BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric

Subject: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: The Sandman
Date: 26 Nov 13 - 06:33 PM

no tv and proud of it, am i alone?

Subject: RE: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: GUEST
Date: 26 Nov 13 - 06:49 PM

Yes.

Subject: RE: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: Elmore
Date: 27 Nov 13 - 06:45 PM

yes

Subject: RE: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: GUEST,Ed T
Date: 27 Nov 13 - 07:04 PM

I suspect it makes you merely a person without a TV, nothing more, nothing less?

Subject: RE: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: PHJim
Date: 27 Nov 13 - 07:48 PM

When we moved to Hamilton in 1949, there were no TV aerials on any of the houses on our street. Kids he didn't even know used to show up to watch the Howdy Doody Show at Kenny Rankin's, the only house in the neighbourhood with a TV set. By the time I graduated from high school and moved out, we were the only house without a set. In 1970, I married a woman with a TV and learned where a lot of references that had mystified me came from.
One day my wife told me that she was done with TV. When I asked her why, she said that she was actually starting to understand what was going on on The Edge Of Night. A while later I found myself watching Steve Lawrence and Edie Gormay because "nothing else was on. The next day, the set went into the storage shed in the back yard.
I have lived with and without TV sets for the years following that and although I could live without a TV, I think I'd have difficulty giving up my computer.

Subject: RE: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: YorkshireYankee
Date: 27 Nov 13 - 08:53 PM

No TV for the last 16 years or so.

When I was about to move to Sheffield, my boyfriend (now hubbie) said, "Seeing as you're a Yank, I guess I'll have to get a TV now."

I said, "Don't get one on my account!"

I find there's SO much amazing stuff to listen to on BBC radio, I very rarely miss having a TV.

It's damned difficult to persuade the TV Licensing Bureau that we don't have a telly, though...

Subject: RE: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: Janie
Date: 27 Nov 13 - 10:08 PM

No, you are not alone in not having a TV. I haven't had one for the most part for the past 43 years. Nothing special about that, and nothing to be either proud or ashamed about.

You may or may not be eccentric. I am not aware of any correlation, however, between not having a TV and eccentricity.

Subject: RE: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: GUEST
Date: 27 Nov 13 - 10:20 PM

Yes. You're weird and probably mentally diseased. Get help NOW -- run out and buy an 80" television and watch it continuous for as long as you have been without a television. It doesn't matter what you watch, but I suggest reruns of the BBC's WWII stuff...over, and over, and over....

Subject: RE: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: Mrrzy
Date: 27 Nov 13 - 10:42 PM

How much money do you have? You can't be eccentric and poor.

Subject: RE: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 27 Nov 13 - 11:35 PM

Having no TV at all is not eccentric. Having a TV that isn't at least a 72 inch HDTV would apparently be considered "eccentric" according to Best Buy or Walmart etal.

Even more bizarre in some circles would be not having a smart phone, or never having subscribed to the instant navigation and constant "bad noise pretending to be music" in your new truck. THAT would make you an outcast like me. (Be suspicious of anyone who speaks in actual sentences. They might trying to fake literacy, which is rare enough to be really odd.)

John

Subject: RE: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: GUEST,.gargoyle
Date: 28 Nov 13 - 12:41 AM

I have no TV.

Sincerely,
Gargoyle

I also play a squeeze box... like the long lost friend Captain Bird Shy.

Subject: RE: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 28 Nov 13 - 12:56 AM

I don't have one. In 1959, my parents decided not the replace the TV we had had since 1953.   I've seen very little TV since, and I don't miss it.

I do watch YouTube, but a video more than 3 minutes long seems too long.

Schweik, you are not eccentric. There are thousands of us non-viewers.

Subject: RE: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 28 Nov 13 - 02:01 AM

including me!

TV started in Australia in 1956 tho we didn't get one till we moved in 1966 when I was 14 & I never really got into the habit of TV watching in the next 10 years until I moved out. I much preferred listening to the radio in my very own new, unshared bedroom! And pretending to study while reading lots of books. And doing some teenage isolating.

A year or so after I moved into my own place, my brother left stuff with me while he went overseas including a TV which I watched a bit but I found it took too much time (Dr Who, News, News commentary, British comedy like Fawltry Towers, etc) & I got nothing else done - including making dinner! So when it died soon after, it didn't worry me.

I also don't like movies, & often don't click on links to Youtube. Tho on occasion I settle down fro a wander about youtube listening to songs etc. I also enjoy watching anything John F. Weldon posts.

I'm not really a watching-pictures person. I prefer books (tho I wouldn't be without my computer!)

sandra

The only TV I've ever owned is this late 50s/early 60s sewing kit (tho mine has a green band not a red one!) & has more original fittings in it than this one.

Subject: RE: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 28 Nov 13 - 02:06 AM

I forgot to say that the only TV I've sat down to watch since leaving my parent's place is a few children's show with my nephew when he was 2, & an occasional show when visiting friends with TVs - & I can only think of 2 visits in recent years where my host wanted to watch something special!

not that I'm skiting or anything (boasting to those who have never heard of skiting)

sandra

Subject: RE: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: GUEST,Guest from Sanity
Date: 28 Nov 13 - 03:38 AM

....now if only you could throw out that damned computer!.......

GfS

Subject: RE: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: GUEST,Black belt caterpillar wrestler
Date: 28 Nov 13 - 03:45 AM

We gave up the TV for several years as we just did not have time to watch it and there was a dearth of interesting programs at the time.
We have one again now, and a box to record programs so that we can time shift watching things to when we do have time. With the proliferation of channels during the time that we did not have a TV I was expecting the quality of programs to deteriorate but it seems that there are enough good things to watch if you search hard enough.
You are not eccentric, just a statistical anomaly!

Subject: RE: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: MGM·Lion
Date: 28 Nov 13 - 04:42 AM

Valerie & I had none for many years. I got one, an old B&W donated by a friend to keep up with ongoing news, when she [ie my late wife Valerie, not the kind friend] was caught up in the Tienenman troubles in Beijing where she was a university lecturer at the time; and have had one since [tho not the same old B&W!]. Emma & I quite like it for football & tennis, & find Downton Abbey & cop-shows & so on quite enjoyable light entertainment. But it certainly doesn't dominate our lives. Quite easy to live without ~~ I honestly can say I can take it or leave it alone. Tho now I am much older than when we lacked one, and far less mobile, it has its uses as a keeper-in-touch & substitute for other things (theatre &c} I used to do.

So, to answer thread question, no. Just a matter of taste and personal choice. No sort of eccentricity whatever.

~M~

Subject: RE: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: MGM·Lion
Date: 28 Nov 13 - 04:48 AM

Tho, referring to your OP, Dick, slightly exercised as to why you should consider this a matter of PRIDE? Seems to be a sort of priggish distaste for the habits of most of the population there; as if the lack of a set somehow puts you one-up against οἱ πολλοί. Can you explain why you should be 'proud of it'?

Subject: RE: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: fat B****rd
Date: 28 Nov 13 - 05:02 AM

All fair enough, but if you don't have a TV you can't watch BBC (UK) music programmes and then whinge about them here.
Cheeky Charlie looking forward to the Blues prog on BBC 4 Friday night.

