~Television/Boom Box~
By WordWulf, 18th Feb 2011 | Follow this author
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Posted in WikinutWritingPersonal Experiences
~Plug that television in~turn it on~load your pistol~make everyone’s behind you~wait for a head shot or a car wreck, a love scene~then empty that gun~make a video~boom!~
~Television/Boom Box~
In the seventies I began to use televisions for target practice. They blow up quite nicely, especially if shot while plugged in, turned on, and tuned in. I highly recommend the practice as therapy to type a aggressive OCD types, not that I’m one. Old TV’s are cheap and cleanup isn’t bad if the deed is done in the garage or outside with a tarp underneath the set.
Recently married and in my fifties, I have discovered another use for televisions. My wife and I subscribe to Netflix and use a device called a Rocu to access our account. She goes to Netflix on her computer and peruses the site, seeking movies and programs for our viewing pleasure. Most nights we have a television date. At 8pm or so we prepare a little nightcap, Diet Pepsi or Coke with Seagram’s 7 or Black Velvet. Mixing diet sodas with blended whiskey on the rocks is a taste we have come to share.
Once in awhile we microwave some popcorn. Last night she made sugar cookies. This was a rare treat since we’re both watching our weight and trying to eat healthy. Munching a bit and sipping, we pick and choose something to view or slip in a DVD which has been mailed to us from Netflix. My wife is two-handed awesome with the remote controls. She has three of them, one for the TV, one for the DVD player, and one for the Roku. I push the “on” button to get the television started then get out of the way. She juggles those devices with the dexterity of a fire eater/sword swallower I helped bury a while back (another story – she choked on an olive pit).
Over the past six months we’ve shared several movies, worked our way through the entire British series’, “Waiting for God” and “Faulty Towers”. We’re working our way through “Night Court” and “All in the Family” now. A couple of nights a month we go out to dinner, then home for our television date. I love to read and this thing we do reminds me of reading a book with someone very close. Ten pages in, if either or both of us aren’t enjoying the experience, we consult our electronic library and choose something else.
Escapism? There’s a bit of that, I suppose, and a lot of shared enthusiasm. There is so much for me to choose from, over thirty years of material. My wife has fond memories of viewing episodes of “All in the Family” and British television with her parents and siblings. My best friends are my five adult children. It cracks them up, turns the entire parent/child relationship upside down for a moment, when I discuss something new I’ve discovered that they experienced decades ago.
Hey, television is okay with me now. I still don’t watch it in the conventional sense. I haven’t shot one in a year or so. I still could. All I have to do is imagine sitting through a fifteen second commercial. Entertain me please but don’t sell me. If I want to buy something, I’ll figure it out.
That was fun, music and radio next. Excuse me, I have to clean and load my pistols.
~Tom (WordWulf) Sterner~
~Eagle Bumps/One-Step Men~
~Journey to Triazolam~
~Nevada Bill/Eating Bugs~
Comments
23rd Feb 2011 (#)
Funny. I actually like TV, I watch a wide range of shows. Waiting for God is one of my Favorite comedy shows. One of my favorite nights of TV is Saturday night, we have back to back britcoms on PBS, it is a hoot.
Any ways, thank you for sharing.:)
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23rd Feb 2011 (#)
Kathy and I finished the whole Waiting for God series, then found the actress in Doc Martin and watched all of those. I like TV now that I have someone to watch it with, all of Faulty Towers too and Black Books;-)
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