the pod bay door

:: Last June, the Canadian Cable Television Association applied to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission for permission to broadcast some of the most popular US cable networks on digital cable, including HBO, ESPN, Fox News, Nickelodeon Kids, Showtime, and more. Yesterday the CRTC turned down the request, citing among othe things, potential revenue loss, which would result in a decrease in the production and broadcast of Canadian programming.

Bluntly, I want my HBO. I don’t want to have to bob and weave through any number of Canadian cable stations to search for the shows I want to see, like The Sopranos, Six Feet Under, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Real Time With Bill Maher, and others, and futhermore, I want to see them when they are broadcast – not years later, in some cases, or never, in others. Regarding the latter two shows, they are typical examples of how sad the situation is in Canada. CYE is broadcast 1-2 years after it appears in the USA, and the Bill Maher show isn’t available in Canada. We’ve yet to see the third season of Curb. Pathetic. Naturally, the Canadian Association of Broadcasters is thrilled with the decision, thus preventing them from losing money they get from licencing these shows, scattered over a number of cable networks in Canada, and allowing them to continue to decide which US cable shows they will and will not broadcast here. A handful of suits deciding for me what they think is worth watching, as long as they can make a buck. It’s The Man, I tell you, THE MAN!

Here is the letter from the CRTC to the CCTA, denying them permission to proceed with their application. Read the CAB’s press release here. Learn why it thinks that broadcasting HBO in Canada would have caused “serious material harm.” Learn that CAB believes Canada has the “best broadcasting system in the world.”

The CRTC, which normally allows for public participation of applications, didn’t permit public comment on this one.

As a Canadian, the CRTC and the CBA want me to feel proud. They are protecting my culture by preventing me from subscribing to evil US cable networks. They have the power to decide which cable programs produced by my American cousins I will see. Sadly, most Canadian cable networks are scaled down, limp versions of their US counterparts. The Comedy Network, the sad-sack Canadian equivalent of Comedy Central, broadcasts The Daily Show, but bleeps out the “bad words.” When this network ran Dennis Miller Live, rather than broadcast the entire show, they removed sections of it to allow for commercials, thus killing the continuity.

The chief executive of the CAB, Glenn O’Farrell, was quoted as saying, “This proposal was so far out in left field … they weren’t even prepared to consider having a discussion.” Michael Hennessy, the acting president of the CCTA, said, “We believe that supplying consumers what they want, when they want it, is critical to the future success of the Canadian broadcasting system.” I believe Hennessy has it right, and O’Farrell is living in a dream world. In the Canadian Press release of this story. O’Farrell noted that “Canadian viewers already get the bulk of the U.S. programming that would have been imported if the application had been upheld.” Er, duh? We do? Really, Glenn? I think I need to study the definition of the word, “bulk”, cause on my tv set, it ain’t happening, dude.

I subscribe to digital cable via Shaw, which included information on this application on their site. For a few months, they ran a poll, asking viewers if they supported this application. 93% said yes. The CRTC asks for “evidence of demand for this service in Canada.” Well, duh – again.

Another argument that I am bone-weary of hearing, is the constant need to encourage and foster and nurture the development of Canadian content, in this case, in television and broadcasting. Well, GO FOR IT, I saw! Let the bells ring out and the banners fly! Who is stopping anyone in Canada from doing this? Why should this concern trump consumers’ wishes to watch HBO in Canada?

There is NOTHING NOTHING NOTHING the CAB or any Canadian cable network can offer to convince me not to want a direct feed to HBO in my home. There is no substitute for HBO, ESPN, Showtime. In Canada, unless you get digital cable, shows like The Sopranos appear at least a year after US broadcast. That’s life up here in

My response to the CRTC and the CAB: ttthhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhppppppppp!

The CCTA says they will continue the good fight. They have my support.