Subject: RE: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: GUEST,Musket
Date: 28 Nov 13 - 05:24 AM

I reckon if it wasn't for Sky + I'd rarely watch it. (Football apart...)

We record what we scan the listings for and sometimes watch them as a wind down last thing at night. Mainly documentaries, but lowest common denominator programmes such as Masterchef, British Bakeoff and Grand Designs get some hammer too, especially as you can let it wash over you and if you fall asleep in the chair, no harm done. Jools Holland on the beeb and Sky Arts for some of the festival stuff too.

Just as an aside, I am somewhat amused by those who dismiss the media of television but stare at a computer screen for entertainment.....

Subject: RE: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: GUEST,Eliza
Date: 28 Nov 13 - 05:46 AM

We have a quite small TV and my husband watches sport on it. I only like documentaries, and prefer to read. I'd absolutely hate to have one of those enormous flat screen, plasma, HD, 3D, or whatever they're called, stuck to the wall right in your face, it would make me twitch. The programmes on offer, in spite of dozens of channels, seem dire, and many of them are merely repeated, one hour later. But, I do hate it when people call someone 'eccentric'. What they mean is he/she is "not like us"; which is a cheek. Why should 'they' be the norm? So you're not in the least eccentric, GSS.

Subject: RE: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: Pete Jennings
Date: 28 Nov 13 - 06:04 AM

We've got one, a flat screen version but only about 23". We watch the ITV news at 6.30 and then switch it off while one of us prepares dinner (if it's Judi's turn, I play the guitar). TV comes back on later and we watch if there's anything worthwhile - we like Masterchef, yum yum - or we start talking and ignore it.

I never miss a Grand Prix or any thing to do with motor racing, although we don't have Sky or any other satellite service, and, of course, BBC4 music programmes like the forthcoming Blues this Friday.

As part of my work I go into other peoples' houses and most of them seem to have the TV on all day.

Subject: RE: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: GUEST,Eliza
Date: 28 Nov 13 - 06:15 AM

Audible wallpaper.

Subject: RE: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: GUEST,Pat Garret
Date: 28 Nov 13 - 06:26 AM

I have no tv and what's more, I have never used a computer, Windows, Mac, smartphone, laptop anything. I get all my news from the radio and the butchers!

Subject: RE: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: Jack Campin
Date: 28 Nov 13 - 07:09 AM

The main thing not having a TV does for you is, you have a lot more time to do other stuff. I can't imagine why people let a glowing box take up so much of their day nattering at them.

Subject: RE: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: GUEST,Musket
Date: 28 Nov 13 - 07:32 AM

A bit of a difference between having a telly and letting a glowing box take up time Jack.

We have two large flat screen jobbies, two separate Sky + HD boxes, etc etc but an hour last thing at night sometimes or lock me away for the football occasionally isn't being a slave to the thing.

People I know who don't have tellies always tend to be those can't resist letting you know they don't have one. I assume they feel they are the sort of people who would be slaves to it if they had one. The truth is, most people don't turn it on when they walk in or feel they have to sit in front of it all the time. The myriad programmes available on demand does mean you can broaden your horizons rather than see who is doing what on Knobenders. (My own version of smug claims is that I gave never watched a single soap opera to my knowledge. Sure, I had to be quiet as a lad whilst my mum watched Coronation Street but I haven't seen it since Albert Tatlock was playing doctors and nurses with Ena Sharples.)

Thinking on, my study is where I am found if in the home alone, and that doesn't have a telly. I don't feel the need to run into the lounge or drawing room to turn the bugger on...

Subject: RE: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: Mr Red
Date: 28 Nov 13 - 09:57 AM

when I didn't have a TV I used to tell people could prove TV kills the art of conversation.
When folks said "did you see last night on TV?" I would say I didn't have a TV - and guess what?

Subject: RE: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: Pete Jennings
Date: 28 Nov 13 - 10:34 AM

I've got a TV with an in-built DVD player up here in my studio. It's mounted on the wall but it's not connected to the aerial and I only use it to watch the movies I make. I bought it a couple of years ago specifically for one of my uni assessments.

Subject: RE: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 28 Nov 13 - 10:53 AM

Not watching TV is a choice, not a virtue.

Subject: RE: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: GUEST,CS
Date: 28 Nov 13 - 10:58 AM

No TV, we check out IMDB and download the series' we want to watch and play them on the PC..

Subject: RE: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: SINSULL
Date: 28 Nov 13 - 11:16 AM

My computer screen is a TV and I do watch a few programs regularly - Cafe on BBC and The Closer reruns on Sunday AM with my morning coffee.
Have a TV, a computer, a full time job, an active family life and friends and still find time to read a book or two each week. Time management, choices and do what you enjoy.
Like Musket, I too wonder about people who look down on TV viewers but post every bowel movement on line. Choices, I guess.

Subject: RE: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: GUEST,Rapparee
Date: 28 Nov 13 - 12:01 PM

GUEST of 10:20pm yesterday was me.

Subject: RE: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: Bill D
Date: 28 Nov 13 - 12:10 PM

LOL SINSULL! I do wonder about 'some' folk that way.

I DO watch the box, and because my eyes no longer work well for extended book reading, I use it for escapism as well as news of various sorts. And mixed in with the reams of trash, I also find very wonderful documentaries.... and with a DVR from my provider, I can record & time shift so as to see stuff when I wish.

TV is like any 'mixed blessing'... you have to bend it to your wishes.

Subject: RE: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 28 Nov 13 - 03:05 PM

The documentaries and nature shows, BBC mysteries, BBC and AlJazeera news, some excellent movies.

I watched the Italian version of "The Leopard" last night- full 3 hours with no commercial breaks. TCM has some excellent material.

Oasis has excellent nature and scientific doc.'s, especially valuable for children.

I also read a lot, and have a large library, but television also provides excellent entertainment for a low cable cost.

Subject: RE: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: GUEST,Ed T
Date: 28 Nov 13 - 04:20 PM

A related question may be: ""does announcing that one does not watch TV lead others to believe that the person "proudly" making such may be priggish""? I don't have an answer to that one???

Subject: RE: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: MGM·Lion
Date: 28 Nov 13 - 05:24 PM

Agreed, Ed. I asked Dick the OP that question ('why "proud"?'} above [0448], but he hasn't responded yet.

~M~

Subject: RE: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: The Sandman
Date: 28 Nov 13 - 05:44 PM

I am proud and pleased that I have made the decision to do something more creative with my time.

Subject: RE: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: GUEST,Eliza
Date: 28 Nov 13 - 05:59 PM

I suspect I could get addicted if we had an enormous screen in an enormous sitting room. We were in John Lewis recently, waiting for a friend, and they had several of these 'cinema screens' in their TV department. They were showing a video of Adele singing "Never mind, I'll find someone like yoooooo..." I was mesmerised - it seemed as if she were there in front of us, and the sound quality was superb. My husband was transfixed. I could see us, mouths hanging open, watching day and night if we had one of those! When I was young, our first TV was a tiny little thing with a yellowish screen, and we literally 'watched interference' or the transmission signal as if hypnotised.

