How Scrambled Is My Egg


I can feel my Fall frump upon me, brought on by a nasty cold coupled with the cooler temperatures and a sense of inner figidery. I watch very little television, but, when feeling blasé, I tend to tune in a little more frequently.

In all honesty, the only programmes I truly enjoy are good dramas, documentary and sport. The first two, in a sea of nearly 100 channels, are difficult to come by with any consistency. The latter – that is to say sports that I am interested in – are nearly impossible. The fact is, my favourite sports to watch include Rugby, Soccer, Australian Rules Football, Gaelic Football, etc., which aren’t exactly staples in the North American market which is dominated by American Football, Baseball, Basketball and Hockey. Don’t get me wrong, except for the NBA (I believe the circus is cruel and inhumane with apologies to Steve Nash...), I do enjoy most North American sports, but given a choice between a Rugby or American Football match, Rugby would win every time. Now there is Fox Sports which I could get for an extra arm and leg each month from my cable provider, but we presently pay too much as it is for how little we get.

Now I would remain silence in my misery if it wasn’t for a few major points of note. First and for most, the sports networks we presently have (there are three of them) show excessive amounts of poker, darts and bowling which, I’m sorry to say, simply don’t justify themselves. Then there’s Golf (which I despise) and Auto Racing (which is just as bad) that are on local sports networks regularly IN ADDITION TO HAVING THEIR OWN 24 HOUR CHANNELS! If this is not evidence that there is no god I don’t know what is! There is TVA that is in French (which I can fortunately understand for the most part) that have some Rugby coverage from France (if I can get my timings correct), and TLAT for a bit of Italian Soccer, but if I want to see what’s happening in the Australian AFL or NRL, or the GAA in Ireland I’m hooped. Is there any bloody wonder why I have a “Kill Your Television” sticker on my vehicle? For heaven’s sake, are there not enough folk over here from Rugby playing nations that they can’t justify pre-empting the Sarnia Darts Co-Ed Open Invitational for 80 buggering minutes???! And PLEASE – don’t preach to me about satellite!

Okay, so it would appear that I’ve hit a nerve and need to walk away from the Satan box and read a book. Enter my next conflict. I’ve been in a book slump ever since I finished reading a second Peter Robinson novel. Prior to that I was really into a Harry Turtledove alternative history series of which I waiting for the next three books to hit mass paperback. I flitted around with another Robinson novel for a few pages, put it down and then picked up another of Turtledove’s alternate fiction novels, putting that down as well, unable to get into either. Perhaps it’s the phase of the moon and this cold, who knows. Anyroad, I picked up Margaret Atwood’s The Blind Assassin while visiting a local bookstore where I spent the afternoon marking Mathematics tests and drinking Starbucks coffee, have read a few pages and like it so far; hoping my slump is ended. I think that when I am without a good book that I am most out of sorts. Certainly my love of reading explains largely my lack of civility toward television. I admit that I am a bit of a snob that way, but hey – at least I can see myself for what I am.

My goodness, it looks like I’m writing with a fever straight out of Dostoevsky here with my ranting. Oh well, there’s no harm in it I suppose and I’ve yet to enter any diatribes, protesting that 2+2 is not 4 (see Notes From Underground if you missed the link here). Alas, ex ovo omnia!