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How long shall they kill our prophets, while we stand aside and look?
Yes, some say it's just a part of it.
We've got to fulfill the book.
Won't you help to sing these songs of freedom?
This all I ever have, redemption songs.
All I ever have, redemption songs.
These songs of freedom, songs of freedom.
This all I ever have, redemption songs.
This all I ever have, redemption songs.
3 minus 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
Welcome, welcome to the new Country 99.5.
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¶
¶ Her daddy gave her her first pony ¶
¶ Then taught her to ride ¶
¶ She climbed high in that saddle ¶
¶ Fell I don't know how many times ¶
¶ He taught her a lesson that she learned ¶
¶ Maybe a little too well ¶
¶ Cowgirls don't cry ¶
¶ Ride, baby, ride ¶
¶ Lessons of life are gonna show you in time ¶
¶ Soon enough, you're gonna know why ¶
¶ It's gonna hurt every now and then ¶
¶ If you fall, get back on again ¶
¶ Cowgirls don't cry ¶
¶ She grew up, she got married ¶
¶ But it never was quite right ¶
¶ She wanted a house, a home and babies ¶
¶ He started coming home late at night ¶
¶ She didn't let him see it break her heart ¶
¶ She didn't let him see her fall apart ¶
¶ Because cowgirls don't cry ¶
¶ Ride, baby, ride ¶
¶ Lessons of life are gonna show you in time ¶
¶ Soon enough, you're gonna know why ¶
¶ It's gonna hurt every now and then ¶
¶ If you fall, get back on again ¶
¶ Cowgirls don't cry ¶
¶ Phone rang early one morning ¶
¶ Her mama's voice, she'd been crying ¶
¶ Said, it's your daddy, you need to come home ¶
¶ This is it, I think he's dying ¶
¶ She laid the phone down by his head ¶
¶ Last words that he said ¶
¶ Cowgirls don't cry ¶
¶ Ride, baby, ride ¶
¶ Lessons of life show us all in time ¶
¶ Too soon, gotta let you know why ¶
¶ If you fall, get right back on ¶
¶ The good Lord calls everybody home ¶
¶ Cowgirls don't cry ¶
¶
¶ Out with the old, in with the new ¶
¶ Country hits from Nashville to New York ¶
¶ Country 99.5, where you're in the middle of a 10,000-song marathon ¶
¶ Keith Urban, Country 99.5 ¶
¶
¶ When I picked you up for our first date, baby ¶
¶ With your pretty blue eyes that were driving me crazy ¶
¶ And the tiny little thought that was so amazing ¶
¶ As they were looking at me ¶
¶ I held open the card for you, then you climbed inside ¶
¶ And slid on over to the other side ¶
¶ I thought in my own mind ¶
¶ Sweet thing ¶
¶ The moon is high and the night is young ¶
¶ Come on and meet me ¶
¶ In my backyard under the cottonwood tree ¶
¶ It's a good thing and my only sin ¶
¶ Oh, come on, sweet thing ¶
¶ Won't you climb on out of your window while the world's sleeping? ¶
¶ You know I need you and there's no way I'll be leaving ¶
¶ Kissing on the porch swing ¶
¶ Oh, my little sweet thing ¶
¶ Yeah, I know I'm gonna see you first thing tomorrow ¶
¶ But I just couldn't wait, so I had to borrow ¶
¶ Oh, Jake's Mustang, it's his favorite car ¶
¶ And so I can't stay long ¶
¶ Standing here feeling like a love struck loan ¶
¶ Oh, all I wanna do is hold you close and steal a little more time ¶
¶ Is that such a crime? ¶
¶ Sweet thing ¶
¶ The moon is high and the night is young ¶
¶ Come on and meet me ¶
¶ In my backyard under the cottonwood tree ¶
¶ It's a good thing and my only sin ¶
¶ Oh, come on, sweet thing ¶
¶ Won't you climb on out of your window while the world's sleeping? ¶
¶ You know I need you and there's no way I'll be leaving ¶
¶ Till we're kissing on the parksway ¶
¶ Oh, my sweet thing ¶
¶ Oh, my sweet thing ¶
¶ Oh, my sweet thing ¶
¶ The moon is high and the night is young ¶
¶ Come on and meet me ¶
¶ In my backyard under the cottonwood tree ¶
¶ It's a good thing ¶
¶ Tell me I'm not dreaming ¶
¶ Oh, sweet thing ¶
¶ Won't you climb on out of your window while the world's sleeping? ¶
¶ You know I need you and there's no way I'll be leaving ¶
¶ Till we're kissing on the parksway ¶
¶ Oh, my sweet thing ¶
¶ Oh, come on, sweet thing, sweet thing, sweet thing, sweet thing ¶
¶ Yeah, yeah ¶
¶ Come on now ¶
¶ Oh, my sweet thing, yes, you are ¶
¶ Hey, look ¶
¶ You're in the middle of 10,000 country hits commercial-free ¶
¶ On the new Country 99.5 ¶
¶ New York City just got a little southern ¶
¶ He said the way my blue eyes shine ¶
¶ Put those Georgia stars to shame that night ¶
¶ I said that's a lie ¶
¶ Just a boy in a Chevy truck ¶
¶ That had a tendency of getting stuck ¶
¶ On back roads at night ¶
¶ And I was right there beside him ¶
¶ All summer long ¶
¶ And then the time I woke up to find that summer gone ¶
¶ But when you think tomorrow ¶
¶ I hope you think my favorite song ¶
¶ The one we danced to all night long ¶
¶ The moon like a spotlight on the lake ¶
¶ When you think happiness ¶
¶ I hope you think that little black dress ¶
¶ Think my head on your chest ¶
¶ And my old faded blue jeans ¶
¶ When you think tomorrow ¶
¶ I hope you think of me ¶
¶ September saw a month of tears ¶
¶ And thankin' God that you weren't here ¶
¶ To see me like that ¶
¶ But in a box beneath my bed ¶
¶ Is a letter that you never read ¶
¶ Three summers back ¶
¶ It's hard not to find it all a little ¶
