Show Prep #11

Greetings and Salutations, people. Get ready for an hour of radio goodness! This is Vertically Striped Radio brought to you by VerticallyStripedSocks.com. The hardest working show on blogtalk. Vertically Striped Radio…Broadcast Excellence since all the way back in mid-May!

It was a rough week for me, had a headache for the first three days of the week culminating with an earth shattering migrane that sent me bed for something like fifteen hours in a row. Doing much better now, but it was touch and go there for awhile. On the plus side, I’ve been able to post a ton of new articles on VerticallyStripedSocks.com this week, including some great video that I’ve discovered on YouTube and my three part series on the best video games of the 1980’s. Spent way more time on the research for that series than I probably needed to, but getting knee deep into 1980’s video game nostalgia is hardly difficult for someone like me. So go ahead and check that stuff out over on VerticallyStripedSocks.com.

If MJ is not on the phone: We may have a foreign correspondent live from England, as MJ has spent today travelling overseas. If he isn’t still in the air or perhaps completely jetlagged, he may be joining us today, we’ll have to see if he is able to make it in today..in the meantime...

If MJ is on the phone: Joining us from the British Isles, our foreign correspondent and great friend to the program…MJ Amory. He has spent the whole day travelling across the Atlantic, and is still good enough to call in to join in our splendid little program. MJ, how are you doing, my friend.

Today on Vertically Striped Radio: Why I’m hoping to get banned in Alabama, the dangers of asking Turks to not smoke, (If MJ is able to make it) We’ll have our predictions for AFC Over/Unders, What makes a good fantasy football team name? And maybe this week we’ll get to the discussion of ushers that I was planning last week, maybe not, we’ll see. All of that, plus if you are bold and courageous, we will take your calls. We may even have two callers from the UK, as MarioSpeedwagon mentioned he may call in to say hello to us as well. We shall see as the hour rolls along…

Give out the phone number - (646) 716-6831 –
Email address: radio@verticallystripedsocks.com


Alrighty then! Let’s go ahead and see what’s going down…IN THE NEWS…





(Play News Music – Clip 03)
1. ISTANBUL (Reuters) – A restaurant owner in southwest Turkey was shot dead after he tried to prevent his customers from smoking to comply with a new law on the use of tobacco indoors. A fight broke out after the owner ordered a group of customers to extinguish their cigarettes when they began smoking at his "meyhane," a traditional restaurant that serves alcohol, in the town of Saruhanli.
One of the customers shot the restaurant owner four times after he took away the group's cigarettes, his business partner was also shot and wounded.
Turkey's government on July 19 introduced a nationwide ban on indoor smoking, including bars and restaurants, despite the fact that half of Turks aged between the ages of 15 and 49 smoke; one of the highest rates in the world.
"I'm deeply saddened that the first smoking-ban murder occurred in our town," said the town mayor, "They either shouldn't have outlawed smoking or they should have outlawed alcohol along with smoking."

2. BERLIN (Reuters) – Fans attending one of the world's biggest heavy metal festivals in Germany were asked on Thursday to avoid "hugging, kissing on the cheek, and shaking hands" lest they spread the H1N1 influenza. On its website, the health ministry of Germany's northern Schleswig-Holstein region optimistically advised revelers to restrain from any such sociable behavior so as to minimize the infection risk at the Wacken Open Air festival, which runs until August 1.
It also recommended fans did not share bottles of beer.
"We know that kissing and what have you can't be ruled out," said ministry spokesman Oliver Breuer. "They're just tips."
Stalwart rockers Motorhead, Anthrax and Napalm Death are among the bands due to perform at the three-day festival, which organizers expect to attract about 75,000 fans.
More than 430 people worldwide have died from the flu and more than 94,000 people have been, or are, infected.


3. MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Alabama's ban on a wine that features a nude nymph on the label became a business opportunity for a California vintner who is preparing a marketing campaign to capitalize on being "Banned in Bama."
The Alabama Alcoholic Beverage Control Board recently told stores and restaurants to quit serving Cycles Gladiator wine because of the label. Board attorney Bob Martin said the stylized, art-nouveau rendition of a nude female with a flying bicycle violated Alabama rules against displaying "a person posed in an immoral or sensuous manner."
Bill Leigon, president of Hahn Family Wines in Soledad, Calif., said Thursday that visits to the company's Web site have increased tenfold since news of the ban broke late last week, and callers from across the country have been asking where they can buy the wine.
Because of the interest, he's developing store displays that say "Banned in Bama" and "Taste What They Can't Have in Alabama."
Hahn said he will never miss the 500 cases sold annually in Alabama. "There is going to be a significant increase in our sales," he predicted.
Rosanna Guardagno, a social psychologist at the University of Alabama, said a ban often increases people's interest in a product.
"The ABC Board, without realizing it, is going to boost their sales," she said.
The wine's label is copied from an 1895 French advertising poster for Cycles Gladiator bicycles. It shows a side view of a full-bodied nymph flying alongside a winged bicycle.
Martin said the ABC Board rejected the label last year, which meant the product wasn't supposed to be sold in Alabama. A citizen recently sent a bottle to the board to show it was still being sold in the state, prompting the letter to restaurants and stores to stop sales, he said.
Hahn's president said he was unaware of the ABC Board's rejection until the letter was sent to retailers. He said the poster is a classic piece of art, with originals selling for as much as $50,000.
Guardagno, who studies social influences, said people allow more freedom of expression in art than in advertising.
"With art, you have to be really explicit with how a person's body is displayed before people are offended," she said.
I’m Craig, and that’s the news…(Play News Music – Clip 03)



