25 September 2012

Stupification of commercial radio in Canberra

| SimonSmith
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I’m a community radio listener but over the weekend my son flicked past a commercial station where I heard them say that “Captain Underpants” is giving away tickets to an upcoming Canberra production of War of the Worlds.

Now, I’m not a prude and I like a bit of fun as much as the next bloke, but really, do we have to sink to “Captain Underpants” to promote the superb music of Jeff Wayne and the classic Orson Welles story?

It’s trite and juvenile and so typical of what’s heard on commercial radio in Canberra. Please, if you can’t think of anything more creative than “Captain Underpants”, just give the tickets away to the first caller. We don’t also need the nauseating visuals of “Captain Underpants” inflicted on us.

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Anyhoo, back to radio. Tune in to 92.7FM now for one of the best in the business. Phil Birch-Marston doing his usual Thursday and Friday Arts Café show until 1.30pm.

Disclaimer: I’m not currently on any radio station and left Artsound in May.

RiotFrog said :

Overheard said :

RiotFrog said :

Overheard said :

Speaking of ‘stupidification’, I jumped in the car at lunch-time and THE very first words I heard when I turned on a commy station were ‘very unique’.

Grrrrr!

Right up there with ‘myriad of’.

It’s not English, people. NOT English.

Oh but it is. Take a look at the Macquarie Dictionary’s definition of “unique”…

You lost me at “Macquarie Dictionary”. Unique is binary. It is or it isn’t. No shades of grey.

Overheard said :

RiotFrog said :

Overheard said :

Speaking of ‘stupidification’, I jumped in the car at lunch-time and THE very first words I heard when I turned on a commy station were ‘very unique’.

Grrrrr!

Right up there with ‘myriad of’.

It’s not English, people. NOT English.

Oh but it is. Take a look at the Macquarie Dictionary’s definition of “unique”…

You lost me at “Macquarie Dictionary”. Unique is binary. It is or it isn’t. No shades of grey.

My point exactly. It says

“unique
// (say yooh’neek)
adjective 1. of which there is only one; sole.
2. having no like or equal; standing alone in comparison with others; unequalled.
3. remarkable, rare or unusual: *A well-planned bush picnic can be a unique experience for a city child. –betty preston, 1968. [French, from Latin ?nicus; replacing earlier unic, from Latin ?nicus]
–uniquely, adverb
–uniqueness, noun

Usage: Some writers insist that unique cannot mean `remarkable’ and that phrases like very unique are therefore nonsense. There is nevertheless ample evidence of its use in this way.”

And lots of people say ‘alternate’ when they mean ‘alternative’. They’ll even use the Macqaurie dictionary to tell you that ‘agreeance’ is extant.

Doesn’t make it right.

To paraphrase the MacDic’s footnote: “There is nevertheless ample evidence that many people are ar$e hats and couldn’t find their anal orifice without a road-map and a theodolite.”

Just sayin’…

Overheard said :

RiotFrog said :

Overheard said :

Speaking of ‘stupidification’, I jumped in the car at lunch-time and THE very first words I heard when I turned on a commy station were ‘very unique’.

Grrrrr!

Right up there with ‘myriad of’.

It’s not English, people. NOT English.

Oh but it is. Take a look at the Macquarie Dictionary’s definition of “unique”…

You lost me at “Macquarie Dictionary”. Unique is binary. It is or it isn’t. No shades of grey.

Overheard said :

RiotFrog said :

Overheard said :

Speaking of ‘stupidification’, I jumped in the car at lunch-time and THE very first words I heard when I turned on a commy station were ‘very unique’.

Grrrrr!

Right up there with ‘myriad of’.

It’s not English, people. NOT English.

Oh but it is. Take a look at the Macquarie Dictionary’s definition of “unique”…

You lost me at “Macquarie Dictionary”. Unique is binary. It is or it isn’t. No shades of grey.

My point exactly. It says

“unique
// (say yooh’neek)
adjective 1. of which there is only one; sole.
2. having no like or equal; standing alone in comparison with others; unequalled.
3. remarkable, rare or unusual: *A well-planned bush picnic can be a unique experience for a city child. –betty preston, 1968. [French, from Latin ?nicus; replacing earlier unic, from Latin ?nicus]
–uniquely, adverb
–uniqueness, noun

Usage: Some writers insist that unique cannot mean `remarkable’ and that phrases like very unique are therefore nonsense. There is nevertheless ample evidence of its use in this way.”

RiotFrog said :

Overheard said :

Speaking of ‘stupidification’, I jumped in the car at lunch-time and THE very first words I heard when I turned on a commy station were ‘very unique’.

Grrrrr!

Right up there with ‘myriad of’.

It’s not English, people. NOT English.

Oh but it is. Take a look at the Macquarie Dictionary’s definition of “unique”…

You lost me at “Macquarie Dictionary”. Unique is binary. It is or it isn’t. No shades of grey.

