TikTok Still Grinds My Gears, Even in 2025!

 Welcome to The Chronicles of Trevor, where silence is golden.

If you know me, you probably know that I hate TikTok with a fiery passion. There are many reasons for it. I hate its app icon, as it causes me to get a splitting headache. I hate that it's owned by ByteDance, a Beijing-based company that is known to steal the data of millions of users, and I also hate the unoriginal content that spews out of there, like the overuse of specific clips of audio, or "sounds", like that chipmunk'd "oH No nO No nO No" song, and similar sped-up tracks.

But there is still some major developments in the reasons why I hate TikTok.

First, there's a popular sound going around that has a tinny harmonica solo in it. Yup! An instrument played in a way I hate, blaring ever so screechily on an app with an icon that hurts my eyes? Heck no! The solo sounds like a knockoff of the various breaks in Billy Joel's iconic hit, "Piano Man", which adds more salt to the wounds of my ruptured eardrums. So whenever my mom uses TikTok, and that sound plays, and I hear "BWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE, BWEE-BWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE, BWEE-BWEEEEEEEEE BWEE-BWEEEEEEEEE BWEE-BWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE", I feel like the world's smallest and sharpest adamantium knife is getting repeatedly shoved into my eardrums.

Also, they brought back the 2018-2020 version of the intrusive watermark (the one that has the "eighth note" logo vibrating rather obnoxiously), but instead of it being in the corners, where you could easily crop it out of view with your favorite video editor, it is on the edges of the screen, like how the 2020-2023 version of the watermark (which has a still note logo) was. Also, the 2018 watermark has the logo in a horizontal position, where the 2020 one is less cluttered due to being in a vertical position.

And the fact that The Annoying Cheeto in Office keeps extending the deadline for the PAFACA* act (the act which calls on TikTok's owners to sell its operations to a buyer based in a US-allied country, or it gets banned), all while continuing to Make America Terrible Again, just makes me feel ashamed to be in this country. 

I just wish that the PAFACA act's deadline didn't keep getting extended, because I want to see my least favorite social media get wiped off the face of this country!

America has banned Huawei devices, so why not TikTok?

*PAFACA means "Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications".

Saxophone: Another Instrument I Have a Love/Hate Relationship With

Welcome to The Chronicles of Trevor, where the skyline never dies.

Jazz music. You either like it, or you can't stand it. One of the main reasons in my opinion is the skill of a saxophone player.

I like jazz music where the saxophonist plays little high notes, or plays the high notes smoothly without any growls, or audible reed vibration.

But sometimes, sax players like to blow out my eardrums with loud, screechy high notes and I noticeably cringe and tense up.

Here's a list of songs that I hate:

Staff Roll: from Mario Kart 7

I am a big fan of Mario, but I don't like this track. It starts with a non-threatening drum fill, but after that, the sax player opens with...

*BWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEER BWA BWAAAA*

and ends with a "BWAaAAaAaAAaAaaAAA Bada bada bada" before the outro. The high note in that one is lower, but the reed audibly vibrates, amplifying the ear-destruction factor.

Sticking with Mario Kart, we have,

"Mute City" (from Mario Kart 8)

Mute City is known for being a hard-rocking track in the F-Zero series, but the sax player thought, "Hey, watch me ruin the song!", and opened it with:

*BWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEER BAAAA DA!!*

So whenever I'm playing on Mute City, I pop open the F-Zero X rendition of the theme, arranged by Taro Bando, which is my favorite one. I also like the version from Smash 4, which was arranged by Kenji Ito.

I also do the same for Big Blue as well.

And now the most controversial music I hate is the music from to Saturday Night Live. Yup, you read that right. I hate SNL's music. The fact that the sax player needs to blow the audience's eardrums out with all sorts of high notes, INCLUDING ONES I DIDN'T KNOW WERE EVEN POSSIBLE TO HIT ON AN ALTO SAX, really bothers me. He's just flexing his skill way too hard, and as such, makes it unbearable to my ears. NBC, you better control your sax player, because with all the high notes he plays, he might explode, and the pitches will jam your transmitters! Just saying.

With ear-grating music like THAT, I find it hard to believe the show has been on for 50 years! At least tone down the high notes!

The Devil's Horn: My Love-Hate Relationship with Harmonicas

Welcome to The Chronicles of Trevor, where the angels sing and the demons are silenced.

I am a musician, and I can piece together instruments in a brass section, like what notes each instrument group is playing, and other things. I can even come up with good instrument combinations for genres of music, that makes it easy to listen to.

