There's No Christmas in Hell (And That's Why I'm So Sad) - The X-Misses

Today is May 31st, 2025. The song of the day is "There's No Christmas in Hell (And That's Why I'm So Sad)" by The X-Misses.

Stupid Girl - Garbage

Today is May 30th, 2025. The song of the day is "Stupid Girl" by Garbage.

Take My Breath Away - Berlin

Today is May 29th, 2025. The song of the day is "Take My Breath Away" by Berlin.

Wordle Wednesday #15

  5.21.25 -  The roach entered into her diary, “no need for alarm, as the apes are down to a quart of pesticide, so soon we will erase them”.

(Disturbing on so many levels. Roaches should not have diaries.)

5.22.25 - Guess what’s in my folio of folly.

(......folly?)

5.23.25 - Every local band just wanted to play music, but they all got stuck having to shuck oysters and wearing scuba gear.

(Getting extreme Stars Hollow vibes off this.)

5.24.25 - The scientist mused that the orbit of the planet composed of suede may seem funny, but they did not laugh.

(Science is serious business. Suede planet science even more so!)

5.25.25 - The grift was telling the park, “I’ll bring the slide” and then leaving the kids abandoned at the top of the ladder.

(Ha ha, suckers!!!)

5.26.25 - Having to take the chair in the front row made the drone growl.

(Well, yeah. Worst seats in the house.)

5.27.25 - Very few people knew the truth about the stray Ankylosaurus we called Sport.

(The truth was that he wasn't house broken. .....but after he'd visit, the house would be broken.)

Everyone's in Love with You - David Byrne

Today is May 28th, 2025. The song of the day is "Everyone's in Love with You" by David Byrne.

Hell - Squirrel Nut Zippers

Today is May 27th, 2025. The song of the day is "Hell" by the Squirrel Nut Zippers.

Chain of Fools - Aretha Franklin

Today is May 26th, 2025. The song of the day is "Chain of Fools" by Aretha Franklin.

Amie - Pure Prairie League

And the bonus song of the day is "Amie" by the Pure Prairie League.

Sherry Fraser - Marcy Playground

Today is May 25th, 2025. The song of the day is "Sherry Fraser" by Marcy Playground.

Workiversary 30

 Today marks 30 years since I started working at the station.

So many changes over the past 3 decades. From the call letters (KFBT doesn't even *exist* anymore) to the network affiliations (the WB doesn't exist anymore either!) to the job that I do there (no longer a Master Control operator. My official title is Copy Coordinator). The technology, of course, has changed quite a bit - when I first got hired as a master control operator, the board was run manually, breaks had to be started, and the commercials were on big ol' hunky 3/4" tapes.

Now, I'm not in Master Control anymore, the breaks are all automated (there are still operators that have to monitor and watch over the airwaves, but so much of their job is done by a pre-arranged computer system instead), and there are NO tapes at all - everything we get is digital. 

The first 9 years were in Master Control, and so much of those years were simpler, but also ...less satisfying, maybe?  Although, really, when I look back, that's where a good portion of the memories I have from the job originate from. Which sort of makes sense. Master Control IS where the rubber meets the road, and ALL the forces of the station ultimately have to go through there. 

But, KFBT was so ...modest when I started, that it's absolutely laughable to think that it was even an actual station.  I started at the station making $5.25 an hour. (I think). Which is just INSANE. I know I started working on the overnight shift, and that there were times it was difficult to stay awake the entire night. 

Eventually - and pretty quickly - I got moved to the swing shift, because I was the "best switcher" (heh.) The owners didn't allow the operators to have keys to the building (which resulted in the hilarious time I got locked out of the station because I had gone outside to ...hit one of the satellite dishes with a broom in order to get it to tune in better.).  The equipment was all old and barely functioning a lot of the time. The 3/4" tapes had to have "tones" added to them in order to have the commercials be cued up by the machines. The white and chroma levels of the video were (to a degree) controlled by the operators. So, if we wanted to, we could change the video output so that people's skin would appear red. We had to set the audio levels of programs that we recorded as well. Which would often result in "Woodification" - a term we came up with whenever a show's audio levels (often recorded by Woody) were INSANELY LOUD.

That brings me to the in-jokes. Jesus. So many. I doubt I'll remember them all, and even if I just list the ones I do recall, they're not going to be funny to anyone but me (and, I guess, if any of the operators that worked with me between 1995 and 2004 happen to read this), But still. SO MANY JOKES.

