Posts Tagged ‘television’

MythBusters (ep 176)


03 Nov

I love sewer explosions that send manhole covers 150ft in the air as much as the next MythBusters fan. It was a cool experiment. However, I really, really want to talk about the truck bed liner.

The first response at our house- why aren’t they making siding out of that? I’m not certain pieces of siding individually coated in the truck bed liner would have the same explosion proofing effects; it may be that the entire structure needs to be coated in one continuous layer, but still- a bomb proof house. How handy would that be for the zombie apocalypse?

MythBuster (ep 175)


27 Oct

Modern explosives are stable- especially ones carried by the military- you know where they have to possibly carry them through a warzone in a pack on a soldier’s back? Yeah, the military is not using anything that blows up on impact. I don’t know that I’d want to cook with it, though, even if you can.

LOVED the throwing guillotines, though I really thought Grant might end up losing a finger. I was glad Tory’s simple design was the one that worked best because it actually seemed like something that could have existed in the era the myth was from.

Finished Watching: BattleStar Gallactica (new version)


22 Oct

Finished watching the last season of BattleStar Gallactica on Netflix last night. Overall the show was really well done. I remember how hooked I was during the first two seasons, how it was must watch television.

But this fourth and final season, it seemed like they were trying to do too much, like they had a ton of story ideas and instead of concentrating on the best ones, they decided to throw them all in there. Heck, the mutiny could have been a season (or a summer web series, like New Caprica) all on its own. Instead, barely two episodes.

MythBusters (ep 174)


20 Oct

It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a MythBusters where everything was plausible or confirmed. Even with that, here are the lessons I took away from the episode:

Guys who operate excavators are crazy. Actually, I’ve met a number of heavy machine operators, and I think crazy might be a good adjective for all of them. They say don’t try this at home, but they only got these “myths” because the excavator guys already had.

I would rather take a ride in the duct tape sailboat than in the duct tape plane. I can swim, but I can’t fly.

MythBusters (ep 173)


13 Oct

People naturally walk in circles, who knew? Apparently lots of people since that was the actual myth Adam and Jamie were testing. I did wonder why they used the earphones, blocking out additional sensory information. This wasn’t a myth about people who couldn’t see and hear walking in circles, just about people who couldn’t see. I think it would’ve been a truer test without blocking hearing.

Watching a truck go flying at 300mph toward a parked car in slow motion is cool. But no explosion. Apparently, there’s a reason special effects people choose to work with this stuff- it’s safe.

What I’m Watching: The Sing-Off


07 Oct

We miss the first half hour of The Sing-Off because we’re watching How I Met Your Mother, but after that, it’s the definitive choice for filling the time until Castle comes on.

I appreciate the skill it takes to be an a cappella group. There were times last season when it sounded like some of the groups had bands backing them up.

I like the judges on this show more than any judges other than those at The Voice. Ben Folds is terrific. Their critique is constructive and overall positive. How’s that for a concept? Help your singers get better.

MythBusters (ep 172)


06 Oct

I want a Newton’s Cradle- the one with the 2.5” ball bearings or even the 6” ball bearings. Something that could double as a coffee or dining room table would be fine. However, we weren’t surprised by the largest scale results. Energy may have been directly transferred in to the steel plates, but it doesn’t travel in a straight line, it disperses in three dimensions, meaning the concrete absorbed a lot of it.

For the tipping point of the car, we thought they should have started with tethering and overbalancing the car then pulling it back to the balance point.

MythBusters (ep 171)


29 Sep

Welcome back Mythbusters!

My biggest problem with the car vs motorcycle for “greenest” mode of transportation, comes from understanding the California Emissions standards. Cars are subject to them, but motorcycles obviously have different standards. If cars from states that don’t require the stricter CA emissions criteria were used, the results might be very different.

Love that RPGs really only destroy what is in front of them, and that a bullet can set one off, but only if the RPG is already armed. I think if I were in high school today, I might be dreaming of attending New Mexico Tech.

No More Cable


19 Jul

We’re considering giving up cable television. I should rephrase- we’ve decided to give up cable television (once I get through the shows saved on our DVR) and not replacing it with anything, except, perhaps, Hulu Plus.

Between Hulu’s paid service, Netflix streaming, and the cable websites themselves, we think we might not miss out on anything. Well, with one exception- I have yet to find full episodes of the current Mythbusters season online. And that’s honestly a pretty big deal for us.

But our Comcast bill is $150/month. That could drop to $20-30 with just internet. Wouldn’t that be nice.

Supernatural


16 Jul

Clearing out our DVR in anticipation of switching or cancelling television service, I watched 3 of the last 6 episodes of Supernatural last night. I love this show and have forever, but to be honest, plot wise, it probably should have ended if a few seasons ago, or at least last season. I mean, what do you do after preventing the apocalypse. It’s hard to ramp up from there.

At the same time, I’m happy it’s still on. I don’t care how cheesy the metaplot, they are clearly still having fun making this show, and I’m having fun watching it.

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