I Can't Believe I Am Typing This.

I am a pretty liberal type of guy. Not flaming. I have come to despise the 2000s versions of hate-filled, war-mongering, speaking-in-tongue, scripture-reliant Republican party in so many ways. But I'm also not much of a granola-crunching, sandal-wearing, dye-free leftist either.

But I am sorta glad they wingnut crowd put a (temporary?) stop to the "$700B Bailout".

Of course, the markets are in meltdown, but that's mostly due to uncertainty, which is the lifeblood of "loss". Markets become irrational when dealing with uncertainty.

But, you know, things haven't been all that great for all that many for quite some time. Yet the ultra-rich crowd has only gotten more ultra- and more -rich all this millenium.  Occupancy of high-end hotels isn't exactly lacking. I just perused Las Vegas hotel rates for next weekend.  The Wynn has rooms available for $1100 a night.  And they will get filled by those who have been untouched.  High-end real-estate still sells,  High-end lifestyle continues. And that's who primarily would benefit from the "bailout".

And yes, maybe a few dozen companies which had no business still being in business need to fail. Yes, banks have failed. But stronger banks who didn't gamble with their asset allocation have stepped in, with no impact to the "man on the street".  If you have more than $100,000 sitting in a bank account somewhere, you are foolish.  But how many folks actually have in excess of that "just laying around in a bank".  Not too many.

I saw on the local news a simply horrid "business" report by an airhead twinkette who probably couldn't find her way to Wall Street with a map.  She "interviewed" a somewhat-slimy looking financial expert who was advising folks to "switch to annuities".  Which is the simply most stupid investment decision for anyone except the ultra-rich or the ultra-old.  OK, yes, you might have some "guaranteed" gains (always good), but you will be paying that slimy salesman an endless commission.  Of course he loves the option! It's a Great Investment!......for the salesman.

Luckily most folks won't panic. Some will and they will be the sob stories down the road.

As noted above, I am mostly liberal. But I do believe in markets and capitalism and "the long run".  If you are diversified, you will be ok.  Perhaps you won't be able to buy a new car every two years. Maybe you should drive that old car for a decade instead. Perhaps you should rethink that $6 you spend at Starbucks everyday.  And those nasty cigarettes you are smoking?  Ditch them and save the bucks and, perhaps, your life.

So what now? Do we need a "bailout"?  Probably not.  

What we need are loan guarantees and some decent oversight. Oddly, that's probably what most of the failed legislation actually said. But this is not a simple problem that can be solved with a simple answer.  There is no quick fix. It will take time.  But the world isn't going to end if it takes a few weeks/months to settle things, especially since a new political regime is barely 90 days away..

Walgreens Deal Of The Day

$5.00 Off $20.00 Coupon valid September 26+27.

Welcome To The New Fall TV Season

Yawn.

For years -- OK, for decades -- I have always looked forward to the New Fall Television Season. I used to eagerly await the old-style mini TV Guide, buying it as soon as it popped up on the newsstand. It was always chockful of cool info about what to watch, what would be the "hot" show, and who would be the newest stars. There was also a nifty 1-2 page "preview" of what would be happening on Your Favorite Returning shows.

Through the years, the "Returning Favorites" morphed into its own "special preview issue". In the pre-internet world, information was always at a premium. And TV Guide delivered.

I saved each and every Fall Preview Edition since the early 1980s. TV Guide was regionalized back in those days, so I have preview issues from St Louis, DC, Kansas City, San Diego....Wherever I was living at the time.

As each season arrived, I could map out my weekly scheduled viewing pattern. I was an early adopter of time-shifting, juggling as many as six VCRs at one point in the late 1990s

It always seemed like there were 3-4 interesting new network programs each season. They would have a buzz or an actor I liked or some campy storyline.


Over time, TV Guide morphed from its handy handbook size to the full-size gossip-y tablooid with no useful TV listings ! And so, a couple years back, my annual magazine purchase came to an end. Competitors such as Entertainment Weekly would do a better job previewing the season.

Over the past few years, there has usually been a program or two that piqued my interest. One year it was LOST and 30ROCK -- and the horribly dreadful STUDIO 60 ON THE SUNSET STRIP. Last year brought the delightful no-laughtrack Samantha Who?

This year?

Well, not so much.