Some of the greatest ones:
Fa, la, la, la, la, French Vanilla!

Yo. ...Why we in black?

Let SNYDER do it!! Get him to do it! Get him to do it nooooowwwww!!!!

Man's ability to use tools.

Hope we win!

Hey...mom's right.

What kind of Pokemon are you?

It's time to d-d-d-d-duel!!

Jennifer Lopez ROCKS!!

I'm sure that I'm forgetting at least a dozen others, but, as I said, none of them are going to be of interest to anyone else, and if I've forgotten them, maybe there's a reason for that.

After nearly a decade of master controlling it up, I switched positions, and made my way into the Programming department - becoming the Assistant Program Director. That job was way more ...corporate than the gig in Master Control. And while I detest that sort of attitude and lifestyle, I stuck with that job for 5 years, before transferring over to taking over as the Copy Coordinator when Robyn left. And been doing that ever since. Which means that pretty much half the time I've been at the company it's been doing the Traffic Department job of assigning copy to contracts in OSI. (And working with Master Control to ensure they have all their missing spots and that the logs run properly.) 

While that position hasn't resulted in nearly as many in-jokes or memorable moments as the time in MC, I've gotten fairly good at it. I mean, after 15 years, how could you not? There's been a lot of times when I've HATED the position I'm in - mostly, ironically, because of having to deal with ad agencies that do NOT know how to provide proper information....despite the fact that that is what they supposedly exist to do. But, for the most part, my job is ...really, pretty stress free, and I'm okay with it. I might even go so far as to say that I like it.  (I do wish, of course, that it paid more. But that's been the case from day one.)

I debated for a while whether or not I was going to actually post this, because so few people actually read my blog anymore, and because this isn't really of any interest to anyone who DOES read it. But I guess it's not hurting anything to publish it either. This, like most of my blog posts of yore, hasn't turned out how I intended it to, but it has brought back a lot of other work-related memories to my mind that I'll probably write about in my physical journal tonight. 

I don't know. I feel like having put 30 years of my life into the station I ought to have something profound and important to say about it, but I'm not sure that I do. But, I also didn't want the day to pass without at least SOME kind of acknowledgement, and thus, this blog post now exists, for whatever it's worth. 

So. 

Thanks, TV Station, for being there through all the myriad of changes and weirdness and stupidity and mundaneness and hilarity over the past 30 years. Here's to 30 more.

One Thing Leads To Another - The Fixx

Today is May 24th, 2025. The song of the day is "One Thing Leads to Another" by The Fixx.

Everyone Alive - Local H

Today is May 23rd, 2025. The song of the day is "Everyone Alive" by Local H.

Guilty Filthy Soul - AWOLNATION

Today is May 22nd, 2025. The song of the day is "Guilty Filthy Soul" by AWOLNATION.

Wordle Wednesday #14

 5.14.25 - If you bring a bongo drum to a bungy jumping location, you’ll end up flat as a plate.

(Especially if you try to use the drum instead of the correct equipment.)

5.15.25 - The green cello player started off feeling timid, but was eager to play and soon had a surge in ability.

(Practice, as they say, makes better.)

5.16.25 - The width of the thing at birth was a fifth of a whatchamacallit.

(Precise measurements are important.)

5.17.25 The water has grown brown, and took the crown when it came to dirtiest liquid.

(Mmm. Gross.)

5.18.25 - I’m livid that you doubt my cedar building can withstand a windy day.

(I know! Don't you trust my architectural abilities?)

5.19.25 - The pitch of the bird’s cheep was scary, but even more frightening was that it had a pouch.

(A bird with a pouch sounds pretty amazing to me. But I guess it might be sort of frightening, too.)

5.20.25 - On my way to the shore, I took a route through Magical Creature Land, and thus, the pixie craze was borne.

(You'd think I'd avoid such shortcuts, but I guess Red Riding Hood taught me nothing.)

Easy - Faith No More

Today is May 21st, 2025. The song of the day is "Easy" by Faith No More.

Pinball Wizard - The Who

Today is May 20th, 2025. The song of the day is "Pinball Wizard" by The Who.

Scream - Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson

Today is May 19th, 2025. The song of the day is "Scream" by Michael and Janet Jackson.

