TV = relaxation

My schedule is so different every week that I do not have time to get addicted to a show. There are certain types of shows I like and certain shows that I pick for the week that I want to watch. On Sunday nights I plan out my week. It is at this time I find out if there is a show that I want to watch or a movie. If my schedule allows for it I write it in my day timer and if not, I either don't watch it or tape it.
This year I got cable in my room and found that I don't watch maybe for a particular program but rather just to avoid homework or spend time not thinking. Television is my time to relax and not think about school. I enjoy it but try to keep in check how much I watch so that I have productive day or week.

Television

I honestly don't really watch that much tv. Since coming to college, my tv experience has greatly diminished. Having only about three channels that come in over a fuzzy antenna makes it hard to get addicted to shows. However, up until the finale last week, I was an avid watcher of The Bachelor, mostly because a group of friends and I would get together every monday night to watch it. It was something fun to talk about and we all loved to experience the emotions of all the girls.
When I go home to my parents house, there we have cable, and I'll admit, I love to watch old sitcomes like Full House and The Cosby Show. Besides that, I am much more of a movie person or a book person. Also, with the internet becoming such an integral part of our society, many people are turning to this media to watch shows that they have missed during the week. Overall, I agree tv is cheap entertainment, but I guess it would work a little better for me if I could actually see the shows through the usual blurriness on my screen.

Le ol' Tube

Two words: The office.

One word: Internet.
(get it?)

I love The Office, it's the only show I watch regulatly since Arrested Development stopped airing. The trouble is, I work every Thursday night from 3-11. Solution? The internet. (Disclaimer: Cornerstone does not condone the opinions of the individuals on this blog.) Honestly, I don't even own a TV, but when I find a show in which I'm interested, I turn to the internet for access. For example, there is (was?) an HBO show called Flight of the Concords that I loved, but instead of watching them on the TV I don't own, I did a quick Youtube search and found all the episodes right at my fingertips. Between TiVo and DVR and whatever other gizmos are out there, it's obvious we are no longer content to have some network programmer tell us when we can watch our shows. TV does not offer any amount of control besides holding a remote that may or may not work (or like some people i know, seven remotes which all correspond to different things...). I think using the Internet to access TV shows and movies is an inevitable trend.

Overall, this is my view on the television:

TV

I have to agree with Sadie, TV is free entertainment. I can't say there are any shows that I have to see on a weekly basis. I actually don't want a lot of TV shows at the moment. A lot of my friends have weekly rituals of watching Bones, House, Heroes and The Office. I remember them saying that all their favorite shows were going to be on last night and they had to decide which ones to watch. Then they realized that they have TIVO and can record the shows that they aren't going to watch. I figure that if the shows are good enough, one of my friends will buy the season dvd and I can watch it later.
I do have some favorite TV shows but they aren't on anymore. My all time favorite is Seinfeld and I own all 9 seasons, so I can watch them whenever I want. I do end up watching House once in a while because my dad and I think that he is hilarious.
I love to watch sports as well, so whenever there are sports on, I will end up being in front of the TV watching them. My friends all live in a house and they have Direct TV, so I can go over there to watch a lot of games that aren't on regular television.
I think that TV is still the number one way to find out information, but the internet will probably take over eventually. The internet can be accessed from so many places that a lot of people find it easier to sit wherever they want and search live and updated stories that are easier and faster to access than television.
Overall, TV is definitely a part of my life. I keep in touch with a lot of world and national news through TV and I also watch some TV shows and sports as well.

Oh Boy. The TV blog. This is going to be long . . .

I am a terrible person because I watch A LOT of t.v. Growing up, we never had cable, and in the first year of my marriage we couldn't afford it, but now we have it . . .and I am hooked.

However, the shows that I'm most "hooked" on are those on regular t.v.

Sunday nights it's Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (because I love the houses, the stories, and the crying that always ensues -- my crying, that is) and Desperate Housewives (shameful, I know).

Monday nights I was watching "the Bachelor." (It ended last week.) That show is all about relationships - and not only the relationships on t.v. It's a long-standing tradition that my sister and friends and I all watch the Bachelor so that we can call each other and discuss its nuances every week, then wait with bated breath for the finale - which usually results in screaming. And my sister ALWAYS cries.

