Sephy’s Platzish

An idea that’s been floating through my head after thinking about the kinds of shows I watch (and realizing that I don’t watch all that much American TV, and a lot of foreign TV) is one of what channels would you have if you could have any channels available in the world.

For me personally, it would be a heavy focus on two areas - news and sports. Before I get to my channel list, let me set out the challenge to you: What if you had your own TV service? What channels would you want to have if money, time and satellite coverage were not issues?

So, without further ado, here’s my channel list.

Local Channels

A note about local channels: There will be multiple listings for some channels and networks because of the fact some stations in my area carry multiple signals, plus the local channels would all be brought in by antenna, so the actual list would vary from day to day

• WISC (TV3, Madison - CBS; no subchannels)
• WTMJ (Channel 4, Milwaukee - NBC, 1 subchannel - 4.2, Weather Plus)
• WITI (Channel 6, Milwaukee - Fox, no subchannels)
• WGN (Channel 9, Chicago - CW, no subchannels; for sport in HD)
• WMVS (Channels 10-1 through 10-7, Milwaukee -  various PBS networks)
• WISN (Channel 12, Milwaukee - ABC, no subchannels)
• WMTV (Channel 15, Madison - NBC, 1 subchannel, weather)
• WVTV (Channel 18, Milwaukee - CW, no subchannels)
• WHA (Channel 21, Madison - PBS, varying subchannels)
• WCGV (Channel 24, Milwaukee - My Network, possibly 1 subchannel)
• WKOW (Channel 27, Madison - ABC; no subchannels, NO logo over all pictures!)
• WMVT (Channel 36, Milwaukee - PBS HD)
• WMSN (Channel 47, Madison - Fox, unknown subchannels)
• WDJT (Channel 58, Milwaukee, 2 subchannels - WMLW & Me TV)
• WYTU (Channel 63, Milwaukee, analog only, Telemundo)
• And some religious channels that I can’t be stuffed listing

Entertainment channels

Now, all of these channels would be in HD or Widescreen, when possible. Note that this is definitely not an exhaustive list as I’m probably not aware of all the channels in the world.

• A&E
• Discovery Channel
• Discovery Home & Living
• TLC
• Animal Planet
• Cartoon Network
• Boomerang
• Nickelodeon (the channel that airs the good shows)
• TV Land
• HDNet
• TBS
• TNT (not so much for the programming, but for the six races in summer)
• UKTV (Aust.)
• Other UKTV Networks (UK)
• G4TechTV (Canada)
• How-to Channel (Aust.)
• Discovery RealTime (UK)
• BBC America (before it went to pot)
• Travel Channel
• Comedy Central
• Fox8 (Aust.)
• Lifestyle (Aust. - probably just a sample for a while)
• National Geographic (US)
• GSN

News Channels

• CNN (US)
• CNN International
• CNN Headline News
• CNBC (US)
• CNBC World
• MSNBC
• BBC World News
• BBC News Channel (formerly News 24)
• Sky News UK
• Sky News Aust.
• Fox Business Channel
• Fox News Channel
• Sky Business Channel (Aust.)
• Euronews
• CBC Newsworld (does that even exist anymore?)
• Bloomberg
• Times Now (India/US)
• Al-Jazeera English
• Weather Channel (US)
• Weather Channel (Aust.)

Sports Channels

• All Regional Channels (i.e. the Fox Sports Net channels, Comcast Sports Network, etc.)
• Setanta US
• Cricket Channel
• ESPN
• ESPN2
• ESPNews
• ESPN Classic (US)
• ESPN Classic (UK)
• ESPNU
• ESPN360 (internet service)
• ESPN Deportes
• Speed
• Versus
• NASCAR Hot Pass
• Motors TV (UK or mainland Europe)
• Fox Sports 1, 2, 3 (Aust.)
• ESPN (Asia/Pacific)
• Zee Sports (South Asia/India)
• Sky Sports 1, 2, 3, Xtra (UK)
• Sky Sports News (UK)
• Fox Sports News (Aust.)
• Fox Soccer Channel
• Eurosport News
• Eurosport 1, 2
• Fox College Sports
• Rogers SportsNet (or whatever the main Canadian regional sports net is)
• GolTV

Spanish Channels

• Univision
• mun2 (if that’s still on the air…)
• Telefutura
• Galavisión
• Azteca América
• Fox Sports en Español

Movie Channels

For the most part, the Movie channels are for the shows aired on there, such as Dexter and Flight of the Conchords (and apparently Summer Heights High is coming to HBO this year)

• I think I’d have all of them available in the US, just because there might be a time when I find a movie that I haven’t watched (not that there are many of those out there, eh? )
• Turner Classic Movies
• Fox Movie Channel
• Sundance Channel
• Independent Movie Channels

Music Channels

• VH1
• VH1 MegaHits (though that ain’t coming back )

Yeah, that’s about it…I’ve never been one for watching music videos; if I want to listen to music, I’ll listen to it on the computer or the radio.

