YouTube

Education, Entertainment, Mathnet, Square One TV, YouTube

Mathnet and Square One TV: Books, DVDs, and Videos

by  •  • 1 Comment

Before I continue the ongoing series (yes, I know it’s been since January), I thought I’d point out a few ways you can view and own content from Square One TV and Mathnet. It can be harder to find these things since many of them have been out-of-print for awhile, but if there’s enough demand, maybe Sesame Workshop will listen one day yet…?

Affiliate Disclosure: JillthePill.Net is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program and may receive a small commission for purchases made from their product links.

Videos: VHS and DVD

Okay, so this category might more targeted to teachers, but you can also find a few releases on Amazon as well. Keep in mind, the Amazon ones are VHS only, so you’ll need to go old school or find someone who can transfer them to a more modern format. 😉

Amazon

Here are the VHS titles you can purchase on Amazon currently. Some may be used or in like-new condition, since they may be sold by third-party vendors. The tapes were once sold brand new back in the early 2000s, but alas, that’s awhile ago now. You can occasionally find these on eBay as well.

Square One TV Video Jukebox

Hosted by “Downtown” Julie Brown, features a handful of music videos from the show.

Mathnet: The Case of the Unnatural

The one-hour version of the “Android” episode. Originally came with a lenticular trading card, although used copies may not have them.

Mathnet: Treasure in Monterey Bay

This is the only time the episode had this title. The actual title was Despair in Monterey Bay. This is the one-hour version also. Originally came with a lenticular ruler; again, a used copy may not come with them. I remember seeing this as a PBS pledge drive incentive once, too…

GPN Educational Media

GPN used to offer VHS tapes in their shop, but it seems they have since changed over to the DVD format. These can be pricey if you’re purchasing more than one, but this is to cover the cost of broadcast rights for teachers who use them in their classroom. They have Kate-era episodes, so if you’re looking for legitimate copies of those, here you go. GPN offers downloadable teacher’s guides as well for classroom use.

Mathnet Cases on offer from GPN: The Case of the Dirty Money, The Case of the Missing Air, The Trial of George Frankly, The View from the Rear Terrace, The Case of the Missing Baseball – Purchase them HERE!

Square One TV/Math Talk

For a short time after Square One TV went off the air, they aired repackaged mini episodes called “Math Talk” intended for classroom use. There is no Mathnet footage with these, but if you enjoy classic Square One TV content in themed packages, these will be right up your alley. They also offer a teacher’s guide packed with worksheets and activities teachers can use with their lessons. Available in English and Spanish.

Math Talk Series: Unit 1: Probability and Statistics, Unit 2: Number Sense, Unit 3: Measurement, Unit 4: Geometry. Purchase Math Talk HERE!

Read more →

Entertainment, Mathnet, Social Media, YouTube

HBO Go: What’s SHE In?

by  •  • 0 Comments

Holy cow, it’s been awhile since I last posted, as in last year, but I’ve been quite busy doing the whole artist thing (go check out my Etsy shop if you’re interested in a sampling of the many things I’ve been working on), but I have a fun(ish) post to share today.

Last week, some new ads for HBO Go were suddenly stirring up quite the buzz on social media, featuring an “Awkward Family” watching some rather saucy scenes together from shows like Girls, True Blood, and Game of Thrones. My first exposure (pun intended) to this ad campaign was on my Facebook timeline, via a Time Magazine link. I noticed right away in the preview images one of the actors looked very familiar…

Where have I seen her before...hmm...

Where have I seen her before…hmm…

After checking out the ads, I knew why; the mom is played by Toni DiBuono, best known as Pat Tuesday, Mathnet.

By far the most popular of the seven clips, already reaching over 1 million views on YouTube since they debuted on April 21st, is one in which Toni doesn’t even speak – her facial expressions say it all. She walks in as her commercial son is watching True Blood.

WARNING – potentially NSFW video clip follows – click play at your own peril!

HBO Go Awkward Family Viewing from SS+K on Vimeo.

