Web links related to the Back of the Book program of November 24, 2003


All right, it's Sunday night 12/7/2003 22:07:50 and this page is done. Well, I was a little bit pissed off here. Uncle Sidney Smith, whose program Carrier Wave alternates with Back of the Book has been given notice that he's going to be laid off from his job at WBAI! I think this is unfair. Sidney actually performs a function at WBAI, as opposed to Management's pals. I certainly had something to say about all of this on the program, along with other things. We also read a bunch of mail on this program.

Okay, the only thing that counts now is the fact that Pacifica is finally running elections! Find out more details regarding these elections here. These elections will determine what happens to the Pacifica Foundation, which owns WBAI, and WBAI from now on.

Mr. Roger Manning from the listener group Coalition for a democratic Pacifica New York (CdPNY) attended and has posted his notes from the meetings, along with other documents on the group's Web site.

As of September 15, 2003, the Pacifica Foundation has new bylaws! More about that here.

WBAI now has a program schedule up on its Web site. The site has gotten many of the individual program pages together to provide links and such, so check it out. Here's a schedule made by a listener who has Web links for various programs and producers.

Our colleagues from Off the Hook now have both a RealAudio streaming web cast operating, and a new MP3 stream both of which were working at 10:34 PM last night. The MP3 feed is now the preferred feed.

The Pacifica Foundation, which owns WBAI, has revamped its Web site and now has something called the Pacifica Lounge where you can post messages about Pacifica, WBAI and other Pacifica radio stations. This may be a good thing, and of course there are other, long term fora in which to participate.

WBAI also has a forum on its Web site now. You have to register to post messages, but anyone may read the messages.

As I related on the previous program, WBAI is still in serious financial trouble. Layoff notices have been given out to about 14 Paid Staff people.

The laws of economics are not quite as ineluctable as the law of gravity, but in their most basic sense they damned near are.

WBAI Management has been burdening the payroll with patronage jobs for quite a while now. Carol Spooner, Secretary of the interim Pacifica National board, and the person whose lawsuit strategy saved Pacifica, and WBAI, from being destroyed by the old hijackers has said that current WBAI expenses are about $120,000 a month more than projected income for the period from October through the end of January 2004. You can read her entire letter to WBAI listeners here.

Will WBAI survive? That's an open question right now. Unfortunately, there are those who insist that there is no crisis and that we can somehow just raise a little more money and we'll be okay. Yes, there are people at WBAI who are delusional. I've had some of my say about this publicly.

Is the current WBAI General Manager preparing his exit strategy? Is this a conflict of interest on Mr. Rojas' part? Isn't he being paid to Manage WBAI? Where does the General Manager of a radio station that's in such serious financial trouble get the time, at least, to re-start his old business?

Part of tonight's program is going to involve some reading from a really old book. This is one of those experimental things I try from time to time, so we'll just see how it goes. I'm hoping that you'll enjoy it

We did get to some mail on the program. Besides a very long snail mail letter about presidential IQs we got to some E-mail, which we are presenting here.

Subject: YEAH!! it is you!!!!!!
Date: Sun, 28 Sep 2003 21:28:59 -0400
From: Gene, Gene The Dancing Machine
To: rpm@glib.com

Yeah do read if you have the coiones!!

Salutations to ya old fairy RPM and you Miz. Pickles of the North,

This stuff will be out of sequence for a long while, because had listened for a while had plenty to say in my mind but never put it down in a e-mail to yuoz two.

To start RPM-F I'm a year older than you, yeah did I tell you am erh 39 years old R....Ohh Rochester!! and been around the block a few times, but at least never dropped trow and bent over..har..more intro later.....

We are all glad that Miz Pickles made it back okay, but admit it you old fairy, no matter how docile and somewhat dopey and don't give a damn liberal the Canooks are, they will never accept an old Fag as being a part of their family.


So why the excuses about money, fear of flying etc..? Miz. Pickles couldn't had lived that far North as you are trying to portray, or probably she wouldn't wind up in NYC.

The fact probably is and will always be , they don't want ya....

Anyways, nice of you to talk about Miz. Picles being a part of the Coney Island's Mermaid Parade, but you try to hide your participation in the said parade.


But a picture of you in full costume has surfaced...see attachment....


And so it goes......

Have fun,

Gene, Gene The Dancing Machine

Gene includes an image of a guy in a rubber suit. I'm not posting the image because I don't really know its provenance, but suffice it to say that the name of the image is “Bonerman.” No, it was not a costume I wore to the Mermaid Parade. Thanks for thinking of us though, Gene.

Date: Sun, 28 Sep 2003 23:56:06 -0700
From: ZIG-MAN
To: rpm@glib.com

RPM, a joke 4 U & Pickles: Pity the poor insomniac dyslexic agnostic! He stays up all night wondering if there really is a dog! LOL! -- ZIG-MAN


Subject: (???) is going on vacation.
Date: Mon, 29 Sep 2003 18:34:22 -0500
From: Al
To: rpm@glib.com

RPM: Loved your show Sunday, 28 Sept. It's too bad that you have that horrible Diabetes. I wish there was something I could do for you. I hate to hear good people like yourself suffering on the air. As for what you might have heard in church, as “'so and so' is going on vacation,” I think I may the actual saying, since I have not thrown out my old Latin Catechism. (The “body of Christ” is Corpus Christi, as in Corpus Christi, Texas. It's what the priest says to you [in Latin, pre-Vatican II] before you take communion on the tongue). It's lying around somewhere in the dust of my closet, since I, too, have LONG ago became an atheist. I don't remember the last time I was in Church; I think it was when my uncle died in 1975. When I find it, I will e-mail you the actual words in Latin, and we can both have a laugh at it. I am a freethinker, hence “Think 3” my e-mail address, and I listen very avidly and “religiously” (I hate to use that word) to Free Thought Radio on at 6:30 on Su nday night http://www.foody.org/freethoughtradio.html if you care see what it's all about. I am a philosopher and a humanist, because reason, science, and ethics is what my life is all about. In TRUTH, and Wisdom, Think 3 (Al Coe).

