After many long, loyal years together and much soul-searching, I've finally decided to end my long-term relationship - with my cable company. With a cable service, period.
I tried to make a clean break a year ago, but was lured back in with a year-long promotion rate, but with that ending, so did any desire to pay $700-plus a year. With my hard-earned (and limited) income, I'd rather give to companies that are more in tune with my values, like public radio. Cablevision doesn't come close.
It's not you, it's me.
Okay, honestly, it's mostly you. Television, in my opinion, is at the lowest standard I can remember ever seeing it, and yes, I mean all of those reality television shows. The Kardashians, really America? I don't think women fought through the rights movement to plunk themselves on the couch night after night to take pleasure at the dysfunction or vapidness of others, which seems to be the latest national pastime. People need all these high end television screens for that? These social climbing swindlers simply want to exploit their fame for profit.
I'm staging a television intervention and I'm looking at you, fellow Americans. I understand "guilty pleasure" - but is pleasure defined by Botox-riddled housewives so we can feel better about ourselves? Thinking about the time people spend watching them leaves me feeling worse.
Family sitcoms and programs - remember those, the ones parents could watch with their children without either being embarrassed by a line? My sister and I loved watching reruns of Little House on the Prairie and The Brady Bunch. Later, The Wonder Years was a cherished show. One of our beloved shows we always want to see - I Love Lucy. What are some of your favorites, and are you as disappointed as I am?
As I get older, I realize how truly fast time goes and how precious it is, and don't want to waste it on mindless television. Wynton Marsalis is so right - what a rich cultural heritage we have and I feel a better person having seen James Cagney and Ruby Keeler tap dance in Footlight Parade (from a library copy). My new favorite movie star: Dick Powell. I've also been reading far more often (the latest, Laura Hillenbrand's World War II epic, "Unbroken," which I believe should be taught in American schools).
One hiccup: reception is a major issue. All I ask is for the basic channels: CBS, ABC, NBC and Thirteen, and I'm struggling to get them. As my boyfriend likes to say, much like bottled water, they've sold the public on what they once got for free. But I'm not paying for a service - I can watch 60 Minutes or the nightly news online.
Cablevision - you and I are through.
Showing posts with label Wynton Marsalis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Wynton Marsalis. Show all posts
Friday, February 25, 2011
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Classic Obsessions
It's 2011. Can we go back? Decades in time? Am I the only one who pines for a time machine? I sometimes feel like I'm an 85-year-old at heart trapped in a 35-year-old's body in terms of the popular culture. It's time to turn to the classics.
I think American television may be at its lowest level of creativity, intelligence and just plain decency - ever. Why would I want to "keep up" with talentless social climbers trying to exploit fame to get every marketing deal they can? My time is too valuable for that.
This year, I'm tuning out more tv and turning on classic DVDs. No need for an additional monthly bill of a Netflix account. Libraries offer an abundance of films at a price everyone can afford - free (or a nominal fee at most).
I spent New Year's Day in the company of a star: Gene Kelly in "An American in Paris."
Classic music. The Forrest Gump soundtrack, $2, filled with American classics which will make for good road trip music, and French pop icon Serge Gainsbourg's Comic Strip cd, $1, from New York City's Housing Works thrift shop. Shop Housing Works online. If you're willing to mine through the cd collections at thrift stores, you can find some treasures. Or, peruse your library's collection.
Classic jewelry - pearls. A pricey gift from my sweetheart? No way. These are hand-me-downs from my mother's jewelry box. I prefer second-hand jewelry any day.
Pictured with my thrifted mint green vintage apron, $1 from C.A.T.S. Resale Shop, and my Hollywood Cocktails book. A favorite classic cocktail: kir royale.
Classic bathrooms?
Photo courtesy of SaveThePinkBathrooms.com
"Pink has come back into vogue, with more people...embracing their vintage pink bathrooms rather than taking a sledgehammer to them, The New York Times reported. So much of our view is psychological, and how often I've heard people complain about their "dated" home interiors. Reshaping your thought process - consider a room to be vintage, classic, Americana - and celebrate what we have instead (and save a fortune in the process).
I, for one, have stood many a time in people's pricey remodeled kitchen, bathroom or other thinking, I liked the "before" better. Although as a renter I have little incentive to make major changes, I still embrace my robin's egg blue bathroom from the 1960s.
Classic education. When asked in a 60 Minutes interview if he was concerned the younger generation wouldn't know who Duke Ellington is, Wynton Marsalis said he's disappointed some in his own generation doesn't know, and rightfully lamented over "the failure of our educational system to deal with cultural education."
"It saddens me for us as a nation because we have such a rich cultural heritage and...we would make such better decisions if we could understand what brings us together.
The arts are our collective human heritage. You're a better person if you know what Shakespeare was talking about. If you know what Beethoven struggled with, if you know about Matisse. If you know what Louis Armstrong actually sang through his horn, you're better. It's like you get to speak with the wisest people who ever lived."
I think American television may be at its lowest level of creativity, intelligence and just plain decency - ever. Why would I want to "keep up" with talentless social climbers trying to exploit fame to get every marketing deal they can? My time is too valuable for that.
This year, I'm tuning out more tv and turning on classic DVDs. No need for an additional monthly bill of a Netflix account. Libraries offer an abundance of films at a price everyone can afford - free (or a nominal fee at most).
I spent New Year's Day in the company of a star: Gene Kelly in "An American in Paris."
Classic music. The Forrest Gump soundtrack, $2, filled with American classics which will make for good road trip music, and French pop icon Serge Gainsbourg's Comic Strip cd, $1, from New York City's Housing Works thrift shop. Shop Housing Works online. If you're willing to mine through the cd collections at thrift stores, you can find some treasures. Or, peruse your library's collection.
Classic jewelry - pearls. A pricey gift from my sweetheart? No way. These are hand-me-downs from my mother's jewelry box. I prefer second-hand jewelry any day.
Pictured with my thrifted mint green vintage apron, $1 from C.A.T.S. Resale Shop, and my Hollywood Cocktails book. A favorite classic cocktail: kir royale.
Classic bathrooms?
Photo courtesy of SaveThePinkBathrooms.com
"Pink has come back into vogue, with more people...embracing their vintage pink bathrooms rather than taking a sledgehammer to them, The New York Times reported. So much of our view is psychological, and how often I've heard people complain about their "dated" home interiors. Reshaping your thought process - consider a room to be vintage, classic, Americana - and celebrate what we have instead (and save a fortune in the process).
I, for one, have stood many a time in people's pricey remodeled kitchen, bathroom or other thinking, I liked the "before" better. Although as a renter I have little incentive to make major changes, I still embrace my robin's egg blue bathroom from the 1960s.
Classic education. When asked in a 60 Minutes interview if he was concerned the younger generation wouldn't know who Duke Ellington is, Wynton Marsalis said he's disappointed some in his own generation doesn't know, and rightfully lamented over "the failure of our educational system to deal with cultural education."
"It saddens me for us as a nation because we have such a rich cultural heritage and...we would make such better decisions if we could understand what brings us together.
The arts are our collective human heritage. You're a better person if you know what Shakespeare was talking about. If you know what Beethoven struggled with, if you know about Matisse. If you know what Louis Armstrong actually sang through his horn, you're better. It's like you get to speak with the wisest people who ever lived."
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