Obituary for Rock103

As you all know, I've had a special connection to Rock103 for several years.  Ric Chetter is a close friend, and I always considered John to be a friend too.  I wont go into anymore details than Ric did about his departure, except to say the way they treat people sucks.

After John passed away, I was compelled to write the "powers that be" at Clear Chanenl...below is the content of my email, and the content of their response.

My letter:

So now that John McCormack is dead and gone.  I wonder what your plans for this classic Memphis station are? I’m truly wondering why the core cancer at the center of the decline of this station, Tim Spencer, is still standing?

If you look at the steady decline to this station, and the other clear channel affiliates…you can track it back almost to the day Mr. Spencer became programming and then operations manager.

• Fire Bev Hart….nope that wasn’t the fix.
• Run off Drake and Zeke….didn’t really help.
• Mike Fleming and Ben Ferguson…gone…but ratings still decline.
• Fire Luca Lindner…for what?
• Re-hire Jennifer Reed…only to be left hanging by her….everyone saw that coming…except Mr. Spencer
• Terminate Dennis Phillipi, and kill the afternoon show that was leading it’s ratings slot….why? So you can start auto tracking your mid-day and afternoon shows…..like we wouldn’t notice?

So there ends up with Ric Chetter and John McCormack in the mornings.  A positive move.  They truly generate a listener-ship, and are tracking well….UNTIL….Mr. Spencer decides there is too much talk, not enough music…and thus begins the ratings decline for the morning show.  His answer? Un-do the lack of interaction with the listener…no…dump Mr. Chetter, who by the was the only person that could do Mr. Spencer’s job (a threat to Mr. Spencer?), bring in a Northern syndicated show (which blows)..and pair himself with the #1 radio personality in Memphis in the afternoons (recorded).  Why?

When a manager fixes something, that isn’t broken, to bolster his own position, I have to wonder what he’s really up to.  By making this last change, he eliminated the one person in the building that could replace him, and hitched his wagon to the one remaining star, all at the same time.

I have news for you…the common denominator in all this is Mr. Tim Spencer.  Tim has never tracked well with the public, he comes across smug, arrogant, and detached.  When Bev left the morning show, ratings continued down.  When Tim left, and Ric came on…ratings went up, until Tim “fixed” the programming.

I just don’t understand how the station can continue to decline, and the man in charge is not held accountable, while the few shining rays of hope you have, are allowed to be let go, or encouraged to leave.  Seems like very bad upper-management.

Memphis is a unique market.  Not just in radio, but in all business.  Several others have tried to pipe in shows from other markets, and it just doesn’t work here.   I don’t know if you have access to the Rock103 Facebook page, but I could not find ONE comment that was a positive toward the removal of the morning show, or towards the new show that replaced it.  Not ONE!  There were some “I’ll give it a shot”….but since then, not one “I like it”…..NOT ONE!!!  Isn’t that amazing?  No one said, hey, moving John to afternoons, and ending the Bad Dog and Ric show was a good idea.  None.  If you take a look at the hundreds of comments made, it is likely 98% were negative, and 2% indifferent.

Mr. Spencer is a bad manager, and a worse on-air talent.  He has attempted to cover this up by sacrificing other talent and personnel in order to improve the station, and each time it has failed, save one.  Partnering Ric and John, which he then began to undermine to the point of failure.

I’m also curious, with the Urban stations in equal decline…why are there personnel changes over there? Or is Mr. Spencer not manager enough to handle the out-cry that would come from the Urban community.

With the long years of decline, surely corporate can see Mr. Spencer has killed a long standing Memphis tradition in Rock103.

Clear Channel is quickly heading to becoming equal to Flinn Broadcasting in Memphis.  Canned talent, lame shows, and no followers.

All you need to do now to complete the kill is change to a country format, and use such catchy on-air names are “Toad Spencer”, and “Leslie Lizard”….to complete the transformation.

Rick Cail

Former Listener and Fan

And their response:

Rick Cail:

Thank you for your email and comments related to programming issues at our Memphis radio station group.

