How does one stay connected to the States?

I find it funny when my dad tries to tell me what's hot in the news in the US. In Doha somehow I feel more connected to US news than Middle East news.

For example, we get the Today Show/GMA live. They start at 7am EST and I watch them at 3pm here in Doha (used to be 2pm, darn DST). When those aren't on there is a show called ABC World News Now that airs in 30 min. increments, similar to Headline News. Much like HN, 30 min. is about all you can take before the stories start to loop. We also get CNN here, but it's global CNN and just not as interesting when you want your US news. Does this make me a bad global citizen? Probably. If there is morning or nightly Qatar news, I have yet to find it or it's not in English. Even though Al Jazeera broadcasts from down the street, I don't enjoy their news very much (much like CNN, very global).

News is one thing... pop culture is another. We also get Ellen, The View and Oprah all within a day or so of when they air in the States. Same goes with Jimmy Fallon, Leno and Letterman which all air a few times daily (sadly no Conan... yet!). Some of my favorite HBO shows also air MONTHS before they'd be on DVD in the US (True Blood, Big Love). A few shows broadcast here a few weeks behind the US timeline (Glee just started up last week) but to fill in the gaps or for shows that don't broadcast here you can generally find anything online if you use the right keywords (Dexter anyone?). Some folks here also have a piece of equipment called Slingbox that allows you to broadcast your friend's cable over the internet. The internet also fills my need for celeb gossip and I regularly check in on 2 of my favorite sites daily for an update on pop culture... USA Today's Pop Candy and The Buzz's Links & Guests page.

For NCAA and NFL games, Kevin is limited to what shows on Fox Sports. Live we usually just get Big 12 games and select NFL teams (lots of Falcons, Eagles). To fill in the holes we have been streaming games online through this site (the games are listed on Sat/Sun).

We also have our mail re-routed through a PO Box in the US (check the Info tab on my Facebook profile if you'd like to send us a postcard). This means we get all of our US magazines which includes a lot of weekly mags.

The only thing I feel completely out of touch on is MUSIC. There is one English-dominant radio station here and when I'm in the car it's generally during French hour. Sure, we get several MTVs and VH1 but they are very Euro-dominant. I've tried just browsing the top lists on iTunes but it's not helping much. I'm finding more new songs I like through the songs used in commercials here. So sad.

We also have a Skype phone number (also on the Facebook Info tab in my profile) that is a free call for folks from the US, so please feel free to call at any hour and give us the skinny. :)