Seattle babble-on: the dorster goes viral; more christianizing at kvi; another performance artist attack; ruth gibbs' perm on the firing line

~ Is Dori going viral? The answer is yes according to our sources, and it could be deliverance from the boredom we're having with local talk radio. Dori Monson, (KIRO m-f, 12-3p) recently bought the dorimonson.com domain for an undisclosed amount, reportedly hefty. (he's got the dough, dude, he's the King of Seattle radio, and endorses a hundred products and services!) His intention: "to be able to respond in kind to BlatherWatch, and have a site like Goldstein's except put some money into it," or so they say. Until he recently scooped it up, The domain had been parked with a polite spoofsite gently making fun of The Dorster. Here's a cached version of it.

~ The Christianizing of Kirby & Company (KVI m-f, 5-9a) has stuck some sharp pointy fingers in some soft spots. A KVI/KOMO staffer wrote to say "the situation is delicate right now," and that management is very aware of it. The sharp-tongued Carleen Johnson, former news "gal," now Associate Pastor, is leading the weekdaily devotionals with Kirby chiming in passively and Matt Haver not saying much. A comm ent by EBB: "I had to stop listening to Kirby months ago because I could not abide by the religious turn the show had been taking." Not that the KVI suits don't like Jesus, we're told, but it's conventional broadcasting wisdom that religion-speak turns off listeners on secular radio. Sweet old Blatherwatch commenter Tommy008 writes: "This morning they had a Christian movie reviewer on since, of course, a just a  plain old movie reviewer wouldn't do. Carleen mentioned during this segment about being "on fire" for God." Last May, Johnson quit because, sources told us, the outspoken Christian conservative was uncomfortable about the way KOMO was reporting- among other stories- the Supreme Court decision on late term abortions. She brought an attorney down to Fisher Plaza, and after nearly two weeks of negotiations, the resignation was declared a "misunderstanding," by management. This may be a clue as to why the kid gloves around this on-air Chirstian witnessing which has got to be giving management the hives.

~ Billo Reilly will be on fire for sure for the next two weeks: the handsome tattooed Secular Progressive on the left was arrested for allegedly trying to burn down San Franciso's Grace Cathedral Sunday. This will add to Billo's list of top reasons San Francisco should be excommunicated. (Can you waterboard a wholecity?)

mp;gt;~ Arbitron ratings for summer. We haven't seen the money demo numbers yet, but apparently  strength of public stations KUOW and KPLU on the FM dial has started speculation afresh that Bonneville (KIRO, KTTH, and B97.3 FM) which has been doing FM news talk nationally might be seriously considering justthe that in Seattle. 

~ Spam your friends and get free gifts! Crosscut, the gray lady straining to be Seattle's news site of record, has introduced, within their confines, a grand blog called poetically, and appropriately, The Crosscut Blog. Quite a stir's been kicked up already among the scenester cognizati over publisher David Brewster's inaugural post, The Tudor Choir at St. James: Amen! Even more exciting is the incentive to get you (and us!) to send e-mails recommending Crosscut to 10 or more of your (and our) friends. Bearing no expense, they'll give every 10th person who does so- up to ten (10!) people will win- a $10 (ten dollar) gift certificate to Elliott Bay Books. (scoring for the lucky winners at least a latté and a bookmark at the venerable bookery). 

~ You think liberals have troubles, dep't. It was at the cooterly Republican website Sound Politics; and it's a strong contender for Best Comment of 2007. A nuclear hen-agheddon was barely averted Sunday when one Eunice Burns asked snottily, "Where did Ruth Gibbs get her perm, I need to go there too." Ruth Gibbs, the 2004 Republican candidate for the 11th District, wrote: I want to know who you are. You are rude, ill mannered, and how dare you insult my perm? I have it done by the same person who does perms for a very well liked, very powerful and very well respected elected woman in the Republican Party. Watch who you insult. With that in mind, I will make sure that this elected official is informed what you think of our hairdresser. She will definitely not like it. This could come back to bite you and seriously hurt your political career if you are who I think you are. In addition, do understand that I am a professional business woman, and there is monetary value attached to libel. (Photo: Ruth Gibbs and her perfectly suitable perm).