(Check the phone lines to see if you have any calls) Go to AFC Over/Unders if MJ is on the line, if not, move along to the next item.
AFC Over/Unders:
Broncos – 7
Chiefs – 6
Chargers – 9.5
Raiders – 5.5

Steelers – 10.5
Ravens – 8.5
Bengals – 6.5
Browns – 6.5

Jets – 7
Patriots – 11.5
Dolphins – 7
Bills – 7.5

Jaguars – 8
Colts – 10
Titans – 9
Texans – 8.5




Ushers: The unnoticed critical element in enjoying or not enjoying your trip to the ballpark

Broncos – “Do you want to make a statement?” – Story of me getting hit in the head at
the Broncos-Raiders game
Nuggets – Taking away my empty can of soda after I finished it off.
Rockies – The Seat Nazi
Avalanche – Make you wait for the play to stop, which is actually pretty cool.
Rapids – They are pretty much just happy you’re there. Sit wherever you want.


(Play Clip 7) - Great Moments in Blogtalk History: Ed on the Barnstable Broadcast on why he is going to get kicked from his son’s house. (Play Clip 10)



More discussion items:

-Dameshek Fan Conduct Code items
1. Is it ever okay to get a personalized jersey with your name on it? In a word: No.
2. Wearing two teams. I can support this rule, even though I broke it back in December. – We call that Cross-Dressing, I fully support this one.
3. Not allowed to cheer for both teams in your city…Yanks-Mets, Cubs-White Sox, etc. I’m not sure I agree with that one.
4. Talk about the Broncos-Chiefs/Cubs-Cardinals Darnauer agreement – trading Broncos for Cardinals.

- CraigDodge.com – What a travesty

(Play Clip 15 Fear the Llama) – That’s right! Fear the Llama! What’s weird is that when I downloaded that Llama sound effect last night, Zune identified the clip as Nine Inch Nails. I’m not even sure what that means, other than you would do well to Fear the Llama! What makes a good fantasy football team name? – Take a look at what we have going on the Dameshek.com message board as far as names.

-Brett Favre – This was my quote in last week’s show prep… “So he’s definitely coming back, right? Is this a good thing or a bad thing for the Vikings? (I say bad.)”

-The Onion – Going Chinese: Allegedly had been purchased by the Yu Wan Mei Company, a fictitious - Amalgamated Salvage Fisheries and Polymer Injection Group. For awhile, the Website sported communist-ish logos and stories about things such as the absolute greatness of Yao Ming, the internet adding it’s 12th website, a child in America being unduly praised for learning the “simplistic American alphabet”, and a story about a grandfather being disrespected in his own home. It’s actually pretty hilarious stuff.

-Tim Hawkins – The Chick-Fil-A Song (Clip 11) – Here is a great Beatles parody about a great southern style chicken sandwich. Enjoy.


(Check the phone lines to see if you have any calls)








Vertically Striped Music Recommendation…
The Arcade Fire – “Neon Bible” (2007) – Arcade Fire kind of defies description. They have a ton of instruments and a ton of production, which usually spells disaster for good music, but in the case of this band, the sum of the parts doesn’t create disaster but rather a very interesting, very different, very eclectic, but most of all very good album. I don’t know how to describe this album in words, you have to listen to it. It’s part anthem rock, part indie music, part folk, part pop…they’re impossible to describe but mostly they’re just good bordering on great. I love this band, their lyrics are poetic, and their music is interesting and varied and beautiful and striking and challenging. Do yourself a favor and go buy this album if you don’t already have it. It’s a collection of 11 very very good songs. It’s dark, almost foreboding, but it’s remarkably excellent, and that is rare in modern music. I’m going to go out with my favorite song of the 11, “Keep the Car Running”


(Cue Outro Music – Clip 12)
Shalom and Good evening to you all!
(Play Outro Music – Clip 12)