Blog of Much Holding

No better tribute exists for Robert Goulet, save for his work:

More info on his career here.

Keep Heaven classy, Robert.

Well, I just finished installing Leopard on my 4th Mac (one was for a friend of mine) and my initial thoughts are this… Fantastic OS, buggy installer. I had to do a full install on one of the four computers due to an unrecoverable error message during the upgrade. I had luckily backed up everything on that computer (and it was my non-critical laptop) but I shudder to think what my reaction would have been if I hadn’t.

Also, restoring files from the backup was not seamless – it would not import my old address book calendar files and did not import e-mail settings. The only way I was able to get my data back on the computer was due to my “backup” contacts and calendar on my iPhone…

Reading around the net today a LOT of people who tried the default upgrade encountered similar problems. If this was Windows, a LOT more press would come from this, methinks, but due to the “thank you sir may I have another” relationship may in the Apple community have with the company, the complaints will be far less than the number of individuals affected by this.

I think that the installer, honestly, was not ready for release, but Apple, just like they did with the iPhone, released a partial-beta to the public.

The most success (and the only upgrade of the two I tried that worked) was with my son’s mac mini, but then again, he has no e-mail or calendar entries and very few documents…

As I stated, he operating system is fantastic (and I am already taking advantage of spaces to increase my efficiency), but the advice I am giving everyone is simple – if you can backup and know how to restore your files, then do a clean install. Otherwise, wait until the next version is released (probably before Christmas – look for stickers on the outside of the package before then, indicating the point-release…)

For whatever reason, Sci-Fi is pushing back the season premiere from the previously announced January date to April. THIS is why the networks are losing me as a viewer, decisions like this. I think I now watch on a regular basis only six shows- Galactica, House, Mythbusters, The Office, 24, The Price is Right (guilty pleasure), and three football games a week (I also watch documentaries and science shows). That’s it. And I used to be a RABID TV watcher.

Of the six shows I listed, I’m three weeks behind on House, and if the new season of 24 is not a marked improvement over last year, I’m done watching it.

Of all the new shows that have come out the past year, only a handful looked like something worth watching, though I didn’t. Why? I have been paying attention to how the networks treats their shows. If it is not a near-instant hit, it’s gone within a month. I have NO confidence that the network give any new shows a decent chance at finding an audience, and I will not invest my time and energy in any new show only to see them gone in a flash (call this my Firefly rule).

One of my all time favorite shows, Hill Street Blues, was in the toilet ratings-wise its first year. The network believed in the show, though, and renewed it for a second year. Do you think they would have done that if the show debuted today? Are you kidding me?

The writers guild has voted to strike, possibly as soon as November 1st (when the contracts run out). The hope of the writers being that this will hit the studios TV production much more that a later strike would. This whole thing, though, is counter-intuitive to me. You’re already losing viewers to DVDs, movies and video games. And now you want to have NO NEW PROGRAMS for months due to a strike?

The six shows I watch regularly may turn into one… or none… very soon.

After over three hours of watching the movie/extras on the DVD, I HIGHLY recommend the new 2001 release that came out today. Even if you have a “lowly” DVD player, this is a incredible improvement over the previous release of the film on DVD, and the extras are fantastic. Get it.

He’s 48 today, and shares the birthday (different year) of Johnny Carson (RIP).

Here’s a vid you may not have seen…

Yes, that’s Donny Osmond in the background. Yes, he has some sweet moves. Frighteningly so.

Just announced, Peter Davison is returning to Doctor Who to reprise his role as the fifth Doctor for a mini-episode slated to air in November.

Details here.