Originally posted to MySpace, May 18, 2009   Who Wants to be a Millionaire? is a popular game show. It has been adapted for TV in many countries, including Germany, where its title — Wer wird Millionär? — translates as “Who Will Become a Millionaire?” There are quite a few other differences worthy of mention.  American version German version Response time is limited Candidates can take forever Wildcards are called “lifelines” Wildcards are called “jokers” Hostess is stiff and humorless Host is charming and funny You can ask an “expert”, who usually turns out to be an idiot You can phone a friend, some of whom actually help you answer the question Elimination round selects the person in the chair Person in the chair selected at random?   Has America’s fast-food culture always been part of its TV competitions? For as long as I...

Originally posted to MySpace, April 20, 2009   Since the advent of the DVD, seemingly endless possibilities have been added to the simple experience of watching pre-recorded movies or TV shows. You get interviews with actors and directors, fascinating behind-the-scenes footage, deleted scenes, bloopers, and the list goes on. One nice feature I have always enjoyed with my collection of DVD's bought in Germany is the language options. The discs generally offer some combination of major European languages: German, English, Spanish, French, and/or Italian. After having had to digest so much American TV dubbed into German, I preferred to watch movies on DVD with the language set to English. Now that I am again immersed in my native tongue, watching more DVD's in German could help me maintain my language skills. In the United States, it wouldn't hurt to work on some Spanish, too. Thankfully, I can easily do so by popping in a few episodes of Star Trek or Stargate with the a...