Centuries of Television

Televisions were first commercially available in 1938. Since then, there has been a slew of nonstop entertainment, education, and reality-based programming to air on said TVs. However, I have had an epiphany when it comes to television: in 200 years, TV will be unbearable to watch. Think about it. How many shows have you watched over the years where you think to yourself, “I have seen this before.” With the tired old storylines, redundant characters, and ridiculous plots every show eventually gets to, it has literally all been done before. It has reached a point where we prefer to watch actual people on “reality” television rather than sit down and try to watch a scripted show. Moreover, my point is driven further home by the fact that now there is a nonstop cavalcade of remakes like Quantum Leap, Walker, Macgyver, and Magnum P.I.; reboots like iCarly, Frasier, and The Wonder Years; and spinoffs like Young Sheldon, 1883, and the 80^th version of NCIS. The current trend making its way through Hollywood is taking an animated show like One Piece or Avatar: The Last Airbender and making it with live-action people, which personally takes some of the fun out of it for me. It is amazing to me. We are less than 100 years into commercial television and we are already this desperate to make watchable programming. Can you imagine what it will be like in 200 years? There will be no way to stomach the garbage that will be on our sets by then. With any luck, by then, there will also be another 200 years of books to read. Although with the knowledge that 50 Shades of Gray was originally a Twilight fanfiction, hope that the books will be a better form of entertainment is as much a mystery as who shot J.R. But that is just one man’s opinion. Thanks for listening to me ramble. I appreciate it. See you next time.

Parenting is Necessary

It is around every corner. It is in every school, supermarket, and courtroom. It is directly affecting your children. No, I am not talking about drugs. I am talking about the lack of parenting. I find it extremely annoying that it almost has to be a newsflash to certain parents that their kids are not going to raise themselves. They need proper guidance and attention so that they don’t end up on an episode of cops or worse. It’s truly flabbergasting. People progenerating and not realizing how much actually goes into being a parent. However, it needs to be addressed that parenting is not like folding a fitted sheet. It doesn’t take an expert, and there is not some fancy set of tricks to raising a child. A parent’s main objective is to teach their children how to be respectful and productive members of society. Now the nitty-gritty of how this is done is a little different for everyone. Some have a natural instinct. Some have to read Lipschits. Some believe in the way of the paddle. Any way you spell it, it is usually the same end result. Teach them the basics of being a law-abiding citizen, a decent human being, a working-class civilian, and most importantly a willing learner for more advanced lessons. Put them through at least high school, make them understand the value of a dollar, and for the love of God, teach them how to operate as a person in the modern world. (i.e. washing clothes, phone etiquette, safe sex, etc.) Now don’t get me wrong, I do understand this is a lot, but there is a reason that being a parent was labeled as the most important job an adult could take on in days prior. It was because even though hatching the kid is not difficult, transforming the kid into an adult themselves takes a bit of work. So, to all the parents, or future parents, out there, let’s all agree to make our children better adults, and potential parents, than we were. Let’s all agree to not just coast through our children’s lives riding on that #1 parent mug we got. Let’s try to actually make it true with every cup of coffee that goes in it. But that is just one man’s opinion. Thanks for listening to me ramble. I appreciate it. See you next time.

Celebrities and Sharing

It is our daily routine in modern times. We wake up, check social media, and then post our own tid-bit about our daily lives. Eventually throughout the day, and during our boring jobs, we get a break and do it again. In fact, we do this multiple times a day, every day, and that is modern technology at play. We have become accustomed to it, and there are not many people we know that don’t do the same as we do. However, we are thoroughly surprised when celebrities, with all their fame and potential following, refuse to follow this pattern. It might surprise some people to know that there are many celebrities without a Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or even an email. I commend those celebrities because they understand that their body of work will never be dependent on how many followers they can gain on Youtube. It will depend on how good at their craft they are. Whether they act, sing, dance, or otherwise, their paycheck will be determined majorly by the mastery of their craft. Furthermore, I appreciate the fact that every celebrity doesn’t feel the need to blow up the internet every time they dye their hair or have a new beau. These celebrities want the ability to get married and have children without anyone knowing, save a few close family members. I think the general public needs to respect that and reevaluate their assumptions that celebrities’ private lives should be public knowledge. Because the truth is, it’s not and any expectation that a celebrity should share more than they feel comfortable is toxic behavior by their fans and is not fair to a person that literally has to wear a wig when they go into public. Most of the time, if we are patient, they will sit down with Oprah and spill everything. I find sitting in front of the Telly for an hour or two on a random Wednesday a great waste of time. Although, I also enjoy a good read of a tell-all book, or as some may know it, the old version of Twitter and Instagram. But that is just one man’s opinion. Thanks for listening to me ramble. I appreciate it. See you next time.

A Wittle Old to Get in Twouble

I have been on this planet for around 30 years and one of the things that always surprises me is how many people actively worry about if their day-to-day actions are going to get them in trouble. What I mean is they, as grown adults, are worried about people saying something to them, or chewing them out, as one person I know put it, for just doing what they need to do during a day. I have had coworkers with this mentality. They worried that the boss might be listening or they skipped one step in a process, nothing was harmed, and yet they sat and chewed their fingernails over if someone would find out. First of all, let’s just level and say that, as a grown adult, we have the rights to do just about anything we want, within reason, of course. We can eat what we want, sleep whenever, watch as much TV as our brains can handle, and, overall, just enjoy ourselves as human beings. Second, let’s all agree that the phrase “getting in trouble” is not the right terminology. I am not saying there are not repercussions for our actions. That is just not true. For instance, at work, for not doing what we are supposed to do or intentionally doing it wrong, we can be docked pay, made to take mandatory time off, or even handed a pink slip. In society, if we mess around we can be arrested, charged for our crimes, packed in a barred cell, and even given the electric chair if we mess around enough. However, in all of these cases, we are not getting stood in the corner, or being put in a time out, or having our hands smacked with a ruler. In fact, we are allowed to thoroughly object to those scenarios. I don’t know, maybe I am just mincing words. Maybe “getting in trouble” is a nicer way of saying something more derogatory. I just think that people that stand around worrying about if life is going to paddle their backside are missing out on bending some rules and having a funner time with everything they do. But that is just one man’s opinion. Thanks for listening to me ramble. I appreciate it. See you next time.