FLAT FACES

Analog ... it's going ... going ... gone ...

They've been touting it, warning us, no more rabbit ears, don't worry, it'll work. just get a converter, or apply for one, it'll cost next to nothing.

When CD's were invented, you knew sooner or later all your records, 45's,78's, LP's were going to have to be replaced. Reel to reel tape recorders disappeared. Video cassettes might as well be thrown out. DVD's are IN and JD our son says were heading toward Blu-ray.

We've got a new set in the kitchen. Our favorite channels look great. Our favorite commentators -- wow, they look so young! No frown lines, minimal smile creases, definitely no wrinkles. The background, the foreground ... it looks ... almost unreal, such bright neat colors ... kind of like colored cardboard, a new-fangled cartoon.

(Reminds me of those commercials where they outline the bodies, faces, movements of real actors and make them look like comic book characters.)

Anyhow, we've had the set for more than a week. No doubt about it -- the colors are great, the focus is crisp, and clearer than ever before. We're in tune with the times, right on in the trend.

"Digital" is progress!

Our RCA (twelve years old but still works) is on the red bench in the hall waiting to be given away or put in the trash. It was temperamental, had to be re-booted much too often. And the picture wasn't as clear, or reliably focused. But I have to admit it was, still is what I think of as TV, not what we're getting on the new Toshiba -- that poster perfect vision of reality.

Reality today ......

Well, I'm enjoying the way the set turns on, tunes in, and its wonderful reliability, even though reality today isn't that bright, neat, poster perfect, digital picture.