728th Friday Blog Roundup
A long time ago, back when we walked uphill to school both ways in the snow, there were a handful of television stations. We got NBC, CBS, ABC, PBS, Fox, and channel 20, which was… who knows what. (No one actually watched channel 20.) That was it. If you wanted to watch television, you watched one of those five main stations.
So you always knew when a big event was coming because they would have weeks of commercials ahead of time. Like Circus of the Stars. Remember that? Where all of your favourite television stars would inexplicably do televised circus acts for one night? You could watch Punky Brewster fly through the air on the trapeze or Mr. T ride a unicycle. Or Battle of the Network Stars. Remember that? Where all of your favourite television stars would inexplicably do televised tug-of-war games for one night?
Anyway, the problem with streaming services and too many cable stations is that it’s very easy to miss big televised events. We haven’t turned on Fox in… oh… maybe 30 years, so I would have completely missed the fact that they are doing a live version of Rent this Sunday if Josh hadn’t stumbled across the information. Whether or not we need another recorded version of Rent is beside the point.
That’s what I’ll be doing if I manage to remember this fact for two more days. Which isn’t a given unless I write it down because I will see zero commercials for it between now and then. I miss the old days when there was nothing to watch.
*******
Stop procrastinating. Go make your backups. Don’t have regrets.
Seriously. Stop what you’re doing for a moment. It will take you fifteen minutes, tops. But you will have peace of mind for days and days. It’s the gift to yourself that keeps on giving.
As always, add any new thoughts to the Friday Backup post and peruse new comments in order to find out about methods, plug-ins, and devices that help you quickly back up your data and accounts.
*******
And now the blogs…
But first, second helpings of the posts that appeared in the open comment thread last week. In order to read the description before clicking over, please return to the open thread:
- “The End of Reading as We Knew It” (Lavender Luz)
Okay, now my choices this week.
Risakerslake writes about reassuring herself that she’ll be okay. She explains, “I know I have two embryos who look great. I know I’m having a newish test that can help up my chances of having another baby, but I still feel like I’m here all over again wondering if it’s going to happen for me. I got really lucky once—will I get another shot?” It is, like she says, one day at a time. And that is all you can do when you don’t know the future.
Much Ado About Nothing removed the crib from their room and is thinking about the empty space. The crib hadn’t been used since last summer; it was time to reclaim that area of their room. But she admits, “I came home to that empty space and it took my breath away, I think my heart stopped beating for a moment before it resumed aching in my chest.” It is so hard to look into a space that you wish was filled.
Lastly, Life Without Baby has started a discussion on when people knew it was time to stop pursuing parenthood. Sometimes there is a clear stopping point. Other times, you need to create the stopping point. The post is interesting, but the comments are great, too.
The roundup to the Roundup: Rent is on television on Sunday. Your weekly backup nudge. And lots of great posts to read. So what did you find this week? Please use a permalink to the blog post (written between January 18th and 25th) and not the blog’s main url. Not understanding why I’m asking you what you found this week? Read the original open thread post here.
13 comments
I miss those simpler times. Even though I wouldn’t be able to watch much if I had to watch it live. Wait—I could tape it on the vcr and watch later. That’s what we did back then.
I just had this exact same revelation last night. I wanted to watch something I had recorded but something was wrong with the recording so I watched it OnDemand instead, and was forced to deal with commercials. I found that so annoying but also saw the commercial for Rent, which I knew nothing about. There’s just so many options for ways to watch things that everything is overwhelming.
I remember those times fondly. And I think we need them back because the current set up is just too much and resulting in burnout. I actually watch less TV because of all the options and I suspect I’m not alone (would love to see the numbers on this one).
I think it was better to have less TV, and TV on demand, because honestly, like books, it was easier to browse … while you know about the big events coming, you also could sit down and decide to watch TV. You might happen upon something you didn’t expect. Or you gathered around with friends or family to watch something at an appointed time every week. It was on the one hand less insular (as in, you could get out of your bubble) and on the other hand more likely to build community (because it was an event). I miss those says. While I don’t remember Circus of the Stars, there are other things I do remember … like the Sunday night Disney movies (Escape to Witch Mountain, anyone?) or other stuff like that, which was such a formative part of my childhood …
@Justine:
We must be about the same age…yes I remember Disney night and escape to witch mountain. I remember battle of the network stars but not circus, maybe that was after my childhood.
