Tag Archives: Jordan Keiper

My Holiday or: A Happy Podfather

30 Wednesday Sep 2020

Posted by in Life as We Know It, Podcasting, The Less Desirables Network

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Salutations™!!

Today I get to celebrate a holiday that many celebrate now but when I started there were a lot fewer. Today is International Podcast Day.

I have mentioned before that I have been podcasting longer than probably 98% people in the area and probably that much or more continuously. I started podcasting in 2007 when I was co-owner of a local comic book store. We only did about 5 or 6 that was even worth mentioning and it most of that was rehashing recorded conference calls with Marvel Comics execs. But, it was a start and wasn’t what I wanted to do. I wanted to do a radio show. I wanted to talk about pop culture. I still want to do radio. And, in a way, I do.

I started The Less Desirables with my pal Brian Attridge on February 3, 2010. You know that story. Eugene came along, Brian left, Caitlin came, Eugene left, Bruce came, Bruce left, Danielle came, Caitlin left, Bethany came. I’ve talked that ad nauseum by now. I wanted to do more than The Less Desirables, though. I wanted a whole network of podcasts, whether I was involved or not, perhaps just as an associate producer. Also, I wanted to get my “studio” out of my house and into a real business location.

So, in late 2012, Eugene and I moved all my stuff from my bedroom loft to a spot in the Chatham Building off of Fourth Street in WSNC. Soon after, in early 2013, I started producing both the Camel City News Hour hosted by Chad Nance and Fan Interference hosted by Ty Collins. CCNH lasted a few years and Fan Interference is still going today. Later in 2013, Nikki Miller-Ka, The BCPF and I started Tart & Tangy Triad, a food news podcast. That went until early 2016.

In February 2015, five years after starting The Less Desirables, Jon Lowder, Paul Jones, and I started The Beer Dads Podcast, after we were sitting at Small Batch Beer trying to decide what we were going to do a podcast about and I came in complaining about 3B, my son. We recorded it and Jon and Paul have become partners of mine. We have crossed the 200 episode mark.

In July of 2016, I recorded my first episode of The Man Who Ate the Town Podcast because I wanted another food podcast and had to rebut nasty comments about a critique of a local restaurant that I was actually a fan of. That is still going and I have had four co-hosts. Kelly Bone was my first, followed by Tim Johnson, then Ray Morgan. Ray is still with me and we have added Lea Metz to our lineup. I love them both being there. We will record episode 170 next week.

In late 2016, I started Sipping NC: The Art of Drinking Podcast with Jordan Keiper and we had a lot of drinking to do, for sure. We recorded into 2017 had to pause due to an illness in Jordan’s family. We are still on that hiatus, although Jordan and I have discussed, along with Danielle from TLD restarting it back up, but C-19 and other issues have kept us from doing that.

In 2018, along with “Jeff Evans” and Rory, we started Apartment 5B: Irrational Conversations with the Cool Breezes of Anytown, USA. We did that up to the pandemic, which JE’s wife was getting ready to have a baby, so we put everything on hold and we haven’t started back up.

In July 2019, Clay Howard and I started Beeswax Vinyl & More, a podcast that explored music in a different way. Clay’s schedule didn’t allow for him to do that long. I’m exploring other options for that. I haven’t given up on it. Stay tuned.

In February of 2020, Eugene B Sims started his long-awaited podcast, Wheeler’s Dog. He does two a week, one for the general public and one for his Patreon subs. I am an “associate producer” for that show. It’s all Eug, really. But, it is on my network.

And, finally, in July of this year, my “Kousins” Gary and Marvin and I started Asylum: The Tales from the Devereaux Diaries Podcast. We talk music but almost exclusively about our favorite band, KISS.

Also, I have produced a lot of podcasts for companies and clients. Forsyth Magazines, Blue Door Group, Phoenix Rising, Ring the Bell Realty, Center for Private Business, Dr. Shawn Ricks, and more are on the way in the next few months.

So, podcasting is now in my blood. I have done it so long and for so many that I’ve been christened, “The Podfather” and I love that title. I run with it and will continue to do so. So, to all my podcasting co-horts, whether they’re mine or not, to those in the community that do podcasts that I’m not part of but may have been inspired by (so I’ve been told) and to the people who listen to them, HAPPY INTERNATIONAL PODCAST DAY!!!!!

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“I think podcasting is here to stay.” – Adam Scott

A Hiatus or: Just a Bit

12 Tuesday Dec 2017

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

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Salutations™!!

