Digital Television Converter Box

Hey Silverhorner's welcome to Silverhorn Lodge high atop Silverhorn Mountain!

Well...it's just starting to sink in, even though I have heard about it for months now, perhaps even a year. Even Marcello, chief garden gnome here at Silverhorn Lodge has been talking about it, but I haven't been paying attention....

It's going to change my world, and your too, presupposing your world is like mine and if it is...well...I pity ya brother...

What I am talking about is coming in February 2009, the changeover to digital television...yup...they couldn't wear our televisions out by putting all kinds of reality show crap on them, so 'they' decided to make some money off of us poor deprived television watchers by forcing us to buy either new televisions or some kind of digital converter box. Otherwise, come the long cold days and nights of February, you'll have to listen to the radio, because apparently your television won't work anymore...

So...you can buy a digital converter like this Zenith DTT900 Digital TV Tuner Converter Box for a little under $200 or you can buy a new television, or you can put an axe through the television and get a library card...or even better, spend some quality time with your friends on Silverhorn Mountain, which I believe is the best way to go...

Think about it...what are you really watching on television? The Simpsons? King of the Hill? Old Seinfeld and Frasier re-runs? Or are you one of those um....well...people who encourage the networks to run reality shows like Survivor or The Bachelor, or American Idol....oh my God....I just realized...I can save myself the $200 for a television and just sit in front of a bowl of stale porridge...it will be just as entertaining....

I'm a little cranky tonight......

Why Do People Try Out For American Idol?

Hey Silverhorners, long time no see, welcome back to The View From Silverhorn Mountain.....

Is it just me or does anyone else wonder about the family and friends of some of the folks who try out for American Idol and Canadian Idol? I mean really....I was watching some of the Canadian Idol hopefuls last night and I gotta wonder, what are some of these people thinking?

But I don't blame them, I blame their family and friends. The folks who try out, the ones with absolutely no musical talent, they are to be pitied I suppose. But how do they come to be there in the first place. I know that if I said to The Wife that I was going to try out for either one of those shows she would laugh me right off of Silverhorn Mountain, or, rush me to the hospital....she'd know that the blood is not getting to my brain. God Bless her she would save me from a lifetime of embarrassment all rolled into one 30 second clip on national television.

So why don't the family and friends of some of the folks who try out stop them. They must have heard them sing, they must want to protect their loved ones from psycological damage...but strangely, they don't...they just let them go.

I figure the conversation must go something like this....

Idol Hopeful: "Hey Mom I am going to try out for American Idol."

Idol Hopeful's Mom: "That's nice dear, do they need a stagehand or something?"

Idol Hopeful: "Nope, I am gonna show them how I can sing."

Idol Hopeful's Mom: "oh...um...well....good for you....what are you going to sing?"

Idol Hopeful: "It's a toss up between "American Pie" and "Paradise by the Dashboard Lights."

Idol Hopeful's Mom: "Paradise by the Dashboard Lights...mmmm...isn't that supposed to be a duet?"

Idol Hopeful: "Yup."

Idol Hopeful's Mom: "So who are you singing with?"

Idol Hopeful: "Nobody, I am going to sing both parts myself."

Idol Hopeful's Mom: "Um....I see....well that's nice...will you be home for supper.....?"

The proper response might be to contact 911 and ask to have some folks sent over to take the Idol Hopeful for 30 days observation....at the very least call a priest or an exorcist, and get something done....this is your family that you are letting march off to the audition...

I mean c'mon...she knows he can't sing...but does she? Is it possible that someone would try out for American Idol or Canadian Idol without ever having sung in front of anyone before? Without ever taking a lesson?

At the very least, if you are considering it, please sing for someone first, or make a tape and give it to your buddy, tell them it is someone else singing and ask what they think.

Some folks just like to make people laugh, but I don't think that's what drives applicants to the Idol shows. Watch these folks, they genuinely think they can sing. They figure they are the next Elton John or Britney Spears...um...well...maybe Britney...but c'mon....Watch some of them and you will see what I mean, they aren't spoofing, they're disappointed, some of them get downright unruly when the judges laugh or tell them outright they have no talent. No wonder Simon Cowl gets so disgusted, and God Bless him, at least he tells them like it is....

If they laugh uproariously, maybe you should be trying out for Comedy Idol...you might have a shot....

Well gotta go, it's Kareoke Night at the Silverhorn Bar and Grill Lounge and Nightspot. I am the featured singer...they always let me sing before any customers come in....