tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post34740965238305003..comments2024-03-28T04:30:21.088+00:00Comments on Capitalists@Work: I used to think this was odd..now i'm not so sure.CityUnslickerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15929544047783163175noreply@blogger.comBlogger39125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-81766445066086340222012-11-01T08:40:04.352+00:002012-11-01T08:40:04.352+00:00I chucked away the telly two years ago after progr...I chucked away the telly two years ago after progressively watching less and less over the years. I don't miss it at all.<br /><br />It wasn't just that tv was mostly crap as they say but that it had become increasingly PC. So watching TV often made me annoyed and angry. Getting rid of the TV solved that problem.MarkyMarknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-91635145400112728752012-11-01T06:30:24.456+00:002012-11-01T06:30:24.456+00:00The best entertainment at 'The Turrets', i...The best entertainment at 'The Turrets', is listening to Mrs Scrob's outrage when Dad's Army repeats are delayed an hour to make way for some gormless prat show with unheard of celebs squawking about very little.<br /><br />'The News' really does need to get better doesn't it...Sen. C.R.O'Blenehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07482646859547203051noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-59214416216862315222012-10-29T17:44:17.659+00:002012-10-29T17:44:17.659+00:00Anon 1:13
You're on catch up now.
You are ho...Anon 1:13<br /><br />You're on catch up now. <br />You are however making great points.<br />I could not commit to a 40 season epic. No way. <br /><br />the last sci-fi book i read was lost fleet. Rav reviews. Critics favourite. Already 4-5 books in the series.<br /><br />It was awful. Beyond awful. It was like Demolition Man if you took that tongue in cheek movie seriously.<br />I can't recall ever reading such a lousy, unlikely, wafer thin characters, contrived and silly story.<br />Yet this is a bestseller. A top bestseller.<br /><br />50 shades of grey for the space cadets. Fine as long as you don't stop to think about it in the slightest.Bill Quango MPhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14861116614665461655noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-69869962759581271522012-10-29T13:13:06.410+00:002012-10-29T13:13:06.410+00:00I don't know if the problem is the medium or t...I don't know if the problem is the medium or the format. I've been downloading (pirating) TV shows since 2000 or so when you used to download 450MB VCDs for a 40 minute show from Usenet or IRC fservers.<br /><br />Probably until 2005 or 2006 I had a show to watch every day of the week. I even used to stay up until 2am to download and watch the latest Stargate or Farscape as soon as possible.<br /><br />So I haven't watched TV in the traditional sense for 10+ years but I did regularly still watch TV shows. But the last 3 or so years I barely even watch shows anymore. It's 40 minutes of sitting doing nothing staring at a screen and I just don't have the patience for that anymore. Not to mention the commitment of watching it every week which you can at least reduce by saving up episodes to watch many at once.<br /><br />I wonder if this is why American TV seasons have gotten shorter and most seem to be 7-13 episodes a year now. No-one can be bothered with the filler episodes anymore.<br /><br />But saying all this, watching episodes of Twilight Zone or Buffy on Netflix on your iPhone until you fall asleep is pretty nice (p.s. it's easy to access the US content on Netflix UK if you're willing to pay an extra $5/month).<br /><br /><br />Glad to see others here mentioning that books are also generally terrible. I like scifi but most books, even award winning ones, are as dumb as the shows on the SyFy channel.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-56575240916095128922012-10-29T12:41:26.090+00:002012-10-29T12:41:26.090+00:00BQ said: "Even Jimmy Savile won't make th...BQ said: "Even Jimmy Savile won't make the majority of people lose trust in Aunty."<br /><br />Pity. There's me thinking 'Jim'll fix this'. Budgienoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-12585235176966274712012-10-28T17:50:12.481+00:002012-10-28T17:50:12.481+00:00BQ - Teamwork. BQ - Teamwork. Electro-Kevinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18073103431166273080noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-7902001951002067272012-10-28T17:23:07.075+00:002012-10-28T17:23:07.075+00:00Anon: I read that it would take 80 hours to watch ...Anon: I read that it would take 80 hours to watch all the campaign adverts that have been screened in Iowa in the last week back to back.