Wow … Saturday Night Live debuted 50 years ago
RichC | April 22, 2025
Tech Friday: Replaced the “fairly new” television in the condo
RichC | April 11, 2025
Just a bummer of a Tech Friday and shopping post after our “fairly new” 65” TCL Smart TV failed to light up the screen when we were at the condo in Florida. It was a great buy and the image quality was excellent … but it didn’t last. After looking around on the Internet, it […]
Getting better sleep by watching an episode of Hogan’s Heroes
RichC | December 26, 2024
Sleep has never been a problem for me until this past year or so. I don’t know if it is age or that my mind is filled with too much stuff — my running out of hard drive space theory (a worthless thought for another time). Anyway, I mentioned this to my primary care physician […]
Tech Friday: WSJ review of sports streaming options
RichC | March 22, 2024
Although at this point I’m still sticking with cable for my Internet and television entertainment, the difficulty in watching certain sporting events is increasing. I’m not happy about Amazon locking up Thursday Night Football and did not like having to plan ahead for the NFL playoff game in January, but for the most part … […]
Happy Valentine’s Day: A NEW, but OLD, television series for us
RichC | February 14, 2024
After subscribing to PeacockTV in order to watch one of the NFL playoff games this year, Brenda and I found a new but older television series call “The Office.” We are not so disconnected from popular TV entertainment to not have known about it, but just never spent time watching television when it was in […]
Will 2024 be the year to cut the cable TV cord?
RichC | December 10, 2023
It has been a few years since we entertained the idea of “cutting the cord” when it comes to cable TV. I’m once again inching closer as Altafiber (acquired Cincinnati Bell and Fioptics) has bumped up prices and forced an equipment update on us. It is both good and bad … since I’m not really […]
Watch vintage comedy TV before bed and sleep better #TBT
RichC | August 31, 2023
Brenda and I have transitioned from “mostly news” in the late evening to watching a half-hour of vintage comedy on TV … at least before bed. The repetitive drumbeat of depressing, anger-inducing news is not very conducive for a good night’s sleep. One of the funny shows we enjoy is the late 1960’s sitcom “Get […]
Tech Friday: Artificial Intelligence photos, video and voice
RichC | June 16, 2023
Technology advancements and AI photo and video editing has been around a few years (FaceApp photos) … but some of the newer fakes or clones are a bit “too” convincing (link to a “human generated” one, but not necessarily convincing). 
As a society, there’s no turning back once artificial intelligence abilities are here, but […]
Happy Birthday Taylor. Embrace the change this year.
RichC | June 10, 2023
It is hard to believe Taylor, our youngest, is celebrating another birthday (although better than not having them) and that he was born AFTER the long running television show (1952-1989) American Bandstand ended. It just so happens that Taylor was born a month after Dick Clark finished the final episode … it does not seem […]
A Friday Filler photo emulating TV’s “M*A*S*H” characters
RichC | May 19, 2023
As a long time fan of the long running television series “M*A*S*H,” I could help but be impressed by a photo making its way around social media (probably something to do with my age). This is an impressive group of young look-alikes posing for an eerily similar photo (I’m keeping my eyes open for the […]
Tech Friday: A big screen TV deal and Christmas light flashback
RichC | December 2, 2022
It is hard to believe that watching sports and movies on a 37" television just isn’t satisfactory enough these days? So when I saw a Walmart pre-Black Friday deal on a 65" TCL Roku TV for $228, I could not pass up the deal. It is very impressive for the money and a perfect upgrade […]
Music Monday: “Movin’ On Up” – Ja’net DuBois
RichC | July 18, 2022
Don’t ask me what triggered the 1975 television show The Jeffersons theme song, but caught myself bopping to the tune in my head this past weekend (and I’m not really a “bopper”). The All in the Family spinoff wasn’t a series that I watched as a teenager, but the catchy theme song written by Ja’net […]
Tackled office painting and a minor winter weekend project
RichC | January 11, 2022
The past weekend projects consisted mostly of trim painting and then roller painting the long and drawn out office update project. Part of it is due to other things getting prioritized … like Christmas and family … and some of it out of my dislike for painting. BUT, I finally “cut” or trim painted all […]
The “fuel surcharge model” for TV cable content delivery?