Wednesday night is my busy t.v. night. I watch America's Next Top Model and Gossip Girl on the CW, and then Project Runway on Bravo. Project Runway is my favorite reality show of all time. I love Heidi Klum, and I love how the designers can make beautiful outfits out of the most ridiculous supplies. (Plants, recyclable materials, etc.) Oh, and we'll watch Lost when it starts again in February. I LOVE Lost!!!

Thursday night my husband and I watch The Office together. We have a special clap that we do during the theme song. We are dorks. That show is fun because so many people watch it that you can talk about it with anyone.

Friday night we watch Friday Night Lights and Las Vegas. Justin likes Friday Night Lights because of the sports, I love it because of the relationships and the small-town setting. And Las Vegas is kind of a guilty pleasure.

Whew! I told you . . . I'm a junkie.

I think people will always watch TV, but the ways we watch it are advancing. For instance, Grey's Anatomy - one of my all-time favorites - is on at the same time as The Office on Thursday nights, so I watch it online the next day. (Which is essentially what the Writer's Strike is all about, right?) And my sister Tivo's everything. So if I ever miss a show and don't want to watch it on my computer, I go to her house and watch it on the big screen at my convenience.

I love TV. It's free entertainment, and that's pretty much the only entertainment I can afford. :-) So I hope the writer's strike ends soon!!

Prompt 11

Since I scurry home every Tuesday night to watch House, I was wondering if anybody else has a TV show that he/she absolutely cannot miss? If so, why is it so important to you? I'm also wondering if TV is becoming a less relevant aspect of our media landscape? Has something else taken its place?

The most obvious reason why anyone would say "anyone but ______" is simply because that is the only person that they are fully conscious of, and that being said, they do not like that person. In my opinion, Clinton is probably one of the better politicians in American. In the eyes of the rest of the world, that makes her the most worthy of leadership. However, being the best politician does not imply all good things.
One of my sister's friends announced that she will be voting for Clinton purely to spite her extremely conservative friend. That kind of thing tends to be quite pervasive among uninterested college students.
I will say this. People get upset over small things all the time, and Clinton has not had the luxury of being out of the spotlight even for a moment since the scandal. Thus, every little thing gets blown out of proportion. Even so, our nation is founded on a certain principle that, if it is not upheld unconditionally by its leader, will ultimately humble our proud citizens. When I consider which candidate to support, I pray and ask God which will most honor Him and serve Him above all else. With that element, no lack of economic, political or any other knowledge will deter the leader because God grants a wisdom that surpasses any man may offer.

Cranberry Sauce?

I think two years ago was the first year that I became aware of the fact that people eat cranberry sauce for any reason on any occasion. Honestly, I have not ever consciously eaten it. My family has a very specific meal that we eat pretty much every holiday. Turkey with gravy, mashed potatoes and corn, stuffing, angel biscuits and green bean casserole is exactly what we eat. It has become a sort of Pavlovian experience that accompanies any holiday with my entire family. Every time I become aware of a family gathering, these food items are the first things that enter my mind. Whenever I discuss Thanksgiving with anyone, I can not help but think of these foods, and most of the time long for them. Never in all my life have any of them become stale or boring and I have had them on either Thanksgiving Day or Christmas day every single year. It has gotten so extreme that when I was invited to another families' meal last year, I was almost disappointed with the food, even though it was delicious, it was not the same meal.

A Prompt from the Past

I'd like to respond to Judith's prompt from forever ago.

What I'm enjoying about my life right now:

I'm enjoying working and going to school. It's nice not having to do just one or the other, but interspersing the two. I love my job. I'm a nanny to a 17 month old boy who I've watched for 14 months. He's getting to a fun age where he's starting to talk and interact with me. He loves going to the library and playing outside. And I love spending time with him. He cuddles in my lap and rests his head on my shoulder when I read to him. He's my surrogate child until I can have one of my own. :-)

I'm enjoying spending time with my husband before we start having kids. I'm enjoying sleeping in with him on Saturday mornings, taking off whenever we want to, and spending evenings lazing around together. I'm enjoying our cute little apartment and our cute little kitten. Sometimes she drives me crazy with all her jumping around and biting and scratching, but she won't be a kitten for long, and I'm loving her antics right now.

