Kudos to WFAA and KDFW

As we speak, there are areas that are under Tornado Warnings. Johnson County currently has a severe thunderstorm that is attacking the county and has a history of spawning tornadoes. It spun off a tornado in Hill and Bosque Counties.

What do citizens need in this dire time? Late breaking news about the storm. This is important because some places do not have storm sirens and they need to know if something is coming their way. Since 3pm today, Pete Delkus has been on-air giving viewers the latest information that they need. I have been flipping around the different local affiliates to evaluate the coverage and I have been happy with some and disappointed with others.

WFAA Ch-8 and KDFW Ch-4 has stepped up and have been providing great coverage. KXAS Ch-5 has been doing a great job as well. They finally broke into regular programming after a while. Even KTXA Ch-21, the station that is as Independent as Texas has even broken into their regular programming to provide weather coverage.

However, KTVT, CBS Ch-11, has provided very little coverage. They feel that the football game is more important than the severe weather. They have done the split screen business, but they have not taken on the full fledged coverage as they should.

I know that some these storms have been in areas that have not been in the immediate DFW viewing area but they have moved into our area and some of those people can pick up our signal and pickup the major market tv stations on satellite tv. I feel that KTVT has failed their viewers, on the other hand, the viewers of the immediate area that have not been affected and their shows being pre-empted feel that the stations have failed them. But to each their own. This will allow viewers to see how the stations really feel about viewer safety to choose the "Coverage that they can count on.."

I am just glad that I got back to the Metroplex before all hell broke loose.. I would have been upset having to watch this from my car or from Houston....

Christmas Panto

On Virgin Radio yesterday, they did a Christmas Panto. For those who are unfamiliar, a Christmas Panto is performance that is specific to the UK. It is a very interactive show between the audience and the actors and also the show has a lot of current topics/people in it. For example, they take Cinderella and put a Virgin Radio spin on it by talking about things from the radio show and using DJ's in the Panto. Also included in this version is Thandi Newton and David Tennant. Thandi was in Crash and David Tennant is on BBC1's Dr. Who TV show.

As I said before, the Virgin Radio Panto is Cinderella. It is very funny. A little obscene, but hilarious nonetheless. It is definitely worth a listen.

There is a podcast version here : http://podcast.smgradio.com/oconnellweekly/061221_Christmas_panto_special.mp3

or, even better is the video version : http://www.virginradio.co.uk/djs_shows/shows/breakfast/features/christmas_panto.html

Even though you may not know who the DJ's or actors are, it is still worth watching/listening to. It is a good chance to experience another country's traditions at this time of the year.

Panto's are big business in the UK at this time of the year. Patrick Duffy from TV's Dallas is even performing on the West End (London's version of Broadway) in a Christmas Panto, ironically, the same as the Virgin Radio's Panto, Cinderella.

Just check it out. It is awesome!

Merry Christmas to all of you out there in the World Wide Web!

Does the Metroplex need another passenger airport?

It has been in the talks and now they are doing a study on it. WFAA's Dan Ronan reported that the officials at the McKinney Regional Airport are considering opening the airport to regional passenger traffic. If they did this, that would mean that in addition to flying out of D/FW International and Love Field, you would also be able to fly from McKinney to certain places that would be determined by the airline and FAA officials.

This would be great for those citizens living in McKinney or Collin County who do not want to make the commute to DFW or Love, but I don't feel that it is really necessary. It is an expensive job to begin with, you have to build a terminal, hire security, make it Homeland Security approved and such and that takes a lot of time and effort. In addition, it would add to the neighborhoods who already complain about the noise near their homes; IE: Love Field (my case for this is, DONT LIVE NEXT TO A MAJOR AIRPORT!) Ahem, sorry.

So what do you think? Is it worth all of the effort? Who would come in? Southwest is already stationed at Love Field and will not move its operations. Would this be something that American Eagle can handle or another small regional carrier? It will be interesting to see how all of this pans out..

The Dutch are Digital!

