The Radio is Dying a Slow, Painful Death (and throwing a football is easier that I thought).
Day Nine…and Ten!
Win(s)!
Task Nine: Listen to one radio station for the entire day.
Task Ten: Learn to throw a football.
Yes, I did it. I played hooky. I didn’t intend to do so, but it was so nice out yesterday that I spent the bulk of it reading in my hammock. And then I fell asleep in said hammock, which left no time for writing (or tasking) before work — I’m just not used to working on Saturdays anymore. On the plus side, the Warriors won and I made a ton of dough so I’m forgiving myself for the slip. Luckily, I covered two tasks on Friday so I’m still technically on track! Without further ado, then, here’s the rundown…
It’s funny to think that the radio was once a revolutionary piece of equipment. It disseminated information across continents. It provided entertainment to the masses. Things like opera, Mozart, even dramatic performances the likes of which many had previously never heard. It was just 78 years ago that Orson Welles caused mass panic as families across the country were glued to their radios listening to War of the Worlds, thinking it to be a real broadcast.
My how the mighty has fallen. Radio today is garbage.
When I was first making “The List,” I questioned the validity of even making this a task. It seemed too easy, too passive. But while it certainly wasn’t difficult, per se, it wasn’t easy. I didn’t keep an accurate count but I’m pretty sure there were as many commercials as there were songs and I often wasn’t certain which was worse. As if most television ads aren’t bad enough, radio has reached a level of “dumbed-down” beyond which I think there are only single-celled organisms. And it’s not even an amusing sort of dumb — it’s just bad. Add to that the insipid selection of a handful of lousy songs that seem to play on an endless loop and I was ready to rip the radio out of my car with my bare hands. Is there even such a thing as a Program Director anymore? It seems more likely that some intern records a mix tape at the beginning of the week and they just keep it on repeat (and if I have to listen to Lost Boy one more time I will not be held accountable for my actions). Truth be told, I’d rather listen to some of the DJs. They at least have a smattering of personality and can put two sentences together in a coherent fashion. Which tells me they’re at least smarter than whoever made the god-awful ads they’re forced to play. Will someone please find Tom Shane a new writer? And the Trader Joe’s guys while you’re at it? No one should be that excited about banana chips.
There is the satellite radio option, which does eliminate the lame TJ’s and Shane Co ads, but beyond that I’m not sure it’s any better, aside from the fact that it gives me more stations to scroll through. I’ve not tried to listen to the same one for an entire day, but I hear a lot of the same stuff on the same stations as I’m scrolling. I can only conclude that they, too, have done away with the program director and opted for the intern with the mix tape. Most do still have DJs, but they often have a little too much personality. Perhaps they’re trying to make up for the lack of obnoxious ads with equally obnoxious disc jockeys. If I wanted to listen to people talk I’d turn on NPR. Shut up and play some music.
If they must talk, however, they should really talk about my exceptional football throwing skills! Okay, I may be exaggerating just a tad. I doubt my Cards will be knocking on my door recruiting me as Carson’s replacement (although there are days when I’m not sure I’d be much worse). The first tosses were pretty bad but then I kind of got the hang of it. I realize that, for most of you, this may not seem like a big achievement, but since I can’t even remember the last time I threw a softball I’m marking this as a significant win. What I did not grasp so well was the catching part. That, however, I’m blaming on Erik. He throws really hard! At least now, as we venture further into baseball season (the best season!) I will be able to participate in the requisite throwing of the football whilst tailgating. No more sitting on the sidelines for this gal. I just may need someone to buy me some of those extra-grippy gloves.
Today’s task is thus far proving to be more challenging than I had anticipated. I’m trying to teach Lola how to roll over. It was very easy to teach her all the basics, sit, stay, high-five, etc., but I’m not sure this one is going to catch on. I didn’t bother with it when she was a puppy because I never really understood the usefulness of it. Truth be told, I still don’t but I’d like to prove you can teach an old dog new tricks. But Lola’s kind of special… Good thing she’s cute.
More on that mañana. Happy Sunday Funday!
