Category: Geeky

The Answer

Friday’s question has been successfully answered. The cities listed were all designated as all-UHF television markets by the FCC’s channel reassignment plan of 1952 and have remained that way ever since. They were designated this way because the country was running out of VHF channels and because most of them were situated close enough to multiple larger metropolitan areas that the shortage was particularly acute…

Before 1952, many of these cities had at least one VHF channel assigned. In Fresno, for example, there was channel 12, KFRE-TV at the time, which moved to channel 30 and now operates as KFSN. Bakersfield had channel 10, KERO, which is now on channel 23. Several cities, Columbia SC for example, retained this single VHF channel arrangement even after 1952…

I knew a lot of this stuff beforehand, because I was a freak and I used to sit around reading things like the channel assignment table when I was a teenager. But I got further information here and here at this cool history of the Dumont network…

Speaking of Dumont, those of you who are really inclined toward trivia might find it interesting that there is a direct link from the fourth network of the 1950s to the establishment of the fourth network of the present thirty years later. Dumont’s owned and operated stations became the Metromedia group after the network folded. This group was later purchased by Ruper Murdoch in the 1980s as the beginning of his new network…

OK, I’ll stop being so damned geeky now…

Until after breakfast, at least…

Randomly Friday

The Geek Shall Inherit the Earth:

Ah, those useless obsessions which have fascinated me since I was a kid. I wonder if anyone can tell me what the following cities have in common:

  • Huntsville AL
  • Bakersfield CA
  • Fresno CA
  • Peoria IL
  • Fort Wayne IN
  • South Bend IN
  • Springfield MA
  • Elmira NY
  • Youngstown OH
  • Scranton/Wikes-Barre PA

Put your guesses on the Message Board if you like. I’ll post the answer in a day or two…

It’s My Hormones, Really…

I’ve decided that menopause must feel an awful lot like going from being severely hyperthyroid to being severely hypothyroid in a very short period of time. And I have a bit more respect for all women of a certain age at this point. For the past two weeks, I’ve felt an awful lot like Edith Bunker in that episode from “All in the Family”. I think it may be starting to even out some. I hope so. At least I’m sleeping like a baby…

Did I mention that I’m married to the the most wonderful boy in the world?

Technology Sucks:

The Dish DVR has already crashed, taking with it about thirty epsiodes of “The Addams Family” which Mark hadn’t yet dubbed to DVD, not to mention a Cure special and a couple of “Fillmore” episodes which would have completed my collection. It’s the power supply, I’m told. Of course, there will be no effort by them to recover the data on the hard drive — not to mention a stiff penalty for us if we try it ourselves. We’re in a “replace, don’t repair” world these days, after all…

Update

 

I’ve been doing this for eight and a half years now, and I deserved a month-long vacation, even it was unplanned and unannounced, dontcha think?

Anyway, here’s what’s been consuming my time and attention of late?

  • Thyroid Be Done: It’s been dosed with radioactive iodine and I’m optimistic that the little bugger is well on the way to dying for good. Alas, I’m warned that the next two months or so may be a bit of a physical and emotional roller coaster while they get me stabilized, which sucks, because I feel really good right now…
  • The Videotape Eradication Program: Having recently purchased both a DVD burner and a component DVD recorder, we’re well into the process of eliminating all analog magnetic video media from our home. This is a BIG task for me as I have hundreds (thousands, maybe) of hours of video to wade through, but it’s great beacuse it’s keeping us from leaving the house or otherwise spending money every weekend. The electronics should pay for themselves in no time…
  • Traveling Frankenberries: We’re going to Hawaii to watch Mark‘s sister get married in August. Unfortunately, by doing so, we will miss seeing The Cure at SBC Parr anyplace else in California. Missing them entirely is not an option for Mark (who won’t admit how much he hates me for seeing them in Greensboro a dozen-plus years back), so we’re flying to Seattle to see them the weekend before…
  • It’s Our Birthday Too: Mark is celebrating his tomorrow night at the Tonga Room. You should pop by, or just buy him something. Mine is in August, and I’m not sure where I’ll be spending it. Since it’s a big one (40), I’d sort of had my heart set on LA, with a semi-public gathering at Clifton’s Cafeteria the Saturday before. Alas, all the other travelling during August sort of makes that scheme less prudent and attractive, so I may just skip it and find some other, better-timed day to celebrate…
  • The Silliest Place on Earth™: It’s my new trademarked slogan for San Francisco, and yes, I did register an associated domain name…
  • And the Rest: Dinner with an old friend from Greensboro I’d missed very much, salivating after a Corvair convertible in the Haight, cruising the bay (in a boat, silly), and realizing it’s time to buy that G5…

Mmmm. Corvair…

Yours, Mine, and Ours

Yours, Mine, and Ours was on TCM this morning. The host made the same mistake so many others make: that the movie was the inspiration for The Brady Bunch. It’s completely untrue; the Brady pilot was written a couple of years prior to the release of the movie (which was a true story). It was the success of the movie, however, which finally paved the way for the actual PRODUCTION of the Bradys in 1969…

I’m sorry. I just expect those generally well-informed hosts on TCM to know little tidbits like this…

Randomly Sunday

 

Random thoughts for the Sunday after Thanksgiving:

  • I’m so proud. One of my sites has been featured in the Weekly World News, right there next to the two-headed alien devil spawn of Saddam Hussein and the incestuous homosexual conjoined twins of Burkina Faso…
  • Mark‘s back today and my four-day binge of geeky photo downloading (not the kind of photos you’re thinking: most of them were from here), manipulation of databases , unhealthy eating, and the occasional wank will come to a close. I missed you a bunch too, baby, but you’ll be glad to know I coped…
  • I actually read an article the USA Weekend this morning (because getting off the couch would have forced me to acknowlege the dirty dishes in the kitchen sink) and I had a thought: why is it that most annoying catchphrases become annoying mainly because they involve imagination-impaired middle-class white people (the target audience of the newspaper supplement in question) trying desperately to sound like they live in a UPN sitcom?
  • I’ve also determined that — depite being made in 1967 — Valley of the Dolls was actually the very first movie of the 1970s…

World Book

Dinner with Sarah at Tad’s on Thursday night. It had been a disturbingly long time since I’d seen her, so this was a very good thing. But I still forgot to give her that book I’ve been holding since December or so…

Speaking of books, I picked up a complete 1935 edition of the World Book Encyclopedia in Stockton on Sunday. One of the first things I checked (having learned much of what I knew about the subject as an 11-year-old from a much later version of the same source) was the article on “sex”. But there was no article on “sex”, only a pointer directing me to the article on “mental conflict”. Interesting, that…

Another interesting note: in 1935, Greensboro, Fresno, and San Jose all had about the same population of around 50,000 people. I think San Jose won…

And now it’s laundry day…

Updates

I’ve disappeared for so long this time that people are starting to ask if I’m alive or dead. Since convincing them otherwise would require actually answering email (something I seem wholly incapable of doing lately), I’ve decided it’s time to set the record straight here. Today, I feel somewhere in between…

No, don’t worry. There’s nothing wrong. I’ve just been horribly busy this week, commuting to San Mateo by day and working on a major site redesign for a client by night. Both should be done this week — just in time for me to go on jury duty. Woo hoo…

By the way, penis anyone?

By way of updates:

  • Had a brief stop by Berkeley last weekend to hit the assorted used media stores. It’s good to visit Berkeley once in a while; it makes San Francisco seem so — how shall I say it — rational and sensible by comparison. Which ain’t easy. By the way, is there any truth to that rumor that Berkeley is considering setting aside 20% of its street parking for cars which are valued at less than $3500? No, of course not, but you believed it for a second, didn’t you?
  • On Sunday, we watched some of the dismantling of the Central Freeway overpass crossing Market Street. I may drive up and see if it’s completely gone this afternoon. My computer and I need some quality time apart…
  • Self-indulgence dilemma of the week: deciding whether to unwind with a selection from the new Family Guy box set or the recently-acquired New York box set…
  • Mark’s been visiting the parents all weekend, but I have no naughty little secrets to share; I spent the entire weekend curled up with Dreamweaver and ImageReady, and my biggest extravagances were dinner at IHOP with Jamie last night and a trip to Target, where I bought one two-dollar bag of cookies…
  • Things I hate this month: the IRS, the Superior Court of San Francisco, and the Department of Parking and Traffic…
  • Entertaining website of the week: The History of San Francisco Bay Area Freeway Development…
  • The newest beta of Safari is addressing most of my concerns nicely. Of course, all you Windoze sufferers can’t use it. Too bad…

I’ll try to make the updates a little more frequent soon. Or at least a little more entertaining…

Little Bit of This, Little Bit of That

Mark just bought us a laserdisc player on eBay. I am now very much excited at the prospect of buying used discs really cheap at Amoeba. Mmmm. Uncompressed digital video…

It’s only March and I think I’ve already decided that the most stupid and annoying pop song of the year is — and will continue to be — “The Game of Love” by Santana (who should know better) and Michelle Branch. You know the song: “a little bit of this, a little bit of that, it started with a kiss, now we’re up to bat” etc…

It makes me mildly homicidal on a level with that stupid song from “Dawson’s Creek”, not to mention Mark Anthony moaning about how he can’t believe it (oooh) but he feels it, and the Rod Stewart crap which serves as the theme from the newest “Star Trek”. Yes, I’m forced to listen to shitty satellite-delivered music at work, thanks, and it’s taking a toll…

But at least I don’t think the subliminal messages are working. Yet…

The Weekend

So Mark‘s in Fresno for the weekend, and I have the whole house to myself. I have a wild weekend planned, let me tell you. I’ve already popped out to the Safeway and picked up the frozen pizza and diet grapefruit soda…

Of course — being the hermit/loner type that I still am, regardless of what you may have been lead to believe — I’d be lying if I said I didn’t like having the house all to myself once in a while, but I do already miss the little bugger, and I’ll miss him even more tonight when the bed is several degrees chillier…

That said, I’ll probably spend the weekend watching movies (there’s a big pile), hitting the thrift stores (now that my car has a new battery), catching up on email (yeah, right…), and downloading census data (because I’m a freak and that’s what I do for fun sometimes, OK?). Plus, there’s a visiting friend from Greensboro who will probably need some showing around…

I may even post those long-promised LA pictures, but don’t hold your breath…