Tag Archives: Sipping NC: The Art of Drinking

Piggybacking or: A Couple of Piggies

30 Monday Jul 2018

Posted by in Beer, Food, Podcasting, The Less Desirables Network

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Salutations™!!

So, I’m not piggybacking The Man Who Ate the Town this week. Well, not exactly. TMWATT podcast is going to take a couple of weeks off. The podcast, not the blog. Not the Instagram account. Not the Facebook page. Those aren’t taking a break. The facts are the food scene is a little slow right now, but worry not, Dear Reader, when “breaking food news” comes along, I’ll be reporting it!TBDBottle.png

But, onto the exciting news! The Beer Dads produced their newest episode tonight. It was the first we have done since March. Lots of changes in our lives and, of course, the new digs, right!? So, to hear the “welcome back” episode, check out the post, HERE.

Fan Interference comes back next week and we’re working on Sipping NC: The Art of Drinking. I hope to get the whole TLD Network back up and running, soon!

And, thank you for reading and listening!

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“If music be the food of love, play on.” – William Shakespeare

The Space Within or: Mad Lab?

28 Thursday Jun 2018

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

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Salutations™!!

Last night, Danielle, Bethany and I recorded the first ever episode of The Less Desirables from our new digs. I have used that term a lot in the last bit but I feel it’s appropriate for this location. Anywhat! Now that we have all the ducks in place, I am in a position to tell you guys of the new space and give you a (virtual) tour.

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Main Office Area

First, the location itself. You know, Dear Reader, that we were in the Test Pattern Studios that were in the back of, you guessed it, the Test Pattern bar; right across from The Garage on 7th Street. Well, we are now about 4 blocks north, almost exactly, from that location. We are now on N Chestnut Street. The area is called Industry Hill (or at least we’re trying to make it so). It’s between 7th Street and Northwest Blvd. It’s where the Warehouse District is/was and whilst some are saying there’s no industry here, I say poppycock. Warehousing is an industry. Textiles is an industry. Furniture is an industry. There is plenty of industry here.

But, my plan to expand Such-N-Such Media into a real media company that goes beyond just podcast production and voice-overs. My new location is more than just a podcast studio. Here’s how it works out.

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The NC Libations Collection

First, there’s the main area. It sits about 300 square feet. I plan on getting a TV and streaming programming on it, including offering some advertising space to sponsors. Yes, the traffic is limited but we do get a good bit of guests coming through for the various podcasts (and other future things) so it’s just another incentive. That’s where the beer fridge is and out great friends over at Machine Gun Graphics are going to make me a huge TLD logo like we used to have in the Chatham Bldg studio. It leads to all the other rooms and studios. It also has all the bottles and libations from the guests on Sipping NC: The Art of Drinking podcast.

 

Then there’s the podcast/VO/production room. This is where all the magic happens. The six-foot round table that we have had for the last several years is too big. It fits but it makes it hard for people to sit around the table. So, our pals at Sunnyside Mill Works is going to custom make us a four-foot round table. So then we have something special; something no one else has.

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The Podcast Studio

Next, the video room. It’s awfully plain right now but I’m going to hang a green screen, a black muslin sheet and a white muslin sheet so I can create nearly any background I need to for video and photography. That opens up my service availability and scope of operations.

Something that I’ve never had before? An actual office for Such-N-Such Media, Such-N-Such Limited (the company that owns the media company) or any of the podcasts. Now, I do. Odd blue walls and all. I don’t know how much I’ll be in there as of right now but I do plan on using it in the future.

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Video Studio

I have my own bathroom that I don’t have to share with the rest of the building. The rest of the building has to use the communal restrooms. One of the coolest things in there is an old Wachovia bank vault. Well, it’s night drop safe with a Night Depository “slot” that is made of die-cast iron and what appears to be brass. It’s still pretty cool.

The building we’re in used to be the EG Forrest main offices. EG Forrest was a food distribution company that sold their company a few years back. Being as they were a food distributor, their breakroom actually had a hood system like in restaurants, although there is no stove or grill under it. I am sure there used to be. There is also a commercial grade dishwasher that was left behind and it powers on. Chef Travis said they use the same one at Willows Bistro and is getting me in touch with their technician so I can have him check it out and see if we can get it to work. That would mean I can get clean glasses without having to hand wash them. I hate doing that. So, keep your fingers crossed.

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The Office

Ideas for the name of the building has been floating around among the landlord and me. We have had a few other names which I think are cool but, for now, we are going with The Lab at Industry Hill. It’s sleek and classy. Odd-kind of something of a name for a podcast called The Less Desirables, huh?

