Friday, May 13, 2005
El Paso Radio History
It's probably not the most important piece of radio history in El Paso, but it's significant to me. Newstalk 690 KTSM AM used to be under the old AM signal of 1380 for something close to 70 years until the signal changed in 2000. I remember that night was so strange. My station at that time was a fully staffed 24 hour station, and I had the morning shift. Well, this day was different. Management wanted me to be at the old building as the last board operator so I could shut off the transmitter and allow the signal to switch over to the new frequency.
The moment came. I sat at the microphone, and instead of the standard pre-recorded legal ID we always play, I opened the mic, and had announced:
With that, I turned off the microphone, turned around in my studio & shut off the main power to the transmitter on the mountain. Tower lights still blinking, I was the last person to broadcast from the old KTSM studios on N. Oregon street. It was the most eerie feeling in the world. This studio had always had another operator come in and relieve the one on duty, and here I was, now the only person in the entire TV & radio complex and I was going to turn out the lights & shut the door forever.
I looked around the room, most of the equipment was already plundered and moved to our new studios (with the exception of our old 4 track cart machines & old reel-to-reels) and the talk set where I used to be the morning show co-host was already dismantled & destroyed. It was a surreal dream, it was my first paid radio job and my first real radio studio. I turned out all the lights, shut the studio door and walked out of the building, into the parking lot and became a part of El Paso radio history.
The moment came. I sat at the microphone, and instead of the standard pre-recorded legal ID we always play, I opened the mic, and had announced:
We now end our broadcast on this signal, please tune to our new signal AM 690 for all of your favorite programming. You have been listening to Newstalk 1380 KTSM-AM El Paso.
With that, I turned off the microphone, turned around in my studio & shut off the main power to the transmitter on the mountain. Tower lights still blinking, I was the last person to broadcast from the old KTSM studios on N. Oregon street. It was the most eerie feeling in the world. This studio had always had another operator come in and relieve the one on duty, and here I was, now the only person in the entire TV & radio complex and I was going to turn out the lights & shut the door forever.
I looked around the room, most of the equipment was already plundered and moved to our new studios (with the exception of our old 4 track cart machines & old reel-to-reels) and the talk set where I used to be the morning show co-host was already dismantled & destroyed. It was a surreal dream, it was my first paid radio job and my first real radio studio. I turned out all the lights, shut the studio door and walked out of the building, into the parking lot and became a part of El Paso radio history.
Thursday, May 12, 2005
Why isn't the word 'gullible' in the dictionary?
So yeah, I had been missing the past day. I didn't have anything to contribute. Today I somewhat do. I had been searching the internet for some new Strange Findings and came across GoodQuotes.com and started reading some of their collection of Funny Thoughts and started to realize I know some of the answers.
Can you breathe out of your nose and mouth at the same time?
The answer is yes, however, because your mouth is a larger opening, more airflow runs thru your mouth than your nose.
Why did Yankee Doodle name the feather in his hat Macaroni?
Everyone has sung the song "Yankee Doodle" when they were young, or sung that to a child (even though it would highly embarrass the child) but I doubt anyone gave a thought to what it meant. It was the British who penned the song as a malicious melody to make fun of us after we gained our independence back in the 1770's. The British said we were so uncouth and behind the fashion senses of France, we wouldn't know good fashion if we stuck a feather in a hat and called it macaroni. That phrase was included in the song, and we have been singing it ever since...
-damn Limeys...
If I had my legs amputated, would I have to change my height and weight on my driver's license?
I actually know the answer for this. We had a disabled guy work for us in our past, and he actually told us after loosing his leg and seriously damaging his other in a freak accident, his height DECREASED because of it. While I am thinking about it, wheelchair bound people are actually measured on a table to gauge their height lying down when applying for either a license or ID. Texas doesn't have a space for a person's weight on licenses.
Is sign language the same in languages other than English?
No. The most common sign language taught in the United States is an English sign. Many countries have their own language for sign.
Why would Dodge make a car called Ram?
They didn't. They made a TRUCK called Ram.
Why do we have to wait till the water starts boiling before we can put pasta into the water?
To accurately cook pasta to an al dente state takes a matter of minutes in a pot of boiling water. It takes a lot more time and energy to heat both the water and uncooked pasta if starting from cold & pasta in the pot at the same time.
If London Bridge is standing why is there a song about it falling down?
London Bridge (as we see it now) rests in Lake Havasu, Arizona after being transported brick by brick in the 1960's. The bridge was originally built a few kilometers up the river from the current bridge, but was razed when the bridge in Lake Havasu was built. A children's song commemorated the destruction of the original 622 year old bridge and survives to this day.
If you drink Pepsi at work in the Coke factory, will they fire you?
