I'm So Glad We Had This Time Together...

Harvey Korman, R.I.P...

The Case For Open Borders, or: Mr. Tancredo, Tear Down This Wall!

(Note: I have not routed this book through my Amazon Associates account at this time because I sincerely don't care if I make any money off selling it. I just want you to buy the damn book and read it, 'K?)

Everybody...get this book.

Get copies for your friends, your enemies and all the Neo-Know Nothings in your life.

O'Reilly should read this book. Lou Dobbs should read this book. Michele Malkin should definitely read this book (well, OK...maybe she can have Dobbs read it to her...)

A Very Brief (I Promise) Political Interlude

(As you may know I have a policy of not talking at all about politics except when I have a fresh take on the issue. Would that most talk hosts did the same – take Kevin James...please...)

Re: the Hillary/RFK gaffe: the thing in my mind is what this says about her ability (or lack thereof) to function articulately when the pressure is really on:

"Madame President, the ICBMs are cresting the poles...what do we do?"

"Hominahominahomina..."

You Can Tell Ben Stein's Lying; His Lips Move

Lest you think that creationists are not willing and/or capable of playing fast and loose with the truth to advance their agenda, take a look at this baby...

What's Wrong With This Picture?

Paul Harris is a talk host who's sharp, funny, and always has a unique perspective on the issues.

After several successful years on the air in St. Louis, Paul Harris is out of work.

Paul Harris...Kevin James...

And you wonder why people in my business drink...

Best Video Of The Week (that doesn't have Bill O'Reilly in it)...

Politics aside, this is the state of "talk radio" today. With all the radio jobs that have been lost in recent years, all the talented, capable broadcasters who are out of work because of consolidation...AND THIS MORON IS GAINFULLY EMPLOYED? IN LOS FRICKIN ANGELES?

Screw it...I think this guy has the right idea...

Another (not-so) Modest Proposal

Forget Speed Racer: here is the cartoon those Matrix guys should make into a movie...

Who You Gonna Believe - Some Damn Liberal Think Tank Or The Tiny Little People In My Salt Shaker?

Here's still further evidence, via the Manhattan Institute, that the Kitty-Bar-The-Borders crowd have their collective heads where the sun don't shine.

(Not that it matters...the neo-Knownothings will no doubt continue to hear just what they want to hear...)

Love So Sweet

“I’ve been a drifter and a long-time loser;
You could learn a lot from me…”

Today’s musical moment comes from the man No Depression magazine called the Last of the Great Cowboy Poets.

Ladies and gentlemen, Billy Joe Shaver…

Fallin' Through The Cracks

I've spoken before of how many talented personalities have gotten the shaft from the radio industry in years. In response someone on one of the message board sites I frequent posed the following:

I would be very interested to hear who some of these talented folks are who aren't getting a shot are. Local dudes? I'd love to hear some names, air-checks, let hear some of this talent.

Actually, that's a good idea; we should talk about some of the genuinely talented people out there whose broadcast careers have been strangled and aborted by the mechanics of the biz today. Modesty (ha ha) forbids me from touting myself, and I'll won't dwell on deceased talents like, say, Bob Lassiter, who would have fit this category in his sad, final years...

...so I'll start with one of my living, breathing favorites...

ED TYLL: My all-time favorite host. After several fruitful years in Orlando and Los Angeles, his radio career seemed to lose focus. Which is sad because every talk station in America should be banging on his door, offering him a truckload of dough to get him back behind a mike.

Last I heard, Ed was alive and well and doing voiceover and standup in the New York area. Ed doesn't need radio; the point is that radio needs him.

Ominous Rumblings...?

I spoke with a friend of mine (who programs a talk station in a top thirty market) about doing some summer fill-in. It's far from a shoo-in, but he is interested - if all parties can pull it off...



Wouldn't that be cool...

Home Movies

I'm still trying to get the hang of this here newfangled You Tube doohickey (hooray for me, only about a year and a half behind the curve)...as a test, I've posted a quickie shot of the ol' Missouri, about two miles from my house.

Enjoy the river. Coming soon, commentaries and stuff...

H.L Mencken Was Right, Pt. MCMLXVII

Somebody, please, please, pleasepleasepleasepleasepleaseplease explain to me the appeal of these people...

Wanted: More Believers

In today's edition of his daily newsletter, my old friend Tom Taylor has some comments about the state of the radio industry. I offer them here as an addendum to my own comments from yesterday:

Two experienced radio guys I’ve talked with in the past week are actually rooting for “the bottom to fall out” of station prices. As one put it – “a real nuclear event that would shake up this industry, chase out the owners who aren’t radio people, and give real operators a chance at buying stations at reasonable prices.” This line of thinking says that bumping along the way we are now, radio will just keep cutting past the bone, eventually leading stations past the point of no return. Though one of these guys later says “I do believe that the good industries do come back, and I think radio’s one of them. I just think we need to get some stations back in the hands of the right owners.” And find more believers.

Hear, hear...

Storm Warning (the good kind)...

As noted previously, I've been getting a good general feeling about the state of the (radio) industry, like we've finally bottomed out and things are starting to turn around (and trust me, it’s not in my nature to be bullish about anything).

Nonetheless, there are good signs. To wit…

While CBS revenue is down in the 1st Q, the company reports an uptick in the largest markets…

In Philly, Preston & Steve re-up their contract, not only getting a sweet deal but a new studio…

In Virginia, radio has stepped forward to take a leading role in the tornado relief efforts…

The industry seems to me to be slowly returning to some semblance of things-as-they-were: e.g. Gambling back at WOR…

…and somethin’s definitely up in the halls of Chicago Trib, Inc…


No major breakthroughs just yet; but the wind is rising…