Word of the Day

Flatulence (n.), emergency vehicle that transports the victims of steamroller accidents.

We had a black & white television when I was growing up. It had a dial to control the channels. No remote. There were four channels and the TV stations stopped transmitting at midnight. At this time the American Flag was shown and the National Athem was played followed by a "test" pattern which was displayed until the stations resumed transmission later that day. I remember Popeye cartoons before people became afraid that they were too violent and had to be tamed. I remember Mighty Mouse, the Three Stooges, Laurel and Hardy, Abbot and Costello, Romper Room along with countless other shows, black and white movies where I imagined the colors of the dresses the actresses wore, the Macy's Day Parade in black and white where the announcers told you the color of the floats, I remember watching rockets take off and the moon landing. There was so much to see on our black and white television. We'd all sit in front of our one set as a family and my parents would occasionally remind us of a simpler time when the family would all sit in front of the radio before there was TV.

I remember our first color TV set. We had one. No remote. And the black and white TV was still around to entertain my Mom while she ironed clothes. We still only had the four channels. I was addicted to Star Trek. We never missed Laugh-In. And I loved Three's Company. I still watched my black and white movies in black and white. I was dazzled by the colors of the Macy's Day Parade. No one had to describe the colors but they still did. We still watched rockets take off into with the white exhaust clouds a startling contrast to the blue sky.

We have a color television now. Several of them. I can't tell you how many channels we have available to us on our cable TV. Despite the number of channels available to me, there is rarely anything on TV these days that I'd like to watch. I pretty much stopped watching TV when Reality TV hit the airwaves. I'll still take the time to watch Monk, a very few movies that I wouldn't spend actual money to watch in the movie theatre, and I think there's a show called Medium that might prove interesting. For the most part, I'd rather pick up a book and spend my time reading. I'm amazed at the amount of infomercials there are. Some people must watch those reality shows or they wouldn't be on the programming schedule. I don't watch them. Most of the remaining sitcoms depict spoiled rotten kids who are supposed to be role models for our future generation. None seem to show an ounce of respect for their parents. I watch the news but I get most of my news these days off the internet or on my AM radio station. It's much easier to listen to the radio while I surf the net or try to settle down to go to sleep at night. They still have old black and white movies on some of the TV channels. I watch those but sometimes they "color" them and it kind of spoils things. My imagination was far more colorful then any color they can dream up. I suppose I finally understand my Grandmother's motives for turning the color off when she and Grandpa bought their first color TV.

It's funny but I spend more of my spare time these days listening to AM radio then watching TV. The programming on the AM talk radio stations is far more entertaining that what one can see on TV these days. I had my favorite AM station on the other day in the car and my son was laughing at the antics of the talkshow hosts. Apparently I'm not alone in my AM radio interest. More and more people are tuning into KFYI these days instead of the music channels. Gotta love it. Isn't it interesting how so many people are turning away from TV and returning to radio?

Murphyism of the Day

Beryl's Law

The Consumer Report article on the item will come out a week after you've made your purchase.

Corollaries

1. The one you bought will be rated "unacceptable".

2. The one you almost bought will be rated "best buy".