Station Break

Heard or seen something on the radio and TV lately that appalled/delighted/enlightened you? Of course you have. That's what Station Break with Paul Farhi is here for. Local stations, cable, radio shows, commercials -- they're all fair game.

Farhi, a reporter in the Post's Style section, writes about media and popular culture. He's been watching TV and listening to the radio since "The Monkees" were in first run and Adam West was a star. Born in Brooklyn and raised in Los Angeles, Farhi had brief stints in the movie business (as an usher at the Picwood Theater), and in the auto industry (rental-car lot guy) before devoting himself fulltime to word processing. His car has 15 radio pre-sets and his cable system has 75 channels. He vows to use all of them for good instead of evil.

The transcript follows.

Editor's Note: Washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Live Online discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions.

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Paul Farhi: Greetings at mid-summer, all, and welcome to whatever it is we do here. Personal aside: Was up in New York City this weekend and watched the local news. Remarkable thing about the local news, no matter where "local" happens to be: IT'S ALL THE SAME. The same anchor robots (older man, somewhat younger woman--never the reverse!), the same bogus "live" reports on nothing very much at all, the same fires/murders/mayhem, the same weather/sports package. Why is this? What evil news consultant told every station in every market to act this way? And why is there no experimentation, or at least variance from formula? Is there no market at all for "niche" local news? That's my rant for today. Please resume breathing...

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Arlington, Va.: Okay, so have you been watching The Restaurant? Now THAT is quality television!;

Paul Farhi: Have not but would like to. From the promos, "The Restaurant" seems to be about some kind of actual reality (the start-up of a restaurant, which has the potential for actual human drama). In other words, it seems--and I could be wrong about this--that it isn't "reality tv," by which I mean, no one is eating bugs or engaging in stunts involving fire.

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Medford, Mass.: Any word on Boomtown's possible return for next year? Please tell me its good news, 'twould be a shame if such a great show got cancelled.

Paul Farhi: Boomtown's coming back, and we should all kiss NBC chief Jeff Zucker for it. Special extra added bonus: Vanessa Williams will play a new cop character. That cannot be a bad thing.

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Working away in Silver Spring, Md.: Okay, I don't like that WMAL has become a hotbed of conservative blah blah, but I have the option of not tuning in and listening to Laura-Rush-Sean telling the world that all people with liberal polital and social beliefs are evil and bound for Hell.

However, now I can't even listen to the morning drive to work show with Andy et al and not hear promos for this nonsense. This morning I heard Sean say that he was not afraid to take the liberals on because he knows he is right on ever single point.

Paul, are there really enough ultra conservative poeple in this listening area to justify EIGHT hours of this? Doesn't WMAL realize that they are turning their morning listeners away...or are they? What are their ratings?

I don't like to be yelled at on my way to work. It's back to WTOP I guess.

Paul Farhi: This is a vintage mystery of radio: Why do conservative blowhards thrive, when liberal blowhards merely get blown away? Possible responses: a) Conservatives appeal to a loyal hardcore base of angry white men; b) corporations, being conservative, want like-minded hosts; c) conservatives simply make better radio programs because they brook so little opposition/are so cocksure about everything, unlike mushy libs, or d) all of the above. I, personally, am not cocksure about the answer.

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Boomtown: Is that Miss America Vanessa Williams or 21 Jump Street Vanessa Williams?

Paul Farhi: Or the R&B singer Vanessa Williams who is not either of those two. Answer: the former Miss America who gave up her crown when Penthouse published nude photos of her but rose from that incident to become an accomplished singer and actress and Radio Shack pitchwoman married to Laker forward Rick Fox--THAT Vanessa Williams.

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Rosslyn, Va.: Queer Eye for a Straight Guy is laugh out loud funny! I loved it. I watched it on Bravo. (Which seems to have lots of "alternative lifestyle" programming, huh? Gay weddings and Boy meets boy. Not there is anything wrong with that...) Will the network version spoil the fun? Really, the show is a hoot.

