"Mommy,
what's the red stuff coming from kitty's ears?"
-Todd
Flanders, The Simpsons
2/26/00
There's WAY too much violence on television these days. Admittedly,
I wasn't all that aware of what a problem it was. I figured it was
just a bunch of whiney-assed parents raising a stink because the electronic
babysitter was causing their children to bash each other's skulls in with
their plastic light sabers. That was before I changed the channel
to something that WASN'T Comedy Central. I mean, before, I'd come
home and plunk down in the living room and do my homework in front of whatever
happened to be on channel 44 at the time. Normally Kids in the
Hall, or reruns of Who's Line. Good stuff, but I digress.
Now that I'm at my grandmother's house, there's only one TV by a homework
table, and it doesn't receive cable. Damn thing is older that dirt,
too... the remote control is numbered 2-13, and anytime you change between
the 4 working local stations, you have to mess with the rabbit ear antennas.
Bottom line is, it only gets the 4 local, non-cable channels in the area.
Oh, and let me tell you, WHAT a selection it is. I've had some afternoons
where the choice is between basketball, golf, golf, and basketball.
Other times, its all soap operas. I whined and complained about it,
then decided just to leave the TV for background noise. Generally,
it wasn't a problem till I got to the evening lineup. I'm not kidding,
at least 3 out of the 4 had cop shows or detective murder mysteries which
showcased bloody shootouts and chase scenes. Even at 7pm, there weren't
any kid's shows, or music events, or anything a family could sit down and
watch together. It was sorta a wake up call. And at the very
least, proof that cable isn't the root of all evil.
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