Two From Television

And two from The Onion, too!


Fewer people watched Community last night, but it's still doing better than it was  Excerpts:


After such a strong return, Community’s ratings experienced a probably inevitable correction last night, dropping by about 20 percent from around 5 million viewers to around 3.9 million, with a 1.7 ratings share among adults 18 to 49.
Yet:
These are slightly higher numbers than the show was pulling in the fall, and in fact, Community was the overall ratings winner on NBC’s Thursday night, outscoring both 30 Rock and Up All Night (to say nothing of the increasingly spiraling Awake). Combining that small yet significant audience bump with that small yet significant victory, as well as Comedy Central’s recent move to put Community into syndication—and of course, all of those animated GIFs you’ve been making—we’d say it all bodes well for the show’s chances ..


Best comedy on Network/Basic Cable television among several funny comedies.  Not only "Best," but "Funny" too.  Six seasons and a movie.  Yes, please!


Speaking of Awake..  “Kate Is Enough”   The AV Club (The Onion).  Excerpts:


We don’t really know which world is real and which is the fantasy; we don’t even know if this is the right question to be asking. One of the smartest creative choices Awake has made so far is the show’s willingness not to dig too deeply into its premise. 
..
As genre protagonists go, Michael is of the stoic variety. At first glance, he appears calm, patient, and mildly befuddled by life, like someone’s just told a joke he doesn’t quite get. It’s easy to overlook the effectiveness of Jason Isaacs' performance, because he isn’t doing a lot of obvious heavy-lifting. Why should he? Hannah and Rex are the ones who are suffering; they’re the ones who lost someone. For Michael, life is pretty much the same as it’s always been. Things are just a little more complicated.



Except that isn’t true, and the more you watch Isaacs, and get to know Michael, the more you realize he knows it. Awake benefits from not poking its premise too hard, and this single-mindedness stems directly from the show’s leading man. He’s a sleepwalker, moving from scene to scene with his eyes half-open, because his only objective is to sustain this new reality for as long as he can. Other genre shows introduce a strange premise and then provide a hero whose central goal is to solve the mystery; here, we have someone who would sacrifice all he has just to make sure that mystery stays in place. Usually, that’s the antagonist’s job, which sets up the potential for an interesting dynamic down the line, but for right now, it’s enough that Michael’s objective is to make whatever is happening to him work for as long as he possibly can, and to do that, he needs to balance the demands of two worlds, maintain his composure, and do his job in both, while at the same time avoiding any substantial divergence or change. And once again, I am impressed by the perfection of this as a metaphor for grief: a hero who spends his every waking minute trying to stand still.
And:
At some point, the show will most likely come to some sort of conclusion about what’s “real” and what isn’t, but for right now, we’re in a nebulous place where nothing is exactly real, but everything matters anyway. Because of this, the episode at times is less like a cop drama, and more like watching a man’s internal struggles played out in real time.


Awake is unfolding beautifully.  It'll be a shame when NBC cancels it.  If I made the programming decisions(keeping the same shows minus The Office swapped for Up All Night/all times Central..)?  Awake 7-8. Up All Night at  8.  Parks and Recreation at 8:30.  30 Rock at 9.  Community at 9:30.  Awake is no longer up against  The Mentalist, and now up against Big Bang.  The big difference is there's now a genre choice between. NBC and CBS the entire night!  Just by taking Community away from Big Bang's dominant 7p.m. slot, NBC could grow Community pretty quickly.  Let's face it, if The Mentalist sucks that night, or it's a re-run, that's a ton of people right there!  NBC should really consider some long term growth in aspects of their programming.  CBS owns the ratings every Thursday.  But I think NBC has better shows.  They just need the opportunity to grow until more people find out about them.  NBC has the programming.  In order to beat CBS on Thursdays, NBC needs patience.


