MLK - Perchance to Dream

Whenever I hear the word dream - my mind almost always jumps to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's I have a dream speech and also, to William Shakespeare, specifically to Hamlet's soliloquy that begins, To Be or Not To Be. And this year - given all the recent race baiting and crying wolf over a poor choice of words and downright silliness related to race, I wonder how Dr. King might be resting in peace, to sleep, perchance to dream. And as Hamlet continues, ah there's the rub. For those not versed in Hamlet, he has just learned that his uncle has killed his father. Worse, his mother will be marrying him shortly. It is just an awful situation and he wonders whether life is worth living, hence to be or not to be is Hamlet considering whether he should live or die by his own hand. As he muses about being dead, he says:

to die, to sleep, To sleep perchance to dream, ay, there's the rub; For in that sleep of death what dreams may come When we have shuffled off this mortal coil, Must give us pause.

And so i found myself wondering, Was the great Dr. King resting in peace, or was Dr King having bizarre dreams related to what was unfolding at present in the election process. How some old hippies who were there in the Civil Rights days, were now tweaking the race issue for their own ambitions. How sad. And how, a black man can run for President without a lot of concern about the color of his skin with one exception. It sometimes seems like many people want to vote for Obama because he is black. I do not know anyone who is not planning to vote for Obama because he is black.

At this point in history, not many people really care about a person's skin color. I remember Bob Marley's song, War, and think, we are almost there. We are almost at a time in history when the color of a man's skin is of no more significance than the color of his eyes. Yikes, my mind teleports... to visions of Sinnead O'Connor with a buzzhead and a bluetooth microphone on SNL singing War, really really angry.... and Britney Spears juxtaposed doing a duet with Sinnead. War? I think not. My perchancey dreams are scary enough. Give me Peace.

So - here's some content you might consider this weekend. Check out Vincent Price in Theater of Blood as a murderous Shakespearean actor. Yes, he even does Hamlet's to be or not to be speech. And Johnny Carson does a spoof of Hamlet here - very funny stuff, followed by a somewhat tawdry section featuring Jane Fonda. And by all means check out short video of Dr. Martin Luther King and the I have a Dream Speech. And in case you wondered where i found that picture of Dr. King as the Jack of Spades, I just searched google images using these words - liketelevision martin luther king and found a nifty deck of cards. And if all these emotional and mental gyrations are too much for you - well just disappear, Somewhere in Dreamland.

The Office, More Episodes

Just in time for the long holiday weekend - check out some of the best episodes from the award winning NBC show, The Office starring Steve Carell, Rainn Wilson, Jenna Fischer, and John Krasinski. There's Money, The Launch Party, The Negotiation, and a bunch more.

More cool tv episodes on the way. Be patient, as we are off to NY for the Martin Luther King holiday weekend for a wedding related bash.

Poll Dancing Mishaps

There's a part of me finds great joy when the major media outlets look like monkeys, and yesterday the MSM pulled a mondo sized flub. We were told time and time again, that Barrack Obama had already won New Hampshire. It was a done deal. Mrs. Clinton was toast. And on and on until yammering knuckleheads got red in the face, yada yada. What can I say other than - get a life. It was fun to see Huckabee turn into Huck-a-who? Is it just me or is the polling commentary really annoying?

Now, go turn off the talking heads and grab a cold beer. If you want to check out the Poles, that is, something Polish that is interesting, may I suggest a few titles here in the library. 1) Knife in the Water, an early work of Roman Polanski that is in Polish with English subtitles. A good film, with a very tense romantic creepy group of people on a boat. 2) Escape from Sobibor, one of the best stories you propably never heard of. It is a tale of human courage and triumph in the face of total evil and hellish circumstances. Stars Allan Arkin and Rutger Hauer. 3) Circus of Fear, starring Klaus Kinski and Christopher Lee, who plays a Polish lion tamer from the circus. And finally - though not Polish in origin, check out Fake News, which is part of the Dubious Lampoonery section. It seems appropriate and should be a gentle reminder that news often gets it totally wrong.

Iowa Caulk Us zzzzzzzzz

Allow me to yawn at the Iowa Caucus - tonight we get our first peak behind curtain as to how people might actually vote for the who is the next commander in chief of the USA, el Presidente. Is it just me, or does anyone else see this trend. A trend where, only a total knucklehead would want to put himself and his family through the process of getting elected. And as I look at the current slate of candidates, it almost seems like I have proved my case without it even meriting an argument. We got a big pack of lovers and liars. Huckabee and the I didn't know about the cross, the Clinton dynasty again after the Bush dynasty redux, and don't get me started on John Edwards - he was our NC Senator and promised till he was blue in the face he'd do his job in the state first and never run for president while in office. Guiliani and the tawdry closet full of skeletons and ex-wives, and Romney just kind of gives me the creeps, Obama scares me too as his rhetoric is way too emotionless and smooth to have honesty. No, Ron Paul ain't my guy either. Sorry - have I upset everyone who cares about this stuff called politics? Sorry, in all honesty - folks around here really don't care much one way or the other. We banned all I hate Bush commentary, no I don't hate him banter because it was a waste of time and based on foolishness for those passionate enough to spend time yammering on it. The only guy I kinda like is Fred Thompson (and I speak for myself only, not a company endorsement). Why - because he seems like he has many other better things to do than run for office. And I always enjoyed Law and Order - now that's a good way to pick "your man", or woman if you want the Clintons back in town. Actually - my true test is - who would I like to have a beer with. Anyway, may the good people of Iowa pull out the caulk guns and tar and feather the group as they see fit. Ballots, not bullets is still the way to go. Let's make that a Pakistani slogan for their upcoming election. (and an observation that makes me curious - how is it that the Pakistani Democratic people's party decides their next candidate by picking somebody else in the same family. That's called a monarchy, not democracy).

