WELCOME ABOARD the Neverending Ocean Cruise!

Welcome to the deep end,
Glad To Have You Here
...where we find shorter spaces between us.
-- Bobby Ocean

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Lock Em And Load Em

Big Shots Named

The Big Guns in the U.S. Commercial Gun Industry acknowledge that the most powerful and strangely secretive force among them is The Freedom Group, and this single private company is quite a thing of a mystery.

Never heard of The Freedom Group? Neither had I, until only recently. Already, I'm guessing they're pro-gun. Or not. Depends on which rumor I warm up to, however.

By its own count, the Freedom Group sold 1.2 million long guns and 2.6 billion rounds of ammunition in the 12 months ended March 2010, the most recent year for which figures are publicly available. Within long gun circles where the big money is, that is the stuff of myth and folklore.

That's also just about 1.2 million guns and 2.6 bullets more than I've peddled lately at my garage sale.

I operate out of California, The Freedom Group originates from Manhattan.

But, ooh, TV movie conspiracy plot:
Backing this gargantuan Freedom Group is the private investment company, Cerberus Capital Management, which may cause a flicker of recognition to sweep across your windscreen.

Cerberus first came to a higher level of national attention when, as if on a tip in 2007, it acquired Chrysler. That deal meant widespread cash flow, never mind that Chrysler soon afterward had to be fiscally rescued by taxpayers.

So! You and I - we - had never previously been aware of this virus called "The Cerberus Freedom Grope," yet it has already cost us a heap of money. Huge Dollars; not immediately grasp-able amounts of dinero. We "bailed out" multi-billionaires? My mind'll have a time getting a grip on THAT.

It's just like a sci-fi TV show where the bad guys have been there in the shadows all along, maneuver with limitless funds, can have any of the latest gear they want and designer hideouts too. Headquartered in New York City, Cerberus has silently been acquiring big guns and ammunition.

Sold to Cerebrus:
Bushmaster, with gas-powered "black guns," that fire as rapidly as fast as the trigger can be squeezed. "It's clear that the militarized stuff is the stuff that sells and is defining the industry," its previous owner said on record.
DPMS (Defense Procurement Manufacturing Services) Panther Arms manufactures a wide range of military and civilian rifles. They're huge.
Remington, who, from flintlocks to M24 sniper rifles, is now making handguns for the first time in decades and supplying firepower to other governments including Afghanistan.
S&K Industries, which supplies wood and laminate for gun stocks,
Advanced Armament Corp., which makes silencers.
Barnes Bullets, which makes copper-jacketed bullets popular with precision shooters and police departments.
Marlin Firearms, a classic maker with two niche shotgun brands,
    Harrington & Richardson, and
    L.C. Smith
Dakota Arms, not an apartment complex,as the name might suggest, but a maker of high-end big-game rifles.

"We believe our scale and product breadth are unmatched within the industry," Carebrus' Freedom Group has recently said, sounding not unlike some puffed-up, stuffed-into-his-suit, spokes-cartoon.

Camera pulls back, pans over a multide of colorful graphs and dollar signs which tell the whole successful tale to this point: Cerberus manages more than $20 billion in capital. The companies it owns together generate a revenue of about $40 billion annually - more than either Amazon or Coca-Cola lately. Now they're practically an artillery monopoly.

With just one word, the Pandora's lid flies open with an ear-splitting, sky rocketing flare up. One word, one query: "Why?"

Once this inside info enters the Realm Of Our Attention, it finds a vacuum of intelligence and a nice, dry mound of conspiracy tinder, and boom! --all precipitation is over; it has happened. The catalyst has met its anticipated element. The predicted chemical reaction, known as, "Let The Rumors Fly," seems to explode everywhere at once.

And now everyone hears as the rumor bandwagon marches by. Maybe that's part of the plan. Wondering Why is certainly part of the plot in this script.

Oh, The Rumors!
Some Pro Gun Slinger theories suggest that the mysterious shadow power behind Carebrus' Freedom Group is actually some liberal and hedge-fund billionaire with a secret agenda all his own.

You don't need to know that "Hang the Second Amendment slash Secret Agena Rumor" because it's already been discredited. The shameful speculation involving dismantling the gun industry was so powerful that, just this October, the National Rifle Association issued a statement denying it. As far as rumors go, THAT rumor has SOME street cred.

You Say "Toom-Ah-Tow."
Bush Had Skull And Crossbones, These Guys Got A Mean Dog. The company's name is taken from Greek mythology, and a fabled three-headed dog, Cerberus, who guards the gates of Hades - to keep the resident in or the relatives out? Only now, we wonder.

But, nice ambience. Company's named after a dog from Hell. Oka-a-ay. Sure trumps wearing a red power tie at the next meeting. Wonder if they provide Dental Coverage at Dog-from-Hell Company; they'd have my fangs.

There's a rumor that this new gun industry has sold weapons to several questionable kingdoms, not only of Afghanistan, but also Thailand, Mexico and Malaysia, among others. Oh yes, and the USA! Cerebrus apparently obtained a brand new batch of business from our own U.S. Army, including a contract worth up to $28.2 million. [note: NOT a rumor, that; already been done.]

So, who are these guys? Who is it that's Involved In all this? Let's check the script's credits and meet our Cast Of Characters:

Financial Backer, George Soro; mysterious, very wealthy shadow figure behind sunglasses, lurking in streetcorners, shady side of boulevard. Stephen Feinberg, Co-Founder Cerebrus, chief Executive Officer and Senior Managing Directors.

The longtime Chairman of Cerberus' Global Investments Group, is a renowened individual. Perhaps you've already heard of him? An affable guy, Mr. D. Quayle. Yep, that Quale! Army Nation Guard Seargent, and former Vice President, Dan "Pototato" Quale.

Cerebrus' subsidiary Freedom Group, not to be outdone, has TWO retired generals on its board. Marines AND Army:

George Joulwan, former Supreme Allied Commander of Europe, retired from the Army, and

Michael Hagee, formerly Commandant of the Marine Corps.

These are the names behind the mystery. Ask them what's going on and you will not get the truth, but a good spin.

These guys cost you SO much of your future. These guys, a Secret Zillionaire and a handful of Once-Upon-A-Time Power Players, cost you SO much money, and the country more hassle and trouble than most of the famous bad guys you can think of. Most, not all. Still that's way too much to go unacknowledged, that'd be like trying to cross the freeway with your eyes closed.

Whew! And just think: next time a Chrysler Event pops up and they need a broad daylight "Highway Bailout," they got the D-list celebrities and the firepower to back it up.
--


Saturday, November 26, 2011

DRUGMAKER MERCK CHALLENGES POP SOCIAL SITE

Wants To Know Why Rival Has A Facebook Page They Thought Was Theirs
It's an enormous world. Although we may continue watching in earnest, everyone is bound to miss something. Maybe that's why there are so many of us.

You know how you start noticing specific names, things, and trends only after they are brought to your attention? You may have gone a lifetime without discovering the value of Acid Stained Concrete Floors, or Pomegranate Jelly, but once someone you know raves about it, you give it a try, you begin to notice it wherever it is. And it has been there in the open all along.

That happens to me all the time, especially since I enjoy reading. After Victor Hugo, I have a whole new POV regarding Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo. Before, it was only a lyric in a pop tune.

And so it is with my Attention Span falling upon the Merck Chemical Companies of Germany and the U.S.

Never heard of them, or really payed any attention, until I read the rock autobiography of Rolling Stones co-founder, Keith Richards, The book is simply entitled "Life," and contains the surprisingly well documented recollections of the guitarist, songwriter, performer and conciousness alterer, Richards, among which include mention of this distinctive drug maker's honorific monitor.
  Now I seem to notice that name more often, and when I do, a flicker of recognition lights up inside whenever I see it.

‘If you wanna get down, down on the ground, cocaine..."

Piracy On The High Seize 
The webpage, www.facebook.com/merck, was established over a year and a half ago by Merck KGaA in Germany, but, inexplicably, is has been seized and is being utilized by it's US rival, Merck & Co. in New Jersey, and now proclaims, "...This site is intended ONLY for residents of the United States and its territories..."