I'm enjoying my family. I have three siblings and we've all grown up enough that we finally love and appreciate each other. I'm enjoying living half a mile down the road from my sister. I'm enjoying spending Sunday afternoons after church at my parents' house, and holidays with the whole family gathered around the table, holding hands and holding back tears as my dad prays blessings over our family.

Thanks, Judith, for making me stop and take stock of my great life instead of always looking ahead to what's coming next!

Presidential Candidates

Personally, I'm really not up on the latest in politics. I recently took a quiz that was supposed to help you figure out what views and issues you subscribe to and what presidential candidate subscribes to those views as well. Hillary was at the bottom of my list in matches. However, I think people need to do their research before suggesting such strong views. At Cornerstone, we live in this bubble of mostly conservative republicans. While this may not be all bad, it becomes bad when we subscribe to these views just because our friends or family tell us to. Cornerstone, including myself, needs to be a bit more open-minded and figure out exactly what we do and do not agree with. I guess evangelical circles feel her views are too opposite of what we should stand for. Personally, I need to become more educated in politics before I would ever make such harsh accusations.

Thanksgiving

My family is pretty traditional on Thanksgiving. Every year we get together with my mom's side of the family at my grandma's house and have the "normal" thanksgiving meal of turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, mashed potatos, homemade bread, and the list continues. We eat, watch football, and then eat some more! Not everyone can make it on Thanksgiving due to other commitments with other family, but for the most part we have a pretty big group. Most people I know subscribe to this normal thanksgiving way. Not having turkey on thanksgiving is pretty unheard of for me. As far as cranberry sauce, I'm not the biggest fan, in fact I really don't like it. I don't think we've ever had it as part of a different meal throughout the year, I guess it's a special occasion kind of sauce!

Gobble, Gobble, Gobble

We are a pretty traditional family in that we have turkey, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, and pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving dinner. But in recent years, my Thanksgivings have been changed up a bit. As a kid, Thanksgiving was the only holiday we spent with my dad's side of the family. Aunt Mary always made a magnificent meal, and it was the one time a year that we saw our paternal grandparents. Then Grandma died and there was a falling out with Aunt Mary, so Thanksgiving became more of an immediate family holiday. Not too many years later, however, I got married, and my husband and I now alternate between families every other year. With my husband's side of the family, we have to meet in a church gym, because the family is too big for a house. We eat, then play game after game of cards while the kids play basketball in the gym. With my family we eat, then play game after game of cards while the kids watch football and movies. The only time I ever have turkey is on Thanksgiving, and I don't particularly like it. In fact, I always seem to be sick the day after Thanksgiving . . . although that may have more to do with our Black Friday tradition. For the past five years, my mom, two sisters and I wake up at some ungodly hour and brave the frigid November air to hit the mall!! Sadly, that is probably my favorite part of Thanksgiving. :-)

The Greatest Holiday of the Year

My family is very traditional and they do it all up in the traditional manner with cranberry sauce and everything. We even start the morning with a traditional biscuits and gravy breakfast. I don't know anyone who doesn't do a traditional meal. We also go to the same home several years in a row. Growing up it was my aunts house. Now we go to my sisters. Everything is expected to happen a certain way on Thanksgiving day. You have to watch the parade. Someone has to start a football game. The television is turned to either football or nascar after the meal as well. We only do this once a year and I don't ever eat cranberry sauce even on Thanksgiving day.
There is also at least ten people at dinner generally fifteen or more. This is a time to get together in our family and be thankful for each other. Thanksgiving is also a time when everyone gets together. Our parents are divorced but they both go to my sisters home on the same day and we get to have one time a year when we all sit down to a meal and enjoy being with everyone. Thanksgiving is unlike any other holiday or time of the year. It is my favorite because all is right on that one day.

Thanksgiving

I have to say we aren't really either. I always get together with my dad's side of the family and up until a few years ago, we always had ham as the main course. Naturally, we had some whiners, so we eventually had some turkey as well. I can't say we ever had cranberry sauce, but we definitely have stuffing every year. Basically, we just have a big feast and then we all do home. As for whether or not we eat this type of food at other times during the year: yes we do. We usually have ham 3 or 4 times a year and most everything else we have all the time too, except for stuffing, which seems to be a yearly thing.

Prompt 11

Are you a traditional turkey/stuffing/cranberry sauce type of Thanksgiving celebrator; or does your family do something different? Do you know anybody who does anything different? Do you ever eat cranberry sauce on any day other than Thanksgiving?

