“If you read a lot of books, you’re considered well-read. But if you watch a lot of TV, you’re not considered well-viewed.”
We had our first frost yesterday morning. Grass blades were tipped in white and the windshield of my car was covered. When I went to get the papers, I walked across the grass to hear the crunch. The air was crisp and cold, the sort of cold which takes you by surprise and makes you gasp for breath for just a second.
My computer died Tuesday. It needed help to shut done then refused to reboot. Yesterday afternoon I brought it to my computer guru. It didn’t sound good, but I’ll know more tomorrow. After I left off my computer, I went for a ride down cape in my new car. It was so much fun driving I got all the way to Eastham before I turned around to come home.
When I was a little kid, TV was only in black and white. We’d turn it on and then wait patiently while the picture tube warmed up. The screen sometimes had white lines running across it, snow was common and the picture often jumped up and down. We had a rabbit ear antenna on top which we turned and bent every which hoping to find the best picture. I remember one antenna, a more modern version, had a knob on the front as a tuner but it really didn’t work all that well. We’d extend the ears as far as they could go and they’d get skinnier and skinnier. I remember that after a while the ears would bend so much they’d never go back into the antenna sheath, but none of that really mattered to us. We’d watchhttp://atomic-temporary-5444514.wpcomstaging.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=5039&action=edit regardless. TV was a marvel.
I was either a senior in high school or a freshman in college when my parents got a color TV. Star Trek is what I remember watching first. I guess it was all those red shirted uniforms which made an impression-either that or it was Captain Kirk with a torn shirt exposing his shoulder in just about every fight. The color wasn’t great on that first set, but we were amazed. It sure as heck beat the sheet of plastic we once put across the screen to give us some color over the black and white.
Last night I was watching a movie on my HD TV. It was as if I were there. The colors were vibrant, and I could see every line in the actors’ faces. When I first got this set, I watched hockey, second only to golf as my least favorite sport, but the picture was unbelievable. The ice was bright white, and I could see chips fly into the air when the hockey players braked using their skates. Uniforms, even of the drabbest colors, stood out against the white of the ice. It seemed sports looked the best on an HD set. Baseball was glorious. I could even see a bead of sweat drip down a pitcher’s face.
When I was little, we had only two channels, but I was never bored. Now I have every channel my cable company offers, and I am often bored.
Is there a hockey game?
Explore posts in the same categories: MusingsTags: Antennas, black and white TV, High-definition television, James T. Kirk
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keepthecoffeecoming.blog 
November 4, 2010 at 12:42 pm
Dad had a rooftop antenna and a rotor for our 16″ Hallicrafter. With that we could pick up snowy, but viewable Chicago stations 90 miles away. And sometimes, on a good night 30 miles further to Davenport. Once, during a late night fog we watched Indianapolis – 300 miles to the southeast. We all bragged for weeks.
It’s actually a family legend that he bought our house based on it’s TV reception. Now, with cable we can watch everything but, as you said, get bored with most of what we see. We’re spoiled.
My dad would have loved the VCR and probably driven us nuts with taping every news program he saw. But I fear FauxNews would have killed him faster than the cancer did. And probably have made him suffer more.
p.s.
We’ve a small statue of St. Clare (patroness of television) down in the basement. I bring her upstairs on occasion when cable goes out.
November 4, 2010 at 7:21 pm
John,
Given the father’s propensity to fall or saw himself out of a tree, the last thing we would have needed was him on the roof with an antenna.
We were lucky to get stations in Boston only 12-15 miles away. I would have loved a really far station and would have been right there bragging too.
My parents got a VCR from me, and they never could figure out how to program it. They only used it for movie viewing and even then my sister had to do it.
I didn’t know about St. Clare and television.
November 4, 2010 at 1:36 pm
When HBO created the show “Dream On” they clearly had me in mind. I am a child of the TV generation and proud of it. From Four Feather Falls and Twizzle to The Big C, there has always been something that captured my imagination.
Sports rolled literally through our B/W valve TV as we changed the horizontal and vertical hold, the contrast, the sharpness, all with the assistance of the test card.
The early colour TVs were elsewhere but ours showed up just in time for Smith-Nastase’s Wimbledon final in 1972.
And how times have changed – my daughter and I picked up the new Sony HX800 LED over the weekend and tried on the 3D glasses – we shouldn’t have done that 🙂
I had forgotten to set the DVR for the HUGE match between Tottenham Hotspur and Inter Milan on Tuesday and simply set it via my office computer. I trundled home to see the amazing Gareth Bale shred Maicon …”Taxi for Maicon” chanted the White Hart Lane faithful, and my mancrush on Van Der Vaart continued to grow exponentially.
I make no apologies – bring it all, Football, EPL, The Bachelor, Antiques Roadshow, Amazing Race, Thunderbirds, Peep Show, Not going out…
November 4, 2010 at 7:25 pm
My Dear Hedley,
I have had TV all my life and have no problems admitting in mixed company that I watch TV. I too watch the widest variety though golf and bowling are out. After the last Olympics, I’ve also added curling.
I loved watching the Indian test pattern and used to leave it on until my mother yelled for me to turn off the TV. Manipulating the vertical and horizontal to get the best picture was a rare talent to be cherished.
