Radio Binghamton

I have this cool 1937 Zenith radio, like the kind the Waltons used to listen to. It stands about 4 feet high, is made of hard wood, and has an AM band, a police band, and a short wave band. I could never get the police band to work, but the AM and Short Wave work great. I love this thing. I listen to stations from around the world at night as the soft light of the big circular dial glows. I get stations from Romania, Russia, China, Voice of America, BBC, Australia, Africa, South America, you name it.
About a year ago, the tuner blew out on me, meaning the little wire inside the moves the dial broke. So I was stuck listening to one channel, WRKO 680, the last channel I had tuned in to. Last June, I decided to take it to my friendly East Coast antique radio repair man in Binghamton, NY, to get it fixed. This guy is about the only one on the East Coast who fixes antique radios, so he has about a year waiting list. He told me not to expect anything until summer 2009. Whoa!
Well, I got a call last week that my radio was ready. He was a little ahead of schedule and managed to squeeze my order in, so I hit the road for Binghamton last Friday to pick it up. Binghamton is no where near the other Hamptons, it's in upstate NY, near Elmira, about a five hour drive for me. So, I loaded up the buggy with gas, some CDs and tapes, and I was gone.

The key to such a long trip is to strategically mix radio consumption with CDs and tapes. You want to listen to the radio because you are traveling to new places where you get new radio stations, but you also must keep in mind that in some parts of the trip there will be a lull where you only get country stations, right wing nutjobs, or religious freaks. That's where you pop in the CDs.
I started out listening to the radio because I knew I would get Mike Francesa on WFAN right off the bat. I start picking up Mike fairly quickly and I'm immediately hooked on two things. One, he's talking about the Mets, who I don't like, but there is mini controversy brewing. Mike, who, sans Dog, now calls his show Mike'd Up, was at Mets training camp and he was doing interviews with Mets players. The big story of the day was if David Wright and Ryan Church, two Mets that Mike had blasted last year for being a choke and a hothead, respectively, would come on the air with him. They were pissed off at him for his past remarks and had been boycotting him. Mike said he'd give them one more chance to bury the hatchet, but they declined. Mike went off on both of them, calling Church, essentially a nobody that he couldn't care less if he never graced his airwaves again. Wright, on the other hand, is a star player, so Mike said he would like to have him on for the fans. But if Wright was going to be thin skinned and couldn't handle a little criticism after two of the worst choke jobs in baseball history the last two years, well, then, so be it. He called Wright immature and thin skinned and said he was done with him. He didn't care if he ever came on again.
Reaction from the callers was mixed, some were supporting him, others were blasting him. To this listener, it was vintage Mike. Great, compelling radio.
Next up was Jim Calhoun, coach of Uconn, who Mike has had run ins with in the past. This was Calhoun's first interview since he lambasted a reporter and told him to shut up at a post game press conference. Mike was on Jimmy's side on this one, as am I. I love how Coach Calhoun handled that guy. I don't have a problem with the guy asking the question about Calhoun's salary, but I also don't mind Calhoun ripping him a new one. We need more press conferences like that -- that's entertainment. You can take the boy out of Southie, but you can't take Southie out of the boy.

I started losing Mike shortly after the Calhoun interview and this is where I switched to Carlin. I had two George Carlin CDs that I played, one on the way out, one on the way back. George was the best comedian of all-time in my mind. What a genius and he got better with age. I think stand up comedy is the highest, truest art form, higher than acting, singing, dancing, anything. It's a man on stage with a mic trying to make you laugh with no props, nothing but his wits. But beyond that, the best comedians are the most honest chroniclers and commentators of the times they live in. You won't hear the truth on the news or in the papers or in movies or TV, but you will from a great comedian standing on stage. Everything else is filtered and scripted and regulated, but there is no filter on a comedian on a stage in a club. Why so many go from comedy to other watered down media is beyond me, like it's a step up. Eddie Murphy is a great example. His first few albums were legendary, but then he gave it up and went on to make crappy movies. Carlin never did though, he knew what he was doing was the pinnacle. And he did it better than anyone else.
From Carlin I popped in the next best comedian of all-time, Chris Rock. He's another one that's dedicated to his craft and just nails it. Even though he has dabbled in movies, he always comes back to stand up. His first CD, Born Suspect, is friggin' hilarious.
I've prattled on long enough. Rock took me in to Binghamton where I picked up my radio and turned around and headed home.