For the first time in my life, there isnot a single new network television program that has any interest to me. Sure, it's partly me. I am after all, not in the beloved 18-34 demographic. Then again, I'm not one of those Matlock-loving seniors.

Sure, there will still be some appointment television for me. My Sundays are spoken for with the quality quartet of 60Minutes, AmazingRace, Simpsons, DesperateHousewives, and BrothersAndSisters. Monday will still bring me my Samantha Who? -- and the dreamy buzzcut Barry Watson. Wednesday will still have Dirty Sexy Money -- until it's cancelled, that is. And of course, there's always Survivor Thursday.

The rest of the week?

Oh well there's always my daily dose of Hardball.

Walgreens Deal Of The Day

Walgreens participates in a a little-known program that is coordinated by Catalina Marketing.  Catalina sponsors the little paper coupons which spew out of the register at most grocery stores.  Every once in awhile I might get a handy coupon, but honestly, usually they were for items not needed.

Recently I learned that buying certain items at Walgreens will generate a flat-dollar-amount coupon that is redeemable at Walgreens (and allegedly accepted at grocery stores as well).

I dabbled with a couple offers and most worked great.  Those have now expired, but this one is still going strong:

Buy two bags of specially-priced Nabisco cookies and one gallon of milk and receive $3.00.

The cookies are priced at 2/$5.00. But here is the kicker. The catalina coupon generates WITHOUT buying the pricey milk !

So, you can spend $5.00 for Oreos and receive $3.00 to spend later on WHATEVER you want.  You could just as easily use the coupon 3 minutes later.  That makes your Nabisco Cookie price just $1.

The cookies are on sale until Saturday 09-27-2008. The catalina deal lasts until October 5.

That's a deal !!!

Awful Times Five

The 60th Annual PrimeTime Emmy Awards were held on Sunday night.

It was just plain awful. Whoever had the brilliant idea to use the five reality hosts should be shot on the spot. True, each of them probably have some degree of charm, but they were just awful. Awful in the beginning. Awful all night long. The only mildly amusing thing they did was when Tom Bergeron "dropped" Heidi Klum. I chuckled. Jeff Probst in Dragnet?

I did also chuckle when they were all lined up to announce the "winner" and then they went to commercial break. I don't watch Deal Or No Deal, but while surfing TV, I notice that is Howie's "schtick". Hype Hype Hype. Choose a Suitcase. Hype Hype Hype. Now a 6-minute commercial break. Then open the briefcase. That was kinda clever. Jeff Probst seemed surprised that he won. All the camera-mugging and sympathetic counseling he did last season really paid off.

I was happy to see 30 Rock win everything. It's probably one of my Top Five fave shows. Amazing Race won again, and that's another Top Five for me. And Jean Smart is always the best, although her role is kinda weird on Samantha Who? (not in my top 5, but Barry Watson and his buzzcut keep it hovering near the Robert's Top Ten).

The montage of dead actors was OK, since they actually had most of them speaking for a moment or two vs just still pictures. The "catch-phrase" montage was OK. Josh Groban singing Theme Songs was horrid. Memories of MaryTyerMoore, MASH. WestWing were badly produced. The presenters were a mishmash or weirdness. Only the 6 Desperate Housewives seemed to be having any fun.

I do not generally like Ricky Gervais and Steve Carrell, but their "I Made You. I Want My Emmy Back. I sat through Evan Almighty" schtick was a moderately entertaining 8 minutes.

They really need to do something about categories. It's never been fair for shows that produce 8 or 10 episodes to compete against shows that do 22 or 25 a year. Maybe they should specify "limited series" and combine 8-episode seasons of "The Closer" with 7-episode miniseries like John Adams. And the miniseries/movie category is always dullsville since no one ever watches them. And putting Don Rickles in the same category as Letterman and other nightly hosts has always been unfair. A one-time shot cannot compare to nightly perfection.

Maybe this year's disaster will prompt them to make changes. Although I doubt it. I don't mind cable shows winning, although Mad Men is a show that at its highest rating scored 2.2M viewers. Every show on the CW gets that. Minuscule.

Another good thing is that it really didn't last long. It was reported to be 3:08, but I think ABC trimmed some, cuz it was over at 11PM on the West Coast.

Plenty of "ouch" at tvtattle.com.