Aircheck: November 2010

30 November 2010

God Must Be a Steelers Fan

I have put up with athletes for years thanking God for a fine performance; a touchdown, a homerun, a GOAL. This past weekend in the NFL takes the cake. I have had enough of the God crutch these players rely on. No question of their free exercise of faith; what I do take issue with is blaming the Almighty for dropping a pass in the end zone. It was an easy catch that would have won the game in overtime for the virtually winless Buffalo Bills against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday. Wide receiver Stevie Johnson bitterly blamed God for the loss. Later he “tweeted:”

I PRAISE YOU 24/7!!!!!! AND THIS HOW YOU DO ME!!!!! YOU EXPECT ME TO LEARN FROM THIS??? HOW???!!! ILL NEVER FORGET THIS!! EVER!!! THX THO...

Blasphemy!

Next time I see someone “cross” themselves in the end zone, I am changing the channel.

Stay tuned

What Now?

Here we are at the end of another month. My, time flies. Keeping up a daily blog is a chore this time of year. I feel like it is in a constant state of development and evolution. Right now, I am considering 2011 and how the Peanut Whistle will change. One thing is for sure; we will become a more “general interest” weblog. Along with my original Aircheck blog this little enterprise will have a broader appeal relying less on themes that had previously captured my attention. True to my nature, this blog will reflect my own constant flux. I have gone through many phases and suppose this won’t change as I mature.

Stay tuned

Big Fan

Today’s post just goes to show you what little it takes to excite me. One of my favorite radio stations here in Atlanta is 680, the Fan. As you may have guessed it is an all sports-talk station. I have been listening to their coverage of the local and national sports scene for quite some time now. What gets me going right now is that their signal is getting a boost, literally. They have added a simulcast to their original 680 AM on 93.7 FM. Now, no matter what time, day or night, I can hear the Fan (static free). Yes! This turn of events is all thanks to the FCC’s recent ruling on allowing some AM stations an FM translator in addition to their normal frequency.

Stay tuned

17 November 2010

Glam Country

I saw Keith Urban this morning on the Today Show. He did a great job in the interview and the song that followed. Thanks to High Definition, I noticed generous use of stage make-up and wondered how old Waylon Jennings or Willie Nelson would think of this new-fangled Country style. Today’s Country is more like the Glam Rock of the early 1970’s. Urban appeared more like David Bowie than he did the Outlaws he tried to emulate (not to mention he’s Australian, for crying out loud). Don’t get me wrong I am a little bit Country and a little bit Rock-n-Roll. Okay, maybe calling new Country “Glam” is a bit extreme, but it’s not the real deal.

Stay tuned

16 November 2010

Big Surprise

*Spoiler Alert*

The popular music source iTunes proclaimed yesterday that they would be making an exciting announcement today at 10:00 eastern time. Well, news has been leaked that the Beatles catalog will finally be available on the popular music site. Legal feuding has been going on between Apple Computer and the Beatles’ Apple Records label since the late 1970’s. These disputes have reportedly been settled. For more information see the Wall Street Journal.

Stay tuned.

15 November 2010

Mugshot Bull

For the last decade and a half, I have worked in specialty retail wearing many hats. Most of that time was spent as a manager of some of craziest characters around. In 2007, One particular individual stands out. This guy named Richard, 81 and still working, claimed to have spent his youth running Prohibition Era booze for Al Capone then dashing off to WWII, having lied about his age.

His stories were very entertaining. Looking back, my research (and some basic math) have proved that the gangster stories, at least, were apocryphal. You see, Capone was active from the early 1920’s until 1931. If my friend was 81 that means he was born in 1926, making him five when the Boss of the Chicago Outfit was imprisoned. Unless Richard was Indiana Jones and Forrest Gump rolled up into one, his stories just do not add up. By the way, I have some beach front property in Nevada to sell.

Stay tuned.

The Pages

A ton of bricks hit me. Nobody cares to read radio shop talk. The weight has crushed the original focus of this blog. For those die-hard enthusiasts remaining, we will redirect future broadcast focused posts to one of our sub-pages called Radio Daze, just click on the link in the margin.

When we started this thing over a year and a half ago I set out to write what I know, as if it was the only thing I knew. A very short period in my life has been under the microscope far too long. I have grown beyond the topic of an irrelevant past and future postings will reflect the change. This week Gospel Aircheck will become simply, Aircheck.

Stay tuned

14 November 2010

The Birthday Truck Returns

In 1990 this blogger found himself mid-point in a radio career as program director at a 2,500 watt AM that served the Atlanta marketplace (barely). Our owner compelled me to begin a whacky morning show with a new female host. I hated the idea. A fluff show on a southern gospel station would not work; I had never seen (better heard) these type shows work. Our audience was very old. Why would they accept two kids in their mid-20’s droning on about the hot topics of the day? My new co-host was my age; lacked any radio experience, but was a natural talent, so she quickly caught on. I finally acclimated myself to the concept having actually putting in 100%. Despite our efforts, the show lasted mid-November until it tanked just before Christmas when the two of us had exhausted every idea for the old folks now switching off their radios en masse. In hindsight, the station’s format should have been changed altogether—perhaps talk or oldies—in order to make the morning show work. Today marks the 20th anniversary. To celebrate, Aircheck has posted a YouTube video. Exclusively available here:

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©2010 Neal Rhoden,Gospel Aircheck blog. All rights reserved.

