So . . .

Funny story. Leigh came over to my place the other week. No, that’s not the funny part, though it is unusual. For some reason, most people only visit me once. They come in, look around, ask why there’s a baseball bat with a bloody tooth embedded in it by the door, and then suddenly remember a pressing engagement elsewhere.

Oh, they also then change their phone number and unfriend me on Facebook, but I digress.

Anyway, Leigh has come over multiple times, so I assumed he remembered the ground rules:
1. Don’t look up.
2. Before opening a door, check for tentacles.
3. If attacked by a ninja, remain calm, point at me, and say ‘No, not me. Him,’ in a forceful tone.
4. The freezer may contain things not normally found in freezers. Or this dimension.
5. If you see a sign that says ‘Caution: Eldritch Evil’ near a pit, don’t look into the pit. If the sign says ‘Naked Ninja Girls,’ then still don’t look (it’s a trap for the ninjas). If the sign simply says ‘Pit,’ feel free to look all you want.

At any rate, Leigh came over to help me move my TV, an old model that weighs around 250 pounds, as I was rearranging my living room furniture to cover over some of the more obvious blood stains.

NOTE: Yeah, I really need a steamer.

Things were progressing smoothly. The TV had been removed from its stand and put to one side, my furniture was shuffled, and we were picking the TV up again when I noticed the cobra.

“Oh,” I said. “I’ll need to grab that. You got the TV?”

Now, I’m 99.9% certain that Leigh replied. “Yes, I can hold your TV up by myself. In fact, I find it a rather pleasant.”

Leigh, however, maintains that all he managed to get out was a “Wha-?”

Needless to say, I let go of my end for a split second to toss the cobra back onto the cobra shelf, only to hear a yell from Leigh as he started to drop my TV. I selflessly leapt back to save my TV and help guide it back onto its stand.

Leigh, much to my surprise, then said some very bad words while holding his arm. It seems that while trying to maintain a grip on my TV, he injured the tendons in his right arm a touch and now has to take anti-inflammatory medication and wear a brace for a few weeks.

So, the comic updates may take a little longer than we had originally planned.

In all seriousness, Leigh did injure his arm and it will be a bit longer before we can begin to update again. I have told Leigh that it’s okay to injure his non-drawing arm or legs as much as he likes, but we really need to keep his head/drawing arm healthy.

We will let you know a hard date on the updates once we have them. In the meantime, please enjoy the blogs.

And don’t look in the pit.

Cheers,
-Jason

Educational TV

So, has anyone noticed that educational TV seems to becoming a lot less educational?

I am talking about the Discovery Channel, History Channel, and The Learning Channel. While I watch pretty much zero network TV, I do flip between these on a regular basis and have noticed a trend.

What is the newest show on Discovery? A reality show about Lobster fisherman. What is the show that seems to be on most evenings? Deadliest Catch, a reality show about crab fisherman.

Discovery is not alone here. History has Ice Road Truckers. The Learning Channel has American Chopper (which I admit to enjoying – I like seeing the bikes being built), Miami Ink and now, LA Ink.

Granted, these shows are a minority among those being offered. The History Channel alone has so many WWII shows that I keep expecting Nazi Germany: The Shoelaces of the Third Reich to show up. The Discovery Channel also has that perennial favorite: Shark Week.

You know what I would love? Besides being fed fajitas by supermodels? If the History Channel and Discovery Channel combined forces to produce Nazi Shark Week. I do not care if it was about actual Nazi Sharks (der PanzerTigerhai), Nazis being fed to sharks, or the forbidden love between a Nazi and a shark. Nazi + Shark = television greatness.

Anyway, back to the topic at hand. I realize that these networks need viewers as much as anyone else. I also realize that reality shows are the thing right now. Could they just, you know, try and make them a bit more informative? Human Weapon is a good example of a show that provides entertainment (people hitting each other) with information (how hitting people in one way hurts more that hitting people other ways).

Barring that, they really need to go with Nazi Shark Week. Or American Chomper, a show about building motorcycles while being attacked by sharks. Or Miami Inked, where they try and tattoo a squid.

Cheers,
-Jason

A Technical Question

There seem to be a lot of technical people reading, so I have a question to pose to you.

My TV does not like to change channels anymore.

I have a Tivo hooked up to my cable box. Generally speaking, when I change the channel with the Tivo remote, it only works 1 in roughly 10 times. The cable remote also only works about 1 in 10 times as well. The numbers on the cable box change, but the actual channel does not (the numbers come up on the TV as well).

However, if I go to the cable guide (not the Tivo guide) and highlight and select the channel there, it changes fine.

I have pulled and reattached all the cables, but that has not helped. Can anyone give me any advice on what I could do to alleviate this? Should I switch the cables out? Do I need a new TV? Should I sacrifice a chicken?

Thanks,
-Jason