Tuesday, January 25, 2005
We Built This Blog On Rock And Roll
Only on 102.5 FM can you hear Marilyn Manson’s “Godeatgod” fade into the glorious first notes of Def Leppard’s “Foolin’.” All rock, no talk. No annoying commercials, and no fluffy morning shows (unfortunately, there are no traffic reports, school closings, or give-aways either). Omaha / Council Bluffs / Blair / Treynor (basically anywhere where meth and Nascar are hot): prepare yourself for the hottest new station… 102.5, “The Carl!”
Thanks to the miracle of modern science, 102.5 FM KARL (“The Carl”) is on the air. My MP3 player (a 40 GB Nomad Zen Xtra) is an amazing toy to a caveman such as myself, but when it is paired with the Belkin TuneCast II (digital) FM Transmitter… well, we have ourselves a radio station. 102.5 FM, the official radio station of The Bubblegoose!
Some how two AAA batteries are enough to allow you to send the signal from any headphone jacked MP3 player to a vacant radio station in your area. In my case, I choose 102.5 FM (now lovingly known by all as Omaha’s own “The Carl”). The Belkin is a small capsule shaped device, the size of a chicken nugget… and me being a caveman, I am completely amazed by the whole process.
So what format is 102.5 FM KARL? Well, it is an open format (like all cool stations), which I will demonstrate below. More or less, if you like Motown, soul, classic rock, punk, modern rock, reggae, anime soundtracks, or metal you are in the right place.
What is the reception area? You probably can’t receive it. It doesn’t work in the ’93 Saturn (due to the Saturn’s omnibus of electrical problems), but can be heard on rare occasions all over the ’00 Intrepid. The best signal so far has been on weekends at Jennie Edmundson Memorial Hospital in the pharmacy, where it totally rocks for six hours (which is how long the AAA’s seem to hold out). At JEMH, the Belkin still broadcasts pretty well at distances of 10 feet from the receiver (a bombed-out bookshelf stereo).
The Nomad itself is an iPod killer. It is 40 GB for under $250 new. Outside of the small, impact resistant case that Creative provides free with the player, the Nomad is approximately the width and thickness of deck of playing cards… not as long as a checkbook, but longer than a baseball card. And it barely weighs anything.
I have 2800 songs currently loaded on the Nomad, and there are 27 GB left! I haven’t even used half of the storage capacity. I even use a high bit-rate, WMA file in favor of MP3. It is stupid how much it holds. The maddening thing is, once I load on the few remaining CDs that are still floating about my brother’s lair, I will still not break the 20 GB mark. It makes me wonder, will I ever fill this thing? One would go broke trying.
The follow up question would be, if one was to not load entire albums, but just worthwhile songs, could you still fill 40 GB? If so, then for $50 more, you can buy the same model, but with 60 GB. The iPod is currently maxed out at 40 GB, and that model costs about $400 or so. For $100 less dollars, you can have a perfect player with 60 GB space! As if anyone would need 60 GB! I can just imagine DJ’s at school dances, wedding receptions, and nightclubs whipping out a Nomad instead of crates of records and a bulky turntable coffin / CD player set up. Isn’t technology amazing? And 102.5 FM (“The Carl” in case you forgot) uses this space-age technology to bring you killer tunes.
Back to the format question. Here is what an actual fifty song commercial-free rock block sounds like emitting from 102.5 FM. (broadcast 11 PM 1/24/05). Look closely, there are some odd coincidences that arise via “random” mode…
1. The Gloaming - Radiohead
2. The Wizard – Black Sabbath
3. No Thugs in Our House – XTC
4. The Girl with the Strong Arm – The Dead Milkmen
5. Girl’s Just Want to Have Fun – Petty Booka
6. Look What You Done for Me – Al Green
7. N-Sub Ulysses – Nation of Ulysses
8. Go Mental – Ramones
9. Bananas and Blow – Ween
10. Over – Portishead
11. Redbone in the City – Bad Brains
12. Codeine – Donovan
13. The Biggest Lie – Elliot Smith
14. Rain on the Scarecrow – John Mellencamp
15. Caffeine – Faith No More
16. An Attempt to Tip the Scales – Bright Eyes
17. Fall on Me – REM
18. Mary – Tori Amos
19. Night By Night – Steely Dan
20. I am downright amazed at what I can destroy with just a hammer – Atom and His Package
21. Lovesong – The Cure
22. Suspension my Love – Scaterd Few
23. Step Up Ghettoblaster – Mindless Self Indugence
24. Sodium Light – Nero’s Rome
25. Face Value – Prong
26. God is in the Radio – Queens of the Stone Age
27. Wooden Jesus – Temple of the Dog
28. Moron – The Dead Milkmen
29. Dirty Mind – Prince
30. Storm in my House – Minutemen
31. I Want Something More – Bad Religion
32. Centre for Holy Wars – New Pornographers
33. Making Flippy Floppy – Talking Heads
34. Left Hand Luke and the Beggar Boys – T.Rex
35. King for a Day – Jamiroquai
36. Small Man, Big Mouth – Minor Threat
37. Bury Me With It – Modest Mouse
38. Stone Cold Crazy – Queen
39. Destroy Babylon – Bad Brains
40. Sweet and Tender Hooligan – The Smiths
41. The Hardest Button to Button – The White Stripes
42. Ride on Shooting Star – The Pillows
43. Jet Airliner – Steve Miller
44. Sweet Soul Sister – The Cult
45. Where Have All the Good Times Gone – David Bowie
46. Message in a Bottle – The Police
47. Hold Me Now – The Polyphonic Spree
48. Heroin (live) – Lou Reed
49. Maneater – Hall and Oates
50. Fundamentally Loathsome – Marilyn Manson
102.5 FM KARL, Omaha’s “The Carl”… Horns up!
Thanks to the miracle of modern science, 102.5 FM KARL (“The Carl”) is on the air. My MP3 player (a 40 GB Nomad Zen Xtra) is an amazing toy to a caveman such as myself, but when it is paired with the Belkin TuneCast II (digital) FM Transmitter… well, we have ourselves a radio station. 102.5 FM, the official radio station of The Bubblegoose!
