Monday, July 21, 2025
Just Like You Imagined - Nine Inch Nails
Sunday, July 20, 2025
Trigger Happy Jack - Poe
Saturday, July 19, 2025
Let Me Be Your Hog - "Weird Al" Yankovic
Friday, July 18, 2025
Thursday, July 17, 2025
Too Little Too Late - Barenaked Ladies
Wednesday, July 16, 2025
Wordle Wednesday #22
7.9.25 - Did you read the novel about the loner who had to walk the plank?
(I did, but I was bored.)
7.10.25 - Reading the news makes every hippy jumpy.
(join the club!!)
7.11.25 - Be sure to use the super brand of brown bag when you bring your food to work.
(Originally, I felt this was a kinda meh sentence, and it IS, but the idea of a brand of generic brown bag does amuse me somewhat...)
7.12.25 - Sadly, we are going to have to exile any child who displays any sort of quilt making skill.
(Ripped from headlines from two months into the future... )
7.13.25 - Knowing what was at stake, the network had to bleep everything the weird gnome said about the 75 ounce big gulp cup during the interview.
(Absolutely the best sentence this week. The idea of a cabal of network executives needing to cover up the existence of a slightly bigger Big Gulp cup that is being exposed by a GNOME is exactly the type of vibe I wish ALL my Wordle sentences had.)
7.14.25 - The nadir of the Rocky franchise - that undid decades of goodwill - was when they showed him fighting a swine, wearing a light jacket.
(Not sure what it says about me that there's a part of me that DOES want to watch Sylvester Stallone punch a pig.)
7.15.25 - The DJ decided to foist his horrible music onto the audience, despite the glare he got from his promoter and the shift in mood when he switched from classic rock to Siberian cat yodeling.
(I haven't googled if Siberian cat yodeling is a real thing or not, because I feel like I'm better off not knowing one way or the other.)
Wonderful - Adam Ant
Tuesday, July 15, 2025
Give Me Hope - New Politics
Monday, July 14, 2025
Long Cool Woman (In a Black Dress) - The Hollies
Sunday, July 13, 2025
Wanna-Be Angel - Foxy Shazam
Saturday, July 12, 2025
I'm Going Slightly Mad - Queen
Friday, July 11, 2025
Thursday, July 10, 2025
Everybody Hurts - R.E.M.
Wednesday, July 09, 2025
Wordle Wednesday #21
7.2.25 - You do NOT want to incur the ire of the juice gods.
(Yeah, "wrath" would be the more optional word there, but I didn't USE "wrath" in my wordle puzzle that day, so deal with it. Also, I like the idea of irate gods of juice. Or, just gods of juice in general, but particularly, the idea of angry ones.)
7.3.25 - “Golly,” the pale, downy moose said, “the poppy seed muffins touch my soul!”
(Talking moose almost always improves things. Especially if they say non sequiturs about pastries.)
7.4.25 - The octopus can easily nudge these marbles around the curve.
(Octopuses are smart, yo.)
7.5.25 - I can’t make it any barer - based on what we’ve discovered, the baker was eaten by the baler.
(Freaking hay balers are frightening machines. The baker ...may have gotten what they deserved.)
7.6.25 - When hiking on a trail, I spilled water on my anatomy textbook, smudging the section on the atria, and thus throwing off my ratio of studying to relaxing I had for the weekend.
(First - fuck you, Wordle. "Atria"? Really?? Second - ha! Managed to sentence it up anyway.)
7.7.25 - I am still haunted by the sound of the shark balancing on the single steel stilt as it advanced onto the land.
(Sharks with legs? Scary. Sharks with artificial legs like stilts? Scarier. Sharks using JUST ONE stilt, in order to get onto land, and thus increase the area they can attack? Scariest.)
7.8.25 - I dread having to deal with the freak who will choose to renew the grape flavor treat.
(Yeah. Grape is for five year old kids who don't know any better. Just end it, and have the kids adapt to having better flavors.)
