Day 1: The Begining

Today I started the unplugged project and I realized that this is going to be a lot harder than I thought.

It began shortly after I woke up. My best friend/landlord Bruno came over and we went to go get some breakfast. While there we talked about the new Gnarl’s Barkley video for his song ‘Run Away.’ I was all suped up after I heard that the video spoofs the old ass hip-hop show Graffiti Rock (which only aired once back in the 80s)

I remember it was one of those legendary things you heard about all the time while growing up (like the Kool Moe Dee vs Busy Bee MC battle that every realy burgeoning hip-hop fan had on a badly dubbed cassette tape – there are various videos of this but i can’t post them until the project is over.) I was happy as hell when it finally came out and DVD and was even happier when I noticed that Vincent Gallo (another favorite of mine) was in the show as a breakdancer.

What made me want to see it more was when my friend told me that Justin Timberlake does a spot on impression of the host of Graffiti Rock, Michael Holman . And to top it all of he wears one of them jackets Michael Jackson wore during the Thriller days.

I simply had to see this shit. So I went home and was about to pull up youtube.com to find the video when….OH SHIT! I remembered that I started the unplugged project. My friend looked at me like I was weird when I explained to him what I was doing. “It’s for school man,” I said, “Fuck that shit, lets watch that video you don’t have to tell your teacher.”

I thought about it. But then, after all the shit I talk about not being attached at all to TV and visual media. I figured I’d stick to my guns and try to give the seven days a shot.

Besides It would be extremely embarrassing if I give in early on my first day.

So I decided to make a list of videos to check out after the seven days are up (yeah yeah I’m starting to realize thatI actually watch more crap than I thought I did.)

So first on the list is Gnarl’s Barkley new video

Then after that I mos def want to check out Erykah Badu’s new video. I hear she uses old well known album covers and throws herself in the artist’s place. Covers include The Beatles, Earth, Wind and Fire and Grace Jones. As a record collector I have to see this shit.

Other than the Gnarl’s Barkley incident the day went smoothly. The only problem I had was when I started working on my presentation for my TV & Society class (the same class im doing this project for.) The presentation was on Science Fiction and I really wanted to check out some of the old shows in the reading, especially since I had to talk about them.

I also wanted to find a funny clip of William Shatner to show in class. In a way it’s a shame that the project kind of got in the way of my studies. I wonder if anymore conflicts will arise in the future. I can definitely see it happening with my Journalism Topics:Communications class where we are constantly asked to watch political news and debates on TV.

Looking back…

In previous posts I usually brag about not being a TV person.
This is very true but….It wasn’t always this way.

I am not proud to admit it but I was practically born and raised in front of a Television set. I remember coming home from grammar school when I was a kid. In those days my parents worked until very late, my mom wouldn’t get home until 10pm sometimes. My brother’s were teenagers at the time and would not come home until very late themselves.
I stayed home a lot back then. I could sneak out but if my folks called the house and I didn’t pick up I was in for it. So i hung out in front of my TV, binged on junkfood and soda while I watched every single cartoon and sitcom from 3:30 to 9:00 p.m.

He-Man, G.I.Joe, Transformers, Thundercats, Charles in Charge, The Cosby Show (I’m showing my age) R-rated cable movies… I would just hang out and watch everything, without any discrimination.

I even remember sometimes staying up late at night to watch reruns of shows like the Honeymooners, the Twilight Zone and Star Trek.

Needless to stay i spent countless hours in front of the boob tube, but as I grew up this declined. In my teenage years I totally abandoned the set. By then I had a lot more freedom to leave the house and come home a bit later then usual (thanks to my bros for setting the precedent.)
Though I have not completely forsaken TV. I still actively sought out shows like Seinfeld, The Sopranos, Rome etc. my viewing declined dramatically as I grew up.
Nowadays I seem to have lost total interest in all things T.V. I simply shrug when someone says I am missing out on the latest show…I don’t know why this happened. Maybe so much exposure, so early in my life, made me grow an aversion to TV the way your favorite food as a kid that you eat everyday disgusts you as an adult. Or maybe I just became disenchanted as a boy when the images on TV did not match those of reality. Maybe discovering fiction by authors like James Joyce,  Kurt Vonnegut, Milan Kundera, Garcia Marquez mixed with all the  philosophy I was reading as I grew up just drew me away. Nothing on TV could match the imagination and imagery in those books. There could be a thousand reasons.
Oddly enough I never thought about any of them until I started this project…

Looking Ahead…

This no video challenge should be easy enough. I am not currently a TV Person. I dont even have cable. I admit I watch an obscene amount of DVDs but I don’t really watch shows.

I doubt anything will change during this project I will still watch very little TV. But I think it should be very interesting to actually watch out for the times where I somehow stumble onto something and get sucked in. Example: A few weeks ago I was at my best friends house and American Idol was on. Now I absolutely loath this show but somehow I ended up getting lured in and sitting down and watching it till the end.
This doesn’t happen often. I don’t usually sit and and get sucked in for such a long time, especially to watch something I have little interest in. But I have to keep in mind that screens are everywhere I go. Work, School and at home, there is always a place where my attention can be stolen by moving images.

I think it will be interesting to see how often I get pulled in, even for seconds. And though TV might not be a problem, web videos will definitely be difficult to cut off completely. I am usually sent links to funny Youtube videos, or a news event might occur that I might want to instantly find a video for online. I think the net will be true test.
I will also desperately miss watching movies in the theater or on DVD (I have a large stack of unwatched DVDs…) but I think I can resist as my time is seriously limited and even without the project its difficult to find the time to watch a 2 hour movie.

