Friday, March 25, 2011

VOICE OF THE NATION: Campout Open Forum

Fresh on the heels of my exhaustive analysis of the clues that resulted in a triumphant correct guess for the campsite published at 7:56 yesterday morning, for which I am claiming priority (changed immaterially later in the day, but that's not important now) -- boy, talk about grasping for scoreboard -- I need a couple days off.

Mule Lip Bar, Mingus, Texas
(Thanks to Confessor James)

Loved the last two days of broadcasting.  Let's have your views.

--  Funniest moments.

--  Interpersonal dynamics.

--  Mike R's woozy retirement talk.

--  Obsessive campground guessing.

Lots of stuff there.  Gotta love The Ticket.  Thanks for checking in on my campground quest the last couple days.

30 comments:

  1. The Mike retirement talk was compelling... I wonder if his contract is up in FEB. A new drop was created "Taco Period". George said it best. The BEST part about the get togethers is HL & The Musers getting together. Gotta admire Mike's POWER HOUR. Hearing the guys talk about losing ther virginity was good stuff too. I look forward to listening to the stuff I missed early in the evening. Think it happens again next year? Mike is probably right... only if they made money this year. Makes me miss the compound.

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  2. First thought:

    I was thinking about how a rival station - OK, let's just say it, The Fan - could use this against The Ticket. I would turn it back on them somehow and say something like, "While we've got wall-to-wall coverage of March Madness, that other station is goofing around in the woods," or some such. Basically paint The Little One as not serious about sports.

    And then it hit me - the campout is their counter-programming to March Madness. With all the campout stuff going on, I practically forgot about the NCAA Tournament. I think this is their way of keeping the P1 focused on 1310, and not wandering off to check into the NCAA games.

    Second thought: I wonder if Management's slow introduction (some might call it grooming) of Danny to Host duties isn't their insurance plan in case Rhyner leaves next year. I don't think he'll ever voluntarily go, but he certainly made me wonder last night.

    Hardline without Rhyner? Unpossible!

    -Anon B

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  3. I really do think that Rhyner accidently let something slip that he's been contemplating. Perhaps he hasn't set a date, per se, but it's not out of the realm of possibility to believe that the alcohol let something seep out and become "settled" that actually hasn't been settled upon--see his claim that he was joking while on with the Musers this morning. Or maybe it's one of those things that once said aloud (liquid courage induced or not) the thing is on its way to being done... fait accompli. QED.

    Whatever the case may be, it was riveting radio; it was the prime example of what makes the Ticket our audio Cheers.

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  4. Mavs postgame killed the mojo last night. After they came back, it was nothing but lame calls from girls that all went the same way. And last night also showed how extremely poorly Donovan fits in with the rest of the crew. He was way too loud and constantly killing the conversations. His speech is just way too unrefined or something--not quite sure how else to describe it.

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  5. Ok... anyone else slightly creeped out by Gordo playing with a dead animal?

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  6. Slightly creeped out? No. Seriously creeped out? Yes.

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  7. I think I would've been more creeped out if he hadn't done something like that. Kudos to GG for continually raising the bar.

    -Anon B

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  8. We caught a glimpse of a Gordo that hasn't been seen in quite sometime: the "I must be the center of attention at the cost of others' enjoyment" Gordo. The first night's endless (loud) bass guitar meandering (which is what, I'll guarantee, brought the no-guitars edict down) by Gordo was only a foretaste. Gordon's funny and talented as hell, no doubt about it. But he neither knows where nor when to draw the line, at times. I guess a lot of people think that's the "genius" of him, but I find it to be both obnoxious and ogre-like. He becomes a bully.

    And his "bits" about having cancer or going to contract cancer... well, that sort of thing is just plain awful. Just awful. There's nothing funny about it.

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  9. I believe The Plainsman has mentioned how Gordo can take over and deride a segment. (I believe it has something to do with a day when Doocy was sitting in with for George). As strange it was for him to handle Bambi, I have LOL every time I have heard the audio of Corby. To me, the guitars just caused to much confusion the first night. The "too much Donny" complaints dont make sense to me. I enjoy what he brings to the table. Anyone else think Norm is the most hardcore camper?RIP BAMBI

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  10. Dude said it--I love when the Musers mix with the Hardline. I've always wondered what some of the hosts think of each other, and even if they act otherwise on their shows, they genuinely seem to like each other and get along well. I didn't hear a lot of Craig and Jub Jub on BaD Radio (though Gordon sure was making himself known), but I don't get to listen much during that time slot. The Hardline and BaD Radio always struck me as having an affable nature with each other, but I chalk that up to many years of "Why Today Doesn't Suck" crosstalk. (It was also enjoyable to listen to Bob's recording of Mike and Greggo at the ballpark and hear the not-so-great comments Mike had about the two newest members of their team--Bob and Dan.) When everyone talks over each other, it can be hard to figure out what is going on, but the seventeen conversations at once make for some interesting radio.

