Favorite Things, 2007: The Satellite
One of the innumerable benefits of corporations dominating every aspect of American life is that FM radio isn't littered with a broad range of musical genres & artists to clutter and confuse our beautiful, busy minds. My complaints on this subject have typically been met with curious stares, as if I was a bell-bottomed time traveler from 1976. "I get all my music online," was the common refrain. Then I'd have to admit to being one of the last hostages of a 28K dial-up connection (36K on a good day) because broadband was cost-prohibitive in The Styx where DirectPC (with its ridiculous upload restrictions) was free of competition from cable, which was nonexistent, and DSL since the nearest phone switch was installed when Reagan was still murdering Guatemalans by proxy.
So I languished - and it was hard, brothers and sisters - until this year, when The Dish Network (viva DVR) introduced me to Sirius Satellite Radio; not the full package, but enough of it to bring me into the 21st Century. ZOWEEE. Space travel couldn't possibly be this rewarding. Nourishment in the form of, among other channels, Pure Jazz, Left Of Center, Outlaw Country, Area 33, Boombox and Chill has restored my atrophied musical brain. And then Mrs. Hill, who does not enjoy the luxury of working from home like yours truly, became a subscriber for those daily chariot race to Robot Central. Of course, I can't afford smoke anymore, but since middle-aged shut-in's have difficulty procuring a steady supply anyway, it's a moot point.
If only there was a similar fix for the rest of my neural function, but you can't sew a silk purse from a sow's ear.
Yes, I'm familiar with The Dark Side, both The Satellite's and my own. Faced with the choice of having them or not, I would choose not. Whatever their benefits, the total militarization of Earth and Space is evil enough for me to say no thanks. Even if though it would mean risking the occasional tornado, hurricane, tidal wave or missile strike and living without The Sarah Silverman Program and The Minor Accomplishments of Jackie Woodman.
Easy for me to say. I still hate phones with a passion.
So I languished - and it was hard, brothers and sisters - until this year, when The Dish Network (viva DVR) introduced me to Sirius Satellite Radio; not the full package, but enough of it to bring me into the 21st Century. ZOWEEE. Space travel couldn't possibly be this rewarding. Nourishment in the form of, among other channels, Pure Jazz, Left Of Center, Outlaw Country, Area 33, Boombox and Chill has restored my atrophied musical brain. And then Mrs. Hill, who does not enjoy the luxury of working from home like yours truly, became a subscriber for those daily chariot race to Robot Central. Of course, I can't afford smoke anymore, but since middle-aged shut-in's have difficulty procuring a steady supply anyway, it's a moot point.
If only there was a similar fix for the rest of my neural function, but you can't sew a silk purse from a sow's ear.
Yes, I'm familiar with The Dark Side, both The Satellite's and my own. Faced with the choice of having them or not, I would choose not. Whatever their benefits, the total militarization of Earth and Space is evil enough for me to say no thanks. Even if though it would mean risking the occasional tornado, hurricane, tidal wave or missile strike and living without The Sarah Silverman Program and The Minor Accomplishments of Jackie Woodman.
Easy for me to say. I still hate phones with a passion.
posted by Arvin Hill at 12/29/2007 10:20:00 PM
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