probably crap but tin man tonight on scifi reimagines the wizard of oz. some quality actors involved dreyfuss, alan cummings and zooey deschanel.

also, don rickles garners some attention tonight on an hbo special.

history channel reruns its hippies doc at 8

new survivor man on the science channel at 9.

Last summer, even as he talked about facing jail time, Jim Stevenson couldn’t stop looking for birds. “There’s a couple yellow-crowned night herons,” he said, pointing out his living-room window. “They roost in that chinaberry tree.” He rested his eyes on the blue-gray birds. “Anyway, the cops pulled me over and searched my van and found the gun, and —”


Stevenson is a bearish, ruddy-faced 54-year-old former science teacher who is known as the ornithological guru of Galveston, Tex. Ten years ago, he moved to this Gulf Coast barrier island because of its abundant shorebirds. Enormous flocks of American avocets, willets, sanderlings, dowitchers and plovers feed in the shallow, fertile estuary of Galveston Bay. Stevenson built his house amid a clump of trees so he could always be watching birds; he lives in a bird blind. Birds are his obsession and his profession. He is the director of the Galveston Ornithological Society and publisher of the quarterly newspaper Gulls n Herons. For money, he leads bird-watching tours.

evel dead

persepolis (wiki)

Some video camera geekitude follows

When there is a lot of hype and secrecy it seems like the announcements never pan out, but, supposedly, something revolutionary is going to be announced today. Here's hoping it's not another Segway.

Google to bid on 700MHz spectrum:

"We believe it's important to put our money where our principles are," said Eric Schmidt, Chairman and CEO, Google. "Consumers deserve more competition and innovation than they have in today's wireless world. No matter which bidder ultimately prevails, the real winners of this auction are American consumers who likely will see more choices than ever before in how they access the Internet."

havent bought a dvd in a while but im always tempted by a deal in this case buy one get one free. this was the best i could come up with from those listed for the amount i was willing to spend.

two box sets:

Comedic genius Peter Sellers brings his talent to these four classics: THE PINK PANTHER, CASINO ROYALE, THE PARTY, and WHAT'S NEW PUSSYCAT?
plus

Roger Corman's many talents are put on display in this eclectic collection of films including BLOODY MAMA, THE YOUNG RACERS, THE WILD ANGELS, THE PREMATURE BURIAL, GAS-S-S, X: THE MAN WITH X-RAY EYES, A BUCKET OF BLOOD, and THE TRIP.

all for $28 total.

We sort of knew this already, but now it's more official: Verizon is choosing LTE for it's next generation (4G) wireless network. LTE is in the GSM family, so that's it for CDMA I guess? This makes their "open network" announcement sound even a little better (what good is an open network if the devices have to be CDMA and there aren't any CDMA devices other than those built for Verizon's network?)

some nice selections tonight on tcm from brian dennehy. just watched the carol reed directed odd man out. just started an angry young man era flick starring albert finney. tivoing the brit black comedy the wrong box which follows.

Google Inc. is expanding into alternative energy in its most ambitious effort yet to ease the environmental strain caused by the company's voracious appetite for power to run its massive computing centres.

As part of a project announced Tuesday, the Internet search leader and its philanthropic arm will pour hundreds of millions of dollars into a quest to lower the cost of producing electricity from renewable energy sources such as wind and the sun.

If Google realizes its goal, the cost of solar power should fall by 25 to 50 per cent, co-founder Larry Page said in an interview.

Eastern bloc retro futurist art (mostly magazine covers) from the 1930's through the 1970's

Super powered maglev wind turbine.

Verizon to open their wireless network to any apps, any device in 2008. That certainly sounds good, although we'll see what they mean by "any". From engadget:

So any device (including applications) tested and certified in VZW's new $20 Million test lab is fair game for use on their wireless network. In other words, Verizon becomes the data pipe, and nothing more for these new "bring-your-own" customers.

Sort of sounds like a vague response to Android, and yet more pressure building to counter the iPhone. And that's good for everyone.

d'artagnan

with the market in a state of change the focus of the flip shows has tipped from flipping for big dough to resto for the love of it (cough cough... ) style of flipping show :

Have you ever stared at the carpet on your floor and wondered if there was a beautiful, original wood floor underneath just waiting to be restored? Or seen a run-down shack that looks like it was once a beautiful Victorian mansion?

If you have or are just fascinated by meticulous restoration, don't miss our fun, new show, Flip It Back. Airing November 17th at 9PM on TLC, Flip It Back spends a full hour following Gable Painter (yes, it's his real name) as he obsessively restores an old Victorian home in Union Hill neighborhood in Richmond, Virginia. This special episode offers an detailed look at how Painter reuses, restores and recovers materials to ensure an authentic look.

the host comes off pretty well on this show as a genuinely nice guy with real skills and good judgment. at one point he blows off steam hopping in his truck to do some dumpster diving around the hood and finding useable doors and fireplace mantles, thusly saving on a tight budget funds and keeping the materials real - not home depot junk.

rip squeezer/actor dick wilson

Coming up at 8:00 on AMC: The Searchers, John Ford/John Wayne post-heroic western. Often cited as the peak of the genre.

I'm making my first attempt at brining a turkey. We followed this Chez Panisse method. Put it in the fridge at 6:00pm last night. We'll see.

What are other folks making today? Adman? Skinny?

the real news

The most powerful leader in the world had called upon me to speak on his behalf and help restore credibility he lost amid the failure to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. So I stood at the White house briefing room podium in front of the glare of the klieg lights for the better part of two weeks and publicly exonerated two of the senior-most aides in the White House: Karl Rove and Scooter Libby.

There was one problem. It was not true.

I had unknowingly passed along false information. And five of the highest ranking officials in the administration were involved in my doing so: Rove, Libby, the vice President, the President's chief of staff, and the president himself.

Nothing in the children’s entertainment of today, candy-colored animation hopped up on computer tricks, can prepare young or old for this frightening glimpse of simpler times. Back then — as on the very first episode, which aired on PBS Nov. 10, 1969 — a pretty, lonely girl like Sally might find herself befriended by an older male stranger who held her hand and took her home. Granted, Gordon just wanted Sally to meet his wife and have some milk and cookies, but . . . well, he could have wanted anything. As it was, he fed her milk and cookies. The milk looks dangerously whole.

dim sum here was only good after a very nice meal many months ago, was expecting more on the dumpling camp, plus the gang was not feeling that yahoo so it slowed me down, i ate my share of yummy pork parts inc a great dish of super crispy baby pig

dirty bird need to get here soon, as fried chicken and coleslaw is on my all time favorite combo list....

with the directv hr20 settop pvr & dsl, one can download movies to the hard drive. mostly free. five thousand, three hundred titles.

An 18-foot minke whale ran aground on a sandbar in the Amazon jungle some 1,000 miles from the ocean, Brazilian media reported Friday.