Internet killed the live TV star

TV is dead to me.

I remember a time when i would be excited about a new TV programme that was on. I would look forward, really look forward to the next episode and enjoy the routine of never missing a certain show, and feeling some achievement in being there to watch a series develop over the weeks and months.

For the past few years this has stopped happening all together. When a new, highly rated series begins, ill sit and watch the pilot episode, then if I enjoy it ill go and download the rest from the Internet. If, as happens very occasionally I cant find what I want online ill just buy the DVD from EBay. The thought of sitting down for an hour a week for months on end seems stupid when you can watch as much or as little as you want to in one go, and never miss an episode. Better still you don't have to deal with the adverts. I remember when I first downloaded an episode of Lost and thought something had gone wrong as the file was only 41 minutes long and its on TV for an hour. But no, sure enough, when that episode was shown on TV it was bulked out with 19 minutes of complete shit. ER is a similar length, and on the latest series they obviously thought that 19 minutes of adverts wasnt enough, so extended it to 1 hour 5 minutes in the shedule, giving more dead time to advertise dead products.

Normally in the later stages of a series (or season) you get a 'Previously, on ...' update for a couple of minutes at the start of the show, which can also be skipped, as you've not had to wait around for a week forgetting what had just happened. In the 41 minute shows on for 1 hour 5 minutes, they have a break straight after the Previously.. section, just to confirm that it is absolutely unwatchable.

If you haven't ever got your favourite TV show on DVD or as media files I cant recommend it enough. I watch a lot of TV, I think TV is brilliant, but only when its on your own terms. Once you've seen and lived a series in a few weeks, theres no going back to the advert infested crock that is on Channel 4.

Ever.

In some unrelated Movie news: I watched The Kite Runner in the cinema this week (I wonder how long it will take before someone tries to introduce advert breaks at the cinema...) and thought it was fantastic. I was dragged along by my housemate and feared it may be a bit too arty for my primarily Transformers based pallet, but I was hugely surprised, moved, and immensely glad to have gone. The book has now got 'I want' written all over it.

Music to walk in by

Since moving and starting my new job I now a walking commuter (which takes between 17 and 19 min) and have been enjoying the free time I get to listen to music. My mp3 player is on my phone, and has only 512MB of space, so thus far (yes, I just said ‘thus’) Ive just been uploading my fave singles. Ive got some killer* play lists for running, which are quite upbeat* and some more chilled out walking-in type stuff.

*Yes I'm down(*) with the kids.

There’s a really good Saab advert on at the moment, and after a quick look I found that the song is called 'Release me' by a Swedish band called Oh Laura. You can download the mp3 for free from the Saab website (www.saab.co.uk). I am grateful to Saab, as I love this song and it’s unlikely I would have heard it otherwise. Similarly I am grateful to Sony for doing their bouncing balls Bravia add (www.bravia-advert.com/commercial/braviaextcommhigh.html) last year and introducing me to Jose Gonzalez. This got me thinking about where I first hear music.

I remember a few years ago watching an episode of Scrubs and loving one of their songs that played out over a funeral. After some searching I found out it was 'Winter' by Joshua Radin (www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2Z1Zk4zXNg) who is now one of my favourite artists, and I have still never even heard him mentioned over here. He is, in my humble opinion, of Damien Rice (who himself has had songs on Lost, and the movie Closer) quality; and that is praise indeed.

Putting your song on an advert or TV show always used to be considered a bit naff, or some sort of sell out by the artist. My cousin used to be in a band that had their second single on a Sony advert. At the time they got a load of stick over it from some of the music press, who said they had lost some credibility. I think the Internet (myspace, youtube etc) and music technology (file sharing, mp3s) have driven this attitude away. The exposure and availability of music nowadays makes it easy for someone like me to pick and choose from a much bigger range of music than I did 10 years ago- and hence (yes, I just said 'hence') hear stuff that I otherwise would have missed out on. For most artists, having an advert, or being available online is now essential, rather than an nice extra.

If I was in an up and coming band now Id cut my arm off to get on the next Sony or Saab advert- and use it to beat some sense into anyone who thought it was a bad idea.