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Kill your television... |
donhonyc
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jan 13, 2003
Posts: 1173
From: The Quiet EAST Village
|  Posted: 2004-03-31 10:36 pm Permalink
..Or just turn it off. Here is a healthy alternative.
http://www.cnn.com/2004/SHOWBIZ/TV/03/31/apontv.tvturnoff.ap/index.html
Unplug the tube. Make Mai-Tais and look at your Tiki lamps instead.
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Shipwreckjoey
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Nov 29, 2002
Posts: 1794
From: San Diego, CA
| Posted: 2004-03-31 11:24 pm Permalink
Amen bruddah! I have three TV's in my house and sometimes I'll come home and all three are going at once...each one on a different channel and nobody's watching! When I first saw your post it reminded me of a song my band used to play - "I Wanna Kill My TV". That was late '70's - early '80's, when the only time we made any effort to watch TV was when a good band was on Saturday Night Live, USA's Nite Flite or a show that aired in L.A. called New Wave Theater. I have to admit, I have certain shows I tune into regularly. Right now I'm watching South Park and later I'll catch the Daily Show and...oh m,God, the kids are being attacked by Mel Gibson! Gotta go. I don't want to miss this.
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donhonyc
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jan 13, 2003
Posts: 1173
From: The Quiet EAST Village
| Posted: 2004-03-31 11:54 pm Permalink
Shipwreck-
All of those shows you mentioned from back in the day were the only ones worth watching. I saw so many cool bands on the ORIGINAL Sat. Night Live. That show did a nose-dive in the 80s but in the late 70s I remember seeing The Specials, Tom Waits, J. Geils Band, etc, and of course the amazing night when the Stones were on. I guess I could say Billy Joel gets an honorable mention too when he appeared on there. He was kinda gritty back then. SNL would've never considered putting on someone like Britney Spears on in those days. I guess her equivalent back then would be like Marie Osmond or something. Could you imagine them putting HER on? Yeah...backstage doing lines with Belushi! Today they'll put anybody as musical guest on SNL. The only prerequisite for that is to play sucky music and be in the Billboard top 10.
I miss Nite Flight, I wish that was still on. As I recall New Wave Theater was also on the USA network. I saw it in Florida bakc then. Wish someone would put a DVD compilation of that show out.
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Polynesiac
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jan 29, 2004
Posts: 2020
From: San Pedro, CA
| Posted: 2004-03-31 11:55 pm Permalink
Your post name reminded me of that wacky double bass guitar band Neds Atomic Dust Bin. Kill Your Television was one of their "radio" hits.
Anyway, I can't agree more.
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Polynesiac - putting the "F" back in "ART"
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TikiGardener
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 24, 2002
Posts: 1359
From: 1st website dedicated to Tiki Gardens
| Posted: 2004-04-01 12:19 am Permalink
I miss Uncle Floyd. I remember catching the broadcast debut of The Ramones on Uncle Floyd. Dammit! I miss his sarcastic side kick hand puppet Oogey!
Oogey for President!
TG
[ This Message was edited by: tikigardener on 2004-04-01 00:20 ]
[ This Message was edited by: TikiGardener on 2004-04-01 01:20 ]
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Tiki_Bong
Deleted
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 0 | Posted: 2004-04-01 10:01 am Permalink
Hey! How come when I bring up a "Kill Your Television" thought I get hammered?
(nevermind)
_________________
"I'm ashamed to be here, but not too ashamed to leave..."
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thejab
Grand Member (first year) 
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 2984
From: Forbidden Island, CA
| Posted: 2004-04-01 11:29 am Permalink
Quote:
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On 2004-03-31 23:54, donhonyc wrote:As I recall New Wave Theater was also on the USA network. I saw it in Florida bakc then. Wish someone would put a DVD compilation of that show out.
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Shipwreckjoey and donhonyc and whomever else might be interested - I have 2 videos of New Wave Theatre that came out in the 80s. Bands include Black Flag, Dead Kennedys, Suburban Lawns, Unknowns, Blasters, Top Jimmy, and plenty of awful bands too. I can copy them. Perhaps we could make a trade for something.
I have to admit I watch TV more frequently on TV since I got Direct TV with TIVO. I mostly watch movies but when I do watch commercial TV I just skip through the ads!
Turning your TV off for a week because other people are doing it seems silly to me. That's news? Perhaps to Corporate Numbing Network it is. If people were really concerned about TVs affect on society they would get rid of their TVs for good. (how's that Bong?)
