Verge of the Dude
I leave rambling voice mail messages on my friend's answering machine and you get to hear them too. Proudly presented raw, unedited and in one take.
Episodes
Hey Dude, the other night I watched the Joan Baez documentary "I Am a Noise" and it struck me to the core. My new found reverence for Joan Baez is beyond measure. Plus I couldn't think of my favorite singer's name...Brandi Carlile.
QUOTE: "Madonna, not Madonna the performer. Madonna the Virgin Mary."
PEOPLE: Norah Jones, Kacey Musgraves, Billie Eilish & Finneas, The Carpenters, The Go-Go's, Brandi Carlile, Lady Gaga, Judy Collins, ...
Hey Dude, I had a minor battle with COVID before I really went viral with a Star Wars post in a Generation X group on Facebook.
QUOTE: "A two-year-old has no context of anything..."
PEOPLE: David Letterman
PLACES: Hollywood Burbank Airport, Canada
THINGS: COVID-19, vaccines, Star Wars, micro-generations, 1977, Substack, Generation X, 1965-1980, 1960, 1980, Facebook, History of Podcasting, Rocky
Hey Dude, I left you a melancholy message about my crazy days before the holidays, along with a sad remembrance of my mom's last Christmas.
QUOTE: "At least that's what I call the day after Christmas..."
PEOPLE: Dean Whitbread, Doug Mcintyre
PLACES: England, Henry's Tacos, Ernie's Taco House, Casa Vega, El Coyote
THINGS: Libsyn, Subaru, Outback, Crosstrek, Faberge egg, Christmas, Christmas Eve, "It's A Wonderful Life", redemption ...
Hey Dude, the PBS documentary "The Chinatown Punk Wars" took me back in my mind to my best live performance at the Hong Kong Cafe.
QUOTE: "I was totally free on stage."
PEOPLE: The Dude, Karen Carpenter, Jay Leno, David Letterman, Jerry Seinfeld, Keith Morris, John Doe
PLACES: DTLA, Arts District, Al's Bar, Chinatown, Echo Park, Sunset Blvd., Millie's, Madame Wong's, Hong Kong Cafe
THINGS: Generation X, Boomers, micro generation, A...
Hey Dude, the brewing storm inside my sobriety kept me from going to my North Hollywood High School "rebel reunion" for the class of 1984. I also riff on the weather.
QUOTE: "The wind blowing kinda stirred my soul."
PEOPLE: Sinéad O'Connor, Dean Whitbread
PLACES: North Hollywood High School, Walter Reed Junior High School
THINGS: Tropical Storm Hilary, History of Podcasting
SOUNDS: wind, footsteps, gravel path, the 5 Freeway, knee ...
Hey Dude, the FBI finally sent me the file on my Great Uncle Blayney. It's a 210 page mixed bag, but now I have a new angle to tell his story. I also recently binged GLOW and Ted Lasso.
QUOTE: "I'm not easy to work with, for sure."
PEOPLE: Alison Brie, Marc Maron, Jason Sudeikis, Lester Holt, Blayney F. Matthews, Alan Ladd, Joseph Dougherty
PLACES: Lowe's, Glassel Park, Eagle Rock, Warner Bros., Hollywood Burbank Airport
Hey Dude, my life has been a real jigsaw puzzle, slowly put back together this past month. Not only does my truck have a rebuilt engine, I may have found my voice...again.
QUOTE: "At first I thought it was going to be a disaster, but in the end, it was perfect."
PEOPLE: Dean Whitbread, John in the UK, Father Time, Joseph Dougherty
PLACES: Altadena Library, Bob Lucas Branch, Bob's Big Boy (Toluca Lake), Yosemite, Fresno, Oakhurst,...
Hey Dude, I riff on the idea of "micro-generations" and make the case that I'm at the center of my own private "Star Wars Generation" even though I'm really a Rocky guy.
QUOTE: "The wheelhouse crowd for Star Wars..."
PEOPLE/ACTORS: JFK, David Sheehan, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Sylvester Stallone, Christopher Walken
PLACES: Sherman Oaks, North Hollywood High School
Hey Dude, I was feeling deep blue until I saw a Facebook post from an old high school classmate, and later the video of Annie Lennox getting inducted into the Rock Hall.
QUOTE: "Whenever I need to jump start my creativity, I watch it."
PEOPLE: Annie Lennox, Dave Stewart, Eurythmics, Edge, U2, The Tourists, Freddie Mercury, Queen, David Bowie, Gina Gershon, Jennifer Tilly, Jack Kerouac
PLACES: The Valley, North Hollywood High Schoo...
Hey Dude, I fondly reflect on the passing of our beloved cat Thomas, the great Vin Scully, and the luminous Olivia Newton-John. I also find time to whine about not making it on the radio.
QUOTE: "A tear welled up in his left eye."
PEOPLE: Zane Grey, Vin Scully, Chick Hearn, Adolfo Guzman-Lopez, Jake Downey, John Rabe, John Doe, Petros Papadakis, Olivia Newton-John, John Travolta, Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Farrah Fawcett
PLACES: ...