Subject: RE: BS: does this make me eccentric
From: GUEST,Ed T
Date: 28 Nov 13 - 06:42 PM

The value of what ones does with their time seems to be a personal matter, versus a universal value judgement to be made by anyone.

Beyond entertainment, there is plenty of content from the vast array of TV programing to matchthe varied interests (as with other forms of entertainement) - Different strokes for different folks, one may say. I suspect that we can all be proud of our personal choices, whatever they be.

Subject: RE: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: GUEST,Stim
Date: 28 Nov 13 - 08:34 PM

There is the problem of deciding exactly what constitutes "TV". Like increasing numbers of people, I have a monitor connected to the computer that looks very much like a TV, but shows what every I happen to be doing on the computer. On some occasions, I watch movies, news and programs accessed thru YouTube, Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, or other random websites. I do not, however, have cable access, neither do I watch the old fashioned sort of broadcasts. TV or not TV?

Subject: RE: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: JennieG
Date: 29 Nov 13 - 01:03 AM

WE do have a TV, although I spent much of my childhood/giddy youth/early married years without it. We are selective about what we watch, and we don't have a recording gadget thingy - did once, but found we never got round to watching what we had recorded. So now if I miss it, I miss it.....doesn't really matter.

Himself has been known to channel surf rather than turn it off, which annoys the bejabbers out of me. I usually go into the other room with a book, or into my sewing room. At present I'm recovering from a shoulder operation ten days ago which means no sewing, knitting, crocheting or playing guitar or uke for six weeks, so the occasional program is helping to stave off boredom when I get tired of reading or doing crossword puzzles, or wasting time on line.

Subject: RE: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 29 Nov 13 - 11:02 AM

TV (or anything else on a screen) has at least two aspects. One is the content of the program and the other is the physical aspects of the device. Most people only think about the first, but the second is important too.

Televisions have a hypnotic effect caused by the movement of the scanner. Some people will watch TV for hours because they are hypnotized by it - children in particular. Have you ever been in a room with a TV and found your eyes drawn to it even though you didn't want to watch? That's the hypnotic effect.

Violent, angry content leaves people feeling angry without really knowing why. (This anger is most likely to be taken out on more defenseless members of the family.)

Watching TV reduces attention span. Teachers today have to change methods every 10 minutes. Sad!

Some images on the screen can make people faintly motion sick. (That happens to me.)

I was in a motel once where I could walk behind the TV. My husband was watching a quiet program, 'American Pickers' maybe. But from the back of the TV, it looked like a lightning storm was in progress - the black back view of the TV was surrounded by never-ending, erratic, brilliant flickering. What does this do to the developing brain? To any brain?

Me, I have noticed that when I watch a movie, it's stressing me so much that I stop breathing for long periods of time. Basically, I want out. If I'm watching at home, I can call for a break. But sometimes I just tell the DH to finish it up by himself and let me know how it turned out. And this can be for something as bland as a Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers movie. That's because it's not the content, it's the physics of it.

I'd like to see someone do a study where 1000 people (of different ages, cultures and eye problems) are hooked up to simple monitors. Then we observe blood pressure, heart rate and breathing while watching the media. I think we would get some surprises.

=========
Jennie, I hope your operation proves a success and your shoulder gets better sooon.

Subject: RE: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: GUEST,Eliza
Date: 29 Nov 13 - 11:49 AM

leenei, you're right, and I'm wondering about this. In our last house we had a lovely open log fire, and spent hours just gazing at the flickering flames, it was very hypnotic. I wonder if primitive people in prehistoric times did exactly that, gazed at the fire, and our fascination with the flickering TV screen has something to do with programmed subliminal memories of our origins? Just a thought!

Subject: RE: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: SINSULL
Date: 29 Nov 13 - 12:46 PM

Flashback to the week after my hysterectomy. Alone all day in my apartment with the TV in the living room where the ONLY channel that came in was the shopping channel. LOL I ordered some kids watches which were a close out. Ordered 10 for about $8 and received a box of about fifty. Half worked. Amazing what good drugs can do for you.

Subject: RE: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: GUEST,Stim
Date: 29 Nov 13 - 03:01 PM

Movies flicker(which is why they're called "flicks") as do lights of various sorts, and, when you think about it, the sun and the stars. It sounds like you have a sensitivity to the flickering which most others do not have. If you stop breathing for long periods of time when you watch movies, that might be a cause for concern. Or maybe it's just the suspense;-)

Subject: RE: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: JennieG
Date: 29 Nov 13 - 03:46 PM

Thank you, leeneia.....ten days and counting, another month until the sling can stay off.....

Sins, they must have been some whopper drugs! Mine haven't been that good.

Apart from the flickering described above (I don't like any flickering lights at all) the quality of much of what is shown is.....well, words fail me, and that's not easy. Crap is the first word that comes to mind, it will do for a start.

Subject: RE: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: Van
Date: 29 Nov 13 - 06:04 PM

If you live in the UK and have a device capable of picking bup or playing a TV programme you need a licence.

Subject: RE: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: GUEST,Stim
Date: 29 Nov 13 - 08:42 PM

Does that mean you need a license for your computers and mobile devices, as well?(just asking. We don't need licenses, but almost everyone pays for some sort of cable service, and there are many taxes, fees, surcharges, and such things tucked in to the bills, which can add half again as much to the costs)

Subject: RE: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 29 Nov 13 - 09:52 PM

I haven't "watched TV" since 1983 (in the middle of "Brideshead Revisited" when I couldn't schedule watching one of the middle episodes and just threw up my hands in disgust and stopped even trying to watch scheduled television).

That being said, I DO have an outdated TV and a DVD player that also plays VHS videotapes. If I watch "TV", it's DVDs of the whole TV series at once, and I also watch movies. My schedule...which lately means damned seldom. I did get to watch "The Lion In Winter" recently on DVD and a friend just loaned me the entire Masterpiece Theatre presentation of "I, Claudius" with Derek Jacoby...haven't a clue as to when I'll have the time to watch it.

Linn

Subject: RE: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: catspaw49
Date: 30 Nov 13 - 12:33 AM

Not having a TV means you can't watch Duck Dynasty!


Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 30 Nov 13 - 12:32 PM

It also means that you are ignorant of current events (unless you can afford The New York Times, Washington Post or the like).

Subject: RE: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: catspaw49
Date: 30 Nov 13 - 04:16 PM

Well there is that too.......And a whole boatload of outstanding viewing on Discovery, A&E, Smithsonian, etc.


Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: GUEST,dani
Date: 01 Dec 13 - 08:46 AM

Subject: RE: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: SINSULL
Date: 01 Dec 13 - 12:03 PM

That's just Dani being eccentric.

Subject: RE: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: GUEST,Dani
Date: 01 Dec 13 - 12:33 PM

: )

What I MEANT to say was that Spaw is absolutely right. No tv means spending any hotel time obsessively catching up with Duck Dynasty. Unashamedly.

Haven't had tv most of my adult life. I'd be surprised if my children (young adults, now) even remember one in the house.

