Steel Kaleidoscopes

The Burning Sessions, v43

Will there be any Emerson, Lake and Palmer? Perhaps some King Crimson?

The Burning Sessions light up this morning once again in Medford, Mass.

The loft comes alive with CDs, albums and MP3s.

In the shadows of the main track, two college roommates revisit the after-hours format, transforming album sides into snippets of inspiration.

The vintage vinyl comes in many shapes and sizes. iPods, iPhones, flash drives and external hard drives. Twenty-something analog warriors charging forward through time, swapping stories and confirming open-ended questions through Facebook and Wikipedia.

But through the changing technology lies the time-tested muse, the karma, the classic rock.

When it comes down to it, they're still mix tapes.

Variety tapes.

The Burning Sessions.

Lyrics of the Day

"Senorita, Spanish rose, wipes her eyes and blows her nose. Uptown in Harlem she threw a rose to some lucky, young matador."

— Bruce Springsteen, 1973

Porkchops and Applesauce

"Ain't that swell."

Opening Day?

It's Opening Day for Major League Baseball but who could tell?

The Mariners and A's are playing in Tokyo, Japan. The game is on tape delay but who would be able to watch it anyway during morning rush hour?

The globalization of baseball is a good thing, but it seems odd for the traditional opener to be thousands of miles away in a time zone far different from the one where waking Americans are eating apple pie and driving Chevrolets (well, I'm sure some of us still do).

I guess we'll check the box score and wait until next week.

Play ball.

Quote of the Day

"How am I watching too much TV? I listen to the radio."

— Chloe Miller

The Continuing Saga of Dave

Dave Tomlinson walked through Walgreens and thought about how Robin Williams had gotten his start with "Mork & Mindy."

In a few days, Dave would turn in his screenplay to the executive team at Warner Brothers. He was slightly concerned about a lukewarm reception because the pod race was under 10 minutes.

Worry though, he surmised, was a wasted frame of mind.

As his thoughts whirled like a spinning sphere in the Coney Island haze, Dave pondered the meaning of odd, outdated words like "gumshoe" and phrases like "the kit and kaboodle."

He paid for his travel toothpaste and mistakenly handed the cashier his CVS card.

Outside, tired seagulls scoured the parking lot for McDonald's cheeseburger wrappers.

Blake B

Good morning.

You're listening to 64-AM, WGBC, Geneseo.

It's going to be sunny to party cloudy today, high in the low 60s.

The Rath is hosting three Gennys for a dollar tonight, and don't forget about the Hub Happy Hour starting at 3.

As you're waking up and heading off to class, pour yourself a strong cup of black coffee. But isn't it time to wash that coffee maker?

It's going to be a great day.

Hot PM Commute

Life is good.

Siri

Siri has been patient with me.

The studious, seemingly proper woman inside my iPhone 4S seems pleasant enough.

She gives good directions, points me to relative online content and even engages in small talk.

But when the little person who lives in our house hijacks my phone and asks Siri silly questions, Siri gets annoyed.

Yet, she's patient.

I'm just waiting for one of her responses to be, "isn't it time you handed your phone back to your daddy."

Quote of the Day

"Experience is simply the name we give our mistakes."

— Oscar Wilde, Writer