LIFE WITHOUT TELEVISION?; RESIDENTS SPECULATE ABOUT WHAT THEY WOULD DO WITH THEIR TIME, SANS TUBE

WHAT IS that noise?

Well, it might be silence.

Or birds chirping. Or an April breeze whistling. Or a child laughing.

It just could be the sounds of life that you’ve been drowning out with the noise from your television. National TV-Turnoff Week, today through Friday, encourages people to relinquish their remote controls and tune into the world around them.

What would you do without television? How would you spend your time? We asked East Bay residents to share their ideas.

Ron Nelson, 45, Concord

I would read a book, go fishing, probably do arts and crafts. I’d work on my chain-saw carvings. I watch six to 10 hours (of TV) a night: Discovery, TLC, PBS. Without them, I’d probably go and take pictures.

Nadine Burnside, 52, Vallejo

I like to study the Bible, I like to read novels. You know, my husband does all the TV viewing. I could have it off; it would bother me not a bit except for the news, I do watch that. I really don’t know what he would do (without TV). I think he likes it for the noise. He would probably spend more time on the computer.

Angel Navarro, 16, Concord

Skateboard! Hang out with my friends, probably go to the City. There, I’d hang out, go shopping, go to the beach. Actually, I don’t watch that much TV, less than three hours a day.

Mark Corso, San Ramon

I would play guitar probably, or just hang out with my friends.

Robin Smith, 20, Antioch

I would read, come down here (to Todos Santos Plaza) like I do anyway, play games like board games and role-playing games. I play D&D (“Dungeons and Dragons”), “Heroes Unlimited” not the big buff person, always the sneaking-behind-the-back person.

William Eichenberger, Pleasanton, and daughter Yasmin, 1

We don’t watch television. We made a conscious decision to turn it off. It’s probably been a year at least, and I feel like I have more quality time. I don’t feel that the people who make the TV shows and the advertisements have the best interests of the public in mind.

Mike Goucher, 18, Concord

Go paintballing. I used to go to Mare Island (but) they closed that place down. Now I go to Venture Games. You get a lot more adrenaline. The best thing is shooting your own teammates. Right in the back of the neck. It makes them very perturbed.

James Adair, 18, Concord

I hate TV. I know a lot of people, so I do music raves in Berkeley, San Jose, big cities. I go to parties and spin turntables. I have a TV set; I even have a Playstation, but I barely use it. We have digital cable with 300 channels, and there’s nothing on TV. The only thing I watch is MTV and the music channels, 20 or 30 minutes a day.

Eden Lee, Castro Valley

I read. I enjoy life. I travel. I probably watch TV five minutes out of every month. There is life after TV believe me.

Kemera Gilbert of Oakland and her son, Matt Hammons, 9

We just started this thing where we don’t watch TV Monday through Thursday He knows that he wants to be an artist, so he’s focusing on his art, and reading, and working on activity books.

Fumie Dunn, 34, Concord

Play. I have two boys, Andrew (9 months) and Marcus (almost 4). Maybe play, like wrestling. Sometimes I let them win. Sure, I wrestle with the baby, too.

Karen Radest, Alamo, and daughter Madeleine, 1

I would read. And I would sleep.

Elena Hernandez, 13, Concord

I would go to a park and hang out with my friends. I’d read I like fantasy books and books that are nonfiction, like crime. I barely watch TV. Like in a day, I only watch like an hour.

Alexis Krutsch, 12, San Ramon

We didn’t watch TV yesterday. We did puzzles and listened to music, and we did the computer with each other and cleaned. We also played with my little brother.

Tiffany Ghighina, 32, Concord

Oh, I would read, I think. I have two children, so I have lots of stuff to read on children. Possibly play with my kids (more). I have a 22-month-old and a 3-year-old boy. A lot of times at night, we do use the TV for baby-sitting. I’ll fix dinner and tell them, “Why don’t you go ahead and watch Dragon Tales’?” My son really likes animals. We would probably go out and look at bugs.