The Next Generation
(STARDATE 45122.3. The sensors aboard the Starship Enterprise have detected a subspace anomaly. The nature of the anomaly is as yet unknown, but Commander Data has reported a slight drain on the warp core generator. Captain Jean Luc Picard has alerted the senior crew members to keep him informed of any changes and meanwhile continue on course to the colony on Aldebaran III)
“It must mean we’re really getting old when the only thing we talk about is television, ” I say to Bobby. He sits across from me, the flickering colors from the TV screen playing across his face, the dim light illuminating the room like a lunar landscape.
We are watching episode #232 of ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation.’ There are no more new episodes. We have seen this episode before, but we are watching it because it’s better than not watching it. We watch it at the same time every night. We are watching it because we are addicted to its predictable action, its monotone dialog, its hypnotic cinematography. We watch it because we have seen so many episodes that we know all the characters, their life histories, their personal characteristics, their predilections and idiosyncrasies, better than we know some of our own family members.
(Commander Data has been experimenting with oil painting. All of his subjects appear to be meticulously drawn but do not express feeling. Ship’s Counselor Deanna Troi suggests that he attempt abstract art to explore his subjective experience.
Their conversation is interrupted, however, by a message from the bridge. The subspace anomaly has greatly increased in both its size and intensity. If it continues to grow at its present rate the Enterprise will soon be in danger of being drawn into it and being destroyed.)
I feel that my life is slipping away, that I am trapped, helpless, in a void of television shows, TV dinners, and a routine of daily activity, doing the same thing at the same time each day, that makes the days go by as quickly and painlessly as possible. I feel that each week that passes is a week that I will never have again. That I am dying, slowly, the life energy being sucked out of me, a little bit each hour, each day, in a plethora of ‘Seinfeld, ’ ‘Friends’, ‘The X-Files, ” and ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation.’ That I am caught in a time warp and slowly and inexorably being drawn into its vortex.
{The subspace anomaly continues to grow and to draw energy from the Starship’s warp core generator.
“Shields at 14 per cent, ” says Commander Worf.
“At this rate the Enterprise will be destroyed in 13 hours,28 minutes, and 32 seconds, ” says Data.)
Somehow I’ve got to escape from this, to rejoin the flow of humanity, to begin my life once more. If only I could meet the person, write the poem, sing the song, paint the painting. If only I could break the cycle. But it’s too safe remaining here. And I use television like a drug, insulating me from my own feelings, insulating me from my own sense of loss, substituting instead the fictitious emotions of fictitious characters, lived vicariously at the same time each day, with a standardized format designed to keep the self distant, removed, safe, anaesthetized from the pain of indirect living.
Bobby says, “You really know you’ve been watching too much television when everything on the cable is a re-run.”
(Captain’s Log Supplemental: The Enterprise has escaped from the subspace anomaly with 1.4 seconds to spare. The senior officers on the bridge look at each other with a sigh of relief.
“Ensign, lay in a course for Star Base 67, bearing 6571, mark 82, warp six, ” says Picard.
“Engage! ”)
poem by Theresa Haffner
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Related quotes
Television Man
Im looking and Im dreaming for the first time
Im inside and Im outside at the same time
And everything is real
Do I like the way I feel?
When the world crashes in into my living room
Television man made me what I am
People like to put the television down
But we are just good friends
(Im a) television man
I knew a girl, she was a macho man
But its alright, I wasnt fooled for long
This is the place for me
Im the king, and youre the queen
Chorus
Take a walk in the beautiful garden
Everyone would like to say hello
It doesnt matter what you say
Come and take us away
The world crashes in, into my living room
The world crashes in, into my living room
The world crashes in, into my living room
The world crashes in, into my living room
And we are still good friends...(television man)
Im watching everything...(television man)
Television man...(television man)
Im watching everything...(television man)
Television man...and Im gonna say
We are still good friends...and Im trying to be
Watchin everything...and I gotta say
We are still good friends...you know the way it is
Television man...Ive got what you need
We are still good friends...i know the way you are
Television man...i know what youre tryin to be
Watchin everything...and I gotta say
Thats how the story ends.