Paul Farhi: I'm not hooting. I hate to be Serious Guy here but what if Bravo (owned by NBC, by the way) put on a show that played off of every stereotype of some racial or ethnic group?

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Somewhere, USA: Hey, or local news is different. We have highly paid "sportcasters" giving the same, boring syncophantic reports on how the Redskins are going to do this year, with endless verbage from the most objective of sources, Steve Spurrier (whom the sportscasters now call "the ball coach," which sounds really stupid). Other cities have highly paid "sportscasters" giving boring, syncophantic reports about other teams. This is more like advertising than news. Imagine a business reporter giving reports like this about other businesses.

Paul Farhi: Hey, don't knock Redskin syncophancy! It may be the one way our local news is different from some other city's local news. Of course, they probably just kiss up to THEIR local NFL franchise...

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Vienna, Va.: Can TV weatherman Doug Hill make up his mind what station he wants to work for and what kind of show he wants to do? First he starts at Channel 9 (WUSA). Then he becomes WUSA's chief forecaster. Then he quits WUSA and takes the job as Channel 7 (WJLA')s chief forecaster. Yet I haven't seen him at Channel 7 for some time now. Now, I hear him every afternoon on WTOP 1500 AM news radio. Just WHO is his guy working for and WHAT is his job?..it is really hard to tell.

Paul Farhi: It's not about the station; Doug just believes in the weather. And Doppler XK SuperTurbo6005.

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Alexandria, Va.: Why did WTOP's ratings go so high? Was it because of the war or it there another reason? Is WTOP's ratings tied to current events like CNN's are or have they found away to have consistant ratings regardless of what is going on in the world?

Paul Farhi: Interesting. Not sure I understand this myself. They had a pretty substantial surge in the spring ratings. Even though the war was all but over by the time the spring "book" began, I think there must have been some momentum (people tuning if for war news in March stayed with them into April and May and June). That said, WTOP has their act down pat. Very crisp presentation, very predictable. Plus, outside of the public stations and WMAL, who else is doing news on the radio?

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Fort Walton Beach, Fla.: Paul--I recently moved from D.C. to Florida's Gulf Coast. One happy (and unexpected) surprise is the quality of the radio here -- a multitude of formats, no syndication, and a tolerable level of commercial interruptions -- far superior to what I suffered through in the D.C. area. How come one of the largest metro areas compares so poorly to a small locale in the rural south?

Paul Farhi: Ah, yes, another of our continuing themes here--why do other cities, even little ones (hello, Harrisburg, Pa.!) seem to have better radio than good ol' Washington, eighth-largest market in the U.S.of A. Anyone want to weigh in with theories/guesses/wild and irresponsible speculation?

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Arlington, Va.: Neither Vanessa Williams was on 21 Jump Street, that was Holly Robinson

Paul Farhi: Thanks for the correction. I was confusing her with Holly Robinson Peete, who was on "Hanging with Mr. Cooper."

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Washington, D.C.: VH-1 just did a top 200 of Pop Icons. I was surprised that they put Oprah as number one over people like Elvis, Marilyn Monroe, and the Beatles! Are they insane? She's had more influence on the world than those people? Heck, Betty Crocker has had more influence!

Paul Farhi: Well, it's not like VH-1 does a whole lot of research into these things. My guess is, their definition of "a pop icon" is "anyone who has appeared on VH-1 in the last seven years." So that rules out, say, Bob Hope or Frank Sinatra, who were pretty popular in their day.

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Arlington, Va.: I'd say two cities is hardly a sample size large enough to draw such braod generalities regarding news. Especially two big media markets like DC and NYC. Maybe out in the hinterlands it's different.

In the Tampa area there is a station where all of the anchors are in their late 20's or early 30's, and often the man does appear to be younger. But the basic format is pretty much the same. Top story about some crime or disaster (it bleeds, it leads), a weather teaser, some other news, commercial the weather report, sports teaser, commercials, sports report, weather recap, signoff. How much experimentation is really possible?

