Aerial View was WFMU’s first regularly-scheduled phone-in talk show. Hosted by Chris T. and on the air since 1989, the show features topical conversation, interviews and many trips down the rabbit hole. Until further notice, Aerial View is only available as a podcast, available every Tuesday morning. Subscribe to the newsletter “See You Next Tuesday!” and find tons of archives at aerialview.me.
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I knew this Confederate Battle flag business was going to get ugly. And it has.
In the aftermath of the Charleston Church Massacre, citizens, state officials and business leaders have called for the "Southern Cross" (which is not the "Stars & Bars") to be removed from official perches and mothballed. A prominent flag manufacturer said they will no longer make the "Rebel" flag. Wal-Mart, eBay and other retailers, both online and off, have removed the flag from their inventory.
This, of course, has some Americans pig-biting mad. Which, of course, sent sales of the flag through the roof. Online and on front lawns, there are now more Rebel flags being displayed than before last Wednesday, when a despicable racist gunned down eight Americans because of their skin color.
The OTHER flag in the news this past week is the Pride flag. A real uproar ensued when it was Photoshopped on the General Lee, the Dodge Charger driven by "those Duke boys" on the southern-friend TV show Dukes Of Hazzard and became a meme:
A rare shot of the General Lee before they welded the doors shut.
Speaking of flags, a reporter named Lucy Pawle thought she saw an ISIS flag flying at a London Pride event and CNN spent seven minutes on it before realizing the flag actually depicted sex toys:
Click the picture to see the video.
Tonight, we'll discuss symbolism, semiotics and the power of flags. Call 201-209 WFMU and let your flag fly.
Last Week: Left In the Lurch
Last week's show was a bust. And not the kind I like. My cousin J.D., who was scheduled to join me in the studio, bailed on me with two hours to air. He'd forgotten a previous engagement and was contrite... but it still left me in a tight spot. And not the kind I like.
I decided to make the subject of bailing the focus of the show, and I discussed J.D. and the position in which he left me. Of course, someone just had to call and invoke the perpetually-moronic directive "Get over it." Oh boy, did that set me off. I hung up on the woman who suggested same. But she wasn't done yet. She called back later on and accused me of not being entertaining. Ha! I unloaded on her once more and again hung up. How very satisfying.
I remember back in pre-cell phone days waiting on street corners in Manhattan to meet friends who never showed up. "Did i say 35th and 7th or 37th and 5th?" Turns out they were just dicks and didn't show.
Feel free to just talk about stuff for an hour, CT—I'm enjoying it.
Get rid of anybody that dicks you over twice and claims to be your friend because they are not your friend.
i like this topic better than the planned topic actually.
Chris is a punk rocker.
I bought my one friend a Dodgers ticket when I was Out West, and two days before the game I see him on Instagram getting on a plane to TX. I thought "Huh, that's weird…maybe he'll be back on Sunday?" Nah, I definitely ate that ticket.
Pissed off Chris T. is soo funny!
Chris - The next person that says to get over it, give the phone a big yank like Moe from The Three Stooges used to do. They'll smash their head into the wall on the other end.
Hey Chris. I have no tolerance for flakey people as well. I mean sometimes its unavoidable but the way it sounds your cousin could have avoided leaving you in the lurch at the last minute. and everyone who complains that "its not funny" can f*&k off.
Lincoln Hubcap
When we divorced I was driving a 1962 Lincoln Continental. Black. Suicide doors. Big V-8. A head-turner. Built the same year I was born. I found it in the classifieds of Hemmings Motor News. A lovely car but its personality was beginning to get to me. Something always needed fixing. I'd head out to the garage to spend the afternoon convincing the power windows to go up and down again and my wife would issue her standard line: "There he goes. The king of lost causes."
Eventually, she declared the Lincoln unsafe for our son ("Why can't you just take the Cherokee?!") Sam loved it. The backseat was like a sofa. He’d, settle in and before long be lulled to sleep by the whine of the bias ply tires and the Mets on the radio.
The Easter Sunday after the lawyers did their work and visitation was split, I was driving him back to Westchester up the east side of Manhattan when we hit a bad pothole. I pulled over.
“Sam...?”
“Yeah Dad?”
“I’m gonna see if I can get that...”
“Huh?” He was half asleep. “Get what?”
“That hubcap...”
“Hubcap?”
“Listen... take this.”
I handed him my cellphone. He pulled himself up in the seat, looked outside. It was dark. All the cars had their headlights on.
“Dad?”
“Don’t worry. It’s okay...”
He looked at the phone.
“You know how to dial that, right?”
“Yeah.” Cars whizzed past.
“You know who to call?”
“Mommy?”
“No. Don’t call Mommy. Dial 911.”
“Oh.”
I opened the door. The angry buzz of traffic became much louder.
“Dad?”
“Yeah?”
“What road are we on?”
I laughed. “We’re on the FDR drive. By the 59th Street bridge.”
“Okay.”
I pitched myself out the door and sprinted to the median, searching up and down. I picked up a hubcap, threw it back down. I walked north, picked up another. Threw it down. My son looked at me, pressing his face to the glass.
The traffic had become much heavier. There didn’t seem to be a break. Sam clutched the phone to himself and shut his eyes.
What if he gets killed? What if I open my eyes and he's dead on the road?
A moment later I flung the driver’s side door open and dumped myself back in the driver’s seat.
“Damn!” I twisted the key in the ignition. “Damn! None of ‘em...”
I checked traffic in the side-view mirror. After a moment, I peeled out onto the roadway. A few hundred yards down the road I pulled over again.
“That’s it! That’s GOTTA be it!” I hurled myself from the car, timed the traffic and skittered across the lanes to the divider.
I scooped up a hubcap, waved at Sam and grinned. He waved back, smiling frantically. The traffic kept coming.
Come on, run!
I stepped out into the roadway. A huge truck went roaring past, blowing its horn. I jumped back.
Come on! Let’s go! Run!
I tried it again. In a second, I was across. I hauled the driver’s door open and tossed the hubcap onto the rear seat.
“Man, that was CLOSE!”
The hubcap landed face down. Sam turned it over.
“Dad?”
“Yeah?”
“This hubcap is crushed!”
“I know.”
He put it on the floor and stretched out again. The Mets were ahead of the Braves five to two as he dozed off. In my head I began working on the wording for the ad I'd run in Hemmings.
I wouldn't ordinarily tell you to go listen to something else while Aerial View is on... but tonight is different. Doug Schulkind of the Give The Drummer Radio stream is programming a show for Listener Holly in North Carolina, who's going through some tough health issues right now. The show is on the same time as Aerial View but you can weigh in on Doug's Give The Drummer Some playlist now and offer some love for a woman who's offered plenty for WFMU.
Obligatory Throwback Pic
On a Canadian road trip, circa 1983.
Tomorrow is Canada Day and I hope to have my roadtrip partner, Canadian Dave, on with me tonight.
OVER THE AIR: Every Tuesday night, 6 PM Eastern time on WFMU in the metro NY/NJ area at 91.1 FM and on WMFU at 90.1 in the lower Catskills, Hudson Valley, western New Jersey and Eastern Pennsylvania.
ON THE WEB: Streaming audio in several formats is available at wfmu.org.ON DEMAND ARCHIVES: The Aerial View Archive page features archives going back to nearly the beginning of the show in RealAudio and MP3 format.PODCAST: Aerial View is available on iTunes as a podcast.WFMU MOBILE: Listen live via the mobile app or browse the archives. Get the iOS app here and the Android version here. Amazon Kindle users can use the TuneIn Radio app. Info for other platforms, including Blackberry, etc. can be found here.
AUDIOBOOM: The newest way to hear Aerial View and share it on social media can be found here. Mobile apps are here.
"I'll see you TONIGHT, 6 PM Eastern time, on WFMU!"
Aerial View was WFMU’s first regularly-scheduled phone-in talk show. Hosted by Chris T. and on the air since 1989, the show features topical conversation, interviews and many trips down the rabbit hole. Until further notice, Aerial View is only available as a podcast, available every Tuesday morning. Subscribe to the newsletter “See You Next Tuesday!” and find tons of archives at aerialview.me. (Visit homepage.)
<-- Previous playlist | Back to Aerial View playlists | Next playlist -->
In the aftermath of the Charleston Church Massacre, citizens, state officials and business leaders have called for the "Southern Cross" (which is not the "Stars & Bars") to be removed from official perches and mothballed. A prominent flag manufacturer said they will no longer make the "Rebel" flag. Wal-Mart, eBay and other retailers, both online and off, have removed the flag from their inventory.