¶ Bittersweet ¶
¶ And lookin' back on all of that ¶
¶ It's nice to believe ¶
¶ When you think tomorrow ¶
¶ I hope you think my favorite song ¶
¶ The one we danced to all night long ¶
¶ The moon like a spotlight on the lake ¶
¶ When you think happiness ¶
¶ I hope you think that little black dress ¶
¶ When you think of my hand on your chest ¶
¶ And my old faded blue jeans ¶
¶ When you think tomorrow ¶
¶ I hope you think of me ¶
¶ And I'm back for the first time since then ¶
¶ I'm standin' on your street ¶
¶ And there's a letter left on your doorstep ¶
¶ And the first thing that you'll read ¶
¶ Is when you think Tim McGraw ¶
¶ I hope you think my favorite song ¶
¶ Someday you'll turn your radio on ¶
¶ I hope it takes you back to that place ¶
¶ When you think happiness ¶
¶ I hope you think that little black dress ¶
¶ When you think of my hand on your chest ¶
¶ And my old faded blue jeans ¶
¶ When you think Tim McGraw ¶
¶ I hope you think of me ¶
¶ Oh, think of me ¶
¶ He said the way my blue eyes shine ¶
¶ Put those Georgia stars to shame that night ¶
¶ I said that's a lie ¶
¶ Bringing the heartland to the heart of New York City ¶
¶ Country music is back on the air in New York City ¶
¶ On Country 99.5 ¶
¶ We've rounded up 10,000 country hits ¶
¶ And we're playing them all in a row commercial-free ¶
¶ Toby Keith ¶
¶ Just a girl born in Dixie ¶
¶ Washed in the flood and raised on the banks ¶
¶ Of the Mississippi mud ¶
¶ She always had a thing about falling in love with a bad boy ¶
¶ Yeah, they could see it all coming ¶
¶ But her daddy never dreamed she'd grow up that fast ¶
¶ You know what I mean ¶
¶ The way a girl gets when she turns 17 ¶
¶ Kind of crazy ¶
¶ She's a rebel child and a preacher's daughter ¶
¶ She was baptized in dirty water ¶
¶ Her mama cried the first time they caught her with me ¶
¶ They knew they couldn't stop her ¶
¶ She holds tight me and the Bible on the backseat of my motorcycle ¶
¶ Left her daddy standing there preaching to the choir ¶
¶ You see, you gotta love her ¶
¶ You're being God's lover ¶
¶ She kissed her mama good-bye ¶
¶ Said, I'll be sure and phone you ¶
¶ She called her from a truck stop in Tucson, Arizona ¶
¶ With amazing grace, we made California alive ¶
¶ And then my gypsy life started taking its toll ¶
¶ And the fast lane got empty and out of control ¶
¶ And just like an angel, she saved my soul from the devil ¶
¶ You see, the rebel child and a preacher's daughter ¶
¶ She was baptized in dirty water ¶
¶ Her mama cried the first time they caught her with me ¶
¶ They knew they couldn't stop her ¶
¶ She holds tight me and the Bible on the backseat of my motorcycle ¶
¶ Left her daddy standing there preaching to the choir ¶
¶ You see, you gotta love her ¶
¶ You're being God's lover ¶
¶ Now she holds tight to me and the Bible on the backseat of my motorcycle ¶
¶ Left her daddy standing there preaching to the choir ¶
¶ You see, you gotta love her ¶
¶ Oh, being God's lover ¶
¶ God's lover ¶
¶ Oh, being God's lover ¶
Grab your country hat.
You're in the middle of 10,000 country hits commercial-free
on the new Country 99.5.
All right. All right. Hit that button.
We get your attention? Good.
We're back. We're back.
Yes, folks, it was all a big joke.
We're back here with our normal program here on the radio station.
Thanks for those of you playing along.
It was great fun, that little trip.
But now Off the Hook must continue on the air, as we usually do.
And welcome, Mike.
Hi.
Welcome, Redhack.
Hello.
Rob T. Firefly.
Good evening.
And Bernie S. down in Philadelphia.
Yeah, just looking at the SS United States still docked in Philadelphia Harbor here.
Well, that's what's down there.
Now, since we lost a bit of time to that little joke,
let's pick right up where we left off.
I want to talk about what the Knicks did wrong yesterday.
They really blew it, losing to the Nuggets by 111-104.
Bernie, is there any hope for this team?
Yeah, maybe next year.
Maybe in the NBA draft,
and maybe when LeBron James becomes a free agent a year after.
Yeah, but come on.
I mean, how many times are we going to hear the same thing?
Yes.
Year after year, they just keep letting us down.
Do I have to start becoming a Net fan?
They're not doing much better.
I know.
Matter of fact, they're going to be playing the Pistons in about 20 minutes or so,
and they're only, I think, by a game ahead of the Knicks,
about five out of the playoff spot,
and it doesn't look very likely for them either.
No.
They've got some young guys.
They've got a little bit of a future there,
but we're not going to be seeing much playoff basketball in New York this year.
Eddie Curry, of course, having that injury in his left knee last night,
that's the excuse they're giving now.
But I don't know.
I like to hold on to a bit of faith,
but sometimes it just seems to be a lost cause.
But thank God we've got baseball coming up,
and opening day was just about a week away now.
Yep.
Now, Bernie, I understand you actually were at Citi Field.
Tell us what Citi Field was like.
I visited there for the college baseball game they had between St. John's
and Georgetown last weekend,
and basically a dry run for the facility.
