FZ2878

Local radio is back in South Florida with Sofloradio.com. Led by Jorge Rodriguez, it is the creation of a group of “recessionist” entrepreneurs who watched themselves get squeezed out of their talk radio jobs by corporate media’s decision to save money, by broadcasting the same “national” radio shows in all markets, and in the process they tried to and almost killed grassroots, local talk radio in South Florida.

The communications conglomerates which control all of the major audio and video media providers have taken this more national approach to radio programming because of the enormous cost savings of having to pay one voice compared to paying local talent big bucks in hundreds of markets. The largest holdout for local talent is sports talk, which is relatively safe, especially in markets with one or more local major sports franchises.

Enter Sofloradio.com. Using the low cost bandwidth of the internet, Rodriguez and his group of local radio professionals have banded together to create a true grassroots, authentic radio media outlet to provide a voice for Joe Working Guy. It could be Jane Working Gal, or even Chuck Creative Guy, it doesn’t matter, Sofloradio.com by nature just somehow identifies with the world’s “Doers.”

Liberal Issues Examiner, William Skordelis, grassroots columnist and “radio interview virgin”, (giving or taking – an interview), braved the unknown and dove headfirst into the studio of a couple of Sofloradio.com founders, the on-air duo of the Jorge Rodriguez Show, Jorge Rodriguez and Boca Brian. Or is it on-line duo? The fact is sofloradio.com is so close to traditional radio, you forget your listening to a computer.

To read the rest of the story from William Skordelis on Examiner.com click here.

When we heard of the apparent over-sight in former talk-show host Neil Roger’s contract with 560 WQAM which allowed management to fire his longtime producer and side-kick Jorge Rodriguez, we should have known that even “Neil God” was vulnerable (“You are correct Sir!”). Well it happened, and Friday marked the end of an era in South Florida radio when Neil Rogers aired his last show after accepting WQAM’s offer to buy out the remaining time on his contract.

Despite Neil’s vow to work to the very end of his newly signed 5-year contract out of sheer spite to piss-off WQAM’s General Manager, Joe Bell, and anti-fart-sound-activist, Beasley Broadcast Group attorney Joyce Fitch (which rhymes with….well you know) apparently the Beasley’s (to coin a phrase from one of Neil’s favorite movies – in the voice of Marlon Brando as Godfather Vito Corleone) "made him an offer he couldn’t refuse.”

But what’s good for Neil is bad for South Florida, because we’ve lost a legend of the airwaves. The famously inconsolable Neil was often mixed with waves of static because of a weak signal, which maybe in some ways just made us listen closer. Obviously the Beasley’s know very little about the radio business even though they are up to their necks in it. How do you pay a man what has been reported on his previous contract to have been making $1.5 million per year and then transmit his show with a signal so weak, broadcasts from Cuba would often bleed over Neil’s famous tirades about the grim reality of life on this earth from A to Z?

Really though, Neil Rogers is just another Beasley Broadcast casualty as they commit radio Hari Kari and one by one fire all their big name talent. If I were “Mad Dog” Jim Mandich, who handles the 4 to 7 p.m. slot, or the “Big Dog” Joe Rose, who handles the morning drive slot, I’d be brushing up my resume and preparing for the axe to fall any day now. In all fairness though, both of them do have a couple things going for them that neither Jorge nor Neil had. They both have nicknames with “Dog” in them, and they’re both former Miami Dolphin football players. After all WQAM is the station “where football always matters.”

But it seems that being a jock or “sport-hole” isn’t enough to keep your job on WQAM. Sports gurus and gambling mavens, Ed Kaplan, and “The Hammer” Hank Goldberg couldn’t escape Joe Bell’s imitation of Jason, (the mad-slasher from Friday the 13th) and all they talked about was sports and sports betting. I guess it helps to work really cheap, though it’s been reported that Ed Kaplan offered to do the job for no pay from the Beasley’s if he could just keep his endorsements and commercial fees.

Maybe the key secret to keeping your job at WQAM is the cliché, “don’t bite the hand that feeds you.” In other words, “I’m yer frayend!” All of the big-name WQAM casualties at one time or another bitched or moaned about management, the studios, or “Jolly Joe Bell.” But none did it more often and more harshly than “Uncle” Neil. In one way, it’s amazing that he lasted as long as he did.

