TV Land

I don't care if it is a hunk of wiring and cathode ray, I spend enough time staring at it that when it dies, it's hard not to feel a little nostalgic.

My Sylvania God Knows What Model TV set is terminal. She's my second TV set, a used one I'd been given when replacement was wanted, if not necessary, back at the homestead. The Sylvania GKWM is analog and unattached to cable. You could say it was a long time coming. She didn't even have a remote control, for God's sake. (The ones on the top of the set are for the DVD and VCR.)

It's been sickly almost as long as I can remember, and I can't honestly remember the TV set we had in the house before having this one. I think we're talking at least 20 years old. Maybe a bit less. What I do remember about this TV set are two things: My grandfather (dad's side) complaining about it or possibly buying it. That one is fuzzy. And that when you'd watch some shows — mostly music videos with fast jump cuts and sudden light flashes — the image on the screen would show a slight split, like a fat guy trying to bend over and his pants beginning to rip in the buttocks region.

(Can a person say "buttocks" and not think of Forrest Gump?)

I digress. Anyway, it did that for ages and annoyed the crud out of me because there I'd be as a teenager trying to tape or watch "Everything She Wants" by Wham and it would split a bit every time the camera light bulb flashed in the video.

Somehow, she ended up here with me in New York and has sat largely unused in the bedroom/office, uncabled, rabbit-eared, ready if needed.

A few months ago she decided to shut off randomly, whenever she felt like it. I could turn the TV off and then back on again and would get picture. Now that happens more frequently, with less time from turn-on (I think tonight I got a half hour) and she doesn't come on again right away.

I hate throwing things out that don't seem obviously broken, but I don't see a way that this gets fixed. And in a couple of years or less she'll be obsolete anyway; everyone's going to have to have a digitally-ready TV.

So: Anybody want her for parts or amusement value? Free. Come get.

Second: Any suggestions on what TV to get next? Frankly, I'm at a loss. (And yes, I'm going to get cable for the new one in the new year.)