Friday, July 14, 2017

Missing Music

When I got my new(er) car back in February, it had a SirusXM radio that had never been activated. Which means it was still eligible for the complementary three months service thing they do.

I'd had SiriusXM since I got Vlad (the Impala) in late 2007. It was actually XM Radio at the time, before the merger with Sirius Satellite Radio in late 2008. I'd gone through some cutbacks over the next few years, and was preparing to drop XM (it was Sirius XM by then), but one of the reps offered me a really cheap plan just to keep me on. Didn't offer much, none of the 60s on 6 type of channels, but it had Symphony Hall, Classic Rewind, Classic Vinyl, The Bridge, and Laugh USA, so it was enough to keep me entertained while driving. Overall, around 50 channels.

I don't see the plan I have online, so I'm assuming it was a retention plan, keeping me as a customer for $6/month (it just went up to $7/month in June) rather than losing me altogether.

Where was I? Oh. The radio in the new car. Right.

When I retired Vlad and put Abe into service, I contacted Sirius XM about switching service. Because of the plan I had, I couldn't do it online, and had to call them. I intended to simply switch service to the radio in the new car and leave everything as is. Well, that's when the CSR found out that Radio ID has never been used with the three month introductory plan. And, yes, it was still eligible. So, they put that on, and scheduled it to return to the previous plan ($6/month at the time) when it the three months were up.

Well, for three months, I had the big package. All the channels. And that's when I started wandering around the dial. Before that, I had programmed the channels I was used to on the presets. Then I went wandering. The Decades channels were there (you know, 60s on 6, 70s on 7, and so on), along with many others I had heard before. It was nice.

Of course, some channels were gone. 40s on 4 had been replaced by some nonsense on 4. Then, I stumbled across SirisXM 74, 40s Junction. So, 40s on 4 had actually been incorporated into a 40s-style station. I say that because they'd actually play songs from the 50s that were stylistically 40s music. For example, Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White is a 50s song, but it sounds like something from the 40s. It was written in 1950, and was a major world-wide hit for Perez Prado in 1955. They didn't play that on 40s on 4, but did on 50s on 5, even though it sounded like something from 40s on 4. They do play it on 40s Junction.

The point is -- at least, now this is the point -- that I discovered how much I missed the 40s music. I never listened a lot to it, but would listen to some. I spent most of the next three months listening to 40s Junction.

The three months ended, and my subscription to the Sirius Basic plan kicked in again, right in the middle of some song. I toyed with the idea of upgrading my plan, but the cheapskate in me won out. Back to classic rock and classical music.

But, I do miss the 40s music.


[The YouTube]

I miss it a lot.

Tuesday, July 11, 2017

Watching the Un-MSTied versions, Update 1

I mentioned in June that I was watching the un-MSTied versions of the movies shown on Mystery Science Theater 3000. Actually, I had mentioned that in April, but that was in passing. In June, I began focusing on doing that. Still am.

Since the, I've only watched five of the movies I haven't previously seen in un-MSTied form:
  • The Deadly Bees
  • Invasion of the Neptune Men
  • The Mole People
  • Prince of Space
  • The She-Creature
Why only five? That's all I could find. I had to subscribe to Netflix DVDs to get those. Yes, I actually did that. And, it leaves me with 45 movies still to go:
  • Agent for H.A.R.M.
  • At the Earth's Core
  • Carnival Magic
  • Code Name: Diamond Head
  • Daddy-O
  • The Dead Talk Back
  • Devil Doll
  • Escape 2000 (Escape from the Bronx) (Bronx Warriors 2)
  • Final Justice
  • Godzilla vs. Megalon
  • The Green Slime
  • Hamlet, Prinz von Dänemark
  • Invaders from the Deep
  • Kitten with a Whip
  • Last of the Wild Horses
  • The Legend of Dinosaurs
  • Lost Continent
  • Master Ninja I
  • Master Ninja II
  • Pod People (The Pod People) (The New Extraterrestrials)
  • Quest of the Delta Knights
  • Red Zone Cuba (Night Train to Mundo Fine)
  • Revenge of the Mysterons from Mars
  • San Francisco International
  • Secret Agent Super Dragon
  • The Sinister Urge
  • The Slime People
  • Soultaker
  • The Space Children
  • Space Mutiny (Mutiny In Space)
  • SST - Death Flight
  • Superdome
  • The Starfighters
  • Teen-Age Crime Wave
  • Teen-Age Strangler (Terror in the Night)
  • The Thing That Couldn't Die
  • Time Chasers (Tangents)
  • The Touch of Satan
  • Untamed Youth
  • Village of the Giants
  • Warrior of the Lost World
  • Werewolf (Arizona Werewolf)
  • Wild Rebels
  • Wizards of the Lost Kingdom II
  • Women of the Prehistoric Planet (The Prehistoric Planet)
A few are available via Amazon by renting them. Over a dozen are listed on Netflix DVDs, but not in stock. So, I'm gonna ride Netflix DVD until that peters out. Will probably take a while, what with having to wait a couple of days inbetween each mailing. I've found other movies, unrelated to this project, that I'd like to see anyway, so I'm having Netflix send me those until the MST3K-related movies are back in stock.

Wednesday, July 5, 2017

Don Henley is now a tired old man

Remember the Don Henley song, "The End of the Innocence?"


Don Henley The End of Innocence by HollieMario

The lyrics at 1:59 refers to President Reagan as "the tired old man that we elected king." Now, while the song was co-written by Don Henley and Bruce Hornsby, and both sang it in concerts, the song and video were released by Henley, so he owns this, as far as I'm concerned.

Now, let's do some math.

From Ronald Reagan's birth to his inauguration was 25,551 days.

From Don Henley's birth to today is 25,551 days.

Don Henley, as of today, July 5, 2017, is now the same age Reagan was when he took office.

I wonder if he considers himself a tired old man. Maybe he should have just stuck to mentioning political references instead of trying to get personal. Because getting personal will always bite you in the ass.