song performed by by Talking Heads
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Days I Let Slip Away
My days seem to be slipping away from me
And no matter how much money
I have I will never get those days back
That I just let drift away
My time is being wasted
It's like buying dollar toys
That you only play with once
And forget about them
And it seems like steal
Because there only a dollar
And you want something
To occupy your time
I hear the birds chirping outside my window
And I look at the clock and it goes click
Like the remote in my hand
I sit on the couch and watch
Other people live there lives
While I am just letting my days slip away
Sitting here watching the television
My television paints a picture of life
That I want, but isn't real
Life is so much better on the television
Watching Me Watching You
I sit by the cutting on the beaconsfield line.
Hes watching me watching the trains go by.
And they move so fast --- boy, they really fly.
Hes still watching me watching you watching the
Trains go by.
And the way he stares --- feel like locking my door
And pulling my phone from the wall.
His eyes, like lights from a laser, burn
Making my hair stand --- making the goose-bumps crawl.
Hes watching me watching you watching him
Watching me
Im watching you watching him watching me
Watching stares.
At the cocktail party with a bucks fizz in my hand
I feel him watching me watching the girls go by.
And they move so smooth without even trying.
Hes still watching me watching you watching the
Trains go by.
And the crowd thins and he moves up close but he doesnt speak.
I have to look the other way.
But curiosity gets the better part of me and I peek:
Got two drinks in his hand --- see his lips move ---
What the hells he trying to say.
Hes watching me watching you watching him
Watching me.
Im watching you watching him watching me
Watching stares.
Hes watching me watching you watching him
Watching me.
Hes watching me watching you watching
The trains go by.
Hes watching me watching you watching him
Watching me.
Hes watching me watching you watching him watching me.
Hes watching me watching you watching him watching me watching him watching.
song performed by by Jethro Tull
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Television viewers, they've been around a long time. They've been watching this thing now for 50 years. I mean, they know exactly what's happening when it comes to television programming. You can't put anything over on them anymore.
quote by Maury Povich
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Little black box called Television!
I watch it
Morning, day and night
The plasma screens are quite a sight
Soap Operas, Reality Shows, Movies
I watch anything there is to see
But the little black box called Television
Gets on my nerves
Images of other people’s life it serves
As a daily dish to my vision
Even my own ideas about fashion
Are ruthlessly destroyed in its mission
To impose on me of how to live
But I love Television
I am addicted to Television
Like glue is to paper
Or love making is to a beginner
I am its concubine with my permission
Please at me, don't point a finger
When I am lonely
It is easier to pretend
The images presented by TV
Are my friends
When I am horny
Without sounding funny
I can make love in my bed
After breakfast in bed
To anyone from the TVs images
Now endorsed into my head
That little black box
Sucks, it really sucks
It is just a vicious circle
Bed, Work, Television and Bed
Bed, Work, Television and Bed
Bed, Work, Television and Bed
Copyright 2006 - Sylvia Chidi
poem by Sylvia Chidi
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Other Lives
It's just relaxing sometimes to watch others
with all your friends, relatives, and mothers
not worry about living my life with each care
but watching others, through love, betrayal, death and dare
It's nice to watch a story unfold
hear the stories yet untold
watch their loves on movie screens
even watching my peers- you know... teens
It's exciting to see their life and adventure
Enticing to watch how he falls in love with her
how evil is defeated, or how a science fiction makes us question this reality
all these movies, they help me see
see not only myself, but help me relax, because as i watch it's not me
when i watch all those lives and all those trials its not me
for a moment in time
I am not worried about my life but theirs, i live through they eyes
subject to their rhyme
see their skies
and not mine, sometimes this the most alluring
part of it all, watching someone else live on movie screen
its a beautiful thing
because it's not my life up there, i need not worry, not my scene
poem by David Knox
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Watching For Shapes
Written by ricky & marty wilde
Influences now are things that are all around me
Changing shape as they move around in an open mind
Coloured in by the images I find
Im just watching for shapes that grow
Im just watching for shapes that grow
(watching for shapes that grow)
Like electric sparks they danced by an open mirror
Closing doors never looking round but its not goodbye
Theyll be there till Im taken out I know
Im just watching for shapes that grow
Im just watching for shapes that grow
(watching for shapes that grow)
In my mind theres a space thats full of painted pictures
Things I did that I went through, but cant recall
Now and then theres a flash of the unknown
Im just watching for shapes that grow
Im just watching for shapes that grow
(watching for shapes that grow)
(watching for shapes that grow)
(watching for shapes that grow)
song performed by by Kim Wilde
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Frustrating Seconds
These seconds of time that seem so small
really are not that small at all.