RichC | December 11, 2021
It is a sneaky way to increase what I thought was a customer to Cincinnati Bell “contracted-each-year” cable TV and Internet monthly bill? Nope, according to @CincyBell … after being mislead by customer service that the below increases were “government related fees” and “out of their control” … the increases are negotiated contracts with content […]
A couple days of photos leftover from the weekend: Part 1
RichC | December 8, 2021
Since part one of a couple of blog photo posts will be pubic and not include family, I’ll archive it first. I finished (hopefully) the NINE trailer loads of leaves I mulched and raked in the front yard this year. Oh for the pre-Global Warming and now Climate Change days of burning leaves rather than […]
Halloween gremlins creep in to finish off our Florida vacation
RichC | October 26, 2021
Let’s start with "we had a great time in Florida" this past week" (more to come) … but the cleanup weekend ended with a couple gremlins. I blame it on the "uncarved" pumpkins left by the granddaughters. HA! Actually there were no unexpected problem while they were in Delray Beach with us, but after they […]
Slow, but not necessarily steady, progress on my home office
RichC | July 17, 2021
Slow progress on my home office as I continue to work in disarray; I am missing my accessory junk … including a small hanging TV. I don’t necessarily “watch” business television, instead listen to the stream via SiriusXM to my Aftershokz Aeropex headset. Occasionally though, do still find it helpful to have a video image […]
Book: Operation Pedestal – The Fleet That Battled to Malta, 1942
RichC | July 14, 2021
Progress has been slow in my latest nightly book reading, in part due to being wiped-out by full days with our granddaughters last week and more recently watching a few episodes each night of an old 1965-1971 sitcom called Hogan’s Heroes (mention once before). So for a update on reading Operation Pedestal by Max Hastings, “I […]
Another Music Monday TV theme song from an in-my-opinion effective Applebee’s commercial with “Cheers” intro
RichC | June 21, 2021
This content is restricted.
Music Monday: a commercial for Applebees, John Sebastian, Television themes songs and Welcome Back Kotter (1975-1979)
RichC | June 7, 2021
This content is restricted.
Pandemic TV watching has shifted from people to their homes
RichC | April 28, 2021
Brenda and I chuckled the other day that while we watch television news interviews and participating on Zoom calls, that we find ourselves noticing, pondering and commenting on "backgrounds" since the COVID19 pandemic. The included TV photo (left) is just an example as to what we do in thinking and commenting on the antiques, artwork […]
Who doesn’t love the Gilligan’s Island TV show? #TBT
RichC | March 11, 2021
My generation grew up with a handful of odd, yet popular with kids, television shows, none more endearing that Gilligan’s Island … which shockingly is still loved by almost everyone in reruns still today. After mentioning the passing of Dawn Wells, who play castaway Mary Ann, I realized that only Tina Louise (Ginger) is still […]
Backing up, updating Linux and installing WordPress 5.7
RichC | March 10, 2021
After having a server glitch and failed update this morning, it seemed like a good time to backup, updated Linux and test WordPress 5.7 “Esperanza” with a post today. For the most part everything has been running fine since setting up SWAP space, but any issue triggering a crash makes me question what I’m missing? […]
Music Monday: Gilligan’s Island theme mashed with Led Zeppelin
RichC | February 8, 2021
For those who grew up on one of my favorite TV shows, Gilligan’s Island … and in later years listened to the music of Led Zeppelin … here’s an interesting YouTube video for this week’s Music Monday. On a more depressing note, I was sad to hear America’s favorite “girl next door” actress Dawn Wells […]
Tech Friday: Our small Echo Dot on the Home Theater ceiling
RichC | January 29, 2021
Now that the wiring in the basement is no longer laying on the floor in order to feed the kitchen television cable extender and ceiling repairs are finished up, I’ve been cleaning up and moving things back into the home theater and game room areas. With some fresh paint everything looks pretty good, so I […]
Sad, but still enjoying the final season of Last Man Standing
RichC | January 6, 2021
Now that the final season of Last Man Standing has started (Jan 3, 2021), Brenda and I are finally catching up on the previous season that I recorded on the DVR. We had forgotten just how much we enjoyed this sitcom. It is hard to remember the last time both of us laughed at the […]
Remembering a couple 1970s TV shows and commercials
RichC | November 24, 2020
A car enthusiast’s off-topic “Today’s Useless Tweet” got me thinking about old television shows that I enjoyed while growing up. I’m sure almost everyone my age flirts with nostalgia and can go on indefinitely with memories of their youth? His Banacek share (good show) and the George Peppard memory, which for me will always be […]
Payment processing: Testing Square’s link tool with a Monocle
RichC | May 31, 2020
This content is restricted.
Music Monday: Dusty Springfield and The Six Million Dollar Man
RichC | November 25, 2019
This content is restricted.
