Mass Hipster-ia

The Subtle Art of Being an Alcohol Rep

2009-05-13T14:55:00.000-07:00

I knew they were out there. This American Life had made me aware of people such as these in an episode called Plan B. In Act One of this episode, John Hodgman follows a young man named Ryan who dons the persona of Cuervo Man to help push tequila sales in bars. As Hodgman described the bars he visited, I knew that these weren't my kind of places. Not that there was anything inherently wrong with these establishments; it's just they didn't seem like the types of bars I was into. So my chances of running into someone like Cuervo Man seemed pretty slim.

That is, until last weekend when the Jagermeister girls came to Blind Bobs. I should preface by saying that I don't have anything against these product reps, persay. Back in the days of yore when smoking in bars was still legal in Ohio, the Camel reps would often visit Elbos and were perfectly nice and subtle about what they were doing.

Subtlety is what the Jager girls lacked. In other bars, where people have not paid money to hear live music, I shrug off a group of girls in tight tanktops loudly asking my table whether they liked shots of Jager. I also would've have merely rolled my eyes if they had called the bar to attention to have a contest for a t-shirt or some blinking plastic necklace. However, when they interrupted the band and joined them onstage to ask the crowd whether they liked Jager, I was pretty livid.

I don't care whether it's the best, worst, or an in-between band, it's so extremely rude to interrupt a band on stage. And what an awkward position to put a band in. If you're onstage, you don't want to throw a fit about someone interrupting you and look like a total prima donna, but you should also be a afforded some respect as the person performing.

I think Jagermeister and other brands need to take these things into account when training their reps.

Excuses, Excuses

2009-05-04T13:22:00.000-07:00

So I'm sure you've noticed that it's been a while. I could bore you with all of the mundane excuses about my iBook needing repairs and how it's really hard to try to blog on a BlackBerry, but save for the previous clause, I'll spare you all that agony.

I will say that a portion of the delay has been that I'm really trying to figure out what I want to do as a blogger, or rather what I have to offer as a blogger. I think I've finally got some ideas.

So look for new content this week including some things I'd like to make on-going features.

Cheers for the moment!

Juliet

They Killed Sister Dorothy

2009-03-20T09:21:00.000-07:00

Last night I had the pleasure of attending a screening of They Killed Sister Dorothy at the Dayton Art Institute. The documentary directed by Daniel Junge tells the compelling story of Dayton native, Dorothy Stang, a Catholic nun who worked in Brazil to help improve the condition of poor through sustainable living in the Amazon.

Sister Dorothy was murdered in 2005, and I remember the outcry here in Dayton, especially in the Catholic community I grew up in. At the time, I didn't know much of her work, but after seeing this film, I am totally blown away. What a great way to combine religion and science -- to help the poor and the environment.

The film itself was wonderful. It was just the right amount of emotion and fact, which I think is hard to achieve in a documentary. Of course, I expected the film to have an emotional aspect, but I also didn't want to be crying the whole time and not really learning anything. I learned A LOT. In addition to Sister Dorothy's story, the film provided a really good picture of the forces that environmental advocates are up against. It also gave a very intimate glimpse into the Brazilian court system, which I found as interesting as the rest of the topics presented.

They Killed Sister Dorothy will air on HBO next week, so if you can, check it out!

Sunday always comes too late.

2009-02-25T15:01:00.000-08:00

There's been a lot going on since last we met. In the last 7 days I had my first news story air on WYSO, the Tumbleweed Connection in the Oregon District caught on fire, I bought a couch and Kaleidoscope got a nice nod in the press.

I also attended the Funeral Party, a Cure tribute show at the Dayton Dirt Collective. The was the second tribute show put on by the DDC. The first was a Morrissey/Smiths tribute that I was originally going to perform in, but my bandmates had some person emergencies come up so we opted out and I hosted Alpha Rhythms that night. No harm, no foul.

