The rainy season is almost over here, it was very harsh
and depressing, especially during 5 days and nights of almost constant
rain during hurricane Eta. Lots of roads washed out or were blocked by
mudslides. Several big pieces of my farm fell down into the ravine
below, taking all the trees and roots and soil. Now there is a 5 foot
sheer drop-off where the last football field size piece vanished.
But that is not why I write.This is momentous. December 2, a day that will live in infamy!!!
Victor
has installed a television in the Caballo Blanco Bar… That was what
made the bar special: no TV. People actually talked with each other,
even to strangers sometimes. Now attention will be divided between the
TV and the person trying to talk to you. And if I went (I won’t) I would
be constantly annoyed by the inane chatter coming from the TV.
So
what am I supposed to do for a social life? Go to Church? They probably
have a TV too. The damn bank forces me to watch TV while I sit waiting
for my turn. I try to not watch it, but one’s vision is inevitably
drawn to it. There is one restuarant in town that only has the TV on at
certain hours for news, so I go at certain times so that I no longer
have to ask them to turn it off, or at least turn the volume down, (or
turn it off myself if there are no other customers watching it)
The
only TV show I have watched in the last few decades was Northern
Exposure. Incredibly, they had one episode where the bar gets a TV and
it changes everything. The character Chris is seated at the bar and a
friend tried to talk with him but he is immersed in a sports game on the
tube which has become more important to him.
It may have been the last bar in the world without TV. I am heartbroken.
.
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LD:Eight years ago, I discovered the Morning Star in Brighton, England. A perfect bar, it had no television or recorded music. Three years later, I returned to find they had turned on the canned tunes.
If it's still open, Fergie's in Philly has no TV, but the music there is too damn loud. Just turn it all off, people, and listen to each other, while looking at each other's face!
2 comments:
Looking at Caballo Blanco, I want to lie face-down on the gravel right in front of it...
hi linh,
there's still the basketmaker's in brighton, one of the ones we chatted in. lots of nice pubs here still, though yes, there is music generally (or always). not that i'm going--lockdown, on wagon. best of luck if in israel. cheers,
dan
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