I may go insane.

Outside my window right now in Linn Park is a great big event with all sorts of tents and schoolkids.

Every year, the local Emergency Management folks put on some kind of fair/PR deal [It's called the Community Awareness Day Ed. ] and get all the local news stations to send their LIVE-ZIppEE-DOPPLER8000 STORM SPOT CHASE TRACK TEAM guys to plug their stations and give away brochures on what to do in case of a tornado (panic). Then there's local police and fire departments and burglar alarm vendors and a Pepsi booth (because when the chips are down, you want to hold out some hope that Shakira will come and dance with you).

And I am going to go insane because there is a mobile public address/siren unit for sirening and addressing the public at riots and stuff.

And it's parked right outside my window.

And every ten minutes, the operator hits the button for a spaceship sounding wwWWHHHUOOOOPP- BLIPPA-BLIPPA- BLIPPA-BLIPPA BRAAAAAAHHHHH hhhuuoooooo.

And the Pepsi booth is alternating the first stanza of The Beach Boys' "Little Deuce Coupe" every five minutes with M.C. Hammer's "Can't Touch This." That's the ONLY two songs. (In an actual emergency, you would be instructed where to tune in your area for news and the only two songs approved by the Department of Homeland Security.)

And there's kids screaming at the top of their very wide-awake lungs.

Argh.

UPDATE: I have made a mistake. There are two other songs--a few bars from "Girl from Ipanema", and thensome kind of World-Beat nose flute music that is the aural equivalent of being cornered in an alley by a mime.
posted by Terry at 11:13:00 AM