I watched too much television today.
At lunchtime, I switched the devilishly hypnotising instrument on to watch England play Iran in their first World Cup group game - beamed live from the tiny Gulf state of Qatar. England played really well and managed to beat their opponents by six goals to two.
Before the game kicked off, the Iranian team refused to sing their own national anthem - presumably in solidarity with the brave men and women back home who continue to protest against their right wing Islamic fundamentalist government.
Earlier there was controversy about certain team captains wearing rainbow-coloured armbands in support of LGBQT+ rights. The international governing body of football (FIFA) had just warned that any players wearing such armbands risked sanctions - including yellow cards. In Qatar, being gay is against the law and if proven, acts of homosexuality may result in upto three years in jail and heavy fines.
At 5.15 I watched the quiz show "Pointless" hosted by Alexander Armstrong and Richard Osman. It's such a gentle, well-mannered programme delivered in good humour with much respect for the contestants.
Then I made my stir fry meal in the wok that was given to us as a wedding present forty one years ago. Shirley was at a social gathering with former nursing colleagues so I had to fend for myself. I sat in front of the television once again at seven o'clock to watch Wales's first World Cup game against the USA. It was a tight encounter as the result suggests - a one-one draw.
By the way, may I tell you just out of interest that the population of Wales is bigger than that of Qatar!
There was more television to come. For the very first time, I tuned in to "I'm A Celebrity Get Me out of Here!" which is a kind of reality show set in a jungle in north eastern Australia. Celebrities have tasks to do and live together in a camp. One by one they are voted off the show by the watching public. This year much controversy has surrounded the presence of a serving Member of Parliament in the camp.
He is the former Health Minister. Mathew Hancock. He is paid to represent and serve the people of West Suffolk here in England and yet there he is in a faraway reality show from which he will earn around £400,000. He certainly isn't the life and soul of the party in the jungle and seems very much on the fringes of things. By rights he should be shouting. "I'm an M.P. get me out of here!" because in my opinion he should not have been there in the first place.
Yes - too much television - and now I'm looking at another screen as I tap out this blogpost.
The last time I really think I watched an inordinate amount of TV was when I broke my ribs a few years ago. I spent maybe six weeks nesting in Mr. Moon's recliner chair with pillows and cats, watching every episode of The Office. The American version. I look back on that time with huge fondness.
ReplyDeleteNow let me say that any country or religion or culture or political party who does not realize that homosexuality and gender differences are as natural and as prevalent as left-handedness need to grow up and get over it and quit punishing people for being exactly what they were born to be.
Your last paragraph... that's just one of the reasons why Qatar should have never been granted The World Cup by FIFA.
DeleteI hope I can get 41 years out of my wok. Ours is currently 18 years old.
ReplyDeleteIn a throwaway world, it's nice to have some things that endure.
DeleteA bit of telly is ok
ReplyDeleteBest in moderation I think.
DeleteYou've gone down the rabbit hole of too much television. And I should be watching some television.
ReplyDeleteDown a rabbit hole I would watch rabbits.
DeleteThe very fact that Qatar has such laws should have FIFA move them to a more accepting country, not bend over and take it from bigots and homophobes.
ReplyDeleteJust as you think the MP should not have been there in the first place, I believe the World Cup should not be in Qatar in the first place. Of course, there are problems in each and every country around the world, and we as a whole are a terrible species bent on making life hell for each other. But Qatar is a particularly bad example when it comes to human rights.
ReplyDeleteI watched too much telly after my eye operations, when I was not allowed to read or blog or play computer games; I was allowed watching telly, though, since that involves much less eye movement than reading etc. does. Normally, I work during the day, but when I was on sick leave after my operations, I encountered a whole new world - daytime TV!
I hope it did not drive you mad! But I guess that at the time it was useful in helping you to pass the hours.
DeleteOh, is there football on at the moment then?
ReplyDeleteSurprisingly, The Isle of Man did not make it through to the finals.
Delete$400,000 for being an idiot on TV? Holey Dollars Batman! (zoooom) Batman? Where's he going?
ReplyDeleteI planned on watching a lot of TV when I retired. I spent a few years building a dvd collection of movies I like and planned on sitting in my TV chair and watching my way through them. That hasn't happened of course. There are blogs to read, books to read, cooking and eating to be done, and my doctor insists I walk at least two miles a day! That part hasn't happened either, because there was covid, then there was laziness and now there's maybe I don't care so much that I am now a dumpling on legs. And I'm rambling again, I'll shut up now.
