TVSquad

Want to get your hands on TiVo's top notch PVR software, but don't want to give up video on demand and other services provided by your local cable company? So far your only choice is to move to the Boston area and sign up for Comcast with TiVo service. That's the only market where Comcast or any other cable company is currently offering a set top box with TiVo software.

But word on the street is that Comcast will be expanding its TiVo offering soon. EngadgetHD reports that a Portland, Oregon Comcast customer says two different Comcast cable installers told him that TiVo service would be an option soon, as in this summer.

Keep in mind, you don't get a TiVo box, just TiVo software on your regular Comcast box if you sign up for this service. And you get the privilege of paying $3 extra per month for that software. But if you're tired of staring at Comcast's generic program guide and menu system, $3 might seem like a small price to pay.

I just had to drop a quick note to fans of Storm Large, one of the most popular contestants on last summer's Rock Star: Supernova. I got to see her perform live last night for a public radio program here in Portland, Oregon. The radio show is called Live Wire (it records once a month at the Aladdin for you P-towners), and it's sort-of like Prairie Home Companion, but for young people. Storm Large and the Balls, who are a very big deal here in Portland, performed three songs last night for the radio program. She sang two of her originals, "Beautiful" and the uber-popular, PG-rated version of "Ladylike". She closed out the show with a very sultry version of "I'll Be Home for Christmas".

I freely admit that I'm a Johnny-come-lately fan of Storm Large, but... damn, she rocks! I saw her on Rock Star a few times last summer and the television does her no justice whatsoever. You have to see this woman perform live. Her stage presence is captivating-- probably a combination of her self confidence and her amazing voice. I felt like I was in a trance as I watched her-- she's so damn commanding. Plus, she's drop-dead gorgeous!

For Oregonians, the Live Wire featuring Storm Large airs at 8 pm on OPB on December 23rd. The radio program also has a podcast version so I'll post a link to that when it comes out during the week of Christmas.

I've lived in Portland, Oregon for nearly five years and one of the first things I learned when I moved here was that this city claims The Simpsons. Creator Matt Groening is from Portland and many of his locations and characters have Portland roots (at least, that's what Portlanders like to say). The photograph in this story is of a 'Bart' that Groening drew in the cement near his alma mater, Lincoln High School, where he graduated in 1972. The drawing is not from his high school days, he just returned to town and drew it when The Simpsons became popular (it's on the corner of SW 18th and SW Salmon near the Goose Hollow MAX stop, in case you're in town).

References to Portland abound in The Simpsons. Here are a few:

(S01E07) This episode was taped in Portland, though I'm not sure it was the same episode that got them in trouble earlier this year.

Anyway, the episode had a lot of funny moments, but making fun of religion, any religion, is like shooting fish in a barrel. I really wanted to see them take more risks and do something more clever than just making a lot of Jew/pork jokes. Although I will admit I laughed pretty hard when Marty asked Tillie (who admitted to being one quarter Jewish) if Jewish people can pull their hamstring.

David Cross, brilliant (and sometimes extremely foul) comedian and former co-star of Arrested Development is giving a special performance for charity in Portland, Oregon. I'm not sure my reasons for posting this: either I'm really excited about it or I'm gloating. Either way, he's opening for Pearl Jam at this event in Portland on Thursday, July 20th.

Tickets are $75 a piece. They go on sale at 10 am PT in case you're in the neighborhood. No, I'm not involved. I just think it'll be a terrific show.

Desperate Housewives star Teri Hatcher has agreed to provide the voice for two characters in the first feature film to come out of Nike chairman Phil Knight's animation studio, located here in Portland, OR. The movie is called Coraline, and it's an adaptation of a children's novel by Neil Gaiman. Hatcher will voice the roles of two mothers in the show. Dakota Fanning has already agreed to play the starring role of Coraline. Knight says the movie will be distributed through Focus Features and is expected to be released in 2008.

This one is about a troubled paramedic working in my hometown of Portland, Oregon. The execs at TNT really liked the pilot and have ordered 12 more episodes, to be shot this spring. Not sure if they actually shoot this thing in Portland but, if so, I'm totally going on a Tom Everett Scott hunt. He plays the lead character, described as "flawed' and "three-dimensional." Can't we all use those words to describe ourselves? The series, called Saved, made the cut among three new dramas that TNT was considering adding to its summer line-up. Saved is the third original drama for TNT, which found huge success last year with The Closer and Wanted.