This, of course, has some Americans pig-biting mad. Which, of course, sent sales of the flag through the roof. Online and on front lawns, there are now more Rebel flags being displayed than before last Wednesday, when a despicable racist gunned down eight Americans because of their skin color.
The OTHER flag in the news this past week is the Pride flag. A real uproar ensued when it was Photoshopped on the General Lee, the Dodge Charger driven by "those Duke boys" on the southern-friend TV show Dukes Of Hazzard and became a meme:
Speaking of flags, a reporter named Lucy Pawle thought she saw an ISIS flag flying at a London Pride event and CNN spent seven minutes on it before realizing the flag actually depicted sex toys:
I decided to make the subject of bailing the focus of the show, and I discussed J.D. and the position in which he left me. Of course, someone just had to call and invoke the perpetually-moronic directive "Get over it." Oh boy, did that set me off. I hung up on the woman who suggested same. But she wasn't done yet. She called back later on and accused me of not being entertaining. Ha! I unloaded on her once more and again hung up. How very satisfying.
Oh, and here's some playlist comments:
Eventually, she declared the Lincoln unsafe for our son ("Why can't you just take the Cherokee?!") Sam loved it. The backseat was like a sofa. He’d, settle in and before long be lulled to sleep by the whine of the bias ply tires and the Mets on the radio.
The Easter Sunday after the lawyers did their work and visitation was split, I was driving him back to Westchester up the east side of Manhattan when we hit a bad pothole. I pulled over.
“Sam...?”
“Yeah Dad?”
“I’m gonna see if I can get that...”
“Huh?” He was half asleep. “Get what?”
“That hubcap...”
“Hubcap?”
“Listen... take this.”
I handed him my cellphone. He pulled himself up in the seat, looked outside. It was dark. All the cars had their headlights on.
“Dad?”
“Don’t worry. It’s okay...”
He looked at the phone.
“You know how to dial that, right?”
“Yeah.” Cars whizzed past.
“You know who to call?”
“Mommy?”
“No. Don’t call Mommy. Dial 911.”
“Oh.”
I opened the door. The angry buzz of traffic became much louder.
“Dad?”
“Yeah?”
“What road are we on?”
I laughed. “We’re on the FDR drive. By the 59th Street bridge.”
“Okay.”
I pitched myself out the door and sprinted to the median, searching up and down. I picked up a hubcap, threw it back down. I walked north, picked up another. Threw it down. My son looked at me, pressing his face to the glass.
The traffic had become much heavier. There didn’t seem to be a break. Sam clutched the phone to himself and shut his eyes.
What if he gets killed? What if I open my eyes and he's dead on the road?
A moment later I flung the driver’s side door open and dumped myself back in the driver’s seat.
“Damn!” I twisted the key in the ignition. “Damn! None of ‘em...”
I checked traffic in the side-view mirror. After a moment, I peeled out onto the roadway. A few hundred yards down the road I pulled over again.
“That’s it! That’s GOTTA be it!” I hurled myself from the car, timed the traffic and skittered across the lanes to the divider.
I scooped up a hubcap, waved at Sam and grinned. He waved back, smiling frantically. The traffic kept coming.
Come on, run!
I stepped out into the roadway. A huge truck went roaring past, blowing its horn. I jumped back.
Come on! Let’s go! Run!
I tried it again. In a second, I was across. I hauled the driver’s door open and tossed the hubcap onto the rear seat.
“Man, that was CLOSE!”
The hubcap landed face down. Sam turned it over.
“Dad?”
“Yeah?”
“This hubcap is crushed!”
“I know.”
He put it on the floor and stretched out again. The Mets were ahead of the Braves five to two as he dozed off. In my head I began working on the wording for the ad I'd run in Hemmings.
Listen to this show:
Tomorrow is Canada Day and I hope to have my roadtrip partner, Canadian Dave, on with me tonight.
ON THE WEB: Streaming audio in several formats is available at wfmu.org.
ON DEMAND ARCHIVES: The Aerial View Archive page features archives going back to nearly the beginning of the show in RealAudio and MP3 format.
PODCAST: Aerial View is available on iTunes as a podcast.
WFMU MOBILE: Listen live via the mobile app or browse the archives. Get the iOS app here and the Android version here. Amazon Kindle users can use the TuneIn Radio app. Info for other platforms, including Blackberry, etc. can be found here.
AUDIOBOOM: The newest way to hear Aerial View and share it on social media can be found here. Mobile apps are here.
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