Canada Wins Hockey Gold

Congratulations to the Canadian men's Olympic hockey team on their victory over the United States this afternoon. The US made it exciting with a tying goal with only 24.4 seconds left in regulation but then Sidney Crosby had to go and win it 3-2 in sudden death overtime. What a jerk. The Buffalo Sabre's goalie Ryan Miller was named the Olympic tournament MVP despite losing the gold medal game. This isn't the first time that Crosby beat Miller with an agonizing game-ending goal--he scored for the Pittsburgh Penguins in a shootout to win the inaugural Winter Classic in Buffalo back in 2008. What a dick.

Oh, that reminds me...congrats as well to the Canadian women's hockey team for their gold medal winning performance.

This is an Olympic-themed sticker from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC is Canada's national public radio and television broadcaster. The sticker features the current CBC logo which has been in use since 1992.

Both sides of a CBC bookmark.

KUHF

KUHF is a public radio station in Houston, Texas which airs a Classical music format. They've been owned and operated by the University of Houston since going on the air in 1950. KUHF was originally at 91.3 FM before moving to 88.7 in 1970. In 1986 a local fine arts radio station flipped formats and donated its entire music library to KUHF with the condition that they change their format to Classical. Prior to this they carried NPR News and Jazz. KUHF is still an National Public Radio affiliate broadcasting All Things Considered, Car Talk and Wait! Wait! Don't Tell Me as well as other NPR staples.

The Rivers

"FM 101 The River" KDRE was an Adult Standards station licensed to North Little Rock, Arkansas. It is currently KZTS, an Urban Contemporary station known as "Streets 101."

"93.3 The River" WQRV was a Classic Hits station licensed to Avon, New York. The frequency is currently home to "Fickle 93.3" WFKL, a Jack FM-style Variety Hits station.

"100.7 The River" WRVA is a Classic Hits station licensed to Wake Forest, North Carolina.

WXUT

WXUT is a 100-watt, student-run, Alternative station from the University of Toledo in Toledo, Ohio. WXUT shares the 88.3 FM frequency with Jazz station WXTS which is operated by the Toledo Public School system.

KCGB

KCGB is a Hot AC station licensed to Hood River, Oregon. They also broadcast at 96.9 FM from The Dalles, OR. KCGB appears to get some or all of their programming from Citadel's syndicated "Today's Best Hits" network.

R.I.P. Doug Fieger

Doug Fieger, the lead singer of the Knack died recently. He battled cancer for several years but finally succumbed at the age of 57. The Knack is best known for My Sharona, a perfect slice of jerky, late 70s power pop from their debut album Get The Knack. My Sharona spent six weeks at #1 on Billboard's Hot 100 but the band never reached those heights again. A backlash against them soon followed partly because of Feiger's perceived arrogance and partly because of some idiotic management moves (keeping the band from doing domestic press and refusing television appearances!) Because they hit it big so quickly and fell so fast, the Knack are an underappreciated band in my opinion. 1981's Pay Dirt is a great album and even 1991's Serious Fun gets an occasional spin on the old CD player.

 

"107.1 The Knack" KNKK is a uniquely-named Hot AC station licensed to Needles, California. They also broadcast at 96.7 FM from Kingman, Arizona and on 95.1 FM from Lake Havasu City, AZ.

WEZX

I was watching Season Three of The Office on DVD the other day when I saw something radio-related. In one episode Michael Scott and Dwight Schrute make an homage to the Saturday Night Live digital short Lazy Sunday called Lazy Scranton. In it, Schrute can be seen wearing a partially covered-up t-shirt from "Rock 107" WEZX.

WEZX is a Classic Rock station from, of course, Scranton, Pennsylvania. They also simulcast on WPZX in Pocono Pines, PA and WBZX in Hancock, New York as well as four signal repeaters. Dwight Schrute is apparently also a fan of Scranton's WGGY/WGGI. 

Here's my own, well-worn "Rock 107" t-shirt.

Sunday Sticker - KIRS

KIRS was a Religious station licensed to Sun Valley, Nevada circa 1996. 1590 AM is currently KQLO, a Spanish formatted station covering the Reno/Sparks/Carson City area.

KKCD

I organized my CDs today. What a time-consuming pain in the butt that was. The majority of the CDs were already alphabetized but I had about two years worth of purchases that needed to be put in their correct place. The worst one was a CD that belonged at the very beginning of the racks and required sliding 18 shelves of discs around so it could reside at the top of the collection (no it wasn't ABBA.....OK, yes it was....guilty pleasure.)
I must be old because I still buy a fair amount of compact discs. I like owning physical copies of music with all the artwork and packaging as opposed to soulless digital tracks.

Dayton just saw the closing of its last independent record store on Sunday when Gem City Records shut their doors forever. (I'm not counting Second Time Around which only carries used stuff and is concentrating more on DVDs and video games lately.) Renaissance Records was another long-gone indie shop which was always good for finding an obscurity or two and an owner who always seemed pissed that you were in his store. Looks like I'll be making more trips to Cincinnati for my CD fix now. The Queen City is home, hopefully for many more years, to one of the greatest record stores anywhere--Shake It.

"CD 105.9" KKCD is a Classic Rock station in Omaha, Nebraska. They're one of a handful of stations that brand themselves after the increasingly quaint compact disc.

An older KKCD sticker circa 2001.

