Salutations™!!
Yesterday was February 3, in case you forgot. And because Wednesdays are generally reserved for the beer of the week, so that I can get proper recognition for the Official Beer Sponsor of The Less Desirables, City Beverage, I had to delay this post a day.
Anyway, on February 3, 2010, that’s six years ago, the very first episode of The Less Desirables was recorded and distributed. I had picked up Brian Attridge from his job as his car was in the shop. We sat down in my music room (what ended up being 3B’s bedroom), which had a recording setup and two microphones set up for this startup idea we had. We wondered how in the world we could fill twenty minutes with just us talking. We decided to just hit record and see what happened. Thirty-eight minutes later we had our first podcast. The next week we sat behind those same microphones and wondered if we could do it again. Forty-three minutes later the second was finished. That continued every 
week.
Brian went on to school and got his MBA from Wake Forest and got hired right out by a bank in Virginia where he went to help them with their student loans division. Much thanks to him for helping me start this crazy train and being its heart. It’s not been the same since he left, but it’s not been bad. Just different. Also, much thanks to the Most Desirable (Kaylin, his wife) for supporting our crazy idea from the beginning. If you notice, we still use Brian’s name in the theme song and Sports intro. That will change soon, though.
We’ve had a lot of “gurus” and special guests come through in the last six years. Many “characters” and great friends, such as: C. Jay Platt, the Beer Guru and his Barley Babe, Dori, from 2010 until 2013. The Least Desirable (yes I know who it was) from 2010 to 2011. The Less Impressed (yes, I know who it was, too) from 2013-2015. The Left Click, Jordan Paruscio and The Right Click, Jennifer Paruscio, still active if not sporadically so. Kelley O’Brien, the Social Media Guru, still active. Brad Houchins, our fishing guru (yes, we had one of those). Jay Nail, former College Sports Guru and Ty Collins, our current Sports Guru and host of Fan Interference. Nikki Miller-Ka, our Food Guru and former co-host of the former food podcast of The Less Desirables Network, Tart & Tangy Triad. Amy Foster for being the voice that brings you the podcast.
In September of 2011, we added Eugene Sims to our fold as the TV Guru (and my best friend) and he didn’t leave. He was a driving and creative force with us until November, 2015, when life and work took over and he had to take care of it. Thanks to Chigger (Jamie), his girlfriend, for being part of it, too.
In May of 2015, Eugene and I welcomed a new co-host to the fold, frequent guest, Caitlin Weaver and she added a younger, female perspective to our lair of loonies. She is always good with a jab and is our resident IPA Queen. She reports on our sponsors and gives reports for the Winston-Salem Jaycees wing of the podcast. She’s on loan from the government and we can’t say any more. We’ll have her until the end of this year, we think. That’s still classified.
In late November, 2015, after the departure of Eugene, we welcomed The Right Reverend Bruce Cole as a new co-host and purveyor of divinity to our corner of the universe. His many years in radio just makes us sound better and he offers up the Top 5 Things You May Have Missed this past week. He’s a great addition and he and Caitlin seem to have just the right amount of spunk to take cool jabs at each other. It’s fun to watch the exchange. Both he and Caitlin know a lot about what’s going on in this town thanks to their connections. I am thankful to all my TLD Family through out these years and glad that it’s Bruce and Caitlin with me, now.
There’s one guy who doesn’t even live here in our area that will drive a few hours from Durham to be a guest host, a guest audience member, a Superfan, if you will. We call him “Superfan Damien” Paris and we thank him and his wife, Tiara and daughter, Audry for letting him be with us as much as he is. Here’s to you, buddy, *clink*!
Of course, I have to thank The BCPF (Stephanie), my wife, my biggest fan, and my biggest supporter. I met her about two months after I started this thing. She came in and accepted her role as my Beautiful Close Personal Friend. She has been the rock that keeps me going. She was there through my heart surgery (which happened on a Wednesday but Brian and Eugene stayed up late recording and producing anyway) and my recovery. Any of the subsequent podcasts that I’ve gone on to produce for the network, part of them was by the ideas or encouragement of her. There would not still be a The Less Desirables, either. I can almost guarantee that. Thanks to 3B just because.
To all of our nearly 275 guests over the years, thanks for providing us with great content, laughs and fun. You’re welcome for the beer, by the way.
Lastly, but leastly (I know that’s not a word), I have to thank our sponsors: City Beverage (again), they were our first; a/perture cinema (if you’re wondering, it’s all lowercase); Finnigan’s Wake Irish Pub & Kitchen; King’s Crab Shack & Oyster Bar; The Garage; and our newest, Washington Perk & Provision Company. Without all of you, we’d have nothing to show for our efforts. We love our relationships with you.
Last night was the three hundred twelfth episode of The Less Desirables. If you take fifty-two weeks times six you’ll come up with three hundred twelve. The truth is, however, that we did miss a week. Only one, though. One out of three hundred and thirteen. Wait, what’s that? You see, we keep track of which episode each is and last night was indeed written on the board as: “312.” Doesn’t make sense? You see, even though there are fifty-two weeks in a year, 2014 had fifty-three Wednesdays so that’s where the missing one comes in. The show we missed, however was June 26, 2013. I was out of town, out of the country, actually, and Brian had a paper to study for, which left Eugene, who hates and really knows little about Apple products, had a weird thing happen with the studio Mac. No one could explain it, even with Doug Davis, an expert with Apple recording equipment, there was no fixing it. I was annoyed, yes, but there was nothing I could do about it and it was okay in the end. One thing that we did do from that point on was implement a “greatest hits” policy for when I go out of town. Or, we record ahead of time, but you’re not to know anything about that.
Ok, one more last… to you, the listeners of all the shows, the readers of this blog. I thank you all for your support and participation. We do plan on getting back to the remote shows and changing up a lot of stuff that happens in the podcast and your input and encouragement has always been greatly appreciated. And, I look forward to the continued inclusion of it. So, here’s to the next six years of lunacy, pop culture and beer. And, yes, you’ll probably get this story again next year, with whatever updates have happened.
Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!
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“Weeding through the pop culture wasteland so you can get the good stuff.” – The Less Desirables
Chocolate Peanut Butter Porter. Like a really potent peanut butter cup. It comes in at a whopping 9% ABV. That tickles the cockles of my heart in and of itself.
