A crazy Thursday
Well, it’s official…tomorrow is Dan’s last day. My feelings on the issue are mixed, but by and large, it’s the best of a crappy situation. It came down the horn that something had to give. Either everybody takes a hit or one person is sent packing. Now, as is well documented here and on my Twitter feed…I’ve never big the biggest Dan supporter. Be that as it may, despite his many shortcomings, he is a decent guy at heart. He had the option of skating out today and still get paid for the rest of the week, but he chose to stay the rest of the day and even come in tomorrow to make sure everything transitions over smoothly. I’ll be honest, if it were me, I’d have packed my things and been working on my second six pack by noon.
Speaking of transitions, as of Monday I will officially be Program Director of three radio stations. Granted they’re all syndicated stations. But it’s an opportunity to do something with them. It’s a place to start, and hopefully someday grow them into something more local. It’s more B.S. than bragging rights, but I’ll give it my best to make them sound as good as they possibly can.
So no pay cuts…which is good. But I’ll admit I felt some knots in my stomach seeing Dan shook up today. I don’t wish for anybody to lose their job, what a terrible feeling. In all honesty I was just as prepared for it to be me. After all, I haven’t even been there 5 months. But in that short time, I’ve tried to inject as much energy and enthusiasim into my position as I can. I try to be reliable, helpful, creative, and insightful. To be completely honest I haven’t had to work too hard at it. Maybe it comes naturally…but I don’t think that’s it. After the last job, I learned a lot about what I appreciate in my employment. And above all else it’s the people I work with. I look forward to seeing everyone here…most days. When I’m at work it feels more like a fraternity or a family. And even Dan has his place there. Like the weird uncle. I never imagined it…but I’ll miss the guy.
So life goes on. It will be a fast and furious couple weeks until I get a routine nailed down. But I’m looking forward to the challenge. Some of the obstacles that are part of this position look to provide some actual intellectual stimulation and I look forward to having the freedom to apply my style of solution to them. It’s a truly bittersweet moment. But a lesson in many respects: Don’t take for granted the good in people. All it takes to be noticed it some genuine intrest and good intentions. And no matter what life throws at you, it’s up to you to make the best of it.
Been busy.
I know I’ve been absent from posting for a while. But it’s been busy around here lately. At least it seems like it has. This last weekend Andrea’s niece and nephew came up. I guess you could call it babysitting, but I honestly had a good time. We’re doing our part on being a bad influence. Her niece was supposed to be grounded from the TV, but we forced her to play Wii Sports all weekend. Took a lot of convincing, let me tell ya. And her nephew just ran around playing with hotwheels cars all weekend. A lot less screaming than I expected.
This week has been somewhat nerve wracking at work. Everybody is nervous because there’s rumors of paycuts. Though I haven’t actually heard anything substative on that. But mosty everyone griping that Smokey Dan needs to hit the road before anybody takes a paycut around there. And I whole heartedly agree. It’s not that I don’t like the guy. He really is a decent guy a heart, and I don’t wish anybody to be out of work. But the man is truly incompetent. He creates about as much work for everyone else as he gets done. It would rub a lot of people the wrong way if they had to make a sacrifice to save his job. Like I say, I hope it’s all rumors, but if there is any truth to them, I hope the people in charge remember that this is a business…not a charity.
Got a little bit of work done on the car yesterday at lunch. It was idling a little rough the other night, so I decided to put a new distributor cap and rotor on. The parts were cheap, and who knows when it was last done. I pulled the old ones off and they didn’t look too terrible. A little corrosion, but they’d obviously been replaced sometime in the last 200,000 miles. But I went ahead and put the new parts on anyway. Seems to run a smidge smoother, but I think the main problem is the carburetor. So I bought an old one and I’m gonna try my hand at rebuilding it. Hopefully after that it’s just like new, and I’m back up to getting 24 MPG on the hiway like I did when I first bought the thing! It just kinda sucks working on the car now that it’s cold and dark by the time I get off work.
Outside of that, I’ve found myself on the computer less. I’ve been playing a lot of the game I’m doing for my next N64 re-review. I’ve probably already spend about 4 hours playing it, and I think I might go ahead and try to beat the game again before I write the review. Some of these games it’s really hard to get into now, just beacuse they’re dated, or I have already played them to death. But the fact I’ve spent so much time on this game in the last week, it truly a testament to how great it is, and how well it stands the test of time. Look for the review closer to Thanksgiving.
10.24.08A new show clip!
First clip in a LONG time! A generous listener brought by some fresh produce for the staff. Chris Elsen from the Night Shift joins me in a contest of manhood. Who can handle the habanero?
It’s like spicy for your ears. Click to Listen.
Check out the Matt McBain Show page for more clips from the past!
Just another day…
Best of Swap Shop
I got the chance to listen to some Swap Shop today over the ‘net. Still comedy gold. I edited down the half hour show into 3 minutes of Jerry and classic Swap Shop callers. Todays show emphasizes birthdays and garage sales. Shocking!
08.13.08Prank calling Smokey Dan.
This was before my time at the radio station…but here’s a couple station employees, who’s names were removed by request, prank calling Dan asking about his lawnmower for sale.
Enjoy!
08.8.08The Studio
In continuing with experimenting with my camera I decided to try a video. Never taken a video with this thing…and apparently it only allows 20 seconds. Man this camera sucks. So here’s the KZRS Studio quick tour.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPe2c7NSENk]
It’s retro, but nice and laid back. Very college radio KSDB McCain Studio feeling.
And here’s the most uncomfortable chair in the world which I’m forced to sit in for four hours a day. Seriously they won’t even let Guantanomo detainees sit in this chair.
