Tag Archives: Test Pattern

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

Posted by in Blogging, Podcasting, The Less Desirables Network

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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

Golden Boy Blonde or: The Less Desirables Beer of the Week

20 Wednesday Jun 2018

Posted by in Beer

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Salutations™!!

Bull’s Tavern, the Official Beer Sponsor of The Less Desirables, presents Golden Boy Blonde Ale from Triple C Brewing, The Less Desirables Beer of the Week.

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We had this beer on TLD back in January of 2015. That’s over three years ago. And in January at that. Why would we have this light summery brew in January? That was what Danielle asked anyway. I have said before that I don’t allow seasons to dictate my eating or drinking habits. That being said, if it is cold outside and I’m outside, I want heartier brews. But, it was air-conditioned in the Test Pattern Studios tonight even though the outside was in the high 80s.

When we had it in 2015, that was with Brian and Eugene, at least Eugene, possibly Caitlin. We had it in cans. This was in a growler from Bull’s Tavern and Danielle explained that they had cleaned the lines, fully, before tapping this brew. When we had it, the taste of this blonde ale was so crisp, so clean, and so darned good. There was a great blonde/hay flavor that had a bit of a bite. It had a grapefruity finish but not in that weird IPA hoppy way.

When we had it the first time it was rated only 3 caps out of 5. This time, however, I rated it 4.75. It was that good! And, it’s only 4.5% ABV so you can have several without being bogged down or getting sloshed.

BeerAdvocate has it at 3.56/5 (Good). Untappd has it at 3.46 caps out of 5. Have you had this brew? What did you think? If you haven’t had it or just have a hankering for more, then you need to head over to Bull’s Tavern and grab a pint. You should also listen to this week’s podcast and hear what Danielle, Bethany and I had to say about it. You can do that by listening HERE. We also recorded our last episode in Test Pattern Studios. I’ll talk more about that on Friday.

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“A golden colored ale with a toasted malt character and slight Mt Hood hop flavor and aroma. Perfect on a hot summer day.” – Triple C Brewing

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

Sounds Like Saturday or: Under the Milky Way

14 Saturday Oct 2017

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Salutations™!!

“Under the Milky Way” by the Church is one of my new obsessions. I love that song and I look for a lot of recreations. Since I’ve spent a lot of time with Clay Howard this week (and will again tonight), and one of the first conversations he and I ever had was about doing a Rick Springfield tribute band, and this is a pretty good cover, then here ya go. Enjoy (and come to Test Pattern tonight)!

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“Lower the curtain down on Memphis. Lower the curtain down all right. I got no time for private consultation under the Milky Way tonight. Wish I knew what you were looking for. Might have known what you would find.” – “Under the Milky Way” (Kilbey/Jannson)

UnCommon Grounds or: One Down

13 Friday Oct 2017

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Salutations™!!

So, we were able to get through an acoustic show as Threadbare Trio +1 at Common Ground this evening. We played with the beautiful and talented Abigail Dowd and Jason Duff. She even got up on stage when we opened for her and did “Stop Dragging My Heart Around” by Stevie Nicks and Tom Petty. We sounded pretty good and Chad Huskey did a great job playing with us. It was fun.1testpattern

Now, it’s time to get some rest, do our regular Saturday thing, get some records and then prepare to go to Test Pattern and do the thing again, this time full electric and loud and with Party Battleship. So, you missed us at Common Grounds, catch us at Test Pattern. The show starts around 9 and we are doing the opening thing (but going last).

See you, then!

Until then, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“When I say I’m in love you best believe I’m in love, L.U.V!” – “Looking For a Kiss” (Johansen) (“Love Baby Love” by Clay Howard)

Threadbare or: Testing Common Ground

12 Thursday Oct 2017

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Salutations™!!

