The down arrow is merely a prediction...these are the realities (click on any image to enlarge it):
Well, it's finally over and if they ever release the real figures (i.e. the net) I don't think anyone will be in a celebratory mood. The pledge total came to $381,070, which is $266,930 short of the $648,000 ($18,000 daily) goal. Remember, too, that bills did not cease to accumulate during the extensions ordered by Berthol Reimers. Sixty-five "Buddy" memberships were sold, but. at $25 each, that only adds up to $1,625 and is subject to donors waking up feeling "This Buddy's not for me." WBAI is taking its time dying, but it won't be long before it is as dead as it sounds.
They are now saying that this marathon will end Sunday night, November 9. At $18,000 per day, which is the goal Reimers was talked down to, $630,000 would be the total expected by November 9.
So, as of November 5, they are $319,800 short, with four days to go. These are the same people who are now talking about building studios at the Atlantic Avenue location! There won't even be enough in the till for a used Mister Microphone.
Null's fear-mongering "Survival package" paid off on November 4th and Amy and Ali did well, but not so the rest of them, although Ifé crawled past Forlano's zero to register $25. Will there be another extension? Would Reimers dare? He's fool enough and Murillo is not doing such a great job. The On-Air Pitching Workshop he scheduled for a month ago does not seem to have made a whit of difference. One wonders how much they paid "pitching guru" Richard Gallagher for conducting the session.
Null and Amy led the way to bring Thursday's total up, almost making the daily goal. Not so, Friday's numbers—they came in more than $10,000 short. So far, the drive has been stretched to November 6.
October 29th figures indicate a growing fear of Null's Solar-generated apocalypse.
Tuesday, Oct. 28 sees another dip; the drive is now $150,690 away from the goal, with less than a week to go. Bear in mind item #5 of the motion passed by the Pacifica NFC this week: 5) that the PNB direct WBAI Management to extend any and all fund drives until they have met their budgeted goals, and to increase fund drivegoals accordingly if WBAI falls short of budget in other revenue sources.
The results for Monday, Oct. 27, brings the total up to $238,130—which is $157,870 short of the amount projected for this day.
Not a great week's end on the radio translates into dark clouds over tallyland. As I figure it, the drive has to raise $23,643 a day in order to reach the set goal by November 6. Do you see an extension on the horizon, or another false statement coming from under Berthold Reimer's desk?
On the 17th day, the pledge total finally reached the daily goal, with a slight dip on the 18th, but it still doesn't look good. The total should now be $324,000, but it is $123,066 behind. Gary Null's survival packages did exceedingly well on the 23rd, so I guess WBAI's fear mongering is effective!
Racism and other hate, as spewed by Prescod, did well; as did Dr. Ali, more honorably, and Building Bridges' Mimi sold 27 "history packs" at $125 each.
The wind of funds still appears to be favorable—at least, this week's gust has not died down—but the old mill is still not making the assigned goal. This time it is Dr. Ali who gives the boost, assisted by Null's Healthy Woman. Juliana and Ifé... well? If we go by Reimers' anticipated daily figure of $18,000, the total pledged as of Oct. 21 ought to have been $288,00, so it is short by $125,315. In the meantime, new bills are added to piles of overdue ones. Do the math.
A sorely needed boost, at last, but the Oct 20 total is still below the set goal.
And so the plunge continues with the October 19 and 20 results. The drive is now $119,235 behind the goal Berthold Reimers announced. For all the artificial excitement Daulton Anderson generated, his flock seems to have different plans for their money. There wasn't a lot of sugar in the bowl this week but Max came through and Chris Whent did better than anyone. It's time to go back to the old drawing board.
The October 16 and 17 figures do not bode well. What will Reimers come up with now? That infamous water?
Figures slightly more favorable now, but still below announced daily goals. Did anyone catch the Monday, 10-13 tally sheet entry for Gary Null's 1PM slot? Check it out and tell the rest of us what you think it means. Just heard Janet Coleman, who teeters on the border of reality and WBAI-think. She is pitching Dr. Ali's various discs, "Reversing Diabetes," "Reversing Kidney Failure," etc. It made me wonder of the doctors couldn't come up with a disc to distribute free to WBAI's "management": "Reversing stupidity."
The figures for Sunday, Oct. 12 are interesting. Are we to believe that Prescod's Ebola show only raised $50? That mean $25 to the medical charity. Simon Loekle and Ivan's opera program did very well, as did Max Schmed. Null's grapes were apparently not the right stuff, and nobody was interested in Daulton Anderson's grab bag.
The Saturday, Oct. 11 figures show $1,495.00 as collected for "Ebola charities." These are cash payments made directly to WBAI, not pledges. There are no premiums offered and no installments on credit cards. The question is whether this amount has enriched WBAI by $747.50 and, of course, whether the other half will actually go to the Ebola charity.
Note that the October 9 figures show Margaret Prescod as having raised $6,315. There is no indication that 50% of that amount went to help in the current ebola situation, which was a major point made by her in her hysterical pitch. Berthold Reimers clearly owes the pledgers an explanation and breakdown while some believe this departure was actually law-breaking (see here).
This morning. WBAI's iPD, Mario Murillo, made no mention of the odd turn taken by Prescod (who screams at us from KPFK), but he did express his disappointment in the daily totals, which fall short of the $18,000 per day goal.
A further update:
This evening (Oct. 11), WBAI rebroadcast Prescod's program from Thursday, the 9th. It was to have been a WBAI fundraising hour, but she went right into the ebola situation, with audio clips that blamed the death of Thomas Duncan, two days earlier) on his being black. She, herself, did not say that, but neither did she contest it. The program was, of course outdated, but I believe this might have been the first of the charity switches, because she launches right into the ebola disaster and having been given the go-ahead by management and higher ups to skip the "thank-you gifts" and donate 50% of the money she raises to a charity that helps equip ebola medical crews.
Noble as that sounds, this could be read as WBAI raising money for a worthier charity and taking half of it for its own use. Would it not have been more in keeping with Pacifica's original intent to simply have a separate fundraiser for the ebola crisis? Prescod has laced her frantic pleas with a racist political thread and, even if money will actually be passed on to the ebola fighters, is this foaming-at-the-mouth woman not guilty of blatant opportunism?
Not a good opening day.
ReplyDeleteI guess people only donate when Null is on when he offers Stuff and other stuff. $50, jeez.
I had a thought. Considering how the snake oil and cure-alls are so popular as premiums on WBAI, what is the general health of WBAI listeners? Makes you wonder
SDL
Caught the last couple of minutes of Null jiving with Haskins today. They were hawking something new -- I guess? -- GRAPE STUFF! There's green, red and now grape. A veritable rainbow coalition of snake oil nostrums.
ReplyDeleterj
Yeah, I saw that on the Null website recently. I guess he is going to take on Hawaiian Punch. Yeah, right... How's about a nice Hawaiian reality slap..? Well, he has his suckers...
DeleteAnyway. Too bad Forlano's show isn't in the archives. I tuned in a bit early for the OTH special and caught her calling the pledge line to pledge to her own show. It was actually funny, but not due to Forlano. You see, the person on the phone was the most disinterested sounding, dour woman that wouuld probably make you NOT want to donate. Well, Forlano made a rambling ass of herself, as usual. How pathetic she is...
SDL
Look for Sour Grape Stuff... I bet it's coming!
DeleteWell, considering that this beg-a-thon's first two days have pulled in roughly half as much as the first two days of the last beg-a-thon, there may well be some Sour Grape Stuff coming Murillo's way from Pacifica and/or Reimers. I respect Murillo's trying to get away from the snake oil, but as I said in the past, it will take several beg-a-thons to re-educate people away from that stuff. WBAI can't last that long.
DeleteNull must be laughing to himself while thinking, "See? They can't do it without me..." Blosdale is probably saying the same thing.
SDL
But look at the measly amounts Null has brought in in the last two days. His stuff may be going stale or too many people haven't received what they paid for.
DeleteWorse than stuff of any color is the poison Margaret Prescod is spewing. Murillo probably loves it and Reimers doesn't listen, but it is amazingly irresponsible crap. This is not to say that there isn't truth in much of that, but it.... well, I'm about to post some of it, so you be the judge.
I'll have to double check, but I think Null pulls in the big money during infomercials aired outside of his show's time slot. However, it is hard to believe how little he made those first two days. Could he have sucked all the blood from his followers at this point?
DeletePrescod is just insufferable to me. Know what's funny? I know some Dominicans. If you want a very different opinion about Haiti and Haitians, go talk to some Dominicans. Let's just say their comments will be VERY "politically incorrect."
Anyway. I really wanted that 64 GB Hope premium from OTH tonight. The couple of times I thought about maybe breaking down and going for it, I thought about all the hate speech on WBAI. No, I couldn't do it, no matter how much I would love to support OTH, I wasn't giving money to racist scum.
OK, off to go play with my new old radios. I got perfect condition late 1970s Panasonic FM/AM/SW RF-2200 and RF-2800 portables recently for great prices. Talk about great old radios.
SDL
The next time I speak to my family, I will remember what you say about Dominicans and Haiti. I should explain that my surviving family (large and growing) is entirely first, second and third generation Dominican.
DeletePerhaps they've decided to save time and rather than a steep falloff they've decided to start bumping along the bottom immediately?
ReplyDelete~ 'indigopirate'
Interesting thought, Indigo, but my impression is that they have no reverse gear.
DeleteI feel bad for the folks at Off The Hook. It seems that their show is getting hijacked to serve Prescod's, Null's, Reimers' and other bottom-feeders' menus. "Emmanuel Goldstein" has been one of the honest voices on BAI. He deserves so much better.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree, Justine.
DeleteFYI: I double checked on Null, and he does tend to bring in more money with his infomercials outside of his show than he does on his own show proper. Not always, but moreso than not.