Even though I also had to host Alpha Rhythms during Funeral Party, being a huge Cure fan, I made it a point to stop by the show after my air-shift. I made it there for the last three bands: Cure Dealer (a made-up affair comprised of several super talents of the Dayton scene), Tin Can Telephone and Jasper the Colossal. Cure Dealer and Tin Can Telephone offered up more traditional renderings of Cure songs while Jasper the Colossal gave their tunes a slight punk treatment which was really enjoyable. It was just enough of a twist to make their set distinct while not detracting from the original songs. My favorite moment of the evening by far, however was Cure Dealer's performance of A Forest from Seventeen Seconds.

I was also surprised at how well attended the show was. In fact, it was far to say that the DDC was packed with folks of all ages. There were many familiar faces as well as many new faces. I hear that they've got more tribute shows in the works for later this spring so I'm definitely looking forward to attending more of these.

The Bird, The Bee, and David Lee Roth

2009-02-18T18:49:00.000-08:00

This one's been bothering me for a few weeks.

The Bird and the Bee recently released a new album, Ray Guns Are Not Just the Future, that features a song called "Diamond Dave." Now perhaps I spend too much time with hair metal fans, but my first thought at that title was that this was a song about David Lee Roth. After reading the lyrics, I'm pretty much convinced that yes, this is most definitely a song about David Lee Roth. But I haven't heard one peep from the band to that effect.

It's not that I expect an explanation from every band about the meaning of every song. I really just want confirmation that I'm correct in my assesment.

To hold us both over until I get my answer to this mystery, I was going to leave with you the Dresden Dolls music video for "Shores of California," which is a parody of the video for Diamond Dave's version of "California Girls," but it appears that they've removed it from YouTube. Alas.

(Another) One Bites the Dust?

2009-02-18T17:11:00.000-08:00

The news about Touch & Go Records has me got really down. I suppose that some news of the big bad recession "hitting home" in the indie rock world was only a matter of time. However, the fact that it's Touch & Go's production/distro division that's closing hits home in another way for me.

T&G, and the labels it's done production and distribution for have been instrumental in a cause that's close to my heart: keeping physical media alive. I could go on for hours about the joys of pulling a record off the shelf and placing on the turntable or scrolling through an iPod playlist to prepare for a broadcast is simply no comparison for standing in front of shelves of cds, pulling one off the shelf and reading the tracklist. Likewise, I could keep you at a bar until last call talking about the benefits of smaller labels and distributers in terms of getting newer talent heard.

But sometimes I think that those people who get it, get it, and those that don't...well, they don't. So I'll spare you all rants for tonight and instead focus my energies on spreading the good word of independent music on the air.

One side note before I go, I've recently become a very big fan of Carrie Brownstein's blog, Monitor Mix. Carrie in Sleater-Kinney and now blogs for NPR about music and music culture. I often find myself reading her blog and wondering why I didn't think of saying it that way. So check it out if you're looking for a good read.

Hearts Tiny and Black

2009-02-11T14:56:00.000-08:00

I don't even know how I originally found the article "So Your Tiny Black Heart Is Broken" on NPR's website today. Their music content has been very Valentine's heavy this week, and since tonight on Kaleidoscope I'm doing a Valentine's theme (Love found, love lost, and all that crazy stuff that happens in the middle), I decided to give it a read.

Yikes!

The articles describes the songs as being perfect for people who want to wallow in self loathing, drunk on their own misery. This raises a question that I've been pondering since earlier this afternoon: If 3 out of those 5 songs are among those I would consider adding to some kind of favorites list, what does that say about me? Yikes, indeed.

But it goes just a tad further into odd territory when I further explain that I have a poster of the Mountain Goats' album cover having above my couch. I also think Jason Molina is a genius and nearly made a fool out of myself gushing about how much I love his music when I got to meet him in Brooklyn a few years ago.

So what precisely does all of this say about me? When I first started in radio another DJ at WWSU once accused me of playing "old sad bastard music" so perhaps this hits a cord. Or perhaps the fact that I'm worried about what this says about me says a lot more than these five songs.