Yes, there IS a lot of good tv, and Hulu and Netflix makes it possible to see it when you want, if you want.

Nothing makes me crazier, or sadder, than to be in a house where the tv is background noise, or to see gape-mouthed children in front of one, as a 'babysitter'. Like most else, it is a force for good or evil, depending on how it is used.

I also own a 'universal remote' that allows one to turn off obnoxious blaring tvs in public places where all other attempts fail : )

Dani

Subject: RE: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 01 Dec 13 - 12:41 PM

Oh, my! No Rudolph, the red-nosed .....

Subject: RE: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: MGM·Lion
Date: 01 Dec 13 - 01:55 PM

A sad thing that happened in the late 1960s to my late wife Valerie:-   She was completing a teacher training course as a mature student, and happened to mention to one of her classes of 13-year-old girls that we had no television. "But, Miss," said one in tones of incredulous pity, "what do you do at Christmas?!"

~M~

Subject: RE: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: The Sandman
Date: 01 Dec 13 - 06:12 PM

there are no lights on our christmas tree[ cyril tawney]
The time has come for festivity
For Christmas pudding and revelry
But as I passed a house the other night
I heard a little voice so clear and bright:

Chorus (after each verse):
    There are no lights on our Christmas tree
    We must not spoil the televee
    No party games, no mistletoe
    Just whistle "Wenceslas" and out you go

Just once a year I become a square
I love to feel the tinsel in my hair
I love to sing the songs of days gone by
But dad and me we don't see eye to eye

The box of crackers from Uncle Alf
It lies unopened upon the shelf
Dad has forbid them but we're hoping he
Won't notice one more bang in "Laramie"

Some carol singers came to the door
I've never seen Dad so mad before
He grabbed the leader by the coat
And tried to ram his lantern down his throat.

The latest boy-friend of sister Bet
Was simply gasping for a cigarette
He looked a proper case I do declare
A-stringing matches down behind a chair.

When I grow up and become a man
There'll be no television in my plan
With laughter gay my house will ring
I never want to hear my children sing

Subject: RE: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: GUEST,Stim
Date: 01 Dec 13 - 10:44 PM

I am surprised Jim Carroll has not popped in to remind us that when the Travellers all got TV they stopped singing their traditional songs and so forth. That was indeed a shame, but they may have been the only people who were doing something truly worthwhile before television came along. Most of the rest of us just sat around on the porch and gossiped about each other, beat the same old stories to death, read dime novels and went to the movies as often as possible.
So TV seemed more interesting than what we were doing. You got the movies for free, the dime novel plots were recycled into TV series, and you didn't have to listen to Uncle Alf go on and on about whatever it was...

Subject: RE: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: fat B****rd
Date: 02 Dec 13 - 03:52 PM

I received the Radio Times (yes, I watch f***ing television!) to-day and skimming through I saw that as well as more BBC4 Blues on Friday a plethora of "FOLK" programmes on More 4 on Saturday night.
Yours truly Amazed of Scotland.

Subject: RE: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 02 Dec 13 - 09:50 PM

You're lucky. I think you have better programming (sometimes) than in the U.S.

Catspaw, what IS 'Duck Dynasty'? I've seen that name several times recently. Is it about ducks taking over the world? If so, I would have thought cats were more likely - they're halfway there already.

Subject: RE: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: Doug Chadwick
Date: 03 Dec 13 - 05:14 AM

I find it amusing when people who are spoon fed news/entertainment/whatever via the radio, feel themselves superior to those who are spoon fed the same via TV.

Not having a TV doesn't make anyone eccentric but it does have a tendency to make them smug.

DC

Subject: RE: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: MGM·Lion
Date: 03 Dec 13 - 05:26 AM

My late wife Valerie was much amused by a somewhat confused late-middle-aged work colleague some years back, who assured her that "When I was young we used to make our own entertainments. We listened to the radio and that."

~M~

Subject: RE: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: The Sandman
Date: 03 Dec 13 - 01:17 PM

Smug?Priggish?here is my original post
no tv and proud of it, am i alone? if you want to interpret it in the way you do that is your problem, may I remind you that if you said those things to my face, I would not be so polite.

Subject: RE: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: GUEST,LynnH
Date: 03 Dec 13 - 01:36 PM

no goggle-box, no mobile phone (of whatever description), no car, no microwave, no digital camera (I use film)............life is GREAT!

How did guest Pat McGarrett manage to post here when he doesn't have a computer etc?

Subject: RE: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 03 Dec 13 - 01:44 PM

In a recent post, GSS complained that the problems in Haiti were not reported.
Television news at the time was full of reports about the outbreak of cholera and the suit against the UN since it seems soldiers sent by them brought the bacteria into the rivers because of their poor sanitation procedures.

His ignorance of current events is one consequence of avoiding television, unless one pays for the NY Times, Washington Post or the like.
Excellent news and documentaries are freely available on television.

Subject: RE: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: GUEST,Stim
Date: 03 Dec 13 - 03:34 PM

Let's get more specific about the things you are proud of, GSS.

You are proud that you didn't see the first man land on the moon.

You are proud that you missed seeing the devastation of the 2004 Tsunami in Indonesia.

You are proud that you missed Princess Diana's funeral.

You are proud that you didn't see the terrorists crash a plane into the World Trade Center.

You are proud that you missed thousands of musical, cultural, and theatrical events.

I could go on for pages, but you get the point--like it or not, television is the world shares culture and experiences, the good and the bad. And you are proud not to be part of it.

Oh, and by the way, you are proud that you missed the BBC Television
adaptation of "Good Soldier Shweik".

Subject: RE: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: The Sandman
Date: 03 Dec 13 - 06:06 PM

well thanks for speaking for me, but you are barking up the wrong tree.
if i want to catch up on news i can go to journal.ie or buy the irish times.
what an incredible amount of assumptions, how do you know i did not see the first man on the moon.
i heard enough about dianas bloody funeral without watching it on television, i happened to be returning from england doing a folk club tour and was in a coach and could nt escape from the stupid morons phoning in to a radio station that was being played on the coach.
"television in the world shares culture and experiences" ha ha, it also shares mindnumbingly sensational soaps, tv reality shows and a lot of inane garbage, i can get plenty of culture without a television, i can visit cinemas theatres, go to musical concerts, without needing a telvision,
stim, if you think eastenders and neighbours and coronation street and im a celbrity is a cultural experience,have fun.

Subject: RE: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: Bill D
Date: 03 Dec 13 - 06:31 PM

I can get maybe 100 channels... and sure, most of them are either crap or useless to ME. However, my system has an interface using the remote that has 3 lists of channels-- one, the default, lists everything. But then *I* can make 2 other lists of 'favorites' of two different types, and choose that list to show on screen. One of them has only a couple of news channels and several nature..etc.. channels. The other has a music channel and C-Span and a couple of local channels that I look at 'now & then'.

Ya' know, a lot of the items in your grocery store are crap, too... but ya' don't have to buy 'em,

Subject: RE: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: GUEST,Ed T
Date: 03 Dec 13 - 06:37 PM

A close friend recently confided to me that he has had "no sex" for the past three years. It makes me wonder, does this make him eccentric?

