Web links related to the Back of the Book program of October 25, 2004


Okay, it's Sunday night 11/7/2004 16:57:01 and this page is finished. We pitched on this program. There's no telling what's going to happen tonight because the big priority is to raise money so that WBAI survives, and, not incidently, that Back of the Book stays on WBAI. It was an energetic pitching shift and we did well on it. I was exhausted after this program. I have more than the below stuff that I may be able to cover, and we have some mail to read. Don't worry about the tenses of the verbs changing in this and other paragraphs, different parts of this page were written at different times.

The WBAI Local Station Board (LSB) will meet next on Thursday, October 28th, at 6:30 PM. I don't know where we're meeting, and no one else may know yet either. The venues should be posted at wbai.org.

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.

Our colleagues from Off the Hook now have both a RealAudio streaming web cast operating, and a new MP3 stream. The MP3 feed is now the preferred feed. Both feeds were working at 9:21 PM last night.

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.

Brand new is the Pacifica Internet Radio site.

Here's a heads up: We'll be pitching on Back of the Book tonight. If you can, please pledge! A regular one year subscription is $25. You are free to send more if you want.

Just call in during the program, I should start pitching at around 1:15 AM, and pledge some amount of money, I think the minimum is $10.

The number is 212-209-2950.

Update: Thanks to listeners we raised $1,375 in pledges when the smoke cleared after the program. Thanks again to everyone who contributed. This will go a long way in showing Management that there are listeners to overnight programs in general and Back of the Book in particular. And for those of you who pledged please make sure to honor your pledge by sending in a check to cover the amount of the pledge. The fulfillment rate for WBAI programs is another issue.

On a previous program I talked about implanting radio frequency identification devices (RFID) in human beings. Well, the FDA has approved it for hospital patients! Big Brother is really close.

Maybe our problems stem from the fact that we don't have nearly as many genes as we used to think we did.

A program where we're pitching is always something that gets figured out on the spot. It's real “seat of your pants” radio. I plan to get to some stuff about new copyright laws, the fines levied against 169 Fox TV stations for “indecency.”

And as part of our pitching program we're offering a lunar eclipse to everyone who pledges! If you pledge then be sure to look up this Wednesday October 27, between 9:14 PM and 11:43 PM. Please only look at it if you've pledged to Back of the Book!

We read the mail during this program. We got a number of snail mail missives from listeners, especially listeners who sent their checks in early. Here are the E-mails we read on the program.

Subject: The Bleepin Blue Board
Date: Tue, 19 Oct 2004 01:19:13 EDT
From: Seena
To: rpm@glib.com

RPM and Pickles- I'm a longtime listener and I love you both! Are you having any problems accessing the Blue Board? I keep getting error messages, and it's driving me crazy! Your adoring fan- Seena

We wrote back to Seena and let her know that the Bleepin' Blue Board was having some technical problems.

Subject: Re: The Bleepin Blue Board
Date: Tue, 19 Oct 2004 11:02:41 EDT
From: Seena
To: rpm@glib.com

Thanks, RPM! xxo- Seena

And, finally, our pal Seth, who's a long time regular listener, contributor and correspondent inquired about coming in to answer the phones. And Seth was indeed one of the crew answering the phones for us. Thanks to Seth, Steve and Pickles of the North for answering the phones!

Subject: This weekend's marathon
Date: Fri, 22 Oct 2004 10:40:21 EDT
From: Seth
To: rpm@glib.com

I'll be happy to help on the phones during your show this weekend. Shall I come in??

Also, will we have an official break-code this time??

[This part of the message snipped to protect the guilty.]

I'm looking forward to seeing you all.

--Seth

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 © 2004, R. Paul Martin.