Okay. Ignore my stupid title for this entry. I had know idea what to call it. Anyway, I've been listening to the new Howard Stern show on Sirius Satellite Radio. Good stuff. It's strange; I had this weird feeling that it would feel just as though his show on terrestrial radio had simply resumed. But, it doesn't.
The sound quality is different. Something about the EQ on their mikes makes it very different. An, on top of that, there's just a whole different vibe to it. Having to pay for the service made me feel as though I was in some sort of club. It's a little hard to explain, but it was as if I had gained access to the Stern Clubhouse. It's still weird to hear cursing on the radio. It shouldn't be weird. I curse all of the time with everyone I know in normal conversational English, dammit. But we've been so conditioned to think of a handful of words as off limits to our airwaves that I still feel like a kid at the back of the school bus giggling about words like "scrotum" and "assmunch" everytime they curse on Sirius.
I also feel like I'm listening to technology that's in its infancy. The reception on Satellite radio isn't what I thought it would be. Go under an overpass? Lost reception. Drive near the ocean(!?)? Lost reception. I don't know. It's odd. I like having it. I love conceptually that it's a place for commercial-free, censorship-free radio; but in practice, I still hear commercials and it seems like they have a little ways to go on the reception issue.
But, all of that said, I don't feel unhappy with it. Like I said, it's like hearing it in its infancy and I'm okay with that. I know that it's going to grow and improve. I know I'll be telling my grandkids one day "You know, your old Granddad had Satellite Radio back on Earth when it had just been invented. Back then, it went in our 'cars' and the mutant genetically modified fruit hadn't yet forced everyone to evacuate to the Moon."
Yeah, it'll be a grand future ...
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2 comments:
Yeah, I've been enjoying the show. It does sound a little different but I was pleased to see how quickly they settled into their routines and just started doing their show on the first day (all I've heard so far). The cursing was a little weird at first. But you get over it. And Stern was right when he refuted the claim that the magic of his show is NOT being able to curse and having to work around it.
What I've also been enjoying is stuff where they can talk freely about news stories. Like them playing the whole tape, uncensored, of the Pat O'Brien coke and whores phone message. It's much more respectful of your audience to play it. I'm not any MORE offended hearing the whole thing without beeps than I was not hearing the beeps.
Anyway, yeah, I've heard about the dropout thing and that's annoying. They gotta sort that out right quick because after all the years of cell phone problems, people just aren't getting used to the concept of bad coverage areas. It's gotta work always, flawlessly, etc.
Yeah, the "new" show has been good. Now that they've got substantially more subscribers, I would imagine they could afford to start putting up some repeaters to help the drop-out, or even toss an extra satellite up.
On a more important note, and the reason I hopped over here, you gotta check this link out - fantastic, and brings back good memories.
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