The Blare Blog
Center
of the Bla Bla Galaxy
Idiot
Savant of Radio
JUNE 2022
Thursday June 30, 2022 1:42 PM CDT -- Five-Day Holiday for Me --
Monday
will be Independence Day in the United States, a Federal holiday,
making the weekend a 3-day holiday for other citizens. As your friendly
and well-regarded blog keeper I'm taking a few more days starting today
and plan to spend the time tinkering around the campus here at Home
School College. Many will set off firework explosions much to the
terror of pets and wildlife, but we have no noisy plans.
Thursday June 30, 2022 8:47 AM CDT -- Unbalanced to Balanced Audio --
Thursday June 30, 2022 7:40 AM CDT -- Hypocrisy Shows --
Hypocrisy
of Christian authoritarians is never far from the surface as in the
present example removing the right of women to manage their own bodily
health. These same Christians, in their schools of theology, teach that
God bestowed free will upon human creation, giving His mortal
creatures a choice between God and godlessness. By overriding womans'
free choice the Supreme Court acts against God and so puts the
Court's own majority into a state of sin.
Ultimate rulings
should never be based upon a majority finding by the Supreme Court.
Final and concluding decisions should require a unanimous decision of
the full Court, the same standard as with lay juries.
Appointment
of under-qualified judges based on political loyalties should be a
criminal violation against the public good and disqualify a person from
holding office.
Wednesday June 29, 2022 8:15 PM CDT --
Successful days are fine but the world turns away from them in the darkness of night
and something else happens the next day.
- So said Carl Blare as the sun set on a perfect pipe inspection
Wednesday June 29, 2022 6:42 PM CDT -- Pipes Pass Inspection --
In
a continuing effort to minimize house explosions the gas company
conducts periodic home pipe inspections and ours look o.k. A few years
ago we decided to have gas removed from the property and go all
electric, but the surrounding buildings all have gas and if any one of
them blew up we'd be at ground zero anyway, so we didn't bother.
Having
passed through the apathy stage in our reaction to corrupt and
unAmerican courts and politics, we have moved into a more survival
oriented response mode called resistance. It's a technique used
throughout human history against facists, terrorists and
authoritarians, and calls for obstructionsim and refusal toward their
intrusions upon civil society. It calls for mocking them and in all
possible ways shedding attention on their creeping trail of slime. We
would be remiss to discount the valid comparisons between today's
so-called 'GOP' and the rise of Nazism just slightly less then
one-hundred years ago. It's worth spending time viewing many films and
news reels from Germany of the 30s and 40s available on YouTube. We are
witness today of Donald Trump's clear and documented attempt to be the
new Hitler as revealed in the ongoing January 6th Hearings.
If people of that ilk take the upper hand they settle differences
quickly by a shot to the head. It is important to understand that a
good many people like the notion of being able to settle their
disagreements by exterminating their critics, and to speak in the
extreme we note in retrospect that some folks should have been aborted,
but we give newcomers a fair opportunity to exhibit themselves until we
establish a clear case for or against. Being against the Republican Far
Reich is warranted based on their established performance and it
would be folly to permit them the same liberty they intend to strip
from us.
Wednesday June 29, 2022 7:22 AM CDT --
The evolution of radio is unending.
-David Sarnoff, radio executive
Tuesday June 28, 2022 11:36 AM CDT -- America's Favorite Song Overturned --
bOiNGbOiNG
Tuesday June 28, 2022 10:45 AM CDT -- Zella Day Drops Pro-Choice Anthem
yahoo!entertainment
Tuesday June 28, 2022 10:17 AM CDT -- How Do You Get from Here to There? --
From
time to time there are live video streams from which KDX would like to
carry the audio. What we don't know is how to get a real-time patch
from the livestream directly into Zara Automation System. Well, ya, I
mean, we know how to port it from digital, out the back to an analog
mixer, port it back in, re-digitize it, and patch it into Zara, but we
have a sit-down strike whenever we ask myself to do it that way. What
about you? Do you know a way to keep it all in the digital domain and
get a good patch? Let us know and I promise to consider taking you to
lunch when things aren't so busy.
Tuesday June 28, 2022 8:57 AM CDT -- Tomorrow is the Next Day --
Having
listened to public radio stations across the nation we observe a
sameness in the robotic scripting being delivered by their announcers
with a minimized trace of individual creativity. We believe the way is
being prepared for the eventual replacement of living announcers by AI
speech synthesis, ending finally anything amounting to a career.
Listeners will not notice any difference, as they are already
accustomed to the mechanical style. So called 'student radio' and the
other bastardation we know as 'community radio' will be the only
reservations open to living on air hosts, the former being nothing more
than play pens for between school classes and the latter a reduction of
disc jockeying into a voluntary hobby. At the smallest scale part 15
type hobby stations blithely and unwittingly provide an inaccurate
replication of radio's past.
Tuesday June 28, 2022 8:41 AM CDT -- Listen With Your Eyes --
Photography
Tuesday June 28, 2022 6:25 AM CDT -- Radio News Cut Backs --
Given
the lacking coverage of part 15 and related low power radio news and
publicity The Blare Blog has attempted to help fill the void by
subscribing to numerous news services in an effort to gather and
report on this specialized branch of the broadcast industry, but today
announce that we are pulling back somewhat owing to staff
shortage. Our email box has become stuffed with far more information
than we have the means to sift and most of these sources are being
unsubscribed as we undergo partial withdrawal from the journalistic
role. At the same time The Blare Blog keeps an open path for news
directly pertinent to low power radio. The contacts discontinued are
general news services out of which we picked the occasional morsel.
Otherwise, we
leave it to part15.org, artisanradio.hopto.org, and
lowpowerradio.blogspot.com to serve as the main conduits for low power
radio information while we follow with occasional 'by the ways'.
Tuesday June 28, 2022 6:20 AM CDT --
Broadcasting+Cable
Monday June 27, 2022 10:11 AM CDT -- We Forgot the Heterosexuals --
Oh
me my goodness, in thinking back on our blog of Friday titled 'Don't
Forget the Asexuals' I abruptly realized that we'd completely excluded
biology's most fundamental category, the heterosexual. Ah. No wonder
Curry and Dvorak showcased the woman who excluded the 'H' category in
her presentment of LGB as a proper framework for including the main
categories. I think we would be safe in stating that the 'H's'
represent the starting point in any subdividing of sexual typification,
so you need to keep them in the list. It's important that we keep
things filed correctly.
Monday June 27, 2022 9:42 AM CDT -- Stages of Grief --
Since
yesterday's blog about the 'lack of caring' over humanity's ongoing
slide into failure it entered my thoughts that apathy in this case
might be a stage of grievance. According to the 1969 book "On Death and
Dying", written by Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, there are 5-stages of grief
following deeply disturbing loss, those being denial, anger,
bargaining, depression, and acceptance. In another recent blog Artisan
Radio covered similar ground by reporting 'sadness' at the poor showing
by the decline of the United States. Do either of us match one of the
'stages' put forward by Kubler-Ross? Frankly, I don't see an easy fit,
as 'apathy' doesn't appear to equate with any of the stages and
although sadness would stand as an obvious response to perceived loss
it is technically not the same as 'depression'. I would further argue
that 'acceptance' is not the same as 'resignation', which is a more
probable final step in adapting to loss. To me, the emotion 'sadness'
contains small hope that circumstances could be better, whereas
'apathy' is more of a 'resignation' in realizing that conditions will
never be better and are hopelessly ill-fated. Nihilism comes to mind.
Monday June 27, 2022 7:04 AM CDT -- Q. How Can You Know if You Are Out of Your Mind? --
A. When a man has answers to questions to which he does not know the answer.
Example: Religion
Sunday June 26, 2022 11:02 AM CDT -- I Don't Care --
My
reaction to everything that's happening in human affairs is a state of
apathy. Nothing matters and I don't care about any of it. That makes my
radio station a pointless venture, as it was originally founded upon
the virtuous desire to inform and illuminate the listening population
with truth and beneficial knowledge, but there's no sign that any of
our effort has done much to prevent society's slide into the sludge of
ignorance and a fervent determination to be be stupid. Well, yes, there
are well informed and sensible people but they don't need to be told
what they already know, so the most that KDX can do is assure them they
are not alone in being reasonable, correctly informed and outnumbered.
The voting
public has been too permissive in allowing immature thugs into
positions of power where they're dismantling and defacing what's been
accomplished by more temperate administrations of the past. The
slaughtering of women's personal health autonomy does more than force
unwanted and needless breeding, it establishes a new slavery in which a
handful of rogue jurists impose their cultish brutality upon the whole
in complete disregard for the protocols of the high court. What errant
bar association allowed these robed phonies to pass the exam? None,
probably, because it's more likely these impostors passed the bar by
giving correct answers they had no intention of applying later on. Down
the road they are going to expand their tyrannical vision of God's
Kingdom in which they themselves are the god-kings and we'll find
ourselves under arrest for skipping Sunday church. The apathetic
response is not a surrender but is a detachment. A divorce, of sorts.
Saturday June 25, 2022 10:34 AM CDT -- What Do You Do? --
There
are times in life when we must tell people 'what we do'. This is true
in the case of applying for banking services, filing taxes, and for
that matter seeking employment. Over the years I have done many things
and could have listed any number of professions under 'what I do'. Most
lately I'm inclined to say that I do 'thinking'. I am a 'thinker'.
There is a lot of work to be done but it will have to wait because I
have thinking to do. The best one-line job title was put forth by R.
Buckminster Fuller who called himself a 'comprehensivist' comparing
himself to seafarers who traditionally needed to be capable
of handling any job aboard ship so that ocean voyages were
undertaken with minimum risk of going off course due to
short-handedness. As I see it the entire planet is kept on course
because of excellent thinking by those of us who 'know the way' and
keep check of orbital navigation. The banks and the tax collectors
might not be so lenient as to allow a profession of 'thinking' by dint
of the fact that, for the most part, thought produces no revenue and
might therefore be classed as a 'hobby' and those institutions exist to
help themselves to the earnings of 'doers'. The tax pamphlet 'Who Must
File' stresses rules requiring criminals to dutifully report income
gained from illicit activity. We assume that the 'Profession' line in
such case would be put as 'Crook'. Bankers who rob themselves put
'Banker'. For the moment I don't know where I'm going with this, but
I'll give it more thought.
Saturday June 25, 2022 7:10 AM CDT -- Signals from Bruce (Brooooce) --
Bruce (Brooooce) writes:
Uncle Carl!
Attached
is a picture of the very good Eton-Grundig Field "Edition" model 550
that I acquired a year or two back. As mentioned, this radio
arrived from a friend who didn't need it.
It
was not stable and only worked on the FM band - but not all the
time. Nevertheless, I received KUWA, 91.9, Wyoming -1750 miles
away. (A rare E layer ionospheric double hop.) The RDS display
lit up with the callsign without any problem. And this radio was
in the house on a table - it was not outside.
(It was next to a big window, though.)
So
after all my trials and tribulations working on this thing for a year
and a half - it is now stable and working correctly on all bands.
But
I cannot find the screws that hold the back panel on the radio
(hopefully I will) so the back panel is duct taped on. The 4 D
batteries don't always connect because the proper force doesn't exist
on the back of the battery holders - but this is not a big deal to me.
AND I was going to buy the newer and even better current version of
this radio, but now I might not have to do that.
I
had also owned an earlier similar Eton-Grundig radio - the Grundig S350
and it's slightly larger brother the S350DL. I had those radios
for 10 or 15 years at the very least. I drove them both "into the
ground" to the point where they were so worn-out that they were
unrepairable. They were quite inferior to the radio I'm talking
about now, but I wish I had kept at least one of them - it would have
been a wonderful display piece.
BTW - if you look up Grundig S-350 or S-350DL, you will be able to see what those earlier portables looked like.
I guess that's it for now.
Best Wishes
- Brooooce (Bruce)
Second message from Bruce (Brooooce) - Additional on Grundig Radio
So Uncle Carl - this Grundig radio I talked about is not equipped for morse code/single sideband reception.
I decided to look for Beat Frequency Oscillators on the internet.
There is a guy in Italy who sells BFO kits for a reasonable price so I ordered one.
When it eventually gets here I will put it together and see if it works.
That would be really great because this radio has outstanding audio.
So we will see.
Very Best Wishes
Brooooce (Bruce)
Friday June 24. 2022 11:12 AM CDT -- Don't Forget the Asexuals --
Today's
'No Agenda' with Adam Curry and John C. Dvorak played back the voice of
a woman explaining why we only need the letters LGB when referencing
the sexual preferences of particular subgroups. If I'd been paying
closer attention I'd know the woman's identity and why the subject came
up, but I was concentrating on a video showing a subway ride underneath
New York City. Reacting to the little bit I heard I'd generally have to
agree, the abbreviation referring to Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual. The
only thing I'd add is an 'A' for Asexuals, people who have no interest
one way, the other, nor both.
Friday June 24, 2022 11:09 AM CDT -- Saying Something --
Why is it that most people have nothing to say while a select few have a lot to say?
If I knew the answer to that I'd say something.
- Carl Blare, fully believing himself to be an intellectual
Friday June 24, 2022 6:19 AM CDT -- Guns, Mental Illness, and the Elephant --
Following
so many mass shootings all the talkers on right wing and left wing
radio have been going on about 'gun control' and mental illness. No one
has mentioned the full-grown adult elephant that just stands there. One
conversation on NPR uncovered a lesser point that should have
removed mental illness as part of the equation: a mental health
professional said that it is very improbable that the mentally ill
would ever express themselves by use of guns; it is more likely
they would be victims of gun violence. Ya, but all the other talkers
stay with the original notion that mentally ill people do the shooting
and ignore the revealation that the mentally ill are only
scapegoats. Here's what you won't hear...
The elephant is
computer games. There are hundreds of popular computer games based
on themes of shooting human avatars that pop up on the screen and
need to be killed before they can fire first. Quarry is seen
everywhere hiding, running, sneaking around, needing to be shot as
soon as possible. Killing everybody in the shortest time possible
amounts to winning. Millions of excellent shooters are busy shooting
thousands of enemies at all times of the day and night and the computer
game industry is stronger than the gun lobby, silently denying their
elephantine presence standing in the spotlight of guilt.
Thursday June 23, 2022 11:42 AM CDT -- Information Station Newsletter --
Carl
Here are brief stories in The Source newsletter that you might find helpful:
One Wildfire Is Bad Enough
How
can “misinformation” be minimized when seconds count? Emergency
managers in California will soon use satellite links to directly
disseminate evacuation instructions to car radios and outdoor warning
speakers. Find out more.
Pow Wow to Be Broadcast Live on New Tribal Radio Station
Pine
Creek Indian Reservation in Michigan has a new radio service for use in
emergencies. But it’s also going to come in handy for this
weekend’s Pow Wow event that draws thousands to Southern
Michigan. More here.
Let me know your thoughts, if you have time. Your feedback is always welcome.
Thanks.
Bill Baker
Information Station Specialists
theRADIOsource.com
616.772.2300 x102
Founded
in 1983, Information Station Specialists is the USA's best-known source
for information radio station equipment, advisory signage and related
technical products and services.
Our Reply to Bill Baker:
Hello Bill Baker:
Thank you always for providing the latest RESOURCE NEWS.
I share with you what could be a large promotional idea for sale of part 15 transmitters...
It
is my strong belief that all podcasters could benefit from having part
15 radio signals by which to audit, produce and distribute their
podcast work within their own facilities.
The same benefit would
apply to independent radio streamers who would certainly enjoy putting
their stream on the dial of home or workplace radios.
All the best,
Carl Blare
kdxworldround radio
Wednesday June 22, 2022 8:32 PM CDT -- A Shocker of a Movie --
Free on YouTube. What if Germany had won the Second World War?
Wednesday June 22, 2022 2:23 PM CDT -- Poised At the Point of Decision --
The
question is raised whether KDX should close it's website due to excess
heat, or brave through and man up. It is easy to sit here and debate
among ourself, more trouble to actually organize a shut down.
Indecision amounts to spare time and that opens way for other
meandering thoughts, such as dipping the ears into the pleasant audio
wallpaper of air conditioner and fan droning onward with feint radio
voices somewhere on a desk. Overhead sunrays shafting into windows and
irradiating the rooms while the keyboard responds to think-fingers
describing the world in alphabet sized pixels. Poetic outpourings can
be doused in snacks if only it were easier to overcome slumping
posture. Gutteral utterances taken as dictation from the director's
chair while blog readers strain to have an inkling why anyone would
post this on an international public commons. I often wonder the same
thing.
Wednesday June 22, 2022 12:25 NOON CDT -- Free Ideas While Supply Lasts --
Like
you or anyone else I pay some attention to personal health and so view
food advice YouTube videos with the intention of smartning the diet. Is
my English o.k.? I've been out in the sun and think some of my brain
has evaporated. Honey became the object of research since I drip it
into my coffee and experience a desire to have more. Having more coffee
might be good because they say it enhances heart health and prolongs
life. I know why it prolongs life. Coffee stimulates a high pee
priority above any other task. If the house catches fire you can't call
the fire department until pee is taken care of. If death comes for you
it can't be dealt with immediately because first one must pee, thus
prolonging life. But the real question we're asking is whether honey is
a healthy food. They have always said it is. But a YouTube video claims
to have run scientific measurements of three kinds of sweetner and
shows by graphic charts that honey is no different than any other
sugar. Not easily convinced, I explored further and found that ordinary
grocery store honey is processed in a way that removes the dietary
benefits that one finds with more expensive raw honey. Our own lab
experiment found that raw honey doesn't stir into cold coffee slumping
as it does into a glob at the bottom of the cup, whereas the common
processed honey stirs into the mix perfectly thus giving us a less than winning
choice. Raw honey reminds me of apple jelly. I would say, in
conclusion, that everything throughout life is inconclusive. See what I
did there?
Wednesday June 22, 2022 5:53 AM CDT -- Some Doings from Around Here --
Talking
to you from inside the Internet Building on the campus of Home School
College, this is Carl Blare, the titular leader of KDX Worldround Radio
now webbing again after yesterday's shutdown in 100o
sweltering heat. Sunrise temperature is in the upper 70s and we look
forword to a high in the low 90s with no decision yet as to whether we
will shut down again to protect our dainty equipment from being too
hot. Meanwhile, as the website and the radio stream hum along our other
work-station computer has been undergoing a transformation into a
gaming machine so Carl can enjoy railroad simulations, but we've
uncovered a defect in the firmware which so far impedes progress. The
computer doesn't always boot. Yesterday it refused all day to boot, and
after dark started to boot but stalled. It's a refurbished computer in
need of refurbishment. Never to be daunted, we will today send away for
another refurbish. We all need a good furbish once in awhile.
Tuesday June 21, 2022 5:13 AM CDT --
THE SUMMER SOLSTICE
Monday June 20, 2022 10:54 PM CDT -- Short Nighted --
I
arise to be with you on this shortest night of the year with the Summer
Solstice due to happen at 5:13 AM Central Daylight Time this coming
morning just minutes before sunrise, ushering in the longest day of the
year and official start of the Summer Season in the northern hemisphere
of earth. We also have entered another heat alert with
temperatures this week near 100 on some days. Accordingly,
although not accompanied by accordian, our website and radio servers
will be closing at intervals to protect vital equipment in the wake of
blazing conditions. While we're here I started the KHZ TowerTime Clock
Service available to the public on our Radio Player in the upper left
of this page. A nightcap would be good. Do you have any caps?
Monday June 20, 2022 7:25 AM CDT -- I Wasn't Finished --
So,
I was blogging about morning radio and the first day of summer and I
happened to hear a radio announcer mention "Juneteenth" the new federal
holiday declared a year ago by President Joseph Biden which occurred yesterday on
top of father's day. That confluence of festive days was unintentional,
as father's day always falls on a Sunday whereas Juneteenth sticks to
June 19th which floats through days of the week as years go by. But
while we can't raise questions about Black fatherhood we might note
that the main Emancipation Proclamation was made on January 1,
1863 by Republican President Abraham Lincoln while June 19th was a day
when Texas became the final state to emancipate black slaves, not at all a
federal event but made so by a Democratic president. It's all very
scrambled. "June" isn't a number, so you can't tack a "teenth" on it
because "teenth" is a numeric expression but frivolity makes way for
poetic license so go ahead anyway. It's a back-handed way of saying
that ex-slaves aren't all that literate. The southern gentry use such
veiled references to politely demean the lower of society. Also known
as a put-down.
Monday June 20, 2022 6:28 AM CDT -- In Tents with Porpoises --
For
all intents and purposes we are into the solstice region of earth's
orbit, what with the actual moment of topping things off set to happen
in vast silence at 5:13 AM CDT tomorrow, and if you try to view the
event symetrically that puts us there, although you could go about
measuring today and comparing it to tomorrow if you wish, but you'd be
fussing over a matter of seconds and with this much daylight what
difference does it make? I don't mean to start things off with an
argument this early, but I was listening to one of those morning
drive-time wake-up programs on radio and they flood the ears with
extraneous information quickly undoing all the benefits of a good
night's sleep and leading to exhaustion by mid-morning. What the world
needs is slow-going, calm, easy-as-you-go, un-rushed, soft-spoken
morning radio leaving room for the listener's own awakening to the
world with whatever residual thoughts he might be harboring from the
day before mixed with remnants of dream influence together with current
plans and ambitions. My radio station does that. There's a player just
up in the left hand corner of this page if you care to sample what's
happening now. I don't talk over it anymore, I leave that to other
generous broadcasters who give of their time to share what they bring
to the air while I show the courtesy of hearing what they think and
say. My preaching has moved here to the Blog where I tell others how to
live their lives. It's slicker than a YouTube video.
Sunday June 19 2022 Sunday 5:03 AM CDT --
If you are part of history you won't find out about it until 50-years later.
- C. Blare, author "History is Nothing New"
Saturday June 18, 2022 Saturday 10:04 AM CDT -- Juneteenth --
Tomorrow, June 19th, is a U.S. Federal Holiday known as 'Juneteenth'.
Friday June 17, 2022 8:16 AM CDT -- Rough Start --
It began
with the sound of metal hitting a hard surface. Before that it was deep
dream city but loud sounds trigger a survival response and a normal
person wakes up fast and starts calculating the degree of danger, and
what I was able to discern was blowing wind and tinkling rain. It was 5
AM in the Central Time Zone so we tuned to the local farm program and
became informed as to severe storms popping up all over the
region. A peek out the door revealed the cause of the banging sound; an
aluminum ladder had blown over from its position laid sideways
along the deck railing. After making the rounds and arranging a cup of
coffee the storm seemed to have calmed so we started the office
computer but hit an error message that put us in a start-over restart
loop that went on for over an hour. Last night at sign off we happened
to notice a message in the task bar that Windows needed to restart to
install updates. That made Windows our scapegoat and attributed the
errors to Microsoft's slap dash way of making their operating systems
buggy and difficult to manage. At long last we were fully booted and
all the more bitter that we can't have an honest and honorable system
instead of Microsoft's badness; 'Made in America' turned negative. So,
it would have been time to turn on the servers and start being the
day's part 15 mecca, but a loud sky boom signaled the return of
storming and we take as few chances as possible, knowing that costly
damage could be one lightning bolt away, so sign on was further
delayed.
Tuesday June 14, 2022 7:56 AM CDT -- New Age Album Created Aboard an Amtrak Train Trip --
Monday June 13, 2022 1:14 PM CDT -- Al Franken's FM Station --
Silly
title. The Franken FM question being pondered by the FCC has nothing to
do with the former Congressman. As you likely know, it's a question of
whether digital Channel 6 TV stations might also generate hybrid FM
signals at 87.7 MHz. You can find current articles about it inside RADIOWORLD.
Our only interest is that we'd like to see the FCC edit the 15.395 rule
to enable Part 15 broadcasting on 87.7 and 87.9. We know that if more
FM stations are allowed they will be just as dull and boring as the
stations we already have. Yet, at the same time, everybody deserves a chance to be dull.
Monday June 13, 2022 1:07 PM CDT -- Listen Faster --
Sunday June 12, 2022 3:21 PM CDT --
bOiNGbOiNG
Sunday June 12, 2022 2:53 PM CDT -- I Have Signed Up for the Charlie Rose Newsletter --
Sunday June 12, 2022 12:11 NOON CDT -- Concertos of Schedrin --
The
other day KDX brought all six piano concertos of Rodion Schedrin, the
6th having a novel and quirky ending that we'll hear again today
followed by his Oboe Concerto. Very nice break from all the jibber
jabber.
Sunday June 12, 2022 11:52 AM CDT -- Charlie Rose Comeback Hopes --
Sunday June 12, 2022 8:40 AM CDT -- Heat Advisory --
We have 81o F this morning with predicted high of 94o. Tomorrow and Tuesday will be more serious with expected 101o both days. This limits outdoor activity where there's always campus landscaping in need of doing.
Sunday June 12, 2022 7:46 AM CDT -- The Missing Frequencies --
Every
Saturday a HAM radio operator in a nearby town transmits amateur radio
programs all day at 1830 kHz, and I finally remembered to tune it in
and listen, so I grabbed the handy TECSUN PL-310 and tapped in the
numbers 1-8-3-0, but the radio spit back the numbers and
defaulted to 13560 kHz where it was previously set. Huh?, was my
thinking-man's reaction so I grabbed the manual and paged to the back
cover where the shortwave band is listed as 2300 - 21950 kHz. Wha?,
another thinker's utterance as I couldn't believe that a fabulous radio
would get away with skipping a lower chunk of frequencies. But it's
true and it does.
Saturday June 11, 2022 3:11 PM CDT -- I Must Have Dozed --
Within
the last few days I recollect Artisan Radio announcing that his blog
would be off for awhile. Now, moments ago, I took a look and see that Blog 5.0
has already been running for a few days. Unfavorable mentions of
Windows 10 match my general gut feel about that unwanted OS, although
I've not yet tried to use it for radio streaming, but do use it for
office management where it has all the lackluster charm of a casino
themed cruiseship under quarantine during a pandemic. Also, B.U.T.T.
Encoder has been causing interruptions for Artisan, while ours is
running without fail over on the Windows 7 machine. What else has
happened while I looked the other way?
Saturday June 11, 2022 5:57 AM CDT -- Redressing Our Grievance --
When
the government agency responsible for overseeing a minority special
interest becomes detached and unrepresentative, as the FCC has in the
case of Part 15 radio station operation, it comes time to petition
Congress to order that agency to wake up and provide equal and fair
representation, or lose the privilege of so doing and be replaced by a
new and independent agency staffed by members of the under-represented
group. Becoming activists in our own interest could have been the task
of the former ALPB had that not been the personal claim to
life-achievement by its hostile taker-overer RamBob who still soils its
remains by defiantly sitting in the imaginary Ex Chair. Deposed member
RF Burns advocated for such a purpose during formative sessions of the
ALPB. As well, the task of salvaging the Great Radio Hobby is shaded
and shadowed by subversive elements masquerading as insiders and of its
last scattered and disorganized legitimate players a lack of community
spirit. It's all very nihilistic with no Phoenix Bird in the ashes nor
savior down from heaven.