:)

Subject: RE: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: GUEST,Stim
Date: 03 Dec 13 - 11:03 PM

I can only go by what you tell me, and you told me that you didn't watch television and were proud of it. If you watched the first man walk on the moon, you saw it on television, and if you saw it on television, what is this thread even about?

Subject: RE: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: The Sandman
Date: 04 Dec 13 - 01:44 AM

the years is 2013, I do not own a television, when did the first man walk on the moon? I have never said that i had the good fortune never to have watched a television in my life
Q SAID In a recent post, GSS complained that the problems in Haiti were not reported.
I Remarked , I did not complain,I was referring to irish and also uk media[ this is what i am acquainted with because I am an english speaker living in ireland], this is what i seek out, I do not have to actually watch the television to notice the amount of media coverage of an event,I have access to a computer[ i only have to look at tv listings to observe coverage] newspapers and radio which keeps me up to date and gives me an accurate idea of media coverage. IF MEMBERS OF THIS FORUM WISH TO PUT WORDS INTO MY MOUTH OR CALL ME PRIGGISH OR SMUG,that is their interpretation of my post that is their problem and they would oblige me by learning some manners.

Subject: RE: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: SINSULL
Date: 04 Dec 13 - 08:47 AM

Just joined Amazon Prime and can now watch The Closer on demand starting with Season 1. Plus there are all sorts of movies for free (with $79 membership)
Now if I turn on the TV I know there will be something worth watching especially during football season.
SINS

Subject: RE: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: Joe_F
Date: 04 Dec 13 - 02:51 PM

xkcd has just investigated this question.
At age 76, I have lived thru the entire history of commercial TV without ever owning a set. Of course that makes me eccentric! But so do a lot of other things.

Subject: RE: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: Doug Chadwick
Date: 04 Dec 13 - 05:18 PM

xkcd has just investigated this question

?;-)

Subject: RE: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: GUEST,Ed T
Date: 04 Dec 13 - 07:23 PM

Come to think of it, "an English speaker living in Ireland" is most likely seen locally as having "an eccent"

So, in the face of this "new information", I feel compelled to change my earlier lower-calss and unmannerly "not likely so, matey" vote to a politically correct and cleaned up "quite possibly yea, me sire" :)

Subject: RE: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: GUEST,Stim
Date: 04 Dec 13 - 10:55 PM

Even without the movies and TV, Amazon Prime is a good deal.

Subject: RE: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 05 Dec 13 - 12:05 AM

So nobody knows what Duck Dynasty is?

Subject: RE: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: Joe_F
Date: 05 Dec 13 - 08:06 PM

Doug Chadwick: That was a clickie.

Subject: RE: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: GUEST,Stim
Date: 05 Dec 13 - 08:13 PM

For those who cannot or will not Google,this is what Wikipedia says:


Duck Dynasty is an American reality television series on A&E. It shows the lives of the Robertson family, who became wealthy from their family-operated business, Duck Commander, operated in West Monroe, Louisiana, which makes products for duck hunters, primarily the duck call named Duck Commander. The Robertson men, brothers Phil, Si, and Phil's sons Jase, Willie, and Jep, are known for their long beards. The business began in a family shed, where Phil Robertson spent 25 years making duck calls from Louisiana cedar trees. His son Willie is now the CEO of the company. The family was previously featured on the series Benelli Presents Duck Commander and its spin-off Buck Commander, which still airs on the Outdoor Channel.

The show has broken several ratings records on both A&E and cable television as a whole; the fourth season premiere drew 11.8 million viewers, the most-watched nonfiction cable telecast in history.

Subject: RE: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: Doug Chadwick
Date: 06 Dec 13 - 05:29 AM

Doug Chadwick: That was a clickie.

I know. I clicked it and was mused by what I saw.

DC

Subject: RE: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: Doug Chadwick
Date: 06 Dec 13 - 06:40 AM

or even ...... amused ....

DC

Subject: RE: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: GUEST
Date: 06 Dec 13 - 10:24 AM

You can always go to your local to watch your sports game of choice. Has the added advantage of a lot of beer among friends.

Subject: RE: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 06 Dec 13 - 11:08 AM

"Not having a TV doesn't make anyone eccentric but it does have a tendency to make them smug."

1. Apparently this person didn't bother to read my post about the physical effects of TV viewing.

2. You will all have heard the phrase 'blaming the victim.' I've thought of a parallel phrase, and it's:

Mocking the critic.

Examples:

environmentalists are tree-huggers
feminists are strident
people in favor of equality are nigger-lovers
people who don't want drunkenness are party poopers

and people who want something better on TV are smug, snobs or pseudo-intellectuals.   

This is a bully's technique. Tell a bully he's not doing a good job, and he doesn't try to improve. No, he tries to humiliate the person who pointed it out.

Subject: RE: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: Doug Chadwick
Date: 06 Dec 13 - 12:51 PM

I am not saying that anyone who has made the choice not to have a TV is smug. Having a TV or not is a matter of choice and I make no comment on that.

The OP expressed pride at not having a TV. I interpret that, by inference, as those who have TV have made an inferior choice. Some years ago, I heard a discussion on BBC Radio Four where the contributors were quite clear that listening to radio was intellectually superior to watching TV. This typifies the tendency to smugness to which I refer and it is not bullying to say so.

DC

Subject: RE: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: The Sandman
Date: 06 Dec 13 - 12:56 PM

interpret how you like, that is not my opinion , now fuck off

Subject: RE: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: Doug Chadwick
Date: 06 Dec 13 - 01:10 PM

OK Dick, if that's what you wish.

DC

Subject: RE: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: MGM·Lion
Date: 06 Dec 13 - 01:16 PM

Well, now, Dick ~~ You stated in your OP that you were 'proud' of not having a tv. I did ask you, 'why this PRIDE?,' on 28 Nov. To my recollection, you have not responded to that question.

So how else would you expect to be "interpreted"? And what then is your 'opinion'? And why so defensively rude & aggressive in your last post?

Just asking...

~Michael~

Subject: RE: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: GUEST,Ed T
Date: 06 Dec 13 - 06:18 PM

I submit that not watching TV makes you crabby. Evidence of this the evolution of this seafood species in a tv free atmosphere seems to be somewhere -not so hidden- in this thread.

Subject: RE: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: The Sandman
Date: 06 Dec 13 - 08:03 PM

i am proud to be doing something that is not passive, televisions are about sit back and be entertained or not.
of course if i were in your company now you BOOBY, I mightsit you down in front of the television, and wait till you had fallen asllep and then empty your drinks cabinet, you BOOBY

Subject: RE: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: GUEST,Partridge
Date: 07 Dec 13 - 05:25 PM

I find that TV is the hypnotist in the corner of the room. I stopped watching it about 6 years ago. I do look at alternative news sites on the internet and look at some mainstream to see what they are saying and then I make up my own mind to what I think might be closer to the truth.

I'm not interested in soap opersas and find it sad that some people almost believe they are real

The amount of reality shows .....

People think I am strange when I tell them I dont watch TV

So I may be strange, I can live with that.