The final season 4 of The Man In The High Castle airs 11/15/2019
RichC | November 14, 2019
Not often, but once in a while there is a television series that hooks both Brenda and me. When “binge-watching” started in earnest, a decade or so ago, it was Jericho for us (although we Tivo-ed it weekly), then 24 (although in 2009 we watch DVDs pre-streaming), and then one of our favorites, FX Networks The […]
Fifty years ago NASA launched Apollo 11 in our race to land a man on the moon in the 1960s
RichC | July 16, 2019
In the space race with the Soviet Union (USSR) during the 1960s, the United States “rocketed” ahead on July 16, 1969 as NASA sent the three men of Apollo 11, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins into space at 9:32AM EST. The Apollo command module and Lunar Module (LM) sat atop the huge 363-feet […]
Very funny – Annalyn thinks Taylor looks like Rutledge Wood
RichC | May 8, 2019
This content is restricted.
There are few good TV shows, but thankful for Last Man Standing
RichC | December 4, 2018
Now that my favorite TV comedy with Tim Allen is back on the air … I read a bit about Last Man Standing’s cancelation by ABC and how the show eventually made it’s way to FOX. I never did buy the "it wasn’t for political reasons" comment from ABC … as who cancels their #2 […]
The TV sitcom Last Man Standing returns at 8PM on FOX
RichC | September 27, 2018
Can’t wait for the return of Tim Allen and Last Man Standing cast to FOX after being cancel on ABC — my DVR series is set for Friday night at 8PM (yes, I know about streaming services … but I just don’t trust them!) Multi-cam comedy LAST MAN STANDING, starring Tim Allen, heads to FOX […]
Music Monday: Theme from Amazon’s Man in the High Castle
RichC | April 30, 2018
This content is restricted.
Music Monday: Steve Carlisle singing WKRP in Cincinnati
RichC | March 19, 2018
This content is restricted.
Internet Speeds continue to rise – 100 then 300 now 500 Mbps
RichC | March 14, 2018
After switching from TWC/Spectrum one year ago, Cincinnati Bell’s Fioptics (Fiber) delivered television video and Internet to our house as been excellent. Their Internet speed continues to rise (currently checking with DSLReports/speedtest). Last year I was happy to have my speed increase to 100Mbps down when switching to CincinnatiBell, but then after losing promotional perks […]
Finished covering the risers while watching the Daytona 500
RichC | February 18, 2018
Sunday was the perfect day to finish up “covering” the lifts for the rear row of our new home theater seats. Now all 8 seats have a great view … even in recline mode. After building the “boxes” a week or so ago, I picked up some closeout brown polyester outdoor furniture upholstery material at […]
So much for new home theater seating for Super Bowl 52
RichC | February 4, 2018
This is what I get for procrastinating until this weekend — TWO right hand seats! The boxes containing the long delayed leather home theater seats (ie. basement flood of 2013) arrived a couple weeks ago but I waited until this weekend to unpack since I was out of town last weekend. I unboxed them and […]
Surprised at what I’m still learning about the Vietnam War
RichC | September 22, 2017
The Ken Burns and Lynn Novick 10 part documentary THE VIETNAM WAR airing each night this past week on PBS has been eye opening even for someone who "thought" they knew their Vietnam history. I’ve read a lot of books over the years and lived through most of the war stateside in real time (to […]
Cut the cord — and then added a few channels back
RichC | March 4, 2017
Well … so much for cutting the cord as I mentioned in February and contemplating using the Sony Playstation Vue streaming service for the few channels ($30/mo) we wanted to receive that are unavailable over-the-air. We never really got to that point since the local antenna channels seemed way too slow in changing and somewhat […]
Testing an inexpensive OTA antenna before cutting the cord
RichC | February 28, 2017
Television habits, elimination of a landlines and much faster Internet speeds have changed the way most of us use and think about connectivity nowadays … and I’m not the first to once again contemplate "cutting the cable cord." The first step is likely knowing what is available over the air and IF an affordable high […]
The training of Shaolin monks – photo from 1971
RichC | December 4, 2016
One of the television shows I enjoyed growing up watching was Kung Fu with David Carradine. The program regularly flashed back from Carradine’s character Kwain Chang Caine in the old west to China where he grew up learning the Chinese martial arts from the monks at the Shaolin Monastery. When I saw this photo from […]
Those Values.com TV commercials strike a chord
RichC | March 7, 2016
Who doesn’t enjoy the short breaks between the hour upon hour of negative news on TV? The Values.com and RandomActsofKindness.org organizations are a worthy humanitarian outreach.
