esrosedotblog

MUTE

We now have sound on the teevee at the gym. I have been going there for over ten years and there has never been sound on the two sets allotted to the cardio section (about ten treadmills, ten elliptical trainers, ten bikes recumbent and upright, two rowing machines, and eight step climbers). The sets have been mute, apparently by corporate policy, because they bother the people who have earphones. Now think about this awhile as I continue.

There are certain benefits to mute teevee. One is that you do not have to listen to the blather. The other is that one becomes really astute at lip reading and inferring. Inference is a wonderful thing. We see the picture and make assumptions about what is happening. This is especially valuable for the news.

Recently, I have added in-gym cardio time to my daily routine. I am in front of the mute teevee more often. The other day, it was really early. No one else was on the floor. Someone from an earlier shift had turned the sound up (gasp). There was the usual Entertainment Tonight Preview (430AM to 500AM). This is not the real ET incidentally, this is takeouts and trailers of the program which will appear, well, tonight! They were doing something on Justin Timberlake and I was surprised how fem he sounds. So I turned the sound up further. I bet our Justin is closet. Gaydar red-alert even if he is a bodice ripper. Believe me it is all show biz there. Then other things came on. I HEARD as well as saw. Michael Jackson. Martha Stewart. I was wallowing in the mess like everyone else. Revelation.

The next day, when I got to the bikes, the sound was down. I turned it up. I have been doing so ever since, acting as if I am in charge; which in this instance I am, as no one has objected. Today, the sound was up on the OTHER teevee as well as mine. It is a major rebellion against the arbitrary authority of the gym management. Don't get me started on that one. It is a new management. Golds has bought the franchise back and it is very badly managed from Las Vegas; of all places.

Where was I? This morning, on both teevees, we saw and heard the beginnings of Early Today; NBC's pre-Today news program which is pretty good. They were absolutely roasting Condoleezza Rice's ass. She looked very bad at all levels; sight, sound, makeup, and basic story line. This is great. Did you know that she was not going to testify at the 9-11 hearings? Can you believe it? Well, after the other day with Mr. Clarke, they are going to put her on the grill. You know that I do not have any cable or other tv programming at home. The gym is my only video source. Now I can hear the jumble as well as see it.

A note: I saw real programs on the teevee set in the above picture; a Philco. I was there at the inception. Howdy Doody.