reading good, tv bad

there is probably nothing more sickening than watching the news. yesterday i watched a local denver newscast and for the first ten minutes every story was bad news. someone was robbed, shot/murdered or was scammed out of their money in almost every story. not to say that canadian tv news is any better but there is more sensationalism behind the american broadcasts than back home. and of course we are all aware that summer tv is about the worst thing ever to be put on the airwaves. it is no secret that even at the best of times the programs that are put on the air simply rot our brains.

and so over the last three months i have endeavoured to try to watch as little tv as possible and by doing so i have probably read more books and magazines than i have in the past five years.

it all started back in the winter when i watched the Everest expedition on the discovery channel. i was in awe of the mountain and the people attempting to summit Chomolungma (the Tibetan name). from there becky had bought me Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer for my birthday and i read it in a week. next i read Alive, the story of the rugby team that survived a plane crash in the Andes and survived by eating their dead teammates. once we got to boulder i started to read every copy of backpacker, national geographic adventure, and outside magazine i could find in the library. from there i moved on to Krakauer's book Into the Wild and since then i have read two books by Dr. Ken Kamler. in his book Dr. on Everest, Kamler talks about his experiences while attempting to climb Everest and the events surrounding the 1996 disaster (also the premise of Into Thin Air). and i have just completed his book Surviving the Extremes which describes the ability of the human body and will to overcome some of the harshest conditions on the planet.

all this is to say that i have come to realize yet again that an imagination, a good book and the desire to get outside is all i really need for entertainment. i have even decided to give up playing hockey this year in order to take some mountaineering courses that will stretch my understanding of my will and abilities as a person.