So I've converted.

89.3 is the best thing to happen to radio that I've ever experienced. I'm fully behind what Minnesota Public Radio is doing with it.

And I'm still fully opposed to St. Olaf selling the station. They're still not getting my money.

*scrape scrape scrape*

After blowing the dust off, I've found my blog again. And man, is it worthless. I also loathe that word: "blog."

So I've read a lot of books lately, and come to realize I don't need to post reviews of all of them. The reason is this: since I've started reading only good books, I seem to remember them better. I guess pulp fiction is more like TV than we ever realized in that it kills brain cells.

My current nerdy projects include building inpulse a new website and making my own PVR (Personal Video Recorder). In other words, I'm building my own Tivo.

And that's all I have to say about that.

It is by caffeine alone I set my mind in motion. It is by the juice of Java bean the mind acquires speed, the hands acquire shaking, the shaking becomes a warning. It is by caffeine alone I set my mind in motion.

*bump*

It occurs to me that I haven't been here in a while.

Oh well.

So I guess I'll harp on a variety of topics.

1. 89.3 is no longer WCAL, the hallowed radio station of our fathers. It's now the trendy radio station of our citified cosmpolitan cousins, who wear tiny glasses with titanium frames. At first, I thought they were doing a Great Thing by playing an "anti-format" playlist. Some of my fears have come true, however; it's nearly all indie and alternative music. Where's the MMW? Where's (more) Ozomatli? Where's more music that isn't flaccid and boring? Apparently "anti-format" still means "one genre, only."
   
   I wanted to really like what they're doing. And I tried really hard to like what they're doing. Unfortunately, they're not doing quite what I thought they'd be doing. For now, I'll reserve judgement. They're only a few weeks old, after all...
2. I've done a lot of reading. I blew through Sharpe's Trafalgar, Sharpe's ...crap, something else, and a Robert Ludlum...franchise? What do you call it when someone writes a book, but a famous author puts his name on it? Branding? "Brandoing?" Brandoing. Stay away from Brand-O's. They suck. Just look at what happened with Cussler. (And now that I've gone back and reread Cussler, there wasn't much to start with...) Am currently working on Dune (it's so good!). AH! How could I forget? America: The Book. Oh, that's right. It wasn't as funny as I expected.
3. Installed a CD/Radio/Aux in player BY MYSELF. It sounds pretty good, but I need to find a better way of supporting it in the back. No one likes skipping CD's. That, or I need to buy another dock.
   

It also occurs to me that I should have named this online presence +4 db. Line level and all that.

WORDS CANNOT EXPRESS MY ANGER.

WCAL, one of the finest and most unique classical music stations anywhere, is to be turned into college radio.

COLLEGE RADIO.

They're playing bar band music, and trying to edge out "Drive 105, music for cool surfer dudes that live in the Twin Cities."

Here's the press release from the deepest, most foul tarpit of hell.

Noteable quotables:

"Welcome to the anti-format," said Steve Nelson, the new program director for 89.3 FM. "Music listeners don't categorize themselves into narrow niches and stay there. They listen to more kinds of music than ever before. And much of what they want is not currently available on radio in the Twin Cities."

Since when is "public radio" supposed to pander to the lowest common denominator?

We are excited that we can introduce new audiences to the breadth and depth of public radio," Nelson said. He said the station would underscore the cultural roots of the music it plays and spotlight the work of local and regional artists, both live and recorded. "This new service allows Minnesota Public Radio to continue its 37-year tradition of serving the public interest. Now we can bring this tradition of service to a new audience."

I doubt it. I highly doubt it. We'll see if InPulse appears on this station. Then, and ONLY THEN, will I believe it. ...will I even tune it in. And serve the public interest? By competing with commerical stations? Right. Public radio is supposed to fill niches that commercial radio won't touch with a ten-foot pole. COLLEGE RADIO ALREADY EXISTS.

The new station—89.3 FM—will present a diverse mix of music for listeners who have grown up in the digital generation. "Radio is both widely available and the perfect portable technology to support our lively music scene today," said Sarah Lutman, senior vice president for cultural programming and initiatives at Minnesota Public Radio. "Our staff will be hanging out in clubs, searching the Internet, reading the music magazines and streaming music from around the globe to find the best music for you. We're going to take the work out of finding music, and put the fun back in. Just turn on your radio."

Honestly. Why don't they just change the call letters to IPOD? "Wow. MPR is so hip and trendy. Where can I buy their CD?"

EDIT: it occurs to me that MPR is designing this station to fail, for reasons outlined in a previous post.