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Free on iTunes - Spotlight 25 and Acceptable.tv

I hope I don't sound condescending when I say that trying to understand what a woman wants, of any age, is a task few men have ever succeeded in. To this humble man, women are a singular enigma, who are both otherworldly strange and earthly familiar. They are all very different from one another yet, there seems to be a commonality that also defines them.

There are many women that I like, some that I love dearly, and some, not so much, but all are intriguing. My Baby-Boomer generation was new to open attitudes about sex, women in the workforce, and women wielding social, political, and economic clout. The generation before had just gone through a period of repression where morals where dictated by a few and a woman's place was firmly behind that of a man.

When my generation rallied against the stodgy Ozzie and Harriet morals of The Man in the 60s and 70s we set into motion the ideas that seem as apparent and right as rain today. But women were still mysteries -- I believe that was likely true because, during that time, women had so many new options open to them that they had trouble defining themselves.

Of course, that's just my theory, which is why I found the Lifetime special, Spotlight 25, so interesting. The show discusses the wants, desires, needs, and capabilities of today's twenty-something women. It's a fairly open, fairly honest examination of young women today, how they view themselves in the world, and where they think they are going.

It's a Lifetime show, which means that the audience will primarily be women, but I think twenty-something guys could learn a lot by watching the show. I wish there were shows like this around when I was 25, it certainly would have answered a lot of questions for me and perhaps remove some of the mystery (but never the beauty) of women.

Spotlight 25 is one of this week's free iTunes downloads.

I'm sure there are certain aspects about men that women find equally puzzling; a good example of this is why we think The Three Stooges are funny.

I can tell you that watching Larry, Moe, and Curly-Joe slap, poke, punch, kick, and otherwise brain each other can get me laughing even when I don't feel like laughing, and couldn't tell you why even if you put a gun to my head. (Don't get any ideas, please.)

Watching the skits in the tutorials for Acceptable.tv, another one of this week's free iTunes Store downloads, brought that question to mind, except the wording was more like, "Why would anyone find Acceptable.tv funny?"

The executive producer, and one of the actors in the tutorials (if you can call what he does acting) is Jack Black, who seems to be desperately trying to find a venue that will best showcase his odd form of humor. After watching Acceptable.tv tutorials, and having seen Tenacious D and the Pick of Destiny (another one of Jack Black's odd musicomedy movies), I can tell you with utmost confidence that Mr. Black has yet to find that venue. (I will say that there were some funny moments in Nacho Libre, most of them you can find in the previews.)

The skits are tutorials designed to help you create a video that might have a chance to appear on Acceptable.TV. The content is informative for those who know nothing of how to create a video, but the humor is as dry as yesterday's burnt toast.

Acceptable.tv is kind of a cross between American Idol and Mad TV; skits or videos are shown and people get to vote on which gets shown again tin another episode.

If the tutorials are any indication, I'll stick with the Three Stooges.

More free stuff at the iTunes Store:


Vern Seward is a writer who currently lives in Orlando, FL. He's been a Mac fan since Atari Computers folded, but has worked with computers of nearly every type for 20 years.

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A guest said: (hide)

Don't look at the tutorials on Acceptable.TV. Go to the website and watch some of the shows/skits. Some are funny, some are dry, some will appeal to one person and not another. And that's part of the point.

Acceptable.TV is actually a growth out of work done at channel101.com and channel102.net. There people make up to 5 minute "shows" which are shown at cinemas (one in LA, the other in New York City) and voted on. The five highest in votes "win" and go on to make another episode. The losers are "cancelled." It's hit or miss. Some of the stuff is embarrassingly low budget -- but sometimes that is made part of the humor. And, since they aren't part of VH-1 and don't have to be run through the censors, some can get pretty not safe for work.

One of the current ones that is fairly safe for work (maybe a few curse words) is Defenders of Stan, a show about a guy (Stan) who is the last normal person in a world of superheroes. His brother, Captain Ultra, happens to be the most powerful superhero on the planet -- and the biggest jerk. Six episodes so far and going well. Here's the link to it's page:

http://www.channel102.net/show.php?show=88

Enjoy.

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gslusher said:

member since 13 Nov 2002 with 2003 posts, unranked, send him a message or view his profile

Ah, the Three Stooges. Their movies were part of my growing up. (Nyuk! Nyuk!) I guess I identified most with Moe--the "smart" Stooge, but it was Curly who made me laugh the most, especially with his physical humor, his patented finger-snapping, head-patting (Vern will know what I mean) and his backward skip. The Marx brothers were more verbal (they started in burlesque), the Stooges more physical. The Little Rascals were just plain cute--and easy for kids to identify with. ("Let's put on a show!")

All were obviously products of the Depression--recall how many of the Marx Brothers and Stooges "plots" were based on trying to start a business, get a job, make a quick buck, how poor the Little Rascals' families were. Their plight resonated with tens of millions of people, much as Jackie Gleason's Ralph Cramden did in the 1950s. (Compare the Cramdens to the Huxtables on The Bill Cosby Show. I hesitate to suggest comparing The Little Rascals with South Park.)

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VSeward said:

member since 28 Jun 2001 with 971 posts, TMO Staff, send him a message or view his profile

Quote
gslusher wrote:
Ah, the Three Stooges. Their movies were part of my growing up. (Nyuk! Nyuk!) I guess I identified most with Moe--the "smart" Stooge, but it was Curly who made me laugh the most, especially with his physical humor, his patented finger-snapping, head-patting (Vern will know what I mean) and his backward skip. The Marx brothers were more verbal (they started in burlesque), the Stooges more physical. The Little Rascals were just plain cute--and easy for kids to identify with. ("Let's put on a show!")

All were obviously products of the Depression--recall how many of the Marx Brothers and Stooges "plots" were based on trying to start a business, get a job, make a quick buck, how poor the Little Rascals' families were. Their plight resonated with tens of millions of people, much as Jackie Gleason's Ralph Cramden did in the 1950s. (Compare the Cramdens to the Huxtables on The Bill Cosby Show. I hesitate to suggest comparing The Little Rascals with South Park.)

"Ahhhh, wise guy, uh? Why I oughta..."

Glusher, very interesting observation about the Stooges and the Marx Brothers reflecting the hardships of the time.

When I was growing up things were pretty tough for me and my family, and maybe I did identify with the Stooges on a socio-economic level. By coincidence I had two brothers during those times, so it was easy to get the Stooges.

I definitely knew where the Little Rascals were coming from. Alfalfa's puppy love for Darla ( the geek longing for the hottie), Spanky's big ideas, Stymies' kinieving (conniving for the Spelling Police) ("Betcha I can make those eggs talk...") got me through some tough times.

Vern Seward

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A guest said: (hide)

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VSeward wrote:

I definitely knew where the Little Rascals were coming from. Alfalfa's puppy love for Darla ( the geek longing for the hottie), Spanky's big ideas, Stymies' knieving ("Betcha I can make those eggs talk...") got me through some tough times.

"Knieving"? That's a new one for me. Maybe I'm just too old. I couldn't find it on dictionary.com. I did look it up with Google and got 660 hits, all using the word, but none of the first 40 or so explaining what it meant. Is it a play on "conniving"?

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