May 26 2008 at 11:35:26 Name: Jeff H Topic: Movie Alert and T.V. ? Email: Wishing I had a sack of Coney
Islands! Comments: The movie "UHF" is showing today (Monday) on MGM
HD at 4:20 P.M.,channel 385 on the Dish, not sure about Direct or Cox.
Does anyone know what is going on at OETA?, the picture is in a different
format. Anything to do with the conversion to digital broadcasting? I could
not find anything on their website.
Also, Hope everyone has a great and safe Memorial Day!
May 26 2008 at 10:07:31 Name: Mike Bruchas Topic: "Back Home in
Indiana" Comments: Am down here and saw the Indy 500 parade Saturday
and sat thru THE RACE with Don Lundy. None of our faves won, but we had a
good time. Some guys from Wichita sat behind us and recognized Don's OSU
hat and we chatted quite a bit. They had never been before. Good folks. We
seemed have been with a lot of "normal folks". Did see somebody playing bookie
with some other folks before the race. The gal who won "Dancing with The
Stars" with Helio Castroneves murdered the National Anthem, Florence Henderson
singing God Bless America was not quite there, and Jim (Gomer) Nabors did
his normal. Back Home in Indiana. Slash from Guns and Roses was everywhere,
in the parade and at the track. At the Chip Ganassi gift trailer, ran into
some "Bartians" and had a good yak.
Today we are grooving to WABC on WiFi radio with 1960s rock n roll. Don Lundy
was saying yesterday that XM or Sirius needs to do genre stations like 40s,
50s, 60s music with DJ voices of those eras, but we guess that it will never
happen.
May 25 2008 at 19:30:01 Name: Mike Miller Topic:
Gatorade Comments: Just joking, Peter. We also have a small lake behind
our house and named our gator, "Al." (I know, not very original.) He's about
four and a half feet and growing larger every day, even without human assistance.
We back up to a wildlife sanctuary and also have lots of wild turkeys. Yes,
it's a slow news day here in Jacksonville.
May 25 2008 at 17:46:39 Name: Peter D Abrams Topic: Jax? Weird? Email: pabrams sorta at
allteldirtnet Comments: Mike, I'm up in the boonies south of Callahan, and
we don't get our share of gators. We get armadillos instead. Tunnel diggers
that can ruin a house foundation in a month.
When we were in NPR (Tampa), there was a lagoon out back, and we had our
own Alligator In Residence. Named him Wally, of course.
A few times, he'd come up on my 'beach'. We had turkey buzzards, sitting
in the back yard. Just sitting. and they are dumber than a box of feathers.
I opened one of the back doors, it squeaked, and I swear he took flight back
into the water.
Rule number one about gators - never feed them. They have poor eyesight,
and will confuse you for the food.
May 25 2008 at 09:39:11 Name: Mike Miller Topic: Jax Email: michaelmmiller at
hotmail.com Comments: Thanks, Peter. Appreciate the info. You're right.
We should talk sometime. Same goes for John Hillis. I'm going to look for
that BP station.
This place IS a bit strange. Sorry, gotta go out back and feed my pet
alligator.
May 25 2008 at 00:49:55 Name: Rick Brashear Topic: Beryl Ford
Collection Comments: I work with one of Beryl's sons and he has brought
in several items not in the State collection: photos, posters, maps. The
maps are originals back into the 19th Century. One shows where I grew up
at 89th & 15th, except it was made 100 years before I was born. Mingo
Creek made a few changes over that time.
May 24 2008 at 21:19:03 Name: David Bagsby Topic: Indiana Jones Email:
deeceebeeatsunflowerdotcom Comments: Just got back from the new Indiana Jones movie.
Plenty of action and eye candy. Harkens back to the original. Certainly a
must see on the big screen.
May 24 2008 at 18:31:11 Name: Peter D Abrams Topic: Jax and its schizophrenic ways Email: pabrams sorta at
allteldirtnet Comments: Very sad to hear of Dr. Finchem's demise. I didn't
know him that well, but always had the greatest respect for him. He will
be missed.
