Good morning!

I have weekends off now, so I'll be off to climb mighty Prospect Hill in a few hours with Cub Scout Pack 248. It's a whole new world.


You may have seen a couple of posts from me recently. Working on a suburban college campus is quite different than working in the city. I'm usually the first person on the campus that I can see in the morning, and the 'traffic' getting to work is extraordinary. The other day there were THREE entire bunnies plus a squirrel on the bike trail on the way over to the garage.

I now have my own bus, and it's the same one every day. No more random assignments, so I don't have to mess with the mirrors or the seats each morning, and if the dashboard is full of garbage, I know who to blame. (Hint: my bus is now spotless, after I cleaned it up.)

Which brings me to today's complaint. It's an older bus, but it still has a decent sound syntem. But not Bluetooth!! Nevertheless, I still have an old "line in" connection, and can happily stream all of my shows throughout the course of the day.

I've had Sirius XM for years, and I listen to a wide variety of things. But the things I routinely do listen to? Ah, their programming choices are quite suspect. Let's have a typical day aboard the Falcon Flyer with Cubbie.

Let's start over on "Symphony Hall". I don't begin my day with loud or brash music, and I didn't even do that when I was much younger. In any case, according to Sirius, did you know that the only composer that matters is Beethoven? I bet you can name five composers right now that aren't Beethoven. It's so noticeable that I play a game every morning, "How long can I go without hearing him?" Sometimes it's minutes, sometimes it's a few hours, but thus far there has never been a day that I haven't heard Bonn's favourite son.

So let's try some jazz. Curiously - the "Real Jazz" channel is pretty straightforward. They play a good mix of all eras, and even have a few good shows highlighting specific genres. They play a lot of live jazz, too. But unfortunately, their Miles Davis counterpart channel is a fresh hellscape. Many of you don't know Miles - so can you name one album that isn't "Kind of Blue"? Sirius thinks they don't exist. About every third song on the channel is a track from that album, whether the original, a different version, or a cover. It's so bad that I've actually given up. Miles recorded over 100 albums, but they play only one.

Maybe some 80s tunes to round out the day? Never mind the "80s on 8" channel, I really like "First Wave". This kind of music was my first love before I discovered Prince and the Revolution. In any case - it's unfortunate that the programmers think the only bands that matter are New Order and the Pet Shop Boys. Not as bad as the Miles channel - but this is like being "Whammed". Some days I can go for a few hours without hearing them, but other days, not so much. The local terrestrial radio station I listen to (WERS, college radio from Boston) is guilty of this one, too.

I sure miss the old days. I'm sure that without too much effort, we can all name those late, great, radio stations of our younger days - and maybe even a favourite DJ or two that might be long gone.

(Looking at you, WBCN, and good old Mark Parenteau.)