The German drug making firm, Merck KGaA, established nearly three-and-a-half centuries hence by a pharmacy owner in the city of Darmstad, in 1668, has begun legal action against social networking site, Facebook, after discovering the apparent takeover of its Business Page by American rival of the same name and origin, Merck and Company of Whitehouse Station, New Jersey. The Germans believe the Facebook page is owned by them and that the American-based chemical manufacturer is, in fact, poaching.

The two drug makers both originated from the one commercial enterprise set up by a pharmacy owner in the German city of Darmstadt in 1668. After World War I, as part of the Reparations Package imposed on Germany, the business was split into two separate entities.

Lack Of Either Understanding Or Fair Play 
Merck KGaA's lawyer, reportedly stated that he had sent a letter and a series of emails to various Facebook staff asking to discuss what had happened to the webpage.

Simple enough: "please explain to your customer what happened to our web page." I understand that last sentence and I think you do, too. But, Merck KGaA  says the Facebook crowd "either did not understand the problem... [or were] intentionally giving unresponsive answers".

Merck's attorney said that when he had requested a telephone conversation, one of Facebook's staff "incredibly replied that 'no-one is available for a call at this time....' Later, Facebook limply recited, "We are looking into it."

I don't think this could EVER make a good reality TV movie with overused lines like that, long since cooked lifeless and limp.

"Don't forget this fact, you can't get it back, Cocaine..."

Are Legal Steps Taken Even On The Path Of Justice? 
Merck KGaA has documentation: these materials prove it had entered into an agreement with Facebook for the exclusive rights to www.facebook.com/merck in March of 2010. The German firm added that a number of its employees had been subsequently assigned administrative rights to the page, something that can only take place during the originating process, not afterward.

However, Merck KGaA said that when it had checked the site on 11 October this year it had discovered it had lost control of the page, and that content on the site now belonged to the American Merck. Of course they were surprised. A petition was filed immediately with the Supreme Court of the State of New York by Merck KGaA for the purpose of obtaining information as to why a website believed in good faith to be owned by the German firm suddenly is not anymore.

Covering Their Assets And Eating Them, Too 
Merck KGaA filed in New York rather than courts in California because that is Facebook’s headquarters state, and doesn’t allow pre-action disclosure to identify defendants.

"We are just trying to learn what happened,"a spokesman for Merck KGaA, Dr Gangolf Schrimpf, told the BBC.“We took action against Facebook and not against Merck & Co.

Someone's In Trouble
However, while Merck KGaA stressed that it had not taken any further action than requesting information, against its US counterpart at this stage, the court filing states that: "Merck is considering causes of action for breach of conduct, tortious interference with contract, tortious interference with prospective business advantage, and/or conversion."

Merck KGaA said Facebook “had not been cooperative” in attempts to seek information about the change. E-mails to Palo Alto, California-based Facebook’s press department didn’t receive a response. Facebook was unwilling to make a comment beyond saying that it was looking into the case.

Check That Cloud Lining: 

The good new for online marketers is found in between the lines. The "asides," comments seemingly thrown away or used in garnishing these statements, present a bright belief that, for commerce, Social Networks offer a much better way.

Branding experts say the Merck vs Merck Case reflects a growing realization that Social Networks can offer firms a better way of reaching their customers than through their own websites.

"Company communication departments have realised that many of the people they want to reach and influence are already on Facebook," said Simon Myers, speaking for the consultancy Figtree Network.

"As corporate content becomes more tailored and engaging, social media sites such as Facebook represent a brighter future of greater customer dialogue and interaction than the current corporate website with static content and pictures of people shaking hands."

That's an A-plus for Social Media marketing overall, and lesser grades all around for a few of it's manifold, confused players and users.

This is still a story with more questions than answers. 
Is Facebook playing favorites, being purchased under the table like a polititian or just plain stumbling through stupid missteps on its Way? Is Merck USA cutting a line?

None of the above? All of the above? Let's keep watching.
--0--


Wednesday, November 16, 2011

On Becoming Better At It All



IF POOR RICHARD HAD A BLOG
                        by Bobby Ocean

[first posted on Obtuse Angles just a few days ago)

The fastest way to accomplishing any goal is to first realize that aim inside. Once you take the time to know your idea's design well, your deeper, intuitive, creative mental facilities have a blueprint with which to undulge in Mysterious Ways.

That's a nice little piece of knowledge there. Just those words alone at the begining of a project can eliminate a lot of mis-steps, save a huge chunk of money.

As we all travel along through Life, many Common Sensical Sayings cross our attention span to remind us our priorities, pass along valuable insights, help us more surely achieve our goals. When it so happens that certain adages continue to apply, decade after decade, we know we have a Truism, what I call a Universal. Universals cross almost all barriers, work as currency Here as well as Over There, as Down Yonder, everywhere.

UNIVERSALS, A HYPER DRIVE STARTER SET:
There are some real gems in this marble bag:

ON LOOKING FORWARD
• Looking Forward means ALWAYS looking forward, into infinity, where anything can happen and the One Looking had better always be ready. There's only one way to always be ready and that is to Look Forward, Expecting Anything. This leaves no time for looking back or measuring sideways.

TWO POWERFUL FORCES
• Circumstances never turn out the way that you expected. Also, they continue turning. Because you know these Two Invaluable Insights they may act on your behalf. These are powerful forces you got going for you here.

THINK POSITIVE, ATTRACT POSITIVE •
Take care of yourself and maintain a sense of humor. If you are not well, don't come to work and infect the staff, stay in bed and recuperate at least until it's worked its way through your throat. If you have a bad cough go to the theater.

EACH TURN PRECARIUS
• The experience of yearning for that which is "out there" springs from one large false notion we call Desire. The choice to covet bears a Terrible Price. It leaves a Blind Spot. Similarly, one is frustrated with fighting such negative influences toward longing; go against them and you not only spend energy, you surrender the sum of it to the very thing you resist. Choose carefully.

STAY FAMISHED
• It is not supposed to be comfortable taking the time with eager business partners to define how you will share expenses or the division of labor until the terms have been agreed to afterward.

BE STILL = RESIST NOT
• Concerning negative thoughts and emotions: just be completely aware of them. For Each One, Bring Into Your Acceptance.
    -The current frame in which these impolses exist,
    -The feelings experienced,
    -The connections beneath the surface,
    -Your opinions, feelings, views of the entire picture,
    -Everything, and purely witnessing, just really be there.

GETTING CLEAR.01
• Bringing your completely non-judgmental understanding to each negative thought thread, past failure or unhappiness only seems difficult; it's not. those ghosts are not even here. Only the chemicals you call emotion and the images you call thoughts are here, at your beckoning. You can bear it. Bear witness.

GETTING CLEAR.02
• Novice executive samaraii and very green disciples who are seen getting rid of personal belongings, are not only practicing a protocol of non-attachment, but are also dis-attaching from poor grammer, such is redundant language. How, for example, can a belonging be other than personal?

GETTING CLEAR.03
• Being more concerned with how the other sees you than with the other, is a typical example of how and why the magicians' tool, Misdirection, works, this time as always with Thought being the Deceiver and the One Concerned, the Deluded.

EVEN SHORTER:

• A mind filled with fear is the melting pot of failure, a devout mind the portal to unlimited success.

• Dashed expectations may be only the surge or crest of the wave whose ocean of possibilities is still in motion.

• A disappointing income appies to the future, a disappointing outcome to the past. Neither addresses the present moment.

• Humor travels a twisted way to here, but usually brings a friend and makes more.

• It's hard to go against cravings that seem to come from the heart. If it helps, they don't come from it but at it, attacking. Resist not. Instead, watch the watcher.

• Pay less dues; pay more attention.

•  Cease desires,
    Still the heart,
    Regain your sight,
    Then re-start.

• Often you can recognize your true direction by the simple observation that it's not going the way you expected.

• It's often just a case of crossed wires. Pull back, take a breath. Next time you come together see where things stand from a WiFi POV.

• Anchor yourself in the present moment and prevent yourself from becoming swept away in thought and emotion.

