Retro TV Network

When you cut cable TV out of your diet and you are not ready to go the satellite route, Lord, thy name is Retro Television Network.

About 5 months ago, our local ABC station said it would be launching a second digital channel chockful of television re-runs from a better day. I rejoiced, having just bought a second HDTV some weeks prior and having given cable the ol' heave-ho over a year before that. But they never said when exactly this was taking place.

As we creep toward February 19, 2009, we have noticed that channels have been moving frequencies. As a result, we have had to rescan for channels once every month or so. And every month or so, I would hope beyond hope that that second digital ABC station would show up offering respite from Gossip Girl, reality shows and tabloid programs. Instead, digital channel 8.2 in Lincoln would just be a mirror of 8.1's programming.

Until this weekend.

Saturday, Teresa noticed that old television programs were on 8.2. I waited for some sort of station identification and learned that ABC was broadcasting Retro Television Network! I found their website and discovered such long-lost shows like Adam 12, The A-Team, Ellery Queen, Hunter, and The Incredible Hulk.

You can bet your bottom dollar I will be setting my DVD recorder to capture some of this stuff. You don't know how glad I am.

Is Retro Television Network broadcasting in your area? Let me know.

Who Is Batman?

Earlier this week, I finally got to see The Dark Knight. It made me think about why Cami is so into heroes, superheroes and those who are not as we are. Vampires, Harry Potter...that kind of stuff. I think about that stuff all the time and an essay called, "Who Is Batman?" caught my eye.

Good reading.

...and maybe it will help me understand what attracts Cami to certain concepts and people even more. Read it and maybe it will help you understand something more about you, someone you know or just more about the Batman character.

Star Wars Holiday Special to Screen in NY & LA!

If you are one of those wacky Star Wars cats and you are going to be in or around Los Angeles or New York between December 10 and 24, read on.

Otherwise, ignore or check out The 30-Second Bunnies Theatre.

If you are reading beyond this point, you must like Star Wars.

Anyways, there was once a very dark skeleton in George Lucs' closet called the "Star Wars Holiday Special ". Because there don't really seem to be many new stories to tell for my generation of Star Wars fans, Lucasfilm has been publically acknowledging this oddball program which only aired once in the late '70s.

It must have brought back some memories for a sampling of people who visit The Paley Center for Media website. They had a poll to see what the top 5 holiday television specials are and here are the resuts:

Star Wars Holiday Special - 59%
A Charlie Brown Christmas - 34.6%
Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas! - 31.3%
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer - 28.4%
John Denver and the Muppets: A Christmas Together - 16.3%

These holiday specials will be screened at the Paley Center in New York and Los Angeles between , 2008:

New York
The Star Wars Holiday Special screens Tuesdays to Sundays at 12:15 pm, and again at 6:00 pm on Thursday evenings. The other four specials screen Tuesdays to Sundays beginning at 2:30 pm.

Los Angeles
Please consult the Paley Center daily schedule.

If you missed the Star Wars Holiday Special the first time around or have caught it on grainy bootleg videos sold at Star Wars conventions, this would the time to see it!

Love,

Question From The Curious

If one is employed by a third-party administration company and does work for Company A, does it really make sense to also do work for a seriously backlogged Company B when people who normally do work for Company B are being sent home because "there is nothing to do"?

Just curious, because I don't appreciate being away from my family because I have to do someone else's work and they can't bothered to be trained.

Love,

Always Check Your Child's Homework

There comes a time in a parent's life when you just have to trust that your child will do his or her homework. I am learning that right about now.

Cami is 14. I still want to check her homework for accuracy and whatnot. She had a report to do for one of her high school classes. She finished it in a whopping 20 minutes. I wanted to take a look at it and Teresa said to let it go. Her reasoning is that Cami is old enough to know what quality work is and is old enough to know what her teachers expect of her.

You know what? Teresa's right. Besides, this is Cami's grade, not ours. My mom never really asked me to see my homework. She trusted me. But then again, I offered to show my work to Mom to check, and because she was curious as to what we were doing. I don't want Cami to think we are uninterested in academia, so we offer our help. She takes it once in a while, but most of the time, she wings it. That's commendable, but I hope it never gets to the point of drowning.

It's all about trust.

The older your child gets, the more you need to trust him or her. There comes a time in a parent's life when you just have to trust that your child will do his or her homework and do his or her best.

But when you got a kid in preschool or in kindergarten, you kinda gotta keep an eye on their work. And therein lies the rub.

Take, for instance, the following school assignment that was forwarded to me in an e-mail a few days ago. I do not know where it originated, but it illustrates my point perfectly.

ALWAYS CHECK YOUR CHILD'S HOMEWORK when they are too young to appreciate the fine art of interpretation and perception. Take a look at the following illustration, think about how an adult would most likely interpret it. Then look at the child's explanation of the drawing.

Mommy works at Home Depot, she was selling a shovel.

Have a nice Friday,