Boeing Dreamliner.

[Boudica the Lyoness]

I wanted to look and listen as the Boeing Dreamliner took off this morning. I had to put up with the ridiculous blocks of writing and crawls all over the TV screen and the news peoples non-stop talking. I wanted to hear the roar of the engines, the cheers and the wonderful full sight of that big bird talking off from Paine Field. I got a lot of 'Happening Live Now' and shit all over the screen and idiots talking over the top of each other. Any talking should have been between the tower and the pilot.

It reminds me of Princess Diana's funeral. I started to watch it on NBC but was sickened with the constant mindless comments, such as "Gee, this is so Shakespearean". I quickly turned to the BBC coverage and heard just the squeaking of the gun carriage wheels and the weeping and other reactions of the people as she went by. Why does America have to be so gimmicky?

[Warpy]

1. Why can't the blow dried idiots just shut the fuck up once in a while?

They have ruined every Olympics opening show forever and most of the events once it opens. I would have loved to hear what was going on with the Oz show, especially, but watched it with the sound off so I didn't hear the vapid blatting of ultra coiffed professional idiots drowning out the music.

Broadcasting J-schools pride themselves on turning out people like Palin, who can produce a neverending stream of verbiage that might or might not make any sense at all. As long as they make sure we never hear what's really happening at the scene, they're doing their jobs.

I'm sick to death of it.

[sinkingfeeling]

2. It's our culture to be gimmicky. We take nothing seriously. Haven't you heard that climate change is

just a hoax?

[Lyric]

3. They ruined the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade, too.

My old high school band was marching in it, but I hardly got to hear them or any of the other performers because the commentators wouldn't STFU. They were doing some interview with some person nobody cares about anymore, and the parade was on this tiny screen behind the desk, where I could barely see anything and couldn't hear it at all.

GOD that pissed me off. And this was CBS, not some local station.

[immoderate]

11. I hate parades.

--imm

[WinkyDink]

15. Network blather has obliterated football half-time home-viewing and ruined Olympics coverage.

[JimWis]

17. I watched a bit of the Macy's parade and was thinking the same

exact thing. They don't even show the parade anymore. And as you said, interviewing some so so celebrity who no one gives a damn about. I mean you literally see very little of the actual parade.

[Gold Metal Flake]

4. The Boeing webcast is not working either.

:mad:

[SidDithers]

5. Reuters video isn't bad...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fucq5BoEfEI

Sid

[Boudica the Lyoness]

6. Sid!

That was awesome! Thanks for the link. I got my Dreamliner fix from that.

[tammywammy]

8. Thanks for the link

What a beautiful aircraft.

[JimWis]

18. Cool, Thanks for the video.

[spanone]

7. boy, the non-stop talking was about as obnoxious as it gets....blah blah blah blah

[Gold Metal Flake]

9. I hear she just landed. Woohoo!

That was fun!

[Baclava]

10. Such a pretty bird

[Warren DeMontague]

12. Um, no offense, but isn't the very concept of a Monarchy a little "gimmicky" in this day & age?

Clearly, Americans have the ability to obsess over the meaningless details of strangers' lives, too-- witness the Tabloid space devoted to "Brangelina".

But, c'mon. No offense intended to Diana, but she was a princess. She wasn't exactly Neil Armstrong (a quaint example of an earlier time, when having a private life and minding your own business were valued at least as much as "sell! tell! sell! tell!") ... I mean, she helped people, and she redefined her role, but she was a Princess, not a nuclear physicist. All she did to get that role was marry someone. Nobody even voted for her.

So if the coverage was vacuous, consider the subject matter.

But you're right- Cable "Newz", such as it is, in this country is unwatchable. I stopped around 2004 and haven't gone back.

[Boudica the Lyoness]

14. Tradition is not a gimmick.

I never cared for Princess Dianna myself but I'm a true Royalist, so I watched her funeral.
Over the years I have found that there are many members of DU who hate the royal family with a passion. America decided over 200 years ago that it didn't want a monarch. That's OK. We still have a Royal family and you don't, so that is that. Tradition is not a gimmick.
I understand you think the Royal family is on the same level as 'Brangelina' and maybe that is part of a bigger problem with Americans.

[Warren DeMontague]

16. I will happily admit that I don't get it.

I don't "hate" the Royal Family, but I don't see the point of a Monarchy, as I said, in this day & age.

At least Brangelina aren't on the US Gov't payroll. :shrug:

[Boudica the Lyoness]

19. I think they are useful.

The Queen is now 83 and still carries out her duties. I don't think they are the freeloaders that you suspect them to be. The Queen works on behalf of her country where as American movie stars tend not to as much. I snipped this for you and maybe it'll help you understand more about the Royal family:

"Money to support the Queen in the exercise of her duties as head of state of the United Kingdom (the Head of State Expenditure) come from the Civil List. This is a return of a small portion of the revenue from the Crown Lands that are surrendered by the monarch to parliament at the beginning of each reign; all Crown Land being administered by The Crown Estates, an institution that is answerable to parliament. In the 2003-04 fiscal year, the amount surrendered was £176.9 million, where the Head of State Expenditure was £36 million. The Head of State Expenditure does not include the cost of security.

Only the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh receive funding from the Civil List. The Duke receives £359,000 per year.

Only some members of the Royal Family carry out public duties; these individuals receive an annual payment known as a Parliamentary Annuity, the funds being supplied to cover office costs.

These amounts are repaid by The Queen from her private funds.

Though always voluntarily subject to the Value Added Tax and other indirect taxes, the Queen agreed to pay taxes on income and capital gains from 1992, although the details of this arrangement are both voluntary and secret. At the same time it was announced that only the Queen and Prince Philip would receive civil list payments. Since 1993 the Queen's personal income has been taxed as any other Briton. The Queen's private estate (eg shareholdings, personal jewelery, Sandringham House and Balmoral Castle) will be subject to Inheritance Tax, however bequests from Sovereign to Sovereign are exempt".

[Warren DeMontague]

20. Thanks for the info, but It's really not something I give a whole lot of thought to, either way.

Seriously. It's not something I care very much about, one way or the other. It's your country, your business.

And if your primary point was that American Cable News sucks, you'll get no disagreement from me.

[Boudica the Lyoness]

21. I'm a Patriot.

I was just defending my Queen and country. You compared them to American movies stars or something even though you claim to not know much about them or even care. But point taken and all sorted out now.

[Boudica the Lyoness]

13. We saw the 777 on her first flight.

My husband and I were in the middle of a field on our eastern Washington farm and to our surprise we witnessed the first 777's maiden flight. There she was in a holding pattern with her wing man right over our farm. That must have been in 1994.