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Nightly Ramble:”Boy are We LOST” Editon

Welcome, one and all to the most intense nightly read anywhere on the ‘sphere… The BitsBlog Nightly Ramble

This is the “Boy are we LOST” edition. ramble-99a [1]

  • Deconstructing the double standard: I’ve got a fair enough idea of why Obama’s been taking a different tack on the Automakers [2]than he has been the banks… The Unions [3].  It doesn’t help that the banks… and the Unions… have far more in the way of political ties to the Democrats than do car companies. I noted yesterday, and frankly, I’ve forgotten where, speculation that the reason Waggoner was a target of Obama’s people was that GM  and it’s execs have given far more election money to the GOP than to Democrats.   Butt that up against the story we posted here yesterday about AIG and it’s efforts to get it’s own employees to ‘donate’ to Chris Dodd [4], and you’ll see how this works out. Personally, I can’t take Obama seriously on his claims he’s trying to help the country unless and until the Unions are removed from their unofficial position of power. Get the Government to stop backing them, and I’ll accept he’s about helping the country. Not before. And by the way, does anyone really think Barney Frank dictating pay for all employees [5] to be a good thing?  At what point does the power grab halt? [6] Other than the next election, of course…  And there it is, gang… wo gets elected on the next go round will be the ones screaming the loudest about this stuff. Who among Republicans has yet made mention of any of this? And what of Eric Cantor and the 85 Republicans who voted to tax the IAG bonuses to 90%?  When they’re so quick to dump their principals, I can’t take them seriously either. (Which by the way is exactly why I’ve not posted anything from Cantor’s incessent Emails to our feedback address… Start acting like a conseravtive, Mr. Cantor, and I’ll take you seriously. Eventualy.
  • The other shoe: I made mention in a Ramble  last August of Jay Mariotti leaving his job in the traditional press [7]. sun-times [8]Seems he wasn’t quite as dumb as I took him for. The Sun-Times group went Chapter 11 today [9]. I don’t want to hear about the current financial issues causing problems. Sorry, this would have occurred eventually anyway. And, look; I’ve never taken Jay Mariotti as the driest road flare in the box. Thing is, though, him being inside the beast, he had a better idea than most on what was what. I said it then, I’ll say it again, the content is the issue, not the medium. The traditional press keeps coming up [10]with stuff like this [11]and wondering why they’re losing their asses.  Nobody trusts them, anymore. It’s about integrity, or rather, the lack of it. It’s really that simple. And Mariotti for all his faults, knew what time it was, as Billy said [12], at the time. One regret: Lynn Sweet [13]will be looking for work, soon.Indeed, I’m wondering why she didn’t leave before Mariotti did.
  • Hey, Web Wench: I knew the folks in Atlanta were reading BitsBlog, and particularly the  Nightly Ramble. Case in point, is the Vince Shlomi story I posted in last night’s Ramble…  and where it shows up [14]. Since this is a topical blog, I assume we’re going to cover the same stories… but when I see a particular IP address in Atlanta showing up every morning, just before this stuff gets posted, I know what’s what.  No, this isn’t the first time, not by a stretch. I don’t mind, really.  In fact, I like it. Using some of the stuff I put up to go off on, is par for the course. Always thought that was cool. Still do. It’s nice to think I’m doing show prep for talk show types across the country. But, geez… would it hurt to back link here when you do it, just once in a while, especially after all the link love I’ve given out?  Come on. In the words of the great Doctor Evil, throw me a friggin’ bone, here, huh?
  • You go, Girl: Some good thoughts directed to Angie Harmon would be helpful. Girl needs all the good vibe she can get [15].
  • MixMaster: autogram_mixer [16]By way of Reynolds [17], I see The most Advanced Mixing Board in the world. [18]  I tell you; I’d have given my left nut for a chance to run such a board, when I was doing production and sound reinforcement work. Even some of the boards that radio people are using today far outstrip the standard stuff of the day when I was in the biz.  I slaved over a couple of this Autogram 10*2*2 model, and 6*2*2 as well, for years at what was WSAY.  They were the best, back in the day. Built like bricks a great feel and and sounded great, even today.
  • Those were the days: Speaking of Radio, Fybush mentions the demise of CHUM1050 [19]after 50 years of Rock and Roll on that station. Sad. I know, financial reality. Of course I’ve not been listening to it much since Bob Savage moved WYSL to 1040 with 20kw. The splash makes CHUM unreadable anywhere in the Genesee valley.
  • Those were the days, II: Fybush also mentions that Larry Glick died while they had him on the table doing open heart surgury, appraently. He was 87.  I spent years listening to his show on WBZ. He defined overnight talk for decades, and with that one 50KW Hull, MA signal, had followers all over the north east. Indeed, it was the memory of Glick’s show that kept me coming back to WBZ nights, until they dropped local talk recently. Ya know, I had a Jr High school principal that started her career as such at a school the day it opened in 1948. She was in that role until the day it closed, 40+ years later.  Almost to the day they tore the place down, was when she died. Maybe it’s the romantic in me,but I couldn’t help feeling there was a connection between the two events.  So you can imagine the thoughts when I read of Glick’s death, so soon after WBZ’s shifting formats away from what made the place legendary. In discussing this with Scott, he  reminds me that they brought Steve Lavelle back, apparently seeing their shifting away from local programming was a mistake, based mostly on public outcry. And I’d forgotten that. But frankly, while I may stop back once in a while, that kind of heartbreak can occur only once. I know I’m not alone, here, and frankly, I expect Lavelle’s next book to show that, despite him being as good as he is.  I’ve seen it happen too often to be optimistic, I’m afraid.Ya see…. there’s an ineffable quality to the relationships of radio people to their audiences… and to a station’s reputation…one that’s more fragile than most are willing to admit… particularly those in management. I wonder if the chasing the shorter term ratings goals are not cause for a lot of the disenchantment with radio, today. That pursuit, even if successful… as it often is not… comes with a price attached that few reckon with. Part of the magic is the history and consistency to the thing… the feeling of continuance… and that gets lost when management goes numbers chasing. 

     

  • Ummmmm: Ouch. [20]
  • You worm!: Make sure you’ve run your updates on Windows, [21]guys. Tonight.
  • Hey, Billy Beck [22]:  I wonder, my freind, what you think of this [23]. I ask because I half imagined you reading and nodding.
  • I’m about ready to Join Rush in exiting New York [24]. Who’s with me?
  • Well, now at least, they’ve got an excuse. [25] I don’t doubt the problem exists, but I suspect it’s claimed for more than it exists.
  • I knew, when I saw them constructing one of these V8 powered barstools on ‘Horsepower”, that a drunk driving arrest [26]wasn’t far behind.