While I agree with you that change is difficult to accept ,especially in light of recent events at Rock 103, I would urge you to give any and all changes to the programming there a real chance to succeed.

We know that it takes time for any new show, personality, format to be accepted and we appreciate your consideration and opinions going forward .

George C. Toulas

Sent from my iPad

So, despite the hundreds of comments on Facebook about the dislike for the new show, the hundreds of requests for the return of Ric Chetter, and the fact that since Mr. Tim Spencer has taken charge of the station..it has done nothing but decline...the powers that be think everything is fine.

Farewell Rock103.....I guess Bad Dog wasn't the only Memphis landmark that passed away this month.

Luck of the Irish???

The approach of St. Patrick's Day is usually my most favorite time of the year.  Beside's being the holiday for my heritage, and a wonderful holiday to show off my beer drinking skills, it also is my un-official start of Spring.

So how is this year going, well let's see....

I spent 10 days on a road trip through Florida for work.  And as Jimmy Buffett would say "just about my favorite drill".  However, on the next to the last day, while exiting a restaurant, I missed the last 2" step, and it was just enough to lay my right foot to waste.  Night quite broken, but severly snapped, sprained, hyper-extended, whatever you want to call it.  That even came the requiste swelling.  Now here's the thing...most of you know I suffer from an infection in my leg that will flare up for various reasons.  And one of those reasons is lack of circuilation brought on by the swelling in my foot.  Not being fully aware I had an early low-grade fever, I began my last car drive home from Tampa, anticipating an 11pm arrival at home. 

After about an hour of driving, I got stuck in a traffic jam that stretched out for 5 miles.  It took two hours to get clear of this mess caused by some jack-ass that doesn't under stand his truck was too tall to go under that bridge.

By then, I was getting tired...from the fever, and pulled over for a quick 15 minute power nap.  I've done this many times when on road-trips.  2 hours later I woke up.  It was about then I realized I wasn't feeling very well.

I kept on driving, and during the drive learned my friend John "Bad Dog" McCormack had slipped into a coma, and then finally passed away.  While very sad, I was also very relieved because his pain was over, and I have NO DOUBT where this man is headed.

I managed to cover some good ground, and by 7pm had arrived in Perry, GA....about 1 hour south of Atlanta. But that was as far as I could go.  My foot was killing me, my leg was beginning to show signs of the impending flare-up, and the fever was well set in.

I got a room, with the intention of getting a good night sleep, and then power driving the last 7 hours in the light of day.  I just wanted to be home.

During the night, my wife called  a couple of times, and realized I was slipping lower and lower into my fever. 

At 7am, I received a text from my wife saying she, and my good frient (now great friend) Sam were coming to get me and bring me home.  Sam took her entire day, and kept her son out of school, and Pam took the day off from work, and these two women set out for Perry, GA with only a Google Printout in hand.  They arrived around 5pm, and it was like a military rescue team.  The immediate induced fluids (gatorade), and food (cookies!).  Medication was started, and re-done every 3 hours, and for the next 8 hours, we journeyed home in tandem, finally arriving around 1am.  I can't state how awesome this was for these women to take these steps, and come save me.  My wife Pam is a wonderful partner, and my friend Sam has shown me so much of what a great friend she truly is.

Now home, I had to deal with the fact that I had tickets to Kid Rock on Saturday......the quick answer.....NOPE!  No way I was going to push the injury on those concrete floors and steps, so I stayed home, and medicated.

Monday, came some good news, my foot doesn't appear to be broken, but I do have to follow up wiht an Ortho next week.  However the infection seemed caught in time, and I'll continue meds for another 8-10 days.  My blood pressure had also come way down from (192/98) to (128/74), and my blood sugar test was clean. 

However, Wednesday we're supposed to leave for Hot Springs for St. Patricks' Day.  After thinking about drinking while taking meds, the amount of walking, and the quality of the visit.....Pam and I decided we'd not go this year.  My friends have all begged me to re-consider.  My friend up there even offered me a seat on the grand viewing stage with John Corbin so I wouldn't have to fight the crowds...tempting, but I'm letting wisdom prevail.

