The Ugliest Thing In Your Home

Let’s face it, it’s an eyesore.  Not to mention, it represents a lazy, ‘Wall-E’ kind of society and should come with it’s very own sleep pod so you can nestle in, watch your binge-worthy streams and eat a half pound of potato chips and dip.

Flat screen TV’s were once the rage.  They sold mounts that connected to studs and got larger and heavier and larger and more vivid, to the point now where it’s like… what do you want a drive-in?  Get a VR headset for cryin’ out loud!

Much like digital synthesis and recording, we were so proud of ourselves that it was even possible that we abandoned all that was glorious about the greatness of analog music.

Then the bit-rate wars began, and what started with analog 5 and 8 bit samples eventually got to a place where it’s so digitally good it’s actually kind of not good…or should I say so good that now everyone prefers 8 bit analog samples again, or a dithered simulation of this.  The highest quality digital sample available today is 3072, and the only thing I can imagine using that kind of sampling for is if you’re trying to duplicate an old analog recording, hoping to capture the essence of a better era for sound!

Mostly, we don’t need to hear a laboratory clean record.  We don’t need every bit of noise removed from music.  There’s generally so much racket going on in a live or studio performance from the drum kit shaking, drummer grunting to time, amp hisses & hums and a plethora of other things… it makes a nice kind of soup our ears understand.  We’re not cyborgs.

A Helmet Newton photo is so much more pleasing on the eyes from his innate skill and 35mm camera than one of the mega-pixel images that come in every phone that show the close-up pores of your skin, nose hair, even magnifying parts of your face and body you didn’t know was a problem.

After visiting many open houses and spending at least a half hour each evening on sites like realtor.com and zillow, that ominous black rectangle hanging on the wall not only ruins the picture, but represents a lazy, spoiled society of large, overweight children.

A few years ago when I had a Jeep I stumbled onto something that really cheered up my drive.  It was an AM station that played 60’s and 70’s music in LA called K-Surf.  Turning down the bass a bit, turning the fade up to front-only speakers, and listening to The Beatles in mono was magnificent, and the way it was intended.  It’s the appropriate amount of volume for that small a space.  It even got to where I looked forward to my drives just to experience music this way again.  Then of course they turned the station into an all classical format and like… well of course LA, because you must destroy everything I like!

I think TV’s are the same.  We had it right in the 60’s and 70’s.  It should take up a proper amount of space in your room, like a bread basket.  It should be a device we use, not one we live for.  Personally I watch shows on my laptop now and that screen suits me to the point where I don’t have TV’s in any of the bedrooms anymore.

Furthermore, my son talked me into buying an 85″ Samsung smart TV.  I bought it, had them place it in my living room, got the sound bar to enjoy a more cinema-type experience, and was set.  For the next year I’d walk into the living room and curse the ugliness of that albatross against the wall.

Last week I got rid of it and have replaced it with a very portable 32″ model that can be set on a stand and rolled around for viewing convenience.  It feels 1000 percent better in this room now.  There’s something more serene about the room as well.  A certain peace.

This is just an opinion/observation based on my own taste… but I believe a backtracking in the arena of brainwashing is necessary!
Cheers- Jude

25 Comments

  1. KathrynB November 25, 2024 at 10:21 pm

    I have a very small tv in my spare bedroom for times my arthritis gets the better of me & I need to lay flat. The tv in the loungeroom isn’t much bigger …but I got rid of the couch two months ago and won’t replace it ( I don’t need that much tv)… If anyone comes over there’s a table , chairs and a plethora of piano stools & guitar stools My guitars, keyboard, rainstick, harmonicas ,amp & mics & computer are all in the lounge… I’ve honestly never created, sang & played more music in the loungeroom than since I tossed that couch.
    I have bongos,conchitas & congas in my bedroom but happily no tv.
    As always, enjoyed yr post. Gratitude for sharing.

    • Bandini55 November 26, 2024 at 6:55 am

      Instruments, friends to play with, tea or coffee… yeah. Love it.

  2. Jer November 25, 2024 at 10:28 pm

    My wife and I are restoring a 1966 house in east Las Vegas. Totally vintage Mob vibe. We bought a Samsung Frame TV for the living room wall, and it displays rotating artwork throughout the day.

    • Bandini55 November 26, 2024 at 6:57 am

      Vintage mob… you stole my heart there please share a photo sometime. One of my favorite magazines was Atomic Ranch.

      • Jer November 27, 2024 at 12:30 am

        We are subscribers… LOL… It’s a pink house with a turquoise door. There ya go. Don’t know how to post a pic’ here.

  3. shawnsbrain66 November 25, 2024 at 10:37 pm

    Though I do have a 52″ TV in my living room, our old house has a dedicated room which we call the library. It has a large window facing a 100 year old elm tree in our yard, shelves of books, and electronics are not allowed. My wife and I sit in there and drink coffee and talk or read. I can go in there and sit in a comfortable chair and and close my eyes and literally feel tension fleeing my forehead. It’s my favorite room in our house.

    • Bandini55 November 26, 2024 at 6:59 am

      I do have a blind spot in that I don’t watch sports. I’m sure the games are nice on a big tv… but it dawned on me while I was watching a netflix show that took place in the 60’s on an Indian reservation. can’t think of the name right now but the old TV they had was perfect. so much more aesthetic than this big lunky boxes on walls.

  4. MaryMichellHebert November 25, 2024 at 10:49 pm

    I don’t have a TV in my living room. When I do watch the small one in my bedroom, I watch Gilligan’s Island, and Sex In The City reruns. Polar opposites, huh?
    That’s just how I am.

    • Bandini55 November 26, 2024 at 7:01 am

      Sex in Gilligan’s Island… now there’s a show I might watch.

      • MaryMichellHebert November 26, 2024 at 12:00 pm

        Right? Somehow, I don’t think the professor would have as much time on all those island inventions.

      • Angelo Valenti November 26, 2024 at 2:00 pm

        Ha

  5. Angelo Valenti November 25, 2024 at 11:47 pm

    We have a small TV in the bedroom , one in the rec room off the mud room which is I think a 50”, and in the game room in the basement , the boys , will hang put with friends , play board games , specifically MONOPOLY , shoot darts ,play air hockey , or shoot baskets on the pop a shot so they always have something to do , they bugged me and I gave in and did get an 80” TV , my boys and their friends love it , they play video games, and watch sporting events together, movies , stream , etc , and they are all over quite often, If the kids get tired of being inside they can go outside, shoot baskets , sit around by a fire and just chill and have fun outside , which I encourage more then them watching the obnoxious giant TV , I personally rarely watch TV on it , and just watch the smaller one , working on the wife to get rid of the one in the bedroom , not a fan of it in there , a bedroom should be for relaxing , sleeping and other sorts of fun, I don’t even charge or have my phone in the bedroom at night , I leave it downstairs when I go to bed , don’t want the distraction or be bothered by it , I find it lends to having a healthier life .
    I love that my home has become the. “ hangout “ for everyone , that big TV is a draw , so is a win , rather have the kids all here then god knows where these days. The. Funny thing is my boys watch shows 99% of the time on the small screens on their cell phones when they are alone , go figure .

    • Bandini55 November 26, 2024 at 7:02 am

      Where do you live Angelo? State & city i mean.

      • Angelo Valenti November 26, 2024 at 12:57 pm

        Im in Highland Park, IL. , it is a suburb 26 miles north of Chicago , and a little over an hour south of Milwaukee.
        You may remember the 4th of July , 2022 Highland Park mass shooting at our parade, ground zero was my wife’s place of work, 7 people were tragically killed , we live in a place you say it could never happen here , well it can , luckily we didn’t attend as we always do , due to a planned family vacation.
        Live a 2 story colonial on little over an acre , Love the peace and serenity of my backyard , its my own little slice of heaven .

  6. mrwag November 26, 2024 at 12:24 am

    I’m right in the middle of the Gen X age group. My kids are most out of the house. I have a 13 year old plasma TV. When it dies, I’m honestly not sure what I will replace it with, or even if I will. I watch so little TV anymore aside from some YouTube channels I subscribe to and some DIY shows and This Old House. I could replace it with a bigger iPad and free all that space up, maybe buy a vintage 80s-90s stereo stack with it. Sometimes older and more simple is definitely better.

    • Bandini55 November 26, 2024 at 7:03 am

      I was pretty happy today to discover I get Fox 11 on this LG 32″ without needing cable… so that’s going!

    • Ricochet5167 November 26, 2024 at 10:39 pm

      Ominous black rectangle = Monolith. …I see stars..

  7. Golfercraig511 November 26, 2024 at 12:25 am

    I recently upgraded to a 55 inch TV in the living room but that’s mostly because my eyes aren’t what they used to be. I had a 40″, but had to squint or get up to read the guide. In my bedroom I have a 19 inch that also doubles as my tailgating television when I go to games.

    You have talked about how compressed music doesn’t sound as good and the mixes are all screwed up or something like that in the past. I’m not an audiophile per sec, but I do want it to sound right to my ear. Because of you I got myself a turntable for the first time in two or three decades and I’m slowly building up my vinyl catalog again, and I try to buy original pressings from my local record store. I missed the mono era, my Musical coming of age was mid-70s. But I am enjoying hearing the crackle of vinyl again.

    • Bandini55 November 26, 2024 at 7:07 am

      There are times where the music sounds best loud for sure. The car can just fatigue your ears really quickly. Compression from MP3’s are fine, really… the quality in a 192kbps mp3 is every bit as good as CD really. But nothing really beats vinyl. And you’re smart to buy original pressings. The 180 gram thing is a total scam and I fell for it years ago.

  8. Kenny Williams November 26, 2024 at 4:44 am

    Perhaps the older Generation back in the eighties had the same insight about computers.

    • Bandini55 November 26, 2024 at 7:08 am

      they’d have been right! but seriously flat screens have been with us now since what, 2006?

  9. todd7907@gmail.com November 26, 2024 at 7:12 pm

    I definitely get the 35MM film, and the analog sound. But when our family gathers to watch one of our favorite movies, or a game, we sure don’t want to struggle to see!!

  10. Lanny Clark November 26, 2024 at 7:21 pm

    I never buy the latest tech stuff but I do have a couple of flat screens. Except for some news the only things I watch are old TV series and and classic 50s sci-fi movies. Currently watching The FBI with Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. because I had a chance to work with him in 1996. Super nice guy.

  11. Mick Maag November 27, 2024 at 2:10 am

    Welllll ANY pic of MOST Women is worth Looking at??IMHO and I’m with the group mostly.. that .. I don’t watch much TV… Never have.. Because of THESE ComputerS .. since the Ole 286’s and 386’s bought via Gateway… I go nowhere without my LAPTOP.. I watch mostly everything ON THEM.. think about it… Thomas Edison had a cylindrical record player, that later became the 80 rpm flat 10″ discs that were a 1/4 inch thick.. you can buy em on eBay for 3.00$ and now today I play my records .. Actual Vinyl…. via Bluetooth … JBL Spinner – Bluetooth Turntable with AptX-HD into my 800 WATT JBL PartyBox 710’S …I LOVE MUSIC.. cant play a lick.. But Since I was the 1ST DJ LISTED IN THE AKRON OHIO PHONE BOOK.. YELLOW PAGES.. YEA..

  12. Mick Maag November 27, 2024 at 2:18 am

    Welllll ANY pic of MOST Women is worth Looking at??IMHO and I’m with the group mostly.. that .. I don’t watch much TV… Never have.. Because of THESE ComputerS .. since the Ole 286’s and 386’s bought via Gateway… I go nowhere without my LAPTOP.. I watch mostly everything ON THEM.. think about it… Thomas Edison had a cylindrical record player, that later became the 80 rpm flat 10″ discs that were a 1/4 inch thick.. you can buy em on eBay for 3.00$ and now today I play my records .. Actual Vinyl…. via Bluetooth … JBL Spinner – Bluetooth Turntable with AptX-HD into my 800 WATT JBL PartyBox 710’S …I LOVE MUSIC.. cant play a lick.. But Since I was the 1ST DJ LISTED IN THE AKRON OHIO PHONE BOOK.. YELLOW PAGES.. YEA.. I made them put the listing in the BOOK!! I’ve accumulated over 4k albums of the most precious music one could own.. lol IMHO …of course.. So I bought my first computer to converse with others about music… paid too much for it I’m sure.. and still today.. here i am .. talking about Music!! My friends and I talk music everyday.. if you would like to join our FB page.. Musical Escape.. with about 120 members to view our opinions.. feel free to contact me on FB Mick Maag to be added.. but.. TV’s went the same way.. from archaic to Huge to …. Compac… lol But some type of distraction is needed for the Human Psyche ? I choose music and all aspects of.. I just don’t need it obtrusive and too loud… lol hey ..you get off of my Lawn.. and my Cloud.. lol Mick PARTY ON GARTH.. and thanks Jude for giving us insight to your soul.. lol

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