# Giant flatscreen TV's are not Trad.



## Pink and Green (Jul 22, 2009)

I've been thinking of my living room lately. It's a bizarre mishmash of old antique Ethan Allen pieces from my grandmother, a formal dining set from 60 years ago and 3 years ago's ultra modern Italsofa model (name unknown, as I saw two different ones on the invoice).

So I've got a lot of the OPH's requirements down, including old books, but a giant flatscreen TV. While I enjoy it very much, it is rather untrad.

Bizarrely, I am also building a much more appropriate and small "cabinet TV" that looks like its from the 1960's. I'll post pics some day, but it seems ultra-trad.

I suppose my thinking (such as it is in my condition) is that TV is an occasional pastime, and should never be the focus of the room. According to OPH (my interpretation), TV should be a slightly ancient old box that exists only for occasional football games and Masterpiece Theatre.

Thus it seems half my living space has been consumed by 'Star Trek".


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## Alligator (Sep 17, 2009)

I have often thought this, but I'm not about to get rid of my TV. I feel that clutter is slowly taking over my house, so I'm trying to carefully select what I bring into the house to make it as comfortable as possible. For example, rather than use a spare room of my house as a junk room, I'm using it as a small workshop and I'm building my daughter a doll house. It's taken three years, but gets me away from the TV and doing something productive.


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## smujd (Mar 18, 2008)

You do understand that OPH was satire, don't you?

For reasons entirely unrelated to my clothing, I firmly believe that the TV should not reside in the living room (and, if it must be in the living room, certainly should not be the focus on the room).


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## WindsorNot (Aug 7, 2009)

Gentlemen:
Don't forget that the essence of trad is American living. And there is nothing more American than cramming the largest TV you can find into your home.


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## bd79cc (Dec 20, 2006)

Up-to-the minuteness in technology, architecture, or other facets of everyday life is in no way mutually exclusive with the Trad idea. It's how you make it all fit together that counts! P.S. Make sure to put the giant flatscreen TV at a comfortable viewing height in a place where everyone in the room gets a direct view. And don't forget the premium cable!


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## Trip English (Dec 22, 2008)

There's nothing wrong with a television if it's tastefully built of the finest materials. I happen to know just such a concern from a small fishing village in Denmark...
:icon_smile_big:


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## harvey_birdman (Mar 10, 2008)

Televisions certainly have their place in the home, but I'd rather not put one in my living room.

Pehaps that's why I have so few guests, but I just don't like the idea of a huge monstrosity in the middle of the room commanding everyone's attention at all times. Anytime I go to a party at a home with one of those things they invariably get turned on and the conversation starts dying or turning to talk of other television shows people like to watch instead of anything really interesting.

Caveat - I have no children. I completely understand the need for a TV if there are children on the premises.


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## Epaminondas (Oct 19, 2009)

smujd said:


> You do understand that OPH was satire, don't you?


And pushing 30 year old satire as well. I don't think the OPH has prophetic powers.

It never mentions cell phones either - only plain, black, rotary phones and goes on to eschew "novelty" phones, I believe. Have fun with incorporating that bit of advice into your life.


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## TradMichael (Apr 13, 2006)

Books are the main accent of my living room and the only TV in the house is a color 70s unit that's down in the basement rec room, tucked in a stereo floor console, unplugged. I just don't need TV at all, even with cable since the math is the same: 80 times zero is still zero. Occasionally I'll put on TCM or more often plug the thing in to watch a DVD borrowed from the library (cf recent note on old Jack Lemmon films). Actually just watched _Days of Wine and Roses_ and the opening cocktail-lounge scene showed a fabulous San Francisco, circa '62----contrast that to now, where I couldn't tell you where to go to see people dressed like that or find such glamorous apartments and so on.


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## Coleman (Mar 18, 2009)

I need to break free of television. My wife and I invariably turn it on in the evening as supposed background noise. Of course, it instead becomes the focus of our attention. I find myself resenting it, and I become restless and pace around the room looking for something else on which to focus. I dont think its pros or cons really apply to Trad, but I say boo to the idiot box.


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## sowilson (Jul 27, 2009)

You have a custom cabinet built (side board bar for example, or recycle an old Magnavox stereo cabinet) that has provisions for a TV lift. Press remote, top flips up, large flatscreen ascends and you watch TV. When done, press remote, TV decends back into the bar. You can do the same thing mounting your TV on the wall (alcove) covered by a painting that raises and lowers. I helped a friend take an old TV console cabinet (the big ones that had doors and a built in stereo an rework it to hold a smallish flatscreen, speakers and surround system. All it takes is some money.