Nontheless its 2:20 a.m., I started the project at 12 a.m. this morning and so far its looking good.

Surrounded by Screens Part II: Work

<begin pretentious opening>

Everywhere I go TVs are there waiting. They are ubiquitous windows into fabricated universes that threaten to pull me in and distract me from any number of important tasks. The screens are creatures of complacency, promoters of procrastination and monsters of mediocrity. If I submit to their mindless synthetic allure I may become lost, disorientated and disengaged from the real.

<end pretentious opening>

Here are more TV screens at my job. I work at the NJ Turnpike on a rotating schedule. This week I was there Friday/Sat urday and Sunday from 10:30 p.m. to 6:30 a.m.

There were TVs in my toll booth and also in my break room.

During the night shift I barely do anything, most of the time I am studying or relaxing.

The Turnpike is good to it’s employees. Ever booth has heat, AC and radios. Some of them even have small television sets.

I was lucky this week and ended up in a TV equipped booth.

The breakrooms also have a TV.

As much homework as I had and as busy as I kept myself reading, it was hard to resist watching TV while at work this week.

I usually keep the TV’s off but I decided to watch SNL on saturday since Clinton and Guliani were set to appear on it. In a way this was homework as one of my journalism classes had us cover the real debates, and a previous SNL segment was mentioned during the last debate.

The Hillary/Obama debate spoof on SNL was pretty good. I thought the Tim Russert impression was hilarious. Rudy Guliani’s appearance was also pretty good. However, the most entertaining segment was a short cartoon poking fun at Obama. In it Obama is showing trying to distance himself from other black leaders like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton who are eager to support him by sending them on diplomatic trips to nonexistant African countries. At one point in the cartoon Obama hands Al Sharpton one of those dog collars that are used to shock the dog if he attempts to step out of someones yard and convinces him its an endorsement necklace. When Sharpton tries to visit one of Obama’s speech he gets the shit shocked out of him everytime he gets near the entrance. Great stuff.

The rest of SNL was uninspired and lame. I found myself groaning often and rolling my eyes. I probably wont be watching it again anytime soon unless they do another Obama/Clinton spoof.

The TV Funhouse: Obama Cartoon

Decided on a start date

I decided to start the unplugged project on Wednesday, March 5th. That means seven days without media will last from the 5th until the 12th.

I’m doing this mainly so that I could it have the due date fall a few days away Philosophy paper due on the 11th. As it stands the paper will be due on the March 13th.

Surrounded by Screens Part I – At home

Before beginning the project I figured it would be a good idea to take stock of the TV screens I come across on a regular basis.

Part I: At Home

The Living Room: The main TV. Sony WEGA baby, straight out of the 90s son. Those flat screens everyone is drooling over nowadays are so played, if you want to be cool you have to kick it old school! I’m even thinking of trading this one in for one of the old pimped out Wood TVs with the turn dials!

It’s cable ready but I have no cable.

It has a futuristic silver look, and a remote control…with buttons!

It’s got Trintron! …but I have no idea what that means.

There are two main uses for this technological behometh 1. Every piece of mail, paperwork, newspapers, magazines I can find are thrown on top of it! 2. Movies! I am a film fanatic I watch an obscene amount of DVD’s whenever I find the time.

Lately, due to my ridiculously busy life, the TV is usually off.

Also note that my house appears to have been visited by a mini tornado.

The Bedroom TV: I didn’t even need to unplug this one because its been sitting on the floor unplugged since I moved to my new apartment last month. It could use some dusting. Note: that’s Babyjane in front of the TV – the blogs own personal model

The Computer Terminal Window:

I spend a lot of time in front of this one. I can say I use it mainly for important shit like homework and business but that would be a lie.

The truth is I sit down with the intention to do work but instead find myself surfing the web, watching an ungodly amount of youtube videos, downloading music, reading music reviews then afterwards finding a youtube video of the band to see if the review was total bullshit. Through it all I manage to get some work done on it…

On rare occasions, when I find the time to download one, I watch TV shows on the PC. Lately I’ve been checking out the HBO show Flight of the Conchords. So far I’m up to episode 2! (I’ve actually been at episode 2 for 3-4 months) Before that I was watching this old 1960′s surreal spy series called The Prisoner.

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The Project! What this is all about…

This blog is for an assignment for a TV & Society Class I am taking this semester at Rutgers-Newark.

This project challenges me to “Turn off televisions , DVDs, DVRs, movies, internet video, the video on ipods, iphones and all other forms of television/visual media for one week.”

I am supposed to keep a log of my thoughts and feelings and take note when I want to watch TV and what the desire stems from.

I decided to take things step further and publish my unplugged diary on the net.

Will it be hilarious? Will it be dull? WillI roll around on the ground like a heroin addict suffering from withdrawl? Will I be able to make it through all seven days?

This will probably be a breeze for me, since I barely watch TV nowadays. But I will admit  that I am a huge Film fanatic and watch a shitload of DVDs.

Also in todays world its hard not to stumble into some form of visual media. Every I go theres a flat screen bombarding me with a bunch of useless shit. So who knows maybe I’ll start drooling, twitching and transform into Pookie from New Jack City when he goes cold turkey while working in a crack factory.

Notice Pookie is smoking crack while he watches TV! Coincidence?!?!! HELL NO! This is what I would picture a true TV junkie would react like when forced to unplug. They will start smoking CRACK!! For real! Professor Jarah Moesch i’m looking at you!