I wanted to take a few seconds to tell you about what is going on with The Less Desirables Network.TLDNetwork

Sipping NC: The Art of Drinking has been on hiatus for a few months now, due to a health issue in Jordan’s family. He’s dealing with that and we’re still off until further notice.

The Beer Dads Podcast is going to be on hiatus until at least January and possibly into February. Beer Dad Paul started a new day job and he needs a little time for training and assumption of duties. Beer Dad Jon has a lot on his plate, as well. As you’ll see with The Man Who Ate the Town Podcast, forcing content for the sake of content is bad for business and we don’t want to do that. Plus, during the holidays it’s not uncommon for some of our shows to take a little break.

Speaking of The Man Who Ate the Town, I will continue to record those on time, but as much as I would like to have a new one each week, sometimes there just isn’t anything outside of the holidays and history and I want it to be more about the food and WSNC/Triad food scene than aggregated internet info. Also, there may be something new about the show that I can’t talk about right now. There may be no changes at all, but you never know.

Fan Interference is off until at least January. I am thinking we’d like to have a show to talk about the CFB playoffs and the national championship. Plus, the NFL playoffs will be starting up. I’m sure there will be some NBA stuff to talk about as well. So, January.

The Less Desirables will be business as usual. This show has only missed one Wednesday in 409 Wednesdays in a row and I don’t plan on it to miss, now. We have Matthew Troy, the conductor and Executive Director of the Piedmont Wind Symphony will be on this week. My bestie Eugene will be on next Wednesday, 12/20, to talk about his top TV shows of 2017. Danielle is working on a guest for the 27th so check back then to see who it is.

So, there you have it. The Less Desirables Network will have some out and some in through the holidays and into the new year. As always, we appreciate your support and thank you so much for listening and I thank you for reading the blog, which, by the way is going nowhere!

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“I take a hiatus every now and again, but I’m not good at that. – Miley Cyrus

On Spot(ify) or: Playlisting

23 Monday Oct 2017

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Salutations™!!

On Wednesday nights or Thursday mornings (whenever I get to it) I offer up a new playlist on Spotify. It is sometimes my list but mostly it is the playlist from The Less Desirables Network cast of characters. That means that The BCPF, Beer Dad Jon, Beer Dad Paul, Jordan from Sipping NC: The Art of Drinking, TC of Fan Interference, Danielle and Caitlin have all done playlists up to this point. Caitlin has left The Less Desirables because she moved for work. We are working with some guest co-hosts for the time being. running-og

I’m going to ask Eugene (still part of The Less Desirables family) to contribute on a regular basis even though he has a large playlist of his own. And, I’m also going to ask some of our frequent guests to do the same. The contributors (including myself) are on a mostly-regular rotation. There are some weeks that I don’t have one to put in and that’s okay, I guess. I’ll do them when I have them.

The point is to get everyone who listens more in tune with the folks they listen to on the podcasts each week. A little insight into what goes on in their heads or some of their favorite tunes, the reasons for the lists can be anything. It is anything, really. Take this week’s playlist for example. The BCPF gave me several lists to choose from. Being as this is the only one I’ll get to from her before Halloween, I decided to take that one. It’s all songs that are spooky, talk about death, violence (as she can get, I promise it’s not that bad) and maladies that impose themselves on our fears and torments. I am making that part up. It’s just a list of songs that she likes that are a bit out there (in a non-regular The BCPF way). Give it a listen and you’ll hear what I’m talking about.

You can listen to these playlists, not only on Spotify but also on Soundsgood.co. The Soundsgood feed allows listeners to listen to available songs on platforms that may or may not be on Spotify. Some are available on YouTube, Apple, Amazon and so on. That part is still being worked through and tweaked so, keep checking back. So, here are the playlist links:

Spotify
Soundsgood.co
TLD Podcast Network (click on the link on the right hand side of the webpage)

The URL for the Spotify and Soundsgood.co links will change every week. Just subscribe to me, or check the TLD Network link to get the latest of each. Also, if you follow the TLD Network Facebook and Twitter accounts, they are updated weekly, as well.

Enjoy listening, Dear Reader, until tomorrow…
Scorp out!

—
“White on white translucent black capes. Back on the rack. Bela Lugosi’s dead.” – “Bela Lugosi’s Dead” (Hawkins, Hawkins, Murphy, Ash)

Not Sipping or: The Break

17 Thursday Aug 2017

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Salutations™!!

If you saw the post for Sipping NC: The Art of Drinking today, then you know we are taking a hiatus. We didn’t necessarily want to take a break, but it was important that we did. I don’t want to get into a lot of details about it, but because I needed a blog post, I’m going to keep this post pretty short. I will, however, ask that if you haven’t read the post, the Facebook you go over to the Sipping NC website and read the post.