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## Reds & Tops (Feb 20, 2009)

Epaminondas said:


> And pushing 30 year old satire as well. I don't think the OPH has prophetic powers.
> 
> It never mentions cell phones either - only plain, black, rotary phones and goes on to eschew "novelty" phones, I believe. Have fun with incorporating that bit of advice into your life.


I've found that this problem can be solved by wearing cargo pants with excessively large pockets.


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## Nerev (Apr 25, 2009)

WindsorNot said:


> Gentlemen:
> Don't forget that the essence of trad is American living. And there is nothing more American than cramming the largest TV you can find into your home.


Read this again because this is the truth. If you brought the tradies from yesteryear to today, I'm sure you'd see the biggest TV they could cram in possible. These were people with money and connections, and they had a sense of "well, I'm a bit better than you" air to them. And nothing says I'm a "bit" better than you than a giant flatscreen TV.


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## dwebber18 (Jun 5, 2008)

On the topic of parents using TV to control their kids instead of, well, parenting. It bugs the crap out of me to see a local person going to the grocery store with their kid in the back watching a movie on the little flip down screen. I get it on a long trip, I'm 25 and I get bored and want some music, a book, or a movie to entertain me. But really a 10 minute trip and you can't control your kid without a movie!! Maybe there needs to be a test before you can be a parent. No wonder everyone thinks their kid has ADD.


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## KCKclassic (Jul 27, 2009)

as an aside, which is more trad.....the XBOX 360 or PS3?:icon_smile_big:


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## Corcovado (Nov 24, 2007)

The best arrangement for television + house that I have seen was in a friend's house in which the living was devoid of a TV, and there was a very small den that housed the TV, a sofa, and one chair. The TV sat in a built-in, floor-to-ceiling bookcase. The couch was an old one on which the family dog was allowed to sleep. The room was perfect for watching TV with a few friends, or for reading. I thought it was a great arrangement and if I ever get to design a house I would want just such a smallish room for the television.


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## WindsorNot (Aug 7, 2009)

KCKclassic said:


> as an aside, which is more trad.....the XBOX 360 or PS3?:icon_smile_big:


360 definitely. It's sold by homegrown Microsoft and came out before PS3. Plus PS3 is more futureistic and has aired more frightening commercials (don't look... 



) Tradliest game? NCAA Football Year XXXX when matching Yale v Harvard.


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## Corcovado (Nov 24, 2007)

Yes but the PS3 lets you download movies immediately from Netflix.


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## gtsecc (Mar 25, 2008)

There is not much worth watching besides BBC Mysteries and TopGear.
TV is generally evil, not to mention untrad.
If you must have a TV, hide it in a wall or antique furniture.


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## ctt (Dec 24, 2008)

A projector might fit the trad label better while providing a similar hi-fi experience.


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## dwebber18 (Jun 5, 2008)

I too have the above mentioned setup. My living room has the fireplace as its focal point. My TV and xbox are in the basement and away from the normal flow of the house. This set up lets me get away and huddle in my man cave, and not have a TV as the focal point of a social event at my house. As an example last night my wife and I sat in front of the fire, made smores and talked. It was a much nicer evening than one in front of the evening.


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## Pink and Green (Jul 22, 2009)

Interesting points of view! Actually, I'm equal parts fan of tradliness and nostalgia. So in a way, the OPH is my perfect guide to what I want. I really enjoy the late 70's early 80's aesthetic as well. Besides wanting some long wings, I'd also love some green and white Onitsuka Tigers, to give you an insight to my tastes.

My television is a 42" that is mounted on the wall in a giant wooden installation in the living room. I may consider a curtain or something I don't know yet. My TV just barely fits in the area allotted to it, so I guess I'm doing something "right" LOL. 

I agree the TV takes too much away from our lives. I did, however, just buy a Mac Mini to run a home theatre system so that I can choose exactly what I want to watch and when. I'll cancel my satellite package whenever I feel I've caught up on the mac mini thing. Just a bit more tech knowledge needed.


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## Pentheos (Jun 30, 2008)

I don't have a TV. 

I occasionally watch movies or tv shoes on my laptop. Hulu is pretty good. I also use Netflix.


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## Wrenkin (May 4, 2008)

If one doesn't like TV, great—I too am frustrated by the fact that every restaurant nowadays seems to have at least 3 units turned to CNN. But it's just as obnoxious when people gloat about their lack of TV/Cable. Living with a film-theory graduate student I have a ready come back, but I don't see why an amateur consumer of film should be thought inferior to a Dan Brown devotee by virtue of some imagined hierarchy of media.

