Ja mein freund.

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Hello, big guitar. Meet my little fingers.

Has anyone noticed broadcast television is practically unwatchable. Cable and satellite are not much better. 200+ channels and zip repeating itself day after day. Did all of the writers retire or quit or what. Thank you internet, Roku, Hulu, youtube, without these alternatives watching the boob tube would be a disaster. Sorry for the rant,

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you can save the world with your guitar one love song at a time it's just better, more fun, easier with a fender solid body electric guitar or electric bass guitar.

I know what you mean. It's really gotten bad. I watch a lot of movies on Netflix and Amazon Prime along with a ton of DVDs that we have. I watch the History Channel and a few others on satellite, but that's about it.

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Marky

Remember the music is not in the guitar

I suppose if I watch a broadcast channel at all, it would be PBS. Sometimes, I might watch a program, or the local news/weather. It depends on what it is. Other than that, it's just a few satellite channels that I stick with. I really don't watch a lot of TV, unless I'm in bed, or "The Walking Dead" is in season. I also tape a lot of shows and watch them later, instead of live.

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I'm hanging out, waiting for dawn so I can go for a walk. There's supposed to be some crap weather tonight, having to do with a tropical storm mixing with a Nor'easter, which we're supposed to get at least 2" of rain, and wind gusts up to 60 MPH.

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I have pretty much the full package on cable, and yes it has gotten worse. Monopolies have done a few things:

1) We lost coverage of major news and special events on a majority of networks or channels, and now the coverage is dedicated to one or two of the member stations. If you don’t like the take or coverage - tough luck. If more stations are added to the breaking news or follow up you’re likely to get similar coverage. There used to be lots of flavours and now it’s just vanilla.

2) Monopolies have taken over the sharing of same entertainment good or bad amongst the channels.

Factoid: Did you know Charlie’s Angels not only mirrored Mod Squad but an episode from Mod Squad “Cricket” appeared in script form on Charlie’s Angels’ “To Kill An Angel” where even some of the names were shared.

3) Morning shows are the same everywhere. Some are bigger, brighter, yes. However, whether it’s New York, LA, or the rural farmland a cooking segment or fashion show is basically the same.

4) I guess when TV stars migrated to the big screen at your local mall the writers went with them.

Today a TV performer will be seen everywhere from TV to movies to the concert stage to the talk show, and the boss for each is one in the same keeping competition and sometimes variety at bay.

5) Some TV series have no ending and should have, others (mostly quality ones with a price tag) should continue and don’t, and still others should never pass the pilot stage.

6) Local broadcasters once contributed to the Network. Now broadcasters have cut staff and resources only to be run from the Network. As the Networks got powerful, the broadcasters that supported them lost their influence and are now taking what they’re fed. Even control of studio cameras and other things are often run remotely from the big boys with the big toys.

I could go on, but I’ll summarize by saying one size fits all for the networks, homogenous is the new variety.

This could be to get people to leave the channels behind and encourage them to go to the less expensive (for them) site instead. After all, they own the material, it’s part of the monopoly game, and their writers are doing drafts on the new rules and regulations.
FSB

Max Headroom may make a return to a boob tube near you.

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Hello, big guitar. Meet my little fingers.

While I'm sitting here, doing the Fender Site thing, with the football game on in the background, I'm listening to my daughter's five month old puppy dreaming in his sleep. I hope it's a good dream for him. He's a Black Lab mix, that looks like he may be a good size dog.

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"Electric Lady"

I love puppies. They make the world a fun place to be in. Watching them grow is part of the fun.

Wishing the family plenty of good times. Another doggie finds a good home.
FSB

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Hello, big guitar. Meet my little fingers.

Puppies are a real experience, that's for sure.

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"Electric Lady"

I just did double duty of watching "The Walking Dead," while playing on the Precision Bass the whole time. Now, I'm checking forum posts and whatever else online.

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Reading my options on surround sound, and searching out cable converters.

