Can We All Agree on This?

I'm glad to see that "Not a Podcast," starring Justin Montemayor and Mike Marshall, seems to have found favor among Confessors.  It's a pretty slick listen on a Saturday morning:   a little slacker, a little millennial, a little snotty, a little hip -- but well-prepared, good chemistry, some interesting takes, some interesting use of language.  The two very different voices and energy levels attract the ear.    Sometimes -- OK, a lot -- the show is Machine-heavy, but they're working on it, you can tell.  I tune in.  (Interesting dynamic emerging between NaP and Cirque, by the way.)

In an earlier post, I threw out the idea that "Not a Podcast" is not an attractive name for the show.  Despite Justin's denial in these very pages, seems like a jab at Jake and T.C.   Its phrasing is negative, almost apologetic, a downer.  And it's not descriptive of what the show is.  Bad name.

To my surprise, this drew quite a few comments.

To my further surprise, there seemed to be a gathering consensus that the name of the show should be "Monty + The Machine," pronounced "Monty and The Machine."

It's their show.  They can call it what they want, or what the Western Hemispherical Catman wants.

But for now, I'm going to call the show "Monty + The Machine," unless Justin advises that he prefers "Monte" as the short form of his name.

You have my permission to shorten this to "M+M" in the comments.  

I will also entertain other names for the show, perhaps something a little less quotidian, a little more clever. 

And no, "The Show That Melts In Your Mouth, Not In Your Hand" will not be acceptable.  Although  .  .  .  .

But for now it's "Monty + The Machine."

"Plainsman, you are so wrong.  More Machine." 

I'll be out of town for a week.  Keep things light, Confessors.

Data Dump

I've been terribly delinquent in getting up new blasts, but I do have an excuse:  Last Tuesday's storms were unkind to our shack out on the plains, and after a couple of visits from contractors and adjusters, the fine folks at Amica have offered to replace our sod roofing.  Those interruptions mean longer work hours and fewer MTC hours.  

I keep notes on things to write about.  I look at them and think yeah, that would work for a short piece, and then they get stale and I don't do it.  So to atone for my lack of output recently, I'm going to unload a ton of stuff on you in the hope that it will provoke a rainbow of well-considered reactions in the thread to follow.  Numbered for your convenience.

[By the way:  The guy who comments three or four times per thread making obvious reference to T.C. (and sometimes Jake) without naming him (them) – I'm going to start deleting you.  You got something specific, let's have it.]

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            (1)   Let's say that Craig "Junior" Miller decided to go on the bicycle racing tour, whatever it's called, for a couple years.  Let's further say – and this may be more far-fetched – that Gordon could be persuaded to stop baiting Mike Doocy.  Would you listen to the George-Mike-Gordon Musers with regularity?  I would.

            (2)  I'm going to lose what modest credibility I have with some of you, but I am listening to those Reagor-Dykes ads with greater respect these days.  There may be some genius going on there.  That crappy production, the corny "keeping it real" theme, and Bart's non-sequitur giving-it-to-you-on-the-level ad copy ("I've never found Amelia Earhart, I've never published a paper on quantum loop gravity, but I'll make you a deal on a great car") – awful.  But he kind of won me over when he started pleading.  "Hey," he says, "don't hate me before you get to know me."  I don't like leasing my Conestogas (sorry, AutoFlex and D&M) and am unlikely to buy a used model, but if I did I might give old Bart a whirl.

            (3)  Over Drydock (I told you some of this stuff was stale), I heard Jake talking about someone, didn't catch the first part of his discussion so I don't know who he was talking about.  But the words out of his mouth made me laugh:   "The biggest thing for me was I learned about ego.  I couldn't believe anyone could be that brash that early in their career."  I didn't detect an ironic inflection in his remark.

            (4)  Why can't we have Intentional Grounding all year long?

            (5)  Award for Brain-Freeze Commercial Koan/Tautological Phrase of the Year goes to the following utterance from one of the blind pitch-guys on a Non-24 ad:  "If you're like me, you're not alone."

 

(6)  I do wonder about The Fan sometimes.  It was near the end of the Niffle year (at least for the Cowboys), I was switching back and forth between Norm/Donnie and the Fan post-game.   In contrast to Ticket callers, they took call after call from fans who were positively thrilled about the Cowboys' prospects for 2016.  Gavin shared their optimism.  When Jesse Holley tried to make a point about the Pokes' uncreative play-calling, Brad Sham (who joins the show for a segment) shot him down.  Aside from what seems like unsupportable Cowboys boosterism, however, it's not a bad show.   I've always thought Holley was quite good on it.

(7)  Is "Not a Podcast" a dig at "It's Just Banter?"   Let's help Justin and Machine think of a better name for what's a pretty good weekend show.

(8)  The muddy signal stayed muddy for a long time.  I don't know if I've just gotten used to it, but has it gotten a little sharper lately?   Someone dropped a comment not long ago, perhaps copied from Reddit, about some repairs being made.

(9)  Yes, I do like Not a Podcast.  Like it quite a lot.  And while I'm usually hands-off with the JV as they work to make names for themselves, I must say this – less Machine.  A couple of weeks ago I had to punch out when Justin was doing some news or something – in any event, it was a Justin segment – and the poor guy couldn't get a single sentence out without Machine derailing the point.

(10)  Corby did a story on 69 yo CBS newsman Steve Kroft's extramarital romps with the (rather attractive, and also married) Harvard Law School-educated NYC attorney Lisan Goines, dramatically illustrated with texts, in one of which he advised her, J-J Taylor-style, that instead of working he would "rather be eating your pudding."  What was strange about Corby's report is that this all took place a year ago, and there was nothing new on the story.  I wouldn't be mentioning this, except for Corby's closing remark, which made me laugh out loud on my drive home:  "I hope that when I'm 69 I'm not involved in a pudding scandal."

Lisan Goines, Esq.

            (11)  Did I hear George Dunham say that if you buy two PowerBall tickets instead of one, you do not double your chances of winning?  Yes, I did.  

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Thanks for staying strong with MTC.  Hits still solid despite my recent neglect.  Will try to do better.  

ThePlainsman1310@gmail.com

@Plainsman1310