Tribute Recommends: 30 Days

I have heard much buzz, moreso in the past, over the eye-opening Super Size Me. I have never taken a particularly close look at it simply because the terrible nutritional value of fast food is a given for me. The closest I got to paying attention was witnessing the McDonald's-free feasting campaign of my fellow blogger friend at The Midwestern Position.

Little did I know, however, that Morgan Spurlock, the creative genius behind Super Size Me, is a fellow West Virginian, born in Parkersburg and raised in Beckley. My Spurlock obsession was sparked by the viewing of his current project, 30 Days, a show on FX. I had not even heard of this show when I saw my first preview for it last week.

The premise for the show is to see what change can come about from walking in the shoes of another for 30 days. What grabbed my attention and made me watch this week's episode was that it placed Spurlock in a West Virginia coal mine for 30 days. My father has been a coal miner since before my birth, so this has always been a part of my life, but more on the periphery due to an inability to conceptualize exactly what it's like to go into the Earth for work everyday. So, it was very interesting to watch the show, both because it was definitely something close to Spurlock and something close to me.

Spurlock's discussions, both with just the camera as well as with others, are very engaging and smart. In addition to walking in the steps of a miner, he chose to do a segment on the issue of mountain top removal and surface mining, a very hot topic in the state. The emotion the surfaced in those interviews and expression of the facts were expertly captured. The hidden beauties of the state are many; the mountains hold most of them. Yet, these coal companies blow up the mountains to access coal that would be next to impossible to mine. A unique situation yet all too common theme of the human condition: do we curb our consumption habits or just continue to consume, assuming that by some miracle of God the environment will renew itself?

The show is in it's 3rd season. It's on Tuesdays at 10pm, with an encore at 11pm. I highly recommend choosing one to which you can relate and checking it out. Informative and entertaining.

Step it up, Associated Press!

How many times in our lives do we hear that the fact checking of a story is based on the work of the Associated Press? An incident during my dose of daytime television today made me question this agency--not just its existence but its accuracy in the context of its ever-present and dominating cultural force.

As I anxiously awaited Colin Firth's appearance on The View, the ladies were discussing various "hot topics" when Whoopi Goldberg announced that there was breaking news coming in from the AP. It was the announcement that Hillary Clinton would concede this evening that Obama has won the proper number of delegates in order to take the Democratic nomination. This, of course, is a hugely anticipated milestone in the presidential campaign. This news is so anticipated that Barbara Walters asked Whoopi to repeat the announcement before breaking for commercial, which she did. They return from commercial and continue on chatting when Whoopi suddenly interrupts the flow for yet another AP announcement. The Clinton camp wanted to squash the former AP announcement and confirmed that Hillary would not be conceding this evening.

How does this happen with such a respected and leading news authority? Within 5 or 10 minutes time a seemingly straightforward claim is proven completely unfounded and false. This is a case of black and white that needs to remain that way--either one will concede or she will not. There is no in between or wiggle room for debate.

To read up on just how powerful the AP has grown to be, check out this article. It demonstrates the breadth of influence the agency holds and may lead you to question, based on the atrocity above, exactly why it continues to be such a force in reporting.

Addiction: America's Next Top Model

I am treading dangerous waters, apparently. Just last week, I saw a segment on Good Morning, America, which featured a woman who professionals would say is addicted to reality television. She DVR's and views somewhere around 38 a week. That's steep, even by the homebound standard. I don't think I quite qualify for the reality television addiction just yet, though.

I am, however, admittedly becoming more and more attracted to crazy marathons. Before, it was much less likely that I could watch them in their entirety because of timing. Being stuck home for 3 weeks has, however, changed this. Ironically, my first full marathon was America's Next Top Model, Cycle 5. The key to this viewing was, thankfully, the great DVR technology. I think part of my motivation for watching was to get them out of my DVR queue. How many folks would you want to see upwards of 8 episodes of America's Next Top Model in yours?

In any case, I thought this was a one time occurence. However, as I flipped through the trusty cable guide today, I noticed it was a new day of ANTM marathon on MTV! I will leave it a mystery whether or not I repeated the recording and viewing like above! Some things are just better left to secret.