I often make a batch of this at the start of the week and put some in my (and Deb’s) lunch throughout the week. I think the sunflower oil makes it stay great.

One other change I’ve made lately is that I leave out the lemon juice. I also don’t roast the sunflower seeds - I just throw in the mix of pine nuts, pepitas and sunflower seeds…

Great to hear you’ve taken up running. Would love to get together for a Tan run sometime. It was where I started running, so lots of good memories. I think you might have to slow down a little to keep pace with me, though.

Marty.

Good to hear that you’ve been keeping fit. It’s a great feeling to finish a running workout and I find it a pleasant way to refresh the body and mind. I had taken up running two to three times a week since November 06 and gone on a few charity runs such as the 8km Mothers Day Classic (Breast Cancer), 9km MS (Multiple Sclerosis) and 5km RunToTheG (OxFam). Next big event for me is the 10km event for the Melbourne Marathon in October, Uni are going to sponsor some of us with free running singlets, sweet.

I am really happy that my times have improved in the last 6 months, gone from about 5:00 mins/km (6-8km) to 4:20, which equates to my personal best of 16:31 for a lap of the Tan. That place is one of my favourite running tracks, there’s plenty of amazing birds and wildlife to keep an eye out for

Anyway just thought I’d send a cheerio, had a look at your cool website while I was refreshing my hot links. Nice to hear you’re well and maybe see you on a run around the Tan sometime!

Kind Regards,

William (still @ ITS, haven’t retired just yet!)

I apologize; I didn’t mean it to be so caustic. I tried to be careful not to make it personal, which is why I referred to ”people who say they don’t watch tv” and “claiming not to watch TV.”

Of course I believe you don’t watch TV.

I also believe many other people who say they don’t–and maybe they really don’t–but that has nothing to do with my point. The point is that it’s an incredibly trendy “image” thing to SAY you don’t, that’s all. I hope that makes sense.

For example, browse twenty random MySpace profiles and count the times you see “I don’t watch that much TV” in the “Television Favorites” box. If you write nothing in the box, the box even doesn’t show up. I rarely see “I don’t have that many heroes” or “I don’t listen to that much music.” If that’s the case, the boxes just aren’t there.

You busted me. I do in fact have a job in television, but I’m certainly not out on the Internet trying to rally people in front of their tubes. (At least not consciously!) As I stated, I’m a student and I stumbled onto your blog while researching this topic.

I must admit I’m amused that you didn’t address any of my points, instead focusing on the obvious weakness of my overly passionate post.

In any case, I respect you and your choice not to watch TV. I just think it’s a bit overboard to eliminate the tube completely.

My two cents, (not that you asked for it).

You seem to have trouble believing that I actually don’t watch TV (”people who say they don’t watch tv”, “claiming not to watch TV”). Do you think I secretly watch TV when nobody is looking? Are you so entranced by television that you simply can’t believe someone would willingly ignore it?

Television has a huge opportunity cost. I read recently that the average American child watches over 4.5 hours of television per day. I would imagine that Australia would be similar. That’s an incredible waste of time, and the real cost is in the useful and productive things that *aren’t* done while that time is being wasted sitting in front of television, watching inanity interspersed with advertising for junk food, toys and so on (helping to further a culture of never-ending want).

Television is obviously very near and dear to you. The fact that I believe it is of no value or negative value* is clearly quite confronting for you. Have you had a job in television or something similar? I’m trying to work out why you appear to feel so threatened by people who say television is a waste of time.

* Recent research points to a link between rising rates of autism and increased time in front of television in the early years of childhood. Just do a search on autism and television.

Some people seem to feel better about themselves and separate themsleves from the rest of the society they hold comtempt for by claiming not to watch TV. Yes, I think that’s weird. Not even novel anymore–but still weird.

You write: “Do you think people get to the end of their lives and wish they’d spent more time in front of the television?”