Presidential candidate

I think the reason that 4 out of 5 students said anyone but Hillary is because of two main reasons. First, looking at Hillary's resume, she does have an established political background. She has a lot of experience as a politician, yet many people don't like her. Her integrity is always a problem. Check out hillcap.org for some information you would never see presented on the national news. I also think that a lot of people don't want Hillary because of what went on during her husband's presidency.
Another reason that people voted against Hillary, rather than for a candidate, is that there aren't any strong Republican candidates to choose from. All the Republican candidates seem to have weak followings compared to Hillary. Those with the highest numbers seem to be the ones that are more well known, such as Guliani and Tompson.
Another reason for this vote is that there isn't that many top candidates for democratic candidates. Besides Obama, is there anyone else that is even close in the running? Also, there has been talk about Obama becoming Hillary's running mate if (when) she wins the nomination. The national news portrays that she is running away with the primary as well as the presidency, but don't be fooled, the republicans will back up their candidate(when they get one) and the race will be as close as any other race over the past 10 years.

Knowing the Candidates

Why do people dislike/disagree with Hillary? Because they base their beliefs off of what they are told and don't research for themselves the actual candidate. People at CU know only what they are told and in the post below there is a good amount of information that I believe next to no one at Cornerstone would know. Many people also in the evangelical circle also have a dislike for anything democratic. I find it interesting that they won't even learn what they stand for before they reject them. Yes, I know democratic have some ideas that are wrong to Christians but then don't we all. Before a candidate is rejected they should be researched. Some people might be surprised at what they might find out about republicans. So I won't say I am for anyone or against. I haven't done enough research to give a good answer that I would stand behind.

Indecision 2008 (a la Jon Stewart)

Public figures, who under harsh scrutinization seem to have no problem losing their dignity and privacy, often have a hard time shaking free of the baggage of their past.
Hillary Rodham Clinton took a dynamic, prominent role during the Presidency of her "busy" husband, a two-term period that ended in disaster and scandal. She played a central role in public policy, including initiating the Clinton health care plan, which never made it past Congress. To be so closely associated with a presidency filled with scandal is something that is difficult to separate from her current independent endeavors as New York Governor and Presidential candidate.
After raising more the 63 million dollars for a campaign to be the first female serving as President, many Americans are still having a hard time forgetting her insistent defense of her husband, and her claims of a "right-wing conspiracy" against him. This most likely weighs heavily on her reputation at Cornerstone, as well as the basis of her candidacy: her liberal view. According to the National Journal, on a scale of 1 to 100, 1 being the most liberal and 100 the most conservative, Clinton was rated at 30, while a study of the Cornerstone student body would undoubtedly rate much higher on the scale.

My own personal opinion: Reading about the other candidates vying for the Democratic party nomination, Mike Gravel, the 76-year-old Alaskan who fought against the Vietnam War and published part of the Pentagon Papers, for example, or David Kucinich, the vegan recipient of the Ghandi Peace Award fighting for universal not-for-profit health care, I would argue the amount of attention focused on this Lady Macbeth of modern politics is out of balance. There is a wealth of leaders who would be much more suited for the nomination than Clinton in my opinion, but the general absence of political awareness lets a pop-icon-turned-candidate step to the foreground. Granted, Clinton has been very successful in her political career and is attempting to achieve that which no woman has been able, but I believe there are better options.

Prompt 10

In the Herald today, in response to the question: Who is your favorite presidential candidate?, four out of the five respondents basically said, "Anybody but Hillary Clinton." Why do you think so many people in evangelical circles have such hatred (not just dislike or disagreement) towards Hillary?

Parlez-vous le francais?

