[Simon]

The TV is like a portal here. It's always on, even if the sound is muted. I think getting the power and cable knocked out for days (or weeks) after each hurricane every season for year after year makes me appreciate the connection to the world that the tv can provide.

Sometimes just CNN (or the Weather Channel) all day if I'm interested in the stories they're covering. (Like a storm headed this way.) Often it'll be on so the news scroll is visible, but there's music on instead of the tv audio. Depending where I am in the house, I may not be able to even see a tv, in which case the sound is off but it's on anyway. Sometimes the tv is just receiving the digital music channels and feeding them to the audio system. But the tv is always on.

Aside from the news, I use a DVR with two tuners to catch everything else I want to see, and watch things when I want to with no commercials ever.

I like good stand-up comedy and comedy commentary shows like Bill Maher, Daily Show, Mind of Mencia, etc. HBO and Showtime have some good shows, as do some of the other cabel channels and even the networks. Some examples of what it catches for me: The Shield, LOST, 24, Numbers, The Unit, Big Love, The Sopranos, Deadwoord, Carnivale, Bones, Criminal Minds, Monk, Boston Legal, some CSIs, West Wing, and others I'm forgetting.

The difference, for me, is being able to sit down to relax and call up a menu of maybe 20 recorded choices and select what I'm in the mood to see. I watch the news for what's happening today, but I rarely watch something that was on the tv the day it was aired. Everything aside from news and weather comes off the DVR now. Well, except if I notice something interesting on the History or Science channel and just tune in to see it.

What would I do without tv?

Probably go fly-fishing.

Simon