Friday, August 17, 2012

The Song of Tyrone

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On Wednesday, I heard the Musers' beachside interview of drifter/homeless/panhandler Tyrone.  You can hear it here on the Incomparable UnTicket.  Its riches are hard to describe, it must be heard.

I am conflicted about things like this.

By "things like this," I mean (mostly) Gordon and Corby interviewing people who are -- how can I put it?   These interview subjects are not all the same.  Some are just less fortunate.   Some are afflicted.  Some are addicted.  Some are  of well below average intelligence.  Some have a poor grasp of English.  None of them has asked to have his or her words broadcast to the metro and disseminated worldwide online.

So part of me doesn't like the ambush wireless mic/recorder interviews of the drunk black man or the thickwit white girl.  

But I gotta tell you:  On Wednesday morning, the other part of me just about drove off the road laughing at Tyrone's rap about drinking, his teeth (or absence of), and, of course, women: his preferences and an unexpectedly bitter conclusion to one particular encounter.

There was melancholy, too -- a four-year-old daughter he has never seen.

So I'm conflicted.  Not sure where to land on this one.   Unfortunate, unwell, and inarticulate people are out there.  A lot of us never encounter them.  A lot of us would prefer not to know they exist.  I'm not saying that Gordon/Corby are performing a public service, but I am saying that it's not necessarily unfair to target people who look like they might provide a unique interview experience.  (Now in this case, of course, Tyrone approached them for a handout, which he eventually got, so they didn't necessarily seek him out.)

I'd prefer, though, that they not be antagonized, subtly ridiculed, and badgered with schtick.  That happens, and it's cringe-inducing when it does.   But that didn't really happen in the Tyrone interview (we'll put aside Gordon's serial attempts to get him to sing, which he finally abandoned), so maybe that's why I'm not feeling all that hostile toward the exploitation of the inarticulate as I write this Friday evening.

Or maybe it's because it was hilarious.

15 comments:

  1. Honestly, I get bored with the wireless segments. Every now and then they'll strike gold, but for the most part, I'd rather listen to the hosts talk about something. I listen to the station to hear the hosts, not some random guy who NOBODY wants to hear from.

    That being said, Alamo Art is one for the ages.

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  2. It was his granddaughter he has never seen.

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  3. STAY HARD, KRENEK!!!!!! And RIP.

    Another employee leaves for greener pastures. Well, it wasn't too hard to see that one coming. Not just for Krenek, but for anyone up there who wants a career that doesn't consist of forever being a scrub, or a jver at best. The cool thing is that Krenek, like a few others, has used The Ticket as a springboard to hopefully a nice career as a host in sports radio or even tv or whathaveyounot. Good on Krenek. He did it by letting the game come to him, having (and I'm sure practicing) good chops and sports knowledge/points, and by being a team player. Unlike some of the fellows up there, Krenek gets how to do these things, and more crucially, the importance of them. Congrats, Krenek, and I'll be listening in via the miracle of the internet as often as possible.

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  4. Krenek is gone? When did this happen? Can you explain?

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  5. Another thing: I really enjoyed the Danny/Wilonsky version of The Orphanage this morning. Big Bob brings out the best in Danny; which is pretty damned good if you ask me. I like Davey, don't get me wrong. Davey has some good, gut feeling, almost Rhynes-esque sports points, and he's also capable of making some poignant and often times cutting remarks on life, getting older, and past decisions that don't look so good in retrospect. He really does. But unfortunately, there's too much Rant inside of him. He can't seem to ever, wholly, let it go. And the way in which he talks about music makes me cringe. Yes, he's very knowledgeable and up on current music. However, he sounds like a teenager. Furthermore, most of the time (during the show on the whole) he's unable to cogently put together thoughts. His sentences are more often than not broken, half finished, and all together sloppy. Which sucks, because it kind of rubs off on Danny. Now today, Danny was crisp, sharp. He had to be on his toes because he was conversing with a crisp, sharp guy in Wilonsky. From city politics, to music, I felt like I was listening to two guys my age (I'm in their demo, for sure), and not two early middle aged men desperately trying to hang on to their 20s, or early 30s. And that's what The Orphanage on most Saturday's sounds like. I hope Bob and Danny do get that podcast up and running. Or that The Ticket wises up and gives them a show. A show that appeals to people in between the hard core Norm or Sturm sports and the Grubes is my Leader crowd. A show that does discuss politics, intelligently (i.e., actually knowing the issues... sorry, Gordo, George, Craig, Corby, and Dan), music in a way that touches a wider range than what The Hardline does, and yeah even a bit of sports. I think it would be a smashing success.

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  6. Announced it at the top of today's CdS. He's leaving immediately to cohost a morning show in Grand Junction, Colorado. It begins Sept. 3 and you can listen to it online.

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  7. New post up: Subject: Krenek. So you may want to shift comments there.

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  8. Sorry I missed the Orphanage. I like Wilonsky on The Ticket, too. In the past I've had some unusual comments about Wilonsky, like he's some kind of pretender or something, but I've always enjoyed his contributions.

    Nice comment, I may re-post after the Krenek mourning period passes.

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  9. Wilsonsky knows his music. And to some extent he knows local underground music. Where he gets in trouble -or used to at least- is when he claims to have been at certain punk or metal shows or hung around certain venues or scenes back in the mid-late 80s and early 90s. It was a small scene and everybody knew each other. He was not a part of it. Just wasn't. He used to write about being at such and such show, venue, or into a scene that anyone who was there, which is me, knew damn well he wasn't. No big deal. The overwhelming majority of his readers wouldn't know the diff, and he's smart enough to know it. I usually don't agree with his politics, and his "composite" memories of the Dallas underground scene is at times fabricated, but the man writes well, appears to be smart, well rounded, has a great radio voice, and seems like an all round major dude. We all pose to some extent. I can forgive him for it.

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  10. I like Danny. I think he is the glue that holds the Hardline together. I like Wilonsky. But at the end of the Orphanage Saturday I wondered if Danny was going to have to have his lips surgically removed from Big Bob's butt.

    On another subject, Gordo played audio this morning of George DeWhatever getting short with a guest Saturday.

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  11. Damn! I missed hearing the DiGianni explosion! Can anyone elaborate? ap, if you're out there, can you boys at TheUnticket post that segment up?

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  12. It wasn't so much an explosion as he just seemed to get real impatient with his guest. The only thing missing was Doogie's "Come on!"

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  13. It's funny how DiGianni gets impatient or angry with his guests. I say funny because I'm not sure why he has guests. He seems to *know* everything his guest is talking about (but better so), sees through any misinformation, and has insight that goes beyond anything his guest can offer. This happens be it an MD, PhD, or registered practitioner. Now whether this is actually the case in all cases, or it's merely in DiGianni's head is another story all together. Whatever the case, it's pretty clear that George only likes guests who say things how he wants them said and who are in complete agreement with his own views. Else he quickly becomes frustrated and ready to move on.

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  14. Plainsman...you sir, are a meow meow. The people they interview, I can assure you, aren't listening to or concerned about who is listening to their comments th enext day on the radio. It provided good audio for the listener, burns a segment for the hosts and does no harm to the person being interviewed. There are much bigger things to be conflicted about.

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