WBGH, again you win the contest as the most clueless PBS station in the world.

There is this small news event occurring this week, called the Democratic National Convention.

And what are you showing tonight?

John Denver, a man and his music.

Are you completely clueless?

Another year, another lack of donations from me.

When will you start showing the programs we want to see, and stop with the crap you think raises you the most money?

This is an ongoing rant.

Dave Sifry launched a few great ideas that will be studiously ignored by PBS execs because they know better. [here]

I have said this many times in the past [here, here, and here]: asking me for money while showing “Lord of the flies dance to 60s motown classics sung by Celtic women” is not helping your cause.

Micropayments texted in by SMS, that’s brilliant. It might show PBS what their viewers what they TRULY watch.

Technorati tags: WGBH, PBS, fundraising, pledge drives, frustration, ranting, dave sifry

Dear WGBH:

It is Spring Pledge time again. You have replaced all of the shows I love to watch with drivel about growing old gracefully and saving money I don’t have, interspersed with do-wop and motown revival concerts.

Once again, I will not be donating to your station, in protest.

I want more of what I like, not less. When you run an Hercule Poiroit marathon followed by two complete This Old House project series, I might consider giving. Run a day of NOVA, and you will get my credit card for life. Run The Civil War, Jazz and Baseball back-to-back, and I will sell you a kidney.

But no. You run crap that drives me away from your programming.

Why? Do you actually ask the people who watch your station what would encourage them to give money?

Please, take me off your list.

Technorati Tags: WGBH, PBS, Pledge Drive, Pledge Break

I watched part of Fatal Flood last night. It was brutal. And, unfortunately, was echoed far too recently not to be a disturbing insight into the nature of the American mind.

The attitude in this nation towards the disadvantaged and disenfranchised has not changed since 1927. This country is falling away from the city upon a hill, the emblematic vision that fuels the misguided and selfish leadership of the United States.

Katrina exposed the raw, festering wounds in the United States. The stench from the Delta is the rotting of the American Soul.

WGBH is building a brand new $87M Headquarters. [here]

Maybe this is why their pledge programming is so awful.

1. WGBH is the richest PBS station in the nation.
2. WGBH produces some of the finest Public Television in the United States
3. When they have pledge breaks, they show programs that make commercial TV look amazing and spontaneous.

I am tired of Muzak, hits of the 50’s, 60’s and Disco, another tenor super-group, and self-help gurus who make me want to revoke my membership in WGBH.

Do people really watch this crap? Or do you put it on to show us how bad it could be if we don’t give you money?

File Under: WGBH, Public Television, PBS

The Head Lemur has an excellent rant on his favourite Rubbermaid Laundry Basket, and the state of the company itself (Laundry Baskets).

I agree with his design changes, and I also wholeheartedly agree with his rants on the state of the Rubbermaid site. I used to be a Rubbermaid evangalist myself. When I was a grad student in the early 1990s, I stored the contents of my nomadic life in RoughNeck containers, which doubled as firniture. However, since then, the quality and diversity of their product line has sunk and they have been marginalized.

After watching the Frontline on Is Wal-Mart Good for America, I blame Wal-Mart and poor management for the slide of one of my favourite brands. Wal-Mart squeezed an American plastics company right to the edge, exposing magaement issues, and forcing them into a merger with Newell.

So, although I like the design that the Head Lemur has suggested, it is unlikely that a company which was once so creative and cutting edge will even care that someone has a cool idea to improve one of their products.

I hope I am proven wrong as well.

Looks like the slow Holiday shopping season is affecting everyone, even Wal-Mart.

Seems that even the Chinese can’t help them now (Frontline: Is Wal-Mart Good For America?).