Thursday, June 24, 2010

The End of a TV . . .

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By special request, a photo of our cat Amande who was peering in the window in wonder at the bottles I'd emptied in a short afternoon of blogging . . .
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Now, although this blog is certainly not a blog about football, or soccer as it is known in some countries, and in general I'm fairly well disgusted with all the hundreds of millions of dollars and massive hullaballoo around this thing known as the WC going on at present, aptly initialed, I couldn't help but wonder if there are perhaps quite a few television sets looking like this one being put out on sidewalks here in France this week for the trash collectors, after having been murdered in fits of rage by their passionate football fan owners, after the French team was sent home in disgrace from South Africa. What a sad circus . . .
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And if refresshments are needed while pondering the fate of that television above, perhaps there's still a cold bottle of cola in this cooler ?
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52 comments:

Amy said...

I have to confess that I've stayed mostly out of touch on the World Cup, but I read a bit of the France gossip. Oh. dear.


Can you teach me how you still manage to type after emptying that many bottles in one afternoon? :D

Cindy said...

I love the photo with the cat peering in at the bottles. love the light. I have been staying out of the world cup.more of a hockey fan up here in Canada. take care.

Deborah said...

Wonderful photo at the top there, Owen. I used to tell my piano students that I could tell the way they lived their lives by the way they played. I think I could say something similar about you, except substituting 'the way you look at things' for 'the way you play'. Although maybe you are a player too??

Anonymous said...

No,,such an event (the WC) is terribly boring indeed, so people need to empty an amount of bottles like that in order to make the brain think it is funny. Sometimes TV is that, but really that bad, that the idea of get rid of it throwing the stuff through the window rise in my mind. I don´t know who one the guy who said the prettiest TV is the on turned off lying on the floor, like that lovely pic of you =)=).

Ok,ok, Tv has its good times from time to time aa well.

Steve said...

Poor TV - a sad case of blaming the messenger!

Download Tv Show Online said...

hehe nice tv photography....

Jess said...

I must say there were a few times yesterday I wanted to throw cushions at the telly while England were playing Slovenia! I enjoyed them winning mind you! I love how you show the beauty in discarded things, I love the boat on your header with the beautiful combination of the green and blue flaking paint. The top picture's my favourite though, gorgeous! :)

The Pliers said...

Wonderful photo of your kitty framed by the evidence of your decadence, mon cher ami!

TV & Pepsi... You are making me homesick!

Anonymous said...

I think the whole country was pretty disgusted with those idiots. But the USA made up for everything yesterday.

Amande is adorable.

Lynne with an e said...

That song that children used to like to sing ad nauseum, while riding in the backseats of cars without seatbelts, on interminable road trips with their parents comes to mind: "99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall." There is a way to construct a building from empties, you know. I'm just sayin'...

I don't understand the thrill of watching sports, but there are many who can't comprehend the pleasure of attending a dance performance. Better to make sport than war, at any rate.

Nevine Sultan said...

Love how you made up a little story to go with these charming pix!

And yes, if one day we make it back to Paris (or shall I say "when") we will most definitely eat peaches. We will dare. And we'll all wear flannel trousers (even me, yes) and we'll roll them up in homage...

;-)

Nevine

mythopolis said...

Can't believe someone tossed a perfectly good tv when all it had was a little hole in it! A reader commented about making a house of bottles. I saw photos of an elaborate large house made of bottles. The owner was a mortician, and all the bottles were embalming bottles! These bottles are squarish and long...like a brick, actually. Thanks for the amusing photos and commentary! What is the WC? Doesn't that stand for 'water closet'? And if it is, how do they get all those soccer players in there?!

Stickup Artist said...

I never did get why all the intense interest around any sport here, there, or anywhere.

You might consider erecting your own European version of a bottle tree farm when you get old and crotchety.

Anonymous said...

After tonight, a good many tv sets will be similarly abandoned in Italy.

Karine A said...

Bonjour Owen,
Il y en a qui disent que l'optimiste regarde résolument vers l'avenir. Pourtant , je ne vois rien de triste dans ces jolis voyages dans le passé que tu nous propose avec tant de talent....

babbler said...

Owen,
If that kitty could get inside the room, those bottles might be whirling on the floor while the world cup plays on a broken tv in the backround....with that, I say, "Visualize World Pieces"...I know it is a stretch, but that is what we slugs are best at, yes?

The broken TV would be off limits to any slug exploration. We would need caution tape around the entire area, it would be dangerous for even the gooiest belly to slide near that broken glass. We would, however, find ourselves staring at it intently, which would give it a second chance at life as a TV, wouldn't it?

