| June 16, 2006 Alaskan in Exile by Neil Zawicki The
Television of the United States, Part Three
Luke leaned back in his chair with a casual coolness. He took a sip of
his iced tea and then, glancing at the girl, moved to set it back on
the table. But he was off by three inches, and his glass hit the floor
with a loud crash.The girl jumped in her chair and immediately began straightening her things on the table. Luke crouched to clean up his mess. "Do you need some help?" asked the girl. Luke looked up and hit his head on the underside of the table. The girl smiled. "Oh, ah, no, no," he said, "I'll get it." The girl climbed off her chair and began picking up pieces of glass. Her brown hair fell in a mess to one side of her head, and as she worked, it brushed across Luke's face. The two of them worked silently, collecting the glass as the announcer continued: "If you've already purchased your new silver couch and loveseat combination, you may indicate so by displaying a red light-emitting diode at the end of your driveway. If you have yet to purchase a new silver couch and loveseat combination, you'd better move fast..." The girl had stopped cleaning, and was looking at Luke, who stopped as well when he noticed. "Do-do you have your silver couch and loveseat combination?" he asked with a nervous tilt. "Are you serious?" replied the girl. Luke gestured to the screens. "But aren't you supposed to-" "Where'd you come from?" asked the girl finally. "Well, ah, I'm from the west." "No TV," said the girl immediately. Luke leaned back a bit. "Yeah, that's right. Not like here. Sorry. This is all just a little bit amazing to me, but I'm sure you're used to it," he said. "What's that like?" asked the girl. "What?" asked Luke. "No TV. Ever." "Well, it's...there's..." Luke couldn't find the words. "There's a lot more to do and a lot more time for it all. Even though it's the same time as here and all, but I guess with all the shows to watch, you really don't need to-" "My name's Johanna," said the girl. "Luke. I’m Luke. Hi Johanna." "What do you mean 'a lot more to do?'" asked Johanna. "Well, like right now, in this cafe’, of course there wouldn't be any television screens, but somebody would probably be busy building a bike and maybe we would be playing music, or trying to anyway. But sometimes people just sit and eat their lunch and listen to each other and argue and laugh." "People build bikes?" asked Johanna. "Well, it's just an example, but everyone has a thing they do with their time," explained Luke. "It's what my dad calls 'deliberate thought manifestation.'" "He calls it what?" asked Johanna. Luke shrugged. "I know, it sounds so serious," he said. "It's just his way of saying people who are free of TV discover talents and ideas they never knew they had." "Oh yeah!" replied Johanna. "That's like on "Summertime Road" when Will tells Sally he's going to build a bigger living room and she tells him he'll need to get help form the neighbors and then they all have a big picnic." Luke went blank, and Johanna brushed her hand across her hair. "Sorry," she said. "I forgot." "Is that on TV?" Luke asked. Johanna looked away. "Yeah. What isn't," she said. "What do you do with your time?" "Here?" "No. When you're home. When there's no TV." "I guess I just like to learn new things," Luke said. "But I came here for a reason." "To see what TV is like?" "No. To become the president." Johanna went blank. "Are you serious?" Luke held his head up, and looked up. "The President of the Television of the United States." Neil Zawicki, exiled Alaskan, is Editor at Large for Insurgent49, a former reporter for the Alaska Star, and winner of the Alaska Press Club's 'Best Columnist' award. He is now living out the rest of his days in an undisclosed location in Oregon. He can be contacted at - hondo23@gmail.com |
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June 9, 2006 June 2, 2006 May 26, 2006 May 12, 2006 May 5, 2006 April 28, 2006 April 21, 2006 April 14, 2006 April 7, 2006 March 31, 2006 March 24, 2006 March 17, 2005 March 3, 2006 February 24, 2006 February 17, 2006 February 10, 2006 February 3, 2006 January 27, 2006 January 20, 2006 January 13, 2006 January 6, 2006 December 30, 2005 December 23, 2005 December 16, 2005 December 10, 2005 December 2, 2005 November 25, 2005 November 18, 2005 November 11, 2005 November 4, 2005 October 28, 2005 October 21, 2005 October 14, 2005 October 7, 2005 September 30, 2005 September 23, 2005 September 16, 2005 September 9, 2005 September 2, 2005 August 26, 2005 August 19, 2005 August 12, 2005 August 5, 2005 July 29, 2005 July 22, 2005 July 15, 2005 July 8, 2005 July 1, 2005 June 24, 2005 June 17, 2005 June 10, 2005 June 3, 2005 May 27, 2005 May 20, 2005 May 13, 2005 May 6, 2005 April 29, 2005 April 21, 2005 April 14, 2005 April 7, 2005 April 1, 2005 - also by this
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Insurgent Media. All Rights
Reserved. in-sur-gent (in sur'jent), n. 1. a member of a group which revolts against the policies of its leadership. |
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