Talk about a brick shithouse—regard the new China Central Television building under construction in Beijing, planned by uber-kool architect Rem Koolhaas and partner Ole Scheeren. Design-types are loving the romantic images conjured up by the shape of this structure. It’s been temporarily named “Zhichuang,” or “Knowledge Window,” though other popular nicknames include “Big Underpants.” Urban life website Danwei ponders some possible reasons for the title “Zhichuang” first cited in the Xinman Evening News:
1. CCTV is the national TV broadcaster, an important window for broadcasting information and knowledge to the entire country and the world.
2. The central part of the new building’s polygon shape gives it the appearance of a giant window.
3. The whole building looks like the legs and buttocks of a person who is squatting, and the name Zhichuang is also a homophone for zhichuang (痔疮) or hemorrhoids.
Now you’d think “number one” and “number two” would figure here. But if I’m betting—and after all, isn’t life really a crapshoot?—I gotta go with number three.
Tags: Big Underpants, CCTV, China, Danwei, Old Scheerin, Rem Koolhaas, Xinman Evening News, Zhichuang
Filed under Asia, design, technology, television.
Last night, watching Obama’s victory—President Obama!–I loved TV news like never before. I generally can’t stand the ADD-inducing graphics and inflammatory pundits, but with election results coming in fast and furious, and meaning so much this time, I joined the ranks of channel-flipping junkies, my PBS/NPR-lovin’ self drinking in all that fantastic network/cable technology. The touch-screen “magic wall” maps, the posting of premature super-graphic electoral vote numbers (MSNBC! I salute your early-and-often chutzpah!), the one-stop-shopping for various state and national results—I welcomed it all. When things got momentarily dull, I’d switch to Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, but I was dying for pundits and numbers.
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Filed under Election 2008, technology, television.
Sunday night’s Emmys held so many bummers—excruciating hosts, politically-inclined acceptance speeches cut off at the knees, no individual statue for the astounding Jon Hamm—that it was hard to hold on to the good moments. The few highlights included awards for 30 Rock’s Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin (who should also get a MacArthur genius grant for his portrayal of Jack Donaghy), and Best Drama Series to the mesmerizing first season of Mad Men. And we all learned for the better, though at high cost, what reality shows and their hosts need most: a script.
Besides dying on stage at hosting duties, the reality-types enjoyed a new category, Best Host for a Reality or Reality-Competition Program, but here I think voters failed entirely. Jeff Whoever, the melodramatic voice of the eat-crap-or-get-off-the-island program Survivor, won. This new Emmy category needs to be broadened. The title should have gone to Bob Costas for his unswerving devotion to the real and genuinely absorbing Olympics. Night after night he stuck with it, smiling and making fun of his own weariness as he appeared to gradually shrink into his suit.
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Tags: 30 rock, Alec Baldwin, Bob Costas, Emmys, Jeff Probst, Jon Hamm, Mad Men, Olympics, Survivor, Tiny Fey
Filed under Emmys, Olympics, television.
Say it ain’t so—Amy Poehler is leaving Saturday Night Live. She’s there through the November elections (yay!), then disappears on maternity leave, with no scheduled return (boooo…). What better way is there to endure your no-longer-Saturday-night-like Saturday nights than with Amy Poehler?
As for maternity leave, I find myself with unreasonably unsympathetic feelings. Last year, Ace’s swell kindergarten teacher took paternity leave for the first three months of the year–yes, good for him–leaving room B-7 with the competent-yet-uninspiring-and-kinda-shrill Ms. Substitute. This year, Ace’s first-grade teacher is due in February, and will take her allotted 12 weeks, as well she should. Yay for our supportive school system! And a big cancel-that-out boo for another transition. Oh, did I say that out loud?
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Tags: amy poehler, maternity leave, Saturday Night Live, spin-offs
Filed under parenting, television.
While I never watched even one episode of Golden Girls, Estelle Getty’s recent death at age 84 has had an unexpected effect in our home. Our houseguest, Howard, has spent many long conversational minutes in the past 24 hours pondering how young she must have been whilst playing the oldest “Girl,” bringing the topic up time and again (Howard’s a bit of a stoner), and my husband, Mr. T, without prompting, blithely named her co-stars. Really? “We grew up with Bea Arthur and Betty White. They’re touchstones, TV icons.” And what about Rue McClanahan? “She was in EVERYthing.” Suddenly, his encyclopedic knowledge of all things Bowie is looking less alarming.
