WWHP YEEHAW It's the whip!!! Best Radio EVAR!!!!!!

Every two months or so, I have been driving from Indy to my ancestral home in Wisconsin and back. Usually I drive through Chicago because the route is direct, and I love driving in the city. Occasionally, because of weather or traffic, I take the longer, boring route through Bloomington IL. My Luddite confession is that I don't have an ipod (and I only have one song on my iphone--it took me 45 minutes figure out how to download it), or satellite radio. Instead I listen to the car radio. Primitive, I know. And increasingly more generic. Same narrow list of songs, and if the station even has live DJs, the patter is all the same.

I had a vague recollection that when I drove between Leroy and Bloomington I heard some good radio--I assumed that it was a ephemeral student station.

There were no DJs, just a couple of farm market reports, and commercials for a local harley dealer, Farm Credit Bureau and a bbq joint called Porgy's. It's a throwback to a more idiosyncratic time in radio.

Their website says:

"Somewhere between Memphis and Chicago. . the Whip

Playing the best in blues, bluegrass, alternative and traditional country, rock, gospel and American Roots music"

Lots of Levon Helm, Steve Earle and a lot of stuff I wasn't familiar with but loved. Angry political screeds, plaintive wails and just for the hell of it songs. And the coolest thing is the station ID--call letters followed by the sound of whip cracking!! I wanted to stop the car, find out what I listening and get some of that music for myself. I haven't been that excited about a radio station since I was in high school listening to progressive FM stations. The playlists were huge and they rarely repeated songs. Once I got past Bloomington, the Whip started getting staticky, so I switched to WXRT-one of my favorite stations, but a big corporate player with lots repeats in the relatively narrow playlist.

Carlos and Maria: Using her butt to sell Ricola cough drops

I know that the Carlos and Maria Ricola commercial is at least a year old, but I finally hit my breaking point. Initially, I just hated his smarmy shrug and request for a cough drop and then I grew to loathe the shot of her butt on his shoulder. So the shot of her smooth butt could be considered mildly titillating, but does it really sell more cough drops? The premise of the European dance competition really has nothing to do with cough drops, but it does create a lame venue for views of Maria's butt. I can't believe some marketing team thinks this is good idea.