I am answering MMM’s tag by listing 6 of my quirks, but I’m going to restrict myself to one topic, television!
1. Viewing Time: On average I watch about 20 minutes of live TV per week, and even then only because I happen to be in the living room when one of my sisters is watching.
2. Favorite Program: The perfect TV station plays nothing but Star Trek from all its incarnations (except Enterprise). I recently acquired 5 complete seasons of DS9 as a first step towards setting up my own 24 hour Star Trek Channel! Beyond that I like the Satellite movie channels (on Showtime/Orbit).
3. Commercial Break: One reason I don’t like TV is that I despise commercials. I normally mute the TV during the breaks. In a sense we are the sum of our memories. Some people watch 2-4 hours of TV per day. This means they are subjected to a minimum of 30-60 minutes of commercials. A study where people were shown the first 5 seconds of various commercials established that they were able to recollect the rest of the commercial, even when it’s 10-20 year old. The same people often could not recall what they had for lunch 2 days ago.
Based on American statistics, the average 30 second TV commercial costs a quarter of a million dollars (2.5 million during major sporting events). So what can these companies do in 30 seconds to make you buy their product ? If you’re a kid, it can be as simple as a silly jingle that gets stuck in your head. If they’re targeting mommies, they usually try to make her feel guilty that she wouldn’t be a good mother if she didn’t buy this product for her child. If they’re selling an anti-aging product, they will hire a super-model to make middle-aged women feel ugly. If they are targeting teenagers, they will hawk the “coolness factor” (think of what happens in a soda commercial before and after they open the soda can). Essentially commercials are designed to make you feel guilty, inadequate, unpopular, and sad so that you can compensate by buying their product. Why would you willingly subject yourself to this type of brainwashing ?
4. TV Set: I haven’t owned or purchased a TV for 12 years now. Instead I have been using various “TV cards” which allow you to watch TV on your PC. Right now I’m using a 21″ Samsung SyncMaster 1100DF CRT, but I plan to buy a 30″ LCD soon.
5. Snack Food: I have the urge to consume copious quantities of food while watching TV. It just adds to the entertainment value. In an attempt to keep my thus far unsuccessful diet in tact, I am resorting to fiber rich all-grain crackers!
6. Multi-tasking: One of the advantages of watching TV on my PC is that I can leave the TV software running in a small window in the corner while I browse the net.
If the idea of writing about your quirks appeals to you, please consider yourself tagged!
12 Users Commented In This Post
Posted from
6-7-2008 at 11:09:45
I also have a TV Card installed on my PC and use it a lot even though I do have a large TV set, I even have a habit of having both of them turned on on occasions because I’d rather watch programs on my large TV but at the same time I might want to record something on the PC so i’d have it running on the PC :D
Posted from
6-7-2008 at 11:36:29
I tag myself then :D And I love your take on numero 3. Good stuff!
Those fiber crackers are the best actually. Some of them have chocolate and honey dip and the sort, they taste great! Been such a long time I had a good old kit kat :(
Posted from
6-7-2008 at 11:43:50
Watching TV without watching the commercials is like stealing. How dare you? Do you know how much starvation Haifa Wahbi goes thought in order to please you.
Posted from
6-7-2008 at 12:34:22
bakkouz Good idea, once I get the LCD, I’m considering keeping the CRT just for that reason, plus my video card already supports multiple screens. I just need to get a better CPU like C2D 2.5 or C2E especially for DVD mastering. The ones I created on my P4-3000 freeze and skip :(
KJ Tagteg as much as you want!
Lucky for me (and my diet), I don’t like honey, and can do without chocolate!
mab3oos For me Haifa does it free of charge :P
Posted from
6-7-2008 at 14:35:16
TV for me means nothing anymore … i watch all tv shows online … even BBC ones are now on the Internet … so no need for tv.
… Even arab ones can be downloaded
Posted from
6-7-2008 at 17:51:56
I multi-task aswell or else I feel like a worthless potatoe couch without the potatoe part lol and fruits are my snacks even though it is tempting to junk food my life away.
Posted from
6-7-2008 at 23:28:28
i dont know if this has anything to do with my tags…but the idea of running your life around TV seems very appealing to me…anyway, my snack are usaully a traditional popcorn or my favourite one Noodle Soup believe me it goes with all kinds of movies and TV shows…btw, your tags seem much more attractive than mine…thanks for you time :)
Posted from
6-8-2008 at 15:52:56
Sabeur, yes it’s very easy to donwnload anything new, but in Jordan we have bandwidth limit which means you pretty much download 2 DVD movies, and your connection goes back to modem speed so that’s not practical until we reach the level of internet techonolgy the US had oh 10 years ago, and do away with bandwidth limit.
Batoul, I’m trying to get used to fruits, but I just end up buying a whole bunch and throwing half of it away!
MMM, these are all quirks (eccentricities) of mine but they’re all restricted to one subject. I just decided not to post the rules or tag anyone! I like the instant Ramen noodles where you pour hot water and wait 3 minutes. Its a brilliant invention. It was my pleasure.
Posted from
6-8-2008 at 20:16:15
Star Trek? is it any good? i have always wanted to watch it..bas hesitated because some said its not that good… :S
Posted from
6-8-2008 at 22:39:53
Maher, it’s not for everyone. It’s science fiction, set in the future, but unlike most similar shows, it’s optimistic and somewhat corny in an unrealistic way. You can call it a nerd fantasy :)
Btw the latest star trek show (enterprise) is nothing like the others. It’s like Star Trek Meets Melrose place (a soap opera). I hate it!
Posted from
6-10-2008 at 14:56:11
I Multi-task too .. While watching TV, I pay my bills, paint my nails, check the paper, write letters, make a to do list for the next day, fold my laundry and sometimes send some e-mails.. Not bad !!
By the way am always confused with Star treck..I know they have two, one with Shatner and another with a different actor. So, which one you watch ??
:D
Posted from
6-11-2008 at 08:36:01
Noura, five series, and 10 movies
1. The Original Series (TOS)
- Captain James Tiberius Kirk (William Shatner)
2. The Next Generation (TNG)
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard (patrick stewart)
3. Deep Space Nine (DS9)
- Captain Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks)
4. Voyager
- Captain Catherine Janeway (Kate Mulgrew)
5. Enterprise
- Captain Jonathan Archer (Scott Bakula)
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