Friday June 10, 2022 6:11 PM CDT -- Let's Get Horizontal --
Many
well intentioned plans don't get followed through on, such as our idea
of using only horizontal polarization for our FM signals. The idea is
back in the forefront... back in front... you know what I mean. It
makes sense because we can then aim signals straight through the
building for our own monitoring purposes while putting households on
either side in the nulls since we are not broadcasting for their
benefit. There's no public comment period, I just decide these things
and avoid doing them until later.
Friday June 10, 2022 5:48 PM CDT -- Obsessions Don't Tend to Stop --
Despite
a spending freeze I'm caught up in the heady inertia of delving into
the heretofore ignored field of computer gaming, which opens up an
entire universe of 'higher end' computer sophistry that comes in the
middle of upward inflation, but upgrades lead to more upgrades and
there's no end to the newly found acronyms and trademarked names, like
HDMI, DVI, DisplayPort, HDCP, DirectX, Open GL, PCI Express and Low
Profile cards. To exacerbate the tension I thought I heard the low
throated growl of a mountain lion in the backwoods and have been
barricaded indoors in hopes it will go away, unless it's
imaginary, in which case I hope it stops growling.
Friday June 10, 2022 2:30 PM CST -- Small Disappointment --
At
various places in general literature one may find comments and
postulations as to the striking differences ordinarily heard between
male and female voices. Fully expecting to encounter something said on
the subject I've returned empty handed from reading "Of Women" by
Arthur Schopenhauer. He certainly considered most other aspects and
perspectives in his treatment of the subject, but nothing on how they
sound.
Friday June 10, 2022 1:16 PM CDT -- Work Area Please Stand Back 5-Feet --
When
not sure of one thing, work on another. I wasn't sure what to do about
our computer graphics situation, so I opened my copy of "The Essays of
Schopenhauer" because I want to page around in his essay "Of Women"
looking for mention of their general voice quality. I'm half-way
through and not yet certain when I'll be ready to blog, so I took a new
interest in KDX which provides listening fare in between YouTube
sessions where I try to become better educated by viewing many subject
areas from faucet repair to raw honey.
Recalling a Donald Duck
cartoon from years ago... Donald wanted Daisy Duck to show more
interest, so he tried the 'absence makes the heart grow fonder'
approach but when Daisy continued her indifference, Donald was reminded
of the other axiom, 'out of sight out of mind'. Here's what that has to
do with KDX: I've been ignoring it given my new obsession with railroad
simulation, but being slowed by the graphics problem KDX has come back
into prominence and I am very proud to have it.I'm hearing about last night's January 6th Hearing.
The
railroad game I purchased renders fairly well on a plain office
computer, I'm able to log into the mountainous forest of 1886 where
various industries will depend on rail service that I need to build,
but with only system RAM the picture shares memory with jerky motion,
still allowing me to scout around in the hills and valleys plotting
future routes. I spent most of yesterday stuck in a pit, but was
eventually able to climb out. I'm studying graphic card possibilities
but am held back by a spending freeze on new equipment imposed on
myself.
Schopenhauer continues to ride a crest of popularity
because of the strong appeal of his writing style which, even
translated from the German is clearly within the grasp of ordinary
readers, unlike so much of the cryptic philosophy by the academically
'acceptable' notables. It can also be said that his criticism of
Christianity explains why religious schools shun him. His "Of Women" is
universally rejected by female students but I'm not altogether sure
they are being fair and may perhaps be defensively blocking out his
meaning. We live in a time when women demand equal footing with men
despite obvious differences that are set aside as superfluous and
subjective. There is a simplistic sense that difference is the same as
lesser, and that doesn't necessarily follow. It is perfectly reasonable
to find that different sets of physical and mental systems meld
perfectly into a compatible and complimentary whole that is greater
than the sum of its parts. Before wading any deeper let me restate that
for the moment we are only concerned with voices and it remains to
discover what we might have to add.
Friday June 10, 2022 10:39 AM CDT -- We Were Just Talking About This --
Thursday June 9, 2022 9:36 AM CDT -- Bridging the Ocean --
This
morning I expanded my radio station conglomeration into the Worldround
Radio Railroad, with plans to build sea bridges connecting North
America to other world continents. When first announced, my plans were
first ridiculed as evidence that I was loonier than Elon Musk, but I set
them straight by linking to this video.
Because
of the extreme length of these vast bridges they will support permanent
residential colonies with facilities to harbor the world's homeless and
assign them as lifetime bridge maintenance workers. A network of part
15 style radio stations will provide communications to these offshore
encampments, providing additional work assignments as technicians and
air talent. Because most of our massive bridge complexes will exist
beyond the jurisdiction of land governments we have established our own
administrative authority with me serving as life-long Emperor keeping
part-time hours on Saturday. All Blog readers are entitled to unlimited
passes to travel aboard our fleet of trains.
Tuesday June 7, 2022 3:38 PM CDT -- Summer Is Yet to Come --
It's
understandable that so many people believe Memorial Day (U.S.) is the
start of summer, but official summer begins on Tuesday June 21 at 5:13
AM CDT, the longest day of the year! Daytime radio stations love it
because they have more hours on the air for a whole month. I think
their summer began June 1st. Is there still a bill in the senate to
keep daylight time all year? Apparently daytime licensees will lose
hours if that passes, and KDX wants AM stations to get the best
opportunities to survive, so our stand on time standards is whatever
their's is.
Tuesday June 7, 2022 10:25 AM CDT -- Reflections On Earlier Reflections --
I
can admit that if I had a marriage today I'd let it slide because of
the train games. It's no doubt also true that if I was still actively
employed I'd find ways to skimp on duties to further my attempt at
starting the steam locomotive. If I ended up in therapy I'd ask the
therapist if she'd ever thought about what goes into transportation.
And I'm able to see the irony in having so much undone yard work
because there are so many virtual trees to clear to make way for track.
Life gets you no matter how you go about it, but none the less, as
Albert Camus said, we live it anyway. Was there anything you wanted to
add?
Tuesday June 7, 2022 10:21 AM CDT --
Before you can let sleeping dogs lie you've got to get them asleep.