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Just know that, as said in that post, we are not done with the podcast. It’s not going anywhere, it’s just providing Jordan with the chance to take care of his family in this time of need. We appreciate all that have been listening and those who will be listening in the meantime to our past episodes. We do have some scheduled guests in works so we are coming back, we just need to get Jordan’s family squared. So, keep him and his family in your thoughts.

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“Looking after a very sick child was the Olympics of parenting.” – Chris Cleave

What Kind of Boots? or: Celebration

13 Monday Mar 2017

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Salutations™!!

I touched on The BCPF’s birthday, yesterday, and only slightly, but I wanted to talk a little more about it; about the whole weekend, really. It started on Friday when The BCPF and I went to Willows Bistro to eat, since we weren’t going to be there for our regular Saturday night standing rezzie. Chef Brent Andruzzi made us some fantastic pork dishes. Boneless pork chops and pork tenderloin prepared in the Andruzzi “culinary ninja” style. I have to go back to look at my notes to see what they were. That on top of four red wine sangrias made it a little hard to concentrate.

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©Stacy Verner

After that, we met with The Traveling Mixologist, Jordan Keiper from the Tavern in Old Salem and co-host with me on Sipping NC: The Art of Drinking, at Wise Man Brewing where we had a behind the scenes tour and a few beverages  while Facebook Live-ing. Great night.

The BCPF and I got up on Saturday morning and we didn’t do our Saturday “walk.” It was her birthday weekend, after all. We did however go to Mary’s Gourmet Diner to have brunch and then over to Underdog Records to buy some awesome selections on vinyl. We went home, listened to a few. We met Jordan up in Pilot Mountain, at JOLO Vineyards & Winery, tasted great wine and talked with JW Ray of JOLO and Jay Raffaldini of Raffaldini Vineyards before we came back down the hill. We had time to kill before our next plan so we went to Meridian to have a few drinks before we met with our pals, the Verners, the Joneses, and Our Jim Young and Chef Mark Grohman and staff took awesome care of us at the “chef’s table.” I had the antelope and The BCPF had “the meat ball,” which is a rather large ball of beef stuffed with ricotta cheese over a pile of housemade pasta. Several libations, there.

Next phase: we all traveled back to the Verners’ house and The BCPF, Our Jim Young and I taught the rest how to play a card game called “Sh!t Boots.” Yes, it’s called that. We played that for a few hours and drank good beer and whiskey. Apparently, we drink a lot. Of course we do. It’s us that are part of the CrewTLD/The Beer Dads families. We drink. We have fun. We were missing the Lowders from the night, but they were still in the Bahamas. Can’t blame them for missing that, eh?

Next day, after the crazy time change (I wish it stayed Daylight Saving Time all year around), we went to Willows for a celebratory brunch and again were treated with fantastic Willows stuff including pork and pork belly & collards benedict. You just can’t do wrong there, I don’t think. We went and picked up 3B and went to a few open houses before doing some grocery shopping and coming home to cook and listen to records. Good times with her and my boy. So, according to The BCPF, her birthday weekend was fun and enjoyable. I did my job. I made her happy. Happy birthday week to you, still and again, my darling!

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“Sh!t! BOOTS!” – everyone at the Verners on Saturday

Sipping NC or: The Art of the Podcast

10 Thursday Nov 2016

Posted by in Beer, Blogging, Food, Podcasting, Spirits, Wine

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Salutations™!!

My podcast repertoire is growing as of today. The Less Desirables Network grows by one more show today, too. There’s no mystery that I am a fan of alcohol. All kinds of libations: beer, wine, spirits. And, it’s no mystery that I love the city that I live in. An extension of that would be that I love the state that I live in. At least, most of the time. sippingncicon1

One thing that my Venn Diagram shows when it comes to all that I just said?  North Carolina is chock-full of quality wineries, breweries and distilleries. I emphasized the word quality because it’s true.

There’s almost 200 breweries and beer facilities, currently, and many more on the way. I mean, Wise Man Brewing is mere days from opening. There’s almost 150 wineries. There’s now close to 50 distilleries. All three areas are growing by leaps and bounds. I’m guessing, and this is just me, that there will be over 400 breweries, 275 wineries and 120 distilleries by 2020.

But, you also know that I’m not alone in my little circle (actually slightly-larger circle). I mean, I do have my podcasts, The Beer Dads and The Less Desirables, both of which are beer-centric. And my co-hosts are right there with me. A couple of them were my pals before we started doing podcasts together. Some have become pals afterward. But, I like being around those who like what I like. We get along wonderfully.