First off, I know there’s supposed to be an album review here but I haven’t had time to listen to it yet, much less give it an honest review. So, be on the lookout for it later this week. 21762720_1036100056540945_7413643477530722811_o

Threadbare Trio will be Threadbare Trio +1 this weekend when we welcome Chad Huskey back into the fold to perform not one show but two shows. We’ll be playing in Greensboro tomorrow night at a coffee shop called Common Grounds. We’ll be special guests for a young lady named Abigail Dowd. I am not sure if it will be an acoustic or electric show. I play the same equipment for either kind of show so it doesn’t matter to me. That show starts at 7pm or 8pm. Let’s say 7 to be safe. I only say that because, on the event pages, the one on Abigail’s page says 7pm while the one TBT’s says 8pm. Again, let’s go with 7pm to be safe.

Then on Saturday, we are playing the “opening” or “special guest” role even though we are going on last. We are playing at Test Pattern (yes, the home base of The Less Desirables) and we’re playing with Party Battleship which is the band of a friend of all the TBT core members, Shalini Morris. She made a special appearance on the Heavens Sake album, Shinola. I’m not sure why we’re doing the last slot but whatever works, I guess. So, that show starts at 9. There is no cover charge for this one. But, you’ll definitely want to order a few drinks, right? Right.

We’d love to see you at either (or both) show this weekend. Come by, say hello and enjoy some good music. I look forward to saying hi back to you.

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“Besides rocking out, we like to go out to eat and hang out. We are hanger-outers.” – Party Battleship

Threadbare Silver or: Testing the Pattern

25 Friday Aug 2017

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Salutations™!!

I know it seems like this blog has just become an advertisement for all the things that I 20247780_706025782926597_4164974404776543061_odo, but all the things I do in my life are “life” events. And, it just so happens that the life event today is a little performance piece called Threadbare Trio +1 at Test Pattern. But, this isn’t the regular Threadbare Trio set where we offer comedy, acoustic covers and relaxed atmosphere. This is basically the Threadbare Trio (which is Neal Goode, Clay Howard and me) plus our pal Chad Huskey doing Silver Alerts (also Clay and me along with Corkey McClellan, Doug Davis and a rotating roster of guitarists) songs. That is, we’ll be doing Clay Howard songs.

Now, we may fit a few covers in there and I’ll be acting the fool, as always. So, we’re thinking this will be a hybrid of both bands. A little bit of this, a little bit of that. But, we’re not the only ones playing tonight (which is usually what the Threadbare Trio does). No, we have guests. We have our cool friend Adam Bennett going to do a 30-minute set to open the show and then Arrow Beach will be on to support their brand new debut album. Finally, we’ll go on last, doing our thing.

We’d love to see you there. Test Pattern is a cool little dive (that loves being such) that has a great beer selection, makes good craft cocktails and just has a pretty darn good vibe. Plus, they’re home of The Less Desirables and the entire The Less Desirables Network. The festivities start around 9pm and will go until we’ve had enough fun. Test Pattern is located at 701 North Trade Street. We can’t wait to see you, Dear Reader!

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.” – John Lennon

Threadbare Performance or: Test Pattern Rocks

07 Friday Apr 2017

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Salutations™!!

Just a quick word (I’m working on a project right now)… I’m playing tonight, with Clay and Neal, as Threadbare Trio at Test Pattern. We’ll be playing with Adam Bennett, who will do an acoustic show and then it’s Joshua West’s band (with Clay on bass) and then us. So, come to Test Pattern tonight and be entertained. We will entertain you. Promise.

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Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“Three friends enjoying playing tunes…come enjoy with them.” – Threadbare Trio

Silver Alert! or: Playin’

03 Friday Mar 2017

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Salutations™!!

Wow, I’m late today. And, I have no excuse. I didn’t do a danged thing all day. I just forgot to write this. So, let’s cut to the chase. It’s a short one today.

Tonight, at Test Pattern (701 N Trade Street) there will be a triple bill happening. Vel Indica, GSO and Clay Howard and the Silver Alerts will be playing. Of course, I’m part of the Silver Alert lineup. We’ll have loads of fun and good times. Be warned, though: it’s “gallery hop” on Trade tonight so, you’ll have to find parking. Other than that, come have fun.

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Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“Never give it away, the things that you want to take.” “Never Give It Away” (Howard)