The Houston Chronicle had an article about the big switch in the Netherlands. They switched from an analog TV signal (bunny ear type signal) to a digital signal (like our HDTV signal where you need a special box and tv antenna to receive the signal). The US will be making this switch in 2009, meaning that all of us will have to get new tv's that are able to handle this, subscribe to cable or satellite tv, or we will have to get equipment to 'retrofit' our tvs to be able to read this new signal.

Many of our local tv stations already have the capability to broadcast in the digital signal, you can notice those station when they say to check them out on their channel on x.1 or x.2, for example, here in the 'Plex, we can watch NBC on 5.1 and we can watch their Weather Plus on 5.2. Same with Channel 8, regular tv on 8.1 and on 8.2, you get their Doppler radar and the NOAA weather channel audio.

What do you think about this change that will be occurring in 2 years?

There are many pros... Clearer pictures and audio, no need to adjust the bunny ears for a clearer signal and picture, ability to watch additional channels (8.1,8.2) (some smaller markets use this to bring other stations to the market, ie: Sherman/Denison, KXII, a CBS station uses their digital signal to bring those viewers the MYTV network along with a FOX Network)..

The only cons that I can think of would be the cost of retrofitting the tv to make it able to receive the new signal. Stations would have to foot up the money to convert, but many of them already have, so it is not that big of a deal. My concern is about the people in smaller markets who cannot necessarily afford to convert their tv's or to purchase a new tv. Will their screens go blank?

Let me know your thoughts....

And off they go!

It is that time again, time for #2 pencils, scantrons and blue books. Blue books will be my enemy this semester because that is all that history professors use. They have abandoned the scantron a long time ago. For some reason, all of the upper level professors want you to write essays.. I am not quite sure why...

For some of us, this will be our last time to combat our enemies mentioned above, and for some of us, we still have some opportunities to combat these foes.

To all of those out there with final enemies, good luck to you in your battles! Make it Legendary!

Fruit Pizza!

This weekend, I had a most interesting and delightful mixture of dough, cream cheese and fruit... Can you guess what it was? Fruit Pizza!

The crust was crusty and sugar cookie like and there was a nice layer of cream cheesy goodness that acted as glue to "glue" the fruit to the pizza. Among our fruity friends were grapes, blueberries, bananas, kiwi, and strawberries.

It was very good. I have heard about this for a while now and it was the first time for me to have it, so needless to say, I was very pleased!

Mad props to Laura who made this yummy yummy goodness...

Pictured above is an example of what it looked like...

So I Have a New Show Favorite

It is called How I Met Your Mother. It is on Monday nights on CBS, for those of us in the 'Plex and H-Town it is on Ch. 11 at 7pm. The basic premise is that it is a story about this father who is telling his kids how he met his mother, and he started from the very beginning, even before he met his wife. The voice over is done by Bob Saget, aka Danny Tanner for those of us Gen Yers, who is the voice of Ted, played by a great actor named Josh Radnor. It is a hilarious show. Also included in the cast is NPH or Neil Patrick Harris and Alyson Hannigan who we all know and love as Michelle from the American Pie Trilogy.

The one thing that I love about this show is that there is a lot of opportunities to relate with the characters. Everybody that I know who watches the show can easily identify with one of the characters. If you can emotionally invest in a character, it makes the show that much better. It is probably not too much of a good thing, because you should be living life and not watching tv, but that is just how the ball rolls sometimes.

It is also really funny. It seems to have a lot of smart comedy and the writing is just great. I watched the first season on DVD and I was left wanting to watch the beginning of the first season again so everything could make sense.

I wish that I started watching it from the beginning because I started watching it at the beginning of the 2nd season and I really didn't have any idea of what was going on. After watching the DVD of the 1st season, it all made sense.

If you have free time on Monday nights, I suggest that you check it out. It is definitely worth the time.

You can check out for weekly updates at my favorite TV website, www.givememyremote.com and you can also check them out directly at CBS's website at : http://www.cbs.com/primetime/how_i_met_your_mother/ .. you can also watch the latest episodes for free on the Intertube feature, just find it and click!