• Boy have I got problems,"- epitaph, math teacher; "Boy. have I got Projects," - joyful exclamation of Someone Playing In The Infinite.

• It's play if you like what you do. It's work when you MUST play. It's art when you do your best soley because you can.

• Get it down. Lift it up. Pay it forward.

• Be willing to allow Higher Design to speak through you.

• Today is far too immense for just one word and yet it IS both the tomorrow you helped create yesterday, and the only game in town right now.

• Every time you remove a label, look deeper, the world around you  feels more alive, fresh and new, and grateful. You broaden the dimension of space.

• Perceiving without interference is the 'looking deeper,' beyond name tags and brand names, without engaging in concepts.

• Being open means not blocking new information trying to reach you with a shield of having all the answers. The seeming contradiction, "Be less so that you may be more," insists on continued inclusion.

• Leave the audience wanting.

--Hoping for that effect, I'll stop here.

In the ideas, special tips and enlightenments expressed above, that worked for countless others, self included, please find inclusive tools, no-strings helping hands, honest contributions - from a gradient sampling of souls, bakers through candlestick makers, the lofty, the lowly, enlightened, even lost, all intending us well. Ponder in good heart,

--0--


Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Notes On Radio:

What It Was Like To Be On The Air
YOU HAD TO BE THERE

I get a lot of requests which I suppose is normal for a person who played at being a disc jockey while playing the hits.

Readers of this space ask for my reflections on the wonder of what it was like to be square in the middle of that magical time when radio was really in service to its listeners, respected them and actually liked them. It was very transparent. You can hear when someone's smiling while talking to you on the phone. Same deal for someone on the radio.

Once, not very long ago, Radio was the most fun in the whole wide world
. It had no world wide web sites, no way to Tweet about itself and rather than streaming online was making waves freely in the air outside.

"Look Ma! No wires! I'm just modulating the atmosphere!"

For many of us it was, at first, the entire world, and then later, our personal doorway, opened just for us, to the inside power knowledge of The Real Deal outside. Radio was power.

Radio just a few yesterdays hence was way ahead of merely being listenable, it was compelling in the sense that a magnet is to steel. Compelling all across the dial, not by force, coercion or constraint but by being so alive and entertaining as to necessitate listening.

One didn't want to miss a thing; this was one of a kind and all ours, these songs, fashions and events. It was the first time the largest slice of the demographic had even been recognized by the rest of society and it intoxicated us with the satisfaction that can only come from an audience wanting more. These things we couldn't miss were all so much bigger than life and fit into each one's imagination like it was cut to their lifestyle by an excellent tailor.

The dream became surreal and hyper enjoyable if you were the one on the radio, playing the records, the disc jockey!

Disc Jockys, that amalgem of the savage and the sacred, were the ones holding open that new doorway, our personal portal. They inspired wonder. Who were these guys? The very association with show business was for them like a Harvard diploma, elevating the headphone wearer to either the head of the table or very near the power players there seated by power of their sheepskins or relatives.

The era was one of the Top-40 radioman as much as it was of the chart topping songs and artists of the day in the same way hand-held wax cartons were a part of drinking milk then. The DJ's adulation was unfair in comparison and performance with hard driving, well rehearsed troubadours but it was popular vote. It was pure pop, non-stop and all part of the show.

We worked six days a week and there was no recorded DJ shows. You had to be there. Yes we were professionals and yes we deserved our paychecks. and yet, if you were to look a little deeper into each DJ, certainly the ones I have known, broadcasting was not so much our vocation as it was our obsession, a hobby-gone-wild more than a career. When the music grooved, when our scripts were clearly written, when the mic switch cracked open and the studio muted, we were at play.

WHAT HAPPENED
It was play because we wanted to do it. Play ceases to be play and becomes work only when we MUST do it.

It was play to execute our play better then the other station in contention. it also stops being much of a game when there are no competitors, no adversaries.

Once, not very long ago, entertainers and broadcasters owned all the radio stations all across the land. Then, laws written to protect people from any one owner posessing too many broadcast facilities, radio and TV - too much influence in any one market - were re-written, blotted out, the protection afforded your ears terminated, ethics quashed and careers dashed. Radio stations all across the land were made offers they could not refuse. They sold their heritage business to corporations that gobbled up radio stations like guitar players on pot gobble munchies, or brass sections down boilermakers.

For too many radio folks, the corporate environment, through cost-cutting, removed too many of the people we need to play WITH, but worse, eliminated our opponents, and thus the game itself.

I wonder how many stories there are from Broadcast Owners who, having heard what happened, now regret having sold out. We never hear from them.
--0--

Saturday, October 22, 2011

DO WHAT YOU LOVE


In Passing, On Steve Jobs' Passing

In trying to find words to express how I feel about the recently deceased Steve Jobs, I find his words work best. I know that he communicated his ideas through words and, unerringly, he chose them with deliberateness. Constantly, he used them for furthering.

In Steve Jobs' own words, then, from the Commencement address at Stanford, spoken to the graduating class on June 12, 2005 when he was CEO of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios:

"You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle."


I love those two words, they're deep: "Don't settle." Don't ever think you don't have another option because you do. What you hold dear is worth more than assenting to another's limitations. It may not be the easiest path, but it will bring you back the love you invested through joy and satisfaction.

When it's a truth, it has universal application. The same advice that can bring you success in business also applies to the dance floor.

"As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle."

There is is again -  don't settle for less. In fact, push to make it even better than originally conceived. Know yourself, invest yourself.

Steve continues, "When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: 'If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right.' It made an impression on me, and since then...I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: 'If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?' And whenever the answer has been 'No' for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.

"Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart."

Listen to these words from renowned mystic, scholar, activist and Vietnamese monk, Thich Nhat Hanh, in his book, "Be Still And Know," said, "Understanding and love are values tht transcend dogma." Jobs said much the same to the Stanford grads.

"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary."

Jobs was right on the mark there, too. It does take courage to empty your head and heart of old thinking and concepts to embrace the complete unknown. Empty, you do not block out new information. That courage is in you. Own it.

"When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The Whole Earth Catalog, which was one of the bibles of my generation....On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous. Beneath it were the words: "Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish." It was their farewell message as they signed off. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. And I have always wished that for myself. And now...I wish that for you.

Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish."

Follow those words and you could just end up making a dent in the universe.
--0--











Friday, October 14, 2011

Bobby Ocean's Stuff For Sale

Pick Through it; See Whatcha Like...
Times are tough, I don't hafta tell ya. Most of us are lightening our load, selling our stuff and traveling lean.

I'm cleaning the garage and thought. "...this is a perfect time to inventory some stuff, might discover a few assets, never can tell. Well?" Could happen...

So let's look over da moichandise. Lessee...
  • An Air Freshener...
  • Keychain with Compass...
  • A Couple Of Those Dollar Wire Mesh Back Supports...
  • One Back Scratcher.
  • Used Paperbacks, Assorted...
  • Drug Store Readers In Different Strengths...
  • Bottle Of Stain Remover...
  • Micro-Fibre Towels, Two.

Oh yeah. There's a fortune here.

I could go on eBay and say, "Hey, best offer," but I'm far too much of an old Bob Barker Fan. (Please spay and neuter your pets, but don't tell them I said anything)

Instead, I just wonder, if there was a Special Showcase Channel For My Stuff, ya know? Would I push it?

Tell em what's in the Showcase, Johnny...

--0--

Thursday, October 13, 2011

POPULAR OPINION HAS CHANGED AGAIN

It's ALWAYS Time To Update Our List

I have always had more than a keen interest in Pop Culture. As I grew through grade school, television added to my fervor. Then radio.

Pop fascinated me. Any popularly held viewpoint could change; it could be expressed in almost any way. There were experts who had a professorial delivery. There were snobs with their better-than-thou pontification, there were opinions in editorials, there were positions to protest, there were comedians with current relateable barbs. Popular opinion was entertaining and all over -- the news, it was in the papers, the movies. And it was in the songs on my almighty radio.

Popular Opinion was very commercial. marketable. It wore many masks and even occasionally surfaced as just what it is, the more current references to the past. It has been called Trivia, Name That Song, Books Of Lists, tons more, but its one common factor is its transience.

