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BS: TV
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Subject: RE: BS: TV From: Stephen L. Rich Date: 19 Sep 02 - 02:47 PM A small sidebar, if I may -- in relation to television in general, this thread has the most succinct and accurate name I have ever seen.*G* |
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Subject: RE: BS: TV From: Skipper Jack Date: 19 Sep 02 - 11:05 AM Hands up those who take their portable TVs on a camping trip?
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Subject: RE: BS: TV From: Kim C Date: 18 Sep 02 - 01:40 PM We were TV-less for a couple of years after our house got robbed. Eventually we were tired of not being able to rent movies, which was something we really enjoyed doing. So, we did get a TV, had to replace the VCR, and thanks to Lord of the Rings, had to get a DVD player. I can't afford to join a gym, so my main source of exercise is a nice collection of videos. There are a few programs on TV that I really like - West Wing, Law & Order, King of the Hill. We are PBS addicts, though, and we don't have cable. :-) |
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Subject: RE: BS: TV From: rob son of rob Date: 18 Sep 02 - 01:36 AM As i read this story again it reminded me of a childrens song by Bill Harley, titled "Dad Threw the TV Out the Window" You can imagine what it is about. The singers father gets tierd of having TV on all the time so he unplugs it and throws it out the window where it breaks into bits. The kids think their father has just had some sort of nervous break down. After the initial shock the family gets over it and finds alternitive ways to entertain themselves. However, one day some time later, the singer walks into his fathers room and finds his father watching a game on Tv. So what dose the kid do? He picks up the tv and chunks it out the window. There is hope. Thanks for the british and probably correct definition of "boob tube" Nigel, i will certainly remember and consider it before i use those words again! Rob (who lived quite comfortably for about a semester with no TV last year) |
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Subject: RE: BS: TV From: curmudgeon Date: 17 Sep 02 - 08:58 PM It has been about twenty years now since Linn and i stopped watching television. At that time we realised that the few things we were inclined to watch were very inconvenient time wise. We still have the TV, but only use it for video tapes, mostly films. From time to time we do watch videos of tv programs, and we do like to see the commercials just to find out what the newest lies and techniques are. To the best of my recollection we;ve seen a few episodes of "Homicide"; good program. All of Twin Peaks in two hour segments; the best TV since Ernie Kovacs. Most recently, The Sopranos -- somewhat addictive. Bear in mind that I first experienced television in 1947; one step forward, three steps back. Don't kill it, quarantine it -- Tom |
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Subject: RE: BS: TV From: Leadfingers Date: 17 Sep 02 - 08:36 PM I used to come in and turn on the T.V.for the news,and then,if there was nothing I HAD to do,I would sit and watch,sometimes being entertained,but more often thinking 'This is an insult to my intelligence!'Tnen it went on the blink just before the licence was due,and I thought 'why?'.So i Junked it and have now been box free for fifteen years.Do I miss it? Only for the Rugby,and the occasional GOOD documentary.I see it at friends and afmilies houses and really dont think I'm missing very much at all.I'd rather play the banjo.Or read.Or play the banjo. |
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Subject: RE: BS: TV From: CarolC Date: 17 Sep 02 - 08:18 PM ...however, apparently no amount of educational TV has stimulated my brain enough for me to be able to keep track of these cookie thingies. That last was me ;-) |
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Subject: RE: BS: TV From: Jack the Sailor Date: 17 Sep 02 - 08:16 PM It doesn't really make a very good babysitter, Amos, because it's only on for a limited time each day. As with the other shows. But it was a great way for my son to get some extra stimulus I couldn't give him on a daily basis. I used to spend quite a lot of time reading to my son (often several hours each day when he was very small) and doing activities of an educational nature, but I'm still thankful that he had a show like Sesame Street (and the other shows I mentioned) as additional sources of stimulus. |
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Subject: RE: BS: TV From: Amos Date: 17 Sep 02 - 05:20 PM It's true that Sesame Street makes an excellent babysitter; but it is a sorry reflection on our family life that it is so needed. A |
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Subject: RE: BS: TV From: SharonA Date: 17 Sep 02 - 04:56 PM What? You mean Ed didn't hit it like a piñata while it was dangling from the tree?? He must be losing his touch. ;^) |
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Subject: RE: BS: TV From: McGrath of Harlow Date: 17 Sep 02 - 04:11 PM TV? I used to watch that before I got into the Internet. |
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Subject: RE: BS: TV From: CarolC Date: 17 Sep 02 - 03:13 PM I did that, Ebbie. I had no access to any TV whatever from about 1974 to about 1983, and then I had very limited access until about 1993. From about 1985 to 1993, I only had access to Public TV. I didn't get any kind of cable until about 1997.
I'm really thankful that my son had access to Public TV programming when he was little, like Sesame Street, Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, Wonderworks, Fairy Tale Theater, etc. And I'm really thankful I've had access to such things as The Six Wives of Henry VIII, Elizabeth R, and other Masterpiece Theater productions, Brother Cadfael (sp?) and other Mystery! productions, The History of English, Red Dwarf, Blackadder, BBC World News, and any number of classical, folk music, and excellent theatrical productions. There are an awful lot of things on TV that I have difficulty tolerating, but I don't think I'm quite ready to throw the baby out with the bathwater. At least not yet. |
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Subject: RE: BS: TV From: Clinton Hammond Date: 17 Sep 02 - 03:01 PM Reality is for wimps who can't handle TV... Turn it on, and TURN IT UP!!!!! ,-)
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Subject: RE: BS: TV From: Amos Date: 17 Sep 02 - 01:40 PM John H: Masterful, my friend. Just bloody nerar perfect!! Well done indeed!! I am still laughing. This one shold be published. A |
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Subject: RE: BS: TV From: Ebbie Date: 17 Sep 02 - 12:19 PM Twice in recent years I spent an entire summer away from TV. Both times when I turned it on again, I couldn't believe the drivel. Including some sitcoms that I had enjoyed: Cheers. Golden Girls. Some other ones. The inanity was, well, just so silly. Last spring, for this tourist season, I had turned over the entire apartment at the top of this house museum to the volunteer assistants and subscribed to cable TV for their benefit. (They're from Ohio and they watch!) I've now moved back upstairs and haven't yet canceled cable. Last night when I turned on the TV there was absolutely nothing I wanted to watch. Couldn't even stand the news. Have you tried watching the bush?? Has anyone else done that? Been away from it and come back? I have no doubt that I could easily become desensitized but I think I'll go back to using the set just for videos. |
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Subject: RE: BS: TV From: CarolC Date: 17 Sep 02 - 11:56 AM Hey John Hardly! (now tell us what you really think about television ;-) |
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Subject: RE: BS: TV From: John Hardly Date: 17 Sep 02 - 07:01 AM thanks for the compliments! LTS - *BG* that's funny! C-flat, I kinda liked that last line too, but when I showed the story to someone else, they said, "Oh, you should have had him come in (after his tirade)and Eve says,"Not the TV! I meant turn down the guitar!"" |
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Subject: RE: BS: TV From: Skipper Jack Date: 17 Sep 02 - 06:24 AM I have Satellite TV. It is a bit of a nuisance when the sky is overcast and no bloody use at all at night!!