Strange new computer world

2009-01-22T14:35:00.000-08:00

Political ideals aside, I feel a new kinship with Obama's staffers after reading this article from the Washington Post.

As someone who can't live without her iBook, used an eMac during my stint as an Art Buyer, and is fairly anal-retentive (and really, that's putting it nicely) about the organization and flow of her information, I know first hand how having to make the switch over to PC and still maintain productivity can be rather daunting.

I also noticed that the article mentions that the Microsoft software on said PCs is roughly six years old, and yet they're using it for security reasons. Yikes! If there's one things I remember from the dark ages before my Apple days and even before my Linux days, it's that Microsoft programs weren't exactly the most secure applications in the world. Now, I suppose that the government has some handy dandy high tech firewalls and its own secure software, but the fact that they may be using an early version of Windows XP is still slightly unnerving.

Some of us actually do have vision problems

2009-01-21T17:52:00.000-08:00

Earlier today, this article made it's proverbial way across my metaphorical desk. I'm still processing my reaction.

If the point of the article was to expose young people who by and large are hedonistic jerks, then kudos to the journalists. Something that really bothers me is that the writer never says where these kids are that he's interviewing or gives much insight into their backgrounds. Not that it should matter persay, but these things could very telling as to why they act they way they do. Are these rich kids from te Upper East Side or LA, or are they middle class kids from the Midwest?

I also wish that the author had spent time with the "hipsters" outside of parties and nightlife activities. I don't care what sort scene you're exploring, people act very differently at a party (especially when there's alcohol around) than they would in daily life.

I'm certainly not trying to defend the subjects of the story or totally blast the article with righteous indignation since the title of this blog does have 'hispter' int it. I just feel that perhaps there's more to this story than the author is leading us to believe.

The only righteously indignant statement I will make is that the multiple mentions of fake glasses really bothered me. I found myself wondering if the author would look at me and say I was just wearing glasses to be trendy. This an accusation I've gotten before, and being pretty much blind as a bat and unable to wear contact lenses, it's quite annoying. But in the grand scheme, that's neither here nor there now is it?

It's a Bad Movie Where There's No Climax

2009-01-18T14:49:00.000-08:00

For my best movies of 2008, visit Exploitation Nation. This is a blog by my friend and independent filmmaker, Andy Copp. In addition to making movies, Andy's an expert in underground and grind house cinema spanning the decades so check out some of his older posts if you're looking for an education in films you may not have ever heard of. This year, he invited several friends to put together our best of 2008 in film lists for his blog, and my list happens to be the latest one posted.

Check back here for my best of 2008 in music and more later this week.

So This Is the New Year...

2009-01-14T18:09:00.000-08:00

I bet you all were wondering if I had given up blogging for the new year. Well the answer to that is no, I'm just a bit behind. However, I think I have a valid excuse. In the last days of 2008 and early days of 2009 I lost my job, rang in 2009, got a new job, got sick, lost my voice, and started my new radio show.

Whew! So needless to say, I'm a bit behind on things. So in the coming days, look for my best of 2008 lists, as well as some new posts about music, radio, and all kinds of other points of interest.

Give a Christmas Gift to Public Radio

2008-12-15T09:56:00.000-08:00

I would be remiss if I didn't pass along this message from This American Life's website:

Dear listeners,

Last week, the economic crisis that we’ve been reporting on hit especially close to home. A dozen colleagues from our home radio station, WBEZ Chicago, had to be laid off. It costs the radio station around $150,000 per year just for the internet bandwidth to deliver the free podcast and web stream of This American Life. That’s not staff. Not computers. Just the bandwidth. We really want the podcast to remain free, but the radio station cannot absorb these costs; that would mean more layoffs. So we’re asking for your help. We’re thrilled that last year, we were able to make up this entire bandwidth cost through thousands of small donations from listeners. So if you’re a regular podcast listener, or if you use this website a lot, please consider pitching in.

