The Yin Blog

What happened to Fox (network, not news) and me?

Once upon a time, or should I say, a long time ago in a TV era far far away, Fox used to be my favorite network. It was edgy, funny, and daring, with the only sitcoms I managed to watch regularly ("The Simpsons" and "Married With Children," and later, "Malcolm in the Middle"), and of course "The X-Files," which I stuck with to the bitter end. When the new century rolled around, it got even better, with my perhaps all-time favorite show ever, "24", and then "Prison Break." I also liked some of the new reality TV shows, such as "American Idol," and who can forget the genius of "Joe Millionaire"???

So it was kind of a shock to look at TV By the Numbers' assessment of this season's shows on Fox and to realize that I don't watch a single show on that network(!). I did watch "Fringe" up to the end of last season and earlier this season, but TV shows on Friday got moved around and somehow I ended up with a three-way conflict on Friday night with only a dual-tuner on my TiVo, and "Fringe" was left out. Last week's episode got recorded, and I tried watching it, but I've missed too much for it to make sense. (Not that things ever really made sense with "Fringe.")

The TV world changes, and I'd say that ABC is now my favorite network for scripted shows, with "Once Upon a Time" being my current favorite, and "Scandal" pretty high too.

ABC's "Scandal": a big continuity error, and my speculation about how it ends

I'm finally caught up on ABC's "Scandal," with one episode left before it goes on a hiatus for the winter, and I've really enjoyed it so far this season. Well, except for the drawn-out storyline about how much Olivia Pope and President Grant can't stay away from each other.

Anyway, this post includes spoilers through last week's (12/6) episode.

***

With me still? Okay, let's delve into the big continuity error. At the end of the previous episode, President Grant was shot as he stepped out of his presidential limousine. At the beginning of last week's episode, which immediately followed, the shooting scene is replayed in more detail, and we see that Grant was hit multiple times, and a few other staffers were shot as well.

In the subsequent obligatory wounded person on rolling stretcher in hospital scene, his shirt is bloody, suggesting at least one torso wound. No facial wound, though.

The news reports of the shooting, however, talked about how he was hit in the head; and the attending physician reported to insiders that Grant had cranial swelling due to bullet(s) in the brain.

Wha????

I'm not looking for excessive gore or anything (even though this is a 10pm show), but if you're going to be talking about headshots, don't we need to see, I don't know, a head injury??? And if you don't want to spoil Tony Goldwyn's looks, then why have it be a head wound? Why not just have the doctor say that the president has a bullet near his heart and build suspense that way?

***

Okay, now to my speculation about how it ends. So far, we know there's a big conspiracy that includes Olivia Pope, the President's Chief of Staff Cyrus Beene, a Supreme Court Justice, and scary businessman Hollis Doyle, which appears to have rigged the voting machines in a key county in Ohio to steal the election for Grant. Doyle arranged for a bomb to kill eight people, some of whom were connected to the vote-stealing plot but others of whom were innocent; and the whole incident was pinned on an innocent woman, who involuntarily underwent an identity change and is now working for Olivia Pope. The conspiracy may be starting to unravel, as Beene's husband (an investigative reporter) is on to the rigged machine story, as is an Assistant U.S. Attorney.

I'm guessing that in the end, which I hope is not for a few seasons, the conspiracy turns on itself. Pope is the star of the show, so I imagine she will end up cooperating with the AUSA to bring the others to justice. Cyrus Beene is a likeable character, so I think he will end up being killed by Doyle, and that will be what spurs Pope to cooperate with the government. The Supreme Court Justice is somewhat likeable, so it's unlikely that Pope would want to destroy her, but the justice is also suffering from cancer, so she'll probably just die of that.

Hopefully we'll get to see if I'm right (i.e., the show gets to end on its own terms, rather than getting canceled/non-renewed).

Rejoicing over my new compost rollcart!

It's been about two years of forced composting of food scraps and yard waste for me. My colleague and blogger Jack Bogdanski has repeatedly complained about the secondary effects of the program -- smelliness, pest attraction, etc. -- and eventually he gave up and paid for the bigger garbage rollcart.

