The Fall of Radio

Am I the only one who is disgusted by the music that gets played on the radio today?

Free radio in Kansas City has become a shameless advertisement for music that is being pushed on us by outsiders from New York and Los Angeles. Not only do record companies have the capacity to tell you what you can and can't buy at a record store (and for how much), they also have the power to tell you what you should and shouldn't like by what they force radio stations to play in order to sell advertising. So, by going to your local record store and buying something you heard on the radio you're contributing to a stagnating fascist enterprise run by executives at 'Big Record'. How far will free radio's market share drop before they realize that it doesn't pay to have 3-7 radio stations in the same market that have the same programming.

I know that, unlike your humble narrator, many of the readers of this blog are not big fans of country music. I still have to comment on a recent passing in our area. We used to have a country radio station in town (WDAF 610 AM - 61 Country) that played music based on quality rather than what sells commercial time. Of course they had to play the new stuff that was in the record stores, but they mixed it with good amounts of classic country. A couple years ago they 'moved' to FM trying to increase market share. In the process of doing this they got rid of many of their existing on-air personalities and really cut down on the quality music they played. A couple weeks ago that station had a 'format change' in which it dropped all connection with the old quality radio station and changed into a corporate pawn like the other country radio stations in town. Disappointing.

The silver lining in this cloud is the rise of pay radio and alternative music formats as well as small market radio that continues to strive for quality rather than advertising money. Aside from talk radio (980 KMBZ) there are only two radio stations I listen to anymore - 106.9 KTPK in Topeka, and 92.9 KOMG in the Ozarks.

Huh?

Caliber!?! What are you doing!?!

Check out MySpace.com/AnythingButCute for more Caliber antics with Pig and Bear.

Caliber

Great Success!!!!

Yours truly is now the proud owner of a new* 2007 Dodge Caliber SE. I have finally freed myself from the money pit known as 'skylark' and join the ranks of people with cars that are covered under a thing called a 'factory warranty'. This is a new thing for me and I'm rather excited about it.

My Caliber is 'stone white' like the one in the photo, but doesn't have the 17" wheels or the fog lights. It's got a 2.0 liter 4 cylinder engine with a CVT (Continuously Variable Transaxle). Having the CVT means that the acceleration is more smooth, there is no 'shifting' because there are no 'gears'. Instead a metal belt is driven by two adjustable pulleys which give optimum torque at any given throttle position or RPM. This increases fuel economy over the automatic transmission by 6-8%. Here's the best explaination for it I've found.

I bought it on saturday and picked it up monday afternoon. I've been giddy like a school girl for the past couple days. I've shown it around a little and everybody likes it. It's got neat little things like a 'Chill Zone' beverage cooler which holds 4 20oz bottles/24oz cans, an auxilary audio input, a console mp3/phone caddy and illluminated cup holders.

*New means that it's a program/rental car. I bought it with 27,048 miles on it. It's a model year 2007 but has been 'in service' since May of 2006. They sold me on the extended warranty by selling it for $1900 but lowering my rate from 6.9 to 5.9. Those finance guys at the auto dealers sure do wheald a lot of power. I am now covered until 85,000 miles though - 'bumper to bumper'.

Contrary to what most of you might be thinking, the skylark Did Not catch the fast train to scrapsville, it was saved in the final hour by a unfortunate gentlemen from the Porn Stars who plans on using the reliable car. Interestingly the skylark was worth the same in trade in value as it was in resale, a phat $100. Little did either one of them know I would've paid them a hundred dollars to take it away.

Taxman

Well, I'll try to maintain my composure as I write this post. I filed my federal and state tax returns the other day. I never get so disgusted about money as when I am reminded of how much the federal government extorts from me every year.

In the year 2006, federal and state governments stole around $5,800 from me without my ever really paying them a dime. What I mean is that they've taken that money from me without my choosing to give it to them. I've also chosen to give them an average of 7% of the amount of money I've spent in retail outlets over the year - on top of whatever taxes are already embedded in the price of an item.

The biggest joke of all is that I am going to need the $900 that the federal government saw fit to GIVE BACK to me to pay MORE TAXES on the vehicle I am about to buy just so I can have ANOTHER BIG TAX BILL at the end of next year. Wonderful!

Is anybody happy with the amount of money they pay in taxes? I bet if you had to write a check to the IRS every month people would notice. Does anybody really think that taxes are too low?

Peck's Plaza

One unique thing about where I work is the actual building. MLL&F/Mokan world headquarters is located in a building called Peck's Plaza. Built in 1910, Peck's Plaza was originally a large downtown department store with a prime location at 11th and Main streets in Kansas City. MLL&F and Mokan occupy floors 6 through 9 of this 10 story building. The building is one of the very few buildings in KC that feature Beaux-Arts (Bozart) architecture.

In the photo at left you can see the intricate designs of the Beaux-Arts (Bozart) style. The windows pictured are of the 8th, 9th and 10th floors on the SE corner of the building.
Here's the view facing south from the eighth floor window. Although my cube doesn't have any windows, I can see this view when I walk around. This photo features the new H&R Block world headquarters building, the KC Reperatory Theater, One KC Place (tallest building in the city), City Center Square, and the Town Pavillion.

Here's the ugly side of Pecks Plaza. Also pictured are City Center Square (at right), and the Town Pavillion. Notice the building across the street from Peck's, it's also done in Beaux-Arts (Bozart) style.