Pat xxx

Subject: RE: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: GUEST,Eliza
Date: 07 Dec 13 - 05:52 PM

For me, the happy medium is to be able to switch the TV off unless one is watching a specific programme chosen beforehand. I just couldn't have the thing on continually, no matter what drivel is broadcast, but I do watch selected, informative documentaries and favourites such as Gardeners' World, Antiques Roadshow and Mrs Brown's Boys. I don't start to twitch when the screen is blank and silent. I open one of my trillion books and read avidly. And I know full well that if I didn't own a TV at all, I'd be quite happy. But I'm old and perhaps hark back to when nobody had a set. It was the BBC Home Service on the old valve radio. (Heat it up first before you can listen.)

Subject: RE: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: Joe_F
Date: 07 Dec 13 - 10:43 PM

Back in the 1960s, I got the idea of buying a TV set small enough to sit on my closet shelf; I would take it out when it promised to behave, but I would not have it dominating the living room. Sure enough, there was such a thing in the Sears catalog, and I ordered one, but was told that that model was discontinued, and they would give me the next bigger one at the same price. It would have been too big for the shelf, so I said no.

I rarely view videos even on the Net; it is a disappointment to me when a link turns out to lead to one. The reason is that it is hard to browse in them for the interesting parts.

Subject: RE: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: MGM·Lion
Date: 08 Dec 13 - 03:53 AM

i am proud to be doing something that is not passive, televisions are about sit back and be entertained or not.
,..,
Sorry, Dick; but there is something palpably self-righteous and irritating in this assumption of yours that nobody who has a tv is capable of being selective in viewing, or of learning anything from all the informative or educational content contained in many programmes, but is bound just to sit there incessantly letting the stuff wash over them in hypnotic fashion. If you don't want one*, then please yourself. But stop, I beg you, going on about how intellectually superior that makes you to all the rest of us "BOOBIES". You are, on the contrary, I regret to say, coming over as something of a silly old fart on the subject.

Best regards

~Michael~

*& I repeat, I have had one for well under half the time they have been available since after WWii, because I hated it when it first re-emerged & find it has only improved gradually since

Subject: RE: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: The Sandman
Date: 08 Dec 13 - 06:51 AM

no michael it is your interpretation of my post, you feel it is self righteous, I do not,neither do some others
take a look at yourself, michael and your own mood.
here is a parallel, a member of than audience can go and see the same performer on different nights, his reaction to that performer can be totally different on different nights even if the performer has performed equally well on both nights, because of the audiences members particular mood,
there is no body langauge on the internet, it is an easy mistake to misinterpret a post because of ones own mood this is precisely what you are doing Michael.
i used the term booby, because it is a favourite term of yours, and was an attempt at humour, as in previous correspondence "i remarked you have not called me a booby yet"

Subject: RE: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: The Sandman
Date: 08 Dec 13 - 07:04 AM

at no point have i claimed to be intellectually superior, i said i prefered it because it allowed me to have more time to be creative, neither have i said that television cannot be a useful learning device , i did condemn some of its content, true but that content in my opinion has in latter years shifted from educational[example in the 1960s" hold down a chord john pearse"was shoen on main bbc channel, now the bbc has given in to commercial pressure[despite still charging a licence fee] by showing more soaps on its main viewing channels and less educational programmes. here is rtes programmes for rte one today, rte is the main irish state programme for which the funding is a licence fee and advertising revenue.
RTÉ One - Sunday 8 December
09:40

Casualty

Jeff gets caught up in a marital dispute, Robyn breaches patient confidentiality and Linda tries to give a woman with a learning-disabled son some respite, followed by RTÉ News
10:45

Hands On

Sean Herlihy visits Deaf Village Ireland, a state-of-the-art facility for the hard-of-hearing community in Cabra, Dublin, one year after it opened its doors
11:10

Service on Sunday

Rev Tom Gordon leads the service with readings and reflections for the season of Advent, with music from the Fingal Chamber Choir, followed by Weather
12:00

The Week in Politics

Aine Lawlor presents in-depth analysis of the past seven days' developments in politics. Includes RTÉ News
13:00

RTÉ News: One O'Clock and Farming Weather

13:10

Ear to the Ground

Helen Carroll meets a woman who was previously homeless in South Tipperary, and Ella McSweeney speaks to a Roscommon dairy farmer about the industry's expansion
13:40

Winning Streak

Marty Whelan and Sinéad Kennedy host the National Lottery game show, in which contestants could win more than 500,000 euros
14:40

Rooster Cogburn

The hard-drinking former marshal helps a preacher's stubborn daughter avenge her father's murder. Western sequel to True Grit, with John Wayne, Katharine Hepburn and Anthony Zerbe
16:40

Nuacht RTÉ

followed by News for the Deaf
16:50

Call the Midwife

Jenny and Sister Evangelina assist at the birth of a baby with spina bifida, while Nonnatus House plays host to an eccentric cleric friend of Chummy, followed by Irish Sign-Language Weather Bulletin and European Weather
18:00

The Angelus

18:01

RTÉ News: Six One and Weather

The latest national and international headlines
18:30

Waste Watchers

Philip Boucher-Hayes tackles the problem of food waste with businesses and residents in Killorglin in County Kerry
19:30

The Zoo

A pygmy marmoset baby receives round-the-clock care, while Brendan travels to Africa where he hopes to spot gorillas in a Ugandan forest
20:00

Fair City

Jane makes a move on Paul, while Dolores is shocked to find out the identity of her own secret admirer. Rachel's torment continues
20:30

Local Heroes

Joe Duffy visits Lough Key Forest Park, just three miles out of Boyle, Co Roscommon, where the local Men's Shed decide to build a model railway. Last in the series
21:00

RTÉ News: Nine O'Clock and Weather

The latest national and international news
21:30

Room to Improve

A young family who have grown out of their tiny cottage enlist architect Dermot Bannon's help to create an extension to their home
22:35

Irish Pictorial Weekly

23:05

The Moment of Truth

23:35

The Week in Politics

Aine Lawlor presents in-depth analysis of the past seven days' developments in politics
23:55

RTÉ News

followed by Weather and iWitness
00:30

The Saturday Night Show

Chat show, presented by journalist and broadcaster Brendan O'Connor, featuring comedy, celebrity guests and live musical performances
01:50

25th Hour

A drug dealer spends his last day of freedom trying to put his life in order before starting a prison sentence. Spike Lee's drama, starring Edward Norton and Philip Seymour Hoffman
04:00

Rush

The team helps to remove girls from a community where reports of inappropriate behaviour have been made
04:45

EuroNews

Headlines update from across the continent
05:50

Teleshopping

Buying goods from home
07:20

Shopping from Home

A chance to buy goods from the comfort of the armchair
07:55

Today

Daily magazine show featuring entertainment news, cookery, consumer advice, parenting tips and relationship issues, presented by Dáithí Ó Sé and Maura Derrane
09:00

Morning Edition

A mix of news, sport, business, topical discussion and entertainment. Includes Weather, followed by Weather
11:05

Dr Phil

Guests tell Dr Phil McGraw about their problems
here is rte 210:15

Classic Cartoons

Animated antics
10:20

news2day Weekly

The stories making the headlines during the past seven days
10:35

Music Inc

The students compete to generate the most publicity for X Factor judge Louis Walsh. Presented by Liam McKenna
11:05

Home and Away

Double bill. Drama from sun-kissed Summer Bay
12:00

European Cross Country Athletics

Live coverage from Belgrade, Serbia, featuring the elite, under-23 and junior races in the men's and women's disciplines
14:00

Champions League Magazine

Focusing on European football's elite club competition, featuring highlights, news and previews of forthcoming games, as well as look through the archives at classic matches
14:30

Are We Done Yet?

