Charlotte and Cocoa

Here are the two recent additions to our household. We're fostering a couple dogs for Seattle Beagle Rescue -- Charlotte the tri-color Beagle and Cocoa the chocolate Cocker Spaniel. This being Seattle, Monica pronounces her name Char-latte. Charlotte is very sweet, though she's fat, and not like Cindy Crawford. We just got Cocoa on Tuesday so don't know a lot about him yet. He is very affectionate and well-behaved so far, though he occassionally likes to mark his territory. This is a strange story -- he came from a "good" home and was well taken care of but he kept running away and his parents decided they didn't want to keep him anymore.

Veronica Mars cancelled

Not a surprise, but it's sad to see one of the few good shows on television go away. The season finale, which will technically be a series finale, is a two hour episode next Tuesday.

What is sad is that they couldn't make this decision two months ago when they were still writing/filming so that season 3 could lead to a true series finale that wraps up loose ends. While I believe those involved with the show knew in their heads that season 4 wasn't likely, it sounds like the season finale sets up things for season 4 rather than wrapping up the series.

While the poor ratings make the cancellation somewhat an obvious choice, there's a greater decision by CW what the network wants to stand for and what business plan it has. In the short run, it's all about ratings which convert to advertising dollars. But putting a bunch of trash on television (quick, name a show on CW other than Everybody Hates Chris), especially reality TV with cheap stunts, may give them a ratings boost short term, but in the long run they have inferior knock offs of shows the big 4 networks are doing and those fail. Remember all of the attempts to copy "Friends"; actually you probably don't remember them but there was one on the fall schedule every yea. CW has no "theme" or style other than we show the crap that CBS is too good to show. Despite its stuggles, UPN always had shows that appealed to the black crowd and could market to that demographic. CW used to have young, hip family dramas (with cult followings) but it's killed all of them.

My prediction: in six months, CW is consistently the sixth-highest rated network, is scrambling for mid-season replacements and Dawn Ostroff's job is in real jeopardy.

Other's comments and blogs:
Chicago Tribune

Softball Season

(or our 15 minutes of fame isn't over yet)

Most of you know that Monica and I met playing softball and continue to play in the league making us busy on Sundays throughout the summer. What you may not know (or not remember) is that I'm the chair of the league softball committee which oversees the league, effectively making me the commissioner. The season started May 6th and we played and won our first game this past Sunday. When I say "we", I mean the Jay Berry's team. Monica has decided to play on a different team this year for a number of reasons.

Also the seattle Jewish newspaper has a story about the league on their new web site; I'm not sure if it will make the print edition. I was interviewed for the article and the story of how Monica and I met is the lead. Check it out!

Catching Up

Haven't written anything in a couple of weeks.

One reflection on the trip not related to the scenery. I'm amazed at the Internet connectivity we had on the road. When we travelled across country three years ago, it was mainly hit-or-miss. A few places had Internet hubs in the room and you could check-out a cable to connect and having free WiFi was a big deal. This trip I everywhere we stayed had WiFi, even if they didn't advertise it on their web site. I did in part look for WiFi access, but our priorities were location and hotels that allowed dogs and had free breakfast. WiFi in a hotel has become as common as cable television. That said, we mainly stayed in small towns in 2-star and 3-star hotels. I'm curious what the fancier properties are doing. I always found it ironic than in the "cheap" hotel you get lots for free (breakfast, Internet access, computer room) but the more expensive places want to charge you for everything. Shouldn't it be the other way around.

Veronica Mars is back. I really liked the stand-alone episode format a lot. The season-long or 1/3-season long mysteries were cool with their complexity but it made for a long, drawn out plot. Check it out if you haven't already before they cancel it for good.

I'm sure you've heard about Josh Hancock, the Cardinals pitcher who died in an auto accident Sunday morning. It's always sad when some dies and often called tragic when someone dies young. What happened at Virginia Tech a couple weeks ago was a horrible tragedy. As the details emerge, I'm not sure "tragedy" is really the right word for what happened to Hancock. According to the latest reports, Hancock was plastered (BA of twice the legal limit), speeding, talking on his cell phone, and not wearing a seat belt. He may also have been smoking marijuana. That sounds like a time bomb waiting to go off. I think Darwinism is the word that applies here. I feel for his friends and family for their loss, but really I blame his teammates and the Cardinals organization more than having sympathy for them.

Monica and I went to two local Humane Society auctions the weekend of April 20/21st. Humane Society of King County (which we often call "the Humane Society" had it's annual Tuxes and Tails event on Saturday which was amazing and fancy as always. Sunday we went to the Humane Society aka Happy Paws farm which wasn't so nice. I joked with Monica that we should leave before dinner and I think she was actually ready to go. The more I attend auctions, the more I think about starting an auction consulting business. It's actually sad how poorly thought out some events are.