Let's go (international) surfing

Mood: bright
I bought a bourgeois house in the Hollywood hills
With a truckload of hundred thousand dollar bills
Man came by to hook up my cable TV
We settled in for the night my baby and me
We switched 'round and 'round 'til half-past dawn
There was fifty-seven channels and nothin' on.
- Bruce Springsteen

That was 1992 and you're way past that if you've got digital cable. But what if you've maxed out at Trio, or you're a homesick international traveler and your hotel offers nothing but basic cable - and there's still nothin' on? Well, you can "come on down" to the first floor of the James Branch Cabell Library, 901 Park Avenue, in the heart of Virginia Commonwealth University. View over 60 television channels (more than 57, my friend) from around the world. Turn on, tune in, jack in (the headphones), and drop in on the rest of the planet's living rooms. Watch a Thai or Malay (?) infomercial for the LeSasha, a portable gizmo that apparently melts away cellulite - more fun than "What's Up, Tiger Lily?". Check out Arabic soap operas, Bollywood music videos, and, of course, the international news. The International Newsroom is a service of the VCU office of International Education, open to the public the same hours as Cabell library. Perk up for the drive home with a cup of Joe from Java 901, also on the first floor, which sells Starbucks coffee. Purchases made there help the VCU libraries buy books.