Yes, Al is talking about the segment I did reminiscing about my first time in real school 50 years ago. As a 6 year old attending my first Catholic mass all alone I thought I heard the priest say as he administered Communion to people “Ketticaw went on vacation.” Of course he was speaking Latin and it turns out he was saying, “Corpus Domini nostri Jesu Christi custodiat animam tuam in vitam aeternam,” which is a bunch of mumbo jumbo that translates to, “The body of our Lord Jesus (H.) Christ preserve thy soul unto life everlasting.” Well, I did add the “(H.)” part.

Subject: back of the book
Date: Thu, 2 Oct 2003 23:43:55 EDT
From: Susan From Brooklyn
To: rpm@glib.com

Dear R Paul and Pickles, Last show you had the need to get juice into your body as soon as you possibly could. What happens to your body that you know you must drink juice immediately? And when Pickles tells you to shush up and drink it, listen to that fine woman!! I was getting a little nervous there. I enjoyed your story about the first day of school. I went to Holy Name of Jesus on 9th Ave. and had very similiar experiences, even though I did not start school until 1961. Some things never change. It was not a beautiful day in the neighborhood. I have a question from the black out show. Why do you keep your candles in the refrigerator? Until next time, you two be well. Susan

Yeah, I had a hypoglycemic event on the air. What happens is that my blood sugar drops pretty low. The symptoms are a jittery feeling and sometimes I'll sweat. For a really bad one it feels like the bottom of my stomach has fallen out. I've confirmed to my personal satisfaction that this is a hypoglycemic event by using the blood glucose montior to see what my blood glucose levels are during such events. they are definitely low.

My cousins went to Holy Name on 9th Ave. in Brooklyn. Small world.

The candles are in the refrigerator because otherwise they'll melt in the Summer.

Subject: pitching this month
Date: Thu, 2 Oct 2003 23:04:08 EDT
From: Susan From Brooklyn
To: rpm@glib.com

Dear R Paul and Pickles, This is your listener, Susan. I listen to the show on tape. That means I'll be sleeping while you are pitching. I would like to donate $200.00 to the show. I was wondering if that was enough money to be used as a matching fund. Well anyway, I want to know who I would send a check to, so you would have it in time when you do actually pitch. And who do I make it out to? Please get back to me as soon as possible as I have been not feeling well lately and would hate not being able to get it to you on time. Thanks in advance for your time. Susan

And in fact thanks to Susan and some other listeners we made $1,015 on what turned out to be a rogue pitching shift! Thanks again to susan and the other listener-sponsors.

Subject: Thanks for reading my email
Date: Mon, 13 Oct 2003 02:58:56 -0400
From: Elizabeth
To: rpm@glib.com

Paul,

Thanks for reading and responding to my email on air. I winced when “Pickles” read my mistaken “Saturday,” when I meant “Sunday,” in referring to your show time. But I always get the two weekend days confused when it comes to overnight shows.

I think I'll take you up on listening to Sidney on the alternate SUNDAY-MONDAY. I like listening to you two together, when he drops by your show.

Regards,

Elizabeth


Subject: money and edu.
Date: Mon, 13 Oct 2003 23:36:16 -0700
From: <16316620614@mobile.att.net>
To: rpm@glib.com

A C.W.Post College student said it costs 30 grand per year. 4yrs= B.S. 120G's. Grad school=60G's per year.120x2=240G's! Dumb!

As they used to say on an old time radio program, “It Pays to be Ignorant!”

There are a lot of issues that are considered hazardous to talk about on the air at WBAI, even now that the gag rule has been lifted. However, there is the Internet! There are mailing lists which you can subscribe to and Web based message boards devoted to WBAI and Pacifica issues. Many controversial WBAI/Pacifica issues are discussed on these lists.

Probably the most popular list that's sprung up is the “NewPacifica” mailing list. This one is very lively and currently includes over 400 subscribers coast to coast.

Being lively, of course, it sometimes also gets a bit nasty. All sorts of things are happening on this list and official announcements are frequently posted there.

You can look at the NewPacifica list here, and you can join the list from that Web page too. If you subscribe to the “NewPacifica” mailing list you will receive, via E-mail, all of the messages which are sent to that list.

There is the option to receive a “digest” version of the list, which means that a bunch of messages are bundled into one E-mail and sent to you at regular intervals, this cuts down on the number of E-mails you get from the list. You will also be able to send messages to the list.

This list also has a Web based interface where you can read messages and from which you can post your own messages.

There is also the more WBAI specific “Goodlight” Web based message board. It is sometimes referred to on Back of the Book as “the bleepin' blue board,” owing to the blue background used on its Web pages. This one has many people posting anonymously and there's also an ancillary “WBAI people” board that's just totally out of hand.

When the computer in Master Control is working we sometimes have live interaction with people posting on the “Goodlight Board” during the program.

And then there is the historic “Free Pacifica!” list, which has been used to help organize resistance to Pacifica Management hijackers since the mid-90s. It's become a low volume mailing list because it's been eclipsed by some of the newer, more technologically advanced, lists. Just click on this link and follow the instructions, and you'll be subscribed. This is a mailing list only, it doesn't have a digest option nor does it have a web interface.

My voice mail number at WBAI is 212-209-2996. Leave a message.

You can also send me E-mail.



WBAI related links

Free Pacifica Web site

WBAI Listeners' Web page

WBAI Management's official Web site


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The contents of this Web page are copyright © 2003, R. Paul Martin.