Whom do you suppose will be the touchstones, the TV icons, of our children’s generation? Miley Cyrus? Steve? Tim Gunn and Nina Garcia?
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Filed under Uncategorized, television.
Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about the 2003 HBO movie Normal, where Tom Wilkinson plays Roy Applewood, a middle-aged midwestern dad with a factory job who goes through a sex-change operation. It was a great TV movie, understated, no false notes. Wilkinson, as always, was convincing, funny, wrenching. His family had compelling and believable reactions, at times freaked-out, bemused, angry, compassionate. Workplace scenes were excruciating. And you rooted for Roy because you felt you knew him, and his desires seemed so completely understandable, and…normal.
Ace is now in day camp, and there’s a fellow camper who is a boy who dresses like a girl. And granted the camp is in a very touch-feely city in a very blue state, and is an arts camp to boot, and yet still, every day I’m amazed that everyone takes this kid in stride.
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Tags: cross-dressing, day camp, Normal, Tom Wilkinson
Filed under parenting.
Global media conglomerate DCI provides quite the personality test with its properties Discovery Channel and The Learning Channel. Both offer myriad possibilities for passively pursuing your interests, and what you pick may say much about you.
In a sweeping stereotype, it appears Discovery is for guys and TLC for chicks. Macho Discovery boasts Survivor Man, Deadliest Catch, MythBusters, Smash Lab, Future Weapons, Dirty Jobs and so on. Interpersonal TLC invites you in and maybe even helps you out with What Not to Wear, A Wedding Story, Jon & Kate Plus Eight, I Can Make You Thin, Take Home Nanny, Say Yes to That Dress. Sure, there’s crossover—The Learning Channel’s got American Chopper, not exactly a feel-good show. But by and large both channels seem programmed in broad, gender-based strokes. As for usefulness of this terrific edutainment, that’s for another post.
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Tags: DCI, Discovery Channel, Les Stroud, The Learning Channel
Filed under television.
Nielsen Media is expanding its analysis of the viewing habits of the average American to include Internet and mobile-phone statistics. Their “three-screen” report for May still puts TV way out in front as the medium of choice (121 hours that month on average!), but the other two screens are gaining exponentially. Americans averaged 2 hours and 19 minutes of video-viewing online in May and, of the reported 4.4 million subscribers to mobile video services, a whopping average of 3 hours and 15 minutes per month.
Around my house, we’ve yet to master using the Internet for video. Mr. T is watching coverage of the Tour de France online and we’ll probably watch some more obscure Olympic events on a laptop, too. But for a full season of the brilliant BBC series, The IT Crowd, Mr. T and I watched in bed (downside: we need more pillows or a decent headboard) with the laptop propped on his knees (hot after a while, plus the screen kept dimming out as Energy Saver mode kicked in, plus it wasn’t nearly loud enough). We’ve thusly watched a missed episode of Lost and the rest of the season of the canceled Andy Barker P.I., too, but it’s obviously not the ideal set-up.
How do you (comfortably) watch video over the Internet? What do you watch online and why? And do you watch stuff over your phone? Really? God, I’m old.
Image courtesy of stebbi at Flickr.com.
Filed under technology, television, video.
Blue’s Clues is currently enjoying a golden age at our house. Ace and Deuce generally get ½ hour of TV a day, and they have to agree on what they’ll watch or no dice. I’m not completely sadistic–they have sporadic lucky days where they get an hour, and each get to pick a show. Weekend movies are also personal choices. But usually it’s the joint ½ hour, and they better agree or I’m turning it off. Solomon I ain’t, especially by 5PM. And while I’m always gunning for the witty Charlie and Lola or George Shrinks, Blue’s Clues somehow fits all Ace-and-Deuce criteria, and frankly I’m just glad it’s not Johnny and the Sprites.
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Tags: Blue's Clues, John Tartaglia, Johnny and the Sprites, Steve Burns
Filed under children's tv.
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