Not so black & white.

Life's Ups and Downs

The lame shit you might write in a diary that you hope no one reads, but I'll be posting it here.
There was a time when we didn't have constant access to entertainment, but with the advent of the internet and progress in technology we have almost limitless choice now.

In fact it wasn't that long ago we had just two channels, neither of which started till late afternoon (and both finished at midnight). I'm kind of glad that we didn't have more to choose between though, because I was the remote control at the time. I'd usually sit on the floor near the tv because it was so tiny, but also it meant not having to walk across the room every time someone wanted the channel changed.

Our first tv was a black and white portable, I got so used to watching it I could almost identify colours by their shade of grey (or so I thought). My mam would ask questions like "what happened to detective investigating the case" and I'd be like "that guy in the blue suit framed him". She'd glance at me with a slightly confused look on her face and then back at the screen where everyone was dressed in shades of grey.

Eventually we got a second-hand colour tv that looked like something Ron Burgundy might own, with a rich mahogany finish (but was actually cheap plastic). For about six months we got to see everything in living colour, until the night Roger Moore turned up in 'GOLD' (as usual the films on tv were generally at least ten years old).

So there I was watching Roger do his thing, and it got to the scene where they blow up the mine.
I'm not sure if it was the noise of the explosion, the sudden flash of brightness or just coincidence but just as the mine blew up BANG the tv exploded. For a few seconds I sat there in shock with the hairs standing on the back of my neck, partially due to fright and partially to do with the sudden burst of static electricity.

The white dot at the center of the screen faded away as a small puff of black smoke exited the back of the tv, hailing its demise. I never did see the end of the film, which is odd as it's so accessible with today's technology. Maybe because we have so much choice now it makes the decision on what to watch harder.

Back then you couldn't pause live tv, you could only record one channel at a time, so you had to really invest something of yourself to watch a film. You had to be present in the moment because if you missed something then you might not see it again. If you had to take a piss or make a sandwich, it was like - which do you want more, do you want to fulfill a basic human need or do you want to find out what happens..... (As it turns out most of us would rather feed our curiosity).

Usually I try to finish this up with a point, so here it is.... Next time you're doing something try to be present. Sure you could look at your phone while you also try to watch a film, or message your friends on facebook while you ignore the person who actually chose to hang out with you. But in life you can't rewind to a moment or pause time, and just like watching that old tv life poses the same question "which do you want more" to be present or.....

Keeping it brief this week, not sure about working in a message each week as I don't want the blog getting all "Party of 5" or "7th Heaven" which ever one used to get all preachy at the end.

Chat to you next time