A New Medium
This may not come as a surprise to many of you, but I've long been a tech junkie. Between computers, cell phones and digital music, I'm always looking at some new toy that, however tempting, I won't buy.
But you know how much time I spend at the computer, I use up about 4,500 minutes a month on my cellphone (about 75% of which is work-related), St. iPod is the ninth sacrament, and I finally gave in to an extended craving today and bought a satellite radio.
Just as it was at the purchase of my iPod 16 months ago, I have fallen in love. Again.
I knew I had to snag a Sirius radio at some point before Stern starts in January. But in the middle of a pilgrimage to Target yesterday, I saw a plug-and-play unit (easily portable for car and home use) on sale at a remarkably low price, so I talked myself into it and made the grab.
"Merry Christmas to me, two months early," I thought. And it was a fitting "Me" gift -- I've always loved radio more, as it were, in terms of media. Having done enough TV to know, I cherish radio because it allows for a clearer train of thought, there's a greater intimacy as you're reaching people in their cars, in their kitchens, bedrooms and not just in their living rooms, and because it's almost a more sensual form. With TV, nothing's left to the imagination and you're getting a virtual deluge. With radio, it's all in what you say, how you say it, inflections, tinctures.... Sorry, I was waxing a bit romantic just there.
And, suffice it to say, I'm feeling like a junkie who just got his fix. Came home, toyed around with the unit, the antenna, activated it online, and it works like a charm -- I've actually kept it on NPR through the evening, flipping through the music channels when the talk got boring. No fancy speakers or anything either; I'm just using a spare set of cheap PC channels, but it sounds great, rich and clear. What's not to love about no commercials? And all the programming is really sterling stuff -- they've even got EWTN.
The latter wasn't a selling point for me, but it may be for some of you. Amy'll love that there's not just one, but two NPR channels... It is marvelous, indeed.
Salman Rushdie was on "Talk of the Nation" earlier, taking queries about fundamentalists, the Fatwa and his new book, and now it's a re-run of Radio Times featuring two Philly victims and more fall-out from the Grand Jury.
But for all of this, one "biggie" is missing.
I'd really love to have Vatican Radio on Sirius. Think about it -- Marconi's first transmission to Pius XI was seen as the birth of the medium. They need to be on satellite, it's the logical progression.
I know I'm read at Radio Vaticana, so cheers and Laudetur Iesus Christus to you and yours back there. But I'm eager to know if an idea of this kind been kicked around. The world needs 105 Live, the Latin Lover (bringing Reggie Foster to a wider audience would be God's gift), etc. -- and, at least here in the States, satellite's quickly becoming radio's center of gravity. It'd definitely be worth a shot.
As Dr. Bono's voice (singing "One Step Closer") pours forth from my new toy, you don't need me to remind you of how EWTN cannot and will never approach the professional excellence and true Catholicity of Radio Vaticana. Experience has proven this enough.
Anyone else out there with a satellite? Any favorite programs you'd love to spread the word on?
-30-
But you know how much time I spend at the computer, I use up about 4,500 minutes a month on my cellphone (about 75% of which is work-related), St. iPod is the ninth sacrament, and I finally gave in to an extended craving today and bought a satellite radio.
Just as it was at the purchase of my iPod 16 months ago, I have fallen in love. Again.
I knew I had to snag a Sirius radio at some point before Stern starts in January. But in the middle of a pilgrimage to Target yesterday, I saw a plug-and-play unit (easily portable for car and home use) on sale at a remarkably low price, so I talked myself into it and made the grab.
"Merry Christmas to me, two months early," I thought. And it was a fitting "Me" gift -- I've always loved radio more, as it were, in terms of media. Having done enough TV to know, I cherish radio because it allows for a clearer train of thought, there's a greater intimacy as you're reaching people in their cars, in their kitchens, bedrooms and not just in their living rooms, and because it's almost a more sensual form. With TV, nothing's left to the imagination and you're getting a virtual deluge. With radio, it's all in what you say, how you say it, inflections, tinctures.... Sorry, I was waxing a bit romantic just there.
And, suffice it to say, I'm feeling like a junkie who just got his fix. Came home, toyed around with the unit, the antenna, activated it online, and it works like a charm -- I've actually kept it on NPR through the evening, flipping through the music channels when the talk got boring. No fancy speakers or anything either; I'm just using a spare set of cheap PC channels, but it sounds great, rich and clear. What's not to love about no commercials? And all the programming is really sterling stuff -- they've even got EWTN.
The latter wasn't a selling point for me, but it may be for some of you. Amy'll love that there's not just one, but two NPR channels... It is marvelous, indeed.
Salman Rushdie was on "Talk of the Nation" earlier, taking queries about fundamentalists, the Fatwa and his new book, and now it's a re-run of Radio Times featuring two Philly victims and more fall-out from the Grand Jury.
But for all of this, one "biggie" is missing.
I'd really love to have Vatican Radio on Sirius. Think about it -- Marconi's first transmission to Pius XI was seen as the birth of the medium. They need to be on satellite, it's the logical progression.
I know I'm read at Radio Vaticana, so cheers and Laudetur Iesus Christus to you and yours back there. But I'm eager to know if an idea of this kind been kicked around. The world needs 105 Live, the Latin Lover (bringing Reggie Foster to a wider audience would be God's gift), etc. -- and, at least here in the States, satellite's quickly becoming radio's center of gravity. It'd definitely be worth a shot.
As Dr. Bono's voice (singing "One Step Closer") pours forth from my new toy, you don't need me to remind you of how EWTN cannot and will never approach the professional excellence and true Catholicity of Radio Vaticana. Experience has proven this enough.
Anyone else out there with a satellite? Any favorite programs you'd love to spread the word on?
-30-
posted by Rocco Palmo at 02:10
3 Comments:
Even better is listening to Vatican Radio on the iPod. I download the daily podcast to my iTunes each morning , synch it with my Pod, and listen when I have time during the day -- on the commute to and from work.
...and now you see why I was able to commiserate with Salman Rushdie when he spoke of Fatwa.
Greg -- the daily English program of Vatican Radio, 105 Live, can be accessed at http://105live.vaticanradio.org -- and it is available in PodCast format.
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