<br />we never have anything like that. there are very strict regulations on political advertising on TV. And the state broadcaster goes out of its way to pretend to be impartial.<br />The citizens of Ohio and Iowa should be more like Texas or California and pick a party and stick to it. then they are largely left alone, politically.<br /><br />Budgie. I too think the BBC should be sold. not because I'm against its politics,{which i am} but because it just isn't needed anymore. All the best shows would still be made and the sale of the BBC would net a huge windfall. <br />However the nation is not ready for it yet. Even Jimmy Savile won't make the majority of people lose trust in Aunty. <br /><br />BTW the selling off of the BBC would almost certainly result in higher prices for TV. the licence fee, like the NHS, whatever you may think, ARE VALUE FOR MONEY.<br /><br />That does not make either particularly efficient or well run.<br />but they are cheap, as compared to the equivalents any where else in the world. Bill Quango MPhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14861116614665461655noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-90645501324010099582012-10-28T16:33:16.588+00:002012-10-28T16:33:16.588+00:00BQ said: "So..you stopped watching TV 30 year...BQ said: "So..you stopped watching TV 30 years ago. Well..look..its safe to try it again."<br />No, we (chez Budgie) have been TV free for 30 plus years; what I see of it at other people's confirms the decision. <br /><br />BQ said: "You're not some sort of timewarpists?"<br />Isn't that comment a bit .... well ..... 1970s? There's lots more available on the internet - you may have heard of it?<br /><br />The BBC ethos is both odious and insidious, and its being propped up by taxation is the same. Without the BBC we would probably be out of the EU and not suffering the CAGW hogwash. If sacrificing the BBC would get us that, it would be well worth it. In any case if the BBC were sold off as pay-to-view, good programming would not cease and may get better. Budgienoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-46284556279919316162012-10-28T01:50:34.108+00:002012-10-28T01:50:34.108+00:00We got rid of our TV 10 years ago and don't mi...We got rid of our TV 10 years ago and don't miss it. Periodic stays in hotels only confirm we're not missing anything. The curious thing is how the technology improves in an inverse way - definition, colour and sound keep getting better yet the actual product keeps getting worse. I also wonder how it affects politics, at least here in the US. Is it a class thing? All the campaign money spent on TV advertising but only influencing one or two classes - so a disproportionate effect on elections?<br /><br />Glad I'm getting older .........Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-28840723551825947142012-10-28T01:13:45.093+00:002012-10-28T01:13:45.093+00:00I haven't stooped as low as to do a yougov sur...I haven't stooped as low as to do a yougov survey, I must admit!<br /><br />They need to bring back Roger Cook, That was proper TV!Steven_Lhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05029437876479574883noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-6144868916934861232012-10-28T01:11:39.717+01:002012-10-28T01:11:39.717+01:00Demetrius: You watch the footie to classical music...Demetrius: You watch the footie to classical music? How do you cope without Lawro telling you hat's going on?<br /><br />Dearime : The radio is so high because its at work.<br /> Just easier than the TV. Nightime radio is probably less than the TV.<br /><br />Hovis. Growing my parents had two TVs! We were the envy of the Joneses. TV was always, always on. Its the realisation that I often don't turn it on and no one minds that made me think it might have lost its hold.<br /><br />Jan: I would say i watch C4 the most. Then E4. Then BBC1. Then ITV/dave/ and all the rest about the same. BBC4 almost never now they haven't got Madmen.<br />I too think BBC kids TV is alright. Its very much better than it was. One of the office gang remembers watching the test card until watch with mother came on. TV was a real treat.<br /><br />Budgie So..you stopped watching TV 30 years ago. Well..look..its safe to try it again. Terry and June and Robin's Nest are long gone.