It's called "popular" opinion because the trendy, prevalent perspective would change all the time, like the weather. It could well be termed "Current Opinion," but that doesn't have the same phonic fluidity. Looking further, the whole phrase seems to infer an opinion involved, when it's really just complacent, dazed mental grazing. What was giddily popular one day becomes another's trivia.

During a career in radio broadcasting, as a DJ playing popular music ("the Pop Hits!, the Top-40, then 30, then 20"), the value of Popular Opinion became instantly apparent and, of course, grew with the ongoing experience. I had already decided that, if I was going to go on the radio and make a fool out of myself, it might as well be the most popular one. Now, decades later, looking back on the whole thing, I see a string of number one ranked stations on my resume. And much valued experience.

Occasionally, it so happened on the radio dial that a dark cloud formed over a frequency and its station's type of presentation completely failed with the public, When this happened, it was not an uncommon practice to change the call letters along with the music playlist and all the previous players. Sadly, I knew powerful people who really enjoyed the firing process.

Not very deep thinking but that's the way it was. And, that's the way it is. job insecurity is everywhere today, with a slight update. It's no longer so much "you're fired," as it is "we're changing the direction we're going and you're too closely associated with what we're leaving behind," or "we're eliminating that position. You'll have to apply for the new one."

Truth be told, it has little to do with the workers; it's their salaries that go beyond the newly hired boss' dictated pay grades. The Boss also has his strings being pulled and will also most probably be let go soon enough.

Why get rid of the personnel who were only doing what they were told? Because the new regime wants to totally distance the station from that previous "loser" image, Thus,  a clean slate. In radio that meant "re-branding" the call letters successfully enough to go out and sell time again.

Re-branding. It can certainly be misused. In radio slang, it is called "putting lipstick on the pig." I know broadcasting so I use it as a metaphor, but it is just one of thousands of industries suffering the same disabling effect of greed at the top.



The Top Ten Of List Disappointingly Ineffective Industries is such a small fraction of all of them that you might run away, crying if the entire list was posted. Still, it's a start. My immediate top Ten List includes: the Oil Industry, The Medical Profession, Fast Food, Banking, Wall Street, my own Broadcasting Industry, the Oakland PD and a few others that have achieved such a Massive Amount of Nothing, or Sustained Evil In Such Propensity that, if they were radio stations, would have been repackaged long ago.

Popular opinion, and consequent re-branding, is moving faster and faster now. You can see it everywhere. Some will see it in the current Occupy Movements, others in the Netflix Switcheroo from Quickster and back to square one again. Others witness radical changes from the standpoint of practicing To Live Without As Much, which can be akin to spiritual.

Considering how disastrously current popular opinions have changed on so many of the products, and institutions with which we grew up, it occurred to me to draw up a Short List that most needed a re-branding if they are to survive. (I'll leave the Long List for you to compile, k?)

Tracking Current Popular Opinion, we note the following need Emergency Re-Branding, stat! Your list may vary:

Fast Food Industry - Seen As: selling Mystery Meat along with chemically injected ground beasts and artery-clogging fried potatoes, to go. They've lost the Wholesome Feeling. Need to regain trust. Hmmm..
Should be Re-Branded as: Keebler Burgers.

Broadcast Radio and TV News - Seen As: completely missing the concept of the product they're assigned to deliver, losing focus of the big picture and constantly re-hashing shared footage. This is a result of corporate "cost cutting," the two-dimensional juggling of numbers that fired just about all the reporters, and reduced even shareholders' TV content to bad play-acting and rendering that new HD-TV screen close to useless, unless you like re-runs. They've lost the entire nation's trust. How can they be repackaged?
Should be Re-Branded as: "Ken and Barbie World News Rehash."

Banking Industry - Seen As: so greedy as to be institutionalized in a mental hospital, hiring only McHelpers with no authority whatsoever, willing only to make 30-years loans.
Should be Re-Branded as: "Safe Stay-cation Theme Parks," where you can still stand in long lines, spend all your vacation money and not have to go on those pesky rides.

Apple's New iCloud - Already Seen As: way easier than Facebook, but, then, isn't everything? It's looked upon as as way to save a lot of money and time by easily, effortlessly synching up all proprietary appliances with no cords, redundant downloading or personal time spent; it's automatic. Seen as a huge parting gift from Steve Jobs, it enters the marketplace beloved.
Could be Re-Branded as: "iCant Do Without It"

The Oakland P.D. - Seen As: that place in TV shows, like Wired, where everyone on the force has dark secret and multiple shadow alliances. Seems they go through their own Chiefs Of Police faster than TV Season pilot shows; been through three Chiefs and hundreds of cops in the last few years. They badly need to rid themselves of old thinking and start fresh.
Need to be seen as doing their job, so, in order to reestablish believability, so should be Re-Branded as: "The Oakland Boy Scouts," but until they achieve that stage, just call them: "The Oakland Raiders"

Oil Industry - Seen As: heartless fiduciary ticks on the warm, unprotected underbelly of an innocent populace. The people bought the damned cars they saw whizzing around corners, parking with ease, in the commercials. Now the people are inching along in Reality towards their jobs spewing fumes from the poisonous gas they were sold at a daily fluctuating price. They know they've been suckered. They pay for parking, maintenance, bridge fares, and know the money trap machines are addicted to gas. As SOON as any alternative is put on the market, they'll be all over it.
Should be Re-Branded as: "Not Snakes."

That's a Short List. Half a dozen embarrassing cases only. There are too many more; we could both blog for years. point is: their CEOs should, at the very least, resign.

Popular Opinion mutates and spirals in all different directions every day, faster and faster. In Online Marketing, it is becoming more and more important to protect your "Net Reputation." One sure way to maintain this critical focus is to concentrate on serving rather than harvesting for self.

When you find other ways, be sure to share. That's how our perception changes, twists and rolls. It is a spiraling energy. A revolution.

--0--



Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Big, Or At The Least, Very Imposing, Brother Broadcasters



CORPORATE RADIO NEW HOUSE RULES, STRUCTURE, DRESS CODE...

When I entered radio a few decades ago, Programming was recognized as Top Priority, from where the money came. That which is on the air RIGHT NOW was paying for everyone's groceries and its Fearless Leader and those who worked under the Programming banner were respected, if not understood. As long as the ratings were good.

Times have changed, as Radio Solutions Experts (Time Peddlers) love to tell me when I visit any station in L.A., for example. "SALES is in charge NOW," they boast. Hmmm... Since when has the listener bonded with Sales?

More, since Sales is the new boss, what are they doing with that ability to attract, entertain and maintain an audience? I'll tell you this: when the coin obsessed don't know a thing about entertainment or broadcasting, they outsource it. They hire a programming consultant. Some of these radio consultants are priceless. I've even heard of one "expert" with a consultant of his own: a fortune teller. It was true; he mistrusted his own instincts so much he had to pull in Madam Turban and her crystal ball. Funny, and inadequate is REALLY funny.

A monstrous Conference Call of Radio 'Who's' for This One Corporation In Particular was reported to have taken place last week. It was between Those Who Tell Others What To Do on your air waves, (what songs to play, who to hire and fire, what costs to cut) and Those Who Must Obey.

The conference call was held by radio programming consultant Mike McVay, who,  among other dictates, apparently informed his troops, "All contracts with programming consultants will be severed immediately." If this is so, Mike just axxed himself, a first that deserves to be applauded.

But, dang, no. There was an even more recent interview, designed to spin the previous one, and, in it, we learn he didn't say, or especially MEAN that.

Nor did he mean there were 500 corporate managers and programmers on the line. That was just the inability to spin a lower number of attendees, is all. But there were enough on the call, maybe 350, to eventually realize everything he said would turn out to be otherwise.

So - when he said, "Jan Jeffries is the head of Country, Top 40 and Hot AC stations." what he meant is that Jan has been doing that all along. Still doing it NOW. I guess he just threw that in or thought it required repeating.