Private Idaho - The B-52's
Tuesday, July 08, 2025
You Really Got Me - The Kinks
Monday, July 07, 2025
Son of a Preacher Man - Dusty Springfield
Sunday, July 06, 2025
War - Edwin Starr
Saturday, July 05, 2025
Eaten by the Monster of Love - Sparks
Friday, July 04, 2025
These Boots Are Made For Walkin' - Nancy Sinatra
Thursday, July 03, 2025
Touch Me - The Doors
Wednesday, July 02, 2025
Wordle Wednesday #20
6.25.25 - The perfect decor is black and comfy.
6.26.25 - Here is a bonus tip - avoid someone who has an offer to correct an error with a flamethrower.
(Avoid?? This sounds like the type of person I want to be around. Or at least, have on my good side.)
6.27.25 - Daily, after acting completely insane, Charlie acted like a plain, ordinary pigeon.
(Oh, that Charlie!)
6.28.25 - Whenever I visit the stump, I stuff my beard with cloth that stung me.
(As one does.)
6.29.25 - The topic of fifty, witty kitty cats will never not make my eyes misty.
(Might be allergies, though. Also, "fifty, witty kitty" is a nice turn of phrase.)
6.30.25 - If you are chill, and don’t blink when they temporarily blind you, they will sling a prize your way.
(...But how will you know?)
7.1.25 - The once hairy puppy soon turned moldy; such is the folly of life.
Tuesday, July 01, 2025
Hair - The Cowsills
Monday, June 30, 2025
Pet Cheetah - Twenty One Pilots
Sunday, June 29, 2025
You Never Give Me Your Money - The Beatles
Saturday, June 28, 2025
I Ran (So Far Away) - A Flock of Seagulls
Friday, June 27, 2025
Afternoon Delight - Starland Vocal Band
Thursday, June 26, 2025
Wednesday, June 25, 2025
Wordle Wednesday #19
6.18.25 - Here's the plan: munch on lunch, join a union, punch a Nazi or five, get drunk.
(Maybe not even in that order!!)
6.19.25 - Horse is to burro as tarot is to curio.
(This FEELS correct, but I don't know if it actually is.)
6.20.25 - Picasso’s “Blue Period” was actually a reply to his lesser-known “Taupe Phase”.
(This FEELS correct, but I don't know if it actually is.)
6.21.25 - If you lose your chair in the glade, you have no one to blame but yourself.
(Not my chair, not my problem.)
6.22.25 - Don’t just bitch about the constant thrum of the tv theme songs, either thank me or shoot me.
(Thank you for being a friend....)
6.23.25 - Oddly, trying to travel the globe in a lowly truck will only get you so far.
(Yeah, those stupid oceans are notoriously difficult to drive over.)
6.24.25 - It may elate you to know the elite must elect a new towel president once a decade.
("Towel president" is a neat phrase.)
Black Hole Sun - Soundgarden
Tuesday, June 24, 2025
25 or 6 to 4 - Chicago
Monday, June 23, 2025
Traumatized - Grouplove
Sunday, June 22, 2025
Bitchin' Camaro - The Dead Milkmen
Saturday, June 21, 2025
Come on Eileen - Save Ferris
Friday, June 20, 2025
No Reply - The Beatles
Thursday, June 19, 2025
My Horse Likes You - Bonaparte
Wednesday, June 18, 2025
Wordle Wednesday #18
6.11.25 - That crazy plant was plaid!
(Plaid doesn't exist in nature, apparently. That ...feels like a fact I've read somewhere. But, I probably read it online, which means it's a lie. Which means that's NOT a crazy plant... Um. What were we talking about?)
6.12.25 - In the unaired finale of G.I. Joe, a vixen uses a genie to wish for Cobra Commander to simply plink out of existence.
(And now you know. And knowing is half the battle!)
6.13.25 - The captain of the ship was rather blase about how the bulge sticking out of the lake before us was on course to knock into the boat’s bilge.