I wish we got Hulu in Canada. The network sites suck.

As for the OPH, while I enjoy this forum I refuse to purchase it. It just doesn't seem all that relevant to me as a Canadian. The Young Fogey Handbook, on the other hand, was amusing.


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## Trip English (Dec 22, 2008)

I have to admit that I find claims of "I don't watch TV" dubious and I personally never interpret such claims on par with "I don't read" or "I don't consume art of any type."

Every media has garbage, hacks, amateurs, etc. but I don't stop reading just because I walk by the NY Post or The Sun on my way to Proust or DF Wallace. 

In a day where some of the most vital art is coming through on television it's unwise to boast that you don't watch any.


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## gtsecc (Mar 25, 2008)

Trip English said:


> I have to admit that I find claims of "I don't watch TV" dubious and I personally never interpret such claims on par with "I don't read" or "I don't consume art of any type."
> 
> Every media has garbage, hacks, amateurs, etc. but I don't stop reading just because I walk by the NY Post or The Sun on my way to Proust or DF Wallace.
> 
> In a day where some of the most vital art is coming through on television it's unwise to boast that you don't watch any.


I am sure there are plenty of folks who do not watch TV.
I do not own a TV, watch TV, or have one in my house.
My 2 best friends do not own a TV or have one in their house.
I've watched MadMen on a laptop via NetFlicks. It is ok.
My Girl Friend watches Grey's Anatomy, or something like that, and I just about want to break up with her over it. The last time someone got all excited and made me watch a TV show it was Friends. I did not get it.


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## Pentheos (Jun 30, 2008)

Was I being obnoxious? Fine.

I said I don't own a tv, not that I don't watch tv. Really, it is becoming an outdated piece of technology.


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## Pink and Green (Jul 22, 2009)

Now now, lets all play nice.

Perhaps we can keep to talking about the models of TVs in Trad homes, or the role of TVs in living rooms, not the presence or absence of TV or watching it.


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## bd79cc (Dec 20, 2006)

Pink and Green said:


> I agree the TV takes too much away from our lives. I did, however, just buy a Mac Mini to run a home theatre system so that I can choose exactly what I want to watch and when. I'll cancel my satellite package whenever I feel I've caught up on the mac mini thing. Just a bit more tech knowledge needed.


A Mac Mini as a server/controller for a home entertainment system. . . did you see the article on this in UK Macworld a month or two ago?

P.S. I like the idea of taking from TV what we can to enrich our lives.


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## Pink and Green (Jul 22, 2009)

Hmm, missed it. Wrong side of the pond, but if there's a link I'll take it.

I think the home theatre PC idea grew on me when I realized it was the iPod concept in TV - stop taking what they give you and watch what you select.

Can you imagine what life would be like if you could only wear clothes from three stores and take what they give you? The home theatre concept is liberating people from this ancient concept.

Off topic over!


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## Zon Jr. (May 20, 2009)

harvey_birdman said:


> Televisions certainly have their place in the home, but I'd rather not put one in my living room.
> 
> Pehaps that's why I have so few guests, but I just don't like the idea of a huge monstrosity in the middle of the room commanding everyone's attention at all times. Anytime I go to a party at a home with one of those things they invariably get turned on and the conversation starts dying or turning to talk of other television shows people like to watch instead of anything really interesting.
> 
> Caveat - I have no children. I completely understand the need for a TV if there are children on the premises.


Children do not need tv at all. Keep them away from it as long as possible--they won't miss it, they will probably thank you later.


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## rl1856 (Jun 7, 2005)

We have an old DuMont in the corner of our den; I think it is 17 inches. Luckily we have a lifetime supply of tubes to keep it running. Unfortunately the rabbit ears no longer work due to some sort of signal issue. I think the last time we watched more than a few hours a month on it was when PBS premiered "I Claudius".

Seriously I cringe every time I walk into a house and see a ginormious flat screen TV mounted above the fire place. 

We still have a 10yr old Sony tube set which frustrates our children to no end because they want a big flat screen. I do have a PC connected to our TV because there is a lot of content available from the internet that is interesting to watch. 

To the original question- Assume that William F Buckley were still with us. Now picture his house as it would exist today. Does your picture include a big flat screen hanging on the wall and dominating the den ?

Best,

Ross


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## chatsworth osborne jr. (Feb 2, 2008)

*13" CRT from 2001 here*

I am shocked that this is debatable. A large television is more Elvis than Buckley. To quote Fussell in_ Class_, "Down among the middles and high proles, the set ceases to be an occasion of shame and becomes a specific glory of the family."

