Vintage Things That Have Disappeared In Your Lifetime?

[Gregg Axley]

I just put Seafoam in my gas tank instead. I just had the carb rebuilt. I didn't want to screw that up.

Non-ethynol gas, or gas that WON'T screw up your fuel system.
It's vintage IMHO, but it hasn't disappeared, it's just harder to find.
As for Seafoam...
I use it a lot at work, for cars that don't get driven on a regular basis.
Actually it improved my streetrod, because I've been running ethynol through it for years.
Thankfully we have 4 stations that sell non-ethynol, and I run that in my wife's car, my lawn equipment, and my streetrod (as soon as I can drive it to one of those stations!). In my wife's car I see an increase of 3-4mpg compared to the regular stuff, same grade btw.
So yes IMHO it's worth the extra 60 cents per gallon for better mpg and to NOT screw up the fuel system.

 

[AtomicEraTom]

Good music on FM radio. There's a few straggler good AM stations available, but even those are few and far between, these days.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Good music on FM radio. There's a few straggler good AM stations available, but even those are few and far between, these days.

That's for sure. Even public radio is going down the pipe around here -- used to be full of locally-hosted music programming. Mostly classical, but there were a couple of Golden Era/78rpm oriented music programs in the mix, but now they've eliminated most of the music in favor of politically-oriented call-in programs. And. I. HATE. Politically-Oriented. Call-In. Programs. No matter what the slant. I think they've debased our society, even more than internet comment sections, and I'll never send public radio another nickel as long as they try to shove them down my ear.

 

[Stanley Doble]

And. I. HATE. Politically-Oriented. Call-In. Programs. No matter what the slant. I think they've debased our society, even more than internet comment sections, and I'll never send public radio another nickel as long as they try to shove them down my ear.

I can't believe this coming from you. I thought you would appreciate lively political debate as part of a pluralistic democratic society. I think they are a great idea, the only reason I can't stand them is because the hosts are morons who always ask the wrong questions and most of the call ins are even stupider. This annoys the hell out of me and makes me shudder when I reflect that these are the CONCERNED, THOUGHTFUL voters. But this does not affect the principle of free speech and open discussion of important questions of the day.

 

[Stanley Doble]

But then I enjoy Coast To Coast AM even though I know 99% of the guests are deluded or fakes. I like hearing new ideas, even crazy ones. Sometimes, especially crazy ones.

George Noory is an acquired taste. I can't believe anyone can be so dumb and ask such idiotic questions. There are times he fails to notice or follow up a subject and it drives me bats.

On the other hand, a lot of his comments are unintentionally funny. The other night he was talking to an expert on psychokinesis who was trying to explain the pinwheel experiment. Noory goes "you mean like a hamster on a hamster wheel?" Laugh, I thought I was going to bust a gut. If you are not familiar with psychokinesis and don't see why this is funny, have a look here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VwFXZO6gU4

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

But then I enjoy Coast To Coast AM even though I know 99% of the guests are deluded or fakes. I like hearing new ideas, even crazy ones. Sometimes, especially crazy ones.

George Noory is an acquired taste. I can't believe anyone can be so dumb and ask such idiotic questions. There are times he fails to notice or follow up a subject and it drives me bats.

On the other hand, a lot of his comments are unintentionally funny. The other night he was talking to an expert on psychokinesis who was trying to explain the pinwheel experiment. Noory goes "you mean like a hamster on a hamster wheel?" Laugh, I thought I was going to bust a gut. If you are not familiar with psychokinesis and don't see why this is funny, have a look here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VwFXZO6gU4

My complaint about Coast to Coast AM is that they tend to talk more about politics nowadays, especially the weekend host John B. Wells. I liked it much better when they used to talk more about Bigfoot, ghosts, UFOs etc.

 

[jamespowers]

Non-ethynol gas, or gas that WON'T screw up your fuel system.
It's vintage IMHO, but it hasn't disappeared, it's just harder to find.
As for Seafoam...
I use it a lot at work, for cars that don't get driven on a regular basis.
Actually it improved my streetrod, because I've been running ethynol through it for years.
Thankfully we have 4 stations that sell non-ethynol, and I run that in my wife's car, my lawn equipment, and my streetrod (as soon as I can drive it to one of those stations!). In my wife's car I see an increase of 3-4mpg compared to the regular stuff, same grade btw.
So yes IMHO it's worth the extra 60 cents per gallon for better mpg and to NOT screw up the fuel system.

I find more non-ethynol gas out here---thank God.

 

[HudsonHawk]

Good music on FM radio. There's a few straggler good AM stations available, but even those are few and far between, these days.

I haven't listened to commercial OTA radio in years, since I discovered XM. Lots of good stuff on XM.

 

[Stanley Doble]

My complaint about Coast to Coast AM is that they tend to talk more about politics nowadays, especially the weekend host John B. Wells. I liked it much better when they used to talk more about Bigfoot, ghosts, UFOs etc.

I don't like the time they waste. If they have an interesting guest why not let him talk? I understand they have to run some ads but why waste time on the same old interminable music and pointless breaks?

I usually turn to a different station and often forget to turn back.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I can't believe this coming from you. I thought you would appreciate lively political debate as part of a pluralistic democratic society. I think they are a great idea, the only reason I can't stand them is because the hosts are morons who always ask the wrong questions and most of the call ins are even stupider. This annoys the hell out of me and makes me shudder when I reflect that these are the CONCERNED, THOUGHTFUL voters. But this does not affect the principle of free speech and open discussion of important questions of the day.

