Thursday, February 28, 2013

Brutally Honest - LIVE - 02/25/13 Post-Show Thoughts

Hey guys... haven't done a post-show thought in a while, so I just wanted to get one going.

This past Monday's show was GREAT!  Even though I ended up cutting the last Quick Rant short, I'd rather have THAT problem than to deal with dead air.

For those that stick to the archives, you may notice that at some points the audio cuts out or is choppy.  Unfortunately this is the pitfall of doing remote broadcasts between here in the Atlanta area and the radio station over in Oklahoma City.  The station's broadcast computers are the ones recording the show for the archive, and even with redundancy systems put in, it's still a matter of the signal going from my boards to the server, and if the signal cuts out between here and there, there's nothing we can do.

I'm glad the discussion on gun control and Facebook Junk Food got all of the callers that it did.  Again, it's great to be in a position to where I'm running out of time instead of finding ways to fill in that time.

The suggestion was made after broadcast that I should have a 90-minute show, or even a two-hour show.  I appreciate the suggestion, but for me the problem are listeners and callers.  I need to make sure that I have enough callers to fill that time slot, no matter if it's one hour or even three.  I have to know that the callers and listeners are there every week or else it's just not worth the time.

This, by the way, is why I really have to rely on you guys to help spread the word about my show, and why I always say that if you don't listen to the shows when they are broadcast and just rely on the archives, then you suck.  This is about callers and listeners, no different than the overpaid ego-maniacal syndicated hosts.  They get paid because they bring in both callers and listeners.

By the way, remember when Brent brought up this week's Brutally Honest column concerning newspapers?  Well you can check it out here.  I don't get to talk about the weekly column like I used to because it would take time for me to read it on the air (which is what I did with the podcasts), and then try to get your responses to it, and I really can't do that and some of the other features that have been more popular.  However, if there is time and you want to talk about one of the articles on the radio show, I'm willing to discuss it.

Well that's really it for now.  Time for me to get started on what to talk about on Monday.  If you like what you hear, PLEASE don't keep it to yourself!  Share it! Spread the word!  Get your friends to listen in!

And I'll see you guys this Monday at 8pm ET at www.ShockNetRadio.com for more commentary that is social, political, and BRUTALLY HONEST - LIVE!

Friday, February 22, 2013

Brutally Honest - LIVE! - 02/25/13 Show Notes

SO... what to discuss for Mondays show?

Well ever since the Newtown shooting there's a certain Facebook graphic that has been making the rounds.  And normally I drop-kick those kinds of graphics and wish I could do the same to some of the people that regurgitate them. (I said SOME!)  But this particular one sticks out:

So let me get this straight...
  1. The ban on alcohol didn't work.
  2. The "ban" on marijuana didn't work.
  3. The ban on illegal immigration didn't work.

... but Obama believes a gun ban will be followed by criminals?

This isn't just bad policy. It's just plain stupid.

Now the gut reaction to this is to say "yeah, you're right", and then you'll make the mistake of liking it or, even worse, sharing it with everyone else, and thus carrying on the mindless propaganda

But hidden within this bumper-sticker Facebook cerebral junk food are some falsehoods and fallacies.  I'm sure if you look at that close enough that you'll spot at least one of them.

So I'm opening that up to you the listeners to talk about on the show this Monday.  Call in at our TOLL-FREE number during the show and let me know what you think of this piece of Facebook junk food propaganda.

Of course there will be some other things going on during the show... the Quick Rants, obviously, maybe some sponsored products, and who knows?  We may even get a call from the Celeb-Line!

Oh, and how about our temp producer, Mister Anonymous?  Will last week's tryout be coming back?  You're just going to have to find out!

So tune in THIS MONDAY (2/25), right here on ShockNet Radio at 8pm Eastern (7pm Central and 5pm Pacific) over at www.shocknetradio.com and also at Apple's iTunes Radio Player under the "Classic Rock" category.

And don't forget that I'll be in the "BH-LIVE" chatroom at www.shocknetradio.com during the show to discuss the subject LIVE!

Oh, and by the way, if you like what you hear, if you enjoy the conversations and rants, could you do me a favor and tell your friends about it?  Maybe get them to tune in as well?

When the truth is not enough, it's time for... BRUTALLY HONEST - LIVE!

Sunday, February 17, 2013

Brutally Honest - LIVE! - 02/18/13 Show Notes

If you haven't done so yet, I urge you to pay a visit to the American Heathen (r) website and check out the journey of "America's Angriest Atheist" (and ShockNet Radio station manager) as he campaigned and lobbied in Washington DC alongside other broadcasters for Internet radio rate equality.

Yes, ShockNet's fearless leader and foxhole atheist went to Washington and stood alongside big syndication companies and religious broadcasters and small broadcasters and Pandora and they all went up against the great brain drain that is Washington DC itself.  And, surprisingly enough, he was able to escape unscathed.  Nobody's face melted when self-righteous theists shook hands with an atheist.  And even though some of RJ's most despised enemies were in town (including Ted Nugent) for the State of the Union Speech, we didn't need to start a bail fund for him.  The only casualties were a hotel pillow, RJ's neurons, and a bottle of aspirin.