ReplyDeleteBetter showing for Wednesday (3rd day), but still about $8,000 lower than the 3rd day last time. So, what we are seeing overall is about a 40% drop in pledges between last time and this time. What is it I always say about the quiet New Age crowd? About 30% - 40% of the money? Not a scientific study, but interesting to look at how a drop in snake oil and pseudoscience premiums is happening at the same time pledges are dropping. Connected?
Well, I think it is still a good thing to go towards more political premiums (certainly more relevant to WBAI's purpose), and hope Murillo can ride it out. Whatever else anyone thinks of him, he deserves credit for trying.
Good for OTH. I wish TPCS the same good fortune next week.
SDL
Murillo and Reimers must be delighted right now, because the mad woman of KPFA, the dreadful Prescod, is plugging away for people to call WBAI and donate money to the fight against ebola. She is pledging to donate 50% of the money she raises for the station. Now they are reading a "poem" by Maya Angelou!
DeleteSounds like this woman is using this tragedy to draw attention for herself. It wouldn't surprise me to find that a press release has gone out. t wonder if she cleared this with any Pacifica people?
I didn't hear about that. So, WBAI gets half of what she raises, of which Pacifica takes a cut, right? So WBAI gets less than half the money raised? While she looks like she raised a lot more for WBAI than she really did on the daily tallies. Good scam!
DeleteSDL
I don't know if this is something she started today, but it sounds like that may be the case. I also don't know if the 50% for ebola is retroactive, but the listener is told to make the fundraising pledge (100%) to WBAI, so one has to wonder if Reimers and company will actually do a 50-50 distribution.
DeleteI should add that Prescod had her "boss" in the studio, making a plug. That would either be KPFK's GM or iPD. Let's see how they register it on tomorrow's posted tally sheet.
I doubt more than $100 is actually going to be given from WBAI to any Ebola charity. I'd like to see the documentation of any such third-party fundraising actually going to a third party. They can't even pay for postage, so how could they afford to give away the moneys so enticingly already in their bank accounts, merely because they promised the listeners that they would -- that Ebola money will fall into the WBAI black hole.
ReplyDeleteBased on Reimers' past practice, I doubt if even $100 will go to the ebola cause. They are already failing to make their goal and delusions, such as Reimers has in amble supply, are always shattered in the end.
DeleteI wonder if the hired call takers were notified—they are already confused. If listeners are not receiving the products they paid for (the items nobody can do without) we have every reason to expect that the ebola charity won't see a penny. That would make Prescod's screams ring hollow and it would not be the first time a Pacifica station engaged in shameful opportunism.
Interesting chart for day 4. Totals still way down from day 4 of last time (-30%ish). Are we seeing a pattern here?
ReplyDeleteFass actually made a few bucks. That must have been after I set the 60 minute sleep button on my radio. No, I didn't last 60 minutes, as Fass and Krassner bounced from topic to topic every 30 seconds, I was dead asleep long before. Fass is good radio Xanax...
I doubt we'll see that just over $3,000 going anywhere near an ebola charity.
FVIR did pretty well. A very niche show holding their own is always interesting.
SDL
I wonder who actually makes up (that might be an all-too-appropriate term) the daily tally/detail sheets? Some of the data does not make sense. Note that yesterday's (Oct. 10) does not effect the nearly 2 hours of dead air that occurred in the early evening, nor have I yet seen any indication of Prescod's announced and allegedly approved 50-50 fund split. She mentioned having been given the go-ahead by higher ups, but gave no further identification... did her sanction come from Pacifica? WBAI? Both?
DeleteIt would also be important to know how the split is to be handled. Will WBAI send a cheque to the ebola charity? Will that amount appear on the station's fundraising records as income?
I, too, wonder how WBAI will make the donations to the ebola charity. Actually, I don't wonder: Given what's happened in the past couple of years, I don't expect that the donations would be made.
ReplyDeleteAnyone who really wants to contribute to the cause would do much better to send his or her money to an organization like Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders).
Absolutely, Justine! Donating to WBAI is risky enough, imagine what kind of faith is needed to but someone else's money in their hands and expect it to be forwarded!
DeleteChris, you're a funny guy! You really need to start a new career as a stand up comedian - the WBAI comedian. I don't know HOW the 50% is supposed to go to ebola, but you know it won't. Seriosly, I'll take Prescod over Blosdale and her pseudoscience junk any day.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, the 5th day of this beg-a-thon was the first day to beat out an equivalent day during the last beg-a-thon - by $160.00 entire dollars.Things are looking up!
Murillo's good intentions may end up making him a scapegoat ultimately. Want to bet if any heat comes down on Reimers, he will point at Murillo in a moment?
SDL
I think Blosdale and Prescod are equally off track.
DeleteYes, Murillo's future at WBAI---pre-truncated though it is---will very likely be cut short by Reimers. If he is among those who gave Prescod the nod to do the fifty-fifty, I bet he did so because he saw it as an opportunity to look better in that funhouse mirror and make more money in the process.
What's that song Ethel Merman used to sing? Everything's Pushing Up Daisies?
DeleteSDL
A much better title, but she didn't sing it, she screamed it. David Rothenberg has been playing a lot of Merman lately.... it is painful for me to listen to.
DeleteThe big surprise is that day six of this beg-a-thon is the first day to actually make more money than its equivalent day in the last beg-a-thon, nearly $3,500 more. Maybe since it's starting to get cooler outside, more people were indoors? Maybe the premiums found a market? Maybe a mix of both? Will this become a patter? I don't think so once we get back to weekdays.
ReplyDeleteSDL
It is a patter :)
DeleteWill it become a pattern? I doubt it, but I am inclined to believe that the nature of the "gifts" may be making a difference. They got sick of all that healing--the loop with the annoying nut woman kissing Gwen Scott's feet, babbling Blosdale saving lives, and Katherine the Grate summoning the winged, gay-loving spirits.
So far, there has been less or no conspiracy coddling. Yes, Haiteeeee still pops up and racism is alive, though not well in the rarely shut mouth of Prescod. Sally O'Brien continues to worship Wesley Cook, who is heard making asides on Haskins' morning mess in lifetime role of "Mumia" and let us not forget Daulton's Disco. This morning, with "Earth Mom" at his side, he offered Gloria Gaynor singing "I Will Survive" as an appropriate recording, because it is about a woman liberating herself from the clutches of an abusing lover! He played the record twice and mentioned numerous times that it is included in one of his grab bag "thank you gifts." He also finally got around to announcing a date for his church concert, a benefit for WBAI. He expects as many as 1,500 people, and there will be food! Is he biting off more than he can chew?
BTW, they ran the show with Alberta Hunter and me between 5 and 6AM, that makes it three weeks in a row. I wonder what that is all about?
I should also mention that it looks like Sledgehammer Ryan may be breaking the copyright law when he offered to "throw in" a CD by Blue Magic. This, he pointed out, is strictly on him and won't go through the call center--he has stacks of these CDs and he spent much time putting it together—do I smell something burning? Ryan also said that he has been working on building a studio at the Atlantic Avenue location and that there has, in fact, been a broadcast made from there.
My guess is that Reimers will either call the vultures back or extend the marathon, or BOTH.
Oops. Meant to type second day, not first. Two days in a row earning more than their equivalent days of the last time.
ReplyDeleteSDL
Don't forget the Ebola aspect—we still don't know if they will be playing juggle the figures with this.
DeleteTracy Rosenberg's latest release has the Call Center service, which now has been adopted by the Coast, costing Pacifica $150,000 a year. Can that be right? Of course it can--I will look into it.
I just turned on the radio to be greeted/grated by Prescod’s ebola show. I guess this will be a regular for the duration. I still don’t believe that any of this money will go to helping stop ebola. If WBAI did a show telling people to send money directly to a charity, that would be a different story, of course.
ReplyDeleteMaybe the show with you gets repeated because whoever makes the choices likes the episode. It is a good, tight informative and entertaining hour. Feel complimented.
Maybe Daulton has a bigger mouth than we know? Good luck to him. He’s going to need it…
Well, now I we know what that hour and a half of dead air was all about, don’t we? Ryan and Sledgey were testing out the new studio!
The call center thing is absurd if anywhere near true. At first I thought, “It shouldn’t cost much for a station to set up their own calling room, with phone lines, credit card line, munchies and volunteers.” But then I realized, would you let WBAI listeners handle credit card numbers? Imagine if even one credit card number were stolen by someone? That would be a disaster. In the old days, volunteers just took names and addresses in order to send out an invoice. Now it’s a different story with credit cards. Not sure what to say.
Yes, the beg-a-thon will be extended, as usual. The real question is will Reimers allow for the lack of pseudoscience products. I have a feeling Murillo’s ass is on the line more than we know.
SDL
If the station can't find enough people willing to volunteer, it is because they have alienated the faithful. A roomful of volunteers working under supervision should not pose any more of a problem than this professional service is already giving them. With volunteers, including people who are known to regular listeners, you have people who are familiar with the schedule. I notice a frequent problem is that people call and find themselves talking to someone who might as well be sitting in a suburb of Pago Pago. Some have complained that their call was answered by someone who had no idea what they were talking about. Apart from that, such a service makes the whole thing impersonal (in a corporate sort of way) and that is the opposite of what people expect from WBAI.
DeleteI listened to Everything Old Is.... this evening and while much cabaret music does little or nothing for me (and much if it is downright bad) I have to say that Kenny did a good job and he should be commended for the effort he is putting into a WBAI benefit cabaret evening, He had a successful one a couple of years ago. and this is not the usual scam, for he makes it clear that ALL profits go to WBAI. When they don't say that, you can be sure that they are talking token contribution for on air promotion. Jeannie Hopper is good for that.
