Monday 24 November 2008

Rip Van Stevens has spoken.

I decided when I first came into the blogging world to generally avoid being overtly topical. So many seem to do it, invariably better than me. I have realised in my short blogging career that it is difficult to find something to blog about unless you do 'topical' hence one reason why twice a week seems to suit me. Another point has arisen that suggests I'm an an out of touch old fart. One reason that I'm not a really topical blogger is that I haven't a clue when it comes to topicality. What's more, I don't even care.
John Sergeant, evidently 'the dancing pig' has been in the news all week. I know of him of course but I cringe at the ignorance and sheer insensitivity of those who have nicknamed such an apparently likable man with such a derisory nickname. But I personally have never seen him dance, nor the programme on which he appeared. Not even once, never, ever. (Which seems to put me in a minority, again I don't really care.) Don't fancy it, the only ballroom dancers I ever met seemed narcissistic, preening individuals devoid of anything outside of their glittery, boring sequined existences.
Now it might be me, but it got me thinking as to how I fit in, so to speak. Am I, for instance, the only person who has never seen a Big Brother programme, ever. These celebrity people in a jungle, am I the only person never to have seen a single second of such unadulterated tripe. (Is it a real jungle, I do not know, honest.) I confess I have to be careful here. I was told off strongly by my daughter for suggesting such programmes are for boring individuals of limited intellect leading humdrum lives. She has a point of course, she is an avid fan of some of the puerile programmes imaginable. (oops!) She is also a respected teacher and by no means of limited intelligence. (She takes after her mother of course and not her father!)
The obvious answer to my dismissive rejection of much of the most popular people and programmes in the world is, 'How do you know if you've never watched? But I've never watched Jonathan Ross perform, if perform is the right word. But do I really have to watch such a self satisfied, smirking, obnoxious individual to see what ought to be obvious. (His lack of respect for Andrew Sachs was on a par with the irreverence afforded John Sergeant.) Is it not startlingly apparent that without his doting followers he, Ross is nothing, just another millionaire cretin living off my licence fee.
Don't get me wrong. I would not wish for a form of censorship delivered by myself and my ilk. I just wonder if I am any the worse for having missed some of the nation's most popular viewing. I've no doubt the X Factor is compelling viewing only please don't make it compulsory. Having never seen a single episode of 'Sex in the City' is no doubt my loss. (I did watch The Sopranos, every single episode and found it riveting.) There must be many more programmes I missed over the years. I could look them up but to do so would be a form of cheating and my generation doesn't cheat. But if Tom Cruise walked in here as I type I would honestly not know who he was. Britney Spears, I know of her but I'm not sure why.
And there you have it. Another boring Monday morning. Rant over, you should know by now, they don't call me Grumpy Old Ken for nothing!

8 comments:

Stinking Billy said...

ken, you and I are only kidding ourselves that we rant. The best and most shocking ranters around are 30 to 40 years younger than us. We are quite tame by comparison.

MikeH said...

Good post! I guess I must be the other guy who has never seen one episode of "Sex and the city" I'm a bit out of the loop as far as popular culture goes, but not knowing what I am talking about has never been a disadvantage.

VioletSky said...

I don't understand the obsession with the reality shows either. of course, I don't live in UK so haven't had a chance to see the shows you mentioned, but I haven't ever watched the US or Canadian counterparts either. And I don't care to. Hard to escape the updates on them though.

Clippy Mat said...

well i never watched an episode of Sex and the city either, but i have watched my fair share of some reality shows such as survivor and the like. i do like some of them.
you were asking about my camera on my blog. well i only use a regular digital camera. a sony. it's nothing special. what are you using yourself? i know nothing about photography tho' so don't even know why i ask that.
i just upload 'em and then stick em up on my blog.
which, thanks for reading by the way.
:-))

Grumpy Old Ken said...

Billy

We used to have a Methodist preacher in our village nicknamed Ranter. Not very complimentary.

Mike
I'm warming to you, you make me laugh, I too often have an opinion on everything but actually know bugger all.

VioletSky
Did you see the American version of Little Britain. Even I thought it was rubbish and I'm normally a fan. Who do the Americans/Canadians like of British talent?

Clippy Mat.
Were a bit parochial here I reckon. Still laughing at the Bobby Thompson tape. My camera is a Canon digital. I reckon the problem is me and not the camera.

VioletSky said...

Haven't seen the American Little Britain and cannot imagine that it would even be worth checking out for curiosity sake. The original is just too good.

Though, I do almost think I prefer the US version of The Office.

Am not sure who to say we like - Hugh Laurie is a huge hit, though relatively unknown in the US (I think) before House - and I cannot see why he had to adopt that American accent, took me a long time to like the show because of that. And on PBS, for about 600 years (or slightly less) As Time Goes By has been shown EVERY NIGHT at 7pm. It is a huge favourite and gets voted as the show most requested for PBS to buy during their annual pledge break when we get to choose what BritCom we want to see the coming season.

...and of course, Gordon Ramsey.
and Jamie Oliver who was just in town last week.

Grumpy Old Ken said...

VioletSky

Amazed Gordon Ramsey is popular. Do Americans in general swear a lot?

VioletSky said...

Hm, not on telly as much. There is a great commercial for (something! some kind of seasoning) where the dad is starting a stirfry and upon opening the bottle of seasoning and puring it onto the pan suddenly starts talking like Jamie as he's preparing the meal. Another one has Mum in the kitchen and upon opening the bottle (etc) suddenly starts swearing like a trooper a la Ramsey. It really is quite funny - though obviously not that effective as I cannot remember the product and have been waiting to see it again so I could find a youtube link for you.