Baghdad rocks

Bart's latest:

THE ROCK OF BAGHDAD

107.7 is the U.S. military's FM station here. Part of the Armed Forces Network. It broadcasts a dizzying mixture of rock and country. Sometimes they will do a 4 hour block of country, sometimes 4 hours of classic rock. You get some hip hop too. I've heard R. Kelly, immediately followed by that redneck lady who's all the country rage now (I can't recall her name, the song they were playing was the one where she's gonna get even with the mini-skirted hussy). I've also heard Toby Keith, immediately followed by Ozzy Osbourne doing "Mississippi Queen." They takes requests. Some of these guys have a sense of humor/irony, because I heard a request for Ozzy's "War Pigs" the other day.

The thing that makes the station really distinctive are it's non-commercial commercials. "Remember, wear your kevlar when you're out in those humvees," one of the enlisted dj's implores "because those humvees don't have those soft bags that pop out and cushion your impact."

Some chaplin has his own commercial. He implores us to "secure our spiritual perimeter." He has a bunch of other military/religious cliches in the commercial, but I never remember them because I'm laughing my ass off at the spiritual perimeter thing.

They also have some commercials that aren't so funny. In particular, theres one on suicide prevention. They have their own "hot-line" for that here. There is a lot of pressure on our folks here.