Tag Archives: Caitlin Weaver

Two Birthdays or: The Important Things

11 Wednesday Oct 2017

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Salutations™!!

So, I struggled today with what to write about but I decided that I would write about both and I felt the struggle leave. There are TWO major milestones happening today. On this day in 1977, my little sister was born. I’m no maths scholar by any means but if I take 1,977 from 2,017, that leaves 40. Right? FORTY! Man, it’s often a surprise that I let her live that long. Of course, I jest. She’s always taken good care of me when she needed to. 551589_3780918167809_2064565919_n

When we were much younger, we rarely got along. I’m a month shy of seven years older than her. It’s not like I hide my age so I’m not giving anything away there. She was too young to hang with my friends and truthfully, she annoyed the bejeezus out of me.  Always wanted to play with my stuff and always claimed that everything was hers. There was something about a Whitney Houston record and a Fleetwood Mac tape in there somewhere, right, sis? As we grew older, the contention didn’t necessarily go away.

Once, when we were still living in WV, she kept doing cartwheels in front of the TV while I was watching wrestling. I asked her to stop. I told her to stop. She didn’t stop. I got up on the back of the ugly (but oh so interesting) black/white/red chair I was sitting in and when she came through again, I did a clothesline off the “top rope” on her and she hit her head and I busted her lip. There was also a time when we had just moved here and I was “watching” her. I locked her out of the house and she put a broom handle through the window. Or was it me? I don’t really remember.

We had some big arguments, water (with ice) thrown to the face, a takedown, near hits and near misses. I don’t know about her, but I’m not proud of any of those fights, but that’s what siblings do, right? I would always make her so mad when she would throw the “I’m going to tell mom!” at me. I would hurry and tell on myself so she didn’t get the satisfaction. She would do whatever she could to get me into trouble but then would stand and scream at our mother to stop whipping me. Those were the days.

But, because we all end up growing up, somehow, we did. We don’t always see eye-to-eye but I really enjoy hanging out with her, now. We can have “life” conversations, general conversations, she listens to a few of my podcasts religiously (and I talk about her on those), we’ve grown up. She’s a great mother to my nephews. Any problems they have is certainly not from my side of the family. I kid. We get to hang out sometimes and have dinner at Willows and we always talk cooking and recipes during the holidays. She still can’t let things go, but that’s just our Leah. I wouldn’t want her any other way. She’s bad-arsed in just about every way. The BCPF says she’s so glad that my sister likes her and is glad she’s “on her side.” She’s scary when she’s not on your side. I’m scared of her. So, happy birthday or solar circumnavigational anniversary day, sis. I do love ya and can’t wait until we’re back at Willows having a burger and sangria.  I could write a 10,000-word blog post and it would still not be enough to cover her and my stories.

SO, the other thing that I’m celebrating today is that on my sister’s 40th birthday, it’s also The Less Desirables‘ 400th episode! Who would have thought when Brian and I started this roller coaster ride back in 2010 that it would still be going strong in 2017? I could see missing a few weeks here and there, but nope (in actuality, only one was missed). We’ll have world-class body painter Cheryl Ann Lipstreau in to celebrate with us and maybe a few other guests. I’ll probably get my face painted. You’ll want to hear that, I’m sure. So, here’s to Brian, Eugene, Caitlin, Bruce and Danielle for helping me keep this dream alive. I still love my “job” and love sharing it with you, Dear Reader (and Listener). 400 is a big number, I hope the next 400 will be as fun as the first 400. Thank you for listening!

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

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“For there is no friend like a sister in calm or stormy weather; To cheer one on the tedious way, to fetch one if one goes astray, to lift one if one totters down, to strengthen whilst one stands.” – Christina Rossetti

Currently/Non-Currently or: A Fond Farewell

06 Friday Oct 2017

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Salutations™!!