Regarding the 12/25 cojoin, back in the early 90's, 25 was an open Low Power
station license in OP. My boss at Cable wanted it really bad, but somehow
the deal went toilet, probably because we were considered the big bad corporate
guys vs. the religious organization that eventually got the CP.
When Albritton bought it out, they built one of the most amazing studios
in existence. As John knows, it was major state of the art, was in a few
broadcast magazines as a major showcase. I passed it every day on the JTB.
I watched it on occasion, and while the sets looked great, the overall station
and its news operation sucked.
I moved to Tampa for a few years, and when I came back to find that Gannett
had taken it over and were doing a bit of housecleaning and integration,
It really didn't bother me. The other upset in the market was that WJXT,
the CBS outlet and a flagship Post - Newsweek station, had decided to go
independent, citing a lack of revenue from being an affiliate.
So Mike. It's just a weird market. As you know, 47 is the CBS affiliate.
Very similar to the Atlanta blowout back in the mid 90's. Cable has a large
impact around here, and so does Sat TV w/ local stations on it. I've done
integration work both direct TV and Echostar (Dish). It's a different world.
But I imagine it's only gonna get crazier.
John - I as far as I know, that stick is still out in OP, only because their
"dual doppler" 2nd scan is somewhere in Clay County, the other one being
at the tower over on Bay Street. The actual 12 signal is coming off the
candleabra west of Southside Blvd near Hogan Road, opposite where everybody
else is. I helped turn on an LP over in the 30/7/FM field last year. There's
enough RF in that place to magnetize tin pennies.
Take care. Mike, we should get together sometime.
May 24 2008 at 10:44:08 Name: Scott Linder Topic: Music, Movies and
Mics Comments: For those interested in music, movies, mics and
such you should visit
ScoringSessions.com. The site
includes lots of photos of current and past sessions and offers a rare look
inside our classic scoring stages. You might enjoy seeing where some of your
favorite movie music was recorded.
May 24 2008 at 10:28:49 Name: Jim Ruddle Topic: Communication
Archive Comments: For all you communications techies, try this on:
I received a catalog yesterday from an outfit that specializes in German
and Swiss products, mainly optics.
But for 19 bucks you can get a Swiss item that tops most everything: A pigeon
belly-basket for carrying messages. It has straps that hold it to the bird
and the basket is made of metal.
Not reliable during hunting season.
May 23 2008 at 23:10:45 Name: Dave Topic: On
exhibit Comments: I think everyone here is familiar with the Beryl
Ford collection of photos that the Tulsa library keeps online -- all 23,000
photos of intersections, shopping centers and some other things from the
1950s and 1960s. What must have seemed like mundane stuff back then has turned
into a trove of the-way-things-looked treasures. Not designed to be inspirational
photojournalism or art, but a solid record of the way we were.
All this is a way of noting that Friday's New York Times has an article
("A
Businessman’s View of Mid-American Life") about a Fort Worth
professional photographer named Bill Wood doing pretty much the same thing
there at the same time, but doing it as a full-time job. He died in 1970
and now an exhibition of his work has opened in New York after being discovered
by Diane Keaton. (No, it doesn't make clear how Diane got involved in this.)
A couple of his photos are included with the article.
Here's a Beryl Ford image of a Gaslite Club girl: nice and clear, but
also a bit stark and weird in mood. Is a cigar-chomping businessman sitting
behind the desk, looking on in approval? I can't quite make out the nameplate
on the desk; looks like Paul K. Hol(mes?).
Courtesy of the Beryl Ford Collection/Rotary Club of Tulsa,
Tulsa City-County Library & Tulsa Historical Society
May 23 2008 at 14:52:08 Name: Bob O'Shea Topic: Don Cook Email: bob reavis at yahoo dot
com Comments: It just saddens me to hear of another Tulsa broadcaster
passing away.
Don
Cook(KTBA) was a great talent and a credit
to the Tulsa radio scene. While Don had been off the air for quite some time,
just knowing he's gone makes the space feel a little closer to empty.
May 23 2008 at 11:25:07 Name: Rick Clark Topic: Leon Shearhart Email: clarkrick@yahoo.com Comments: Read in
Friday's
Tulsa World Leon Shearhart has passed away (Owasso - Leon Shearhart,
69, died Tuesday. Services pending. Mowery.).
