Greensboro, NC -- It's
been quite awhile since I've whipped something up in the Bistro, so
let's get down to business... as in, the business that has taken over my
time in blogging. As most of you know, I've been involved in a
wonderful podcast (IMO) called The Less Desirables.
Each week, we discuss the latest news in movies, music, sports,
technology, and a "beer of the week." This past Wednesday, we just
recorded our 92nd podcast, and we're quickly closing in on two years of
production. With nearly two years under our belts, the most frequently
asked question has to be where do you see this going?
Tim Beeman
and I launched the podcast on February 3, 2010. During the first few
months, we only had close friends and family tuning in each week, or
once a month for that matter. I'm not sure when, or if, there was a
"turning point" that bolstered our listener-ship, but our newly
redesigned website that launched in mid-November 2010 was a healthy
start. Armed with this new website and slick logo (below), the podcast
eventually catapulted into a new realm. The Less Desirables were
now receiving website "hits" in the hundreds. As 2010 began to wind
down, other guests and gurus were introduced to the show. By June of
this year, it was rare not to have a guest on the show.
In
August and September of this year, when one sums the number of
downloads from our website, iTunes, and other "aggregaters," we've
surpassed the one thousand-download-per-month mark. This milestone was
achieved in a number of ways -- more guests, especially some fantastic
musicians playing live songs, enthusiastic gurus, including the Beer
Guru (C. Jay Platt), the College Sports Guru (J-Mac), and our TV Guru (Eugene). We've also partnered ourselves with some superb sponsors, such as City Beverage, Cafe Roche, Bob's Big Gas Subs & Pub, Barnhill's, and Finnigan's Wake
to name a few. If you've been listening at all during the past two
months, you've probably also heard our Official Third Wheel, Mr. Eugene
Sims. Eugene, like Tim, adds a ton of "color" to the show, and his
knowledge of TV is unparalleled. If we're a true pop culture podcast, we definitely need some insight into the tube world.
This
winter, Tim and I are looking to get out "on the road." With our new
recording equipment, we will be stopping in and recording live at our
sponsors first. Then, we'll hit up some new breweries as we did last
January. We will also be launching an "alternate" logo next month. One
popular idea that was presented to us was producing a CD of all of the
artists during this past year. Well, you're in luck -- available in
December we will have the official The Less Desirables' "2011 Choice Cuts; Graded D for Desirable." Be sure to pick up a copy when it's available! All proceeds will be donated to Triad Information Reading Services (TIRS), a group that Tim and I both volunteer our time to once a month.
I've laid out the history and trends of The Less Desirables up until now. To answer the question, where do I see this going -- well, we're a national podcast with a local North
Carolina flavor. Obviously, we want this show to hit the national
stage at some point. It's going to take a ton of hard work and
dedication, and maybe a little luck. However, we need to expand beyond
the Piedmont Triad area, but with baby steps. We'll continue to
interview people (from anywhere) who are involved in the topics that we
discuss; i.e. musicians, artists, brewers, wine makers, sports figures,
etc. However, I think most of all, we're going to need YOUR
support in order to succeed. The average listener who downloads the
podcast weekly, and maybe tells a friend or relative, will be the
primary factor in expanding this podcast exponentially. When you
comment or submit a mailbag question, you have no idea how much you're
augmenting the show -- it shows that you're listening, and in turn, it
builds our confidence. On the same token, we love your feedback and
suggestions on how to improve the show. We hope that we can provide you
with some weekly entertainment that you can listen to at your
convenience without the interruption of boring commercials. Further,
rather than just reading newspaper articles like your typical morning
DJ's, we want to have a conversation and expand on those topics. The
podcast is a conversation among friends, and hopefully you can relate to
our conversation as we touch on topics that people enjoy -- music,
movies, sports, technology, TV, and beer. Is there anything else that we're missing?
Tim,
Eugene, and I hope to see you on the road this winter. Drop us a line
anytime or request a TLD sticker for your ride, but above all else, we
appreciate your support of the show! We're expecting big things this
winter and beyond.
Winston-Salem, NC -- Out with the old, in with the new! It's time for a sleeker look to the Bistro!
We have some great upcoming shows to The Less Desirables! Joining us this Wednesday will be the legendary Jerry Chapman. Jerry's last album in 2008, "Sweet Impossible" features the hit single, "Josephine," which hopefully, he'll play live in studio.
A short post, but wanted to say "hello" to anyone who may be reading. Cheers!
Winston-Salem, NC -- Some fans have asked me to comment on the Los Angeles Dodgers, one of the crown jewel franchises in baseball, filing for bankruptcy this past Monday.