What happened to the singer Ivor Biggun? 1980s I think?

>flicked past a commercial station

well, there’s your problem.

Commercial radio is only listened to by school kids and ‘tradies’, hence they’re just appealing to the target demographic

Overheard said :

Speaking of ‘stupidification’, I jumped in the car at lunch-time and THE very first words I heard when I turned on a commy station were ‘very unique’.

Grrrrr!

Right up there with ‘myriad of’.

It’s not English, people. NOT English.

Oh but it is. Take a look at the Macquarie Dictionary’s definition of “unique”…

I knew a Juan King once. At the ANU…

Pork Hunt said :

Spykler said :

Overheard said :

Jungle Jim said :

Pretty sure Wayne Kerr and Jack Imoff are mates with Hugh too!

I seriously did work with a Wayne Kerr in the 1980s. What were his parents thinking?

Same…worked with a Wayne Kerr in the late 80’s- wonder if its the same guy? employed at the air force base?

There used to a Wayne King there for many years…

But I worked with this one in an office in the parliamentary triangle.

Pork Hunt said :

Spykler said :

Overheard said :

Jungle Jim said :

Pretty sure Wayne Kerr and Jack Imoff are mates with Hugh too!

I seriously did work with a Wayne Kerr in the 1980s. What were his parents thinking?

Same…worked with a Wayne Kerr in the late 80’s- wonder if its the same guy? employed at the air force base?

There used to a Wayne King there for many years…

Ah, gees. That’s his name, not Kerr. King. Gawd bless me memory.

Spykler said :

Overheard said :

Jungle Jim said :

Pretty sure Wayne Kerr and Jack Imoff are mates with Hugh too!

I seriously did work with a Wayne Kerr in the 1980s. What were his parents thinking?

Same…worked with a Wayne Kerr in the late 80’s- wonder if its the same guy? employed at the air force base?

There used to a Wayne King there for many years…

Woody Mann-Caruso7:29 pm 26 Sep 12

for the homogenization and Americanization of Australian culture

Ironic use of the letter ‘z’.

Overheard said :

Jungle Jim said :

Pretty sure Wayne Kerr and Jack Imoff are mates with Hugh too!

I seriously did work with a Wayne Kerr in the 1980s. What were his parents thinking?

Same…worked with a Wayne Kerr in the late 80’s- wonder if its the same guy? employed at the air force base?

SnapperJack said :

Conan of Cooma said :

Mate, you don’t even know who wrote The War of the Worlds, you shouldn’t be commenting on ‘stupification’.

“Stupification”? Isn’t the word stupefaction?

No stupification

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=stupification

SnapperJack said :

Conan of Cooma said :

Mate, you don’t even know who wrote The War of the Worlds, you shouldn’t be commenting on ‘stupification’.

“Stupification”? Isn’t the word stupefaction?

Neologism is not an FM station.

Speaking of ‘stupidification’, I jumped in the car at lunch-time and THE very first words I heard when I turned on a commy station were ‘very unique’.

Grrrrr!

Right up there with ‘myriad of’.

It’s not English, people. NOT English.

On topic, maybe I’m just getting old and reverting to my roots, but I was tuned to commy radio the other morning and one station had a guy on there who was just about making love to the sound of his own voice, so I switched to the other where the quality of the audio was something akin to sticking a red hot knitting needle in his ear, so I turned over to 2CA.

It was blissful. I’m embracing my middleageacality!

Jungle Jim said :

Overheard said :

Jungle Jim said :

Pretty sure Wayne Kerr and Jack Imoff are mates with Hugh too!

I seriously did work with a Wayne Kerr in the 1980s. What were his parents thinking?

I may have known his son, through a Weston Creek high school, in the very early nineties.

Unlikely. This guy was about 20 in 1987 so he would have been an early starter!

Conan of Cooma said :

Mate, you don’t even know who wrote The War of the Worlds, you shouldn’t be commenting on ‘stupification’.

“Stupification”? Isn’t the word stupefaction?

Sammy said :

It’s not just commercial radio. The other day on 666 radio they used the word ‘tit’! Ok, so it was during a bird-watching segment, but nevertheless! Disgusting!

hhahahahaha…that made me giggle out loud at work…gold

i don’t listen much to commercial radio (iPod listener in the car and mostly ride a bike around) but radio in Canberra is particularly low brow and stupid. the morning show on the 2day network is un-listenable. the token woman they have on the show is incredibly daft and annoying and the men are abrasive and offputting.

but it must appeal to the masses

Overheard said :

Jungle Jim said :

Pretty sure Wayne Kerr and Jack Imoff are mates with Hugh too!

I seriously did work with a Wayne Kerr in the 1980s. What were his parents thinking?

I may have known his son, through a Weston Creek high school, in the very early nineties.

