ABC and NBC Present Fall TV Lineups

Although this blog is mostly about music and podcasting, I like to give a nod to significant news in TV land sometimes... after all, TV shows now have their own podcasts, too.

As you may know, this is "upfront" week in TV, when the big networks pitch their lineups for upcoming season to advertisers in hopes of getting them to pony up big bucks in prepaid advertising.

Here's the gist on what NBC and ABC are up to:

• "Scrubs" has been renewed for another season
  
• ABC will add a "Grey's Anatomy" spinoff starring Kate Walsh, tentatively titled "Private Practice"
  
• "Friday Night Lights" is back for another season, but is moving from Wednesday to (appropriately enough) Friday
  
• "Crossing Jordan" and "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" have been canceled
  
• ABC is adding five new dramas, including "Pushing Daisies" (about a man who can bring people to life from the dead--and send them back again) and "Dirty Sexy Money" (a lawyer takes over his father's job as personal attorney to a rich family)
  
• NBC is introducing a new version of "The Bionic Woman," a series from the '70s (Wednesdays at 9pm)
  
• ABC is introducing "Caveman," a sitcom based on the popular Geico TV commercials about cavemen living in modern society (maybe next season we'll see a show starring Geico's Cockney-talking gecko?)
  

Last but certainly not least, NBC will ride the "Heroes" horse again with a spinoff called "Heroes: Origins," which will feature a novel gimmick: viewers will be able to vote on their favorite new character, who will become a regular.

Later this week we'll see upfront presentations from CBS, Fox, and the CW network.

New iPod Risk: Be Still, My Beating Heart

Using an iPod can be hazardous to your health, and it can be life threatening for some people. There have long been reports that playing music too loud can permanently harm hearing, but recent studies have should that iPods can cause cardiac implantable pacemakers to malfunction by interfering with the electromagnetic equipment monitoring the heart, according to a study reported by CNN and other news outlets.

As the study reports, "Electrical interference was detected half of the time when the iPod was held just 2 inches from the patient's chest for 5 to 10 seconds." Apple's iPod was the only portable music player tested in the study. The study looked at 100 patients, whose mean age was 77. In some cases, the article noted, iPods caused interference when they were held as far as 18 inches from the chest. The iPods were found to interfere with the pacemaker's telemetry equipment, which caused the device to misread the heart's pacing and in one case caused the pacemaker to stop functioning altogether.

Of course, as one of the authors of the study notes, most people who use pacemakersare not iPod users, so it's not known how often this problem actually occurs in the real world.

Free Indie Rock Concert Videos

As a fan of indie music, I was pleasantly surprised to come across a podcast called Schedule Two. It's a series of free concert videos, one song each, from a range of indie rock artists, filmed in concert in a variety of venues, many in Minneapolis.

Lately this podcast has featured videos of some of my favorite bands of recent vintage, performing songs I wasn't yet familiar with. (If you subscribe to the podcast you'll get once song by an artist, but you can view and download other videos by the artists at the Schedule Two Web site.)

These are straightforward concert videos shot in a conventional manner; you won't find any stage pyrotechnics, dazzling camerawork, or special effects in the podcast. But that's fine with me; I'm perfectly happy just hearing the songs straight up with no frills.

Some of the recent podcasts have included "Pillar of Salt" by The Thermals, Midlake performing "Young Bride," Asobi Seksu (formerly of Cibo Matta) doing a tune called "Strawberries," and the Hold Steady rocking out on "Stevie Nix," as well as performances by Tapes 'n' Tapes, Mates of State, and Jason Colett of Broken Social Scene (featuring a guest appearance by Feist).

If you like indie music, Schedule Two is a great little podcast of cool tunes performed live.

Quick Tips for Managing Your Money

A while back I wrote about a great little podcast, "Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing." The people behind Grammar Girl have created other podcasts as well using the same quick-and-easy approach, and my favorite of these is one that simplifies all aspects of managing your finances.