No, and I think that’s an obviously silly and condescending question. At the end of your life, will you wish you saw more films, read more newspapers, or surfed more websites? I hope not.

“And the information doesn’t go through arbitrary filters like: are there visuals? Is it ok with our advertisers?”

What media are you consuming that you think DOESN’T go through these ‘arbitrary’ filters? Films? Please tell me you’re kidding! Who pays for films to be made? Who owns the newspapers?

“I’ve found that people who think they learn about themselves and others by watching TV are deluding themselves. TV is manufactured make-believe. We learn about ourselves and others by interacting with others, getting out and doing. Not sitting on a couch watching pretend people live pretend lives. And that includes Survivor and all the other so-called reality TV shows.”

How did you come across that finding? Is that just what you want to think? I suggest that TV makes it acceptable to talk about issues that might have been taboo before–homosexuality, spoiled kids, severe chemical addictions. TV brings issues into a comfort zone so that people can express and exchange their own feelings about them. I’m not saying sitting around watching TV does any good in and of itself–neither does going to medical school or joining new social clubs–it’s what you do with those new ideas and relationships that matters.

I submit that TV absolutely IS the same as all the other media. The only way it’s different is that some people–for whatever reason–believe it is the only one with an agenda.

I certainly hope I’m weird. If I just wanted to be mediocre, I’d sit down, shut up, turn on the box and consume, consume, consume. Seems to be the thing to do for a lot of folks.

The most interesting people I know watch very little or no television. They are too busy doing things to have any time spare to watch television. Do you think people get to the end of their lives and wish they’d spent more time in front of the television?

A couple of thoughts in response to your commments:

Don’t conflate television with other media. I’m an avid consumer of media: newspapers, the internet, films, etc. Television is not the same. The control dynamic is different when reading a newspaper or findomg out about an issue on the internet or watching a film. You do it on your own terms, to your own timetable. Not when the network decides. And the information doesn’t go through arbitrary filters like: are there visuals? Is it ok with our advertisers?

It’s my belief that people can hold topical conversations without reference to television.

Your examples illustrate this perfectly. Should you want to discuss OJ’s trial, there is no need to watch television. What does television add to the conversation? Watching television is not a conversation. It’s a one-way lecture.

And Survivor? Honestly, who cares? “Reality television” is a wonderful irony. If discussing who did what on a tv show like Survivor is imperative to provide the glue in your society, then your society has serious problems. But you don’t need me to tell you that. I’d rather talk to people about who did what among them, their friends, their families, and so on. But if your society sits on its arse watching television, I guess that’s all you have to talk about.

I’ve found that people who think they learn about themselves and others by watching TV are deluding themselves. TV is manufactured make-believe. We learn about ourselves and others by interacting with others, getting out and doing. Not sitting on a couch watching pretend people live pretend lives. And that includes Survivor and all the other so-called reality TV shows.

Broadcast television is a waste of time. It’s simply a delivery vehicle for advertising.

In more academic terms, I’m studying the social effects of the media on society after reading Jerzy Kosinski’s novel “Being There.”

It is my belief that the media serves as a social glue for society. At the very least it creates a baseline for topical conversation as a means of exploring the issues of the society itself.

For example, OJ’s trial was a public exploration of the benefits of celebrity, of interracial relationships, and of the way in which money and celebrity equals exemption from moral norms in our society.

As non-TV-watchers, how can you expect to interact with the rest of a society, which watches TV (and films, etc)? I hosted a morning radio show for several years; keeping up on topical issues, (who did what on Survivor, etc.), was imperative–because one major way people learn about themselves and others is by watching TV.

I’ve seen the glazed look you wrote about. Usually it’s the people who say they don’t watch TV that have the biggest problem zoning out in front of it. If you can watch TV without losing track of the time and date, it’s not such a bad thing.

http://www.jacksnupple.com/blog/2007/02/28/tv-is-cool/

Chris Vadnais
http://www.jacksnupple.com/blog