I heard the outdated Prescod rerun and another one with Null and Haskins that they seem fond of. BTW, Max apparently was not told that Prescod was giving an "encore performance," because he announced something else, so Murillo seems to be playing the old random radio game.
The problem with all of this is, as I see it, that WBAI has been de-clawed and dumbed down to a point where it is no longer significant, except to the people who have shows there, and a barely visible audience. I still think it is too far gone to be rescued, but it need not have happened this way, and it wouldn't have if dedicated professionals called the shots. Reimers is a contaminated dishrag.
Thank you for your comments re my own loop-de-doo.
Didn't Rosenberg's post say that the call center is paid by the minute? Maybe that is why when Forlano called in to pledge to her own show, the woman at the center seemed slow and disinterested? You know, drag out the time of the call to rack up a higher fee.
DeleteSDL
Come to think of it that's probably what Rosenberg said to receive such a very interesting Theory you have but we know that they don't know what they're doing and that they don't care, which was my point in favor of using volunteers😜
DeleteHere are Tracy Rosenberg's exact words regarding this expense. Notice that she adds, "and possibly much more", indicating an iffy source. Still, we know that this is not inexpensive. Since Tracy does not give her source for this figure, I'll ask her for details.
Delete"The corporate call center is adding over $120,000 (and possibly much more) to fund drive costs and driving up the cost of doing business at both stations, which have both proposed laying off staff in 2015. The network continues to protest that it does not have the money to pay a qualified executive director nor to hold an election for the local boards, even as it voluntarily adds new expenses by replacing volunteer pledge rooms with the .90/minute call center service."
From the True Predictions dept., I notice that Reimers has brought the most frazzled of his infomercials back: the Natalie and Glenn show. Also, on the first day of the new weekly schedule, unannounced changes are already taking place—they skipped Kathi the Grating's Heart of Mindlessness today.
Hi Chris - You never got around to asking me, but here's the reason for the qualifier. The CA call center definitely charges .90/minute. Using KPFA's numbers from the May 2014 fund drive, each California station can expect about 23,000 pledges per calender year and hence each station had budgeted about $60K for the call centers (now eliminated for KPFA). That is $120K. WBAI and WPFW had also using call centers (WPFW appears to be planning to stop). I don't know what rate they are being charged nor their average number of pledges per drive, so any guess as to the amount is an estimate. In response to inquiries, I have been told the East Coast call centers are "cheaper".
Delete- Tracy
Thanks, Tracy. Cheaper, eh? Well, so are store-brand butter substitutes, Payless™ shoes and Chinese Louis Vuitton shoulder bags. Small comfort.
DeleteThat might account for some of the expensive "gifts" that remain undelivered.:)
That's what I thought I read about the call center, getting 90 cents per minute
ReplyDeleteper call. Well, you know as I do they will try to keep callers on the phone for
as long as possible to get higher fees. I have known people who work for all
sorts of pay by the minute phone lines. One of the first things they are taught
is to keep people on as long as possible.
The question about any program changes into pseudoscience infomercials will be as
to who is responsible. I would imagine Reimers. I am not a Murillo fan, but I do
beleive he is sincere in wanting to get away from those things. Must be some
interesting discussions (arguments?) between the two right about now. I could be
wrong, of course.
SDL
Yes, you may be wrong, but I bet the odds are in your favor.
DeleteNow Blosdale, too, is back. I don't know if what I am hearing in the 11PM TBA slot is a rerun, but it's Blossie, calling on her "angels" to help her sell "The Great American Lies" DVD pack. It will get worse, because—using the $18,000 daily goal Murillo announced—Sunday, Oct 12 should have brought the intake to $126,000, but it falls $60,634 short of that.
DeleteBrace yourselves!
HAHAHAHA! Daulton made nothing! I hope he has a big family coming to that concert of his. What a blowhard of hot air...
ReplyDeleteSDL
Oh, yesterday was not good, was it?
ReplyDeleteBlosdale made $0? Better get back to her Boku infomercial...
The Gary Null Poverty Inc thing is a big unknown, since it is a direct call (YIPPEE!). Wonder if WBAI is getting a cut or if it is just a self-promotion (YIPPEE!).
I've been wondering for a while if the Cuba: An African Odyssey DVD is just a burned DVD-R. Prescod goes on about the amazon.com price, which means it's out of print. So, either the distributor and/or Prescod is/are hoarding remaining copies for Prescod, or it's a legit(?) DVD on demand thing.
Every time I hear or see Green Stuff I think of the old Japanese SciFi film The Green Slime.
SDL
Apropos Null's Green Stuff, the price given is $99 and the total sold is $300. Inquiring minds want to know about the $3 discrepancy. :)
DeleteActually, Power Berry Blast is one of his most expensive powders. Between the Red, Green, Grape and Berrie powders, you could make one hell of a punch bowl at a vegan party.
ReplyDeleteSDL
Dr. Ali kicked butt, eh?
ReplyDeleteEven Ife Dancy beat out Hartman and Forlano. What a laugh! But then, a dead man beat out Hartman and Forlano...
SDL
I'm impressed that you have access to that much gloomy information.
ReplyDeleteNo Wednesday funfest yet?
ReplyDeleteSDL
Sorry, they were late and I even later (eye doc appt.) :)
DeleteHealing well, I hope – second scheduled yet?
Delete~ 'indigo'
It was a post-surgery visit. The second one was taken care of yesterday morning. I had forgotten what 20/20 looked like. Thanks for asking.
DeleteBTW, I think you handle Lefever very well. He is a jerk with a PhD and no sense of humor. :)
Glad it's gone well :)
DeleteThanks for the compliment with respect to LeFever. He may have the PhD he keeps pointing to, and a bit of scientific/medical experience, but he's also v e r y s l o w on the uptake and often has no real idea what he's talking about – I think the only one to whom that isn't obvious is Frank.
~ 'indigo'
At least he has stopped bragging about his significant role in the hiring of Berthold Reimers. The guy seems to need attention, but he always ends up being sent to Coventry, as we used to say in Canterbury. Then he disappears from view for a few months, get's that Me-Me itch again, and the scenario repeats itself. Pathetic.
DeleteIt is rather sad.
DeleteI don't recall having run across the phrase 'sent to Coventry' and so, of course, looked it up. Very nice. Very useful. Thanks.
Best,
~ 'indigo'
Chris, the best of luck with the eyes. Good to hear it's going well.
ReplyDeleteWednesday's tally sheet is just all over the place. No idea what to say beyond being surprised by the low total for TPCS.
Anyway, I got a new recipe off of WBAI earlier tonight:
How to lie to WBAI listeners
1 part Juliana Forlano ignorance
1 part Tony Norman bullshit
Connect both ingredients by phone, send through mixing board, transmit via Empire State Building antenna to listeners.
SDL
How about adding a dash of Cohen naïvité?
DeleteI'm surprised that you expect the PC guys to do better. They are such fuddy-duddy Windows worshippers. As I said before, the head guy reminds me so of the people who frequented the 1980s computer clubs and exchanged bootleg software. I do miss the computer shows my gang used to go to, including the big one in Trenton.
Reversing Stupidity. A high and mighty goal!
DeleteRecipes are open to experimentation, so feel free. I do it all the time.
Well, I enjoy TPCS. Most WBAI listeners have PCs, so I figure more money. However, Wednesday was odd in general.
Looked at the last couple of days vs. the equivalent days of the previous beg-a-thon and revenue is down again. This one just ain't making the money. At this point I don't think it is a matter of premiums but having bled out the victim too much. The ever shrinking audience has ever less money.
To tell you the truth, I haven't been listening to WBAI much. I got my internet wi fi radio and can hear better leftists on there, besides the thousands of other stations I am still discovering. My broadcast radio days seem to be at a close...
WBAI and its nonsense has become monotonous. Hay-tie and company can keep "our station."
SDL
Apropos broadcast radio's transformation, Haskins keeps bragging about WBAI being "in the middle of the dial." There was a time, many moons ago, when that was a valid point to make, but dials are a dying breed. Saving WBAI is as surreal a thought as is raising the Titanic.
DeleteThe only people who care about a radio station being in the middle of the dial are probably geeks with old style analog radios, like me. Digital radios don't have dials...
DeleteNorman said on dummy's show today that the average WBAI listener was 65 years old and they aren't getting new younger listeners. Well, if things stay that way, it IS just a matter of time as the audience dies off. I'm not being morbid but realistic. Now I know why Forlano gets a push. These dummies think she will bring in new younger listeners. Wrong...
WBAI is amateur radio even by amateur radio standards. It has fewer listeners than any college station in the New York market. It isn't an "important voice," it is, primarily, ideological reinforcement for a few thousand people, at best. WBAI is a meaningless station that has no actual effect on anything political anywhere.
The best thing for Pacifica and WBAI is to sell WBAI's frequency and take WBAI fully internet. Use a few of those millions of dollars for advertising and tie-ins with ideologically similar websites and have cash reserves to restart a newsroom, etc.
When you consider the operating costs are about $3 million per year to run a station for a few thousand listeners, you are talking about an absurd amount of money being wasted. Go internet and you save hundreds of thousands of Dollars in rental space (ESB), electric, etc. There is your new newsroom right there! Broadcasting on FM isn't cool anymore, nor will it bring them listeners, since people don't bandscan anymore. Young people don't listen to radio! They listen to toys in their hands.
I should run Pacifica...
SDL
I was wondering why you brought up Tony Norman... so he must have been the Pacifica executive she said would be her guest. I only know him from his input on Nalini's list and there he comes off as a bad guy. He has been advocating the sale of WBAI for a long time, apparently, even before that began to sound like a reasonable, inevitable solution.
DeleteYes, Tony Norman was the guest. He also said no one at Pacifica ever talked about selling WBAI and those were just rumors. Now understand my recipe? :)
DeleteSDL
He says that a lot.....which says a lot, doesn't it?