12 November 2010

Jack Wagon

Here is a commercial from Geico Insurance that I love. It reminds me of the Eagles song Get Over It, especially the line: “I’d like to find your inner child and kick its little a—”

But I digress. The anti-psychobabble sentiment of this ad is the same.

R. Lee Ermey Geico Commercial

Stay tuned.

11 November 2010

Got Your Number

It seems that the phone company has discontinued the distribution of phonebooks citing Internet usage as the reason for the change. I’ve racked my brain trying remember the last time I looked up a number using print media. Probably when Bill Clinton was president. Hooray for progress. By the way, customers can request a hard copy of the phonebook (should they require it.)

Stay tuned

Get a Job, Part 2

The recession has done a number on each of us. In years past many found work quite easily. Many of us in our prime are faced with taking jobs for which we are way overqualified. And recently, I heard of new college grads taking starter jobs that would seem beneath us a generation ago. I do not envy these kids. A degree is no guarantee (to coin a phrase.) I entered the job market during a recession. Fortunately, we had Ronald Reagan to rescue us.

Stay tuned

Let’s Share

Yesterday on the other side of the house we shared an article that was written by a family friend about my parents and their new baby. It spotlights the challenges faced by a blind couple raising a child in 1960’s Atlanta. Obviously, this blogger is the baby in question. Today, Gospel Aircheck presents the article, reformatted, with corrections in the footnotes. Although generally accurate, the original got a few minor facts incorrect. Link over to read or download the whole article here.

Stay Tuned

10 November 2010

My Story

Here is a article written in 1966 from an Atlanta newspaper by a friend of my dad’s. It gives some background into my story. It is clippings such as these that provide some great family history research for my book project (in the making.) View and download here.

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Is This Thing On?

Over the years I have seen interviews and read articles about self-conscious actors who refused to watch themselves on film. I hardly ever heard of singers or disk jockeys who didn’t like to hear their voice on tape. Maybe a few, but that’s doubtful. (Especially DJ’s and radio hosts.) I confess that I listen to my own “airchecks”; many of them are nearly 30 years old. Why? When you figure that out, let me know.

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08 November 2010

Dirty Birds

One of the best games I saw this weekend involved my Atlanta Falcons at home against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Thanks go to the Bucs coach for proclaiming their team was the best in the conference. Little did they know the Dirty Birds came to play! The highlight of the game was a last minute goal line stand preventing Tampa Bay from scoring a go-ahead touchdown. We return again this Thursday to face the Baltimore Ravens at the Georgia Dome.

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Little Peanuts

Last weekend was a blast! The kids had the best Halloween, ever. With the three youngest ones now all old enough to truly enjoy the holiday, they have really been a pleasure to watch. First on Saturday, the 30th was dress up for “Trunk or Treating”; then, on the 31st they found a—ahem—well to do neighborhood for traditional “trick-or-treating”. They all made out like bandits. Special thanks go to our 15 year old who helped mom get them there.

Our middle daughter was positively giddy going as Frenchy from her favorite movie, Grease. Our boy and baby girl were a hit as Mario and Luigi from the popular Mario Bros. Nintendo video games.

Stay tuned

07 November 2010

Pluggin’ Away

Born out of TV talk shows—probably, the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson—the term “plug” came to mean that an actor or performer came on the show to promote their latest project. Today I’m plugging my blogs with our latest YouTube vids.

Here’s the “stuff”

My TV promo. Be here!

Stay tuned

Peanut Promo

06 November 2010

A Thousand Views

For many of you keeping track—and it’s really sad if you have—the YouTube video tour of one of my radio homes has reached well over 1,000 views. Link on over to my channel, Jim O’Neal has added a couple new videos there. Here’s to a million!

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On the (Writer’s) Block

From time to time I am stumped. Other times the words just flow. Over the past few months the former seemed to be true. Back in January I resolved to write every day in order to help myself improve. That resolution crumbled. I need help from the readers. What hooked you on this blog? What will keep you? Please comment; let us know what interests you and we’ll do our best to write about it. Check the archive for the posts that have met your expectations. If preferable e-mail us: nealrhoden@gospelaircheck.com

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05 November 2010

Brrrr!

Although it seemed the day would never come, cold weather is here! Global warming: yeah, right.

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03 November 2010

Click to Play

Make sure to explore the contents of this blog. If you currently subscribe through a reader we invite you to follow this link to our site. We have the podcast archive, pages,links and more for you to see.

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Explore Gospel Aircheck

You have landed on this humble weblog because of an interest in gospel music or maybe an interest in radio broadcasting. Whatever the reason, thanks for reading the posts. You are invited to explore the site as well. From time to time we change the look, but one constant remains: the content. In the side bars (or margins) of the page are the podcasts and various audio elements. Look (or listen) to the other pages. Go ahead. I dare you. Also, let your voice be heard. Leave comments. Thanks again.

Stay tuned

01 November 2010

YouTube Mashup

This morning I had some fun with the new online YouTube Video Editor. We joined a few of our popular uploads into one presentation, The Grand Tour, enjoy: