Welcome to TV Garth!

Ever since I was a kid, I loved antennas and TV reception. It was always a thrill to hook up an antenna and see what stations I could get, and see if I could pick up anything from a far distance. With the transition to digital broadcasting happening, my love for OTA (over the air) reception came back and this blog will focus on what channels I'm able to receive via antenna from my home just outside of Toronto, Canada. Plus there may be occasional commentaries on shows that I see while adjusting my reception.

Friday, August 20, 2010

TV Garth Presents: An Interview With Pandora Boxx!

Pandora Boxx (a.k.a. Michael Steck) hails from Rochester, NY and was one of the breakout stars from Season 2 of the Logo TV series RuPaul's Drag Race. The talented performer won a legion of fans (affectionately dubbed "Fandoras") via Drag Race, and is touring America with her sassy cocktail of glamorous humour. TV Garth was lucky enough to interview Pandora about Drag Race and her various creative endeavours, as well as her former "day job" at Rochester TV stations WROC and WUHF! So read on and dig a little deeper into Pandora's Boxx!


Garth Jensen: What started your interest in drag, and who were your biggest inspirations?

Pandora Boxx: I find inspiration in so many people! I love when you see a beautiful woman who is a complete goofball. People like Goldie Hawn and Cameron Diaz or Jenny McCarthy. There are also the comic greats like Carol Burnett, Lily Tomlin, Madeline Kahn and Bea Arthur. I think Pandora is a big infused ball of great comedic ladies past and present.

GJ: You managed to be fun, flashy and entertaining on RuPaul's Drag Race without resorting to the pettiness that some of the other competitors have displayed this season. Was there any added pressure or anxiety for you to compete within that atmosphere?

PB: Yes there definitely was. I think you may be able to tell by the faces I make or some of the little comments I made who was really getting on my last nerve. In the end, I tried not to let some people's extremely negative behavior influence me. I wanted to be on RuPaul's Drag Race to get my drag out to a national audience and hopefully to make people laugh. It's all about karma, baby. The way some people chose to act on the show, I think, will eventually come back to bite them in their ass.

GJ: At TV Garth there's a lot of love for Rochester, NY televison stations! Can you tell me a bit about your former "day job" working at Rochester's WROC and WUHF?

PB: I was a video editor and photographer by day... I know, it sounds so butch! I don't work at the station anymore because I quit to do drag full time and travel. But I really enjoy editing and creating videos. I actually have my own internet show called "The GAY (means happy) SHOW!" that people can check out at youtube.com/gayshow. I love the creativity you can have when editing and watching something come to life!


Michael Steck, at his former job working on a WUHF promo.
(Photo credit: rochesterhomepage.net)

GJ: I was quite impressed with the support you received earlier this year from WUHF when they showed a segment about you working for the station and your career as Pandora. How does that support feel, and what is the drag/gay scene in Rochester like overall?

PB: It was actually a bit of a process to get the story to run, but when it did it was the second highest viewed web video (preceded by a weather warning) and the station received so many e-mails supporting the story. So many people were glad that they were running a positive LGBT story on the news for a change. Everyone was running stories on Snooki coming to town but a hometown drag queen being on a hit TV show wasn't even on their radar. It was so great to finally have it run and have such a big payoff. It became not about me, it really became about representing our LGBT community. I'm very proud of it.

GJ: In addition to your fabulous performances, you're also a writer! What drives your creative process and what literary Boxx would you put yourself in?

PB: I love to write! When I was a shy kid, it was my only escape. I could write everything I was feeling. Now I write for fun! I recently wrote a play called "The Lipstick Massacre" which was produced in Rochester and had four sold out shows during its initial run. It came back to Rochester for 13 additional performances from May 27 to June 12 at the Geva Theatre Center. It was so exciting to see my play come to life and also star in the production. My next goal is to bring the play to NYC. It looks like NYC may actually happen, but we are still in the initial phases. Keep your fingers crossed everyone!

