457 Channels and Nothing On
For the past month, I've been quickly readjusting to life back in Canada. I'm no longer surprised when people say "thanks" when I open doors for them and I'm getting used to chatty neighbours who just "pop in for a visit". But that's just life in the Maritimes. People really are friendly. My husband even has his favourite toll booth employee on the bridges and he's now on a first name basis with the employees at the local Home Hardware store.
My son's adjusting well to school even though there's a lot more expected of him, he finds it interesting. He's even impressed that his school has a PA system where the principal can talk to all the classrooms at once or just one at a time. The things I always took for granted like school busses being on time and teachers showing up 99.9% of the time are nothing short of miraculous for my son.
So with nothing really to complain about, I find it difficult to blog when things are going along too smoothly. I can't just blog about boring things and that's why, dear readers, it takes so long for me to post.
The one thing that puzzles me though is the number of totally mindless shows there are on TV. For a continent with some of the most educated people in the world, there seems to be no shortage of pseudo self-help and reality shows and gossip mavens who try to pass off their shows as something more than the advertising shills they really are.
24 hours a day, you can watch people divulge their most shameful secrets in front of millions while others clog up an hour of tv just to talk to you about absolutely nothing of importance or even remotely interesting. Today, I turned on the TV to see if I could find a good documentary or just some news but all I found were dancing dogs on one channel, religious ex-cult members on another and at least a dozen soap operas. Even BBC Canada didn't offer me a reprieve...just another do-it-yourselfer telling me how I can spend a whole day painting fake tiles on a wooden wall.
Out of 400 TV channels I get with my satellite cable company, I watch a grand total of 3. The History, Discovery and A&E channels. The rest of them are witless drivel aimed to feed the egos of their over-hyped hosts or to serve as vehicles for the legions of advertisers paying top dollar to get their products into your homes.
What's the point of having an education, the freedom of speech and thought and decent wages when all people seem to want is to be spoon fed a daily diet of junk information? We don't use the internet to become more informed about the world around us. No, the majority of people use it to download porn or play games. So why should I expect TV to be any different?
The real question is who dictates the programming? Like good little couch potatoes, do we just watch what's thrown in front of us or because we really don't want to be intellectually stimulated or challenged anyway, the TV execs just cater to our innate and proven predilection for nonsense?
I'm inclined to believe it's the latter and that disturbs me even more. Bruce Springsteen was almost right when he sang "57 Channels and Nothing On". Had he written it today, it would be 457 Channels and Nothing On.
My son's adjusting well to school even though there's a lot more expected of him, he finds it interesting. He's even impressed that his school has a PA system where the principal can talk to all the classrooms at once or just one at a time. The things I always took for granted like school busses being on time and teachers showing up 99.9% of the time are nothing short of miraculous for my son.
So with nothing really to complain about, I find it difficult to blog when things are going along too smoothly. I can't just blog about boring things and that's why, dear readers, it takes so long for me to post.
The one thing that puzzles me though is the number of totally mindless shows there are on TV. For a continent with some of the most educated people in the world, there seems to be no shortage of pseudo self-help and reality shows and gossip mavens who try to pass off their shows as something more than the advertising shills they really are.
24 hours a day, you can watch people divulge their most shameful secrets in front of millions while others clog up an hour of tv just to talk to you about absolutely nothing of importance or even remotely interesting. Today, I turned on the TV to see if I could find a good documentary or just some news but all I found were dancing dogs on one channel, religious ex-cult members on another and at least a dozen soap operas. Even BBC Canada didn't offer me a reprieve...just another do-it-yourselfer telling me how I can spend a whole day painting fake tiles on a wooden wall.
Out of 400 TV channels I get with my satellite cable company, I watch a grand total of 3. The History, Discovery and A&E channels. The rest of them are witless drivel aimed to feed the egos of their over-hyped hosts or to serve as vehicles for the legions of advertisers paying top dollar to get their products into your homes.
What's the point of having an education, the freedom of speech and thought and decent wages when all people seem to want is to be spoon fed a daily diet of junk information? We don't use the internet to become more informed about the world around us. No, the majority of people use it to download porn or play games. So why should I expect TV to be any different?
The real question is who dictates the programming? Like good little couch potatoes, do we just watch what's thrown in front of us or because we really don't want to be intellectually stimulated or challenged anyway, the TV execs just cater to our innate and proven predilection for nonsense?
I'm inclined to believe it's the latter and that disturbs me even more. Bruce Springsteen was almost right when he sang "57 Channels and Nothing On". Had he written it today, it would be 457 Channels and Nothing On.
Welcome back!
It is the same everywhere, though, isn't it? Greece, UK, USA, Canada ....
Same shit, different country.
Posted by
Anonymous |
22/9/06 06:32
If life in Canada is so good we should all emigrate there! You probably don't have much to complain about now, hence the long time between the postings. Same here.
Posted by
Anonymous |
22/9/06 09:30
I am having the same problem with my blog. It originated as a tool to vent my frustrations as an expat. I won't say my life is perfect now that I've moved back to the US, but there is really nothing interesting to complain about. Life is easier here.
I don't remember Canadian TV since it's been a long time since I've even been to Canada, but your comments about so many channels and nothing interesting on rings so true for US TV. It really is full of mindless stuff. Of course Italian TV was worse.
Posted by
Anonymous |
22/9/06 10:32
apotheosis...Thanks! And you are certainly right. In fact, maybe "same shit different country" would have been a more apt heading for this post. LOL
phant...Life in Canada isn't perfect...it's just...well...not so hectic. A much slower pace of life and no juicy ground-shaking scandals yet either.
j.doe...Canadian TV basically mirrors American TV. We have the same channels as you guys plus some of our own Canadian-made crap. Greek TV was no better either but I only had less than half the channels over there. People love crap, that's all there is to it. LOL
Posted by
The SeaWitch |
22/9/06 12:17
How does "Dog the Bounty Hunter" rate on your list of intelligent shows on television?,,,Considering I KNOW you watch that !!!! Got ya !!!!
Posted by
Anonymous |
23/9/06 02:37
zardoz says :
hiya seawitch,,
t.v. is not so interesting
to make heads or tails ,,
SO how about some nature
and neighborhood shots
the last ones were pretty
great ,,,,
whats the locals like ,,?
try us ,, =z=
Posted by
Anonymous |
27/9/06 07:25
I think TV is crappy everywhere you go. Same thing in Germany - hundreds of channels and *nothing* on. When we were on Vacation in Vancouver I actually DID enjoy watching HGTV and the Food Network because the cooking/renovation shows are of much higher quality than in Germany but I'm sure I'd get sick of them after a few months as well
Glad go hear you've settled in well. As they say - no news is good news. :-)
Posted by
christina |
29/9/06 07:18
zardoz...I'll see if I can scrounge up a few more nature shots this week because the fall colours are starting to happen and it's going to be soooooo beautiful in about 10 days time. I'll post a tree blog to commemorate my favourite season of the year....and maybe some stories about the local yokels. LOL
christina...Yes, you're right...TV is crappy everywhere but it's the AMOUNT of crap they have over here. LOL Although, I must admit I love HGTV and TLC Home renovation and decorating shows too but there also a TON of those too. I'm sure if I went back to the days of 3 tv channels then I'd be blogging about not having any variety. LOL
Posted by
The SeaWitch |
29/9/06 09:35
Ain't NS just about the most laid back, friendly place you've ever been? Sometimes boring is good :)
Now sit back and watch Live at 5 and smile at all the anniversaries and 100 year old birthdays. Somewhere I read that Lunenburg NS has the most centenarians in all of Canada. Get ready for a long long life!
Posted by
Miss Kim |
19/10/06 07:07
You switched to blogger beta!
I can't because my blog is a "team" blog because I put stupid thanos on it.
Miss hearing from you. Hope life in Canada is treating you well.
Posted by
melusina |
30/10/06 14:42
You have been schnozed, wicked witch you!
Posted by
Anonymous |
8/11/06 10:05
happy new year ,,=z=
Posted by
Anonymous |
1/1/07 12:14
Yeah well, I still wish I was there instead of here. We have plenty to watch on television but millions of people with no healthcare.
Posted by
bint alshamsa |
7/2/07 04:37
Apparently the SeaWitch has finally found tranquility. Good for you, SW.
Posted by
Anonymous |
11/6/07 21:52
Having people smile and say "thank you"! After living in Greece for fifteen years I forgot about those things... (I am Greek, I have a right to complain...)
Let alone the school system, the driving, the disorder, the police incompetence, the corruption, the arrogance of believing we are the pillars of all civilization....
Thank God we moved back to the US.
Posted by
Athena Smith |
22/9/07 10:59
Καλή Χρονιά
How about a resolution for 2008 SeaWitch?
Maybe... start blogging again?
Posted by
Anonymous |
2/1/08 19:57
just goes to show how educated the world is if we had more tv programs that stimulated the mind we might all be better off
Regards Sam!!
Posted by
Samantha@ Living In The Sun |
20/6/10 21:56
I loved your post. I could completely relate to your post!
Keep writing!!
This is Ibrahim from Israeli Uncensored News
Posted by
Ibrahimblogs |
27/8/10 04:57
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Posted by
Unknown |
3/2/12 09:29