Watching TV With the Computer

Did I start a new trend? How popular is this trend? Or am I the only one who does this? I'm talking about watching tv with the computer.

Case in point: last night, I catch part of Face/Off for the umpteenth time. As invariably happens, I discover a detail that had not caught my attention during previous viewings. When the doctor first tells Sean Archer (John Travolta) how easy it will be to rip his face off and stick Castor Troy's (Nicholas Cage) face on him in order to fool Castor's brother Pollux (deliciously creepy as portrayed by Allesandro Nivola), the doctor says that the height difference between Castor and Sean is "negligible." I understand that in real life, Cage is six foot one. Is Travolta really that tall? I decide to hop on the nearby laptop to check it out. I find out that Travolta is six foot two. And five foot ten. And every height in between. You have to love the Internet.

Case in point number two: next, I tune to The Two Coreys . Corey one (Haim) has moved in with Corey two (Feldman). I can't figure out where Corey two and his wife live. It's some green, spacious area that is definitely not Los Angeles or Southern California. I look for a clue. I find one. A flower shop whose sign reads "Thomas Hobbs Florist." I get back on Yahoo! search, and within seconds, I pull up a bunch of hits for Thomas Hobbs Florist. They are all in Vancouver. I sit back, satisfied, waiting for the next fun tv fact to check out online. I'm my own Pop-Up Video.

Next, I check my email and split my attention with other multitasks. That's because The Two Coreys, like most everything else on television, just isn't very good.