Like the Grammar Girl podcast, "Money Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips for a Richer Life" offers easy-to-understand advice on common topics in a bite-size format, with episodes ranging from three to six minutes or so. Though each podcast is brief, it presents sounds information on a number of topics that are frequently misunderstood.

Recent episodes have covered issues such as:

• Who can take the mortgage interest deduction
• Pros and cons of a 15-year vs. a 30-year mortgage
• How to create a supercharged Roth IRA
• Getting ready for tax time
• How to set financial goals
• Ways to protect your credit score
• Telling the difference between good debt and bad debt

The Money Girl podcast is a good way to get a basic understanding of a variety of some fundamental financial concepts, from money management to taxes and retirement. It can be downloaded through iTunes and other podcast programs, or streamed from the Web site.

Spider-Man Week: Some Choice Events

I mentioned New York's Spider-Man Week previously, but in case you've been too lazy to check out the site and see what all is happening for Spidey's big week, I've done it for you.

Besides having the U.S. premiere of "Spider-Man 3" in all five boroughs, here's a rundown of some interesting, and quite varied, events. Whether you prefer your spiders to be the real creepy-crawly kind or strictly animated or on film, there's a Spidey event for you. No swinging from skyscrapers, though.

SPIDER WEEK, AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY - including five different kinds of live spiders

THE ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN COMIC BOOK COLLECTION, THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY - featuring some rare comic books that have never before been displayed

SPIDEY GOES WILD WEEK, THE BRONX ZOO and CENTRAL PARK ZOO

MAKE YOUR OWN SPIDEY MASK!, TOYS "R" US

SCALE LIKE SPIDEY!, CHELSEA PIERS - the West Side sports complex features wall climbing; I'm guessing you'll have to bring your own red tights

FREE COMIC BOOK DAY - yes, free comic books. Check www.freecomicbookday.com for details

RED AND BLACK "EXCLUSIVE" WEB WEEK, GAMESTOP - GameStop stores are previewing the new Spider-Man 3 video game, and are having a launch event on May 3

SPIDER-MAN CENTRAL, THE SONY BUILDING - you can get your picture taken with a 60-foot Spider-Man inflatable and get it printed. At Sony's technology lab you can see how the animations were done on the first two Spidey films.

KICK-OFF PARTY ON THE TODAY SHOW, ROCKEFELLER PLAZA - Spidey will appear on the "Today" show (OK, it's really Tobey Maguire and the cast of Spider-Man 3). With marching bands, web-slinger showdowns, the whole sebang. If Spidey appears on "The View," I'm gonna puke

SPIDER-MAN 3 "The Official Novelization", POCKET STAR BOOKS/MIDTOWN COMICS - Best-selling author Peter David will sign copies of the novelization of SPIDER-MAN 3, based on Alvin Sargent's screenplay, at Midtown Comics.

SPIDER SCIENCE, NEW YORK HALL OF SCIENCE (Queens) - you can climb on the Hall’s new magnetic Spider Wall, learn about spider biology with their live collection

SPIDER-MAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES, MUSEUM OF THE MOVING IMAGE - while you're in Queens, check out the vintage film prints of the Spider-Man animated TV series, which dates back to the late 1960s

It's "Spider-Man Week" In New York, April 30 to May 6

New York City will celebrate Spider-Man Week on April 30 until May 6, with dozens of events recognizing everyone's favorite building-swinging, wall-crawling dude.

There are plenty of happenings related to spiders and Spidey himself, from a display of rare Spider-Man comic books and spider displays at the American Museum of Natural History to, of course, the American premiere of the Spider-Man 3 movie. The premiere of the new blockbuster movie will take place simultaneously at a number of theaters in all five boroughs of NYC... including Queens, the borough where our hero Peter Parker was born.

You can find info on all the events, times, and locations at the official "Spider-Man Week" Web site.