Music

My taste in music leans to the Contemporary (Smooth) Jazz end of things. I don't like Dixieland jazz or bluesy jazz at all. I also like Classical music, and sometimes listen to pop tunes for some variety. The only categories of music I actually try to avoid are Country and Hard Rock/Blues.

Television

I only watch a limited amount of television. My main criteria in choosing shows to watch is a low level of violence. This certainly limits my choices!

I don't watch many TV shows on a regular basis.  I followed Enterprise very closely, which was the latest in the series of Star Trek TV series. Scott Bakula is bringing some spark to the Captain's role, and some of the rest of the case of this series contributed their own flavour to this different perspective on Star Trek the continuum. I also enjoyed the previous Star Trek Series, but to be honest I'm glad they are over.  Star Trek (both TV and movies) was becoming tiresome, even for a dedicated fan such as myself.

I'll sit down and waste a couple of hours watching some sitcoms once in awhile.  I quickly tired of Will & Grace, since the writing was so dreadful and the acting became so predictable and pendantic. A new show on the Global network here in Canada is My Fabulous Gay Wedding, which I am getting a big kick out of at the moment.  Same-sex couples can legally marry in Canada, and Kids in the Hall star Scott Thompson is hosting this new wedding show.  They alternate between staging gay and lesbian weddings, so Kirk and I skip the lesbian ones and watch the cute boys getting married.

I also watch the Queer As Folk series on Showcase.  I watched the original British episodes, and initially found this second edition (filmed in Toronto) to be not quite as well done as the first series.  The first episodes of this second series repeated all the storylines from the first series, but once they moved into subsequent seasons, the stories have improved greatly.  There is some naked male-male scenes, some simulated sex, and then there are the go-go boys at the club.  The stories are interesting, and the depiction of gay life seems to be evolving into something close to the truth.  I find myself identifying with some of the characters, and other characters are pretty close to spot-on to other gay men I have known, so I guess the writers are doing their job.  I'm liking the new series more and more as it goes along.  Sort of a gay soap opera, I suppose! This is the final season for the series.

I was very excited about the impending switch here in Canada and the United States to High-definition TV (HDTV). KCTS (Seattle Public Television) is broadcasting HDTV, and the original schedule called for HDTV to be the only television signal allowed within a few years. The high resolution and other technical merits will be a real advance. Hopefully, there will be some programming to match! In the mean time, I replaced my trusty old 25 year old RCA Colortrak 20" TV with a new Panasonic - GAOO 27" TV. This should serve as a good interim TV for the next 10 years in which HDTV will hopefully take over the market.

I invested in a DVD player, but decided to keep the purchase price down. I'm not convinced that DVD is going to be a market leader for much longer since the format cannot directly support HDTV at its highest resolutions.  It certainly is a good source of programming for HDTV sets, but the signal has to be up-sampled to be displayed on these sets, since they delivery a significantly higher resolution than DVD will deliver.

Lastly, I also invested in Shaw Digital Cable, which certainly advances regular analog cablevision to a new level.  The digital set-top box cost $200, but Shaw gives away the installation, the first month, and 6 Pay-per-View movies, so it is a pretty good deal.  They also have a package which includes the Shaw@Home Internet service, which I already was paying for, so the Total Home Package was good value for me.  An unexpected bonus was the DMX music channels, which I listen to all the time when the TV is off - no ads, and excellent selection.

I also subscribe to Pridevision TV, the world's first Gay/Lesbian/Bisexual/Trans-gendered (GLBT) oriented TV network.  There is some good programming on Pridevision, and it is a real treat to be able to watch this TV station and see GLBT issues and attitudes showed without apology and straight in your face.  Finally, some TV content I can relate to directly!

Concerts, and the Stage

I used to attend concerts and stage shows, but it has just became too expensive.  The cost of transportation to Vancouver (where the best shows play) combined with accommodation and ticket prices make this sort of entertainment too outrageous to consider anymore.