DeleteYes, I understand your recipe. I also understand how Norman got the call from Folani. I bet she never heard of him until Reimers or one of that faction made the suggestion. "Take him, Juliana, vi half vays of making you vant to do dat."
Pure assumption on my part, but plausible, don't you think?
Chris, Forlano knows absolutely nothing about WBAI. She proved that within the first few minutes of her first show, when she made some absurd pro Kosof/Guzman statement about that 1977 fiasco. All Forlano knows about WBAI is what someone tells her, since every time she talks about WBAI history it sounds like a parrot repeating.
DeleteShe did mention on Tuesday's show (shortly before Dibola shredded her), that she met Norman at some conference recently. Forlano must just be a gullible dummy. I can only imagine the crap Reimers must have promised her.
My guess is Norman probably told Dummy how great he is and she believed it. After all, this is a woman who thinks pirate radio started in the 1980s with Steven Dunifer. How I'd love to play her some 1970s airchecks! Dummy should talk to Randi Ripley of WIOF-LP, you know, that stupid low power station in Woodstock that relays Radio Unlistenable. Or author Andrew Yoder, who has written several books on the topic.
Please Odin! Give me one hour with a tied in a chair, ball gagged Forlano so I can educated her ignorant brain a bit! She is just such a dummy.
SDL
Wow! Thursday and Friday aren't just bad, they're horrible.
ReplyDeleteKnow what's funny? Fass doesn't even TRY to get pledges. I guess he's too much of a legend to lower himself to that.
Dr. Ali certainly doing well.
FYI: Friday at 6PM was Counter Spin. C'mon, Forlano couldn't pull that much in a year...
Wow...
SDL
Yes, I guess horrible is the word-it might even be putting it mildly. That said, it is predictable--tune in at random and chances are that you will hear really, really awful radio, spewed out with awful technical deficiency.
DeleteHave you ever heard "And You Don't Stop"? The host is Chuck D, who sounds like a geriatric rapper without rhyme or reason. Why is he given 2 hours? Why is he even on anybody's air? Esthetically deprived earaches for which the only cure is a tune-out. I wonder if they expect people to find justification for supporting all this crap? What they need to do is offer discontinuance and firings as premiums-if they do that, they just might hear a chorus of "thank yous."
Does it ever occur to them that the expenses keep accumulating and there comes a time when even Reimers and his ilk will see that huge, GAME OVER sign flash on and off. I have been asked how bad the programming is, but I can ever described it adequately.
We should regard with extra admiration the few who continue to do good radio from this viperium. Yes, Dr. Ali did very well—I have a feeling that he is sincere, unlike Null, who sounds phonier with ever broadcast. James Irsay also did quite well yesterday without resorting to scams, phony cures, or skewed black history. It can be done.
Irsay is a treasure. I find Dr. Ali growing on me because, first of all, he makes more sense than Gary Null. Second, unlike Null, he's not hawking any of his "stuff". In fact, one of his pet peeves is about folks who sell "designer supplements" and such. Finally, if you were to call Ali and Null, you'd end up with one real doctor.
DeleteMy opinion of Dr. Ali is also more favorable than it was. He appears to be the real deal. I have mixed feelings about his kind of program belonging on WBAI, but I can easily name a slew of shows that I would unhesitatingly remove.
DeleteI think one of the many problems is that WBAI has bled their miniscule audience too much recently. Most of the listeners are elderly and on fixed incomes. There is simply a limit to how much the parasite can bleed the host that just doesn't have the money.
ReplyDeleteI probably heard Chuck D at some point. However, whenever I hear country, polka or rap/hip hop, I run in the opposite direction. I'd sooner listen to hair metal, if I were in a mood for torture.
A while back on here I suggested pledging to get shows cancelled. If they did that, I'd get drained...
What a joke it all is. Thank goodness for internet radio.
I am almost missing Geoff Brady these days...
SDL
Insomnia paid me an all night visit (as usual lately), which led me to some googling. Found this interesting(?) page about WBAI's website. The revenue lines make me wonder. I imagine they don't include donations, since the revenue must be higher. Not sure what to make of it. Just thought I'd pass it on.
Deletehttp://www.thedomainvalue.com/www.wbai.org
Chris, glad to hear about your eyes.
ReplyDeleteI'm starting to worry about David Rothenberg. I'm not crazy about Ethel Merman, either. But, even more to the point, he sometimes mis-hears people.
A few times over the past couple of months, I woke up a bit earlier than usual and caught Simon Loekle. I didn't know he was still on BA!! He's definitely a reminder of past glory.
I have noticed that, too, Justine, but he shows up, does his show, and seems to have his memory intact.
DeleteSimon is, indeed, a reflection of better radio days. I enjoy his program. BTW, he has been posting some wonderful drawings of his cat on Facebook... a very talented man whose work deserves to be re-broadcast at some other time. In fact, the few shows that are really worthwhile ought all to receive a rebroadcast in time slots currently occupied by dregs.
Chris--True. Even if his faculties are fading, I'd still rather listen to him than 99 percent of the folks on the airwaves these days.
ReplyDeleteLoekle reminds me of a couple of professors with whom I had the pleasure of taking classes: He's erudite and unpretentious. Who else would read "Sailing To Byzantium" on the air?
I am in complete agreement, Justine.
DeleteSaturday or Sunday out yet?
ReplyDeleteSDL
Not as of 8 40, but I check regularly. Perhaps Saturday and Sunday weren´t anything to brag about.
DeleteOh, jeez! Can it get worse?
ReplyDeleteI wonder if the number of buddies is because people simply can't afford more than $10/month at this time.
Daulton made an entire $50! he must be sooooo proud. "High praize! There really is a God!"
What was the goal, $18,000/day? Lofty goal at this point. No where near it and total mess.
SDL
As I said earlier, one has but to listen (spot-check) to understand why this fund drive isn't working. At this rate, Reimers will probably segue right into a "special" Christmas drive.
DeleteThe beg-a-thon was scheduled for three weeks, if I remember correctly. Lucky if they make half the goal. It will have to go on longer, well near Turkey Day.
DeleteThe good people have carried their weight, indeed. That should be a clue to everyone except the nitwits who think WBAI is "our station." It must really hurt Reimers, Haskins and company to see classical music, old time radio and Ireland do well.
As the Brits say, "It's a right royal fuckup!"
SDL
You should have heard Kathy Davis this evening! She painted a picture of a WBAI beginning to rise from the ashes... lots of activity, a community spirit, a mission being accomplished in spades... etc. etc.
DeleteI think "false advertising" would be putting it very mildly. I don't understand why these clowns can't take a good look at the broad picture... and act upon it. Reimburse needs to be pulled out from under that rock and given the heave-ho.
Davis is a nut. Anything she says is on a level of a child believing in Santa Clause, only she isn't a child, just a retard.
DeleteWhat's wrong with WBAI? Well, right now the Mike Sargent weekly hangout with his buddies show is an example. This asshat never makes any money. He has been boring the airwaves with his ego trip for 20 or more years and demonstrating what a talent Leonard Lopate used to be in that same spot before him. Sargent makes NO money! He has no reason to be on!
SDL
Yes, it's a mess. Jim Freund's show was cut down to 15 minutes last week, the result of a mixup. Freund called Murillo, who offered to restore the missing parts right on the spot. Freund said no, so they reached an agreement that the wolf can howl an hour longer next week. Max was caught in the middle of that. My point is that such things as broadcast schedules ought not be subject to such disorganization. WBAI has a history of this sort of thing... hosts showing up and finding that some infomercial occupies their time slot, others not showing up, having been told that they were pre-empted, but finding that they had been put back on schedule..etc., etc.
DeletePerhaps they should have signs on the walls to remind them that this is a radio station.
You have to wonder how good communication between Reimers and Murillo is. Maybe at times one or the other takes it upon himself to change things? There are plenty of doofs I wish wouldn't show up.
DeleteInteresting thing I noticed on my internet radio when I press for WBAI. Some stations, besides their normal broadcast option also have a podcast option, where you can find archived stuff, shows, etc. Well, WBAI is one of those, but the only programs in the podcast option are several previous episodes of Off The Hook. I wonder how that works out. If I were a radio station, I would want a lot of examples of my programming available there. Oh, wait, this is WBAI. Maybe better to not do that...
Anyway, I did put all the Pacifica stations (and their subsidiaries, like KPFB, HD channels, etc.) into the My Stations memory section. By the way, Black Conscious Radio beats WBAI at their own political shows game. Did you know people once thought Jesus was a white guy? Did you know a few thousand years ago there were a billion people in Africa, and they ruled the world? Did you know "the black man created fire?" (I thought nature did). Yeah, better than WBAI and dancing with dinosaurs.
Maybe there should be signs on the walls telling them if they don't earn a minimum of $100 per hour during a marathon, it's an automatic firing?
SDL
Jesus a white guy? I thought she was Chinese, at least on her mother's side. sounds like an interesting station. I wonder if they can use a dynamic morning man who used to drive a bus?
DeleteI don't know if "interesting" is the word I'd use. "Honest" may be better, as they hate white people and don't try to cover it up in any way as anti-racism. It's certainly enlightening in showing an existing mindset out there stripped of WBAI's hypocrisy.
DeleteIn fact, their bio on Live365 is something to read, indeed: http://www.blackconsciousradio.com/
SDL
I just checked out your link. Wow! You aren't kidding, there is yet another level to which WBAI's pitter patter panthers can descend. Some already have a foot in the door.
DeleteSomehow quotes from the bible and a perceived reverence for the white man's mythical "god" don't seem to fit into this farce, but there is still no cure for hypocrisy, is there? I love the "professor" who was fired because he routinely graduated all black students!
Why do I have a feeling that some of his "graduates" found their way to WBAI and other Pacifica stations?
