“Roseanne” becomes “The Conners”…
9 minute read
September 1, 2018, 10:51 AM
Funny how real life sometimes writes the plot. I was planning to do a review of the tenth season of Roseanne in this space back in May, but while I was writing it, the show was cancelled by ABC after Roseanne Barr posted some pretty vile stuff on the Twitter. That put the partially-written Journal entry on hold, because those events affected a lot of what I was working on. However, the network’s reaction to the Twitter rant was completely understandable. I can’t imagine that any company would want to be associated with such vile rhetoric coming from one of their key players.
Based on the fallout, where Barr blamed Ambien for her racist rant, I can tell you one thing: she’s not sorry. Sure, she’s sorry that she ran her mouth and lost her job, but she’s not sorry for what she said. If anything, her using the medication as a scapegoat cements that those were her true feelings. The idea is that the medication “removed the filter”, and, with nothing to prevent vile things from being said, she let out what she had really been thinking all along. And then she doubled down on it on a Fox News appearance later on. I’m disappointed, because I expected better from Barr. But I suppose that it doesn’t matter anymore, because Barr’s career is most definitely over, destroyed by an ill-considered Twitter post.
I suppose that this is also a lesson about how to handle your relationship between your personal social media and your employer, especially when you’re in a very public position. People hear about stuff like this and complain about free speech, but the whole concept of “free speech” as laid out by the First Amendment only applies to the government. A private entity is completely free to fire you for saying something vile on the Internet, and that’s what happened with Barr. The government played no role in her firing. She ran her mouth, and boom – she lost her job.
Categories: Television
I’m pretty sure that I now have the modern equivalent of TXL…
2 minute read
June 1, 2018, 3:50 PM
Over the last month or so, Elyse and I created a network of smart speakers in the house. Elyse has had a Google Home Mini since early January, and I expanded it, first to three, and then to seven speakers when I realized the capabilities of the devices. With speakers throughout the house, we can use the “broadcast” feature as something of a home intercom system, and we’ve also created speaker groups in order to play music on multiple speakers in various sections of the house, or throughout the entire house. I love these things, because I can, for instance, just ask the system what the weather is, or what time it is, and it will tell me. I can even make phone calls on them and control the lights, though I don’t typically use the phone feature because of audio quality issues, and I’m not willing to spend money on the lights at this point in time (but maybe in the future). Right now, I use them most often for music, and for the home intercom function. And then if I ever get various Nest products, I will be able to connect them to the system as well. Pretty neat.
All in all, I can do a lot of things that TXL could do on Today’s Special. I can talk to it and it gives me information back, I can place phone calls through it, and I can make it control various building systems. I still don’t know how to get it to play “Yo He Ho” at the most inopportune times, though one day I might figure out a way to make it do that. Only thing about this system that I’m not a fan of is that you have to activate it by saying, “Okay, Google,” or “Hey, Google.” If I could customize the phrases that it responds to, I would make it respond to “TXL”, to make it complete. Considering that it does a lot of things that TXL could do on Today’s Special, it seems rather fitting.
Those of you who have used the various smart speakers also know that Google has built some Easter eggs in them, like if you ask what the answer is to life, the universe, and everything, it will tell you that the answer is 42. Using custom routines, I built in a couple of Easter eggs of my own, related to Today’s Special. I wanted it to respond to “How many size 9 shoes are for sale in the store?” with “There are ten pairs of size 9 shoes for sale,” (from “Boxes and Boxes“) but for some reason, it couldn’t comprehend that one, try as I might.
Categories: Computer, House, Today's Special
Now to build on the successes of the past year…
6 minute read
January 3, 2018, 9:37 PM
A new year always brings a lot of feelings. It’s a time to reflect on the past year, and a time to look ahead to the year ahead. Reflecting back on 2017, I’d say that I had an outstanding year, and laid the groundwork for a strong future. After all, at the beginning of 2017, I was still relatively new at the whole train operations thing, and lived by myself in an apartment with a hostile relationship with the property management. Now, I’m more experienced with my work and more comfortable with all of the ins and outs of my job, and I’m also a homeowner with a roommate. I made my first mortgage payment at the end of December. Things suddenly became very real when I wrote that check.
