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SOWNY » Favourite Television Characters » March 17, 2024 2:30 pm

Peter the K
Replies: 14

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Along with the Rev. Jim on Taxi, (who it should be known was a high-achieving college student until he disvered the brownie) my favorite second banana character was Sgt. Schultz (Played by the late John Banner) from Hogan's Heroes.  He's there because the Nazi's appropriated his toy factory. He'd rather be anywhere else. (except the Russian front.)  If you dig beneath the surface of "I know nothing", it's actually a pretty complex character.

It was once speculated in a Reddit discussion that if the show wasn't cancelled and the writers had a chance to write a proper ending for the series, a great way to end things would be to find that Klink/Shultz et al were actually secretly working for the underground and turning a blind eye to Hogan's work.

SOWNY » Global Toots Its Own Horn Over 50th Anniversary » March 12, 2024 2:55 pm

Peter the K
Replies: 8

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I vaguely remember in the early days when Global didn't sign on until about 2 in the afternoon.  Now I know why. 

Memories of global:

Peter Trueman, Peter Desbarats, Christina Pochmursky and later, Rae Corelli.

I also remember on their opening night (Sunday in January) they showed a Canadian movie that had the premise that entire country spoke French and only one province was anglophone.  I don't remember much else.

Shhh - It's the news with Don Harron and Catherine McKinnon -- I think it was actually produced at CJOH in Ottawa but it was a hoot.

The first airing of SCTV which I believe was in the time slot normally helf by "One Day at a Time".  I just recall it being one hell of shock.  A pleasant one, at that.

And of course, the Sunday night dirty movie.  They were usually bad Quebecois flicks made with government grant money for tax reasons whose only redeeming qualities were the occasional flashes of T and A and other assorted naugty bits.
 

SOWNY » They Still Offer College Courses In Broadcasting. But Is Anyone Going? » March 11, 2024 5:19 pm

Peter the K
Replies: 15

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Conestoga Class of 85 here.  Back then, the first year intake was 25-30 students and you could almost guarantee some attrition through the three years of the program as some students discovered this wasn't a bird course.

Some of our part time faculty included the likes of Phil Stone from CHUM which, quite honestly, us yougn's were just too young to appreciate.  To think that we had this guy for a few hours every week and most of us at the time thought he jwas ust an old fogie who was behind the times. 

If only we knew then what we eventually twigged onto we would have paid so much attention and soaked up his lectures like a sponge. 

But to be honest, 3 years was an awfully long time to learn how to cue a record.   

SOWNY » Ottawa Radio Morning Show Crew The Latest Victims Of Bell Cuts » February 14, 2024 9:33 pm

Peter the K
Replies: 17

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Thank you, RA.  I was just going to pipe in with him myself.
(Personally, Grover has always been my favourite.)


RadioActive wrote:

Don't forget Guy Smiley, who was a reporter!

 

SOWNY » Which Daytime OTA Soap Opera Gets The Youngest Audience? » February 5, 2024 6:47 pm

Peter the K
Replies: 17

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In addition, viewers who got NTV from NL got to watch each episode of days a day early as they broadcast the feed for the next day.   Since they ran a lot of of Global programming they did it without making a big deal of it.  Some higher up finally caught on and read them the riot act and they had to run the show on the appointed day.  But it was still fun watching the "traffic report" on their news update with the same stills each day showing no traffic.  Kind of quaint seeing traffic for the island including, of course, the metropolis of Goobies.

Alas, once it moved from Global to the W network, NTV stopped airing days.
 

SOWNY » A.I. Generated "George Carlin" Stand-Up Special Is Kinda Creepy » January 11, 2024 9:31 pm

Peter the K
Replies: 10

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In Phase wrote:

The humour is George Carlin, but it doesn't sound like him 

Yeah, that was my reaction too.  The humour was on track and even the delivery was often there but the voice literally sounds like someone trying to do an impersonation of Carlin.

It would be more impressive if they could have nailed his voice.  

Case in point.  Someone took a recording of Paul Anka actually singing "Smells Like Teen Spirit" and replaced the voice with Sinatras using AI.  Now THAT is spooky.





