The bold and the beautiful. The good, the bad and the ugly. We're talking about what's on TV, on the radio or in the popular culture. Join the conversation, on "Station Break."

Farhi was online Tuesday, March 18, at 1 p.m. ET.

A transcript follows.

Farhi is a reporter in The Post's Style section, writing about media and popular culture. He's been watching TV and listening to the radio since "The Monkees" were in first run and Adam West was a star. Born in Brooklyn and raised in Los Angeles, Farhi had brief stints in the movie business (as an usher at the Picwood Theater), and in the auto industry (rental-car lot guy) before devoting himself full time to word processing. His car has 15 radio pre-sets and his cable system has 500 channels. He vows to use all of them for good instead of evil.

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Paul Farhi: Greetings, all, and welcome to our big pre-spring chat and inventory clearance sale. Thanks for coming 'round...And, my, you're looking good today. Have you been working out?...Ahem...Since last we met, Elliot Spitzer's political career blew up in a big way, leading to this daring, potentially offensive (and frankly, pretty amusing) cover of this week's New York magazine (don't click on the link if you're easily offended; we warned ya!):

http://shakiki.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/ny317.jpg

But we digress.

Maybe we should just go to the phones...

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Herndon, Va.: Mr. F: I hope the Station Break singers and dancers have recovered from their marathon performance for St. Patrick's Day. Anything "official" yet on ratings for 105.9 since it went "oldies" and Don Imus (another oldie, but definitely not golden)?

Paul Farhi: Thanks for mentioning that--the Station Breakdancers were doing a "River Dance" thing into the wee hours last night. You should have been there (as a critic, I would evaluate their performance as "loud")...As for ratings on the new oldies station or Imus, not yet. Way too soon for that...And is it just me, or does Imus sound like he has some vocal chord disease? He sounds awful.

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Adams Morgan, Washington, D.C.: The other day I asked a friend if he had heard the new track by a group we both like. Then it hit me, do people even say "track" any more in reference to a song? The more I thought about it, I didn't even know what a track really is. I figure I probably picked the term up from listening to Casey Kasem every week for years. The more I think about this, the more I feel old.

Paul Farhi: Yes, "track" used to be one of those words that you'd say if you wanted to seem like a real insider (alternative: "Cuts," though that always sounded like something out of a butcher shop). It's kind of like calling every singer, guitarist or drum player an "artist."

And, no, there are no more "tracks." But what's the substitute? "Mips?" "'loads"? "Files?" I dunno...

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Rockville, Md.: Can someone please tell the Elliott in the Morning show on DC-101 to please cut down on instances in which Elliott laughs for long periods -- it's grating and annoying, and many people have noted this. Additionally, their "newscasts" are severely lacking in news and seem to ramble on without getting to any valid points or conclusions. Just report the news. Does anyone at rock and pop stations know anything about news and broadcasting news? It's pretty much a lost art at music stations -- these people have zero journalistic skills.

Paul Farhi: Radio gave up a long time ago on actually covering any news (there are a few exceptions, but only a very few). The fact that the Elliot crew even gives a little rip-n'-read on the show is commendable progress. For this state of affairs, you can thank your FCC, which decreed in the '80s that broadcasters can, basically, do whatever the heck they want.

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Potomac, Md.: Is it just a group of us, or does Don Imus talk like he's constipated? Also, his "show" is surprisingly lacking in information, facts, research or insight. There's just nothing there, literally -- everyone on there appears to be clueless and completely lacking in knowledge of what's going on in the world. What in the world is the appeal of this show -- and why on earth is it airing on an oldies station? The radio suits running these stations have completely lost their minds.

Paul Farhi: I'll duck the part of the question about the cluelessness of Imus' show (it actually DOES deal in current affairs and newsmakers, which is far more than most morning shows can say). As for why it's on "TrueOldies 105.9," that's easy--Citadel Broadcasting, which owns the station and Imus' show, couldn't sell the show back to Clear Channel-owned WTNT-AM (570), which had broadcast it for several years. And since no other station in the Washington area wanted it (Imus got horrendous ratings on WTNT), Citadel decided to plug it into one of its own local stations.

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Reston, Va.: What happened to the new low power FM(LPFM) radio broadcasting service?

Paul Farhi: It (or rather they) are out there, but several parties (commercial and non-commercial radio broadcasters) slowed down the FCC's more ambitious plans to expand LP broadcasting. The broadcasters claimed the signals of the low power folk would interfere with their stations (some said they just didn't want more competition), so the FCC slow-rolled the whole field...

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Fairfax, Va.: Channel 9's 11 p.m. news sometimes ends with an oddly-paced attempt at humor by injecting what appears to be hastily-edited, 20-second "feature" pieces that are run so rapidly and edited so harshly -- and written so poorly -- that most of the time the entire attempt falls flat and the newscast just looks hokey, amateurish and dumb. Newscasts should be ending their little 22-minute newscasts with a solid, hard-news recap of the day's events, with a look toward tomorrow's news -- not some dumb, hastily-edited video feature that makes no sense. What more can 9 do to ruin what was, as recently as 10 years ago, one of the area's better evening newscasts? Now it's just the worst, objectively.

Paul Farhi: I'm thinking the theory of those snappy little pieces--the proverbial "water-skiing squirrel" depicted so well in the movie "Anchorman"--has something to do with the idea of leaving viewers in a good mood, after the newscast has pummeled them with stories about war, violence and economic collapse. I kind of like the theory. And I really like it when the pieces themselves are super-lame. They have to make every viewer feel so...superior to the news. Not a bad thing.

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Gaithersburg, Md.: Why does Jack Diamond lecture people so much? He's not a counselor or a preacher -- he's a DJ on a pop music station. Jack: Just talk about current events and music and popular culture and tell jokes and introduce the songs. People are not tuning in to hear you lecture -- that's when people change stations.

Paul Farhi: He does go on at times, doesn't he? It seems like he's trying to be Mr. Wholesome Family Values. Maybe he's trying out to be your Radio Dad.

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Bethesda, Md.: Paul,

Any news of when the Greaseman will be back on the air?

Paul Farhi: None. He's long gone, and not sending any post cards.

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20165: Why is Congress dragging their feet on the XM/Sirius merger? Other mergers go through lickity-split, but this one has taken 400 days. What gives?

Paul Farhi: Good question. This one is particularly controversial and disputed, of course. The National Association of Broadcasters, which reps all the traditional radio and TV station owners, is hellbent on blocking it. I'm sure they've had armies of lawyers marching up and down Pennsylvania AVenue. But word is, a decision is coming pretty soon. Anyone care to guess which way this one will go? My sense--totally a guess, mind you--is it'll get turned down.

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Loudoun Co., Va.: I was back in my home town near Philadelphia last week and I tuned into KYW News Radio, the #1 station in the market. Unlike our all news #1 here, there was;

1. Only one newsreader, therefore no happy talk and (not) witty banter;

2. No one to express shock/dismay/sympathy/approval over each and every news story; and

3. Very few teasers about upcoming stories.

If anyone is near Philadelphia, I recommend that they tune to 1060AM to hear what a real news station sounds like.

Paul Farhi: Not a comment on all-news radio, but a general comment on Philly radio: It's pretty darn good. Everytime I'm flying down I-95, you can find stuff you can't find in our very own Nation's Capital.

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Fairfax, Va.: Paul,

Who is the highest paid TV and radio personality in the D.C. metro area ?

Paul Farhi: Again, a total and utter and shameless guess: Jim Vance at Channel 4.

Reason(s): He's been on the air forever at a big station, and has been atop the local ratings year after year. He's an icon, an institution, a Rushmore figure. And he has a very loyal following.

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Falls Church, Va.: Re: "Track." This reminds me -- I've never been clear what to call a rap artist's work. It's not a "song" or a "tune." Do you just call each individual cut a "rap"?

Paul Farhi: Hmmm. A "rhyme"? As in, "bustin' a rhyme." Not sure here...

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But what's the substitute? "Mips?" "'loads"? "Files?: Paul,

How about "cut" ?

Paul Farhi: But "cut" sounds like something the deejays at an album-rock station of the 1970s would say.

To be really boring about it, how about "recording"?

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Washington, D.C.:105.9 is great, although there are songs on there that were on 104.3 classic rock in NYC. I didn't realize my tastes had gone from "classic" to "Oldie"... I'm only 24 after all....

Paul Farhi: You're definitely outta step with those whippersnappers who are downloading all those "Mips" and "cuts" and "tracks" on the iTunes, that's for sure...But I started listening to L.A.'s oldies station, KRTH-FM ("K-Earth") when I was 12 or 13 or maybe a little older. That station, by the way, has been playing the same songs for several decades. Man, how'd you like to be program director there? "Just play what we played in 1983, okay, and leave me the heck alone..."

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No more "tracks." : Yet we still say that we "dial" a telephone -- go figure!

Paul Farhi: Yes! We've never figured out a good substitute for that one. "Punched"? As in, "Punch me up tomorrow and we'll go out." Or "fingered"? As in...oh, never mind.

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Fairfax, Va.: Paul,

What's with Barbra Harrison's new Morticia Addams look? Every week it's some new little tweak. They ought to stick to long shots and give up on the close-ups. Too hard early in the morning.

Paul Farhi: Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Why I Hate Barbara Harrison portion of our show. The floor is now open...(Poor Barbara. Can't she get any love from you people?)...

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Tracks, Casey Kasem?: Yes, you are old, sorry. If it's any consolation, I am too. When I was in college you weren't cool unless you said "tunes." As in "let's have some brewskis and crank up the tunes." Can we just agree to say "songs" now?

Paul Farhi: But "songs" takes us back to the rap connundrum. I'm telling you, "recordings" is the way to go...Okay, it sounds a little fussy--"Let's have some brewskis and crank up the recordings"--but at least it covers every situation.

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"Tracks"? "Mips?" "Loads"? "Files"?: How about the humble "selection"?

Paul Farhi:"Selection"? Hmmmm. "Let's get some brewskis and crank up the SELECTIONS?" That may be worse than "recordings!"

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Silver Spring, Md.: So, Paul, will the Supremes know indecency when they see it, so to speak? Predictions on the Fox case?

Paul Farhi: Interesting. I could see this court blowing up the whole rickety indecency enforcement scheme. Not that it would be against the PRINCIPLE of protecting kids from naughty words and images, but it might have a problem with the way the FCC has gone about it. Interesting that it has taken 31 years for the court to eyeball this. I'm sure they'll realize that a few things have changed since the last time they looked at this issue (i.e., George Carlin's "7 Words You Can Never Say on Television" routine)....

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Re: tracks, tunes, songs, recordings, raps, etc.: I think we can all agree on "short musical compositions." Doesn't that cover everything, including "raps?"

Paul Farhi: I can hear the footsteps of the rap hatas storming the castle. "Rap isn't music," etc. etc. Plus, "short musical compositions" REALLY fails our brewski test...

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Pittsburgh, Pa.: I have no idea who Barbara Harrison is, but talk about a "Morticia Addams look": Priscilla Presley on "Dancing With The Stars" (far scarier than Mel B "Scary Spice last season!).

Paul Farhi: Priscilla's getting up there, isn't she? Says here she's going to be 63 in a couple of months. Funny, it seems like only yesterday when Elvis was hitting on a shy 13-year-old named Priscilla Beaulieu....

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Columbia Heights, D.C.: Can I just say how much I dislike Fox5 News at Ten? Yet, I watch it every night, so that I can go to sleep at 11:00 instead of staying up until 11:30 and watching channels 4, 7 or 9. It's rough though. They barely speak English on Fox5 anymore, it's all "this went down" and they "admnistered a beat-down" and "we'll give you the 4-1-1." Yuck!

Paul Farhi: Hey, they're just trying to relate to the kidz with all that lingo. We do it here at Station Break, too. E.g., "Say, my man, I would like to hear some short musicial compositions. Thank you, bro!"

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"Loads" "Files" etc.: I still say "songs'. Am I coolly retro, or hopelessly outdated?

But I gave up saying "brewskis" long ago. I like "growlers"....

Paul Farhi:"Songs." Simple. Effective. To the point. As for "brewskis/growlers," I prefer to say, "A beechwood-aged concoction of the finest malt, hops and barley." Whatever the heck "hops" are...

