Jobs out of Thin Air
Posted at 5:35 AM on June 9, 2009
by Dale Connelly
(20 Comments)
Here's a reminder - today is the last day to enter the drawing for a pair of tickets to Iris DeMent's, concert at the Cedar Cultural Center this Friday.
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Yesterday, President Obama said he wants the pace of stimulus spending to speed up, with an emphasis on Summer Employment for Youth, where he has asked the Department of Labor to create 125, 000 new jobs ASAP.
Easier said than done.
I forwarded the note to perennial Sophomore Bubby Spamden, who, when last we heard from him, was a bit stymied in his search for work. Here's his response:
Hi Mr. C.,That's good news, I guess, and a lot of jobs to get created in a short time. All I really need is one, though.
I hate to say it, but the Department of Labor looks kinda dull. I went to their website, and I'm not sure I would fit in there. One thing did look interesting, though. When I checked out the rules for youth employment, here's what it said:
Fourteen is the minimum age for most non-agricultural work. However, at any age, youth may perform in radio, television, movie, or theatrical productions.
Performing in television is just exactly what most youth want to do. Me, anyway. At the job fair last spring, I decided my career goal is to be a YouTube Sensation. But YouTube is already too crowded with desperate older people (like my parents and grandparents) who want money and attention, just like it is on all the job lines at the fast food restaurants and movie theaters.
Then I got an amazing idea.
You mentioned yesterday that analog TV gets turned off Friday when all the broadcasters go to digital transmission, and only way-behind-the-times confused people who have old style TV sets without a converter box will be watching the analog channels where all they'll see is just snow on their screens.
I know those people. They're my great-grandparents!
So let's leave analog TV turned on until Labor Day at least! Send the broadcasters on their way to digital-land, and let us take over the old-fashioned airwaves with Summer Media Camp for Youth in every city in America!
We can do game shows and news shows and even serious drama, 'cause nobody's better at drama than a bunch of teenagers! And there's no need to worry about bad words and "inappropriate" content, 'cause my great-grandparents have already heard everything that can be said and they've seen everything that can be done, so they won't be too upset. Besides, they've been turning their hearing aids down at my school plays and concerts and stuff anway, and they already love me, unconditionally. That's the best kind of audience to have!
Bubby says he would do a talk show in the evening, where he can "vent about stuff I don't like, based on some newsy items that I twist to make them more interesting and useful." He says he would call it "The No Spinach Zone".
Would Bubby's "Summer Media Camp for Youth" be a good way to create those insty-jobs? What sort of programming should they do? And would you watch?
Comments (20)
Thank-you, Dale, for playing Peter, Paul and Mary's "Weave Me the Sunshine." I haven't heard it for years, probably not since I listened to it on the LP, but I can't remember which one it was on. Thanks again for your great show!
You're welcome, Michele. I've always loved that song. Anyone else desperate for a little sunshine?
dunno, Bubby - i'd vote for putting all those youth to work at getting HD and RH all over the state. as far as the "No Spinach Zone" idea - can it. we have enough venting. but i think you'd be really famous if you brought back "Northern Exposure" - right?
good morning, All
Sunshine!
The sun was in my face for half of my morning walk and it's showing up in my yard now. A couple days of sun and then we'll need some more water that doesn't come out of the hose, but let's hear it for the sun today.
I love the sunshine songs, but am grateful for the rain we got and could use more. I do see the clouds lightening up a bit now...the music surely helped.
I'm voting with Barb from Blackhoof for Radio Heartland jobs to provide RH on the air throughout the state. I have to drive to St. Paul in an hour or so, will miss most of this morning's music...SO SAD!
Have a good (sunny) day, all.
Good morning, all! Time for another day.
Good morning, all. Here in Sauk Centre (in the middle of MN), we're straining to see our friend the Sun through the remaining fog. But, the glass is half full, so we remain hopeful.
Mid-Minnesota is well served by MPR's original stations in nearby Collegeville; however, I also agree with Barb in Blackhoof and Cynthia in mahtowa that RH needs to reach out to outstate listeners. 'Tis expensive to be sure, but needs to be on the radar screen of MPR planners. Thx.
Good morning, everyone in Heartland -
Does anyone know if 91.1 HD RH reaches western Wisconsin, like Hudson, Somerset, or River Falls?
Thank you Mike, for finding the Cheryl Wheeler song - I was at that concert and loved the song!
I might watch Bubby and his pals if they could partner with a few underemployed writers from the older generations and produce some analog-era shows similar to Laugh-In, The Carol Burnett Show, maybe The Gong Show and/or Match Game (if they need a couple game shows). I would not watch The No Spinach Zone - I like spinach. It's yummy on pizza.
I don't know how a teenager like Bubby could be interested in analog boardcasting because he is in the digital age. However, since Bubby has been a sophmore for many years, he might not be a teen ager any more. Bubby does seem like a charater from an old sit com so I guess he would look good on an analog TV.
Thanks for the Billie Holiday version of "Summertime." Who was playing behind her? Her band was channeling the New Orleans jazz spirits -- what a clarinet! If you want a contrast to Billie Holiday, you might try Doc Watson's version (if you haven't already). That North Carolina mountain soul has its own charms.
A sign of hope: our town just voted to raise our taxes to build a new elementary school to replace one that has just worn out. Perhaps Bubby could do a You Tube video -- though he doesn't seem to specialize in good news.
---Boone (from Massachusetts)
Thanks for the comment and the news from Massachusetts, Boone.
Artie Shaw played clarinet on the Billie Holiday recording. No surprise that it sounded so good.
And thanks for the Doc Watson idea. I'll check the library.
Thank you, Dale and Mike, for interviewing and recording the Orange Mighty Trio. Zack is my son-in-law and I will be at the concert on saturday night at the Cedar. Any Radio Heartlanders who are there can recognize me as the Orange Mighty Trio groupie who over 60 years in age with grey hair and a grey mustache.
Thanks, Dale!
Dale - Glad you enjoyed 'UP' also - and yes it was quite paradoxical to have the most current, most sophisticated form of animated digital videography taken down by a decidedly low-tech (dare I say 'analog'?) problem!
We were at a 2-D showing of "UP", with plenty of children present in the theater. Most of the families with small children left during the repair session. Tears and protestations abounded. Hopefully the reimbursement slips will allow those families to return another day.
Balloons, already one of my favorite things on the planet, had a wonderful symbolism in the movie, don't you think? Are there any balloon songs in the archives?
Thanks, Dale.
I haven't seen the movie yet, but the first balloon song that comes to mind is the Fifth Dimension's "Up, Up and Away." My nieces and nephews have seen it, though, and one of them told my mother (their grandmother) that they cried really hard when the grandmother in the story died. She decided to take that as a compliment of sorts.
Anybody else having trouble with the music dropping out for long periods of time on the internet?
Yes - I listen streaming online, and in the last half hour had to switch to Windows Media Player.
Barb in Blackhoof -- Had to laugh at your suggestion for Bubby about N. Exposure...
I'm working today at a place where I can RH streaming on the computer, but the volume on this thing is up as far as it goes, and I can barely hear it... Talk about frustrating!
"Well," she said, in an Eeyore voice, "I haven't heard anything from RH or MPR, so I suppose I haven't won the Iris DeMent tickets. As usual."
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