But there is one instrument that can sound good or painfully bad to my ears, depending on how it's played, and its overall tone quality (timbre). I'm talking about the Harmonica.

I have had a love/hate relationship with this instrument since I was 7, when I first heard the original 1991 recording of Life is a Highway. I was accustomed to the 2006 cover by Rascal Flatts, as I loved the movie Cars, which I still do to this day. I thought that version was gonna play, but lo and behold, I heard Tom Cochrane's death horn screeching...

"BA-BWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-WEEERRRR!!!!! WREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEER-WRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEER!!!"

I was understandably upset. I thought I was listening to a knockoff, but NOPE, THAT VERSION CAME OUT 15 YEARS BEFORE! Thanks Rascal Flatts for improving the original by using a smooth electric guitar instead of a screechy harmonica.

There are some times where a harmonica is a good addition. I like the one in Piano Man. It has the same tone quality, but due to the softer nature due to its piano-heavy instrumentation (obviously, it's called PIANO Man, for Pete's sake), it's a very welcome addition.

Most harmonica solos I like are of the bluesy kind, where the higher frequencies are muffled, making it have an almost clarinet-like tone. Take for instance, the themes of Roseanne and The Connors.

I really despise country-style harmonica, because the higher frequencies drown out the main note you're supposed to hear in the solo, giving it an extremely metallic and sharp sound that to me, sounds like a small, very thin titanium knife poking and prodding at my eardrums. It's a terrible experience. 

Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a good day!

How I Spent My 4th of July Weekend!

Welcome to The Chronicles of Trevor, the sparkler at the end of the internet.

And now it's time for a new segment here on TCoT, called "My Weekend in Review"!

Anyway, My girlfriend Ashley called me Thursday afternoon, and we talked for almost 2 hours! My 4th of July weekend was very good. First, I hung out with my grandmother and grandmother, and had wagyu cheeseburgers. Wagyu is a Japanese style of beef. I also had a cheese-filled hot dog.

Today has gone very well. I had another cookout today, this time at my aunt Vicki's house. I hung out with my cousins Scott and Jaylin.

Scott is the guy to the right, and Jaylin is the girl on the left.

I had 2 burgers and a soda today, and I also enjoyed my time with my 2 cousins.

Also, some more good news, today marks 11 months since I asked Ashley out, Check out this set of photos of me and my love.

I hope you have a great rest of your weekend, and thanks for reading!

A Three-Hour Televised Tantrum: Southern Television's Demise, and its associated effects.

This is The Chronicles of Trevor, the only blog that will spin your stars into space, guaranteed or your money back!

Picture this, you're a television presenter. You just hear that the TV station you work for is shutting down. You'd be understandably upset, right?

That's how many people felt when Southern Television, a station that was part of the UK's ITV network. 

Note: From ITV's founding in 1955 until 2002, it was represented by 14 licensees in 12 regions of the UK (London had 2 franchises, one serving the city on weekdays, and the other on weekends). In 1994, stations were allowed to buy each other out. This resulted in only 4 companies remaining by 2002, Carlton Communications, Granada, Scottish Television, and Ulster Television (UTV, serving Northern Ireland. UTV would later be acquired by ITV plc [formed from a merger between Carlton and Granada] in 2016). Scottish Television is the only remaining independent franchise left in the ITV network.

But back to Southern. After the bad news got out, the final days of the station had a gloomy vibe to them. The presenters and announcers would be standing in front of a tombstone-style graphic, with a circular sign reading "SOUTHERN TELEVISION 1958-1981"

But when New Years' Eve night hit, as ITV's other regions (including ATV, whose license to broadcast in the Midlands region) were airing the network programs scheduled, Southern aired its own program, a "nearly three-hour televised tantrum" called "And It's Goodbye from Us", hosted by Southern announcer Christopher Robbie. 

The show opened with a theme composed by Jonathan Burton, known as the Southern Fantasia, which arranges the station's acoustic guitar jingle into a full orchestral piece, with a big band jazz opening, leading to a somber arrangement of Auld Lang Syne, ending with a slow, bombastic, and rather emotional reprise of the Southern Jingle as a rising fanfare ending with a booming flourish.

Other memorable and bittersweet moments include a clip show of Southern's one-off productions, and operas. 

The most infamous scene included footage from Southern's annual company dinner party, where the station's owner had a major bone to pick with ITV's governing body, the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) over their decision to close Southern Television down, ending wi

My personal favorite segment is when comedic musician and pianist Richard Stilgoe sang what could only be described as the musical equivalent of flipping their successor Television South (hereafter TVS) off. The song was called "Portakabin TV", due to the fact that TVS was using portable office buildings in Southern's parking lot until Southern ceased transmissions.

