Cable Advisory Doings

Posted by Bob Greenberger on October 13, 2006

Last night Fairfield hosted the Area 2 Cable advisory Council meeting and I was impressed by the turn out and disappointed by Cablevision (no surprise).

On our agenda was the issue of a Senior Discount. This is something we’ve raised with them since 2001 and since a rep from Woodbridge brought it up last month we added it to the agenda. It seems when Cablevision took over the Litchfield franchise, they inherited a senior discount that was available through means testing. For private commerce such as cable, I have no problem with offering seniors a discount if they really needed it.

Our chairman read letters from viewers, several Fairfield citizens were there and a rep from the town’s Human Services presented a few hundred petitions. It was argued that Turner Classic Movies and other channels that have been removed from one of the tiers need to be moved to free up analog space as the world transitions to all-digital. I argued that the removal of Soap, Game Show Network and TCM deprived seniors of some of their most beloved channels and while it may not have been done intentionally, it has the same effect of hurting the seniors.

Deborah, our Cablevision rep, said that during this current period of refranchising with the state, they have no intent to offer a senior tier or introduce an Area 2-wide discount.

This led to several further items. One, the entire issue of ala carte, something I’ve railed about before, came up. Apparently, the Dolans — the dysfunctional family that runs Cablevision and are now trying to take it private – believe in ala carte but refuse to take any bold step steps until the other companies are ready to march with them. Additionally, they’ve signed many long-term deals with channels that prohibits them from making ala carte a possibility. Of course, I ask, if they’ve been championing ala carte why are they locking themselves into such deals without the option?

The digital conversion led to two other issues. I asked what plans Cablevision had for educating their customers, especially the seniors, that come February 2009 everyone will need a digital TV or a converter box per unit as the analog frequency is reassigned. They said there are plans and are trying to communicate this as they make step-by-step moves.

This leads me to the other item of note. A resident from Stratford read from correspondence he sent the governor and the state attorney general. In short, the removal of seven channels from his tier (10%), over the last 90 days, without a commensurate reduction in rate is a de facto rate increase. When he complained in writing and in person to Cablevision, he received little in the way of adequate answers. While still waiting to hear from the governor, he was informed by our attorney general that the current deal with Cablevision prohibits his getting involved but did agree it seemed that Cablevision was in the wrong.

I concurred, pointing out that they practiced the same tactic when the Rainbow Gold package was whittled away, forcing me to move to i/o Digital Cable before I was ready to make the commitment.

In other words, Cablevision has a history of profiting from these moves and does so in a hidden way that state regulators seem unable to fight.

I give high marks to Howard Jacobson our chair. Not only does he come prepared, but he also speaks clearly, making certain everyone understands the issue under discussion. But, unlike so many others, knows when to close the debate. He’ll say, “I’m going to move on now…” and we do, zipping through our agenda in a brisk 90 minutes.

All in all, the meeting was spirited and lively, with most people getting a say. The sad part is, our reps from Cablevision heard us, nodded a lot, took notes but my feeling is that little of what we say will change or improve the lot of cable subscribers. I don’t think the Cable Advisory Council is toothless but its voice is certainly muted.

Some Political Musings

Posted by Bob Greenberger on October 11, 2006

Somehow it is days after I intended to last post.

A lot of the delay has been a distinct lack of time. We had Deb’s parents up for the weekend, plus visiting with my octogenarian aunt and uncle plus a last-minute arrival from Robbie. Whoosh, the weekend was gone.

On Monday, the Democratic Town Committee held its monthly meeting and my schedule finally let me attend one after missing the last two. Our District Leaders’ meeting was the usual assortment of stuff we’ve hashed through before and some new ideas which certainly had merit so I hope we act on them in the near future.

The main meeting was unusual in that we had a nice, healthy discussion regarding the best way to get the dems’ message across to the voters. Also, what has been working and not working among the various campaigns. Fairfield is in a unique situation in that we have not only some very active state races but the Congressional campaign between incumbent Chris Shays and two-time challenger Diane Farrell. Word has it that particular race is one of the tightest being watched in Washington.