Thanks to Nathan for introducing me to this new AWESOME show....

BTW... its Legen...dary... (Watch the show and you will get it...)

The Preliminary Plans are here...

United Equity has released preliminary plans for their new property here in Denton. Amoung the new things that they want to do is bring in a drugstore (they are talking with CVS, as if we dont have any in town), a 3 story parking garage, and 2 restaurant along with some leased space and a new road to go through the property to connect Hickory and Oak. They are wanting to make it like a village with plenty of trees and walking space and benches. It sounds nice in theory, but it will not be the same and those of us who know and love the REAL Fry Street will not be so quick to warm up to these new businesses and areas.

Click here for the story from the Denton Record Chronicle and the PDF of the plans

As always, you can go to www.savefrystreet.com for the most up to date information

Get Ready CAS & SLIS Graduates!!

From what I hear, graduation is going to be a doozy. My friend who works in the College of Arts and Sciences said that our graduation is supposed to be 4 hours long. Not only is it for the College of Arts and Sciences, but we will also be graduating the School of Library Sciences. Now, we do have 2,000 someodd students to get graduated, but from what we are hearing, Dr. Bataille, UNT's new President, has changed up the way that graduation is done, but we are not sure about the details. All we know is that we have to be there bright and early at 8:00 AM. for lineup. Whoop!

The speaker this semester will be none other than.....drum roll please.... Dr. Kamman from the History Department and my departmental advisor!

I can't wait! I will have to make sure I get the Gameboy all charged up so I can have something to do while I am waiting... j/k

You can watch the ceremony online at www.unt.edu and there will be a link on the homepage if you are inclined to watch from home, which YOU BETTER NOT!

Tornado in London

Now this may not seem too out of the ordinary for our part of the world being in "Tornado Alley," but they do not get many these in the United Kingdom.

It affected about 150 homes in the Kensal Rise neighborhood of London. Displaced people are staying in a local church tonight until they can find more permanent accommodations. A Sky News weatherforcester (which from the weather features that I saw on Sky this summer, I did not know existed..) estimated that the winds were about 100 MPH which would put it as an F1 on the Fujita Scale which says that the tornado will rip off tiles off of roofs and will move automobiles, which happened in Kensal Rise.

This year, the UK is experiencing above average rainfall amounts, which I guess makes sense due to El Nino..

It was just really interesting to hear about the Tornado in London on Virgin Radio because I just assumed that it was a really rare occurrence, but comes to find out, they have about 30 tornadoes a year.. weird...

What is it with viewers?

Sorry again for the big gap.. work has been crazy and I have not been able to get a word in...

I have been wondering for quite a while why NBC 5 has been doing so well in their ratings. If you go to Uncle Barky and read any day's descriptions along with the ratings, NBC 5 is always on top. This is coming from the station who always leads with shootings as their lead story. Who really wants to watch these kinds of stories? Their other story are about the same. There is no real intellect, I feel, in their newscast. When I first arrived in the Metroplex, I used to watch NBC 5 all of the time, but then I found another station. They have a real professional looking newscast and they do not follow the old adage that says, "If it bleeds, it leads."

I guess the reason that NBC is in the lead in ratings is that they have good lead-ins to their newscast: Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, and many other shows that bring in high ratings all on their own. Maybe people just leave the tv on to take a shower after they watch these shows. I do not know, but it does not make sense.

The only other conclusion that I can make is that those viewers enjoy watching those types of stories. If that is the case, that is just sad..

Get ready!

Our first wintry-hard freeze day is coming on Thursday. Unfortunately, there will not be any sticking of the cold stuff because:

1. It will be 42 degrees outside, not cold enough for freezing
2. The day before the high temps will be in the high 70's, low 80's and the ground will be too warm to allow the ice to stick (which really sucks, because it would be awesome if school and work can be cancelled!)

