Saturday, August 8, 2015

Watching The Voice TV show without sound



I love watching the Voice, really I do.

It’s a TV reality competition that originated in the United States of America and features some of my best celebrities judges and coaches. On the show you would see award winning singers like Shakira (I can’t get enough of watching her), Pharell Williams, Usher, Gwen Stefani, Adam Levine and Christian Aguilera amongst others. I enjoy the fact that I get to see these celebrities not just when they are featuring in their own videos but in a more structured setting. They argue, laugh and generally behave like us normal human beings.

The Voice’ Usa 2013 Recap Top 12 Perform Celebritynewsandstyle
Credit: hebml.com   Licence: CC BY 4.0
The idea behind The Voice is the goal finding previously undiscovered singing talent from across the country. They could be solo or duets and are chosen from publicly aired auditions. The winner gets US $100,000 and a also gets a record deal with popular recording companies like Universal Music Group and Universal Republic Records. 

This show is a hit. The chosen celebrities act as coaches to the contestants and try to make sure that someone from their team wins the competition. This makes for a lot of ups and downs, laughs and tears that keep one glued to the TV. The show has different levels also called “rounds” like the Battle Rounds, The Knockout Rounds and the Instant Save (introduced in season 5).

Sometimes it’s heartbreaking to watch these young (and not so young) people sing their hearts out and get evicted eventually. It’s like their dreams are being crushed. The musical renditions though are simply electrifying and superb, they leave me at the edge of my seat and sometimes even shouting in anger and surprise when my favorite act is evicted!

However, it looks like there is every there is every possibility that would not be happening for me today for one single reason, my Samsung TV is faulty.

I have had the TV for just 6 months now and it literally scared the hell out of me last weekend as it came on by itself late at night. I called one of the TV repair companies I could find here in New Mexico, Albuquerque to be precise and was bluntly told to call Samsung as it was still under manufacturer’s warranty and I did that. It was fixed and all seemed ok for a while till today just when I was getting ready to watch The Voice!

Now when I try to change the channel by pressing channel up or down it keeps going down continuously. I was able to reset the TV and turned it off for a while and all seemed to be good again. I eagerly watched the clock counting the seconds for The Voice to come up and just a few minute before it was due to start the volume and sound options don’t work at all. What good is it watching a musical TV show when I can’t hear what’s happening? I have called up Samsung again and a lady is trying to connect me with the repairs unit.

Am biting my nails in anxiety and anger right now, and can’t put in words what I am feeling as I feel down in the dumps. It’s almost like I am right there on stage competing and have just been evicted from the competition because I suspect that by the time I am connected and able to explain the problem maybe a large part if not all of the show would be finished. I can only sit and watch the images in misery with no sound coming out.




Thursday, August 6, 2015

I won’t be enjoying the Bachelor today: What could be worse than that?



Am Downtown driving around Albuquerque, New Mexico at the moment. I move through Marble Avenue, Coal Avenue and by the railroad tracks. With each passing minute I am slowly getting frantic.  I am not ill but I am having an emergency of a completely different kind, my Plasma TV won’t work and I need a TV repair service as quickly as possible since my favorite shows are coming up and I don’t want to miss them. 

The TV in question is about 3 years old and the fault has been showing up for a while now. When turned on the picture size changes from the last time it was used. Images flicker and it becomes quite a strain following what’s going on in the show. May times the picture becomes so large I can’t see the edges of the screen because it’s cut off and at other times its so tiny you can’t figure out what is going on. As I watched earlier today, the screen became tiny again and despite my efforts switching it on several times, it only got worse as now it’s not even coming on at all.

The Bachelor Season 19 Episode 9 Review After Show Afterbuzz
Credit: syerasite.com  Licence: CC BY 4.0
I had a TV repair man come in to have a look at it and it seemed to work for a while but now the fault is back again and I would much rather use someone else for the repairs this time.
After driving a bit more, asking around and checking online I finally find a repair shop and quickly tell them what the problem is and I am trying to remain calm while I let them know the urgency of getting it fixed well ahead of time to watch my favorite TV shows: The Bachelor, Game of Thrones and Scandal.

I have been almost religiously watching these shows for years and I make sure I don’t miss any episode.

I can’t even decide which one I like best at this point although they are both unique in their own way. 

The Bachelor for one is more or less an online dating game show that packs a lot of intrigue and fun in each episode. It’s a US created TV series first aired in March 2002 and is now in its 19th season. The reality show is hosted by Chris Harrison and is so successful that there have been various spin-offs like The Bachelorette and Bachelor in Paradise.

The romantic in me finds the plot quite interesting, an eligible single man is chosen as the bachelor and he gets to choose a possible wife from a pool of about 25 ladies. He gradually eliminates the women as the show progresses and this act of elimination creates a lot of tension and really brings out the bad traits in the women as they struggle to be chosen. I also enjoy the romantic, breath taking and exotic locations they travel to.

The TV man has now checked it and tells me he will have to keep it for at least a week before he can get all the parts to fix it and with a sinking feeling I realize I won’t be watching any of The Bachelor, Scandal or Game of Thrones.

I feel like picking the TV up and throwing it at the wall but so I don’t get labeled as crazy by the TV man I quietly pick myself up from the chair and get in my car for the drive back home alone without my beloved TV. I can just tell it’s going to be a long week without my favorite TV shows: What could be worse?

Wednesday, August 5, 2015

How I feel when I can’t watch The Big Bang Theory



I feel incomplete right now.

I got home from work on time, quickly ran through some of my chores and happily sat on my favorite sofa. I was eagerly looking forward to an evening or at least part of an evening with one of my best television shows: The Big Bang Theory when the worst happened.

Mi Friki Mundo Uy The Big Bang Theory Recomendaci
Credit: cartoondrawings.net  Licence: CC BY 4.0

I turned on my TV set and the indicator light actually came on but all I am getting is a blank screen. It’s a 50 inch Vizio LCD and its only 11 months old. I live in Albuquerque New Mexico and since that’s where I bought the TV from I called the repair man and I was asked to take a picture of the TV which I did and sent back to them. They promised to call me back in an hour. But no call from them so I had to call again. Eventually I got a lot of apologies and was asked to switch it off and back on again.

I did that and the screen lit up a bit and I was about to jump for joy when it went black again.I called them back and after a lot of questions I was told they may have to change the power board but they are also suspecting other things like the T-con board, the whole screen or the backlight converter. Unfortunately the parts have to be ordered first before any repairs can be made.

Long story short, no Big Bang Theory for me today. I don’t get to see what is now arguably the most popular show on American television. If you’ve never seen it let me tell you what I like it so much. It basically revolves around two young and very brilliant scientists (physicists in this case) named Leonard Hofstadter (Johnny Galecki) and Sheldon Cooper (Jim Parsons). They understand almost everything about how the universe works and have a very high combined IQ of 360! Unfortunately, they find it hard to interact and relate with other seemingly normal people. Women especially. Good enough, a beautiful and fun-loving single lady, Penny (Kaley Cuoco), takes up an apartment across the hall from them and Leonard quickly becomes attracted to her. Penny presently works as a waitress but aspires to become an actress.

I particularly enjoy the general geeky feel of the show and the way some scientific facts are presented. Other geeks in the show include Howard Wolowitz and Rajesh Koothrappali who selects to go mute whenever Penny comes around. The constant jokes really help me relieve stress after a busy day. I guess I am not the only one who likes this show because it had been nominated for an Emmy Award in the best comedy series category and Jimmy Parsons has won four Emmy Awards so far for his role in the show.

Sadly for me, am missing out on all that fun today and I really feel bad this is happening today of all days.