Lightning Strikes at BlogTalkRadio  

There are no 'do-overs' in a live broadcast.  It presents a challenge and I'm writing this Blog entry because yesterday I failed to meet that challenge on the premiere show of the Lightning Strikes Group here at BTR.  I take full responsibility for the inconvenience and discomfort the technical problems in the first ten minutes of my show caused for both my guests and my listeners.  I have contacted Technical Support here at BTR to see if I can take the unprecedented step of editing a live broadcast.

I have also looked into the problem myself overnight and am working to resolve it as soon as possible.

In the meantime, as a courtesy to both guests and listeners, below I'm providing a transcript of what you *should* have heard during those horrible ten minutes.  I hope this will go somewhere toward making professional amends.  Thank you for your time and attention.

TRANSCRIPT OF 11/28 Broadcast Intro:

Welcome to the Lightning Strikes show at BlogTalkRadio.  I'm your host, the Internet's Rod Amis.  For those of you who have joined us for our first few shows or read our Blog here at BTR, you know that we've set ourselves the ambitious project of bringing you Thought Leaders for this new century.  We hope you'll stay with us from week to week and we have a lot of exciting broadcasts planned for you in 2008.

The important thing is that you join us in this conservation by using our call-in number, 646-595-3863. Christina or I will prompt you when to do that.

Because this is our first real show of the Holiday Whirl - as in whirling dervish, not the real world - I'm reminded of one of  my more memorable holiday shopping trips.  Like so many others, I was cruising the mall trying to complete my shopping list.  I thought I'd stop in a sweets shop and get something for my sweety.  I know, a very un-original idea.

Anyway, I trot in and there behind the counter is a cute young woman in - what else? - candy stripes.  I remember her particularly because she had sparkling eyes and the kind of bright red lipstick you usually only see in the movies.  She leaned over the counter, offered me a tray and said, "Hello, sir.  Would you like to sample our marzipan candies?"

I was immediately transported back to my childhood!  Marzipan candy.  My Mum  used to bring out just such trays when I was boy!  It was amazing.  There they were again.  All those wonderful tasty little confections, wrapped in pastel colors and having various shapes and they were waiting there just for me.

I, of course, popped one into my mouth.  The next thing you know I was ordering 20 or 30 boxes of the stuff.  I'm not sure how many now and that's not the point.  In order to cover my own obsession, I had the woman behind the counter GIFT WRAP the candies so that it might appear that I meant to hand them out.

That was my cover.  I took them all home and - roughly speaking - between Christmas and New Year's - I devoured every single box.  I was in Heaven.

After New Year's Day, like most people, I returned to work.  As I strolled into the office some wise-arse calls out, "Oh look!  It's Colonel Blimp!"

I'm thinking, "What?  The cartoon character?"  Then I look into one of the manager's offices that flanked our cube farm and see my own image.  I had gained more than 40 pounds during the holidays!!!  Colonel Blimp was ME!

I was mortified.  Everyone in the office was laughing, of course.


I joined a health club - what we now call a gym.  I worked out three times a week. By the Spring I had lost most of the weight and was back to fighting trim.  Yayy!

Easter rolls around and I'm back in the mall.  As I walked past the sweet shop, there's another toothsome young woman standing out front.  She sees me passing and says, "Pardon me, sir!  Would you like to sample our marzipan candies?"

I run away from her screaming - knocking over a couple of people on the promenade - and the next thing you know I'm being wrestled to the ground by the mall security!!

After realizing that I'm not some lunatic, they help me to my feet.  One of the Security, a young woman, even dusts me off.  "We're sorry, sir," she says.  "We didn't mean to hurt you.  It's just  that - you see - there's been an obese gentleman attacking employees at  candy shops who offer him marzipan candies."

We've got a great show for you today.  My co-host Christina and I have some great guests for you today.

Our opening music this week was entitled "Talking Back to the Night" from Joe Cocker. It seems appropriate for the first of our honestly unscripted Lightning Strikes Group broadcasts.  The concept behind the LS Group is that we reflect the iconoclasm and the topical opinions - in an intelligent manner - that you would expect from our sister Blog, G21: Lightning Strikes, which you can find at http://g21.net/.  This is the premiere panel and we promise you many more in the coming year.

I'm particularly proud to have these guests for our first show.

First of all, a change to our line-up for today.  We had hoped to have "vigilante pundit" Baratunde Thurston with us today but the brother is mad busy these days.  You see, just last month he was appointed Web Editor over The Onion, a satirical Web site and newspaper that I'm sure most of our guests know and many of our listeners.  I had hoped to congratulate him here today.  AND - if you live in the New York City area - you can find him at The Tank, 279 Church Street, where he's featured at a Drinking Liberally event covering the You Tube Watch Party of the Republican Presidential candidates debate.  I was on the phone with him last night when he had to cancel appearing as part of our premiere panel and he was overly apologetic. 

Frankly, folks, I should have been the one apologizing. You see, I interviewed the brother two years ago - when he came out with a great online book - and, inadvertently, in the headline, I misspelled his name.  Well, he forgave me THAT TIME.  But just this past week, over at the Lightning Strikes Blog, I did the EXACT SAME misspelling again!  Two years later.  When he pointed it out, I was mortified.  So apologies again, Baratunde, if you're listening.  Meanwhile, my co-host, Christina Shideler, is working to see if we can get Baratunde scheduled for our December group.

So let me introduce you to today's panel:

DR. CHRISTOPHER BELL says of himself:  I will introduce myself by saying; I am a Black man, a poet, an essayist, an educationist, a novelist, a retired army Major, a Doctor of Education (ED.D.), and a Unitarian Universalist.

In a longer version of an introduction, I'd say to you that I am Christopher C. Bell, Jr., a Black man, and I was born and raised in Norfolk, Virginia, when racial segregation was the law of the land. How much I was hurt by the racial discrimination I faced as a young man, I don't really know, but I do know it didn't help me. In any event, I dodged most teen-age hazards that befell many young Black men of my day and went off to college, Virginia State University. I graduated with a degree in chemistry and a commission as a second lieutenant in the U.S Army, and with no idea as to what I wanted to be or do as my life's work.

While in the army, I served in France (twice), Korea (twice), Germany, Vietnam, and Ethiopia.

"FIELD NEGRO": Wayne Merton Donahue Bennett was born in Jamaica, West Indies to Doctors Harold and Merle Bennett and he is the younger of two children. His sister is Doctor V. Melody Bennett-Gayle a Fulbright Scholar and renowned Jamaican educator.  

After law school, Mr. Bennett attended the Louisiana Political Training Institute, and lobbied on behalf of urban affairs in Louisiana while working for the law firm of Clayton and Associates in Port Allen, Louisiana. 

Mr. Bennett has a private legal practice where he specializes in criminal matters.

Mr. Bennett's current passion is blogging; where he blogs under his alter ego, the "Field Negro".

AFRONERD: Is also a Blogger who says his mission it to "debunk the ghetto-ized" image of African-Americans and defend the Black bourgeoisie.  He is also a Host here at BlogTalkRadio.com.

At the end of this interview, listeners are welcomed to call in at 646-595-3863 with your questions for our group..  Again to call in it's 646-595-3863.

 AfroNerd, Dr. Bell, Field Negro welcome to BlogTalkRadio's Lightning Strikes Internet program.