GJ: Season 2 of RuPaul's Drag Race recently aired in Canada on Out TV. (That season is currently being rerun on the network as well as streamed through their site.) Do you have anything you'd like to say to your Canadian audience?

PB: I love, love, love Canada! Rochester is about two to three hours away from Toronto and I visit there quite frequently. I truly love Toronto. It's a beautiful city.

GJ: I, along with many others, were very disappointed when you faced an early elimination on RuPaul's Drag Race. How did the outpouring of affection for you and fan support feel in the aftermath of that?

PB: It felt amazing. It truly did. I was just hoping people would care that I got kicked off and boy did they. Logo got quite a few hate e-mails! I am truly blown away by that outpouring of affection and I feel truly blessed to have so many people support me. Thank you everyone for making me feel great about getting kicked off! Ha!

Pandora Boxx
Pandora dazzles the crowd at a performance in Salt Lake City, Utah
(Photo credit: thatguygil.com)

GJ: After the elimination, you've been touring around America to many different cities. How has that been, and what's the craziest experience you've had while being on the road? As well, how can we get you to make a Canadian appearance?

PB: I have been a whirlwind tour across the States! I've been to so many places that I've never been before. I feel so lucky and thankful. I've visited so many amazing places and met even more amazing people. The traveling part can be a bit hectic, like when you have five hour delays. Yuck! But getting to meet all of the fans of the show and to see just how much people love it, is amazing! There are always touches of crazy wherever I go, but one of the oddest things said to me was by this guy in Baltimore who said, "I loved you on that Tyler Perry Show!" I'm wondering who the hell he thought I was... Madea? I hope not!

I would love, love, love to come to Canada! I love it so much there. All you have to do is find a venue who'll pay my fee and I'm there! I'm an easy whore. Ha!

GJ: You are currently appearing on the new Logo series RuPaul's Drag U. Can you tell me a bit about that show and what it has been like to appear on it?

PB: RuPaul's Drag U is a fabulous show where we transform biological women into drag queens. It's women who feel like they've lost their Inner Divas for some reason and through the art of drag we make them feel fabulous about themselves again, or in some cases for the first time ever. It was truly powerful. I am happy people are loving the show. Everyone wants to feel fabulous and that's what's at the heart of this show.

We shot the show while Drag Race was on the air so when I got eliminated I was doing Drag U. I was doing all these interviews about my elimination and they would ask if I was upset and I couldn't say, "Hell no! I'm on another show, bitch!"

I definitely felt more relaxed being on Drag U because I wasn't competing. Once I found out I couldn't be eliminated I said, sign me up!

A big thank you to Pandora Boxx for talking with TV Garth and a big thank you to Michael Barrett from Logo for helping set it up!

Check out Pandora online at http://www.PandoraBoxx.com, as well as her Twitter and You Tube! (And don't forget to check out Pandora's Gay Show, also on You Tube!)

(Photo credits: pandoraboxx.com / rochesterhomepage.net / logotv.com / thatguygil.com )

Saturday, August 14, 2010

Reception Reports: June 7-14, 2010 Hot Times With Rochester, Syracuse, Utica & Erie!

Greetings TV Garth readers! This latest recap will cover my reception during early to mid-June. As the hot weather continued, there were many days with good openings to Rochester, Syracuse and Utica, NY signals. There was also one day that stood out with some surprisingly strong Erie, PA tropo. Grab a snack, and get ready to surf through the reception I was picking up during the week of June 7-14, 2010!

June 7, 2010

I was flipping through the various Rochester, NY morning shows, including WHEC's (on RF10) which features the awesome Rebecca Leclair and Pat McGonigle. Just how bad ass is Rebecca? Check out these direct quotes from her Facebook fan page this past year:

- On Yardwork: "Don't mind doing limited yard work when it's really hot...as long as I can jump right into the pool afterwards! Don't need the pool heater this week, that's fo sure!" (July 6 at 6:49am)

- On St. Patrick's Day: "hey! The city has painted the green line down East Avenue and Main Street...a sure sign of spring and the upcoming St. Patrick's Day parade...Remember, no drinking allowed on the sidewalks....I guess I'll just have to find something else to do on Saturday...." (March 10 at 6:45am)

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If I haven't mentioned it already, WROC's meterologist Brian Neudorff is a pretty awesome guy and is very friendly with his fans. Check out his Twitter profile as well as his Weather site, WX-MAN.com (Photo below of Rochester, NY's WROC on RF45.)

