Notes on a Scandalous Media

I listen to the radio a lot. As I'm getting ready in the morning, at work during the day, as I'm cooking dinner in the evening.

I especially like to listen to a particular radio station (Radio Aire) on Saturday nights. They play an entire evening of dance music, including an hour of RnB, new stuff and old stuff. I am potentially the whitest white girl on the planet, but I have to admit to a love of RnB. I find myself spastically shaking my groove thing more often to RnB than almost anything else.

This same radio station plays these fantastic condom awareness ads after 8pm (every night- not just Saturdays, STDs are omnipresent). They're like mini soap operas. There are two formats. In the first, two people go back and forth, telling the same story from both perspectives. It was a party! They were drunk! Too drunk to use a condom! Now she's pregnant! The second format is just one person talking. I went out, “pulled this bird” (aka, hooked up with a girl), didn't use a condom, and now puss is leaking out of my privates.

I frequently find myself yelling at the radio “But what happened NEXT?!? AUUUUUGHHHH!!!”.

The reason I like these ads is because they are realistic. They don't use some weird euphemistic language to get their point across. They use plain language. The end line is “ Wear a condom.” This warms my STD-researching heart.

I also like the way they say “condom.” It's not “cahhhhndom”, it's “con-dom”. Very clipped and businesslike.

Sunday mornings I find myself camped out on my sofa with my cup of coffee and bowl of oatmeal, and I watch Hollyoaks (don't judge me!). They play the whole week's worth of shows. It's so trashy and fantastic. Murders! Mental illnesses! People having sex with people they shouldn't! People not having sex with people they should! Drama queens putting on Nativity plays! It's the perfect remedy for all the science I have to cram into my head during the rest of the week.

Now if you'll excuse me, the radio is playing Robbie Williams, and I must go dance.

Comments

Silverback said…
Not much RnB to be heard here in mid Florida so you've almost got me missing Radio Aire. Almost.

Listening to Simon Logan on the way to work put me off that station forever.
January 11, 2009 at 1:16 AM
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