The type of people who love The Mentalist would also love Awake.  Now they don't compete!  Person of Interest is a clear choice from Up All Night and Parks and Recreation.  If it were me, I'd definitely give the people who love 30 Rock and Community the chance to get home late and still see two of their favorite shows before The News.  Research indicates Community fans are more urban and get home later in the evening.  It seems like a perfect fit for both shows.  Note:  As 30 Rock is in its sixth season, it is not new, but has never connected, even initially, with a larger core audience in its single slot.  Now that both WGN and Comedy Central have picked it up, people are starting to Get It.  People's awareness of 30 Rock is just now where it should have been all along.  That is the premise to build upon..

Patience, successful-despite-yourself corporate-lunkheads; Patience..

Wisconsin Mystery Booms: This Explanation Is Not It, Or, At Least, All Of It..

Wisconsin Town Figures Out Source of Mystery Booms  Newser.  Excerpts:

The mysterious booms heard in Clintonville, Wisconsin, had experts stumped—but there may be a simple explanation. "The mystery is solved. We have experienced an earthquake here in Clintonville,"
..
..explains that the fact that Clintonville's soil and granite isn't like what's normally found under towns suffering earthquakes.
And:
Portable detectors picked up a magnitude 1.5 earthquake—which can only be felt within a 5-mile radius—early Tuesday morning. The devices make their way around the country, and very few are in the state; it was a pure "fluke" that they were in the right place at the right time, adds the city official.


Not that booms don't occur with earthquakes; they do.  But not always, and usually of larger magnitude.  So maybe..  There could be an earthquake swarm in Clintonville.  Have many EQ's does the USGS think happened before the recorded EQ?  Have more sounds/booms occurred?  That equipment would still be there, or was it "Mystery solved:  Let's get the fuck outta here!"  And the seismometers are already gone?

And what of Montello?  The eyewitness reports seem to all point to more intense episodes.  Wouldn't the USGS make the effort to get some seismos just 80 miles to the south west of Clintonville if Montello's shaking harder?  Assuming seismometers are still in Clintonville, how many quakes have they recorded since?  Also, only a small quadrant of Clintonville was effected, opposed to most of Montello.  Also, according to reports from Montello, the boom events overlapped, with Clintonville starting Sunday, and Montello starting Tuesday.  How many quakes have been recorded in Montello?

Tunnels?

Rift Expansion?

Solar-triggered Skyquakes?

Wisconsin Mystery Booms And More: March 23, 2012

Mysterious Sounds And Rumble Now Being Reported In Montello, 80 Miles South of Clintonville – March 21, 2012  Follow up/More background from The Truth Behind The Scenes.   Excerpts:



In Montello, it’s the talk of the town.



Lekas said, “There was a loud boom and all the windows shook. The whole house shook.”


A loud rumble around 5-thirty last night immediately triggered calls to the police department.

Montello Police Chief Richard Olson said, “We have a lot of good, reliable sources that reported this pretty much community wide.”


Jean Dawidziak’s son heard the boom.


She says, “He was out at the farm and said mom there was this big thing, the whole house shook.”

Pretty much everyone we talked to in Montello says they either heard and felt this rumble themselves or they know someone who did. One person even described it like a really bad train wreck, all the cars slamming into each other at once, right where you’re standing.


Olson says, “They reported it almost as if it was under ground or ground level.”


The police chief is still trying to make sense of it.

These booms are much more intense and widespread than those in Clintonville.  And you thought anything with the word "Mystery" or "Mysterious" couldn't get more mysterious..

It's also happening in Oklahoma.  That sound is ominous.  Lots and lots of videos at the link.

Developing..

Wisconsin Mystery Booms: More Booms, New Town..