On the local level as it is on the national level, the democrats seem to be having trouble getting the word out. Nationally, they just don’t seem to be unified with a message or an agenda. Locally, we’re dealing with a tremendous amount of voter apathy. To them, Governor Jodi Rell is a nice lady, a cancer survivor and must be doing a good job. She has an excellent approval rating but I wonder how many voters know her position on a variety of issues. While I missed her debate with challenger John DeStefano, the coverage on Tuesday did not make her sound like she had a vision I can subscribe to.

In my state district, the 132nd, Tom Drew the incumbent, mailed out a slick flyer that had two columns. One listing his promises from the last election and one listing his actually accomplishments. I only wish more candidates could and would do that so voters can measure for themselves if a change is required. The republicans are hammering the message that we need a change. My question is why? Tom’s accomplished a lot, and in a democratically-controlled House, you want someone like him who seems interested in giving all sides a fair hearing. Not only that, he’s brought home some impressive bacon, including a $400,000 grant just within the last few weeks.

Everyone’s busy, I recognize that. Still, one of the reasons our country has endured and grown to be a super-power is its system of government. People have the right to vote and far too few exercise that right. And those that step in the polls should walk in better educated to the issues and candidate’s positions so they make informed choices and not just go with a party line ideology out of habit. But then again, you can’t have everything.

Doesn’t mean a guy can’t wish for everything, though.

Let’s Go Mets!

Posted by Bob Greenberger on October 6, 2006

Getting tickets to playoff games can be a maddening experience. It certainly was when I dealt with a scalper to buy tickets for the 1999 Playoffs, but that’s another story for another time.

The Mets actually were smart this year. Knowing they had limited seats, they had fans register for a lottery and those who won were entitled to buy up to 4 tickets for any one game for the first round. A similar lottery was held for the second round. All entries were tossed into a giant pot for the Holy Grail – World Series tickets (should the Mets advance that far).

I won tickets for round one and Deb won for round two so we’re happy people.

Yesterday, we attended the second game of the divisional playoffs, accompanied by Peter and Kathleen David. Haven’t seen Peter since the summer, and he’s looking terrific, having rid himself of unneeded weight.

Every seat and then some were filled and the air was electric with excitement. Before the first pitch, I said to Kathleen, “All I want is for Glavine to pitch a clean game.” I got that and then some as he threw four-hit shutout ball for six innings. In the meantime, the Mets scored four runs and things were moving along.

The offense was steady if unspectacular. The defense was terrific starting with a sparkling play by David Wright in the first and better stuff that followed. And the bullpen has become the story so far, with terrific work from a bunch of unsung heroes.

On a personal level, I loved it that Julio Franco, a few weeks younger than me, managed an RBI pinch hit single that worked because he hustled to beat the throw to first. Every time he goes up and pinch hits, fields or even steals a base, I take some pride in his accomplishments.

We enjoyed the game, enjoyed the crowds and despite returning home after 1 a.m., were delighted to have been in attendance. Now, I just want them to take the first round while still in Los Angeles.

A side note: it didn’t get a lot of play but I thought it was rather classy that San Diego invited Lee Smith, the former Cardinals’ reliever, to throw out the first pitch. Receiving the toss was not the catcher but instead, Trevor Hoffman, the Padres reliever who surpassed Smith in the all-time saves category this season. It was a literal passing of the torch. (And it was nice of the Mets to have the great Ralph Kiner toss the first pitch last night.)

What’s Happening at Work

Posted by Bob Greenberger on October 5, 2006

I realize I haven’t spoken much about my work here at Weekly World News and part of the reason was that I had been waiting for today.

Ever since Jeff Rovin hired me, he had a vision for growing the paper, improving the website and getting to branch out beyond just the weekly issue. We’ve been working at all these goals and over the summer, the paper has gotten a little sharper, a little broader in the subject matter being covered. In addition to the usual coverage, our paper now boasts four weekly comic strips in addition to Sergio Aragones’s Weird Picture Search. Every now and then we bring in talent we admire to help illustrate specific stories. Just yesterday, Paul Kupperberg snagged veteran Sam Glanzman to help us with one forthcoming story.

Our website, to be polite, was not terribly good and Jeff brought in a talent guy named Mike Simses to overhaul it. The new site went live this afternoon and I urge everyone to thoroughly check it out. There will be new stories and new videos every week so it’ll be worth bookmarking and checking back. Let me know what you think.