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Subject: RE: BS: TV From: Nigel Parsons Date: 17 Sep 02 - 05:44 AM greg: STD (Standard Trunk Dialling) has given way as an abbreviation to the more recent Sexually Transmitted Disease, which is now the meaning of STD on both sides of the pond Nigel |
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Subject: RE: BS: TV From: greg stephens Date: 17 Sep 02 - 05:36 AM Interesting point, Teribus. Reminds me of what my brother said(who worked for British telecom) when they were introducing STD into the Russian telephone system.(STD may not be the term in America...I mean the ability to dial all national and international numbers without going through an operator). he said"Communism won't be able to survive this". And he was perfectly right. |
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Subject: RE: BS: TV From: Teribus Date: 17 Sep 02 - 05:30 AM Very good and very entertaining!! But in it's defence it has some good points and has helped bring about significant change in the world (Not all for the worst). The way it did that is gradually being taken over by the internet. Generally people are better informed today than past generations due to television and the net. Can they be manipulated - of course they can, but all types of media have been susceptible to misuse dating back the invention of Caxton's printing press. The reason the net is rapidly taking over lies in two things - you can chose, coupled with the wide range of information sources on any given topic. The following would have had a much harder time had television been around in their day - and an impossible time today - Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin. |
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Subject: RE: BS: TV From: greg stephens Date: 17 Sep 02 - 05:14 AM trouble is, I am reading this thread on my TV. |
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Subject: RE: BS: TV From: Nigel Parsons Date: 17 Sep 02 - 05:11 AM Rob, Son of Rob: Over this side of the big pond a "boob tube" is a knitted garment in the form of a stretchable tube which covers a young lady's chest (and very little else) Nigel |
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Subject: RE: BS: TV From: C-flat Date: 17 Sep 02 - 02:49 AM Well done John Hardly! "Somehow the "On/Off" button just didn't quite express what Ed was feeling today.".........brilliant! |
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Subject: RE: BS: TV From: Liz the Squeak Date: 17 Sep 02 - 02:32 AM Got the thread title the wrong way round, it should be TV:BS. LTS |
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Subject: RE: BS: TV From: Bee-dubya-ell Date: 17 Sep 02 - 02:12 AM Yo John Hardly RIGHT FOOKIN' ON!!! I LOVE IT!!! Nice story, doesn't have to just be a fiction, ya know. I've been televisionless for over ten years. I have never seen television footage of The World Trade Center falling down. I don't understand half of the conversations I overhear because they're talking about TV. When I'm in the grocery checkout lane I don't recognize any of the faces on TV Guide. I'm so ignorant about pop culture that I wouldn't know a Britney Spears song if it bit me on the ass. All in all, it makes me so happy I could just shit. You can get free of the tube and reclaim your time. It doesn't have to belong to the marketers. Bruce |
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Subject: RE: BS: TV From: rob son of rob Date: 17 Sep 02 - 01:11 AM TVs dont brainwash people. People brainwash people. :) I am always getting mad at my younger sister for having the boob tube on all the time, espeicially when there is absoutly nothing on that could have a remote justification to watch... and however much I hate to admit it, it is a terribly addictive habit... I dont watch it much at home, maybe once or twice a week, but here in the dorm we have cable and "good stuff" comes on more often. As for commericals, i usally press mute, pick on my banjo, and wait for the show to come back on. I am just glad that i have enough will power to turn the darn thing off when i want to, or better yet not turn it on when i walk in to the room. There are so many of my generation that can do neither. On a side note, i recall from my communications class last year that the AVERAGE comprehension level on TV shows is the fourth grade (age 9) level. Go figure. rob |
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Subject: RE: BS: TV From: GUEST,Taliesn Date: 17 Sep 02 - 01:06 AM Quite the Luddite's Fantasy : Taking it out on the window because of one's opinion of "the view". Some folks have had the same fantasies about burning books. Me, I've just learned which channels to conciously "select" when not using the "Off" button. Lass dramatic ofcourse ,but far more educational.;-)
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Subject: RE: BS: TV From: Mudlark Date: 17 Sep 02 - 12:27 AM Beautiful! Beautifully expressed and beautifully crafted. So when is it going to be serialized for television? |
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Subject: RE: BS: TV From: katlaughing Date: 17 Sep 02 - 12:14 AM LOL!! I guess Ed had seen the bumper sticker which said, "Kill your television!" |
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Subject: RE: BS: TV From: Genie Date: 16 Sep 02 - 11:52 PM He he he he he, John! Absolutely right on! Genie I'll check back with you later. "Crossfire" is on now. ;-) |
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Subject: RE: BS: TV From: Sorcha Date: 16 Sep 02 - 11:47 PM I LOVE IT!!! This has real possibilities......I just wish I could but I have these people here who seem to think that TV is integral to life............. |
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Subject: TV From: John Hardly Date: 16 Sep 02 - 11:26 PM "Can you turn that down!?" Eve said from across the room.
Ed gently leaned his guitar against the wall and made his way over to the TV. But even as he started to lean over and adjust the volume control...