 
The statement, "Programmers will also receive a list of...(song) adds, other(s) ... will be subject to corporate approval." in fact turns out to include an open season reverse loophole: "...we're going to give those PDs the ability to decide the songs they want to play." (from that list they received?) "Part of my whole thing is that I want to get the very best broadcasting minds in the business in our company..."

Well! That's a big difference, even though that last sentence was completely irrelevant to the topic of Choosing Music or Following Corporate/Consultant Play Lists.

But, let's keep rolling. The edict made during the conference call, mandating "Stations will no longer be permitted to talk with record company promotion personnel..." is ACTUALLY: "...100% wrong," according to McVay. "They can absolutely talk to record company promotion personnel and can go to lunch or dinner or with them. I did say we have rules and regulations we all must live by, and I want record company promotions to run through corporate." Then McVay added, to underscore absolutely no point made earlier: "By the way, it is all about entertainment."

Well, I AM being entertained. By the acrobatics; indefatigable flip-flipping.

When, during the vast conference call, it was said, "All adds by all stations will be reported exclusively to Mediabase by one person in Atlanta," McVay INTENDED to say, rather, that they want the programmers to report all adds exclusively to Mediabase by one person, John Kilgo here (in Atlanta), who has always (done that)..." And to clarify, "I don't ...think that's too much to ask for a programmer, particularly if we're utilizing their input in the music they provide to us."

Huh? trying to follow that sentence was not unlike following a Mobius Strip. You give up trying to make sense of it and wait for it to end. but it just goes on and on. I lost the scent of reason at the part of the trail where "all stations were to be reported by ONE PERSON."

What about the new rule: "Programmers will have to make 'good arguments' if they choose not to carry Citadel Media-supplied programming?" What that really meant, says McVay, "...wasn't said in those words, either...What I said is that...if we have shows on our network that you're interested in and they're available in your market, I encourage you to take them....I heard one of our stations playing music and rolling sweepers with no air talent whatsoever, no voice-tracking, nothing that connected us with the community on a holiday weekend. [editor's note: nice to see that even the suits notice the effects of their own cost-cutting. OK, sorry]...I'd rather you carry syndicated programming than just play music and sweepers...."

And IF that Programmer WOULD RATHER NOT choose from Citadel Media-supplied programming, NOR finds interest in any other syndicated shows, THEN, before hiring anyone to do weekends, she can start writing out those "good arguments," right?

That tidbit about "Sometime in October, a new 'Programming Operating System' will be put into effect..." doesn't exactly mean that either. It goes into effect within days (or a few days ago, depending on when you're reading this) and it's absolutely not new; nothing different about it at all. The so-called 'New' Programmimng OS is not at all unlike what McVay called his Media's Systems Management Manual for years. Looks like the man is recycling his assets.

The news blip that said "Format Managers will be appointed, and programmers are being encouraged to apply for those posts" had a spin.  (And, of course they'll want to apply! It's either that or lose their income. That's a typical, undignified, cookie-cutter corporate scheme to avoid bestowing raises: eliminate the position, then create it again with a new name and make proven employees go through the application process.)

McVay says that, after the telephone conference, he "...got about 150 emails from individuals inside Cumulus who are interested in being brand managers, format captains, more involved in programming and having their responsibility and role enlarged." [read: keep pulling in a paycheck even if it means extra duty at less pay]

"So," says the Big Brother-man who keeps HIS paycheck and security at the expense of an entire corporation of others, "I'm really looking forward to digging within our company, as well as without, to find the best programmers and give them greater responsibility."

Gut it, Mighty Hunter Mike. Fill it with the desperate. Then sell it.

Here's the so-obvious-that-he-now-denies-it-Big-Brother-line: "...individual employees are not permitted to talk to the trades." That would be against Free Press, so... Not true, right, Mike?

Big Bro Mike says, "Not true; it never came up on the call. I would encourage our programmers to be interviewed and have profiles... the names that I'll announce sometime in the next 30-60 days are ones who ...I'll want ...to be interviewed. (In other words, re-apply for your old job IF you have created a corporate profile)

Finally: "...A dress code has been implemented: no blue jeans, flip-flops, piercings or exposed tattoos."

The next day, McVay was interviewed and said, "...Honest to God, it was never mentioned. I mean, today is casual Friday. I am wearing jeans, no socks, brown shoes and I have on a shirt that's tucked out."

I'm aghast, Mike, you hippy. He goes on, "...I've been saying I want to change the culture...SVPs stuck a note on my door that said, "I'm changing culture, not clothes." (Bet that SVP is wearing a gray suit, white shirt and red tie today)

And the Corporate Choke Chain, gagging your drones at Big Broth... um, corporate cluster of radio stations, that's all in our minds and not at all true either, right Mike?

"I'm sure if you're in Cumulus", he said, using the old scaffold analogy, "you feel like the noose around your neck was loosened. And I'm sure if you're in Citadel, you went, 'Hey, there's a noose around my neck.' So it's all perspective."

If you say so, sir. Point of View, then, got it. Way ya look at it, sure. Shee... I practically have a blog with that name...

Here's a POV: Instant irrelevance. A gentleman I've always had a nice chunk of admiration for, as I watched his radio programming consultancy move along over the decades, suddenly blows all that perseverance in one conference call. Now he's sounding like a writer for Rush Limbaugh. It's like one of those zombie virus movies.

--0--

Saturday, September 24, 2011

Add Another Dimension.

YOUR VIDEOS MORPHED INTO 3-D
How could YouTube, owned by Google, get bigger and what good can come of it for you? Well, strap on your 3-D goggles and hang on.

With zero cost for expensive new gear, another dimension has just been added to your video-making. That's right! Your vids can be seen in 3-D.



I was spying, um, researching... Ok, Ok, my FB friend Robin shared a link with me. That led to another, and so on, until it became so dimensional. Literally.

From the official YouTube blog, this week, of Product Manager Shenaz Zack Mistry, entitled "Additional Creator Tools from YouTube," these gems:

Sparkler-1: One-click 3D video conversion! It's beta but before this cutting edge app showed up, you had to set up two cameras, combine the footage from each, and use special software to synch it up and make it look just right. No more. Today with Youtube you can enjoy 2D to 3D conversion. "Converted videos will be viewable by everyone in 3D." Yay.

Added Luster: No more time limit.

I HATE that online streaming dialog box that pops up saying, "you have already watched 72 minutes of Mega Video. Sign up or go away for a specified amount of time." As of today, less limitations. "The Google-owned video site announced... (select users will) no longer be limited to 15-minute videos."

In a statement that could have been written by Steve Jobs, the Marriage Of Humanities And Arts With Doing Business was once again underscored, "YouTubers are some of the most innovative, entertaining and inspirational people in the world, and their creativity often needs more than the current upload limit of 15 minutes."

Sparkler-2, and 3
: Free apps! To edit your video and add ost production effects. "We’re adding two additional video creation platforms for you to make your videos even better: Vlix and Magisto. Vlix lets you spice up your videos by adding cool effects and text to the video intro and closing. Magisto takes your unedited video and automatically edits it into short, fun clips."

Just a few decades ago, it seems, computers started showing up in homes and the spread didn't stop. With them came the entire publishing business, from type-setting to word processing to printing with lazors.

Ray Kutzweil  seems to be right on about ubiquitous machines and exponential costs. Today, it seems the computer makers are stumbling all over each other to bring us the video industry.
--0--


Friday, September 9, 2011

AN UPLIFTING UPDATE

Twin Tower Remembrance, Rebuild

As this month begins
we'll see a lot of different points of view concerning what has enterd our lexicon as The Nine-Eleven Tragedy.

Of all the stories you've heard, could you ever describe one as a story
you like? Well, maybe one or two.


A  picture's worth a thousand frames.


Certainly this one.

Here's a future memory. It's something that will have your chest thumpin', make you proud to be an American again.

Also you'll probably feel uplifted and delighted with the hard working New York construction crew in this great video, sent along to me by a friend, passed on to you likewise, as yet another of the endless Views and Ways.

--0--


Sunday, September 4, 2011

BEFORE CORPORATE RADIO : REMEMBERING IT ALL

The Inaccuracy Of "Nothing But Good Times"
Radio was the carnival I ran away from home to join, the raft I sailed through the infinite river of my Huckleberry imagination, the obsession with which I wrestled all my life.

