My DVR

I love t.v. LOVE IT! And I also think the DVR is the greatest invention since the television. In celebration of my two favorite inventions, here is a look at the plethora of programming that I deem worthy of existing on my DVR.

Monday

7 p.m. How I met Your Mother (CBS)

7:30 Accidentally on Purpose (CBS)

7-8 p.m. Intervention (A&E)

8 p.m. 2 1/2 Men (CBS)

8:30 The Big Bang Theory (CBS)

10 p.m. Chelsea Lately (E!)

Summers--The Closer (TNT)

Tuesday

9 p.m. The Good Wife (CBS)

Summers--Saving Grace (TNT)

Wednesday

7 p.m. Mercy (NBC)

8 p.m. Glee (F0x)

8 p.m. Modern Family (ABC)

8:30 p.m. Cougar Town (ABC)

Thursday

7 p.m. Survivor (Scotty's fave) (CBS)

7 p.m. Flash Forward (ABC)

8 p.m. Grey's Anatomy (ABC)

8 p.m. The Office (NBC)

8:30 p.m. Community (NBC)

Friday

7 p.m. Ghost Whisperer (CBS)

9 p.m. 20/20 (ABC)

At some point ABC will pull their heads out and put Ugly Betty back on. I'm impatiently waiting.

Sunday--supposed to be a day of rest. Not in our t.v. world

8 a.m. CBS Sunday Morning (CBS-duh)

7 p.m. Amazing Race (CBS)

8 p.m. Desperate Housewives (ABC)

These are the shows that are awesome enough to make our DVR. Other occasional shows are The Deadliest Catch, Kendra and Girls Next Door.

I'll do a night by night review...just as soon as I watch everything that has been recorded.

Fall TV Picks

NBC

I have always been an NBC fan, but in the last few years, they just don't offer much I want to see. The Office is great, but that's about all I watch on NBC nowadays, especially since they cancelled ER. (I'm still mad about that, by the way. I'm not mad the show was cancelled, my goodness, the show had been on t.v. since 1994--it was time. I was mad about the crappy series finale. That show was in institution and it did not get the send off it deserved. And I miss Dr. Luka Kovach.) Anyway, moving on...

The Jay Leno Show--every week night at 9

Huh?? Jay Leno on every night? NBC must be desperate for programming. I've watched the show and it's good. You get all the old antics of the Tonight Show but in a shorter amount of time and earlier in the evening. My knee-jerk reaction is that the show will fail. Miserably. However, the show is good, so it may surprise me. I like Jay Leno and I'm rooting for him, but this is one of those shows that I'll watch if it's on or if I'm interested in the guest.

Mercy--Wednesday at 7

This looks really good. It's, of course, a medical drama, but it might make a nice replacement for ER (if anything could replace ER). It focuses on the work and lives of the nurses, rather than the doctors. It looks pretty good, and I'll give it a shot, I just don't know if it will last with all the other medical dramas on t.v.

Trauma--Monday at 8

Like Mercy, the show looks good, but it also looks like more of the same. It reminds me of ER without all the down time and story line, and everything is a trauma. Since I already watch several medical and cop shows, I'm going to skip this one, but if you really like these types of shows, it might be worth a shot.

Community--Thursday at 7

I'm going to give this one a shot on the DVR. Joel McHale and Chevy Chase look like a fantastic combination, and when I watch the previews, I laugh out loud--really, out loud! I really hope NBC can re-establish that Thursday night foothold for comedy. CBS has done this really well with its Monday lineup, and we could all use another night of laughs. Looking at the NBC Thursday fall lineup, I don't know if I have seen a good comedy schedule since the Friends/Seinfeld days. The only place I see as questionable is that Community will flip back and forth in the 7 p.m. spot with Saturday Night Live Thursday. Since when did SNL need a Thursday show? It's made for Saturdays, hence the title. But what more can we expect from the network that is blocking its ENTIRE Tuesday night line up for the Biggest Loser starring Sammy Brady from Days of our Lives.

Fall TV Picks

FOX

First, a note to Fox Broadcasting Company, because I know you're reading this: speed up your freaking Web site!!!! I haven't had any trouble watching any of the other networks' new show premiers, but Fox's starts, then stops, then starts, then stops, then....you get the picture.

