Coming... Going...

The theme for today seems to be arrivals and departures. There's a few of note to readers of this blog. And there were some rather noteworthy departures in the real world during the past week, by now known to all but the most detached cave dwellers.

Going: In the famous celebrity column, the passing most widely reported was that of pop icon Michael Jackson, who died last Thursday at the age of 50. I had started writing a highly elaborate entry about Jackson last week, with the working title of "Thirty-two short stories about Michael Jackson." It was one of those rambling epic articles that would never be finished. Quite frankly, it was destined to be ridiculously long, not overly entertaining, and in some instances, was somewhat mean-spirited (I've never had a soft spot for weird, self-destructive child abusers). Plus, it just didn't make sense for this blog. I felt it better shelved.

A side note: From time-to-time, I have conjured updifferent blog entry ideas that tend to be a bit off-topic. They tend to get rather elaborate, but many times get tossed aside if I just can't make it work. For example, I had an idea for one about philandering right-wingers (called "Young Republicans in love"), which dealt with the promiscuous exploits of Sen. Bob Ensign, South Carolina's disappearing Governor Mark Sanford, and a lesser-known figure, conservative writer, pundit and former radio talker Jessica McBride, who shagged Milwaukee's police chief a few months following a glowing puff piece for a magazine. Ahh, family values. Nonetheless, I had a ton of ideas but really nowhere to go with them. Hence, it, along with many others, suffered the fate of the Beach Boys' legendary Smile LP, an unfinished epic that will never see the light of day in it's originally-intended form (aside from Brian Wilson's update a few years ago and a few Beach Boys recycling projects from the 1960s). And in keeping with that, some of these epic entries do not go wasted. I have been known to return to them and recycle bits and pieces when appropriate.

And yes, many off-topic epic entries actually do see the light of day, such as the recent tribute to the history of television (in honor of DTV Day). Although it was a bit long, it turned out to be so damned funny that I had to share it. I haven't heard from many of you about it, but I do hope you liked it.

We also saw the passing of Farrah Fawcett earlier just a few short hours before Jackson's demise. For children of my generation, she is probably best remembered for The Poster. You know the one, red one-piece swimsuit, flowing blond hair and blinding smile. That poster seemed to be in every auto shop and suburban boy's bedroom. It was one of the most iconic images of the 1970s. It was certainly hard to miss.

Finally, there is perhaps the strangest celebrity death of the past few weeks. Television commercial pitchman Billy Mays suffered a fatal heart attack following a bizarre circumstance. And yet, Kevin Trudeau still walks the earth. Go figure.

Coming: Now, back to the main gist this blog. Air America dropped a line about a new show, “The Inside Story with Ana Marie Cox.” It will air Saturdays at 9A ET and Sundays at 12P ET on Air America affiliates nationwide.

You may be quite familiar with Cox. She is currently Air America’s Washington, D.C. based national correspondent. She is perhaps best known as the founding editor of the political blog, Wonkette. After leaving in 2006, she was named Washington editor of Time.com. Prior to that, she served on the editorial staffs of Suck.com, Mother Jones and Radar. She is currently writing for The Daily Beast. Cox also published her first novel in 2006, “Dog Days.”

Going: I received tons of emails about this one. David Bender, host of Air America's "Politically Direct", did his final show this past weekend, airing some of his favorite interviews from the previous four years. He had announced his departure several weeks prior. Apparently, he will spend his upcoming free time traveling.

Going: Controversial San Francisco talker Karel Bouley, a.k.a. Karel, has lost his San Francisco affiliate, as otherwise dance hits-formatted KNGY dropped him from their lineup. Karel fans needn't worry, as he is still featured on another station, KRXA in Monterey. He is said to be looking for a new Bay Area station.

Karel had previously worked at KGO in San Francisco, but was dismissed last year following an accidental dropping of the F-bomb live on air.

Coming: Liberadio(!) with Mary Mancini and Freddie O'Connell a weekly show on Vanderbilt University's WRVU, is going daily.

Beginning Wednesday, July 1, the show expands to include an additional live hour every Tuesday through Friday from 9:00 to 10:00 am (CT) on BlogTalkRadio.

The Karel comeback

Several months after getting KO'ed from KGO, the outspoken San Francisco talker known as Karel is looking to make a comeback.

Brad Kava at the San Francisco Examiner has gotten word that the prickly talk show host, otherwise known as Charles Karel Bouley, is roughly a week away from getting back on the air.

If and when he does, it will be a self-syndicated effort, airing 9P-12A Monday through Thursday, originating from KNGY (92.7FM), a dance club music station across the bay in Oakland. The show would also likely air on KRXA (540AM) in Monterey.

Last November, Karel was fired by KGO after unleashing an accidental tirade complete with some rather naughty FCC-unfriendly language. He blamed the incident on an engineer who should have turned his mic off during the break.

I'm told you'll soon be able to hear him on KNGY-FM (92.7) M-Th 9 p.m. to 12 a.m. and on Monterey's KRXA-AM (540) M-Wed 9p.m. to 12 a.m. and Thursday 11p.m. to 12a.m.
His Website, however, says he is eight days away from returning to radio.

According to Kava, Karel told him he is self-syndicating his show, and looking for affiliates. One station he'd like to be on is KKGN (Green 960).

Karel KO'ed from KGO

As I warned a few days ago, after MSNBC's Joe Scarborough inadvertantly dropped the F-bomb live on television, media personalities need to watch their tongues whenever there is a microphone in sight. Unfortunately, this is something that KGO/San Francisco weekend host Charles Bouley, a.k.a. Karel, did not do.

While doing his show from his home studio in Long Beach, he assumed he was off the air in a news break when he launched into a nasty tirade about McCain Campaign mascot Joe "the Plumber" Wurzelbacher. "Joe the m-f-ing plumber," he said, and also claimed that he was sick of him and wanted him "dead."

Unfortunately, while he was saying all this, the KGO engineer who would normally keep an eye on this sort of thing, was in the bathroom. Uh oh! And the wireless microphone Karel was using did not have a cutoff switch.

"If it’s a microphone, treat it like it’s live, no matter what," said KGO programmer Jack Swanson, who subsequently fired both Karel and the engineer:

KGO Radio nighttime talk host Karel has been fired, after an obscenity-laden rant heard live on his show earlier this month.

KGO station management made the move after Karel cursed repeatedly upon hearing a story about "Joe the Plumber" during the ABC Network News at the top of the hour.

Karel thought his microphone was off at the time, but it had been left on accidentally. He immediately apologized to listeners.

The board operator on duty at the time has also been fired.

Karel’s website explanation is here. And he believes at least one complaint has been filed with the FCC.

A long time ago, when I worked behind the mic in radio, I had a longstanding personal rule. Namely, don't ever cuss in the studio. Granted, it is typically safe if the microphone is not live. But what if it isn't. Besides, keeping the street language out of the studio helps to ward off any bad habits creeping into the room.

Moral of the story: Don't cuss where you do your show.

The YouTube clip can be found here.