    Anon B--there's still March Madness going on? After Texas screwed me, I drank until I blocked it all out. Glad the campout proved to be a great distraction.

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  11. (1) A big MTC welcome to Dude.

    (2) Early on in the Hardline presentation, Mike R morosely repudiated his retirement talk from last evening. I'm sure we'll be exploring this at a later date. If The UnTicket posts tape on this, please advise.

    (3) I missed the beginning of The Hardline today (Friday). Who is that cackling producer? Did they rehire Bacsik? I suppose I should recognize the voice, but even when he speaks his voice is on the precipice of a mirthful explosion and one can barely understand the lad.

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  12. @ The Plainsman. Wasn't the producer Gribble? I'm not sure if you were talking about someone else, but Tom Gribble was filling in for Danny today. Not sure why Danny was gone.

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  13. 1. Yeah, I wonder why Gribble is in for Danny. Less Gribble.

    2. Jonaessa, as a matter of fact, there IS still some COllege basketball going on, and my Wildcats just beat Duke! Holy Crap!

    3. I've been listening to The Hardline going over audio from the campout, and Rhynes refudiated his retirement talk in no uncertain terms. Stillll....

    4. When I jumped in the car at 11:55 to go grab lunch, there was no Norm/BAD crosstalk, it was just Shoopie playing old bits and songs. Anyone know why?

    -Anon B

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  14. Re: Guitars - I don't know about an official edict, but Grubes mentioned on-air on the 24th that the guitars from the deep-night-ticket made the over-the-air broadcast almost unlistenable (even the stream + a really nice pair of headphones didn't help much). I don't know if it was an edict as much as it was for the listener's benefit.

    Re: Danny's absence - It was mentioned a few days ago that he was taking today off for his birthday festivities. His birthday was on the 23rd, I believe, and they called to harass him on WTDS.

    Re: Audio reposts - I plan to finish listening to everything from the campout (currently midway through the HL of the 24th) and then do a mega-mashup post of it all at the UnTicket. Deep Night ticket was greatness, but there was some seriously funny stuff throughout the day as well and I'd like to present it all in context.

    Re: Over-Donny - he's been accused of this before (not sure if it was by the same person or not) but I'll be on the lookout for it when I get to that point. A drunk Donny is a loud Donny, but then again, so is a drunk Gordo and drunk Corby. Comes with the territory of being a Yuk Monkey, I suppose.

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  15. ap,

    You're the tops. Keep up the great work.

    Long live the Plainsman!
    Long live ap and the Unticket!

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  16. Some reactions:

    (1) I'm a Donovan fan but have never heard a late night when he might have been in his cups. I like the sound of his voice and think he brings a lot to the station, and not just his minority status.

    (2) I so seldom hear big chunks of BaD that I didn't recognize Gribble, and I've never heard that deranged giggling on BaD.

    (3) Gordon would seem to be in some hot water with the P1, and perhaps with his colleagues. He's been accused of segment hogging, he threw a rotting mammal on Corby, and he may have betrayed their whereabouts to his colleagues at Channel 8. Although I prefer to think that Channel 8 closely monitors this site and learned of their location in that fashion.

    The funniest thing . . . wait, I'll just start another comment

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  17. The funniest thing I heard on those two rather funny days was actually said by Norm at some other time, but reported on The Hardline on Thursday -- In commenting on one of Elizabeth Taylor's Oscars, for "Butterfield 8," Norm was reported to have said that that was "the most popular of the Butterfield pictures."

    The truest thing I heard was on that same Thursday Hardline showgram, when Junior wondered aloud whether Rich was "campout hot," and someone -- I think it was Mike, who I recall as nearly choking with laughter when he spoke -- said that Junior "was the craziest person out here," or words to that effect. Confessors know that Junior is a fave rave of Your Plainsman, and I concur. Underneath that cosmopolitan cool is a raging looney.

    More . . .