Now, in 2018, I want to build on my successes from the past year and reach even greater heights. After all, in 2017, I got the house. Now, I want to make it my home, and not someone else’s idea of a home with my furniture sitting in it. That means getting rid of that chandelier in Elyse’s room, painting a few rooms, and getting my wallhangings up. I’m excited to design the new decor, because I have so many blank canvases upon which to expend some pent-up creative energies. My parents are delighted about this as well, because I’d been fantasizing out loud about redecorating their house for a few years in order to expend those creative energies that I couldn’t do with the apartment, but they were a bit cool to the idea. Now I have my own place to paint and decorate as I wish. The previous owner of my house decorated the place fairly minimalistically, using pale colors on walls and few wallhangings and furnishings, such as in the living room:
Categories: House, Myself, Schumin Web meta, Today's Special, Wikipedia, Work
“Crisp bacon strips, sliced French bread, hot cheesy sauce, on a plate full of macaroni!”
4 minute read
December 25, 2017, 10:14 AM
For the last several years, I’ve made it something of a tradition of watching the Today’s Special episodes “Christmas Part 1” and “Christmas Part 2” on or around Christmas Eve. It only makes sense to me. Most Christmas specials are awful, but Today’s Special‘s two Christmas episodes are outside of that mold, taking the same care with Christmas that they do when discussing the night or feelings. The end result is a timeless story that still leaves me feeling warm and fuzzy inside after all these years.
This year, I decided to take a minor element from those episodes and bring it into real life. Across the two episodes, they sing their own variation of “The Twelve Days of Christmas” using food. It starts out early when Sam sings, “On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me a plate full of macaroni!” Then Muffy later adds, “Hot cheesy sauce on my plate full of macaroni!” Near the end of the second episode, it takes its full form:
On the fourth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me crisp bacon strips, sliced French bread, hot cheesy sauce, on a plate full of macaroni!
So on Friday evening, I went to the grocery store after work and bought this:
Pasta, generic Velveeta, bread, and bacon.
Categories: Christmas, Food and drink, Today's Special
Apparently, Sam Crenshaw is an Ottawa Senators fan…
< 1 minute read
December 18, 2017, 12:47 PM
Sometimes, you never know what you’ll find online. Check this out:
Categories: Today's Special
Going to show that you never know what you’ll find at the thrift store…
4 minute read
July 30, 2017, 2:39 AM
It’s amazing what you find sometimes when you hit the thrift store. Case in point, at Unique Thrift Store/Value Village in Hillandale Shopping Center, Elyse and I found this:
Categories: Cameras, Elyse, Retail, Silver Spring, Today's Special
“If what doesn’t kill us is making us stronger…”
7 minute read
April 30, 2017, 10:00 AM
So according to Deadline, there will be an eight-episode revival of the 1990s sitcom Roseanne. From what I’ve read, most of the actors from the original series will reprise their roles.
Roseanne is probably the last sitcom that I would have imagined would do a revival. Reason is that over the course of the final season, they more or less trashed the entire premise of the show as things went completely off the rails, as the Conners won $108 million in the lottery, turning them from working-class to fabulously wealthy overnight. Then there was the ending of the final episode, which retconned much of the series with the revelation that Dan had died from his heart attack, Jackie was gay (and not Bev), Darlene married Mark and Becky married David, that the events of the final season were a fantasy, and that everything that we saw over the past nine seasons was actually a book written by a heretofore unknown person named Roseanne Conner. So where do you go from there?
First of all, however, in exploring where this show might start, I’m inclined to dismiss speculation by Roseanne Barr from 2009 about what the characters might be up to. From the article cited above:
On her website in 2009, Barr gave her detailed take on where each of the main characters from the show would be in a possible Roseanne revival: Roseanne and Jackie opening the first medical marijuana dispensary in Lanford; Dan reappearing alive after faking his death; DJ being published; Mark dying in Iraq; David leaving Darlene for a woman half his age; Darlene coming out, meeting a woman and having a baby with her; Becky working at Walmart; Arnie befriending the governor of Illinois and remarrying Nancy; Bev selling a painting for $10,000; Jerry and the grandsons forming a boy band; and Bonnie being arrested for selling crack.
