~ Enough already! Is KIRO going to do the storm blab until every single household in the 3-county area has power? That's over kill- or in the case of Bryan Styble or Frank Shiers- underkill. Not sure why the KIRO persists- with not only news coverage dominated by the storm remnants- but also talkers forced to do the neverendending blabber about carbon monoxide; wind chill factor, flashlights; having sex without talking your clothes off; heating coffee with car batteries; translating warning labels on BBQs for Somalis; thawing out frozen toddlers; meatsicles, cerviche and other al fresco dishes for winter picnics in your living room.
~ The storm was a career break for Bryan "Wireless" Styble, but his reprise on KIRO overnight refried old grudges by his many detractors. The ex-talk host whose quirky 8-month overnight monocast ended in October, is blamed by many for the loss of a live and local overnight broadcast for the first time in the long history of KIRO. His on-air "discussion" with Goldy, Tues. night was truly amazing- the mouthy Jewish kid from Philly seemed quiet and reserved- getting few words past the bombastic, multi-syllabic Styble- as incredible as the concept of a quiet Goldy may be...
~ James Wolcott reported and we missed it at the time: "No word yet from Michael Medved, who handed out copies of his latest book to Halloween trick or treaters, closing the door in sadistic slow motion on their crestfallen faces and shattered innocence." If this isn't true, Michael, have your person drop us a line. Otherwise, the story is just too good to look up...
~ The Xmas food groups: "Candy, candy canes, candy corn, and ...SYRUP! ~ Buddy the Elf
~ Ol' Bry (or Crrraaazzzy Bryan Styble! as Frank Shiers calls him) answered a goading email from Mercifurious, with "YOU are the definition of coward and asshole!" When Mercifurious wrote back pointing out his hypocrisy (Ol' Bry, blows a gusset if someone says 'crap' on his show) the Styblehead denied it all in a long, stuffy e-mail- "I wouldn't be surprised if you, Mr. 'Nate' aka 'Multifurious', phonied up that supposed e-mail under my name YOURself in an effort to discredit me, or perhaps merely get me just as annoyed as you've tried on the air to do at least once..."
~ Kirby Wilbur (KVI m-f, 5-9a) is giving the nation a taste of Seattle nice. He's been filling in for Sean Hannity, a mean son of a bitch and full time liar for the Bush administration, even after its fall from historical grace. Kirby, as everyone knows, is as conservative as Hannity, but is no liar- he's merely deluded. We're expecting that Kirby's style will set new precedent in the troubled arena of conservative talk radio- the big, fat, meanspirited liars will be replaced by the big, fat, nice, misinformed.
~ Speaking of quirky monocasts, Mike Webb presides over his livestream monologue Mon- Friday. "We get a lot of e-mail- so much we can't get to it all," he said, lying through his teeth. But that was before the windstorm- he's now gone missing, leaving cryptic messages about "delayed surgery" on his web site. We sure hope he didn't get fired from "Progressive Networks." (A gender redo for Mike was rumored last year, but we're pretty sure he can't afford elective surgery anymore). He's got an omnibus hearing expected on his fraud re-trial next week, but we imagine not much will happen with that before the first of the year. Stay tuned...
~ The Commentators (KVI m-f, 9a-12p) hosted a rare radio appearance
of Gov. Gregoire Tues., and Ken Schram asked, "Where were you during
the storm?" The Gov, long on working hard and short on acting like a
politician said she was up all night studying the viaduct plan. She
said she gave out a radio message on Friday that apparently wasn't
carried by many stations. She apologized for that. We got a copy of the
message which started: “Washingtonians have strong spirits and we know that we can get through this together."
This was immediately disputed by Republican snipers who complained not
all Washingtonians had strong spirits because so many liquor stores
were closed- another argument abgainst the state liquor monopoly.
~ We got a terse note from a be-suited KVI source complaining that our "rather effusive"praise for KIRO's storm coverage was ill-placed. "What you heard on KIRO, he said, "was them copying the "Neighbor to Neighbor" coverage KOMO's been doing during recent big stories... I'm referring to "Driver to Driver" coverage the night of the sever snow storm on November 27th. That night the mantel of news leader slipped off KIRO and was forever placed on KOMO. It was more important for the people of the Puget Sound to know if they could make it the next ten miles, than it was to know if the Seahawks could make it to first and ten. What KIRO did over the weekend, while noble and in service of the public good, was also in response to having their "News-head" handed to them by KOMO during two of the biggest back-to-back weather related events in the history of the Pacific Northwest while KIRO was broadcasting football games. Bad luck on their part? Possibly."
~ He added: I applaud KIRO for what they did, regardless of motivation, because if they hadn't, their "WRKO day" would have been just a matter of time. PS: If any one says the same thing would happen to KOMO during baseball season, tell them to think again. Dennis [Kelly] would pull the trigger and go wall-to-wall with news coverage if the story was big enough.
~ "I knew it. The bastards are making a pile of money by manufacturing this phony "war": writes Nancy from our hometown, Ferndale. According to a piece on BeliefNet, evangelical hucksters such as Falwell, Dobson, the Concerned Women For America, not unlike Fox News, and Billo Reilly are cashing in on the hoked up War on Xmas. "It's just a fund-raising scam," said the Rev. Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State. "And it's a scam in the worst sense -- it's fighting something that doesn't even exist.
Uh-oh! You did it again! You're gonna get in trouble . . . :)
Posted by: joanie | December 21, 2006 at 04:04 AM
Guess I was wrong . . . :)
Posted by: joanie | December 21, 2006 at 04:04 AM
Sorry . . . didn't hear it. Wish I had. :)
Posted by: joanie | December 21, 2006 at 04:06 AM
Wow. I would say Styblehead's reputation rolls out like a red-carpet, but it's more like an oil-slick:
Mark Levine vs. Styble debate(2004):
Is this what Albuquerque has to listen to? Now, I've never listened to Bryan Styble on his own show, but talk radio is bottom line about ENTERTAINMENT, and this guy is not entertaining in your format. Talking fast and over everyone is simply not entertaining.
Posted by: Ronn at May 25, 2004 03:48 PM
If someone quacks like a wild-eyed idiot--guess what? When they cut open Brian's head at his autopsy the doctors will find my I.O.U.
I remember Brian when he was in Detroit--he is an old dance-party host and a poor-man's Tom Clay at best. My advice to Brian--play requests and back out of politics when you're doin' the midnight shift in Des Moines.
Posted by: God at May 25, 2004 04:13 PM
Funny how Brian is now accusing me of "trying to ruin his career" & "character assassination". Apparently I needed to take a number for those lines
Posted by: mercifurious | December 21, 2006 at 06:00 AM
Joanie
"I would think they would be obvious"
Is this your way of ducking and dodging a question?
And I'm sorry, I did see some concern from you in that post, but only after I posted my last post. Q: Where was that earlier, why did you wait till someone else brought a concern up about it?
In general I did not mean specifically to supply generators to all without power, maybe a public announcement or two or a dozen expressing concern for the one's without about carbon-monoxide poisoning and a couple of appearances at shelters letting people know the state is behind them would have been nice. I'm not against her, but to work on the viaduct plan during this storm and then ultimately deciding to put it to a vote was bad judgement on her part, maybe she wasn't getting the reports of how bad it was, who knows, she should have taken a pro-active role in getting this mess cleaned up, not relying on PSE or whatever power company to decide which areas needed to come online first.
All in all, I think it could have been worse.
I know, KIRO was airing not to bring a barbeques inside for heat, but who listens to these people, this site is an example of how much people dicredit them radio hosts.
And funny, Ross called the State patrol about Hwy 202 traffic light out, they reply to treat it as a 4 way stop (which is true) but we don't work as traffic cops. THen last night I see a report on the news of police giving tickets out at these locations for people failing to treat a traffic light that is out as a four way stop. Is this Governemnt working together for the greater good of its constituents or what.
Posted by: Steve | December 21, 2006 at 09:37 AM
I think the Governor is in a no-win situation most of the time...if she shows up at shelters, etc, then she is using the storm and people's suffering for her own political advantage. If she stays home and works, she is ignoring her constituents. I would personally have her at home working. Letting people decide how their tax dollars ( re: viaduct) are being spent is something I thought conservatives liked.
Anytime a traffic signal goes out, regardless of the reason, that intersection is considered a 4-way stop. That is printed in the Driver's Manual. I about got hit by a guy in huge Suburban at a very busy intersection (21 lanes in all, including turn lanes) because he decided he didnt want to wait and raced through the intersection when it wasnt his turn. I wish the police had been there to give him a ticket, because he broke the law and almost caused an accident. Why is that a problem?
Posted by: sparky | December 21, 2006 at 09:51 AM
Joanie
"I would think they would be obvious"
Is this your way of ducking and dodging a question?
If you don't see a difference between Katrina and our storm, then we disagree. If you want to call it a dodge, up to you. Since you didn't respond to my question about your ability to discriminate, I'll assume you're dodging that one.
I did see some concern from you in that post, but only after I posted my last post. Q: Where was that earlier, why did you wait till someone else brought a concern up about it?
I write what I think. I don't even remember your "concern" other than your constant hate remarks directed toward our governor. That's what I recall . . . another "blame the gov" for people's plight. No comments for the mayors and city councils of these areas? I do remember your "joke" about Katrina victims. I guess I don't get that. They lost homes and had to leave the state but that was okay? FEMA was not duty-bound to help. But, in WA state, the gov is supposed to be in everybody's livingroom telling them not to run generators inside and generally helping them get through a storm? You know, Steve, we have power outages almost every year. Did you read Will's post? Another item you are dodging?
maybe a public announcement or two or a dozen expressing concern for the one's without about carbon-monoxide poisoning and a couple of appearances at shelters. . .
KIRO was airing not to bring a barbeques inside for heat, but who listens to these people,
And the governor was supposed to get her message out how? If not by radio, how? Not many TV's that I know of are powered by batteries.
And she should have been shelter hopping to make people feel better? Do you hear yourself? I guess next time it would be wise to make sure she's got a camera behind her while she helicopters into a couple shelters, hugs a couple people and leaves. Well, that's easy enough to oblige. Bush did do the flyover but missed the shelters. So, maybe just a flyover would satisfy you - right?
she should have taken a pro-active role in getting this mess cleaned up, not relying on PSE or whatever power company to decide which areas needed to come online first.
What exactly could she have done that PSE and City Light weren't doing?
THen last night I see a report on the news of police giving tickets out at these locations for people failing to treat a traffic light that is out as a four way stop. Is this Governemnt working together for the greater good of its constituents or what.
Regarding Hwy 202, that was not the only intersection that needed cooperative drivers. Yes, I think people need to take responsibility (as they did at other intersections where lights weren't working). Having said that, I think the State Patrol should have been out there helping however it could. They should be where they are needed whether it is in their job description or not.
Dave Ross did an excellent show this morning on what could have been done better. Thoughtful people had some very good solutions to different problems. But, the good solutions were presented by people who were thinking first about the problems and not the politics.
Steve, this is a long post. I'm sorry. But, I don't want anymore accusations that I'm not responding. If you are honest and have a response, please be honest enough to respond to the whole post and not cherry pick and rephrase to suit you. Thanks.
And Sparky, you say it concisely and intelligently. I agree with everything you said. I like a gov who does her homework, gets the facts, spends time analyzing them and comes up with solutions. I watched her news conference in which she talked about the viaduct. She was obviously tired and she commented that she had been up much of the night working.
One thing though, I've been arguing that she did make a decision. This morning Frank Chopp was on Dave Ross and it sounds like it is still a non-decision which drives me crazy. He seems to say that well, things are still sort of on the table . . .
I read the driver's manual,too.
Steve, personal responsibility in an area that suffers frequent winter power outages (I have small place in Birch Bay - believe me, I know power outages!), is absolutely necessary. And personal responsibility on the roads is an absolute must if accidents are to be avoided. No governor can make people cooperate in an emergency.
Posted by: joanie | December 21, 2006 at 12:51 PM
Regarding Hwy 202, that was not the only intersection that needed cooperative drivers. Yes, I think people need to take responsibility (as they did at other intersections where lights weren't working). Having said that, I think the State Patrol should have been out there helping however it could. They should be where they are needed whether it is in their job description or not.
Dave Ross did an excellent show this morning on what could have been done better. Thoughtful people had some very good solutions to different problems. But, the good solutions were presented by people who were thinking first about the problems and not the politics.
Steve, this is a long post. I'm sorry. But, I don't want anymore accusations that I'm not responding. If you are honest and have a response, please be honest enough to respond to the whole post and not cherry pick and rephrase to suit you. Thanks.
And Sparky, you say it concisely and intelligently. I agree with everything you said. I like a gov who does her homework, gets the facts, spends time analyzing them and comes up with solutions. I watched her news conference in which she talked about the viaduct. She was obviously tired and she commented that she had been up much of the night working.
One thing though, I've been arguing that she did make a decision. This morning Frank Chopp was on Dave Ross and it sounds like it is still a non-decision which drives me crazy. He seems to say that well, things are still sort of on the table . . .
I read the driver's manual,too.
Steve, personal responsibility in an area that suffers frequent winter power outages (I have small place in Birch Bay - believe me, I know power outages!), is absolutely necessary. And personal responsibility on the roads is an absolute must if accidents are to be avoided. No governor can make people cooperate in an emergency.
Posted by: joanie | December 21, 2006 at 12:54 PM
Sorry for the double post . . . when I looked at the post, it appeared that my response was incomplete.
Go figure. You might want to delete that second duplicate post, Michael.
Posted by: joanie | December 21, 2006 at 12:56 PM
OK... I NEED to know if its true Michael Medved REALLY handed out copies of his Book "Right Turns" to little Ghosts and Goblins on Halloween.. This is the funniest thing I have heard in a long long time. I wonder if "Hills Dale College" is paying him. I won't be able to listen to him now with out Cracking up similar to watching Kramer on "Seinfeld". HA !! Can anyone verify if this is true?? I am sure the included Book mark is a certificate to his "Med Head" website for 6 months of his Self Righteous Bullshit!
Posted by: P-1 SternFan | December 21, 2006 at 06:08 PM
I've wondered wheather the morning folks at KVI were least entertaining when they were gloating or on a crying jag. Now I know they are least entertaining when they have a full week of repeat shows without mentioning on the air the shows are "best ofs". On top of that they had no one to answer the phone at the station. What do their sponsors think of their cheap trick?
Posted by: kit | December 30, 2006 at 09:52 PM
I have a post script to that last comment. At least KVI could have hired some pimply faced Hillsdale College students to intern for the regulars.
Posted by: kit | December 30, 2006 at 09:59 PM