The Dodgers filing for bankruptcy should be seen as no surprise if you’ve been following this fiasco. The owner (Frank McCourt) bought the team mostly on borrowed funds and shaky real estate ventures. As we all know, real estate was at a premium in 2004 when he bought the team. With the collapse of the financial markets, coupled with an ultra expensive divorce, McCourt ran out of money pretty quickly. It’s so bad that he probably won’t be able to make payroll on June 30th. By filing for bankruptcy, McCourt is hoping to use this ploy to hold on to the team for as long as he possibly can.
Aside from this incident, and Bernie Madoff and the Mets, I don’t think the league is struggling by any means. They could allow a deal with FOX to front McCourt $30M (future TV deal), but MLB is wisely nixing this deal, so that they can usurp the team from McCourt when he misses payroll. In a nutshell, MLB made a mistake selling a crown jewel franchise to this fool. If MLB went liberal and sold it to Mark Cuban, the only worries would involve Cuban blasting the umpires or something like that.
I will be discussing this topic in this week's podcast (6.29.11; #74) on The Less Desirables. Please tune-in to the show as we host Sound Lizzard Productions.
Greensboro, NC -- I'm very late in posting my picks for the 2011 MLB season as made on The Less Desirables podcast on March 30th. As you can tell, I'm not cheating (i.e. altering picks) since some of the picks appear to be foolish. Here's a question for you -- would you still pick the Red Sox to with the AL East with their massive amount of talent yet 5-10 record?
AL East: Red Sox
AL Central: White Sox
AL West: Angels
AL Wild Card: Yankees
NL East: Phillies
NL Central: Cardinals
NL West: Giants (could go with the Rockies, but they're too risky)
NL Wild Card: Braves
ALDS:
Red Sox over White Sox
Yankees over Angels
ALCS:
Red Sox over Yankees
NLDS:
Phillies over Cardinals
Braves over Giants
NLCS:
Phillies over Braves
WS:
Red Sox over Phillies
AL MVP: Adrian Gonzalez
NL MVP: Albert Pujols
AL Cy Young: C.C. Sabathia
NL Cy Young: Ubaldo Jimenez
AL ROY: Jeremy Hellickson
NL ROY: Freddie Freeman
Greensboro, NC -- I finally had the opportunity last night to visit the new International Civil Rights Museum in downtown Greensboro. This beautiful edifice, appropriately located on February One Place on the main drag of Elm Street, opened on the 50th anniversary (2.1.10) of the famous Greensboro Sit-in's. I'm not going to conduct a history lesson in this space, but more so, just comment on the museum itself.
Greensboro, NC -- That snazzy little summary that follows this blog's name in the top left corner, "... your daily serving of genius" might as well be changed to "your semi-annual serving of genius." Yes, I know it's been way too long since I've written in this space, but The Less Desirables podcast has completely consumed my free time. This space should be used for random thoughts, which it will be from now on. I think, in the past, when I was an active blogger, this space was used to tell a well thought-out story, or something that intrigued me to write something about it. Let's trim down the length, and just get some thoughts published in this space!
One of my favorite times of the year is the end of March/beginning of April. The NCAA tournament is wrapping up, the long NHL and NBA seasons are coming to a close, but most importantly, it's the start of baseball! Thanks to DirecTV's free MLB Extra Innings preview (for the next two weeks), I've been able to check out each team's early season roster. After scanning the Orioles' roster this season, I had to check my notes from the infamous 2003-2004 offseason. During that time, the Orioles were able to expunge the expensive Albert Belle contract (5 years/$65M), and finally dip into the free agent pool. The Orioles signed Miguel Tejada, Rafael Palmeiro, Javy Lopez, and Sidney Ponson to multi-year deals that offseason. While it appeared to be a major splash at the time, I felt the Orioles didn't make a cannonball-sized splash. Vladimir Guerrero spurned the Orioles, and took less money from the Angels, while Derrek Lee balked at the O's offer in an exclusive trading window (he was eventually traded to the Cubs) with the Marlins. Let's check out this season's lineup:
- Brian Roberts, 2B -- On the 2004 team.
- Nick Markakis, RF -- Drafted in 2003; probably could have played on the '04 team due to a lack of prospects in the O's farm system at the time.
- Derrek Lee, 1B -- should have been on the '04 team.
- Vladimir Guerrero, DH -- ditto Lee.
- Luke Scott, LF
- Adam Jones, CF
- Mark Reynolds, 3B
- Matt Wieters, C
- JJ Hardy, SS
Ok, so the similarities might not be as strong as you think. However, it's interesting that this team signed two players -- 7 years later -- that they swung and miss the first time around.