Read more »

Life is all about freedom, and one of the things that once made the United States a world power was the ability of its people to innovate in a free market society. Anyone with two nickels and some ingenuity could start an empire if they were willing to work like a dog to get their idea or product off the ground.

That same history of innovation and historic capacity to produce created the greatest consumers the world has ever known. Americans expect choice, quality and price and we are willing to camp out overnight in a cold Walmart parking lot, facing possible death, to get first crack at a sensational buy. It was with that American consumer spirit that I began searching for new video editing software.

A firm believer in doing my homework, I began reading the online reviews, and on my lunch hours, began skulking around software aisles in electronics and office supply stores. My first mistake was that I had decided that I wanted an actual CD as opposed to an internet downloaded version.

In today’s world holding the actual piece of plastic is worthless and even worse, if it sucks you are stuck with it because most software is only returnable if it is faulty, if it just sucks, you have no recourse and your money is lost. Buying software nowadays is like buying a new automobile or pair of shoes, you’re an idiot if you buy a car without a test-drive, you’re a fool if you buy a pair of shoes without trying them on, and you’re asking to get ripped off if you purchase software without a trial period.

Enter Magix Edit Pro 15. The packaging is well-done, they have a smiling little blond girl, a fuzzy white puppy and a beautiful sunset right on the cover, it’s hard to resist. Its descriptive copy reads like the video editing studio of Lucas Films, with all of the latest features needed to create dazzling videos from video clips and photographs, to Dolby surround sound, chroma key effects, and effortless burning.

From the moment I broke the seal on that box, and effectively flushed my money down the toilet, Magix Edit Pro 15 has delivered one disappointment after another. Each step of the way, I have been affronted by error messages, and the inability to accomplish even the simplest of goals, let alone a full video presentation with a mix of images, video clips, transitions, titles, and audio.

Read more »

It was a sad day for South Florida radio Thursday, when the listening community learned that the rumors had come to fruition, and Jorge Rodriguez, producer and longtime sidekick for the Neil Rogers Show had been “shmit” canned from 560 WQAM.

The subject of Jorge’s forced departure from the show had been surfacing so often that many listeners in the audience thought that it was some kind of shtick to fill airtime. What made it even harder to believe was Neil’s claim that “Norma Can’t”, his attorney and agent had written his contract to give Neil the right to choose his own producer. Apparently Norma lived up to his name, “You Fairy!” If anyone should be fired, it should be that “Ass-clown” Norma. Of course even that would be too late to help Jorge.

Aside from producing the show, Jorge had one of the toughest jobs in radio, filling in for Neil when he went on vacation or was sick from too much gut plunging at Woodbine. I remember the first time I heard Jorge filling in for Neil. I guess I had the same negative reaction many people seem to have, because I had turned in to hear Neil Rogers, not some Neil-Rogers-wannabee. But I quickly found, what I liked most about Jorge, was that he never tried to be anything at all like Neil, he was always true to himself. In fact, at least on the air, two people who worked so close together could not be more different.

Read more »

A Special Subliminalog on Digg.com

For the Un-Dugg” amongst you who haven’t Dugg it, Digg is a website where people meet and Digg (or not) articles and videos that interest them (or not). Bloggers (such as myself) will submit posts to Digg in the hopes of increasing exposure by making them available for people to “Digg”.

But despite the popularity of the site, it seems as though the “Diggers” and “Diggettes” are asleep at the wheel. I’ve tried to wake them up before with a gentle letter to “Contact Us” asking them to expand and update their categories. They politely told me to screw myself (I mean who the hell do you think you are? - We're DIGG!)

Read more »

They say that in order to get over an addiction, first you have to admit that you have a problem, and though it’s difficult to admit in front of so many people, I am a bonafide CNN junkie. I've known for some time I have a problem, but nothing was more desperate and eye-opening than Inauguration Day, with almost 16 hours glued to the four televisions in my apartment all going simultaneously with the second by second coverage of that historic but by the nature of the coverage, trivialized moment when Barack Obama was sworn in as President.

