Tuesday, July 24, 2007

"There is no such thing as a good script, only a good film, and I'm conscious that my scripts often read better than they play." Alan Bennett

"The cinema is not a craft. It is an art. It does not mean team work. One is always alone; on the set as before the blank page." Jean-Luc Godard

"We are all actors now...Everyone in America now explains a moment in their lives by saying, 'It was like a scene out of...'" Peggy Noonan

Today's image: Thinker by Ron Fell. Thank you so much Ron!

With the books rolling out there is lots to think about. Kudos to Rick Martini and his Fresh 102.7 FM team on a fine showing. Back in the threes (and #8 25-54A, #7 25-54W) where those 7th Avenue guys belong. Joel Hollander greenlighted Fresh but will not be remembered for it. Cheers to WSKQ #1 25-54. Congrats to Z100 #2 12+ repeating that 4.6 Winter posting and to K-Rock #14 to #5 25-54 men. WAXQ #2 25-54 men.

Buzz: Hearst to acquire UGO.com for over $100 Mil. UGO.com is a collection of sites targeting young men.

He's back: Dave Winer offers up Why Feedburner is trouble, day 2. You decide.

Dems on CNN: For all the fuss about the game-changing YouTube questions, the answers were just more of the same. These are not debates but candidate press conferences. Too short on substance. Not enough interaction between candidates. C+ to MC Anderson.

Back to the future: WCKG, Chicago from Free FM back to the original Reid Reker branding The Package. Congrats to Steve Dahl, the evangelist of this move. (Stever's take on Tammy Faye here.)

Bonus: A Group Is Its Own Worst Enemy - Clay Shirky. Thanks to Hugh for the tip.

"
This talk is in three parts. The best explanation I have found for the kinds of things that happen when groups of humans interact is psychological research that predates the Internet, so the first part is going to be about W.R. Bion's research, which I will talk about in a moment, research that I believe explains how and why a group is its own worst enemy.

The second part is: Why now? What's going on now that makes this worth thinking about? I think we're seeing a revolution in social software in the current environment that's really interesting.

And third, I want to identify some things, about half a dozen things, in fact, that I think are core to any software that supports larger, long-lived groups." The entire writing here.

Let us now praise editors: An excellent writing by Gary Kamiya via Salon. My thanks to programming ace Tom Teuber for the tip...

"The truth is, you have to learn how to be edited just as much as you have to learn how to edit. And learning how to be edited teaches you a lot about writing, about distance and objectivity and humility, and ultimately about yourself...The art of editing is running against the cultural tide. We are in an age of volume; editing is about refinement. It's about getting deeper into a piece, its ideas, its structure, its language. It's a handmade art, a craft. You don't learn it overnight. Editing aims at making a piece more like a Stradivarius and less like a microchip. And as the media universe becomes larger and more filled with microchips, we need the violin makers." Read the entire writing with letters (comments) here.

The Greatest Hits of The '60s, '70s ... And '80s? Sean Ross writes about WCBS-FM, the oldies format and that pesky question of eras here. Bravo Sean, well done! Cohort replacement is a beautiful thing.

Congrats & cheers: Jay Gould and Aaron Cohn on their now out of beta WikiYou. Farday Media on today's launch of their very cool new sidebar Particls.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Mr Martin,

I read your blog daily. Most of what you write is interesting. One topic needs a tat more fact vs your opinion. That is your constant praise of Steve Dahl. As a person born and raised in the Chicago burbs I am very aware of who Dahl is (or who he thinks he is). Today's writing is a good example. How is Dahl the evangelist of the new 105.9 branding? Let me also ask who is Reid Reker? Other than your obvious Dahl fandom I give you cheers on a good and fair job. Please answer my questions. Thanks.

David Martin said...

Dear cowgirl,

Thanks for your comment. How is Steve the evangelist for The Package? Because, he is. In fact, he made a rather good case for The Package during a meeting with CBS Radio CEO Dan Mason. Who is Reid Reker? Reid is the programming exec who first coined The Package branding while he was in Arizona before joining WCKG as program director back in the last century. With respect to your feelings on fact v my opinion let me remind you of the title of this blog "N=1", that should indicate this scribble (hardly writing) is my opinion and my opinion alone. As to Steve Dahl's success, a fact you seem to have a problem grasping, let me say this about Steve. Nobody likes him but the listeners. The man is an icon, a big success, a legend in Chicago and the industry. Those are the facts. Please learn how to deal with that.

T Dog said...

Dahl is one of those individuals whether if you like him or not. If you do, fine. If you don't, that's also fine (I haven't listed to Dahl and Meier since I was 10 - and that was during the WLS-FM days.) I only listen to radio in the mornings, so I really don't care. But Dahl has made many positive contributions to Chicago radio, and that shouldn't be overlooked.

And it's his blog. If he wants to praise Dahl all he wants, that's his prerogative. On my blog, I rip the radio business, "Grey's Anatomy" and the WWE all the time, and if the humanoids don't like what I have to say, they can split.

Gen Y doesn't care about Dahl, and its amazing they criticize something they don't know about, or care to know about. They continue to dis the old school. Let them listen to their Disney Channel teeny-bopper music through their iPods and leave the rest of us alone.

Thanks for the opportunity to respond, Dave. You have a great blog here.


Terence

The T Dog Media Blog

http://thetdogblog.blogspot.com/