So I suffered a busted foot, fever, infection, having to be rescued, missed Kid Rock, and am missing St. Pat's in Hot Springs, and lost a good friend......things better start improving soon, or I'm gonna switch to Arbor Day as my new favorite.

Hollywood is officially out of new movie ideas....

I'm guessing it had to happen eventually.  Hollywood is fresh out of ideas for movies. 

I just read an article the other day that 2011 would have more sequels opening than any other year in history.  Not that all sequels are bad.  For instance, we all know that the even numbered Star Trek movies were good....up until the one where they killed Kirk. 

But now, on top of the overly high number of sequels....we're learning that Hollywood is remaking tons of old movies.  They even have a new word for it...."reimagining"!  We all already know about them remaking "True Grit"...and despite all the hype they could throw behind it....the movie didn't fair very well at the box office.  And then there was the most recent "Karate Kid" remake....enough said.

This brings me to my current point....Mr. Brand here is now going to be the new "Arthur"...that's right!  And the role of Hobson, the dutiful butler....has gone to a woman...Helen Mirram (sic)?  Why?  Oh, and to make the movie totally outrageous, Nick Nolte is Burt Johnson...probably not much of a stretch playing a half insane gun toting maniac.

But it that doesn't send you over the top, maybe these little ditties will, all in some phase of production...

• "They Live", although without Roddy Piper it maybe okay
• "Romancing The Stone"
• 1950's "The Incredible Shrinking Man"
• "Fantastic Voyage"
• "Back to School".....only with Cederic The Entertainer in Rodney Dangerfield's role
• "Meatballs"
• "The Dirty Dozen"...oh hell no
• "Red Dawn"
• "The Thing"....because 2 versions weren't enough
• "The Birds"
• "Poltergeist"
• "Westworld"
• "Logan's Run"
• "The Rocky Horror Picture Show"
• "Flash Gordon"......I'm actually kinda happy about that one....hated Sam Jones.
• "Forbidden Planet"......a one of a kind classic

The list actually goes on, and on.  In just a few articles, I found 55 movies being remade, 23 more TV shows heading to the big screen (Dallas, Chips, and Magnum PI....with Matthew McConnaghy ), and some 38 sequels over the next two years.

Can't anyone come up with a new idea!

I'm quitting my job, and going to start writing for the movies.  Maybe I'll reimagine the "Miami Vice" movie...and this time make a good one.

Liberal Hypocrisy Abounds....

Remember a few weeks back when all the Dems and Libs were screaming that it was the Conservative "vitriol" that caused the shootings in AZ?  And they screamed, that us conservatives MUST stop the hate speech.  Remember that?  Cause I don't think they do.

This guy, Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore), got pretty upset when a Republican Congressman commented that we didn't need to add nearly 5,000 new "goon squad" members, when talking about Obama's budget to increase IRS agents by 5,000 (a topic in and of itself).  He railed about the inflammatory language, and chastised his counter part.

Well, how about a few weeks ago when some called for the lynching of Justice Clarence Thomas?  Anyone hear from Blumenauer then?  How about Jessie Jackson?  Did we see Rev. Al Sharpton burning up the airwaves, screaming for apologies and ousters?  Of course not, because Justice Thomas is a conservative.....and we all know that in order to say something racist or inflammatory, you have to say it against a liberal.  If you say it to a conservative....it's called "free speech".

So when Gifford got shot in AZ, the left went after Sarah Palin, and blamed it on a website she had, using cross hair targets to indicate races they were targeting last year.  The inference being that because Sarah painted a target on the state of AZ, that caused the shooting to happen.

So I'm sure Lawrence O'Donnell will be all over the people who held this sign up in Wisconsin this week, and denounce them as hate mongers and radicals.  But no, he wont.  Because these are union workers, and we don't want to upset them.  They've been asked to pay 5% of their pension costs, and 12% of their healthcare costs....so that gives them the right to say and do anything they want, to whomever they want....cause they're Democrats.