They continuously add up to a minute.
Sixty seconds later and all that's within it
is larger as they pass.
And then they add up to an hour.
Now those seconds have more power.
They move along and soon there'll be
another day gone from you with me.
Seconds, minutes, hours and days
have grown so long in heartfelt ways.
They leave me wondering just how long
these drawn out seconds did me wrong?
I'd love to bundle them up real tight
and little by little squeeze them at night.
And when the dawn is here again
remember all of them and say Amen.
I do not wish my life away.
I just want those seconds to go their way.
Let them add up for another fool.
For these seconds for me are much too cruel.
I don't need seconds, minutes or hours
to remind me of eternity.
I will not count the time anymore
for all it contains is the misery
of being away from you.
poem by Edwina Reizer
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Watching Me Fall
I've been watching me fall for it seems like years
Watching me grow small, i watch me disappear
Slipping out my ordinary world, out my ordinary eyes
Yeah slipping out the ordinary me into someone else's life
Into someone else's life...
There's a thin white cold new moon and the snow is coming down
And the neon bright tokyo lights flicker through the crowd
I've been drifting around for hours and i'm lost and i'm tired
When a whisper in my ear insatiable breathes
"why don't you follow me inside?..."
Yeah the room is small, the room is bright
Her hair is black, the bed is white
And the night is always young
Is always young... always young
The night is always young...
Yeah i've been seeing them strip to the bone in the mirror on the wall
Seeing her swallow him whole like it's not me at all
She holds out her hands and i follow her down to my knees
And the sucking inside insatiable smiles
"you will forget yourself in me..."
Yeah the room is small, the room is bright
Her eyes are black, the bed is white
And the night is always young
And the night goes on and on
And the night is always young
And the night is never over and over and over and over and over...
And this it's gone
And this it's gone
Yeah then it's gone
Yeah it's a cruel mean cold new day and outside the snow is still coming down
And in the blood red tokyo bed i watch me coming round
She pulled him down for hours
Deeper than i've ever been
And as i fall in the mirror on the wall
I'm watching me scream
I'm watching me scream
I'm watching me scream
I'm watching me scream
Yeah i've been watching me go for it must be years
Watching me get slow, i watch me disappear
And one day, yeah i know, i won't come back at all...
And always over and over in his ordinary eyes
I'm watching me fall
I'm watching me fall
I'm watching me fall
I'm watching me fall
song performed by by Cure
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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And I grew up watching all the British ones so when you hear that from an early age, it makes it much easier than you guys who don't grow up with Australian television or British television.
quote by Rachel Griffiths
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The real drug
Television takes away what you could acheive.Newspapers takeaway your sense of what s it all about.Death destruction of our home Earth, people not looking out for each and everyone.Money its not what its all about, Corporate greed is insane, goverment well yeah look out here comes another one[Tax].They say We are here for the people, but never really listening.The laws don t seem to be working/families growing apart where are the kids riding bikes in the park being kids. Television computers videos thats where they are watching the screen not socialising, we are to blame competing with each other.Life is not a dress rehersal Move.Im not saying i have the answer because we cant change corparations and you wont allow thisthe need to have it all stops us.Television Print Radio Is the drug off all nations
poem by Andrew Watson
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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The Anger Behind The Swing Of This Axe
With every swing of this well worn axe.
I'm thinking of you.
The anger burns right through.
Images flash across my brain.
It's like I'm watching the most hated reruns on television.
And no matter what I do they just keep playing.
I wish I never meant you.
I wish for something sweet instead of something so bitter.
I've been told the taste will fade.
Well I'm still waiting.
With every swing of this well worn axe.
I'm thinking of you.
The anger burns right through.
Images flash across my brain.
