Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Kill your television



I don't watch much TV. Maybe 2 hours a week, plus a DVD about twice a month. My current TV is about 6 years old, and when I turned it on last week, it made a popping sound and a red light fluttered urgently for a few hours. The next morning, the light was gone and the thing was completely dead. (NB: I don't recommend Philips electronics. The companion DVD player died about 2 years ago.)

I was thinking of going without a TV until HS and I shack up in a few months, but HS, for one, was not too keen on the idea (something about the NBA finals, but also, we're really enjoying Flight of the Conchords on DVD).

I rummaged around in my parents' basement for an old TV to hook up in the interim. I unearthed my old TV, a Signature 2000 (two thousand!), which dates from the early 90s. It works fine, but seems to have no DVD hookup. Ah well.

I'm writing this because I've lived without a TV for years in the past, and I'd like to hear from people who have chosen not to have a TV. If you don't have one, are you glad? If you do have one, do you ever want to turn it off for good? I often notice that when the TV is on, all attention in the room is focused on it. I don't think this is good. I used to leave it on most of the evening for background noise, but now I much prefer quiet.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

I do have a TV that I use for watching DVDs, but I don't have TV service of any kind. The reason is purely practical: I recently moved from an apartment that had all utilities paid (including cable) to an apartment that had none. I watched TV so infrequently, around an hour a week, that I couldn't justify spending $40 or so per month for that hour of weekly TV time. Since I already watched it so infrequently, I don't really miss it.

Katyola said...

I watch less than the national average of 29 hours of TV a week, but that's the best I can claim. However, I will direct you to a "This American Life" episode about television.

Katyola said...

And for the non-TV people, does it ever worry you that you might miss something important, like a tornado warning or major news event? Not that that's the only reason I have TV, but it does play a small factor.

Anonymous said...

Katyola,

I have broadband internet at home and at work, so I have enough access to the internet that I get current news from several different sources. As for weather, I just check www.weather.com or www.wunderground.com, or listen to my alarm clock radio if the sky is green or something equally bad.

--Peter, the anon from before

Amy said...

I also meant to add that I've never had cable service. My dad is a radio buff and he's always managed to rig up some kind of antenna that will get a few channels at least.

Like Peter, I rely on the internet a lot more than the TV for news. If I didn't have an internet connection I might worry about missing something huge. But honestly, it seems like they issue severe weather warnings at the drop of a hat.

Katyola said...

Ah, see, I didn't have Internet access at home for more than a year. I don't get most of my news from TV, but if something is going on — especially election results or any event that's changing moment to moment — I like to see how the people on TV interpret it. I am particular about who I watch, though. PBS is more in-depth and at least seems more reliable than some outlets. And Tim Russert and his whiteboard!

Theresa said...

I haven't had a telly for about 18 months now, and I love it. Like you, when we had one it was the centre of attention--even if no one was particularly interested in what was on. Without tv, we both get a lot more work done at home, we have conversations with each other, we play with the cat... we do hook the laptop up to speakers once or twice a week to watch movies or shows on DVD, which is good because their are no ads! We also listen to the radio. Australia's national tv station is also broadcast on the radio, so we listen to the TV news and a few shows, but mostly we just have on music.

Like katyola, I don't have internet at home either. If anything major happens in the world, I will hear it on the radio. I find politicians speaking on the radio more easy to listen to than to watch on tv. The only time I wish for a tv are when I'm hungover (which is not often).

MeloMeals said...

I grew up with no TV... and it was probably very good for me. Now, I really enjoy TV..

Since I've moved, I watch MUCH less though and have it off most of the time.. and like it..

Anonymous said...

Your job as a future mother is to learn the god's ways and to help your child understand despite the negative reinforcement and conditioning of today's society. Without consciousous parents the child will have no hope, and may even exaserbate their disfavor by becoming corrupted in today's environment.
Your ultimate goal is to fix your relationship wiith the gods and move on. You don't want to be comfortable here, and the changes in Western society in the last 100 years has achieved just that.
1000 years with Jesus is the consolation prize. Don't be deceived into thinking that is the goal.

Much like the other prophets Mohhamed (polygamy/superiority over women/misogyny) and Jesus (forgiveness/savior), the gods use me for temptation as well. In today's modern society they feel people are most weak for popular culture/sensationalism, and the clues date back to WorldWarII and Unit731:TSUSHOGO, the Chinese Holocaust. They used this Situation to bury Japanese atrocities.
It has been discussed that, similar to the Matrix concept, the gods will offer a REAL "Second Coming of Christ", while the "fake" Second Coming will come at the end and follow New Testiment scripture and their xtian positioning. I may be that real Second Coming.
What I teach is the god's true way. It is what is expected of people, and only those who follow this truth will be eligible to ascend into heaven as children in a future life. They offered this event because the masses have just enough time to work on and fix their relationship with the gods and ascend, to move and grow past Planet Earth, before the obligatory xtian "consolation prize" of "1000 years with Jesus on Earth" begins.

The Prince of Darkness, battling the gods over the souls of the Damned.
It is the gods who have created this environment and led people into Damnation with temptation. The god's positioning proves they work to prevent people's understanding.
How often is xtian dogma wrong? Expect it is about the Lucifer issue as well.
The fallen god, fighting for justice for the disfavored, banished to Earth as the fallen angel?
I believe much as the Noah's Flood event, the end of the world will be initiated by revelry among the people. It will be positioned to be sanctioned by the gods and led for "1000 years with Jesus on Earth".
In light of modern developments this can entail many pleasures:::Medicine "cures" aging, the "manufacture" of incredible beauty via cloning as sex slaves, free (synthetic) cocaine, etc.
Somewhere during the 1000 years the party will start to "die off", literally. Only those who maintain chaste, pure lifestyles, resisting these temptations, will survive the 1000 years. Condemned to experience another epoch of planet's history for their ignorant pursuit of xtianity, they will be the candidates used to (re)colonize (the next) Planet Earth, condemned to relive the misery experienced by the peasantry during history due to their failure to ascend into heaven before the Apocalypse.
Never forget:::It is not a house of Jesus.
If this concept of Lucifer is true another role of this individual may be to initiate disfavor and temptation among this new poulation, the proverbial "apple" of this Garden of Eden. A crucial figure in the history of any planet, he begins the process of deterioration and decay that leads civilizations to where Planet Earth remains today.
Which one is it?:
One transitions into the other, allowing the gods to wash their hands of obligation to their Chosen One. My personal "consolation prize".
And since the gods never committed despite tens of billions in mass media, product development and natural disasters/tragedy they will employ the freedom they positioned into the Situation and CHEAT me out of everything.
Damn the hundred trillion year-old gods and their "gangster capitalism" positioning to hell:::The Matrix.
Debase