Paul Farhi: I'm not sure we know how much experimentation is possible until someone tries. No one tries. Ever.

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Arlington, Va. -- music choice: Cable's music choice is an awesome alternative to radio. I never listen to the radio in the evenings anymore. Still addicted to WGMS in the mornings though.

Paul Farhi: Yes, music via cable is kind of an under-rated, and extremely under-promoted, service. I guess we don't think of cable as an audio service, though that's primarily the cable industry's fault since they rarely make a big deal about it.

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Laurel, Md.: What happened to "Law and Order" (the original)?

Last Wednesday's 9:00 episode reminded me of the half-season William Finklestein took off from LA Law. Instead of following a single case from discovery to verdict, they featured three cases:

1. Woman runs over husband repeatedly with car. At her arraignment she pleads guily and says her husband wanted her to get breast surgery.
2. Bathroom lipstick message warns Briscoe and Greene that a pregnant woman has been kidnapped. They find her just in time for Briscoe to deliver the baby.
3. Instead of being half the show, the lawyering part gets ten minutes to discuss the defense that was the plot of the movie "Double Jeopardy."

The previous week they had a 26-year-old woman posing as 16 so she could perpetually stay in high school.

Did some writer or producer leave the show? This is lame.

Paul Farhi: The show's been on for, what, 13 years? It's been amazingly consistent and high in quality over that period, which is astonishing in TV terms. Even Barry Bonds will someday stop hitting home runs.

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Silver Spring, Md.: Any idea why CNN lets Comcast pre-empt CNN Headline News twice an hour around the clock for boring talking-head interviews? They told me that it's CNN's idea, but CNN provides programming for that time slot that's seen in other (non-Comcast) cities?

Paul Farhi: It's really curious, isn't it? I don't think it has anything to do with CNNHN; I think Comcast took it on as some kind of public service project, and they should be lauded for that. Besides, some of us here have become cult fans of the host, Carolyn Black-Sottir.

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Alexandria, Va.: Miss America Vanessa = R&B Vanessa

100 percent positive.

Paul Farhi: No, I think there was ANOTHER R&B Vanessa Williams, in addition to the scandalized-Miss-America-R&B-actress-married-Rick-Fox Vanessa Williams. 48 percent positive.

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Busttown: Sorry, it was Melrose Place that had Vanessa Williams the other.

Paul Farhi: Are you sure that wasn't Holly Robinson?

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Potomac, Md.: Do you have TiVO? Do you think it's worth it?

Paul Farhi: Depends. If you watch a lot of TV, and are very discerning in your choices, yes. Otherwise, just stick with your old VCR. But here's something that I've always wondered about TiVo (and TiVo people can set me straight on): Is there a burnout factor? In other words, do you go nuts with it the first five, six months and then, like a gym membership, stop using it?

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Burke, Va.: I watched the first few epsiodes of Showtime's Out of Order recently. Thought it was a good, thought-provoking show -- similar in quality and quirkiness to HBO's Six Feet Under. The season for Out of Order seemed really short though. Do you know if it will be back next season or was this a test run first season that got bad ratings and flopped partway through?

Paul Farhi: Not sure if Showtime has made up its mind, but I doubt Out of Order is coming back. It got minimal "buzz," which is a very bad sign for an original series on a pay-cable network. Pay networks don't produce their own series very often; when they do, they have to be home runs, or at least solid doubles.

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Bethesda, Md.: Maybe Ft. Walton Beach radio just seems better to the person above because it's all new. Live there a few years and it may not seem so great.

No syndication in Ft. Walton Beach? On the FM dial alone, there's all the right-wing talk that WMAL has on WRJM, syndicated sports talk from ESPN on 98.1, and you have the syndicated morning shows of Steve & DC, Bob & Tom, Lex & Terry, and Rick & Bubba.