Also: wide world of sports on Saturday afternoon (“the agony of defeat” skier!)…mutual of Omaha’s wild kingdom…schoolhouse rock “Lolly lolly lolly get your adverbs here”…
Thanks, Mel ❤️❤️
Oh man, I DO remember when that’s all the channels there were. And everyone always seemed to watch the same thing over the weekends, because everyone would be talking about Circus with the Stars on Monday mornings in school. I remember one where Brooke Shields walked across glass or something.
I definitely miss a lot by not watching TV in real time. My husband will catch more than I do and know about certain things, but even with stuff we do like to watch, such as the Rockefeller Tree lighting, we have to actually remember to look it up. We usually remember by setting our DVR or going on demand or watching from the network app after the fact. We did watch fox, because Brooklyn 99 is comic gold, but fox is dumb and cancelled it, but it’s now on NBC.
And…Justine….I REALLY miss your blog. Did you start a new/different one??
I found out about Rent via the HQ Trivia app on my phone. We barely watch any regular TV, but if we do, it’s on those same few stations, because we don’t pay for any kind of TV/entertainment service (except the internet, but that’s a separate beast).
Back to that pop culture deprivation thing- We had just the 5 channels for a long time. Even after cable became a thing a lot of places we lived so far out in the sticks it wasn’t an option for us. In fact my husband will talk about MTV and I’m like “what?” Because we didn’t even have it as an option. That said, my dad controlled the TV and so there was seldom anything that I watched that other people my age watched. LOL And, now with our work/sleep schedules we’d NEVER see anything were it not for the DVR. Literally the only thing we ever watch when it’s on live is football. Otherwise, our DVR is full of stuff so we can watch it when one or both of us are actually available.
I know about Rent because I was invited to a viewing party at a friend’s house. We don’t have cable so I definitely would never have otherwise heard about it!
I can always top everyone when it comes to TV channel deprivation 😉
because I grew up with ONE TV channel (the CBC) until I was 14 & we moved closer to a city & to the U.S. border. 😉 Rotary antenna first, and then cable a few years later. My grandparents in northern Minnesota could pull in five or six channels, both U.S. & Canadian, with the rotary antenna, and we’d binge watch all the shows (Saturday morning cartoons!!) we didn’t get whenever we were there visiting. VCRs didn’t become a “thing” until I was in university/a newlywed in the early/mid-80s. I used to pore over the TV guide when the new one arrived, & highlight all the shows I wanted to watch. I had to pay to keep getting the once-free one that came with our newspaper subscription. We don’t get the paper or the TV guide anymore, and I still sometimes feel adrift without it. Having the onscreen menu on the TV just isn’t quite the same.
But yes, things were much simpler back then. We get a gazillion channels, and we don’t even have the top-tier package with HBO, etc., and sometimes it still seems like there’s nothing on. We have Netflix too, but seriously, how many streaming services and premium channels can we reasonably be expected to buy (& watch)?
I can’t remember how I heard about “Rent” — I find both Entertainment Weekly helpful for learning about upcoming stuff I might want to watch, and I subscribe to the New York Times’s “Watching” newsletter — but I’ve had it marked in my datebook for a while now. Of course, it’s on at the same time as “Victoria” on PBS & “Three Identical Strangers” on CNN (which I’ve been wanting to see for quite a while now) — so the PVR is going to get a workout.
a day later I am still pondering how one does walk uphill both ways…
😉
We didn’t have a tv till I was 15, then I moved out at 18 and didn’t have a tv for a long time.
I’m watching Rent right now! I see all the Doc Martens and am thinking of you.
(I’m recording it, too, to watch later with my daughter before we go see a local high school perform Rent. So hop on a plane to watch it with me if you missed it.)
Thanks to Jess for the Second Helpings shout out.
I do miss the days when practically everyone tuned into the same thing at the same time.
For second helpings: https://rsativus.wordpress.com/2019/01/25/the-first-follow-up/ April’s incredibly upbeat post about her recovery from cancer surgery was really inspiring to me.