Hey Dude, I riff and ramble about Howard Hughes and his dirty fingerprints all over the 20th century. I also admit to going on a 48 hour binge of The Americans.
QUOTE: "Another time, another dime."
PEOPLE: Ray Liotta, Edward Albee, James Ellroy, Howard Hughes, JKF, RFK, Larry O'Brien, Richard Nixon, Robert Maheu, Blayney F. Matthews, J.L. Warner, Keri Russell
PLACES: Watergate Hotel, Iowa, California, Shoreline Village, Long Bea...
Hey Dude, while listening to KPCC on the radio, I heard a mashup episode of Snap Judgement and Love + Radio, featuring Nick van der Kolk interviewing Glynn Washington. The whole thing made me trip on the blurred lines between podcasting and radio.
QUOTE: "I freakin' love radio."
CHARACTERS: Will Smith, Chris Rock, Nick van der Kolk, Glynn Washington, Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Evo Terra, Tee Morris, Tim Coyne, Lightnin' Hopkins, Les ...
Hey Dude, I riff about the relative indifference to Jack Kerouac's 100th birthday by the popular culture, and how my 17th anniversary in podcasting was politely ignored.
QUOTE: "He loves the word sad, I love the word sad."
PEOPLE: Jack Kerouac, Truman Capote, Bob Dylan, The Beatles, The Doors, Patti Smith
PLACES: Altadena, Zane Grey Estate, Hollywood Burbank Airport, Broadway
THINGS: #Kerouac100, Health-Ade Kombucha, spontaneous pr...
Hey Dude, two years ago I was in a mad dash to pack my stuff to move out of the Zane Grey Estate, when suddenly actor Shia LaBeouf was standing in the middle of my messy studio apartment.
QUOTE: "That's one hell of a mom!"
PEOPLE: Dean Whitbread, Zane Grey, Shia LaBeouf
PLACES: Zane Grey Estate, Altadena, Burbank
THINGS: history of podcasting, artist, foyer, Nymphomaniac (film), embargoed, Ripley's,
BONUS EPISODE: A few years ago, my late friend Stan Hillas and I were working on creating a piece about radio pioneer Joe Frank in a Joe Frank style. Set in the mid-90's, the story is about an old girlfriend, who along with her Julie Christie lookalike friend fantasized about meeting Joe Frank.
Music and sound design by Stan Hillas.
PEOPLE: Joe Frank, Spalding Gray, Ray Bradbury, Julie Christie Laurie Anderson, O.J. Simpson, Dan Kl...
Hey Dude, on the Day of the Dead I quietly celebrated a year without drinking. Meanwhile a random 50,000-Watt punch to the gut leads to a new lease on life.
QUOTE: "Never pick a fight with someone who buys ink by the drum."
PEOPLE: Chris Lambert, Kristin Smart, Robert Towne, Spalding Gray, Jack Kerouac
PLACES: Walter Reed Junior High, Notre Dame High School, North Hollywood High School
THINGS: circus, 2020 Election, Day of the Dea...
Hey Dude, a bit of recognition for my photos by Descanso Gardens and The Arboretum paves the way for me to see Ira Glass in a new light, from "broken glass" to an arrow straight to the heart.
QUOTE: "The only thing you can do is to keep on keepin' on."
PEOPLE: Ira Glass, John Doe, Krissy Teegerstrom
PLACES: Descanso Gardens, The Arboretum, Arcadia, Altadena, Heritage Boots
THINGS: iPhone 6, iPhone XS, Carved, Twitter, Instagram, L....
Hey Dude, I reminisce about being a goofy 13-year-old during the Summer of 1979, and the time I made Molly Ringwald's stunning older sister Beth laugh at my expense.
QUOTE: "OP shirt, corduroy pants / If you had feathered hair / You had half a chance" - Gluey Brothers
PEOPLE: Steve Schirripa, Michael Imperioli, Molly Ringwald, Bob Ringwald
PLACES: Walter Reed Junior High, Israel, Toluca Lake, Louisiana, Ventura & Laurel Canyon
Hey Dude, I riff about our new "barn" and the writing techniques of Erle Stanley Garner of Perry Mason fame.
PEOPLE: Matthew Rhys, Al Matthews, Erle Stanley Gardner, Huell Howser, Caryl Chessman, Zane Grey
PLACES: Elixer Coffeehouse, Cahuenga Pass, Temecula
THINGS: iPhone XS, Perry Mason (HBO), California's Gold, dictaphone
SOUNDS: footsteps, gravel path, Laguna Sawdust Cowbell Chimes, helicopter, wind
GENRE: storytelling, persona...
Hey Dude, I answer your question about my four favorite filmmakers by listing their four best films. I also include plenty of tangents and a short list of honorable mentions.
QUOTE: "That movie was freakin' awesome."
FILMMAKERS: Francis Ford Coppola, Eleanor Coppola, Martin Scorsese, Woody Allen (DQ), Jim Jarmusch, Francois Truffaut, Stanley Kubrick, Sidney Lumet, Paddy Chayefsky, Orson Welles, Alfred Hitchcock, David Lynch
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