That's right, I said it's boring

Washington's got boring radio.

The end.

(Hmm... my heart's not in it today. Perhaps I can expound.)

This isn't necessarily a Washington, D.C.-specific problem. Every major city in this country has had its radio stations swallowed up by horizontal-monopoly-havin' Clear Channel (which also runs major concert venues such as the Nissan Pavillion in suburban Virginia), thus turning radio into a bland, overly researched, non-local experience.

But in other cities I've lived in or visited, at least some semblance of individuality seems to have creeped through. Atlanta had a largely bland market by the time I left, but at least there were a couple college radio stations I could tune to if I just wanted to hear something different. Seattle and Chicago also seemed to have an independent/college station somewhere on the dial. Jacksonville's a boring city, but when I visited recently, I was shocked to learn that two local stations feature dance/techno music on Saturday night. I believe that's infinity percent more than we get (i.e. zero).

Plus, one Jacksonville station plays American Top 40 with Casey Kasem, which I grew up listening to and really miss. Even when stations were playing the same damn songs every two hours, AT40 was always a bastion of something new to listen to, including good semi-obscure hits and supremely crappy follow-up hits.

But Washington's got absolutely nothing I want to listen to in the way of music. That's just sad. My presets are going to waste (but my CD player is getting a lot of work).

Blah.