| Author |
Subject |
TerryM
Registered
User
(8/24/00 9:36:19 pm)
Reply |
5 Years
TV Free!!!!
Today I mark the 5th anniversary of
getting rid of my TV and getting back so much of my precious
personal time to do the things I want to do. It has been great and I
have not missed it at all. I use the time to practice my cello, to
read, to listen to music and a lot of other useful things. I hated
the way it would capture me and then I would find myself watching it
just because it was on. Highly recommended to all.
Terry
|
Barb2
Registered
User
(8/25/00 9:35:38 am)
Reply |
Re: 5
Years TV Free!!!!
Ah, so that's where you find all
that time to read! Congratulations!
My sister and her husband
decided to go tv free when they married 30 years ago and they
believe that played a large role in the development of their three
very bright children. Youngest Son, National Merit Scholar Finalist,
just left for college...
They did buy a tv a few years ago,
but it is for video only purposes.
I haven't asked all of
them, but Oldest Son (entering Engineering program in grad school)
is convinced this is the way to go and will also raise his children
tv free.
I had a few tv free years myself before I was
married - it certainly does open up free time. But we have opted for
the mini-cable tv which gives us a grand total of four channels. It
does make it easier to turn it off, but my husband still gets his
news and hockey, and the kids get their PMK.
Barb
Edited by Barb2
at: 8/25/00 9:35:38 am
|
David
Sanders
Registered User
(8/25/00 12:35:26 am)
Reply |
I
couldn't give up Buffy.
Sorry, I just couldn't do it.
I
also think there are probably a couple of National Merit Scholarship
winners that were not tv free.
I know that Perlman used to
practice while watching baseball...on tv.
|
Tracie
Price 
Registered User
(8/25/00 1:43:12 am)
Reply |
No
Simpsons?
so tragic...sooo very tragic.....
|
zambocello
Registered User
(8/25/00 1:48:10 am)
Reply |
No
TV?!?!?!
How would I practice?
|
Dorie
Straus
Registered User
(8/25/00 6:00:18 am)
Reply |
Re: 5
Years TV Free!!!!
I'm working on it - I lived tv free
for so many years; even as a kid when they were B&W. (A 'little
kid', that is...)
There are two in my house right now, by the
end of the week there will be one.
The books I've been
reading...ah.
|
Cellisa
Registered User
(8/25/00 6:16:08 am)
Reply |
How do
you survive?
I think,without tv (and I've had a
couple of tv-free years myself),I would,if not die,get very
depressed.
TV is one of the greater gifts to mankind,not counting
the cello, certain types of food,and hot,lovely summer weather(which
we've missed in Norway this year).And;Thank goodness, Buffy'll be
back on the screen in just a few weeks...!(that one's for
you,David...).
Hilde
|
Paul
Tseng ICS Staff 
Administrator
(8/25/00 11:50:09 am)
Reply
 |
It's a
matter of temptation.
I agree being free of TV is a great
thing. I lived that way a couple of years in Baltimore. After I
brought one to my apartment (for watching video tapes of great
msucicians and recording PBS live from Lincoln Center) I began
getting hooked on various shows....and my practicing took on a new
diminsion (or dementia).
Nowadays, though my wife and I HAVE
a TV, I rarely even have time to watch. I ususally just have to say
no and go practice or do whatever else is important. It's that or no
cello....not a tough choice.
On the other hand, my CAT used
to love to watch TV (especially Star Trek). I left him at home once
watching an episode while I took a walk accross the street to buy
him some cat food (you see, he wasn't yet aware we were out of
food.) I quietly left the apartment. When I returned, lo and behold,
he was STILL watching intenetly as A Brog cube attacked the
Enterprise! He never even knew I left.
So I guess one could
say, it's not for me, it's for my cat. He's not going to be a
National Merit Scholar any day soon, so I think it's ok.
You
just have to know when to say "no" to TV.
After all, how can
you go without Star Trek or Frasier?
Paul Tseng, Cello Chat Administrator
Today's Quote
My Website
MP3!
