Most Recent Entry 10/6/08
10/6/08-A It's easy to become distracted by our total collapse as a species, civilization, nation, planet and worshipper but I want to talk about food. Maybe constant hunger is a reaction to the fore-mentioned, but the problem of food is itself a can't win dilema. The good tasting food makes our skin droop and the nutritious food tastes o.k. but doesn't quench hunger. Some of the best food, e.g., fish, is so toxic we will die looking our best. And there must be subliminal messages in movies because they're pointless without a bag of chips. We eat well on a date but that's putting the cart before the horse.
10/6/08-B I just saw a news headline "U.S. Congress Probes Banking Crisis." We wish them well, but I think it oughta read, "Us been probed."
10/6/08-C Contemplating two of life's more bitter-sweet rewards, there are three, but I only wish to discuss one. So I'll leave wine for later and discuss classical music. What a downer the very mention is for many people today, and that's a puzzle for the sociology of music, but for those of us who hear it with familiar recognition it resounds with a depth of emotion and intelligence that goes much closer to the soul than other musical forms, although many of those have their time and place, take polka music. On KDX we experience "The Concert," an ongoing series of performances from The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston focussing on small ensemble works nominally called chamber music. The Museum makes these recitals available through a Creative Commons license and the programs go so well in contrast to You Tube videos, mawkish radio chatter and cell phone conversations in rushing traffic. But the music reveals deep truths that exist both inside us and in the world, mostly an awesome sadness, rooted in the losses and the beauty of experience. Therefore, like wine, classical intake needs to be cautiously watched and if it interferes with work it might be time to attend Classicalics Anonymous where you'll find yourself saying, "Hello, my name is Carl, and I'm a classicalic." Not affiliated with Catholiclics Anonymous.
10/4/08 Health care workers notice that shortly before succombing to death, terminal patients exhibit a burst of recovery as if their situation is reversing, but the seasoned professionals recognize this as a final curtain call. It seems that KDX internet radio, following months of connectivity problems involving internet service, has abruptly entered a phase of perfectly robust performance from the ailing DSL (Digital Subscriber Line). Since Friday morning at 11 the connection has been stable as in a dream, so we're following it by staying on the radio around the clock wondering how long it will last. If we're experiencing that last swell before utter demise, we should be here to say goodbye to "The Sleeping Midget," KDX online radio.
Perhaps it means something that for the past month communications trucks have been seen everywhere in the area with bright yellow umbrellas high on utility poles. After all, the weather proof DSLAM boxes mounted up there, which distribute internet lines to customers, must eventually need repair or replacement. There was one day when our internet was dead and I asked the lineman out on the street if he'd detached it for some reason, but he said they weren't doing anything to "working lines." At that stage I wondered if they might be installing fiber-optics, which would be an enormous advantage for KDX.
So while sitting here on health watch with the radio station I browsed around hundreds of podcasts available on various websites taking delight in the creative force demonstrated by so many individual efforts. It doesn't matter that some podcasts are good, some not, what matters is the opportunity for anyone to express themselves, not only on audiocasts, but written blogs and video programs as well. I know that the old monopoly players are trying to rid these uninvited competitors by somehow controlling access, but they haven't done such a good job with the wattage they've hoarded, unless making money with inferior product can be considered an achievement. Large communications companies have been good for the armored truck business, who transport their cash to the bank. Did someone say bank?
Melony called right during dinner claiming to be with my personal bank, but I don't bank in Kalamazoo, so when she wanted to verify who I was by having me tell identifying details I asked, "How do I know you're Melony?" We stalemated. But one thing she said was of special interest, which was, "First Pillar Toolshed Bank is stable!" Well, I hadn't asked. My reply was, "That's good news for you, Melony!" She'd be able to keep her job.
Then there's the business of Sarah Pailshovel. Her recent "debate" vs. Senator Joe Biden took place inches (in Google Earth scale) from our Internet Building in Forest Park. Of the two people I still talk to one referred to the candydate as a "hottie." But from my years of worldly experience I would describe Governor Pailshovel as a woman who knows how to approximate the appearance of a hottie. The Riverfront Times published open letters to the people of St. Louis, actual site of the debate, from each candidate. I wish to quote from paragraph five on State of Alaska stationery:
And here's a little news flash for ya: The Democratic Party's vice-presidential nominee is not like me.
Unlike me, he's a good-old-boy Washington insider.
Unlike me, he's a tax-and-spend liberal.
And, unlike me, he's old.
Reprint Credit: Riverfront Times, St. Louis
carl@kdxradio.com