Category: radio

Christopher Columbus

The wife gets up one morning last week and while taking her shower muses on the word colony. Since Christopher Columbus was also known as, among other things, Cristóbal Colón, she wondered if his name might be the root of the word.

Interesting premise, but apparently not so. According to the dictionary, the etymology of the word colony is from the Middle English colonie, from Middle French & Latin; Middle French, from Latin colonia, from colonus farmer, colonist, from colere to cultivate.
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Confidential to FGH: all meals in Columbus, OH are $14.92 or a multiple of same; it’s a municipal mandate. Also true in Columbia, SC.
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Went to the wedding of Susan Brynofson, a member of my church choir, and Robert Gierthy yesterday. Congratulations to them and their families.
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There’s a new 1.25 mile pedestrian walkway over the Hudson River between Highland and Poughkeepsie, near my old college town of New Paltz, the refurbishing of an old railroad bridge long abandoned. I need to walk this sometime.
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I had indicated my fear from making my first appearance on radio since I used to read news copy for my college radio station XX years ago. It’s now available for dissection. I’ll tell you what was very weird about it, which was told to me beforehand: I never talked with the host before or after the show. Also I really thought I finally was rolling when it ended. More info, including the links here.
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Free Gospel Concert: A Tribute to Mahalia Jackson today (Monday, October 12)
Huxley Theater, New York State Museum
A pre-concert movie at 3PM – Mahalia Jackson: the Power and the Glory
In concert: Sharon Fullard, Constance Graves, Marjorie Rush
Merline Smith – Concert Master
Visit Through the Eyes of Others on exhibition in West Gallery
ROG

ROG

What’s The Frequency, Roger?

Lessee, there’s Peter Gabriel’s On the Air; Joni Mitchell’s You Turn Me On, I’m A Radio; Elvis Costello’s Radio Radio.

All that is a stall to say that I’m going to appear on Barbara Weltman Internet radio show, Build Your Business Radio, which airs each Monday from 4pm to 5pm/ET.

As her producer Gloria wrote me: “We would like to have you as a guest on an upcoming radio show in early October, if possible. Barbara enjoys highlighting her guests’ areas of expertise, and we ask them to compose 5 to 8 questions for her to ask during the interview. Build Your Business Radio’s audience consists primarily of small businesses and entrepreneurs. You’ll get to use the podcast following the interview to post on your site, etc.”

I have an area of expertise? Always thought of myself as a generalist.

Anyway, I’ve agreed to be on Monday, October 5 during 2nd half of show. The studio calls the guest (a/k/a, me) at 4:24pm/ET; live interview begins at 4:30p, continues for 11 minutes, breaks, resumes for 9 minutes more. 20 minutes to fill.

Don’t mind telling you…well, let’s put it this way: I think it was Steve Stills at Woodstock talking about CSN’s second gig who indicated how scared they were.

The fear is…er, ah…that I’ll…um…in the words…ah, ah…that my wife…hmmm…hates…suck. Also…(mumble)…I hate (ahem) the sound of [cough] my own…eh…voice when I…er…hear it.

So why do it? Because I’m afraid. One of the things that we’ve been doing with the daughter is, whenever she does something she’s heretofore been scared to do, such as going to a new school or seeing a new doctor, is give her a penny, which she can trader in for certain goodies. Hey, I wonder what I’LL get for doing this?

Also, if I ever get ambitious enough to do my own podcast some decade, this gig will be a baseline for me. Now, I’m hoping it won’t be TOO bad. I DID give Gloria a half dozen questions for which I DO more or less know the answers. They’re mostly about the Small Business development Center, the state Data Center program, being a librarian, and being a census data junkie (oh, no, can’t say “junkie”,; it has implications). I’m trying to anticipate the curve balls; I noted in my bio that I used to deal in comic books, so I’m thinking of a couple points on THAT topic, just in case.

So if you want to hear it, but don’t have access, I’ll link to the podcast afterward. Unless it REALLY sucks.

ROG

This I Believe QUESTION

In her sermon last Sunday, our co-pastor made reference to This I Believe, an NPR show based on a radio show from the 1950s hosted by Edward R. Murrow.

I listed 10 here and thought I’d list 10 more.

You may list your five or 10 or 100 in the comments section or on your own blog; if the latter, please leave a link in the comments section:

Most people worry way too much about what other people think and do.

Mark Twain was right: It IS better to remain silent and appear ignorant than to speak up and remove any doubt.

Smokers do often feel oppressed in the U.S.; I don’t care. (Smoking is the most preventable cause of death in our society.)

JEOPARDY! is not improved by letting people play more than five games in a row.

My life would suck without music.

Television (radio, et al.) is not inherently bad; it’s how it’s used.

Race may be just a social construct, but still matters in the United States (and I imagine, in other parts of the world).

Italian is beautiful to listen to, even though I don’t speak or understand it.

Smart is sexy.

Most people who say “let’s move on” are NOT the aggrieved party.

Oh, and one more:
Individuals should not hide behind a corporate shield when wrongdoing occurs; e.g., someone from the Peanut Corporation of America should face manslaughter charges, at least.
ROG

ROG

Media and Politics QUESTION

The Museum of Broadcast Communications in Chicago will be celebrating the 75th anniversary salute to FDR on July 2. FDR accepted his nomination at Chicago Stadium and announced his plans for the New Deal. If I were in Chicago, I’d be very inclined to go to this gig. Media! Politics! Robert Vaughn!

Also at this event, the organization will be announcing America’s top 100 political moments in radio and television.

Without thinking or researching, because thinking will just confuse things, and I wanted to go with my gut feelings, my Top 11.
In chrono order:
1. Al Smith, 1928. Not many people saw it, of course.
2. FDR, “Day of Infamy”, December 1941. Still respond to it in the ear.
3. McCarthy hearings in the 1950s.
4. JFK-Nixon debates, esp. the first one. I read somewhere that people listening to it on the radio thought Nixon won, while those watching TV would pick Kennedy. This would be #1, if I were to rank.
5. I Have a Dream speech (That certainly is political), August 1963.
6. JFK assassination. November 1963.
7. Cronkite dissing LBJ about Vietnam, February 1968
8. Democratic National Convention, August 1968
9. Watergate hearings (esp. John Dean), 1973
10. Reagan in Normandy, 1984
11. Clarence Thomas/Anita Hill hearings (“high-tech lynching”)

Of course, there are the FDR’s fireside chats, the black power salute at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, Jimmy Carter’s Moral Equivalent of War energy policy with the sweater, the assassination attempt on Reagan, Iran-Contra, and a bunch more, but the ones I picked just resonated more for me.

So, what would be your picks?

P.S. – Gordon, might you attend?
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I should note St. Patrick’s day, since I’m Roger O’Green, but there’s already enough blarney in this post, what with media AND politics. The primary Albany parade, though, was postponed for a week because of the foot plus of snow we received overnight.

ROG

ROG

Voting machines

Radio Interview – Weds. Aug. 3, Re: NY Voting Machine Issues

VOTING MACHINES -Which ones will New York end up with? Is touch screen voting in our future? Aimee Allaud, election specialist, for The League of Women Voters of New York State, in a twenty minute interview, answers questions and provides information New Yorkers need to hear about the process of choosing voting machines for their state. Decisions will be made without our input if we are not informed! Tune in tomorrow, August 3, 7:30-8:30 a.m. to WRPI-Troy on 91.5 FM.

Copies of the interview may be obtained for replay on your local radio stations. Contact Helena Kosorek.

ROG
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