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Anonymous: I agree somewhat about KYW. There are two theories of all-news stations, it seems, and it's mostly a CBS pair of theories, since they own most all-news stations now. One is the KYW/WINS/WBBM version, which is quick headlines, very short stories, everything repeated about every 15-20 minutes. This is not my personal favorite. The other is the WCBS/KCBS/style of news which is slightly more conversational, longer pieces, and repeats about every 40 minutes. WTOP is more like this second theory, but, if you ask me, there are not enough real news stories in the mix. And when they have two newscasters, it is much more conversational than, for example, WCBS in New York, which, to me, has the best combination of sounding like you are listening to a news show, yet getting only real news, kind of like the way the evening news shows used to be. Then again, in the New York area there are 15 million people in 3 states to generate news stories, so maybe that's why it seems like there is less filler necessary.

Paul Farhi: Interesting analysis. I didn't realize there were types of all-news. I mean, I go back to the old KFWB--"Give us 22 minutes and we'll give you the world." Well, they didn't, but you knew what they meant. News. Hard. Fast. And lots of it.

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The best two days of the year are coming up!: Takin' vacation days Thursday and Friday to stay home, pop me some popcorn and watch the opening round of March Madness. Hey, does it get any better than this: 64 teams with dreams of championship greatness as yet unpunctured -- even though half will be gone by late Friday night, and another half of the surviving teams by the time the weekend's over.

Paul Farhi: You sound like Jim Nantz, who's always waxing faux-poetic about this or that event ("All the pageantry of the Buick Open!")...But, yes, March Madness is cool. Go UCLA! Go AU (local angle)....

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Reston, Va.: Another Philadelphia native, and second your recommendation of Philadelphia radio in general, but KYW's newscasting abilities? Please.

The news droids there have been slow since the 80's.

But do they still give the illusion of a newsroom by having that typewriter sound in the background?

While some may not like the delivery of the WTOP crowd, it's much better than the recordings of the KYW reader.

Paul Farhi: If they've still got the typewriter (actually teletype) sound, I'd recommend dropping it. It's not 1979 anymore. We use computers and the internet now. What sounds does the Internet make?

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Atlanta, Ga.: One of the Citadel stations here changed format last week from Country to Oldies (dropping the 25-year morning guy, a la Chris Core), and has also added Imus in the AM.

Paul Farhi: Like the canning of Core, that's one of those penny-wise/pound foolish moves by Citadel. They will pay a much bigger longterm price for booting their local talent than they will save on salaries. Exhibit A in the long and apparently accelerating decline of radio.

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Ex-San Franciscan:"Give us 22 minutes and we'll give you the world" was the slogan of KCBS-AM in San Francisco starting in the late 1960s, not KEWB (which was still playing Top 40).

Paul Farhi:"Give us 22 minutes.." was the slogan of all the Group W/Westinghouse stations around the country, I believe. Of which KFWB in Los Angeles (not KEWB in the Bay ARea) was one.

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"typewriter sound in the background": On Saturday Weekend Edition on PBS, Scott Simon has a manual(!) "typewriter sound in the background" in the background of the music leading into his reading letters from listeners, even though nearly all listeners communicate by e-mail nowadays. I wonder how many young 'uns even KNOW what a manual typewriter's clacking sounded like...

Paul Farhi: Yes. And the Junkies on WJFK-FM use a clacking teletype sound when they do their sports bulletins. I think the last teletype/wire went out in about 1985, so I doubt most of the Junkies listeners can identify that sound...

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Rockville, Md.: Do any of the TV talking heads have irritating repetitive lines that annoy you? For me it's when Brian Williams says "Thanks, As always" to reporters and commentators on his show. His folksy "as always" annoys me and why does he have to thanks them anyway -- their doing their job.

Paul Farhi: Kenny Mayne on "SportsCenter" once had a great give-and-take with a "field" reporter and signed off the conversation by saying, "Thanks, Sal...but after all, it IS your job." Pretty much all he needed to say about this little TV news artifice...

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Arlington, Va.: There's also a contestant with a Morticia Addams look on American Idol this year. It must be a trend.

Paul Farhi: Three?! Oh, my, yes, a trend. You know the extremely old newsroom rule for story selection? One is an incident. Two is a coincidence. Three is a trend...

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Brewskis/Growlers/Concoctions: I like "lager." More specifically, I amused by the new Budweiser ads re-introducing themselves as a "lager," presumably because their research showed that aging hipsters like to say they drink a "lager" instead of a "beer."

