Aerial View was WFMU’s first regularly-scheduled phone-in talk show. Hosted by Chris T. and on the air since 1989, the show features topical conversation, interviews and many trips down the rabbit hole. Until further notice, Aerial View is only available as a podcast, available every Tuesday morning. Subscribe to the newsletter “See You Next Tuesday!” and find tons of archives at aerialview.me. (Visit homepage.)

July 28, 2015: Picking Quarrels & Provoking Trouble Since 1989.

View this in your browser. Tonight: Picking Quarrels & Provoking Trouble Citing "rule of law", the Chinese government is using new laws to investigate and detain (jail) citizens who express their true thoughts online. An old ban on "picking quarrels and provoking trouble" has been pressed into service to round up anyone deemed to be agitating against the government. Which has inspired me to create a new slogan for Aerial View:  Picking Quarrels & Provoking Trouble Since 1989. Do you like it? I thought you would. Aerial View never actually had a slogan... so tonight not only should you pick a quarrel and provoke trouble, I'd like you to suggest other slogans for the show, too. Here are a few suggestions to get you started: Where Malcontents, Misfits, Miscreants & Misanthropes Are Welcome! Social Media For the Anti-Social What's It About? It's About An Hour! See You Next Tuesday! As for picking a quarrel and provoking trouble, here's some "Hamburger Helper": The new season of True Detective BLOWS CHUNKS. What's the deal with people who refuse to capitalize? Why stricter gun control laws in the US will never happen. Donald Trump is doing Hilary Clinton's dirty work. Another week, another Nazi/Holocaust/Hitler comparison. The best shows on TV aren't on TV: why you need to see Bloodline. Call 201-209-WFMU but remember: NO BAD WORDS! Last Week: Murder In My Town On last week's show, Mark Moran of Weird NJ and Jesse P. Pollack joined me to discuss their new book Death on the Devil's Teeth: The Strange Murder That Shocked Suburban New Jersey. It's the story of the 1975 cold-case murder of sixteen year-old Jeanette DePalma of Springfield, NJ, witchcraft, Satanism, a possible police coverup and a serial killer on the loose. Go get a copy. Here are some playlist comments: I used to buy the Weird NJ magazine and Cool & Strange Music, maybe at a Hudson News around Grand Central. No such newstands where I live now, except for the area in Shoprite where they sell Woman's Day and Field & Stream and greeting cards. I just started watching True Detective... this is sounding a bit similar. I don't get the appeal of True Detective (season 1; haven't seen any of S2). There's not much of a plot - the writer obviously doesn't give a shit about the "case" he's splurted out. It's just a loose framework to hang the characterization on. It's all McConaughey & Harrelson. I don't dig that. Want plot. Need plot. A full blooded New Joisie Italiano becoming Evangelical is a story in and of itself... This is why we left NJ. Lots of sick people putting on a bourgeois costume and playing the fake civility game. Back to the city for good and happy about it. Ah yes. The city. Where there are no bourgeois costumes at all, and the last strange murder was 300 years ago. Duane Reade Radio I was at the Duane Reade today, buying drain cleaner and soap, and had to stand on this long line, one of several. The line to my right was served by this older black woman with a very LOUD piercing voice. Its pitch and tone was reminiscent of Roseanne's. It was nasal to a degree unnecessary. You could hear this woman all through the store, berating customers with shouts of "Who's NEXT?! C'mon people, MOVE UP, MOVE UP!" It wasn't a friendly "We're-all-in-this-together!" joshing. It was more of an "I-hate-my-job-but-especially-you-ignorant-motherfuckers." She got into a power-play with another black woman about the price of a bottle of Hawaiian Punch. The woman on line insisted it was ninety-nine cents. The cashier said "I don't think so... it's not on sale that I know." While the customer's young son picked up and put down every pack of gum in the display near the register, the cashier said "I have to get a price check." She lifted her phone receiver to her mouth and barked "CAN I GET A PRICE CHECK ON A TWO-LITER BOTTLE OF HAWAIIAN PUNCH PUH-LEEZE?" Two or three seconds later her voice boomed over the in-store PA.   