<br />You're not some sort of timewarpists? Home made wine and fondue of an evening whilst reading the Giles cartoon? <br /><br /> Zebedee: we miss you like, so man. We made Dougals at school out of loo roll inners and yellow wool.<br /><br />Timbo : I once negotiated a work contract that had a clause allowing me not to work Sundays when a grand prix was on. I was that fanatical it was a deal breaker. Now I'm like you. 8 laps in..snore..The other thing that does that is West Ham..zzzz..<br /><br />Dp: Interesting thoughts. - Movies another day i think {but the last mind meltingly good movie I saw was pulp Fiction. Which is fine as its a top 10 all timer.}<br />There is a lot more crap on Tv but there is a lot more TV. Somethings got to fill the schedules. Who remebers when it used to go off after the late film at about midnight. National Anthem and 'don't forget to unplug your set'<br /><br />The BBc was nannying us even then.<br /><br />Anon.9.59pm I think you are correct. The Tv will probably save itself once apple or microsoft start making them . A fold out big TV screen - projection, swipe pad remote networked into all the social media all on screen live comment/news/chat. But it must reinvent.<br /><br />Andrew. very true. Most books are crap. I feel cheated that even the basic thriller/spy books I used to read were far better written than todays multi-authored formulaic books. I'll excuse Robert Harris though he never seems to know how to end his tales properly. And Sansom is alright.<br />As for TV. it was the premier form of entertainment. I just think it no longer is. <br />but neither are newspapers or magazines or the i-spy book of the road. Times change.<br /><br />JH: I do wonder about you sometimes. No bed? A futon? A hammock? Do you have an oven? Or are you back in the homeland in a log cabin with ice vodka and beets and a dodgy internet connection?<br /><br />Ek - I set up up...you knock 'em dead.<br /><br />Steve Hayes. I'd not heard of BBS. Surely though social media is for you? Twitter? Or chat rooms? Or forums?<br /><br />I have never watched Foyles War. Yet it looks exactly the sort of thing I would like. <br /><br />Anon 10.21.<br />I would keep your car seeing as you are using it more than the average per person which is around 6 hours a week.<br />The comparison here would be if you used to use your car 90 hours a week but now only 10, maybe you'd wonder why that is?<br /><br />Steven_L: Sure. TV is still king of entertainment. But only the Olympics or royal wedding or world cup can even get close to the figures for Den and Angie's divorce.<br />{30 million viewers the BBC say}<br />Media says its because there are so many more channels.<br />My observation is I'm not watching those other channels either.<br />And I did, but now I don't . I wonder how many others that applies to? On the balance of comments quite a lot.<br /><br />if you ever do Yougov surveys they ask a ridiculous question.<br /><br />" Have you watched at least 5 minutes of any of the following channels in the last month' and then give a list. What's the point of that? 5 minutes a month? I spend 120 minutes a month brushing my teeth. It seems a contrived safety question for TV execs to say 'we still have X share..carry on.'Bill Quango MPhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14861116614665461655noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-26049639696548905272012-10-27T23:20:37.149+01:002012-10-27T23:20:37.149+01:00When I started to look at blogs I was quite surpri...<i>When I started to look at blogs I was quite surprised to find there seemed to be a large number of people who didn't own a Television. This seemed..well..weird</i><br /><br />I've been hanging around blogs for anout 6 years, hardly watch any TV and am probably a bit 'weird'.<br /><br />Can happily report than when I get away from the PC and go out, to work or to socialise, everyone still watches the various 'trash' on TV.Steven_Lhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05029437876479574883noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-28092785894315082072012-10-27T22:21:19.856+01:002012-10-27T22:21:19.856+01:00I only use my car 10 hours a week. The missus only...I only use my car 10 hours a week. The missus only uses it about 5 hours a week.<br /><br />I'm thinking of getting rid of it, I use it so little.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-26021946400334597492012-10-27T10:03:05.552+01:002012-10-27T10:03:05.552+01:00We have a TV, but the one who watches it most is m...We have a TV, but the one who watches it most is my wife because she's a sports fan. I join her sometimes for the semi-finals, and more often for the finals, but not always even then.