Format-wise, you have 3 country stations, a classic rocker, 2 rock stations, Top 40, Adult Contemporary, Modern Adult Contemporary, Oldies, and Smooth Jazz. What in that list is missing from the DC radio dial? Perhaps the playlists are better than DC, but I doubt it considering large corps. like Cumulus and Clear Channel own many of the stations.

The AM dial is all syndicated talk and various oldies formats.

Paul Farhi: Thanks for some facts, Bethesda. Your point--about newness--is quite good. I spent two weeks in Los Angeles earlier this summer, and thought the place was radio heaven. I wonder how I'd feel if I'd spent two YEARS there.

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Why Conservatives Do Well On Talk Radio: Because it's the only medium they have (with the exception of lefty NPR). The liberal elite controls the print media and TV, so people who believe in limited government, personal responsibility and freedom naturually migrated to the only remaining broadcast medium they could.

Paul Farhi: Hey, congratulations. You've passed the Rush-Sean-Savage-Ingraham-O'Reilly Indoctrination Test! Liberals control the media, eh? Well, if they do, they're being awfully wimpy about it. I've probably watched Dan Rather and Peter Jennings for 20 years. In all that time, I may have picked up a molecule or two of liberal bias. Whereas in five minutes of Rush, et al, my head feels like a big piano marked CONSERVATIVE has fallen on it.

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Why talk radio is so conservative: According to your colleague Marc Fisher, the potential audience for liberal talk radio is listening to the likes of Howard Stern, Don & Mike and Tom Joyner.

Paul Farhi: That might be, but there's a major difference: Howard Stern, Don & Mike, Tom Joyner, etc. aren't doing political talk, per se. That's "lifestyle" stuff, guy humor, topicality, whatever. There really is no national liberal radio figure to rival Rush and the gang.

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Southern Maryland: What's your theory on why so many news shows have the older man-younger woman format? Do producers assume that female viewers want a father figure while male viewers want a young hottie?

Paul Farhi: Yes. I think this may be a very subtle problem for Chan. 7. Maureen Bunyan is a great anchor, regal and beautiful. But regal, beautiful and...older. Who do you get to sit next to her? You can't really get an older man (unless it was Gordon Peterson or Jim Vance) because he'd be too old AND unfamiliar to the audience. So they're kinda stuck, in a way. They ought to just let her do it by herself, which seems to work just fine, but probably isn't what the consultants are telling Seven's management.

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Silver Spring, Md.: It's been said before, on this forum in fact, why smaller market radio can beat the pants off of larger market radio, listener-enjoyment wise.

Smaller market = less cost to purchase a radio station = less to lose = less fear of failure = more variety and originality.

Larger market = expensive station = lots to loose = "better not screw up" = no originality.

From a different angle, advertisers only want to advertise to specific people, not people who will never be interested in their product/service. Stations market themselves as the station that attracts X-type listener, defined by age group, sex, ethnicity. Big market stations don't want a wide variety of listeners, they want a deep pool of one type of listener. Then the go to the advertisers who want to reach that person.

Smaller markets have the options of another grouping; local. Advertising on those stations are usually geographic specific (ie local mechanic, local book store, local florist, etc). When you look for "local" people, you have to ignore age, sex, ethnic background, and try to format a station that will appeal to all groups, resulting in variety.

Paul Farhi: Wish I'd said that. Thanks, Silver Spring.

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Washington, D.C.: I know I'm posting late here, but Tivo ROCKS. We are never home or awake for the Daily Show, but still watch it every day. More importantly, all the network programming we record WE NEVER HAVE TO WATCH COMMERICALS. Now I really dont mind commercial all that much, but being able to watch a 60 minute program in about 45 is a huge time saver. We've had our Tivo for about two years, and its totally changed the way we view TV. And we hardly ever used our VCR before we got Tivo.

