Tuesday, March 09, 2004
Back to bitching, cos I know you all like it.
TV in North America consists of continuous advertisements interspaced with the occasional program, a few of which are quite watchable under the right circumstances. Radio is similar, except they don't interrupt songs to broadcast ads (though I guess it's only a matter of time ...) Typical "30 minute" programme would be ads to start off, then the first scene, some ads, then the opening credits. These are followed by more ads, and you get rewarded by 5 minutes of uninterrupted TV. This lulls you into a false sense of security, because after that there's more ads, a bit more programme, ads, another scene or two, ads, and then the final scene before segueing into more ads. THEN you get the closing credits, and you guessed it, more ads. Case in point, the series "24", which captures an entire day of a federal agent having a bad day, is broadcast in 24 episodes, each an hour long. Take out the ads, and you get 44 minutes. Maybe his bad day started when he got sick and tired of all the ads on TV.
The amount of choice you get in supermarkets is good, and there's usually lots of it, especially fresh fruit and veg. There are a few things I miss though, that are probably specific to Britain, or Europe. Robinsons juice, for example. To make sure I drank enough water to keep the health experts happy, I used to buy a bottle of Robinsons "Fruit & Barley" and dilute it into 5 used Robinsons bottles. Drink a bottle a day and that's a litre. Handy hint there :-) Anyway, there are about 3 bottles of dilutable "squash" type drinks in Canada, and two of them are in BC. The other was bought by a little old lady in front of me, so bang goes that idea. The Canadians drink fresh juice, or bottled water. Or Tim Hortons ... All expensive stuff. Probably a marketing opportunity there. Are you listening, Robinsons?
Best show on TV here, if you ignore the ads: "The Red Green Show". It's inherently Canadian. i.e. mild, harmless, amusing, and intelligent.
TV in North America consists of continuous advertisements interspaced with the occasional program, a few of which are quite watchable under the right circumstances. Radio is similar, except they don't interrupt songs to broadcast ads (though I guess it's only a matter of time ...) Typical "30 minute" programme would be ads to start off, then the first scene, some ads, then the opening credits. These are followed by more ads, and you get rewarded by 5 minutes of uninterrupted TV. This lulls you into a false sense of security, because after that there's more ads, a bit more programme, ads, another scene or two, ads, and then the final scene before segueing into more ads. THEN you get the closing credits, and you guessed it, more ads. Case in point, the series "24", which captures an entire day of a federal agent having a bad day, is broadcast in 24 episodes, each an hour long. Take out the ads, and you get 44 minutes. Maybe his bad day started when he got sick and tired of all the ads on TV.
The amount of choice you get in supermarkets is good, and there's usually lots of it, especially fresh fruit and veg. There are a few things I miss though, that are probably specific to Britain, or Europe. Robinsons juice, for example. To make sure I drank enough water to keep the health experts happy, I used to buy a bottle of Robinsons "Fruit & Barley" and dilute it into 5 used Robinsons bottles. Drink a bottle a day and that's a litre. Handy hint there :-) Anyway, there are about 3 bottles of dilutable "squash" type drinks in Canada, and two of them are in BC. The other was bought by a little old lady in front of me, so bang goes that idea. The Canadians drink fresh juice, or bottled water. Or Tim Hortons ... All expensive stuff. Probably a marketing opportunity there. Are you listening, Robinsons?
Best show on TV here, if you ignore the ads: "The Red Green Show". It's inherently Canadian. i.e. mild, harmless, amusing, and intelligent.
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