Friday, March 25, 2005
LENTEN SPECIAL
Cable television.
The whole Holy Week experience in Manila has been transformed by cable television.
Before cable tv, there would be nothing to watch on the local channels except lenten specials (which featured everyone and their mothers lip-synching to Jesus Christ Superstar). Then, by Holy Thursday up until Black Saturday, there was nothing to watch at all (unless you liked looking at thousands of flickering, swarming silvery dots and listening to static hiss). When the three or so stations did come to life for a few hours, they would feature the prescribed Holy Week fare. Which meant any old movie with bearded men, Roman legions and/or robes.
Flash forward to now, less than an hour after watching a movie with bearded men, Rohan riders and elven cloaks on HBO.
It's day two of the holday, and the DVD stash I was supposed to go through remains unwatched.
My flick snack stash (hurriedly gathered yesterday before the shops closed) however is already missing two bags of chips, a can of beer and about half the contents of a Nips canister. But I am confident it will last until Sunday.
The whole Holy Week experience in Manila has been transformed by cable television.
Before cable tv, there would be nothing to watch on the local channels except lenten specials (which featured everyone and their mothers lip-synching to Jesus Christ Superstar). Then, by Holy Thursday up until Black Saturday, there was nothing to watch at all (unless you liked looking at thousands of flickering, swarming silvery dots and listening to static hiss). When the three or so stations did come to life for a few hours, they would feature the prescribed Holy Week fare. Which meant any old movie with bearded men, Roman legions and/or robes.
Flash forward to now, less than an hour after watching a movie with bearded men, Rohan riders and elven cloaks on HBO.
It's day two of the holday, and the DVD stash I was supposed to go through remains unwatched.
My flick snack stash (hurriedly gathered yesterday before the shops closed) however is already missing two bags of chips, a can of beer and about half the contents of a Nips canister. But I am confident it will last until Sunday.