But the most remembered, and frankly, rather unsettling, part of the special, is the endcap (the closing logo for the station). After a reprise of Southern Fantasia, with a final closing shot of Southern's well-loved presenters, the "SOUTHERN COLOUR PRODUCTION" card appears, and its blue background fades into a star-filled space background. The Star symbol starts spinning slowly and gains momentum as it zooms out into space. As it disappears, the acoustic guitar jingle plays one last time, its final note echoing. The image fades to black slowly. 

Viewers of "The Station That Serves The South" have witnessed their beloved station perish before their very eyes that night. 

There was just the sound of silence after that. No God Save The Queen, no closedown announcements, no "don't forget to switch off your set" reminder, just plain silence until the transmitter was switched off. It was the end of ITV in the South.

Actually, it wasnt! At 9:30 AM on New Year's Day 1982, TVS went on the air with a bold new colorful look, a classy brassy fanfare, and almost all of Southern's staff were retained!

But later in the 1988, TVS wanted to go bigger! They wanted to be a multinational corporation, and so, they underwent a restructuring as TVS Entertainment Ltd.

This new company acquired MTM Enterprises from Mary Tyler Moore, and as such, the first-ever byline for said logo appeared, reading "A TVS ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY"

TVS's acquisition of MTM caused the company to bleed money, and by the time the 1990 franchise auction hit, they would lose to Meridian Television, who would later be acquired by Granada in the 1990s after a failed merger with Carlton.

MTM was sold off to International Family Entertainment, which was later acquired by 20th Century Fox. The MTM library stayed with Fox after 2001's sale of Fox Family assets to Disney-ABC.

Nowadays, The TVS name and flower logo are owned by an independent company of the same name. 

Radio Refuse: iHeartRadio (or iDestroyRadio)

This is The Chronicles of Trevor, the only blog safe from acquisition by some massive Mega-Conglomo-Corp™, even though this blog is hosted on a Google service.

Welcome to another installment of Radio Refuse, a series of vents/editorials about the negatives of Marconi's wonderful invention, primarily in the Boston area market.

Today we're taking a look at the largest owner of radio stations in the country, owning almost 900 stations, including 17 in my home state of Massachusetts! Today, I'm talking about iHeartMedia (or iHeartRadio), and the way they've been homogenizing and ruining the radio industry.

The company known nowadays as iHeartMedia was founded in San Antonio, TX in 1972 as Clear Channel Communications, named after the fact that their 1st station they acquired was a clear channel AM station, meaning that the station's power could remain the same at night, as AM radio signals go farther at night. A great local example is WBZ 1030, a News format station.

The then-Clear Channel also owned Live Nation, the company that produces several concerts, and A Star Is Born (the one with Lady Gaga and the cilantro of a song 'Shallow' [you either like it, or you don't, lol]).

And the Clear Channel name lives on, through the outdoor advertising company Clear Channel Outdoor. I guess they kept the Clear Channel name for that, because of the sheer amount of billboards emblazoned with the Clear Channel logo.

(Look at the bottom of the billboard, next to the "001500".)

But in this post, I'm going to talk about their radio business, and how it's causing the downfall of the industry.

Like I said, iHeartMedia was founded as Clear Channel Communications in 1972, named after the fact that their first radio station, WOAI-AM (San Antonio, TX) was a clear channel station. 

Throughout the company's existance, they've gone through several mergers and acquisitions, and in their prime, owned 1,500 stations (this was after the acquisition of AMFM Holdings, who owned 500 stations). Because of their endless acquisitions, they're in so much debt that they filed for bankrupcy in 2018, only to emerge the following year.

My main gripes with iHeartMedia are the homogenization of the radio industry on their part, the fact that they give away $1,000 every hour even though they have massive debt, and the quality of their programs.

First, the homogenization of the industry on their part cannot be understated. Every few minutes on an iHeart station, there's an ad for the iHeartRadio app, an announcer gleefully stating that the station you're listening to is "an iHeartRadio station", even outside of the top of the hour station ID. It's like the folks at iHeart think that people listen to a station because of the station's ownership. That is NOT the case. People listen to a station for the music, the personalities, or just because it's a good station they grew up with. They don't go around saying "I LiSTeN To P102 bECaUSe WEeNiE BrOAdCAStInG OwNS tHe StATIoN HuRrDY DUrR!" And also, the fact that they own almost 900 stations around the country, it just shows their stance on ruining the radio industry.

