Martini on the Rockies
Words cannot express how much I wish I could claim that I came up with that pun, but alas, I cannot be so deceitful. Here in lovely Denver, Colorado,
there is a wonderful radio station at 101.5 on your FM dial (I do not know its call letters, but I’d put my money on KMRT) that goes by “Martini on the Rockies.â€
Normally, I don’t have a lot of truck with commercial radio, but Martini on the Rockies is something else altogether. It’s as if you had a really, really cool friend who called you up and said, “Hey, baby, why don’t you come over and we’ll spin some discs?†But it’s on the radio. Available in your car!
Shirley Bassey singing Goldfinger.
Anyone at all singing Mac the Knife.
Elvis Costello singing Let’s Misbehave.
And then, just to keep you on your toes, a little Chris Isaak or Sarah McLachlan.
At least eighteen times an hour, the DJs work “Martini on the Rockies†into their patter. But to me, the joke never gets old. Every time, I think, “How unbearably clever. I wish I’d thought of that.â€
Martini on the Rockies pretty much captures my whole sense about Denver. It’s cool and mellow and sophisticated and witty and beautiful. Here’s the view from my room:
I am considering taking up residence here. I shall change my name to Eloïse and order every meal from room service.
There are abundant fountains,
prairie dogs that are disturbingly tame,
city parks that look like this,
and creeks with exploratory children:
It’s nothing short of idyllic. I really have no complaints. If it weren’t for significant sentimental attachments back East, I might see if they’d hire me on at the hotel or the archive and simply stay.
This research is good, and Icarus is coming along (though he misses his life in Vegas):
Beware! If you fly too near the sun, you’ll end up in the suburbs of Denver.
As they say on 101.5 FM, a martini is not a drink. It’s an attitude. What a cool (although almost totally empty and meaningless) thing to say!
Martini on the Rockies. Dry. With three olives.
Cheers!
August 23rd, 2006 at 2:05 pm
It’s one of the FCC’s weirdnesses that radio & TV stations east of the Mississippi all begin with W – West of the Mississippi they all begin with K. Don’t know why, it’s just a rule. Also don’t know why some TV stations only have 3 letters while most others have all 4. It’s the FCC, it’s the government, it’s weird.
August 23rd, 2006 at 2:07 pm
I showed Shelley the picture of the prarie dogs and she said “Woo woo woo,” which I think translates to, “I’d have those guys in my jaws in about five seconds.”
August 23rd, 2006 at 3:48 pm
I’m going to give you credit for Martini on the Rockies because you are as cool as if not more than the dj on the radio.
Have you seen Mim’s blog? She’s tutoring us on how to Icarus with beads–lovely.
Great pics. Love the prairie dogs fat belly. Can’t resist a fat belly (on a quadruped anyway).
August 23rd, 2006 at 7:04 pm
Deb isn’t nuts. I did the call letters wrong this morning. I just corrected my mistake right before her comment went up, but she’s in the right here.
Mea culpa. This is what I get for living on the East Coast too much… I’ve started thinking in terms of Ws instead of Ks…
August 23rd, 2006 at 8:19 pm
Icarus sure gets around. Denver looks pretty good, too. Back here in the east, I believe it is time for a martini (or something like that). Mmmm, maybe I’d better eat something (like dinner) first.
December 22nd, 2007 at 6:42 pm
In the spirit of Cliff Claven, Martini’s call letters are KTNI. And you’re right about the FCC and its way of going about designating call letters: W east of the Mississippi, K west … with some exceptions. KDKA is in Pittsburgh – and it’s considered to be the very first station. Stations originally could have three or four letters, but in time all stations would require four.
Are you people still with me? This gets even more interesting. There would be some stations west of the River with W-calls. WOW in Omaha comes to mind. Possibly the first calls to spell a word … although, to my knowledge, the station never used the word “wow” in its promotion. Same goes for WHO in Des Moines, Iowa. I’m not sure about WACO in Waco, Texas … which brings us to Gordon McClenden – a Texas broadcaster who did turn his call letters into words. Probably the first broadcaster to do so. KLIF was called “Cliff”; KELP was “Kelp”; KOST was “Coast”, etc.
One call letter story comes to mind, years ago in Nebraska. The Univertity of Nebraska requested the call letters KUNT for its station. The letters U-N-T stood for University of Nebraska Television. The FCC turned down the request.
I had one more story, but I forget what it was. Thanks for staying with me. dd