As in your weekly words challenge, River has a habit of going her own way.
DeleteThey would be long Winter nights with no telly. Congrats to Wales a nation of 3 million drawing with a nation of over 300 million people.
ReplyDeleteI have always liked whales. Awesome creatures.
DeleteThe corrupt FIFA organisation's worst World Cup nightmare is happening before our eyes. Add to the list of woes, an American sports journalist wearing a rainbow coloured shirt prevented entry and his phone taken, along with a lass wearing a rainbow cap being barred. A union slogan is something like united we are strong. Well I reckon had those who were going to wear the armbands did wear them, FIFA would not possibly have yellow carded so many stars. Paid audience for some matches and empty stadiums for other matches. The extraordinary press FIFA representative long rant trying to justify the unjustifiable. One really wonders how the entity FIFA under control of no one will spin this as a successful World Cup. Lordy, I need a drink...but not that I could get one as an average visitor punter to Qatar.
ReplyDeleteI am glad you saw the crazy rant by Gianni Infantino. What a pompous oaf! Fancy comparing having red hair as a child with the experience of racism or being a woman in a totalitarian Islamic state or the painful journeys of gay communities around the world. Infantino is meant to be a football administrator - not a moral philosopher!
DeleteP.S. I hope that Australia beat France!
I believe that Pointless was the late Queen's favourite TV programme. What's the betting that the entire Iranian team will be publicly hanged when they return home!!! How dare they lose.
ReplyDeleteTheir silent tongues spoke volumes. It was a brave thing to do. They will all have guessed the likely repercussions..
DeleteWasn't it in the late 60's that someone wrote Kill Your Television?
ReplyDeleteI am not familiar with that Travel but I found these strange lyrics courtesy of Google by Ned's Atomic Kitchen:-
DeleteShe said, she said
'You don't know shit,
Because you've never been there'
She turned upon him,
Took him by the hair
Spun him round about,
Laughing as he fell about,
Sat down for a drink
In her father's favourite chair
Kill your television
I can judge my stress levels by how much TV I watch. The higher the stress, the more I turn to the escape of it. For some reason, it's hard for me to focus on a book at those times. On normal days I watch very little TV, and much prefer reading.
ReplyDeleteMaybe this explains a lot of TV viewing - blocking out the stresses and strains of everyday life. To read effectively I require solitude, good light and a good book. The three don't always coincide.
DeleteThat IS a lot of television. Even Matt Hancock can't induce me to watch "I'm a Celebrity." We have the World Cup games on in school at breaktimes. I'm seeing way more of it than I would ideally care to.
ReplyDeleteWe watch too much TV at times too. Sadly, Jack is home sick and the TV was on all day yesterday, which I can't stand, but there's little else to do when you don't feel well.
ReplyDeleteI wonder what Gianni Infantino bought with his bribe. And yes, being a white male in a Western country (with red hair, although I see no evidence of hair) is exactly like being a woman or person of colour. Dumb shite.
Screens - love em and hate em... but mainly the former actually. And you ( I seem to recall) don't have a smart phone so you have lots of virtue to draw on if you fancy the odd day of goggleboxing.
ReplyDeleteHaving spent my early childhood in a TV-free home, I have always been a bit ambivalent about watching it. Yes, it is a useful distraction, but I prefer reading usually, or listening to the radio although even with DAB I can struggle to find something that I want to listen to. As a friend once remarked, the pictures are better with a book or radio!
ReplyDeleteReading this post made me think. You probably watched more television last night than I've watched this month (excluding the 6 o'clock news). On the other hand you will not have looked at your mobile phone which for me has been the principal means of communicating daily, nay hourly, with friends and family all over the world.
ReplyDeleteMy husband and I were in England last month, for Premiere League matches in London and Manchester and then for some walks in the Dales and it was such a pleasure, after hiking all day (even in the urban areas) to sit with a drink in our hotel/BnB and watch Pointless, our favorite British quiz show. It's a very clever game and you're right, Alexander Armstrong is a suave host. But also, we'll watch almost anything on the BBC. We watched a show about the British ready-to-eat sandwich industry and if I could find it streaming somewhere, anywhere, I'd gladly watch it again. Qatar sucks.
ReplyDelete