Web links related to the Back of the Book program of February 3, 2003
It's Friday afternoon 2/7/2003 12:30:40 and this Web page is finished. I got to the below topics plus a little more on the program. This was the first time I haven't gotten the Web page up before the program, and I hope it's the last. We put a dent in the new mail backlog and we have an amusing photograph from the program on this page. So it's all done and I'm already preparing the next program. Enjoy, already!
Here is the latest on the saga of Pacifica. The big meeting of the interim Pacifica National Board has been changed again to February 28-March 2, in Los Angeles, CA, to discuss the bylaws.
Here's the WBAI schedule. Don't blame me if it's not accurate, I didn't make it up I'm only relaying it. Here's a schedule made by a listener who has Web links for various programs and producers.
Our colleagues from Off the Hook have both a RealAudio streaming web cast operating, and an MP3 stream. The MP3 feed is now the preferred feed.
•
The Pacifica Foundation, which owns WBAI, has revamped its Web site and now has something called the Pacifica Lounge where you can post messages about Pacifica, WBAI and other Pacifica radio stations. This may be a good thing, and of course there are other, long term fora in which to participate.
•
With this program and this Web page Back of the Book marks five full years of putting up a Web page for every program. Ironically, this was the first Web page for a program that was ever late getting published!
As I announced on the program a month ago, I now have diabetes. So I have to watch my diet carefully and take a couple of pills every day in order to keep my blood sugar levels within an acceptable range.
Of course I, like most diabetics, must now monitor my blood sugar levels. In order to do this I have a little machine that performs the task without a great deal of hassle on my part. My male ex has diabetes and I remember what he had to go through some years ago in order to measure his blood sugar level. In only a few years the practical technology of measuring sugar in the blood has come along enormously. I remember that the male ex used to have to wrestle with a good sized measuring device and he had to make sure that the light levels were all right and go through a lot of bother to get a reading. And he had to do this at least four times a day.
The entire machine I have, along with accoutrements in a carrying case, is smaller than just the device alone that the male ex had. It does make it convenient to carry the thing around.
So I took a blood sugar reading on the air during this program. At 2:10 AM on February 3, 2003, my blood sugar level was 101, which is smack dab in the middle of the target range that the doctor had set for me.
The photograph, taken by Pickles of the North, shows me trying to give Uncle Sidney Smith a blood sugar test as well. Unfortunately, I'm still pretty new at all of this stuff and I've messed up a number of my own readings in the couple of weeks I've been using that device. What usually happens is that I don't get enough blood on the special, calibrated strip that's plugged into the measuring device. These strips are what actually does the testing. If I don't get enough blood on the little patch that does the analysis at the end of the strip the machine can't do a reading and that strip is wasted.
As it turned out I couldn't get much blood from Uncle Sidney! In the photograph I'm sticking his finger with the lancet device, which propels a tiny needle into your finger so that you get enough blood to take the test but you don't end up cutting your finger off. The lancet is adjustable and when the first two tries couldn't get enough blood I set it to a higher level. That did get a good drop of blood and we put it on the strip. Unfortunately, the machine shuts off automatically after a while and it had timed out by the time I finally got Uncle Sidney bleeding sufficiently! When we put the blood drop on the strip the machine was off. When I turned it back on it just showed an error reading because the strip wasn't pristine.
So poor Uncle Sidney got stuck three times in his fingers and we couldn't get a reading on him. We certainly hope his blood sugar is all right, and maybe we'll do this again in the future.
•
Of course a lot of the program was taken up by us talking about the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster. As I said on the program, “It is always a brave thing to go into space.” Of course I didn't partake of the religious nonsense that has attended the issue since then. But I noted the sadness of the occasion and said that my opinion was that the astronauts met their end very quickly at that speed.
•
We did some mail during this program. As usual, here are the E-mails that we read on the air. By popular demand a number of them were read by Pickles of the North.
Egad! I hope that Back of the Book can cure homophobia! I've never been to Binghamton, that I can recall. I suspect that Linda is our only listener up there. As for my quarter hour references to WBAI being situated on “The ass end of Wall Street!” well, that's just the truth of the matter. The language can't be that offensive or the FCC would come after us, and I hear a hell of a lot worse on TV these days.
And welcome to Linda as a relatively new listener!
Next we have a short note from someone who wants to know my thoughts about theosophy. I don't really have a damned thing to do with theosophy and I think it's just another little adjustment for those who want to belong to an organized superstition. Pickles of the North read this one on the air as well and we found the postscript amusing. As for the theosophy Web site offered, I don't think I'll be signing up.
Next we have a couple of E-mails regarding my announcement on the January 6th, program that I have diabetes.
Diet sodas have always been yucky to me. Seltzer is okay, but it's way to gassy to drink while on the air! I found that out the hard way in January. I never ate half the bag of cookies. I would eat the whole bag. I guess those supermarket cookies that sold for $1.69 for two pounds are out of my life forever now. I've experienced some times over the past month where I've had to go to the can every half hour or so. Hard to settle down and watch TV, or whatever, with that going on. As for my pancreas, pickles of the North has indeed been chasing me around the apartment poking me in the pancreas with a stick. Quite a sight.
Actually, I think Xxlasher and Fenderhead are the same guy. Yeah, I've got a different diet these days. As for the UFOs, etc. I'll wait until they land and do a guest shot on Letterman before I start believing.
Our next couple of E-mails are from a regular listener who is now in London. I'm hoping that the problem with the WBAI Web stream is fixed by now.
•
There are a lot of issues that are considered hazardous to talk about on the air at WBAI. But there is an Internet list called “Free Pacifica!” which you can subscribe to, and these issues are discussed there. If you subscribe to it you will receive, via E-mail, all of the messages which are sent to that list. You will also be able to send messages to the list.
If you want to subscribe to the “Free Pacifica!” list just click on this link and follow the instructions, and you'll be subscribed. Could open your eyes a little bit.
The above list has occasionally produced a high volume of E-mail because of the attention that these issues have drawn. If you would prefer to subscribe to a low volume list that only provides announcements of events related to these issues then subscribe to the FreePac mailing list.
Another list that's sprung up is the “NewPacifica” mailing list. This one is very lively and currently includes over 400 subscribers coast to coast. Being lively, of course, it sometimes also gets a bit nasty. All sorts of things are happening on this list. With that warning in mind, you can look at the NewPacifica list here, and you can join the list from that Web page too, although you'll have to deal with Yahoo! to do so.
There is also the more WBAI specific “Goodlight” Web based message board. This one has a great many people posting anonymously and there's also an ancillary board that's just totally out of hand.
The “Goodlight” Web based message board has expanded to cover all Pacifica stations.
•
Back to the Back of the Book page
Back to my home page.