When Brian and I started The Less Desirables seven and a half years ago, we wanted a pop culture podcast that would allow us to talk about the things we liked, that we thought we knew, that people didn’t mind hearing us banter about. That ended up being music, sports, some tech, beer (of course) and movies. aperture2

What did I really know about movies? Well, not a whole lot. I just liked to watch them. I still do… I LOVE it. That is as long as I don’t have to go to the movies. I’m not one to really go to the movies. There are several reasons but I don’t just don’t, usually. But, I love watching them at home. I won’t go into the whole AFI Top 100 and Top 400 nominees and all that, you’ve heard it enough, but, to make a long story longer, I love to watch movies that aren’t “current.”

So, for that reason, we decided to call our little segment in which I talked about a movie that was, by any means, “classic” or at least not “current,” the “current/non-current movie of the week.” Catchy, eh? Well, probably not and by the time Eugene got there, he thought the name was dumb. Mostly because if we didn’t explain it to all the listeners, every week, the name made no sense. Eventually, I dropped that segment title and just called it the “movie of the week.”

In 2013, a/perture cinema came on board to be our “movies sponsor.” They were the sponsor of that section, not just the stuff that was top five in the theaters, not just the new stuff being released for home viewing but the “movie of the week” segment. a/perture cinema (all lowercase, by the way) is the area’s best art house cinema. Not only do you get quality films, you get hard to find films, you get stuff from the UNCSA School of the Arts, you get RiverRun International Film Festival pieces, things made from local filmmakers and the list goes on. It is right downtown WSNC and a fun place to watch a film. The best part (to me anyway) is that you can watch those films whilst drinking a beer or wine. And that without having to sneak it in via your significant other’s big bulky purse.

Fast forward to “today’s” The Less Desirables, the current version. It’s still a pop culture podcast but it’s more of a community bulletin board. There are always guests from the community (and sometimes outside our community) that come on to talk about their businesses, restaurants, breweries, theatres (the live action kind), teams, groups, music and so on. That segment has grown from 15-20 minutes way back in 2010 to about 40-50 minutes. That’s what we’ve really come to be known for. Beyond our love for the pop culture things, we love our community and love to promote the things going on in it.

So, with that section getting bigger, and leaving the movies, music, television and beer aspects in there, the show is consistently two hours long. That’s a long time for a podcast. However, we don’t feel that it’s wasted space, we keep it fun and entertaining, at least we think we do and we’re told we do. But, we risk running even longer every week. You love us, we know, but man, that’s a lot to listen to. So, we have to trim the fat somewhere. We’ve already dropped the technology section because that’s so fleeting by the time we talk about it, it’s already not the trend anymore.

We’ve already dropped the technology section because that’s so fleeting by the time we talk about it, it’s already not the trend anymore. When Eugene left he took the TV section with him. We don’t want to cut the guests down because that’s really our bread and butter now. Caitlin isn’t with us so she isn’t doing her “Caitlin’s Bowl o’Stuffs.” All that and it’s still two hours long. In my mind, music is the blood in my veins. There’s always something new and exciting, people want to see and hear it, we can do it whilst driving, cooking, jogging, walking, getting groovy with our significant others, anything. So, that isn’t going anywhere.

All that leaves one thing. Movies. Let me restate that I love movies, but really, because of my relationship with a/perture cinema, I couldn’t really talk about much because I couldn’t talk about Netflix or Amazon Prime or Hulu because it conflicted. I totally understood that and didn’t want to create any friction. But, I’ve gotten busy and coming up with a movie to watch (and taking the time to do it) then writing a post/review of it, that took a lot of time. So, as of this week’s podcast (October 4, 2017), we have decided to drop the movies section from the show. It will probably be filled with something else but it won’t be movies. I don’t necessarily like getting rid of it, but it truly makes sense to. That also means that as of October 4th, a/perture cinema is no longer our movies sponsor. The

That also means that as of October 4th, a/perture cinema is no longer our movies sponsor. They were the second or third major sponsor to sign up with us and we appreciate them for their years of dedication to us. We still will talk about big events and things they have going on, but not every week. We love that place and think that you will, to. Watch a film and have a drink and think of us!

So, there it is, goodbye to the movies section. I have loved you but it was time to go. I’d still love to talk movies with you, Dear Reader, send me some recommendations or ask me questions. I’ll talk about it here and if it’s a big enough topic, on TLD. I’d love to do that. Anywhat, this has gone much longer than I expected. Thanks for hanging in there.

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“Movies can and do have tremendous influence in shaping young lives in the realm of entertainment towards the ideals and objectives of normal adulthood.” – Walt Disney

A Happier Goodbye or: End of an Era

27 Wednesday Sep 2017

Posted by in Beer, Life as We Know It, Podcasting

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Salutations™!!

City Beverage is the Official Beer Sponsor of The Less Desirables and we think you need to go buy the beer of the week (which happens to be The IPA from White Street Brewing Company). But, as great as City Bev is, I’m not talking about that in this post. Yesterday, I talked about a sad passing but today I’m talking about a happier ending.

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The Less Desirables as of tonight.

 

Tonight’s episode of The Less Desirables will be Caitlin’s last show as a full-time co-host. She was my first “work wife.” She has always brought a certain brand of “Yankee Snark” to the show and can take it as well as she can dish it. She’s cooler than most. She keeps me in line. She was a great compliment to both me and Eugene, as he was our co-host at the time. When Eugene left, Bruce came in and she was the “same ol’ Caitlin” with him, welcoming him but not holding back on him. When Bruce left and Danielle came along, she was the perfect compliment to Caitlin’s ability to take shots at the “fat man (that’s me).”

Caitlin had guested on the show a few times to promote the Winston-Salem Jaycees. Eugene and I had lost Brian to progress and decided, after several guest co-hosts, to find a permanent co-host. We had a meeting and decided we wanted to approach Caitlin to take that spot. We noticed her “talents.” She informed us that she was just a year from leaving. We said we were okay with that because we wanted her as long as she could give us time. Her first show as a full co-host was May 6, 2015. We didn’t announce her as a full-blown member until a month later, giving her time to get her feet wet. We could have announced it right away, really, because she was ready, then. That’s right, May 6, 2015. That’s TWO years. We got two years from her. And I couldn’t be prouder to have her. There’s an intro that says that she is “clearly the smartest person in the room” and I can’t remember any time that that wasn’t the case. She’s brilliant and she is an asset for the Army to have. She is an asset for the Winston-Salem Jaycees to have. She is an asset for The Less Desirables to have.

So, thank you, Caitlin, for TWO great years of snark, insight and keeping the show going. You’ve been a driving force for us. I don’t think I’m speaking out of turn but thank you from me, Danielle, Bruce, Eugene, Brian and all the guests that have been on the show since you arrived. We love you and know you’re going to go places!

Dear Reader, give tonight’s show a listen.

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“I also have ‘Glee Radio’ on here!” – Caitlin describing what her playlists look like on her second show here.

Seven Year Itch or: Happy Anniversary, Baby

03 Friday Feb 2017

Posted by in Life as We Know It, Podcasting

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February 3, 2010.

I drove to the fork of Silas Creek Parkway and Wake Forest Road. I was there to pick up my pal, my buddy, my future business partner, Brian Attridge, from his (now-) former place of employment and drove him to my house. His car was in the shop and I told him I’d pick him up and then take him home (he lives in Greensboro). But, first, he and I had something to take care of. Something we had been planning for a few months.

We arrived at my house and walked into the downstairs bedroom, it wasn’t a “bedroom” at the time, it was my music room/studio room. I realized I was missing a mic cable, so we got back into my vehicle, drove to my family’s office to where I had some extra cables – that’s where the bands I had been in practiced. Then we went back to my house. I made the connections I needed to and turned around to look at him.

“What are we going to talk about? How are we going fill 20 minutes of talking? What are we getting ourselves into?” we took turns asking each other. “I dunno,” was pretty much the response to each question, regardless of who was asking it. Finally, I said, “you know what? I’m just gonna hit the record button and let’s see what happens. If we don’t get 20 minutes, oh well.” I hit the button. 38 minutes later, the very first episode of The Less Desirables podcast was recorded and produced (well, production took another 45 minutes at that point). Wow, that went by quickly! And, so has the last seven years.

