I think it might have been Spiro Agnew who used the phrase about television way back in the past. He called it a "Vast Wasteland". Maybe he had something.
OK OK it is election time in Florida! That means lots (I mean LOTS) of political TV commercials. But I am not talking about quantity -- it is the Quality I want to address.
Lest you are not familiar with my background -- I have a couple of degrees in Mass Communications and many years of work in the Radio/TV business. Over a period of more than 30 years, I have recorded or read live thousands of commercials and hundreds of newscasts on both radio and TV. I am not bragging -- Those are my credentials for this critical blog.
When I began my career back in the late 50's -- there were only two major female voices on national broadcasting -- Nancy Dickerson (Mother of John at CBS) and Pauline Fredricks of NBC. That was about it. Virtually all newscasters and announcers were men -- most with big deep voices. Let me be clear -- I am not a chauvinist. As manager of a small radio station in Crawfordsville, Indiana many years ago, I hired two women as DJ's -- not to read recipes and household hints -- but to play records and read the news just like their male counterparts. That was unheard of back then. And they did a great job. I love to hear good female talent. But, as time moved onward, female newscasters and announcers became more and more a part of the broadcasting business -- and now women are probably more numerous than men these days. Understand -- I have nothing against a pretty face as long as it has some talent behind it.
I live in Ocala, Florida -- about an hour north of Orlando. That is where we get our TV programming. Orlando -- the home of Disney and all the great theme parks -- grew up very fast. It is now a large metropolitan city. They now have several TV stations on our satellite system from which to choose -- but they are all about the same. Each one has a pretty face co anchor or two reporting the news. I am convinced that the pretty face took precedents over the talent. They are not bad -- just not the quality that a city of that size should have as their major news anchors. They seem to "sing" the news with not much attention to what they are saying. A few are good -- but most are in need of some coaching.
But the commercials!!! OMG. You know what a "motormouth" is? Someone who talks faster than their brain can function. It is easy to see what kind of business is making the big bucks -- just check the commercials on the local TV news shows. Lawyers -- Car dealers and now politicians. And they all think they are great TV personalities. Or they get their sister-in-law or wife or whoever is the sexiest to do their commercials on TV. That doesn't take much convincing does it? "Ya wanna be on TV? -- I can make you a star, sweetie -- just do my commercial for me." Or even worse -- they do their own commercials. Heaven forbid!
Let me tell you something, folks. People who sell cars or practice law are NOT good announcers -- nor are their kids or their girlfriends. It takes a lot of natural talent to do that but most of all it takes years of study and practice and experience to be a good TV pitchman (or woman). They should, at least, take a look at what a good commercial looks like -- and there are a few on the networks or created by a good ad agency. For God's sake -- get a professional writer to create and a good professional talent to represent you on TV! And please stop trying to squeeze ten pounds into a five pound bag. Be a good car salesman or a good lawyer or good politician (is that possible?) or whatever you do for a living -- and stop trying to be a TV announcer. You are NOT good at that. Leave the TV to the pros who do that for their livelihood. They ARE good at that.
Oh -- by the way -- I am available ...LOL
From the heart of Olaf Hart.....
Tuesday, July 31, 2018
Thursday, July 19, 2018
The Weather
I must be running low on ideas -- but there is always the weather.
Jeri and I were sitting in our screened in lanai -- all dressed in our jackets and sweaters trying to keep warm. Oh -- I failed to mention -- that was last January and it was in the 40's. That is cold here in Florida. Our teeth were chattering and we were shivering. We went inside to get warm.
We agreed, back then, that there would be a time in the near future when we would have nice hot weather and we would probably complain about that, too. We were right -- here it is. And so it goes.
We failed to forecast, last January, that, along with the warm weather, would come something else that mother nature foists upon us in the summer here in Florida -- and that is RAIN. Oh don't get me wrong -- we need rain -- lots of rain for all the lush greenery and tall palm trees and lawns abounding in nice green grass. Now, Florida is known for its summer rain showers. But it has rained every day here in the sunshine state for the past two months. Our nice screened-in lanai is all wet and dreary and messy. Our comfortable swing-set is not able to accommodate us. We want to sit and relax and have a glass of wine and talk about the past but IT IS SOGGY WET. And things are getting muddy and moldy! The grass is growing so fast. We need to mow our lawn every other day, it seems.
Now and then the sun comes out and begins to dry things off a bit and we get all excited about that. Maybe a day without rain. Maybe we can have dinner in our lanai and hear the birds and enjoy the warm Florida breeze -- but NO. We hear thunder. That rumble has become a normal part of our day -- and, shortly thereafter, here comes the rain -- again -- and spoils our fresco dinner plans. We just can't be satisfied, can we? Yes, I am complaining!