A newlywed couple's attempts to fix up a ramshackle house lead to disaster, especially when an eccentric contractor gets involved. Comedy sequel, starring Ice Cube and Nia Long
16:05

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air

Will becomes romantically involved with one of his aunt's students
16:35

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air

A scuffle at a downtown pool hall almost sees Will lose the family Mercedes, but thankfully his uncle is on hand to bail him out. Guest starring JD Hall
17:05

Clueless

A teenager tries to boost her new friend's image, but her own popularity suffers as a result. Comedy, inspired by Jane Austen's Emma, with Alicia Silverstone and Stacey Dash
18:50

South Pacific

The struggle for survival among creatures inhabiting the region's islands, and how the arrival of new species can upset the delicate natural balance-with disastrous consequences
19:50

Super Smart Animals

Part one of two. Liz Bonnin sets off on a quest to find the world's most intelligent animals, and John Humphrys finds out how a goldfish would cope on Mastermind
21:00

Goodbye Bafana

A film about the relationship between Nelson Mandela and James Gregory, his censor officer and prison guard, based on Gregory's book Goodbye Bafana: Nelson Mandela, My Prisoner, My Friend.
23:10

Criminal Minds

Morgan suspects the man who abused him as a child is connected to three murders in Chicago, and finds the only way to move forward with the case is to face him in prison
00:00

Body of Proof

Megan and Kate try to identify the victims of a car crash that left one woman dead and another fighting for her life. Meanwhile, Dani suggests to Peter they move in together
00:50

Body of Proof

Part one of two. Megan investigates a mysterious viral outbreak in Philadelphia, while CDC Officer Charlie Stafford tries to determine what-or who-caused the epidemic
01:40

EuroNews

Headlines update from across the continent
02:40

Teleshopping

Buying goods from home
04:45

EuroNews

Headlines update from across the continent
07:10

The Why Guy

Albie and his friends answer viewers' questions
07:15

Spraoi

Muireann joins the animals in the tree of knowledge to learn about letters, shapes, numbers and colours
07:20

The Curious World of Professor Fun and Dr Dull

Children's art show with Professor Fun in The Curious World
07:30

The Beo Show

Children's arts programme where young singers, dancers, musicians, actors, jokers, jugglers and others are helped by experts to put on a performance
07:35

Bananas in Pyjamas

The animated adventures of two bananas, with voices provided by Dick and Dom
07:50

Tinga Tinga Tales

Children's animation, based on a collection of African folk tales
08:00

Slim Pig

Animated children's entertainment, featuring a two-dimensional pig living in a three-dimensional world
08:10

Elev8

Children's entertainment with the TRTÉ presenters
08:35

Mr Bloom's Nursery

Gardening show for children, in which green-fingered Mr Bloom welcomes youngsters who help tend his plants and the produce in his allotment
09:00

Punky

The animated adventures of a girl with Down's syndrome who lives in the moment and works to solve problems encountered by her friends and family
09:10

Shaun the Sheep

Spin-off show following the adventures of Wallace and Gromit's lovable friend
09:15

Buzz and Tell

Comedy puppet panel show in which contestants try to win points by answering questions on pictures, sound, numbers and general knowledge
09:20

Gaspard and Lisa

Adventures for younger viewers with the two young dogs, who are best friends
09:30

Fireman Sam

Blaze-tackling antics with the friendly firefighter from Pontypandy
09:40

Fireman Sam

Blaze-tackling antics with the friendly firefighter from Pontypandy
09:50

Chuggington

Animation about a group of young trains called chuggers
10:00

Tilly and Friends

The adventures of Tilly and her friends Pru, Hector, Doodle, Tiptoe and Tumpty, who all live in a little yellow house
10:10

Fluffy Gardens

Pre-school series featuring an assortment of animal characters
10:20

The Roly Mo Show

The book-loving Fimbles character presents a show about reading
10:35

Peppa Pig

Animation for younger viewers following the adventures of the cheeky piglet, her brother George and their friends
10:40

Thomas & Friends

More railway adventures with the lovable engine and his pals
10:50

Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom

Animated series for pre-school children, set in a magical land of elves and fairies
11:00

Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom

Animated series for pre-school children, set in a magical land of elves and fairies
11:10

In the Night Garden

The adventures of colourful characters in a magical, musical world
11:40

64 Zoo Lane

Animated animal tales
11:50

Nina and the Neurons: Go Engineering

Amazing feats of engineering
12:05

Mr Bloom's Nursery

Gardening show for children, in which green-fingered Mr Bloom welcomes youngsters who help tend his plants and the produce in his allotment
12:30

Gaspard and Lisa

Adventures for younger viewers with the two young dogs, who are best friends
12:40

Fireman Sam

Blaze-tackling antics with the friendly firefighter from Pontypandy
12:50

Fireman Sam

Blaze-tackling antics with the friendly firefighter from Pontypand

Subject: RE: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: The Sandman
Date: 08 Dec 13 - 07:13 AM

i do not have access to todays bbc1 and 2 programmes, but i would be delighted if you could prove that the bbc, were showing anything that was an improvement on RTE BUM TITS SPORT PROPOGANDA. The truth of the matter as far as i can see is that as a learning device television has been overtaken by the computer, for example if i want to learn the piece [angie]on guitar i can go to you tube and select a tutorial. television in my opinion has been surpassed by the computer as a learning device,here is our own will flyhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ntdGoKj2gE

Subject: RE: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: VirginiaTam
Date: 08 Dec 13 - 08:21 AM

TV is the best for lulling me to sleep when pain won't permit me to concentrate on anything or let me sleep. Electronic Sominex.

Subject: RE: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: Mr Happy
Date: 08 Dec 13 - 01:24 PM

If you've a pc, which you obviously do, then you don't need a tv.

I don't know the criteria for being made eccentric, can you enlighten us, please?

Subject: RE: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: GUEST,Proud and proud of it
Date: 08 Dec 13 - 01:27 PM

I don t pick my nose, and am proud of it!

Subject: RE: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: MGM·Lion
Date: 08 Dec 13 - 01:53 PM

I may be a booby, Dick; but I feel that your assertion, not in OP but in the post preceding mine to which you were responding, that tv was

"passive ... about sit back and be entertained or not"

was overstated, far too sweeping, and delivered in a tone which, if not 'self-righteous', would do at a pinch until a self-righteous one came along.