There's an in studio host after midnight who is so rabid that you can almost see the fangs and drool dripping on the console. Imagine a far more ghetto and extreme Prescod with some cursing tossed in for an idea. However, at least it's honest hatred and not "anti-racism." She out and out says she hates white people.
DeleteWBAI has a bit of a ways to go, but it wouldn't surprise me if they get there one day. Of course, they will alienate much of their remaining audience, regardless of ethnicity, at that point. Even some of their money making hosts, like Null, Goodman, etc., will leave at that point rather than have their reputations ruined by association.
Is the future of WBAI Black Conscious Radio? Left unchecked, quite possibly.
SDL
I wonder if WBAI has enough time left to catch up with Radio Unconscionable.
DeleteI'll try to tune in to this misguided midnight mama. Ya gotta love honest hatred.
As of Sunday, Oct. 19, the total pledged (stress on "pledge") is $119,235 behind the goal set by Reimers. Assuming that he did not leave any slack, the lies we are hearing from Haskins, Davis, et al are bigger than ever.
ReplyDeleteWhat did I say about Sargent/Nightshit not making money? Yeah... $0...
ReplyDeleteI'm only surprised they haven't pulled out the pseudoscience infomercials in full force yet.
I don't know if it's just me, but Null's voice has a certain desperate tone to it lately. I wonder why, if I am rght.
SDL
Just wait, the onslaught is around the corner... I can smell it!
DeleteAs for Null, he isn't blind. His occasional seeming failure to spot reality is calculated. I think what you detect in his voice is attributable to the handwriting he sees on the wall. While it undoubtedly embarrasses him, I bet Null considers himself fortunate to have the likes of Haskins obsequiously pander to him.
At some point the years-long decline in support intersects the realities of debts and the courts.
ReplyDeleteIt’s rather as if they keep circling the proverbial drain, closer and closer…
~ ‘indigopirate’
MM will hold a town hall Report to the Listener this Sunday. I forgot the exact time and location. I will update this announcement when I hear it again or anybody else can. MM didn't say that it will be broadcast.
ReplyDeleteKew Gardens Troll
Thank you, KGT, I think I heard him announce it one morning last week, but it was my impression that you have to be there and that it's open to all. Let's hope they at least record it and get it on the air.
DeleteChris: Why don't you attend?
DeleteKGT
I wish I could, KGT, but I currently have a problem getting around on these old feet! I can make it to the store and back, but ten or twelve blocks seem to be the limit. So, it's not for lack of desire—I think it's a good suggestion, however.
DeleteI am hoping that it will be recorded, since there don't appear to be plans for airing it live.
Sorry, I didn't know about your health limitations. Take care. Did you notice that the gavons haven't posted the meeting on the WBAI.org website? But the lesbian, feminist film fest of color, no problem. KGT
DeleteThat's OK, KGT, how could you know? As for order of importance, I hadn't noticed, but reasonable priorities are not this management's forte. :)
DeleteI notice that the infomercials are not doing as well in this fund drive but that real radio programming is doing better this time. I believe if Summer Reese and Berthold had let me do what I wanted to do at WBAI about a year ago, regular programming would be gradually winning back audience. My approach was very simple - populate morning and evening drive with some of the best Pacifica programs including Ian Masters' "Background Briefing" at an accessible time - that would be 10am - and the audience would come. NYC has a membership of about 100,000 and I know some must be tired of the sanctimonious droning of Morning Edition and All Things Considered. I was less concerned about programming outside of drive time though I certainly planned to improve that as well. I wanted to push the so called buddy approach - I think sustaining membership is a grand concept - not new of course - but one of the things Berthold did right. I understood that it was impossible to get off the premium model though I wanted premiums program driven. Over time it probably would have worked. Of course there needed to be and needs to be sufficient infrastructure to service premiums and there is not. And there needs to be competent technical staff and Tony Ryan is far from that - more a hindrance than a help. Shameful that he is still on the payroll. Having said the above, I doubt I would have stayed even if Reese and Reimers had not interfered with my programming decisions. WBAI was and is bereft of essential broadcast basics and it is a nightmare very bad for ones health. The unrealistic and ill-informed goals of many at WBAI and the circus called the LSB made and make it impossible to do real radio. Whilst many seem to criticize KPFA - Tracy Rosenburg in particular - KPFA has some really great programming. It is a very valuable outlet and WBAI is lucky to have access to some of KPFA's producers at no cost. And I do not agree that Margaret Prescod's "Sojourner Truth" program is bad - it absolutely fills an important niche lacking at WBAI. She is a prodigious worker and covers important issues in an intelligent manner and furthermore, is a former Brooklyn resident and knows NYC pretty well. Mario will not be at WBAI long and we knew that going in. He is a good bloke but I doubt anybody with any integrity at all could stay the course at WBAI.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Andrew. You and I hear Margaret Prescod differently, but I cannot argue with anything else you say in this comment.
Delete(JustAListener)
Delete"sanctimonious droning"
Good description of much of WNYC/NPR programming.
As rough and amateurish as much BAI/Pacifica programming is, I still prefer it to most of NYC/NPR whose motto could be "We are SO much smarter than you".
Unfortunately, and amazingly, that sometimes holds true. WBAI has good, even fine moments, but is a place where dummies go to graze.
DeleteEver considered that producers might be making 'donations' to their programs on these marathons? For instance, if Dr. X thinks he gets publicity on BAI he can't get elsewhere, it might be worth it to him to kick in a grand or two to save his program. Kickback, extortion, whatever...
ReplyDeleterj
That's totally within the realm of possibilities, rj, it would not surprise me. The line between doing that and donating product or services is very thin, both methods of "payment" are probably legal, but are they ethical?
DeleteThere is a lot of underhanded stuff going on. I wonder, for example, whether the CDs Tony Ryan "throws in" as "extras" are legitimate, licensed releases or burned pirate copies. I wonder, for example if the recordings Ryan offers by Blue Magic (presumably the Philadelphia group of yore) are commercial issues. The other night, he said that he had a pile of them, that he worked hard getting them together, and that they would be his gift, not processed by the caller service.
I have thought of rj's question for years. However, I often doubted it because you'd think someone like Null would make sure there were at least a few sales anytime his products were offered. No matter what, it would be playing dirty, but not illegal, I would imagine. On the other hand, I wonder more about the few bucks people like Forlano, Dancy, Daulton and the like make. I imagine more like friends donating. Shrugs...
ReplyDeleteSDL
If they don't sell products that are shipped out, pitches can still benefit the donor/manufacturer monetarily, it's what advertising does. I have always imagined that Null--who, I believe, furnishes his products pre-packaged--makes certain that each "premium" shipment includes printed advertising and probably an order form. After all, WBAI listeners who bite are not given, nor promised, a lifetime supply of the stuff. So the generous donation to the station (Null likes to stress that there is "no cost to WBAI") becomes the equivalent of a free sample... the old foot in the door.
DeleteNull knows full well that the station's listenership is the lowest ever, so he does not continue his show for the sake of exposure. He wants it to survive, because he obviously sees some hope, and it is advertising his wares—the fact that fund raising drives are now the rule rather than the exception is good for Null and the other hucksters. However, as was pointed out here, we approach a time when an association with WBAI just might be damaging to people'd image. Null seems to be very image conscious.
With a manager like Reimers and a governing body as corrupt and dysfunctional as Pacifica, anything goes.
Monday and Tuesday tallies are up because of one heavy hitter premium each day - Monday with DN and Tuesday with Dr. Ali, WBAI's new star? You can get the entire Oliver Stone package on amazon.com for like $32.00, btw. You have to wonder if that's what DN does.
ReplyDeleteAnyway. Subtract those two heavy hitters and the tallies nose dive.
I guess Dancy and Forlano did their part for netting WBAI coffee money...
SDL
That would be generic Acme Supermarket brand coffee, not Starbucks, and certainly not Amy's very special, individually grown and pampered Brazilian beans... the one's that go with a $2,000 dinner.
DeleteYes, Dr. Ali may well have chipped in, generously. As I commented in an earlier post, I heard that he had given the station financial help, some time ago.
Bernard White, former disgraced program director, may be returning in some form very soon
ReplyDeleteThat form would be rotund.
DeleteBernard White? That should make for a new round (very round) of political infighting...
DeleteWhile eating dinner, I heard Juliana Forlano pitching a blank CD of the most important episodes of her show. You must be joking, I can buy an entire spindle of blank CDs for less!
SDL
Bernard White is doing a retrospective about the late Elombe Brath on Friday afternoon on BAI with Dred Scott Keyes.
ReplyDeleteBirds of a feather, and it looks like can throw Mario Murillo into that dark brew.
DeleteAnybody heard of an upcoming "downhill" meeting called by Murillo?
No, Chris. What is it?
ReplyDelete(insert punchline here)
It's a joke, right?
SDL
Sorry, that should have been "town hall" meeting, guess the automatic spell checker knows more about WBAI than I thought!
DeleteThe meeting has been announced on WBAI several times, but I can't find any other mention of it. It's supposed to be open to the WBAI public and I think it is to be held at the Atlantic Avenue location.
Ring a bell?
Whatever you used to send your response should be the new GM, since it has a more realistic view than Reimers.
ReplyDeleteI heard a promo for a CAB meeting that seems to fit the bill. However, I can't remember where it was to be held. I don't think it was at the WBAI bunker. If I hear it again, I'll post the info. I really didn't pay much attention. It would only be interesting if people could bring fruits and veggies to throw at the performers, like in the old days.
Freund and his guest seem to be oblivious to being on the radio and are just having a conversation with themselves. Kind of funny, actually.
SDL
Thanks, SDL.
DeleteJust tuned in the Wolf—see what you mean, but I actually prefer conversations over interviews—if they aren't on the Haskins/Davis level.
Something isn't right. Looks like this sheet didn't do some final tallies.
