Sunday, July 25, 2010

Divide and... Surrender The Remote


I don't know how my siblings and I didn't kill each other. Four children - and one TV for a long time.. My parents either could foresee guerrilla tactics being surreptitiously practiced in bedrooms, or just got tired of insisting that the ABC was cool - and upgraded to three TVs in my teenage years. The black & white one in my brother's room didn't really count though. His room reeked of his rugby socks and the TV operated similar to the juke box on Happy Days.

These weird limbo days before S & I move in together seem to revolve around who will be watching what and where we will be watching it. Much like Tony and Julia, S has had to surrender to the Master Chef phenomenon and knows that there is more chance of Kevin Rudd staging a coup d'etat and storming The National Press Club than there is of anything else been viewed at 730pm this evening.

For the most part, S & I have the same taste. Altough I know he sacrifices a lot for me, like Friday Night Football, not to mention Mondays. And I have loved the new programmes introduced to me, just as sharing Mad Men has enriched our take away & red wine nights. I knew he would love it. What's not to love? But there isn't just the two of us. A ten year old and a two a half year olds' taste is somewhat....pedigree? Thomas The Tank Engine and Merlin can drive one slightly insane, not to mention Dr Who, which still freaks me out. Seriously freaks me out.

So the blending of families will mean the blending of tvs and taste. Give and take. That's my motto - although this is damn hard. Having lived on our own for some time there are little idiosyncratic viewing habits that will have to be ditched, or exposed. Watching Neighbours will no longer be able to be passed off as "I'm just doing it so M can talk to me about current issues that it so responsibly exposes". This guilty secret has been outed. I like it. And can't take credibility from the fact that I don't watch Home & Away. It's like saying I didn't inhale. No one buys it.

So healthy viewing it will be. Only watch things that you would not be ashamed to watch with George Negus (I struggled to think of a better social media barometer - help here would be appreciated).

Bring on August and blended TV and save me from myself. But tonight I am going to indulge fully in Master Chef, knowing that the rest of the country (bar S) is right there along with me. I just went to Coles and my regular Sales Assistant was dressed bizarrely in chefs hat and apron. I have refrained from calling these guys anything like Check Out Chicks/Charlies since I have found myself riding the same buses and socialising in the same wine bars as these diverse men and women. This is what happens when you live in the same little pocket for nearly 3 years, you start to be on familiar terms with everyone. Anyway, I found myself in a heated debate whilst he checked through my vegetables and toilet rolls. He is adamant that Callum should win for the very reason that I think he shouldn't - he has stuffed up so many times. I, on the other hand, firmly believe that Adam will be crowned the winner (providing the crown will fit over his bun that is). I walked away shaking my head in disbelief but also quietly acknowledging his argument. Perhaps it was his chef's hat that gave him that unexpected air of authority....

So I will think of my dressed up Sales Assistant tonight as I am watching my beloved programme. While my beloved will be wresting the remote from his two & a half year old's precious grasp after the 11th episode of Thomas The Tank Engine. Everyone happy? Not overly as I don't get to snuggle and share. But some things must be sacrificed. Just ask Julia and Tony. Not to mention poor old Kevin. I wonder what he'll be watching tonight? My bet will be on Master Chef, with a prerecording starting an hour early.

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