Leo Ashcraft - Dark Matter News - A Long Side Knight

Waco Kid · August 22, 2015, 10:17:25 AM

Did some poking around BellGab. Not too many complaints. Let me make it official.

Not digging Leo. Frighteningly Noory-like mush-mouth on words he's not sure how to pronounce, if not outright mispronunciations. E.g., "UFO-ologist?" In a paranormal newscast? Really?

Also some mediocre voice-over editing, but that's an audio engineer's pet peeve.

Somebody say amen. Anybody.

The Coincidence Kid · August 22, 2015, 02:23:08 PM

Wrong forum for this, but yeah, he's terrible.

b_dubb · August 22, 2015, 07:25:51 PM

I think he's perfect

popple · August 22, 2015, 07:35:25 PM

At first I was like wut but he grew on me. I started to think he might be some sort of software with his weird pronunciation of words. "Bee yawns and jay-z" was my favourite so far. Before DMN happened I thought it would be really cool if Art recorded segments to go at the top of the hour or between shows during the day. People love to hear him read them the news and also it would add even more Art to the schedule haha

I don't think DMN is going away anytime soon tbh.

HedgehogNorman · August 22, 2015, 09:02:43 PM

I've loved how he's doing it! Definitely adds to the MITD experience for me!

b_dubb · August 22, 2015, 10:40:09 PM

http://disinfo.com/2013/10/horrifying-necropants-iceland/#st_refDomain=t.co&st_refQuery=/qRU6NjUQ28

This is a thing

ItsOver · August 22, 2015, 10:51:57 PM

I enjoy Leo. Yes, some mispronunciations but he's no Noory, thankfully. He has a unique, low-key delivery but for me it's perfect for the night and a nice change from the caffeine-fueled, mindless, daytime talking heads.

Juan Cena · August 22, 2015, 10:56:30 PM

It feels too much like Dave's opening segment at times. The only thing missing is the dead mean babies.

Waco Kid · August 22, 2015, 11:59:14 PM

Quote from: The Coincidence Kid on August 22, 2015, 02:23:08 PM
Wrong forum for this, but yeah, he's terrible.

Sorry. Meant to put it in the MITD live show forum. Not sure how it got here.

The Coincidence Kid · August 23, 2015, 12:34:22 AM

Quote from: Waco Kid on August 22, 2015, 11:59:14 PM
Sorry. Meant to put it in the MITD live show forum. Not sure how it got here.

I posted that before it got moved; this is the right forum.

Anyway... the guy lives under a rock. The only way you mispronounce Uruguay is if you've never heard of it. If nothing else, your-AH-gway will stay with me forever. I've already forgotten most of the others because they're too numerous to remember.

He's also horrible at reading.

pate · August 23, 2015, 02:06:56 AM

I enjoy Dark Matter news.

The weird random stories, absolutely fascinating!

My only complaint is that there should be more Sassquatch...

TheMan WhoFell ToEarth · August 23, 2015, 08:45:50 AM

Quote from: popple on August 22, 2015, 07:35:25 PM
At first I was like wut but he grew on me. I started to think he might be some sort of software with his weird pronunciation of words. "Bee yawns and jay-z" was my favourite so far. Before DMN happened I thought it would be really cool if Art recorded segments to go at the top of the hour or between shows during the day. People love to hear him read them the news and also it would add even more Art to the schedule haha I don't think DMN is going away anytime soon tbh.

The Beyonce thing got a good chuckle out of me.

For the most part I like Leo just fine though.

mcribwich · August 23, 2015, 08:53:14 AM

I like it!

onan · August 23, 2015, 09:00:17 AM

I noticed one of the news stories was a repeat of one of the first call in stories.

Call me a fanboi, I am quite happy with Art's show.

It is too bad it took more than 10 years for the internet to catch up with Art Bell.

PB the Deplorable · August 23, 2015, 09:37:01 AM

Quote from: The Coincidence Kid on August 23, 2015, 12:34:22 AM
I posted that before it got moved; this is the right forum.

Anyway... the guy lives under a rock. The only way you mispronounce Uruguay is if you've never heard of it. If nothing else, your-AH-gway will stay with me forever. I've already forgotten most of the others because they're too numerous to remember.

He's also horrible at reading.

Yes, but does he 'get it'?

TheMan WhoFell ToEarth · August 23, 2015, 09:47:09 AM

Quote from: onan on August 23, 2015, 09:00:17 AM
I noticed one of the news stories was a repeat of one of the first call in stories.

Call me a fanboi, I am quite happy with Art's show.

It is too bad it took more than 10 years for the internet to catch up with Art Bell.

I've noticed a few times links between something mentioned on the show and a later newscast. I love that, precisely because it shows how much they pay attention and the work they put into relevant/interesting content.

chefist · August 23, 2015, 10:10:32 AM

I love the DM news...but they do make errors...the other night they mentioned the Magic Mountain Resort in Chile...then said it was in South Africa...