Brothers--Friday at 7

Eh.

The Cleveland Show--Sunday at 7:30

If you like Family Guy I think you'll like this one; it's from the same producers and appears to be a spin off. I'm still mourning the loss of King of the Hill, so it's going to be a long time before my tender heart can take another cartoon comedy.

Glee--Wednesday at 8

(Editors note: Technically this show has already premiered, and the first two episodes are posted on the Fox Web site, but I can't resist a write up on this show.)

OMG...this could possibly be my new favorite comedy. It's funny, it's sweet, it's funny, we can all relate to one or two of the characters, it's funny, and finally, it appeals to that junior high girl in all of us. So far my favorite character is Sue Sylvester, the coach of the Cheerios (cheerleaders). She is played by Jane Lynch who you'll recognize as Charlie Sheen's shrink in 2 1/2 Men, as well as 40 Year Old Virgin and Role Models. She's freaking hilarious.

Aside from Sue Sylvester, the show takes us back to junior high and high school when we were too cool from participating in music programs (unless you're from Carmen, and everyone has to participate in music so they would have enough kids for the program to make), even though we may really like and really want to be in music.

It's a really good show, and I think it will be a big hit this year.

That's all I saw for Fox. Three new shows. They must be under the misconception that they're as awesome as CBS and don't need new programming. They have a few mid-season premiers that could be pretty good, I'll take a look at them at a later date.

Fall TV Picks

CBS

Holy cow, CBS! Only four new shows?? This just shows how successful CBS's prime time really is. I'm already a big fan of several CBS shows: How I Met Your Mother, 2 1/2 Men, Big Bang Theory, Gary Unmarried, and Ghost Whisperer, and it looks like two more shows could make my list of favorites

NCIS: Los Angeles--Tuesday at 8

I don't watch NCIS-Wherever-it-is to begin with, so I'm not going to watch the new version. Not to say that NCIS isn't a great show--when I sold advertising, my clients liked putting their spots in that show, it's just not my type of programming.

Three Rivers--Sunday at 8

This show looks good, and it would probably be DVR-worthy for me......IF, and only if Grey's Anatomy didn't exist. It looks like a cheap imitation of my absolute favorite show. Good luck with that.

The Good Wife--Tuesday at 9

Carol Hathaway and Mr. Big--how can you go wrong?? This show looks really good and I'm excited about it. It's a show about how bad decisions can affect the lives of your loved ones in a very bad way. Plus I really like shows about strong women that have successful careers or are working toward a successful career. As soon as my DVR will let me (it only lets me program about a week and a half out), this show will be added!

Accidentally, on Purpose--Monday at 7:30

Jenna Elfman is back in a great comedic role, plus her funny friend is played by the Scottish lady that played Christina on Ugly Betty. This is a show about a cougar that gets knocked up after a one night stand with a much younger guy. She's in her mid 30s, he's in his 20's and the previews show a really funny blending of the two different stages in life and how we have to do what's right, even if it means big sacrifices.

CBS didn't have its midseason shows posted yet, or if they did, I didn't find it.

Fall TV Picks

I'm a horrible blogger. I haven't written in months, so I apologize to my fans (all one of them--thanks Lindsay!) for making you wait on pins and needles for this latest post.

This is the first of a series of four posts on the new fall television lineup. Every year toward the end of July I get this excitement brewing in my little brain. I cannot wait to see what kind of new addictions the networks will tempt me with. Rather than one big post, I'll divide this up by the four major networks. Let's go alphabetically--I'm looking at new shows only.

(And by the way, I'm so far behind on EVERYTHING that I just now realized that Samantha Who was cancelled. Thanks ABC. Way to go. They always cancel the good ones.)

ABC

Cougar Town--Wednesdays at 8:30

I am proceeding with caution on this show. It looks funny, but I'm not sure it will be successful. I love Courtney Cox and hope this works out for her (I'm still upset that Dirt was cancelled. Thanks FX), but based on the previews, I'm afraid her character may be a little too much like an older Monica Geller. It appears that she may be trying too hard, but hopefully she'll relax a little and create a funny character. The show co-stars Busy Phillips and I really liked her when she was on ER. I'm rooting for this show, but am not completely optimistic about its fate.