~ What Makes Great Radio... radioprofesser, one of the more prolific commenters at radioinfo.com submitted this list recently, which must hail from a bygone era in radio: 

A.  Find a demographic and OWN it.  No more than a 15 year spread male or female.  OVER PERFORM beyond belief.  Use research to confirm, but lead your effort to attract the demo.
B.  Hire great talent, people who connect to the demographic you want and then develop them.
C.  Create memories.  Moments that people remember forever.  Too few stations do this anymore.  This is not a CD giveaway, cash contest, or meet the artist flavor of the month.  This is really touching lives. Two or three morning shows in Seattle did this years ago and are still remembered by their listeners.  The new shows don't seem to know how.
D. Promote.  Advertise on TV and be at events where your audience can see you.  Many stations forget this basic element of greatness.
E. Finally: Take Risks.  Dare to be great.  Do something no one else has thought to do.  Stretch the imagination.

Comments

[Janet Morrow]

Brinker is hard to understand; I guess I'm just stupid.

[joanie]

And he gets annoyed easily.

chuck s: I was in the deferred comp program under another job. For about seven years and made a bundle which got hit by the 1999-2000 fiasco which left me with exactly what I had invested and nothing more. I had to use it for an emergency when it hit bottom - it was unavoidable. Just my luck! I could have transferred it to bonds but I didn't know that. Seems like for me, investing is learning by trial and error and I don't expect to live long enough for that!

But, yes, I am planning to reinvest in deferred comp again but just haven't done it. Nobody else worried about the future of the US stock market? If you say not, I'll get it done. I once told a parent of mine that if she wanted to know if a stock/the stock market was going up or down, just ask me if I invested. If I did, stay out.

I've been bitten pretty bad and taken to the cleaners in commissions with brokers I trusted. I've done better in real estate but that's pretty much run its course except for the very rich who can continue to buy. No cheap land anywhere.

Anybody heard of that Suncadia they're building up by Roslyn? I stopped by last summer. I mean it is in the middle of nowhere and yet starts at $250,000. Prices in Roslyn have skyrocketed. Somebody's got money. Ain't me.

I've just had bad luck in the market no matter who has helped me or how I've done it. I don't know. I'm pretty pissed about it.

[joanie]

You know, chuck s. - puts, I had one very nice account left that also took a huge hit in the same 1999-2000 tech fiasco (I was investing in two deferred comp programs because I had two jobs) and the then broker who was someone I knew and trusted put over half of it in bonds. It went up slightly. Even I knew that was a mistake but didn't try to second guess him. When I finally fired him, I really didn't know what to do. So, it's still there. I know . . . makes me cry.

I am just not lucky and I worry that as soon as I take that last remaining bundle of cash and put it in the market, it's gonna go down.

What do you guys think of the US economy? It is in trouble if you listen to economists . . . when's the big one gonna hit? The Euro is doing better than the dollar and Canadian money is at parity.

I just don't know.

I'm pretty risk tolerant and could kill the jerk that put me in bonds but I am getting older now and just not sure what to do.

Chuck s. you think the economy will hold up? Or do I worry a little too much? Puts - what does Brinker say about the economy? He still bullish?

[PugetSound]

Joanie
I can feel the pain you describe. If nothing else, I really hope you take advantage of employer matching and deferred comp programs. I would assume you would be in the 3rd Portfolio. Brinker's show is about individual self knowledge. You don't have to be invested in his models to profit from listening to his show on pod or whatnot. Consider it homework of sorts for your financial future.
He is still fully invested in the market and his three models over the last ten years outperformed the stock market index with even his most conservative model. Before the market downtown in 2000 he called it and advised people to shift to more conservative investments. (If you google him, you'll see two ads that highlight negative stuff about Brinker but if you click and read it is just bs marketing ads to steer you off and buy something from them.) I've been listening to him since 1990 and have been most happy when I follow his model (helped to pay for a lot of college coming out of the army).
Go to his website and get the free newsletter. He actually isnt so much about you buying his 'funds' as he is about you the individual investor getting involved in high quality no load mutual funds. Despite the name Market Timer he is a long term investor that doesn't shift in and out of the market like a Timer will.

10 years ended 12-31-06 for all Model Portfolios:
Portfolio I: 323%
Portfolio II: 233%
Portfolio III: 145% (balanced portfolio with 50% fixed-income position)
Total Stock Market Index: 127% (VTSMX)

It isn't as sexy as Tommy 08's results but I think Tommy would be the first to say that he has a little different time horizon/appetite for risk than most.