- said by Carl Blare for no particular reason
Tuesday June 7, 2022 8:36 AM CDT -- Baltimore Property Owner Gets a Letter from the FCC --
RADIOWORLD
Monday June 6, 2022 2:30 PM CDT -- Inside Scoop --
That's a
dog's name for sure. "Here, Scoop!" For awhile yesterday we were
offline and didn't realize it. Today we think we are online at
kdxradio.com but unless you realize it, we aren't sure. As Newt
Gingrich once said, "By all technical standards, water-boarding isn't
torture". There are all kinds of categories at the porn site, and
Newt's viewing preferences are his own business. In a related story
Donald Trump is believed to have asked an aide whether there was video
of Amber Heard messing Johnny Depp's bed, but the story hasn't been
verified. My own thoughts are far from all that as I've been installing
and testing my first computer simulation game. I'm getting closer every
few hours to actually playing the game. KDX has been streaming, but
I've been ignoring it while I try to throw wood into the firebox to
build steam pressure, not stream pressure. Oh, and give me one more
paragraph to say something else.
As promised we have renewed
all contracts, agreements, and codicils related to providing this
website and The Blare Blog, as requested by our readers. Because I
rushed we accidentally renewed everything for 2-years instead of the
promised 1-year, so I'll still be doing this in 2024 when we're next
set to expire.
Monday June 6, 2022 5:39 AM CDT --
Sunday June 5, 2022 6:48 PM CDT -- It's Time Now for...
Nobody Asked for My Opinion But I'm Giving It Anyway
Starring Carl Blare in the Leading Role
with Cackling Kamala Harris and Bit Player Bitter Amber Heard
Brought to You By Train Games Which Come With Real Tickets Good for Rides to Big Cities
Powered by Smoking Engines and the Strong Engineers Who Rode the Rails
Hello
everyone and welcome to his week's show. Well, I did it. I purchased my
first paid railroad game and learned the first hard lesson... these
serious simulation adventures need real computing power which I
apparently don't have enough of. But I have a nephew who's bought many
games and has offered to guide me into the weeds of treachery so
we can provide streamlined transportation and earn virtual money. It
all began in the early 50s when I'd walk down the street around the
corner to the Star Theatre for that week's Republic Serial Episode of
"The Roar of the Iron Horse" starring Jack Mahoney.
It
cost only a quarter to attend the Saturday afternoon matinee and
today we pay many times the amount to recreate the thrill through
virtual reality and I was surprised when the game store asked if I
wanted adult themed games and although I declined the offer I remember
back when I was an adult and am not opposed to you or any one else
exploring the far reaches of the game of life. There's hard-drive space
to be filled and it's up to us. So long until next time!
Sunday June 5, 2022 11:01 AM CDT -- Chalk Up a Sale! --
Artisan Radio follows through:
Based
on your links, I ended up getting a Tecsun PL-365. It's a little
older than the 368, but uses standard AA batteries. It was also
cheaper. Doesn't have the keypad, but there are ways around that,
and besides, real SWL'ers don't need no stinkin' keypad!
- Artisan Radio
Sunday June 5, 2022 8:05 AM CDT -- The State of Media in Russia --
Is shortwave still the way to bypass censored Russian media? An enlightening commentary by Paul Thurst.
Saturday June 4, 2022 7:58 PM CDT -- Chewing the Radio Rag --
Saturday June 4, 2022 7:48 PM CDT -- More Recent TECSUN Models --
The PL-360 and PL-368 are mentioned as more recent than the models I listed from years back.
Saturday June 4, 2022 6:50 PM CDT -- The TECSUN PL-330 --
I
do believe this is the model I have in mind for an update to the
previously mentioned model. I researched this awhile back and will be
looking for my notes before acting.
Saturday June 4, 2021 6:17 PM CDT -- Cancel the AMBER ALERT for the TECSUN --
Wanting
to reference the model number of our tiny TECSUN radio, I reached for
it but it wasn't in the usual place. So I looked in the other two
places where it sometimes resides, but no radio. To be sure I checked
the same locations about ten times before thinking back to the last
time I remember seeing it. It was over 24-hours ago when I hung it on a
bamboo branch while I trimmed the bushes. I was unwilling to believe
that it got left behind, but I took a walk and not only was it
still out there it was still playing and the batteries show full! By
good luck it didn't rain last night. I have it now and the model is
PL-310. These are not only good radios but they have a signal-strength
readout made-to-order for small radio stations.
Saturday June 4, 2021 8:26 AM CDT -- What Would a Life Coach Say? --
A
few years ago a friend of mine said she was going into business as a
'life coach' and I eagerly asked to sign up as one of her first
clients. I'd never heard of 'life coaches' before that, but it seemed
like something worth having, like a subscription to 'Consumers
Reports'; a way of putting one's decisions and policies to the test
before implementing them, but she never got back to me about it and I
still don't know what life coaches do or how they happen to know
anything about what you do. Managing my own affairs has not been too
much of a catastrophe, but I will admit that my management skills go
somewhat slowly. I'm only now beginning to figure out what people like
about the popular music of the late 1960s, yet ironically I was hired
to host it on radio stations of the time. I suppose that, like
politics, you don't have to know what the job is if you get hired to do
it. But I diverge.
During the past week I reached a new
plateau in my role as both a radio listener and programmer. As I've
said, I tend toward talk radio as a preference but it gets to me how
the hosts and guests keep yammering endlessly all day, all evening, all
night, even though much of what they say is a repeat of something
they've already said or which is too trivial to bother saying; they
just never shut up. What I'd like to hear are lapses in conversation,
room noise. This is important. Room noise is essential in reassuring
the listener they are not being blocked. A silent carrier would be a
snub, but a live microphone comes across as politeness and
inclusion in whatever is happening. The hosts and their guests could
take a break, even leave the studio for awhile, but if you could hear
building sounds like the hum of ventilator fans or distant lawn
equipment, you'd still be at the table and eventually somebody would
return with some further palaver.
And I'll share an inside
secret that's been concealed for a couple decades, but might work
again for a radio station wanting to win the ratings race. In
those days I noticed there was one radio station always dominant in the
market, while the other stations somehow always scheduled duller, less
attractive programming, yet seemed perfectly content and untroubled by
their low ratings. The trick, which I suspect but can't prove, was to
pay the managers of the lesser stations to 'tone down' what he did with
his schedule. A few times these badly rated stations inadvertantly
picked up some popularity but whichever talented staff member achieved
the improvement was either fired or hired away and side-tracked by the
bigger station. Of course this doesn't go on today because people are
more honest than they were and attend regular church. Who am I kidding.
Um, want to hear one more thing? This might matter. I may have
been wrong for a long time in commentating on the deceptions, false
beliefs, lies and phoniness found throughout human systems, from
religious and commercial corporate affairs, civilian and military
politics, and neighbor relations. Although what I've said is all true,
I may have been missing the real reason behind all of it. The success
and survival of our species of life is founded on deception. It is the
principle contribution we make to the planet. We are nature's frauds
and have refined and sophisticated dishonesty to the degree that
non-truth is essential to keeping it all going. That's why there's
so much money in it. And money is symbolic of it. All money is
counterfeit, just like us. All things outside of our fantasy realm are
considered to be 'the wilderness'.