I think the OPH has a layout of a post-collegiate apartment with the expensive stereo and the description states that it is there because of interest in technology, not music. Also, it is expensive, not gigantic.


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## BinomialSpider (Sep 4, 2009)

If you don't have a good TV screen, then how do you watch your movies?


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## Trip English (Dec 22, 2008)

rl1856 said:


> To the original question- Assume that William F Buckley were still with us. Now picture his house as it would exist today. Does your picture include a big flat screen hanging on the wall and dominating the den ?


Probably, yes. Considering he hosted a television program for 33 years and that his son has found success in writing books that have been adapted into motion pictures I don't think I'm going out on a limb to suppose that he had something a bit grander than 17".

And in case my post was taken as a bit harsh, I should clarify: I take no issue whatever with someone who genuinely doesn't watch TV, just as I don't take issue with someone for never having fished for trout. I just caution against the dogmatic use of "I don't watch/own a TV" to recommend oneself as particularly virtuous. In today's modern media renaissance it comes off as "I don't recognized photography as a valid art form" or "I don't cook with spices." That's all.

Resume the love fest. :icon_smile_wink:


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## Pink and Green (Jul 22, 2009)

Trip -great insight. Much appreciated.

And Ross (rl1856), I hereby nominate your post as the TRADLIEST THING EVER SPOKEN.

And no, this is not said in mockery - your description is dead on to what I imagined the home from OPH being like, right down to having watched I, Claudius on PBS.

I suppose this is my platonic ideal, made form by Ross. Thank you.


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## windsor (Dec 12, 2006)

Instead of tv each night, I look at my computer monitor as I read AAAC and other clothing blogs. My tv is in the family room in a cabinet...27" watch a little PBS..3 hours a week. Chatsworth reminded me of Fussel's take on the tv and those who make it a center of importance in their homes and lives.


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## Valkyrie (Aug 27, 2009)

We have a very old, rather small, rowhouse. When we needed separate bedrooms for kids, we did watch TV in the living room. But we had a 13" Sony portable (with built in VCR), which was set upon a foldable wooden TV table and both were hidden behind the couch when not in use. The TV didn't overwhelm the living room—it was invisible; if you wanted to watch something you got them both out, set them up, watched, and put them away—a brutally enforced family rule. This had the positive effect of making the effort to watch TV a conscious act that required planning and effort and it was a benefit to us all, kids and parents. TV was never the default activity.

Now the kids are gone and one of the upstairs bedrooms has been turned into a library/tv room. Two comfortable chairs, a small stereo, lots of books, and a nice 36" inch Sony flat panel. But that room is out of the way, is also good for reading and listening to music, and leaves the living room for actual human conversation and entertaining.

This seems like a good compromise and I recommend it highly, if possible.

As to WFB Jr, I am confident he had a nice TV somewhere in the house, but it would be way out of character if it dominated his living room. That was what his harpsichord was for.


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## Mr. Mac (Mar 14, 2008)

Zon Jr. said:


> Children do not need tv at all. Keep them away from it as long as possible--they won't miss it, they will probably thank you later.


No kidding. I've got a 7 month old that rarely sees a TV or computer monitor. On those occasions he does catch a glimpse you can actually see his brain turn off. It's crazy.

My grandparents had an old RCA TV which sat under a dust cover on a rolling cart in the corner of their living room for years. I never saw it function, but I have it on good authority it saw occasional use for a Sunday night movie, BYU football game, and later in their lives Wheel of Fortune nightly.

I've got a TV with no programing. Had cable for years but canceled it when the baby came. Other than sports I don't really miss it. Between trying to run a menswear store, be a dad, keep up with church work and spend time with my wife, it doesn't see much use other than an occasional movie.


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## DCLawyer68 (Jun 1, 2009)

Coleman said:


> I need to break free of television. My wife and I invariably turn it on in the evening as supposed background noise. Of course, it instead becomes the focus of our attention. I find myself resenting it, and I become restless and pace around the room looking for something else on which to focus. I dont think its pros or cons really apply to Trad, but I say boo to the idiot box.


Try putting something on the stereo if need be for background noise. A classic jazz album, some Oscar Peterson, etc. Miles and Oscar are definitely Trad!


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## eagle2250 (Mar 24, 2006)

BinomialSpider said:


> If you don't have a good TV screen, then how do you watch your movies?


LOL...more importantly, how do you watch your football games and other athletic events(!)?


