Deja View

I do not have cable.

(Insert disappointment, disbelief, snide remarks here.)

It's not that I dislike cable or that I spout a type of cultural superiority when I point this out. It's simply that cable costs more than I'm willing to pay. Sure, there are negatives - according to many the finest writing on the planet currently can be found on cable. Just recently I discovered the brilliance that is, "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" and I've yet to see other acclaimed shows such as "True Blood", "Weeds", "Breaking Bad" and more.

As anyone that's been even ten feet from a TV over the last year knows, recently the industry completed a digital transition which - for those of us without cable and with an older set -required the purchase of a converter box. Either technology has taken a giant leap backwards or the cable industry was behind the design of these little, plastic demons. Reception is spotty, inconsistent, crappy - and if you want to watch something during a storm you might as well give it up and find a nice book to read. I imagine quite a few people have caved in and signed up for cable as a result, or tossed their sets out the friggin' window.

That said, I have found one huge benefit of the transition and the box - Channel 38.3.

Channel 38.3 is a little slice of broadcasting heaven called IZ Videos. IZ Videos is simply this: music videos from the 1980's played back to back, almost non-stop, without titles, artist names or information of any kind. Every so often a voice identifies the station, it's Mexican accent so thick it sounds like Count Chocula. "Yooo are watching I...Z...Veee-deee-os; vee-dee-os from Fee-nix, Ar-eee-zon-a." Every time I hear it I wait for the Count's cartoonish chuckle to follow but sadly it does not.

Every once in a while one of two commercials airs - either for an auto dealership in south Phoenix or for a loan company targeting people that probably shouldn't be given loans. The voice used in each sounds suspiciously Count-like as well and the content/production value is really something that must be seen to be believed.

There are two points to this post - the first being if you haven't checked out Channel 38.3 yet and you have access you really should. If you are a child of the 80's or just a fan of that era's music videos you will not be disappointed. I guarantee a warm, fuzzy feeling of nostalgia. Just the other night I found myself sitting on my living room floor, eating peanut butter and jelly on Ritz crackers, watching Bow Wow Wow's, "I Want Candy" and oogling the Mohawk-sporting lead singer's miniskirt...just as I was doing 25 years ago. This brings me to point number 2 - that I seem to have matured/progressed/advanced not one friggin' bit since the 80's. In fact, I've actually regressed a bit. Back then I had cable.