Thank you very much. In the current economy, your support means more than ever.
—TAL

As someone who's involved in public radio fund raising, let me say that a dollar or two is not too little to give. Every single cent counts. In trying economic times, we are all easily swayed by concern for our own/our families finances. However, the non-profits are getting hit just as hard as everyone else. No one is asking for you to break the bank to make donations this holiday season. Simply give what you feel you can. If everyone did that on a regular basis, the world would be in great shape.

...and that, my friends, applies to all non-profits, not just public radio.

With Great Power...

2008-12-03T18:57:00.000-08:00

Naming a radio show is much like naming a baby -- it's a big deal. Once you've chosen a name you're stuck with it because if you change the name too often, you'll just confuse and then lose listeners.

You want that perfect that sums up the spirit of your show in a few memorable words that slide off the tongue with the greatest of ease (because you'll be saying it a lot). You want a show that describes who you are and what you play as well but also reflects the overall tone of your station. You want a name that's hip and catchy, but not too hip so as to scare off more cautious listeners. You want something that it's going to be easy to make a few show promos from and doesn't have listeners or fellow DJs wondering if you just put a bunch of random words together.

You don't want something that's already a title of anything else be it song, book, etc. You don't want something that names a specific time because god forbid your time slot changes, and you have to rename the show (this is especially important for college radio hosts - as a former Programming Director a college station I've been the scheduler and the schedulee, so trust me when I say this is a very real possibility). And aobve all, you don't want something that'll end in the radio equivalent of this article.

All of this being said, I've been searching for a new name for Evening Excursions for a little over a year. Why? Well originally Evening Excursions was three shows on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday evenings named such as they were seen as the evening counterpart to Niki's Excursions, which airs in the mornings. As time went on however, Tuesday nights became Jazz Night, and Peter turned Thursdays into The Groove. Once I came on as a cohost of Evening Excursions with Christopher, it was decided that we really should focus some enery on a new name to better reflect what we're doing on the air (and so people don't get confused between us and Excursions during pledge drives).

I'm pleased to report that barring any catastrophe, we will have a new name for the show starting January 1st. I don't want to jinx anything so I'll refrain from announcing the actual name until I get the blessing of other folks at WYSO, but stay tuned to find out what we'll be calling Wednesday nights from now on....

I Heard the News Today, Old Boy

2008-11-19T18:18:00.000-08:00

The buzz around the office today was the following headline on CNN.com: "GM Plant's Closing Like a Death Knell in Dayton."

From the first rumbling of what the news networks have now named the economic crisis to the Democractic National Convention to Joe the Plumber, Ohio has been one of the prime examples for how bad things really are. Now granted, if you've lived your whole life in Dayton like I have, you've been hearing about the trouble at GM almost since birth. Dayton is a strange place. Musically, we were alled the next Seattle by Spin magazine in the mid 90s, which somehow explains why every Daytonian is assumed to be drinking buddies with Bob Pollard of Guided by Voices.

Dayton has also been compared a lot (and not just recently) to Flint, MI, and living here, you can see where our city could easily find itself in a situation like that of Flint - economically despressed due to major industry jobs that had sustained the community for decades pulling out. We've all known that this was going happen, hoped that it wouldn't, prayed that new companies would recognize the large workforce available to them and move into to replace the lost jobs...but of right now, we'll have to keep praying.

I work in an office, not a factory, but I can't begin to describe the sorrow I felt reading that article. Even some 10 hours later, I'm somewhere between tears and getting sick to my stomach trying to process all of this to write about. As a member of the community, there's such a feeling of helplessness. You want to stamp your feet and shout and demand that these good, hardworking people keep their jobs so that their families will flourish and in turn, the community will flourish.