Eastwick--Wednesdays at 9

I'm not certain about this show either. It seems a little weird, and the movie The Witches of Eastwick really creeped me out as a kid. I really like Lindsay Price--she was in Lipstick Jungle and is a good actress (but NBC cancelled it. Thanks NBC), and Rebecca Romijn is always awesome. I still haven't decided yet if I'm going to give this program temporary status on my DVR.

Flash Forward--Thursday at 7

Automatically this show fights an uphill battle for me because it is stealing, yes STEALING Ugly Betty's spot. I almost didn't watch the preview because of this reason. But I caught a preview this morning on GMA and now I'm intrigued. The concept is very interesting--everyone blacks out at exactly the same moment and they see their future. This gets a spot on the DVR simply because it's so interesting.

The Forgotten--Tuesday at 9

The ABC Web site was taking FOREVER to load the preview to this show, so I didn't get to watch it. However, I saw a preview several weeks ago and it looks like a good crime drama. I may not record this one simply because the DVR is getting a tad crowded--I have to make sure I save room in case the Discovery Channel airs a surprise episode of Deadliest Catch.

Hank--Wednesday at 7

I want Kelsey Grammar to do well, but the show doesn't look all that good. Maybe I'll be wrong.

Happy Town--mid season premier

This sort of reminds me of October Road (which was also cancelled), but with a spooky twist. I'm excited to see this and it will have a reservation on the DVR.

The Middle--Wednesday at 7:30

OK, this one looks freakin funny! It's DVR worthy.

Modern Family--Wednesday at 8

ABC is stacking up nicely on Wednesdays and this show looks like a great addition. The cast looks really great. Ty Burrell is a main character...I started liking him when he was on CBS's Out of Practice (which was cancelled); Ed O'Neil (Al Bundy); Julie Bowen from Ed and Boston Legal (cancelled); and Jesse Tyler Ferguson from The Class (ALSO cancelled, good grief!) and he had a bit part as the dentist in Ugly Betty. I'm excited about this one also.

V--November 3

Does anyone remember that mini-series V that came out when I was in second or third grade about the aliens that were really lizards? That show scared the crap out of me and it looks like a new and improved 2009 version, and it's still scaring the crap out of me. Plus I'm not too big of a fan of alien stuff. I'd rather see more realistic things like the Ghost Whisperer.

So that's it for ABC. Stay tuned for my picks for CBS. It looks like my DVR is going to be very full. Good thing I'm not going to school anymore!! Now that I think about it, I have a doctoral degree, and I'm writing about t.v. shows. I should probably be writing about research or something smart like that.

My Pet Peeve

Towards is not a word.
There are no ifs ands or buts, towards is not a word. In no instance is it correct to use that foul word. I have looked this one up in the AP Stylebook, the dictionary and Writing for the Technical Professions (the book we use for the scientific writing class), and all three sources state that toward should be used in all instances.
This is my pet peeve because it is so simple. There is nothing confusing about it, yet so many people, journalists included, use it incorrectly. It is now my mission to educate every student of mine about this quirky little irritant.
Similarly, regard, forward, and backward should also be used without the s. The only instance I can think of when an s is appropriate would be if you were sending your regards. "Send your mother my best regards," for example, is correct. In regard to all other references, do not put an s on the end of the word. I know saying backward and forward sound awkward, but they are also correct.
I could not find references on backward, forward and regard, so I my information came from Robert Wernsman, the news writing instructor. I consider him as reliable a reference as the AP Stylebook, and I consider his information as writers' law.

Super Smart Spellers

In an earlier post, I made a list of spelling words that give me trouble. I had my students do the same, and I think some of their ideas are pretty clever. So, I thought I would share their cleverness with anyone reading this blog. Is anyone really reading this anyway?

Advantageous- ad a man named Van and tag a man named tageous (by Tanner).

Affidavit- I always forget the second f in affidavit. To help remind me most affidavits I sign are for feed, so that always helps me remember the extra f (by Jordan).

Bookkeeper-(s)bookkee-per(son) (by Collin).

Candidate- can-did-ate (by Larkin).

Counterfeit-"e" before "I" way after "c" (by Collin).


Deceitful- I before e except for c. (by Maggie).

Defendant- defend-ant (by Larkin).

Drunkenness-"see" two "nn's" (by Collin).

Drunkenness- is drunken-mess with an n (by Larkin).

Friendliness- Friend-li-ness. (by Maggie).

Laboratory- people in laboratory are "lab rats." (by Collin).

Libraries- think of prairie and and instead of air you can remember ari so you can properly spell libraries (by Tanner).


Occurrence-usually hapens two times or more "cc" and "rr" (by Collin).


Mimicked- Mim-icked. (by Maggie).

Remember-I always try to put in an extra e after the last m in remember. To get over my problem I just say the word very fast to try and forget about adding an e to the word (by Jordan).

Saxophone- Sax-o-phone (by Maggie).

Sophomore- Soph-0-more (by Maggie).

Subpoena- sub-po-ena (by Larkin).

Tomorrow- I always try to put in two M's in tomorrow. Every time I write it now I think about how there is only one day that starts with an M, so then I remember to only put in one M (by Jordan).

Truly- tru-ly (true lie) (by Larkin).

Until- there are two different people one is named un and the other is named til (by Tanner).

Until- I always forget to only put one l on until. The only way I know I have misspelled if it looks right its wrong, but if it looks wrong then it is right (by Jordan).

Vaccinate- To help remind on how to spell vaccinate, I think that you give shots in cc measurements (by Jordan).

Warrior- you should remember war and then when you start the second section of the word you can hear the r in rior so you know that there are two r's in warrior (by Tanner).

Weird-think of a wired and then you should be able to know that you should change the ie to ei (by Tanner).

Happy studying!

My Head Might Explode

In my Scientific Communication in Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources class, we discussed confusing words. We all have several word pairs that stump us--effect vs. affect; who vs. whom; adviser vs. advisor.

I was discussing the lecture with my co-workers over lunch and realized we did not cover near enough! They brought up zingers such as everyone vs. every one; who vs. whom; which vs. that; since vs. because. I realized we did not cover enough ground today!

Rather than post an entire book, and yes, it would be a book, here are a few handy links that may help you study for the test I'll give next Thursday, study for the GSP, or simply help you write.

Grammar Girl--Oh my goodness, I love this site. That Grammar Girl is a genius!

Utah Valley State College--wait, who?? Utah Valley?? Never heard of it! Well now you have, and now you have access to the Online Writing Lab, which provided a fantastic reference for confusing word pairs.

Woolever, K.R. (2008). Writing for the Technical Professions (4th Ed.). New York: Pearson. If you are in my class, you should be very familiar with this book, and pages 485-486 have the information you need about confusing words. If you're in my class and not familiar with the book, I recommend you back away from the computer and run (yes, run) to the book store and purchase one. Now.

Those are my three favorites, but I know there are others out there. If you come across a great Web site, send it my way and I'll post it.

Excessive Capitalization

Other than the word towards (and we'll talk about this in another blog) excessive capitalization is my PET PEEVE. I often see others capitalize words that should not be capitalized; most of the time it is in Power Point slides, and it really annoys me. The same capitalization rules apply to Power Point as they would in any other document.

For review, words at the beginning of a sentence and proper nouns should be capitalized. However, I will be the first to tell you the English language is MESSED UP, and there are tons of exceptions.

With that said, here are some capitalization mistakes I see frequently.

Agriculture--We love our industry, and in our hearts it's a proper noun, but according to the laws of English, agriculture is not a proper noun and should not be capitalized.

EXAMPLES:
Ag Teacher
Ag class
I would like to go into an Agricultural field.
Ag college
--Those are all incorrect!

EXCEPTIONS: United States Department of Agriculture
College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources
Secretary of Agriculture Vilsack
Agricultural Education 2300

EXPLANATION:
When the entire name is used, government, university, and academic departments should be capitalized. However, if a shortened version of the name is used, agriculture should not be capitalized (i.e. agriculture department).
If agriculture is part of someone's title, then capitalize it, but we would leave it lower case if we were simply talking about the agriculture secretary.
The last example from the previous paragraph is very confusing and leads me to my next entry.