Next is the fact they give away money every hour, and blow millions of dollars on the iHeartRadio Music Festival and the iHeartRadio Music Awards, even though they have a large amount of debt. Doesn't that sound like a stupid business practice?

iHeartRadio: *is in a multitude of financial issues*

Also iHeartRadio: Win a GRAND on us! Text "WINNER" to this number!

Also Also iHeartRadio: IT'S THE IHEARTRADIO MUSIC AWARDS!

Their program quality is terrible as well. Especially on their talk stations. Like I said in the post about WRKO, their talk stations are around the same league as Sinclair Broadcast Group in terms of their political stances. One show they have, that only plays on WRKO, called The Kuhner Report (obviously titled that to make it sound reliable, when honestly, it's a four-hour tantrum directed towards the middlers and leftists, broadcast live over the airwaves), embodies this to a T. This show, hosted by Jeff Kuhner, makes Sinclair's must-run propaganda stories look like Sky News in the UK. He's made misogynistic, racist remarks about Boston's mayor Michelle Wu, calling her a witch, and saying she is the one who let all the undocumented immigrants into Massachusetts. SHE DID NOT DO ANYTHING OF THAT SORT. HE'S PROBABLY MAD BECAUSE MAYOR WU IS THE FIRST ASIAN-AMERICAN WOMAN TO BE MAYOR OF BOSTON!

These are the main reasons why iDon'tHeart iHeartRadio. Thanks for reading...

Radio Greats - 95.9 WATD: We're (Not) At The Dump

Welcome to the Chronicles of Trevor, whose main offices are located just conveniently 100 feet near a dumpster. 

Today, I'm saluting an underrated but locally-owned player in the Massachusetts radio market, A station whose studios are on the same block as my home. It's high time I give my appreciation to 95.9 WATD.

This station, owned and operated by the Marshfield Broadcasting Company, first aired December 6, 1977, and has studios near a landfill currently owned by Republic Services in Marshfield. As a result of their location, the owners applied for the call letters WATD, meaning "We're At The Dump".

The programming on WATD during the morning drive is a newscast, with national stories provided by the CBS News Radio network. It is a well-produced newscast, and is an easy way to get your day started. After that, on weekdays, the station plays the usual adult-contemporary fare. It is one of 3 AC stations in the area (the other 2 are WMJX (Magic 106.7) and WPLM (Easy 99.1).

On weekends, the station airs a variety of other genres, like oldies, classic alternative rock, jazz, and talk. Whenever Marshfield High School has football and basketball games (Go Rams!!), they are aired on WATD.

All in all, WATD provides a great service to the area, and as a Marshfielder, I'm proud to be in the same town as this great station. They may be at the dump, but they aren't trash!

Now on Ocean 104.7: Sensory Blender 4000

And now, an addendum for my post about WOCN (Ocean 104.7). When I was going home from my day program, this station played this song (I don't remember the name, but it was from the 70s), where the end of the song has this B3 organ playing very discordant, distorted, out-of-tune, swirling notes. It felt like the part of my brain that senses sound was being mixed in a blender. The organ tone, clicky attack, and distortion, combined with the tri-tones and chorus/stereo effects did not play nice with my ears. 

It messed with my ears as much as this blade messes with the pixels of this GIF.

Yet another reason why Ocean 104.7 is a sensory-unfriendly station. Why do they want to destroy people's ears so much? Ocean 104.7 should be called "Oceans of Blood Coming Out of Eardrums 104.7, Crafted for Destroying the Ears of the Cape"

Radio Refuse: WRKO 680 (or We Really Knocked Off)

Welcome to The Chronicles of Trevor, where the only fakes, frauds, and phonies are not people at all!

Ever wish there was music on AM Radio again? I do, because of the downfall of one of the legacy AM stations in my area, 680 WRKO.

The station started in 1937 as WLAW-AM, and broadcast every day until sunset, up until 1940, when they received a directional antenna.

In 1953, WLAW became WNAC-AM, and was bought by RKO General, owners of then CBS-TV affiliate WNAC-7 (now the independent WHDH-TV, owned by the Sunbeam Television Corporation), and in 1966, they started to play an automated "Top 40" format, which became permanent in 1967. "The BIG 68" was born.

Under the new format, 'RKO became the highest rated station amongst the highly sought after 18-34 demographic, and at one point, drove WBZ 1030 out of the top 40 format (now they're sister stations, but we'll get to that.)