Categories: Television
My life according to Clive and the Cowboys…
4 minute read
August 6, 2016, 5:12 PM
I was going through my Facebook “memories” feed today, and one in particular struck me as amusing. My sister made a post on this day in 2009, called “My Life According to Disney”. It was one of those chain posts where you fill in the blanks and then tag fifteen of your friends. Here were the directions:
Using only song names from ONE ARTIST, cleverly answer these questions. Pass it on to 15 people you like and include me. You can’t use the band I used. Try not to repeat a song title. It’s a lot harder than you think! Repost as “my life according to (band name)”.
She chose Disney. Technically, “Disney” casts a very wide net, since their body of work is very large and spans multiple generations of authors, artists, composers, etc. But she made it work. She also tagged me, encouraging me to do the same. I commented thusly:
And then I gave a proper response:
Using only song names from ONE ARTIST, cleverly answer these questions. Pass it on to 15 people you like and include me. You can’t use the band I used. Try not to repeat a song title. It’s a lot harder than you think! Repost as “my life according to (band name)”.
Pick your artist: Clive and the Cowboys (yeah, Today’s Special – sue me)
Are you a male or a female: “I am thunder and nothing can happen ’til I bellow and I rumble and wake everybody with my roar…” (A Visit to the Opera)
Describe yourself: “Hocus pocus alimagocus, I can bend, I can stretch, I can see…” (Family)
How do you feel: “Let go of your busy day, let it all just drift away…” (Sleep)
Describe where you currently live: “When I’m at home I just relax, put on slippers, shirt, and slacks, settle down to watch TV, and dunk a donut in my tea.” (Homes)
If you could go anywhere, where would you go: “Let’s not get carried away, Sneakamore! Still, I will admit… I’m nasty, I’m not very nice… the heart that’s inside me is as cold as ice…” (Storybooks)
Your favorite form of transportation: “All aboard, the whistle blows, a rumbling starts beneath your toes…” (Trains)
Your best friend is: “When you’re with me, I’m not afraid of anything…” (Flight)
You and your best friends are: “Who’s the one I like to play with? Who’s the one I’ll spend all day with?” (Sharing)
If your life were a TV show, what would it be called: “Today’s Special” (main theme)
What is life to you: “We’ve got a store that I explore when the customers aren’t here anymore…” (Sleep)
Your last relationship: “Just give a snap, a clap, and a chuckle any time you feel a bit dismayed…” (Storms)
Your fear: “I love the rain, I love it when it’s raining…” (Storms) coupled with “Riding along the highway, singing a song and going my way…” (Cars)
What is the best advice you can give: “Let your smile shine through in every thing you do… don’t hide that special you…” (Teeth)
How I would like to die: “Without ever leaving, I’ve been everywhere… I’ve been to those lands ’cause you’ve taken me there…” (Memories)
My soul’s present condition: “Blue! Blue! The cow was blue! She jumped high like a kangaroo!” (Dreams)
My motto: “A singin’ yo he ho, sailin’ across the ocean blue, singin’ yo he ho, I’m a comin’ home to you!” (Costumes)
For those who don’t know, “Clive and the Cowboys” is, as far as I can tell, the name of the group of musicians that played the accompaniment for the songs on Today’s Special. They were referenced in “Sleep” when Sam was talking on the radio, and also in “Records” when Jodie made the record. On that later occasion, she referred to the group as “Jodie and the Cowboys”.
Some of these responses are obvious, and some not so much. With the passage of time, I couldn’t tell you why, for the “male or female” question, I quoted Thunder from “The Rainmakers”, other than that Thunder was a male actor. The “If you could go anywhere” question, I assume I meant the “Land of Make Believe”, because that’s a song that the two villains sung together explaining how evil they were. “Your last relationship”, I don’t recall why I chose “Snap, Clap, and Chuckle” for it. I suppose that 2009 me had a rationale for it, but it’s lost on 2016 me. And then I also apparently didn’t like driving through storms in 2009. Still not the most fun, especially since larger vehicles slide surprisingly easily in the rain. You wouldn’t think that a vehicle the size of a bus would slide more than a much smaller car, but they most definitely do. I also can’t explain what the Blue Cow song has to do with my soul’s present condition. Maybe I was in a silly mood, and that’s certainly a silly song.
And then there was my sister’s comment on the post, in response to my original comment on hers:
In any case, though, this was a fun exercise, both in writing it at the time, as well as revisiting it now. Facebook memories can be so much fun to go through. Unlike a photo album, Facebook memories are like going through an album of our thoughts. Facebook, without a character limit for posts, allows the space for more explanation of one’s thoughts, and therefore the ability to express the entire idea. What we were thinking at the time often helps give perspective to what we’re thinking now. After all, we may not realize it at the time, but we all are constantly growing and changing. What was important a few years ago is laughable today. What was considered a dream years ago is now reality. You know.
Categories: Family, Social media, Today's Special
Fun with music…
3 minute read
December 20, 2015, 12:41 PM
This past Thursday, among other places, Elyse and I checked out a store called Bill’s Music in Catonsville. What a wonderful place this was, with professional-grade equipment for sale at professional-grade prices (but you’re paying for quality). The store has every single piece of musical equipment that you could imagine, including some stuff I hadn’t seen in years, like real xylophones and such. Elyse actually knows a thing or two about music, unlike me.
The first thing that we discovered was a metallic xylophone (metallophone?). I hadn’t played one of these since sixth grade music class, a six-week “exploratory” course at Stuarts Draft Middle School. It was pretty awesome, working not so much with singing, but mostly with musical instruments – primarily xylophones. We learned some very basic songs on them, and apparently I still remember a couple of them:
Categories: Baltimore County, Elyse, Middle school, Music, Today's Special, WMATA
“He offered her the world…”
2 minute read
October 14, 2015, 11:50 PM
I’m always surprised to see how some of my photos are used. I recently got a membership with Pixsy, which skims the Internet for potentially infringing photo usages, and then allows the user to go after infringing users to get them to pay for their usage. One photo that surprised me as a frequent candidate for infringements was this one from 2003:
Categories: Copyright infringement, Roanoke, Schumin Web meta, Television
Finally, a road photo that I didn’t have to research…
2 minute read
July 11, 2015, 10:12 PM
Whenever I find a photo online showing something amusing on the road, I always like to find out the location. I’ve become rather skilled at looking at background details in photos to sleuth out locations after posting and geotagging countless photos on Panoramio, as well as researching filming locations for Project TXL (a planned overhaul of the Today’s Special site). So imagine my delight to see this funny road photo, showing Thomas the Tank Engine being transported on the back of a truck:
Photo: Imgur
Categories: Harrisonburg, Popular culture, Roads, Today's Special
“I am always so thrilled when people realize how much better a place can look with just a few simple changes!”
10 minute read
October 12, 2014, 12:07 PM
This past week, I finally finished the work that I’d been doing at my house for the past two months. The way I figured, since there was a period of time while the various processes related to onboarding at the new job were still coming together, I might as well take the time to finish a few things on my to-do list. It’s funny, however, what inspires a person to decorate. Back in July or so, my friend Suzie described my house as “a hot mess”. I thought about that over the next week or so, and came to the conclusion that she was right. And I admit – it was looking a little bit too “lived in” at the time, with a lot of unfinished business all over the place. The closets were not being used to their full potential, I had a pile of stuff on the counter between the kitchen and the living room, the table was full of junk, and there were things in visible locations when they should have been in closets.
