I went down to the Keloland TV studios Monday morning to record promos for the latest Holiday Vacations tour Linda and I will be hosting to Ireland in September. It was my first experience being on High Definition, and not a pretty sight.
Cameras with such scrutinizing eyes were not meant for such aging faces as mine. Aside from shamelessly highlighting the fact that I have more chins than a Chinese phonebook, there isn’t enough make-up (including the air-brush variety) in the world to disguise the canyon-deep lines that have eroded into my mug over the years since retirement.
I go to the TV station quite often to record audio but hadn’t been in the actual studio since the switch to HD. It really is classy. The sets are beautifully efficient reflecting the “less is more”world of today’s technology.
On my way home, a silly little tune started running through my mind and wouldn’t leave; still hasn’t. I’d like to tell you that it’s a melody from Mozart or even Lawrence Welk but the truth is it’s from a favorite TV show, The Big Bang Theory. It’s a little lullaby sung by Penny to neighbor Sheldon when he’s sick or sad. I don’t know how it became embedded in my brain but it’s getting to be annoying. Don’t know how it goes? Well, here ya are; “Soft kitty, warm kitty, little ball of fur..”
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUgmzUV02NY[/youtube]
You’re welcome.
The Daytona 500 NASCAR race..delayed because of rain Sunday, got moved to prime time Monday evening. It was a perfect opportunity for millions of new viewers to check out what the sport is all about; especially to see the lovely and talented lady driver, Danica Patrick, make her debut in the 500.
The excitement lasted for about two minutes when one driver up front must have figured it was the last lap instead of the first and pushed five time series champion, Jimmy Johnson, into the wall causing a chain reaction accident that also took out Patrick and several others..including series bad boy, Kurt Busch. You could almost hear the collective groan from NASCAR officials and FOX sports executives as their chances to gain a new audience were wrecked just as sure as the cars on the track. To make matters worse, during a caution flag with 100 laps to go, a driver slammed into an emergency vehicle causing it to explode in flames. Nobody hurt but it took two hours to repair the racing surface. By then, even the most ardent fans really didn’t give a rat’s patoot who would win and went to bed. Thank goodness for DVR. I’m glad I set it to record for six hours. That was just barely enough time to see Matt Kenseth, a good Wisconsin Norwegian, cross the finish line first and bring this year’s fiasco to a conclusion. I don’t mean to be overly critical..just disappointed.
I know some of you hate NASCAR or just don’t see the sense of watching a bunch of souped-up cars that look like billboards goin’ fast and turnin’ left for four hours. There’s more to it than that, of course, but the sport could use a boost which is why I’m rooting for Danica Patrick to succeed. But if she and most of my other favorite drivers keep getting knocked out in the early going, I might switch to watching the NBA on Sunday afternoons where players race up and down the court for two hours only to have most games decided in the final two minutes. Come to think of it, it’s not that much different from NASCAR except there are ten players instead of 43 and no chance of rain delays.