No, but they will reprimand you when they see you. My brother used to work for Magnolia Coca-Cola and would often talk to the distributors of Pepsi and socialize. However, if you build Chrysler vehicles and come to work in a GMC, you will be towed.
Why do they call front seat shotgun?
This one harkens back to the days of the old west and stagecoaches. There were usually 2-3 people who would ride on the carriage with the passengers, sometimes employees of the coach company, and other times marshals with guns. The "shotgun" seat was usually the passenger who sat next to the carriage driver who wielded a shotgun and protected the passengers, and more importantly the sacks of money transported to and from cities.
Why can't you get a tan on your palms?
The palms of your hands do not have the capability to tan or burn, they lack the cells needed for pigmentation. The soles of your feet also are the same.
What does OK actually mean?
The only survivor of a slang fad in Boston and New York c.1838-9 for abbreviations of common phrases with deliberate, jocular misspellings, in this case, "oll korrect." It was popularized by use as an election slogan by the O.K. Club, New York boosters of Democratic president Martin Van Buren's 1840 re-election bid, in allusion to his nickname Old Kinderhook, from his birth in the N.Y. village of Kinderhook. Van Buren lost, the word stuck, in part because it filled a need for a quick way to write an approval on a document, bill, etc. The noun is first attested 1841; the verb 1888. Spelled out as okeh, 1919, by Woodrow Wilson, on assumption that it represented Choctaw okeh "it is so" (a theory which lacks historical documentation); this was ousted quickly by okay after the appearance of that form in 1929. Okey-doke is student slang first attested 1932.
Does a postman deliver his own mail?
My neighbor is a mailman, and yes, he used to deliver mail to his own house.
Why do they sterilize needles for lethal injections?
Damn Geneva Convention...
Oh, and BTW... you checked the dictionary for gullible, didn't you?
Can you breathe out of your nose and mouth at the same time?
The answer is yes, however, because your mouth is a larger opening, more airflow runs thru your mouth than your nose.
Why did Yankee Doodle name the feather in his hat Macaroni?
Everyone has sung the song "Yankee Doodle" when they were young, or sung that to a child (even though it would highly embarrass the child) but I doubt anyone gave a thought to what it meant. It was the British who penned the song as a malicious melody to make fun of us after we gained our independence back in the 1770's. The British said we were so uncouth and behind the fashion senses of France, we wouldn't know good fashion if we stuck a feather in a hat and called it macaroni. That phrase was included in the song, and we have been singing it ever since...
-damn Limeys...
If I had my legs amputated, would I have to change my height and weight on my driver's license?
I actually know the answer for this. We had a disabled guy work for us in our past, and he actually told us after loosing his leg and seriously damaging his other in a freak accident, his height DECREASED because of it. While I am thinking about it, wheelchair bound people are actually measured on a table to gauge their height lying down when applying for either a license or ID. Texas doesn't have a space for a person's weight on licenses.
Is sign language the same in languages other than English?
No. The most common sign language taught in the United States is an English sign. Many countries have their own language for sign.
Why would Dodge make a car called Ram?
They didn't. They made a TRUCK called Ram.
Why do we have to wait till the water starts boiling before we can put pasta into the water?
To accurately cook pasta to an al dente state takes a matter of minutes in a pot of boiling water. It takes a lot more time and energy to heat both the water and uncooked pasta if starting from cold & pasta in the pot at the same time.
If London Bridge is standing why is there a song about it falling down?
London Bridge (as we see it now) rests in Lake Havasu, Arizona after being transported brick by brick in the 1960's. The bridge was originally built a few kilometers up the river from the current bridge, but was razed when the bridge in Lake Havasu was built. A children's song commemorated the destruction of the original 622 year old bridge and survives to this day.
If you drink Pepsi at work in the Coke factory, will they fire you?
No, but they will reprimand you when they see you. My brother used to work for Magnolia Coca-Cola and would often talk to the distributors of Pepsi and socialize. However, if you build Chrysler vehicles and come to work in a GMC, you will be towed.
Why do they call front seat shotgun?
This one harkens back to the days of the old west and stagecoaches. There were usually 2-3 people who would ride on the carriage with the passengers, sometimes employees of the coach company, and other times marshals with guns. The "shotgun" seat was usually the passenger who sat next to the carriage driver who wielded a shotgun and protected the passengers, and more importantly the sacks of money transported to and from cities.
Why can't you get a tan on your palms?
The palms of your hands do not have the capability to tan or burn, they lack the cells needed for pigmentation. The soles of your feet also are the same.
What does OK actually mean?