So, there’s the big secret. I did a sweep today of Test Pattern Studios to make sure that I had everything out as it was my deadline. It’s clear. Onto bigger and better things in the Lab at Industry Hill!

Check out the first podcast recorded there, last night, HERE.

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“I find podcasting an enticing space.” – Jason Calacanis

On the Move or: Stu-Stu-Studio

25 Monday Jun 2018

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

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Salutations™!!

Today, with the help of my son, 3B and my nephew, whom his mother calls “Wee One,” both of them 16 and strong-backed, I moved everything that was ours out of Test Pattern Studios. It looked weird with all the stuff out of there. But, we moved it all into the new location and we’ll be able to tell you more about that studio in the coming weeks.

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Scorp holding the key to the new SNS Media recording facility.

But, I wanted to do some numbers on the other shows. A recap, we moved into Test Pattern Studios on July 20, 2016, and stopped production on June 20, 2018. That’s 100 weeks/700 days. 100 episodes of The Less Desirables were recorded there, as I stated a few days ago. Now, let’s talk about the others.

If my calculations are correct, we recorded 66 episodes of The Beer Dads in Test Pattern Studios.

We recorded approximately 85 episodes of Fan Interference. That could be a low estimate. It may be closer to 90 but here’s where I’ll put the proverbial “~” in there.

We recorded 36 episodes of Sipping NC: The Art of Drinking podcast there.

We recorded 73 episodes of The Man Who Ate the Town podcast there.

We recorded 10 episodes of Apartment 5B podcast there, which isn’t on the TLD Network, but you should still check it out!

We recorded five episodes of Twisted Tulip Podcast with Stacy V, which has never been released, only recorded and produced.

Such-N-Such Media (the company that produces the podcasts) also does production for outside content. We produced around eight (again, “~”) episodes for the Piedmont Triad Apartment Association’s Not a Complex Podcast in Test Pattern Studios which were recorded off-site by Jon Lowder.

Also, SNSM produces Thrive Podcast that is recorded off-site and sent to me to “massage” it and get it ready. This has just started to be released. If you have people in your life that are dealing with cancer, have them check out this podcast. Or, heck, you or your loved ones don’t even have to have cancer, perhaps you’re in treatment or are the caretaker for someone who is a cancer thriver? This is an entertaining podcast that still touches on subjects important to anyone with “the Big ‘C’.” We have produced around eight of those so far.

If my math is correct (or should I say the calculator on my laptop), then that’s 391 podcast episodes in that 700 days/1 years 11 months.

Again, I can’t thank B Cole enough for allowing us to use the space. I’m going to miss my 7th Street Window but progress happens. Now it’s on to greener pastures, at least that’s what I’m hoping for. Again, more to come on the new space. So, wish me luck for tomorrow as I go and start putting the pieces of the puzzle back together.

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“I’m easy. Put me in an interesting location with good people and I’m there.” – Jane Curtin

 

So Long Old Friend or: New Beginnings

22 Friday Jun 2018

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Salutations™!!

It created a bit of an uproar when I posted on The Less Desirables social media channels that we recorded our last show at Test Pattern Studios, and that we did it as a “roundtable” by ourselves. I guess I wasn’t clear enough and it sounded as if we had recorded our last show. That certainly isn’t the case. I fight too hard for my podcasts to end them right now.

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Test Pattern Studios

No, what I meant was it was the last show – of any of the podcasts – to be recorded at the location, Test Pattern Studios. We had to move out because the building is being repurposed. All was well between B Cole and me, it wasn’t anything anyone did. The former Test Pattern bar is being repurposed into a better bar. And, where the studios were is where they’ll be putting the extra large beer cooler for the long-draw system, at least that’s what I think is happening if I understood what I was told. The details aren’t for public consumption yet, so I’ll leave it at that.

But, our time in the Test Pattern Studios has been great. We had Caitlin, lost Caitlin. That part sucked but our time with her when she was there was great. We got Bethany. Bethany has been really good at taking her best shots at me and I think she’s done it better than most all the other co-hosts. Danielle has been with me the whole time.

From the first podcast recorded in the location, July 20, 2016, until the last one recorded in the location, June 20, 2016, there were exactly 700 days and exactly 100 weeks. That means 100 episodes, too. That’s a lot of time: one year 11 months exactly. Our first show there was with B Cole, Danielle, Caitlin and myself. The last was just Danielle, Bethany and me.

We’ve had politicians, opera singers, app developers, musicians, chefs, breweries, cideries, promotional folks, ballet dancers, acupuncturists and many more guests. We’ve had great conversations and great beer. And, heck! That’s only for The Less Desirables.