Dark Horse - Katy Perry

Today is May 18th, 2025. The song of the day is "Dark Horse" by Katy Perry.

Woo Hoo - The 5.6.7.8's

Today is May 17th, 2025. The song of the day is "Woo Hoo" by The 5.6.7.8's.

Things Can Only Get Better - Howard Jones

Today is May 16th, 2025. The song of the day is "Things Can Only Get Better" by Howard Jones.

The World I Know - Collective Soul

Today is May 15th, 2025. The song of the day is "The World I Know" by Collective Soul.

Wordle Wednesday #13

 5.7.25 - Hate to tell you, guacamole, but you can never match the macho vibe that humus has.

(this might be my most favorite sentence to date.)

5.8.25 - On balmy days, get into the habit of wearing baggy clothes.

(Good advice.)

5.9.25 - The tripe that leaves that man’s mouth is embarrassing to print.

(I'm 100% sure we all know who this is about.)

5.10.25 - The beast with the least yeast won the event.

(I'm picturing mythological creatures in a cooking show.)

5.11.25 - The diver couldn’t get the dowel to budge despite the amount of time he would spend watching it decay.

(A watched dowel never disintegrates.)

5.12.25 - At his birth, Billy flexed his bicep and said, “Bingo!”

(Billy was a badass (or a victim of toxic masculinity (... or both??)) from day one.)

5.13.25 - As you are aware, if you wreck the tower, we sware to renew it.

(All beams serve the tower. Which is a nice reminder to myself that I should re-read that series.)

Seven Nation Army - Zella Day

Today is May 14th, 2025. The song of the day is "Seven Nation Army" by Zella Day.

We Can Work It Out - The Beatles

Today is May 13th, 2025. The song of the day is "We Can Work It Out" by The Beatles. (A sign from the universe to get yourself a soda!)

Breakout - Foo Fighters

Today is May 12th, 2025. The song of the day is "Breakout" by the Foo Fighters.

Bukowski - Modest Mouse

Today is May 11th, 2025. The song of the day is "Bukowski" by Modest Mouse.

Effington - Ben Folds

Today is May 10th, 2025. The song of the day is "Effington" by Ben Folds.

My Name Is - Eminem

Today is May 9th, 2025. The song of the day is "My Name Is" by Eminem.

Heads Will Roll - Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Today is May 8th, 2025. The song of the day is "Heads Will Roll" by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

Wordle Wednesday #12

 4.30.25 - Nothing is more idler than choosing to write and destroy your liver.

(yeah, "More idler" didn't sit well with me, exactly, but, you go with the words ya got.)

5.1.25 - Later, I became adept at making sure I tased all my food to make it meaty.

(Serial killer vibes with this one.)

5.2.25 - Those whose opinions matter chose to take both a knife and a glove to the shore.

(Smart people always carry both.)

5.3.25 - Both Patsy and Sandy decided to crawl toward the tasty reward at the same time.

(Are they babies? Are they just both opting to not walk? So many questions! ...Well. Two.)

5.4.25 - Have the troop bring the trout radar.

(I like the idea of a radar system that only shows trout. Fishdar.)

5.5.25 - Taking a stark sniff of that smell will swoop you off your feet, or make you shush.

(Either way, sounds like a pretty potent odor.)

5.6.25 - They offered an upgrade, but we might stick with the suite out of spite.

(That's sticking it to The Man!!)

New York - U2

Today is May 7th, 2025. The song of the day is "New York" by U2.

Mixed Up S.O.B. - The Presidents of the United States of America

Today is May 6th, 2025. The song of the day is "Mixed Up S.O.B." by The Presidents of the United States of America.

Smells Like Teen Spirit - Nirvana

And the bonus song of the day is "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana.

Bad Moon Rising - Creedence Clearwater Revival

Today is May 5th, 2025. The song of the day is "Bad Moon Rising" by Creedence Clearwater Revival.

The Revolution - David Byrne

Today is May 4th, 2025. The song of the day is "The Revolution" by David Byrne.

Come Sail Away -Styx

Today is May 3rd, 2025. The song of the day is "Come Sail Away" by Styx.

I Kissed A Girl - Jill Sobule

Today is May 2nd, 2025. The song of the day is "I Kissed a Girl" by Jill Sobule. 

Love You Madly - Cake

Today is May 1st, 2025. The song of the day is "Love You Madly" by Cake.