Each day I curse Ted Turner for his vision, and wish he had kept sailing in the America’s Cup or spent more time screwing Jane Fonda. Instead he created a 24-hour news habit that has me always ready to shoot-up with my fix for the constant repetition of meaningful and meaningless news stories alike.

Read more »

The press need to just back off and give Barack Obama, and this country a break. It's still almost two months before Barack Obama takes office, and the 24-Hour News-Bots are already grading him for not making CHANGE fast enough.

Read more »

I’ve read and heard a lot lately, about Sarah Palin’s $150K wardrobe paid for by the campaign, and I think it’s a weak argument for anyone to make as to why Sarah Palin is not fit to be in the Number Two position in this country (politically extreme to the Right). It makes the legitimate arguments (intolerant of differences), seem as trivial as how much she spent on dresses (a really expensive necessary makeover), and gives the Republicans more fodder for their “Liberal Media” mill (Say, how’s Rush doing?). It’s distracting from the real important issues a voter should consider (John McCain’s antiquated view and ideas), and adds a certain Miss Alaska quality to the campaign (media-crazed Miss Congeniality Contest).

Read more »

Not only do I disagree with John McCain’s ideology and his vision for America, now I also get to be pissed at him for introducing me to Sarah the moose hunter, Joe Six-Pack, Sarah the Hockey Mom, and now, Joe the Plumber.

Read more »

As this political campaign grinds on, the 24-Hour news networks have found their stride, and are producing news “stories” at break-neck speed, and talking endlessly about all these “Breaking” stories no matter how trivial. With the recent stock market meltdown, and actual looming disaster, the news producers certainly don’t need Viagra to sustain their excitement.

After the Democratic and Republican conventions, CNN proudly advertised that more people tuned into CNN during the conventions than any other cable news network. Props to them, but now I ask you to turn them off!

Read more »

CNN’s Republican Commentator Leslie Sanchez (Right-wing hawk) wrote a piece today which makes it clear why she’s such a staunch McCain cheerleader (loves a man in uniform), it's because she’s a hawk (hey, I already said that), and her stance on the Russian aggressions in Georgia proves it. Republicans tend to take a very dangerous view when it comes to world politics, and that view is the hawkish view that we are always right, and if you don’t do it our way, you will be punished (middle-finger up). Essentially, the Republican philosophy is a very simple philosophy (redneck) that can be broken down into bumper sticker slogans, “America right or wrong”, “America, Love it or leave it”, oh yes, and the ever popular, “We will kick your ass”, maybe even just for the fun of it (we don’t like yer kind).

Read more »

Jorge was pissed today, and it was great. Normally, Jorge Rodriguez, perennial side-kick on the 560 WQAM, Neil Roger’s Show, doesn’t want to do “serious”, but today Jorge was focused and “all kinda pissed off”. But what was most amazing today, was that he was getting hot and bothered about politics. When the boss is there, Jorge is usually the mellow, “anti-political” side of the often politically charged commentary throughout the show.

Read more »

We are a little more than thirteen weeks away from the general election and there is so much information being thrown at us, it's difficult to know what is true and what is false, what is accurate and what is exaggerated, what is hype and what is downplay, what is opinion and what is fact. In short, it’s getting about waist deep out there.

Read more »

If you read yesterday’s entry and my comments about CNN’s Lou Dobbs you may think I dislike him or disrespect him, but that is not the case. I respect Lou Dobbs for being a man who is not afraid to state his opinions, and in this country, a country that stands for freedom of speech and freedom of the press, I stand behind his right to do so, and respect his intelligence and eloquence .

Read more »

Tuesday, John McCain, the McCain camp, the 24 Hour NewsBot talking heads, and every other Right-wing blabber who could manage to get a mike jammed in front of him or her was slamming Barack Obama, and the so-called Liberal Media for their coverage of Obama’s continuing trip overseas. Predictably, even the anything but “independent” Lou Dobbs, got in on the feeding frenzy and twisted Obama’s words to fill his hour of news reporting as taught by the “I’m always right” school of self-serving news. In other words, it was politics and 24 Hour NewsBot politics as usual.

Read more »