I have always been intrigued by media, television and radio, I recall a time when the family would come together shortly after tea to chill out on the sofa and watch the soaps and entertaining family shows which would keep us mildly entertained until bed time. These days the family lounge has become more of a drop-in centre where folk come to touch base, ask what's for tea, or say cheerio before entering the land of nod. It once was a place where the widescreen technology could certainly guarantee the full and undivided attention of it's customer unlike now where it is little more than a minor distraction. These days it is most unusual if the young 'viewer' in 'our' house is unaccompanied. The youthful hands that once gripped a loving teddy bear or a book has been replaced by the media devices of multi media moguls like Apple or Samsung. These blue tooth companions are never far from sight, never left long enough to go cold and often become a parallel world that ignores the one we often struggle to negotiate in the 'real' timeline of life.
As a middle aged man who wreaks of nostalgia and Patterdale Terriers, part of me craves the day when our graveyard cupboard of board games and pastimes are resurrected. I live in hope that the mini Chess Set and Scrabble board game becomes nothing more than a prop for the weightier classics like Cluedo, Monopoly and Pictionary. I live in hope that another Christmas of 'family' time will see some of the old classics like Mousetrap and Buckaroo rise from the dead stirring us into family unity, but sadly to no avail. After managing thirty minutes of modern family togetherness via a rather limp board game attempt at The Chase, the kids went there separate ways and descended into a yule tide evening of Snapchat, Facebook and Instagram whilst outdoing one another with loud music of the non seasonal variety with not even a sniff of Johnny Mathis or Noddy Holder.
As a man of a certain vintage, I suspect I am no better than the youth in my proximity, I have three sources of entertainment for the dog walk. Phone, Ipod or DAB radio, sometimes or usually I am so unsure what to listen to I take all three, reluctant to leave the phone behind in-case I am needed like the PM in a moment of crisis which I never am. I am reluctant to leave the radio behind in case the battery fails on my ipod which it never does and I take the ipod in-case I get bored with Talk Sport or LBC News.
I don't think I check anything as much as my phone ! My phone automatically bleeps with updates from the outside world but such is my obsession I have brain trained myself to not trust technology checking devices every time I am in the vicinity of multi media. I check for emails from the Vicar, texts from the kids, and missed calls from The injury specialists who only deal in No win, No Win court cases.
On average I would say I get about 10-15 emails a day, I would say 13-14 are useless, unimportant tripe! Offers from Groupon, Tesco, Amazon. Spam from fake Microsoft accounts, Paypal account inquiries (I don't even have a Paypal account) and holiday offers for a two night stay in the Cotswolds which will include a cooked breakfast and a roaring electric fire. I get friend requests from people in New Guinea, I get followers on Twitter from dating agencies and American churches. I'm told there is 1 trillion dollars with my name on it in Tanzania. I can't look at a holiday online without it popping up at me from every single available internet angle. I get reminders from Facebook what I did four, five, six years ago, I'm told of peoples birthdays who I haven't seen for over thirty years. I'm invited to trace my family tree and I'm reminded if I haven't posted for 28 days to get something out there. Oh and I get discount incentives from Waitrose, Laura Ashley, and King of Trainers if I spend over £50 on my first order.. If only I could afford to shop at Waitrose, it just goes on and on.
Today I watched a cow get pulled out of water, it popped up on my Facebook feed, It has been watched over 3 million times, A cow getting pulled out of water got three million views, can you believe it? Also this week I have watched an upside down dog sleeping in it's owners bed. I have observed a marriage proposal at a Basket Ball match in America and I have watched a man in Alaska suffer a severe injury skiing off an icy roof and landed on his automobile. I have not actively sought this kind of entertainment, it's just there as I'm scrolling through multi media over my breakfast cup of Yorkshire Tea and my 'Farm Foods' Hot Cross Buns.
Being a religious person, I am frequently inundated with quotes, Bible quotes, quotes for life, quotes of well being. And of course I join in as a regular Facebooker, Facebook so kindly reminds me, four years ago I posted a picture of a candle, with a quote ! I am as guilty as the next person. Such as the individual who likes me to 'like' and look at photographs of their Sunday dinner that mother has made, or the people who post bucket loads of holiday snaps in Pontins Prestatyn, simply stating 'Paradise'.
Well multi media is certainly not Paradise as far as I'm concerned. The Daily Mail news website lists it's top ten most read stories, In this modern world a most read story recently is the ever changing size of Katie Price' tits and her boyfriend. Katie's breast enlargement was a most read story in the UK last despite all the real shite going on in our world right now. This is a full seven places higher than the atrocity that is going on in Ukraine. Whilst sparing a thought for Yemen and Afghanistan is almost impossible to get a mention anywhere these days.
The digital world has gone truly bonkers, we are consumed by a narcissistic news reel and fed some of biggest load of nonsense we could possibly imagine. As I sometimes sit in a quiet church I feel so disenfranchised with the digital world but yet equally I am so caught up in it as well. This very space, this blogging digital vehicle for expression and thoughts is just an example of the world we live in. But at least, hopefully I have a grasp on the 'other' world but I do worry that our young people are slowly but surely losing the comprehension of tradition and values.
The band, Talking Heads wrote a wonderful piece of music that I have on audio cassette and also on vinyl, and more recently on CD and MP3 and on i tunes, Spotify and Amazon. It's entitled 'Were On The Road To Nowhere' I truly hope that were not. Hopefully we might be being led into calmer waters, a new digital direction. Brexit, Covid 19, Ukraine, Katie Price, it get's a bit much for us, maybe it's just me, and I need to spend a fortnight on fortnite, A month on Wordle, or a lifetime on Football Manager. Who knows but hang in there Easter is coming, hope is never far away, the stones will role away soon and all will be well soon.
Till next time
Alex
