Michael Ashby | mashby

November 9, 2005

Mashby’s Top 10 Television Shows

With all the talk this week about the mechanics of receiving television this week, I thought it was high time to talk about the shows themselves. I’m a confirmed TV junkie who can’t seem to get enough. When I stumbled upon Broadcatching, my addiction got the best of me, but over the summer I pulled myself together and got my habit under control. So here’s my top 10 list of the creme de la creme of what’s out there on the boob tube. I’m listing them in my order of preference, so you don’t have to wait until tomorrow for the top-rated shows. Bon appétit!

01. “Firefly” (FOX)
This series was canceled in 2002, but to this day it stands out as my favorite television show. Created by Oscar and Emmy nominated writer Joss Whedon, who had created two blockbuster hits for FX with “Buffy The Vampire Slayer” and “Angel“, was asked to create one more show for them. What he came up with was “Firefly“. The network eagerly bought the show and then didn’t know what to do with it. They decided not to air the pilot, then dumped it into a crappy time slot and in the end canceled it. Idiots.

Lucky for us, the fan base for the show was legion and they were vocal. After the show was canceled, they started up a grass roots campaign to drive the sales of the DVD for the series and that got Universal’s attention who decided to continue the story with the first of hopefully 3 movies called Serenity. The series is great, the movie is great and it’s all shiny.

“So what’s the story about?” It doesn’t matter. Go buy the DVD and watch it. “But isn’t it Sci-Fi?” It is and it isn’t. It’s unlike any show that’s out there, so go buy it and watch it. “Yeah, but I’ve heard it’s a western too” It doesn’t matter. Go buy the DVD and watch it.

November 8, 2005

On-Demand Deal Doesn’t Really Meet Consumer Demands

A man scratching his head I didn’t really mean to make the topic of downloadable TV, or TV On-Demand, a theme for the week, but after reading a few announcements today I felt a few words were in order. Today CBS and NBC made two big announcements regarding providing content from their network in an On-Demand model. This of course comes on the heals of the ABC deal with iTunes, but it differs from that arrangement pretty significantly. Instead of just jumping on the bandwagon and signing up with iTunes, CBS and NBC are both using a model of using a Digital Video Recorder (DVR) to receive their programming. So instead of using your computer, you use a DVR directly connected to your television.

So how is this different? Well, with this model, you would have a dedicated device connected to your television that would then communicate with your television provider to receive the content. Once received and purchased, you could then hit a button on your remote and watch the program. With the iTunes model, you can easily download the content, but you have the hurdle of getting it to your television. With a DVR that hurdle doesn’t exist. Sounds like an easier solution then, right? Well, it is and it isn’t.

November 7, 2005

The Future Of Download TV Looks Very Bright

A flat-screen television with sunglasses on I’ve written in the past how much I enjoy Broadcatching, but since that article it’s become harder and harder to use BitTorrent to successfully download content. On the other hand, it could also be that broadcatching has the same hurdles it always had, but I’m just now finding it tedious. Whatver the case, downloading TV isn’t what it use to be back in the day – like 9 months ago. Of course, I’ve also been a big proponet of the broadcasters selling their content online via download. In fact, for the record, I wrote about the viability of this content distribution channel back in May 2005. So you can imagine my elation and sense of validation when Apple announced that they were now distributing television via iTunes.

In case you missed the announcement, Apple released its next generation iPods and one of the new features was the ability to play videos. In addition, they announced that they were now making available for sale music videos and select television content from ABC and Disney. This was HUGE news, because it was the first step in what will probably become an avalanche of content. For now though, there’s only 3 shows from ABC (Lost, Desperate Housewives, and Night Stalker) and 2 from Disney (That’s So Raven, and The Suite Life of Zack and Cody), but with those two large networks signed up, it’s only a matter of time before other broadcasters belly up to the bar.

Now I could lose myself in the possibilities and the excitement of what’s to come, but given that the menu that is currently available for TV is fairly small, I think I’ll refrain. Why? Because it’s clear that the powers that be want to make sure that this model is viable. By releasing only three shows a piece, the broadcasters clearly want some proof before they go whole hog and provide more content. I was expecting to have to wait six months before the results came out, but Apple announced on October 10^th that they had sold over 1 Million videos in 20 days. Whaaa?!? :O

November 5, 2005

Thinking About Thanksgiving

A young boy wrestling a turkey Holly’s folks are coming up to visit us this Thanksgiving, so this morning I thinking about what to cook for the big holiday. I really like to cook and I don’t have a chance to do big family dinners much, what with it being just Holly and I, so when a holiday comes around, I tend to get a bit excited.
My first thought was to do a more traditional southern style dinner. It’s a style that Holly and I are quite familiar with and it’s just good comfort food. Then I got to thinking that since her folks are coming up, they’re kind of used to this style of cooking for the simple fact that they are from the deep south. So the idea of doing something they’re already used to, didn’t seem so exciting.

So I did what I always do when I’m at a loss for a menu – I went to Food Network.com. I’ve garnered a lot of excellent recipes from there and it’s the first place I turn to when I’m looking for something new. I found that they had a whole section devoted to Thanksgiving and with it a whole range of recipes to choose from.

Since the meat choice is the centerpiece of the dinner, I figured that was the first thing to nail down. I’ve done pheasant and quail for past holidays, but I thought going with the traditional turkey would be fun this year. So the next step was to determine which way to cook it and that led me to wide array of choices, but I was able to narrow it down somewhat and was down to two choices: Italian Style Turkey (Roasted with Fennel Spice Rub), or Deep-Fried Turkey.

