Tim Russert died.

Being a former journalist, I pay attention when a former newsperson dies. Was sad to see the news just a few minutes ago about Tim Russert dying:

Tim Russert, who became one of America's leading political journalists as the host of NBC's "Meet the Press," died Friday, according to the network. He was 58.

The network said Russert suffered a heart attack while at work and could not be revived. He had just returned from a family vacation in Italy to celebrate the graduation of his son, Luke, from Boston College.

Russert joined the network in 1984 and quickly established himself as the face of the network's political coverage.

Why can't MTV do this in the States, too?

Apparently MTV is actually capable of creating boundaries in its content. At least, when it's the new kid on the block in the Middle East:

MTV is hoping hip-hop and reality television tailored and sanitized for a more conservative Middle East will draw young Arabs away from dozens of locally produced music video channels that already dominate the market.

MTV Arabia, which launched over the weekend, will feature 60 percent international music and 40 percent Arabic music, along with local adaptations of the channel's popular non-music shows.

But MTV, which is known for airing provocative videos featuring scantily clad women, says the Arab version of the pop-culture channel will show less bare skin and profanity.

And MTV is unwilling to do this in the United States why? Oh yea...we take their bait hook, line and sinker.

This news stinks.

It's always possible NBC and Apple will work out a new deal, but right now they don't seem to be on good speaking terms.

Apple Inc. escalated a dispute with NBC Universal over the pricing of television shows by announcing Friday it would not sell any of NBC's programs for this fall season on iTunes.

Earlier, NBC had told Apple that it would no longer allow its programs to be sold via iTunes at the end of the year. NBC Universal-controlled television programming accounts for an estimated 40 percent of the video downloads on iTunes.

"We are disappointed to see NBC leave iTunes because we would not agree to their dramatic price increase," said Eddy Cue, Apple's vice president of iTunes. "We hope they will change their minds and offer their TV shows to the tens of millions of iTunes customers."

Rather than cut off NBC programs in the middle of the season, Apple decided to stop before the new fall episodes premiere next month, he said.

Drew Carey? Hmmm...

OK, so I've really been out of it this week up here at camp. Missed the most important news of the week -- that Drew Carey will replace Bob Barker on The Price is Right.

Not sure how I feel about this. I have fond memories from TPIR... screams of joy in high school when someone won both showcases (back in the under-$100 days), screams that upset our speech coach in the middle of class... sick days, when I might awaken around 10AM and watch Bob and his Beauties... Thursday mornings lately, on my day off, when attempting to make breakfast while guessing prices... seeing the video clips of Josh Griffin making it to the stage and kissing Bob on the cheek.

Ahh yes, memories.

The challenge of fasting.

Just read a blog post from Josh Griffin (actually a reposting of someone else's thoughts) on the idea of students "fasting" from text messages. Interesting thoughts. Earlier this year, I did a four-day music fast while up in the mountains. I had my iPod and my car stereo, but I didn't listen to any music on them for those four days.

Fasting is an interesting notion. It's biblical, it's beneficial and it's incredibly difficult. Maybe I'm not supposed to admit that as a pastor, but it's true. Fasting is tough. I have my daily and weekly routines. I like my food. I like my music. I like my media. I like my -- well, all kinds of things!

I like this thought captured in that post about text message fasts: "I told them that if they could not then that cell phone had too high of a priority in their life." Ouch! Anything I'm not willing to sacrifice for a day, or two days, or a week -- that thing probably holds too high of a place in my life.

That's what worship is all about, isn't it? Setting aside our needs, our agendas, our priorities and focusing our thoughts on the creator, lover and redeemer of the world. Fasting helps us grow spiritually because it can recalibrate our priorities and reorient us toward God...who was, and is, and is to come.

Bombarded by messages.

Tired of commercials? Aren't we all...

Fueled by a growing sense of desperation, networks are inserting games, quizzes and mini-dramas into commercial breaks. They're incorporating more product pitches into programming. Two experimental programs without traditional commercial breaks will premiere this fall. NBC has even called on Jerry Seinfeld for help.

This is all being done to stop viewers with DVRs from fast-forwarding through advertisements, or to circumvent those that do.

Adding to the urgency, this week Nielsen Media Research begins offering ratings for commercial breaks, instead of just the shows around them.

"We all need to become more creative in how we incorporate sponsors into a program," said Ed Swindler, executive vice president for NBC Universal ad sales. "No one on the creative side or the business side wants to make commercials intrusive, but we do need to commercialize efficiently so viewers can afford to get free television."

I found this article interesting because it ties into a book I just finished reading today, "The Big Idea" by Dave Ferguson, Jon Ferguson and Eric Bramlett. Probably will post on it and another recent read later tonight.

Quite a fire.

Life in the Sacramento area got a little exciting last night. Around 5:45PM, a huge fire erupted along a train trestle near Cal Expo, which you could define as being right in the middle of our metro area. It created a huge plume of smoke that people could see for miles and miles. It didn't represent any real risk to people or property, but it was an incredible sight -- especially with local news coverage.

The NBC affiliate, KCRA, interrupted the network news right around 5:45, as the fire began, and didn't really stop until 8:30. The ABC affiliate began its coverage at 6PM, and eventually broke away around 8PM for its evening programs. CBS, however, was caught in a predicament: Thursday was the first day of the first round of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. So, the folks at CBS interrupted games with updates throughout the evening. But man, you KNOW the news people there were mad that they couldn't do wall-to-wall coverage. This was a big fire, talk of the town, and they're unable to do true live coverage.

On a related note, the Goodyear blimp flew overhead this afternoon, perhaps on the way up to the Sierra to get some video footage for later in the day. The arrival of a Goodyear might not be a big deal to some of you mega-metropolis people, but we don't see it everyday.