As I began my career in broadcasting, it was limitless in scope, with the future as promising as living in the house right next door to Heaven. It was show biz, it was exhilarating, it was a slice of Eternity.

But it wasn't all good times, and to sequester the favored moments is flawed perception. A personal choice of limited outlook can only be described as delusional. The good times that, in fact, there were, stand out as even better only when one recalls the everyday flaws in the mix.

Memory isn't for just looking back on the so-called "good times," but all times -- every kind of situation that can be imagined squeezed into that dynamic duration.

Look again:

Remember the anxiety as ratings were yet to be announced?
Remember the things promised you that were never delivered?
Remember the disappointment when part of the team shirked their duty?
Remember when you found out a so-called friend turned out not to be?
Remember the sinking feeling when your ratings took a dip?
Remember when the listener called to ask you to play a song you just played?
Remember the many times you weren't acknowledged for your contributions?
Remember the embarrassment when inadvertently doing something not in the format?
Remember the suspense when you did something deliberately not in the plan?
Remember the empty feeling when a good programmer was replaced by a lame one?
Remember the lousy feeling when an entertainment choice was sacrificed for financial gain alone?
Remember when the phone never lit up?
Remember the drive in to work, through a drop-dead beautiful day, to a dank, closed-off studio?
Remember when the other guy was late for his shift, leaving you stuck?
Remember the phone calls asking, "What did I win?" when you weren't having a contest.
Remember wincing when the new boss delivered a stupid, minor market, newbie directive?
Remember being sorry for the good people axed in favor of an imaginary budget?
Remember losing a great jingle package for a newer, lesser one??
Remember records being replaced by playback media with no labels to see rotating on the turntable?
Remember knowing what you were capable of and being hobbled by a supervisor in fear??
Remember finding out that a few others made more money than you?
Remember wading waist high in the doubt created by others on the team?
Remember the PD coming back from a convention or focus group with bad ideas?
Remember the good ideas you had that weren't considered?
Remember breaking the rules and how it felt when you were wrong? Right? And then, caught?
Remember being typecast?
Remember reading and re-reading stale liners; worse: cut-and-paste copies from the last regime?
Remember how you felt when you learned your boss had to taught the names of the Beatles?
Remember imported programming stooges who always said, "The way we did it back in (town)..."?
Remember headphone hair?
Remember when the only motivation for career furtherance was being fired?
Remember having to clean up the mess in the control room from the previous pig?
Remember the multitude of means available for feeling isolated?
Remember the lay crowd talking glowingly about the other station?
Remember constantly having to prove yourself? Especially to each newer, younger PD?
Remember working when sick?
Remember having to apologize for something you still think was funny at the time?
Remember being told that the one who hired you was fired?
Remember when the lyrics you knew so well meant different things when heart broken?
Remember when you pushed a button and nothing happened?
Remember knowing it was a bad idea and having to sell it anyway?
Remember having to cross plug another jock you didn't like?
Remember feeling inadequate?
Remember finding your headphones, used by another, broken?
Remember fighting for an absolutely essential budget?
Remember when the other station's jocks had jingles and you didn't?
Remember discovering you were cheated out of money you rightfully earned?
Remember being misused, as opposed to properly being used?
Remember cue burns?
Remember control room filth, built up like plaque from lack of regular maintenance?
Remember your plans for the future beyond Boss Radio?

Do yourself the kindness of remembering it ALL, good and bad. Helps you see the future.

There were plenty of great experiences, but you would hardly remember them if it wasn't for their counter balance, the less-than-good times.
--0--

Monday, August 29, 2011

BILL THE SLAUGHTERED

Utility Plans To Charge Customers For Pipeline Repair

One year ago a tragedy that could and should have never happened blasted its way onto front page news in the Northern California Bay Area. Sept. 9th, 2010: a PG&E pipeline exploded underneath a San Bruno killing eight people and turning 38 homes to which they provided gas into toothpicks and shrapnel.

Get out your checkbook.

Now the Utility Company wants the VICTIMS AND CUSTOMERS TO PAY for repairs for which it is solely responsible. After what we've since learned, are not all customers of PG&E, essentially a monopoly, now its potential victims? Seriously.

That PG&E is completely at fault has been verified by tons of evidence. There were people in the PG&E organization well aware that they had a seam weld risk - for some reason it wasn't getting addressed. As one example, a company engineer recounted a visit to a site earlier where an inspection crew was checking for corrosion on a pipeline in the immediate vicinity known as Line 132. He reported learning that before he got there, crews had identified as many as 20 suspected cracks on an angled bend in a short piece of pipe.

Royce Don Deaver, an out-of-state pipeline consultant who worked for decades in the pipeline industry, agreed that the discovery of a gap in the seam weld as well as a crack on the pipe that was about 1 1/4 inches long. should have triggered inspections across all of Line 132.

"Had they addressed this," Deaver said, "and if they had investigated this thoroughly, they might have found problems with other parts of the line, even where the line failed."

He wrote that he had found a gap in the seam weld as well as a crack on the pipe that was about 1 1/4 inches long.

The maintanance crew had dug up the line when it lost electronic signals, an indication that corrosion might be present in the pipe. When workers kept digging they found the flaws, the engineer wrote. but, after reporting the problem, NOTHING WAS DONE ABOUT IT.

State and Federal investigations investigating the tragic explosion have also uncovered bad welds, inconsistent testing for safety and documentation so disorganized as to suggest suspected concealment. This scrutiny has shown us records so inconsistent and shoddy that it becomes obvious the Utility didn't at all know what condition most of its pipes were in, probably doesn't right now.


At first. it might seem a relief that Pacific Gas and Electric Co. is, at last, planning a long overdue, extensive upgrade to its natural gas system. That it is proposed in the wake of the San Bruno tragedy, unfortunately, indicates the plan is an afterthought. Makes it seem as if they HAVE to do it, but otherwise wouldn't. (One can imagine a board meeting, "Only eight people? We have thousands and thousands of other customers piping money to us, so what if we lose a smattering?")

Cementing the cold perspective of their lack of compassion and sincerity, comes news of PG&E's stunningly callous intention to make their customers pony up almost 90 percent of the $2.2 billion cost necessary to replace miles and  mles of more defective pipeline, that could actually blow up more neighborhoods before even one valves is upgraded.

As you would expect, the idea of forcing PG&E customers pay the far greater portion of the project's costs enrages both the Utility's customers and critics.

Our Assemblyman Jerry Hill (Dem, 19th dist.), who represents San Bruno, was waiting for this. "We knew this day was coming, when PG&E would expect the ratepayers to pick up the cost of the repairs," he says. "This $2 billion capital expenditure will increase their profits down the road. That should be looked at carefully. They should not be allowed to profit from this."

How does Pacific Gas and Electric feel about passing this enormous bill on to their customers? They simply avoid that key issue and redirect attention to their delinquently configured patch-up. PG&E Happy Face and Executive Vice President Nick Stavropoulos, who was only recently hired this spring, AFTER the deadly Big San Bruno Bang, prefers to speak of what's going on his resume: the blueprint to overhaul the company's gas operations,"What we're proposing here is a massive, order-of-magnitude change to the way we've done business in the past," he said.

This would only matter to the relatives of those lost in the San Bruno catastrophe in that it is as near a direct admission of the Utility's guilt as could be found. You don't make massive changes unless there's been massive wrong doing.

But - where IS the change? One may ask: What's so different about the way you're doing business now? Have you designed a new manner in which to continue to ignore your customers?

Is the differing element in the "order-of-magnitude" that part where the customer pays for the slovenly maintenance of his Utility? Why should those threatened with harm because of deferred maintenance and cost-cutting pay to replace 186 miles of gas transmission lines, then go on to foot the bill in order to retrofit nearly 200 miles more, putting in place machines that can inspect the pipes properly from inside? Is this a business transaction or "protection money?"

PG&E says they will replace 228 shut-off valves, when actually it is you who will pay their workers, put their kids through college. You'll front the whole operation with your cash.

As newer models of faucets, valves and pipes, that can stop the flow of gas automatically or by remote control are installed, you are intended to pay the cost. While the company centralizes and digitizes all its pipeline records, as they should have done years ago, you will finance the undertaking. And the cost is not only beyond enormous, it is behind schedule by decades.

The big deal, yipee-skippy, intricate PG&E Pipeline Replacement Plan was only very recently filed with the California Public Utilities Commission. It went public the last Friday in August, nearly a whole year after San Bruno exploded, blowing away eight human lives and decimating 38 residences.

Investigations into the blast, both State and Federal, have revealed a portrait of a lazy, company that takes it's paying customers for granted and ceased any effort towards excellence, cutting it's maintenance budget to the point of not only being ineffective but not being there at all. Bad welds, inconsistent safety testing and record-keeping so inept illustrate a disorganized Utility that didn't know the condition of many of its pipes. Still doesn't.

As August comes to its close, we look forward to a final report card. The National Transportation Safety Board is scheduled to report its conclusion on the cause of the explosion. Will this report justify PG&E heaping onto its customers' backs this heavily priced and massive clean-up? The pricetag: $768.7 million through 2014, ADDING $1.93 to a typical homeowner's monthly bill.

And that, unfortunately, isn't all Pacific Gas And Electric plans for those paying for its energy services. Additionally, all new equipment installed would become part of the company's "rate base." soon, you'll get a letter explaining the new look of PG&E's monthly statement.

The shareholders portion will be significantly less. Their total would be $220.7 million through the next three years, with money coming out of PG&E's profit. Shareholders would spend an additional $314.5 million on pipeline safety programs already under way. (And what the hell does PG&E know about public safety? That it practices. I mean.

"Over the long term, it certainly will have an impact on customers' bills, no doubt," says Piggy Head, Stavropoulos. "But this is something that needs to be done..."

"They (PG&E) have no integrity at all," Deaver said. "You can't trust these people with public safety issues."

"When we're done ... we're going to know everything we'll need to know about these facilities from the standpoint of safety," Stavropoulos said Friday.

Too damn bad we can't choose from a menu of utility companies one that knows how to keep us safe from inadequate maintenance, deadly accidents and deliberate gouging.

--0--

Friday, August 26, 2011

CANCELLED FAITH IN TRAFFIC GUY, SIR

BOTTLENECK OF TOO MUCH HOT AIR, REVIEWED
(Addressed to you as if you were a person making their living online)
Time to pay up!

Recently preparing incoming funds and statements for delivery to my bookkeeper, a significant American Express bill was discovered . Memory didn't offer a marker, so I looked further into that envelope for a clue as to what I had purchased that month for such an amount.

The charge was from an Online Marketers Tool-Set By Subscription, Trouble Geyser, (real name altered to obscure the guilty, but you know who). I thought it was an ongoing fee for the continued use of their software, available to members by fee for a fixed time, and that the time had run out. Ah! But, not the case, they said.

I was informed that my entry fee took me through the end of this year. Well then, if I'm good through December, why the charge? That entry fee was hefty.


A Tariff Guzzler finance person on the phone was asked about this mystery charge, and I received an immediate, though disappointing, response. It was a pre-fab answer, as you will read.

The very moment that question was answered with that formatted reply was the same time, to the micro-second, that the White Camel In The Room had it's back overburdened to collapse. It was the famous "Final Straw," and precisely when the Treasure Grabber firm's entire online marketing scheme broke through its flim-flam cover film and was seen suddenly as ludicrous. I mean embarrassingly farcical, in the way only an amateur on stage in front of thousands on opening night can turn absurd.

All at once the parasitic reality of the situation became clear, if surrealistically silly can pass for a description of "clear." Time seemed to stop as that ill-fitting, stock reply stood out as the loudest, most inane bleat in the room, pulled into use in only the manner of the scripted who cannot at all remember her script.

A "pat answer" was given, immediately attempting to blot out, rather than answer, my quite differently shaped question. Instantaneously, at the speed of light, i recognized that answer didn't fit and I was being mislead.

I think we all know how it feels to put our money down, walk away with our purchase, then find it was a hoax perpetrated only to take our money. The word oft used is "taken." (Old school: "taken down town," as if to the darker alley ways. and pilfered)

Bad Answer:
I was informed that the charge "probably" stemmed from "that aspect" of my other email account, established when I signed on with them, at their urging, with another of their tools (I refuse to mention but can be compared with Monster Foul Up). It couldn't; I didn't. That data is unchanged. Translation:  "ya da, ya da, ya da...".

Huh? I'm sorry. What did you marketing geniuses just say to me? Did I hear right? This additional money being charged to my account "PROBABLY" ...started with ..."that ASPECT" of my other email...

What ASPECT? How precise is this "PROBABLY" that she casually threw out at me? Those WORDS offered by way of EXPLANATION in exchange for ACTUAL, not maybe, money? Sorry, nope.

And while the assumption to use those words may have been formed from seeing the collective data on my other business email (I have a few email accounts as do most, you too?), I need facts, not suppositions, when it comes to what I'm purchasing, not unlike the cashier who requires actual cash, not its possibility.

The baffling thing is why a company representative would settle for so much less than the reality of this situation. Obviously, this tactic has been working for years.

Whenever I do MY job, whether on public airwaves or for clients online, I find the best with whom to work, and do the best I can. That's the professional way. When I was on the radio as a music presenter, if I were to let even one detail slip, I'd get a call on the Hot Line and have to account for it. I understood that. It was a given, because we wouldn't think of anything less than owning up to our actions, our words, and giving our best honest effort. Holding one's self responsible requires one to adhere to higher standards.

There's too much missing data in words and phrases like "probably," "chances are," "in all likelihood," and other evasive responses. Whenever I get runaround words when dealing with significant monetary investment, alerts go off inside like a submarine in war maneuvers.

Right away I know I'm not dealing with a business I can count on nor have faith in.

At the same time, I may not want to admit it. Perhaps it was enough money that I don't want the further distress of feeling the fool. There's turmoil inside, until I stop resisting. Then, it's as plain as can be.

Finally, fool or student, fist unclenched, heart open, I have to admit to myself: I don't want to continue my association with anything that any heartless, moneygrubbing prefabricated newbie actors (bad liars), or the reps in dinosaur-suits that hired them, are pitching. Why did that take so long? (Answer: blinded by desire.)

I should have noticed that clue hidden there in the feeling of needing to take a shower I had after seeing each of their spokesperson's videos, after each of their too oft repeated Inner Circle tenets and catch phrases, the obvious retreat in company policy from black hats to white hats, the further Platinum, Gold and Elite money levels established well before the bugs are removed from each level of access to the software...

But now... Whoa! Once that box of wrong doing is opened up, the plaque that held it all in place loses its grip and lets the rest slide right out.

All over the place.

Here comes more. I never did like their shoddy manner of teaching. I would have preferred a more distinct, orderly outline for study. Essentially they throw you in the bug pool and leave it up to you to figure out how to make the software swim. Too often it sinks, did I mention that?

At Tariff Guise, they have a nice collection of knowledge. Unfortunately, there's no real Lesson Plan, no leadership, no direction. Other than that Sink or Swim policy, I mean.

And boy is it breezy in there! There are numerous holes in the information. And infuriatingly lagging updates. While I was offered help, techs are slow (sometimes days) to get back to you because they're software simply isn't finalized while the internet never sleeps, constantly grows, reformulates. Often the out-dated software just doesn't work, then they might mention it two or three days, weeks later.

This slow-as-molasses reaction time is absolutely maddening to show-MUST-go on types. But the only show they know is the one: standing in front of a green screen and pitching another app to make up for the inadequacey of their own programs.

At best the Tarnished Geezer company, software and schemes are not dependable. This pulls its integrity into an area of High Doubt, a zone in which there is no longer trust. Many say out loud that TG released their product before it was completely bug free. Others say the original software was intended to cheat the system, but had to be changed or its users could be banished from the net for six months. These are lingering queries that have never been honestly responded to.

In fact, where, among the earnest promises of easy profits, was the honesty? While they pitched, "It's Easy," it is not at all. Great effort is required. No one could EVER honestly describe Social Media Marketing, its Search Engine Focused Strategies, the learning of methods to make videos that will actually be watched, the hundreds of forms to master and the thousands of other components of doing business online as "easy." It ain't.

The very ones who did make that claim of effortless income, in actuality, later told us that we could make money because it is NOT easy. We were told that prospective clients' eyes would glaze over in fear, as they pondered how hard and time consuming it could be, establishing and maintaining  an online social presence.

That part is true. When talking about the diversity of social sites and how to use them, clients often DO think, "it's too much! I don't have time!" Once they see online work as too hard, we were taught, "you've got them." This pitch completely contradicts their original assurances to us, given at the time WE were thinking, "this seems too hard."

How many other promises were manufactured to keep questions quiet while pushing their suite of not-ready-for-prime-time products, one wonders. They lost our trust; gone, evaporated.

Of course online marketing is not easy. Doing business on the internet is far too broad to be "easy." We know this only now, AFTER we bought in to the TG BS.

We sure didn't know it then. We handed over our money for this guaranteed new, easy way to make more money. Then, once inside the Tragic Gate, one learns the hard reality: You've been had.

Inside, one becomes all too aware that, among the fractured software and complicated, murky instructions, there are coaches available, by appointment, to assist with the software. Coaches? In place and standing by? Dang. This proves they were aware from the start that THIS IS NOT EASY, but said it to us straight-faced, anyway. Pre-meditated misinformation from the start. Again, dang.

Perhaps I shouldn't say this but I will anyway. Making appointments for help on software sold to you as easy-but-not, then waiting, with money-paying clients on hold, for a coach to tell you what buttons to push, is a large waste of time and money. For you and your clients.

The "easy" part of all this for me is my conclusion: These Guys're not worth ANY MORE time or money. Not a second, not a cent.

I have learned a small but expensive lesson here with this misrepresented suite of "easy" applications designed by Trust Grinder, but far more valuable morals and instructions from other online groups and forums dedicated to ethical social interaction and success. having developed my own circle of strength and honorable people in online marketing, with which to really make an impact in a business' prosperity, my company will continue to move from here, staying in touch with trustworthy acquaintances made along the way, making more, rolling forward.

-- Comments, from my experience, to The Grifters on Ways to improve, things that need attention:

(MY) COACH (another thing covered in membership fee) was unreliable at best, canceling our dates numerous times at the last minute and always making an excuse, never wrong. --NEEDS FIXING

TEACHING PLANS were non existent, knowledge unstructured, thus much learning was missed, even more time wasted searching. -- NEEDS SERIOUS STAFF ATTENTION

TRUST ISSUE: Too soon we learn that the head spokes-guy, always pitching non-stop - is a Selling Head ONLY. And ALWAYS. Thus, hardly worthy of genuine confidence. It was his game to lose. Somehow (by talking about how expensive his time now is, showing videos of himself in dinosaur suits, racing cars and focusing solely on the unsympathetic goal of becoming a billionaire?) he did it, managed to lose most of us. We're left with the feeling of being his "mark" rather than a part of what he calls his "family." -- TOO LATE, THE DINO OUTFIT IS PROBABLY ONLY THE FIRST OF MANY SUITS

What we were looking for was a leader, someone we could trust.

NOT READY: The suite of application products seem to have been released in a rush, well before the bugs were worked out, with members paying for research and development as they go. if one person complains about the stuff, it can be overlooked. If three or more say it's garbage, go into the land fill business or buy a trash can.  --NEEDS UPDATING, ORGANIZING AND SHOULD WORK ON ALL OPERATING SYSTEMS. ALSO - GET A GOOD WEB BUILDER.

IN FAIRNESS, reparation to unsuspecting, gullible buyers should seriously be considered. Compensation, for money laid out under false pretenses, time wasted, buggy software and many down times should be mandatory. It's only a matter of time before the class lawsuits begin. --QUIT HIDING, START HELPING.

While in the first three months of membership, aside from trying to sell their new list of marks, um members, every marketing app and set of instructions they could write on the fly, Trafficking Gabble came up with numerous so-called, finicky "updates." Their coaches held webinars, for selected members only, correcting terribly flawed information and lesson plans. Newer amendments to their fractured instructions and dishonorable win-at-any-cost philosophy appeared randomly on the home web site. Applications and strategies, which are really work-arounds or corrections (repeat: R&D paid for by earlier fleeded sheep) also stacked up. The email avalanche is another story. It was abusively non-stop.

They haven't learned a thing about integrity, now preaching a new "Building business and community" sales sub philosophy while continuing to pitch these corrections and improvements as "newer, easier." And they are none of that. Just as before. Real philosophy: be a Bazillionaire, whatever the loss in morals and integrity.

New hordes of eager-faced Social Media Marketers, fresh from glitzy, baloon laden pep talk seminars, are arriving every day, focused on prosperity and experiencing disappointment. Didn't want 'em to think they're the only ones taken downtown, as the rest of us were.

Truth be told, Social Marketing is not easy but you CAN do it. And look for people to work with who reek of integrity.
     --0--

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

FROM THE BOSS JOCK SCRAPBOOK

REMEMBERING FRANK TERRY

This mental scrapbook, bursting its binding with pictures, emotions and bigger than life recollections, has just flipped open to one of my best-loved characters. Some of my favorite people in the world are stored among these memories.

I open it up from time to time and must always wear shades. Careful, don't wince. That's just the blazing light reflecting off of one of radio's most brilliant, shining examples. That's Frank Terry, one of the original Boss Jocks.

As far as being a disc jockey goes, playing hits on the radio in the 60s and 70s, was, for most of us, the pinnacle. Being chosen as a Boss Jock meant you were among the best of the best. It was more than a high point in a radio career, it was the Golden Fleece. Frank Terry belonged there, fit in as naturally as green felt on a turntable.

Just starting out as a Boss Jock, I had heard rumors between the legendary tales of Robert W. Morgan and the Real Don Steele, of a "James Bond of DJs" who could travel, trouble shooting, from one Boss station to another and sound as if he had been there all the time. Moreover, you felt you knew and loved him all that while. He had little personal attachment to his past achievements to get in the way so, without that sort of demanding ego, when on the air, he really was your friend.

Off the air, too.

Growing along, learning the business, I was able to hear recording of his work, Like so many other "baby DJs," I listened and looked up to him. On the air, his easy style of delivery and attitude of sharing was a college education, a broadcast seminar and a wonderful, entertaining example of how to do it right the first time.

Years marched forward, I made it into the realm of the Boss Jocks. I started at their Fresno facility, KYNO, and worked my way up through San Diego, San Francisco , then L.A. When I became a Boss Jock worked alongside him, he was more approachable than many others. No investment in his own personal history was too big to block his friends from view. Not all that common among those in show business. I have had associates surprise me with their ambition and near desperate motivation to grab the limelight. Frank was already center stage in his own soul, thus comfortable to be with and always easy to communicate with.

We laughed often, long and hard, from a place deep inside, as if we had known each other all our lives. Instant family. Frank was like that, the epitome of the word, "inclusive."

When our career paths went in different directions, he seemed to fit in seamlessly at every station, no matter what kind of music and programming they were presenting. Frank seemed to effortlessly make it all his own, the mark of a professional and self starter. This was my chance to see his ability to adapt to any show, any audience. It was another education altogether, seeing how diversified he was on other music presentation, their various formats.

I heard he had moved to the northern part of the state. I heard he was not well. I heard he conquered the illness. I made plans with friends for a trek north to visit. But, before we could motor up that way, the news arrived that Frank had passed on.

Today, I still find myself looking up to him in memory. Now that he's moved on, he still manages to impress, still sounds and looks good. You can hear many examples of his air work, showcased at the official Disc Jockey Museum, the "aircheck channel," www.ReelRadio.com, where "the beat goes on."

New DJs and pod casters: look him up, listen to his ease and fluency, learn from the best. You can find him in various web niches. Frank Terry, remember him. He was the 007 of DJs, a jock's jock. But on the air he was none of that. He was simply your good and reliable friend.

--0--