Muttering to himself, "For every commercial I've endured – many over and over and over.... – and always at that annoying heightened volume level to make sure I can hear it from the kitchen with the 'fridge door open! Always telling me of the wonders of the latest product that I need to make me happy -- I've bought 'em.....they didn't.
And with that, he reached around behind the TV, and with a jerk on the cord, pulled the plug on the set.
That felt a little better.....but not much.
The TV was quite an armful as Ed hefted it up from its stand. With a few grunts, and opening doors with a shove of the hip, he finally managed to get the thing out to the garage workbench.
A plan was brewing.
He looked around the shop for some rope but finding none, his eyes rested on the 50 ft. orange extension cord hanging from the peg rack. "That's appropriate." says he.
With great deliberation, as one might put into a ceremony, Ed proceeded to turn one end of the extension chord into a noose. After trying every which way to get the noose to stay put around the TV, he finally found that he could kinda wedge the protruding picture tube from the back through the noose twice and, with the TV entirely circled with cord, it was now secure.....enough.
Ed, by now sweating just a bit with the labor of it all, hauled the huge TV into his large back yard and half set, half dropped it on an old wooden chair at the foot of a big ol' oak that grew there. Throwing the loose end of the extension cord over a big branch, and then securing it to the tree trunk, he said, " ...and here's for every mindless PSA re-informing me either what I already learned in kindergarten, or what common sense taught me almost from the time I could first talk. I don't need some Government or corporate expenditure to remind me of the obvious --- and God save me from the TV viewers who do!". And with that he kicked the chair out from under the TV and left it to dangle there – hanging until dead.
.....'cept it wasn't dead, and Ed knew it. And Ed wasn't through...
Ed pulled on the extension cord to raise the TV up a few feet. He then walked over to the nearby firewood pile and got a few armfuls of kindling and wood and stacked it under the dangling TV. With one more trip to the garage for some kerosene and matches, he was now prepared to finish the task.
As he lit the match to throw on the kerosene soaked wood pile, he shouted, "And for teaching my kids to, like, talk, like.....whatever...." he said in his best adolescent impersonation (which admittedly wasn't very good). "I'm not going to take it anymore! This is for teaching a whole generation of over sexed, over violent, over entertained youth that there's no difference between smart and smart-aleck........but infinitely worse, that there's no difference between fame.....and infamy!" he said. And with increasing anger in his voice he continued, "And for choosing your right to speak over the good judgement to shut the hell up from time to time!!".
As he watched the fire slowly disfigure the plastic parts as they curled and buckled slightly, he felt moved to be a little more active in the TV's demise. This watching thing was too passive. Ed retreated to the house and quickly returned with his 12 gauge and upon loading the single cartridge into the chamber took aim. As he did he shouted, " ...and for stealing the reality of life and replacing it with spectating! For every game watched...and not played. For causing me to forfeit my own creative potential – as well as the potential of my own creativity – to the expression of another's.....way too much of the time!" At that, his shoulder was kicked back with the force of the shell blast. And the glassy screen of the dangling TV all but disappeared, leaving a jagged crown in a mal-formed plastic frame.
But Ed was just getting warmed up.
He untied the TV from its mooring on the tree trunk and with a few swings to put it wide of the still burning fire, he let it fall crashing to the ground. He then dragged the TV carcass, cord and all and tied the cord to the bumper of the old pickup truck he used for gathering firewood.
He still had some things to say like, "For the Sunday morning talking heads who parade their professional liars week after week, giving them a forum for their manipulations until meaning has lost all, well..... meaning! And for foisting your pretty-boy presidential candidates on a public too ready to listen with their eyes....catering to people's desire for a symbol not a substance, an image rather than a reality!" This he shouted out the truck's open window as he proceeded to drag what was left of the TV behind the truck, over the uneven ground of the pasture behind his house.
When the extension cord noose finally let go of the TV, and the TV came to rest appropriately on a pile of cow manure, Ed slowly drove back to the house, and parked the truck. He then walked back in, calmed and refreshed, picked his guitar back up and started playing again. Somehow the "On/Off" button just didn't quite express what Ed was feeling today. |