Let’s not forget the many episodes of The Man Who Ate the Town, Sipping NC: The Art of Drinking, The Beer Dads, Fan Interference, and Apartment 5B podcast episodes there have been. I’ll make a post about those numbers, maybe, later. Anywhat! I want to thank B Cole for all he and his staff did for us over the past two years. I can’t tell him how much we appreciate it.

I have the keys for the new digs in my hands and I’m going to hold off on telling you about the new space until we are ready to do a show or two. But, I’m sure there will be some invitations to the spot when the time comes. So, keep listening to what we have going on and we’ll be back with you in the next little bit. The Less Desirables will be back on track. The other podcasts will be on a week’s hiatus. So stay tuned!

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“Coming to you for the last time from Test Pattern Studios…” – Me

Wanting to Experiment or: Playlisting

07 Monday May 2018

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

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Salutations™!!

It was a few months back when I talked about doing playlists on Spotify in regards to The Less Desirables Network “cast members.” Well, the cast has changed a bit, and it’s hard to get everyone else on my schedule. I get that. I’m not hurt, I’m fine with it. I’m going to try something else, though. 27858508_10213835617759118_6002026166368483616_n

While I’m still going to solicit those cast members on the TLDN for their playlists, I’m going to ask my readers, my listeners, my friends, and so on, to submit playlists to feature on Spotify. It will be under The Less Desirables account but each week (or two weeks, according to when I get the submissions) it will be the submitters’ lists. It can be themed. It can be nonsensical. It can be what you want. It’s your playlist.

Before I say I’m absolutely going to do this, I need to judge interest. I can get really excited about it and then have it fall on its face, are there any of you out there that would be interested in participating? There is no limit to the songs you send me but I will only put 15-20 on a list at a time. Anything left over will be held in reserve for a future list in your name or a compilation of several submitters.

If you’re interested in doing this, then submit an email to me (not an IM, not a text, not a phone call – an email!) at tim@thelessdesirables.com. In the subject line put “TLDN Playlist.” Let’s have some fun with this. Let’s have some interaction. Let’s make this ours. And, not only will it be on Spotify but on Soundsgood.co, too. I’m working on a few more things. Also, I don’t want you to make a playlist on Spotify and send it to me. I need a list emailed to me, itemized. That way I can put it under the company header and all that fun stuff.

The BCPF started this off. Her list is about covers. She (and I) is a fan of covers and this list is really a lot of songs that she heard the cover before she ever heard the original. I think that’s a cool concept. See what you can come up with, in a playlist, and send it to me!

You can see the list by visiting the TLD Network Page, thelessdesirables on Spotify or by looking up The Less Desirables network on Soundsgood.co

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“A lot of songs I heard the covers before I heard the originals.” – The BCPF

Piggybackin’ or: Celebration Time

06 Tuesday Feb 2018

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

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Salutations™!!

I’m going to piggyback The Man Who Ate the Town as I always do, but I’m also going to talk about what I said I was going to talk about, yesterday. Kelly and I talk about Camino’s new co-owners, Super Bowl and our food for the big game, Wise Man, Willows and a brand new Asian place called Dynasty. You can hear about that HERE.TLD

Now, on to the other thing. This past Saturday, February 3rd, was the EIGHTH anniversary of the very first recording of The Less Desirables podcast. I tell this story every year and I know you get tired of reading about it but here goes anyway…

Brian and I sat in what is now my son’s bedroom and labored over what we were going to talk about for twenty minutes. This after we spent an hour running around getting all the right cables and such together from where the bands I was in practiced. We pulled it off and the next week we did it again. And the next. And so on. Our first outside guest was Brian’s brother Sean who played the part of the Least Desirable. I feel I can tell that, now.

Then, our first “official” guest was our buddy Jay Platt who was our Beer Guru for the first three years. That date was March 17, in which we went to Finnigan’s afterward to get some holiday time in and started really promoting the show. Jay was a quarterly regular and then moved monthly until circumstances led to him having to stop. I miss old Jay.

We started having guests regularly after a while and one of those was my buddy Eugene, whom other than The BCPF, I probably write the most about on this blog after myself. He became a fixture and co-host as the Official Third Wheel and TV Guru.

Brian eventually bettered himself and moved to Virginia leaving Eugene and me to tend the garden. We then added Caitlin to our fold and she became the Third Wheel. Eugene left and we brought Bruce in to replace him. Bruce was fun, but life took him back to Chi-town. Caitlin took the co-pilot chair and eventually another guest became a permanent fixture, that being Danielle.

