NASA Television

For those with high-speed Internet and the inclination, I’d suggest checking out NASA Television, which “provides real-time coverage of agency activities and missions” among other things. NASA Television has scheduled programming, which I haven’t followed. The first time I looked at the broadcast, however, I was blown away by the live feed from the space shuttle of the Earth slowly spinning. It reminded me of what I’ve read about how, when people saw photos of the Earth from space for the first time, they realized how precious the planet really was. Now, decades later, I can follow the astronauts’ progress in space on my laptop.

When Indie Goes Network

I thought I might have heard wrong when Seth, on last week’s episode of “The O.C.” — which I happened upon while flipping through the channels, I swear — said something about Death Cab for Cutie playing on stage. I didn’t recognize the band (I’ve only seen them once in concert), but the music sounded familiar.

The next day, an article titled “Death Shows for Cuties: Why can’t indie bands stay on the soundtrack — and off the stage — of trendy TV teen shows?” appeared on Salon.

When I realized it had been them on the show, I was really bothered. It’s not even that I think the band sold out with their appearance, or that I begrudge them more fans and further success (though the tiniest part of me does feel that way). But seeing this great indie band on this slick, superficial TV show was like seeing spilled blood. I felt this sense of revulsion at seeing something that shouldn’t be, whether blood outside skin or indie band on FOX. At the very least, it’s distasteful.

In her article, writer Hillary Frey makes the following point: “On the stage, there’s no drama. A band is nothing more than a prop, a song is never loud enough, the very cute guitar player is never visible. The setup takes all the joy out of a live performance, and all the excitement out of a truly dramatic moment. It’s a waste.”

Gotta love those mutants:

Hollywood Adaptation

If I still read Slate regularly, I might not have missed Ursula K. LeGuin’s article, “A Whitewashed Earthsea”, when it was first published on that site.

I’d considered watching the Sci Fi Channel miniseries based on LeGuin’s Earthsea books (the first of which was actually assigned reading in 7th grade). After reading this article I’m glad I get to keep my version of the books uncorrupted in my imagination. Not only does LeGuin mention what it’s like as an author to have no input into an adaptation of your work, she goes on to discuss how the adaptation utterly ignores the races of her characters, instead opting for a nearly all-white cast.