Inconvenient Annoyances

Was there a particular age that you were given the OK to watch live TV?

My parents got Fios when I graduated from high school. My dad is glued to the TV like the whole time he's home though, so when I was at home at the same time as him I had to watch what he wanted.  (Aka every single tennis match played at every single open.) 

Did you feel like you even wanted to though at that point? Because I imagine it's easier to not even be bothered watching it once you're so used to not watching it.

I watch a fair amount of TV now, but I also make a lot of time for reading and other things that aren't TV.  Mostly the things we enjoy are Netflix so that's what I count as TV, although I do turn on Location Location Location or something if I'm home during the day and want something in the background.

OMG, this guy who plays slide guitar in the street outside my office needs to learn some new tunes!  He plays Imagine, Ghost Riders in the Sky, Unchained Melody and Telstar over and over and over and over, all afternoon.

OMG, this guy who plays slide guitar in the street outside my office needs to learn some new tunes!  He plays Imagine, Ghost Riders in the Sky, Unchained Melody and Telstar over and over and over and over, all afternoon.

I know it's probably incredibly annoying and I'm so sorry, but this made me laugh hahah

OMG, this guy who plays slide guitar in the street outside my office needs to learn some new tunes!  He plays Imagine, Ghost Riders in the Sky, Unchained Melody and Telstar over and over and over and over, all afternoon.

That's got to be hell, but at least Ghost Riders In the Sky is quirky. 

There's a busker in town that I've only ever heard sing 3 songs.  I got to chatting with him and he said he's been busking for 12 years!  He gave me a CD I haven't listened to, which means I have to avoid him until I do.

OMG, this guy who plays slide guitar in the street outside my office needs to learn some new tunes!  He plays Imagine, Ghost Riders in the Sky, Unchained Melody and Telstar over and over and over and over, all afternoon.

Heh. I sympathize. My neighbor plays guitar, but he doesn't know any songs in their entirety, he just noodles around on the fun parts before petering out. His favorite song is ZZ Top's La Grange. In the five years we've lived next to each other, I'd estimate I've heard the opening riffs to that about 32 billion times.

La Grange is such a great song though.  I'd gladly put up with that.

La Grange is such a great song though.  I'd gladly put up with that.

Yeah, but he's not playing the whole song. He's playing the opening riff from the start until the drums kick in, and then he fadenoodles away for some random notes until starting up a riff from a different song.

So imagine this:

14 seconds - La Grange, ZZ Top, opening riff
10 seconds - random notes played in no particular order
7 seconds - Many Of Horror, Biffy Clyro, just the 4 chord changes under the verses
9 seconds - random notes
12 seconds - Back In Black, AC/DC, opening riff
22 seconds - silence, drinking a beer
12 seconds - La Grange, ZZ Top, opening riff

Repeat for 45 minutes.

I had a buddy in high school who had a bass he couldn't play.  Your description brought back great memories of hanging out with him.  He could play the riff to "Boris the Spider" by John Entwhistle so he stuck to that.

I had a buddy in high school who had a bass he couldn't play.  Your description brought back great memories of hanging out with him.  He could play the riff to "Boris the Spider" by John Entwhistle so he stuck to that.

Haha! One of my neighbors in college worked on the opening riff to GnR's Sweet Child O'Mine for the entire year I lived next door. I'm not really a GnR fan at the best of times, and that didn't help.

There's a busker under one of the bridges in London who seems to play the same 10 seconds on repeat.

It's some sort of wooden flute and is conveniently the length of time a person would take to walk halfway through the tunnel, so they'd only hear it twice.

I pass by once a week and notice it's just the same bit repeated over and over and over again and it's always a bit funny.

I think I know who you are talking about, black guy with a black wooden flute who can't play.  I think I see him near the IMAX. 

Do you ever see my friend Jean Noel?


He's great, and I got him to play at my birthday party last year.  He played for hours and he knows tons of songs.  I see him near the IMAX as well but he plays other places as well.

You guys are reminding me of a guy I dated in senior year of high school who thought he could play guitar but he really couldn't.  He knew a few chords but if he wanted to switch from one to the other he had to pause to reposition his fingers.  He would often try to sing to me.  So awkward.