"... tap on something hard to attract attention."
Just an image I ran across Googling "Conelrad." Who among you remembers Conelrad? I only got to thinking about it because "Talkin' World War III Blues" attracted my attention:
Well, I remember seein’ some adWhy did Bob Dylan's record player work when the radio didn't? You'd be more likely to have a battery-operated radio than a battery-operated record player. But you probably don't even have a record player anymore, do you? And I don't think your radio has the Conelrad symbol on it. Do you even remember what the symbol looks like? I don't. Some triangle? That's what I wanted to see when I got distracted by that poor trapped woman, who was not so unfortunate that she didn't have a stiletto shoe to use to tap out her distress.
So I turned on my Conelrad
But I didn’t pay my Con Ed bill
So the radio didn’t work so well
Turned on my record player—
It was Rock-a-day Johnny singin’, “Tell Your Ma, Tell Your Pa
Our Love’s A-gonna Grow Ooh-wah, Ooh-wah”
What took me back to the old Dylan song? I wasn't worrying about World War III. (I have a book in the house — it was given to me — called "World War IV" and one of my sons, puzzled, said "When did we have World War III?") I wasn't worrying about that, I was selecting the ideal pronunciation of the word "paw" (or "pa") to explain how to pronounce the name "Pawlenty" so it didn't confuse me by sounding like "polenta." Now, Tim Pawlenty, like Bob Dylan, is a Minnesotan. We were talking about him, because he's in a bit of a dispute with Mitch Daniels — who, unlike Bob Dylan, is a Hoosier (like my interlocutor in this conversation I'm alluding too). I need to do a separate post on the Pawlenty/Daniels dust-up, though, because in this post, I'm trapped under wreckage.
Posts
33 comments:
Dylan had a hand-cranked Victrola?
Also! The Cold War could be in effect, called World War III.
"Why did Bob Dylan's record player work when the radio didn't?"
Uh, because he doesn't know about those things? Because he's an idiot? Because he can't sing? He sucks! Period. Case closed.
If you are trapped under wreckage for longer than 24 hours you will probably die of crush syndrome when you are dug out--sad but true--Most EMS are not capable of dealing with crush syndrome which has to be initiated while the victim is still pinned--the heart warming stories of victims dug out after more than 36 hours of an event almost always die--recovery is the lead story, the rest of the story isnt nearly as heartwarming.
Pogo can I am sure explain the physiology involved--in events where the victim is trapped, the 72 golden hour rule is reduced to 24 at the most.
This is not a swipe at EMS--they do wonderful work; it does underscore the need for even more additional training--for most of whom are volunteers to start with.
Far be it from me to tell a blogger how to blog but shouldn't you tap tap tap out a link to the Pawlenty/Daniels dust-up?
My opinion on the dust-up: Pawlenty is mistawken.
I think the correct answer on the radio/record player problem is that it was, as noted in the first line, a description of a "crazy dream."
I think the Conelrad symbol was a triangle over a circle. Something like that, but I do remember those radios.
Ann Althouse said...
I got distracted by that poor trapped woman, who was not so unfortunate that she didn't have a stiletto shoe to use to tap out her distress.
It looks like artwork from WWII, so maybe there's a good reason she didn't have one - they weren't around then.
E.M. Davis said...
Also! The Cold War could be in effect, called World War III.
Exactly, the Wall Street Journal was the first to put forward the idea, which makes sense if you think about it. And the War on Terror, which The Zero is trying to throw, is WWIV, according to some.
PS Get out your stiletto and start tapping.
Q: Professor Einstein, what weapons will be used to fight WWIII?
A: I don't know about WWIII, but WWIV will be fought with rocks...
"It looks like artwork from WWII, so maybe there's a good reason she didn't have one - they weren't around then."
Hey! You missed my double negative and her shoe!
I remember Conelrad. Our A-bomb drills were coordinated with announcements on the radio. We were to get under our desks. Thank God for those desks, protecting us from the fallout and all!
Our Catholic school distributed a comic book showing how life in the USA would be under the Soviets. It wasn't good. A nun explained that we shouldn't buy Dr. Seuss books either as Dr. Seuss was a communist and would use the money to buy tractors for Cuba.
That was World War III.
Personally I recommend,
So Long, Mom (A Song for World War III and MLF Lullaby by Tom Lehrer. Infinitely preferable to Bob Dylan....
Question: If her legs were covered with wreckage, how did she get her shoe off?
"tap on something hard to attract attention."
For you single gals out there that is also a great way to get a date.