But is still exciting nonetheless. In the northern counties, there is a chance for sleet/freezing rain to fall, so that is still awesome. I just need to obtain a nice, thick winter coat :)

Happy Monday!

RIP Chopsticks

Today bulldozers are demolishing a beloved Denton icon on Fry Street: Mr Chopsticks. Also set for demolition today is the old building that housed Uncommon Grounds that is on Oak St. Yesterday, they gutted the insides to prepare it for the bulldozer today. A candlelight vigil was held last night in memory of one of Denton's favorite eateries.

Click here for Debbie Denmon's report (WFAA-TV)

Click here for Raw Video from KNTU and the Denton Record Chronicle

And, as always, you can get information about the Fry Street debacle at www.savefrystreet.com

To Chopsticks : We will miss you in your original state... we, the students of the University of North Texas will be back in full force when you make your return to Fry Street.

To the Houston Investor : You are an idiot.

Fox pulls the plug on the Juice

Unfortunate for OJ, the publishers and FOX has pulled out all of the plans for the book written by Simpson which was to detail how he would have committed the murders if he had did it. It was stupid for him to write it in the first place and even stupider for a publishing company to back him on this venture. Now from what I have heard in the media for the last few days, it was the publisher who made him to do it to "realize" his guilt, but even still, this is OJ's way to say "haha, you never convicted me!"

It is unfortunate that despite all of the evidence that a California jury did not find him guilty. I know that if this would have happened in Texas, he would have already faced the fate of infamous needle in Huntsville.

The people of California failed the families of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman.

Shame on you Mr Murdoch and Mr Simpson for trying to make money on this sad event in American History.

Resurgence of the Draft

A Democrat from NY, Charles Rangel thinks that it would be a good idea to stop the temptation of starting wars by reinstating the draft for men and women from the age of 18 to 42. What the heck is he thinking???

Yes, I understand that there is a need in the military because numbers are dwindling, a lot of that has to do with the fact that many are loosing their lives for an unjust and unwinnable cause, however, a draft is not the answer. Even the Department of Defense says that it does not want a draft. Why would an organization want a bunch of people in their organization if the people do not want to be there in the first place.

A draft could be very counterproductive. There may be people who would do stupid things just to get out of having to go to a warzone. Unfortunately, I do not think that a draft is a part of the answer.

It is a very honorable privilege to serve one's country, but I think that you should want to do it and not be forced to do it. Not everybody is cut out for military service.

Also, when all of this happened with the Vietnam war, there was a backlash, and there will be another one again if it is passed by the House.

Additionally, (I just keep thinking of things..) this Representative thinks that being that the House is of a Democratic majority, he thinks that he will be able to pass his bill a lot easier, but I have to break it to him now, I do not think that the Dem's are going to back him on it. There is a lot of argument about the war to begin with and I think that it would not be productive to any representative's career to agree to a draft bill. If they do that, they should kiss their job goodbye...

Been in Office 2 days and already causing waves...

Shelly Sekula Gibbs, now Congresswoman in the 22nd TX Congressional District (Tom Delay's former district) is thrusting herself into the limelight in our Nation's Capitol. On the first day, her staffers walked out and left her high and dry. Supposedly she was mistreating her staffers..

"Never has any member of Congress treated us with as much disrespect and unprofessionalism as we witnessed during those five days," said the former Chief of Staff

Before they left, they deleted some of the files on the office computers and now she is starting an investigation into why they were deleted.

All I have to say is, it is probably best that she was not voted in for the full term. The people of the 22nd district needs somebody who is willing to work hard for them and fight for their needs, not to be picking little fights here and there for arbitrary causes. There has been enough controversy with that district and the people of the 22nd district needs some peace and quiet.

Shelly just needs to take a chill pill. Being that she is a MD, she can just prescribe some to herself. It will be interesting to see what other sparks that she can cause in the next 6 weeks that she will be in office...

P.S. The Washington Post has called her a "Lame Duck." That is just hilarious.

