Television

I have just sat down to watch TV but forgotten that we only have 4 channels again, for the time being. A week ago our set-top box remote control broke. We can change channels with the buttons on the front of the box, but at present there is an alert filling the screen - to dismiss it we need an OK or EXIT button. Nnnnnng.

To be honest, i have just about lost the art of watching any TV, except sport. Without a scoreboard in the corner to make things crystal-clear, I find I just lack the will to follow any plot or argument. I hear Julia Gillard's first speech as PM was outstanding, but I haven't seen it. If it had been a debate v Kevin Rudd, perhaps held in a stadium in South Africa at 4am, I would have tuned in with alacrity. (Note to self - look up alacrity - might it do instead of a set-top box?) Especially if there were some statistics in the corner to remove any ambiguity about who was winning.

So, here I am at the time when I usually watch my one non-sport show, Important Things with Dmitri Martin, and as that's on ABC2, I think I am only left with a) a heartwarming yet challenging documentary, b) a cook-off, c) a dance-off or d) Mythbusters.

I would like to see the Mythbusters bust some really heavy duty myths, like the existence of an all-powerful loving God. Let's set up some explosives, some roller skates and a shop dummy, then see how you explain childhood leukaemia. Anyone? No, that's not fair, you're right. A half-hour show that will appeal to Gen X is no place for that sort of thing. How about something like "the sun is towed across the sky every day by Apollo in his chariot" - some blue-ribbon, card carrying myth myths? Too easy I suppose.

Anyway - now Bear Grylls is parachuting into a swamp. Next, he will eat it. Can you tell this is a rest day in the World Cup?