But enough of politics already. Here's a very short list of my favorite political videos on LikeTelevision. Frank Capra's Meet John Doe is terrific. So is Angel on My Shoulder. Another interesting political drama you might have missed is the Scarlet Pimpernel. Merle Oberon is very beautiful, wow! Need something lighter? Popeye for President is good for a few chortles and chuckles, and if you are looking for something more global, check out Battle of Algiers, but please put the guns away and stop the threatening emails. (it seems the commentary, yes mere words on a page, on this movie description rankles some people).

Christmas Movies, TV, Toons & More !

And so, here we are again. Be patient and do not worry - Christmas comes in just a few days (and for those hum buggers, Christmas comes just once a year, relax). For those filled with joy - Alleluia! The holiday is celebrated in many different ways - my favorite is a Catholic tradition, which feels compelled to spread it out over 8 days, the Octave of Christmas. Oddly enough, the 25th day of Decemeber, the day chosen on around 337 AD to celebrate Christmas was picked in an attempt to get rid of a Pagan holiday celebrting the Sun God, Mithras. Since I suspect 99.9% of you had any clue about this, so...i can safely say - they were successful! But - what a lovely holiday it has become, a day to celebrate God coming to be with us. Immanuel or Emmanuel is really 2 Hebrew words [ עִמָּנוּאֵל }, meaning God is with us. So relax, and get ready to rejoice.

Rest assured, we do not have any creepy political and commercial type of ads for the season, I believe we have been blessed with enough of those already from all the challenged Presidential challengers. Here's some fun videos for the holiday season. Some are sweet, some are poignant, but most are pretty light and silly.

1) Dragnet - Big Little Jesus. It's Christmas Eve, and Sgt. Joe Friday is under major pressure, because he has to solve a difficult case in less than 24 hours. It seems someone has stolen the baby Jesus statue from Father Rojas' Catholic church. Excellent TV viewing, back in the day (1953) when no one cared if you mentioned Jesus' name on a TV show.

2) Santa Claus Conquers the Martians - check out Frank Random's preview.

3) Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Killer 1944 Fleischer cartoon of the oddball cervine with the halogen proboscis.

4) Beverly Hillbillies - Home for Christmas Granny takes her first plane ride. She thinks it is a bus, going real fast on takeoff. Pre homeland security airplane fun. Flying back then was actually really fun.

5) One Step Beyond Ordeal on Locust Street Sorry no details, I don't want to spoil the fun.

6) Caste in Bronze a band with a carillon plays Christmas bells live onstage. This is really cool. Feel pity for the roadies.

7) Jack Frost - just a cool cartoon, perfect if it is freezing cold outside.

8) Short History of Christmas Learn why the date December 25th was selected for the date we celebrate Jesus' birthday.

9) The Shanty where Santa Claus Lives Another charming early Fleischer animation.

10) Christmas at the Clampetts Another hilarious Christmas special at the Clampett's Beverly Hills mansion.

Ok - how could leave out, Larry K, who played the hammer dulcimer live in our studio, Little King, in Christmas up north, or for all of us Linux Geeks, check out Peeking Penguins, where Tux makes his film debut. The debate was heated folks, but those were the top 10 for this year. Got more free Christmas videos too if you like. Merry Christmas! Watch all these online videos free.

Watch the Office

Like most corporations, LikeTelevision's corporate office is kinda weird and funky. Doesn't every office have the inept boss who is living proof of the Peter Principle? and the young cute girls like Pam who make the day to day grind easier to bear... and on and on. Well, ok - none of that applies to LikeTelevision, except maybe the inept manager stuff, but i digress. Of all the current shows on TV today, my favorite is The Office. Would you like to watch an episode right here and right now. Ok. Here you go. This full episode is called Money and comes to you via Hula, which is still in private beta - and only for US users. (if you are from out of town, please send us an email- I am curious to see how it plays in London or Deli or Munich or Prague. I think it will still work outside of the USA, despite the warnings. Please advise, tee hee).

Baseball - Say it Ain't So

On Monday, about the same time as Evel Knievel was getting his eulogy read at his funeral, a car pulled in front of me while I was riding my motorcycle. I did my best to get out of the way - no to be, as it came at me way to fast to veer left or right. Next move... brake like crazy, trying to slow down the bike speed from 45 mph to about 25. Ok... but this was still not enough, so i had to lay it down as we say. Thank goodness i had on a leather jacket as this kept a large part of my body from becoming a huge scab. And then - the guy sees me - so what does he do? Why, he slams on the brakes of course. So - WHAM !!! I got to slam into his car. Next thing I remember was waking up in the ambulance, attempting to answer a bunch of questions that for the most part seemed rhetorical. And here it is, 4 days later and it still feels like somebody beat me senseless with a baseball bat. So please, if you are so inclined, I'd really appreciate your prayers and kind thoughts while I do my best to recover. ouch! And by all means - be careful out there and look out for my brothers on motorcycles. Thanks.

Meanwhile, it seems Baseball itself got hit with a huge baseball bat yesterday as the report on steroids seemed to say that the entire sport was as dirty as a crooked boxing match. All the greats and hereos of this day were on drugs to enhance performance. As a kid who lived and breathed baseball - the news was not unexpected, but it still floored me. A part of me wished that they would do what they used to do back in the day - Throw out the bums. Another part of me was thankful that such decisions were out of my hands and that baseball had drifted from being as important as it once was. Needless to say - it was a really sad day for the sport, and my heart goes out to all the fans, especially the kids. If you wanna see some great baseball from back in the day - you've come to the right place. My top pick is The Jackie Robinson Story - but you can also check out some other great baseball videos here.