<br /><br />I lost what little interest I had when I got a modem for my computer 25 years ago, and it became interactive. I could talk to people and they could talk back. <br /><br />What I loved were BBS echo conferences, which, even more than blogging, were many to many conversations, with people all over the world. It's degenerated since then. Facebook is far too commercial, and conversations tend to be disjointed and trivial.<br /><br />But I did enjoy "Foyle's War" on TV. Steve Hayeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11283123400540587033noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-32522240631829879272012-10-27T01:52:32.654+01:002012-10-27T01:52:32.654+01:00BQ - When did I stop loving the big black box ?
A...BQ - When did I stop loving the big black box ?<br /><br />After her dad took umbrage and said I should stick to my own kind. Electro-Kevinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18073103431166273080noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-33270376167522838922012-10-26T22:34:13.403+01:002012-10-26T22:34:13.403+01:00"the iPlayer requires you have a license if y..."the iPlayer requires you have a license if you watch anything as it happens on TV, so to speak. Watched later, it's fine. Not that I give a flying duck about such distinctions..."<br /><br />This is what the BBC says, but it's never been tested in court ....Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-42000734913662208332012-10-26T22:12:05.675+01:002012-10-26T22:12:05.675+01:00When I started to look at blogs I was quite surpri...When I started to look at blogs I was quite surprised to find there seemed to be a large number of people who didn't own a Television. This seemed..well..weird. Like not owning a phone. Or a microwave. Or a bed.<br /><br />Bill, have you been in my home of late? I have none of those things. I do technically have a phone but it's not plugged in.James Highamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14525082702330365464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-52701677164924990832012-10-26T22:02:37.565+01:002012-10-26T22:02:37.565+01:00We now live in a post scarcity economy as far as e...We now live in a post scarcity economy as far as entertainment is concerned<br />Since mobiles became ubiquitous we also seem to have lost the habit of having to be at a particular place at a particular time <br />Perhaps we are reverting to a pre industrial state<br /><br />Most TV is crap but then so are most books, many films, modern art, amateur dramatics and many other things<br /><br />Hopefully the youth of today will reach a better understanding of the relative merits and real value of various forms of entertainment <br /><br />I think it is not that TV is rubbish but that people of my - our transitional generation expect too much from itandrewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07311993288675111834noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-15533789047850088002012-10-26T21:59:07.047+01:002012-10-26T21:59:07.047+01:00My TV habits have changed, but that's mainly d...My TV habits have changed, but that's mainly due to the sheer amount of crap on TV. Pink Floyd had it spot on.<br /><br />I do use Netflix a lot, either through a tablet or pushed to the TV, as I can access US content.<br /><br />Louie, Breaking Bad, Archer... There's quite a list that, when compared to UK output, is so far ahead as to be laughable.<br /><br />I don't see TV dying as such, I see us consuming it very differently - the day of the static programme has gone, new episode on at 9? No longer a worry if you miss, you can start watching it from the beginning at quarter-past.<br /><br />The effects of this ought to be interesting, as it'll make new TV even more difficult to be made and monetized as people will watch the comfort of the repeats of their choice.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-21799985444431549102012-10-26T16:33:10.688+01:002012-10-26T16:33:10.688+01:00May I strongly and most vehemently nominate Man vs...May I strongly and most vehemently nominate Man vs Food as the show that TVs were invented for?<br /><br /> Reading between the lines and blatantly skewing arguments I think it's not TV that's the problem but the shite that it shows. I happily on a Sunday morning watch a couple of episodes of Lovejoy and bemoan that Scrapheap Challenge has ended, i'll while away any given Saturday afternoon watching a crappy war film or anything with Humphrey Bogart in, i'll trun on, tune in and get high to the Professionals or the Sweeney.