Juan Cena · August 24, 2015, 12:26:35 AM

Quote from: chefist on August 23, 2015, 10:10:32 AM
I love the DM news...but they do make errors...the other night they mentioned the Magic Mountain Resort in Chile...then said it was in South Africa...

Gee, it really must be a Magic Mountain!

AppealPlay · August 24, 2015, 01:55:14 AM

I like DMN. Sometimes Leo mispronounces words but don't we all? I say he's great. Awesome voice.

pate · August 24, 2015, 03:07:50 AM

Quote from: onan on August 23, 2015, 09:00:17 AM
... Call me a fanboi ...

I hope FanGoys is the plural, becuz if defending Dark Matter News makes me one, I must self-identify.

centaurie · August 24, 2015, 12:38:59 PM

Gee and the only thing I disliked about DMN was when he read news in a click-bait format.

Chad Jacobs · August 31, 2015, 12:22:49 AM

Dark Matter News is one of my favorite elements of the program. I especially like the "matter of fact" way in which it is presented which reminds me of my early childhood listening the to Mutual News network when my dad would listen to Larry King all night on the radio. I believe that it is one element which makes his show unique and which will facilitate over the coming years (if his health and desire hold up) him becoming once again the dominant force in late night broadcasting. It is also an avenue for the propagation of information which might not be carried by more traditional news outlets. I only wish he would have a "special investigations show" where he funded special shows on various topics after exhaustive research which might bring clarification to some issues which might otherwise not get such serious consideration (think time travel approaches, Bigfoot DNA, and Missing 411 type occurrences ).

MarkP · August 31, 2015, 07:34:06 AM

I've got to echo some of the negative feelings towards DMN.

He comes off as a total amateur with some of his pronunciations, and recording quality. There are often times he misspeaks, and keeps strange errors in. I assume he is his own editor for the segments, an man, some of it sounds truly terrible.

dan7800 · August 31, 2015, 08:16:10 AM

I like the news segment. I am not a big fan of when the announcer tries to be overly funny though.

Waco Kid · September 02, 2015, 07:08:14 PM

Quote from: MichaelFromVA on August 24, 2015, 01:55:14 AM
I like DMN. Sometimes Leo mispronounces words but don't we all? I say he's great. Awesome voice.

I'm hearing a mispronunciation in pretty much every show. Some of us mispronounce occasionally. A "news guy" shouldn't do it nightly.

And bad (-ly edited) sentence fragments that do weird intonation things.

But... "Bee Onss?" "Green Witch Mean Time?" The guy is not ready for prime time. There. I said it.

phrodo · September 02, 2015, 08:27:31 PM

Really? Bitching about pronunciation? So fucking what?? I hear mispronunciations a lot every day... so fugging wut? I've heard Art mispronounce words... OHMAGERD!! Art makes typographical errors in nearly every post on BellGab -- OH THE HORRRORRRR!!!
I like the news -- I like his voice, think his delivery is good and like most of the stories. It gives Art a bit of a longer break to relax, take a breather and check the wormhole. He is NOWHERE in the same galaxy as mushmoutn Dave. Fuggin Davebots everydamnwhereItellya....

Waco Kid · September 02, 2015, 11:08:04 PM

>>I like his voice, think his delivery is good...<<

Your opinion is incorrect, sir. I jest.

We obviously have different standards. Art's a talk host and will make an occasional mistake -- like most humans. A professional broadcaster making nightly mistakes on common terms? No can accept. I've heard bee-ONSE twice, now. Green witch mean time? Really? It's embarassing. For everyone. (but you)

Waco Kid · September 02, 2015, 11:10:15 PM

Hey, phrodo -- sidebar: A couple years back I and a friend were doing a weekly podcast. We created a Facebook page and a Wordpress site for it. We used the identical graphic (though it was bluer, I think) as your avatar. Weird schtuff.

zeebo · September 02, 2015, 11:24:00 PM

I mostly like the segment, but there is something, I don't know, kind of "formal" about his delivery. It should be more moody, and less corporate-sounding. It's also a little fast. He needs to slow it down slightly to give us a chance to absorb what he's talking about.

I don't really mind the mispronunciations (the other nite he said San Luis Obeespo), since they're unavoidable with any kind of general news (even on big cable news stations they get things wrong like that all the time).

Chad Jacobs · September 02, 2015, 11:25:12 PM

I personally have no problems with the pronunciation. I respect that you do, but I'm far more concerned about content. By way of analogy George N. has mostly wonderful pronunciation, but often his lack of relevant followup questions drives me crazy. The paranormal news segment is almost unique in radio broadcasting and adds an element which I believe will contribute to the show being successful over time. Of course there is always room for improvement in delivery.