They wanted to make sure that all the concessions were working
and the lights went on and the toilets didn't back up and things like that.
I mean, it is like corona after all, and that was an old trademark of Shea.
But everything seemed to work okay.
The only trouble is it looks too much like our place,
back in Philadelphia.
And I'm sure there are going to be a lot of Philly fans
who are going to be making the trek when they play each other head-to-head,
and they're going to constantly rag the Mets for that.
Yeah, well, Bernie, you've never ceased to drill into my head that Philly,
they're the world champions and they won,
but how long did it take you guys to actually win a world championship?
28 years.
How long?
28 years.
You'll let the record show that he said 28 years.
Okay, and before that, how long was it?
Never.
Exactly.
That had never happened before.
And, of course, the Philadelphia Athletics, they actually did much better
before they moved to Kansas City and then Oakland.
Yeah, well, that was 1931, the last time they were in the world.
I know, but you've got to sort of look back in history when you're down there in Philly.
But, you know, all kidding aside, congratulations to the people in Philly
for this fluke, for the one-time winning of the championship.
But on the subject of Citi Field,
do you see the article in The Times today about the cheap seats
at the new Yankee Stadium and at Citi Field?
They actually have obstructed-view seats.
You pay your money for a ticket, and you can't even see the field.
The article goes, there's a reason baseball fans call them cheap seats,
those perches far from home played in the outfield,
the upper decks, down the lines, often obscure views of the game.
The Mets and Yankees together have spent more than $2 billion on new stadiums,
partly to bring fans much closer to the action.
Actually, I think we've spent a lot of that money, too.
But for the best views, fans have to pay huge prices to sit on the field level.
Fans on tighter budgets have to settle for seats in far-off sections,
but they actually have obstructed views of the field.
Mets fans learned this the hard way on Sunday
when St. John's in Georgetown played the first game at Citi Field.
To one fan's shock and horror, he could not see the warning track
or about 20 feet of the outfield from the left field line to center field.
In other words, he said, I only know if a home run is hit
if I'm listening to a radio at the game,
or I wait to see the sign from the umpire.
Rob T. Firefly, what do you make of this?
Yeah, there's no excuse for this sort of thing nowadays.
If you're going to build a stadium with today's technology,
I mean, they had 3D models, they had everything,
they could have caught this and done something about it ahead of time.
Plus, on the subject of the new Citi Field, I don't know.
You guys know me, lifelong Met fan, but I grew up going to Shea Stadium,
and okay, the place was a bit of a dump, but it was our dump,
and I think it's going to take a long time, if ever, for the new place to grow on me.
Yeah, I was razzing Bernie a little bit about Philly, but come on.
I mean, I'm as much a Met fan as anybody,
but the last two years in a row, man, it's just a heartbreak.
It really is.
Bernie, do you think this is the year for the Mets?
And I know I've asked you this every single year we've been on the air, but...
Well, if my chief has something to say about it, no.
We've had a couple of injuries early on,
so we may have some problems with our pitching early on,
but I think we're going to be right there.
But as far as the Mets are concerned, yes, they're better.
There's no question about it.
So are we.
We have a little bit more playoff experience as well,
and I don't see the Mets catching up with the Phillies.
But on the other hand, they do have a nice place.
As far as the obstructive views are concerned,
both of them were architectural mistakes.
And, Emanuel, you come from Stony Brook,
so you know what it's like when it comes to architectural mistakes.
Yes, I certainly do, and I also know what it's like when it comes to mudslides
and leaks and concrete and things like that.
Yeah, at least we got rid of those.
We haven't had one of those get over-cleaned.
So in Philly, it's never been a problem.
Let's talk about the Yankees a little bit.
Now, they have a new stadium as well,
and apparently there are more obstructed views at Yankee Stadium
than anything else.
By the way, it's very weird driving by there
and seeing two Yankee stadiums.
They're both labeled Yankee Stadium.
But the only good thing I can say about the Yankees
is that they haven't given it out to some corporation for the naming rights.
So we have still the name of the team outside the stadium,
which is the way I think it should be.
I'm a traditionalist, though.
But, Bernie, what do you think of the chances of the Yankees this year?
Do you think the Steinbrenner brothers will pull it together?
I think the chances are very, very good
because they've improved a lot of the problems they had.
The pitching is definitely a lot better.
And yes, Alex Rodriguez is going to be out half the year,
but some people think that's addition by subtraction.
No, he's coming back on May 15th.
Well, okay. I'll believe it when I see it.
That's what they say anyway.
But they don't tell you about all the other things that might happen along the way.
It's a rollercoaster ride. We all know that.
But you know what? It's okay.
It's a long season, and I think they'll be able to survive without him
for about a month and a half, whatever it's going to take.
You think they'll be able to outpace Baltimore and Boston this year?
Well, Baltimore, forget it.
Baltimore is still a work in progress.
The real problem is going to be coming from Tampa Bay and Boston
and possibly Toronto if they can stay healthy
because their top three pitchers are as good as anybody's.
But the Yankees will definitely be there.
Now the question is, how are the fans going to like the new park?
I was actually stopped by there yesterday,
and it is big and imposing and intimidating,
and it's everything it's expected to be.
I mean, you know, city fields are ballparks.
Citizens' Bank is a ballpark.
Yankee Stadium is a monstrosity.
But on the other hand, this is a franchise that thrives on being a monster.
And they're going to keep the old one up as a backup in case the new one breaks?
Is that the deal?
Well, actually, they did keep the old one up until now as a possible backup
because the construction was a bit behind schedule when last season ended.
But it's going to be ready,
and they're going to start knocking down the old place probably about a month or so.
Okay.