<br /><br /> The problem is the shows are pap, drivel, sub par, idiotic, forumalaic, banal, cheap and vulgar, base and curiously popular. TV commissioners always go for safe, reliable, focus group, tried & tested arse waffle and spend the budget on God alone knows what.<br /><br /> I put it to you that TV is ace but it's being starved of decent food and sustained on Big Macs and fries. Mind you, in saying that, cinema seems largely shite too. Can't remember the last decent flick I saw at the bijou, probably Saving Private Ryan.Dick the Pricknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-44015204201529308072012-10-26T16:19:16.825+01:002012-10-26T16:19:16.825+01:00My wife has a TV I have a licence fee ;( She watch...My wife has a TV I have a licence fee ;( She watches the usual stuff: soaps, some talent shows and detective series if they are on and quasi medical documentaries like Ugly Bodies.<br /><br />I Hardly watch it. I used to watch QT every week but now I get the short version here :)<br />I'll watch the F1 if it's on the BBC, but often fall asleep on about lap 10 and wake up near the end - perfick!<br /><br />We don't have sky any more. <br /><br />I have a Times on-line subscription, I know, I know Murdoch etc :( and also read the Telegraph and Guardian on-line for news and reporting contrast! As for "Game shows" I have an on-line poker account - that soon wastes an hour(and usually some money!) Then there are blogs I can spend hours reading blogs and the comments - don't ask me why I have forgotten most of it the next day! That's why I give them up now and again and get other stuff done!<br /><br />Timbo614https://www.blogger.com/profile/14671168026195402267noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-44124799403200429032012-10-26T15:47:53.906+01:002012-10-26T15:47:53.906+01:00When I started work 150 years ago, I always got ho...When I started work 150 years ago, I always got home in the evening just in time to watch the Magic Roundabout, one of the best children's prog ever made in my view - even for adults. Along of course with Tom and Jerry.<br /><br />Booiiing. Time for bed..Zebedeenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-1018979221011528612012-10-26T15:22:20.061+01:002012-10-26T15:22:20.061+01:00We have been TV free for more than 30 years. But w...We have been TV free for more than 30 years. But we have had computers for 20 years.<br /><br />Practically, it was a bit awkward for General Studies, but it sure stopped arguments about what to watch.<br /><br />We did not want to rot the children's brains whilst they were growing since the BBC's world view gets insidiously and relentlessly rammed in our faces, including children's before they learn to discriminate.<br /><br />Nor did we want to pay money to the BBC to further their aims of being an odiously smug branch of the extreme statist Guardian.<br /><br />Budgienoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-65026838692207590692012-10-26T15:13:14.703+01:002012-10-26T15:13:14.703+01:00BQ: Are you a Green survialist Zealot? I aspire ....BQ: Are you a Green survialist Zealot? I aspire ...<br /><br />Seriously though I was less clear I have a laptop, also a large monitor which in effect I use as a desktop but also projection screen which can make movies seem like old style cinema if we need a popcorn family experience. So not anti big screen per se just anti TV. <br /><br />Of course I can always go to the cinema if I need a really BIG screen. <br /><br />At risk of sounding self absorbed: I dont fetishise the TV as an object anymore. I distinctly remember the sway it held over me when growing up, as you described. Now I find them almost a malign presence in the room if left on the the corner droning on with X factor / Jeremey Kyle / Made in Chelsea etc.hovisnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-4575233778255390602012-10-26T14:51:21.640+01:002012-10-26T14:51:21.640+01:00"instead of watching quality entertainment&qu..."instead of watching quality entertainment": you sarcastic brute.<br /><br />We'll catch up with The Thick of It on iplayer. HIGNFY has been so lame over its last two shows that if this evening's is as bad, it'll be the last I watch.<br /><br />So it's just Downhill Abbey, MotD, the eurosoccer on ITV, Inspector Montalbano and the odd Uni Challenge. I expect we'll watch Sherlock and Lewis when they return. We hardly ever watch the news; I hardly ever listen to the radio.deariemenoreply@blogger.com