I started out on August 5, doing what I called the “demolition” phase. This was where I cleaned out the closets and determined what I wanted to keep and what I wanted to get rid of. It’s amazing how much junk can fit in a one-bedroom apartment. I ended up getting rid of a ton of stuff. I had long-outdated information about the 2008 Democratic National Convention from the Unconventional Action consulta that occurred in January 2008. I had the banner from the black bloc at the National Equality March from October 2009. I had an expired bottle of generic Solarcaine from the time when I got sunburned at Splash Down Waterpark in June 2008. I also had a carton of fabric softener from 2007 that I had never opened, where all the liquid had been absorbed by the carton itself, leaving a blob of whatever solids were in the softener at the bottom. No, seriously. Take a look:
Categories: Fire alarms, House, Mercury Sable, Photography, Power Rangers, Schumin Web meta, Today's Special
Singing about five overbearing and overemotional humans…
2 minute read
February 6, 2014, 11:34 PM
So Tuesday night was fun. I got together with my friend Melissa, and we hung out for a few hours. We did some computer and phone maintenance over at my house, and then headed out for dinner. We went to The Potomac Grill, which is located in Talbott Center on Rockville Pike.
For those not familiar, The Potomac Grill hosts Blinkie’s Karaoke, which is run by my friends Ken and Luisa. I’ve done fill-in work as the engineer for Blinkie’s Karaoke from time to time, but this was my first time going solely as a participant. Melissa didn’t sing, but I did. I sang a karaoke version of the theme to Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. Those of you who are familiar with what I’ve talked about know that I’m a bit of a Power Rangers geek (I got into it in high school). This was a new addition to the catalog, and so I premiered it. And to top things off, Melissa filmed my performance:
Categories: Melissa, Power Rangers
At last, I found a format that I can work with…
4 minute read
November 19, 2013, 11:18 AM
You may remember that a few weeks ago, I discussed how I’m constantly evaluating my website properties, and determining what is the best course of action for each individual property. At that time, I mentioned that while the main website (i.e. what you’re looking at now) and College Life have both taken modern forms, with a content management system (CMS) driving everything, the Today’s Special site and Transit Center still had an older architecture, with no CMS driving everything and making things easy to maintain. The idea with the Today’s Special site was to convert it to a knowledge base about all things Today’s Special, covering the show more deeply and more extensively than I had ever done before. Transit Center was still a bit up in the air, with my being a bit undecided on what to do with the site.
Now, I have updates for you.
Let’s get this part over with first: The Schumin Web Transit Center will be closing at the end of the year. It’s closing because it doesn’t meet my current quality standards, and I believe that the site has run its course. That’s not to say that I’m not still very much a public transportation nerd, but I no longer feel that the separate website is the best way to express that enthusiasm for transit, as I don’t feel that it puts my best foot forward. So take a good look at it now, because it won’t be there when the ball drops for 2014.
Categories: Schumin Web meta, Today's Special
Oh, there’s something about an album…
12 minute read
September 20, 2013, 10:49 PM
How many of you were aware that there was an album made for Today’s Special? I’ll bet that many people in the United States were not aware of it. I was initially made aware of it in the late 1990s, and have been able to listen to it in its entirety. Recall that when I was going to my first polar bear plunge, I was singing along with the Today’s Special album in the car. Certainly, there’s been a lot of discussion about Today’s Special over the years, with a lot of it coming from this website. But most of that has been about the television program itself, rather than the various other things that go with it. After all, the show itself is the main product, and distributed most widely. Additionally, since the show originated in Canada, produced by a Canadian television network, I don’t believe that any licensed merchandise for the show ever made it to the United States. Thus I’ll bet that many don’t realize that the album exists, and I’ve definitely never found a review of it anywhere. So with this entry, I’m going to review the album.
Giving the album a listen, it seems that the album was released around the time as the stage show, which was shown on television as the episode “Live On Stage“. No songs from episodes dated 1985, 1986, or 1987 appear in the album. In addition, no songs original to the stage show are performed on the album. However, where applicable, those songs on the album that were also performed in the stage show were performed based on the stage show version of the song rather than the television show version.
In general, I like the album, as it contains many songs that I have always considered favorites, and also includes a few that I was not familiar with as a child due to editing by Nickelodeon (commercial networks that aired Today’s Special usually deleted some scenes in order to allow time for commercials). However, there are times that the album really grates on me a little bit, and that comes from the non-song dialogue that’s included, as much of it seems quite out of character compared to the show.
Continue reading…
Categories: Music, Today's Special