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  18. Mike may be regretting his musings about his possible departure, but I think Confessors are correctly perceiving that something is up. (Like, in all likelihood, his contract.) When Bob played the recording of Diamond Talk when Mike was very animatedly describing Bob's nonchalant palming of a foul ball, someone wondered why Mike sounded so different on the recording. Mike's explanation: "It was probably because I gave a damn." (Or WTTE.) And he wasn't BUI (broadcasting under the influence) at the time. We'll be exploring this topic in the future, you may be certain.

    What's the over-under on the number of new drops that Nice Young Michael Gruber will cull from the last 48 hours?

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  19. "[Junior Miller] was the craziest person out here" -- that was a line that, surprisingly, was issued by Dample Balls. Kindof shocked me when I heard it; I didn't think that Junior's line of humor would mesh at all with Danny's. Guess I was wrong.

    @Anonymous - Thanks for your kudos! I'd be a horse's ass if I didn't point out that there are a lot of people who contribute their time, energy and financial resources to the UnTicket. I'm only one of several; DP is the mastermind and VSBB/BabyArm did a lot of the very timely heavy lifting for the campout. For all of us, we 'preciate ya, pal!

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  20. AP, thanks for the correction. It was indeed the Birthday Boy, but I do recall that he could hardly choke out the words, he was chortling so heartily.

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  21. And Anonymous, I echo AP's thanks for the wish of a long life for Your Plainsman -- or at least for this site, should I encounter an unfriendly cougar.

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  22. Final note before extinguishing the old kerosene lamps: Many thanks to long-time Confessors and what are apparently new acolytes. Hits went through the roof yesterday and especially today. Hope any new visitors will check back often. We've got a good group of civilized P1's going here. Join the fun. The Ticket left some tents behind . . . .

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  23. One more thing about Rhyner's "possible retirement joke series": Just remember, when he accidently gave out a real clue as to where they were camping (by speaking of a bar with Mule in its name; one that our Plainsman seized upon and thus correctly guessed their locale), the entire crew immediately began throwing out false clues... and continued to do so until they finally revealed the site's location. In other words, just because Rhyner or anyone else up there says X, it might very well by Y; the Y that was originally put forth. Food for thought.

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  24. Are Norm and The Hardline seriously on vacation the week the Rangers open the season? What the Hell?

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  25. Yet another poor decision by management. The list keeps growing. I guess this way they can squelch the "is Rhyner serious about retirement" talk--at least for the moment.

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  26. @Shaggy I heard that news yesterday on the JJ Taylor show and had the exact same reaction. I stayed up from wednesday night all the way through the HL on friday (with the help of several Monsters) and my body is just now recovering from the campout experience. I think a few days off are in order for the guys but yeah, the timing isn't great. Couldn't they have taken the start of the week off and come back in time for opening day? It's just odd that baseball Jesus won't be there for Rangers opening day. Of course, maybe the thinking is since you'll be watching games there's no reason for them to be on.

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  27. Mike was obviously trying to tell us something with the retirement slip-up. I don't expect he'll be back when The Hardline returns. The only question is, will Corby be back? I suspect BAD Radio will be the new Afternoon Drive show, and Corby and Danny will have a new co-host in BAD Radio's old slot. Vaya Con Dios, Rhyner.

    Also, I'm pretty sure Norm is gone, as well. His ratings were the worst of any show on The Ticket, and it's well-known he clashes with management and practically everyone at the station. He's done his last broadcast for 1310. I really think the campout was kind of like a goodbye for Mike and Norm, but the P1 wasn't explicitly told.

    I'd put my money on JJ Taylor taking Norm's old slot. Yep - big changes coming to The Little Ticket...

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  28. To the last Anonymous:

    Talk about stirring the pot! Now I think, nay, I know, you're full of b.s., but I tip my hat to you!

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  29. Since that second-last anonymous is throwing darts at the wall, I'd like to add my own.

    Suppose, for the sake of argument, that what he/she said was correct, and that Cumulus management took Rhynes and Norm off to sports-retirement home where they can discuss baseball stats for the remainder of their mortal coils. Supposing. Way out on a limb here.

    Would the Hardline become the Danny, Corby and Grubes show? Would Catttt keep it from 3-7, or would BaD Radio take over that slot? What would happen to Norm's slot? The JJT+Scott Harrison power-hour, Cirque du Sirois, or drop-page radio? Maybe the Dick Hicks SMU+Raceweek show? Perhaps the Jake-Z + TC podcast for disaffected youths?

    P1's have it good...Hopefully it stays that way for a while.

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  30. Love it.

    We'll be exploring these questions.

    I will, of course, have a Modest Proposal somewhere along the lines of what The Ticket might do in the event of Mike's departure.

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