 

SOWNY » What Happened To The "870" Radio/TV Phone Prefix? » December 27, 2023 5:05 pm

Peter the K
Replies: 12

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A very simplified explanation:

Years ago, the first three digits of the phone number, like 870, referred to a specific phone exchange.  A phone exchange was located in physical central office.  Usually, a typical exchange could handle a certain number of simultaneous calls, either incoming or outgoing although usually the 870 line was never used for outgoing calls.  I don't know where the 870 exchange was physically located, but it was designated as high traffic and used for high call traffic customers like radio stations so when calls started coming in they would go through one central location keeping all the heavy traffic off other exchnges.

Today, with VOIP and digital switching, it doesn't really matter anymore.  There really isn't a need for high traffic handling switches they are all capable of handling higher traffic without "plugging up" the exchange.

Likewise, the concept of "long distance" really doesn't exist anymore.  It's only a way for some phone companies to get more money out of people who are used to paying extra for making "out of area" calls.  Although I moved to K-W five years ago, I still have both a 647 and a 416 number.  Nobody bats an eyelash when I give them the Toronto number to call me.

 

SOWNY » What Is Your Favourite "Crank It Up" Tune? » December 12, 2023 2:52 pm

Peter the K
Replies: 39

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Lee Michaels - Do You Know What I Mean

Crank up the bass and the volume.  But avoid headphones.  You need to feel the organ's bass 

Just the way it was meant to be played.
 

SOWNY » Emergency Alert Test Review » November 15, 2023 2:16 pm

Peter the K
Replies: 12

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Did anyone else cringe during the French announcement?

I don't speak French but even I found it pretty obvious that it was an anglo text to speech reader trying to make sense of the French text.  It was awful. 
 

SOWNY » The Radio Station That Inspired "Good Morning Vietnam" » November 12, 2023 1:22 pm

Peter the K
Replies: 3

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Hey Dale,

Great hearing these without the digitital artifacts that mine have. I feel safe taking mine down.
Feel free to pop over to the page I linked to and grab the two WEBY promos I have.

Cheers,
     --Peter
 

SOWNY » The Radio Station That Inspired "Good Morning Vietnam" » November 11, 2023 10:17 pm

Peter the K
Replies: 3

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Back in October 2015, radio station WEBY in florida presented a 5 part documentary series about AFVN which I captured and posted at the time.

You can find it at:
https://afvndoc.weebly.com/

Lo and behold, it's still there.  Feel free to grab it.

SOWNY » Hitting The Post: Great Sounding Or Too Old Fashioned? » October 30, 2023 8:54 pm

Peter the K
Replies: 7

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Aw come on.  How many of us who have been jocks at one time in their lives practice hitting the post in the car when certain songs come on.

But what really blows my mind, and it has happened on more than one occasion, is when my phone gps makes an announcement and finishes just  at the right point to hit the post.  I kid you not. 

It's scary.  Makes me wonder if there is some AI going in the background and the phone's mic is always on.

 

SOWNY » Kudos to the CBC and The Fifth Estate » October 28, 2023 11:16 pm

Peter the K
Replies: 30

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So I finally got around to watching this item this evening.  Very compelling stuff.

But one thing bugged me.  I'm no forensics expert but could this whole thing not easily be dealt with through a simple DNA test?  The topic wasn't even raised in the report.

 

SOWNY » No CTV National News on Sundays? » October 23, 2023 3:37 pm

Peter the K
Replies: 7

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I think it's up to each local station.

I watched the CTV national news with Sandie Rinaldo Sunday night at 10:00 eastern on the CTV news channel.  So, yes, there was a newscast.
 

SOWNY » Free A.I.-Powered "Denoiser" Promises To Get Rid Of Record/Tape Noise » October 20, 2023 1:45 pm

Peter the K
Replies: 2

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I gave it a try before reading the article.  I put through a cut from a very well-worn album and it really didn't do much of anything.  According the article, it's really designed to deal with hum and constant noise not de-click and de-crackle.  My copy of Audio Cleaning Lab 4 handled it well.