[joanie]

Puts, there's always runs up and models showing the bright side. I seem to hit the bears running . . . what does Brinker say about that?

[PugetSound]

Brinker is a long term type. I can understand your frustration which was why I used the last ten years. The models are used to mitigate risk. Despite the name, Market Timer, he emphasizes not jumping in and out. He is different than say a Jim Cramer that likes to pick individual stocks. And he wouldn't be for Tommy that has his own method.
Brinker uses mutual funds as a good way to mitigate risk by being invested in a number of entities as opposed to one. For every Google, there is a crapload of QualComs.
Give him a listen for the next few months.

[chucks]

joanie
I wish I new how to help you better. As stated in a previous thread, I fear a crash in the near future. That is based on my own observations about RV sales and years of experience. I am trying to learn which investments went well in 2000, 2001, 2002, which was the last time we had an open POTUS seat for election time.
We are in the exact same position today as we were then. A six year bear run and then crash. And then another bear run will come again.
Traditionally Nov and December are good stock months. So I am conflicted about putting my money in safe storage now. If I can not figure out timing and lose some, I will stay in anyway. If the market were to loose 25% next week, I will still make good money over the next ten years. No matter what, we still need to invest all we can now. Even after the losses we suffered before, money left in after the last crash, rather than withdrawn is still worth more than double, combined with consistent investing makes for a very nice sum. And it will repeat at least once before we retire.
puts is right about finding a professional to advise who does not get paid by commision to sell you something that may be in his/her best interest rather than your best interest.

[joanie]

Thanks you guys. Really. Good advice and mostly I just needed to hear it again. I've been frozen for quite a while. That one broker who put me into such a conservative investment when I still had a lot of earning time was kind of the last straw. I was in it long enough to miss out on the obvious run-up that has occurred since 2000. When I finally fired him, I just couldn't seem to take the chance that I had missed it again, the crash was imminent, and I kept the funds I had left in a conservative place.

I agree Brinker does seem to know his stuff. But, puts, as much as I blog on this site, I do not have the time to listen and read . . . I've got homework of another kind to do. My job does not end at 5 pm or whatever. That's why I'm often posting at midnight.

Having said that, if I move my little nest egg next week, I guarantee the market will do a redux of 2000 the week after. You want me to do that guys? You willing to take the chance? :)

[PugetSound]

don't put in a big lump sum. be conservative and dollar cost average it back into the market over the next 12 months ie if you have $12k put in $1k each month. if the market starts to tank view it as an opportunity for your dollar cost averaging amount to actually buy more. but think long term with at least a 7 -10 year horizon buying high quality/no load funds such as Vanguard. You can also get some foreign funds.
you can pod brinker for $5 a month. you don't have to listen to the entire 3 hours each week at a pop. just put it on as background whilst you do your regular stuff at home. it'll be boring as tap water in comparison to jim kramer but he is a little too manic for me. i like my investment talk to be boring and long term type stuff.
if i was in your situation i would really consider spending a few hundred and sitting down with a fee based financial counselor for some of his/her thoughts on where you are at. from your prior posts you sound like you have property that should with strong equity positions and your teacher job should offer a decent pension of sorts to supplement ssn. you may be in a stronger position than you suspect.
sincerely, best of luck.

[chucks]

Additionally joanie:
If your investment money is available to you without tax penalty upon withdrawal (ie in regular savings as apposed to an IRA or 401K). Put in the full amount allowed by law into deferred comp through the state via your paycheck and withdraw from savings to live on if you must. At 50 years of age, you can put over 20K per year in pre-tax. All of your investment goes in without paying 20-25% income taxes. If your investment were to lose 10% this year, you would still be 10-15% ahead just
If you spread your investment wisely among the choices available to you, you wont lose money.

[joanie]

Thanks chucks, that last part was important for me. Feeling better about things . . . :)

And puts, you emphasize the positive which I also needed to hear. :)

[joanie]

One more thing: I listened to Krugman on Ross (podcast) and he doesn't seem worried about stocks . . . his issues are more about equity.

[John]

I'm *still* laughing about the perm 'libel'.

zomg, that's funnier than putting The Simpsons, Family Guy, Futurama and South Park's best seasons in a blender and putting the result on tv.