look for steve on access tv soon
Steve and I have decided to do something life-changing and monumental after almost 19 years of marriage. I wasn't sure at first if it was a good idea, but it promises to broaden our horizons and teach us some new recipes. Yes, I'm talking about digital cable TV. For the first time in a long time we have more than 10 channels. More than that, we have our first TV that didn't come from a pawn shop, or that was a gift from friends who couldn't stand to watch anything on our pawn shop TV.
Lest you think I'm prideful about the lack of TV in our home, let me just say it was no big accomplishment. If you know how many pairs of shoes I own, you will see the money was not going to missions instead of a new TV. Nothing to be proud of here.
Today as I sat down to watch TV...a pastime I am slowly becoming aware of due to a recent cold and a borrowed set of Gilmore Girls dvds ...I see why people like having so many channels. I feel privileged suddenly to be able to watch professional soccer, or to watch hair stylists fight over salon space. Maybe privileged is the wrong word. As I watch some people paint their porch railings on HGTV, Steve asks, "What's this show - Trick My House?"
"I think you mean -'Trick Out My House', and no, that's not even a title of a show - but maybe you could start that on the access channel."
My new TV is huge. It's 32 inches wide. It's really big. After the cable guy installs it, the first thing I happen to turn to is Oprah and Tom Cruise talking. I don't like it. They are too big, too serious, and when Ben asks to watch the Disney channel I'm happy to acquiesce.
Television is such an interesting medium to me. Today at the gym as I was watched the Culture Club sing 'Karma Chameleon' I thought of the conception of MTV and how every rock musician in the 80's suddenly had this amazing blank slate, this thrilling new world to explore in video. There were no limits, no boundaries, no rules in this new frontier. "Karma Chameleon" is proof positive of that. That is one freaked out video.
The only thing I miss about the eighties is the amount of eyeliner that was acceptable to be worn. My favorite MTV video to this day is "Take On Me" by the Norweigan band a-ha. How they got a Speed Racer in love who is stuck in a drawing board from that song baffles me. I like that the girl is drinking coffee in a London cafe when she meets her true love in the comic strip she's reading. That happened to me once in the 80's too.
I think there will be some redeeming times with our new investment. I'm looking forward to watching the History Channel as a family. A while ago we rented "Sherman's March" for Syd's paper on Civil War generals and learned quite a bit. The most quotable line in Syd's paper came from that documentary viewing:
"General Sherman and General Grant were best friends. Sherman helped Grant when he was drunk, and Grant helped Sherman when he was crazy." Haven't we all been there? In one shape or form?
It's good to have friends. And I think with all my new channels, I'll still find myself watching Mister Rogers. He and I are going to party like it's 1999 when we meet in heaven.