There was a time when I didn't mind them. I used to listen to Jerry Williams on WBZ in the '70s -- he had interesting guests on a wide range of subjects, and the callers were actually more interested in what the guest had to say than in delivering their own rants. Williams wasn't the show either -- his guests were, he was merely the neutral facilitator. But those days are gone forever. Since the '90s, the host is the thing -- and "the thing" is nothing but a cheap reiteration of pre-digested talking points, shouted in a shrill, armpit-scratching lowest-common denominator manner. The day Howie Carr learned to talk was a black day in the history of mass communications.

There is no "free speech" in talk radio. All callers are carefully screened before they ever get on the air, and only the ones who will mesh with the host's particular agenda are allowed thru. Talk radio is to journalism what rassling is to sports.

The first thing I'm going to do when I'm dictator is bring back the Fairness Doctrine, and then maybe we can actually have intelligent programming on radio again.

 

[Black Dahlia]

Politeness & Manners...people truly act like they were raised in barns! Although if they were, they'd probably act better than most people these days.
X
BD

 

[Otis]

...There is no "free speech" in talk radio. All callers are carefully screened before they ever get on the air, and only the ones who will mesh with the host's particular agenda are allowed thru. Talk radio is to journalism what rassling is to sports.

How true!

The first thing I'm going to do when I'm dictator is bring back the Fairness Doctrine, and then maybe we can actually have intelligent programming on radio again.

Looks like we cancel each other out here... I'd deregulate the whole mess entirely...right down to abolishing the FCC.

 

[Gregg Axley]

My complaint about Coast to Coast AM is that they tend to talk more about politics nowadays, especially the weekend host John B. Wells. I liked it much better when they used to talk more about Bigfoot, ghosts, UFOs etc.

I only caught it on occasion, but those were the days!

 

[Bruce Wayne]

People who obey the rules of the road. My town has a European market on Saturday in the summer & people & kids are darting out from between cars in the middle of the block. Bicyclists running riding in the middle of the streets & turning against the light. People are jockying for position at a four way intersection & preventing any other flow of traffic. Then you have people who are too old to drive cars so they drive golf carts as if that's any better. I have had more near misses in the last two years from old people in golf carts than all other things in my 13 years of driving.

 

[Gregg Axley]

People who obey the rules of the road. My town has a European market on Saturday in the summer & people & kids are darting out from between cars in the middle of the block. Bicyclists running riding in the middle of the streets & turning against the light. People are jockying for position at a four way intersection & preventing any other flow of traffic. Then you have people who are too old to drive cars so they drive golf carts as if that's any better. I have had more near misses in the last two years from old people in golf carts than all other things in my 13 years of driving.

I'll agree with this one. I found out today my insurance is going up because of where I live, and not because of what I drive (7yr old small suv). Those idiots that drive like they are in a racing video game, or worse like they are in bumper cars at the fair, are causing what should be a cheap car to insure, to be almost $400 every 6 months!
I submit that driving rules and etiquette are not taught in schools anymore.

 

[3fingers]

The first thing I'm going to do when I'm dictator is bring back the Fairness Doctrine, and then maybe we can actually have intelligent programming on radio again.

I agree with talk radio being akin to scrawling on the bathroom wall or the equivalent of rassling on the TV. In general I despise it, and all that goes along with it whether the host holds political views similar to mine or not. As it is, too many, both hosts and callers, sat down on the toilet and their brains fell out. Unfortunately, we can't force people to take some initiative and learn anything themselves or examine their position to see if it really makes sense to them. However, I disagree with the fairness doctrine. If the fairness doctrine worked, it would be different, but as I see it it amounts to forcing stations to broadcast things that there is not a substantial audience for. It matters not whether they personally agree or disagree with the viewpoints that are expressed, if it won't make money the public service aspect of a broadcast license has to have limits. If there was demand for alternatives, someone would gladly provide them. As an example, there have been numerous attempts to try to get what some call "progressive" programming on the air for a number of years now, but all of them I know of have failed. Which I don't understand because there are obviously large numbers of people who identify as being of that bent. If there was an audience for that type of program, with a host that people could connect to, they should have been commercially successful. This is straying too close to politics, so I am going to stop now.

 

[LizzieMaine]

All I can say is I worked my entire broadcasting career under the strictures of the Fairness Doctrine, and it worked just fine. All it meant was that you couldn't have people on the air who popped off irresponsibly and recklessly -- there was always room for every point of view as long as it was presented *responsibly.* In the Era, the radio networks gave representatives of every political persuasion a fair shot at the air -- the big parties and the small, all got a chance to be heard, in an orderly and dignfied manner.

And if management tried to force you to slant your presentation of the news -- as happend to me, when the owner of the station was also the state chairman of a political party and wanted air time given to his cronies -- you had something you could point to and say *No*, and know that the law backed you up.

The worst thing that ever happend to radio in America was deregulation. The cesspool that is modern broadcasting is its direct result.

 

[vitanola]

How true!



Looks like we cancel each other out here... I'd deregulate the whole mess entirely...right down to abolishing the FCC.

That sounds like a course that would be taken by someone with no knowledge of the utter chaos in the airwaves which nearly sunk broadcasting in the days before the Radio Act.

When I say chaos, I am not referring to political or musical chaos, I mean technical chaos; interference, heterodynes, channel-jumping, unregulated blowtorches blanketing wide swathes of spectrum, making it nearly unusable.

 

[HadleyH]

My father

my aunts

my grandfather and grand mother

they have all disappeared.......................will they ever come back?

I need them

 

[HadleyH]

and I am asking you?

stupid me.


Forgive me please.