Conan of Cooma10:23 am 26 Sep 12

Mate, you don’t even know who wrote The War of the Worlds, you shouldn’t be commenting on ‘stupification’.

Jungle Jim said :

Pretty sure Wayne Kerr and Jack Imoff are mates with Hugh too!

I seriously did work with a Wayne Kerr in the 1980s. What were his parents thinking?

EvanJames said :

Biggsy is much worse than any Captain Underpants.

Listening to Biggsy for 10 seconds or poking my eyes out with a burning stick…Let me get back to you..

Pretty sure Wayne Kerr and Jack Imoff are mates with Hugh too!

Mr Intercourse said :

Where do they come up with these silly names?

Who knows, but a mate of mine, Don Keysdick, told me that he is not impressed.

Hey, I know Don! He’s a friend of my mate Hugh! You know…Hugh Jarekshun. I think Hugh’s Czechoslovakian, but funnily enough he hangs around with an Irish bloke named McGroin. Holden McGroin! Fancy that!

Oh my God…where is this going…

EvanJames said :

Biggsy is much worse than any Captain Underpants.

It’s no coincidence her nickname rhymes with ‘Pigsy’.

poetix said :

There is a series of children’s books called Captain Underpants, which is harmless and lots of fun:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captain_Underpants

Hardly seems the worst thing around! Yes, it’s strange CU is on radio directed to adults. But there are far worse things on commercial radio. Mostly the music. And the talk. The ads can’t be ignored either…

Sorry dtc #5, I missed your earlier comment on the books. Sloppy!

Biggsy is much worse than any Captain Underpants.

There is a series of children’s books called Captain Underpants, which is harmless and lots of fun:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captain_Underpants

Hardly seems the worst thing around! Yes, it’s strange CU is on radio directed to adults. But there are far worse things on commercial radio. Mostly the music. And the talk. The ads can’t be ignored either…

Comic_and_Gamer_Nerd8:49 pm 25 Sep 12

Yorick_Hunt said :

Comic_and_Gamer_Nerd said :

Mr intercourse gtfo out of here prudes do not welcome such filthy names

Says who?

STOP USING RUDE NAMES!!!

Mr Intercourse said :

Where do they come up with these silly names?

Who knows, but a mate of mine, Don Keysdick, told me that he is not impressed.

Mike Hunt is similarly unimpressed >:-(

dtc said :

I think the OP might be interested to learn that some of the highest selling books in the world are the ‘Captain Underpants’ series. Maybe he should join up with one of those groups that challenge books as unsuitable for public libraries?

Indeed, sounds like it’s time for a good old-fashioned book burning – you know it makes sense.

Comic_and_Gamer_Nerd said :

Mr intercourse gtfo out of here prudes do not welcome such filthy names

Says who?

Truthiness said :

Strange that out of the myriad of reasons to dislike commercial radio, and the international media dinosaurs they serve, you would chose such a relatively inane morsel of lowest common denominateering.

I can dislike them for being pay to play, for being propaganda mouthpieces, for the homogenization and Americanization of Australian culture, for the crappy music and annoying hosts, but “captain underpants” is failing to rustle my jimmies.

That.

+1

Comic_and_Gamer_Nerd2:51 pm 25 Sep 12

Mr intercourse gtfo out of here prudes do not welcome such filthy names

colourful sydney racing identity2:51 pm 25 Sep 12

Mr Intercourse said :

Where do they come up with these silly names?

well played.

Da da da da … Captain Underpants!!

I like it, kind of catchy if you ask me…. then again I like lots of things society thinks are odd….

Mr Intercourse2:37 pm 25 Sep 12

Where do they come up with these silly names?

Holden Caulfield said :

I think you’ll find Orson Welles was the narrator of the the classic HG Wells story when it aired on radio and scared the crap out of everyone.

Yes, well, people who complain arent expected to get things right. HG Wells, Orson Welles, its just SO confusing.

I think the OP might be interested to learn that some of the highest selling books in the world are the ‘Captain Underpants’ series. Maybe he should join up with one of those groups that challenge books as unsuitable for public libraries?

Strange that out of the myriad of reasons to dislike commercial radio, and the international media dinosaurs they serve, you would chose such a relatively inane morsel of lowest common denominateering.

I can dislike them for being pay to play, for being propaganda mouthpieces, for the homogenization and Americanization of Australian culture, for the crappy music and annoying hosts, but “captain underpants” is failing to rustle my jimmies.

Holden Caulfield2:11 pm 25 Sep 12

I think you’ll find Orson Welles was the narrator of the the classic HG Wells story when it aired on radio and scared the crap out of everyone.

Dav Pilkey might be interested in the breech of his copyright.

It’s not just commercial radio. The other day on 666 radio they used the word ‘tit’! Ok, so it was during a bird-watching segment, but nevertheless! Disgusting!

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