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Between suburban Omaha sometime during the Happy Days and . . . the Twilight Zone.
Ostensibly, this is an ordinary day. Betty thinks she is having an ordinary phone chat with her best friend, Marge. But this is no ordinary telephone call, and hers is no ordinary telephone.
LET'S LISTEN IN on Betty’s unwitting long-distance call, a long-distance call like no other.
“Hello, Marge? You won’t believe what I just heard! It’s this freeform music podcast called 3 Chords & the Truth, and it’s fabulous!
“What’s that, Marge? Yes, a freeform music podcast. FREE . . . form. That means freewheeling, I think. Without a set format. Format. You know, like the structure and content of something.
“Yes, Marge. What? What’s a podcast?
“It’s an online program you can download and listen to anytime. Download. Off the Internet and onto your smartphone . . . or computer or tablet.
“No, Marge. No, I haven’t had a stroke or a nervous breakdown.
“No, dear. I assure you I’m making perfect sense. No, the Internet is not some kind of a communist organization. Yes, I’m here at home. Why do you ask?
“Surely there must be some reason you wanted to make sure that I’m at home right now.
“No. No, I don’t need help. Why on earth do you think I need help?
“What? Who exactly do you need to get off the line to call?
“No, I am telling you that I am fine. I do NOT need help. I happen to be making perfect sense, dear.
“I am telling you, Marge, that I am NOT a communist and that I am NOT having a stro . . . hello? HELLO??? Marge?”
“What’s that, Marge? Yes, a freeform music podcast. FREE . . . form. That means freewheeling, I think. Without a set format. Format. You know, like the structure and content of something.
“Yes, Marge. What? What’s a podcast?
“It’s an online program you can download and listen to anytime. Download. Off the Internet and onto your smartphone . . . or computer or tablet.
“No, Marge. No, I haven’t had a stroke or a nervous breakdown.
“No, dear. I assure you I’m making perfect sense. No, the Internet is not some kind of a communist organization. Yes, I’m here at home. Why do you ask?
“Surely there must be some reason you wanted to make sure that I’m at home right now.
“No. No, I don’t need help. Why on earth do you think I need help?
“What? Who exactly do you need to get off the line to call?
“No, I am telling you that I am fine. I do NOT need help. I happen to be making perfect sense, dear.
“I am telling you, Marge, that I am NOT a communist and that I am NOT having a stro . . . hello? HELLO??? Marge?”
BETTY DOES NOT know that in 25 minutes — or, perhaps, 68 years and 25 minutes ago — two white-clad men will arrive at her tidy, tastefully appointed home. They will come to take her to . . . the Electroshock-Therapy Zone.
They will not notice the futuristic little device plugged into her new hi-fi console. The device is the size of a Big Chief tablet, but it contains no ruled paper. It’s an iPad, and it belongs not to the world of 1954, but instead to ours.
It is the world of tomorrow — the world of the Big Show. We know it as . . . today.
It’s 3 Chords & the Truth, y’all. Be there. Aloha.
They will not notice the futuristic little device plugged into her new hi-fi console. The device is the size of a Big Chief tablet, but it contains no ruled paper. It’s an iPad, and it belongs not to the world of 1954, but instead to ours.
It is the world of tomorrow — the world of the Big Show. We know it as . . . today.
It’s 3 Chords & the Truth, y’all. Be there. Aloha.
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