the paddy fields view: July 2017

Radio was used to put out propaganda during WW2 and very successful it was too!! Television was a laboratory plaything which burst on the public scene in the early 1950's
My dad had been on HS Illustrious during WW2 He fitted and repaired radios in Swordfish fighter/torpedo/bombers. Prior to that he was on the 'sugar boats' plying between Cuba and Europe. Again in radio. I've been told that the radio folk,on these boats,were all Marconi trained. Suffice to say my Dad was into broadcasting technology.He turned up with a Philips black and white TV to watch the coronation of Liz 2. One of my earliest memories,aged 3, in 1953 Do the math mentally,if you still can!!!
From then on we had the BBC,nothing else,a complete monopoly on mass communication to the peeps. They could spout anything!! Believe me, I did not know that other countries had TV stations. I thought that it was only BBC.Well I was five!
Then we had the first 'real' linked international broadcasts,in 1956, of the crisis in Egypt regarding nationalisation of the Suez Canal by Egypt.I began to figure out that there were other reporters from other countries and they were independent of the state paying their way with adverts instead of a license fee
Ente ITV in London,which gradually covered the UK via geographical franchises.Their income came from adverts and,at last there was competition to the monolith. This two party system continued until cable and later satellite TV came in. Yippee choice. In your dreams They new guys aired old shows punctuated by adverts. They moved main offices off sore to pay no taxation whatever on their income.Nothing from payments to watch came back into the country of the payers.!!
However most peeps joined up to satellite for the variety,not necessarily for the quality I joined Sky right at the beginning. I purchased my dish and box from them. They upgraded me for decades believing I hired the kit!!! I paid the monthly fees and a license for BBC for decades.
Then along came the rise of piratebay. I could download,anything,to watch,when I pleased, for free with no interrupting adverts. Oh heaven. It was a deep grey area legally. Main stream TV companies shit themselves because,like me,peeps cancelled agreements and license fee payments. The bottom line was showing much red ink. Legal moves were tried and failed totally and others realised that it could not be stopped. Ente KODI
By simply downloading KODI,you don't need boxes or hdmi sticks, peeps had access to worldwide tv, movies and importantly LIVE sport. Companies had paid millions for the rights to broadcast sports,especially football and motor racing. They build fee generating channels just for broadcasting. Along comes KODI with an app which intercepts the digital signals and re broadcast them. Companies had their fabulous technology working against them!!.
Again legal challenges were raised. However as one went down another two or three took their place.
So the armchair watcher can now watch,for free, anything, either live or pre made, from anywhere in the world with a back catologue available.
More and more streaming sites are appearing daily,holding access to back episodes of anything. On one site,alone, the American series Cops has over 30 series with 10 or more episodes per series in their listings! of hundreds of shows! Hey all for free!!
BUT is there going to come a time when no NEW stuff is ever made?? We are now getting format films from Robocop 1 2 3 and 4 Star trek Fast and Furious 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 TV companies are showing repeats with continuity announcers,yawning, now another chance to watch...... push the start button Fred. JamesBond movies are never off the air!!!!
My fav hoot was about the Frost crime series. Big fanfares about the last case for Frost,the end of an era, never to be seen again blah blah to raise advert revenue. It ends on Saturday night boo hoo.
The following Monday they repeat from series 1 episode 1 and it still goes on!!
The pendulum has swung and all those other cliches about circles and worms turning. BUT as far as TV is now concerned there will be little new and fresh because there is going to be no income. Sure streaming is great. I cancelled my subs and license two years ago. But what are the grand kids gonna watch,if anything? Is the death of TV a conspiracy to get rid of TV and news,such as it is,minus green screens ? I watched that infamous Iraq hotel balcony gas attack broadcast. Even the players stifled laughter as gas masks were flung on to the set in a studio in America.
So tv is a great mass medium which is now finished completely and we can all live in the past watching the Lucy Show.

Why are people so shocked about underground bases and the obvious railways joining A to B? To me, it was the obvious way to go, not for space invaders, but to have the ability to move folk and stuff in relative secrecy.
Look at WW 2. Germany got bogged down in a two front war. The bombing of one crucial bridge or a few bridges, over one river, caused materials to be backed up waiting to move over long distances in diversion. Selective bombing of factories caused delays as did busting up railways. All of this was above ground.The devastation in Japan showed that the new nuke weapons could flatten huge areas and reduce anything,,built above ground, to rubble.
The 'should we have gone onward to Russia' debate led to the Cold War which, as it has turned out, was mainly faked.The whole period was a time of organised growth and stability, like a board game.
When better , in a period of agreed peace, to rebuild,not above ground but underneath.
Russia being the bogeyman was cited as one side of the next WW 3. Vladyvostok was across the Aleutin Straits from Alaska and Canada. Russia could overrun Europe fairly easily and there you had it a two front war for both Russia and America. Moving stuff yet again was the big problem.
If both sides still doubted 'going underground' let us look at American adventures in South East Asia. The North Vietnamese army had miles of tunnels right under American noses which were serviceable year round. Above ground vegetation and monsoon rains made main roads impassible. All of the American aircraft were useless, except for the B 52 carpet bombing of set areas which caused some problems for the VC by luck rather than skill..
It has recently been discovered that ancient tunnel systems run under Scotland across Europe and down to Turkey. What did out ancestors know? Where they the ones hiding from space invaders??
Underground movement is so obvious to me. Look at the number of cities which have people moving systems underneath their streets. Moscow, New York London and Glasgow, to name a few.
At the beginnings of these systems it was surely realised that the people carriers could move soldiers and ammo,safely,underground. So,if that was 150 years ago or more,why are people so surprised about underground travel from hub to hub, interconnecting with abovegound and underground centres