Mystery Booms, Ground Shaking in Second Wisconsin Town – Videos  Death By 1000 Papercuts.  Excerpts:

The “Big Story” in Wisconsin: mystery booms appeared in a second town Tuesday night. The still unexplained phenomena heard by residents in Montello, Wisconsin, 80 miles southwest of Clintonville, the location of mystery booms or ‘blasts’ and shaking that have frightened residents three nights in row beginning Sunday night. Ruled out as the cause of the mystery booms and ground shaking in Clintonville: mining, the military, earthquakes, sewer gas, and anything caused by humans. The current theory: the granite bedrock beneath the town is the culprit. Other theories in the comment sections of news reports: The mystery booms are caused by ‘HAARP’, a ‘sinkhole’ beneath Clintonville, or, ‘giant earthworms’.
..
The latest news: “There are reports of more booming sounds 80 miles away. Police in Montello are now investigating similar sounds.”



“It’s the talk of the town in Montello today, a loud rumble last night that was apparently loud enough to shake walls and rattle windows. Last night the police department received several reports of loud noise and a loud rumble around 5:30. Police say they are investigating.”


Meanwhile, Clintonville residents tired of booming noise.



Meanwhile, the Mystery Booms remain a mystery.

Here's a Thom Yorke Video

Because Why Not?

I'm Sorry: I Can't Quite Hear You Over Those Mysterious Booming Sounds..

Alternate:  "'S'cuse me!  Musta been that bean I had earlier.."

Residents search for answers to what’s rattling small Wisconsin town  CNN, via The Extinction Protocol.  Excerpts:

Mysterious explosions. Unexplained shaking. Something’s going on in Clintonville, Wisconsin, but nobody seems to know what it is. The sounds — variously described as rattling pipes, clanging metal, thunder or firecrackers — have continued on and off since early Sunday night in just one part of the small town of 4,600, located about 180 miles northeast of Madison. Accompanying the sounds are vibrations that have shaken homes and household objects in the northeast corner of town, city manager Lisa Kuss said. The sounds were loud enough Monday morning that a CNN journalist could hear them during a cell phone conversation with Kuss. The baffling phenomenon does not appear to have caused any significant damage or injuries, according to Kuss.

Meanwhile in British Columbia, three booms bring down a rickety-ass barn.


Strange Sounds In Sky Explained By Scientists.  Geo Change Journal.  Excerpts:
 
In geophysics, they are called acoustic-gravity waves; they are formed in the upper atmosphere, at the atmosphere-ionosphere boundary in particular. There can be quite a lot of causes why those waves are generated: earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, hurricanes, storms, tsunamis, etc. However, the scale of the observed humming sound in terms of both the area covered and its power far exceeds those that can be generated by the above-mentioned phenomena.
 
In that case, what could be causing this humming in the sky?



In our opinion, the source of such powerful and immense manifestation of acoustic-gravity waves must be very large-scale energy processes. These processes include powerful solar flares and huge energy flows generated by them, rushing towards Earth's surface and destabilizing the magnetosphere, ionosphere and upper atmosphere. Thus, the effects of powerful solar flares: the impact of shock waves in the solar wind, streams of corpuscles and bursts of electromagnetic radiation are the main causes of generation of acoustic-gravitation waves following increased solar activity.


Given the surge in solar activity as manifested itself in the higher number and energy of solar flares since mid-2011, we can assume that there is a high probability of impact of the substantial increase in solar activity on the generation of the unusual humming coming from the sky.

Comforting.  The uptick in Solar energetic activity could also explain the "Super Bolt" phenomenon.  Whether or not it turns out to be accurate, it feels poetically fitting that, whatever they are, these sounds, these core shaking, soul quaking sounds herald the arrival and appearance of The Wave that returns us to The Source.  But not before engulfing us.

Are the trumpets sounding?

All links from The Extinction Protocol.  Thank you!

March, 20, 2012: Earthquake Roundup

Of course, there was a big one in Mexico..  Plus a  5.1 and 5.0 aftershock (Mexico), 6.2 in Indonesia, 5.0 in Vanuatu,  4.6 in Greece,  a 5 in the Loyalty Islands, 5.2 in Tonga, and a 4.3 in Bolivia..  Nothing HUGE, but taken all together so close to the recent solar activity, 188 day theory (Which is exact Thursday, March 22), all this activity is interesting..  Oh yeah, not to mention that the government of the Mexican province of Chiapas scheduled a 7.9 Earthquake drill for almost that exact time!  Somebody call The freakin' Mentalist!

