Tonight, I surpassed my own record for uninterrupted
TV viewing – 48 minutes (counting from 6:23 p.m. on July 9, 2011, when I joined
the “quantified self” revolution). And it was time well spent. In addition to
the more political spots I noted earlier, I particularly enjoyed the coverage
of the “tide of the century” alongside France’s Atlantic coast. Euronews showed
throngs of excited tourists, with some of them sharing on camera their thrill
at seeing the sight of a lifetime (technically true, if they would not live
past another 18 years or so). And how was the same “story” presented on
Bulgaria’s most watched, private TV channel? Apparently, there had been forecasts
for 15-meter waves. But the wind had died down, and the mini-tsunami had not
materialized – so many tide-watchers had been deeply disappointed.
This twist reminded me of why The Economist had bestowed
upon my deer mother/fatherland the honor of being the unhappiest country on Earth
as proportionate to GDP. Which reminded me of a conference panel where a few years
ago I tried to joke pointing to this unique aspect of Bulgarian culture. The
chair of the panel commended me for being such a good representative of my native
country. In fact, a few years back I wrote a conference paper trying to concoct
a complicated socioeconomicopolitical explanation for Bulgaria’s unfortunate –
but hardly surprising – cultural trajectory. Then a scientific study found it
all boiled down to genes – with Danes and those most closely related to the former
horn-helmeted thugs topping the “happiness” charts. Damn it, I should have
expected to get it all wrong, too!