We're going to take a listen to phone calls, of course,
on both the prospects of the Mets and the Yankees,
see who you like better this year,
who actually might stand a chance to make the playoffs
if either of our teams can make it this year.
But, Redhackt and Mike, you've got some updates on Formula 1.
Yeah.
As our regular listeners know, during the radio show,
we usually give some time to some more obscure sports
that you don't usually hear about in the U.S.
And I just want to discuss quickly,
last weekend was the opening for the 2009 Formula 1 season.
That was the Australian Grand Prix that was in Melbourne.
And that race actually was the debut of the Braun-Mercedes constructor,
which consisted of Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello.
And what a debut.
Yeah.
I mean, it was amazing because it actually ended in a win for that team,
with the two drivers coming in first and second.
I heard about that.
Yeah.
Button came in first and Barrichello second.
Button actually led the entire race from turn one
and kept his lead the entire 58 laps.
And actually, during a post-game press brief,
he commented about how easy he had felt that the race was.
The conditions on race day were similar to what was seen on Friday and Saturday.
Right.
Air temperature was 25 Celsius.
There were clear skies throughout the entire race.
This was where?
This was Melbourne.
Okay.
Yeah, it was really nice out there.
Yeah.
There were some problems with some of the cars.
There was some damage.
During turn one, there was actually kind of a big accident.
But otherwise, you know.
But that's what the fans love.
They love to see the pileups.
What about that finish?
It was kind of amazing.
With the safety car finish, only the second time it's ever happened.
Hmm.
But Braun did take it.
Did take it.
It's still in the air a bit, though,
because actually the Braun, Toyota, and Williams cars,
some of the other contenders have made a protest against them
that the diffusers on those cars were illegal.
Right.
And the stewards during the race threw it out.
But we're going to have to wait and see after the Malaysian Grand Prix
to see what the outcome is
because they're actually going to –
there's an appeal in the works right now.
Well, it's –
I think it's pretty clear how it's going to go, though,
that these diffusers, they really studied the rules, Braun.
And I think these diffusers, they're going to allow them to keep them,
and it's going to really help make Braun just the team to watch the season.
It's a brand-new team.
They have kind of less resources than some of the other teams,
but I think they're really able to take it,
and they're really –
I think they are the ones to beat, of course.
Malaysia coming up this weekend with that crazy tight turn,
the crazy long straightaways.
Oh, yeah.
I mean, the one thing that will be interesting,
it's going to rain this weekend, they say, in Malaysia,
and that will destroy some of the advantage that Braun has been having.
I've been in Malaysia when it rains,
and, boy, that's something you don't want to experience.
You don't want to be driving at these speeds.
Oh, no.
So it's going to destroy the advantage that they've had with the tires,
but I think they're still –
maybe they won't finish first and second every weekend this year,
but I think they're definitely the ones to beat.
Yes, Rob.
Yeah, I think Braun and company and their diffusers,
I think the other ones are just upset that they didn't come up with it first.
I mean, there's still room for innovation in the sport,
and it took them to prove that today.
And that is the thing.
The other teams have more money to make these changes mid-season.
Braun may be just sort of stuck with what they've got so far,
but what they've got so far is definitely working.
Well, I'm personally holding out for the Finns.
I want Raikkonen to take it with Ferrari.
He won the Malaysian Grand Prix last year.
He won the entire cup in 2007, so I'm holding out for him.
Also, aerodynamic advances are always going to give teams an edge in Formula 1,
and whoever's first with that is usually first on race day.
Yeah, you got something there.
Now, Red Hag, I just wanted to point this out just because I'm a troublemaker,
but you mentioned how obviously you're pushing for the Finns.
I just figured I'd use this as a transition over to World Cup results today,
World Cup qualifying results,
that you'll be thrilled to know that Estonia defeated Armenia 1-0,
and, well, of course, they're bitter rivals with Finland.
But a lot of other results today.
Actually, in that very hotly contested game in Seoul, South Korea,
Democratic People's Republic of Korea, North Korea,
went down to defeat 1-0 to South Korea.
So that was very interesting, a battle of the two Koreas.
And an interesting point, too, that it was played in Seoul.
The game that was supposed to be played in Pyongyang in North Korea
had to be played in Shanghai
because the North Koreans would not allow the South Koreans
to play the national anthem in their country.
But both teams are doing really well. Both Koreas are doing really well.
They're leading their group, and it would be really interesting
if they both make it to the World Cup to see them play there.
Well, North Korea has to worry about Saudi Arabia
because actually they both have 10 points.
They're both tied, and they have to see if they can catch up to South Korea
and become the top two in that particular division.
And listen, don't forget, big news, Finland beat Wales last weekend 2-0.
That was quite the match.
Well, you know, I could beat Wales.
And San Marino, did you see what happened to San Marino today?
10-0. Oh, it was embarrassing. They lost to Poland.
That is something else.
Okay, you are listening to Off The Hook,
where we talk about sports every week.
And talk about sports every week.
Oh, I just remembered one of those flashes.
Wow, the brilliant white light.
Okay, the first one I understood.
The second one I didn't understand so much.
Whoa, okay, that was weird.
I'm just a little bit disoriented here.
You are listening to Off The Hook,
the program that talks about various things every week.
Let me introduce the people that are here this week.
We have Mike.
Hi.
Red Heck.
Hello.
Rob T. Firefly.
Good evening.
Voltaire.
Hey there.
And Bernie S. down in Philadelphia.
Still here in Philly, but feeling a little dizzy, Emmanuel.
Yeah.
I didn't even understand what we were just talking about.
I don't really remember what we were just talking about.
But I do know that, look at the time.
We seem to be losing time somehow.
We need to fix that and move forward.
Okay, so we have a bunch of stories.
I'm sorry, folks.
We're a little bit disoriented today.
