I asked Mike Conklin, CEO of Sentinels of Freedom, to be my first guest, but the date and time were bad for Mike. He was already scheduled to be a guest on Gallant Few's New American Veteran on April 11th at 4 pm on Blogtalkradio. He invited me to sit in on his interview Wednesday afternoon.
I met Mike at the Sentinels of Freedom offices in Bishop Ranch 2. He set up his speaker phone for the interview with Karl Monger on the New American Veteran blogtalkradio show. Monger introduced the show and explained the plight of returning vets in finding jobs and housing. Sentinels of Freedom has also been helping severely wounded vets with jobs, education, and housing for the last ten years.
I've known Mike since he introduced his Sentinels of Freedom organization to the San Ramon City Council back in 2003, but I learned more about him in this interview with Karl Monger than I've known for the last 10 years. It's a very impressive interview, and I recommend everyone listen to the recording on the Gallant Few blogtalkradio website.
About 20 years ago, in one of my past lives, I owned an AM/FM radio combo in Morro Bay, CA. These were music stations. The AM played big band and swing music from the '40's and '50's, which was my kind of music even when I was much younger. The FM played what was called "Light Rock," which is rock where the singers don't scream or jump all around the stage.
One of the most popular performers on the FM station was Rod Stewart, who ironically is recording American songbook classics from the '40's and '50's now. One of the most popular performers on the AM was Tony Bennett, who ironically is recording duets with Lady Gaga now. So you see I was right on target then, but too soon.
Two years after I bought the stations they were in escrow and going through the FCC license transfer. My two DJ's, newscaster, and sales people were gone. I was down to two employees, the Traffic Manager who scheduled the ads and a board operator for Giants baseball games, which was our only money maker until the players went on strike that year.
Both stations were on a satellite feed for music and news, but during the worst of the Highway 41 fire between Morro Bay and Atascadero I interrupted Kate Smith on the AM to update on where the fire was moving and how much was under control.
A woman called to ask why we didn't report on the fire earlier that afternoon when she was stuck in traffic because of it. I held my temper and didn't tell her where to go. "This is a music station, not a news station," I told her patiently. "We didn't know about the fire until later, but we are reporting on it now."
Ah the joys of radio. Well I want to my voice heard again; so I'm planning to do a ½ hour show on BlogTalkRadio starting at 11:30 am on April 18, 2012. Since Mike Conklin isn't available at that time, I asked former Mayor Abram Wilson if he would be my first guest. Abram never turns down a chance to talk, so he said yes.
Here's the teaser for my first show:
"Today we catch up with Mayor Abram Wilson to find out what he's been doing since terming out as Mayor of San Ramon last year.
He has a plan for Tassajara Valley that might surprise both his fans and detractors. Tune in, phone in, and find out what's up with Wilson on the San Ramon Observer blogtalkradio show at 11:30 am on April 18, 2012."
His new plan for Tassajara Valley doesn't involve Measure W or San Ramon's Urban Growth Boundary, but it might stir some controversy among residents who want to keep the area rural. I'm fine with being controversial in my blogs. I prefer my blogtalkradio show to be informational, but there's a phone-in number to ask questions which could be controversial.
I hope that whets enough curiosity to get some of you to listen.
Blogtalkradio records and stores each show; so if you can't tune in at 11:30 am on April 18, 2012, you can always listen to the recording or download it as a podcast. I'll be sure to post the link and any juicy quotes to get you to listen.