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donhonyc
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jan 13, 2003
Posts: 1173
From: The Quiet EAST Village
| Posted: 2004-04-01 11:51 am Permalink
Jab-
I agree with you on gettiing rid of your television all together. I think the only thing that keeps me from getting rid of my TV, or more specifically cable service, is VH1 Classic. Yeah, I like watching CNN, etc. but I think I could probably do without it. I've thought that in the future (perhaps the very distant future) I would get rid of the TV in my kid's formative years, should I have any kids. There are way, WAY too many opportunities for kids to be watching TV these days. Not just programs, but DVDs and videos. I know of one family that has two toddlers and they have TONS of kid's movies on DVD, and it seems sometimes that that's ALL these kids do. Sorta drives me nuts when I actually see that.
On the original subject, I think if you can get people to consider an alternative to TV for a week, it may be silly for some, but it's not a bad idea.
Thanks for the offer on the New Wave Theater stuff. I would love to see that, but I got rid of my VHS player. I have become a DVD snob.
[ This Message was edited by: donhonyc on 2004-04-01 11:53 ]
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Atomic Cocktail
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jun 25, 2002
Posts: 921
From: Land O' The Next Big One-L.A.
| Posted: 2004-04-01 6:33 pm Permalink
How about "Use Your Turn Signals Week" instead?
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tikifish
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 2720
From: Toronto,Canada
| Posted: 2004-04-02 06:15 am Permalink
Getting rid of your TV for the betterment of your kids sounds like a good idea, but remember, they will be mercilessly teased by their classmates for not knowing what's cool or who's in or out or the latest music video or whatever. They will be seen as freaks, only one step away from the Amish.
I would reccommend keeping the TV and going for the 'one hour a day' rule or something like that, if you don't want them to become social pariahs.
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donhonyc
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jan 13, 2003
Posts: 1173
From: The Quiet EAST Village
| Posted: 2004-04-02 07:31 am Permalink
Tikifish-
I hear you, and that thought has crossed my mind about being a social pariah and all that. But I think I would rather have a kid that was teased about not being a fan of Britney Spears, for example, than actually being a fan of hers. But yeah the one hour a day thing might work also...but then again I may never have kids and I can just keep the kegs, Mai Tais and nudity goin 24/7 here in my 'clean' home. Woo-hoo!!!
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Johnny Dollar
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Oct 01, 2003
Posts: 2916
From: Baltimore, Maryland, PNG
| Posted: 2004-04-02 07:49 am Permalink
we prefer to use the TV as a monitor into which we can input content of our choice... of course the wahine needs her oprah fix every now and then, and i figure that's a tradeoff for putting up with my drinking beer in bed and occasionally blasting my old raucous TDK's in the basement...
as far as the kids, with my folks i felt that TV was a privelege to be earned by not being a total screw-up. of course for us that's all a theoretical approach until we actually have some lil menehune runnin around...
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tikifish
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 2720
From: Toronto,Canada
| Posted: 2004-04-02 08:08 am Permalink
It's more than just Britney Spears though - we forget how much of our information and knowledge about what's going on in the world comes from TV. Kid's don't read newspapers, nor do they listen to news radio. So although it seems like a cool idea to kill the TV, it may not be as simple as that.
I know 2 kids who were brought up without TV, not allowed to eat at McDonald's, etc, and they were definitley seen as weird, overly sheltered wussies by the other kids. And when you're a kid, peer acceptance is crucial. It can effect your whole life.
Better to do what my parents did - shame me into watching good TV or turning it off by casually teasing me whenever I watched 3's Company or The Love Boat - 'Watch much more of that and your brain is going to turn to mush!'.
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Johnny Dollar
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Oct 01, 2003
Posts: 2916
From: Baltimore, Maryland, PNG
| Posted: 2004-04-02 08:16 am Permalink
another reason we don't have cable besides the $$$ is that if i had 24-hour access to t.v. land i would probably watch 'get smart' instead of going to work 
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donhonyc
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jan 13, 2003
Posts: 1173
From: The Quiet EAST Village
| Posted: 2004-04-02 08:24 am Permalink
Tikifish-
I don't think kids really care about the news so they're not gonna watch it anyway. And yeah, I agree with you on 'good TV'. I think today though, there are more (bad) opportunities for kids to watch TV than good. Back in the 70s morning and afternoon was the time for kids to watch TV. My big fave was 'Zoom'. After that it was 'turn the channel to the Merv Griffin Show/Mike Douglas Show for grandma' (anybody say 'turn' the channel anymore?). Kids today have an endless supply of shows and DVDs. Dora, The Wiggles, Baby Einstein, and several Disney computer animated feature films. It's endless.
Personally...somewhere there around 1980 I didn't care about TV anymore, and I'm not sure how that happened because the TV seemed to be on all the time in our house. By that time, I just wanted to go in my room, shut the door, put the head phones on, and blast Zeppelin, Sabbath or whatever (probably responsible for my bad hearing these days).
[ This Message was edited by: donhonyc on 2004-04-02 08:26 ]
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