(Freaking captains and their Laissez-faire attitudes. That's how you get shipwrecks!!)
6.14.25 - To make a ghost not shout, throw it a fifty.
(LOL)
6.15.25 - The quail had a bunny in its purse.
(Debated between having a quail with a bunny in its purse, and a bunny having a quail in its purse. I THINK this one's funnier.)
6.16.25 - A few minor complaints I had about the restaurant were that all the waiters looked like Tom Petty; the steak was fed to you in a chute; and the four hour wait.
(The waiting...is the hardest part.)
6.17.25 - As a prank, Frank left a gross array of white sprinkles on the crumb cake.
(Good one, Frank. Good one.)
Union Of The Snake - Duran Duran
Tuesday, June 17, 2025
White & Nerdy - "Weird Al" Yankovic
Monday, June 16, 2025
I'm Not Bitter - The Minus 5
Sunday, June 15, 2025
Pump Up The Jam - Technotronic
Saturday, June 14, 2025
Birthday - The Beatles
Change - Boingo
If it does it's for the worse, seems it's just a modern curse
Sometimes when I take a peek outside of my little cage,
Everyone looks so asleep, will they die before they wake
What d'ya say? Show me yours, I'll show you mine
Better cute and better loud, better join up with the crowd
Keep up or be left behind, there's a dust storm in my mind
Seems I can't see straight these days, doesn't matter anyway
Hey . . . Don't you know? We're just products of our times and
Hey, what d'ya say? Show me yours, I'll show you mine
Oh God, here's that question now. The one that makes me go insane
I'd gladly tear my heart out if you never, never, never, never change
Do you want to change . . . I like my stupid life, just the way it is
And I wouldn't even change it for a thousand flying pigs
And I wouldn't even change it for a herd of screaming kids
And I like you just the way you are, I like you though you may not like me back
I would dazzle you with brilliance, if I only had the knack
And the castles all around me, have been melting now for years
And it kills my brain to think of all the time I wasted here
All the efforts, sweat, and broken hearts, the screaming and the tears
Try to get back where I was and I don't really care
Whispering voices from the dead, come from underneath my bed
And I don't really care . . .
And the chaos that surrounds me like a flock of screaming pigs
And it hurts my brain to think of all the stupid things I've said
And if I could change the future I would change the past instead
And I'm dreaming again . . . and I'm dreaming again . . .
Sometimes you're so far away, tell me what to do
I say, Baby . . . sometimes I worry about you
Sometimes I just can't believe everything you do
I say, Baby . . . sometimes I worry about you
Every day I feel the same, don't you feel it too
I say, Baby . . . sometimes I worry about me
Seems I'm falling down a lot, in between the scenes
I say, Baby . . . sometimes I worry about me
Getting harder all the time, harder now to see
I say, Baby . . . sometimes I worry about me
Light another cigarette, have another dream
Testaments and growing pains. Tranquilizers for the soul.
Nothing ventured, nothing gained - evolution's cruelest joke
Why is everyone upset? I once knew but I forget. Something happened,
Something strange, something it appears has changed
And hey, what d'ya say? Show me yours, I'll show you mine
Oh God, here's that question now, the one that makes me go insane
I'd gladly tear my heart out if you never, never, never, never change
Friday, June 13, 2025
I Know the End - Phoebe Bridgers
Thursday, June 12, 2025
Cold Cold Cold - Cage The Elephant
Wednesday, June 11, 2025
Wordle Wednesday #17
6.4.25 - Smart members of the class chase their passions and don’t cease, ever.
(Mm. Inspiring words, indeed.)
6.5.25 - The datum we can use to determine if the mayor is indeed human is if we know what album can amuse her.
(She likes Nickelback. Results: Inconclusive.)
6.6.25 - The American populace needs to be eased into the fact that they frequently elect people in error, but how can we edify them?
(Well, firstly, don't elect people who like Nickelback. I think we can all agree on that.)
6.7.25 - The truth is that if you reuse your sauce making jumbo shrimp, you will flunk your cooking classes.
