Monthly Archives: May 2008

Hectic Week

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This is Kahlua. She and her Papa are the latest housemates. She’s nervous about her new surroundings, but she’s getting acclimated.

Thus, it has been a hectic week. I have people moving into my house and people moving out and a lovely visit from my Uncle Jay. That’s springtime for you.

If anyone is wondering, the upgrade from Palm to Winders OS has been an upgrade indeed. I have long been a Palm adherent, but the Winders platform is so much better integrated and the sucker can do so much more out of the box. I am expecting a card reader in the mail with the hopes that will permit me to swap data without syncs all the damned time. And of course the new kneetop computer, if it ever arrives, has an SD slot.

Radio B.O.N.K.: eMusic Affiliate

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Radio B.O.N.K. is officially an eMusic affiliate. If you are the one or two people who are reading us, and if you’ve been shopping for a new way to purchase your online tuneage, then may I suggest you click on the “subscribe” link or on the flashy new banner ad on the right and start your free trial. I’ll get six bucks out of the deal. You’ll get 25 free downloads and a new start to a collection of music in a completely non-proprietary format. I’ve been an eMusic fan since 2002 and have always thought they’ve done it right: Insist on MP3, non-restrictively licensed music, and make your case to fans of indie music. EMusic is very cool. You go now. <./commercial advertisement>

Turkey Sandwich

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It’s easy to confuse the utterly straightforward seriousness with which Howard 100/Howard 101 reporter Steve Langford approaches his job with schtick. It seems like schtick. But I think it is pure professionalism.

When Langford broke the news of the death of wack packer Kenneth Keith Kallenbach, listeners could not imagine that Langford would continue pushing on a larger, more broad story and even a larger policy issue in this country, that of privately-owned prisons.

In fact, it’s led the Philadelphia Enquirer to publish a probing, critical editorial regarding the George W. Hill Correctional Facility, where Kallenbach was held for a month pending charges of attempted child abduction after he was accused of trying to pull a girl into his car. Kallenbach, who suffered from cistic fibrosis, died of pneumonia, while in custody. According to the editorial, that facility has seen eight inmate deaths since 2005.

The issue of privately owned and operated prisons is a hot one. Just today, The Washington Post published a lengthy expose on the topic as it stands in regards to post-9/11 immigration policy. This country has turned over some 30,000 people to privately-run facilities. Funny how, allowed financial incentive to lock people up, we seem to do so more enthusiastically.

Anyway, Langford has been all over this story. He is an intrepid newsman and always a pleasure to hear, whether he’s reporting on High-Pitch Mike’s television or the apparent negligence of a privately-run correctional facility in Delaware County, Pa.

Top Dog Brass Band

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Disappointingly, The Top Dog Brass Band is a bunch of white guys. From Germany. That. Is so. Wrong.

Because they’re excellent. It’s some of the cleanest, most polished and beautiful brass band music I’ve ever heard. I hate to say that they kick the Forgotten Souls’ butts, but they do. And that’s hard to do. Because hitherto, nobody could touch these them in my mind’s ear.

So let’s just call it a draw since the Souls are actually from the bayou….

To the Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts:

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I am writing to you regarding the generous offer and excellent plan by Saulius Paukstys to place a bust of Frank Zappa into Zappa’s city of birth, Baltimore.

Although Zappa spent more of his upbringing in California, his story always begins here on the east coast. I would think Baltimore would and should be beamingly proud of its role in the life of one of the finest artists and greatest Americans the 20th century offered.

Zappa was a fine musician and composer, an incredible guitarist, a keen businessman, and a politically astute man. He was a great American with a solid understanding of the United States Constitution and the scary consequences of breaching its intended protections. He was a brilliant, wonderful artist, and your Arts Office and your city as a whole should, in my humble opinion, embrace his image and his memory.

I guarantee that such a tribute would be a major offbeat tourist attraction in the D.C. metro area and would be a jewel for the great port city of Baltimore.

Sincerely,
Aaron B. Pryor

Radio B.O.N.K. Blog, Day One

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Editor’s Note: Radio B.O.N.K. no longer exists, so these links have been deactivated. The station is now 8WK Radio at http://www.8wkradio.me.

Hi. I have only been at the Live365 Radio game for a few weeks now. But it’s fun. It’s fun even if I can have only five (non-V.I.P.) people listen. It’s fun even though I’m the only one listening. It is, therefore, the natural next step for the blogger. Let’s make a blog only you and your Mom will read, then let’s make a radio station that only you will hear. Originally, I just conceived of the station as the station itself. Today I realized that I could support it nicely with a blog, where I could write about the playlist, the technique, and other relevant but stupid other topics.

You can go listen to my radio station if you want. You will be redirected by visiting

http://listen.radiobonk.com

I think you need a Live365 account. It’s free, you just have to sign up, I think. You can also listen to like three million other Internet radio stations there. You also may be able to listen on your mobile device or perhaps direct to RealPlayer on your PC at

http://www.live365.com/cgi-bin/play.pls?stationid=bradybonk

Or you can pay them for mobile service if you have a Windows Mobile Thingie. I have a Treo 650 with PTunes, and that thing rocks the B.O.N.K. I’m listening to The Black Keys right now. Those guys make Akron cool. And that’s difficult to accomplish.

When I first started the station, I spent quite an afternoon painstakingly establishing the song order. I was always good at segues for mix tapes, so I had quite a fun time creating that playlist. But I realized it was also time-consuming work and that B.O.N.K. would be better if I just worked at building the playlist and allowing it to play randomly. At present, the list is at 4 hours and 42 minutes of music. I generally find two songs to add and pull one down. This helps keep a fresh fresh playlist. And most of the music is from CDs I own or from eMusic. In fact, much of it is from the eMusic. I love the eMusic.

So there you go. Radio B.O.N.K. I have just added fresh tracks from 20 Minute Loop and The Weepies. Enjoy.

Potpourri

  • Filed under “open up and say ‘awesome’”: Neil Diamond gets his own Sirius channel. I don’t know if Tap Root Manuscript was my Mom’s album or my Dad’s. I tend to assume it was Mom’s. But it’s cool enough maybe to have been my Dad’s. But I grew up with it and used to crap my pants over “I Am The Lion.” Anyways. I have added “Free Life” to the B.O.N.K playlist to congratulate Mr. Diamond on his new radio station, short-lived as it shall be.
  • I am, clearly, still working on the theme for this new projekt. I think the header image will change at some point. Update: Ah, that’s better.