We took a bit of time to get the word out, admittedly. People didn’t get what podcasts were back then. I still have to explain it at least once a week. I’ve been podcasting longer than anyone I know around there (just over 10 years) and certainly longer on the scale and consistency that I am now. That’s not bragging, at least it’s not meant to be. I’m just proud of where this has gone. Since then, though, we’ve grown our listenership to good numbers (at least from what we can tell), we have great guests almost every week, now. Heck, I put out one mention about a need for guests in February and now I’m booked through April, some dates even double booked. The name The Less Desirables has become synonymous with community awareness and I love that.

Brian has moved on to bigger things outside of the podcast world. I had my bestest buddy in the world, Eugene as my co-host for over four years. He moved on. I had my good pal, Bruce come on to replace Eug and Bruce, too, had to move on. I have my two wonderful and beautiful work-wives, Caitlin and Danielle who keep me in line but also take good care of me. We’ll lose Caitlin in May/June when she graduates the PhD program and moves to Maryland. I dread that. Dannie B and I will find an ample replacement and we’ll continue on.

We started in that small bedroom downstairs in my house and moved to the upstairs where there was a bit more room and we had to share that loft with my bedroom. That was odd, but it worked. We moved from there to downtown Winston-Salem, the city we talk about and support. Two different studios in the bunkers under Fourth Street and to our current home in the arts district, behind Test Pattern Bar, in what we call Test Pattern Studios. We’ve come a long way.

I expanded my reach from the one show to now doing FIVE as part of The Less Desirables Podcast Network. Fan Interference, The Beer Dads, The Man Who Ate the Town and Sipping NC: The Art of Drinking. To you and the co-hosts of each show, thank you for making the network grow.

To Bruce, Caitlin and Danielle, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for what you’ve done to help me keep this dream going. To Brian and Eugene, who still are my business partners, albeit in a very small role, thank you for helping me start and/or perpetuate this show to break out into bigger and better things. To Jon and Paul, my Beer Dad brethren, as well as major business partners, thank you for pushing me, supporting me and keeping me sane. This ride would never have reached the heights it has, and will, without all of you. You are all CrewTLD.

To Stephanie/The BCPF, thank you for your wisdom, support, dedication to me and the cause and for loving me. This journey started just before I met you but it would have never gotten where it is without you. I love you dearly for it. And to 3B for giving me something to strive for: being a pain in your arse… just kidding. I love being your dad and I hope you’re proud of where I have this show. Mes ‘Rents, I have to thank you guys, too. You always have pushed me and I have always needed it. You are all CrewTLD.

I thank all of you, our listeners, for hanging around the last seven years and into the future! All the guests that have appeared on the show in these past seven, you’ve made the show what it is. It went from a pop culture podcast to something a little more. Musicians, store owners, brewers, bloggers, vintners, comedians, film makers, writers, business folks, even politicians, and though I try to avoid politics and religion on the show as much as humanly possible. There’s more a variety of guests than that, but that’s the short list. You are all CrewTLD.

City Beverage, a/perture cinema, Finnigan’s Wake, King’s Crab Shack, The Garage, Washington Perk & Provision Company, Test Pattern, Bull’s Tavern, Underdog Records, Hoots Beer Company, Spring House Restaurant Kitchen & Bar. All sponsors of TLD or the other podcasts on the Network, past or present. Thank you all so much for your support for all of our shows. You are all CrewTLD.

Everyone, including past guests, sponsors, friends, family, listeners… you’re all invited to join us tomorrow night, Saturday, February 4 at Finnigan’s Wake Irish Pub & Kitchen for our Annual Post-Holiday/Post-Anniversary Celebration. It’s from 7-10pm. Come have some Irish fare, great libations and celebrate the whole CrewTLD family with gang and me. I look forward to seeing you all!

I’m not going anywhere. This has to go at least another seven years, if not 27 more.
Until tomorrow and the next many years, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“Your weekly podcast with guys with more time on their hands than you’ll ever know…” – The Voice of The Less Desirables

Byron and Kelley Weeks or: The Less Desirables, July 27, 2016

02 Tuesday Aug 2016

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Salutations™!!