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I also caught a neat ad for Utica's Diamond Dawgs baseball team on WKTV (RF29).

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Syracuse, NY also showed up with WSYR (RF17) and The Morning News with Dan Cummings and Christie Casciano. (I still think Dan needs to star in a mystery/drama series called Cummings and Goings where he investigates odd crimes! It could be the new Murder She Wrote! See, even Christie's jaw dropped after hearing my idea!)

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WSYR hired meteorlogist Chris Brandolino to do weather duties on The Morning News as well as co-host the mid-morning show Bridge Street.

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I always feel like a cheap prostitute when Carl shakes his money at me like that. Is this before or after we try out his furniture? (Seen via Utica, NY's WKTV on RF29.)

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Man on the left declares "It's HUUUUUUUUUGGEE!"

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Man on the right reacts accordingly. (Seen via Syracuse, NY's WSYR on RF17.)

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WHEC's Christine VanTimmeren arrives in time to illustrate that my reception was berry berry good this morning! (Seen on RF10.)

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June 8, 2010 (Late night)

This is as good a place as any to declare how much I LOVE Heidi Montag's song Body Language. Go buy it on iTunes and enjoy a poptastic guilty pleasure, while helping fund her divorce! (Seen via Rochester, NY's WHAM on RF13.)

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June 9, 2010

Utica Monday Nite is an annual Summer tradition for Central New Yorkers! (Seen via Utica, NY's WKTV on RF29.)

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Don Shipman and Megan Koskovich share some Divatastic moments on Newschannel 2 At Sunrise. (Seen via Utica's WKTV on RF29.)

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Just once I'd like to see someone say "Meghan, can you Backus up on that?" Or else see Meghan get down to a hot club jam called "Backus That Thang Up!" (Seen via Rochester, NY's WROC on RF45.)

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Jason Frazer is always on hand to report about the latest stories (often times live on location) for WROC's News 8 Now at Sunrise.

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In the wee hours of June 9th, Erie, PA signals started to get VERY strong. Here's an ad from WQLN (RF50) about their vehicle donation program, as I got revved up for a tropo-tastic night!

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Erie's WICU (RF12) held steady for the 4am repeat of their evening newscast, featuring reporter Emily Matson below.

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Also on WICU is Amanda Post, who provides a solid foundation for Erie's news!

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This is the full WICU news set pictured below with Rob Wilson, Amanda Post, Kevin MacDowell, and Mike Ruzzi.

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The first sign that the Erie tropo was getting powerful appears below, when I caught WSEE on RF16. (This is a rarity with Rochester, NY's WXXI being such a regular catch on the same channel.) Usually I watch WSEE via their SD subchannel on WICU.

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This is probably what I looked like when I saw WSEE arrive on RF16:

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Another sign that Erie was super strong was seeing their FOX station WFXP blast over a semi-local analog station (Oshawa's CHEX-TV2) on RF22.

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I find it funny that I always get to see promos for the WFXP morning news, but the station always fades before I can see it! (WFXP uses the same news staff as WJET, but I can't even see WJET as it's on RF24 which is occupied by Toronto's CBLFT.)

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Just before the late night became early morning, I got this awesome shot of WFXP's logo!

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I also captured this neat local ad for the 22nd Annual Thurston Classic via Erie's WXFP (RF22). Once you've had a taste of their event, you'll be Thurston for more!

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June 10, 2010

Morning had arrived and it was time for the early news shows at 5am. WICU (RF12) featured a story that covered a patriotic looking meeting at the Erie International Airport.