I was thrown by the delay and for a moment it was like her echo was happening inside my head. I could no longer hear myself think. I had to give myself over completely to her because she needed and craved the attention. The cash register had become her console, the receiver was her microphone. She had a captive audience and was damn sure going to do her radio show for us all.   After a moment those on line began sighing, looking at their watches, displaying all the signs of people who are in a hurry and tired of waiting. The woman with the Hawaiian Punch felt the crowd breathing down her neck. She wanted to pay, no matter the price, and get the hell out. "Okay, never mind, let's just go." she said to the cashier. "No. We can wait. It's okay." the cashier shot back. She got back on the PA and boomed "WHERE IS THAT HAWAIIAN PUNCH PRICE CHECK?!"   Soon enough a voice crackled through the speakerphone: "Your price is a dollar thirty-nine."   "SEE?" the cashier barked at the woman and her fidgeting son, "I knew it wasn't ninety-nine cents." "Okay, I'll show you where it says ninety-nine cents. I'll show you where." "That was the manager on the phone, that was Rajakash. He said it's one thirty-nine." "That's okay, that's alright. I'm gonna show him where it says ninety-nine cents. You can ring me up."   This went on for awhile, while those of us waiting rolled our eyes. I longed to blurt out "Get on with it!" but I kept my mouth shut.   Finally, beyond weary of the piercing tone of the cashier's voice, I shot a look at her name tag, wanting to move beyond anonymity. ALTHEA.   Shit. Althea. There's that name again. An old girlfriend, the hippie chick who lived near Woodstock, the one who wanted me to go skinny-dipping with her and her male friends. The bullet I dodged, not knowing what a bullet it was at the time.   Rajakash eventually made his way to the cashier and corrected himself. "It's on sale. Ninety-nine cents." "Okay then." said the cashier, completing the transaction. "They don't tell me nothing." Farewell, Beware Of Blog! WFMU's Beware Of Blog is no more. For those of you unaware, the Blog was where the WFMU faithful gathered online before the rise of Facebook and all the other social media options we've come to take for granted.  I was a frequent contributor to the blog for many years (to find my installments, type "Chris T." in the search box) but - like many others - I moved on to other alternatives, including this newsletter.  There may be another WFMU blog someday but it's an awfully big job to administer and - as mentioned - there are other outlets now. But the Blog will remain up with all its entries and you can continue to enjoy it for years to come. Just don't expect any new content. WFMU Literary Guild Meet Up I'll be reading at the next WFMU Literary Guild Meet Up, happening Saturday, September 18 at the KGB Bar in Manhattan.  Also on the bill:  Gaylord Fields Cheyenne Hohman Nate Knaebel Dave Mandl Scott McDowell Chris M. Yvonne Szymczak Obligatory Throwback Pic Listen to this show:  Pop-up player! From the WFMU blog entry Purple Mountain Peasantry, dated 8/22/05. Me & Bob Weston at a Colorado Rockies game.

OVER THE AIR: Every Tuesday night, 6 PM Eastern time on WFMU in the metro NY/NJ area at 91.1 FM and on WMFU at 90.1 in the lower Catskills, Hudson Valley, western New Jersey and Eastern Pennsylvania. ON THE WEB: Streaming audio in several formats is available at wfmu.org. ON DEMAND ARCHIVES: The Aerial View Archive page features archives going back to nearly the beginning of the show in RealAudio and MP3 format. PODCAST: Aerial View is available on iTunes as a podcast. WFMU MOBILE: Listen live via the mobile app or browse the archives. Get the iOS app here and the Android version here. Amazon Kindle users can use the TuneIn Radio app. Info for other platforms, including Blackberry, etc. can be found here. AUDIOBOOM: Hear Aerial View and easily share it on social media here. Mobile apps are here.  "I'll see you TONIGHT, 6 PM Eastern time, on WFMU!"

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