Tuesday, April 18, 2006

My NPR jar

Listening to: The first disk of Mamacita's Evil Mix

Gawd, I hate the necessary evil of "pledge drive" time.

Yeah, I know this bit is like, "Airline pretzels - what's up with that?" and "Let me tell you about my mother-in-law," jokes with all the charm of the whump-whump-whump of a flat tire but here I am, my local NPR station begging for money while I whine loudly.

In defense of the local NPR station, they provide me with decent balance to the nutso winger rag Colorado Springs calls a newspaper, yes, not as biased as my "Info Fix" links but nonetheless less afraid to report in a way that our Mainstream Media won't; an MSM grown so gun-shy it won't expose villains by any stripe that it's really a joke to believe the Big Three are little more than mouthpieces than corporate interests and Administration talking points. So, I'm glad for news that actually considers Global Warming wrong as opposed to suggestions that free-market Capitalism on the move trumps a planet screwed.

More than that, I enjoy the freedom of real free-form radio as opposed to the phony-ass shit programmed by dimwits at Clear Channel. My local NPR station not only plays music you won't hear from Clear Channel chattel but gives me nightly jazz and weekly Celtic, Reggae, and World music; more than that, it's the only place you'll hear local music placed in regular rotation and there's few - too few - on-air venues for local artists.

Not a rich man (by any stretch of the imagination), I still feel compelled to do what I can to get past the membership drive. Their generosity feeds my mind but for God's sake, shut up and get us back on track with music as usual and knock off the fucking begging. I know it's essential but holy crap, it's an interminable interruption in the flow of my beautiful life, knock it off already. And so, to do what I can; I have my "NPR Jar", a place where I throw quarters and dollar bills, and yeah, when I'm short I steal a few bucks but since the last drive, it's amounted to about 70 dollars, always quarters and loose bills, pretty much what piles up in six months.

Just quarters and loose singles. The girls get the nickels and pennies in a big pickle jar to save for another big day at the Manitou Arcade, while dimes go into another jar (my reason for that will be revealed when that jar is filled) but everything rlse pays for my NPR jones.

I'd donate to PBS if a) I watched TV and b) I had money to burn.

You know Bush and his extreme idiots want to kill NPR and PBS, they've made that much clear, and all it takes is a few spare quarters to kill that moronic philosophy. Create your own 'NPR Jar' - you probably won't kill Bush but you'll kill his tiny-minded agenda. If you listen (or watch PBS), you owe them everything, at this point. Do what I've suggested or Exxon owns your ass.

5 comments:

landismom said...

Great suggestion. Here, we have two NPR stations, and try to contribute to both, but I confess that the 'spends more time on alternative news' one gets more donations than the 'spends more time on alternative music' one.

trusty getto said...

Yea, gotta give to NPR, even if we have to endure the pledge drives. Comes with the territory I guess.

The reason Bush wants to kill NPR is b/c it tells the truth, which never bodes well for him.

Anonymous said...

A great piece of practical advice for us penny pinching SAHDs who want to keep contributing to causes we used to be able to afford before turning to our significant others for the bacon. NPR is what keeps me sane during a 9 hour day with a 9 month old.

Mamacita (The REAL one) said...

The guy who does the pledge drive for our local PBS tv station is the head of the communications department at my college. Every time I see him, I want to stuff a cork in it.

I give what I can, too, but why can't they put out a less annoying campaign?

Anonymous said...

Here's a good "rant" for you:
ExxonSecrets.org takes a look at the folks who claim that global warming (and presumably global dimming) either still aren't proven or don't exist: the spokespersons, the organizations with whom they're affiliated, and most especially the organizations funding their efforts. Whatever lots of sunlight is doing to the planet, the more of it shining on the wellsprings of such information, the better.

Please, rant and encourage others to do so also!