But here is what I know for sure. There will be a day when our dry lawn begins to turn brown and we will need to use our irrigation system to water the grass. And the powers that be will tell us that we can only water on Sunday and Thursday because a drought is coming and the water levels are getting low. And I think you already know what we will say. "Remember last summer when it rained every day?" And we will say that won't we? And I know also that next January we will sit in our lanai and shiver and recall "last summer" when it was in the 90's and we had to go inside to get cool. And we will probably forget that it rained everyday. And we will hope that it doesn't freeze and kill our plants tonight.
Nothing seems to please us does it? Well it is humid and in the 90's today -- again. I need to leave my nice cool office and go out and check the mail. Well, Hell -- I hear thunder -- I better grab the umbrella -- it's raining -- again.
From the heart of Olaf Hart .....
Jeri and I were sitting in our screened in lanai -- all dressed in our jackets and sweaters trying to keep warm. Oh -- I failed to mention -- that was last January and it was in the 40's. That is cold here in Florida. Our teeth were chattering and we were shivering. We went inside to get warm.
We agreed, back then, that there would be a time in the near future when we would have nice hot weather and we would probably complain about that, too. We were right -- here it is. And so it goes.
We failed to forecast, last January, that, along with the warm weather, would come something else that mother nature foists upon us in the summer here in Florida -- and that is RAIN. Oh don't get me wrong -- we need rain -- lots of rain for all the lush greenery and tall palm trees and lawns abounding in nice green grass. Now, Florida is known for its summer rain showers. But it has rained every day here in the sunshine state for the past two months. Our nice screened-in lanai is all wet and dreary and messy. Our comfortable swing-set is not able to accommodate us. We want to sit and relax and have a glass of wine and talk about the past but IT IS SOGGY WET. And things are getting muddy and moldy! The grass is growing so fast. We need to mow our lawn every other day, it seems.
Now and then the sun comes out and begins to dry things off a bit and we get all excited about that. Maybe a day without rain. Maybe we can have dinner in our lanai and hear the birds and enjoy the warm Florida breeze -- but NO. We hear thunder. That rumble has become a normal part of our day -- and, shortly thereafter, here comes the rain -- again -- and spoils our fresco dinner plans. We just can't be satisfied, can we? Yes, I am complaining!
But here is what I know for sure. There will be a day when our dry lawn begins to turn brown and we will need to use our irrigation system to water the grass. And the powers that be will tell us that we can only water on Sunday and Thursday because a drought is coming and the water levels are getting low. And I think you already know what we will say. "Remember last summer when it rained every day?" And we will say that won't we? And I know also that next January we will sit in our lanai and shiver and recall "last summer" when it was in the 90's and we had to go inside to get cool. And we will probably forget that it rained everyday. And we will hope that it doesn't freeze and kill our plants tonight.
Nothing seems to please us does it? Well it is humid and in the 90's today -- again. I need to leave my nice cool office and go out and check the mail. Well, Hell -- I hear thunder -- I better grab the umbrella -- it's raining -- again.
From the heart of Olaf Hart .....
Wednesday, July 4, 2018
4th of July
July 4th was special when I was growing up. Our house was located enough up above Milligan Park that we could see the fireworks from our street . We would gather some chairs and sit in the street (it was a dead end street with a street light which mysteriously burned out before the show started) and patiently wait for the show to begin at the park. We would grade the various aerial bombs by cost. A little one would be $5 and a really great one would cost $25 in our late 1940's kid's rating system. We had no idea what they really cost -- but it was fun to speculate.
Some time in my history Dad began to play at the park in the old POSofA band. That was great because we got to go to the park for free and see the fireworks up close. Later I played in the same band and got to set right on the field up close and personal. Ah the past. So many memories of 4th of July fun. It has always been a great day for me -- even while I was in the Air Force Band -- we played for this special day -- lots of patriotic songs and marches to celebrate our independence.
Maybe I just did not listen or maybe I didn't understand about why we celebrate this holiday. I know I was taught the reason for this special day in our country's history -- but it apparently didn't soak in. All I knew was it was the day our forefathers, especially Thomas Jefferson and Ben Franklin, drew up a document that told England we were going to separate ourselves from them and that was it. It was signed on July 4th 1776. It was called the Declaration of Independence.
