Phantom Reflections

JERICHO Canceled for Good

Link: Jericho Gets Nuked - Slice of SciFi
This is a bummer, but I guess we all saw it coming:

No amount of fan letters, emails, phone calls or campaigns would make CBS execs listen this time around and give Jericho a full third season, so don’t expect a cliffhanger next week when the series ends its run on the eye network.

The excuse given by the honchos at CBS is the show simply couldn’t generate large enough ratings beyond its ambitious and energetic fanbase. In TV talk that’s no new viewers added to generate ad revenues.

I really enjoyed JERICHO and this past season has been fantastic, reminding me of 24 before Season 6. I still think that network television is changing, and shows like JOURNEYMAN, FIREFLY, and JERICHO really should have a home on a different channel -- CBS, NBC and ABC can stick to reality shlock. It would be nice if it could be the SciFi Channel, but it will be tough to cram intelligent programming between wrestling and Manicorasorus. With this being the last season of BATTLESTAR GALACTICA I wonder what SF TV will look like over the next few years. I guess it's time to hook my Mac Mini up to my home entertainment system.

B&N to acquire Borders?

Link: B&N Open to Possible Borders Purchase - 3/20/2008 8:57:00 AM - Publishers Weekly
Please, say it isn't so!

Asked during its year end conference call if Barnes & Noble has any interest in buying Borders, chief operating officer Mitchell Klipper said that while the company has not been approached by Borders’s investment bankers, B&N would look at the possibility of acquiring its chief rival.

B&N is coming off of a soft year in which net income fell 9.8% for the fiscal year ended February 2, 2008, to $135.8 million, while earnings in the fourth quarter declined 9.2%, to $115 million. Earlier this year, B&N reported that total revenue rose 2.8%, to $5.41 billion in the year, and fell 1.7%, to $1.88 billion in the quarter. Results in 2006 reflect 53 weeks, compared to 52 weeks last year.

What ever happened to the whole anti-trust thing? I don't see it conceivable that one company, namely B&N, can possibly own all the big bookstores in the country. Already B&N, along with Borders, has been decimating the independents, but if B&N is allowed to purchase Borders they will be in total control of the book retail business in the United States. This would be bad news for readers, publishers, writers, people who hang out and read magazines for free while drinking coffee, aliens searching for self help books, and just about anyone else who enjoys the printed page.

I'll be honest: Borders has always been my favorite of the mega-chain bookstores, but I'll choose to support an independent if I can find one close by. But just as Tower Records fell a few years ago, I feel that once an e-book standard is agreed upon so too will be the fate of B&N. It's only a matter of time. The book industry is the slowest to adapt to market conditions, so we can probably learn a lot of what's going to happen from a business perspective by examining the music industry in the late 90s.

Slipstream-Chipotle in the Tour de France

Link: VeloNews | Slipstream-Chipotle gets a Tour invite | The Journal of Competitive Cycling
Finally, some good news on the 2008 Tour de France:

Tour de France organiser ASO on Thursday named the 20 teams it has selected for this year's race.

The line-up includes the American team Slipstream-Chipotle.

Team director Jonathan Vaughters said the invitation was a relief.

"I found out about 5 minutes ago," Vaughters told VeloNews Thursday morning.

"I feel relieved after all the work we put in. We proved we are one of the better teams in the world right from the start all the way through Tirreno, but we had a mediocre Paris-Nice, of all the friggin' races to have go sideways on us!! So of course that worried me a bit. But anyway, the bigger picture has been A+ work for a new team, so I'm glad ASO agreed with that. Off we go."

This team deserves to be in the Tour, and even though they had a tough time in Paris-Nice I'm glad the ASO invited them. Make sure that you mark down that I actually said something nice about the ASO.