Stuck in a moment you can't get out of

I've been through dramatic, breathtaking transformations in the world of electronics before. It comes with being an old guy. I'm not talking about hearing the 1920 election returns on the radio, or seeing television at the 1939 World's Fair. But I do remember when our family got its first color television around 1965, and how we all used to fight to watch our favorite shows in living color. (Funny how Dad eventually won all the arguments about prime time, leaving me with Officer Joe Bolton and the Three Stooges in glorious black and white.)

My most obvious example of this came in the late 1980's. I had an all-in-one stereo unit of sorts that included a radio, a turntable, and a -- gasp -- eight-track player/recorder. You used to see eight-tracks at flea markets, but they are even getting rare there. But at least I could tape the albums I liked and listen to them in the eight-track player in my car.

But then I got a compact disk player. As Glenn Locke put it, I jumped about 20 years in technology in one trip to the store. Like everyone else at the time, I bought "Brothers in Arms" by Dire Straits, which was practically a demonstration of the CD's abilities.

Now, the process is happening again. Sort of.

Our television in the bedroom recently died, a 20-inch Magnavox that was nothing special but worked well enough for some years. Now, it's silly at this point to buy a set that doesn't have high-definition capability. It's pretty obvioius that all of television will be there sooner rather than later. But I really don't watch enough television to justify a full switch to HD, and it's cable price-tag of more than $100 a month. I was merely counting on a somewhat better picture on the LCD screen for the same price I had been paying.

There was a surprise waiting when I installed the new set. It turns out that the cable company doesn't go out of its way to reveal that the HD signal for local stations is buried on basic cable. In other words, out popped NBC, CBS, ABC and Fox -- all in HD. Yes, the picture is a nice step up; I can tell how long it's been since Dirk Nowitzki of the Mavericks shaved by watching the NBA Finals. I told a local television personality that she'd better brush her teeth when her station makes the conversion to HD; she'd hear about it from me if she didn't.

The television in the den still has its picture tube, though, and I have to say that the "framing" of the picture size when going back and forth between sets can be maddening. The old, standard broadcast has a 4/3 ratio of width to length. I believe HD is in something like 16/9.

These days, when I watch a show in the den, there's a good chance that I get a picture that doesn't fit the screen. It's particularly evident when graphics come up. For example, I can never see the scoreboard graphic completely when Fox does a baseball game. When my wife asks what the score of the game is, I have to say, "Well, the Mets have three, but I can't tell about the Phillies." One time we were watching a PBS show, and singer "Ichie Havens" was listed in the opening credits. Does Richie Havens have a rash or something?

I'm a patient man; I still have a VCR because it works fine and I have no need to spend extra money for digital cable and its tricks. (Well, I miss C-SPAN2 and HBO, which was bumped to digital cable only, a little -- but that's another argument.) And when my den television dies, as it surely will in a couple of years, I'll upgrade to another HD set and probably break down and spend the extra money.

But in the meantime, I have a toe in two different pools of water, and one is hot and one is cold.

Around the dial

You might be familiar with the Bruce Springsteen lyric, "Fifty-seven channels and nothing on." You might have even said it.

Every time I think about getting digital cable, I consider how many channels I don't watch on television as it is. And then forget about spending the extra money. (I also still have a VCR and use video tapes instead of a DVR, which makes me something of a dinosaur as well as a limited TV-watcher.) I get the news and sports I want as it is.

In fact, it's fun to go through the list of channels and figure out what stations I never, ever watch -- stations that could go away without a peep from me. I'm not saying they all are without merit, as they fill a variety of niches. It's a matter of personal preference. Let's see ...

MyTV and CW: My wife would miss the 10 o'clock version of the local news, though.

QVC, HSN, Shop NBC: Don't shop on TV.

CTVTO: It's often blacked out locally on cable because of duplication the programming of Buffalo stations.

Discovery: Once in a great while, it shows a special like "Blue Planet." Otherwise, every time I visit the channel there's a picture taken from the front of a taxicab.

Ion: There must be some rhyme or reason to its show lineup.

WNYB/EWTN: God probably will get me, Walter, for not watching.

Lifetime, Hallmark: At least the TV movies keep actresses like Meredith Baxter Birney employed.

Nik, Animal Planet, Toon, Disney: Sorry, no kids in the house.

Syfy: A Twilight Zone episode might make stop dial-hopping for a minute.

BET, Food, Style, Oxygen, HGTV, TLC: Never seen anything that kept me interested for more than a split-second. I'm still wondering how Jon and Kate became so well-known while appearing on TLC.

Univision, Telemundo: My high school Spanish does me little good here.

Spike TV: I'm just not tough enough.

CMT: No thanks.

A&E: This used to be interesting, but it's now just re-runs of network shows -- mostly on crime.

CNN Headline News: If I'm careful, I can avoid Nancy Grace.

TruTV: What happened to Court TV anyway?

History: For a guy who loves history, this rarely has anything watchable.

USA: Ah, no.

MTV, VH1: Where did the music videos go?

E!: Lowest common denominator at its finest.