Also..  What if the Mexico quake was a fore shock?  Hopefully, when we revisit Friday, this theory will be disproved.  We shall see..

The Truth About The Minimum Wage That Will Make You Gasp

From Move On.  Check out the chart..

With only two exceptions(New Mexico, sporadic towns in Arkansas), the "affordable" gray states are unlivable, light blue are passable/ok, and dark blue states are cool, but too expensive.  More evidence that life in 2012/"Universe 'B'" blows..

Earthquake: Mexico

7.6 right now.  Preliminary report.  We'll know more soon.

Douglas - Wood - Spangler?

Xymphora has this one.

After Watching The KONY Close Up Freak Out Video..

I think this event had at least some roots from The Tree of Conflicted Desire.  It's also very possible that drugs or alcohol were not involved.  Wherever he is, I hope he's getting real help, and that it really helps. 

Still:  What Was It that set Jason Russell off?

Solar power station in Spain works at night

From Raw Story.  Excerpts:

A unique thermosolar power station in southern Spain can shrug off cloudy days: energy stored when the sun shines lets it produce electricity even during the night.

..
“It is the first station in the world that works 24 hours a day, a solar power station that works day and night!” said Santago Arias, technical director of Torresol Energy, which runs the station.

The mechanism is “very easy to explain,” he said: the panels reflect the suns rays on to the tower, transmitting energy at an intensity 1,000 times higher than that of the sun’s rays reaching the earth.



Energy is stored in a vat filled with molten salts at a temperature of more than 500 degrees C (930 F). Those salts are used to produce steam to turn the turbines and produce electricity.


It is the station’s capacity to store energy that makes Gemasolar so different because it allows the plant to transmit power during the night, relying on energy it has accumulated during the day.
..
As a result, the plant produces 60 percent more energy than a station without storage capacity because it can work 6,400 hours a year compared to 1,200-2,000 hours for other solar power stations, he said.



“The amount of energy we produce a year is equal to the consumption of 30,000 Spanish households,” Arias said, an annual saving of 30,000 tonnes of CO2.


Helped by generous state aid, renewable energies have enjoyed a boom in Spain, the world number two in solar energy and the biggest wind power producer in Europe, ahead of Germany.

Readers in the comment section had some great tidbits to add, including possible solar satellites beaming energy down to power stations, solar's capability to create energy without carbon dioxide, and while still not as powerful as nuclear plants, solar plants are as much as one-fortieth the cost and no nuclear waste.  What a fucking concept.  My favorite (partial but Right On)post and dumbass response: 

Gee, imagine where we might be today had America listened to the peanut farmer physicist who said we have to start now (late 70's), to avoid all the BS going on today with big energy and pollution and wars. BUT, NOOOoooooo!, Americans had to have an actor king, with a James Watt 'jehovah witness' anything goes for profit when it comes to natural resources because there is no tomorrow, in the White House.

..
George Washington Carver, just thought it was appropriate to write his proper name. For he was such an extraordinary man!

Actually, it was Jimmy Carter.  Crazy old Jimmy Carter.  We could have had solar collectors on all new buildings after say.. 1978.  Yeah, solar collectors sucked in the 70's and 80's, but with 30 years of hardcore Research and Development, we would have prevented the endless loop of Resource Wars the 21st Century will surely hold.

And all the oiltards laffed.  HAR HAR HAR!  That peanut farmer don't know nuthin'!  OIL is KING!  Turns out, they were wrong, he was right, and we're all fucked.

And why don't any of the progressive pundits ever bring this up?  Say it loud and proud:  Jimmy Carter was fucking RIGHT!