White Noise

Someone once asked me why I like living in Taiwan. Of all the dozens of reasons I could have named, I responded, "Because it's quiet."

Even though the subway, the buses, the streets, the food courts, the restaurants, etc. are usually rammed with people, as a foreigner, I still find peace and quiet in all of these places. My brain hasn't been programmed (yet) to understand the Chinese language, therefore it doesn't ask my ears to do the useless task of trying to listen. After about a minute or 2
, don't we all sort of "tune out" the hum of the aquarium's water filter?

There have also been a few people that have asked me what TV in Taiwan is like. The best response I came up with was a review of the commercials during an English movie. Asking me to tell you about real Taiwanese television programs is like me asking you to tell me what your aquarium's water filter is trying to tell you.

The concept of white noise is so cool that even when in the middle of a giant crowd, your ears can pick out the sound waves of someone calling your name, as if you were the only two people around. When my girlfriend watches Taiwanese TV, my ears turn on these same filters; most of the Chinese goes through unnoticed, and I only hear sounds I recognize.

These filters have allowed me to notice that Taiwanese talk shows are a lot like Looney Tunes.

Please watch both of these videos, and do your best to ignore the speaking (and the man wearing a bird's nest on his shoulder). Focus on the music and sound effects.

(watch at least 1 minute)

In my most humble opinion, the sound effects in the latter video are played at predictable and appropriate times to enhance the actions in the cartoon. I haven't figured out the rationale behind the sound effects in the former.

Thoughts?

"Haha" if you like Looney Tunes,

"Yawn" if you watched more than 1 minute of Taiwan TV,

"Cool" if you watched both with your eyes closed and couldn't tell the difference.