Alice’s Restaurant is a Thanksgiving tradition at most radio stations I worked at over the years, normally played around 12 noon or so.
Courtesy of YouTube, here is Arlo himself telling the story with some clips from the movie of the same name to go along with it:
A few years go some other guy, Adam something or other, that tried cash in with a Thanksgiving Song of his own, which sounds an awful lot like the Chanukah song he also did.
Update1: Jeez, there is apparently a Wikipedia article about everything. Here is teh background on Alice’s Rest-a-raunt.
For those familiar with WKRP, here is the Turkey Drop:
For some reason, this idea just popped into my head. Sometimes engineers get a little leery when it comes to a new project, especially in this micromanaged digitally connected world. I have learned to beware of buzz words and phrases like:
We couldn’t do it without you
We need you to guide this project through
I’ve got your back
Failure is not an option
Engineers are what makes radio stations tick
What they really mean is:
If we could figure out a way, we’d do it without you
We need you to answer your cellphone and email 24/7 so we can direct your guidance
Watch your back
This is such a lame brained idea, it’s going to fail and we are going to blame you
Who really knows what engineers do?
What management does not seem to understand is what motivates engineers. How do you get the guy who is on call 24/7 three hundred and sixty five days out of the year (even on vacation) to rise above his normal performance level and really shine?
Have no fear, there are things that engineers daydream about, those special little projects that can only be categorized one way: “NEAT!”
Most engineers that I know are enamored with efficiency. Anything that can increase efficiency, increase data throughput, provide more information and or make a difficult job easier may fall into the NEAT! category. Things like IP enabled remote controls, transmitters and processing that can be accessed from lap tops or smart phones. Installing VNC or like program on computer automation systems, servers and the like so that they too can be viewed and fixed from lap tops or smart phones is another good example. Of course, exactly what qualifies as NEAT! varies from engineer to engineer.
Here is the complete list of engineering motivators:
Having some projects with the aforementioned NEAT! items on occasion
Increased compensation and or bonuses for good performance, completed projects, etc
Decreased number of “pocket protector” jokes, glassy eyed staring, silly remarks and the like
Engineers are highly trained professionals. It is not up to us to fix the chair your ass broke, fix the toilet your cheap ass had installed, tape the worn out carpet you got on trade, fix the leaking roof you also got on trade, change light bulbs or wash the station vehicle. So don’t ask.
If somebody could figure out how to include one of these with all new equipment installations or projects, perhaps in the ancillary kit or something:
Just in time for the NAB, I’ve been working on this design since my college days. To give you some idea of how long that is, I am nearly 47 years old. I believe it has finally been perfected, now I just need to find somebody to make it. I guess I could send it off to China and get circuit boards made, but they would steal the design.
From the website xkcd.com, which has, perhaps the best website ever published in the history of the internet, here.
Some days there are far too many obstacles to be an effective writer:
Cat likes using the computer
We were adopted by this stray cat last summer. He seems to be right at home napping on my computer keyboard. Actually, a little afternoon nap seems like a good idea…
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
~1st amendment to the United States Constitution
Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both.
~Benjamin Franklin
...radio was discovered, and not invented, and that these frequencies and principles were always in existence long before man was aware of them. Therefore, no one owns them. They are there as free as sunlight, which is a higher frequency form of the same energy.
~Alan Weiner
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~Universal Declaration Of Human Rights, Article 19
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