Here’s those pics…
Here you go. Utterly random scenes from around the radio station. First up “The Bell”. The first thing your eyes snap to as you walk into the station. If you ever stop by feel free to ring it…if you dare.
Next we have some broadcasting essentials. (Jenn will appreciate this picture.) The Chautauqua and the headphones. Well, the Chautauqua is essential at least. I drink a lot of water at work. I used to suck down pop all the time, finally I realized the water was free and better for me! Let me tell ya, you honestly do feel better drinking a good amount of water everyday. ESPECIALLY when it’s hot out side.
Me making an effort to be as comfortable as possible in the most uncomfortable chair in the world. It’s weird not wearing a hat everyday.
Elsen (P.D.) and Claudia (Sales) doing something. Probably arguing. They’ll be married come December…probably. 😉
And last but not least…the guy you may or may not have heard about. “Smokey Dan” Famous for such quotes as…
“I called in the first 10 minutes and got a free hedge trimmer.”
“I just don’t think our internet connection has enough poop.”
“At least it got rid of my intestinal bloating.”
“The nice thing about this program is…you just highlight what you want to delete. Then you delete it.”
“That’s just another thing they put on my plate.”
And more!
I’d go into more detail, but then there’d be nothing left for this week’s podcast!
What makes a terrible commercial?
Answer: Terrible copy.
The following has got to be one of the worst commercials I’ve cut in a while. I’ll first give you the whole thing. Read it. Digest it. Then I’ll tear it apart line by line. The names of the person and the business have been changed so I don’t pop up in search engine traffic and then word gets back to the boss. Not good for Matt’s employment.
John Spanner and Great Valley Packing… Two names that are synonymous with success. Great Valley Packing IS John Spanner. That’s means they are part of the oldest continuous meat manufacture in the United States. John Spanner in Great Valley specializes in the production of specialized meats like smoked hams and bacon. They use the latest in technology along with the principle of quality by all their workers to produce the taste in meats their customers want. John Spanner of Great Valley…Shipping smoked hams and bacons across the United States…and the world.
Okay. I’m no copy writer, but I do have a knack for sensing when somebody is a bit full of themselves! This commercial starts out terrible from the beginning. When I proof read it, I thought surely it would get better as the spot went on, they they just had a terrible lead in. But actually it was very in tone with the rest of the spot.
John Spanner and Great Valley Packing… Two names that are synonymous with success.
Now there’s an unsubstantiated claim if I ever heard one. “Nintendo” is synonomous “video games”. People say, “Hey, let’s go play Nintendo.”
They DON’T say, “Wow, Bob. Your business is really taking off, you’re a regular John Spanner!” When people think “success” NOBODY thinks “John Spanner” OR “Great Valley Packing”. And this commercial has yet to convince me otherwise. Let’s continue, perhaps they’ll back up this claim.
Great Valley Packing IS John Spanner.
I suppose that’s true, if both are synonomous with success, I suppose they would be synonomous with each other too. And it IS true. Success IS success. No if’s an’s or but’s about it.
That’s means they are part of the oldest continuous meat manufacture in the United States.
What? Wait, THAT’S what that means? I’m feeling really out of the loop about now. How long have people in the United States been packing meat? Was John Spanner really there when it all started? How old is this dude? IF John Spanner REALLY IS Great Valley Packing AND that DOES MEAN that they’re part of the oldest continuous meat manufacture in the United States; THEN by my estimation This guy has to be AT LEAST 100 years old. Is that somebody you really want handling powerful spinning blades? And who’s this “they”? I thought it was just Mr. Spanner.
John Spanner in Great Valley specializes in the production of specialized meats like smoked hams and bacon.
Well if you’re going to specialize in something, it might as well be something specialized, I guess. But are smoked hams and bacon really all that special? I’m pretty sure I can get those from the Schwan’s guy, or Wal-Mart. What’s so special about them?
They use the latest in technology, along with the principle of quality, by all their workers to produce the taste in meats their customers want.
First of all, I don’t even think this is a sentence by grammatical standards. And I don’t know about you but when I walk into the Specialized Meat section to check out the bacon, I try to look for the bacon that was sliced by LASERS! After all, meat just tastes better when you use the latest technology.
John Spanner of Great Valley…Shipping smoked hams and bacons across the United States…and the world.
This line would be a perfect end to the commercial…had John been able to back up any of his grandiose claims. But instead it leaves me thinking, “Seriously, John. Name one place outside the USA you’ve shipped some bacons. I’ll even let you count Hawaii and Alaska.”
This isn’t a commercial about selling a product. John just paid a princely sum in order to hear his name on the radio and feel good about himself. While it may satisfy is narcissistic tendencies, I feel that money would be better spent on therapy.
07.11.08Around the station
Here’s a few pics I snapped today after work. I’ve been meaning to remember my camera for a few days now. Finally got around to it.
Here’s a pic of the studio I work in now. It’s quite a bit more vintage, but it works well enough. By far the worst part is having to sit in that damn wooden chair for 4 hours. Not comfortable at all! The on air system is STORQ. Like the rest, it’s a bit dated, but it works a hell of a lot better than what we used at the other station.
Oh, and look at this. This is back behind a shop next to the radio station.
Can you tell what it is?
???
It’s a Delorean! I wish I could get closer. (Wish I could buy it actually…but yeah) Pretty sweet. It’s the closest I’ve ever been to one, and I can’t get that close!
And here’s a big old Oldsmobile parked out front. Hasn’t moved since I started working there. Wish I could give it some love. Of course my car needs some lovin’ as it is now!
That’s it for now! More as it becomes almost interesting.