I like watching TV. Perhaps I watch too much, but what else have I got to do? The job search is not going too well, and school doesn't start for another month or so.
So I kill time by watching Flint tease John, writing this blog, and watching TV. There's a lot of good video being offered out there, if you know where to look. The problem is, when you are in a country like Korea, you miss a lot of the really good programs (unless you know how to download), and you're very much behind people who've had access to it all along.
I sort of learned how to download in my third year in Korea, and then I started having problems with my 'puter, so I left off until Flint taught me how to do it properly. After that, I returned my TV to the hagwon and started getting caught up.
I'm still way behind, even after a coupla years of plugging away.
While I was in Korea, I started to get into shows like Dexter, The Shield, Battlestar: Galactica, and Californication. I've only just started the first season of The Wire, Damages, and Life On Mars (UK version).
I've been staying with my folks since I got back from Korea, and they had a pretty good cable package with Shaw. Then they changed it to Telus, and added the PVR function.
Hello!
I am in love with the PVR, which frees the viewer of the networks' tyranny like never before. No longer do you have to sit through boring commercial breaks or (badly) edited-for-TV versions of my favourite movies. With a PVR, you really can watch what you want, when you want it. It's brilliant.
Then, after my mom's accident, we had to stay at a hotel to be near her, and I was shocked, shocked when I saw the kind of TV being offered by the hotel, as well as to patients in the hospital.
Basic cable. (dramatic chord)
50 channels max.
Ew.
I guess hotel guests and hospital patients, being fairly transient in nature, don't need a full-on package of every single channel as well as all the technical add-ons. They just need something to look at for a night or two.
But if you're in for a long haul, the inadequacies of basic cable become more and more apparent as time goes by. Especially if you're looking for quality television, and not the drek offered up by networks and local stations.
Networks are in it for the money, and the commercial break is all important. They gotta get that ad revenue. A good show is just something to attract viewers that can be trapped into watching ads, not an end in itself.
Networks have something they call "standards and practices," which they say they use to censor offensive content like vulgar language (shit, fuck, cunt, piss, cocksucker, mothefucker, tits), excessive violence and gore, as well as sexy things like naked bodies and people making love.
Well, if you're an adult, being told by some faceless corporation that you can't watch something is like being told you can't vote or drink or stay up past eight o'clock. It's just not on.
So I go to a channel like HBO and watch a program like Deadwood, which has more nudity, violence, and people saying "fuck" per square inch than a whorehouse, but is also one of the finest programs ever filmed.
Local stations are even worse. They're always interrupting shows with "news breaks," which don't have any news, just promos for the local news teams. I've mentioned before how my folks are fans of Global Calgary, which I loathe and despise with the white-hot passion of a thousand suns.
Fucking mooks.
Even if they do run a good program, you have a tough time seeing it through all the supers on the screen. The station logo is there (as well as the network logo sometimes), and the station adds on supers that describe what's coming on next and what'll be on Thursday at nine. Talk about distraction.
It shows a fundamental disrespect of the show, as well as the viewer. I decided a long time ago that I would not tolerate it. That's why downloading shows and using the PVR is so important to me.
Good post. I still have troubling watching shows on TV. The fucking commercials can drive a person mad. And it is often the same commercials repeated as nauseum.
ReplyDeleteWow, you are a late bloomer!
ReplyDeleteI've had a dvr/pvr since DishNetwork/Microsoft introduced their version back in 1999 to counter Tivo and ReplayTV in the U.S. and haven't watched a single commercial since then. Talk about a time and brain cell saver. What's even better is that thanks to my Sling Box and a hava box (myhava.com), I was able to bring this awesome technology with me to South Korea in 2006.
And, now in 2011, it's gotten even better with the Moonsoon multimedia vulkano (the upgrade of the hava box). All you need is to have someone host the box back in your home country and you can access the programming anywhere in the world as long as you have broadband speeds of at least 300kps (more if you want better quality, but 300 kps is still watchable). I have a dedicated DishNetwork dvr at one sibling's house and a dedicated DirecTV dvr at another's. I do pay them a bit of money for the use of their electricity, internet, and satellite TV.
The only downside that I've had is that once expats find out that I have this, they like to invite themselves over very, very early in the morning to catch live sporting events. Really, sucks when you aren't a fan of certain sports like cricket or soccer, but beyond a lifesaver if you love the Tour de France and live in a country that thinks archery and figure skating are top-level sporting events.
Yip yip. 'The Holy Grill' in Daegu had that technology, and they would serve breakfasts while the patrons watched their sporting events. They never did much Canadian Football unless it was the Grey Cup, and I can't remember too many Flames games when they played hockey.
ReplyDeleteWhenever I wanted to watch sporting events I would go to myp2p.eu, and usually be able to see whatever I wanted.
I remember watching the Olympic gold medal game with Flint, and we sang 'O, Canada' to the neighbourhood when they won.
Served 'em right for sending all those goddamn loudspeaker trucks down my street.
With this wonderful technology and Amazon.com shipping books and other stuff to me, I was never really homesick while I was in my apartment. Outside of it was a bit of a different story. I really don't know how the early expats were able to adapt being cut off from home just a few years back (pre-2000).
ReplyDeleteYeah, those loudpeakers on those crappy trucks sucked. I don't think I ever bought anything off of one of them, especially since Costco was a 5 minute walk away and Homever/HomePlus was about 15 minutes away. Also, after my first year, I really learned how ship things (dill pickles, maple syrup, Italian salad dressing, paperbacks, etc.) to myself pretty reasonably. However, South Korean customs did start going through my boxes pretty thoroughly after I sent some powdered sugar through the mail for my French toast and assorted baking. Fresh banana nut muffins and oatmeal cookies were so worth the extra trouble to ship those ingredients. Just getting some different types of Kool-Aid to share with my kids is priceless.
My apartment became a haven for me, and probably Flint, as well. Once you get all this set up the way you want it, why would you go out into a world full of mooks?
ReplyDeleteWell, there were the hotties...
But getting it set up took some time. Finding out where all this stuff was didn't happen for me overnight, but I was pretty comfortable when it finally came together.