I'm not going to point fingers or try to blame people in a situation that I don't fully understand. Instead, I'll echo a point that's a personal mantra: support your local community in any way that you can. Whether it's buying your food from a locally owned grocer or a local farmer, or getting a few Christmas presents from a local artisan or craft fair - every little bit helps. I found myself saying it a lot during WYSO's fall pledge drive: if everyone contributes a little and does what they can, positive things can happen. Or, as My Morning Jacket says in their song "Librarian":
Cause everything'd be grrreat...everything'd be good...if everybody gave...like everybody could

Speaking of My Morning Jacket, the reason I quoted that song is because that's what I'm playing on the air right now. I think a lot of my broadcasts better express what I'm thinking about something than I can in words. I've often mused that within a single show, I write all sorts of open letters to people through music sometimes without even realizing it. Sometimes it's the lyrics or the juxtaposition of two songs. Other times it's the sheer sound or the tempo. Most people think that the music is the art in radio, and it's certainly a big part of it. However, there's a lot to be said for the artistry that goes into putting a show together.

We'll expore that further some time in the near future.

Who moved my (cream) cheese?

2008-11-10T14:59:00.000-08:00

Today didn't seem like a banner day on the surface. I received the news that my car needs a massive amount of expensive repairs. I realized that I had missed something big in one of my teachers' guides about 4 hours into the day, which meant the next 6 or so hours were spent trying to catch up on my oversight. But something really cool did happen at work today. For over 6th months I've been working on a high school social studies book about American Government. Today, I got to officially add Barack Obama to the Presidents' section in the back of the book. I have to say, that felt good.

In other news, I recently tried Tofutti's non-dairy cream cheese, and I can't say that I'm a fan. I mean yes, I certainly enjoy that non-dairy quality of it. The less dairy in my diet means the less nausea and stomach aches I experience. However, I was not a fan of the distinctly soy taste. Part of the reason I love cream cheese is the tangy taste. Perhaps this would taste good on a breakfast bagle as the taste was a lot like the soy milk I take in my cappucinos, but on a sandwhich with roast beef it was fairly nasty. I will give Tofutti that they got the texture spot on, but this almost works to their disadvantage when matched with the taste. If the texture had been off, perhaps I'd have been more prepared for the taste to be off. Trader Joe's also makes non-dairy cream cheese so perhaps I'll try their brand and see how that works.

Since I got home so late, I missed craft night at the Trolley Stop so I will be left to knit on my own time. But first I think it's time to read some of David Sedaris' new book, which is being generously loaned to me by my coworker and appreciate the cuteness that is Leslie.

Rock and roll the vote with WWSU 106.9!

2008-11-04T15:13:00.000-08:00

Before/after you cast your ballot please tune into WWSU 106.9's election coverage. WWSU is my radio alma mater and still one of my absolute favorite stations. I had the pleasure of doing election coverage with them in 2004, and this year Johnathon and the rest of their crew are making everything bigger and better. They'd like to submit this year's coverage for a Peabody Award so please listen and support them!

Tune your dials to 106.9FM in the Dayton area or go to WWSU to stream online.

**If you want to stream in iTunes and you can't get it to work via WWSU's site, simply search WWSU on ShoutCast's website and you'll be able to stream to iTunes.

This American Obsession

2008-10-30T18:26:00.000-07:00

As if it weren't perfectly obvious to everyone around me, I have a pretty healthy obsession with public radio. It probably makes perfect sense given that I am a DJ on a public radio station, but even with that distinction, I'm taking it to a whole new level.

Like most NPR junkies, I start my morning with Morning Edition and ride home from my day job to All Things Considered. Saturday mornings aren't complete without Wait Wait Don't Tell Me and Car Talk.

But by and large, my biggest public radio obsession is This American Life. I cannot go a week without Ira Glass and his amazing group of authors, interviewers, and essayists. In fact, it's gotten to be that I can't go a day without them. Thus, I began a sort of personal challenge to listen to every single episode in the now 13 year run of the show. Podcasting and a day job where I spend a good chunk of time researching has made this feat a bit easier to accomplish.

So intent am I on this, I've even made myself a little spreadsheet of all the episodes so that I neither miss nor repeat any. Currently, I've listened to roughly 54 out of 367 so I'm about 15% there as of today.