I loved your comparison of the WC to the world cup! Mr. Slug and I have chosen to read a book this evening instead of tuning in to the game, I am sure we will find out who wins....I think it will be us! Have a very pleasant slide Mr. Owen! From your friends in Oregon, Mr. and Mrs. Slug and everyslug here at Slug's Rest!

Priya Sebastian said...

If there was a prize for the blogger who makes the funniest comments, then I'd give it to you. I laughed my head off this morning when I read what you wrote. I think its not just the picture of the seed pod that inspired you. Some credit has to go to the emptied bottles on your window.

May you fill your windowsills with more bottles...Cheers!

Burp...

The Sagittarian said...

Wonderful name for your cat!

That Tv has clearly seen better days, but then haven't we all! Hello to you again, Bro.

Lydia said...

Marvelous shots, Owen. And of course I love your kitty.

I am curious enough to go to a news page and read the scoop on that France/South Africa match.

CiCi said...

Oh Owen, I do want to use the TV photo on my blog, please let me know if that is okay with you. I will post a blog about not watching TV. This is perfect.

Anonymous said...

Nearly six years that did pass since last I spend more than five minutes in front of a television. Ever since arriving, it was mostly books that I did escape to.
Only a few days ago that a bottle of Absinth was found, probably able to provide more than a colourful sight, much more worth than any screen can ever be ;)
Always filled bottles and a nice start into the weekend for you.

Owen said...

Hi Robert,
Always filled bottles sounds like an excellent idea, as for TV, as far as I'm concerned, the less television in one's life, the better...

Owen said...

Dear TechnoB.,
You are very welcome to use this image of a broken TV, especially if for writing about not watching TV... remember the TV boy in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Mike Teavee ? A serious lesson there... Glad you enjoyed that photo... It made me think also of Edward Abbey... where an appliance gets shot near the beginning of A Fool's Progress.

If you could just put a little link back the source here, that would be very nice ! Can use all the help I can get !

:-)

Owen said...

Hi Lydia,
Many thanks, and enjoy reading the news... not that there is really much to be enjoyed in the news about the WC, it is mostly lurid tabloid kinds of stories... I just don't get how such big hordes of humans can get so worked up over it all...

Owen said...

Sister Saj!
I thought you might like our kitty's name... she's a sweetheart.
:-)

As for the tv looking like us geezers, yeah, we ain't gettin' any younger !

Owen said...

Priya !
My goodness ! Now is that a ladylike way to behave ???

Please get out your chalk a blackboard, and write 250 times :

I must not burp on Owen's blog !

:-)

Honestly !

Next time you are welcome to drop in and empty a bottle with us, or la Grenouille could make you a nice civilized cup of tea... after which no burping is usually needed...
:-)

Glad you enjoyed the seed pod hypothesis... there seemed something alien about it...

Owen said...

Priya,
PS Have you been taking lessons from Lynne ???

Owen said...

Dear Mrs & Mr Slug,
You are such very wise slugs... so right to want to stay away from all that treacherous broken glass which could cause havoc for sliding slugs... much better to quietly stay in with a good book while not watching tv, and visualizing world pieces at the same time, or world peaces, though I'm not sure such a thing exists. Now if slugs were the dominant population on the planet, things might be different. If you saw some humans acting stupidly, shooting each other and so forth, a crowd of slugs could just sort of slide all over them, submerging them and their obnoxious behavior under a think and impervious layer of slug slime... yes, I'm sure you would make perfect peacekeepers. And everyone knows that slugs never fight among themselves... it's just not in their nature.

Very best wishes from here all the way to Oregon !

Owen said...

Bonjour Karine A.,
Peut-être c'est également utile de regarder vers le passé comme regarder vers l'avenir. Pendant que l'on vie dans le présent... J'espère que tu as aimé l'animation à la télé ici...
:-)

Owen said...

Dear LGS,
I fear you may be right, but it may be just an excuse to expeditiously get rid of an old set in order to replace it with a big new flat screen, which could not be justified while the older model was still working ?

Italy gone, France gone, who will be next ?

Owen said...

Dear Stickup,
Whatever do you mean ? ... I already am old and crotchety !!! And proud of it !
:-)

One could even call me ornery !

I guess one reason there may be so much intense interest in watching a bunch of grown men kick a little ball around a field, is that it is easier than playing chess or thinking about quantum physics...
:-)

Owen said...

Mythopolis,
Now that I'd like to see... an entire house made out of embalming fluid bottles ?!? Will wonders never cease ? As for the WC, I really don't know how they got all those people in there... and to get them back out again, may require a large scale flush...
:-)

Laurie said...