Paul Farhi: Here come the TiVo people...

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TiVo burnout?: Interesting question about TiVo burnout. I have only met one person who burned out on it but they went to their cable company's DVR service instead.

I would say that PVRs generally (I think) work extremely well for folks that don't watch that much TV -- personally I like it because within that hour I watch every day or two I know that 1. something I want to watch is on, and 2. I don't have to waste time on commercials.

Paul Farhi: The commercial-skipping thing is a biggie...

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Tivo land: No burnout factor with TiVo so far after about 6 months. What I like about TiVo:

1. No tapes to worry about so you don't have to rewind an old one before taping and you don't have to worry about running out of tape on a long program.

2. The Season Pass Manager that allows you to record a certain show regardless of how many times the network moves it around on its schedule. TiVo just finds it for you and it's smart enough to not record re-runs if you don't want it to.

3. Picture quality is far superior to tape.

4. It fast-forwards through commercials faster than tape.

Paul Farhi: Yes, yes, and furthermore, yes...

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re: TiVo burnout: Not for me yet. I've had TiVo since 11/01, and I still use it all the time. I turned off the automatic recording of the recommendations, and just use it to record shows when I can't watch them live. Or I start a show a few minutes late and catch-up during commercials. I also have the two satellite feeds coming into the TiVo/DirecTV box, so I can record two shows at once.

Paul Farhi: Question: If TiVo is so great (and I'm not arguing that it isn't) why have relatively few people gotten it? It's been around for about five years, and still may not be passed two million sales? What gives?

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Tivo response: We bought our Tivo in December of 99, we love it. We just recently upgraded to 80 hours and gave our old one to our daughter. We couldn't live without it. We find ourselves wanting to Tivo everything, the radio, etc. Sometimes you want to rewind and see/hear it again. It saves us a lot of time too. For example I Tivo "Trading Spaces," I just watch the beginning and the end, no waste of time on the middle. It's great. I can't give it enough praise. During Football season, we have our own instant replays. I say if you love tv, get it, you will find it invaluable!;

Paul Farhi: Okay. Fair enough...

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A Radio Person: Do newspapers have overrated and overpaid consultants telling them what to do like TV and radio?

Paul Farhi: Yes, which may explain the generally sorry state of American newspapers (WashPost absolutely excepted!).

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Bethesda, Md.: I've always wondered what the deal is with the local Emmys. It seems like everyone in local TV gets one eventually, yet the stations trumpet their winners as if it's an indication that they're really better than everyone else. Do people in TV take those awards as seriously as it seems?

Paul Farhi: I think you've hit on the real reason for giving local Emmys--so that stations can tell viewers they won a local Emmy. I mean, not to pick on Jim Vance, but he's won the best anchorman Emmy several times. Well, a) there isn't all that much competition; and b) what makes Jim worthy one year and not worthy of the award the next?

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I Should Be a Consultant: Why is radio "better" in small markets and why is TV news uniformly the same?

Same answer: Market size.

Big markets command more money for both the station and the talent. Therefore, there is more pressure to sell more add time at higher rates and longer blocks to finance the debt of station purchase (to say nothing of the talent and all of the corporate suits/suites). In order to do that, you need -consistent- if not stellar ratings, which is driven by research; better safe than sorry.

The reason radio is better in Harrisburg and rural Florida is that mom and pops don't have to pay as much for talent and/or overhead, and can pretty much do what they want; format is in the eye of the license holder or undercompensated talent.

Local TV news is similar, but those 20 somethings in market 129 are never moving up if their audition tapes aren't safe and recognizable as the anchor/weather babe/sports guy. The occasional success of a Steve Doocy, for example, is the exception that proofs the rule (or evidence of incredible luck or great agent).

I'd sell my services, but I'm in the wrong industry and would never be believed. (Sigh.)

Paul Farhi: I agree with your theories on everything but Steve Doocy. Steve Doocy?