How about this....when Ann Coulter referred to Obama as being like Hitler....the screams could be heard all over MSNBC, CBS, and so on.  There were calls for her to be banned from television, and she was run off stage from a speaking engagement at a university. 

That is why I expect Ed Shultz (The Ed Show) and Rachel Maddow, to call for their network to boycott coverage of the Wisconsin union protests, the participants of which have taken to using images such as these....

Of course, all of us conservatives should really bow down to the intelligence of these Union members and leaders.  They know better.  The governor of Wisconsin is only doing this to bust up their unions.....it has nothing to do with the $3B budget problem.....the union knows WAY better than the republican led legislature....they should....look who they use as a reference....

....and we all know......Bieber know it all!!!

In the end, what this is about, is a group of people, who organized themselves years ago, and bullied the government into giving them way more than they deserved.  They used threats of strikes, intimidation, and a mob mentality to push around the government.  Basically gang tactics.

Well now there's a new gang in town...the conservatives...and we're not lying down anymore.  We're bigger, stronger, and we'll use the same tactics against you, that you used against us.  We will intimidate you into voting, we will threaten to fire you if you don't work, and our mob in the Wisconsin Senate will take on your mob, 76-14 members.....you're out numbered.

Don't like it?  Well we learned it all from you...so suck on it!

This is just sad.....I would hope someone would miss me sooner than this...

AN office employee who died in her work cubicle was not discovered until the day after her death.

Rebecca Wells, 51, was found hunched over her desk at the LA County of Internal Services by a security guard on Saturday afternoon, KTLA said.

Police said she may have been dead since Friday afternoon. The grandmother was last seen alive about 9am on Friday.

Investigators have not determined the official cause of death, but they said foul play was not suspected.

"I came in Saturday to do a little work, and I saw them when they were taking her out," co-worker Hattie Robertson told KTLA.

....and the lies continue

Remember when......

Obama promised during his campaing to cut the deficit in half IN HIS FIRST YEAR.....but now, in only his second buget, we're looking at $1.7 trillion

Obama promised no one making under $250k would see a tax increase, yet we're all paying taxes now on our healthcare, and have had the amount of pre-tax dollars we can put into a health savings account cut

Obama promised that healthcare would not cost us anything, and would bring down spending....yet for the 2012 budget, he's asked for nearly $400,000,000 to hire up the staff he'll need to just AUDIT obamacare.  And what's worse, most of the parts of Obamacare don't come into effect until 2014....so how many more people will he need when it's fully in place?

...ah......remember when......hope and change.

Valentine's Day

So here it is again, Valentine's Day.  And in the course of just this morning, I've already heard from two of my female friends who hate this day, two that are indifferant, and a host of folks on Facebook that have posted some negative thoughts on the day. So let's deal with the obvisous....yes this is a "Hallmark Holiday".  No doubt about it.  And I also tend to agree with those that say "I don't show my love just one day a year"...or, "I don't show my love just because it's a certain day"....all very valid points.  However, much like Christmas, which isn't the only time of year that we "give"....it is a day set aside for giving.  Either a gift, or of one's self, or one's time. 

So when you don't participate, where does that leave the person who should have been the recipient of your card?  Do they also agree with the "it's just a stupid fake holiday".  It seems to me that your opinion might depend on which side of the holiday you're on.  If you HAVE someone you love, then this isn't really a big deal.  You both know it, and show it year round.  If you DON'T have anyone...well then, you maybe be a bit cynical about how it's not important.  The ones I find most interesting are those that are on the fence.  They have someone, but maybe it's early in the relationship, they aren't sure of their place...."where this is going"...and while they wont admit it....desperately want that card or flowers to show up, so they know where they stand.

It's a mess, and confusing, just like men and women have been for thousands of years.

In my personal opinion, and I would recommend this position to all my male friends in long-term relationships.  Send those flowers, and buy those cards.  The biggest reason is not so your lady knows you love her...she already knows.   It's so she can get that sense of satisfaction when that delivery guy shows up at her office...and parades those roses down the hallway to her desk.  It's for the benefit of the women around her, to make her queen of the pack.