I don't know.
I might have had something to drink before I got here.
It's something I shouldn't have.
It's possible.
No, it was coffee.
It wasn't anything bad.
Okay, but we have – sorry, we have –
and we'll be taking phone calls too, 212-209-2900.
The program is Off The Hook.
Okay, here are some interesting bits of news
that you might not have heard of online.
Maybe you have heard about it online.
You guys have heard about this,
about the United States General Services Administration.
You've heard about those wonderful bureaucrats down there.
Well, they're soon not even going to be known as the GSA anymore.
And do you know why?
Oh, I did hear about this.
Yeah, because of this thing called Acronym Day.
Now, I don't know how many people remember a phone day over in the UK.
Let me just read the story.
The GSA, General Services Administration,
they happen to be the government agency in charge of transitioning
all those three-letter acronyms to the new four-letter standard.
Now, Acronym Day, which is set to take effect in just under 11 months,
was modeled after Britain's phone day of 1995.
If you recall, the number one was added to all the nation's city codes.
And what that did was that freed up a whole lot of phone numbers.
That's what we should have done in this country,
simply add a digit and we wouldn't have had to split all the area codes.
Now, in similar style,
Acronym Day is expected to dramatically increase
the potential number of government agencies
from the current limit of 17,576 to 456,976.
Now, without such a change,
the government would have run out of acronyms entirely within two years.
Now, the way the system will work is fairly simple.
In fact, what I'm going to do is here's a list of existing acronyms.
Maybe you guys can figure out what some of them are going to be called.
I found a huge list of government acronyms.
No wonder we ran out. It's 24 pages.
Well, yeah, but that's micro-print size.
So anyway, all existing three-letter acronyms
are just going to have the letter A inserted at the beginning.
It's pretty simple.
So basically what's going to happen in just under 11 months,
the FBI will become known as the AFBI.
They're saying the nickname will be AFBI.
It actually makes sense.
AFBI, we'll call it the AFBI, being rated by the AFBI or whatever.
The Selective Service System, known as SSS, will now become ASSS.
The CDC will become the ACDC.
As new agencies are formed, other letters will be used.
So while the CIA may currently be limited to only one acronym,
after next year, the potential exists for them to have as many as 26.
So you could have something like the CCIA,
which could be used for the clandestine CIA,
which we were talking about a couple of weeks ago.
The XCIA, for instance, could be used for X agents
who never really leave the agency.
Sorry, go ahead.
I think there's a huge mistake that they're making here
because if they allow every agency to have 26 acronyms,
then they really haven't solved the problem.
They need to be more strict.
Yeah, they can use those letters,
but other agencies can step in and use the letters too.
I see. So if the CIA doesn't have a use for GCIA,
someone else can get it.
Exactly, exactly.
Okay, that makes sense.
Yeah. So let's see.
Let me hear this.
Spokesman for the GSA,
which I guess will be known as the AGSA,
that's what they'll be known as,
cautions that while nearly half a million potential acronyms
sounds like a lot,
it will still be necessary to conserve wherever possible.
For one thing,
there are already some existing four-letter acronyms like NASA,
and that'll bring down the total amount of new acronyms.
Regardless, it should be enough to last for at least another decade.
And this is an interesting side note to the story
that I also happened to read.
A number of committees,
as we probably know from reading these stories over the years,
they've been created over the years to assess the various options
for providing additional acronym resources
and to make recommendations on the best approach to be taken
and to underline the seriousness of the situation.
Not one of those committees made use of any acronyms.
So they basically put their money where their mouths were.
They didn't use the acronyms.
You know, it's interesting, though,
because we see this kind of thing happening in a lot of places.
You mentioned the British phone day
where they were running out of phone numbers.
We're having the same thing happen with IP addresses, right?
You know, there's a big concern about what happens
if we run out of IP version 4 IP addresses,
which is why there's IP version 6 to step in,
although nobody's really adopted it yet.
So, you know, it's good to see
that at least the government's ahead of the game on this one
and that they're kind of taking steps before it's too late.
Absolutely.
Okay, and this interesting story, too.
I believe, Voltaire, you found this one.
TSA, or I guess they'll be known as the ATSA pretty soon,
ATSA.
Yeah, I could live with that.
In a movie that began over eight years ago,
just after 9-11, acting commissioner of the FCC,
soon to be known as the AFCC.
It's very easy to figure out now, in the early stages.
Yes, but once you have more agencies...
Yeah, it'll get a little hairy,
but I think if we train ourselves,
a half a million acronyms is not that much.
We already know NASA, and that's a four-letter acronym.
Well, NASA already.
See, we all know NASA.
See how easy it is?
All right.
Anyway, I might as well start saying it now.
AFCC commissioner Michael Kops,
or, yeah, the acting commissioner,
announced that the commission's new policy
on public broadcasting language use
will ban more words that can be construed
as dangerous to domestic security.
So we all know the seven dirty words we can't say.
We're not going to say them on the air,
but there they are posted on the wall.
We can't say those words,
but there are going to be more words.
We can say them now, but we won't be able to say them...
You checked with the lawyers,
because we have to be really careful.
It doesn't go into effect until September 1st, I believe.
Yeah, September 1st of this year is when...
It's just so we can say it up till September 1st.
I specifically asked if we could say these words,
and they said, yeah.
Okay.
Just like that, they said, yeah.
Okay, as was the case with the AFCC's
former seven dirty words policy,
the new policy specifically bans seven more words
while leaving open room for a judge's discretion
by also banning, quote-unquote,
measured by contemporary community safety standards
for the broadcast medium, et cetera, et cetera.
Okay, now the list, like Voltaire said,
set to go into effect on September 1st
includes words such as...
Ready?
