Essentially A Travelogue, Part Three
Tele-vision
My TV and I have and a rockier than usual relationship lately. I got it a new DVD player, but it refuses to make use of the progressive-scan technology in it. I got it a Tivo, but there isn't really anything good on for it to record. I mean, a man cannot live on Justice League cartoons alone, even as terrific as they are.
But really, it's a time thing. My wife and I used to spend a few hours every night in front of the electron gun, but now that our lives are so absorbed with our two-legged spawn, the time we have for "everything else" is filled with, well, everything else. Except TV. I have like three episodes of Lost on Tivo I haven't even watched yet.
So I was thinking while we were in England, sans our beloved dwarf, I might be able to bow out of one of Shannon's Fancy Author Dinners™ and just watch TV in the hotel. I had previously done a bit of research on some of the hotels we would be in, and most advertised "Satellite TV." Now, I have satellite TV here in the US, so I had some assumptions about the channel selection. Assumptions that proved to be quite wrong.
I'm speaking from a the point of view of a UK novice, mind you, and someone beholden to hotel quirks, but it appears, from that point of view, that "Regular TV" in the UK consists of about 4 channels, and "Satellite" gives you a grand total of 8. Three of which are sports channels. I'm not a sports fan in general, and while I might have been tempted by particularly bizarre or exotic sports, all that ever seemed to be broadcast that was even remotely different from standard US fare was football and snooker. Which is to say, soccer and pool. So not that special.
And everything else always seemed to be reruns of either "Friends," "Frasier," "The Simpsons," or the British Soap Juggernaut "HollyOaks." I don't know what I was expecting, but I recall BBC America on US Satellite being more entertaining. Frankly, I would have been happy with a "Changing Rooms" marathon over the painful two hours that was the 1990 Jim Belushi vehicle, "Mr. Destiny."
Oh well. I guess I'll always have books.
Or at least I will until 2025. I think that's about when the Firemen are supposed start burning them.
My TV and I have and a rockier than usual relationship lately. I got it a new DVD player, but it refuses to make use of the progressive-scan technology in it. I got it a Tivo, but there isn't really anything good on for it to record. I mean, a man cannot live on Justice League cartoons alone, even as terrific as they are.
But really, it's a time thing. My wife and I used to spend a few hours every night in front of the electron gun, but now that our lives are so absorbed with our two-legged spawn, the time we have for "everything else" is filled with, well, everything else. Except TV. I have like three episodes of Lost on Tivo I haven't even watched yet.
So I was thinking while we were in England, sans our beloved dwarf, I might be able to bow out of one of Shannon's Fancy Author Dinners™ and just watch TV in the hotel. I had previously done a bit of research on some of the hotels we would be in, and most advertised "Satellite TV." Now, I have satellite TV here in the US, so I had some assumptions about the channel selection. Assumptions that proved to be quite wrong.
I'm speaking from a the point of view of a UK novice, mind you, and someone beholden to hotel quirks, but it appears, from that point of view, that "Regular TV" in the UK consists of about 4 channels, and "Satellite" gives you a grand total of 8. Three of which are sports channels. I'm not a sports fan in general, and while I might have been tempted by particularly bizarre or exotic sports, all that ever seemed to be broadcast that was even remotely different from standard US fare was football and snooker. Which is to say, soccer and pool. So not that special.
And everything else always seemed to be reruns of either "Friends," "Frasier," "The Simpsons," or the British Soap Juggernaut "HollyOaks." I don't know what I was expecting, but I recall BBC America on US Satellite being more entertaining. Frankly, I would have been happy with a "Changing Rooms" marathon over the painful two hours that was the 1990 Jim Belushi vehicle, "Mr. Destiny."
Oh well. I guess I'll always have books.
Or at least I will until 2025. I think that's about when the Firemen are supposed start burning them.
posted by Dean at 10/20/2005 11:17:00 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home