guy’s head at a Clippers game. It was easy to see that Hope liked her brother.

That hasn’t changed since bringing Luke home Sunday. She’s always talking to him, trying to play with him (although she still has to learn why one would need to be gentle with a newborn) and still telling him stories. And they’re the same stories, which to Luke and Hope, haven’t gotten old yet. Although, today, she’s tried a new twist. Rather than tell Luke stories, it’s almost as if Hope is trying to start a stand-up routine, mixing and matching her stories. See for yourself:

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The Adventures of Luke Thomas Chansky

This is old news, but getting posted to the blog now because we haven’t had Internet access here at the Kingdom since Friday thanks to the summer storm of the century.

During that storm, Luke Thomas Chansky was born on Friday afternoon after a 10-hour labor (that seemed longer) and a quick delivery. He was more than 9 pounds, but is tall (his height has been taken a few times, with varying results, but all readings have him at taller than 20 inches). Also, like his sister, he scored a 9 both times on his Apgar score.

Luke has been home since Sunday afternoon. Hope loves her little brother and he’s the first thing she asks about (in a good way) when she wakes up each morning and when she gets off the school bus each afternoon.

And just like Hope, The Civee and I are glad to have Luke around.

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Our Bags Are Packed And We’re Ready To Go

Sometime in the next few days, I’m planning a one-man real-life reenactment of this, minus the phone cord:

The Civee’s doctor said it’s looking like the baby will be here this weekend. Now that I’ve typed that, it’ll probably be another two weeks (and I’ve already been blamed for any delay). Either way, The Civee, Hope and I are all ready for the baby.

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Ten Awesome Weezer Songs You’ve Probably Never Heard

Weezer’s first album came out 18 years ago last month. Since then, they’ve released eight (or nine, depending on who you talk to) more, along with a plethora of b-sides and other songs that never even made it to an album.

I’ve written before about the large amount of material the band has produced but never released. But there’s a whole other category of Weezer song I’ve never really written about before: those songs that never made it to an official release (album, compilation, b-side or official digital companion) that somehow ended up in the hands of the fans.

Ten years ago, while working on their fourth album, Maladroit, Weezer put multiple versions of each album contender up on their Website for the fans to download. But they didn’t stop there- they also uploaded early versions of their fifth album demos (which never made it to an official release) and lead singer Rivers Cuomo shared many of his home demos with fans.

The reaction to the songs being shared was mixed. Fans debated the quality of the material, but most appreciated the chance to hear the songs throughout their development. To those who became fans after the Maladroit era, many of these (and other unreleased material) remains a surprise. And that’s the point of this list, to look at a number of Weezer songs that haven’t been “officially” released but are readily available.

In addition to the list above, I’m not counting Rivers’ solo demos or songs from his Boston shows (that’s what the Alone series is for). Nor am I counting early versions of songs that ended up on an album (if I were, the “doo-doo-doo-doo” Burndt Jamb and If You Want It would be on the list). Most of these songs were recorded between 2001 and 2002. That era is so heavily represented because that’s the source of most of the unreleased songs. Also, I’m relying on YouTube here, and the only available versions of these songs are from concerts, so I apologize in advance for the quality.

Here we go: Ten Awesome Weezer Songs You’ve Probably Never Heard (unless you’re a die-hard crazy fan):

10) 367

Put up on Weezer.com sometime in April of 2002, after the Maladroit sessions, but before the album was released. It featured what seemed to be a more personal theme than anything on Maladroit and some great instrumentation. The band would revisit this song later that year, but this is the best version.

9) Everybody Wants a Chance to Feel All Alone

From an acoustic session in the fall of 2002, released along with a version of Private Message (keep reading). The lyrics (seemingly involving choking) are a bit…different.

8) Saturday Night

Recorded with a slew of other songs in the summer of 2001 in Washington, DC, with Mikey on bass. Not sure what the song is about exactly, but it sounds like they’re having fun here. Weezer later attempted this during the Maladroit sessions, but it sounded differently.

7) My Brain is Working Overtime

Yes, a demo version of this song was available on Alone II. But this version is from the summer of 2000. This was one of the first new songs played by the band after coming back from their 1998-2000 hiatus. A poor version of this was available immediately after that first show (which took forever to download back in the days of dialup). Thankfully, better versions still surfaced.

6) The Victor

I can’t find a version of the best take of this song -released along with 367, the song features the same instrumentation and real point of view. Additionally, the April ’02 version started off with a near-minute long instrumental jam. This take, from later on in the year, isn’t as good, but is still pretty decent.

5) Sandwiches Time

Weezer recorded three different versions of this oddly-named tune, in the fall and winter of 2001. One version featured Rivers singing in his normal voice. The other two, well, you can hear for yourself. I also have to mention this is Hope’s favorite Weezer song title.

4) So Low

This goes without saying for all of the songs on this list, but I really think Weezer missed out by not putting So Low on an album. I first heard it at the Detroit show in September ’01 and got chills listening to it. The band played this a bunch of times in the fall of 2001 and then forgot about it. It resurfaced in the summer of ’02, but was changed to Mansion of Cardboard, a song about homelessness, and the magic was gone.

3) O Girl

Another one of the Summer 2000 Songs, or the first batch of Post-Pinkerton new songs. The song is energetic with a crazy (in a good way) chorus. There’s probably a better-sounding version of this out there, but it’s great to see this one being played.

2) Private Message

This is from the same acoustic session as Everybody Wants a Chance to Feel All Alone. This is actually the fourth version of this song we have (but I couldn’t find a video of my favorite, the original from April ’02). Personal lyrics and a great sound here, with the electric version featuring an energy that was only touched upon in the songs that made up Maladroit.

1) Baby

Some would say I’m cheating here. This song is from a show Rivers performed in Boston in January of 1998. However, bandmate Pat Wilson played the drums at this show. Additionally, the band would attempt this song in the spring of ’98 as they tried to get their third album off the ground. This was one of those songs Rivers wrote as a reaction to Pinkerton, a quasi-romantic repetitive song with lyrics that were poetic, but not personal. I’m not sure what this song is about (some interpretations of the lyrics are downright creepy), but I love it.

As I mentioned, most of these were released around 2002 and were recorded during an era where the band shared everything. Even with what we have, there are a number of good songs that didn’t make the list. While they don’t share as much anymore, they have opened up the vaults slightly. Other bands are using digital distribution streams to make money off their unreleased songs. If Weezer ever does the same, I might as well just send them my paychecks directly.

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Hope the Garden Gnome

After last year’s failed artichoke growing experiment, I decided to get serious and start a box garden. Right now, we have peppers, green beans, broccoli, spinach and beets growing.

Hope likes the garden. She was good a few weeks ago with planting all the seeds. The biggest challenge, though is trying to keep her out of the garden. She likes pill bugs and worms and will go digging for them if I’m not watching her close enough.

It’s nice that she has an interest in bugs. She found a lightning bug today and let it crawl on her arm for a few seconds (she’s still learning that if she wants the bug to stay, she can’t wave her arm around). I told her about what lightning bugs can do and I’m looking forward to a few weeks from now when she can stay up a bit later and see them in action.

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