What was nice though, is that once I make a decision on how to prepare the Turkey, there is a whole menu already associated with each recipe. That certainly makes it easy to plan the whole meal. The problem is, they both sound delicious and I can’t decide which one to go with.

November 3, 2005

An Update On Stuff And A Huge Thank You

Brain Dump It’s been awhile since I posted and that’s mostly due to the fact that I’ve been busier than a one-legged man in a butt kicking contest. So I thought it was high time that I at least posted a quick update on what’s been going on and give the much due “Thank You” that is long overdue. But first… the update.

» BRAT was awesome. I did all 350~ miles and had a blast doing it. The scenery was gorgeous and the riding couldn’t have been better.

» Holly and I rode the Jack & Back on our tandem Josephine and we rode the whole course. We ended up doing the short course each of the two days, and that worked out to be about 110 miles all totaled. We did the short course because I was suffering more than I ever have in my life. No kidding. Josephine was not setup for me, so it was nothing but pain, pain and more pain. I should probably write about it, because it was as humorous as it was excruciating.

» NPUG celebrated it’s 6th birthday on October 6^th. Hard to believe we’ve been around that long. I did the math just the other day, and I’d estimate that I’ve run approximately 60 meetings on Palm OS Handhelds during that time. Scary to think of it in those terms. I mean, who would have thought that there’d be THAT much to talk about? Who am I kidding? What’s my name?!? 🙂

» I became the editor for the BBC Hit Show Hustle over on TV.com. Since the bulk of my television viewing is done via downloads, I’ve stumbled across some real gems from the other side of the pond. Hustle is my favorite series that’s currently in production.

» My favorite television series that is not in production would have to be Firefly. My sister from another mother, Mary LaFleur turned me onto the show at Chris’ wedding and I think her pitch says it best. When I asked her what the show was about, her response was, “It doesn’t matter. Go buy the DVD and watch it.” Not one to leave well enough alone, I responded, “Yeah, but what’s it about. I mean isn’t it some kind of sci-fi western?” She just said, “It doesn’t matter. Go buy the DVD and watch it.” Well, she was absolutely right. If you haven’t seen it, then go buy it and watch it. It’s fantastic.

September 30, 2005

I Need Your Donation Today

Tomorrow, Holly and I are going to ride our bikes in the 11th Annual Jack Daniel’s “Bike to Jack & Back”. It’s a 150 mile bike ride to raise money for Multiple Sclerosis. I am on a team called “Katie’s Cruisers” and we’re riding for Kathleen Cullen, a friend who works for the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, who was diagnosed with MS about 12 years ago. She’s unable to ride, so we’re riding on her behalf and I need your help.

Obviously the purpose of the ride is to raise money, so I’m asking everyone who reads my blog to make a small donation. Believe it or not, even a small $5 donation is a big help and is greatly appreciated. The only catch, is that it has to be done today. All you have to do is go to this link (https://www.nationalmssociety.org/TNS/personal/default.asp?pa=52746479&pd=TNS0EMS120051001JAC) and select the “Sponsor Me” image on the right side of the page. From there you can make your pledge online without having to create an account or do anything fancy. What’s nice, is that you can also post a message that will appear on my sponsorship site.

I know that with Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, there’s a been a great deal of charity fund-raising that has probably left most of us feeling tapped out. I know that I feel that way personally, but I would encourage you, if at all possible to many and donation that you feel you can afford. $5 really can make a difference and every little bit helps. Thank you.

September 17, 2005

I’m Off To BRAT!

I know that I haven’t written in awhile, but September has been a VERY busy month. In addition to work and new projects, I’ve been preparing for the Jack Daniels’ MS 150 “Jack & Back” and in a few minutes, I’ll be heading out for the 2006 Bicycle Ride Around Tennessee (BRAT).

August 31, 2005

Live From New Orleans

Mike Rohde just sent me a link about a guy who is still in downtown New Orleans and he’s blogging and hosting a web cam. He goes by the name of Interdictor and from reading his profile he’s a bit extreme, but I guess you’d need to be in times like this. To quote is synopsis of his blog:

This journal has become the Survival of New Orleans blog. In less perilous times it was simply a blog for me to talk smack and chat with friends. Now this journal exists to share firsthand experience of the disaster and its aftermath with anyone interested.

Now you might be wondering just what the hell this guy is doing staying in New Orleans. Well, it seems he works for a company called DirectNIC, which hosts hundreds of thousands of web sites and their data center is located in downtown New Orleans. He’s on the 10th and 11th floors of a corporate high rise on 650 Poydras Ave right near St. Charles. They are running a diesel generator to keep power going and the police have been using their building as a staging area, so that’s good news.

August 31, 2005

Katrina And The Aftermath

Animated hurricane flags As you may, or may not know, I’m originally from Baton Rouge, Louisiana and if you’ve been watching the news at all for the past week or so, you’ve probably seen reporters broadcasting from there. Hurricane Katrina slammed into Louisiana and the Gulf Coast earlier this week and even made it’s way through Nashville yesterday. It’s been one hell of a storm and caused catastrophic damage along the way. I’ve been in constant contact with friends and family both in Baton Rouge and New Orleans and I thought I’d post an update.

Author / Michael Ashby