I haven't been as bothered by the composting, but I did notice that the bottom of my green compost rollcart was looking like some kind of precursor to biological warfare. I probably should have cleaned it out, but frankly, I was afraid to.

Imagine my surprise and happiness today when, while wheeling the empty rollcarts back to their usual place in our side shed, I discovered that we had a brand new, clean green rollcart! Woo hoo!

NBC's "The Voice": from 6 to 4 . . . .

All I have to say, after watching tonight's results show of "The Voice," where two of the remaining six singers were cut, is, "Maybe I should've voted."

Wow. I did not expect that.

We're #17!

This list ranks the states from best-run to worst-run. Not surprisingly, California is dead last. I fretted that Oregon would be down there as well, but somehow, we rank as the 17th best-run state:

In 2011, the manufacturing sector accounted for 28.8% of Oregon’s economic output, more than in any other state. The sector is dominated by computer and electronic parts manufacturing, which provided nearly $40 billion in output to the state in 2010. Outside manufacturing, the state’s economy faced several significant challenges last year, despite having one of the highest GDP growth rates in the country in 2011, at 4.7%, Oregon’s unemployment rate was 9.5%, while 17.5% of the population lived in poverty, worse than the respective national rates of 8.9% and 15.9%. However, the state managed its finances well during the recession: 87% of its pension liabilities were funded in fiscal 2010, one of the highest percentages in the nation.

I'm not sure about the accuracy of this summation, though; given the vast problems that PERS faces, it's hard to know what to make of the claim that 87% of pension liabilities were funded. I don't miss the Iowa winters, but that state was ranked #5. Farm land can't be outsourced, so I suppose Iowa is relatively recession-proof. (Hey, maybe we should stop the farm subsidies!)

Asian-American stereotypes?

Here's an interesting article about seven Asian-American stereotypes that the author says aren't true, including the belief that Asian-Americans can't play sports but all know martial arts.

Unfortunately, it doesn't help her case that the list of Asian-American pro baseball players she uses (Ichiro Suzuki, Hideo Nomo, Hideki Matsui, Byung-Hyun Kim, and Kaduhiro Sasaki) are actually all foreign players, so Asian, not Asian-American.

But whatever, apart from that, it's a good refutation of the stereotypes. I thought the "Asian F" (i.e., a grade of a B) was especially hilarious. (Been there, endured that.)

USC vs. Notre Dame: who to root against???

Wow, a weekend of upsets has put Notre Dame atop the BCS standings, not to mention leaving it the only undefeated team. In its last regular season game, Notre Dame plays USC. . . . Now, normally I root against the Notre Dame football team in every game, except when it plays USC, but I'm wondering if this year is different. Notre Dame is 10-0, while USC is 7-4.

1) USC is irrelevant. Whether the Trojans finish 7-5 or 8-4 doesn't really matter. They'll go to a bowl game, but it's not going to be a good one. At 11-0, Notre Dame gets a chance to win the national championship, and if it's against Alabama, I might have to root for the Irish just so the SEC can finally have its BCS streak broken.

2) If USC loses, that means it will have lost 4 of its last 5 games, including devastating ones against traditional rivals UCLA and Notre Dame, not to mention the upstarts Oregon and Stanford. I'm afraid that will lead to Lane Kiffin's being fired. You see, as I noted here, I love that Kiffin is USC's coach, as I think he keeps the team from performing up to its lofty talent level. If he's fired, they might get someone . . . good. A victory against Notre Dame -- without star QB Matt Barkley, to boot -- might save Kiffin's job!

3) USC's beating Notre Dame boosts the value of Stanford's, Oregon's, UCLA's, and Arizona's victories over USC, thus elevating the Pac-12 and adding to the collection of nice non-conference wins by Pac-12 teams: Wisconsin and BYU (by Oregon State), Nebraska (by UCLA), and Oklahoma State (by Arizona).

So . . . um . . . go Trojans, fight on!

