Midnight In The Desert

[Element 115]

None.  Bell has a wry and dark sense of humor exactly right for the material.  His most recent classic was the caller who said he'd call for a fair catch on an incoming nuke. Art realized instantly that it was brilliant.  I think Heather would have reacted the same way Kaku did when Art reprised it; i.e. not.  Humor is a talent, you've got it or you don't.

I remember, it went right over Kaku's head. Kaku is brilliant but didn't quite get the humor.

[Element 115]

One thing I noticed a lot last night is Heather suggests things to the calls to make them seem more exciting. I am trying to think of an example, and even the term for what she was doing. She'd say something like "did the entity have big dark eyes?" and the caller would respond, "no, it didn't". I'm way off base, but you get the idea. I was half asleep while listening.

[bellNwhistle]

One thing I noticed a lot last night is Heather suggests things to the calls to make them seem more exciting. I am trying to think of an example, and even the term for what she was doing. She'd say something like "did the entity have big dark eyes?" and the caller would respond, "no, it didn't". I'm way off base, but you get the idea. I was half asleep while listening.

I'm about half way into it, and it's amazing how long these callers go on and on.  Ugh.

[Element 115]

I'm about half way into it, and it's amazing how long these callers go on and on.  Ugh.

I know, they were brutally long.

[Element 115]

I'm about half way into it, and it's amazing how long these callers go on and on.  Ugh.

The troll call that said he wanted to talk to Chris Carter was hilarious.

[boxman]

a 2nd night of open lines might be a bit much

Yep... They got boring even with Art before the caller base expanded and now it is smaller than ever.

[Chronaut]

The troll call that said he wanted to talk to Chris Carter was hilarious.

It struck me as just mean-spirited.  She was probably more disappointed than anyone that he canceled, and it wasn't her fault that he did.

[Value Of Pi]

None.  Bell has a wry and dark sense of humor exactly right for the material.  His most recent classic was the caller who said he'd call for a fair catch on an incoming nuke. Art realized instantly that it was brilliant.  I think Heather would have reacted the same way Kaku did when Art reprised it; i.e. not.  Humor is a talent, you've got it or you don't.

Agreed. But a sense of humor is also a personal quality which helps others empathize with us and makes us more human. It also makes us more likable. This lack of humor is one big reason why I have real trouble liking her in the role she's in. I might also have trouble liking her off the air, one on one, assuming this is just her personality at work.

I wonder, do all the people here who are so defensive and supportive about her not miss this missing sense of humor? Maybe it's just not that important to them.

[Element 115]

It struck me as just mean-spirited.  She was probably more disappointed than anyone that he canceled, and it wasn't her fault that he did.

I know it wasn't her fault, true.

[boxman]

I know, they were brutally long.

I think that is another side effect of the declining caller base.. What else can she do if she has a open line show and no one else is calling?

[Element 115]

Yep... They got boring even with Art before the caller base expanded and now it is smaller than ever.

I loved open lines with Art.

[boxman]

I loved open lines with Art.

First couple of weeks was fine, but then you started noticing how it was the same exact people that kept calling in. Pretty much the only fun calls was the pranks/fake stories here from bellgab and when you know they are calling in with these stories just to spice things up it gets old quickly.
But as he got more affiliates it started picking up again.

Especially when you have specific topics for the open lines it just really does not work with so few callers. Even if you believe in for example time traveling there is a limit how many bellgabbers that has an actual somewhat plausible story on that.
Last night was a perfect example as well with the whistleblower line.. How many actual whistleblowers would even listen to this tiny show that you basically only find on the DMDN stream and tunein??

[Value Of Pi]

One thing I noticed a lot last night is Heather suggests things to the calls to make them seem more exciting. I am trying to think of an example, and even the term for what she was doing. She'd say something like "did the entity have big dark eyes?" and the caller would respond, "no, it didn't". I'm way off base, but you get the idea. I was half asleep while listening.

I think the term you're looking for is "desperation."

EDIT:

A more specific term might be "juicing" the calls.

[Chronaut]

I think that is another side effect of the declining caller base.. What else can she do if she has a open line show and no one else is calling?

She said that people on Skype were ringing in 11-15 times, so she's getting plenty of calls.  She just likes to give everyone too much time apparently.  Art was so experienced that he could tell within a few seconds if someone had something good to say or not, and he'd whisk the duds off the air and move on to the next one without missing a beat.  I bet after taking a few thousand calls she'll realize that only about 1 in 10 callers have something good to share, and she'll start rifling through the lame ones faster.

[VtaGeezer]

...after taking a few thousand calls she'll realize that only about 1 in 10 callers have something good to share, and she'll start rifling through the lame ones faster.

A few thousand calls.  At ten calls per night.  Lord, have mercy.

[Chronaut]

A few thousand calls.  At ten calls per night.  Lord, have mercy.

Haha - well, it is a process.  I think we all tend to forget that Art was weaned on a condenser mic, so he had 40-50 years of experience by the time most of us first heard him on the air.  Nobody has "a great first month at the mic," just like nobody has "a great first month playing the violin."

[slippingaway]

The "whistleblower line" was good, but I didn't feel like my calling in was the right time for one of my life-stories. I wanted to share my time as a teenage intern in Geo-Engineering.

When I was 16, I worked for a weather modification program in the Midwest, paid for by the State's Groundwater Management District. My job title was assistant Meteorologist.  Primary duties were monitoring a 5cm RADAR on evenings and overnights, and filing flight logs with the FAA.
The one area where that gets juicy is that I remember one conversation with my boss, about the chemicals that we were putting up there.  He told me that the chemical used in the flairs and the burners was silver iodide and Acetone for cloud seeding, but that if we ran low we were to start mixing moth balls into the burn solution.  He told me that this was because they are mostly acetone. Years later I came to some research and discovered that THEY ARE NOT MOSTLY ACETONE, they are naphthalene. Nasty stuff. Here's the MSDS
http://www.homedepot.com/catalog/pdfImages/05/05db89cc-68b2-4fde-b8c6-388c64f59874.pdf

My boss came from the US Airforce, and I remember at the time that I really thought we were doing good work, stimulating rain and dissipating hail in thunderstorms.

It took me 15 years to give a second thought about that summer, and this year I put the mothballs thought to some scrutiny.

[Element 115]

The "whistleblower line" was good, but I didn't feel like my calling in was the right time for one of my life-stories. I wanted to share my time as a teenage intern in Geo-Engineering.

When I was 16, I worked for a weather modification program in the Midwest, paid for by the State's Groundwater Management District. My job title was assistant Meteorologist.  Primary duties were monitoring a 5cm RADAR on evenings and overnights, and filing flight logs with the FAA.
The one area where that gets juicy is that I remember one conversation with my boss, about the chemicals that we were putting up there.  He told me that the chemical used in the flairs and the burners was silver iodide and Acetone for cloud seeding, but that if we ran low we were to start mixing moth balls into the burn solution.  He told me that this was because they are mostly acetone. Years later I came to some research and discovered that THEY ARE NOT MOSTLY ACETONE, they are naphthalene. Nasty stuff. Here's the MSDS
http://www.homedepot.com/catalog/pdfImages/05/05db89cc-68b2-4fde-b8c6-388c64f59874.pdf

My boss came from the US Airforce, and I remember at the time that I really thought we were doing good work, stimulating rain and dissipating hail in thunderstorms.

It took me 15 years to give a second thought about that summer, and this year I put the mothballs thought to some scrutiny.

Nice you really need to call in to share that story!

[Chronaut]

Nice you really need to call in to share that story!

+1

The toxicity of our society is just unbelievable.  We've been dumping carcinogens into the air water and earth, and using them in our homes as well, for decades...and people wonder why there's a global cancer epidemic...  :

[Value Of Pi]

Haha - well, it is a process.  I think we all tend to forget that Art was weaned on a condenser mic, so he had 40-50 years of experience by the time most of us first heard him on the air.  Nobody has "a great first month at the mic," just like nobody has "a great first month playing the violin."

Remember this excuse if Trump gets elected president. It's a great catch-all and you'll need it.

[GravitySucks]

+1

The toxicity of our society is just unbelievable.  We've been dumping carcinogens into the air water and earth, and using them in our homes as well, for decades...and people wonder why there's a global cancer epidemic...  :

Simian viruses in the original polio vaccines didn't help. Ever read Dr. Mary's Monkey?

[slippingaway]

Nice you really need to call in to share that story!

I might on a Friday.  If I'm going to share it, I want it to reach as many people as possible.  Hopefully spur the debate on Geo-Engineering, in general.

[whoozit]

Symbian viruses in the original polio vaccines didn't help. Ever read Dr. Mary's Monkey?

Symbian, simian, sybian whatever.  They are easy to confuse.

[cosmic hobo]

I might on a Friday.  If I'm going to share it, I want it to reach as many people as possible.  Hopefully spur the debate on Geo-Engineering, in general.

Perhaps you should consider calling into a different program then.

[Chronaut]

Symbian viruses in the original polio vaccines didn't help. Ever read Dr. Mary's Monkey?

I haven't read the book but I've read about the story online...chilling stuff.  With a lot of creepy real-life intrigue.  It seems that basically everything we've done from the industrial era forward has been toxic and reckless, and we keep blindly bumbling forward, one awful calamity after another, somehow believing all the way "this time we've got it figured out, and the new medicines/products/byproducts won't injure/cripple/kill us."  Then inevitably a few years later we learn about the dire consequences.

So we ban people from inhaling vegetable glycerine with electronic cigarettes (which are demonstrably harmless to bystanders) at bars, while we drive on roads full of cars belching benzene and a host of other carcinogens into the public air supply, past industrial plants with bellowing smokestacks of filth and thick pipes sloshing weird chemicals directly into our rivers and oceans.  We're a civilization of idiocy and hypocrisy.

[Element 115]

I might on a Friday.  If I'm going to share it, I want it to reach as many people as possible.  Hopefully spur the debate on Geo-Engineering, in general.

Call tonight!!!! It would be awesome!

[slippingaway]

Symbian, simian, sybian whatever.  They are easy to confuse.

I never confuse primates with sex toys.

[Chronaut]

I never confuse primates with sex toys.

Wise move.  I heard about a woman who made that mistake and got torn to shreds...

[whoozit]

Wise move.  I heard about a woman who made that mistake and got torn to shreds...

What if the simian is in a short skirt?

[GravitySucks]

Symbian, simian, sybian whatever.  They are easy to confuse.

Autocorrect always makes me say stuff I didn't Nintendo.