The only survivor of a slang fad in Boston and New York c.1838-9 for abbreviations of common phrases with deliberate, jocular misspellings, in this case, "oll korrect." It was popularized by use as an election slogan by the O.K. Club, New York boosters of Democratic president Martin Van Buren's 1840 re-election bid, in allusion to his nickname Old Kinderhook, from his birth in the N.Y. village of Kinderhook. Van Buren lost, the word stuck, in part because it filled a need for a quick way to write an approval on a document, bill, etc. The noun is first attested 1841; the verb 1888. Spelled out as okeh, 1919, by Woodrow Wilson, on assumption that it represented Choctaw okeh "it is so" (a theory which lacks historical documentation); this was ousted quickly by okay after the appearance of that form in 1929. Okey-doke is student slang first attested 1932.
Does a postman deliver his own mail?
My neighbor is a mailman, and yes, he used to deliver mail to his own house.
Why do they sterilize needles for lethal injections?
Damn Geneva Convention...
Oh, and BTW... you checked the dictionary for gullible, didn't you?
Tuesday, May 10, 2005
2nd place just means you're the first loser
*with updated content*
Driving to work today, I started thinking about the different kinds of music being played lately in TV commercials. I recently heard a Kohl's Dept. store commercial and realized they are using The Lovin' Spoonful's song Do you believe in magic. Then I started thinking to myself that McDonald's used to use that same song in the early 90's as their hook for the company. So then I started to think about all the artists in the world who are one-hit wonders. Some surprising people in music history are one-hit wonders.
*I had placed Jimi Hendrix on the list originally, but was told by my good friend Torn Shorts that Hendrix had a few other hits other than All Along the Watchtower. It was my understanding that Watchtower was his only charting hit, which qualified him as a one-hit wonder. He did have Purple Haze and Foxey Lady as hits AFTER he died due to heavy airplay. So technically, he is pulled back out of the one-hit wonder category. However, after researching some things, I did find that the website provided to me by Torn Shorts has given some truth to Hendrix' Watchtower. Looks like pop culture and TV have yet another hand in his revival. I do want to thank Torn Shorts for also correcting me about the Lovin' Spoonful.
Getting back to what I was thinking about, I started to wonder who the SECOND artist to have a music video played on MTV was. Pat Benatar's You Better Run was the second video ever played on MTV back in 1981. Truly, music video history's first place loser.
Driving to work today, I started thinking about the different kinds of music being played lately in TV commercials. I recently heard a Kohl's Dept. store commercial and realized they are using The Lovin' Spoonful's song Do you believe in magic. Then I started thinking to myself that McDonald's used to use that same song in the early 90's as their hook for the company. So then I started to think about all the artists in the world who are one-hit wonders. Some surprising people in music history are one-hit wonders.
- Siouxie and the Banshees Kiss Them For Me
- Don Johnson's Heartbeat
- Eddie Murphy's Party all the time
- Barbara Mandrell I Don't Want to Be Right (that was a shock)
- Vicki Lawrence's The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia (forgot about that, didn't you?)
- Napolean XIV They're Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Ha (thanks to XM Radio & my mom for the background story on that one...)
*I had placed Jimi Hendrix on the list originally, but was told by my good friend Torn Shorts that Hendrix had a few other hits other than All Along the Watchtower. It was my understanding that Watchtower was his only charting hit, which qualified him as a one-hit wonder. He did have Purple Haze and Foxey Lady as hits AFTER he died due to heavy airplay. So technically, he is pulled back out of the one-hit wonder category. However, after researching some things, I did find that the website provided to me by Torn Shorts has given some truth to Hendrix' Watchtower. Looks like pop culture and TV have yet another hand in his revival. I do want to thank Torn Shorts for also correcting me about the Lovin' Spoonful.
Getting back to what I was thinking about, I started to wonder who the SECOND artist to have a music video played on MTV was. Pat Benatar's You Better Run was the second video ever played on MTV back in 1981. Truly, music video history's first place loser.
Monday, May 09, 2005
Tag Boards
I like tag boards, but I refuse to install one on my website. It's a distraction. I don't look down on those who do, but I would argue the point that people are more interested in the content in a tag board because of it's instant participation without membership & crap like that. I have noticed that Joe has tag boards on both of his websites and I check the content on what other people leave more than the blog entries he is posting.
I guess I don't want to fall into not updating because so many people are having the time of their lives making side comments about what each other are talking about more than the content of my thoughts and rants. I would take a month of no comments but actual read entries than a tag board with tons of chat, but no updates of thought.
That's just me.
I guess I don't want to fall into not updating because so many people are having the time of their lives making side comments about what each other are talking about more than the content of my thoughts and rants. I would take a month of no comments but actual read entries than a tag board with tons of chat, but no updates of thought.
That's just me.
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