Ramblings for the Morning (10/29/05)

So my doctor calls me about my blood tests. I've already spoken to another nurse and another doctor about what's going on, so I understand everything. He says, "Do you know what it means that your numbers came back as they did?" Obviously, this shows that no one talks to each other. "Yes, I understand what it means. It's all been explained." I'm hoping for some sort of nice comment back, but no. I get this instead: "Oh, cool. Well, I can leave early today then. Thanks." Then he hangs up. I really hate doctors.
Well, without further ado: STOP LOOKING AT ME, SWAN!
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Satellite Radio:
I have a subscription to XM Radio, and I really like it. Most stations have no commercials and it's not very often that I hear a song repeated. That's great, but there are some changes afoot that I don't like. For example:
1. Sirius Radio (XM's competition) is starting an all-Bruce Springsteen station called E-Street. That's right, all Boss, all the time. Hell, if you just sprinkle in the occasional Skynyrd song, we already have that hear in the Twin Cities. We call it KQRS.
2. Pricing. When I joined it was only ten bucks a month to get everything. Now, they are starting to go the way of TV. They are creating tiers where the more you spend, the more stations you get. I was hoping that with the popularity of the Ipod, they wouldn't do this. Podcasts are growing in numbers.
3. Ipods. When will satellite and Ipod just come together. Seriously. You can either listen to the stations on the satellite, or switch over and hit your playlist. It's the best of both worlds. Make it happen, Apple.
4. Regular radio is dying. Seriously. Why listen to commercial after commercial when you can just put on a station that's all music all the time? Several local Disc Jockeys have made comments about the fact that very soon down the line, everyone will just move to satellite radio in order to get their music. Or, heaven forbid, not listen to the radio at all thanks to online music.
Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe alot of you out there love regular radio, but imagine being able to listen to talk radio without interruptions except for news or station identification. Wouldn't that be great. That leads me to my next topic.
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Jack FM...Is a Bit of a Fraud:
Yes, It's great that they don't take requests. That means we don't get "Sweet Home Alabama" every five minutes (again, KQRS). Still, what no one really talks about with the station is this: They don't play as much music as other stations.
When you can't sleep, you keep busy. I do housework, paint, whatever. When the power went down here, and I couldn't sleep, I strapped on a flashlight and headphones and painted in the dark. I listened to JACK for awhile and noticed that the station plays three songs, then does two and half minutes of commercials. Then it's three more songs, then the commercials again. On and on it goes. Just when you are getting into the groove, they cut to "Arthur's Jewelers, the king of DIAMONDS!!!" It's annoying. Yes, I love that they will play Blondie, and then segue into "Kung Fu Fighting", then hit with the only good song by Dead or Alive, but then we get a commerical. Imagine being at a club and the DJ plays three great songs then takes a three minute break. Wouldn't that throw you off?
I do have one other complaint. Again, it's great that they don't take requests, but I would still like to know the name of the song being played. I heard this one song I hadn't heard since the 80s, and I could not get the name. Let us know what you're playing. That way, maybe we'll buy the CD (or download the song) and give that artist some money. After all, it is all about Capitalism, isn't it?
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Jason DeRusha:
You know, most of our local celebrities couldn't care less about us. You walk up, say hello, they shoot you a dirty look, and walk off. DeRusha is different. He's actually, shock of shocks, a nice guy. Granted, he likes to wear high heels on the newscasts, which is cool, but odd. Still, he's approachable. I remember a few years back at the state fair when all the news people were out. Chris Conangla (who I'm not a big fan of) really didn't want people coming near him. You could see it in his body language. Everytime a fan stopped to see him, he would cringe, hoping that they would go see Jordana instead. Don Shelby? Probably would kill you, put you in a trunk, and throw you in the river. I could go on and on. If you bump into Jason at, say, the former Bear Rock Cafe, and give him a compliment, he actually stops, says thank you, and makes (horror of horrors) eye contact. He actually attempts to be nice, which you don't see very often anymore.
Hell, Tom Brokaw once hit me with a golf club just because I said, "You read the news awesomely!" As he walked off, he muttered, "Bad grammar idiots." Ok, that's not true...he didn't say anything, but still, DeRusha, he's a good guy. Remember that. Just don't bug him when he's with his kid. That's just rude.
And finally:
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New Yorkers Scared...again:
Yes, the people in New York are scared because, (and I kid you not) the city smells "too good" right now. For some unknown reason, Manhattan smells like maple syrup. It's a great smell, but New Yorkers are worried that this is some sort of attack. One woman on CNN actually said, "Oh my GAWD. That smell? I think it's terrorists trying to make us feel betta. Then they'll hit hawrd." (Yes, I am attempting to write dialect. Bite me.)
Look, most of the time, NY smells like hot garbage. The fact that it smells like an Eggo waffle should be a good thing, not bad.
Then again, what do I know? My house smells like Apple Pie, and my neighbors think I'm a terrorist in hiding. I could be wrong.