So, there you go. 25-plus local channels, 24 general entertainment channels, about 60 sports channels, 20 news channels, dozens of movie channels, at least 6 Spanish Channels, so a total of about 150 channels, plus the obligatory Video-On-Demand probably.

Also, I’d have to have about a 3-terabyte DVR to record all the stuff I’d never watch anyway, but think I had time to watch.

What do you think? Am I just crazy for wanting to have all of these channels? How much do you think this would cost? For some reason I don’t want to think about it because I know it would probably be in the hundreds of dollars a month, just for the various equipment, such as PAL-> NTSC converters (or just a PAL TV )…

I’ve been hearing stories and reading articles over the last couple of months on how the increases in interest rates is meaning that homeowners will be facing higher mortgage repayments - I understand the pinch that you all are facing with this situation, but there is one big thing that doesn’t make sense.

Here in the States, we have a couple of major types of mortgages - fixed rate and adjustable rate (also known as an ARM) - they are what they sound like. With an ARM, it can change rates generally around every 6 months, but sometimes (and this is what happened in the subprime situation) the rate will be locked in for a period of time, and then shoot up to a more “proper” rate after a few years.

Obviously, the fixed rate mortgage is self-explanatory. However, what I don’t get, and this is something that isn’t explained is this - why does an increase in interest rates mean an increase for, it would seem, all homeowners?

Is it possible to get a fixed-rate mortgage in Australia, or is it all based on following what CommBank, NAB, ANZ and the other banks are lending at for the current term?

Of course, I can answer my own questions by wandering the ABC website - apparently at least BankSA (part of St. George) do offer fixed rate loans. Then again, in the rest of the world, it might sound like every American homeowner is facing the bank’s chopping block, so maybe it’s not unprecedented…

Today marks the end of one season, and the end of three distinct, yet very accomplished careers. One of those careers will be known to almost all in the US, but the other two will likely be completely unknown unless you follow that particular sport.

The first is the announcement that Brett Favre is going to hang up his pads and jersey and head off on his tractor into the Mississippi sunset. Of course, that means that all the local TV channels are in full-blown breaking news mode, and have been for about an hour as I write this (though channel 58 - not surprisingly, I may add - only went into breaking news at about 9.20). In fact, since I have a TV card, here is what the TV stations are showing, in single shot per station mode, between 9 and 9.20 or so:

It’s also hilarious to see who all the news channels can dig out of the framework to interview - so far, I’ve heard interviews with reporters from the Biloxi Sun-Herald, a TV station in New Orleans, three radio commentators (two current, and one former ALL the way from California), even the owner of a collectible shop. So far, I think channel 12 is winning this battle with having his brother on the phone. Scratch that - channel 4 have his bro on the phone now…but 12 is the first to have someone live out in front of a stadium…the baseball stadium…

You know what? I’m hearing everyone on all the stations, because now the former commentator calling ALL the way from California is on channel 6. By the way, of course, you can weigh in on it -

However, let’s move on from this news (which accidently was released by the team website last week, but discounted as an error), and move onto news that already happened today. About 3 hours before the news broke about Brett retiring, I heard the end of the international cricket season in Australia live as it happened in Brisbane, with the Aussies trying to recover the Commonwealth Bank series from the Indians, only to be bowled out 9 runs short. With the wicket of James Hopes falling, that marked the end of the international careers of two outstanding cricketers - Adam Craig Gilchrist and George Bradley Hogg. Gilly will be going on to continue that great tradition of former international cricketers going on to make a name for themselves on the TV by signing on with Channel 9 to be a part of their rejuvinated Wide World of Sports programs, starting at the end of this month. Maybe next year, he’ll be seated next to Tony Grieg and Bill Lawry and trading barbs during a test match.

Actually, these retirements in the Aussie cricket team made me realize something about Brett’s retirement - I think this is the perfect time for him to go because the majority of people are thinking why is he going now, instead of going for even one more year and then having everyone wondering why he didn’t retire earlier. I also can appreciate how he can just say, yep, I’m ready to retire, because it’s something I’ve heard from a lot of these fellas who have retired from test cricket over the last couple of years.