While the name may not be as well known as others on this site, Leon was
the radio voice of the local Roto-Rooter franchise.
Until his retirement a few years back he was a long time account exec for
the various owners of KVOO and was an instructor under
Alan Lambert at RSU. I took one of his classes
myself before joining him at KVOO in the late 90s. I always called him
"Professor", which he seemed to get a kick out of.
Also due to his radio spots, I always told him when my sewer backed up I
thought of him. He was a great guy.
May 23 2008 at 10:38:27 Name: Scott Linder Topic: Ribbons and
birdcages Comments: Yes, ribbon mics are back although some would argue
that they never left. There are many 44s, 77s and 639s still in daily use.
Capitol Records has a wonderful and beautifully maintained selection. In
addition, Wes Dooley at Audio Engineering Associates is making a great new
version of the 44BX, as well as other unique ribbons and the Royer line has
become a favorite of many scoring mixers.
I urge all to explore Coutant.org. It's
one of my favorite sites.
May 22 2008 at 21:49:06 Name: Michael Bruchas Topic: Audio
tangent Comments: In the new B&H Pro Audio catalog outta Noo Yawk
City that arrived today, I noticed several things. Ribbon mics are back but
of all the listed makers; Beyer is the only one that you might maybe know;
no RCA (LOL), no Altec (LOLx2) brands and the cheapest is under $200 but
most $2-k-$4k. Don't you wish that you still owned an Altec birdcage mic
or RCA 77DX?
Turntables are back, too. I pitched my 35-year-old one with the good Shure
cartridge on my move from DC. Damn!
For $249, you can buy a "Vinyl Recording Kit" with turntable and a USB interface
and SoundSoap software to dump your vinyl to your PC or Mac, EQ all and turn
into files for your iPod. Cool.
Old radio gear + vinyl is goin' GEN X + GEN Y!
May 21 2008 at 00:40:58 Name: David Bagsby Topic: Drinking songs Email:
deeceebeeatsunflowerdotcom Comments: A great way we used to get smashed was to take a
drink every time Dylan said "the Jack of Hearts" in the song, "Lily, Rosemary
& (of course), the Jack of Hearts." I defy anyone to listen to that twice
and still be standing...not approved by the USA Olympic Drinking Team.
The best-known TV-related drinking game is "Hi Bob!" It's simple. You
watch an episode of "The Bob Newhart Show" and drink whenever anyone says
"Hi Bob!" I've never played this, maybe because I have a good idea of how
many times "Hi Bob!" is said in the course of a typical episode.
May 20 2008 at 22:37:23 Name: Mike Bruchas Topic: DXing and WiFi
radio Comments: Edwin was one of my few friends who loved DXing
as mentioned here several times. Here in Chicago, we seem to have a gazillion
more stations and 50% in Spanish. I don't have a big shortwave tower, just
rabbit ears on my radios. Unfortunately Radio Havana booms into the Midwest
on shortwave, but now also Chinese stations from "over there".
Don Lundy's house in Indy has WiFi (and son Mike in residence as IT tech).
Don has one of the C Crane WiFi radios and is getting used to it. He loves
listening to "West Coast Talk Radio out of L.A., San Diego and SFO.
May 20 2008 at 16:41:42 Name: Mitch Gray Topic: Mo Drinking Email: North of You Comments: Another way to get plowed is to take a pull everytime
you hear someone from around here say " I seen him." Or "I seen it happen".
I don't understand why there are so many diction-challenged folks. However
I may be a little biased after being in the broadcast industry where
pronunciation is important. "I member the good ole days". Laziness I
reckon...
May 20 2008 at 13:23:39 Name: roy lee Topic: Drinking games Email: royleeshouse@gmail.com Comments: If I had to watch either of those shows, I would
need to do some drinking!
My friend Tom came up with a good one at a Mexican restaurant. Every time
we hear the words "mi corazon" (my heart) from the jukebox. take a swig.
Mexican music is full of that word, so be sure to eat plenty too, since you'll
go through a 12 pack.
