Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Radio Reloj*, Again

Radio Reloj*, Again
Regina Coyula, Translator: JT

Yesterday at 6 PM, I turned off the little AM-FM radio with which I
"inform" myself. In Cuba, they don't sell multiband radios, an urban
legend affirms that if you take one of these to a State-owned repair
shop, it will be returned to you mutilated and you'll no longer be able
to hear Radio Netherlands, the BBC, the VOA, or Spanish Foreign Radio.

There still remain — very well thought out — a few Selena brand radios
left from the Soviet era. In the store they sell a little Chinese radio
made especially for Cuba because it is presumed that it runs on solar
batteries, and even comes with a crank to wind up a generator, something
perfect in a season of storms — and even for when there aren't storms,
but they've taken the electricity down. All good basic features, only
mine only seems to work when it's connected. I have taken them down this
radiophonic road, but I have this old habit of getting up and turning
the radio on — always on Radio Reloj — so habituated is my BIR-04 to
this station that when I try to change the station, the static is
intolerable and it won't tune anything well, so on Radio Reloj it stays
(this isn't so much the radio's fault as it is mine that I have it all
the way out on the stove).

According to the news summary at 6, Gadaffi continued on without dying
and ETA continued on as usual. A broadcaster whose function is to give
news and the time to the minute, fills its space with ideological
propaganda. They don't even have the editorial decorum to start every
half hour; I know because I performed an exercise in patience starting
at one in the afternoon. They add pearls like kid's park for children,
repeatedly mispronounced words and other mistakes. If someone important
(and professional) at the Radio and Television Institute will listen to
more than the time, the local manager will have to open a
self-employment business. But that comrade should enjoy all the trust,
because the "news source par excellence" doesn't give the news: that
which it gives is trouble.

*Translator's note: Radio Reloj — "Clock Radio" — is a propaganda
broadcast station which features a mind-numbing metronome ticking off 60
beats per minute …

Translated by: JT

October 21 2011

http://translatingcuba.com/?p=12287

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