(I can't wait for Rold Gold to start selling "fiber sticks" instead of "pretzels")

Paul Farhi: But doesn't "lager" defeat 745 years of Budweiser advertising that tells its customers they're the salt of the earth because they choose Bud, the man's man's man's beer which is not at all like that sissy Miller High Life? Lager? It's so pretentious...

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Alexandria, Va.: You know those commercials with the Fox5 Morning Show anchors goofing off around Union Station and other locations? Is that supposed to make me want to watch or serve as a warning not to?

Paul Farhi: Well, see morning anchors aren't "anchors," are they? They're kind of your friends, because, after all, you wake up to/with them (how they all fit in your bed, I don't know). So, the commercials try to make them look like real people who just kind of go to Union Station en masse and stand around pointing and laughing with each other. YOU haven't gone to Union Station with your colleagues and stood around laughing and pointing? Oh, you haven't LIVED...

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Bethesda, Md.: I don't usually watch the 11:00 news anyway (I'm a "Daily Show" viewer), but I think ABC7 has the right idea -- they do a recap of the weather forecast. That way, they go out with some useful information, but not a summary of the "if it bleeds it leads" portion of the show.

Paul Farhi: Yep. Useful info. And not nearly as embarrassing as the soft animal feature designed to make you say "Awwwwww..." before they wish me a good night.

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PBS?: NPR! NPR! NPR!

Scott Simon is not on PBS!

Paul Farhi: Right. Thanks.

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Thanks, Sal...but after all, it IS your job.: You just made me like Kenny Mayne. He's always gotten on my nerves really bad.

Paul Farhi: LOVE Kenny Mayne. He had the greatest homerun highlight clip call EVER: "I am the king of the diamond! Let there be a grand clubhouse feast! Bring me the finest meats and cheeses in all the land!"

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When You Say Bud...: I'm guessing A/B runs the "lager" ads during certain, tonier events. The Bud ads they run during football games are still all manly-mannish.

Paul Farhi: Well, I guess Budweiser has always gone for the classy, we're all about America and the Clydesdales sell (despite being a cheap and watery product). Bud Light has always done funny.

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Alexandria, Va.:"Lager" sounds like "logger," which is a studly occupation.

Of course, it also sounds like "blogger," which is not.

Paul Farhi: Haha! Right on all counts...

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Fox 5 Morning News: I admit I am a fan of this show, but only because I can get the local weather and traffic -- the only two things I'm interested in hearing at 7 a.m. However, just about every female personality on the show bothers me, and here's why:

Allison Seymour: Attractive and personable, but unless the story is about puppies, kittens or babies, she is unable to discuss the topic coherently.

Holly Morris: Again, attractive and personable, but unless the story is about HER, she is unable to discuss the topic coherently.

Julie Wright: Great when sticking to the traffic report, not so great when shamelessly flirting with Tony Perkins.

Bottom line: I miss Lark.

Thanks for the vent...

Paul Farhi: Vent on! I have to say, Holly needs to try the decaf. Girl is WIRED...

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Reston, Va.: Any idea what George Michael is up to these days? Not the singer...he shows up on Eli Stone almost every week. George Michael formerly of the Sports Machine (sniff)

Paul Farhi: He's still doing his "Full Court Press" show after "SNL" early Sunday morning (with Kornheiser, Wilbon and David Dupree). I think he also occasional work for the likes of Comcast Sports Net, such as the sit down interview last year with Dan Snyder.

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Richmond, Va.: There doesn't seem to be a substitution for tracks. I looked at Pitchfork Media (which would undoubtedly use the "in the know" phrasing if it existed), and they say "songs" or "singles." Maybe we should invent a word!

Paul Farhi:"Singles." We have a winner(perhaps...)

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RE: ESPN: Okay, the Kenny Mayne HR call is great. But the ESPN guys have been doing this thing where they play a clip of an NBA game-winning shot, with the audio of the team's radio announcers going apoplectic, followed by them msking fun of the yokel radio guys. Not cool, as the GEICO cavemen would say..

Paul Farhi: Haven't heard them do that. But theoretically, it sounds like fun...

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Paul Farhi: And on that note, we've got to shut 'er down. Thanks for stopping by, folks. But fear not: As always, we'll do this again in a couple of weeks (no, I'm not threatening, I'm just sayin'). So, have a happy spring solstice and report back for duty with your track/recordings/cuts/singles and what all then. In the meantime, regards to all...Paul.

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