Are you in a hurry to stop
reading? KDX Worldround Radio is streaming now, and we look forward
this weekend of presenting two hours of Al Franken. His first guest will
be Steve Schmidt warning about 'Coming Facism', followed by Patton
Oswalt on 'Serious Comedy'. Following that Seth Andrews and the
'Thinking Atheist' program will talk about the gun problem. Dan Barker
and Annie Laurie Gaylor bring 'Freethought Radio' with this weeks news
in the struggle to keep religion seperate from government presented by
the Freedom From Religion Foundation. These are programs exposing the
truth which may no longer fit with my new found realization that the
more elaborate the lie the more real things seem to be, but at the same
time KDX is not going to program religion unless substantial monitary
consideration reaches the bank. Never be deceptive for free.
Friday June 3, 2022 12:30 NOON CDT -- Media Combiner --
Of
several railroad simulation games available, I am most inclined toward
the newest one to appear, called RAILROADS Online. It can be played
solo, as a multi-player experience, and a third option just
learned about, the playing can be 'broadcast', which is to say
streamed, the same as a radio station or movie. This opens an amazing
world of possibilities. While generating the visual train operation we
might insert KDX as the audio channel, with occasional breakaways for
live comments by me as the game player. Maybe we could name the whole
thing 'KDX-TV', given the fact that we've wanted to open a TV station
but weren't sure what we'd show on camera. What other unexpected
surprises might be around the corner?
Friday June 3, 2022 9:48 AM CDT -- Double Religion --
What
we call 'religion' is, for one thing, a personal liberty, enumerated in
the Bill of Rights of the U.S. Constitution. But the 'business' of
religion is the province of Organized Religion comprised of several
mega churches (not MAGA churches) and thousands of smaller
denominations, reinforced further by so-called 'non-denominational'
sects. Although it is perfectly possible to be an institution-of-one by
holding to an independent and personal stance, most people affiliate
with one of the available membership 'congregations'. But at the end of
the day, not to be confused with the end of days, each person is the
product of their own 'take' on what they make out of the patch-work of
beliefs tucked in their own disorganized minds. Which is to say, the
laity is not required to earn a divinity degree from a theological
school. The deeply religious never tolerate the calling out of glaring
contradictions in their faith-fabric, thus nothing gets set straight
through correction and better editing. For one example, they all pray a
lot, which consists of asking God to fulfill personal requests, while
at the same time cheering forth the fulfillment of 'God's Will' which
would necessarily be altered to answer any prayer. But having said
that, the religious are preordained from childhood brainwash to focus
contempt and hatred upon anyone so heretical as to point out such
flaws. The best thing for me to do is go back into hiding until the mob
thins out a bit.
Friday June 3, 2022 9:14 AM CDT -- Over Heard --
YouTube
is still buzzing with fallout from the Depp/Heard Case. It's being said
that Amber Heard is broke and unemployable, just like I was a couple of
times. She could always start her own acting school to teach students
how to remain completely expressionless for days at a time.
Friday June 3, 2021 7:30 AM CDT -- Movements in the News --
Harry
Schearer says it about the Olympics: "It's a movement! And we all need
one, every day!" And this morning Adam Curry and John C. Dvorak, hosts
of 'No Agenda' as heard on KDX, are talking about the movement that
contributed to Johnny Depp's side of the bed sheet, telling us how it's
unfair that some pundit referred to Amber Heard's '#ME-POO' version of
#ME-TOO, since it was never proven that Ms. Heard was the donor. They
didn't do a DNA test on the deposit.
Friday June 3, 2022 5:50 AM CDT -- Baby Formula --
Of
course everyone knows the formula for making babies but we're more
interested in the baby food question given the world shortage of baby
formula, so I got to wondering, what is it and why can't we just mix up
a batch of it in the kitchen?
We'd
be in good shape if my earlier plans had materialized. We talked about
applying for a license to open a private prison for women with attached
low power radio school and human milk dairy. Maybe the time has come to
re-activate those plans (?)
Thursday June 2, 2022 7:58 PM CDT -- Be the First Radio Station with White Noise --
SFGATE
Thursday June 2, 2022 2:27 PM CDT -- FCC and Respect for Us --
Mark continues the conversation:
Here's
the root of the problem....Carl said..."I'd go so far as to say that
the hobby needs more Marks and Peters to pull us through this very lean
time when the FCC (in the U.S.) is not acknowledging us with the
respect we deserve. Things look better in Canada, maybe. Hobby radio in
the U.S. is like the world's smallest homeless encampment and people
are nervous having us around."
Here's
the problem.....as always happens with anything, the bad ones ruin it
for the rest. Then everyone legal or not is looked down upon.
In Canada since pirate radio isn't common it's a little different.
Peter
cited a while ago that he was quitting because of just this..the FCC
crackdown and being looked upon as being "bad" for doing this. But
fortunately no one bought his whole station and he was up and running
again.
It's like this for comparison....some people commit crimes with guns and the legal law abiding majority are affected also.
The
FCC should have made a public statement that the pirate crackdown does
not include part 15 and the ones doing this legally or having an
antenna 5 inches longer than 3 meters and make landlords aware there is
legal operation.
I have never agreed with everyone pays/looses a privilege for the actions of a few. Don't let this be the reason you quit.
- Mark
I'll
tell you what I think is really 'bad' about us, especially where the
FCC is concerned. We are not 'big money'. It seems that everything they
do now and every interest they protect has to do with billions of
dollars.
The business of punishing all for the misdeeds of one
person has always been true in police states, under marshal law, and in
prisons. It demonstrates how little we are respected.
Let me
say, however, that all these human shortcomings we are talking about
are not the reason I contemplated withdrawal. I just think that maybe
15-years was long enough to promote a very excellent hobby. But now
we're signed on for a 16th year, and anything can happen in the year
ahead. This sounds like a political speech. Vote for Blare.
Thursday June 2, 2022 2:03 PM CDT -- Hanging Around --
Follow-up message from Artisan Radio:
Glad to see you've decided to stay for at least a little while longer.
Part 15 broadcasting will be better for it.
Part 15 Engineer is still a Moderator over at the MBCF (formerly the ALPB) Forum. I've always thought that he was one of the good guys, but a little too easily led. The tyrants take advantage of that, and use people like him to do their dirty work, as they usually don't have the intestinal fortitude to do it all themselves.
I still find it amusing that the 'Ex-Chairman' and company were willing to tolerate a self-admitted pirate within the ALPB (along with several suspected ones). Yet they gave others who had different viewpoints from theirs a hard time. I still remember the infamous gun discussion, where a number of people openly lusted over the weapons that they owned. Nothing was said then. Yet you and I and a few others were lambasted later for supposedly posting off-topic. The reality was that the powers that be just didn't like what was being said.