Of course, this also marked the end of the 2007-08 international cricket season for the Australians, which means that this was the last day of the season of ABC radio cricket broadcasts. In a way, it’s like the end of baseball season, with the familiar voices going away, but just until next year - and you’ll still hear them through the winter because cricket commentators tend to pop up in the most unlikely places - and not unlikely places such as calling AFL games. Naturally, as it is with baseball commentators, there are the fellas who you take a liking to - for me, my favorite combination in the booth this summer has been Kerry O’Keeffe (ABC Bio) and Harsha Bhogle, though really Kerry with anyone is a great combination because he is quite the natural comedian.

The biggest thing I like about Harsha is that he always has that grin on his face, because he is (as was noted by Kerry a couple of days ago) always happy and upbeat. Also, it’s fun to listen to a different accent to ones that you are accustomed to hearing. Although a lot of the commentary was filled with laughter, you can always walk away having learnt something about the game, or about culture in general.

The last match of the season wasn’t without its own action - Roy got into the action, literally by handling a streaker on his own -

With the cricket season done in Australia, that brings the rest of the international calendar - the tour to Pakistan, which looks like it will be cancelled in the end (a poor decision if you ask me - yes, there is terrorist problems in Pakistan, but remember that this is a high security thing featuring people who are admired - plus, of course, the Ashes went on after the 7/7 bombings). After that is the trip to the Carribean for a shortened test series against the Windies for the Frank Worrell Trophy. You would expect that with the poor form of the West Indies, the Aussies should be able to retain the trophy easily. After that, it’s a chance to reconnect with the ABC Cricket team as Bangladesh comes into Australia for a two-test Winter series up in Cairns and Darwin, then it’s time for the return series in India, which brings us full-circle to the start of the 2008-09 season.

However, the prospect of seeing or hearing international cricket doesn’t end with the end of the Aussie season - there’s the Test series starting up between England and New Zealand in a couple of days’ time, and I believe that those broadcasts are on Radio Sport, which has commercials, but that’s OK with me, at least I can get that, unlike Test Match Special which restricts their broadcasts to UK only. Then, we get into the English summer when New Zealand and South Africa come in for a total of 7 tests, 10 ODIs and 2 T20s, which should be available through TMS (of course, there’s also podcasts to keep track if all else fails - I do need something to listen to on the way home at night and if I get really desperate, I can always listen to the whole summer of cricket again).

Just real quickly, I want to just give my thanks to the folks at the ABC for providing entertainment through a really cold winter, and I look forward to being able to do it again next year - I’m guessing with Bryan Waddle hopping into the commentator’s chair to fill the third slot alongside Glenn Mitchell (a/k/a Mr. Karen Tighe) and Jim Maxwell, and then possibly Neil Manthorp for the second part of the season? And, of course, all led by Princess Grace.

By the way, in the time that I’ve been writing this (I had to take a break to attend to something else), two channels have come to their senses and left the reporting for this go until at last 3 pm, but channels 4 and 6 are still in full-blown coverage mode. At least 4 is supposed to have news right now. Also, both ESPN and ESPN2 are covering the story. I’m guessing ESPNews has coverage of their own as well, but I don’t get that channel…and now at 1.30pm, only channel 6 is left (for now, but 4 is coming back at 2), and they’re showing a special from NFL films or something….

Like was said elsewhere - Brett Favre retires - no other news shall be covered for at least 36 hours

I watched one of the more curious events in recent history this afternoon - the Australian Prime Minister formally apologizing for what were some pretty disgraceful actions by literally stealing aboriginal people from their families and moving them to other locations such as orphanages. Out of that comes the term “Stolen Generation“.

Obviously, I’m not totally versed in the history or the story behind why the government decided to do this, but it is, to me, right that the government should apologize for their actions. The fact that they did this, and it was officially sanctioned government policy to do something like this was reprehensible. Another thing that should be remembered is that there are people who are still quite young - the youngest members of the group would be around 40 years old - which makes the whole thing an extremely personal thing.

While I was watching the ABC stream of the apology, one thought came into my mind, and that was the fight that has been going on in this country over getting reparations for descendants of former slaves during the two centuries or so that it was permissible here. Someone might thing that this is me trying to compare apples and oranges, but there are one or two similarities. Mostly, it has to do with the fact that it involved taking people away from their homeland, and that it affected people who were of a different race to the majority.