NBC's "Grimm" & fictionalized execution drama

Tonight's episode of NBC's "Grimm" relied heavily on an impending execution for narrative drama . . . . Of course, the show makes a big deal about its Portland setting (much appreciated!), with shout-outs to local institutions like Voodoo Donuts and the like. So whereas I wouldn't ordinarily nitpick too much about the finer legalities (okay, maybe I would), this is an instance where reality and fiction clash too much to ignore.

Specifically: (1) Governor Kitzhaber has issued a moratorium on all executions during his term in office, which lasts for two more years, so in fact, there would be no execution at all; and (2) the only two people on Oregon's death row to be executed since 1976 were "volunteers" -- meaning they waived their appeals.

I guess it's possible that the show takes place in the near future . . . .

Lane Kiffin as the best coach in the Pac-12?

. . . best for the rest of the conference that is!

I totally get how USC alums can be so devoted to their football program. It's not unlike the devotion that Yankee fans have to their team, and no doubt the disdain/fear/awe that everyone feels toward that team ratchets up the feelings. But at this point, it's more like the Yankees during their bumbling period in the mid- to late-1980s, when everyone else in the AL East took turns winning the division except them.

And you have to wonder, how much of it is because of Coach Lane Kiffin? It's easy to take potshots at him, as the Oregon fans at FishDuck do . . . repeatedly. Just some "highlights":

• Voted his team #1 in the preseason coaches’ poll, after publicly declaring he would not vote his team #1.
• Revoked a scholarship granted to a walk-on, giving it to a convicted felon instead.  Kiffin’s response when asked about it? “He was fortunate to have one for a year.”
• Banned walkthroughs for visiting teams under the guise of “protecting the Coliseum’s turf”.
• Offered advice to new Penn State coach Bill O’Brien on how to handle sanctions and retain players, then demonstrated the necessity of that advice by poaching the Nittany Lions’ best player, Silas Redd.

The latest mini-scandal is the fact that USC cheated in the Oregon game by deflating their footballs when on offense, thus giving their players an unfair advantage because deflated balls are easier to catch. Kiffin has denied ordering this, but some sports columnists are doubtful, noting the pattern of cheating/win at all costs/etc.:

I'm sure working for a head coach who has a penchant for finding every low-class maneuver in the book to get an advantage had nothing to do with it. I'm sure the "rogue manager" had to come up with this in the isolation chamber of his own nefarious little mind.

Anyway, USC may be 6-3 (3-3 in the Pac-12) right now, but remember that the Trojans were ranked #1 at the start of the season. And you can understand why. Matt Barkley, possibly the #1 pick in next year's draft, came back for his senior season -- the first post-bowl-ban year -- with something to prove. Also coming back was junior Robert Woods, one of the best wide receivers in college football and possibly a top-25 pick next year. Another possible top-25 pick is center Khaled Holmes, described by one scouting report as "the best center in the draft class by a large margin." Woods might not even be the best WR on the team, though, as sophomore Marqise Lee is pretty awesome already.

But wait, in addition to keeping all those skill position players from last year's team, USC -- as noted in the FishDuck post -- poached Penn State running back Silas Redd, who projects to be drafted at least.

Meanwhile, USC's main Pac-12 competition, Stanford and Oregon, both lost key players from last year's teams. Look at this website's rankings of the top 40 Pac-12 players from 2011 and where they are today:

1. Andrew Luck, QB, Stanford [Indy Colts, #1 pick]

2. LaMichael James, RB, Oregon [SF 49ers, 3d round pick]

3. Jonathan Martin, OT, Stanford [Miami Dolphins, 2d round pick]

5. Matt Barkley, QB, USC [returned]

6. Darron Thomas, QB, Oregon [undrafted but left Oregon]

7. David DeCastro, OG, Stanford [Pittsburgh Steelers, 1st round pick]

8. Cliff Harris, CB, Oregon [undrafted but left Oregon]

10. Shayne Skov, LB, Stanford [returned]

12. T.J. McDonald, S, USC [returned]

13. Matt Kalil, OT, USC [Minn Vikings, 1st round]

14. Robert Woods, WR, USC [returned]

18. John Boyett, S, Oregon [returned but got injured in game #1 and out for the season]

19. Delano Howell, S, Stanford [undrafted free agent for Buffalo Bills]

24. Chase Thomas, LB, Stanford [returned]

28. Stepfan Taylor, RB, Stanford [returned]

30. David Paulson, TE, Oregon [Pittsburgh Steelers, 7th round]

37. Nickell Robey, CB, USC [returned]

40. Nick Perry, DE, USC [Green Bay Packers, 1st round]

USC returned more of those top players than Stanford did, and Oregon essentially lost all of its top players. Here's what Wikipedia had to say about the outlook at the beginning of the season:

Along with Barkley, who is a leading Heisman candidate, the Trojan offense returns nine starters, including 2011 All-Conference center Khaled Holmes, a thousand-yard rusher from 2011 in senior running back Curtis McNeal, and two thousand-yard receivers in Robert Woods and Marqise Lee. In addition, former Penn State running back Silas Redd transferred to USC and will be immediately eligible to play during the 2012 season. The addition of Redd means the USC offense now boasts two thousand-yard rushers, two thousand-year receivers, and a 3,500-yard passer from the 2011 season.

On defense, the Trojans return seven starters and four All-Conference players, including first-team All-Conference performers in safety T. J. McDonaldand cornerback Nickell Robey, senior defensive end Wes Horton, and the team's co-leading tacklers in sophomore linebackers Hayes Pullard and Dion Bailey, who was named the Pac-12 Freshman Defensive Player of the Year in 2011.

USC returns 18 starters and thirteen All-Conference performers in 2012.

Yikes, I probably would've voted them #1 if I'd had a vote! And yet, with that stockpile of talent, not to mention the losses that Oregon and Stanford endured, USC lost to Stanford and Oregon, and to top that off, also lost to Arizona, which is a respectable 5-4 overall with a nice win over Oklahoma State, but only 2-4 in the Pac-12, including a terrible 66-10 loss to UCLA.

USC's remaining three games aren't gimmes, either. Arizona State is 5-4 (3-3 in the Pac-12) and still in the hunt for division crown (though they don't control their own destiny). UCLA is 7-2 (4-2) and does control its own destiny. And at the end of the schedule is 9-0 Notre Dame. USC certainly has the talent to win all three games, which would earn a likely rematch against Oregon in the Pac-12 title game. But given that USC found ways to lose to Stanford (did you know that the QB who replaced Luck has been benched?), Oregon, and Arizona, it's also possible that the Trojans could lose all three games.

How is this possible? It's hard to avoid concluding that the Trojans underachieve because of their coach. So, as a Cal fan first and foremost, and then a UCLA fan, I hope Kiffin stays at the helm for as long as he wants!

The iPhone 4S and that "Talking Tina" episode of "The Twilight Zone"

Remember the "Talking Tina" episode of "The Twilight Zone"?

Well, that's a little like how I felt earlier this weekend. We were wondering why my wife's data usage had gone through the roof ever since she switched to an iPhone 4S a little over a month ago. She doesn't stream videos or music, doesn't video chat, or do anything that hogs data. At home, she uses wi-fi. And yet Verizon was sending alerts every other day about how close she was getting to exceeding the 2 GB limit.

When I checked the data usage info on our account, I saw that the phone was sending out huge amounts of data in the middle of the night! (When it should have been using wi-fi, no less.)

A call to Verizon didn't really help, as they suggested "restoring" the phone, and/or turning Siri off. Apple apparently had a software issue in earlier operating systems where the phone claimed to be using wi-fi, but was still on 3G. Maybe that would help, but what was the phone doing in the middle of the night???

Googling -- love the irony there, using Google to figure out what was wrong with the iPhone -- identified a likely source of the problem: the iPhone supposedly sends error reports back to Apple. What kind of stupid phone sends so many error reports that it causes users to exceed the data limit???

As I ranted about its stupid engineering, my wife's iPhone all of a sudden came awake by itself! (cue Twilight Zone music)

I was just waiting for it to say, "Hi, my name is Siri, and I don't like you at all."

Double yikes!! But anyway, turning off the error reporting has solved our data usage problem. For my part, though, I am even more pleased to have a Samsung Galaxy Nexus.