Retro TV

 I used to have cable, then satellite, but now I am watching what comes over the air for free. Why? Oh cable and satellite are fine, but I don’t watch as much TV as I used to watch, plus I can fine much of the stuff that I am interested in online anyway.

 I somewhat like this new digital system in that more channels are available, and the picture quality is much better, but I also have found that some of the channels that I used to get I am no longer getting. On one of my tvs, I can get the Oakland channel, but on the other I can’t. If I move the antenna I lose channels, and in some cases pick up channels that I wasn’t getting. Sometimes I wonder if the switch to digital was a plan by cable and satellite companies in order to get all of the tv business in the country. But I am getting off of what this was all about.

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 One of the channels that I get is called RetroTV. I’ve been watching such shows as The A-Team, The Rockford Files,, Adam-12, Emergency, Kojak, Night Gallery, The Alfred Hitchcock Show, and other shows. As I watch these shows, it makes me realize what a waste of time many of the current modern shows are. The modern shows are trying so hard to be so cool and use all of the modern technology that they have forgotten to be what the old shows were, and that being fun. 

 Now the acting may not of been that super, but the from what I recall, the actors of the time seemed happy to even have a job. The amount of money that they were being paid during that time wasn’t that great compared to what actors are getting now, but they seemed to enjoy working. Yeah, some of them thought about the money if there show became popular, but how many of them would walk off or not even bothered to come to the set? Some did, but then they found themselves replaced by someone else.

I was watching a Blake’s 7 marathon a number of years ago on one of the PBS stations and one of the stars of the show was in the studio answering questions during the breaks. He was talking about how the BBC did things, and how it forced the writers really develop the characters. With new shows with the BBC they don’t give them much money to start with so that they have to prove that people would watch and that the BBC should invest more money into the show. If you really want to see it, watch there SciFi shows like Dr. Who, Blake’s 7 and Red Dwarf and their early episodes.

 Maybe this is something that the networks in this country should be doing. Actually they may have been doing it before a while ago, but they need to go back to it. They networks these days are just pumping out junk in many cases.

 If you ever get a chance, watch RetroTV or one of the other networks that show those old shows.

Death Of the Poetry World?

When I was a child, my parents brought me and my sisters up surround and seeing many different things in life. It wasn’t just one style of music, but many. We saw all kinds of plays and movies, and experienced many other things. One of the things that they did was to bring poetry into our lives. As an adult I realize that they did it so that we didn’t live in a limited world.

About 18 months ago, after drifting in and out of it I came back to the world of Poetry and Spoken Word. even though I went to the site for other reasons, I found poetry shows on Blog Talk Radio. I was in a strange mood and wanted to hear some of the old kind of snooty poetry, but I came across a show that had modern day poets and poetry. I got hooked. I found myself listening to many different poetry shows, and even got back into writing it. Then I began to realize something. More and more I was hearing what one person refers to as Pornetry. When I first started hearing it, it was interesting, but then I realized that more and more I was hearing it The open mics I was listening too were becoming more and more less fun to listen to, as I it seemed to be more and more so called poets and spoken word artist dong nothing but Pornetry. Maybe it’s my age, but it is becoming tiring to listen to.

The show that I was most addicted to listening to was only doing open mic a couple of times a month, and it played an interesting mixed of poetry and Spoken Word. Her show would remain in the number one position in the Poetry category. But the format has changed and I find it hard to listen to now, as it is person after person calling in and spitting pornetry. 

 This pornetry thing has grown tiring. 

But something else has been bugging me with the poets and SW shows and that being the lack of support that they seem to have for each other. But this is also true of others that do shows there and at other online “radio” places. I watch as people will come into the chat room and/or will call in, spit a piece, plug their show and leave. Seems to be a real lack of support for show host. I noticed it with my own show. With my show, I have only played my own tracks twice, but I find it funny that when I have asked for them to send tracks to me to use on my show, most of them don’t. it would seem as though they would want publicity for themselves, but I guess that they don’t.

I have also noticed a drop in shows. It used to be that I could listen to 30 or 40 different shows, but now it seems to be harder and harder to find any that have stayed around. With most of the shows that are still around, most of them aren’t really worth listening to in my opinion, as they are full of so much pornetry.

Well, if you ever get a chance, come by http://www.gemjin.com one Tuesday at 6pm Eastern if you are interested in hearing poetry that isn’t just porn….