[plug] Re: [OT] Television

[James Devenish]

In message <20040202062848.GF19927 at patrick.wattle.id.au>
on Mon, Feb 02, 2004 at 02:28:48PM +0800, Cameron Patrick wrote:
> I also can't stand Simpsons - and never really have - regardless
> of whatever satirical value it may possess.)

My grandparents are like that.

> Despite this, I stick by my claim that most of what's on TV is pretty
> mindless; certainly most of what I watched falls into this category.

I never intended to dispute either of those.

> The overwhelming majority of TV aimed at children seems to be designed
> to keep them placated and out of their parents' hair,

This strikes me as odd, so I feel the need to insert this disclaimer: TV
might have changed a lot since I watched it has a child. So, I might be
out-of-date with my perceptions of the suitability of free-to-air
television for children.

> I think that it is better to treat it as something moderately special
> rather than considering watching telly to be the normal way for kids
> to kill time between arriving home from school and eating dinner (or
> whatever).

It makes me sad to think of missing out of all my cherished TV memories.
Why, for *years* I was sad about never seeing the conclusion of a
particular cartoon series. A few couple of years ago a Uni, I heard a
song...I was overjoyed to have found someone with video streams of this
series. I cried when I started watching it again! Very strong emotions
from rekindled memories of the captivation I felt when I was young (and
memories of the things that were associated with that programme, like
the people's houses where I watched it). And I can't count the things I
would never have known if it weren't for being introduced to them by
television (maybe I needed a more diverse collection of friends!). And I
used to enjoy watching the evening programmes with by grandparents.

> | > What's a nutriment? ;-)
[...]
> Ahh, thanks.  The smiley was in fact due to my own dimness, thinking
> that it was a typo of "nutrient".  Now I'm not sure what, if any, is
> the difference between the two words...

I tend to avoid using "nutrient" unless I am talking about plants or
have already given an example of a nutrient (i.e. I only use it in
phrases such as "...and other nutrients").