The same game would work listening to Brazilian (Portuguese) bossa nova
and drinking on "coração".
May 20 2008 at 06:39:29 Name: Webmaster Topic: "The Bachelorette" drinking
game Comments:
My wife likes to watch "The Bachelor", and currently, "The Bachelorette".
With all due respect to her taste, this is a ridiculous "reality" show.
Every aspect of the bogus courting is accompanied by a soundtrack designed
to let you know how you should be feeling (e.g., the "hopeful" music, the
"we're on the same page" music, the "these were the good times" music, the
troubled "do I really want to be a stepmother/dad?" music).
Personal feelings are expressed as a work in progress. Their future direction
is assayed by the contestant, and checks written against them in the present.
"I am definitely falling in love with_____."
"I can see me spending the rest of my life with ____."
Even though my attention was elsewhere during "The Bachelorette" last night,
hearing it all had a debilitating effect on me.
Halfway through, I proposed toasting each time one of the contestants uttered
one of the many clichéd words and phrases heard ad nauseam on the
show. Among them were:
a "journey"
an "amazing" woman or man
an "amazing journey"
"Ohmigod"
"he/she completely opened up to me"
"I put myself out there"
"be there for me"
"let my guard down"
"lay my heart on the line"
"he asked MYSELF" (Arghhhh!)
"The One" as in "he might be The One"
"I'm ready to take it to the next level"
"I think I have found my soul mate."
"follow my heart"
"go with my gut"
and so on, and so forth.
Our beer supply was quickly polished off...hello Charles Ely and Carole Lambert.
Kids, try this only at home.
May 19 2008 at 23:59:39 Name: Richard Wilson Topic: Edwin Email: riccolites@yahoodotcom Comments: Just learned today of the source of my sorrows of
the previous month..........Edwin........I miss ya.......and today i
cried.......Ricardo
Edwin passed away a month ago. He was remembered in
GB 264 and GB 265.
Here is a new YouTube slideshow of Edwin photos from one of his sons:
May 19 2008 at 18:49:59 Name: Holly Kinkade Topic: KTEW January 6, 1977 Email:
Kittygrrlhk@sbcglobal.net Comments: This is the program schedule for KTEW from Thursday,
January 6, 1977.
6:35 a.m.-Inspiration
6:40 a.m.-News
7:00 a.m.-Today Show (2 hours)
9:00 a.m.-Sanford And Son
9:30 a.m.-Hollywood Squares
10:00 a.m.-Wheel Of Fortune
10:30 a.m.-Shoot For The Stars
11:00 a.m.-Merv Griffin
12:00 p.m.-News
12:30 p.m.-Days Of Our Lives
1:30 p.m.-Doctors
2:00 p.m.-Another World
3:00 p.m.-That Girl
3:30 p.m.-Flintstones
4:00 p.m.-Partridge Family
4:30 p.m.-Bewitched
5:00 p.m.-My Three Sons
5:30 p.m.-NBC News
6:00 p.m.-News
6:30 p.m.-Brady Bunch
7:00 p.m.-Movie-"The Call Of The Wild" (2 hours)
9:00 p.m.-Best Sellers
10:00 p.m.-News
10:30 p.m.-Johnny Carson (90 minutes)
May 19 2008 at 17:06:45 Name: Gary Chew Topic: Decline In Management Values Email: Arnoldzburg Comments: In response to Jim Ruddle's lament regarding a current
Florida TV GM being arrested for 'wand waving' in a Tampa porn shop:
Why does that not comes as a surprise to me, these days?
Delmeaux de Gillete du Coffeyville
May 19 2008 at 10:37:11 Name: Webmaster Topic: Classic TV
Blog Comments:
Several miscellaneous TV-related items from me in TVparty's
Classic TV Blog today.
May 19 2008 at 09:23:49 Name: Jim Ruddle Topic: GM
busted Comments: Reports from the Tampa Bay area reveal that the
general manager of WTVT, channel 13, was arrested in a porn shop raid for
"exposing" himself, along with a group of others.
I used to work at that station when it was a CBS affiliate and a Gaylord
property, now Fox, and the GM, Eugene Dodson, was one of the most admirable
TV executives I ever knew. He and Bob Lemon, of WMAQ, in Chicago, were the
best of the best.