Converting is the least of the problems, but knowing what decoded audio will go in and come out after cable conversion is sometimes sketchy. Then there is often more than one way to do a hookup. Cable types and formats come and go and my gear reflects that jumble of RCA, Toslink, Coax, and HDMI mismatches.

I already have a collection of cables that are leftovers and, perhaps, they’ll come in handy or maybe not. I have more sources than inputs and so switch boxes are also in order. I just don’t want to add to the collection by ordering cables and converters that won’t do the job. Sometimes, a return is not worth the effort. I’m almost there . . . after more reading for my weary eyes.
FSB

I don’t think a reliable quality wireless surround system will come easily for a job like this, but, as long as the market has a use for it, we’ll continue to get what’s out there.

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Hello, big guitar. Meet my little fingers.

I just finished using the elliptical machine and now having some green tea. The weather is to crappy outside, but at least we still have power (knock on wood.) There's lot of people inland that don't, according to the news reports. I also put in another hour on bass, this time with the hollow body violin bass. I've been gravitating towards the Precision Bass more than anything. I love that bass.

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Been there done that. Not fun and difficult for the less fortunate. Here’s hoping it’s not too long. It must be rough in the Caribbean and I’m guessing Florida and, of course, Texas and Louisiana, are for the most part, up and running.

We’re fortunate here. Hydro’s offices and structures are a couple of blocks away so we get pretty good service in times of severe weather, and so on.

Power to people!

FSB

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Hello, big guitar. Meet my little fingers.

How do they have the power companies structured in Canada? Is it a government run thing for the entire nation, or individual corporations for each province? In the US, or at least the two states I've lived in, it was a single corporation that powered the whole state.

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To the best of my knowledge, they are all run by the Provincial governments. The good part is that it is an essential service and run by government. The bad thing is that it’s run by government. It works pretty well and is kept pretty much up to date with exceptions. Inter-provincial and cross border deals are made and Canada is big on resources as the power is exported to the American grid. Manitoba is still building big dams with export in mind. Nebraska (and western Ontario) gets power from us. We did get some electricity back from Nebraska in the winter; but, that may have changed since a lot of development in the North has been and is still being done.

Niagara in Ontario is well known, but demand has all but stripped their original supply which has improved somewhat since New York’s blackouts (Quebec is a powerhouse too).

In Saskatchewan wind power is huge. Some call it a huge mistake as they found their towns’ expenses go up both for increased billing and the taxpayers’ cost for an alternative taken into consideration.

Nova Scotia has the highest and lowest tides in the world and that is being used and improved with experimentation, but not without environmental concerns, by scientists and corporations from around the world.

I recall California had a major statewide blackout when their power company changed hands and money went to investors instead of back into the business of providing the service.

I remember that in the 60s 10 dams were constructed with controversy in BC. In order to build them loans and investments were shared with USA. Agreements were made to supply power to the west coast down to California and elsewhere. Free power continued after the bills were paid and, needless to say, some eyes rolled.
Unfortunately, this generation will not see the benefits of Hydro’s development, and costs will remain or rise to meet the demand. It hurts to support these endeavours with taxation and no advantage with the billing. Still, it’s some satisfaction knowing that the people have a company that is going nowhere for now, until it ends up like other Crown corporations - picked up for a song.
In reality the total problem is more on how the Grid borrows from Peter to pay Paul when power backup splits the distribution putting a strain on the recipients. This is sort of like when your Internet provider throttles down your upload and download speeds in order to provide service elsewhere.

Ah, but then there are computers running the show. I’m not sure if government monitors or corporation geeks are best for keeping the system going and to prevent cybercrime.

There is some argument going on with Puerto Rico’s recent loss of power and restoration. Is it any better or worse dealing with a corporation or a government? Sometimes, the needs outweigh the desires. After all, an energy company is a whole different ball game. IMHO.

So, to summarize, our power for our amps and guitars pretty much comes from the same place in some way.

FSB

Here in Manitoba our home heating (gas) is also managed by Hydro.

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Hello, big guitar. Meet my little fingers.