I don't want anybody to be offended,
so if you're cautious, overly cautious,
or easily offended,
maybe you want to turn down the radio.
But these are the words that you won't be able to say
after September 1st on the radio.
Bomb.
Terrorist.
Nail clipper.
Al-Qaeda.
Liquid.
Hijack.
Anthrax and shoes.
I'm a little confused here because that's eight,
so one of these, maybe they just added shoes.
Interesting.
And now, I know some people think this is ridiculous.
It is in a way, but it also,
I could sort of understand the logic.
Mr. Copps was asked about this.
He said the logic is very simple.
A TSA agent, so he doesn't have it yet.
He didn't get it yet.
He's actually an ATSA agent.
A-T-S-A.
He said TSA,
because this was done before people started being trained.
An agent might be listening to the radio,
and our nation's finest deserve to be treated by the radio
with the same respect they get from passengers.
And that makes sense,
because imagine that you're going through,
being checked for whatever it is
that you might be carrying onto an airplane,
and all of a sudden,
you hear the word bomb and terrorist and Al-Qaeda
coming from the portable radio,
sitting next to the guy that's checking you out.
How is that any different from making a joke
about a bomb in an airport?
Mike?
I have to disagree.
I think it's totally different.
Really?
First of all, I think you should be allowed
to say things in airports.
But, I mean,
what if we need to report on the actions of Al-Qaeda?
Will we have to invent a code word for Al-Qaeda,
and will that then become banned?
I mean, it's very dangerous ground
that they're heading down.
You know, I think we should make a point
between now and September 1st
to use those words in every show that we do.
Well, we can do that.
Because we can do it until...
If we can do it, I say we do it.
I think it's ridiculous.
The lawyers said,
yeah, we can do it.
They said that.
I know.
But the thing is,
after September 1st,
we're going to face $325,000 fines
if we say that.
Now, you know,
basically, Mike,
there are people who agree with you.
The ACLU, in fact,
called the plan so arbitrary, draconian...
I can't say shoes on the air?
Because shoes can have things in them.
I mean...
Did any of you ever rich agree?
We're at war.
I mean, this is a post-9-11 world.
Yes, Rob?
But where does this leave the band Anthrax?
Can we not play their music on the radio anymore?
Well, we can play the music.
You just can't say the words.
So we'll have to obliquely refer to them.
I don't...
It's just so hard to understand.
It just seems...
I don't know.
It seems pretty clear to me.
It seems a bit unfair to them.
So we'll turn them into Prince,
is what you're saying?
Yeah, yeah.
Okay, well, actually,
we lost so much time before,
so we need to move on.
This is an interesting story, too.
We talked a lot about digital television,
the transition to digital television.
We have not talked as much about digital radio,
but it has been in the media quite a bit.
The digital TV transition
progressed with many false starts.
It's now scheduled for June 12th at last count.
Who knows what's going to happen after that?
The rapidly approaching digital radio transition
is receiving scant media coverage.
Relatively unpublicized is the fact that
July 4th, 2009
is the scheduled cutover date
for digital radio in the United States.
That may come as a real surprise
to millions of FM radio listeners.
And I know people are listening to us on FM now,
so they ought to pay close attention to this story.
AM radio, by the way,
anybody who still listens to that,
is scheduled for mandatory digital cutover
December 31st, 2009.
Congress has set both of these dates as a hard date
without any time extensions
as there were for the digital TV transition.
Now, FM radio listeners will have to purchase
either a new high-definition radio
or a high-definition radio converter box by July 4th.
The converter, which costs about $50.
You've gotten yours, I hope, Red Hat.
You look like you might be a little worried about this.
I actually have an HD radio.
My last purchase, I just picked up an HD radio.
You can almost see the high definition
when you listen to the radio.
In fact, we have a demonstration,
but I want to finish the story first.
The converter costs about $50.
It connects between your radio and antenna
in your home or car.
Pretty simple.
But because the converter is powered separately,
portable radio owners have little option
but to buy a new portable high-definition radio.
And those people at TSA or ATSA
listening to the portable radio,
they're going to have to put a little box there
and power that separately
or they have to get a new radio entirely
and they're available for less than $200.
I mean, it's one thing for my home radio.
No problem.
But I have a radio in my cell phone.
I don't know how I'm supposed to replace that
without replacing my whole cell phone.
Well, there's a website.
You can go to the website.
And we've talked about this before.
And I don't want to spend too much time on it
because I really think
that we're overblowing the concern
as far as what the worry is going to be.
Now, Consumers Union says,
this mandatory digital radio transition
is a shameful example
of corporate special interest lobbying
by the NAB,
National Association of Broadcasters,
and some of its members.
Again, I disagree because I've heard the difference.
In fact, let's play the demo
of what it sounds like,
what the difference will be
when the cutover takes place.
Now, those of you who actually
have already installed the boxes,
as you should have by now,
because there's been enough warning about that,
you'll hear what,
I guess, an enhanced version of the show.
You'll hear us.
It'll sound like we're right next to you.
It'll sound like we're surrounding you
with our words.
It's actually really cool.
It's so cool.
It's so cool.
So what we're going to do is
we're going to talk for about,
I don't know, 30 seconds or so
in the enhanced version.
Now, those of you who have not gotten
the enhanced version,
you'll hear,
it might not sound as good,
but you should still be able to understand
everything that we're saying.
So hang on.
Let me just throw a switch over there.
Okay, so next thing you'll hear
will be us talking through the digital converter
for the new high-definition radio
becoming mandatory July 4th, 2009.
Here we go.
♪
♪
♪
♪
♪
♪
♪
♪
♪
♪
♪
♪
Clear as a bell.
And that's basically,
if you have done the conversion,
you should have no trouble understanding it.
All right, cool.
So I'm looking forward to that quite a bit.