P.S.S. I was reading about all of this yesterday, and I can't remember where I read it, but I read that she was upset that President Bush and VP Cheney did not come wish her well at her introduction party. In attendance was Kay Bailey Hutchinson and fellow Rep and Houstonian Ted Poe. My first thoughts were : "what makes you think that you are that special? You are only going to be there for a short time, so what does it matter?"

Clear Channel Merging and diffusing...

Today Clear Channel has been acquired by 2 investor groups. They are doing this to become a private company (not traded publicly on the NYSE). They have raised the price of the stock to "buyout" their shareholders.

We all know Clear channel from the outdoor billboards that we see on the roadways everywhere (I even saw some in the UK), radio stations, and Television stations (there is only one in Texas, San Antonio's NBC station).

As a result of this merger, they will be selling off some of their radio stations and all of their TV stations. Not to worry though, they are only selling off the stations that are outside of the Arbitron rated top 100 (which included all of the major TX radio markets).

I am really interested who will pick up the TV group. There isn't a TV company really looking to buy right now, but I am sure that somebody will pick them up.

The only thing that is a little sad is that WOAI in San Antonio is the anchor station of the Clear Channel stations, and I will wonder what will happen to it once it leaves the arms of Clear Channel...

Tesco in the US!

Sorry it has been so long since I have last written... school and life has been crazy with something always going on.. to my avid readers, I thank you for your patience... :)

So now on to business...

Tesco is coming to the US! Tesco is the major grocery chain in the United Kingdom. They are like the Kroger of the UK. While I was there, I got the privilege to shop there, and I had a great experience there. They had a great selection of foods from all over the world, really high quality produce and their private label (store brand) products were superb. They also had a great wine and alcohol section too. For the most part, they were mainly grocery stores, but some of them had general merchandise in them too, such as movies, TVs, clothes, stuff like that.

Right now, they are looking to start out on the West Coast of the US and are going to start things out by bringing over their Express style store, which is projected to compete with 7-11's. It has not been said if they will sell gas (or petrol in the UK) but I would not think that they would. A lot Tesco's sell petrol in the UK, but they have not really said anything about that.

I hope that they will be successful. I would fly out to California or the Left Coast to visit one of these stores. However, the grocery market is really competitive in the United States due to Walmart and there is no telling as to what will happen until it happens.

Tesco is the 5th largest grocery chain worldwide and they already have stores in Eastern Europe and Asia, so with that kind of experience and a base, they have a really good running chance.

New form of Voting in Denton County

Attention Denton County Voters!!

The County has updated the method of voting. They are now using the electronic voting machines. They are basically just big computer screens with a wheel and a couple of buttons on it. When you first walk into the voting site, you will be able to test it out, and if you have not used one of these machines before, then I definitely suggest that you go play with the demo first before you walk into the booth. Once you go in a sign in, you will be issued a pin number that will get you into the voting machine. From there, you will then be able to vote for your candidates using the wheel and the accept button. If you click here, you can go to the manufacturer webpage and test out a sample online version of the machine.

It is basically a very simple process and it intended to be, but you just have to be aware...

Happy Voting!

Chopsticks in its final hours

Buster Friedman, the new developer of the "New Fry Street" has just applied for a demolition permit to commence demolition on the buildings of the former Mr Chopsticks and Uncommon Grounds. It will be a sad day in Denton when this starts.

Many UNT students can remember their first visit to Chopsticks. Mine was my first semester with my roommate and our Maple friends. We walked over there and I feasted on Beef Fried Rice. We sat in the "outer section" that looked like it used to be a garage or something like that.. Good times..

The Save Fry Street organization (where I am getting this information from) wants to know when demolition actually starts. Contact them at 214-437-2948 and contact Dawn Cobb at the Denton Record Chronicle at 940-566-6879 or by email at dcobb@dentonrc.com

Be sure to stop by Fry Street to get your last glimpses before the whole district is changed forever.

Leave your comments about your favorite Chopsticks/Uncommon Grounds memories...