Course names, building names and room numbers--Yet another example of the messed up English language. If you are casually talking about a course, building or room, it should be lower case, but if you use the entire, proper name, it should be capitalized.

EXAMPLES:
Ag class--nope, that's incorrect. However, if we said Ag Education 2300, it's correct.
Ag building--wrong again. If we say Agricultural Education Building, correctomundo.
The Classroom upstairs--it's not specific. "We will meet in Room 206" is correct.

EXCEPTIONS:
If the class or building you reference is named after a language or country, it is always capitalized.
English building
German class
French lessons

EXPLANATION:
As long as it is part of a specific title, you can capitalize academic subjects, buildings, rooms, even chapters.

All of these are correct:
I have an Ag Communications 2302 exam.
The exam will be in Room 206.
I enrolled in Math 2300 for Summer I.
We are supposed to read Chapter 14.
I have an ag communications test tomorrow.
Our club will meet in the upstairs classroom.
Did you read the assigned chapter?
I am taking summer courses.

Titles--According to the AP Stylebook "Capitalize formal titles when used immediately before a name. Lowercase formal titles when used alone or in constructions that set them off from a name by commas."

EXAMPLES:
All these are incorrect:
The President of our FFA chapter called the meeting to order.
The Professor is mean.
The Senator from Texas voted for the bill.
The General led the troops.

EXCEPTION:
The President of the United States.
If you are casually writing about the president, lower case is fine.

CORRECT EXAMPLES:
President Jones called the chapter meeting together.
Professor Irlbeck is mean.
Sen. Cornyn voted for the bill.
General Powell retired.
The chapter president attended.
Erica Irlbeck is the meanest professor on campus.
Cornyn and 30 other senators voted for the bill.

There are many other examples, but the ones above are the mistakes I see most frequently.

Troublesome Spelling Words

I consider myself a good writer--not outstanding, not bad, but somewhere in the middle. I am a fan of the AP Stylebook, and I think the answer to any writing question can be found there.

With that said, there are several words that stump me EVERY time. My 4th grade teacher, Mrs. Hosey, had all sorts of helpful hints to help us remember hard stuff. For example: seven times nine went up a tree, when they came down, they were 63. Another example: Trenton went shopping; he bought a New Jersey (a.k.a. Trenton is the state capitol of New Jersey)

I still remember every silly trick Mrs. Hosey taught us, so I'll try to pass my own helpful spelling hints on to you. Here is my list, along with some handy hints to help all of us remember:

• Apologize--I always try to put two p's in the word. HELPFUL HINT: A polo is appropriate dress to make a formal apology.
  
  
• Apprehensive--This one is just plain hard. HELPFUL HINT: I am apprehensive about the credit app.
  
  
• Awkward--It's spelled awkwardly too! HELPFUL HINT: When you GAWK, it makes the other person feel awkward.
  
  
• Courtesy--This looks like curtsy, like the bow I would give when I finally get to meet the Queen of England. HELPFUL HINT: Divide it up--COURT ESY.
  
  
• Definitely--I definitely always misspell this word. HELPFUL HINT: I definitely think you should memorize this one, because I can't think of anything clever.
  
  
• Judgment--Does anyone else want to put an e in here?? It just doesn't look right! HELPFUL HINT: The JUDGE will chop off your Ear if you put an extra E in judgment.
  
  
• Likelihood--There seems to be too many vowels in one place on this one. HELPFUL HINT: my initials, ELI are in the middle of this word.
  
  
• Noticeable--HELPFUL HINT: notice + able. Two separate words put together.
  
  
• Prairie--I always miss that extra i in the middle of the word. HELPFUL HINT: There is a lot of AIR on the prairie.
  
  
• Wednesday--This one isn't so hard for me because Mrs. Hosey taught me this HELPFUL HINT: We will be WED on WED-NES-DAY. Separating the word makes it easier to spell.
  
  
• Weird--Mrs. Hosey taught us "I before e, except after c." Do you see a c in weird?? No! That is just plain weird!! HELPFUL HINT: Weird is weird--it doesn't follow the rule.
  
  That's all for today. Special credit to Mrs. Hosey. I hope she knows how much I remember from her class.