Word of the Week

Here's a word you can use in conversation to show people how smart you are!

 

Conceited -  A prisoner in a chair

Word of the Week

Here's a word you can use in conversation to show people how smart you are! 


Syntax -  An extra charge for beer and cigarettes

Word of the Week

Here's a word you can use in conversation to show people how smart you are! 

Shampoo  -  Fake S**t

Word of the Week

Here's a word you can use in conversation to show people how smart you are!

Protein  -  A teenager who gets paid to play

Word of the Week

Here's a word you can use in conversation to show people how smart you are!

Paradise  -  Gambling instruments

Word of the Week

Here's a word you can use in conversation to show people how smart you are!

Polystyrene  -   That girl that you took to the senior prom

Word of the Week

Here's a word you can use in conversation to show people how smart you are!
 

Paradox - Phil and Oz

Word of the Week

Here's a word you can use in conversation to show people how smart you are!

Government  - A tasty candy that tells you what to do

Word of the Week

Here's a word you can use in conversation to show people how smart you are!

Dictator - A potato that’s a little bit of a prick

Word of the Week

Here's a word you can use in conversation to show people how smart you are!

Isometrics -  defined as "The Norwegian system of weights and measures"

I Can't Be Googled!

Last night I wanted to get some info on old friend Mat Kaplan, so -- naturally -- I Googled him. (If you'd like to do the same, you'll see that Mat is the radio/podcast voice for the Planetary Society.)  Then, just for fun, I Googled my buddy John Timpane and found that he even has his own image section! Then I Googled Don Rooney...
And found that I've been aced out of Google by country star Joe Don Rooney of the group Rascal Flatts. There's SIX PAGES of links to him. You still get links to him even when you go to "Advanced Search" and try to subtract "Joe," "Rascal Flatts," "country music" -- even "Jo" for those morons who can't spell his first name correctly. I was in radio and TV, but you STILL get Joe Don Rooney if you type in "Don Rooney radio" (about all the radio airplay his group is getting and the radio interviews he's done) or "Don Rooney TV" (about all the TV appearances by Rascal Flatts). Finally, if you type in "Don Rooney podcast," the first two entries lead you to the Musical Innertube (one's in German-- I guess I'm popular in Dusseldorf) -- but the next four are links to podcasts about.. you guessed it... JOE DON ROONEY!


I don't follow country music and have no idea what Rascal Flatts sounds like, or even if I'd enjoy their music.  We'll never know.  Because, thanks to Google, I really hate this bastard.

Garish

Every website and every blog that has any connection to radio or TV now has an obit for Gary Owens, who just passed away at the age of 80 of complications from the diabetes he'd had all his life.  The reason he's being remembered in every blog is because what he also had, besides one of the best voices ever, was a warm and winning personality.  Everyone knew GO, because he was genuinely interested in everyone. He helped hundreds of kids get their first break in radio and TV.  I myself made half a dozen trips to radio station KMPC on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood to interview Gary, and he sat and humored me every time.  I kept coming up with class projects that involved interviewing him, just so I could talk to him.  

Gary Owens was silly.  His radio comedy was free-form goofiness, and I grew up on it.  Most people will remember him as the announcer on Laugh-In, hand over his ear, but anyone who grew up in Los Angeles will remember that he was constantly on the radio with that silly goofiness and that great voice.  When my friends and I car-pooled home from high school every afternoon, we all tuned in to KMPC -- not for the music, which was a wondrous mixture of big band and Doris Day -- but for Gary Owens and his silly bits and wordplay.  From him, we learned about nerneys and fnorks, and listened as the Story Lady told fables about drunken dwarves, and got a first-class education in puns. Gary had a bit on his show called "Rumor of the Day." His original idea was to start a rumor, then see if it would spread and eventually wind up being reported as fact.   Eventually, it became a daily pun-fest, and he began accepting rumors from listeners.  When he read my rumor -- "Music buffs are usually very polished gentlemen" -- and thanked me on the air, my aunt was listening in her car and later told me she was so excited to hear my name on the radio she nearly drove off the road.  

Gary Owens is the reason I got into radio.  I tried to pattern my voice and my sensibilities after his, and even today I'm still borrowing from him. Because if you're gonna steal, steal from the best. 

Thanks Gary.  You were the best.