But that got me thinking about the discussion topic for this week's show, especially since it WILL be on "President's Day".  So here it is...

BELTWAY BULL$#!T!

That's right, our favorite topic: the games politicians play!  Budget Sequestration, No Budget No Pay, Fiscal Cliff, Spending Ceiling, Filibusters, Lobbying Reform, the MYTH of equal blame, the MYTH of "unintended consequences", whatever it is that p#sses you off about politics, I WANT YOU TO CALL IN ON IT!

And IS one party to blame more so than another?  I want to know what you think about that!  Call in on our toll-free number and let us know!  I made sure our call-screener Gladys has plenty of smelling salts this time around.

Got you fired up?  Good.  And I also got some really positive feedback about our "sponsored products", so we'll probably have a few more as well.  Oh, and will the "new" Mister Anonymous be back?  You'll just have to tune in to find out!

Join me LIVE on Monday night (2/18) at 8pm ET, 7pm CT, for another week of commentary that is social, political, and in-your-face! 

It's BRUTALLY HONEST - LIVE! on ShockNet Radio and simulcast on iTunes.

Friday, February 08, 2013

Brutally Honest - LIVE - 02/11/13 Show Notes

Greetings all...

I've been working on the stuff for Monday's broadcast of "Brutally Honest - LIVE" on ShockNet Radio... and since it is a LIVE broadcast, I don't always HAVE to have the show notes up right before the show.

First, thank you to everyone that tuned in and sounded off on the subject of the past two weeks, namely about whether we should abandon the U.S. Constitution.  I think everyone that called and chimed in are pretty much of the same opinion that we shouldn't, although there are some things that need tweaking. 

So we've bled that discussion subject dry and it's time to move on to another subject.

Right now I have THREE subjects on the plate for this coming Monday and I'm going to let you the listening audience decide which ones we should focus on for the Discussion Line.

Issue #1: The Post Office - We may or may not lose Saturday deliveries in August.  I'll have my own thoughts on the subject available on Monday morning through my weekly column, but I want your opinions during the show.  Are you comfortable with only getting mail from Monday to Friday?  What suggestions would you have to help keep the Post Office solvent?

Issue #2: The Next Looming "Crisis" - We are three weeks away from yet another artificial crisis created by Washington... namely the planned slashing of the budget unless GOP and the Obama White House get their acts together.  Are you as sick of this horsecr@p political brinksmanship as I am?  Let me know!

Issue #3: Mister Evans Goes To Washington! - RJ Evans, our esteemed station boss, is actually going to Washington DC this coming week to speak with members of Congress about a bill to fix the royalty screwjob that is imposed on Internet radio stations like ShockNet Radio.  This is basically the online broadcasters versus the recording agencies and their billions of dollars in revenue, and it is a battle that affects even larger broadcasters like Pandora.  So we'd like to know what you think... can Washington survive the presence of America's Angriest Atheist?  And how about this idea that Internet radio broadcasters like ShockNet Radio should be forced to fork over huge wads of cash to recording companies when terrestrial broadcasters pay NOTHING?  What SHOULD be the solution?

Also, we have some shakeups with the program this coming Monday.  One of which you've probably heard on the air.  We've had to let our temporary producer "Mister Anonymous" go.  He wasn't cutting it this past week.  SO we've been hitting Craigslist again and we will have a new "Mister Anonymous" in the producer's booth on Monday.

What else will be different? Well I think you better TUNE IN on Monday night and find out!

"Brutally Honest - LIVE!"  Monday night, 8pm ET, 7pm CT, LIVE on ShockNet Radio at www.ShockNetRadio.com and also through iTunes in the Classic Rock portion of their radio player!

Monday, February 04, 2013

Brutally Honest - LIVE - 02/04/13 Show Notes

Yeah yeah, I didn't have official "show notes" last week for the debut show... oh well.

SO... it's Monday again and it's time to get ready for tonight's LIVE broadcast.

I really had fun with last week's triumphant return of "Brutally Honest - LIVE!" and I hope you guys did as well.

In fact, the discussion topic "Is it time we abandoned the U.S. Constitution" actually had people talking about it even after the show.

SO we're going to get back to it!

This week we will have that subject once again when the phone lines open.  But let's add a little twist to it... even if you're opposed to the idea of abandoning the Constitution (like I am), I'm sure there are things that you want to have fixed.  WHAT are they and HOW would you approach it?

Of course I'll still have the Quick Rants, "Rules of the Game", and the Celeb Line, so there's PLENTY of things for you to tune-in on, and also to sound-off on. 

TUNE IN TONIGHT - 8pm ET, 7pm CT, www.ShockNetRadio.com and also through iTunes through the Classic Rock section of the RADIO player.

LOG IN TONIGHT - our new JAVA-FREE chatroom is at www.ShockNetRadio.com

CALL IN TONIGHT - 866-400-6684 toll-free, US and Canada.  Oh, and please don't try to hit on call-screener Gladys.

Did I forget anything?  OH, and if you did miss last week's show, Mr. Anonymous did save an archive for us, so it'll be up on the Internet Archive after tonight's program.  BUT you wouldn't miss anything if you tune-in when the show airs, so I hope you'll join me TONIGHT at 8pm ET on www.ShockNetRadio.com