KIIS FM is Censoring the Word Sex - Why?

I listen to the radio still. I am not a big music guy but I like to know what the kids are listening to so I don't feel too old. (Writing the last sentence made me feel roughly 55 years old.)

This explains why I still listen to KIIS FM. This Los Angeles-area radio station has been an omnipresent part of my life living in Southern California; since I was a child, KIIS has played songs aimed at the teenage to young adult crowd. Unlike many other radio stations in Los Angeles, KIIS has never changed its format and rarely changes its style; for example, the vacuous, harmless, vanilla Rick Dees was replaced with the vacuous, harmless, vanilla Ryan Seacrest.

So, sometimes I will flip on KIIS and find whatever new artist is playing - and the other day I happened to catch Rihanna's song S&M.

I don't particularly care for Rihanna but the song has a catchy chorus that goes something like this:

"I like being bad but I'm perfectly good at it. Sex in the air - I don't care, I love the smell of it. Sticks and stones may break my bones but chains and whips excite me."

Like I said, catchy.

However, when KIIS plays the chorus, the radio station omits the word sex.

So the lyrics are now ".... in the air - I don't care, I love the smell of it. Sticks and stones may break my bones but chains and whips excite me." (I have caught this deletion mostly during the day so it may be at night when all children and teenagers stop listening to the radio, KIIS may include the offensive word.)

So why exactly is sex being censored? It's not a bad word, as far as I can tell. There are many famous songs that use the word sex. Sexual Healing. Sex on Fire (which was played on KIIS and Sex was not deleted from that song, as far as I know). I Wanna Sex You Up. (Note: This is a list of famous songs that use the word sex; this does not necessarily make them any good.)

I understand deleting expletives, I get that. But deleting the word sex? In a song entitled "S&M"?

I am sure that KIIS is trying to protect young children who hear this song but why delete the word sex? Why not delete the phrase "chains and whips excite me"?

Because if I am an impressionable youth, the question I have about "S&M" is not about "sex in the air" - whatever the hell that means - but more about why "whips and chains" excite Rihanna. If KIIS is going to delete any part of the song, why not the whips and chains part?

And for the parents, I imagine I would have a harder time explaining the "whips and chains" part of the song to my kid, rather than explaining the "sex in the air" portion - which is meaningless.

May I make a suggestion KIIS? Replace the words "whips and chains" with "dips and chips" and "sex" with "Chex".

The song will now say:
"I like being bad but I'm perfectly good at it. Chex in the air - I don't care, I love the smell of it. Sticks and stones may break my bones but chips and dips excite me."

Boom, problem solved! Now the song is about cheating on a diet!

KIIS FM, you are welcome. Let me know what other songs you need censored and I will get right on it.

I Am Sad for Spider-Man Vegas Street Performer

We ended with Spider-Man, thus we begin with Spider-Man.

I was in Las Vegas with my girlfriend over the weekend and happened to grab some photos of one of the costumed street performers that are now parading in front of the Strip casinos. If you want a picture of them, they will gladly pose with you for a tip. Similar performers can be found in front of Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood.

In Vegas, I saw two guys dressed up as Star Wars characters hanging out in a traffic median, a Stormtrooper with a bucket designed to look like R2-D2 (and to also hold tips!), and - this is my personal favorite - a man dressed as Jesus hanging out with a woman dressed as Elmo. Elmo and Jesus, together at last!

But I happened to be a few feet behind what I can only call Sad Spider-Man and grabbed a few pics. This guy was dressed in not the best Spider-Man suit and was traipsing around the Bellagio when I saw him. He had removed his mask while inside the Bellagio (No, Peter! Your secret identity will be ruined!) and was putting it on as he went down the escalator.

I went outside on the street bridge outside Bellagio and took one more pic of sad Spider-Man. (No, I did not tip him.)

Sad Spider-Man, as you can see below, was protecting the city streets of Vegas clad in the best Spider-Man costume that $20 bucks can buy. Plus he was wearing sneakers! I know Peter Parker has struggled with money issues in the past but.....

Anyway, I guess what I am saying is if you are going to ask for tips on the Vegas strip, maybe go ahead and shell out the extra hundred bucks or whatever it costs for the full Spider-Man costume. Don't just pull your Halloween costume out of the closet and ask for tips - that's cheap.

(Postscript to this story: I saw Sad Spider-Man hanging out in the shade a little bit later, struggling to get his costume off because it was hot. This is why he was Sad Spider-Man.)