Prime time

When a discussion comes up about prime-time television, I'm about as lost as I am when someone brings up cooking techniques. Which is saying something.

There's just not much on of interest to me. I've only made it through "Survivor" once, and have no interest in seeing the updated version of the Ted Mack Amateur Hour, better known as "American Idol." There are good shows out there, I'm sure, but I've never seen them.

But there is one exception. I'm a devoted viewer of "American Experience" on PBS.

Monday nights starting in January, the show cranks out generally interesting documentaries about American history. I always learn things. I also always wonder about the people behind the scenes who take the time to put these films together.

In other words, someone had to sit down a while ago and say, "Boy, I think America is interested in the history of the lobotomy."

Oddly enough, that person was right, at least as far as this very small section of America is concerned. Usually, the shows are done well enough so that almost any topic is worthwhile.

This year's programs already have covered the usual wide range of subjects. "Grand Central" covered the rail terminal in New York City and its history. Can't say I knew that the construction of the building was responsible for the concept of "air rights" in real estate. New York Central pushed its tracks under ground and sold the real estate above it in order to finance the project.

Then there's Mary Pickford. I knew she was a movie star, I knew she was "America's sweetheart," whatever that means. I didn't know that she basically was our first has-been. Pickford played young roles in silent pictures starting around World War I, and became a huge star. But then she grew older, and audiences weren't interested in seeing her grow up. Her personal story didn't have an happy ending.

Tonight's story was on Kit Carson. Now I've heard of him, but I can't say I know the reason why. So while I'm not sure if I need to see 90 minutes on Carson, I'll learn a few things if I merely start the tape up. Next week is a show on Buffalo Bill Cody. Having been to his grave, I learned that Cody was essentially the 19th century version of Don King in terms of promotion. He would have fit right in with the boxing crowd.

The program runs into spring, and reruns are often aired during the course of the year.

The body politics

A few notes from watching a few hours of coverage of the Iowa caucuses on Jan. 3:

* Anyone who wondered why Barack Obama was doing so well only needed to watch his victory speech. He captured the moment beautifully. All of a sudden Hillary Clinton's inevitability seems far less ordained.

* Speaking of Mrs. Clinton, my wife thought it was interesting that she was constantly called "Hillary" by TV commentators while the others were called by their last names. Sexism? Or is it simply recognizing that "Hillary" is all over her signs and other campaign material, no doubt to stop people from thinking her husband is running again?

* Mike Huckabee's victory speech supported my impression of him from one of the debates. This is a friendly, approachable person who knows how to stick to the point. Besides, as Bill Clinton said, he's the only Republican candidate who knows how to tell a joke. I don't know how well he can hold up nationally, but it was nice to see him get a moment in the sun.

* Quick story about Huckabee -- I once wrote the press secretary asking for an interview with the Governor about running. We didn't connect on a time, and then Huckabee started moving up in the polls. Oops -- no time for an interview with a New York State reporter. Can't say I blame them for that decision. Maybe Joe Biden has time for such an interview now.

* If John McCain were a stock, I'd put a "buy" on his chances of winning the Republican nomination ... particularly if he wins in New Hampshire. Mitt Romney's chances seem to be shrinking by the hour. If Fred Thompson isn't too interested in winning, why should anyone else be? And Rudy Giuliani seems to be hitting the wall that we all knew a relatively liberal Republican might hit in the primary process.

* Keith Olbermann was quite restrained and professional during his time on the anchor desk for MSNBC. He gets credit for a William McKinley reference too. Chris Matthews seemed a little obsessed with what the headlines overseas might look like, and he took a few too many sides at times -- acting like he was still on "Hardball." Meanwhile, it's always good to have Tim Russert around.

* CNN certainly misses Jeff Greenfield (now back at CBS), the sharpest commentator in the business in my book, although it is smart to have David Gergen on as often as possible. Meanwhile, Suzanne Malveaux looks like she is being groomed for big things at the outlet, with good reason.

On the border...

Gotta throw in a quick note about one of the fun sports/television traditions north of the border.

It's Grey Cup week in Canada, as the Canadian Football League stages its annual championship game. That means one big party, and it lasts for week. Our friends to the north do it up right.

For those of us with access to the CBC, which means in a border state, we get to see "Grey Cup Classics" if we stay up late enough. At about midnight, I think, the CBC each night in the week leading up to the game shows a game from the past.

It's charming, especially the old ones. One game earlier this week must have been from the early 1960's. There were no graphics, no replays. Numbers on uniforms were all over the place, unlike the modern system of standardizing numbers by position. One game the other night had the Ottawa Rough Riders and the Saskatchewan Roughriders -- that's right, two of the nine teams in the CFL had the same name, more or less.

It's kind of like watching ESPN Classic, but this is really classic stuff. I'd imagine it would be even better if I had heard of more than a couple of the players. You won't see NBC try something like this. Too bad; it would be fun to see a couple of those old AFL games from the 1960's in their entirety.

(Oh, and give yourself 10 points if you recognized the title from the Al Stewart song. I think he said it's the only top 20 hit about gun-running in Africa.)