After further consideration, it turns out I am a fan of pseudo-foreign films. I usually try to do a little research (generally a la wiki) before my blog posts so I don't make a fool of myself. (AND so I actually learn something from them - isn't that the point?) In the case of foreign films, I'm glad I did my homework. Two of my favorite movies are called Before Sunrise and Before Sunset. They both rely heavily on dialog and have little action to speak of, but they are thought-provoking, and admittedly, romantic. They are set in France and have the feeling of a foreign film. After research, I found they are American as apple pie. I do, however, have a few legit foreign films in my repertoire. The French film, The Science of Sleep, or the La Science de reves (literally, The Science of Dreams), is a surrealist film I love that is whimsical but charming. The bicycle Thief, (does the New Zeeland movie Black Sheep count? Probably not...), Amelie, and Whale Rider (Fabisch world lit anyone?) are others. As far as things so, I'm very open to expanding my movie watching to non-US blockbusters, but I think there are a good amount of movie made right here in the US that have similar qualities. Wes Anderson's movies (go see the Darjeeling Limited!) have the same tone as many French films, as well as a lot of other limited release movies. Generally, I find my personal key to rewarding movie watching is to expand myself to watch all types of movies.

Pakistan

Good prompt, Dan. The Pakistan problem is a case where the U.S. is forced to either give up on the idealism that the Iraq war is supposedly about, or put its money where its mouth is. Musharref is quite simply a military dictator who will do anything, and I mean anything, to stay in power. This is not speculation; it is simple fact (because he has already done just about everything). His regime contradicts just about every tenet of America's founding documents, and yet we do not even stop our payments to him (much less threaten him) because he is seen to provide a measure of stability in a highly unstable region. There is a direct parallel to the situation during the Cold War when the U.S. supported dictators (like Pinochet in Chile) who were killing people left and right, but who were nonetheless "anti-Communitst" and thus "on our side". The scary thing is that someone like Putin in Russia is also going down the dictator path -- and Russia is still a lot more dangerous than Pakistan.

The problem in Pakistan

What should the United States do in response to the problems in Pakistan? Should the U.S. suspend their aid to the country? Or should it get more involved?

Foreign Films

I would have to agree with the last couple of posts in that the only foreign film that I can think of is The Passion of Christ. I didn't realize the movie was going to be all subtitles until it started playing (I guess I was nieve about the background of the film). However, it only took a few minutes to get used to it and then it was just natural to read them. I didn't find them distracting, I think it added to the movie. Usually I can't stand to watch televison or movies with the subtitles on, but lately I have gotten more and more used to it and find it helpful. I can really understand what is being said and it becomes natural to not only watch the movie, but to see visually what is being said as well.

Foreign Films

I was trying to think of any foreign film that I have watched, but I couldn't think of any until Sadie posted about Passion of the Christ. I think that is the only foreign movie that I've seen. I thought it was a very powerful film because it portrayed what Christ did for us. I personally don't like to have to read subtitles because then I am focusing so much more on that, rather than watching the images that are being portrayed. I do feel like I had to pay attention a lot more because I constantly had to read the subtitles, otherwise I would be totally lost. With the Passion of the Christ, I knew the story already, and I knew what was coming. Overall, foreign films can be a good and a lot can be learned, but I like watching regular films better.

The Passion of the Christ

I think the only foreign film I've seen is "The Passion of the Christ." (Although we have a defective DVD player that messes with the sound, so we watch most movies with captions.) After the first few minutes, reading the captions became totally second nature. It was obviously an incredibly moving experience. I thought it was interesting to hear it in its original language, and relate it to the Bible. For instance, when Jesus was on the cross he said "Eloi, eloi, lama sabach tha ne." (I'm certain I slaughtered the spelling of that.) It was moving to hear the character who played Jesus say it in the original language because that was really what Jesus said! Of course, the captions did present a problem once I started bawling my eyes out. At that point, though, not many words were necessary to convey the emotion of the movie.

Foreign Films

I have seen a couple of foreign films. One was back in high school, the Passion, and a French film last semester. Each experience was a little bit different but I enjoyed each of them. The first foreign film that I watched was with out subtitles. My teacher wanted us to try and figure out what was going on and who was the killer with out any words. I guessed wrong but it was interesting trying to follow the plot. For the Passion I found the film to seem more authentic because it was in a foreign language. It made the plot and setting seem more real. The third film was really good, it was in French and I watched part of it with French subtitles and part of it with English subtitles. I was taking a French class and wanted to try and see how much I could understand.
It was a different experience than when I normally watch movies because it took effort to figure what was going on. I had to guess what was happening and sometimes I was right and sometimes I wasn't. I enjoyed the experiences but at the same time I am glad that they make movies that are a little more understandable!

Prompt 8

Have you ever seen a foreign film (with subtitles)? If so, did you like it? Why, or why not? How was it a different experience than the norm?