With Caitlin, we always knew we were on a limited-time basis with her, because she was going to be moving once her degree was finished. We did get to milk her time for about a year longer than we thought and that was great

When Caitlin had to move, yet another past guest came in to take the Third Wheel seat, or as we call it now, the “Abuse Tim” chair. That would be Bethany and that’s where we are now. Danielle, Bethany and me, with a bevy of guests.

Tomorrow, we will record show #417. That’s more than and longer than any other podcast in this area and as far as I can tell, this state. Without that first one eight years ago, I wouldn’t produce Fan Interference, The Camel City Dispatch/Electric Camel Pod, Tart and Tangy Triad, The Beer Dads, Sipping NC: The Art of Drinking or The Man Who Ate the Town podcasts. With the exception of the CCD and T&TT podcasts, I still do the others as part of The Less Desirables Network.

There are more TLD podcasts and shows coming, whether as part of the TLD Network, a whole new podcast network or for individuals’ use. The future is bright, but I have to get busy, there’s a lot of podcasting to do, yet.

We would have never gotten where we are without our sponsors: City Beverage, Finnigan’s Wake, King’s Crab Shack, Washington Perk, Bull’s Tavern, Underdog Records, Test Pattern. Also, we thank a/perture cinema, The Garage, Bob’s Big Gas Subs and Pub, Cafe Rochè for their support early on and up until the last little bit. A few of those are no longer in existence but we do appreciate them being with us when they were.

This Saturday, we are celebrating our eight-year fun, along with the rest of the network, our guests, our listeners and our people. We are doing that where the whole thing was conceived: Finnigan’s Wake. That’s where I pitched the idea to Brian and we planned its course. I am now inviting all of you to Finnigan’s to celebrate with us. The party is from 7-10, February 10. I really hope to see a lot of you there!

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“Voted the best pop culture podcast within a four-block radius in downtown Winston-Salem, this is The Less Desirables.” – TLD Announcer

A Hiatus or: Just a Bit

12 Tuesday Dec 2017

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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

A Minor Flub or: Early Piggy

11 Monday Dec 2017

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Salutations™!!

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©Greensboro Daily

 

So, usually, I piggyback The Man Who Ate the Town Podcast on Tuesdays because that’s when I record them, right? Well, there was no Fan Interference today (and won’t be until January; our annual holiday hiatus) so I recorded both “tomorrow’s” TMWATT podcast and the “As Ardmore Turns” for this week’s The Less Desirables. Well, when I did the RSS feed for TMWATT, it was for tomorrow. However, as I did the blog post, I went ahead and published it (for both TMWATT blog and the TLD Network pages) before I realized I was supposed to schedule them for tomorrow, as well. Well, cripes. Anywhat! It’s there for you to hear if you’d like. I talk about The Traveled Farmer closing and Mario Batali. You can read about it and listen HERE.

Also, you should give me credit for fitting a shameless plug for all but two of the podcasts (and sites), those two would be The Beer Dads and Sipping NC: The Art of Drinking. But, I digress…

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“Traveled Farmer offered the Triad community seasonal dishes based on local ingredients, a handcrafted drink menu and to-go meals for your home with “some assembly required,” according to the website, for just over a year.” – Yes! Weekly

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)

Silent Sunday or: Wined Out

20 Sunday Aug 2017

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Salutations™!!

I thought about calling this blog post “The Day My Mouth Tried to Eat Itself.” I told you on Friday about the wine judging I was doing this weekend. Well, let me tell you, I went through 5 straight flights of big red reds and these weren’t sweet. They were dry. And, drier. And, drier. It got so dry that I couldn’t feel my tongue at the end of the day. There was definite fatigue happening and couldn’t taste anything different. I didn’t let that stop me though. I kept on.

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All-in-all, I tasted around 110 different wines over the course of the weekend. I had to have two beers to erase some of the wine taste last night at dinner. But, I was back at it this morning and I was able to taste more of the sea of dead grape blood. But, I really I’ll say it was really fun. I had so much fun doing it and the professional judges said I did a good job. I’m not allowed to say who won any of the medals or “bests in show.” That will come out on September 1st and I can tell you then, Dear Reader.

But, take a look at the picture. If you can see my teeth, they’re purple. I have never had purple teeth from wine. The BCPF can drink half a glass of red wine and have purple gums, lips and teeth. I can drink a good bit and not have purple teeth. So, you know that I had to have had a lot, right? That’s one flight.

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“You know great wine when you taste it.” – North Carolina State Wine Competition Instructions to the Judges