Thursday, June 19, 2003

Big Arm Woman has a nice rant about local morning radio in Raleigh (Eric Muller also posted recently about the profusion of drivetime Bobs in the Triangle). Greensboro gets many of those syndicated crapfests, including at least one of the Bob teams and the execrable redneck minstrel show that is John Boy and Billy.   But Greensboro also has plenty of local shows, including Chris and Chris on my favorite oldies, er, classic rock station, Murphy in the Morning on WKZL, and the Busta Brown AllStars on 102 Jamz.   Murphy seems to be aimed at the young women’s market, lots of talk about Cosmo and perky interjections from his young woman co-host. Not really my demographic, but he’s a real pro. (His show was Howard Coble’s venue for inserting foot in mouth over Japanese internment.) Busta Brown is another pro who also works some interesting topics and sometimes a little political heat into the morning mix.   Chris and Chris, on the other hand, are likeably unslick. In fact, I like them least when they read from the Wacky Morning Dude playbook (“I’m an asshole/racist/ignoramus ha ha ha”) and best when they play off each other, which they do quite well. They play too much Boston, though.   Then there’s Dusty Dunn, who spun the rock records at WCOG-AM when I was a kid, and who is trying to revive local talk radio at a low-power gospel station. Sometimes after I’ve been listening to Dusty I get in my car at lunch and this great old gospel music is playing, no lame fake Christian rock, just high tenors and Jesus. 3:03:37 PM    comment []

NASCAR is digging up its roots in an effort to grow some more green.   The left-turn circuit is replacing the Winston Cup with sponsorship from a phone company. I know that the health police made them abandon RJ Reynolds, but Nextel just feels wrong. Techie corporate sponsors -- don't they slap their names on NFL stadiums and then go broke?   It’s been a busy few days for NASCAR, what with moving races from racing’s heartland to California and taking prime dates from time-honored venues.    Putting races where the fans are makes sense – going to a race in person is way better than watching it on TV. You simply cannot understand how fast and loud those cars are, and how passionate and loud those fans are, without being at the track.   But race fans also build personal relationships with drivers, tracks, and the whole stock car mythos. As the racing business chases dollars across the country, it risks turning its back on the land and lore of bootleggers and dirt tracks, Junior Johnson and Lee Petty, Cale and the King, Darlington and North Wilkesboro. Maybe all that died along with Ironhead.   Another indigenous culture imperiled.   Dustin Long in the News & Record: “NASCAR President Mike Helton said the sport's potential growth outweighed tradition. An official from International Speedway Corp., which owns the tracks involved in the changes, applauded the extra revenue the company would earn with the changes.”   Scott Fowler in the Observer: "When it comes to money, NASCAR doesn't mess around." 10:57:23 AM    comment []

The NYT on traffic-lust in bloggerville: “(T)he general consensus among bloggers is that one witty blog entry does not a loyal readership make.”   Quotees include NC fave Ryan Irelan, who once got a big bump in readership after a link from Doc Searls: “’Creating something odd or unique or funny that a lot of people link to is a good way to get a huge spike,’ he said. ‘But I don't think it's the most honest way of approaching it.’" 7:53:04 AM    comment []