I'll have to try find some audio with 60hz hum in it and see what happens.
 

SOWNY » Music To Your Ears: BBC Orchestra Unveils New Updated Doctor Who Theme » October 15, 2023 3:07 pm

Peter the K
Replies: 5

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Well, the Peter Howell theme is actually not a remix, it's a complete re-imagining of the 1960s theme by Delia Derbyshire.  The Howell theme is my favourite as well.

But one has to give lots of credit to the original which was mostly performed using tape loops.

I'm not a big fan of the orchestral version.  Sounds too muddled to me.

SOWNY » CBC Radio: The End Of The Long Dash » October 10, 2023 3:19 pm

Peter the K
Replies: 26

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I find my phone is quite accurate.  I tested with a live broadcast of CHU once and it was winthin a second.

You can also call them:

English: 613-745-1576
French: 613-745-9426

I just tried the English line and it a a second off (fast) from my phone. 
Likewise, the French line was a second fast.

 

SOWNY » Why Do They Still Insist On Doing This In Radio Commercials? » October 10, 2023 11:05 am

Peter the K
Replies: 7

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What's even more annoying are ads that repeat the phone number several times.  Once, maybe twice, is enough.

I generally consider the trustworthiness of an ad based on the number of times they repeat the phone number.  More than 2, and the scam radar kicks in.
 

SOWNY » 1960s TV Shows That Are Hardly Remembered » October 10, 2023 10:54 am

Peter the K
Replies: 9

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"I'm Dickens, He's Fenster" starring John Astin and Marty Ingels is so obscure that it belonged on that list.

Alas, it was so obscure they missed it entirely.


 

SOWNY » Metroland seeks bankruptcy protection, lays off 605 » September 16, 2023 6:45 pm

Peter the K
Replies: 51

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Radiowiz wrote:

Peter the K wrote:

With apps like flipp, flyers have become obsolete.  I haven't touched a physical flyer in years.   The few that did arrive went straight into recycling; mainly because the electronic version arrived days earlier.
 

I go mental without the paper version because I like to circle things to remind me what I am looking for.
However, one other factor that killed the print version of the flyer is when Walmart & Others decided not to price match anymore. 
It was a lot easier to quickly show a flyer special (circled) in print than it was to search for it online. 
 

With Flipp, just touch the item on the digital flyer and it's circled.  But unlike regular flyers, there's a place on the app where you can see all the items you've circled together making comparisons simple.

I know it sounds like I'm a shill for them.  It's not perfect but trying it (it's free) gives you a pretty good idea where things have been heading and why companies like Metroland just can't make a go of it anymore.

But ultimately, to each their own.

 

SOWNY » Metroland seeks bankruptcy protection, lays off 605 » September 16, 2023 12:07 pm

Peter the K
Replies: 51

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With apps like flipp, flyers have become obsolete.  I haven't touched a physical flyer in years.   The few that did arrive went straight into recycling; mainly because the electronic version arrived days earlier.
 

SOWNY » Britcoms on commercial TV » August 20, 2023 3:39 pm

Peter the K
Replies: 22

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Hansa wrote:

This is a rather remarkable reprise of Some Mothers Do Av Em that was done for charity in 2016. Even if you don't recognize the cameos it's very funny (and there is one cameo you definitely will recognize) and the stunt work is incredible when you consider Crawford, who does his own stunts, was in his early 70s at the time. If you're not familiar with his character of Frank Spencer he is a child-like accident prone innocent evocative of silent film era comedians like Laurel & Hardy, Charlie Chaplin, and Buster Keaton.

How could I possibly forget Some Mothers do 'Avem 'Em!  Michael Crawford was absolutely brilliant.

The 2016 Reprise was also quite wild.  

Silly piece of trivia.  The rhythm of the theme music for the show is made up of the title spelled out in Morse Code: "S-O-M-E-M-O-T-H-E-R-S-D-O-A-V-E-E-M"

I don't know about the reprise but in the original series, Michael Crawford did his own stunts too.
 