What a pathetic decline.
But, I also worked for an NBC clown who boasted that he hadn't read a book
since he was in college and that then he just skimmed enough to get by.
May 18 2008 at 18:42:23 Name: Dave Topic: The Meadow Gold sign is
coming Comments: For the record: an article in today's World,
"Cyrus
Avery plaza's construction nearly finished", tells about the opening
of the Route 66 plaza next month at the 11th Street Bridge, and it also mentions
that the dismantled and restored Meadow Gold sign will go back up at some
unspecified date this summer at 11th and Quaker.
May 18 2008 at 16:09:00 Name: Larry Ward (via email) Topic: Michael Parks interview live on the
"2 Wheel Power Hour" Monday May 19th Email: LarryWardatClearChanneldotcom
(Youngstown, Ohio) Comments:
(Webmaster: Molly of Listen Recordings over at
MichaelParks.com forwarded the following
email to me. Michael Parks starred in "Then Came
Bronson" (1970), reviewed here on TTM. By the way, here is a new site
about the show, also forwarded by Molly:
JimBronson.com.)
Hi Molly: I wanted to see if you could get the word out to the faithful that
Michael Parks has graciously consented to do a live interview with me on
the "2 Wheel Power Hour" motorcycle show. The shows airs Monday the 19th
at 6 pm Eastern Standard Time (5 pm Tulsa time) on 570 WKBN.
Fans can access the web site and listen to the interview live through our
streaming. The web site is 570WKBN.com.
Once the page opens, look at the top for the icon that says "click here to
listen live" and that's all there is to it.
Just follow the instructions. It will take about 30 seconds for the audio
to come up once you have connected, so please be patient.
Molly, we can't thank you enough for helping us out. I've had a wonderful
time chatting with Michael today, he's a very nice guy, enjoyable to speak
to.
5/20/08 update: Yesterday's Michael Parks interview is now available on
MP3. Go to this
podcast
page at 570WKBN.com to download to your PC.
May 15 2008 at 20:10:43 Name: John Hillis Topic: Funny Small World Comments: Mike, Orange Park is actually the home of the
WJXX transmitter. I know because I helped put it together 10 years ago for
Allbritton. If I recall, the tower is about 750 feet and sits out in the
country (or at least it was then--it may well be all suburbia by now) out
a road past a good fish restaurant and left at a BP station. The station
had been a CP owned by a religious group when Allbritton bought it, built
a beautiful digital facility in south Jacksonville and got the ABC affiliation.
Allbritton was able to sell WJXX to Gannett due to an FCC rule that allowed
duopolies as long as the stations were not in the top three in ratings and
there were sufficient broadcast signals in the market. Gannett, with the
NBC affiliate already, had infrastructure in place and presumably was able
to wring economies out of the situation. I heard that great facility on JTB
Boulevard between I-95 and the beach is now a church. If so, it has a heckuva
control room.
And now for something completely different: I stumbled across a treasure
trove on the internet. If you've got some patience, about 28 minutes and
are a geek (or ex-geek) in your middle 50s or older, this may ring a bell
with you:
TV4U.com:
Optical Illusions with Mr. Wizard. On this particular episode, you'll
note the announcer is none other than Don Pardo, later to become famous as
the voice of "Saturday Night Live", who was already a veteran NBC staff announcer
when this was shot.
Watch it and get a sense of how far we've come since then, an innocent time
when a teenage girl could visit the basement of a middle-aged man without
having it seem freaky. Today, the only way such a thing would get on NBC
is as a "To Catch A Predator" segment.
John, I've got to thank you for pointing out that site. I just watched
an entire Joe Pyne show from 1966! There has been a sidebar about the show
on the Fantastic Theatre page for the last
9 years.
Joe
Pyne Show #1 opens with a lengthy pan of the audience. Quite a visual.
Pyne warmed up by taking a couple of tedious complaints from audience members
standing at the "dock" which doubled as the "Beef Box" at this point in the
show. Joe should have told them to take a walk a lot sooner than he did.