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## theCardiffGiant (Sep 16, 2007)

smujd said:


> You do understand that OPH was satire, don't you?


I was just telling my wife that some people on these boards follow the Official Preppy Handbook religiously and she was incredulous.


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## icky thump (Feb 2, 2008)

bd79cc said:


> A Mac Mini as a server/controller for a home entertainment system. . . did you see the article on this in UK Macworld a month or two ago?
> 
> P.S. I like the idea of taking from TV what we can to enrich our lives.


Often runs too hot and freezes in the middle of a movie.

I set up my house to have a single room -- the den -- where the TV is the focal point.

There's no TV IN the living room and though there are TVs in the main and guest bedrooms, they are not the focus on the room and are just there on the rare occasion where two people want to watch a different show at the same time.


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## PeterSawatzky (Feb 20, 2009)

I have a rather large TV in my living room, but I only use it for watching Truffaut films and other suitably tradly entertainments.


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## chacend (Mar 4, 2008)

theCardiffGiant said:


> I was just telling my wife that some people on these boards follow the Official Preppy Handbook religiously and she was incredulous.


My wife has no clue what the OPH is, but I am incredulous. Trad as a way of dressing because you like the way it looks is fine, but some take the preppy/wanna-be WASPishness a wee bit too far.


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## TradMichael (Apr 13, 2006)

Trip English said:


> In a day where some of the most vital art is coming through on television it's unwise to boast that you don't watch any.


What would that be? Any examples?


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## TradMichael (Apr 13, 2006)

eagle2250 said:


> LOL...more importantly, how do you watch your football games and other athletic events(!)?


I've got a transistor radio for that!


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## P Hudson (Jul 19, 2008)

The OPH was satire. Satire has, for millennia, been a source of insight into other cultures and times.

I recently bought a 42 inch plasma and it sits in the corner of my lounge. It is outstanding for football. I also have been enjoying recent free to air broadcasts of John Adams (HBO) and The History of Scotland (BBC I believe). I don't watch a lot of TV, but I watch enough. 

As my eyes have deteriorated rather dramatically in the last couple years (something that my optometrist tells me is common in the mid-40s), I have come to appreciate the extra inches available in modern TVs.

The tradly element of all this is that I don't care what other people (even my wife and kids) think of my tv. They can go to the TV Room (ok, it is actually a billiard room without a billiard table) and play on the WII and PS2 on the 32 inch tv there. But of course they tend to gravitate toward MY tv.


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## crohnsappleadams (Nov 30, 2009)

Nerev said:


> Read this again because this is the truth. If you brought the tradies from yesteryear to today, I'm sure you'd see the biggest TV they could cram in possible. These were people with money and connections, and they had a sense of "well, I'm a bit better than you" air to them. And nothing says I'm a "bit" better than you than a giant flatscreen TV.





KCKclassic said:


> as an aside, which is more trad.....the XBOX 360 or PS3?:icon_smile_big:


Note the sackish shape of the box and the natural drape of the controller cord, and the classic beige is way more trad than Xbox black.



TradMichael said:


> What would that be? Any examples?


The wildcat?


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## FlashForFreedom (May 16, 2009)

A very strict interpretation of the OPH would require you to move out of Oklahoma...


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## GBR (Aug 10, 2005)

Very not slightly OT. If you are so worried about being trad you should not have a television - in days of yore when trad was trad they did not exist.


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## eagle2250 (Mar 24, 2006)

Regardless of it's "Tradliness" and in the spirit of full disclosure, we seem to have TVs coming out of our very butts in the Eagle's nest. The big screen is in the living room, shows can be watched on the computer screen in my study, one of our daughter's old bedrooms has been remodeled into an upstairs reading/TV room (AKA: the Elvis Blue Suede Shoe room), another TV sits in our master bedroom and perhaps the most watched TV in the house, is in the basement, incorporated in the design of our home gym area...it really makes those hour and forty-five minute cardio session a lot more tolerable.

With all those screens in the house, we watch surprisingly little TV. We tend to watch whatever is available during our exercise routines (as a distraction from the pain!) but, other than that our watching is limited to athletic events, a few favored series (presently two) and the evening news.


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## JayJay (Oct 8, 2007)

harvey_birdman said:


> Televisions certainly have their place in the home, but I'd rather not put one in my living room.


Same here. TV is in the family room, I've never had one in the living room.


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## Bermuda (Aug 16, 2009)

I own a 42 inch HD Plasma TV but I make it a point not to watch alot of it. I don't like how the television or what's on it has become the centerpiece in many people's lives


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## jamezzz122 (Dec 26, 2009)

Not watching a lot of television due to your own reasons is an okay thing. Just because "it isn't trad" is ridiculous though. That's on the same lines as not buying a modern car because it isn't trad.


