Sheriff Norm sledgehammers his television live on Radio Free Hawaii
If you recall, Radio Free Hawaii was conceptualized and piloted by Sheriff Norm. Below is some classic audio of Sheriff Norm calmly ranting about the corrupting influences of television and superiority of radio as a broadcast medium. Then he smashes his television set with a sledgehammer, in the studio. Because that is the kind of man Sheriff Norm is.
Considering it is over 10 years old, the battered cassette tape this came from is lucky to be alive! Quality is poor, there is Hawaiian music running underneath and all kinds of strange distortions and static, but that just gives it a way-back feeling. Hope you enjoy?!
This bit of violence against consumer goods was recorded from a rebroadcast on the late-night talk show of the inimitable Mad Mohammad, a popular and controversial dj. The topic that evening was violence on television and “do you agree with Sheriff Norm’s decision to sledgehammer his tv?”
Because he cares about the kids, Mohammad also offers some helpful safety tips for listeners who might decide to sledgehammer their own television.
These snippets came from cassette recordings by Shawn Speedy Lopes, former production director at Radio Free Hawaii and current owner of Stylus Music and Clothing Exchange.
Filed under Hawaii, current projects, music | Comment (1)the all-consuming self
Recently took in The Century of the Self, about psycho-analysis, advertising, consumerism, mass behavior and how we’re all getting got. The BBC-produced series illustrates how both Freud’s theories and his family members were well in the mix of American public relations, advertising, entertainment and politics before, during and after World War II. It goes on to show how their influences still guide the hand of business in producing consumer-citizens who are “constantly moving happiness machines” (as Herbert Hoover put it) seeking only the fulfillment of personal desire and identity.
Shows like this get me agitated. Thankfully, this level-headed Village Voice review helped me be less hysterical in my thinking. Consumerism is not just a trap, it’s a total head trip. Middle classics like me are conditioned by the powers-that-be to salivate at the site of new consumer goods like the Nokia e90 Communicator. What can I do? Say no to technology? That’s no fun! Meh.
The BBC-produced Century of the Self is available free online, in four hour-long parts.
Filed under e-life, media consumption | Comment (0)