Tell me about the 3-D.
November 5, 2010 at 9:02 am
The 3-D, not only does it work but it works well.
We didnt buy the package, yet but I have no doubt it will arrive in the next 60 days. Right now, we would be limited to 3-D DVD stuff so that has tempered me a little.
November 4, 2010 at 2:00 pm
My mother never liked those antennas, so she bought one of those You put outside on the house when she bought the tv. When all neighbors that could afford a tv saw how much better picture we had they bought one too 🙂 Soon the whole apartment building had those antennas outside the windows 🙂 🙂
I remember when my grandparents bought a color tv. The first thing i watched was a hockey game. The colors sort of came a second behind the players as they went over the ice 🙂 🙂 🙂
I have one of those old thick tv and it´s only 20 inches wide 🙂 🙂 So when I look at a DVD I always use my old computer that has a better LDC screen and way much better sound 🙂
Have a great day now!
Christer.
November 4, 2010 at 7:26 pm
Christer,
I think we were so close to the city stations that we didn’t need a huge antenna to draw in the stations. If the rabbit ears weren’t enough, we wrap aluminum foil around them and they’d get a stronger picture.
I have an HD set, and I love it.
November 4, 2010 at 3:50 pm
Our first color TV was at home in the summer of 1967. Colors were weird and we had buttons to get the good colors. That year, there was six new teams in the National hockey league. For a long time, I was sure the Philadelphia Flyers had red uniforms, until I saw a hockey card with orange uniforms. Next game of the Flyers on TV : touch the bottons to get the uniform orange. Fun time! Now, I don’t have a TV set since 1999.
November 4, 2010 at 7:28 pm
Mario,
I’m laughing at the oddity of the colors. You are so right the buttons-my father must have played with the color dial during just about every program trying to get the faces to look other than orange.
I like TV and all the varieties of programming available with cable.
November 4, 2010 at 4:28 pm
A friend of mine got one of those huge plasma tv’s. He said he was so entranced by the quality of the picture that he actually watched a baseball game because it was so pretty. He hates sports.
I remember watching the 21″ Classroom in school every day. In black and white, of course. We had to watch the French lesson with Madam Slack. She would point to her ear and command “Ecoutez a moi!” Then she would say something in French, point to the camera and command “Repetez!” We were supposed to repeat whatever it was that she said.
November 4, 2010 at 7:30 pm
Caryn,
I totally relate with your friend. I watched that whole hockey game because it looked so good. I’ve always said sports look the best on TV than any other programs.
We never had a TV in our classroom for lessons. I would have thought it a great idea as we were the first TV generation
November 4, 2010 at 5:09 pm
1. Baseball is not a sport; unless one is discussing T-Ball.
2. Hockey is more serious than mere sport-beingness.
Cheers
November 4, 2010 at 7:33 pm
Minicapt,
You have just shot down my favorite sport, and I’m not using the word sport lightly.
I went to Merrimack College which, even in the late 60’s, was known around here as a hockey school so I went to all the games. I can’t say I actually understood a whole lot and still don’t. It’s just not my taste.
November 4, 2010 at 5:30 pm
My Dad hired a company to put up an antenna on our house that looked like a Mars tracking station. The neighbors thought it soooo tacky. So did my Mother. But we got great black and white reception. Years later when they went to sell that house I helped take the contraption down. Rusted, cracked wires, and some of the wrapping material reminded me of asbestos popping out. It was hauled by the city and we couldn’t wait to wave goodbye. My Dad, God love him, also bought 3 Edsels when they came out. Career military, super hero, but when it came to some things . . . oh well, rest in peace Dad.
November 4, 2010 at 7:35 pm
Z&Me,
At least the antenna worked well despite the grumblings from your mother and the neighbors. B&W sets way back when were just so iffy when it came to reception. We didn’t care. We watched it anyway.
My dad was a brilliant businessman but give him a tool and he was a danger to himself. It was the family joke but not when he could could hear.
November 4, 2010 at 5:32 pm
love the music today kat!
so happy that you are out enjoying your new car!
xoxoxoxoxoxox
November 4, 2010 at 7:37 pm
Splendid,
My music is on a hard drive for my other computer so I used the music I’ve stored on my laptop. These two were easy picks!
The car is great fun.
November 4, 2010 at 6:27 pm
I miss the sound of the tube warming up, and the dot that seem to slowly disappear, and the bright yellow glow from the back of the TV, and the rather gothic picture on our 11″ screen……
November 4, 2010 at 7:39 pm
sblake,
I loved watching that dot disappear and would never turn off the set until it did.
The tubes in the back were amazing. They looked like the scene from Frankenstein’s lab. When a tube went out, my father would pull out a bunch and have them tested. It would take him forever to figure out where they belonged when he was putting them back.
November 5, 2010 at 10:48 am
My Dear Hedley,
You are what the good sisters used to call an occasion of sin. I wish you’d said it was horrible!
November 5, 2010 at 5:50 pm
Not for the first time, I shall fall to temptation
November 5, 2010 at 10:22 pm
My Dear Hedley,
Your enthusiasm then becomes contagious.