All Things Crunchy
Thursday August 31, 2006
FYI, for your listening pleasure, I'll be giving a commentary on NPR's "All Things Considered" later this afternoon. I recorded it just now, and it will air sometime today, don't know exactly when. I waxed philosophical about what it's like...
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About Crunchy Con
Rod Dreher is an editorial columnist for the Dallas Morning News, and author of "Crunchy Cons" (Crown Forum), a nonfiction book about conservatives, most of them religious, whose faith and political convictions sometimes put them at odds with mainstream conservatives. The views expressed in this blog are his own.
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I'm not normally an ATC fan, but I'll be listening. Hope it's in my drive time.>
You can also here it on NPR.org. It might be preferable for anyone who doesnt like public radio because you can listen to individual sections. Anyway congradulations Rod, I love public media.>
By the way, being from Austin, I have to say: what have you lost your mind!
Oh, and hopefully they will have you on to discuss a more profound topic one day. You have alot to say that people need to hear.>
Two years in Texas without AC! I am on my 6TH YEAR in Florida without AC and I came from Alaska. You are right, it builds something... is it character... strength or toughnes or resilience... insanity or what... I doubt I will get AC but will probably move back to cold country. Thank you for your story. It made me feel good about my perseverance through low income.>
In the 90's I drove around Georgia and then Alabama with small children and without air conditioning. One thing that is different about the sans AC life these days (from that life as I knew it in childhood) is CAR SEATS. A sweaty child in a car seat is much more miserable than a sweaty child playing airplane between the seats, or hanging out a window.>
I was just checking my voicemail as I checked this blog and got a message from my brother who said he heard "that guy who quoted you in his book on NPR talking about having no AC in his car."
Way to go Rod! Stay cool, man.>
Well done, Rod. You blended softly into your philosophic points, and while I know you as the commentator are sensitive to it, the editing was not jarring or noticeable from my ear.
Just one thing, and maybe this is from the fact that it was the first time I heard your voice, and you are welcome to give me change for my two cents: your voice sounded a bit strained, a notch higher than its normal range; you sounded like you were making an effort to tell a story, rather than being yourself in the telling. Basically, you sounded a bit tense.
The best "announcers" feel comfortable, like their sitting across the table from you chatting.
Anyway, I have some training in broadcast speaking, which from my experience is a bit more taxing than ordinary public speaking. I enjoy having the opportunity to comment on the task.
:)>
Thanks Franklin. The producer told me, "Be enthusiastic! Let's hear that in your voice!" So I tried to be.>
No AC in Dallas?? Geez, Nashville is bad enough. If going without AC builds character then, frankly, I'd rather remain a rascal.
Hey, did the announcer get your name right? Oddly, this is the first time I've heard it pronounced aloud. Everybody else I've known by that name said DRAY-er, not DREER.>
You succeeded, Rod. My standards are always higher than necessary.
I really did miss my calling in life. I belong at a podium, grabbing and holding the attentions and imaginations of students as I guide them through the labyrinths of human behavior... and also making them laugh.
The many hours I spent on the air at my college FM station were some of the happiest, most fulfilling hours of my young life (my girlfriend at the time being a part of that, too), and all I did was read a 10-minute news broadcast. But I don't mind telling you, the editing, pulling audio feeds in when they were available, and working with the engineer always left me feeling like I'd just wowed them from the stage as I left the broadcast booth to the music of the midnight show.
[sniff] Don't mind me. Nostalgia is not one of my best features. :)>
Sorry, one more thing: if I were that producer, I'd have asked you to think about your intentions when you are reading a story to your children. You emphasize things a certain way, and you consciously adjust your voice and delivery for a young audience that is paying more attention to your voice (and the pictures, in some cases) than to your face.
Translate that to an adult audience who can't see you, but can hear more nuance in your voice than in ordinary circumstances.
That's all. Go about your business. Franklin is done scratching his itch.
;)>
OK, go to the new scion of Texas retail bidness - the Dollar General - and build one of the battery-operated mini-fans, attach it to the dashboard and BINGO! air conditioning!
It's what we in north Texas term to be improvisation - adaptation. Put a glass of ice under it and you've got cool air blowing.
That and the greatest hits of Kinky CD will get you gone on the road.>
It's become a quest!
I enjoyed your commentary yesterday as I was stuck in traffic on my way to my son's jv football scrimmage. My younger son was with me passed out in the back seat. We had some cold drinks on hand.
My 1998 Chevy Tahoe's a/c went out 3 years ago. It costs way too much to get it fixed and I'm still driving it. And will keep on until it finally drops. It's become a quest!
Be cool,
Tolbert>
1996 Nissan Altima, 130,000 miles, A/C out since summer of 2003. Dallas, TX. Still driving it. I finally broke down and bought one of those battery powered fans with spray bottle attached. It's not A/C, but it helps a tad - especially when it's friggin 105F and humid.>
I've been driving in Dallas without A/C for my second (?) year now at least. My commuting car isn't worth fixing the A/C on - it's a 1990 Geo Prizm with somewhere between 250,000 and 300,000 miles on it. In the morning, it's not too bad; on the way home, traffic slowdowns on I-35 can be sweltering.
But ... one gets used to it. Really. Even in this very hot summer of 2006.>
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