How's it going to work out
for our internet listeners?
There's a hole in the box they have to get.
Hole in the box.
Yes, Rob, we've got to move on.
Yeah, that was a lot of fun, though.
It was kind of like a
Mr. Watson, come here, I want your moment.
Yeah, it was beautiful.
That really sounded good.
Okay, more changes in the works
from the Associated Press.
They're calling this a surprise move.
I wasn't that surprised
because I saw this coming for a while.
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names
and Numbers, known as ICANN,
voted to retire the .gov
generic top-level domain, known as gTLD,
and place all respective
U.S. government addresses
under the country code
top-level domain, known as ccTLD,
of .us.
Now, that basically means
that .gov sites will, from,
when does this actually take effect?
It has to happen by March 27th.
March 27th of next year.
Okay, and instead of .gov,
the sites are going to be known as .go.us.
And basically what they say is
international pressure led to the vote.
ICANN stands by the result.
A spokesperson, Dan Walsh,
for the federal government,
held a press conference saying
the situation is not ideal
given that ICANN has international control
of a domain name assignment.
We will, however, file an appeal.
The White House is quick to acknowledge
ICANN's decision,
and as of Monday morning,
the White House website was accessible
via both WhiteHouse.gov
and WhiteHouse.go.us.
And that's the other thing.
I've seen some posts about this,
how they're going to make this
into a patriotic thing
and say that .gov websites
are now accessible by typing .go.us.
And so it's kind of a patriotic call to arms.
Go U.S. I like it.
I think the really interesting thing about this
is despite the government's objections,
they're actually allowing ICANN to have a free hand.
Historically, they've exercised
really tight control over ICANN.
And as much as I don't like ICANN,
I'm glad to see that they're able
to take a stand in this way.
What do you have against ICANN?
Well, you know, this is a long-time issue
within ICANN.
They've been debating this for a while.
And, you know, like you said,
we saw this coming, but, you know,
I guess the government is going to just
take it in stride.
Or, well, they're filing an appeal,
but if it doesn't work out.
I really don't think any of us
truly believes that the government
really wants to go through
with this whole appeal thing.
They know that's BS.
They wanted this whole
go U.S. thing the entire time.
It's just a half-hearted appeal.
Bernie, any thoughts from you?
Well, it's really the right thing
to do, Emmanuel.
The United States government
is not the only government in the world.
So it's unfair for the U.S.
to have a monopoly
on the .gov domain name.
So now it can be .go.us
and go.ca for Canada and so forth.
It's sort of an enthusiastic thing,
like go U.S.
It's a lot more fair.
There's no question about that.
Okay, and we have this other item, too,
which we just got only a few minutes ago.
As some of us may know,
today is April 1st,
and it's a day that the Conficker...
How do you pronounce that, Mike?
I don't know.
It's a Windows thing, right?
Let's just say it's Conficker.
I think that's what you're supposed to say.
It could be Conficker,
but I'm going to say Conficker.
The Conficker worm hit computers
around the world today,
and we've been hearing the reports
all day long.
Now, for those who don't know,
researchers have been predicting
all kinds of chaos
similar to that predicted
prior to Y2K.
In that case,
most of the doom and gloom scenarios
proved to be unfounded,
but as news reports all day
have indicated,
chaos is a mild term
for what has been happening.
The reports so far
have been pretty staggering.
At Atlantis Hartsfield International Airport,
television monitors and terminals
that normally broadcast a CNN feed
inexplicably aired a repeating loop
of a 1987 Rick Astley music video.
Air traffic controllers in Paris
were forced to shut operations down
and purge machines
running the Windows operating system
in order to stop an audio broadcast
from an unknown source
that simply said,
all your base are belong to us
every 30 seconds.
The phrase is well known
in the hacker world
to indicate victory over an opponent.
You know, again,
CNN is getting this wrong.
That's not what the phrase means,
but we're not going to get
into that right now.
The airline industry
was far from alone
in feeling the effects of Conficker.
A television station
in Paducah, Kentucky,
had a popular daytime talk show
overridden with images of,
according to a spokesman,
donkey pornography.
Yeah.
Chicago's mass transit system
was unable to collect fares
for most of the day,
allowing passengers
to ride for free,
something the Chicago Transit Authority
did not find very amusing.
Now, Conficker.C
is a malicious program
written in the C language
that is estimated to hit
over 50 million computers
running the Windows operating system.
C is a very popular language
for hackers.
Again, I take issue with that,
but we'll write CNN later.
This is the key, though.
Only authorized copies of Windows
appear to be vulnerable
to this particular worm
that's spreading around.
Pirated versions so far
have escaped any adverse effects,
which possibly explains
why so few computers in China
appear to have been infected.
And Microsoft is offering
a $250,000 reward
for anyone claiming
to be the author of the worm.
So, interesting turn of events today.
Conficker is loose
and causing all kinds of problems.
Are we surprised by this?
I mean, it really hasn't affected,
I think most of us here
aren't Windows users,
so I can't really speak from personal...
You know, it was actually
really cleverly written,
and the later versions of it
have been revised,
so actually the commands
that they receive
have to be signed
with a digital key
that way that people, you know,
who are trying to basically
shut down the spread of the worm
can't send them messages
telling them to just stop.
Yeah.
So it was really well written.
I will say one thing.
I'm sorry, go ahead.
The article you read
was from CNN?
Yeah, it was.
And apparently
they've never heard of Rickrolling,
otherwise the whole Rick Astley thing
would be a lot clearer to them.
Rickrolling.
That's a bizarre phrase.
In fact, a lot of this
has been kind of weird.
I'm looking over these stories
that we've been reading,
and I don't know if we really
have been looking...
Oh, crap, it's happening again!
Ugh.