ReplyDeleteOff The Hook looks like it made $2,000, hawking ten each of the flash drives.
Forlano made $200 from favorite show (grandma must have pledged). However, the guest she had on offered three bottles of his tomato sauce for $25 per set in the last few minutes. Maybe they sold four sets to make up for the other $100. I don't like her, but want to be fair and point that out.
SDL
I seriously doubt the accuracy of these sheets, but it's interesting how fast they post them when the total isn't way down there. :)
Delete(Sent this earlier but don't see it posted. Maybe lost in cyberspace.)
DeleteI wonder if the call center isn't faster about things when they make more money (.90/minute remember) and slower when they don't.
Which brings to mind, who processes the give2wbai.org orders?
I didn't catch it all, but Freund, at the opening of his show, was very round about in seemingly telling people not to pledge last night. He didn't pitch at all. I wonder if he is pissed off at something.
SDL
Quiet and he keeps it I think Freund stays pissed off at WDI he is very well aware of what it should be and what it used to be and BEN at the show was not happy with the showtime so I think so.
DeleteI don't know who handles these sustaining donations. I was listening to WNYC today and the Tekserve guys, who originally came from WBAI Are offering a $2000 Gift card to be drawn with all pledges eligible, so they obviously like WNYC I have no use for their old station..
Freund has always explicitly had the strategy of accepting marginal air time and avoiding all WBAI/Pacifica politics so as to hold on to a slot if at all possible – it's proven an effective strategy for him.
DeleteAs for Tekserve, they are generous supporters of any number of worthy causes and, no, definitely not WBAI/Pacifica.
~ 'indigopirate'
Bernard White's tribute to Elombe Bad Breth will be on Fri. 10/24 from 3-6 p.m.
ReplyDeleteKGT
Thank you KGT. I wonder if they will ask White to pitch?????
DeleteHe can pitch bariatric surgery very convincingly.
DeleteKGT
I can't stand it. They have three hours for a tribute to Elombe and they have wasted 45 minutes saying nothing, playing irrelevant music and b.s. and NOTHING about Elombe Brath. WBAI is in trouble? I'm shocked!!
ReplyDeleteSure you're not listening to a digitally delayed broadcast of Bob Fass?
DeleteSDL
Maybe Al Jolson
DeleteGary's newest scam is a Solar Storm survival package and 3 CDs to prepare for the meltdown of the power grid when the super flair hits us and Indian Point "goes Fukushima" for $250. I wonder if he consulted Michio Kaku.
ReplyDeleteKew Gardens Troll
Today, as I listened to a rerun of Null (aided by Haskins) doing that pitch, the first thing that came to my mind was that Null has sunk to this depth in order to cash in on all the fear mongering WBAI has been guilty of in recent years. It is shameless, it seems to be bringing in money, and it should lower considerably any respect people might have for this scam artist.
DeleteI know there was a Survival Stuff infomercial that ran a million times before. Is this a new version I haven't heard, nor want to hear, probably? Sounds like the same solar apocalypse stuff repackaged, maybe.
DeletePeople love Doomsday. Since the beginning of religion, it has perpetually been the end of the world. However, I think Alex Jones is better at this kind of crap than Null. The world is like WBAI - it just seems to keep-a-rollin'-on...
Well, if Null (or any cult führer) can find a following of uncritical host idiots, more power to the parasite. I have no - NO - sympathy for stupid people. Did I ever mention I am one of those naughty non-theist, evolution loving, social darwinists loathed by both the right and left wings? Yeah, sometimes it's lonely here in radical moderate land...
SDL
At one point, Haskins says that the station has turned the corner (or something to that effect) and that it is the Spring marathon, so it's at least several months old. Null must thing WBAI listeners are fools... he is, basically, right.
DeleteRemember when computers were supposed to do us all in at midnight, the Y2K scare? A guy who lived in my building. Tony Brown of "Black Journal" (you may be familiar with him) was selling a survival pack. Somewhere in a closet I have his "end of the world" flyer, predicting wild hordes of people roaming the streets, having each other for dinner (as it were), etc.
That corner turn must be on the way to Self-destruction Street and Oblivion Avenue...
DeleteNull is just another narcissistic cult leader. In fact, he's very textbook and by the numbers. I wonder if he won't tell the sheeple that the solar flair is coming and all his followers should commit suicide (ala Heaven's Gate) with some of his Stuff spiked with an organic poison. He seriously has the bad ending paranoia thing going on.
I remember Y2K well. I was giving a consensual "attitude adjustment" to a bratty lady friend of mine. Needless to say, the lights stayed on and the world kept-a-rollin'. Just in case, I DID have more candles than usual with me.
I remember Tony Brown well from TV. White racists would have a ball with a black guy making cannibalism references...
You have to tell them!!! Soylent Green Stuff is organic people!!!
SDL
What's really funny is that Null makes it a point to repeatedly emphasize -- and this was within the 8-10 min. I could stand to listen -- that his survival goop is made from "non gmo" and "totally vegan" stuff. As if anyone in a crisis is going to worry about the 'purity' of any survival product. Hell, you'd be glad to have soft drinks and candy bars or whatever to give you enough energy to run from the zombie hordes.
ReplyDeleteHe certainly is oily..
rj
That's an interesting observation, rj. Null is given to gross exaggeration, too. Did you hear him say that his show had something like 65,000 online hits in one night? I'm pretty sure that was the figure he gave. Haskins grunted, but that's something he does a lot.
DeleteWhen the Zombpocalypse comes, the guy wearing the Night of the Living Dead T shirt is going to be considered VERY politically incorrect...
DeleteSDL
I am quite sure that Gary has gone psycho and that he believes in his goop. It is not a conscious con in his mind. I am waiting for him to tell us that Guyana is the promised land.
ReplyDeleteKWT
I have no doubt that he believes in his stuff, but I think his routine exaggerations are often done consciously—that's what scammers do. he likes to give the impression that he has a staff of laboratory testers, that he is a threat to the pharmaceutical industry, plants a veritable forest of trees to make up for the paper he uses, etc.
DeleteThe fact is that if we listed all the extracurricular good things he claims to do, there is no way in the world that he could find time for it all and still go for long walks, take in movies, read stacks of books, create even more books, do daily radio shows, etc., etc. It doesn't add up. Also, knowing that WBAI's listenership has hit rock bottom, why is he still on its air, taking time out from a schedule that leaves no time for sleep?
Null is on WBAI because PRN isn't. If/when Null gets a real broadcast outlet, I think it may be a different story. Null is no fool.
DeleteSDL
What does the G stand for in Michael G?
ReplyDeleteKWT
I got it- Gary.
DeleteYour guess is as good as mine. I bet there are a number of guesses. :)
DeleteI'm putting my money on Goofball...
ReplyDeleteSDL
They slow about releasing tallies again?
ReplyDeleteSDL
Yes, but they just came in and I'm processing them now.
DeleteFor a couple of days there, Reimers, Murillo, Haskins and company were probably thinking things were looking up. Well, now the wind must be exiting their sails.
ReplyDeleteDN and Dr. Ali really have The Midas Touch.
James Irsay always holds his own. In fact, Irsay is a good example of what I mean when I say producers should carry their weight: he has a following that obviously supports his show. On the other hand, people like Fass, Dancy, Forlano, Hartman, Sargent. probably haven't made a combined total of Irsay's $1,225.00 this past Friday during this entire beg-a-thon. 'Nuff said...
SDL
The book, "Pigmentocracies," is another example of Murillo steering WBAI toward South America. They are asking $100 for the book, Amazon's price is around $25, but I think it's the further shrinking of Haskins' narrow horizon that accounts for the lack of interest.
DeleteJames Irsay is, indeed, doing well without offering "thank you gifts"—of course, his program is a far better gift than overpriced books, a pulverized rainbow of cures, or a $2,000 veggie burger. Whoever rubbed Ifé's lava lamp and produced Dr. Ali can take a bow.
Blosdale kinda bombed this time around. This morning, Daulton was his usual unremarkable self as he promoted assorted reverends, their records, and his December fundraising spectacular, which he expects to be attended by more people than he, Fass, Haskins and a dozen other BAI clintons have out there listening. Sledgehammer Ryan did well selling his assuredly bootlegged "gifts". BTW, Murillo's stay must be close to ending.
I remember hearing this beg-a-thon was supposed to be of three weeks duration. Well, I doubt we will see it end by tomorrow. In fact, I bet they won't even mention it's being "extended" but just go on with it like it was supposed to be longer, much longer. I still think it isn't just the programming and premium shipment problems, but also having drained a little too much from some of their supporters.
DeleteBlosdale's infomercials haven't run much this time around, certainly not her Boku one, which did well in the past.
If Daulton gets any audience for his Egofest 2014 concert, it will be due to promotion outside of WBAI. Few listeners even know he exists. How much promotion will he get for a man who sounds like he doesn't have many friends? Not much, probably. He's pulling something with this crap.
Murillo was supposed to be onboard for six months. However, I don't know if that will happen. He's done nothing as a PD, been a financial flop and only put himself on the air. Watch, they'll bring Bernard White back as PD yet. I kind of hope they do, since he will be a disaster.
SDL
They have quietly extended it by another week. The staff listing gives next Sunday, the 6th as the last day. I also noticed that Ivan mentioned his next program as being part of the fund raiser. But even with that extra week, I seriously doubt that they will reach the goal, but the bills will continue to accumulate.
DeleteI had an exchange with Mitchel Cohen on Nalini's list and when I asked him what Reimers is so busy doing that he has to remain incommunicado, the current answer was that he is having intense negotiations with the ESB people to lower the rent. For one thing, that does not jibe with his claims of preparing to relocate to Times Square and, secondly, I find it extremely difficult to imagine that the ESB people and their high-priced attorneys are spending months engaged in around the clock negotiations with a radio station that, for all intents and purposes, is in or near rigor mortis!
