From FOX to IFC

I should say at this point, I have never had cable television.

All through my years growing up, and then living on my own, and even during the first 9 years of my marriage, it was all regular TV. I had no real need and no ability to afford cable or satellite television. My husband Shane and I pretty much watched only FOX TV when we lived in the Chicago area -- it had everything we needed.

We had the Simpsons on 3 or 4 times each day, Seinfeld on 3 or 4 times a day, and tons of cheesy TV shows -- We found ourselves hooked on stuff like American Idol, Trading Spouses, Paradise Hotel, The OC, John Doe (Bastards never brought it back after the chiffhanger season finale, grrrr) and the like. Hell, we even got hooked on 24, and that was after I said how much I hated it during the first season.

We really never felt a reason to turn the channel, we had Walter Jacobson and Robin Robinson to give us news -- I still miss you Robin! We had the greatest weatherman of all time Harry Volkman -- He invented the Tornado Warning back in 1953! No, REALLY!

I can't tell you how many letters I wrote to WFLD-TV in Chicago suggesting they get the city to make a Harry Volkman day and give him a parade -- They responded by forcing him off the air, which still kills me! I got to meet him once and got his autograph. We were at an event called "Busker Fest" watching an old friend of ours lay in broken glass and there was Harry across the crowd watching! We ran to catch up with him, I told him how much he meant to me, though I don't think he understood how sincere I was. I made Harry Volkman buttons and sent them to him too.... so much for reminiscing... What was I talking about?

Oh yeah, so we moved from Chicago to Northern Minnesota, and mean WAY Northern! The closest "Big City" is Duluth which is 2 hours South of us, what I am trying to say is, when we moved here we HAD to get satellite or we would have had NO TV at all, and when you live in a place that gets five to six feet of snow each winter, television becomes a serious necessity!

So we got Direct TV as part of or phone package, and then upped our basic service to the whatever-they-call-it-$11-more-a-month-package, it gave us another 30 or so channels. We got it so we could watch The Shield on FX, (we got hooked on it when we were staying with my in-laws, FX played all of season 1 over two weeks and then started season 2 right after. We watched all of the first season which was great because they played 2 episodes each night. Then we caught most of Season 2, until we missed the Season finale -- Total Bummer!). We hadn't seen any of Season 3, so that may have led to our disappointment, but Season 4 - the one with Forrest Whitaker - was really lame.

Then we discovered IFC, and the $11 a month became well worth it since it has become the only channel we really watch -- well that and Comedy Central, and sometimes the DOC Channel. IFC offers really great movies, this week alone we saw 'Amores Perros' which was haunting, and 'Affliction' which was really weird.

'Amores Perros' is 3 different stories that entertwine eventually, all with strong morals and all related in one way or another to dogs. There is some pretty realistic dog fighting in the movie, and I thought for sure they were really killing dogs since it was filmed in Mexico, but a little research the next day proved me wrong (thankfully). 'Amores Perros' is written and directed by the same fellas who did 13 Grams (Hated it!) and the new movie Babel (haven't seen it yet). I have to admit, dead dogs aside, it was really good.

'Affliction' was filmed like a horror movie, but with no horror-- just a whacked out Nick Nolte (Which you really can't go wrong with). It's is supposed to be based on a true story (I have yet to look this up) and is narrated by a younger brother (Willem Dafoe), who just can't understand what drove his brother into a homicidal rage. DUH! He moved into his childhood home with his father. Homicidal Rage is mild compared to how I felt when I moved back in with my parents at 22!

Unfocused? Me? Damn right! I will try to reign it in....

Anyway, IFC has some pretty good series' on it too. I got hooked on "The Minor Accomplishments of Jackie Woodman", it was the "Drunk On Cock" episode that sucked me in, now I have been trying to see them all in reruns as I eagerly await a new season. After that show is "The Business" which I really hated at first but it eventually grew on me. I think it was the crazy Japanese investor that was the initial draw, but the other characters seemed to get more interesting as time went on.

So there is my TV rant for the night, no I do not work for IFC, I just wanted to prepare you gentle readers for the inevitable emphasis that IFC, and the other stations I mentioned, will have in this blog.

Also, I was trying to add photos of what the hell I am talking about, but after an hour of futile attempts (yes, I am a moron). I need to do a little more work on this matter. I refuse to subject all of you to a box with a question mark, while I fiddle around.

Good Night!