Radio Nightmare

Last night I dreamed I was back at WJMA, a station I worked for back in the 1980's. It was more of a nightmare than a dream. I was filling in for the regular Saturday afternoon host Even though the format was country (which it is for the station in real life),  I had been asked to play classical music, since that's what I do at WTJU.

There were some nightmarish elements fellow broadcasters could appreciate. There wasn't a log, so I didn't know when things were supposed to happen, like the news feed at the top of the hour. I didn't know what commercials to run, or even where they were in the studio or on the board (had I chosen to run any). Ditto with public service announcements. The studio clock wasn't working, so I was relying on my wristwatch for time checks.

Worse yet, the studio also doubled as the lobby, with a door opening onto the street, so people were constantly coming and going -- and of course talking the whole time, whether the mic was open or not. In fact, the News Director was there, criticizing everything I did, but only while I was trying to talk on air. When I asked him to stop, he replied that if I was doing what I was supposed to, he wouldn't have anything to say. (BTW - I worked with this person at the station, and he's still there. He's a true professional and would never do any such thing in real life).

Apparently I had done this shift the previous Saturday, and he was there with some programming suggestions. The classical music I played before was too hard to listen to. It was too long, and too complex for their country music listeners. So no vocal music, nothing over four minutes in length, and the more familiar the better.

I replied that I only had about four tracks by Bach, another four by Handel, and three by Vivaldi that fit his criteria. "That's fine," he said, "just keep repeating threm." I expressed doubts that running the same eleven tracks in rotation from 1 to 4PM was a good idea. That's when he informed me that I would be on until 5, or possible 6PM when the owner's plane landed.

I woke up.

Yes, it was all a dream -- except for one part. As I've documented in my Classical Challenge, there are quite a few music directors who labor under some of the restraints I was lucky enough to escape when I awoke.  I wonder if they consider their jobs a nightmare, or a dream?

Reading socially

I was never very concerned about the New York Times Best Seller lists and other such. I read books primarily because I want to, and discover them through a variety of ways (almost none of which involve popular book lists), such as reading authors cited by authors I like as influences, noting works referenced in articles, discovering books in thrift stores, etc.

But recently I discovered an advantage to keeping within the mainstream -- it can be another way to connect socially. I recently met with three other people for dinner/work meeting, and to get the conversation started, someone asked what we were reading or had just finished reading.

One person had finished Ken Follet's The Pillars of the Earth, a massive (and massively popular) bestseller. We were all more or less familiar with the book and/or the author, furthering the conversation. Another was reading the Molly Murphy mystery series by Rhy Bowen, light mystery stories set in turn-of-the-century New York. Which lead to more conversation.

Me? I had just finished reading Walter Gibson's The Shadow, the Hawk and the Skull
half of a Nostalgia Ventures reprint. Well, that killed the conversation dead. Because what I was reading was so esoteric, I had to quickly supply a lot of background just to provide some context to the book -- it was very much like explaining a joke. Here's what I had to do:

1) Explain that the 1930's were the heyday of fiction magazines. They were printed on cheap pulp paper, hence the term "pulp fiction" for over-the-top crime/adventure stories.

2) Explain that one of the greatest characters to come from the pulp era was the crime-fighter, the Shadow.

3) Explain that I had first discovered the character in a short-lived series of reprints done back in the 1970's and so was very excited to see Nostalgia Ventures attempt to reprint all 285 novels.

4) Explain that for me, the appeal was the inventiveness of the primary author of the series, Walter Gibson. Gibson turned out many different types of stories involving the Shadow -- who-done-its, straight-ahead action stories, science fiction, thrillers, stories where the main character was the Shadow, others where he only appears on the fringes, and so on.

I went into about the same amount of detail in the conversation that I did in the bullet points above, but it still brought everything to a screeching halt. My reading matter was so far out in left field, I wore everyone out trekking over to it.

I thoroughly enjoyed the book. "The Shadow, the Hawk and the Skull" has two villains working at cross-purposes with the story's heroine (who soon falls in with the Shadow) being caught in the middle. It also has an ingenious plot twist at the very end that only works because Gibson very carefully chose every word in the last chapters to keep the reader from guessing the ending. But it took so long to lay the groundwork for what I was reading, I never got to share any of that with the group.

I now understand why some people pay attention to the NYT Best Seller list. Read books from the list and it sure keeps things simple in conversations!

I'm not going to change my reading habits -- I enjoy what I read too much. But maybe I need to check out a John Grisham tome or something. Just to be sociable.

Recovery - Day 4

Powerwalking w/2 lb. weights
Day 4
Time: 11:45
Distance: .4888

Day 3
Time: 9:54
Distance .3707 miles

Day 2
Time: 6:47
Distance: .2737 miles

Day 1
Time: 4:17
Distance: .1517 miles

Recovery - Day 3

Powerwalking w/2 lb. weights
Day 3
Time: 9:54
Distance .3707 miles

Day 2
Time: 6:47
Distance: .2737 miles

Day 1
Time: 4:17
Distance: .1517 miles


Here's what this post is about.

Recovery - Day 2

Powerwalking w/2 lb. weights
Day 1
Time: 4:17
Distance: .1517 miles

Day 2
Time: 6:47
Distance: .2737 miles

Here's what this post is about.

Recovery - one step at a time!

Yesterday I finished up three and half months of hospital treatment (friends and family know what for -- that's not the point of this post), which left my body pretty beat up. I had just started doing some serious running when this thing hit, and after an enforced period of inactivity, I'm raring to get back on the road. Like my writing partner Ken, I'll be documenting that return as a way to keep me going!