We had special guests this week on The Less Desirables,which is recorded live in the Test Pattern Studio. We had Byron and Kelley Weeks of Earth’s Edge Tattoo and Piercing on to talk about their lives, their history, tattoos and piercings in general. Kelley and Byron then hung out with Caitlin and me to talk about pop culture stuffs.

Since there was no As Ardmore Turns the previous week, we hit them hard last week with a 16-minute whopper that was full of disdain for a local grocery chain and snootiness about the south in general. Oh and don’t forget the coconut creamer.2016-07-27 22.51.37

Caitlin gives her “Bowl o’Stuffs” about the Winston-Salem Jaycees and their upcoming events.

The music section is brought to you by The Garage. I give a rundown on what new tunes and albums came out last Friday. Kyle Caudle had a CD release on Saturday and we played a tune in honor of it. The song wasn’t from the new ep but I didn’t have access to that.

We then played the latest featured tune from the TLD/MM3AMMC Tap Takeover, who was the winner? Well, you just have to listen to find out!

TC of our sister podcast, Fan Interference, gives the latest in sports updates. Lots of NFL news since the season is upon us. Also, MLB and NBA stuff.

a/perture cinema presents the week in movies including what’s new to a/perture and Netflix movie streaming. I give a review of the film Sideways.

City Beverage presents the beer of the week, Starlight Ale from Bombshell Beer Company.

We’d like to thank our sponsors listed above as well as Finnigan’s Wake, King’s Crab Shack and Washington Perk.

You can hear the podcast on the website, iTunes, Stitcher, TuneIn and Podcast Addict. Or you can listen right here, because I’m cool like that.

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“I rode a horse drunk once…” – Kelley Weeks

A Different Podcast to Piggy or: The Man Who Ate the Podcast

12 Tuesday Jul 2016

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Salutations™!!

Ordinarily I’d put a recap of The Less Desirables up here, but not today. Today, I’m piggybacking a brand new podcast produced and hosted by me: The Man Who Ate the Town. It’s the first time I’ve done one by myself, with no one to bounce off of. I’m not counting the greatest hits shows that I have done for TLD or The Beer Dads, I have other content for those and I’m not trying to pull anything off, just doing greatest hits shows.TMWATTLogo

I mean this is the first podcast that I’ve ever hosted alone. The show is mine to do. Now, that being said, I plan on having guests, and hopefully often. Now that I have it under my belt, I will start lining them up. It is part of The Less Desirables Network.

I’ve been talking about it for a while now and Caitlin has been busting my chops on TLD about when I’m gonna stop talking and start doing. Well, Caitlin, this is it! It’s still a work in progress and this one is quite tame to my standards but I’ll work into it. Anywhat! Click HERE to read the article and hear the episode. I’ve submitted to all the normal aggregators and await their approval. It should be in the next few days, I hope, that they’re ready to go.  I hope you enjoy it!

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

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“Serving up a warm dish of the Triad’s culinary fare, here’s your weekly helping of food news and views…” – The Man Who Ate the Town

Bobby Goodtime or: The Less Desirables, June 29, 2016

05 Tuesday Jul 2016

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Salutations™!!

Danielle Bull returned to co-host with us and brought along a guest, Robert Smith (not of the Cure) a/k/a Bobby Goodtime to talk about his band Brothers Pearl and plays us a tune, live in the studio. Robert talked about the history of Brothers Pearl and what they have going on in the future. Danielle talks about Bull’s Tavern.

The Garage presents the week in music including what was new in releases last Friday. No official tune from The Garage because Robert performed one in the guest segment. It was also vacation time for The Garage.2016-06-29 22.29.54

It was then time for “The Great TLD/MM3AMMC Tap Takeover” and we played the featured song from the Monday Morning 3Am Music Club.

There were a lot of grammatical errors and flubs in the arguments in this week’s “As Ardmore Turns.” This was a continuation of another argument that was unavailable to us. But, this was funny enough.

Caitlin gives the latest happenings from the Winston-Salem Jaycees, which includes them being off this week, but they’re getting back to business on July 10. We’re also talking about Band Aid for Burn Victims in the future. Learn more about it and how you can be part of it.

a/perture cinema presents the week in movies. This includes what was new to Netflix streaming and I give a review of the film To Be or Not To Be (1983). You can read my review from that HERE.

TC of Fan Interference gives the latest headlines and updates in the sports world.

City Beverage presents the beer of the week, Lunatic Blonde from Wicked Weed Brewing. Tasted and rated by CrewTLD!

In addition, we’d like to thank our sponsors, King’s Crab Shack & Oyster Bar, Washington Perk & Provision and Finnigan’s Wake.

You can hear The Less Desirables by visiting our website, on iTunes, Stitcher or TuneIn. Or, you know, I could just post it here and you can listen that way, right? I’m good like that.

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“Ahhhhhh!! The Delete Queen strikes AGAIN….AFTER trolling my page. Sent me a private msg asking if I had something to say, and to feel free to have a difference of opinion ‘being the Christian’ I am.” – Nicole, an Ardmorian

Danielle Bull Comes to Visit or: The Less Desirables May 11,2016

17 Tuesday May 2016

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Salutations™!!

I’m thinking I’m going to use Tuesdays (if I have nothing pressing to say) as a review of the previous week’s The Less Desirables. I want to give you quality content and sometimes I feel I let you down with that. The Less Desirables is my flagship show and it’s what makes me tick, if you will. It means the world to me and I’m trying to overhaul it but I’m also in the middle of a move of the studio so I don’t want to get into anything that will be halted in the middle because of it. So, after June 1, or sometime around there, listen for 2016-05-11 22.37.09some changes coming to the show. Also, we record the show on Wednesdays, so this gives you the chance to listen before the new one comes out.

Danielle Bull, the owner of Bull’s Tavern on Fourth Street was the guest this past week. She came on to talk about her life, her tavern and her passion for beer. She really knows a lot about beer and that’s cool. She’s a cool lady with a great sense of humor and a wonderful guest.

Caitlin Weaver, my co-host, and I had two guest co-hosts in the studio that night. My friend Pam and my pal Nick Badgio of the band Gulley and a sports podcast, all about the Boston Bruins, called Bearly On Topic. It was cool to have them in. Danielle gave all of us some different beers to try, in addition to the Beer of the Week brought to you by City Beverage. Pam is gluten free so Danielle brought her some ciders to try.

We talked about new music that came out last Friday and who was playing at The Garage, the Official Music Sponsor of The Less Desirables. Turns out it was Gulley and we played a tune from their Salem album called, “Into the Fog.”

Caitlin is the current president of the Winston-Salem Jaycees and she has her own segment called “Caitlin’s Bowl o’Stuffs.” In that segment she talks about the goings on with the Jaycees around good ol’ WSNC. We call her “Crazy Caiti” but never to her face… or do we?

Then we had our biggest segment, the one that gets all the attention. That’s our “almost real-to-life soap opera that practically writes itself,” “As Ardmore Turns.” Some objectifying going on over in that sleepless-sleepy bedroom town.

a/perture cinema presented what was new to streaming on Netflix that week and then I reviewed Million Dollar Baby, which you read the review for on Saturday on this here blog. You can read that review HERE.

TC of our sister, sports podcast, Fan Interference, gives us the latest sports updates and headlines of the week.

Then we talk about the Beer of the Week, brought to you by City Beverage, our Official Beer Sponsor, Tröegs Brewing Company‘s Solid Sender Ale.

I’d like to thank our sponsors for all they do for us. So thanks to a/perture cinema, City Beverage, The Garage, Washington Perk & Provision Company, Finnigan’s Wake and King’s Crab Shack.

So, even though you have the run down, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t still go listen. You have time before the new episode comes out tomorrow night! Or heck, I’ll help you out. I’ll embed it here so you can listen without searching.

Happy listening!

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“Your weekly podcast by guys with too much time on their hands.” – The Less Desirables

The Current/Non-Current Podcast or: The Way It Was

18 Friday Mar 2016

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Salutations™!!

If you listen to The Less Desirables, and I’m sure that you absolutely do, religiously, actually, then you have, undoubtedly, heard the little intro to the “Current/Non-Current Movie of the Week.” And, when you’ve heard that, I’m sure that you’re thinking to yourself, what the heck does that even mean? Well, I get that. I’m going to tell you the history of it and why, so far, it hasn’t changed.

I will start off by saying that it is going to change. The “voice of The Less Desirables” is getting ready to jump into the “married” column and hopefully she’ll be able to fit me into her busy schedule and we can get her in the studio and record all new voice overs, for the entire podcast. So, know, Dear Reader, that a change is a-comin’.

So, when Brian Attridge and I first started this roller coaster, the idea was to have a little bit of music (old and new) and sports talk. It morphed a little bit to include beer and technology and I started talking about what was coming out on DVD/Blu Ray and then, because I 08c6c-tldwas watching a lot of movies at the time (I was still doing the 400 nominees for AFI’s “America’s Greatest Movies” 100 Years 100 Movies the 2007 edition), I just threw out some half-tailed review of whatever film it was that I just watched or recently so. I really don’t like going to the theaters much. I do go to a/perture cinema some and that’s my cinema of choice and not just because they’re the Official Movies Sponsor of The Less Desirables, but because it’s a smaller venue, more quaint and there’s alcohol.

Well, since I don’t like sitting in the dark with a ton of people I don’t know, my preference is to watch films at home. I have a big screen TV a great sound system and my own alcohol at home. I can pause and go to the bathroom when I want/need and don’t have to see others looking at their phones while the film is going on. And, yes, I can look at mine and not care about bothering anyone else (I’m constantly at work). All that being said, when I did my reviews it was about a movie that wasn’t in the theater, so it wasn’t “current.” However, it was what I had currently watched. This being the case, I started jokingly calling the segment my “current/non-current movie of the week.”

When we were able to do sound effects, bumpers and intros, I recorded that with some goofball bouncy music behind it and that was that. It was a joke but it was true. When Eugene came along he questioned it and said that we were being childish and that we were using an inside joke that was “too cool for the room” or some other something he always said to jab at me. I do, however, get that it has grown old and quite outdated. The whole roster of intros for the show have. We’ve used the same ones for almost five years.

It’s pretty bad when the opening intro still has Brian’s name in it and he’s been gone from the show since late 2014 and Eugene’s was never put on there. And for sports, it still says Brian although TC from Fan Interference has been doing a sports report for about the last year. “Caitlin’s Bowl o’Stuffs,” “Bruce’s Top-Ish” and “As Ardmore Turns” is just me announcing that’s what we’re doing. I feel like I’ve let Caitlin and Bruce down and I especially feel like I let Eugene down because he was so vital to the show for so long but rarely got an intro mention, except for the TV section, that, as of now, we don’t do any longer. Heck, as much as I love the intro for the Beer of the Week and what it means and why it is what it is (that’s a story for another day), I want to change that, too.

Soon, though, the show intro will be changed. All new intros to the segments for movies, music, sports, beer, Caitlin, Bruce, “AAT” are on their way, too. The music behind them, the ideas behind them, all of that will be new again, soon. The show has taken a fresh, new turn. I feel the elements that made it what it was is keeping it from being the best it is. The one thing that won’t change? Well… two things. The actual intro music (“The Bullet”), was written by me and I plan on continuing to use that, but it may be shortened at the beginning. I’m working that out. The other thing is at the very end, our show disclaimer (“the views and opinions of this podcast…”) will remain there. Brian and I recorded that on our very first podcast night and placed it at the end and it has appeared on 316 out of 318 shows we’ve ever done. The only two exceptions were the two weeks when we had to record at 600 WSJS because our computer was stolen and I didn’t have access to it (it was stored on an external drive).

So, Dear Reader, be on the lookout (or listen-out?) for the new intros to make their debut, hopefully, within the next month. We’re reaching upwards and we’ll be reflecting that in our production. It’s going to be awesome! As always, thank you for listening and supporting our “little podcast that could.”

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

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“Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.” – George Bernard Shaw