Hilarious, and effective. The rest of the ads are equally funny, and awkward, and Toni appears in 5 of the 7 ads. Go check them all out, and let’s hope we’ll see Toni in more stuff in the near future – hey, maybe they’ll spin this family off into their own series, or do some more ads!

Given the success of these ads, I’m thinking it might be a good time to do a follow-up interview/Q &A with Toni, so if anyone out there has questions about what she’s doing now, or anything not covered in Maia Weinstock’s great 2012 conversation with Ms. DiBuono (aka, Mrs. Michael McGrath), comment here!

By the way, if you have anything you’d like to shout at me on Twitter – I tend to retweet and comment about things on Mathnet/Square One TV when I find them, I can be found @JillthePillNet, though I do occasionally share and talk about other random things as well, so fair warning. 😉

Creative Writing, Feelings, Life, Mathnet, Work, YouTube

Month One, Complete.

by  •  • 0 Comments

Well, how quickly the time flies, the end of January already? That means my first month in this new adventure of being self-employed is wrapping up. 2012 ended with feelings of guilt and a bit of anxiety, 2013 starting with the next phase of sorts: emptiness. The first couple of weeks I felt so empty, that vessel-full of frustration and futility suddenly giving way to a new, fresh slate. It was weird…I just felt nothing for a time, it’s like a mourning process, I guess: guilt, anxiety, emptiness, and now acceptance and the slow adjustment of my new life. I don’t regret it, though, because I am seeing life has put me where I need to be when I need to be, and I’m keeping busy with projects. Motivation comes in waves, inspiration pops up at rather interesting times, and coffee has become a dear friend, which leads to burning a lot of midnight oil these days. I do need to work on that, trying to keep a normal person’s sleeping schedule. I’ve had to kick my ass a bit, tell myself to “snap out of it” and get into this new groove, but as the weeks have passed, it’s getting easier.

Read more →

Entertainment, Mathnet, YouTube

Michael McGrath, We Salute You!

by  •  • 1 Comment

Photo Credit: Broadway World

Congratulations to Michael McGrath on his Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical! This was his second Tony nomination; the first was in 2005 for his role of “Patsy” in Monty Python’s Spamalot; this was his first win!

In a  year where no horses would win the Triple Crown, Michael managed to pull off a “Triple Crown” awards sweep of his own for his role of Cookie McGee in Nice Work if You Can Get It by winning the Tony, as well as the Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards.

I’ve been following Michael’s work for years, along with that of his wife, Toni DiBuono, who Mathnet fans will remember as Pat Tuesday. Both of them are very talented actors who have been pretty under-appreciated, in my opinion. (I have fan sites set up for both of them, but they are in serious need of updating, so I won’t be linking to them here.) At last, Mr. McGrath gets his due props after years of successful performances on and off Broadway. Congratulations on the well-deserved accolades – here’s to many more to come! 🙂

Here’s his short but very sweet speech (on YouTube) upon accepting the Tony, with a little hint at the end about his next role (in the musical adaptation of The Honeymooners). Toni responded to the news via Facebook, saying: “It was pretty awesome and surreal.”

Fun Fact: Michael appeared in an episode of Mathnet, as bad guy “Barney Oldmeal,” in The Case of the Parking Meter Massacre (before Toni was cast on the show): Watch it On YouTube!

Fact #2: His last name is pronounced “McGrahhh.”

For other Q’s & A’s about Michael: Playbill.com’s Cue & A 

Mathnet, Square One TV, YouTube

Since it’s International Geek Pride Day…

by  •  • 0 Comments

I may as well post a teaser image… 😉

(Click to embiggen!)

Is that a...a...first draft?

I bet you wonder how this reads…

And nope, not gonna tell you how I managed to get my hands on it, at least, not yet. Just know that it’s very different from what you see in the actual episode, by quite a lot. And no, the entire episode isn’t available on YouTube, but you can see a couple of the parts:

Thursday’s Episode of “Mystery Weekend” (full Square One episode).

Friday’s Episode of “Mystery Weekend” (full Square One episode).

EDIT: The full episode is now available on YouTube!

That’s all for now! Stay tuned for more updates to come…eventually. 😀

P.S. 5+25+12 = 42!