Those of you who heard Feedback Farm on Wednesday might think I'm lying when I say that due to a technical glitch the recording of the program was lost and thus cannot be presented to you here. It would perhaps be understandable that we wouldn't want the recording of that episode made public. But I tell you, it's true.
And, in fact, as evidence of my earnestness, let me make an appeal to anyone who may have recorded the show at home: If you have a copy of the November 29, 2006 Feedback Farm, please contact WXYC and I'll get it up on the blog to the considerable embarrassment of all involved in that show.
For the benefit of those who missed the program, the best we can offer is a play-by-play of what went down:
From 9pm until about 9:10pm, the Feedback Farmers scrambled to hook up their equipment and reconnect the power to the microphones. Due the the cramped quarters, tight spaces, and the farmers' large hands, replugging the microphone mixer power cord proved more difficult than it should have been. Thanks wholly to Kevin, the signal going out over 89.3FM and wxyc.org was kept alive by a lovely Bing Crosby loop with a spoken word piece succinctly describing the Christmas season: "More is never enough." Unfortunately, the loop and spoken word lost the brunt of its considerable impact long before it ceased playing. The home listener was probably bored by 9:05pm, and given the concomitant, huge men's basketball game, most people had likely turned off their radios before the Feedback Farmers ever turned on their microphones.
At which point the fun really began.
The point of the show was supposed to be to talk about the insanity of the Christmas shopping season. Black Friday, people getting shot to get that last PS3, people camping all night to get into Best Buy, etc.
The show did cover these topics, it must be said. Cole set up the discussion, PJ took his cue and mentioned Black Friday so that Kevin could spin the Steely Dan song of the same name, and Robin told a touching anecdote about Christmas shopping with his family.
But all too often the Farmers got distracted and the discussion veered away from the evening's purported focus. As if we really care what your favorite Christmas cookie is or whether you believe in Santa Claus. O muddled inanity! Farmers, your disparaging British telephone caller may have it right when he says your show is nonsense. Please don't let him be right!
There were a few nice moments. The philosophizing caller who extrapolated from the ever-lengthening Christmas shopping season (decorations in stores before Halloween!) the day when we go shopping for next next Christmas was particularly memorable. Still, in the end, the show was one to be missed. In the future, hopefully the Farmers will stay on topic and keep their petty bickering off-mic.
That about sums up what you would have heard if you had listened live or if an archive of the show were available to download. And with that, hopefully you're all as excited as I am to tune in on December 13th at 9pm WXYC-time for the next fabulous episode of Feedback Farm!
(Seriously, though, see the blog post from November 15th "Oh, the Hypocrisy" for a sample of what the Feedback Farm can be.)
WXYC 89.3 FM is the non-commercial student-run radio station of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. We broadcast at 1200 watts from the UNC campus, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. In 1994 we became the first radio station in the world to rebroadcast our signal over the Internet.
What a bunch of losers. Down with Feedback Farm!
ReplyDelete"Feedback Farm, Feedback Farm,
ReplyDeleteNever through me shalt thou come to harm!" -George Orwell