I've discovered the secret to writing on the West Coast: stay on East Coast time.
Not that I've had much time to do it, but it struck me last night when I tuned in a half hour too late to catch Little Mosque on the Prairie's second episode, that my TV life is radically different, and distantly familiar, than it is at home.
Monday, I had to rush out of the office at 7:00 p.m. to catch the second part of 24. After I tuned in CBC last night, I realized maybe I'd gotten the time wrong and wanted to make sure. So I had to tune to the onscreen cable channel, and wait for CBC to scroll around again. It only showed me what was on for the next hour.
Last week, I had to choose whether I would watch Intelligence, or House. This weekend, any plans I have are at least partially structured around knowing I have to be home Sunday night to catch Battlestar Galactica.
I'm ruled by the broadcast schedule clock. I have no VCR. I cannot pause live TV, rewind to see something again, watch an earlier feed, or skip a single commercial.
Out here on the West Coast of Canada, the crafty cablecos have fixed it so you can't even rent a PVR, so that's out. I'm looking at getting a digital package so at least I have timeshifting options. I can't really justify buying a VCR for a few months, even if they are sixty bucks.
It's an interesting experience. A cold splash of water that demonstrates candidly just how much television has changed.
4 comments:
Would the timeshifting options help you as much out there? They're a joy here - oops, Gramma missed her stories, pass the west coast feed... but would an earlier feed really help?
I know folks that have 'em love their PVR's, but there's a certain pleasure in watching something because it's on... TCM (my new bestest friend ever) had Casablanca on last night, and I blew off a pile of work I was supposed to do and watched it. Again. I could have put on the DVD... or dug out the VHS if I was feeling wacky ("Let me tell you kids about a time called the eighties..."), but I let the T.V. tell me what to watch. It's the one power that T.V. continues to have over downloading, or DVD, or the Internet. The fact that it feels so old fashioned can't be a good omen...
I am in love with my timeshifting options. An earlier feed means I can watch House and Intelligence and kill my whole Tuesday by starting prime time at 6. (Though Intelligence repeats at 11? 12? Tuesday night, and Friday night too. Little Mosque will repeat Monday, as I found out the hard way this Monday.)
But hmm, too bad you don't know someone in Vancouver who has a dusty old VCR banished to the closet after she also fell in love with her PVR, DMc.
Buy the vcr dude...west coast timeshifting is pretty useless to you're when on a series because you will generally be leaving the office late. Seriously, been there, done that...
Do they have TiVos in Canada?
Post a Comment