As a writer, I utilize television to gather a wealth of “random thoughts” that often result in a column. 

Recently I was fortunate to be given the chance to develop a radio show. Called “Hudson Cooper’s Show Buzz” I rely on my contacts in the entertainment business to give my listeners a peek behind the screen to learn about the tv and movie business. I frequently rely on cable television to enhance my understanding of their performances.

Before I discuss one inherent problem with the DVR recorders offered by the cable TV providers, let us look at the title of this column. At first glance, I think that many of you thought I erred in lifting a line from a Stephen Sondheim song.

In fact, when I first heard the song from the musical “A Little Night Music” I mistakenly thought Sondheim used the word “clouds.”  It would not be the first time I got song lyrics wrong.

Getting the lyrics wrong is so common that it has earned its own name, a mondegreen. One popular web site gets its name from the lyrics of the Jimi Hendrix hit “Purple Haze.” The site is called “KissThisGuy” which is a mondegreen developed from the actual lyrics, “Scuse me while I kiss the sky.”

One often heard mondegreen stems from Elton John’s song “Tiny Dancer.” The actual lyrics of “Hold me closer, tiny dancer” is often mistakenly changed into ‘Hold me closer, Tony Danza.”  

Studies show that the brain can combine what your ears hear with the visual input of watching the speaker and get a closer proximation of what is said or sung.

So, the title of this column which is a mondegreen from the Sondheim song is a result of my brain storing the word “clouds” instead of “clowns” the correct word in his lyrics.

However, I am grateful for that mistaken mondegreen because this column is about the storage of data in what is called the cloud. Modern technology has generated the need for individuals and businesses to have the ability to put information in storage.

The concept of a place for external data storage was invented by Joseph Licklider who earned the nickname “the Johnny Appleseed” of computing. But instead of planting apple seeds, he planted seeds of computing in the digital age. Ironically one of those seeds turned out to be Apple.

Today’s digital age devices such as computers and cell phones regularly suggest you back up items, such as phone contacts, in the cloud. 

But there is one device that lacks the ability to store its data in a cloud and recently it has caused me angst. I use my cable box to record movies, newscasts and other items.

I had a meltdown last week when I had a hard time turning on my cable box. I called for support and two days later a technician arrived and checked my machine. Like a doctor delivering bad news, he looked at me sadly and said, “You need a new box.”

All I could think of was that not only would I lose everything I had “taped” but I would also have to reenter all the shows that were set to be recorded automatically.

He went to his van and replaced my broken box with a new one. As I tried to remember my list of shows that I automatically tape, I had an epiphany. My divine manifestation made me realize that cable boxes should be built with the capability of storing your program list and everything you have recorded to the cloud. Then if your box had to be replaced, you simply punched in your code and the cloud would populate it with everything you stored.

So, to all the manufacturers, put cloud storage in your cable boxes, add an optional charge to my bill and send in the clouds.

Hudson Cooper is a resident of Sullivan County, a writer, comedian and actor.