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I’m testing my new Canon Rebel XTi camera. This was taken on Beth’s porch.

Proving that they’re no slouch when it comes to crappy pictures and sound, the NBC network continued its long track record of shitty productions today during the telecast of the Saints/Seahawks game. Fans everywhere were treated to hideous motion blur, snowy images during camera pans and a lengthy delay for an NBC equipment malfunction.

“We’re really hitting our stride as an ass-log of a network,” said Dick Ebersol, Chairman of NBC Universal Sports. “No other broadcaster offers our unique combination of overcompressed, blocky high definition images, lameass celebrity shilling and overall wretched production value.”

Ebersol’s statements were backed up Sunday night when the floating overhead camera that NBC uses to supplement its already horrifically bad NFL coverage malfunctioned in the first quarter, delaying the game for several minutes and angering football fans already poised to turn the channel.

“There was no game action while the camera was being serviced so the compression artifacts were fairly low,” said Seahawks fan Mike Rosenfart, “but as soon as the game resumed and players were actually moving around on the field, that horsecrap HD picture came right back.”

“It’s hard work to produce something that no one has a good word to say about…ever,” said Ebersol. “It has taken our dopey executives years to shape our product into the revolting, turd shaped log that it has become. That doesn’t just happen overnight.”

If you’re looking for a nice place to eat in Miami I can make a recommendation. On a recent business trip, a colleague and I tried a great little Italian place called Big Fish.

Big Fish sits on the southern shore of the Miami River. It’s tucked along a stretch of the downtown area that is undergoing a huge construction boom and some promising renovation.

There’s not much to look at right now but its nice to dine in an open air environment just a few feet from the water.

I had the Sea Bass Tagliollini with garlic mashed potatoes and asparagus. It was simply one of the best fish dishes I’ve ever had.

My colleague had the salmon with couscous and sauteed fennel. She raved about it.

Most entrees were priced from $15-32 and they had a great wine list. I had an Argentinian Cabernet Syrah that was outstanding!

Soon this part of the city will be bustling with new tennants and businesses as the dozen or so high rise condo and office buildings reach completion. At that point Big Fish will no longer be a secret…and it’ll be a much smaller fish in a much bigger pond.

Big Fish
55 SW Miami Avenue Rd
Miami, FL
(305) 373-1770
http://www.thebigfishmiami.com

I’m about to hit the sack but I can’t put down the iPhone. So I figure I’d post to the blog and see if it’s tolerable. It’s not too bad. One bummer though, it doesn’t do that cool spelling correction trick in WordPress.

Nite nite.

My friend Steve found some $20 lawn seats for the Rush show in Camden on Friday night and I must say, I’m glad I went. I contemplated getting really good seats from a broker but decided against it after buying two iPhones the week prior. I figured I had spent enough money for one month.

I’d had great seats for the opening night of the tour in Atlanta, and the show looked much different from the lawn in Camden. It was really, really impressive. You’re not as absorbed in the music when you’re that far away but you get a better feel for the overall presentation.

Their playing seemed tighter in Camden and Geddy was clearly enthralled with the crowd. He repeatedly thanked us for being so into the show. He was smiling and joking around and I didn’t see any of that in Atlanta.

The set list was exactly the same as opening night and there were no major musical issues except that drummer Neil Peart completely hosed his portion of the end of YYZ. I don’t think most people noticed but the drummers in the crowd sure did.

One other cool thing…Geddy’s rotisserie chicken cookers were occasionally tended to by a guy in a chef’s hat and apron. Nice touch!

Dear Sporting Event/Rock Concert Video Director,

Why do you insist on showing me so many shots of the crowd? When I go to a sporting event and someone scores, I never EVER look around at the other people in the stadium to see what they’re doing. I want to see the interaction between the guy who scored and his teammates.

And when I go to a concert, I watch the band the entire time. I don’t care about the guy in the front row who is air drumming or the group of chicks who know all the words. I’M A HUGE FAN AND I WANT TO SEE THE BAND!

So why is it that so many TV directors engage in the amateurish act of repeatedly showing crowd shots to their television viewers when the television viewer wants to see the focus of the event, THE ATHLETES AND THE ROCK STARS! Jeezus H.

I wanted to gouge my own eyes out with a fish fork this weekend while watching the crunchy and, dare I say a tad pretentious, Live Earth broadcast. The show was reasonably good until NBC took over. The performance I was most looking forward to, the Police, had so many friggin’ crowd shots that I nearly spun into a rage right there in the living room. And when they did decide to show the band, all we saw were tight shots of Sting and John Mayer. JOHN MAYER! He’s not even in the band! Stewart Copeland is a great performer and we didn’t see the guy! Ugh.

Have I made my point?

I made the trek from Philadelphia to Hot-lanta this week to join one of my best college chums for Rush’s opening night on the Snakes & Arrows tour. What a show! I have never seen a big concert on opening night before and you could really tell that it was the first show. There were a few technical glitches but the band persevered and put on a typically amazing Rush show.

The highlights? The instrumentals were AMAZING! It was great to hear some of the old stuff that hasn’t been played in a while. Witch Hunt, Digital Man and Between the Wheels stood out. Bob and Doug McKenzie did a funny introduction of The Larger Bowl. The South Park gang introduced Tom Sawyer and Geddy’s clothes dryers were replaced by glowing rotisserie chicken cookers with “henhouse” scribed on the front.

The low points weren’t all that low but there were a few. I didn’t need to hear anything from Feedback but they played Summertime Blues. Yawn. I didn’t think Far Cry sounded all that good but the rest of the new stuff sounded outstanding. There were a few video glitches and Alex’s wireless guitar pack didn’t work at the beginning of Between the Wheels. A technician ran on stage and plugged in a new one and he was good to go.

All in all it was good fun and the band clearly still has it. It’ll be interesting to compare their upcoming Philly show to see how much tighter the show is.

Here’s the opening night set list.

Limelight
Digital Man
Entre Nous
Mission
Freewill
The Main Monkey Business
The Larger Bowl (Bob & Doug video intro)
Secret Touch
Circumstances
Between The Wheels
Dreamline

Intermission

Set 2:

Far Cry
Workin’ Them Angels
Armor And Sword
Spindrift
The Way The Wind Blows
Subdivisions
Natural Science
Witch Hunt
Malignant Narcissism
Drum Solo
Hope
Summertime Blues
The Spirit Of Radio
Tom Sawyer (South Park video intro)

Encore:

One Little Victory
A Passage to Bangkok
YYZ