What to Watch This Weekend - April 1, 2011

April 1, 2011 - 23:43 -- RokuGuide

MLB.tvParts of the country may still be experiencing winter-like weather, but the boys of summer have returned. You can catch your favorite team on the MLB.tv channel, which offers both live play and lets you catch up on missed games. Games are still subject to local blackout and other restrictions [read MLB Returns to Roku for 2011 - But Read the Fine Print]. Click here to subscribe to MLB.tv, as you can't purchase this subscription through the Channel Store.

Revision3The glory days of Siskel and Ebert are long gone, but you can still get intellectual movie (and television) reviews from A.V. Talk on the Revision 3 channel. A.V. Talk is billed as "the web's smartest movie and television review show." I can't attest to that, but I did enjoy this week's review of Source Code and Super. New episodes, usually between 15 and 20 minutes in length, are posted every Friday.

kidletMy dogs Elroy and Trooper can entertain themselves chasing squirrels out of the backyard and digging up lost rawhides, but if your kids are the non-furry two-legged variety, Kidlet will keep them entertained. Kidlet features dozens of cartoon series, each with enough episodes to keep them busy for hours.

Video Poker on RokuBut eventually you'll want your own time in front of the Roku for adult activities. Not those kinds of activities, I'm talking about Video Poker. Jacks or Better, Double Double Bonus Poker, Deuces Wild, Joker Poker, and Double Joker Poker can all be played starting with a $100 bankroll. Sorry, no real money in play here. Make sure you visit the Settings option to set up an MP3 audio stream for background music during play.

Y'all Wire on RokuAnd speaking of music, Alison Krauss & Union Station, one of my favorite music groups, has a new video on Y'all Wire. Paper Wire is the title track from their upcoming album. Other new content on Y'all Wire includes an exlusive interview with Carter's Chord, a Johnny Cash Tribute by Trace Adkins, a music video (No Trash in my Trailer) by Colt Ford, and several other videos and interviews with popular country and bluegrass entertainers. Be sure to check out the Yallturnative subchannel.

MusicloudsFor music that doesn't require being stationary in front of the TV, I recently discovered Musiclouds, which streams music from 8tracks, Jamendo, and SoundCloud. My choice is the 8tracks subchannel, featuring "handcrafted music". Each selection features eight or more songs (hence the name) that were grouped together by a human being, not selected by a computer algorithm. To get started, go to the search option, select Genre Tags, then choose from over 100 choices ranging from the expected (rock, country, indie, 80's) to the unexpected (winter, chillout, melancholy, life). Musicloud even keeps track of your mix history so you can return to those that you want to enjoy again.

I hope this week's What to Watch gave you some good viewing and listening choices. Leave comments on the channel pages to let others know your thoughts on these Roku channels. And if you don't like any of my choices, there were 10 new channels added to the Roku Channel Store over this past week: