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Some leftover Minneapolis pictures from my crappy Treo phone camera:
The landmark Grain Belt Beer sign at the Hennepin Avenue Bridge:
St. Anthony Falls:
Looking the other way, and if you can make it out through the graininess, the I-35W Bridge, a big gap still in evidence:
The enormity of what happened there last year really hits hard when you're staring right at it live.
ShareThe last days before time off from work feel a lot like... um, like you're already off the clock. At least, that's what I'm feeling right now. But I still have work to do and one less day to do it, so...
Excuse me while I try to work off the last few minutes before freedom beckons.
ShareThis week's All Access newsletter keeps it bite-sized while everyone's mind goes a-wanderin':
The secret to doing great radio is...
You're not paying attention, are you?
Yeah, I know, it's holiday time. I'm with you there. My mind checked out a week ago. I'll keep it short, because we're entering a long holiday weekend and because I'm always in favor of less work for me.
I could, however, go on forever about the need for the industry to put a greater value on coaching talent. At the Conclave last weekend, I asked our panelists to think back on how they sounded when they started out and how far they've come since then, and to think about what, and who, helped them get to their present sound. Part of it is evolution -- you learn and adapt by doing the job and feeling your way -- but having the support and direction of a good coach, whether it's a producer or program director or consultant, is critical as well. Everyone has someone to thank for helping them become better at what they do.
But in an era when every other industry is all about mentoring and developing talent, radio often lets its talent fend for itself. There are, to be sure, some excellent talent managers and coaches among the PD and producing ranks, but, far too often, a station treats those positions as someplace to stick someone who won't cost much, maybe a former screener. I could explain why the business should be scouting, training, and promoting talent in detail, but you could write that yourself. In the interest of keeping things holiday-short, let me just suggest that this doesn't have to be an expensive, difficult proposition. Maybe your large radio groups could have its big-market name-brand PDs mentor the young, new small-market PDs, show them what to listen for, how to work with different personalities, and how to nurture a talent and allow him or her to find that unique voice. (And also how to manage upward, dealing with GMs and salespeople and all the other pressures of the job) Okay, perhaps the big-market PDs have their hands full as it is, but someone's gotta show the way.
Anyway, we'll leave it there for now; perhaps I'll expound on that some other week. In the meantime, I'll be out of the office for the next week celebrating my birthday and trying not to check my e-mail every 30 seconds, but you'll still find a lot of material at All Access News-Talk-Sports, with plenty of items at Talk Topics and all the other stuff at the site -- the rest of the staff is on duty, so look for all the regular news, ratings, message boards, columns, and All Accessy goodness you've come to expect from the radio and music industry's number one Internet destination. I may be sleeping in for a few days, but my colleagues will be there for you every single day.
If you're in the U.S., have a happy, safe 4th of July. If you're in Canada, happy belated Canada Day. If you're anywhere else, um, happy whatever it is where you are.
ShareDay off for obvious reasons. I decided not to turn on the computer for once. And I left it off all day. It's still off. (What about this? iPod Touch)
Tomorrow: Birthday.
ShareToday was my birthday. I spent it with Fran and my sister Joan having a lovely dinner and then playing hours of Guitar Hero III.
Best. Birthday. Ever.
ShareMy time off from work continued today with more of nothing.
We ate, we played more "Guitar Hero III." We watched a strange Korean TV show in which "VJs" (video journalists) scream "wacky" commentary while people eat live octopus. I read the Sunday papers -- the L.A. Times, the Daily Breeze, even the New York Times -- but true to my intentions, I failed to retain even a little of what's happening. I've disengaged, temporarily. It feels... good. Decadent, but good.
Tomorrow? If I'm lucky, more of the same. Okay, maybe with a Phillies win thrown in this time.
ShareMy computer has mostly been off. I've been trying to have some real time off, not a pseudo-vacation where I'm still constantly checking e-mail. And after getting an avalanche of mail yesterday and early today needing immediate attention because God forbid I should take a few hours off work or something crazy like that.
I ended up writing a bunch of items for All Access, but that's it. I'm off now. Next time, I go away and leave the laptop at home.
ShareOh, yeah, in my Semi-Leisure Week I almost forgot to post pictures of my Highly Patriotic 4th of July Celebration, this year including a visit to the Palos Verdes Estates Independence Day event at which we heard Stan Lee tell the gathering that he wasn't aware that he was supposed to give a speech.
Here's a dog peeing in front of me:
And some geeks from a Gardena comics store who showed up in costume:
And a celebrity sighting:
Stan Lee? It was too hot; we found some shade several hundred yards across the elementary school field and just listened. For all we knew, it was a Stan Lee impersonator. But McGruff the Crime Dog? Real. As real as it gets.
ShareWith the week off rapidly dwindling to a precious few days, I'm sitting on the sofa watching movies. This passes as "trying to relax." I'm way beyond relaxation, I'm afraid. I did sleep a little more than usual today, in stages- a few hours, feed the cat, another hour, a little writing, a run, a shower, another hour of sleep, lunch, writing, errands, writing, dinner, and now this. "In Bruges" is on now, and we have "The Savages" and "Persepolis" on deck. And there's always "Guitar Hero III" as well.
And while Colin Farrell is cursing and grumbling his way through Belgium on TV, I'm going to try and unwind from a less-than-challenging day. I could use more days kinda like this.
ShareThe week off came pretty much to its conclusion this evening, but I ended up working part of the day, victim to the sad fact that a lot of needy folks in talk radio do not take "I'm on vacation" as an excuse when they want their plugs and other favors. But that's my fault, too. I should stop responding. I should say no.
Can't do that. I'm hopeless. I can't resist the lure of the computer, the cell phone, the (as yet still awaiting an update) iPod Touch. Can't stay away. Can't say no. My own damn fault.
So I'm going to go watch another movie now and try not to think about going back to the 3:45 am wake-up calls. Imagine how much I'd be whining if I didn't like what I do for a living.
ShareAybody reading today? No? Good, because I'm busy. Heading up to the Kodak Theatre for the Ricky Gervais show. Then it'll be partying all night as... nah, probably sleep. Then more work. Maybe a review of the show tomorrow. Talk to you later.
ShareOK, so, how was Ricky Gervais last night in Hollywood? Very funny, actually. Un-P.C. humor covering everything from autism to sharks, Nazis, AIDS, and obesity, all in Gervais' basic oblivious David Brent bluster. I laughed a lot. You'll be able to see the basic show on an HBO special taped at his New York shows later this year. Recommended, with the caveat that the easily offended probably will want to stick to the Disney Channel.
We only had one celebrity sighting, although there were probably a lot of celebs there and we had great seats on the aisle in the front section of the orchestra: Vince Vaughn. This kinda sucked, because we'd already seen Vince Vaughn before. And he's Vince Vaughn.
The show was at the Kodak Theatre -- home o' the Oscars! -- which is a very nice venue where I would hate to be in the top balcony, which appears to be above any weather system that might affect those of us on Earth. The show was funny enough, and the venue nice enough, that I didn't even mind the TSA-like security frisk at the door. They were, I think, looking for cameras or contraband food. It's a comedy show, not a flight to JFK. The major problem is that the theater is surrounded by Hollywood and Highland, a shopping-dining-"entertainment" complex aimed squarely at tourists in ill-fitting novelty t-shirts, cargo shorts, and fanny packs, all of which were in abundance. Parking wasn't too difficult -- it took a long trek in traffic to the 5th subterrenean level, but there was plenty of parking -- but maneuvering around the place was a chore because of the mass of humanity. Everybody in L.A. should go to H&H at least once to see what tourists see of our town. It isn't pretty.
We had a very nice dinner at Trastevere before the show, enjoyed the comedy, then battled a sea of sweaty people down to the car, where someone had parked -- I swear -- two inches from my passenger door. It's not like there weren't other available spots, either. But I managed to pull the car out without scraping anything, Fran got in, we circled the lot up to the cashier, and then spent several minutes idling on about the steepest ramp in parking garage history, using the gas pedal to not slam backwards into the car behind us, burning gallons of fuel waiting for the chance to pull out onto Orange and get on the road back home. Aggravating, unpleasant, endless. Next time, limo. It would be worth the price not to have to sit on that ramp ever again.
Why, yes, I do realize that I wrote a lot more on the parking garage aggravation than the actual show. You'll be able to see the show yourself on TV in a few months. You won't see the garage. Consider yourself lucky.
ShareI didn't watch the Home Run Derby. I was working. But, to be honest with you, it didn't matter. I actually attended a Home Run Derby (in Atlanta several years back), and it was okay, but these days, it's hard to care, especially with the leading NL home run hitter not even involved (Ryan Howard didn't make the All Star squad thanks to a terrible start and all those strikeouts). I didn't even care that one of my team's players was in it (Utley finished dead last) or that Josh Hamilton set a record in the first round (and managed to lose anyway -- great system).