SOWNY » Britcoms on commercial TV » August 20, 2023 12:35 pm

Peter the K
Replies: 22

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My first experience with BritComs was watching On the Buses back in the 70s on CHCH Sunday nights.  Then again, maybe it was Global.  I do remember Global carrying it near the end of the series when Blakey lived with the butlers.

Global Carried Are you being served and Dick Emery Thursday nights

CBC carried Mind your language - a show that probably won't air anywhere today.  They also carried Monty Python a couple of times a week for a bit. (no pun intended)
 

SOWNY » Where Were You When The Lights Went Out? » August 14, 2023 12:09 pm

Peter the K
Replies: 33

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I ran an IT department back then.  The servers (abourt 12 or so) were plugged into a stand-by battery backup and it gave us 45 minutes to gracefully shut the servers down.  Meanwhile, one of the employees, who was the union stewart, was running around the office ranting and raving about how this was Mike Harris' fault.  Strangely enough, she was nowhere to be found when the real reason came to light.

Once the servers were safely put to bed I plugged in a portable radio I had in the office and thanks to CFRB and the incredible coverage of Mark Elliot.

Fortunately, I drove in that day.  However, I didn't realize how difficult it would be to place a call.  I tried calling my wife on the cell phone but the towers were incredibly congested.  All you could do is keep trying until you lucked out.  Eventually, I did and we made arrangements for me to swing by and pick her up -- whenever I got there.  She and a few other people were waiting and we started heading up Yonge Street towards North York.  Needless to say it was long drive.  We got home around 7:00.  There was a nearby meat store that was selling off what product it had dirt cheap just to get it out the door.  We had some nice not so coldcuts and bread for dinner. 

I couldn't believe how quiet everything was.
 

SOWNY » Radio veteran Doug Barron aka ‘Hal Harbour’ has passed away » August 12, 2023 1:52 pm

Peter the K
Replies: 6

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Hey, no problem.  It's not the end of the world.  Sometimes, I just fly off the handle. 

Shit happens.  Sorry about all the fuss.
 

SOWNY » Radio veteran Doug Barron aka ‘Hal Harbour’ has passed away » August 12, 2023 12:52 pm

Peter the K
Replies: 6

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I really don't mean to come off as whining about this butt...

RA posted abut this a day ago with the same broadcast dialogue link.
I frequently see "news" here from people who can't be bothered to read other people's previous posts about the same topic.
 

SOWNY » The Origins Of Simsub On Canadian Cable » August 7, 2023 12:42 pm

Peter the K
Replies: 7

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I remember back in 1970 my dad splurging on cable.  Yes it was $5/month but if you paid a year in advance it cost $50/year. 

But then again, you only got about 10 channels.

I remember the first time I encountered sim-sub.  It would have been in the early 70s.  I remember watching a show on WGR channel 2 and after the show, the CKCO channel 13 station ID came on the screen.  At the time, I thought there was something wrong with the TV.
 

SOWNY » Bell Cuts 1,300, Closes 6 Stns., Including CJBK, Selling CKOC & CHAM » August 7, 2023 12:35 pm

Peter the K
Replies: 218

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What AM radio needs are individuals like the late "Ramblin" Lou Schriver who bought WXRL back in 1972 from Stan Jasinski, who founded WUTV channel 29.

This was back in the day when individuals owned radio stations to serve a niche market.  Budgets were tight but as long as they could keep the lights on, they were happy.

And WXRL is still run by the Schriver family.  They have added a 250 watt FM repeater and put the signal on-line (the last station in the Buffalo area to do so) but they're still kicking.

It harkens back to the day when individuals owned radio (and even TV) stations as their own sandboxes where they could play what they wanted, and as long as there was enough money left over at the end of the day, all was good and they were happy.

...But then again, I still haven't won the Lotto Max. 
 

SOWNY » One Station's Unusual Excuse For Not Paying Into CanCon Development » August 3, 2023 6:59 pm

Peter the K
Replies: 17

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Whatever happened to radio stations that broadcast on an FM subcarrier? 

In order to receive the station, you had to purchase a subcarrier box that would "decode" the RF information and bring you the station.

I know at least one Greek radio station started this way.
 

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