A few months ago, Peter and I cancelled our cable due to the Hurricane Ike flooding. You see, our cozy basement rec room was where the big screen and the only cable connection were, and our basement is now stinky and unliveable due to Ike and a subsequent flood. Thus, while the landlord continues her slow steps toward making the house ship-shape, we have no use for cable.
Around this time, we also resolved to watch less TV. We've replaced most of our broadcast-TV watching with hulu.com and watching short videos online, and the occasional DVD. Even though we consume a fair amount of video, we don't just zone out mindlessly in front of the TV for hours and watch whatever happens to be on Comedy Central, or Food or Travel Channel (yeah, like we used to). It's sad not to have access to Anthony Bourdain or Alton Brown, but good god, how many episodes of Clean House did I WATCH???!!!
Is it wishful thinking if I believe that watching videos on the 'net is slightly better for your brain than watching broadcast TV? After all, with nearly infinite options, I usually end up applying some criteria for choosing, or else I would be overwhelmed with choices. And normally, when an online video ends, the screen freezes, and you have to DO something to get it moving again; you can't just sit there and wait for something else to start.
Maybe it is wishful thinking. But there ARE some amazing things on the web that you would never find on broadcast TV, and here is one shining example; Sita Sings the Blues, a Creative Commons film that you can watch for free online.
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