Sidney Smith has been banned "for life" from entering any of WBAI's rented premises, but Friday saw Bernard White not only in the studio, but conducting a 3-hour program. That say a lot.
BTW, David Rothenberg expressed his delight at hearing White back on WBAI and hope that he would return on a permanent basis. I have known David since he first walked in, some fifty years ago, but I think he is losing it. I agree, a return of White can only compound the disaster we are witnessing now.
The Times Square move hasn't been spoken about in a while, which makes me think it fell through and is no longer an option. They probably looked at WBAI's payment history and laughed.
DeleteIf there is any truth to the ESB negotiating story, then it shows what poor straights the ESB must be in these days that they would want to keep deadbeats like WBAI. Really? They can't rent the room to anyone else?
SDL
I think the ESB story Reimers tells his bunker buddies is mostly some of his usual BS, but one has to wonder why they haven't pulled the transmitter plug. The biggest mystery, however, is why this idiot hasn't been fired. Is he a deliberately planted virus?
DeleteBernard White & Co. did an awful with the Elombe tribute. It was three hours. Two hours of irrelevant music and one hour of old Elombe speeches which were, of course, unintelligible. Great work, Bernie. "Ya Know, Ya know, Ya know............."
ReplyDeleteKGT
That's about what I heard as I did a few spot checks. No production, no planning, but I found it interesting how Bernard White actually ran the show. Because it related to jazz, I did listen to Kwame, Elombe's brother reminisce. He talked about The Turf, a restaurant where musicians used to hang out. He did not mention that It was in the Brill Building (on the corner) and that its specialty was cheesecake--as good as Junior's, if I recall correctly. He was talking about the early Sixties when many black musicians were beginning to show a sign of "militancy" that bothered some of the white guys whose business practices were, shall we say, less than commendable. I was at Riverside Records then, so I had a front seat.
DeleteHigh Praize! Daulton made coffee and doughnuts money!
ReplyDeleteBrady pulled in that much? High Praize the paranormal!
Niteshit made some money for once. High Praize boring babbling!
Remember Jim Dandy? "Dr Ali to the rescue, Go Dr. Ali, Go Dr. Ali..."
SDL
Daulton, like Tony sledge and Mike Sargent, was selling records (stolen intellectual property, I strongly suspect). Brady's case is more baffling, but I guess it is a measure of the nut population WBAI attracts. There was a wonderful moment on his show where he talked about being misunderstood and under attack by people, including former WBAI workers. It it is in the archive, I'll try to drag it into view.
DeleteEven Kathy did some business selling her eye yoga. She is probably stuffing herself with pasta in preparation for the NYC Marathon run.
Does Gary Null take his own potions and goo for the NYC Marathon?
DeleteKGT
Chris, you mean CDs, right? I call CDs "records" all the time, myself. I only caught a couple of minutes of Nightshit. Were they selling a home made compilation, or did I hear it wrong?
ReplyDeleteBrady getting the persecution complex thing going? When that is in place, it will be time to start himself a cult, like any wacko worth his salt.
How soon you forget, Chris. Kaffy does cake in order to keep that poundage up...
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-foAkymWN1g0/UmfdzP1shUI/AAAAAAAAELQ/dHpOi6WU_Gw/s1600/Let+them+eat+cake+HEAD_edited-1.jpg
One has to wonder where Null would find time to consume anything.
SDL
Yes, I mean CDs. As for Sargent, his film score compilations may well be MP3 downloads or on a flash stick. He was offering several hours of the stuff, but I don't know of any public domain film scores.
DeleteBrady says there is something "dark" out there, when referring to "former PDs and WBAI workers who criticize him on "nasty little blogs."
Sorry, I forgot about Kathy the Grate's penchant for cakes.
Just saw the illustration you linked to. That's from last year's Tricakelon in which Madame was a gainer as well as a loser.
DeleteDancy isn't mentioned even though she was on. Oversight or is she so not important..?
ReplyDeleteSDL
She must not have raised any money. Of course, neither did Reggie's "Soundboard" and Hartmann. Who knows? These people are nothing if not disorganized.
DeleteWouldn't it be amusing if on Apocalypse Day people opened their canisters of Survival Stuff to find a manufacturing defect caused it to go rotten..?
ReplyDeleteTPCS sounds like it's on a kamikaze mission. When you think about it, Hank and Joe are older non-ideologues without political axes to grind. That causes them to be more level headed than most of the WBAI bozos. However, it may also cause them to know the end is probably in sight and not give a crap anymore.
Dr. Ali's first low earner.
Seriously, if it weren't for Null, Goodman and Prescod, WBAI would be dead, buried and a memory.
SDL
What if they opened the Null kit and found a giant jar of his Heavenly Tanning Cream?
DeleteNotice that he is talking about Solar Storms, plural. With all forms of electronic communication downed by this impending cataclysm, how will the WBAI customers get their refills? Is he offering a jumbo pack?
Yes, Dr. Ali's figure certainly plunged and I guess Dread's call to all black people should have been a wee bit louder.
It's hard to figure this audience out, because years of lightweight and downright bad programming has created a tabloid listenership that, in the main, feeds on hate, racism, inane chit chat and uneventful music. However, even the least demanding don't like an empty bucket.
That said, I do sense that Mario Murillo is trying to do something about all this, but his strokes need to be bolder.
"What if they opened the Null kit and found a giant jar of his Heavenly Tanning Cream?"
ReplyDeleteOrganic protection against solar storm burn?
"how will the WBAI customers get their refills?"
Semaphore signals.
I kind of sensed that Murillo knew Dreadful was kissing ass but played along.
I think Murillo is smart enough to know changes are needed, but what can he really do? Fire someone and they cry discrimination to their clique. All the boards and committes just add layers of obstacles to every move. That is probably why they made the accusations against Smith, rather than simply fire him. You just have no real power as Gm or, especially, PD anymore.
SDL
You are right about the various boards getting in the way. They probably would be getting in the way even if the seats were occupied by dedicated people–I think the system itself is holding back the original concept.
DeleteWBAi is an egological disaster. Did you peruse the 1951 piece by Lew Hill that I posted earlier. It's quite long, which is why I made it downloadable.
Simply too much bureaucracy. To protect and represent the listeners, they succeeded in creating a bureaucracy that harms the listeners AND prevents anything vital from being accomplished by the station management. In the old days, the listeners would represent themselves with letters, demonstrations, groups like Friends of WBAI, etc. More seemed to get done that way. If I remember correctly, listener actions brought back Pitts the first time he was canned, got rid of Leid, etc.
DeleteI downloaded the Lew Hill piece but didn't get to reading it yet. I had a heavy day and am just getting to sit and relax. I will read it a bit later or tomorrow morning. You know I will have something to say about it. Don't I always have something to say about everything?
SDL
Too many cooks..... or should that be crooks?
DeleteI look forward to hearing what you have to say about Lew Hill's piece.
I just got home a few minutes ago and switched on the radio to hear a rebroadcast of the Off The Hook episode from a couple of weeks ago. Whoever made the decision to do this deserves a pat on the back! Excellent real program with real premiums. No, not an infomercial, but real information.
ReplyDeleteSDL
Excellent, thank you. I just turned it on.
DeleteRandom thoughts.
ReplyDeleteOTH replay did OK. Considering it's more of a specialty show on WBAI that most people don't even know about, maybe we should consider it better than "OK?"
I notice the health shows on diabetes and cancer do particularly well. Maybe that tells us about the health conditions of The Remnants (my new name for what's left of an audience)?
The Keys/White Brath show is being replayed now. Another good choice in that it's a real show, rather than an infomercial, being used to raise money. It did well the first time around. Let's see how it does the second time.
I like this attempt at re-using real programs from the beg-a-thon being used to raise money, rather than pre-packeaged infomercials.
SDL
Re-airing infomercial shows is the routine on commercial TV, but they don't include stale phone calls. I don't know why--if they must rebroadcast that stuff—they can't edit out all that dated stuff: deceased callers, etc.
DeleteThey really need to get their act together. I was looking at marathon totals from last year and the difference is amazing... it's not going to get better. Last week, when Murillo talked about the drive hitting the wall, I wonder if he read the handwriting.
What will the reaction be when he brings back Bernard White? When Mitchel and the ring that defensively girdles Reimers want him to look better, they tend to bring up the physical violence and theft that apparently was the order of the day during White's reign. What will they say now?
If Fass is Radio Unlistenable, WBAI has really become Radio Insufferable. Enough is enough already. In the end, they'll beg even The Remnants away. I literally tune in for all of 60 seconds at most and tune away. They've gone from pathetic to abusive now.
ReplyDeleteWBAI screwed themselves up over the years and thinks it's going to make the listeners suffer for it. Well, not this one.
Bye Bye BAI!
SDL (An ex -listener: 1978 - 2014)
I don't believe they think they're making the listeners suffer, because they really can't in their wildest imagination grasp the very real fact that their work is amateurish slop. So much if it is just that and these people have no business in the field of broadcasting.
DeleteWe get extended beg-a-thons, inundated with annoying infomercials, have better programs preempted and then have people like Sargent, Dancy, Fass, Forlano, etc., who are lucky to have earned $2,000 - $3,000 in 2014 combined, barely get interrupted, that's abuse. Enough.
DeleteSDL (An ex-listener: 1978 - 2014)
Today we got a bonus, several time, starting during DN! It wasn't manna, but more like a manna pause! The pause that refreshes....... DEAD AIR!
DeleteYou know what WBAI needs, besides everything else we've discussed here, and a miracle or two? An independent marketing expert to come in, do a demographics/marketing study and guide the stations beg-a-thons. It's obvious some stuff does great while other stuff doesn't. A real independent professional might be able to deal with that in a positive way.