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## Jovan (Mar 7, 2006)

> Thus it seems half my living space has been consumed by "Star Trek".


And... that's a bad thing how? :icon_smile_big:

I have to agree with others that you're taking this a bit far. The Official Preppie Handbook was never meant to be followed with any seriousness whatsoever, IIRC.

In any case, I'm moving this thread to the Interchange since it has little to do with trad clothing.


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## Howard (Dec 7, 2004)

KCKclassic said:


> as an aside, which is more trad.....the XBOX 360 or PS3?:icon_smile_big:


Wasn't PS2 considered trad at one time?


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## beherethen (Jun 6, 2009)

I've drawn a line in the sand on this one. I do not nor will I have a TV in the closet. I might get a speaker in there, but a TV, *NO!:icon_smile:*


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## Scotch&Cigars (Dec 27, 2009)

jamezzz122 said:


> Not watching a lot of television due to your own reasons is an okay thing. Just because "it isn't trad" is ridiculous though. That's on the same lines as not buying a modern car because it isn't trad.


Agreed. If you don't own a TV or don't watch it simply because it isn't "trad," you're trying too hard.


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## Srynerson (Aug 26, 2005)

rl1856 said:


> We have an old DuMont in the corner of our den; I think it is 17 inches. Luckily we have a lifetime supply of tubes to keep it running. Unfortunately the rabbit ears no longer work due to some sort of signal issue.


Assuming you're not kidding: https://www.dtv.gov/consumercorner.html#faq6


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## Cruiser (Jul 21, 2006)

Bermuda said:


> I own a 42 inch HD Plasma TV but I make it a point not to watch alot of it. I don't like how the television or what's on it has become the centerpiece in many people's lives


I don't know about being a centerpiece of one's life, but when I think back to television as a child it's very different than today. At that time it was rare for there to be more than one television in a home, if even one as not everyone had a television.

Watching television was often a family event. I remember how we all gathered in front of the TV on a regular basis to watch specific shows. For example, on Sunday night many families watched the Ed Sullivan Show. On another night, Tuesday I think, it was the Red Skelton Show. Now television just seems to drone on almost as a background to everyday life although I'm not so sure it isn't being supplanted by the internet.

Having said that, I sure wish that the new season of "24" would hurry up and get here. :icon_smile_big:

Cruiser


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## TMMKC (Aug 2, 2007)

I could care a less whether its trad or not, but I certainly love the new 46-inch plasma we bought back in November. Other than football games, I am notoriously ADD when it comes to TV, and can never seem to commit to sticking with a TV series...or even sitting through an entire show. That told, I do find myself watching more TV now that winter has settled in. Having AT&T U-Verse helps too!

A friend of mine told me that HDTV and plasma would change my life. In retrospect, I have to agree.:icon_smile_big:


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## beherethen (Jun 6, 2009)

Cruiser said:


> I don't know about being a centerpiece of one's life, but when I think back to television as a child it's very different than today. At that time it was rare for there to be more than one television in a home, if even one as not everyone had a television.
> . :icon_smile_big:
> 
> Cruiser


Do you remember how there were only a few channels and they were only on for part of the day. At the end of the viewing day they would play the Star Spangled Banner and then put on a test tube pattern. It was a different world. If my grandmother had been told there would come a time with 24 hour-100(+) channels in HD and color, she would have said "Bull ****".:icon_smile:


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## Cruiser (Jul 21, 2006)

beherethen said:


> Do you remember how there were only a few channels and they were only on for part of the day.


Yes, there were three channels when I was a child.



> At the end of the viewing day they would play the Star Spangled Banner and then put on a test tube pattern.


One of the networks, don't remember which, would always do a segment in which they showed an Air Force fighter jet soaring through the clouds while the narrator recited the "High Flight" poem. I'm not sure exactly what this had to do with closing out the day's programming, but I always stopped to watch and listen when it came on.

And speaking of those test patterns:










Cruiser


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## beherethen (Jun 6, 2009)

I remember the Indian-came on after "The Late Movie", which was later followed by "The Late Late Movie". Before we got a TV our only exposure to film was the weekly family trip to the movies-2 movies & cartoon for a quarter. I think the quarter was the adult price. 
TV is a wonderful invention. :icon_smile:


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## AldenPyle (Oct 8, 2006)

The pricing cycle is a little slower here than in the US. Does anyone have one of the LED backlit (backlighted?) LCD's? Would it be worth it to wait 6-9 months or should I just go ahead and get one without the backlight? Would it matter for Wii games? What do you think Bill Buckley would do in my position?