You know, every time that happens
I get more and more dizzy,
and we wind up in some bizarre place,
and I don't know where we are
or what we're talking about.
Here we all are again,
and look at this.
We only have a couple of minutes left.
All right, here we are.
It's off the hook.
I want to welcome people.
Mike.
Hi there.
Redhacked.
Hello.
Rob T. Firefly.
Good evening.
Voltaire.
Bernie down in Philadelphia.
Greetings from Philadelphia.
Hello.
Dot Rhett.
Hello.
And Gus.
Oh, hi.
How are you doing?
I'm sorry, you know,
I seem to have lost track of time,
but we were going to take phone calls,
and I think we should do that, right?
I wanted to do that.
We're taking phone calls
from the top of the program?
Well, we only seem to have
a few minutes left.
I don't know what's been going on,
and Bernie seems to be all
out of breath there,
so we should take some kind of
listener feedback
to what's been going on.
I just feel a little bit out of it,
that's all.
I'm sorry.
My head hurts.
Yeah, you're feeling the same thing,
because every time,
is my nose bleeding?
Every time there's a flash,
I really feel this extreme headache,
and I almost don't make it each time.
You look okay,
but maybe we should finish up
so you can get some rest.
Yeah, I'd like that a lot.
This has been very stressful.
I'm not quite sure why.
All right.
Our phone number,
212-209-2900.
Yeah, okay.
Let's take a phone call.
Pick a line, Mike.
My fingers are shaking.
Let's go with five.
Five, all right.
Good evening.
Nice, nice pick there.
Do you think anyone's actually out there?
Maybe it's all...
Bernie, are you okay?
You sound out of breath, too.
I'm okay.
I'm just pretty disoriented.
Are you seeing the flash?
Because every time that happens,
there's this brilliant...
I don't know how this is happening,
but there's a brilliant flash,
but you're in Philadelphia.
Do you see the flash?
I had it, too.
It seemed to be coming
from inside my head, though.
It's very strange.
Yeah, no,
it's exactly what I was feeling.
Okay, you know,
I think radio history
is being made here tonight.
Let's try this one over here.
Hello, good evening.
Speak up, please.
Is anyone there?
Yeah, hi.
Hi.
Can you hear us?
Yeah, I can hear you.
You guys,
you realize you were taken over
by like some weird
Christian country station?
You know,
people are passing me notes
and all kinds of things.
There's people outside.
There's crowds of people
on the street.
I don't know what's happening exactly,
so I'm going to find out
after the show.
You said...
It was crazy, man.
It was crazy.
It was crazy.
It was crazy.
It was crazy, man.
Tell us what you heard
because I only can remember
the last couple of minutes.
This is WBAI, right?
This is WBAI?
Yes, this is WBAI.
Okay, you know,
as I usually do,
I was cooking dinner
and listening to the show
and all of a sudden
I heard like crazy,
like her first pony
and the preacher's daughter
and like all this crazy
new country
in the midst of 10,000...
10,000 minutes.
10,000 country hits?
I'm remembering that too,
but I don't know
from where I'm remembering that.
I don't know
from where I'm remembering that.
I don't know
from where I'm remembering that.
I don't know
from where I'm remembering that.
I don't know
from where I'm remembering that.
Ah, well, it was on...
It's like we shared a dream.
It was on your location.
Is this an April Fool's joke?
Tell me not.
No.
I don't think.
Is it?
If so,
the joke's on me,
I guess.
Yes, man.
Well, anyhow,
I'm glad you guys are back.
Yeah, well, you know,
I don't know where we were
to be honest,
but it's good to be here,
but they're telling me
I have to leave now
to answer a whole lot
of questions outside.
Have a great night.
Thanks.
Thanks for calling.
It's kind of like
he's our constant,
our listener.
It's like important
to have a constant out there.
Voltaire, yes?
I was going to say,
that might explain
why they saw
all those people
with cowboy hats outside.
You saw people with cowboy...
Well, don't tell me that.
I don't know
if you're kidding or not,
but that's not funny.
There's nothing funny
about cowboy hats.
Here's the thing.
What I'm wondering,
there's a lot of images
going through my head
and I just wonder,
are these the shadows
of the things that will be
or the shadows
of the things that may be?
That's the thing, you know?
Because what you have to realize
is that we come here every week
and we do our show,
but, you know,
the whole thing
could just vanish like that,
you know?
Oh, no, no, no, no!
I did not want this to happen.
I recognized your number
It's burned into my brain
Felt my heart beating faster
Every time it rang
Some things never change
That's why I didn't answer
I bet you're in a bar
Listening to a country song
Glass of Johnny Walker in
With no one to take you home
They're probably closing down
Saying no more alcohol
I bet you're in a bar
Cause I'm always your last call
I don't need to check that message
I know what it says
Baby, I still love you
Don't mean nothing
When there's whiskey on your breath
That's the only love I get
So if you're calling
I bet you're in a bar
Listening to a cheap song
Glass of Johnny Walker in
With no one to take you home
They're probably closing down
Saying no more alcohol
I bet you're in a bar
I bet you're in a bar
Cause I'm always your last
Call me crazy
But I think maybe
We've had our last call
I bet you're in a bar
It's always the same old song
Glass of Johnny Walker in
By now it's almost gone
But baby I won't be there
To catch you when you fall
I bet you're in a bar
Cause I'm always your last call
I bet you're in a bar
It's always the same old song
212-209-2800
or email
servebai at yahoo.com
s-e-r-v-e-b-a-i at yahoo.com
so that your name can be added to the list at the security desk
Please bring photo ID with you
Again, that's Tuesday, April 14th at 7 p.m.
The Community Advisory Board is an advisory body
required by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting
to review community needs and station programming
The Community Advisory Board is completely advisory in nature
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