However, where the arguments for an apology stand up, they fall down for reparations. When it comes to slavery; yes, it was allowed by the government, but there was no edict from them saying the people *must* be taken in as slaves. Unfortunately, that was something that individuals chose to do because they, honestly, didn’t care about these “strange” people from Africa.  Yes, there were efforts by some slaves to become free, which were very successful (see the Underground Railroad), but at times there were some regrettable things that the government did to keep slaves as slaves (such as the Dred Scott case, which said that even free blacks could not be citizens and that slaves were actually property).

If there were to be an official apology issued by our government, I think it would be for decisions such as Dred Scott, because of the effects that it had on people of the day, but now that well over a century has passed, and the last actual slaves (or first generation children after slavery) have now passed away for quite a long time, possibly the argument is reduced for offering reparations.

I know that I’m not answering anything in this, and maybe I’m opening more cans of worms than is necessary, but if a descendant of a slave owner decides to offer descendants of their ancestors’ slaves reparations, they should be able to, but it doesn’t have to be a big deal involving lawsuits and messy legal battles.

In the end, when it comes to slavery, the responsibility ultimately comes to the descendants of the owners of slaves to determine whether or not they feel that they are responsible for their ancestors’ actions. Personally, I think that it should almost be one of those “it’s in the past, let it go” situations, but again, the more you think about it, the more your position almost seems to soften on it.

Or: 3 stories, 1 post

Bernie to USA, Aust, NZ: I don’t care about you

That’s essentially what he’s saying in his pronouncement that the future of the Australian GP is in doubt unless they go to a night race. Considering that they have already dropped the US round of the championship, it should be no surprise that they don’t want to stick around Australia unless they have to (or unless Premier Brumbie ponies up a ton more of the Victorian taxpayers’ money to put lights up in Albert Park).

What’s the reason for the complaint about the time of the race?

TV rights. Sure, Europe is the biggest audience for F1, but that doesn’t mean that there are dedicated F1 fans in the Western hemisphere; Brazil and Canada still have rounds of the championship - and as far as I know, they’re as well-attended as rounds in Europe (in fact, they probably have better attendance than European rounds). Those races are safe in Bernie Ecclestone’s eyes because they (along with the old USGP) air in Europe at around 6PM - smack dab in the middle of peak viewing time.  All the European rounds (along with Turkey and Bahrain) start somewhere between noon and 3pm on the continent.

What time is the Australian GP on in Europe? Generally around 4-5am, or late evening in the US.

It would seem to me that if we have to deal with getting up at 6.30am all summer long, and have to stay up all night for the other races (aside from Australia, Canada and Brazil), they should be stuck with some of these “inconveniently timed” races. It’s only fair for a truly worldwide sport.

If this isn’t a scam, I’ll run around naked

One of the more annoying commercials on the radio lately is one that features a guy acting as a show host going into a commercial break. He is talking about this “amazing” product that makes you earn money on the Internet using sites like eBay. Now, it wouldn’t be too bad except for the fact that he goes on to say that you will be selling products that you don’t have to see, ship, or even pay for.

Uh, excuse me? Selling stuff you don’t pay for? There’s a term for that in my region - selling stolen goods, anybody?

The system is called Internet Speedway, and has been out there for quite a long time. And, if you’re curious why I’d be willing to run around naked if this isn’t a scam, check out this thread on scam.com. Need I say more?

However, it’s not so much what they’re pitching that makes the ad annoying, it’s how they pitch it. This voice-over artist reads his script, and when he gets to the part where he has to read off the number, he says “uh, it’s here, it’s 1-whatever”. Now, that fits into the idea of this being a supposedly “live” read, but when he goes to reread the number, he says “um” again. It’s that second “um” that really makes the ad annoying to me.

Oh well, that’s why they have a dial on the radio, eh?

Superbowl XLII - it’s all about the ads

Provided I actually care to watch (which I probably will since there isn’t that much on TV other than marathons) the show, all I am really interested in seeing are the ads, which I haven’t heard a lot of hype about, but they’re available out there to watch already.  You would think that these companies would get bothered about their $2.7-million commercials being leaked onto the internet, but they’ll land here anyways, so I guess they don’t care all that much.

As far as the game itself, this is one of those games where you want both teams to lose. I want the Giants to lose because of beating the Packers. I want the Patriots to lose to stop the perfect season. That being said, I think that the Patriots will win the game because they just have been that dominant force all season long.

As far as a score, I’d tip 34-21 to los Pats, as they were called on Spanish language TV (one guy on there said that he was expecting the upset of the century going the Giants way; nobody else was convinced of his prediction).