A Ben Bernanke cameo in The Big Bang Theory? #TBBT
RichC | February 19, 2016
It is fun finding out about cameo appearances in movies and TV programs … as I mentioned the other day with singer/songwriter Jimmy Buffett. Another cameo tidbit popped up after this week’s popular The Big Bang Theory sitcom. According to the commentary on FoxBusiness, the previous Fed chair Ben Bernanke and his wife are big enough […]
Time Warner Cable commercial — “Back and Forth”
RichC | October 25, 2015
It is interesting how certain commercials are bring smiles to our faces … but we always seem to stumble on a commercial that sticks in our heads. This one from Time Warner Cable has Brenda and me doing back and forth “yes, welcome” to each other … just as one from Geico did in 2012. It’s […]
Streaming our home TV signal with Sling for 10 years #TBT
RichC | July 23, 2015
Wow … 10 years ago I bought my first “original” Slingbox. I thought this gadget was the coolest thing and even upgraded it in 2012 (has it been that long?) I used it regularly on the road with the laptop or Palm Treo (photo below) and “sling-ed” our home TV video (or just audio) signal […]
Consumers are not satisfied with their cable companies
RichC | June 6, 2015
In a 2015 look at cable companies, very few customers are happy with their providers, in fact the report indicates a couple of the biggest have lost ground (chart below). Barely half of Mediacom Communications, Time Warner Cable and Comcast customers indicate that they are satisfied with service … and the latter two above have […]
A special Happy Birthday to the person I love the most
RichC | August 12, 2014
For those of you wondering, I AM talking about my wife Brenda. Happy Birthday. We don’t generally make a fuss over birthdays like some couples, but we do try to do something thoughtful or go out to a nice restaurant. Don’t tell her, but this year I found the first three seasons of one of […]
Obit: James Garner was one of my all time favorite actors
RichC | July 21, 2014
Time moves forward and it is always noticeable when the steady stream of celebrities and notable figures retire from public life or succumb to illness or age. One such favorite of mine was James Garner, an actor I enjoyed while growing up, died in his home at age 86 this past weekend. His role as […]
Time Warner Cable: long term mistakes for short term gains
RichC | February 1, 2014
The Wall Street Journal reported that customers are fleeing Time Warner Cable to the tune of 825,000 TV users in 2013. There is an increase in competition and a change in viewing habits as younger subscribers cut the cord choosing to watch over the air digital (free) TV or just Internet TV on-demand. What’s TWC’s […]
CNBC anchor Mark Haines dies at age 65
RichC | May 25, 2011
Although I’ve never been a big Mark Haines fan, he was part of my routine for the 22 years he was on as on CNBC as one of the founding faces. I saw him the way many watchers and coworkers did, as a “crusty curmudgeon” on Squawkbox. I would often catch myself “squawking” back at […]
The Rockford Files redux on NetFlix
RichC | March 30, 2011
This content is restricted.
Republican vs Democrat and TV show preferences
RichC | November 11, 2010
Although including politically oriented subject matter on my blog is divisive, it is still something that “we” talk about in our daily grind so I’ll still continue to include a few pointed posts. I’d like to think that with November 2nd is behind us we’ll see a year or so of productive governing in Washington […]
Netflix one month trial promo runs again – until 6/15/2010
RichC | April 27, 2010
Let me know if you are interested in movies, documentaries and TV programs from Netflix and I’ll forward the first ten names for ONE month of FREE … so as long as you are not currently a Netflix member. Netflix’s offers a solid mail delivery program and best streaming over the Internet service (in my […]
The 2010 season premiere of 24 highlighted the Palm Pre
RichC | January 18, 2010
There was a day when we didn’t watch much TV, but nowadays that wouldn’t be true. Besides too much football and cable news, my wife and I have become addicted to a few weekly programs … one which had its 2010 season premiere Sunday evening: 24. As usual, it was exciting and left me hanging […]
Spotted a Cruising World issue on season 3 NCIS episode
RichC | December 31, 2009
I’ve mentioned my favorite sailing magazine (Cruising World) before on my blog, but a fraction of a second appearance of a December 2003 issue in one of my favorite CBS television programs, NCIS, made my night. We’ve been working our way through the television series when during the ‘Untouchable’ episode in Season 3 of […]
Happy Thanksgiving and searching Internet TV with Clicker.com
RichC | November 26, 2009
Happy Thanksgiving and safe travel to my friends and family on the road. We are enjoying a day of turkey and tasty food at my brother and sister-in-law’s house today, which is becoming a tradition. Although I don’t say it often, I couldn’t ask for a better brother and if ask what I’m thankful for […]
CNBC rings closing bell on Wall Street celebrating 20 years
RichC | April 17, 2009
Although I’m not a big fan of the “pinheaded”politically oriented peacocks managing and broadcasting at NBC news or MSNBC, I have watched the Consumer News and Business Channel (CNBC) since the early 1990s. In fact, their broadcast was the primary reason I switched from rabbit ears to satellite television.They are the 4 to 6 billion […]
Desultory - des-uhl-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee
- lacking in consistency, constancy, or visible order, disconnected; fitful: desultory conversation.
- digressing from or unconnected with the main subject; random: a desultory remark.