ReplyDeleteLooking at how well Null's survival premium does, you have to wonder if there is a silent prepper demographic on the left. Considering that the media has succeeded in painting all preppers as being right wing nuts, I can see mainstream or, especially, left wing ones being quiet about it.
Anyway. A professional demographic study of The Remnants could be interesting.
SDL
What you are saying is that WBAI needs professional help—and you are so right. If pitching guru Gallagher taught the pitchers anything, it was not apparent when they took to the air. I wonder how much he was paid for conducting the workshop.
DeleteApropos pitching, this afternoon Reggie Harris announced an "encore presentation," but took it back—he had made a mistake. Well, he actually hadn't for when that horrid Prescod woman came on at 3, the first thing she did was to declare ebola victim Thomas Duncan dead. As we know, that sad demise occurred four weeks ago.
This turned out to be a repeat of loudmouth's appeal for ebola help, the one where she declares that 50% of the money she raises for WBAI will go to buying equipment for medical crews.
As you can imagine, her spiel was rife with outdated information and there was no announcement to inform the listener of this. Given the desperation heightened by the tanking marathon, I wonder if Reimers and the bunker gang are ok with repeats of that particular show?
Yes, a demographic study of the leftovers would be interesting, so would a psychiatric study of Reimers and the boys in the bunker.
Ridiculous to go outside and hire someone when you have a proven success like Amy Goodman already there. Gallagher was probably someone's friend. The truth is some people on WBAI think they are above begging for money. They only do it if forced, it seems.
ReplyDeleteYou'd think they could have Prescod (another proven success) spend a couple of hours every other week making a fresh begging show.
A psychiatric study of Reimers and company would probably make us all laugh. Who would do it? Armand Dimille, or whatever his name is?
Anyway. I haven't listened to the station in a couple of days, so no idea what the nuts are up to, nor do I care, really. Its comedy factor has worn too thin for me.
SDL
I would like to see an honest, detailed financial statement. We have no idea how much money is actually realized nor how it is spent. That said, I think we can assume that misappropriation and just plain irresponsible sloppiness is rampant.
DeleteThat fat lady has been singing for a very long time now, but I think she will croak soon.
I see it's extended thru the 9th with a official end of marathon listed that evening.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if that makes it the longest-running WBAI marathon? Even if they should make the original goal, they will be behind when one considers that the bills didn't stop coming in.
DeleteAt $18,000 per day (Reimers's goal) $630,000 would be the amount expected by November 9.
So, as of today, they are $319,800 short, with four days to go.
Considering the averages (piss poor on weekends), I bet they will end up around $280,000 in the hole. However, remember the Pacifica mandate that they beg until they meet the goal. No, it can't end by November 9th without a Godly miracle. Remember, I'm a non-theist (now turn down the pot and yell at me for 5 minutes, Daulton).
DeleteWhen you think about it, building a studio is the least of their expenses. Any of the monthly rents probably cost more.
I noticed OTH did badly. Since I didn't listen, did Goldstein come out as an NSA official or something?
Gary Null should really let his ego shine and offer his suckers a dinner with himself for, say, $3,000? Bet he'd do better than Amy Goodman, and piss her the hell off.
Know what? If they can keep the beg-a-thon going until Christmas Eve, they could ask people to bring them presents of donations right to the office.
SDL
I had forgotten about that recent motion. I wonder if it will be followed.
DeleteDon't forget that OTH appears to have bought the BS. They did pitch, but not very convincingly--there was a mention of undelivered premiums.
I know that building a studio is relatively inexpensive, but my point is that they also owe several months of rent at the Atlantic Avenue location and there really won't be any money left if they pay the more pressing ESB arrears, etc. Also bear in mind that the total is not a net figure—we have no idea how much of it has to go to purchasing and shipping premiums. It's a muddled accounting nightmare and nobody seems to be waking up.
If Pacifica doesn't press the motion, then they will loose any and all control permanently. You can't make false threats and expect people to follow. If, for some reason, the beg-a-thon really does end, I bet another will be coming up in no time.
DeleteIn the past OTH used the "WBAI didn't send us the flash drives" excuse. That should have taught them to provide their own flash drives from now on. If they don't, they are just paying lip service to their audience. See why I didn't spend $200 on the Hope X and Rambam premiums? And, make no mistake, I REALLY wanted them.
Has there ever been a problem with the TPCS premiums? Since they send them on DVD, the cost to them is nothing really.
There is no real accounting because so many things are a mystery. I doubt some of the paperwork even exists anymore. I bet even a professional accounting firm could make an approximation, at best.
SDL
I'll say it again: a nightmare.
DeleteAs I post this, I am listening to yet another rebroadcast of the Solar Storm Package offer and it strikes me that the line between Null and Brady is razor thin.
Basically, Null is saying that the majority of us are not going to survive the impending solar storm, but we must purchase his package, because it is imperative that WBAI stay on the air. Of course, he does not explain how that can possibly occur when all electricity is cut off for an entire year, probably.
The whole thing is mumbo jumbo get the money from the dumbo.
Chris, it comes down to this. If a blindman throws enough darts, he will eventually get a bulleye. When? Maybe on the first try, maybe the one millionth. The world could end tomorrow or in a million years. How? There are more hypotheses than I can count. You could also get hit by a drunk driver and your personal world will be over on a New York City street.
DeleteI'm a stock trader. Every damn day I hear people on the financial channels bitching that we're going to have a crash, etc. Guess what. Eventually - EVENTUALLY - they are right. It's just the cycle of things. Know how "psychics" make beginning year predictions? Well, sometimes they are good guessers. Yes, sometimes there is a great flood in Asia that kills hundreds of people. Guess what. Every year there is a great flood in Asia that kills hundreds of people!
I predict that in 2015:
There will be a great flood in Asia that kills hundreds of people
There will be a maniac who starts shooting in a crowd and kills several people
There will be a massive earthquake somewhere on this planet
There will be a coup d'etat in Africa
There will be a passenger plane crash that claims all lives on board
There will be several beg-a-thons on WBAI
Now for a reality. The world did nearly end for many people in our area because of Hurricane Sandy. That was real. Need I go back and mention Katrina and New Orleans? Truth is you have more to fear from simple nature than anything else. Yes, I have a survival bag and several weeks of freeze dried food and water. Do I sit worrying? No. I live my life without fear. However, IF something happens, I am ready to deal with it temporarily. That's the beginning and end of it. I'm a radical pragmatist, not a doomsdayer.
SDL
I am not as well prepared as you are, but I did see "Gold Rush", so I don't throw away my old leather boots with the long laces. That, a barrel of Sen-Sen, and a sack of powdered water (Null's "wet stuff").
DeleteWell I enjoyed DN's rebroadcast with James Risen. Interesting stuff, though odd that DN will countenance establishment types.
DeleteThe James Risen segment was excellent--well worth rebroadcasting.
DeleteI just heard a commercial spot on WBAI for WBAI given by Peter Yarrow, a convicted child molester.
ReplyDeleteKGT
No surprise there, KGT. WBAI has been morally bankrupt for most of its 54 years. They also feature indiscriminate spots by dead people, a convicted, jailed murderer, and a plethora of promotion-seeking phonies.
DeletePeter Yarrow was PARDONED by Pres. Jimmy Carter - move on, please!!!
DeleteRichard M. Nixon was pardoned by Gerald Ford. Does a pardon make guilty people innocent? I wonder if the 14-year-old girl Yarrow admitted to having made the victim of "improper liberties" was as ready to "move on" as you suggest KGT do?
DeleteSo, they run a Yarrow promo but Charles Pitts is banned from the station? There's a joke in there somewhere...
DeleteI want to see Chucky Manson Superstar pardoned, just so we can see the press decry how horrible an act the pardon is while they all try to get that exclusive first interview with him. He'd be an overnight millionaire. And then the lecture circuit... Holy helter skelter!
SDL
McLaughlin is scheduled to get a two-hour weekly show after the drive. She was seen sharing a drink with Murillo @ a local Brooklyn pub.
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear that, but it does not surprise me. How good or bad that possibility is depends on which show(s) she bumps off the air. Many have been scheduled..... few deserve to have been.
DeleteShe is the worst, and looney. Fe fi fo fum, I smell the oncoming of Bernard White...
DeleteSDL
Nothing wrong with your olfactory organ. :(
DeleteI made a break with WBAI about a year ago, and the view is so much lovelier from the other side. I check in to these blogs every once in a while to see if it is still puttering along (in part out of hope that some adult supervision pulled the plug, because at this point it is a scarlet letter on my resume, whereas if nobody could actually listen to it, they could never guess that it is as amateurish and awful as it is).
ReplyDeleteI think BAI will survive in some adulterated form for the foreseeable future, because its non-cash capital resources are large enough to sustain a shadow of a radio station for quite a while. There are always going to be a few desperate suckers in the broadcast region willing to buy the dream of snake oil and skullduggery, and there are always going to be vainglorious losers hungry for a "radio show" (even if nobody actually listens to that radio show). I encourage any worthy producers still involved to move on, though. There are still a loyal handful (maybe 15?) involved with the station in various ways. Life is so much better without WBAI.
What a wise man you are, Solomon!
DeleteWBAI has been surviving in an adulterated state for a very long time. The best way I find to overcome the disappointment is to wipe off the dust of pulverized integrity and face the very real fact that there is, in the erstwhile Pacifica sense, no WBAI left. As you point out, we are left with a loyal handful, but they are the partial walls still standing—painful reminders of what once was and will never again be.
I agree. There is always some left wing benefactor like Belafonte, Kuby, Soros, Phil Donahue, Fonda type who will come in as the station is sinking and give them just enough money to just stay afloat for another four months until the next fund raising (kvetching) session.
DeleteKGT
Does anybody remember Citizen K- Kirk Grantham? I thought he was very talented and a loss to the station when he left.
ReplyDelete