("Why does my sundae taste like shellfish?")
6.8.25 - I doubt that our lease says anything regarding ranch dressing as a glaze on doughnuts.
(I don't know... there's a LOT of fine print...)
6.9.25 - I had to tell the Apology Committee that it was an honor to be chosen as the Chairman of the Board, but I’m sorry, I can’t do it.
(Sorry, not sorry. This sentence is brilliant.)
6.10.25 - The vapid worker at the taffy shop checked her watch as the laser beam demolished the tango studio across the street.
(LOL, so is this one.)
Crazy = Genius - Panic! At the Disco
Tuesday, June 10, 2025
Last Dance - Donna Summer
Monday, June 09, 2025
Sunday, June 08, 2025
Delicate - Damien Rice
Saturday, June 07, 2025
I Just Wanna Shine - Fitz and The Tantrums
Friday, June 06, 2025
Eye - The Smashing Pumpkins
Thursday, June 05, 2025
Wednesday, June 04, 2025
Wordle Wednesday #16
5.28.25 - I knew my enemy would latch onto the idea of making a plaid blanket for a polar bear.
5.29.25 - The job of the Fun Police is to quash any topic that lets people feel merry or may make them blush.
(ACAB. Fun Police even more so.)
5.30.25 - Hearing the idiom, “Be grand, dodge stuff” just made me moody.
(Well, yeah. Cuz talk is cheap. Having to actually put the work in makes me upset.)
5.31.25 - I started my therapy session by admitting, “I have a light habit of murder, but that’s neither here nor there.”
(Dexter? Actually, I've never seen that show, but. I'm still semi-literate in pop culture.)
6.1.25 - We had to plead with the youth to not be so rough with the couch.
(*insert image of JD Vance here.*)
6.2.25 - The supposed talking ostrich went on live television and gave no reply to the questions, causing critics to call it a ‘preen conference’ instead of a press conference.
(Man. I SO want to see President Ostrich.)
6.3.25 - The chime from the disgusting miser would imply that the admin needed to unmix his vomit.
(This is possibly the grossest sentence I've written. The words 'unmix' and 'vomit' should never be that close to one another.)
Sell Out - Reel Big Fish
Tuesday, June 03, 2025
I Want You (She's So Heavy) - The Beatles
Monday, June 02, 2025
Sunday, June 01, 2025
Purple Yellow Red & Blue - Portugal. The Man
Saturday, May 31, 2025
There's No Christmas in Hell (And That's Why I'm So Sad) - The X-Misses
Friday, May 30, 2025
Stupid Girl - Garbage
Thursday, May 29, 2025
Take My Breath Away - Berlin
Wednesday, May 28, 2025
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
Tuesday, May 27, 2025
Hell - Squirrel Nut Zippers
Monday, May 26, 2025
Chain of Fools - Aretha Franklin
Sunday, May 25, 2025
Sherry Fraser - Marcy Playground
Saturday, May 24, 2025
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
Friday, May 23, 2025
Everyone Alive - Local H
Thursday, May 22, 2025
Guilty Filthy Soul - AWOLNATION
Wednesday, May 21, 2025
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.
Easy - Faith No More
Tuesday, May 20, 2025
Pinball Wizard - The Who
Monday, May 19, 2025
Scream - Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson
Sunday, May 18, 2025
Saturday, May 17, 2025
Friday, May 16, 2025
Things Can Only Get Better - Howard Jones
Thursday, May 15, 2025
The World I Know - Collective Soul
Wednesday, May 14, 2025
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
Tuesday, May 13, 2025
We Can Work It Out - The Beatles
Monday, May 12, 2025
Breakout - Foo Fighters
Sunday, May 11, 2025
Bukowski - Modest Mouse
Saturday, May 10, 2025
Effington - Ben Folds
Friday, May 09, 2025
Thursday, May 08, 2025
Heads Will Roll - Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Wednesday, May 07, 2025
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!!)