It's like I'm watching the most hated reruns on television.
And no matter what I do they just keep playing.
I wish I never meant you.
I wish for something sweet instead of something so bitter.
I've been told the taste will fade.
Well I'm still waiting..
I did everything right and it still went so wrong.
Perfection in the moment and now its gone.
If I only knew what I know now.
I would have ran for the hills.
Never looked back.
Like a ghost completely disappeared.
Across the hemisphere.
Above the highest atmosphere.
Mind you they are limitation I grant you.
But still I don't think it's that far of an exaggeration.
With every swing of this well worn axe.
I'm thinking of you.
The anger burns right through.
Images flash across my brain.
It's like I'm watching the most hated reruns on television.
And no matter what I do they just keep playing.
I wish I never meant you.
I wish for something sweet instead of something so bitter.
I've been told the taste will fade.
Well I'm still waiting.
With every swing of this well worn axe.
I'm thinking of you.
The anger burns right through.
Images flash across my brain.
It's like I'm watching the most hated reruns on television.
And no matter what I do they just keep playing.
I wish I never meant you.
I wish for something sweet instead of something so bitter.
I've been told the taste will fade.
Well I'm still waiting.
A broken heart I'm not debating.
For I know at one time I did love you.
But it faded as you became so god damn jaded.
Nothing I did was ever quite good enough.
With love their should never be any expectation.
Except not too stray or put yourself a abusive situation.
Support and do the best you can for your family and friends.
But in this case you didn't allow that to happen.
With every swing of this well worn axe.
I'm thinking of you.
The anger burns right through.
Images flash across my brain.
It's like I'm watching the most hated reruns on television.
And no matter what I do they just keep playing.
I wish I never meant you.
I wish for something sweet instead of something so bitter.
I've been told the taste will fade.
Well I'm still waiting.
With every swing of this well worn axe.
I'm thinking of you.
The anger burns right through.
Images flash across my brain.
It's like I'm watching the most hated reruns on television.
And no matter what I do they just keep playing.
I wish I never meant you.
I wish for something sweet instead of something so bitter.
I've been told the taste will fade.
Well I'm still waiting.
I want to blame you for my unhappiness.
But I can not.
For I'm better off now then I ever have been.
In my eyes you have already been forgiven.
For your road was rockier then mine has ever been.
I will never forget the kids they will always be in my heart as if they were my own.
One autistic, the other blind.
You don't even acknowledge I ever existed.
Even as I ask how they are.
So I will never know.
With every swing of this well worn axe.
I'm thinking of you.
The anger burns right through.
Images flash across my brain.
It's like I'm watching the most hated reruns on television.
And no matter what I do they just keep playing.
I wish I never meant you.
I wish for something sweet instead of something so bitter.
I've been told the taste will fade.
Well I'm still waiting.
With every swing of this well worn axe.
I'm thinking of you.
The anger burns right through.
Images flash across my brain.
It's like I'm watching the most hated reruns on television.
And no matter what I do they just keep playing.
I wish I never meant you.
I wish for something sweet instead of something so bitter.
I've been told the taste will fade.
Well I'm still waiting.
poem by Ace Of Black Hearts
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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I'd love to star in a television series of my own. I love the idea of living with a character for a number of years, watching him grow.
quote by Michael Dorn
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Laying next to you
Laying next to you,
Hearing you breathe,
Watching you suffer,
Watching the blood tears run down your face,
I can’t wash away your pain,
You can’t wash away my endless sorrows,
Laying next you feel as if I was laying down alone,
Watching you walk away,
Watching you leave out of my life,
It hurts me inside,
My endless sorrows made me cry,
I try hard to not show it,
To show what you mean to me,
Laying next to you makes me feel all warm inside,
Just talking to you makes me have butterflies in my stomach,
Just watching you smile makes me smile,
Just watching you fade away makes me wanna hurt myself,
One thing I ever wanted in life was you.
poem by Jennifer Rondeau
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Nine To Five
The star is in normans office. his day
Of sweat and toil has begun.
Nine to five
Answering phones and dictating letters
Making decisions that affect no one.
Stuck in the office from nine until five
Life is so incredibly dull,
Working from nine to five.
