Does Valor rhyme with Squalor?

Last night I decided to start re-reading Sarah Vowell’s first book, Radio On, which chronicles a yeah spent by the author listening to the radio and weighing it against her current location and moral clime, as well as current evens and the ascension of the Newt/Rush axis, which was going on at the time. It’s really an interesting book, and it makes me ashamed that I hardly listen to the radio anymore. Not only because when I do it tends to be the exact same as I left it in 1996, but also because when I do turn on the radio, I tend to gravitate to news and talk radio that seems to run on a steady loop. I loathe the idea of becoming that dad that nobody ever wanted to ride in the car with because of the vacant soul of AM radio. I see myself smoking a pipe at the wheel in two years, lecturing kids on the dangers of fiscal responsibility. This is the sort of thing that reminds me why I don’t want kids. Anyway, listening to the same story about a shooting in the city last night over and over is still better than listening to those asshole drive-time DJs. I know a lot of people like them, and will sometimes linger in the car after they’ve reached their destination to see what will happen, but I just cannot buy into it. It’s just a stale format and not even Stern can win it back for me.

I wish I could say that if there were more radio stations on a nearer page to mine, I’d tune in all the time. But I’m not even sure if that would work. For one, I appreciate enough variety on my day-to-day that I don’t think I’d really wanna hear the same Sebadoh song twice a week, or to some sardonic college shut-in complaining about some crappy thing or another. Even as I type this, there are 5 or 6 internet radio stations on my desktop that I almost never listen to. They generally play stuff that I like, but then guess what, so do I. But this is going to change. I’ve made a pledge to myself to try and listen to at least one hour a day to the radio. Be it in the car, at work, or lying in bed at night, I will make it a mission to get a better feel for the current landscape of the radio and if I’m lucky, glean some better ideas out of it than what I’ve been writing. Now, I’m not so assuming as to compare myself to Sarah Vowell (who is supremely talented in making me want to learn about things I couldn’t care less about), but to hear what she can gather out of hearing a Doobie Brothers song on the radio or whatever, I feel like I just might get something out of paying attention to the medium. We’ll see what I get.

In completely unrelated note, my debit card (and license, and a gift receipt I had) went through a laundry cycle over the weekend. Since then, I’ve been trying to offer an explanation to the various clerks and shopkeepers that I’ve encountered, when handing over a half-baked shrinky dink as payment for my shrimp quesadilla. Usually they get sort of a kick out of it. In my corner store last night, the 2 Pakistani guys were cheering it on when I told them I hadn’t used it yet. IT went through fine, and they high-fived me. The first high five I’ve returned in years that wasn’t coming from my nephew. So anyway, the card works fine, and I’m gonna see how long I can keep it before getting a new one. It should be pretty awesome.

Here’s some songs with the word “Radio” in them. I wanted to include both parts of the Secret Machines song, because they’re both great and for wildly different reasons, but it was just too damned big. The Spoon song is probably my favorite thing that band has ever done, and the Rush song? Listen, I fucking hate Rush. I really do, they’re a great example of why technical proficiency means absolute dick to me in terms of making great rock and roll. This song just makes me think of Aqua Teen Hunger Force when Meatwad shouts “Of Salesmen!” and it makes me laugh every time. I guess I laugh every time I hear Geddy Lee do it in this song I laugh a little too, so it’s all good.

“Marconi’s Radio (reprise)” – The Secret Machines

Buy September 000 here.

“The Spirit of Radio” – Rush

Buy some crappy Rush album here.

“Car Radio” – Spoon

Buy A Series of Sneaks here.

Listen to some interviews with Sarah Vowell here and here. Or check out her Salon articles from a few years ago.

Last night, the last hour-long episode of Deadwood was shown. I'll write more on it tomorrow, but I figured a picture was due. And thanks for the nice words, guys. It means a lot. I'm trying not to make these posts all maudlin and it's a big help to read those. Thanks again.