I thought that it was because I don't care about the long ball, but I do -- I AM a Phillies fan, after all, and the home run looms large in the team's offensive plan. It's because I don't care about the All-Star Game. I don't care about a game most of the players don't care about, I don't care that MLB decided in its infinite lack of wisdom to make World Series home field advantage hinge on the game's outcome, I don't care when they're rotating everyone in just because they want everyone to get face time. I wouldn't watch a Little League game when the scrubs get rotated in so they can get a shot at bat -- I WAS a scrub in Little League and I wouldn't have watched ME play. That's how the All-Star Game is conducted. Carlos Marmol not only made the team (late) but will probably play. That's.. wrong.
I prefer to take this the way most players take it -- it's a convenient three-day break from baseball. It's three days of a break from worrying about whether the Phils will manage to hold off the Mets and Marlins. It's three days off from stadings and stats and cursing out MLB.tv for crappy streaming and Silverlight and the inability to keep the window on top of the computer desktop. I'm enjoying the break.
They'll be back soon enough.
ShareThe NAB Radio Show isn't until September, but it was time to book the travel today, so I did that, and I checked out the agenda while I was at it.
Oy.
There's a lot of double-dipping going on this year, with folks appearing on multiple panels. I'm not sure why, unless they asked a LOT of people and got turned down. (Nobody asked me to be on any panel, but that just leaves me more free time, so I'm okay with that) I did the once-over through the schedule, and tried to figure out what I'll be covering and what I can safely skip. Skip outnumbered cover.
On the bright side, it IS in Austin, meaning that free time will involve beer and BBQ and music. But I'm not optimistic that there's going to be a lot going on at this thing. If you're going, let me know. Maybe we should hold an alternate "convention," preferably someplace where the beer is cold, the 'cue and burgers are hot, and the music is loud.
ShareIn today's What's Left Of The Los Angeles Times, Steve Lopez' column is headlined "Why your 50 cents for The Times is the best bargain in the world."
Okay, I'm game, but I've been wondering why I'm paying for a subscription to the thing. The news is stale by the time I pluck it off the driveway, and the content's all on line for free. If I had to fill a column with that headline, I'd have this:
1. It's easy to read on the toilet.
2. Coupons on Sunday.
And... that's it.
So, what's Lopez' argument? Why is the Incredible Shrinking Times worth fifty cents?
On a recent Saturday night, I toured L.A. with the Rev. Jeff Carr, director of the city's gang reduction and youth development programs, listening as he spoke unwaveringly about his mission to keep kids out of cemeteries and prisons.On Thursday, I said hello to Vin Scully and watched Tommy Lasorda eat enough food to kill a rhinoceros as he sang the praises of longtime Dodger Stadium chef Dave Pearson.
On Sunday morning, I sat on a porch in Lincoln Heights, talking to a terminally ill woman about the evolving history of the neighborhood, the things she needs to do before she dies and the heartache she feels for the beloved husband she recently took to a home in Rosemead because of his dementia.
On Monday I went to the Bastille Day "Take Back L.A." rally at City Hall, where Dan and Bridget Shycoff of Studio City wondered why they pay more now for fewer services, and why City Controller Laura Chick's exposés of municipal waste and dunderheadedness don't always lead to changes, pink slips and floggings in the public square.
"I ask that same question," Chick said when I introduced her to the Shycoffs.
So it's worth fifty cents because Steve Lopez gets to do what he considers cool and interesting things? We should buy the paper to fund Steve Lopez' Excellent Adventure? He explains:
Every day of the year, hundreds of my colleagues do similar things in Los Angeles, across the country and around the world. They go places, ask questions and hold people accountable. Some of them risk their lives because they believe in the role of a free press in a troubled world and because they believe a photograph or a story is that important to you.It's all yours for 50 cents -- a small, plain cup of Starbucks coffee costs three times as much -- or for free on the website.
Yeah, well, see, there's the problem: If you really want to read about what Steve and his pals are doing every day, you can get it for free. And that's assuming you care what Steve and his pals are doing. Frankly, I doubt he risked his life and held anyone accountable when he got the Exclusive! story of Dave in the press cafeteria at Dodger Stadium. I know Dave, I've eaten his food many times, his story's interesting, and it was available right here on the Net for free.
...those two quarters still buy you the biggest, best, most ambitious news-gathering operation west of the Hudson River. It's also the most objective, despite competing claims from the chatter-happy fringes that the paper is either too liberal or too conservative.
Someone thinks it's too conservative? Oh, right, Robert Scheer probably still takes the paper. The Times has a serious and ongoing problem of allowing opinion to color the news coverage. I'll leave that beat to Patterico.
But Lopez, while lamenting the firing of a lot of the staff lately, does think that people are coming back every day for the finest in reporting and opinion:
They come back for Plaschke, Simers and Streeter.
Plaschke writes the same column every time -- obvious, and divided neatly into one-sentence paragraphs. See, it's his "style." It's also close to unreadable. Simers is on auto-pilot now, less a must-read than ever; even his very occasional tours of the local clubhouses to get the hotheads to react to him are tired and non-confrontational. Maybe the move of the Grocery Bagger family and the grandkids took some fire out of him. Streeter is the designated everything-in-sports-is-racial columnist, and that act got tired as early as the UCLA Dorrell controversy he created.
For Morrison, Skelton and Banks.
Patt the Hatt is predictable and boring but at least she's intensely local. George Skelton has been writing the same column over and over for years: you need to pay more in taxes, you're undertaxed, the state should take more of your money, why won't you just submit?!? Sandy Banks was a terrible editorial writer and a terrible reporter, and may be one of the worst columnists in any major paper; you're expected to be as fascinated as she is by her family life, and, well, we're not. I'm not sure she cares much, either.
For Turan, Goldstein and Swed.
I don't think I disagree more with a movie critic than I do with Kenny T... well, maybe Earl Dittman. Patrick Goldstein is sometimes interesting, but they've consigned him mostly to a blog and the most interesting thing about him is the occasional shot Nikki Finke takes at him. Swed? The classical music critic? That wouldn't get my fifty cents, but I'm sure there are classical fans who read him.
For Lazarus, Petruno and Neil.
Petruno and Neil? Sure. Lazarus? He and Skelton have a lot in common.
For Blankstein, Winton and Leovy.
Local reporters. Well, yeah, we need local coverage. And I'll give Leovy credit for the Homicide Report, which was a) a great idea, b) well executed, and c) not in the paper -- it was online. So your fifty cents didn't get you that.
For reporters and photographers on the hunt in Washington, Iraq, Afghanistan, Asia and Latin America.
And here's one of the big problems with the Times: For the last several years, 90% of the A section, and most of the front page, is dedicated to news that isn't in Los Angeles or Southern California. This is a paper that consigned local news to the Metro B section, then decided that Metro was too confining, so it made the B section "California." Oh, and it reduced the amout of actual news, local or statewide, to roughly three pages of news hole. I have never seen a paper more ashamed of its home area than the L.A. Times. Remember, this is a paper that thought it was a good idea to carry a regular weekly column breathlessly covering the mundane daily life of Manhattanites. Not Manhattan Beach, Manhattan as in between-the-Hudson-and-East-Rivers Manhattan. They were telling us that Los Angeles, and the South Bay, and the Valley, and the San Gabriel Valley, and Orange County, well, we're just not as important. No South Bay columnist, but they had a New York columnist.
All of this goes back to the premise of Lopez' column, and where he failed. He never quite tells us why we NEED the Times. He never says what in the Times can't be gotten elsewhere. I think there IS an answer to that, but the Times has abandoned what it can do best and embraced the things that aren't worth my fifty cents. Yet I still subscribe, and I still subscribe to the even more shrunken, compromised Dean Singleton Daily BreezeNewsPressTelegramStarNews. Why?
1. It's easy to read on the toilet.
2. Coupons on Sunday.
Maybe that's reason enough.
ShareThe All Access newsletter returns after a week's hiatus, and I'm irritated. Again:
Tell me why I should listen to your show.
I'm speaking as a listener here. I don't want you to answer me. I want you to ask yourself that question.
Here's why: I listen to a lot of talk radio from around the country. (Turns out it's part of my job. Who knew?) Last week, I was listening to a station I hadn't heard for a while, and there was a local host talking about the election and there was sort of bland imaging about how they were the Election Station and I realized that despite it being a local host and a local station, I could have been listening to any station in Anywhere, USA. I'd landed on Generic Talk Radio.
And thinking about the show afterwards, it occurred to me that I'd heard a lot of that kind of thing lately, shows that are interchangeable with each other, imaging that sounds like every other station. Same music, same voices, same slogans, same-sounding hosts, same topics. It's... boring. It's background noise. And I love talk radio. Imagine how casual listeners must feel.
So listen to yourself. Be as objective as you can be. Ask yourself what it is about your show that makes it unlike the show on that other station, or the show in the next market, or the show anywhere else. Ask yourself why people should come to you for entertainment and/or information instead of another station, or a website, or a cable channel. If you find that you're doing what everyone else is doing, change it up. If you're interviewing the same pundits as other shows, stop interviewing. If you do monologues, cut back on that and take more calls. If you've been all-election-all-the-time, try talking about a local issue -- maybe you can even tie it back into the election. Do something different.
(This is not to say that you can't talk about the election. News-Talk stations will obviously see a bump in most cases from interest in the election. The goal is to keep those folks listening after November. Make it entertaining, interesting, fun and they'll keep coming back for you, not just when there's hot news)
And as for imaging, "Your Election Headquarters" or "East Overshoe's Official Election Station" doesn't cut it in an era when you can go online and get way more election information and opinion than ever. If your imaging doesn't emphasize what makes your station and shows different and better, what's the point? Imaging is marketing, and you have to sell your product amidst increasing competition. If you're in charge of that, ask yourself if your station's slogans, liners, promos, and imaging would get you to listen and keep listening. Then ask yourself if it would get anyone ELSE to listen. Then ask if it would get the people you WANT to listen. This seems elementary -- obvious -- but, well, judging by what I hear, some folks aren't asking the right questions... or honestly answering them.
(Why, no, I will NOT rat out the offenders. I'm not here to embarrass anyone, with the exception of myself)
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It's been a few weeks since I last wrote one of these, so I'm a little rusty -- what comes next? Oh, right, the plug for All Access News-Talk-Sports and the Talk Topics show prep column. After a week off, Talk Topics is back with a vengeance with lots of material for your unique, entertaining show. (That unique, entertaining show is yours, right?) Go there now to find items on such show fodder as why your next flight might have to stop for gas on the way, more "mom's boyfriend" troubles, a robber with underwear on his head, "Rampage" Jackson's rampage, the trouble with flaming Bacardi shots, a creatively evil use of a fire extinguisher (not on the Bacardi shot, unfortunately), a guy who wore a particularly interesting costume to his old high school's graduation, the tragedy of the closing Starbucks, plenty on the IndyMac implosion, the Amazing Neverending All-Star Game, Sarah Jessica Parker's disappearing mole, why people are stealing your trash, why a NASA contractor wants its employees' urine (it's not why you'd think. No, not that, either. You're sick, you know that?), the upcoming nuptials of Courtney Courtney, something about Tootsie Rolls, people taking in boarders to pay the mortgage, why the World's Greatest Dad isn't, the danger of stagflation, a 140 pound tumor, the pending demise of the Spectrum, the ongoing farce of Brett Favre's maybe-return, two DUIs in one car, and why global warming may give you kidney stones, plus much more of that kind of stuff. You also get "10 Questions With..." "MommyTime Radio" host and Nashville radio personality Karla Lawson and the rest of All Access, the fine staff of which has continued to pump out the radio and music industry news and columns and charts and ratings and stuff even while I was off doing wild things last week like sleeping in for an hour later than usual and playing "Guitar Hero III" with my sister. (Result: We rock)
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I said a few things while talking about imaging and marketing your stations and shows that reminded me about something else I want to talk about, but I'm gonna hold that until next week. I've done enough scolding for now. Gotta pace myself, you know.
ShareI wasn't aware that this was posted, but Patterico had it, and, well, it's not every day that a major TV show does a segment literally up the street from my house, so here's "The Colbert Report" on the Trump Golf Course flagpole dispute:
At least the town looks good. But, no, that isn't my infinity pool.
ShareA coupla things from the living-room sofa on a lazy Saturday:
1. I take no joy in Schadenfreude. I'm being sincere when I say that I try not to hold grudges. Forgive but don't forget, that's kind of the rule for me, and it's served me well. But sometimes, the temptation is strong.
Take today. See, there's a talk radio host out there who, years ago, I asked to do an interview. I can tell you that I am rarely turned down, and the few who have said no have done it politely, apologetically, and with good reasons offered. The gentleman in question, a reasonable (but not massive) success in a large market, first demanded to see the questions in advance, then sent a terse e-mail saying "I don't think so.". It struck me as assholish behavior, but, hey, whatever.
Friday, he got arrested for assault. (Initially, rumors had it as a domestic assault; later, the news trickled out that it happened at a retail store) I don't know if he's guilty, and I do not take pleasure in either his predicament or any case of violence. But, just for a second, the thought crossed my mind: Yeah, it figures. See? Act like an asshole to me, pay the price.
But, of course, it has nothing to do with me. And, really, I hope for everyone's sake that it's not true or just a misunderstanding. Still, that's one interview I don't mind not getting.
2. After playing around with the new iPhone/iPod Touch software... wow. And that's just regarding the AOL Radio and Pandora programs. I can get streaming audio on my Treo, but the iPhone/iPod Touch streaming is unbelievable- easy to use, shows song titles, artists, and album artwork, and makes satellite radio seem like old technology. I still can't get an iPhone- no AT&T service yet in my neighborhood- but iPod Touch plus dock equals a very cool Internet radio, assuming that everyone follows AOL and CBS in doing this kind of application.
ShareI could sit here and write something, or I could go back and take another nap, which I've been doing all day when I haven't been working.
Nap wins. Pardon me.
ShareWe found out today that someone we know passed away this weekend. Too young. And it was that damn disease again.
Please:
Friends of Linden Animal Shelter, in memory of Deborah Lanning. That would be nice.
And if you want to help get breast cancer cured once and for all, there's Susan G. Komen For the Cure. And there's Revlon/UCLA Breast Center, Dr. Chang's fund. There's the Revlon Run/Walk link on the home page here -- I don't know if the links work, but there should be an address to give. I don't think they'll turn you down.
Thanks.
ShareI am not naive enough to assume that the Phillies' victory in tonight's game is indicative of anything more than the Mets' shaky bullpen. Blanton was awful, Eaton-like... pretty much what I expected, to tell the truth. The bats were silent against Santana, and considering that he only threw 105 pitches, the Phillies got lucky that he didn't try to go the distance. It was the bottom of the order that rallied. I mean...
So Taguchi. So F'ing Taguchi. If that doesn't say a lot about how flukish tonight was, nothing does.
But I'll take it, awful Blanton, no Wagner, Santana pulled for the ninth, every minute of it. Maybe this will portend good things for the rest of...
...no. No, no, no. I can't do that. One day at a time. It's the Phillies. I am a Phillies fan, and the Phillies are guaranteed to break my heart. I can't lose sight of that.
ShareJust like that, the Phillies manage to once again wipe out the memory of an epic win. They couldn't do anything with John Maine, even though Maine didn't have it tonight. Myers was worse than the numbers will show. Madson just plain sucked tonight. The bats were quiet again. Another frustrating Phillies loss. The consolation is that the Mets are not demonstrably any better. Whoever wins this division will do it by attrition.
And now I have a headache. Letter tomorrow. 'Scuse me.
ShareThis week's All Access newsletter is about the sorry state of radio station websites and the industry's focus on things like HD Radio when it should be checking out those iPhones:
Here's one thing that frustrates me about the radio industry: We're rapidly entering a totally new technological age for radio and most stations can't even put up a decent website.
Really, the web has been around for over a decade, right? There's no excuse for what I see on so many radio station websites. A lot aren't updated very often -- there are obsolete schedules, broken links galore, poor design... but you know that. I know, I know, corporate won't let you do anything. They make you use the template, there's no flexibility, yeah, I know. I feel your pain. But there's no excuse for having incorrect information. There's no excuse for not providing updated information there. There's no excuse for a news-talk website to be sporting music-oriented promotions because some corporate person cut a deal and forgot to specify which stations wouldn't get the ads. Remember, the Net is competition for you now. People are looking on the Net for the same stuff they usually get from you on the air. If they can't find it from you -- the latest news, opinion forums, audio clips -- and it's not in an easy-to-use, appealing format, they will look someplace else. And that dilutes your position in the marketplace. The sad part is that it's so easy to do better, but I still see stations with terrible, useless websites. It tells me that either management doesn't know better or doesn't care.
That's symptomatic of a larger problem, and that came to mind when I started playing with the new iPhone/IPod Touch operating system. Have you tried it yet? (You don't need to have an iPhone; the iPod Touch uses essentially the same software) Have you installed AOL Radio or Pandora? Are you impressed?
You should be. A few years ago, I wrote a column that mentioned in passing that I was able to listen to Internet streaming audio on my cellphone and through my car stereo. I got some responses to that, mostly folks asking how they could get it. But I had to warn them that the experience was, and is, a little on the difficult side: you had to find a particular website with "backdoor" links to streams, then click, then the phone fires up Windows Media Player, then... you can see how that wasn't going to be a consumer hit. It wasn't easy to use, and it offered only the stream in a visually unappealing player. And I find that, because it is such a pain, I rarely bother to use it.
And then there's the iPhone experience: Slick, extremely easy to use, graphically appealing. Songs are accompanied by album art, song title, and artist name. I take my iPod Touch, connect it to the Net with Wi-Fi, drop it into an iPod dock, and it's an instant Internet radio. It's a much more appealing experience than... um, actually, more appealing than just using the radio. You get a menu of formats and stations, you just touch what you want with your finger and you instantly get it. (Oh, stop it, I know what you just thought)
CBS Radio is there. AOL's streams are there. Pandora's there, and so is Last.fm. Radio Monte freakin' Carlo is there. Shouldn't every radio station be rushing to get a piece of this action?
That, of course, is not how the radio industry works. Between PR campaigns and quixotic attempts to get FM tuners into iPods and cellphones and, of course, HD Radio, most of the industry's leaders have a different idea of what the public wants. But the public's already moving beyond that stuff, and radio is in danger of being left behind.
Nobody, of course, asked me, and nobody's paying me large consultancy fees to tell them anything, but here's what I'd do if I was in charge: I'd hire some developers to create all-in-one, easy-to-use programs for every cellphone platform out there. I'd do an iPhone version, a Windows Mobile version, a Symbian version, an Android version. I'd have them make slick, easy applications so that any phone with data service -- that is to say, most cellphones out there these days -- could get any radio station in its streaming form. You don't need a radio tuner in a cellphone if you can stream a station. It should be as easy to get radio streams on your average Samsung or Nokia or BlackBerry as it is on the iPhone. I would put the energy and the money towards that. Not everyone will end up with an iPhone, but everybody has some kind of phone, and it's a lot cheaper to get a software streaming application on phones than to make everyone go out and buy new hardware.
(Why, yes, this also means that anyone, not just radio stations, can create a streaming virtual radio station. That's the way it's going to be. Get used to it)
I do recognize, of course, that many of you are probably as frustrated as I am, since you, too, have no control over the industry. All over which you have control is the next show you air. And because of that (see how artfully I'm segueing into the plug?), All Access News-Talk-Sports thoughtfully provides Talk Topics, the show prep column where items are carefully selected, processed, and displayed in an easy-to-use format especially for radio show hosts just like you. Or something like that. Really, it's a good place to grab stuff to talk about on your show, and this week's crop includes items like what your kids are up to in the movie theaters, what political convetioneers are likely to be up to (same thing), some people whose behavior redefines "eccentric," the mystery of the pile of pantyhose, why Vince Vaughn gets so much work, 50 Cent's beef with Taco Bell, the Great Superhero Glut, a visit with the girl formerly known as Talula Does The Hula, a mortgage problem the new rules don't address, the reason not to do the Grey Poupon joke to someone you don't know (other than that it's not funny), a very, very drunk driver, a Congressional Boss From Hell, the guy who tried to glue himself to the British Prime Minister, how fist bumps are making their way into the business world, why the Yankees hate sunscreen, plastic bag bans, WNBA brawls, Hollywood Republicans, and plenty of campaign stories and economy stories and a tribute of sorts to Estelle Getty. If that's not enough, you'll also find "10 Questions With..." WLNK (107.9 The Link)/Charlotte and syndicated "Matt and Ramona Show" host Ramona Holloway, plus the rest of All Access with the radio and music industry's best and fastest news coverage, columns, music charts, jobs, message boards, the Industry Directory, and more. Why not read it all, every day? It's free.
Next week, we'll bring it back to a more personal level. Maybe I'll even throw in a few more jokes. Changing the world gets a little too serious sometimes.
ShareI don't feel like writing anything right now unless someone pays me for it.
You paying?
No?
...
ShareOut all day. Didn't see "The Dark Knight." Went shopping instead. Didn't buy anything of note.
Anything else? Let me check... Nope.
This is getting too predictable.
ShareWe didn't go see "The Dark Knight" again. I know it's getting rather tedious to read every day how we didn't go see "The Dark Knight," but I keep getting asked about it and I'm developing some defensiveness about it. No, we didn't see "The Dark Knight." We aren't likely to see it this week, either. In fact, in light of how people are apparently going to see it for the second and third time now, I may never see it.
This would not be the first time I've reacted to sweeping public adoration of a movie by refusing to see it. It took me at least 15 years to see "Jaws." I have yet to see "Titanic." We did see "Spider-Man" but not "Spider-Man II." And I haven't seen a Batman movie since the Joel Schumacher debacle, which I saw on cable and was pleased not to have seen in a theater.
There are a few reasons we haven't gone:
1. Lack of time to see a 2 hour and 30 minute marathon (plus trailers and ads).
2. Lack of desire to spend that much time in a movie theater. It hasn't been hot enough to want to soak up the air conditioning.
3. Lack of the superhero gene. I'm not sure about this one. When I was six and "Batman" was the rage on TV, I watched it. I read the Superman and Batman and Spider-Man comics. But I outgrew them by about eight or so.
4. Lack of the action movie gene. I've been told that the action sequences in "The Dark Knight" are thrilling, but they do involve guys in capes or wacky makeup and imaginary cars and firepower and stuff. I'm all for action like in the "Bourne" movies - real-looking guys doing ridiculous feats in ordinary situations with ordinary guns and cars. And I'm okay with 007, too - there's a style that transcends pretty much everything in the movies. But guys who fly and have unusual weapons... you know, that didn't come out right, did it? You know what I'm saying here.
Will we see it next weekend? Dunno. Depends. But I'm feeling like I have to explain why I'm the last on my block to see it. And just because of that, I might just hold out until it shows up on HBO. Or longer.
ShareI've been screwing around with the templates in Movable Type to see if I could find a workaround so permalinks would take you directly to an entry instead of the top of the monthly archive page. Unfortunately, nothing worked, and now republishing the site gives me a 500 error message.
So I'm trying a test post. If you can read this, the site isn't totally borked. If you can't, then, um, you aren't seeing this anyway. Never mind.
(It isn't easy to be your own IT department)
ShareYeah, we felt it.
I was writing at my desk when it happened. The desk, the shelving unit attached to it, the computer, and the wall behind them began to shake, and I reacted... slowly. The first thought was "shouldn't I be, you know, moving? Quickly?" The second thought was "well, yeah, since the big desk thing in front of me is moving." The third thought was... "hey, cool." And then I got up and announced to Fran, who had already figured it out, that "THIS... is an earthquake."
And it was. You know that by now, since it was all over the news. By noon, the world knew that we'd had a little vibration incident here. By about 12:05 pm, there was no more news to be had from it. There was little damage, and other than a widespread phone and cellphone outage, everything snapped back to normal.
You wouldn't know that, however, from the TV coverage. The L.A. TV stations all have helicopters, and they're gonna use them, even if, in an earthquake with little visible damage, there's nothing to show. So we got repeated shots of a water main break somewhere off the 10 freeway, with water shallow enough not to stop traffic. We got majestic smog-shrouded vistas of downtown Los Angeles and skyscrapers which by then were definitely not moving. On the ground, we got interviews with people whose dogs were barking from the vibration and lingering shots of a few shampoo bottles that fell to the floor in a Pasadena drug store. And then we got more shots of the water main break, because that was the only thing the choppers could find.
I was ready. I had the camera all juiced up and ready to take pictures of the devastation. I was willing to volunteer to be the Official Eyewitness for any radio show that needed an Official Eyewitness. But... there was no devastation and, other than the desk wobbling and the cat jumping onto the living room couch, there was no action at all. It was over in 15 seconds. I thought about taking a few books, pushing them off the shelf, taking some video, and selling it to the networks, but that didn't feel right. So I just went back to work.
But check this alarmist headline from CNN:
Expert: L.A.'s 5.4 quake 'small sample' of one to come
Uh oh.
A magnitude-5.4 earthquake shook the Los Angeles metropolitan area Tuesday, leaving residents rattled but causing no serious damage or injuries. However, the temblor served as a warning to southern Californians who had not experienced an earthquake in some time: the "Big One" remains a possibility.
No, really? And Northridge was a reminder of what?
"This is a sample, a small sample," said Kate Hutton, a seismologist at the California Institute of Technology. "This is somewhere between small and moderate." She said there is a 5 percent chance the quake could be a precursor to a larger earthquake. After 24 hours, she said, that chance will drop to 1 percent.
There's a 95-99% chance that there won't be another larger quake. Pretty good odds. Can't we be positive here?
"Every earthquake relieves some stress," Hutton said. "It's usually only a drop in the ocean. In other words, the amount of stress released by this earthquake is minuscule compared to the amount that's built up and is building up for the Big One when it happens some day in the future."And when will that be?
"From a geologist's point of view, the answer has to be soon," she said. "But geologists are used to thinking on millions of years and thousands of years time scale, so I don't think that gives any useful information for people, except be prepared at any time because it could happen at any time."
We're going to have a Big One sometime in the coming million years or so? Not so fast, optimists:
There is a 99 percent chance of California experiencing a quake of magnitude 6.7 or larger within the next 30 years, according to the Uniform California Earthquake Rupture Forecast, sponsored by the U.S. Geological Survey, the California Geological Survey and the Southern California Earthquake Center and published in Science Daily in April.
So we're prepared. We have our earthquake kits with slowly decomposing cans of non-perishables and water and toilet paper so that in a year or so we can throw it all out and replace it with more aging food and stuff. We have batteries and flashlights and gas-turner-offer tools and other items of necessity. We are Californians. The Big One is always looming, whether it's millions of years away or 30 years away or seconds away.
But, no, we're not moving back east. We like it here. If that means dealing with a terrestrial Magic Fingers once in a while, so be it.
ShareWhen I'm busy and can't really post much content here, I like to recommend other sites of interest.
Try this one and its associated YouTube page. It's Classic Cleveland Television, and if you suffered through my occasional TV Guide scan runs, you'll immediately see why I love what this guy's doing.
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