ahhh, the joys of streaming.
when we first were married, jane and i decided, no, affirmed, that we would never have a television in our bedroom. closing in on 19 years later, we've stuck to this dogma - magazines (i don't read books), newspapers, jane's stack of novels - all okay distractions. but tv - never!
during the period leading up to the commencement of the current iraq guerre, i found the joys of french news. visual news. i discovered france 2 on new york's channel 22 at 19h00 each night - and truly cherished having a fresh (and french) perspective on world events. coupled with bbc and occasionally the times, i was able to distinguish what was us media propaganda, and what was actually happening (remember colin powell's snow job?).
i clearly recall the vilification of france - unite behind a common enemy in an effort to deflect attention from a misguided war. while we were slinging expressions around ('freedom fries' etc.), the french news was offering fact without editorializing. when the war began, they presented an objective picture of what was going on - without bashing the us or britain. i was extremely impressed with both the stance of the government - they never did become embroiled in the war - and dominique de villepin's staunch refusal to be drawn into it (despite being lambasted by the bush administration).
then came along real player - a gift from friends abroad who wanted us to stream some footage of their young daughter being interviewed on german tv. in order to get that 'feed' i downloaded said item, and voila - there was tv5, france 2, and more recently, france 24. eureka.
unfortunately, there ended the no-tv-in-the-bedroom policy. every night, i duck into bed with my glass of wine, my tiny laptop, my earphones, and stream french news. what a delight to catch up on the greves (strikes), political maneuvering of the ump, the sans-abris camped out on the edge of canal st. martin, and the latest stories on labor unrest as france lurches towards a 37.5 hour work week!
and the best part, bien sur, is a dose of paris daily; a real shot in the arm that keeps me connected to my most favorite city on the planet!
h