Podcasting is obviously something that I really enjoy as well, being as I produce/cohost or have produced almost 800 podcasts, now (yeah, that’s a big number). And today, I, along with another libations-loving pal o’mine, Mr. Jordan Keiper, the Traveling Mixologist and bar manager/keeper and owner at The Tavern in Old Salem (owned along with his family) are doing our very first recording of Sipping NC: The Art of the Drink podcast. We’re going to record a few before we release any but we’re starting the recordings now.

Sipping NC will cover all three sectors of the libation spectrum: beer, wine, spirits. We will have guests that represent wineries, distilleries and breweries from North Carolina. We will be talking about libation news. Jordan, who happens to be what I’d call one of the top three mixologists that I know, will be making mixed drinks on the show with the spirits that we highlight. Not every show will be about all three libations. The plan is to focus on one of them each week, but that doesn’t mean that we won’t touch on each. So, what I’m saying is you’ll have to listen to hear more. Jordan has built a great, strong rapport with the creators of these libations and we’ll have many of them on the show.

This isn’t meant to be a “preaching to the choir” type deal. We don’t want to make an industry podcast, we want to make a podcast that appeals to the listeners who imbibe and enjoy NC libations. We know that people have their favorite national and international brands of wine, beer and spirits, and we like them, too. We just want to make you more aware of what we have here at home. We think that there are plenty of NC goodness to keep you satisfied. And, we’re not just focusing on the Triad, there will be guests from Kill Devil Hills, Asheville, Charlotte, Raleigh/Durham and so on. From the coast to the mountains and everywhere in between.

Some of the guests and subjects to look forward to (and there’s no order or rhyme to whom and when the guests will be) are: Old Nick Williams Distillery, Hoots Roller Bar and Beer Company, TOPO Distillery, BroadBranch, Broadslab, Greensboro Distilling/Fainting Goat Spirits, Small Batch Beer, and so on. They may be soon, they may be a little further away. But, keep an eye and ear out to listen, we’ll be hitting your podcatchers soon.

It’s not just a podcast. It will be a blog, too. We already have a Facebook page, Twitter handle and Instagram handle. We would appreciate your liking and following of them and we appreciate your listening. Sipping NC: The Art of the Drink will be part of The Less Desirables Network. We’re excited!

Slàinte mhath

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“Mixing the best of North Carolina libations: beer, wine and spirits.” – Sipping NC: The Art of the Drink

Lunch Date or: Time Well Spent

13 Thursday Oct 2016

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Salutations™!!

So, my whole morning/afternoon was different than my usual schedule. Usually on Thursday, I do my social media posts for The Less Desirables and then catch up on stuff. Stuff can be work (one of the multiple jobs), travel, stuff around the house, maintenance, whatever. But, in the past two weeks I’ve been extra busy.

Most of it has been visits to various restaurants or bars. I’ve taken on a more aggressive position on reporting food stuffs for The Man Who Ate the Town and that means that I’m visiting with foodie people. Earlier this week, I visited a restaurant that is still in 14705874_1191317260929175_938333045340440466_ndevelopment and got to talk with the owners (more later). Yesterday, I did a walking trek up to the soon-to-be-open Wise Man Brewing and I’ll be talking about that on the next TMWATT podcast. Today, I met The BCPF for a rare lunch date at the behest of our buddy Alex who is a chef at both Willow’s Bistro and where we ate today, Rooster’s A Noble Grille. We were there to try “specials:” a burger for me and a grilled cheese for her. Again, it’s something I’ll be talking about on the podcast. And then late this afternoon, I went to see my pal Jordan Keiper, Mixologist Extraordinaire, at The Tavern in Old Salem, where I did a very special tasting of a very special beer in which that tasting will be featured in national media. I’m under embargo for that and can’t really discuss it, but I can assure you, I’ll be talking about it as soon as I’m able.

I know that’s a whole lot of teasing and I do apologize. Sincerely. But, there’s a lot of good stuff going on and I want to save that for when I can devote my total effort to decent coverage of it all. So, it will be talked about in podcasts. But, The BCPF and I both agreed that we had a fantastic time having lunch together; something we don’t get to do a whole lot of. It helps that Rooster’s is right next to here work. I met her there and we walked over. That’s good for her and easy for me. Good for Rooster’s, too. We do eventually plan on having more lunch dates, when the time’s right. So, keep an eye out for the podcast and posts. Thanks for listening and reading.

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“Here at Rooster’s, dinner really is served. (Lunch is too!)” – Rooster’s: A Noble Grille