Maybe you can suggest it to some of the gals on Boringheads. It seems like it has been a long time since any of them had a date.
The Freewheelin Bob Dylan album that had the Dream which which was a humorous song, but included Masters of War which was a bitter song where "Young peoples blood flows out of their bodies and is buried in the mud." Interestingly enough, the Germans have access to buried USSR command and communications bunkers that were fully operational and built from 1978 to 1980 to fight WW III starting as a pre-emptive nuclear and ground attack into Western Europe. These were built in the Jimmy Carter years, but never used thanks to the Reagan defense build up and new missiles sent to Europe. Strength caused peace, when weakness had almost triggered WW III.
From the idiocy of this ad's message I'd say the Ad Council was alive and well 50 to 60 years ago.
Ham radio operators had to keep an AM radio tuned in to conelrad's frequencies, and shut down if anything came on, lest Russian bombers use hams as radio navigational beacons, the Russians having spirited away copies of the Callbook for that purpose, I suppose.
Some hams got assigned fake call letters if they were willing to work emergency communications. The Russians wouldn't know about those.
3MI10 was me.
Also hams can read the tap tap tap in case you want to send a message from under the debris.
A raven can help with tapping.
If the woman's legs are trapped under wreckage, how did she manage to remove her shoe?
Ann Althouse said...
"It looks like artwork from WWII, so maybe there's a good reason she didn't have one - they weren't around then."
Hey! You missed my double negative and her shoe!
Quite so, Madame. Very slipshod on my part.
If you wish, I can have The Blonde loan you her whip. I do deserve a flogging.
Joe said...
Personally I recommend,
So Long, Mom (A Song for World War III and MLF Lullaby by Tom Lehrer.
Undoubtedly a riff on "So long, Mama, I'm off to Yokohama".
In case of attack!!
Bend over.
Put your head between your legs.
Kiss your ass goodbye.
That's my memory of Conelrad.
If the woman's legs are trapped under wreckage, how did she manage to remove her shoe?
I was more confused by why, after she retrieved her shoe, she stuck her legs back under the wreckage.
~~I was seriously thinking about hiding the receiver
When the switch broke cause it's old.
I can't believe the things that they're saying
They really think we've gotten out of control...
Radio radio!!!~~
When you talk about Dylan it makes you seem really old. Just sayin.
@rh
.-.. .- ..- --. .... .. -. --. / --- ..- - / .-.. --- ..- -..
@BJM ↑
…. .- …. .- …. .- …. .-
@Chip, that's pretty funny.
That tapping does always get my attention. Guaranteed.
LMAO, too, BJM. Just loved 20 and 40 metres. Only thing better was a 2 metre moon bounce. For decades I kept my vacuum tube rig for its resistance to EMP, and I had a double series-parallel set up with 12V car batteries that, had the need arisen, provided enough amp-hours that I could have stayed on the air full time for 72-96 hours.
Lets hear it for ARRL.
CONtrol of ELectronic RADiation. 640 and 1240 AM. Little triangles on the dial. Weather radio would now fill that niche, though I suspect the average American would now be utterly clueless in a situation like the Cuban missile crisis.
My father, 20 years a Navy officer (radar), and I installed a great big yagi antenna concealed in a 90-foot tall spruce tree. The antenna was oriented for direct communication with DC, and we were not far from Groton, CT. The theory was it would take the Rooskies a long time to find our little clandestine station.
It was a different time, but historical papers have established that we were not particularly paranoid to have been concerned ... and prepared.
._._.
Duh. The shoe flew off her foot and landed near her before the wreckage piled on top of her feet.
Tip for Disaster Preparedness: Have loose-fitting shoes!
Or, get trapped at Payless.
I heard an old Joni Michell song, Car on a Hill, I think and it made me wonder if you are a Joni Mitchell fan.
Dylan did have a hand cranked harmonica, but I don't know about the Victrola or radio.
I remember Conelrad - and in our 1st grade in Dayton Ohio (near Wright Patterson AFB - a prime target so we were told) we were given little metal discs that we kept in our desks (duck and cover) and were instructed to hold on to those just in case and could tap tap tap for those not burned alive could find us in the rubble.
Now it is to find us in the rabble.
This is only a test. Had this been an actual emergency, you would have been instructed to tune your iPod Touch to 640 AM or 1240 AM for news and other vital information.
Oh, wait. Your iPod can't be tuned to any frequency. Because it shields you from having to hear anything new or different.
But in the event of an actual emergency, you could listen to Lady Gaga and Amy Winehouse as the ionvading Saracen hordes advance on your home town.
Post a Comment