Part 15 broadcasting needs the Carl Blares of the world to keep it honest and rooted. There literally is virtually no one else outside of Snobby Broadcaster, and we all know what they are.
- Artisan Radio
I'd
forgotten about the gun discussion. But even that, like anything else,
could be a topic on a talk show and that's what we're saying... only
topics approved by the right-wing of what you call 'the powers that be'
we're considered 'on topic'. Talking about music programming went on
all day but my skeptical programs scrutinizing religion brought the
executioners DELETE key. None of this was ever spelled out in policy
proclamations, it was dealt with by blunt behind-the-back censorship.
No
day is complete without a visit to SnobbyBroadcaster where I enjoy the
mind game of trying to guess what the hell they are talking about with
the veiled 'members only' non-links. I sometimes guess correctly, but
more often not.
Thursday June 2, 2022 7:20 AM CDT -- Quitting --
Incoming Message from Mark:
You aren't really going to give up hobby radio are you?
Part 15 Engineer(Peter) has said this a few times with reasons at the time but never followed through.
I did the spoken Id's for his station and stream. You will hear me in the talking bits.
Anyone who quits is a loss as not many do this and it's a good hobby.
It
also takes some know how to do good. Anyone can pair with a phone to a
speaker but a transmitter to a radio and being your own program
director and making it sound like another station along with all the
others, putting all this together with jingles and programs and
processing is something a select few are willing to do and have the
know how to do.
We revive radio and keep it alive. Do what others(commercial stations) won't.
We are on a mission.....to make radio great again. We are a unique bunch.
- Mark, moderator part15.org
Sure,
I know Part 15 Engineer (Peter), he and I were fellow moderators at the
ALPB forum. In fact, when Chairman Jim Henry put out a call for
moderators I recommended Peter and he did a very consciencious job in
that role until he was brutally expelled in the hostile takeover. But
we're talking about me. As it turns out I'm not going to quit now,
maybe next year. Artisan Radio slowed me down by lobbying for a
continuence of what we're doing here at kdxradio.com. We have a whole
year to convince me not to quit the hobby in 2023. I'd go so far as to
say that the hobby needs more Marks and Peters to pull us through this
very lean time when the FCC (in the U.S.) is not acknowledging us with
the respect we deserve. Things look better in Canada, maybe. Hobby
radio in the U.S. is like the world's smallest homeless encampment and
people are nervous having us around. We need Elon Musk to forget the
Twitter thing and launch a low power radio resurgence. If enough of
these micro-stations existed someone might return our phone calls.
Thursday June 2, 2022 6:45 AM CDT -- Neighborhood Radio --
With
one of these low power transmitters anyone could set up a radio station
broadcasting to the neighbors. What you could do is set up a little
sports booth by placing a table, chair, and microphone in the bay
window. You know, one of those windows protruding from the wall of the
house like an observation deck peeled off the top of a Wabash passenger
train car from the 1950s and attached sideways on the house. So, you'd
sit there and do play by play of what the neighbors are up to. I'll go
live right now and give you an example. Alright, a Fedex truck just
pulled up to the brick house across the street. It's that way all the
time. Everyday a parade of delivery trucks drop stuff off over there. I
think someone has an uncontrolled shopping habit, probably the wife.
Now the beautiful thing is everybody within a half-a-mile could tune in
and hear you say this stuff. I'll do another one. There's the guy a few
houses down out there running his super deluxe decibel blasting power
mower while his red MAGA hat tells drivers-by where he stands
politically. He owns a three-wheeled motorcycle and takes his wife for
rides. Do motorcycles have radios? You'd never be able to hear it
unless you stopped the engine. Nice in a parade, though. And I don't
think you should be spreading this around, but I think Marge over there
in the corner house is having an affair. Ya, I see her having drinks at
the patio table with someone who's not her husband. Hubby is only seen
toward the weekend, so maybe he works on a riverboat and is away a lot.
If you see anything out your window call the listener line. Tomorrow
we'll talk about Davey. As I figure he's either a member of a SWAT team
or an instructor at a fitness club. Maybe both. Going by those tattoos
and those abs.
Wednesday June 1, 2022 6:06 PM CDT -- Up a Mountain in Switzerland --
Captain Failure thinks he knows enough about trains to ride the Alps in an ice storm.
Wednesday June 1, 2022 3:58 AM CDT -- Oh No, Don't Go! --
Urgent word from the Desk of Artisan Radio
If you go, Part 15 broadcasting will lose one of its remaining sane
voices. It'll also be lonely :-(
Of course, if you really feel burned out, then you should go where your
heart follows. Maybe at least keep the blog going, even if it's mainly
concerned with train simulations?
- Artisan Radio
Presto!
Artisan Radio is hereby appointed to a one-man Board of Director
because he is recognized as one of the leading influencers in the low
power radio rodeo, and based on this message I have already made a firm
decision to renew the lease for at least one-year, putting this whole
indecision on hold until this time in 2023. The cancelation is
canceled.
Wednesday June 1, 2022 9:10 AM CDT -- The Vanity Aspect --
Thus
far we've portrayed our pastime in low power radio as being either a
pragmatic endeavor (strictly serving self) or a benevolent venture
(provided for the benefit of others). But there's a powerful third rail
not to be downplayed. Being group owner of numerous media outlets is
very much like driving the right car while wearing quality shoes and a
great haircut. It gets you into higher society. Nay, it makes you a
figure of upper society with outsiders applying for some role for
their own boost of confidence. So, one might come to believe in the
hubris of it all. However, it can be dangerous to be perceived as
well-to-do, as it might attract the Amber Heards with the intent of
glomming onto the money stacks. Things can turn lethal when she
discovers your portfolio consists only of toys.
Wednesday June 1, 2022 8:30 AM CDT -- A Seachange On Land --
KDX
began programming on June 1, 2007, making today our 15th Anniversary!
And, as it so happens, changes are trending. We raised the question of
whether to continue as a promoter of the Most Sophisticated Hobby in
the World, the operation of low power radio stations per FCC Part 15
and equivalent rules in other countries, and are inclining toward
putting that part of our adventure into the realm of unrecorded
history. I call attention to the opening line of this website's ABOUT
page, where we declare that our radio station is a 'Home Appliance'
serving the practical purpose of placing desired programming on the
home dial as an anecdote to the generally poor programs otherwise heard
on local radio. The whole other attempt to promote this type of
broadcasting as either a hobby or small business was for us a
philanthropic altruistic enterprise done out of social generosity. But
now I want to switch 'mini-careers' and become a railroad simulator.
Such a jump calls into question the need for maintaining this website,
whose only real purpose has been to promote the radio hobby. There is
no thought of establishing a railroad website in as much as YouTube
does an admiral job of making train simulations plentifully available.
For now the question is raised and there'll be further discussion.