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WICU's Paul Wagner has been a long time reporter for the station. Wagner has covered stories all the way back to what some Erie-ites refer to as the "glory days" of WICU.

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Presque Isle is a big Summer attraction in the Erie area, including live musical events and the usual Summer-y activities. (In other news, Shania Twain was allegedly removed from the list of performers after releasing her controversial single That Don't ImPresque Me Much.)

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Another unique ad popped up via Erie's WXFP on RF22. This time it's for the Annual Bug Run To Fight Juvenile Diabetes presented by Star Touring & Riding Erie Chapter 187.

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Also on WFXP were promos for the evening newscast (which, like their morning newscasts, I've never actually seen!)

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By 6am I was watching WSEE's Mornings Live With Stephanie & Ray. I flipped back and forth between the feed on RF12-3 (WICU's subchannel) and the main WSEE feed on RF16. I really enjoy the show, in particular because of Ray Petelin's awesome sense of humour and the fun atmosphere it creates.

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See, what'd I tell ya? Fun atmosphere, laughter and lively personalities - that's what I like to see in a morning show! (Unfortunately Stephanie Schelkun recently left the show to move to a station in West Virginia. So far Ray is holding his own with a barrage of guest co-hosts, including Scott Bremner and Lisa Weismann.)

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June 14, 2010 (late night)

I caught a rerun of Married...With Children on Utica, NY's WKTVDT2 (RF29-2) which is a "CW Plus" affiliate. What makes this significant is that the ep guest starred Matt Borlenghi, who was one of the first guys I saw on TV that made me realize I was "different" from the average fellow.

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Samantha Who? indeed....

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Utica, NY's WUTR also popped up this evening via RF30. WUTR is much lower powered than WKTV, and also has a lower tower height. So it's always a surprise to pick this one up.

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WUTR's subchannel is MyTV affiliate WPNY-LP, featured on 20-2 (RF30-2). WPNY is notorious for running endless loops of Sun car dealership infomercials! It used to only feature the guy on the right (check out his Syracuse Chiefs jersey) but they added a slick female co-host who would be right at home on a morning news show!

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Syracuse, NY's WSYR (RF17) also turned up with this local ad for the Fehlman Bros!

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Gotta love their doppler radar on subchannel WSYR-2!

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I noticed something unusual when I turned on Utica, NY's WKTV (RF29) and saw their rerun of Seinfeld - it's now being shown in HD! I don't know what this means for the rest of WKTV's syndicated fare, but it was a surprise to see this show up in full HD.

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Syracuse and Utica signals were very strong this night (see pic of WSYR on RF17 below). I also believe I came close to picking up Binghamton, NY stations. I noticed some blinking on RF34 coming in roughly the same direction as Rochester, NY. (I checked for my usual suspect on that channel, but RF34 was not Cleveland's WQHS.) Given that RF34 "blinked" the strongest in Rochester's direction, I would speculate it was from Binghamton. Unfortunately it didn't get strong enough to decode.

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More proof of strong Syracuse appears below, as full power Toronto analog station CICA (TVO) gets covered in digital snow on channel 19! (Most likely Syracuse's WSYT trying to take over!)

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Later this night, Glee's Chris Colfer showed up on the 3am repeat of Jimmy Fallon on Rochester's WHEC (RF10). (A little while after this, NBC switched their 3am talk show repeats back to Jay Leno.)

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I love WHEC's subchannel on 10-2 which is a localized version of the old NBC Weather Plus format. Chief Meteorologist Kevin Williams is pictured with a nighttime view of Rochester behind him.

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Another NBC affiliate, another Chief Meteorologist! This time it's Rob Wilson via Erie, PA's WICU (RF12) during the 4am repeat of their newscast.

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That wraps up my adventures with TV reception from the first half of June! Also check out my full set of Flickr photos here:

Garth's TV DXing June 7-14, 2010

Stay tuned to TV Garth for more Reception Reports and television related mayhem!