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## eagle2250 (Mar 24, 2006)

Cruiser said:


> Yes, there were three channels when I was a child.
> 
> One of the networks, don't remember which, would always do a segment in which they showed an Air Force fighter jet soaring through the clouds while the narrator recited the "High Flight" poem. I'm not sure exactly what this had to do with closing out the day's programming, but I always stopped to watch and listen when it came on.
> 
> ...


Cruiser: You have a really splendid knack for remembering and posting about things, I should have remembered but, have not thought of in a long, long time! Thanks.


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## Howard (Dec 7, 2004)

Cruiser said:


> Yes, there were three channels when I was a child.
> 
> One of the networks, don't remember which, would always do a segment in which they showed an Air Force fighter jet soaring through the clouds while the narrator recited the "High Flight" poem. I'm not sure exactly what this had to do with closing out the day's programming, but I always stopped to watch and listen when it came on.
> 
> ...


I remember the color bar test pattern when I was growing up with televison.


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## utahbob (Jul 16, 2009)

_There is not much worth watching besides BBC Mysteries and TopGear._

Oh so great words, Top Gear on BBC America is the only reason for me to watch TV. Now I find whole episodes via google. Other than watching DVDs, the TV is off, life goes by too quickly to waste on the idiot box.


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## beherethen (Jun 6, 2009)

utahbob said:


> _There is not much worth watching besides BBC Mysteries and TopGear._
> 
> Oh so great words, Top Gear on BBC America is the only reason for me to watch TV. Now I find whole episodes via google. Other than watching DVDs, the TV is off, life goes by too quickly to waste on the idiot box.


John Osborne wrote about wine

It is widely held that too much wine will dull a man's desire. Indeed it will in a dull man.

Today he might write that TV is only an idiot box to the extent it's being watched by..........oh well you get the idea:icon_smile_big:


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## WouldaShoulda (Aug 5, 2009)

I tuned into the football game last week and was treated to vomitting zombies, shirtless 500lb men and talk of four hour boners. 

I really miss Standards and Practices.


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## TradMichael (Apr 13, 2006)

WouldaShoulda said:


> I tuned into the football game last week and was treated to vomitting zombies, shirtless 500lb men and talk of four hour boners.
> 
> I really miss Standards and Practices.


You got it. It's all getting Dumb and Dumber.

The best & biggest new TVs are great, really ... for sports and good (ie, old) movies and classic footage and whatnot, or getting up close and personal to the evening news, but as much as I love film I consider it pure & artless entertainment, and don't watch enough sports to warrant the expense of a big TV. And then there'd be the issue of where to put it.

But my earlier question still stands. I believe _no_ art is coming through (or can ever _come_ through) TV, as a program itself, and continue to boast that I watch as little of it as possible.* If Trip or anyone else who sees this differently would care to aid me, I'd love to investigate: what "great art" is now being broadcast on TV? (Or on YouTube, while we're at it?)

* While we're at it I might also note that I believe photography is a medium incapable of rising to Art, although it is possible to engage it artfully or to "artfully" capture an image. Film, being a subset of photography, therefore suffers the same in my view.


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## beherethen (Jun 6, 2009)

Ever hear of Independent Film Channel or the Sundance Channel?

I saw a movie called Born Into Brothels which featured the day to day lives of kids born to prostitutes in Calcutta. There was a scene in which the camera catches a little girl of about 6 carry curry and wine in plastic bags at 11pm to her mother and her client. I don't use this term often but it was moving.

This was a great film that I'd probably never see in a theater.My point is that there are great things on every day if you choose to seek them out.


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## WouldaShoulda (Aug 5, 2009)

Don't forget the Horseracing channels TVG and HRTV.

I couldn't get those 5+ years ago!! 

But I still can't stand the tasteless and crude commercials.


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## beherethen (Jun 6, 2009)

Woulda, 
That's a good point. I saw Magnifcience break her maiden at SA(?) in one of the most amazing runs ever for a first starter. She was left about 20 lengths out of it at the gate on a speed favoring track and destroyed the lone speed by open lengths. Trevor Denmen was even screaming.
I was able to see this from 1500 miles away.:icon_smile:


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## WouldaShoulda (Aug 5, 2009)

beherethen said:


> I was able to see this from 1500 miles away.:icon_smile:


I don't know how old you are, but I'm pushing 50 and remember there being no pay phones at the track to discourage the bookies!!