Oh nine to five, nine to five,
Working from nine to five.
And time goes by
The hours tick away.
First seconds,
Then minutes,
Then hours into days.
Each day,
Each week,
Seems just like any other.
All work,
No play,
Its just another day.
Hes caught in a mass of computerised trivia,
Deciphering data for mechanical minds.
Hes lost in the paperwork and up to his eyes,
Hes checking a list thats been checked out before
And hes starting to lose his mind.
Oh nine to five, nine to five,
Working from nine to five.
(repeat).
song performed by by Kinks
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Before I was shot, I always thought that I was more half-there than all-there - I always suspected that I was watching TV instead of living life. Right when I was being shot and ever since, I knew that I was watching television.
quote by Andy Warhol
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Black Bruises I
I can stare into the blackness,
the void of many abysses
behind every dark curtains
I can endure calm and silence
watching pole dancers grind,
watching stars scintillate,
watching still shadows on the walls,
watching dislimned reflections,
watching trees pass me by,
watching ethers wash the screen,
watching my lonely feet,
watching little things sway;
but am I the only one watching
these black bruised visions?
poem by Norman Santos
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Angels
Take this man to prison, the man heard herod say,
And then four squads of soldiers came and carried him away.
Chained up between two watchmen, peter tried to sleep,
But beyond the walls an endless prayer was lifting for his keep.
Then a light cut through the darkness of a lonely prison cell,
And the chains that bound the man of God just opened up and fell,
And running to his people before the break of day,
There was only one thing on his mind, only one thing to say:
Angels watching over me, every move I make,
Angels watching over me!
Angels watching over me, every step I take,
Angels watching over me!
God only knows the times my life was threatened just today.
A reckless car ran out of gas before it ran my way.
Near misses all around me, accidents unknown,
Though I never see with human eyes the hands that lead me home.
But I know theyre all around me all day and through the night.
When the enemy is closing in, I know sometimes they fight
To keep my fight from falling, Ill never turn away.
If youre asking whats protecting me then youre gonna hear me say:
Got his angels watching over me, every move I make,
Angles watching over me!
Angels watching over me, every step I take,
Angels watching over me....
Angels watching over me....
Angels watching over me.
Got his angels watching over me, every move I make,
Angels watching over me!
Angels watching over me, every step I take,
Angels watching over me!
Angels watching over me,
Angels watching over me,
Angels watching over me,
Angels watching over me!
Though I never see with human eyes the hands that lead me home....
song performed by by Amy Grant
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Tv Is King
All right! yeah!
I wish I was a man with a mechanical heart
Id conquer all my enemies alone
Id tear the guys apart
Then scatter the pieces
I wish I was the man in the sound proof booth
I wish I had a chance to stump the band
Or maybe tell the truth
And maybe I could win a color television
I really love my television
I love to sit by television
Cant live without my television
Tv is king
Youre my everything
I wish I had the girl with the bouncy hair
Wed ride off in a brand new car
Or fly a plane somewhere
Like probably jamaica
Ill brush my teeth, shampoo my hair,
And shave my face
Apply the necessary aerosol
In the appropriate place
And well spend the night together
Watching television
I cant turn off my television
Dont really know why television
I understand my television
Youve got your works in a drawer
And your colors on track
You have to brave the way
But you always come back
You make a hundred changes
But youre always the same
You make me so excited
And you make me so lame
Youre just a cute ball of gas
And a box full of tin
But you show me your junk
And I want to jump in
Oh if only your chassis
Was covered with skin
cause tv youre my everything
song performed by by Todd Rundgren
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Maintaining Peace with Ease
Both World ‘Hello Day' and 'Television Day’ falls on same day
Without both where we would be today
Gopal was trying hard to resolve conflict and confusion
After blaming for scheduling mishap on United Nation.
Gopal said hello on daily basis
And to watch television he always wished
World Hello Day was to be celebrated by greeting 10 people
By personally communicating to preserve peace.
He eased the pain of choosing between the two
By switching on the television in his house
And on November 21, watching 10 people saying ‘hello’
Celebrating both, and rule of preserving peace to follow!
poem by Venkatesh M. R.
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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