Friday, February 04, 2022

National Missing Dickenbock Report Day

(image from here)

You might not know this, but I do another weekly radio show besides Self Help Radio, & it's called The Dickenbock Report, & it airs Thursdays from 8-10am on Freeform Portland.  Unlike Self Help Radio, the show isn't live - I record it at home, & per Freeform Portland policies I have to turn it in three days early so it can be "cleared" (ie, made sure there weren't any FCC violations) before airing.  Freeform Portland is run entirely by volunteers, & so it's a volunteer that does that.  We get a note from whoever "clears" the show that it's been approved, & I expect to listen to it Thursday morning so I can live tweet it like I do Self Help Radio (which I do live, however).

Like SHR, The Dickenbock Report is theme-based, but it's in the corny form of a fake newscast, usually organized around a National Day, like yesterday's show, which was based on National Missing Persons Day, which is February 3rd.  The show cannot be re-run, you see - it would make no sense to have that show airing on a different, unrelated say.  So I make sure that I get the show in on time, or else the Freeform Portland automation would either run the previous week's show (bad) or another show (which is called "an evergreen") in its place (which wouldn't be so bad).

My luck at Freeform Portland has been okay.  Sometime last year, the server would go down right before my show with such regularity that I joked about it on the show.  But lately I have been surprised & pleased that the show is airing at the right time, no problems, & I am able to live tweet the show, & I feel all right about the work I put into the show, which is close to what I put into Self Help Radio, mainly because of recording my airbreaks.

Oh I understand no one listens - that's a given.  But I feel a small sense of accomplishment.

Except the National Missing Persons Day show didn't air this week.  The volunteer who "cleared" the show made a mistake that led to a previous show airing.  It was a show that happened to be on my birthday, which is January 20.  So somehow a show from two weeks was placed where the show that the volunteer had "cleared" was supposed to be.

By the way, the volunteers who "clear" the episodes don't sign their names.  I have no idea who did it.  & I'm almost certain that that person isn't aware of the mistake they made.  Which means they might do that regularly.  This is the joy of a volunteer-run station.

Sorry to be complaining about this.  I spend some time on these shows - even if it's not obvious because of how shabby they are - so it's both disappointing & frustrating that it won't get to air.

& so I put it on the Self Help Radio website.  Here's the direct link.  You'll need the username SHR & the password selfhelp to listen.

Yes, you wouldn't have otherwise listened, & you certainly won't now.  But the case of the missing Dickenbock Report on National Missing Persons Day has been solved.  & it wasn't at all exciting.

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