The off track wire was actually closed circuit and the pools controlled locally.

This would have been Delaware/Brandywine Park in the 70s.

I went to SA about five years ago and it has to be among the top ten most beatiful man made places on Earth!! The mountains help!!


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## beherethen (Jun 6, 2009)

I remember there being special windows for win-place and show and exotics. I even remember when there were no OTBs and you had to go to the track and place your bets. Today is so much better for the bettor.:icon_smile:


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## Cruiser (Jul 21, 2006)

TradMichael said:


> I believe _no_ art is coming through (or can ever _come_ through) TV, as a program itself, and continue to boast that I watch as little of it as possible.


Just like it isn't necessary that every man get up and put on his finest suit and tie everyday (maybe jeans or khakis will be just fine on certain days), is it necessary that television be about art? While I will agree that most of what is on television is somewhat less than mind stimulating, so what? I still want to see what Jack is going to do on "24" this year and not much can crack me up more than "Two and a Half Men."

It's no different than going to the movies. I don't usually go to exercise my mind, to be educated, or to admire a great piece of work. Usually I go to just have fun. Heck, poker with the guys is fun too and that certainly doesn't qualify as art or a high intellectual pursuit, at least not the way my friends do it.

Television should be viewed for what it is, a diversion from the realities of life; unless of course you are watching CNN all the time. :icon_smile_big:

Cruiser


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## Scotch&Cigars (Dec 27, 2009)

Cruiser said:


> It's no different than going to the movies. I don't usually go to exercise my mind, to be educated, or to admire a great piece of work. Usually I go to just have fun. Heck, poker with the guys is fun too and that certainly doesn't qualify as art or a high intellectual pursuit, at least not the way my friends do it.
> 
> Television should be viewed for what it is, a diversion from the realities of life; unless of course you are watching CNN all the time. :icon_smile_big:
> 
> Cruiser


For shame! Don't you know that the pursuit of leisure and fun is most assuredly not "trad?" You sir, are the anti-trad.


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## Beefeater (Jun 2, 2007)

AldenPyle said:


> The pricing cycle is a little slower here than in the US. Does anyone have one of the LED backlit (backlighted?) LCD's? Would it be worth it to wait 6-9 months or should I just go ahead and get one without the backlight? Would it matter for Wii games? What do you think Bill Buckley would do in my position?


I think he would put this thread (and all of us) out of our collective misery.


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## Ricardo-CL (Mar 31, 2009)

Funny thing, my mother, who is 52 years old, grew up during the first years of the television in Chile, by that time TV was something families enjoyed together, as it was with Radio in the first years too.

I encouraged them to buy a LCD for xmas to put it on the living room, and my mother -who has a very nice taste for interior design- , after a lot arguing, finally agreed. They hung a 42" LCD on the wall and I hid all the cables and put all the devices within a chiffoniere, and they now control everything with a single universal remote control. Aesthetically, it looks fine... HOWEVER, both my father and mother were expecting that this TV would gather us as it did with her in the past, but with the broad existing offer in the regular TV (Direct TV), it didn't.

Summarizing, is it a good idea?, it certainly is, unless you have a dedicated entertainment room, TV should be on the living room, TVs on bedrooms are just absurd, bedrooms are for sex and sleeping, with a TV people get sleep disorders and avoid sex. 
TV's in the kitchen, perhaps, a small one to watch the news while having breakfast. In the dinning room, no way, dinner is to talk, if you're watching TV while having dinner, get some help.
Living room, no family spend time altogether in their living rooms, if you want to use it with yours, you should start by installing a TV. If someone tells me that every day they spend a couple of hours at the living room with their children, talking or reading, that's a lie.

Last but not least, having one TV set at the living room and eliminating those in bedrooms will help you to control what your children are watching, while finding common ground to talk, regardless how shallow it might be.

I'm planning on buying them an Apple TV for movies on demand, or perhaps a Mac Mini, and a Wii. I don't live with my parents, but I encouraged them to find fun on other things different than me and my sister, as I already left and my sister will also leave next year.

In my apartment, I have one TV at the living room with a mac mini, and I use it only to watch downloaded movies and TV shows, sometimes I put the BBC while checking my laptop, and that's all.


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## agnash (Jul 24, 2006)

harvey_birdman said:


> Televisions certainly have their place in the home, but I'd rather not put one in my living room.


I have a television in a room that is alternatively called the den or the family room. I have another room that was originally called the living room, but now is known as the library. Not sure where that falls in the spectrum, but it does keep peace in the family.


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