Monday, February 12, 2007

Trash TV

Woke up last night at 2 and got up to let the TV lull me back to sleep. I put on CNN. After suffering through the breaking news of the picture of a bottle of methadone in Anna Nicole Smith's refrigerator, I was treated to teasers for "The secret" - the buzz that simply everybody is talking about, and the secret that all successful people know. The anchor, Rick Sanchez, looked like a kind of cartoon character, all plasticy like he was made in a doll mold. His sing songy voice was similar to how the news is delivered on Sesame Street.

I waited.

And I waited. (It was interesting to note that every single commercial period included an ad for Lunesta, the pill that will make you sleep.)

Finally, they got around to "the secret"(dun dun dunnn). They had the author of "the secret" as well as the author of Chicken Soup for the Soul on there, and Rick asks, "In a nutshell, can you tell us what the secret is?" And the two start to answer about the law of attraction, about how your thoughts and feelings actually act as magnets drawing what you want, fear, or believe to you. "Oh I'm sorry, we're out of time, thanks for being here." And then the piece was finished. They got maybe 30 seconds to "explain". Is this some kind of new book advertising stunt? Because it certainly wasn't news. What happened to CNN? It's such trash now.

25 comments:

The Wisdom of Wislon said...

Watched Goodnight and Goodluck- your blog reminded me a bit of that :>)

nice pic of your bb's by the way!

St. Dickeybird said...

Yeah, CNN is tabloid now.

When I first heard of Anna's death, it was in a story headlined "Former Kanye West model dead!"

Okay, with all the crap she did, her main reference should not be about a video she "acted" in!

Anonymous said...

I was on the floor as you were writing about the ads for Lunesta in the middle of the night broadcast.

I agree that CNN is as worthless as the rest. Everyone is into entertainment, glitz and glamor. I get most of my hard news from the Internet.

Timmy said...

I think it's all trash of late.

Anonymous said...

Yo, anyone who "lulls" himself to sleep with TV (!) is already a blipvert drone, so the crap that comes down the drip can't make much difference, yeah?

Petie said...

Have you ever try Melatonin??

I read that it suppose to help you fall asleep :) And it's a great anti-oxident

dirk.mancuso said...

CNN kinda sucks hard these days. Its one redeeming factor is that it has that super dreamy Cooper Anderson to gaze upon.

(C'mon, admit it, Torn -- don't you feel just a the slightest bit conforted to know that "as a nation mourns the loss of Anna Nicole Smith, CNN is there to keep you abreast of breaking developments"?)

Shauntae AuPair said...

Those Lunestra ads are scary! Who wants that creepy vampire-butterfly to come land on you and put you down like a horse with a broken leg?

No thank you.

bardelf said...

Oh to the days when CNN 'was' a news source. I place it in the same pandoric box as FOX News now.

Hey, torn, remember that if you tell yourself you don't have a head, you'll fall back to sleep.

Jason said...

Have you noticed most of the ads at 6:30pm (news time) on the US networks are all for prescription medication?

Cholesterol, sleeplessness, depression, restless-leg syndrome...

GayProf said...

So the "secret" is essentially willing yourself to a better life. Thus, if bad things happen to you, it's probably your fault because your thoughts acted as a negative "magnet." Nice.

Patricia said...

cnn with it's attention span tickers on the bottom and its slick style so similar to entertainment tonight. it's vile. i was just the other day wondering what the hell walter cronkite must think of all this slippery stuff that passes as news. but then i felt like 112 years old for thinking of walter cronkite so i turned on msnbc to feel young and watch some music videos.

Anonymous said...

It is a shame what CNN has turned into...

Cameron said...

It's pretty obvious to me that the drug companies rule the world! Think about it. Even doctors are controlled by them.

dpaste said...

I stopped watching the news years ago.

bardelf said...

Regarding Patricia's comments on Walter Cronkite: He is now 90 years old and still quite mentally active. Cronkite is a regular commentator/blogger on Ariana Huffington's website. He is also a very critical voice of the Bush Administration and the War, and he finds most of what passes as modern journalism to be fluff.
Hooray for Uncle Walter!

Anonymous said...

The really depressing thing is that many people don't notice the lack of actual news on the "news" shows.

And they vote!

Anonymous said...

I read the news online, listen to the radio, or get it from the newspaper. My TV viewing is reserved strictly for reality shows and the occasional episode of Trailer Trash Boys. Oh, and Little Mosque in the Prairie, which is fast becoming my new favourite show.

Mmmm, white noise of TV is my grown-up lullabye.

Sunshine said...

There is nothing new under the sun, I reckon. "The Secret" seems to be just another recycle of the metaphysical concept of "visualising something into being". It's been repackaged and repackaged over the years. Nothing terribly groundbreaking there, in my humble view.

Doug said...

I avoid "the news" like the plague. Worthless sensationalized drivel.

Sh@ney said...

Hmmm 2am TV...It is not worth turning on here...If I cant sleep I watch a DVD..."The Secret" I guess thats why they are not giving too much away? xoxo

Chunks said...

The Secret is just another one of Oprah's little stepping stones on her path to complete enlightenment. Blah blah blah...watch the gameshow network, that will put you to sleep!

Anonymous said...

That's crap that thinking a certain way will attract stuff into your life.

If that were true, we'd all be getting tons-o-cooter and we'd all be rock stars.

dawn said...

The Secret! It works! My friend is all about it and since I've been doing it it seems to work. Of course it's not so much a secret, it's just the power of thought. Cept it's packaged in a nice little DVD and sold for $30. Save your $30 and just concentrate, that's about all the DVD teaches you.

about a boy said...

im learning the secret. its interesting.

and cnn has been disappointing me lately. sad.