Forty years ago tomorrow was the day that Neil Armstrong walked on the moon. I wish I could say that I was glued to the television set at the time. The truth of the matter is, that my Mom yelled for my sister and me to come into the house and watch something on the television. It was a nice sunny day and we begrudgingly came in. Watching on the fuzzy black and white television, I remember the astronaut in a spacesuit descend the ladder to the moon's surface. Mom was just fascinated. My sister and I were rolling our eyes and asking if we could go back outside. Finally, disgusted with the two of us, Mom just said, "Go!".
Hey, I was nine years old. Is walking on the moon that big of a deal?
Veteran newsman Walter Cronkite died today at the age of 92. He was my parents' favorite news anchor. Coincidentally he was one month younger than my Mom, and died a month after she did. End of an era.
I remember watching Walter Cronkite reading the news of the day. He had a very soothing comforting voice. Even when the 60s and 70s seemed to be spinning out of control, Uncle Walter was there to make us feel that things were gonna be okay.
Walter Cronkite kept his personal views out of his broadcasting, for the most part. One big exception was his editorial after visiting Vietnam in 1968. He stated that the Vietnam War was unwinnable. President Lyndon Johnson later replied, "If I've lost Cronkite, I've lost Middle America." After he retired, he became much more vocal with his liberal views. Many still blame Cronkite for turning public sentiment against the war.
Today's newscasters are not reporters. They are a narcisstic bunch, looking for the next big "scoop", running fast and loose with the facts. Walter was different. Tim Russert was close, but sadly he's no longer with us either. I don't think we will ever see a newsman like Cronkite ever again.
RIP...Walter.
I have been a faithful subscriber to TV Guide for about 25 years. I always liked to read about the upcoming television season. There were usually some nice articles about some famous TV star. And let's not forget the crossword puzzle.
But in the past few years, TV Guide has changed with the times. First cable listings were added to the magazine, making it thicker, and more expensive. Then the magazine started having many shorter gossipy stories about the TV stars, a la People and Us magazines. There were more collectors editions (Collect all 6) when there was a special on Elvis on TV, for instance.
The biggest change came in 2005 when TV Guide went from a small 5 x 7 1/2 inch magazine to a super-sized 8 x 10 1/2 inch magazine. Ty Pennington from Extreme Makeover was on the first large cover. He annoys me. The magazine now has more articles, more information, and a Sudoku puzzle to accompany the crossword puzzle. It is just too much magazine to read in one week. While on the crapper that is. Isn't that where everyone reads the TV Guide?
I got rid of my satellite dish last February when I was upgrading my broadband connection. It was a big dish and I just told the installers to take the TV access away as well. I have an antenna in the attic and can get the local channels just fine. I intended to get another dish in the fall, but then I discovered blogging. Now I only turn on the TV when I watch a DVD or the local news.
In just a year's time, I have fallen out of touch with TV, and couldn't be happier. Just last week I received my last edition of TV Guide with lots of warnings about the subscription expiration, "THIS IS YOUR LAST ISSUE. ARE YOU CRAZY?" Bye Bye, TV Guide. We had a good run.
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