the evolution of the cooking show

i remember anticipating sunday mornings because of the chinese cooking show that came after the chinese movies on channel nine. i had no idea what the chinese cook was saying, but she threw ingredient after unidentifiable ingredient into her oversized and dilapidated wok with such passion that i knew deep in my stomach of stomachs that i'd be a fan of cooking shows forever. true enough, i grew up watching every cooking show i could lay my eyes on. and there weren't many when i was growing up, mind you.  

i remember being amazed at how old cooking shows had huge mirrors on top of the stove so the cameras would be able to catch a bird's-eye view of the pot action. i thought that was frikkin ingenious (this from the same child who thought the inventor of scissors was the smartest person ever). who thinks of these things!?

today, i don't have to wait an entire week just to catch a show. the food network has come to the aid of us cooking-show addicts. who thought of the food network!? (probably the same guy who invented scissors)

the cooking shows have evolved, though. instead of having the huge mirror overhead, they have somehow figured out a way to get the camera come extrasuperclose to the food. this makes me wonder though. i know it's artistic and all that, but do i really need to see onions being sauteed from 3 millimeters away? (yes.) in real life, the day you need to observe tomatoes being chopped by a freshly sharpened knife an inch away from your eyes is the day you lose your vision.