i haven't been posting very often lately because i haven't had a lot of time and i haven't had a lot to say. but today, i thought i would dedicate a post to a member of our household -- the tv.
we watch a lot of tv around these here parts. i mean, a lot. waaaaaaaaaay over the recommended daily dosage for kids. we can't seem to keep the tv off for very long, even though we don't have cable and sometimes it's slim pickings. but it hasn't all been bad: ian learned his letters and numbers pretty early because of sesame street, and he's also learned how to tell time on an analog clock so he knows when his favorite shows are on (and it's not every kid who just turned 5 who can correctly figure out the time on an analog clock that's five minutes fast).
lately, however, because of the onslaught of reality tv, i've cut back on my tv watching. not so for JR and ian. each season they pick at least 1 reality show they watch pretty religiously, like america's next top model and so you think you can dance?. for awhile there ian was also into american idol but JR and i just couldn't stand that ryan seacrest!
and don't get me started on all the sports the two of them watch. blech! that is a total turn-off for me, which was good before maya arrived because then i had alone time to read or scrapbook. and the two of them also hog the tv to play ps2. we only have one tv (unlike at JR's parents' house where they have 5 or 6 tvs for three people) so it's not often that i watch something that the other two don't want to watch.
regardless of the things i don't watch, there are quite a few shows i do watch: jeopardy, the simpsons, globe trekker, martha (i like the new live format; martha seems more fun and spontaneous), ellen, postcards from buster and cyberchase (with ian, of course), reruns of m*a*s*h and the cosby show, and quite a bit of pbs if i can.
around the holidays we subscribe to netflix. we don't get it year-round because we just don't have enough time to watch so many movies. besides, i'm not a huge movie fan, and JR ends up watching the movies by himself because i wander off to bed or decide to do something else.
anyway, we started netflix up again and i've actually been good about watching almost everything we get. here are some of my picks: batman begins; fiddler on the roof (which i had never seen before, and it was a little slow for ian, but he did start singing "matchmaker matchmaker, make me a match"); me and you and everyone we know (quite good but i probably didn't get it totally); the new charlie and the chocolate factory (i like this charlie [played by freddie highmore] better than the charlie in the gene wilder version, and i really like that they used the original lyrics written by roald dahl for the oompa-loompa songs); the first disc of firefly; a christmas story (JR has said for 10 years + that i was weird because i'd never seen it before); and mr. and mrs. smith (which isn't a great movie but i enjoyed it immensely because 1) i like seeing girls beat up boys, 2) who wouldn't enjoy a movie with a husband and wife trying to kill each other??, and 3) brad pitt is looking better as he gets older). we also rented elf again this year; apparently it's going to be a holiday tradition to watch this movie in our agnostic-jewish household. (my favorite part? when the claymation narwhal says, "bye buddy, hope you find your dad." cuteness!)
the next movie we're going to watch is finding neverland, also starring johnny depp and freddie highmore. i just checked our queue and it looks like we'll be getting some more good dvd's in the next few weeks. in particular i'm looking forward to born into brothels, which is supposed to be fantastic.
other than that, we've really been likin' the muppet show season 1 dvd, which my sister got for ian's birthday. he totally cracks up even when he doesn't get the jokes. but he really cracks up when we watch "manamana" (click link for video; i would've imbedded the video into this post, but then we all would've had to watch/listen to "manamana" over and over again!) and the swedish chef. so far, the episode with rita moreno has been the funniest. totally looking forward to the subsequent seasons coming out on dvd.
3 comments:
"TV is our friend" at my house, too. Both my kids got their preschool education from Sesame Street - hey - it was good enough for me. (C is for cookie...)
Anyway, we have satellite tv up in the Northland, and I lovelovelove HBO and Showtime...after the kidlets are in bed!
Oh my god! Manamana is like our family's theme song! Whenever the kids are spazzing, I can just start in on the first little bit, and they'll respond, and all is well!
I'm grateful to hear another smart, literate person admit that they watch a lot of tv. We don't really have time to watch much in the evenings any more, but we love Sesame Street and Little Einsteins and Zoon and Reading Rainbow and, well, Spongebob. The boys also like some other stuff I can't even name. Simpsons? Yes! Jeopardy? Bring it.
But most of all. Most of ALL and the bestest ever is...
Project Runway. Truly. The. Best.
Sports? Bleargh. Unless it's the Olympics, which Andy and I look forward to gleefully and watch religiously. I like the Winter better (ice skating!), but because Andy was a diver and a gymnast, it's really fun to watch the summer ones with him, because he has many helpful insights and hilarious criticisms.
oh yeah, i'm not afraid to admit that we watch a ton of tv. JR and i both come from tv-oriented families so it's in our blood. and i learned english from sesame street, so i am, to this day, a HUGE fan of sesame street.
i am curious about the little einsteins. we've never seen it. and, what's zoon?
ian also went through a spongebob phase over at his grandparents' house. it totally cracked him up. but, to be honest, i just couldn't get into spongebob. and now they have this total spongebob rip-off show called coconut fred and fruit salad island, or something like that. even i know spongebob is better than that show!
i haven't seen project runway. i know it's a reality show about fashion design. that would probably be more intersting to me because it's about creativity. too bad we don't have cable ...
i'm looking forward to the olympics. i can't believe i actually just said that because every two years i tell myself i'm *not* excited about it, but then i totally get into it. i get teary-eyed when i watch the human interest stories and i really get emotionally invested in watching it. i root for the u.s. and japan, naturally. but then it's hard when it's the u.s. against japan.
ian likes to watch the olympics too; i think i've mentioned in a past post that he likes to watch ice skating and gymnastics, among other things like speed skating. he'd probably get into watching snowboarding too.
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