I'm going to have an experiment. I'm going to try and go for one week without television.
Disclaimer: I AM, in fact, DVR'ing a few things. Weeds, maybe Oprah, couple other things.
I am also giving myself the opportunity to watch movies on DVD. I'm doing this to eliminate the "mindless" TV. The last hour of the Today Show. The FOUR hours of local news, even when I don't care about the first half hour, because Philly news doesn't really have a lot to offer these days. You know what I'm talking about.
Anyway, I got the idea from this article, as well as the fact that I'm trying like crazy to buy into this whole Olympics Boycott thing. I might DVR one or two events, but the more I think about it, I do really agree with the reasons behind why the Artist's Guild I belong to has asked us to not partake in the Games. The Chinese government does not allow freedom of expression among its citizens, without which much of my profession would not exist. Coca-Cola and those kinds of sponsors weren't lining up to buy my work anyway - the boycott mainly affects commercial artists and graphic designers - so I'm mainly just affected by my own consumer-level stuff. I won't completely avoid all these companies' products, but I've been trying to NOT buy things that they've put the Olympic Rings all over, etc.
So I'm turning the TV off.
I'm hoping for the following:
1. To work out more.
2. Get more work done at one sitting rather than getting distracted.
3. Eat less junk food (I tend to do it in front of the TV)
4. Keep the house cleaner.
5. Read more.
6. Cook some decent food.
7. Rediscover Music
8. Get out of the house more.
9. Work on my tan while writing instead of watching TV.
10. Call the people I need to call.
11. Email people back right away.
12. Pay the bills.
Any other suggestions?
Monday, August 4, 2008
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3 comments:
I understand protesting against a country that you don't like or whatever but I don't understand why it is always done around the Olympics. Why can't one just avoid Chinese produced goods or something. Not picking on you in particular, but I always feel sorry for the athletes that have worked all their lives and are being punished for something they have nothing to do with.
I asked the same question actually, I don't take offense to it. I'll try and find more info on the internet about the exact reasons, but the jist of it is that we as consumers vote with our dollars - the Olympics have more sponsor dollars than any other sporting event, and the host country is supposed to be (according to the spirit of the Olympic movement) a country which exhibits a commitment toward peace, tolerance and the continual betterment of man, as the ancient Olympics were the only time where any war/fighting would stop between athenians and spartans, so they could compete against each other, and supposedly relations between them improved when they came together in peace like that. But China has chosen to use the Olympics purely to show what sides of their country that they condone - not the ones that they are continually oppressing, such as the Tibetan culture and communist dissidents. So basically they gets all this money from the Games coming, and they don't give a crap about what the Olympics actually stand for. When we spend money towards it, it sends the message that we think it's okay...supposedly. I dunno, but the organization that I'm a part of was founded on the continual support of all artists, regardless of content or controversy...the theory being that if more traditional/safe artists band together to stand up for those who might be censored, we'll all be protected. It's a stretch in my opinion, but I figure if a guy can stand up in front of a line of tanks to make a statement in Tienanmen Square, I can turn the TV off and buy off-brand coke for a while ;)
And yes, I do feel sorry for the athletes as well, I know they've worked hard to get where they are, but there's not an official boycott like in 1980, so I figure it's up to each individual consumer as to what they want to watch, and I don't blame the athletes for participating at all! Make any sense?
Makes sense sort of but I also feel sorry for the athletes...I didn't think about the money that would get from products and stuff so I can agree with not buying any of those, but since the advertising time has already been paid for will they really get any money from a few more people watching? Chances are it will hurt the next Olympics because they will use these numbers to speculate...then again maybe the advertising is on a sliding scale to be determined after rates and in that case I could see it being beneficial to not watch. I am glad that groups stand up for what they believe in and I do think that China has a lot of bad things going on but I just don't know how to show them that we don't agree with them at the same time as supporting the athletes we chose to send...especially since it is only every 4 years and some will be too old for the next time around. Gives you a new perspective and something to think about for sure!
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