  I just got us a satellite dish. This, in itself is pretty cool. However, there is the old adage that the more choice one has, the harder it is to find something that actually interests one. This applies to everything from restaurant menus to clothing to television. The fact is, I have been flipping thru channels the last few days and either finding nothing that I WANT to watch, or finding something that I WANT to watch, only to find that the schedule is fucked up and whatever isn't really on.
Tonight, for instance, I was flipping thru the program menu. I came across something called " urlLink Amish in the City ". Is this a documentary? Is it a drama? ... a comedy? ..."reality TV? I don't know, because, while the show was supposed to be on, what WAS on appeared to be another of those fucking "reality TV" things about teens in an apartment. So, I flipped to the "Info" feature and I read "Amish experience the tradition of rumspringa". First of all, this isn't info, as I have no idea what the fuck "rumspringa" is. That is fine. I can look it up, but I shouldn't have to. It turns out that the program is, indeed, a reality TV show, about Amish teens in the city, living in an apartment, with a bunch of "city teens". "AMISH IN THE CITY will provide a unique look into the Amish journey of discovery, known as rumspringa, through a group of young adults who have left their spiritually devout, rural communities to experience life in the big city. In subsequent episodes, the show will follow the stories of the five Amish young adults and their six roommates from diverse backgrounds as they learn to live with each other in the Hollywood Hills.
The show will chronicle how relationships develop and viewpoints collide in a house shared by young people from very different cultures, while also introducing viewers to the intensely personal Amish coming-of-age experience, called rumspringa. From moments serious and significant to lighter and trivial, cameras catch everything as the Amish journey outside their quiet rural areas and are gradually introduced to both the delights and challenges of modern metropolitan life. " I won't go into the fact that living in a big house in the Hollywood Hills is hardly going to give these kids an idea of real life and a life that most urban kids live....
The point is that out of 200 channels, 150 have "reality shows" of the same ilk, and I am really pissed off. Being pissed off has inspired me to do a blog about my TV-watching adventures. This is actually pretty inspired (at least I think so) since I have no life, and I spend most of my time on the computer and watching TV.... simultaneously. Is it any wonder that I never get to bed at anything CLOSE to a reasonable hour???? The good news is that I flipped right past this little "gem" and happened on a documentary called "Vinyl", which as the title suggests, about records. More accurately, it is about people who collect records, some passionately and others obsessively.
Since I have a modest vinyl collection, it struck me as particularly interesting. What was more interesting was that I happened to tune in just at the beginning of an interview with an acquaintance, the brother of a good friend from college, Geoff Pevere. Geoff is a movie critic, and has co-written a book called "Mondo Canuck". I will devote another entry to this program. Oh! And my TV is dying. I am surprised it has lasted the weekend. SIGHHHHH..... *Rumspringa: a time in which Amish youth leave their cloistered lifestyle and explore the world. The translation is, essentially, "running wild". 
