ever stood in the shaded stutter thrown
by a Venetian blinddismembered black white black white slivered or slabbed
edges hintingsuggesting what might be unseen and unseen
unsure deniable
he watched too many noirs from
the Forties and early Fifties hardboiled their
dramatic black and whites might have fixed his brain
his brotherinlaw said he was fortunate
his uncle always afforded his family the latest and greatest appliances and
since the latest and greatest fell over themselves better than one generation a year to make way for the newest his uncle provided
his other relatives with hand-me-downs
I think my uncle
gave us a colored television . . Sixtyone . you’d think I’d remember better, it
was a huge console and it nearly killed my younger brother and I picking up the
other end opposite my father. Kind of a warped I’ll buy, you fly.
Youve watched coloured TV since
the early Sixties
Easy.
Hmmm Im thinking that might help
explain the differences in our perceptions
I used to think we were so different because you were raised in LA and I
in Chicago Yaknow geography hell the
difference between the Pacific and Lake Michigan
You think our differences might
lie in the difference between colored and black and white TVs?
Possibly
When I was a kid coloured was
outsideya had to envision imagine green grass coloured flowers while you watch a black
and white set I remember my Dad talking
about listening to radio imagining the unseen people whose voices theywere listening
to the sounds of creaking doors footsteps seeing the obvious motions chairs
pulled out to sit on pulled across linoleum wood or carpeted floors If you werent paying attentionwerent
listening youd be lost
I thinkI believe it is possible
that watching a black and white set demanded more from me as a viewer than a coloured
set demanded of you
Possibly why I see more or I see
things more acutely observe more
Or you’re just a fucking voyeur,
you call yourself as much.
I do Got no battle with you there
So I gotta ask, when did your
parents finally get a colored TV set?
When they got one for the house
Id already moved out
You were twenty, right?
I was On my Own
An I had better things to spend my hardearned money on than a television
So when did you finally buy a colored television?
We bought our first coloured set
when our girls were youngthey were
both in grade school
Eightyseven
Nineteeneightyseven!
Yup
We had a set my aunt handed down to us because she couldnt believe Cindi and I didnt have a television to watch
Yahafta watch TV! Ya need to keep up with the News.
Told her we took the newspaper
and had magazines and talked with friends
She wouldnt hear it
She made me laugh
She gave us her black and white
and bought her first coloured television
0054, Monday,
12 10. 20
1134, Twosday,
13 10. 20
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