:: I saw The Matrix Revolutions today. It is fun to watch and confusing as hell. The effects are at times overpowering, and the dialogue as offbeat and odd as in the other two movies. There is not as much martial arts this time around, and yes, the story does resolve itself. At least twice in the movie I wanted the reel to stop, rewind, and play again so I could try to understand what just happened. I did notice that most of the people in the audience were guys in baseball caps, and when they were in groups of two or more, all sat with an empty seat between each of them.

:: A report and review of The Beatles’ forthcoming, Let It Be…Naked, from the Globe and Mail’s James Adams.

:: I was not surprised to learn that NBC canned Coupling after four episodes (although the website says it’s returning in December.) Despite the fact that the scripts were almost word-for-word equal to the originals used in the British series, the Americans couldn’t seem to capture the Brits’ sensibilities, timing and delivery.

:: Microsoft has created a $5 million US fund to help track and convict virus creators.

:: Napster announced a deal on Thursday with Penn State University, in which students are given access to music funded by student fees, thereby reducing the number of illegal downloads. However, some of the students are criticizing the deal, saying it is an inappropriate use of their student fees.
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:: I’m off work this week, taking some holiday time. The weather has been cold, snowy and dull. I want to clean up my house, a task of major proportions at best. I started cleaning one room last night, so can report some progress. I’ve worked out in the morning the last two days, and it’s been a major struggle to get the body to accept this change, even for a few days. Normally I exercise after work. I don’t know how the morning people do it.

:: Derryl sent along this gem: examples of some of the worst album covers of all time.

:: You might think it odd to get upset over soup, but…Safeway sells hot soup every day, two varieties. All the soups sold are made by Campbell’s. My favorite is Italian-Style Wedding soup. I had never heard of it until Safeway started selling it in their deli. I haven’t been able to find it lately, so I spoke to someone there, who told me that a “new soup program” is imminent, so the other choices have been removed, permanently. The manager of my local store verified this, saying that it’s happening in all Safeway stores in Canada and the USA.

Italian-Style Wedding soup was one of Safeway’s most popular hot soups; the deli worker with whom I spoke confirmed this, noting that other customers have expressed their dismay as well. Why mess with success? It’s a decision made by suits in an office in a Big City somewhere far from here. Idiots.

:: If you are interested in the recent solar flare activity, check out the SOHO site: Solar and Heliospheric Observatory. There are some great pics and mpegs of what the sun has been doing (blasting the Earth with ionizing radiation as a result of exploding superflares.) Here in the Great White North, we’ve been missing the spectacular aurora activity because it’s been cloudy for days.

:: A lot of snow has fallen in Edmonton since Wednesday. Last Sunday, it was 17C in town; it’s -13C at the moment. The drastic, almost overnight change in the weather is a hard slap in the face from the nature gods; it is beyond offensive for this time of year. Life goes from a relaxed, gentle autumn, to a full-blown, angry, bitter winter in less than three days. What I’ve never understood is how the weather can change so quickly, without any period for a gradual change. It is not fair, but short of pounding sand, there is little to be done. But embrace it, I will not do, I refuse. I’ve done the minimum necessary to deal with the elements, such as shovelling my driveway. I heard today that cross-country skiers were already spotted in the city. I won’t give in that easiy, admitting and accepting that winter conditions are here to stay. Not yet, anyway; I’m still flipping the bird at the weather.

:: Last week, I searched my name on Google, and was shocked to see that the first entry in the list of results featured one word from a comment posted to an entry from a few months ago. The word was the “F” word. It was the only occurrence of the word on my site. How Google would come to use the word in its search algorithm is a mystery. Anyway, I removed the word from the comment, and a Google search on my name will no longer feature said “F” word.

:: I saw The Station Agent today, one of the best films of the year. Check it out if you can. It’s the story of a dwarf named Fin, who works in a model train station. Upon the death of the owner, Fin inherits an abandoned train station in Newfoundland NJ, and moves there to live, and to watch trains. Despite his best efforts to be left alone, he is drawn into relationships with some of the locals, played by Bobby Cannavale, Patricia Clarkson, and Michelle Williams. Fin is played by Peter Dinklage, in a career breaking performance that is very memorable, and worthy of award considerations in 2004.