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VH1's La-La-Land: 200 Greatest Pop Culture Icons?!;?!;?!;

Ha!; What planet are they living on?

In my mind Bob Dylan and the Beatles should be way up near the top, probably #1 and 2, because they influenced pretty much every facet of life since they hit the scene.

Here's a few people that rank higher than Dylan #68:

67 HOWARD STERN
61 MIKE MYERS
60 KERMIT & MISS PIGGY ?!;?!;?!;?!;
46 HARRISON FORD
42 FRED FLINTSTONE ?!;?!;?!;
40 THE OSBOURNES
39 KATIE COURIC
24 JFK JR. ?!;?!;?!;?!;
12 THE BEATLES - thank you!;
11 FRIENDS CAST - check please!;
5 TOM CRUISE
2 SUPERMAN
1 OPRAH WINFREY

I know this is just a dopey show to fill a few hours, but this list is insane!;

Paul Farhi: Fred Flintstone! And where is Hank Hill, for cryingoutloud?

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Park Point, Minn.: You've summed up local TV fairly well--locally here, most of the wannabe anchor/reporter types all speak in quasi-baby voices (even the men) and makes one feel like you are sitting in a kinder class for four-year olds. Any reporting of local news is so bland it sounds like the minutes from the Ladies Aid Society. But occasionally there will be a murder or ugly expose--you know it immediately because the anchor person's eyes will appear large, stiff, and blink-free and there is an excitement in the resonance of the storyteller as if it's all too exciting to report with straight objective inflections. But then too consider the fact that our public trans buses paper the sides of their vehicles with those same anchor-faces, where mud and snow and rain and the result is one not too respectful--but then...

Paul Farhi: George Carlin, wise in many things, said the purpose of local TV news was to reassure viewers that their lives were nearly as awful as the poor bastards who are featured every night on the local news (and by "poor bastards" I'm not referring to the anchorpeople).

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K Street Dungeon, Washington, D.C.: Liberal talk: Some years ago Mario Cuomo had a radio call-in show. He was thoughtful, fair-minded, and open. He baited no one. He answered callers' questions in paragraphs, not with sloganeering. Of course the show tanked. There's no future in talk radio for serious political discussion.

Paul Farhi: Yeah, that's another (supposed) reason liberal talk fails: liberal, by definition, is open to all points of view and teh active consideration of same. Who wants THAT on the radio?

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Arlington, Va. - TiVo is worth every $$: I used to watch very little TV. We got TiVo for my husband who watches a lot of sports. I've grown to love it because there is now ALWAYS something on that I want to watch -- because TiVo has recorded it for me. Now I watch more than ever, but still not that much. Quality vs. quantity! It would be more popular if it were marketed better -- I don't think many people know what it is or how it works.

Paul Farhi: I wonder if people also don't want to bother with another gadget and another monthly bill.

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Channel Zero: Garrison Keillor once said that if you get all your news from television, you know less about life than if you just drank gin straight from the bottle.

Paul Farhi: Hahahaha! And if you just stick with gin, you could save $44.95 a month on your cable bill.

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Somewhere, USA: Speaking of Doppler XK6500 Super Duper 9325LKX radar, I've noticed that several local stations have increased the color gradients--lots of red and yellow splotched all over the map when it's raining, rather than just the bottom two shades of green--you know, the precipitation not hitting the ground and fog. Clearly makes for a more exciting weather segment, causing more people to take a peek...

Paul Farhi: Weather graphics have progressed so much over the years that 3-D interactive weather is probably just around the corner. They could rig it up so that when the weather guy talks about a cold front, the thermostat in your house adjust down. When he talks about the evening weather, your lights dim, etc.

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Dunkirk, Md.: Follow-up on the question about local Emmys. I was in Ocean City this weekend and saw the weatherman from the Salisbury, Md. station -- kind of a geeky little guy -- posing with his two Emmy awards. Who in the world do you compete with in Salisbury? And, isn't it amazing that this guy has twice as many Emmys on his mantle as Jerry Seinfeld?

