It's not REALLY a blog...
It’s been a while, hasn’t it?
I never intended for this page to become a blog. It’s like starting a podcast (which you can find here, BTW) – a cliché for attention-hungry Generation X hipsters and Millennials who want a shot at keeping the Five Star Driver Rating that stands between them and total insolvency.
But I guess I’m here for the duration. Accidentally tied to a life where whoring for likes gets me paid…when I just didn’t want to get a real job!
Can we backtrack a little?
I got the job. It’s a weird spot to be in, and there’s still some rough edges to sand off, but I am where I want to be. I’m not having as much fun as when Chris was here…yet. But I can see how the potential is there. I’m probably making the boss nuts with my constant nit-picking, but I want to be loving every minute of the job NOW.
It’s a little like a kid getting his B.S. and thinking he’s going to jump right in to a big salary and a company car on day one. But I’m 40, so I know it’s unrealistic. I should probably buy the poor guy a nice bottle of vodka. Or rye.
My first phone screener didn’t work out. She seemed like a nice kid – and a kid she was: about two months older than my son! But due to circumstances beyond her control she needed to head home. We all wish her the best, but I lament that someone who was so clearly a good catch had to change course.
Radio collectively did a stupid thing a few years back: They killed off their talent pool. By implementing “Cost Saving Measures” like automating nights and weekends, consolidating manpower, and basically running off all the up & coming jocks and hosts they have starved themselves of a fresh workforce. They trained audiences to hear humans as commercials and they ignored all the ways to capture the imagination of anyone under 40.
What that means for us today is that hiring for a position like phone screener/junior producer is a BITCH. I’m grateful I have only to jump in at the end of the process and share my opinion.
One the other hand I’ve been paid the highest possible compliment by the competition: Targeted ads! Someone started a campaign on local TV name-dropping me in association with “meaningless chatter” which I guess means I don’t spend enough of my show repeating what the guy before me said…
The days of the bloated bloviator pounding his desk and raging at the opposition are fading rapidly. We have so much more to talk about, so many more angles to consider…and letting it drag you down to the point where you grow a soul patch and start wearing sunglasses indoors isn’t going to do a damn thing to save the Union or amuse an audience.
I’ll try to greet you with good humor (or at least good will). I won’t adopt a position on any issue for political conformity’s sake (but I might do it if they write a big enough check). And I won’t regurgitate the positions and opinions of anyone else (unless we actually agree anyway). We don’t have to agree to get along, but I’m going to clobber you if you disrespect the audience (or your phone sucks).
It’s been an interesting few weeks – months, actually. But the official start date for Philip Teresi, Afternoons on KMJ was Monday 9/9/19…so we’ll start counting from there.
Also, I know I owe some of you a reply…you were kind enough to send me notes via the Contact form, so I’ll start answering folks back ASAP. I don’t have a good excuse, just my apologies for taking so long to get it done!
Stay Weird.