WNOK

WNOK is a CHR station from Columbia, South Carolina. They first went on the air in 1959 with a Pop Standards format. They later switched to Beautiful Music and a kind of Adult Contemporary before flipping to Top-40 in 1976.

First 3-D Movie

The first three-dimensional movie opened on this date in 1953. Bwana Devil, a drama about building the Uganda Railway amongst a pair of man-eating lions, played at Loew's State Theater in New York City to a crowd wearing special eyeglasses.

WDDD has been a Country music station for over 30 years. "W3D" is licensed to Marion, Illinois.

WMRW

WMRW is a low-power FM station licensed to Warren, Vermont. The building on the sticker is a drawing of the old schoolhouse that they broadcast from.

KQXX

KQXX had been an Oldies station licensed to Mission, Texas since 2003. Last summer KQXX switched formats to Classic Rock as "105.5 The X."

National Flag of Canada Day

Today is National Flag of Canada Day which commemorates the inauguration of the national flag on this date in 1965. I had no idea that Canada's flag design was so recent. Prior to the current design, the Canadian Red Ensign was used which featured the British Union Jack and the Coat of Arms of Canada on a red background.

CFPL (Canada Free Press London) is a News/Talk/Sports station from London, Ontario.

You can see a CFPL-FM sticker here.

Year of the Tiger

According to the Chinese Zodiac, the year 2010 is the Year of the Tiger which begins today and lasts until February 2, 2011. The tiger was revered by the ancient Chinese for being a fearless fighter and for warding off household disasters such as thieves, fire and ghosts. Tigers are also excellent at cheating on their wives, driving into fire hydrants and swinging a mean set of clubs.

WXCT "Tiger Country 100.7" was a Country music station in Baton Rouge, Louisiana from 1997 until 2001. The Tiger branding came about from their association with the mascot from Louisiana State University. The 100.7 frequency began as the Easy Listening/Jazz station WQXY in 1965. In the late 80s they flipped to Rock then Modern Rock as WTGE. 100.7 is still currently a Country station known as "the Tiger" although with the call letters WYPY.
Other tiger-centric stickers can be seen here. And here.

Dart on Map - CJRW

The random dart this time landed on the western tip of Prince Edward Island, Canada near the community of West Point.


CJRW was a Country music station from Summerside, PE. It's the only commercial station on the island not licensed to the capital city of Charlottetown. CJRW began broadcasting in 1948 at 1240 AM. They converted to FM in 1989 and moved to 102.1 as "C102." They are currently a Classic Hits station with the fantastic name "102.1 SPUD FM."

Just as depicted on the sticker, there is an actual lighthouse in West Point with rooms that can be rented for the night.

WIVY

"Y103" WIVY was a Top-40 station in Jacksonville, Florida. This sticker appears to be from the late 1970s which is when they switched from AOR to CHR. They apparently did well with listeners, at least according to these Arbitron ratings from 1980/81. The station later switched to Hot AC as WMXQ "Mix 103" and Eighties music as "102.9 The Point." It is currently a Modern Rock station known as "X102.9" WXXJ.

WIAL

"I94" WIAL is an Adult Contemporary station in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. The station first went on the air with an Easy Listening format before switching to Top-40 in 1982. They later became a Hot Adult Contemporary station which is probably about the time this sticker came out. Since 2008 they've been a mainstream AC station. The "I94" branding comes from Interstate Highway 94 which stretches from Port Huron, Michigan to Billings, Montana and runs along the south and west side of Eau Claire.

KAST

KAST AM is a News/Talk station licensed to (K) ASToria, Oregon. Soft Rock KAST FM went silent in 2006.

WPGM

WPGM AM & FM is a Religious station licensed to Danville, Pennsylvania.

KSSI

KSSI is a Classic Rock station licensed to China Lake, California.

Saints Win The Super Bowl

The New Orleans Saints won the Super Bowl tonight defeating the Indianapolis Colts 31-17. It was also the most watched program in the history of U.S. television with 106 million viewers.

WQUE was a News/Talk station in New Orleans, Louisiana circa 1992. 1280 AM is currently WODT, an Urban Contemporary Gospel station.

Sabres vs Blue Jackets

We're headed an hour east to Columbus for tonight's hockey game between the Buffalo Sabres and Columbus Blue Jackets. The Sabres are clinging to a one point first place lead in the Northeast division while the Jackets sit in the basement of the Central division. The BJs recently fired their head coach which could mean they'll slump even further or provide a spark to play above their abilities. The Sabres have underperformed recently themselves going 2-7-1 in their last 10 games. Either way it'll be a fun night at Nationwide Arena.

WGR is the flagship station of the Buffalo Sabres. Previous WGR stix can be seen here. And here.

WWCD is a Modern Rock station in Columbus, Ohio and the FM flagship station of the Blue Jackets. "CD 101" is licensed to Grove City, OH.  Former Columbus Chill player (and later "CD101" DJ) Jim Ballantine became the first player in professional hockey to wear a three-digit number when he wore 101 to help promote the station.

I hope they didn't mind me stealing a bunch of their CD101 logoed pens from this table.

UPDATE: The Blue Jackets destroyed the Sabres 4-0. Depression ensues. It was great, however, to see so many visiting Sabres fans in attendance. An ESPN recap described them as a "huge throng" and at times they seemed to overtake every bar and restaurant in the Arena District of downtown Columbus. It would have been nice to give them something to cheer for.