Paul is waiting to seal several deals but the WWN, long simmering, is about to explode and should be cool.

There are some other things cooking and we can talk about that when it all happens. But right now, I got here at a good time and I’m having fun helping make things happen.

Where is the Outrage?

Posted by Bob Greenberger on October 3, 2006

The headlines are filled with reports of the Administration’s gaffes and arrogance since taking office. It seems as if every week or two a new book comes out or a report is leaked that shows how our President, Vice President and Secretary of Defense refuse to face reality. Instead, they tighten their blinders and shout a little louder that their peers are “naive” or those who question them are being unpatriotic.

However, American soldiers are mired in a mess in Iraq that seems to be continuing without a strategy. Detainees since September 2001 remain imprisoned with no clue when they might learn the charges against them. Laws are retroactively being written to allow the unlawful actions of the current Administration to escape prosecution.

But the real problems facing America, and the world, remain unaddressed.

We should be leading the charge into Darfur, not Iraq.

We should drag North Korea to the bargaining table rather than whimper beneath their grandstanding.

We should be seeking alternate energy resources and better medical coverage.

We should be paying a fair minimum wage.

And so on.

As long as the current administration shouts out without any real challengers, they will prevail.

The Republicans are very good at crafting a message and sticking with it. It’s won them election after election, hasn’t it? The Democrats, though, by their very nature, seem incapable of closing ranks and issuing their own coherent vision of where they will take the country.

What can we, the voters stuck in the middle, do? We can, and should, be asking where the outrage is. Where are the critics of the Administration and its failed programs and policies? There should be a chorus questioning the majority leadership, their voices rising to match that of the current leadership.

I wrote my Senator yesterday, asking that very question. It took a few minutes and I felt better. Everyone should do the same, especially in the weeks prior to the election. We can no longer remain quiet.

My Personal High School Reunion

Posted by Bob Greenberger on October 1, 2006

Jericho High School, class of 1976, had its 30th reunion last night. I didn’t attend, remaining on the fence until a few weeks back. While it would certainly be interesting and somewhat cool to see people I knew since kindergarten, the ones who meant the most to me would not be there.

Center to that crowd of absentees was Jeff Strell, who I’ve known since that first year of elementary school. We were tight and best friends right through high school, drifting towards different interests and careers as he attended Columbia and I went further away to Binghamton.

Jeff and I have kept in sporadic touch ever since but we have not been physically together for something like 18 years. When he indicated he wasn’t going, that the majority of the people he wanted to see, weren’t going to be there either, that sort of sealed things. Sure, it would have been nice to see Michelle Innelli who I had an odd friendship with since junior high. It might even have been fun to once more be the guy who is living out his childhood dream, still connected to the comics world, writing Star Trek and doing things that are cool.

But the friends who mattered most, starting with Jeff but certainly including Laura Greenberg, David Reed (so smart he left a year early), Dan Visentin, Peter Gentile and others, weren’t coming.

Not to waste a day marked on the calendar, the Strells and the Greenbergers held their own reunion. We went to their nice one bedroom apartment in Mineola (forever enshrined in my mind as Smallola thanks to the radio ads on the once great WLIR) and I marveled at the walls filled with custom made shelving to hold his ever-growing collection of vinyl LPs. He showed the wall containing every album ever rated an A or A- by the great critic Robert Christgau, dismissively waved his hand at the eclectic stuff and the deep jazz assortment.

We sat and started chatting, and as Deb put it later, it was like we hadn’t seen them in two months, not 18 years. The talk continued through the afternoon, and later all through dinner at a wonderful Portuguese restaurant just blocks away. It was everything a good reunion should be.

Sure, we tripped down memory lane, dissecting days that became turning points in our lives and the lives of our friends. We told stories from varying eras, reminding each other of details and delighting both women. Jeff and Debbie look the same, despite the passage of time, and it turns out we continue to share many of the same passions, from comics to baseball. In fact, like us, they never miss Opening Day at Shea, so we’ve been communing together all these years without realizing it.

I hope everyone attending the overpriced event in Uniondale had as good a time, but I kind of doubt it.