This week it will be all power walking with 2-lb. weights (and probably next week as well). As you'll see, these early stats will be rubbish, but I'm hoping they improve. Here we go!

Today's stats:

Powerwalking w/2 lb. weights
Time: 4:17
Distance: .1517 miles

Tomorrow will be better.

Welcome to Off Topic'd

It's been quite a while since our last post, and many things have changed.

When Ken and I started "CE Conversations" back in 2006, the idea was to do a blog about consumer electronics (the "C.E." of the title), and for Ken and I to alternate posts in an open conversation (the "Conversations" of the title).

It very soon turned into a blog about other things we were interested in, such as movies, books, personal observations on life and culture (both high and popular). And as Ken got more involved with other projects, his participation lessened, making CE Conversations more like RG Monologues.

So we've worked on a redesign and a new title, and here we are.

CE Conversations becomes Off Topic'd
"Off Topic'd" is a play on the words "Off Topic." The cardinal rule of blogging is to stick to a single topic -- be it fly fishing or genealogy -- and write exclusively about that. Audience builds because readers know what to expect -- another fascinating post about knitting (or whatever).

The problem is that I'm deeply interested in a bunch of different things -- some related, some not. Plus, I write and edit blogs professionally, so I already write tightly focussed posts as part of my job.

CE Conversations/Off Topic'd I write for fun, so I'm writing about whatever I feel like. Sure, the numbers may not get very high, but that's OK. Some people get it.

So the title refers to my preference to go off topic as often as I care to. It's more fun that way.

Where's Ken?
Ken's still around, and we still work closely together -- our conversations are offline now, I'm afraid. Ken remains a writer of this blog, and he'll contribute whenever he feels like it (he, too, writes professionally on deadline, so writing without a deadline is fun).

An Invitation for Writers
And that's where you come in. I'd love to share this blog with a few other like-minded (read: eclectic) writers. Drop me a line if you're interested. No money -- just glory.

So is there a theme to Off Topic'd?
Yes, there is. My motto is "finding beauty in ephemera." I like to hold up for examination things that usually don't get much attention even the first time around -- like comic strip art. I also like to look for patterns of behavior and try to move from the specific to the general -- like trying to find general characteristics in collecting. And sometimes there are things I just think people should know about if they don't already -- like knowing what "cutting the Gordian knot" means.

Bottom line: this blog has a new look and new title, but basically it's just a readjustment to what the blog has actually become rather than a change of direction.

Hope you enjoy!

And of course, if you have any ideas, suggestions, or questions. contact me. There's still a conversation or two to be had here.

Ralph


The WTJU copyright issue, day 23. 

Walt, Skeezix, Dad, and I

"You always talk about the same thing," my wife observed after Dad's visit. "You always talk about Gasoline Alley." I suppose we do. Both of us love comics, and we're both very fond of "Gasoline Alley."

The strip began in 1918, written and drawn by Frank King. It was set in an alley where Walt Wallet and his fellow car enthusiasts, Doc Smartley, Avery, and Bill the mechanic. That alley would later spawned a garage that became a focal point for the comic. King drew the strip until 1956, when he retired and Dick Moores took over. Moores bowed out in 1986 to Jim Scancarelli, who's guided the Gasoline Alley storyline ever since.

It's been running a long time -- but so have some other strips. As youngsters, both Dad and I read "Blondie," "Little Orphan Annie," "The Katzenjammer Kids," "Moon Mullins" and many other long-running newspaper strips. But they don't generate the same level of discussion.

I think it's in part because unlike most humor strips (even the older ones) where all the characters are reset at the end of the daily strip, "Gasoline Alley" characters aged. "Dennis the Menace" has remained five years old for a half century. Ditto with the Peanuts gang. Blondie and Dagwood have had two teenagers for just about as long.

But the characters in "Gasoline Alley" have been born, grown, and -- albeit rarely -- died. When Dad was reading the strip in the 1930's Walt Wallet was raising Skeezix, the foundling he adopted, along with the help of Doc, Avery and the rest of the Gasoline Alley regulars. Dad picked up the story after Skeezix had grown from baby to teenager, and by the time World War II broke out, Dad was reading about his exploits as an enlisted man fighting in Europe.

When I was old enough to follow the strip, Skeezix was middle aged, and had long been married to his first love, Nina Clock. Their daughter, Clovia was dating Slim Skinner. I followed their courtship and marriage. Walt had retired from the furniture business he co-founded, and the Gasoline Alley garage was run by Skeezix, with mechanics (and fellow vets) Hack and Sarge.

We both followed the strip as Doc Smartley retired, leaving his practice to Skeezix's son (and Vietnam vet) Chipper Wallet. Eventually time caught up with the first generation of the cast. Doc, Avery, and resident miser Uriah Pert (uncle to Wilmer Bobble (an Eddie Haskel-like high school friend of Skeezix) disappeared, and later references make it clear that they've passed on. As did Walt Wallet's wife Nina in a major storyline from 2004.

Dad and I have kept up with the unfolding story of the Wallet clan and their supporting cast for some time now. And because, like real life, things change over time it's fun to recall great episodes of the past.

Remember that time Garfield ate the whole pan of lasagna? Probably not -- it happened ten years ago, last year, and may even be in tomorrow's strip. Garfield's static. Recurring gags don't demand much from the reader.

But the time when Slim had to take over for Hack and Sarge, or what Corky had to go through to open his diner? Only happened once. And those unique events -- like the ones in our real lives -- are fun to recall and discuss again and again. At least to a couple of comic characters like ourselves!


- Ralph

Yes, that's Dad and I. Strangely, he's the one with the hair!