World Cup? What World Cup?
Great post, Owen.
Laurie

Owen said...

Hi Laurie,
Just noodling around, as usual...
:-)

Owen said...

Nevine, Am looking forward to it... in the meanwhile, will be watching my TV here, to make sure it doesn't go anywhere...

Owen said...

Hey Lynne,
Guess I better start saving all the empties then. And if you and Saj start saving yours as well, in no time we are going to have enough to build a glass chateau ! We'll just have to be careful not to throw any stones at anyone...

Owen said...

76 bottles of beer on the wall
76 bottles of beer
Take one down pass it around
75 bottles of beer on the wall !

Owen said...

Hi Dedene,
Well, they made up for it the other day, but last night it all slipped away for them... too bad...
(not that I was paying attention or anything...)
:-)

Owen said...

Dear Pliers,
That kitty of ours is a sweetheart.

And just for info, she is famous, given that the video of her on YouTube has been watched over 5500 times now. Almost as famous as Susan Boyle ! The fact of the matter is, the video is about her drinking problem... She'd be right at home with the people at your sports bar...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRt1FMG_waU

You can also find it if you enter into the YouTube search box : Funny cat drinking water

:-)

Owen said...

Jess ! Thank you so much ! Glad you like my dream boat. It just needs a little tiny bit of work to get it floating again...

And better to throw soft cushions at the telly than whatever was thrown at the model in the photo here... which might have been a bullet, actually...

Owen said...

Download TV !
Glad you liked it ! Heehee, if a few more TVs were shot like this one, the world might become a more thoughtful place...

Owen said...

Hey Steve,
In this case, I don't mind seeing the messenger get shot..

Owen said...

Alberto,
I think the best television fate I saw was a video of a TV getting thrown out a hotel window fairly high up, into the swimming pool... it made quite a splash...

A fine Sunday to you !

Owen said...

Hi Deborah,
I've been known to play a little guitar from time to time. Sometime back around last November, or thereabouts, I posted one piece of music, which was about the only recording I was ever involved in... if you can find it, I'd be curious to know what it says about how I live my life ? In any case, I do try to look at things carefully... and wish I had time and resources to spend more time just looking at this world we live in...

Owen said...

Hi Cinner,
Thanks !

Owen said...

Hi Amy,
It is interesting how several here came to the conclusion that these might be beer, or at least alcohol related, bottles... but it could be that they were just full of special liquid-inspiration-water, which were enjoyable drinking, but only required a few trips to the WC afterwards to keep from floating away...
:-)

Catherine said...

Comment crois-tu que se retrouve mon écran d'ordinateur quand Blogger refuse de déposer ma photo sur mon post là où je le désire ?

Catherine said...

Il est de pire crétins que les supporters de football....certains
joueurs eux mêmes....et quand je dis "certains" c'est très restrictifs. Ne dit-on pas : Qui se ressemble, s'assemble ?

Roxana said...

i must confess i was so mad about that top picture (thanks, Owen, you are incredibly sweet) that i couldn't imagine i could develop another obsession for other pictures in the same series, yet you managed that! the second one really blows me away, it could be taken as a symbol for our entire modern time.
because i know you like Hesse, i can't resist mentioning Hesse - i'm thinking here of what he calls the "Feuilleton Age", governed by the trivia which the media feeds us every day: "They reported on, or rather "chatted" about, a thousand-and-one items of knowledge. ... A torrent of zealous scribbling poured out over every ephemeral incident and in quality, assortment, and phraseology all this material bore the mark of mass goods rapidly and irresponsibly turned out.' (Hesse)

Owen said...

Bonjour Catherine...
Je pense il va falloir créer un écran d'ordinateur avec du verre anti-effraction, triple épaisseur... on va t'offrir cela, dès que c'est disponible...

Quant au foot, j'en ai deux, au bout de mes jambes, c'est tout ce que je sais...
;-)

Owen said...

Buna Ziua Roxana !

Indeed, indeed, your wish is my command...
:-)

Thanks so much for this totally pertinent quote from Hesse; I love that "torrent of zealous scribbling"... we live in a cacophanous age where more and more noise is made for less and less reason. We need more silence. A silent centered soul, contemplating the infinite, breathing deeply...

Should televisions all suffer this fate ? There is so little that goes on in the realm of television that has any cultural value. Most of it is maddening gibberish, "rapidly and irresponsibly turned out"... that's it, exactly.

Buna seara R.

CiCi said...

Hi Owen, my little post with your photo will be on my blog Wednesday and Thursday. Thanks for the permission to use your great photo.