Some how two AAA batteries are enough to allow you to send the signal from any headphone jacked MP3 player to a vacant radio station in your area. In my case, I choose 102.5 FM (now lovingly known by all as Omaha’s own “The Carl”). The Belkin is a small capsule shaped device, the size of a chicken nugget… and me being a caveman, I am completely amazed by the whole process.
So what format is 102.5 FM KARL? Well, it is an open format (like all cool stations), which I will demonstrate below. More or less, if you like Motown, soul, classic rock, punk, modern rock, reggae, anime soundtracks, or metal you are in the right place.
What is the reception area? You probably can’t receive it. It doesn’t work in the ’93 Saturn (due to the Saturn’s omnibus of electrical problems), but can be heard on rare occasions all over the ’00 Intrepid. The best signal so far has been on weekends at Jennie Edmundson Memorial Hospital in the pharmacy, where it totally rocks for six hours (which is how long the AAA’s seem to hold out). At JEMH, the Belkin still broadcasts pretty well at distances of 10 feet from the receiver (a bombed-out bookshelf stereo).
The Nomad itself is an iPod killer. It is 40 GB for under $250 new. Outside of the small, impact resistant case that Creative provides free with the player, the Nomad is approximately the width and thickness of deck of playing cards… not as long as a checkbook, but longer than a baseball card. And it barely weighs anything.
I have 2800 songs currently loaded on the Nomad, and there are 27 GB left! I haven’t even used half of the storage capacity. I even use a high bit-rate, WMA file in favor of MP3. It is stupid how much it holds. The maddening thing is, once I load on the few remaining CDs that are still floating about my brother’s lair, I will still not break the 20 GB mark. It makes me wonder, will I ever fill this thing? One would go broke trying.
The follow up question would be, if one was to not load entire albums, but just worthwhile songs, could you still fill 40 GB? If so, then for $50 more, you can buy the same model, but with 60 GB. The iPod is currently maxed out at 40 GB, and that model costs about $400 or so. For $100 less dollars, you can have a perfect player with 60 GB space! As if anyone would need 60 GB! I can just imagine DJ’s at school dances, wedding receptions, and nightclubs whipping out a Nomad instead of crates of records and a bulky turntable coffin / CD player set up. Isn’t technology amazing? And 102.5 FM (“The Carl” in case you forgot) uses this space-age technology to bring you killer tunes.
Back to the format question. Here is what an actual fifty song commercial-free rock block sounds like emitting from 102.5 FM. (broadcast 11 PM 1/24/05). Look closely, there are some odd coincidences that arise via “random” mode…
1. The Gloaming - Radiohead
2. The Wizard – Black Sabbath
3. No Thugs in Our House – XTC
4. The Girl with the Strong Arm – The Dead Milkmen
5. Girl’s Just Want to Have Fun – Petty Booka
6. Look What You Done for Me – Al Green
7. N-Sub Ulysses – Nation of Ulysses
8. Go Mental – Ramones
9. Bananas and Blow – Ween
10. Over – Portishead
11. Redbone in the City – Bad Brains
12. Codeine – Donovan
13. The Biggest Lie – Elliot Smith
14. Rain on the Scarecrow – John Mellencamp
15. Caffeine – Faith No More
16. An Attempt to Tip the Scales – Bright Eyes
17. Fall on Me – REM
18. Mary – Tori Amos
19. Night By Night – Steely Dan
20. I am downright amazed at what I can destroy with just a hammer – Atom and His Package
21. Lovesong – The Cure
22. Suspension my Love – Scaterd Few
23. Step Up Ghettoblaster – Mindless Self Indugence
24. Sodium Light – Nero’s Rome
25. Face Value – Prong
26. God is in the Radio – Queens of the Stone Age
27. Wooden Jesus – Temple of the Dog
28. Moron – The Dead Milkmen
29. Dirty Mind – Prince
30. Storm in my House – Minutemen
31. I Want Something More – Bad Religion
32. Centre for Holy Wars – New Pornographers
33. Making Flippy Floppy – Talking Heads
34. Left Hand Luke and the Beggar Boys – T.Rex
35. King for a Day – Jamiroquai
36. Small Man, Big Mouth – Minor Threat
37. Bury Me With It – Modest Mouse
38. Stone Cold Crazy – Queen
39. Destroy Babylon – Bad Brains
40. Sweet and Tender Hooligan – The Smiths
41. The Hardest Button to Button – The White Stripes
42. Ride on Shooting Star – The Pillows
43. Jet Airliner – Steve Miller
44. Sweet Soul Sister – The Cult
45. Where Have All the Good Times Gone – David Bowie
46. Message in a Bottle – The Police
47. Hold Me Now – The Polyphonic Spree
48. Heroin (live) – Lou Reed
49. Maneater – Hall and Oates
50. Fundamentally Loathsome – Marilyn Manson
102.5 FM KARL, Omaha’s “The Carl”… Horns up!
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