Paul Farhi: Hahahaha (Part II)!

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Forestville, Md.: Are you hearing that someone is trying to mess with Maureen Bunyan? We will have somebody's booty kicked all over this town! Once was enough!

Paul Farhi: Anyone who messes with Maureen has to get past me first. There will be no messing.

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Falls Church, Va.: Regarding TiVO: I suspect the reason it hasn't caught on more is that in reality, people do just not care that much about television. If you have spare time, or are just relaxing, it's sort of fun to channel-flip. Many of us (including me who ditched cable TV 7 years ago and haven't regretted it once since) just don't want to devote that much of our lives or energy to television. Life is too short. (but notice I'm still posting on a TV-chat! Can't help the bored-at-work-at-my-desk-today!)

Paul Farhi: Yeah, people don't care much about TV. It's only in more homes in America than indoor plumbing. It's only on an average of seven hours a day. It has only defined, shaped and reshaped the national economy and culture. Yeah, nothing going there. Everyone back to their desks.

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New York, N.Y.: Are you serious with that "liberals consider all sides of issues" bs!? I hope you're joking. I'm not saying Hannity and Rush are fair and balanced, but the idea that liberals are more open is just absurd. Why don't you talk to some college students about speech codes. And the whole darn PC movement pretty much originates from the left. You are proving the liberal bias that you always scoff at! Of course, I really hope you're joking and you aren't that stupid and/or blind.

Paul Farhi: Fair point(s). I was talking about the classical definition of "liberal," not "liberal" as practiced by self-avowed and intolerant liberals. Of course, intolerance is a universal political trait...

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Conservative Radio: Please -- Mario Cuomo is to liberalism what Sean Hannity is to conservatism -- just not as entertaining! Look at the numbers, Paul. These people, including Laura Ingraham, have struck a nerve, and not just with the stereotypes that you like to insult.

Paul Farhi: No question they've struck a nerve. The question is why. Please stick with the assigned reading and homework, class...

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Arlington, Va.: Paul, do you actually listen to Rush?

Paul Farhi: Yes, I catch him whenever I can, which to be more precise about it, is occasionally. He is a great entertainer/communicator. In fact, I think he belongs very high on that VH-1 list...

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Liberal is not open to all points of view, either!;: The only ones open to all points of view are Moderates. And Moderates don't get to spout off.

Paul Farhi: Yeah, you never hear someone described as "a great moderate firebrand."

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Columbia, Md.: You want news? I suggest catching the BBC news cast when possible. The Brits seem to present more serious world-wide issues IMO. I can't exactly express why it's better, I just know I seem to stay more enthralled by it. Maybe it's the terrific British accents!

Paul Farhi: Oh, please. I'm sick of the presumed superiority of Brit news, including the BBC (which is, nevertheless, quite good). Anyone who thinks the British media does anything better should be forced to watch/read/listen to the British media for three days. You will be cured. Ever read the Sun or the Mirror?

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Moderate Firebrands: I'd think John McCain, Joe Lieberman and Ross Perot fit that description.

Paul Farhi: Close on the first two. Perot, I believe, was frequently described as "a small, insane man with very large ears."

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Washington, D.C.: TiVO:
Reason it isn't more popular: lack of marketing. No ads, little floor space in stores, and general cluelessness to how it works. As with everything, publicity sells (even negative publicity as the word is getting out!)

Paul Farhi: Well, in my experience, if you can't describe what a product does in one sentence, people are going to have a hard time with it. Let's say I've already got a VCR and a DVD player. Now, tell me again what this TiVo gizmo is?

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Paul Farhi: Folks, I'd love to stay and continue thrashing liberals and/or TiVo, but I've got to go back to typing in my regular job. I invite--no, demand--that we resume this in two weeks. In the meantime, regards all around...Paul.

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