The San Diego Cello Society
|
Paul
Tseng ICS Staff
Administrator
(8/25/00 12:26:45 pm)
Reply
|
DOH!
Paul Tseng, Cello Chat Administrator
Today's Quote
My Website
MP3!
The San Diego Cello Society
|
TerryM
Registered
User
(8/25/00 1:43:23 pm)
Reply |
Re: How
do you survive?
How do I survive? What a strange
question. Quite well, is the only answer I have for it. Getting the
TV out of the house has been a liberating feeling for me. My time is
my own and I do so much more with that time.
"I
think,without tv (and I've had a couple of tv-free years myself),I
would,if not die,get very depressed." Classic symptoms of someone
who is hopelessly addicted.
It is interesting to see how
much TV-watching has become a common denominator in our everyday
culture and when one voluntarily removes it from ones life, how
people respond to this. TV has or should I say, had the potential to
do so much in our society and yet, in my estimation, has fallen so
far short of this potential. In fact I believe it has done more
damage to our society than we know or can even estimate. Content,
for over 90% of what is on the tube, is abysmal at best. Do I really
care who survives a staged, island getaway. NOT! The other 10%
(these are my biased estimates) is given over to programs with some
merit. True we all need a diversion from time to time, but it is the
addictive nature of TV, that I have had to fight against, that
compelled me to get rid of it. Besides, when someone else in the
house has it on it pervades the environment and dictates what other
activities will be, to a large degree.
The responses that I
have had from various friends and acquaintances has been
interesting. Some look at me like I am crazy and others wish they
could do the same. I was at a dinner party a while ago at my
brother's house and he had a group of his friends over and they were
in a very animated conversation regarding, who I thought were some
close friends and the marital troubles these people were going
through. They talked about these people like they were real sentient
beings. I sat there with a blank look on my face and they turned to
me and said, "We are talking about so and so on TV,.. you know." My
response was, "I don't know, I don't have a TV." The conversation
and buzz stopped in mid sentence and they all turned to look at me.
Total silence for about 15 seconds and then they resumed their
former conversation full steam ahead. It was hilarious from my
perspective. They did not know what to say to me. They just stared
at me in silence and then went on talking. They could not fathom
someone who did not have a TV. Interesting.
Terry
|
Tim
Janof
Registered
User
(8/25/00 1:55:02 pm)
Reply |
Re: How
do you survive?
There is a Seattle Symphony cellist
who is also a full-time programmer for Boeing. I asked him how he
found the time to hold down two jobs. His answer: "No TV." I still
say he's probably overly busy, but he seems quite content.
|
phesketh
Registered User
(8/25/00 3:08:32 pm)
Reply |
5 years
no tv
Well for the last 2 years I have
been down to only watching tv if I desparately need something to
crochet to. (1 -2 hrs a week max).
The husband requires
TV/cable so he can see hockey games. He even considered Digital
cable/dish since that would get him hockey night in canada (*real
hockey coverage*) down here in N. Cal.
outside the hockey season
it only gets used for Farscape (and buffy and angel when there are
new episodes).
As for the cats ... they love Warner Brothers
cartoons (not Coyote/Roadrunner though)... but they would gladly
give that up to be read to. (Gotta have a plot though ... they like
Midnight Louie - Carole Nelson Douglas' Cat sleuth, some science
fiction, Peter Rabbit ...Wind in the Willows ... not fond of
romances... they don't seem to follow Dr. Seuss).
Paula
|
MaryK
Registered
User
(8/25/00 3:31:41 pm)
Reply
 |
Re: 5
years no tv
Paula, I hope your husband gets his
dish, it's true, Hockey Night in Canada is a must for a hockey fan!
ESPN is OK, but one really needs HNC's coverage for a real hockey
fix!
I like TV. Won't give it up. Sports, dramas and some
PBS, Discovery and Animal Planet channels are what I watch most.
Rarely watch music programs on the tube, though. Or Survivor-type
shows, shudder shudder.
You know, it's only TV, it isn't a
character defect...
Cheers,
MaryK
Edited by MaryK
at: 8/25/00 3:31:41 pm
|
MusicKid13
Registered User
(8/25/00 3:43:54 pm)
Reply |
No
TV
I don't particularly like tv in
general, only certain shows (SURVIVOR!!!!!!!!!!) I think it might be
cool to go tv free when I grow up, i could certainly adjust. But
right now, about the only way to spend time with my family is to
watch tv with them. Thus, I watch a lot of TV. Bummer.
MusicKid13
|
Len
Thompson
Registered User
(8/25/00 7:07:34 pm)
Reply |
Re: No
TV
Hey! I thought this was an ad for
free TV from some cable company.
Bummer!!!!!
Len
|
Paul
Tseng ICS Staff
Administrator
(8/25/00 7:31:11 pm)
Reply
|
cats?
phesketh,
We're talking about
feline cats, right? Not cute little kids you call "cats"
right?
I've never tried reading to my cat. I don't think he
would really mind though. He thinks when I'm on the phone that I'm
talking to him so he gets all snuggly whenever that happens. So
perhaps that's where your "reading to the cats" idea comes
from?
He loves the cello though. I often find him sitting
right under my cello when I practice! I personally wouldn't want to
be THAT close to any cello while it's playing. TOO
LOUD!
(And, no...he's NOT deaf!) 
Paul Tseng, Cello Chat Administrator
Today's Quote
My Website
MP3!
The San Diego Cello Society
|
Zaraak
Registered User
(8/26/00 6:57:56 am)
Reply |
Re:
It's a matter of temptation.
> I left him at home once
watching an episode while I took a walk accross the street
to
> buy him some cat food (you see, he wasn't yet aware we
were out of food.)
Another tragic case of the boob tube
becoming an electronic baby-sitter! Simply tragic! 
Greg
|
Cellisa
Registered User
(8/26/00 7:24:03 am)
Reply |
Hey,I'm
not an addict!
Ehmm,of course that's exactly what
an addict would say,when confronted with such an
accusation.
Still,I think getting such a label it would require
watching much more tv than I do.AND I know where the "off"-button
is.The case might be that I have too much time on my hands,maybe I
should consider volunteering for some ideal organization(Red
Cross/Amnesty,etc..)? When I'm away from the cello,that is.
By
the way;"How do you survive?",must be taken with a pinch of salt,as
we say in Norway,that is,not to seriously...
Hilde
|
TerryM
Registered
User
(8/26/00 7:58:39 am)
Reply |
Re:
Hey,I'm not an addict!
Cellisa, I did take it lightly as
you intended it. I am the one who had the problem with TV. Whenever
a TV set was on, I had great difficulty not watching it. I even
found the noise of it when it was on in the next room to be
depressing and intrusive. So I would have to say that I did have
real problems with it.
Getting rid of TV is not for everyone
as many people really enjoy their time with the TV and are able to
turn it on and off when they want to. My problem was that I was very
seldom the one to turn it on and it was a constant competition
between my cello practice and others in the house watching the TV.
The louder I would play, the louder they would turn the TV up. The
same thing used to happen to me when I was younger and taking piano
lessons. The TV was beside the piano and when I was practicing my
brother would come in and turn it on.
With the TV gone, I
have so much more time to do what I want to do.
Terry
|
Rebecca1234
Registered User
(8/26/00 10:11:00 am)
Reply |
almost
tv free!!!!
hello
i am almost tv free.
Why??? cause all my favortie shows have either been series
(SURVIVOR!!!!!!!) or they were cancelled (Party of Five, Degrassi
High)
I dont watch alot of tv any ways, when im not in school. I
watch alot of TLC and the Life channel, but thats about
it
rebecca 
|
Jim
Nuzzo
Registered
User
(8/27/00 12:41:44 pm)
Reply |
Re:
almost tv free!!!!
No TV????
As someone who
makes a large portion of his income from the tube (as a
writer/producer of documentaries as well as the on-air political
analyst for New England Cable News) the idea of people being tv free
is like a vineyard owner speaking to a teetotaler...yikes--don't let
this get around or I'll have to back to making an honest living, and
that just won't do...
Jim
|
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Topic Commands (Moderator only)
8/28/00 4:00:26 pm 
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