Sadly, all golden ages must come end, and WRKO's golden age ended at 6:00 on September 27, 1981. The Big 68 concluded its life as a Top 40 juggernaut with "American Pie" by Don McLean. It truly was the day that music on Bostonian AM Radio died.

It seems like some people thought "maybe, 680 as a news/talk station will still be entertaining"

Enter the station's 1988 acquisition by Atlantic Ventures after the forced dissolution of RKO General's broadcasting business. In 1992, Atlantic (later known as American Radio Systems) acquired WHDH-AM from New England Television Corporation, which was the affiliate of Rush Limbaugh's radio network at the time. 

If you don't know who Rush Limbaugh was, he was a pioneer in right-winged talk shows, and has pushed many of people to become rightists. His show has inspired many copycats, some of which are flagship hosts on WRKO, but again, we'll get there.

In 1997, Westinghouse/CBS later acquired WRKO and WHDH's parent company, but 'RKO was acquired by Entercom in 1998. 

In 2006, the station fired its on-air news staff, in order to focus on its talk blabbering, and in 2012, WRKO hired their 'god-emperor' (in quotes due to how I feel about him; see later in the post) Jeff Kuhner. These things were the final nail in the coffin of what once used to be an iconic station.

That and their acquisition by iHeartMedia.

San Antonio-based iHeartMedia owns the most radio stations in the country, and has been responsible for homogenizing the radio broadcasting industry, even when they were known as Clear Channel Communications. Yup, it's the same Clear Channel whose logo appears on billboards. Marconi would be spin dashing like Sonic the Hedgehog in his grave if he saw what iHeart has been doing to his prized invention. This, and the fact that their talk stations always lean far right, makes me think that iHeart is the Sinclair Broadcast Group of radio (even though SBG owns a handful of radio stations itself).

But the main reason why WRKO is "Radio Refuse"? Two words.

JEFF!

KUHNER!

He became the morning host at WRKO in 2012, and later on, his show became the 2nd most listened to broadcast in the station's history (after the top 40 music of old).

His show, called "The Kuhner Report" (presumably to make it sound more trustworthy and reliable) is just a 3½-hour transmitted tantrum directed towards the left. He's called Boston's Mayor Michelle Wu a witch, a hackfraud, and other terrible names, because he thinks she let undocumented immigrants into our country. The 'Kuhner-Man', as he calls himself, is being racist and misogynistic for calling Mayor Wu, an Asian-American woman, these disgusting names. She did nothing wrong! Also, Jeff is Croatian-Canadian, and his parents came into Canada illegally, so he techically has no right to call Mayor Wu these names. Long story short, he's being racist towards an Asian-American woman, which is also misogyny, and he's being completely hypocritical, as his parents entered Canada illegally! 

Well, Jeff, you're a WARLOCK! THERE, I SAID IT! 

Also, WRKO's 60's-era competitor WMEX-AM, after a very long period of darkness, was brought back in the 2020s thanks to 95.9 WATD's (Marshfield, where this blog originates) owners, and has had very good ratings. This station airs music from the 50s to the 80s, and had a very good music-heavy morning show. Now THIS is how you radio.

Just saying...

WRKO's final moments as a music station (9/27/1981): An aircheck of the last moments of the Top 40 format on The Big 68.

Sailor Songs: Why I HATE Swearing In Modern Music

Welcome to The Chronicles of Trevor, where the only curse you'll find is "Klnka Imra Miryon Tin Qua".

Ever notice how pop music nowadays has gotten even more profane? I have, and I HATE IT! While driving home from the last bowling day of the spring season, my mom's Amazon Music started playing this song called "Trophy", and I have to say, that this trash heap of a song deserves a trophy for having the most forced swearing in any song EVER RECORDED. I never thought that a song could beat Rihanna's dumpster fire "Needed Me", but this song laps it like Usain Bolt at an elderly folks' fun run! Not only is it shorter, but it has an F-bomb at the start! RIGHT AT THE START OF THE SONG! And worst of all, THIS SONG ISN'T EVEN GIVEN AN EXPLICIT LABEL AT ALL!

It makes no sense that "Shallow" by Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper is labeled Explicit (there's no bad language in that song at all, but the "A Star Is Born" album does have a song with the F bomb in it and has a warning sticker), but "Trophy" has a shipload of F's flung, yet it isn't labeled Explicit.

Hey "Trophy", HERE'S YOUR #@$%!&% TROPHY!

YOU'RE WINNER, For being the reason I now have no faith in pop music nowadays !