July 9, 6pm
I thought I’d add this little bit in; I was one of the MC’s for the PTDR’s as seen on TV! I do this every year. It’s a bit of zany fun Chicken John, Dr. Hal and I do, just to make fun of tech geeks…lie us.
Discovery Channel showed four, one hour, episodes in may of this year (2005). I’m the one in the lovely ice cream man blazer. I’m not the one on the mic. That’s Dr. Hal of “Church of the Subgenius” fame, and the other fine chap is Chicken John of “The Odeon” fame.
Those bastards at Discovery Channel didn’t want to offend anyone with my name (John Hell), so they added an “e” on the end of my last name. At the same time, they showed the flag girl in the skimpiest of outfits as much as they could. I don’t want to even tell you about the pay. I will say, however, that Discovery Channel has their own zip code. Cheap bastards.
I have more photos up on my tribe site.
July 8, 9am
Wow! Sometimes I find a blog that really blows me away. Song: Illinois really does it for me. A great collection of music.
They have two new Giant Sand tracks on their. Check it out.
July 8, 9am
I’m teaching summer school in San Francisco right now. I teach a language arts class, and a history class. Seems simple enough, right? On the first day, I was told that the language Arts class was a mix of incoming ninth, tenth and eleventh graders, and half of them don’t speak a lick of english. My history class is a mix of tenth grade Modern WOrld history and eleventh grade US History. This plans on being a challenge right from the start.
I’m not really one to complain, but how the hell does anyone expect me to do right by these students?
The Language Arts curriculum is actually scripted, so I didn’t need to worry so much about lesson plans. the history class however was going to take some real imagination.
I decided to teach the kids about the French, American, and Russian revolutions, along with a unit on why 9-11 happened and a unit on Globalization. This isn’t so bad after all.
The Langauge Arts class has this great kid, Edison, with cerebal palsey. He’s a hard worker, but damn, is he a pain in the ass. He just loves to talk any time he damn well wishes, gets in people’s faces, and even though he has an adult here to work with him every day, he insists on making me work with him. At times he walks out of the room, witout even asking me. That, along with the english langauge learners, makes for a very exciting time.
I’m really enjoying the history class though. I’m using the BBC’s “Power of Nightmares” doc on the history of terrorism in the 20th century as the basis of my 9-11 curriculum. I’ll use Cochabamba as a pretext for globalization, as well as showing “The Corporation”.
Gotta go. Class is starting.
July 1, 11am
Bush’s shortlist for O’Connor’s seat
Exclusive:
Here comes the judge! Bush has already shortlisted the following nominees for O’Connor’s soon to be vacated seat:
Judge Reinhold: good legal experience in Beverly Hills.
Judge Wapner: popular in small claims court.
Judge Judy: shrill voice could scare attorneys.
Judge Dredd: rarely follows procedure, believes “one man is law”.
Judge Jules: not even American, but a wicked trance DJ. The court could use that, right?
Judge Joe Brown: little known Judge, popular with unemployed daytime TV viewers.
Mike Judge: famous for the case of the Mondays…
Read: O’Connor Retires From Supreme Court
Any more ideas? Let’s hear ’em in comments.
From witz.org
July 1, 9am
David Lynch, at one time my favorite film producer, now just a freak of nature, is doing daily weather reports from, what appears to be his basement.
Enjoy this.
June 30, 8am
I co-founded Radio Free Burning Man in 1994. I was the program director there until 1998. What an amazing five years it was. More on that later. Gordon Burke, another co-founder, and chief engineer (he owns all the stuff, you know what I mean?) along with his brother made this short .wmv animated vid showing the layout of the station.
It’s a short two minute video.
Enjoy
Click here to see it.
June 28, 10am
Comrads, do yourself the favor and visit this site full of a fine collection of Soviet era Propaganda posters. I am seriously blown away by this. I wish I could speak Russian.
What? No Trotsky!?
Propaganda Images From Soviet Magazines
June 16, 8pm
So, I received my BA in Media Literacy. I had been in radio for about 13 years when I went back to school to get a degree. I attended SFSU, a great school for a radio broadcasting degree, and I figured I would earn mine and go about my life being a button monkey for a commercial radio station.
The problem is, there is no way I would ever work for a commercial radio station again.
My radio career began when I was five years old. I didn’t actually have a show on any top forty station, I have, I and never will again. No, instead, I sat in front of my fathers’ stereo speakers with an old cassette recorder, and front and back announced music on the turntable. I dreamed of the day when I would host a rock and roll radio show. This was back in the early 1970s.
It wasn’t until I was 18 years old that I had a chance to get behind the mic at a radio station. KFJC down in Los Altos Hills, CA. It was at this radio station that I learned the true meaning of radio as a medium of the working man. More on that later.
I’ve had jobs all over the music industry from the time I was 16 years old. I’ve been a mobile DJ, I’ve DJ’d at an ice skating rink, I was promotions director for a small record label, I was in bands, I’ve worked the retail end of music, you name it, I’ve done it. It was radio however, that my heart belonged to.
I stayed at KFJC from 1988 until 1997 when I got married and moved to San Franciso. Besides getting married, I also began attending San Francisco State University. I had taken a few years off of school, and after a very short stint living in the Virgin Islands (I went there to do radio, of course, but ended up coming home broke, yet tan, and desireing to go back to school), I ended up back in the bay area.
I figured I would take some broadcasting courses at SFSU for a while and then decide what my emphasis would be. I still wanted to be a DJ, but by this time it had to be at a non-commercial radio station. I interned at KRQR (“The Rocker”) in the late 80’s, and found the world of commercial radio to be too limited. They tell you exactly what to play and when, and just about exactly what to say and when. No thanks.
I thought that once I had my degree in my hand it would be a piece of cake to find my dream radio job, and make a living at it. How amazingly wrong I was. You see, the problem with a career in commercial radio, is, no matter how much education and non-commercial experience you have, you must still begin at the bottom of the latter. This is rediculous. I walked into interviews wanting a management position; I was flat out refused. I was told the same thing over and over again: sorry, but you have to start at the bottom. Don’t get me started on the Telcom Act of 1996, thank you Bill Clinton. This act paved the way for consolidation and then lay-offs. Eight stations in one building, one management staff is alll that is needed.
After a one year stint as a button monkey at Alice FM in San Francisco, I was told that the person I was filling in for was coming back from maternity leave. I didn’t even know I was filling in for anyone. I thanked the PD for showing me the error in my ways and departed. The error I made, was assuming that commercial radio had a place for an open minded, friendly, career oriented, group working individual that I am.
I decided then and there, that I will never attempt a job in commercial radio again.
My next radio endeavour was in the world of micro/pirate radio. I had already co-founded Radio Free Burning Man, in 1994. Click here to see the station site. I programmed that station with a growing staff for five years. I ended up at San Francisco Liberation Radio.
June 13, 10am
and the time is right…
http://tofuhaus.antville.org/
February 18, 12pm
Check this out!
