April 22-28 2001 has been officially designated tv turnoff week by suspiciously hip counterculture magazine and community Adbusters. The idea is that during a single week will consciously avoid watching tv, and those who think this is not enough will arrange street theatre, tv smash-ins and other classical culture jamming activities.

"The next time you're prepping to sit down for a few hours of sit-coms, ask a friend or family member to set an alarm for a random amount of time greater than half an hour – say, one hour 26 minutes. Then settle in and enjoy your TV. Eventually, the alarm will catch you off guard. When it does, immediately ask yourself this question: In the instant before the alarm went off, did I feel really and truly alive?

Watching TV is a passive, brain-emptying experience – not even network executives deny it. But that's not the point of the alarm clock experiment. The point is to think for a moment about what it means to spend hours every day somewhere in between living and dead. Watching TV, on the Internet, gaming on the PlayStation. It's a chance to wonder what it means to buy into the don't-worry-be-happy cool of a virtual life. That random alarm? Also known as a 'wake-up call.'" - from www.adbusters.org

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