All very well to copy-paste a whole day's programmes from one channel as if that made your entire argument unassailable. Would you like anyone [I can't be arsed, quite honestly] to print off a day's programmes from the History Channel, or the Languages Channel, or the Schools Channel, or the Discovery Channel? Or did you not know such channels existed. But, just for the sake of argument, let's look at something a bit more mainstream. What about

The BBC Television Shakespeare is a series of British television adaptations of the plays of William Shakespeare, created by Cedric Messina and produced by BBC Television. It was transmitted in the UK from 3 December 1978 to 27 April 1985 and spanned seven series.

Every one of the plays in the Shakespearean received a tv production featuring our most distinguished actors and directors.

Or let's just have a quick look at random at BBC1 for today and see what I can find --

>small>5.15 Songs of Praise. Aled Jones interviews the singer Paul Jones, who also performs

6.20 John Craven visits Jodrell Bank Observatory in Cheshire

9.00 Britain and the Sea: David Dimbleby sails along East Anglia's coast to explore how the sea inspired artists, transformed architecture and created a uniquely British beach culture

Three programmes of what I would unhesitatingly rubricate as undoubted intellectually and culturally highly worthwhile content; the last of them of a sort of visual actuality which would not be well-served by any other medium.

I am sure they all achieved respectable viewing figures -- all parts of series which they would not continue if not enough people watched them. What do you mean by dismissing the viewers of such programmes as a load of "passive" sheep who just "sit back to be entertained or not".

Sorry, Dick. Priggish; self-righteous; and all the rest. What 'mood' I may be in has no effect on my maintaining this as a statement of obvious objective fact. Mood & opinion don't come into it. It seems to me as unacceptable a formulation as some of the animadversions against your musical professionalism that you have recently objected to on various threads.

Anybody differ?

~Michael~

Subject: RE: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: The Sandman
Date: 08 Dec 13 - 02:34 PM

mr happy, iwas taking oneor two of the definitions of eccenrtic , out of the usual course, not conforming to common rules.
Michael, you interpreted my post as you thought fit, dependent upon your mood.nbow i consult todays programmes for bbc n ireland, that is what is available to me if i had a television.a veritiable feast of sport propoganda and religionand business and weather plus david dimbleby, plus soap
       06:00
       Breakfast 08/12/2013

       The latest news, sport, business and weather from the BBC's Breakfast team.
       View Programme information
       07:30
       Match of the Day 2013/2014, 07/12/2013

       Highlights including Man United v Newcastle, Chelsea v Stoke and West Brom v Norwich. (R)
       View Programme information
       09:00
       The Andrew Marr Show 08/12/2013

       Guests include Danny Alexander MP, Lord Kinnock, Vincent de Rivaz and Sting.

       High definition
       View Programme information
       10:00
       Fern Britton Meets... Series 5, John Simpson

       2/4 Fern Britton talks to John Simpson about how his faith sustains him on the frontline.

       High definition
       View Programme information
       11:00
       Sunday Politics Northern Ireland 08/12/2013

       Andrew Neil and Mark Carruthers with the latest political news, interviews and debate.
       View Programme information
    Afternoon
       12:15
       MOTD2 Extra 08/12/2013

       Mark Chapman and guests cast their eye over Sunday's two Premier League fixtures.

       High definition
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       13:00
       BBC Weekend News 08/12/2013

       National and international news from the BBC.
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       13:15
       Bargain Hunt Series 23, South 1

       The teams are off to Marlborough in Wiltshire and Hungerford in Berkshire. (R)

       High definition Audio described
       View Programme information
       14:15
       Homes Under the Hammer Series 16, Episode 18

       18/80 Martin and Lucy visit properties in North Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire and Kent. (R)

       High definition
       View Programme information
       15:15
       Escape to the Country Series 9, Leicestershire

       11/25 Jules Hudson visits Leicestershire to find a house for three generations of a family. (R)

       High definition
       View Programme information
       16:15
       Nigel Slater's 12 Tastes of Christmas 08/12/2013

       Nigel Slater shares the flavours that for him make Christmas a truly delicious season. (R)

       High definition Audio described
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       17:15
       Songs of Praise Paul Jones

       Singer Paul Jones talks about how he went from militant atheist to devout Christian.

       High definition
       View Programme information
       17:50
       BBC Weekend News 08/12/2013

       The latest national and international news stories from the BBC.
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    Evening
       18:10
       BBC Newsline 08/12/2013

       Local news worth watching from across Northern Ireland.
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       18:20
       Countryfile Cheshire

       The team are in Cheshire, where John Craven looks into the history of silk in the area.
       View Programme information
       19:20
       On now
       Watch live
       Strictly Come Dancing Series 11, Week 11 Results

       Two couples compete for a place in the final five, and The Saturdays perform.

       Watch from start
       View Programme information
       20:00
       The Paradise Series 2, Episode 8

       8/8 Clémence returns to the Paradise and a moment of reckoning forces Moray to risk everything
       View Programme information
       21:00
       Britain and the Sea Pleasure and Escape

       4/4 David Dimbleby explores how the sea emerged as a source of pleasure.
       View Programme information
       22:00
       BBC Weekend News 08/12/2013

       Latest national and international news, with reports from BBC correspondents worldwide.
       View Programme information
       22:20
       BBC Newsline 08/12/2013

       Local news worth watching from across Northern Ireland.
       View Programme information
       22:30
       Match of the Day 2 2013/14, 08/12/2013

       Arsenal take on Everton at the Emirates, while Fulham face Aston Villa at Craven Cottage.
       View Programme information
       23:35
       The Good Shepherd

       Spy thriller charting the life of the man charged with heading CIA covert operations.
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    Late
       02:10
       Weatherview 09/12/2013

       Detailed weather forecast.
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       02:15
       Joins BBC News 09/12/2013

       BBC One joins the BBC's rolling news channel for a night of news.
       View Programme information

Subject: RE: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: The Sandman
Date: 08 Dec 13 - 02:38 PM

michael,mood and opinion do come in to it.
if you think the fare offered on main channels is educational, enjoy it, but do not expect me to do so

Subject: RE: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: The Sandman
Date: 08 Dec 13 - 02:45 PM

m the g m, I HAVE EXPLAINED WHAT IS AVAILABLE TO ME HERE IN IRELAND, IF I HAD A TELEVISION and what is available to me when i had paid my licence fee,SPORT PROPOGANDA WEATHER SOAPS DAVID DIMBLEBY ,COME DANCING,i am not impressed.
what is the relevance of talking about channels that are not available to me, I am explaining why I DO NOT WANT A TELEVISION., because what is on offer to me is CRAP

Subject: RE: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: GUEST,stirrupcup
Date: 08 Dec 13 - 03:33 PM

Is Dick Miles aware that he's broken at least a couple of Irish laws by publishing TV listings here?

It's 'propaganda', Dick.

Subject: RE: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: GUEST,olddude
Date: 08 Dec 13 - 04:51 PM

sorry I admit it .. I have a monster flat screen surround sound and internet connected to it ... I bad

Subject: RE: BS: no tv, does this make me eccentric
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 09 Dec 13 - 07:12 AM

I quite enjoy some TV programs without wanting to watch TV all the time. May be of interest to some to know that Free Sat is available in Eire and comes with a good list of channels that may or may not be of interest to others.

Cheers

DtG