The first proper guest was a UFOlogist who got a relatively gentle but thorough
ridiculing from Joe. The folks who appeared in the "dock" were mostly played
for laughs (and rightfully so). Next up was an investigation of a then still
infamous 1931 rape/murder in Hawaii.
The last half hour was dedicated to the interview of a 23-year-old
conscientious objector. For 15 minutes, Joe engaged the angry and articulate
young man without too much static. Then, just before the "dock" was opened,
Pyne turned up the temperature of his rhetoric, cuing the audience.
With only a few substitutions of names, places and details, most of the
same arguments and all of the tactics could play out today on a typical
more-heat-than-light talk show. The parallels made it gripping.
At least Pyne gave the guest some time before the shouting started, which
his descendants in spirit today would not do. In fact, I would characterize
the Pyne show as a feast of reason by comparison, despite its inflammatory
nature.
May 15 2008 at 19:53:24 Name: Mike Miller Topic: Two for one
newscasts Comments: I'm finally settling in here in Orange Park, Florida
after escaping the insane traffic of Houston.
One oddity: Two of nearby Jacksonville's TV stations are owned by Gannett
and simulcast news programs. They call it First Coast News -- NBC12 and ABC25
and apparently have a pretty large operation. According the website, "First
Coast News currently employs approximately 185 men and women in the areas
of news, engineering, production, promotion, accounting, sales, programming
and administrative support." One wonders how many others who were let go.
I was also wondering if this is a serious trend and does it operate in other
parts of the country? I know some years ago, local stations could begin to
purchase news, weather, and sports services from an outfit in DC. My friend
Mike Bruchas will, no doubt, know more about stations sharing news operations
or using out of state services to cut costs.
May 15 2008 at 13:23:32 Name: Webmaster (not Grandmaster) Topic: U.S. Chess Championship now in
Tulsa Comments:
Free to the public: the 2008 U.S. Chess Championship at the Radisson Hotel,
41st & Garnett, through May 21.
Last year, it was held in Stillwater. My wife and I and a group of friends
trucked over to check it out (and visit OSU and Eskimo Joe's). You can walk
around the tables while they play.
May 13 2008 at 14:09:25 Name: Jeff H Topic: Frank Lloyd Wright's Tulsa house Email: Riding around Tulsa on" The
Super Loop" Comments: The Frank Lloyd Wright house in Tulsa is called
"Westhope". It was built in 1929-1930 for Wright's first cousin Richard Lloyd
Jones and family.
Mr. Wright tried a new roofing technique that turned out to be a little leaky.
On one occasion during a downpour, the family was rushing around the living
room with buckets and pots trying to protect the rugs. Mrs. Jones said, "Well,
this is what we get for leaving a work of art out in the rain!" On another
occasion, Mr. Jones furiously got on the phone to Mr. Wright and roared,
"It's leaking on my desk!" Mr. Wright calmly replied "Richard, why don't
you move your desk?"
Mr. Jones nicknamed the house "The Pickle Factory"
"Tulsa
Art Deco" (TTM Gift Shop), a book published by the Junior League
of Tulsa, has several pages devoted to the Wright house as well as other
Art Deco buildings in Tulsa. I highly recommend this book if you are a fan
of Art Deco and Tulsa landmarks.
May 13 2008 at 12:34:52 Name: Mike Bruchas Topic: Lowell Footage + Tulsa Connections Comments: Except for the real steam train, Lowell's footage
made me think of a local amusement park here in Illinois when I was growing
up...we'll miss him quite a bit here.
Many of you know that there is a great Frank Lloyd Wright house in Tulsa.
What many of you don't know was that Jenkin Lloyd Jones and family were related
to Wright. In fact an earlier family member - another - named Jenkin Lloyd
Jones was first a minister in Wisconsin then in turn of the century Chicago.
He helped Wright secure a lot of work at the turn of the century. I am told
that the Tulsa home was built for an uncle or cousin of Wright, who was a
doctor in Tulsa. Maybe the Tulsa Historical Society has some footnote on
this.
May 13 2008 at 11:20:57 Name: Webmaster Topic: Previous GroupBlog summary Comments:
