Sunday, August 21, 2005

Why Terry David Mulligan pisses me off

Perhaps the best spoil of being a CKUA listener is the fact that the announcers are by and large more inclined to play music than to talk. On CKUA I get nothing but good music played continuously, with a small ad break at the bottom of the hour and announcers who only talk in order to identify what song I just heard and if there is relevant concert or CD release information.

On commercial "theme" radio stations, one will often be subjected to a DJ prattling on and on about some useless topic like Ashlee Simpson or some variation of toilet/bathroom humour that I last found funny in Grade 3. There is an insane (when compared with CKUA) number of advertisements, from car sales to beer promotions, that interrupt the music that is being played on commercial radio. And the music, well, I kinda got tired of The Guess Who about the same time I realized they last had a hit in 1978. But this isn't anything new, my hatred of commercial radio is well documented.

Anyway, long rambling story finally getting to its point, as I will now document why Terry David Mulligan pisses me off. For those of you that don't know who TDM is you can read his bio-info here. He is, in short, a relatively successful actor, having appeared in a variety of cinema and TV shows, usually in a supporting role. Nothing wrong with that, unless we get ranting about how Hollywood and TV are pretty much solely responsible for the dumbing down of western society. But we'll save that rant for another day.

TDM has a show on CKUA, called Mulligan's Stew. It airs Saturdays from 5-7pm and because TDM is a bit of an aging boomer who misses his glory days, features a lot of stuff like the Rolling Stones. Good music, yes, but nothing uber-progressive like I am used to hearing on CKUA. I find his music selection to be okay at best. Yesterday he played the live version of All Along the Watchtower by the Dave Matthews Band, a wicked tune that had me rocking. TDM then played BTO's Taking Care of Business, a song I can hear (and have heard more than enough) on commercial radio. If I wanted to pretend it was 1978, I would listen to K-Rock here in Edmonton and watch Fubar. So TDM's music selection is hit and miss for me, but because he is only on 2 hours a week, I usually don't get too chapped about it.

But he talks. And talks. And talks. And talks. And talks. All the time. He must absolutely love the sound of his own voice, as he seems to enjoy talking on and on in a winding, go nowhere, Grampa Simpson-manner. It pisses me off to no end. JUST PLAY SOME GODDAMN MUSIC! I didn't tune it to hear TDM prattle on and on about how he was hanging out with Steven Page from the Barenaked Ladies last weekend. Nor did I tune in to hear TDM yabber about how he thinks Page is great because when TDM was auditioning for a part in a small, made-for-TV series in Wichita, Kansas he realized that the Barenaked Ladies had also once stayed at the very same hotel blah blah blah on and on.

Furthermore, anyone who uses their entire name, including the middle one, is obviously either an egotistical fanatic or a potential Presidential assassin. If I came around and told you that expected to be called by my full name you would probably wonder about the size of my head (ego-wise, not physical "ha ha giant Archibald cranium" joke-wise. Jerks). If I ever see TDM in person, I will walk up to him and say: "How's it going T?" and then run away before he can start talking, as I am sure it would be a 3 hour conversation about his hair and how it reminds him of Wichita, Kansas.

Anyway, while I usually am an unabashed supporter of all things CKUA, I have come to the end of my rope when I have to listen to TDM talk and talk for 60% of his show. If, like yesterday, I am in the truck and have no alternative, I usually just turn the volume down when he starts yapping and then turn it back up in a minute or three, once the music has started up again. I am sure that TDM is a relatively nice guy, and he does have his heart in the right spot by supporting CKUA, but it pisses me off to no end to have to listen to empty talk on the one radio station that has managed to keep radio pure.

I think my rants are getting weaker. It must be the old age. Ah, the hell with it.

A sovereign thought, delivered to your door at 9:35 AM ~~ 4 bonsai trees

shout out out out out out

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