As I have grown older and wanted to know more about things -- I have read many books about those days after July 4th 1776. Those great men from the 13 colonies put their lives on the line -- in the face of losing their lives -- for the cause of independence for this new country. This day all those years ago was just the beginning. After the king of England got the word that HIS 13 colonies wanted to try an experiment with a whole new form of government -- and wanted to go it alone with no help or interference (or taxation) from England -- he went bonkers! He was going to lose part of the great British Empire and lose tax money. He immediately sent soldiers and ships and his navy -- the best in the world -- to put down this rebellion and stupid notion that his colonies could make it on their own and let everyone live free.
That was the whole idea of this new country -- to let everyone have a say in the decisions of the government and to live free to do what ever they wished with no cast system or class system -- all equal and independent with their own goals and wishes and with no state religion -- and able to speak freely without punishment of any kind. (Yes their were slaves and that would be dealt with many years later -- but it WAS dealt with). This was unheard of! No King? No upper ruling class? It just couldn't be done!
As we know -- these men, these colonists, unselfishly got themselves into a helluva war. It was called the Revolusionary War. There were no anesthetics -- not much medicine. Those little lead balls caused lots of problems when they hit someone. The cannon balls blew men apart and shrapnel ripped off legs and arms. They had no uniforms to speak of. They were not trained -- just mostly farmers and store keepers etc -- but they fought and fought and fought again. They often froze in the Winter as then fought without coats or even shoes. General George Washington was their leader and he was a Civil Engineer with the stars of a General thrust upon him. He led with honor and valor -- often leading the troops into harms way. He was shot at numerous times but kept on urging his little army into battle day after week after month. The British army was far far better than our ran-tag soldiers -- but we never quit. Out numbered at every battle -- we outsmarted those redcoats time and time again. We lost thousands of young men and boys in battle after battle. the King -- sitting in his nice warm castle in England -- kept sending more and more troops and ships and guns -- but in spite being outnumbered and of our huge losses -- George Washington's Patriots kept on fighting -- month after month -- from the forests behind the trees and hills -- they kept fighting for the cause they knew was right -- freedom from the tyranny of the British Monarchy. Yes they had some help from France and also the Native Indians -- but our little army fought for over two years after that little document our forefathers sighed back in 1776 that began -- WE THE PEOPLE ! And we won! England gave up and let us have our experiment in government -- our stupid notion that everyone could participate and grow and be successful -- regardless of their station in life. And each State could operate independently and still remain United as a country. And we are still here, aren't we? Look what it precipitated -- the greatest country the world has ever known.
Happy Birthday United state of America.
From the heart of Olaf Hart .....
Some time in my history Dad began to play at the park in the old POSofA band. That was great because we got to go to the park for free and see the fireworks up close. Later I played in the same band and got to set right on the field up close and personal. Ah the past. So many memories of 4th of July fun. It has always been a great day for me -- even while I was in the Air Force Band -- we played for this special day -- lots of patriotic songs and marches to celebrate our independence.
Maybe I just did not listen or maybe I didn't understand about why we celebrate this holiday. I know I was taught the reason for this special day in our country's history -- but it apparently didn't soak in. All I knew was it was the day our forefathers, especially Thomas Jefferson and Ben Franklin, drew up a document that told England we were going to separate ourselves from them and that was it. It was signed on July 4th 1776. It was called the Declaration of Independence.
As I have grown older and wanted to know more about things -- I have read many books about those days after July 4th 1776. Those great men from the 13 colonies put their lives on the line -- in the face of losing their lives -- for the cause of independence for this new country. This day all those years ago was just the beginning. After the king of England got the word that HIS 13 colonies wanted to try an experiment with a whole new form of government -- and wanted to go it alone with no help or interference (or taxation) from England -- he went bonkers! He was going to lose part of the great British Empire and lose tax money. He immediately sent soldiers and ships and his navy -- the best in the world -- to put down this rebellion and stupid notion that his colonies could make it on their own and let everyone live free.
That was the whole idea of this new country -- to let everyone have a say in the decisions of the government and to live free to do what ever they wished with no cast system or class system -- all equal and independent with their own goals and wishes and with no state religion -- and able to speak freely without punishment of any kind. (Yes their were slaves and that would be dealt with many years later -- but it WAS dealt with). This was unheard of! No King? No upper ruling class? It just couldn't be done!
As we know -- these men, these colonists, unselfishly got themselves into a helluva war. It was called the Revolusionary War. There were no anesthetics -- not much medicine. Those little lead balls caused lots of problems when they hit someone. The cannon balls blew men apart and shrapnel ripped off legs and arms. They had no uniforms to speak of. They were not trained -- just mostly farmers and store keepers etc -- but they fought and fought and fought again. They often froze in the Winter as then fought without coats or even shoes. General George Washington was their leader and he was a Civil Engineer with the stars of a General thrust upon him. He led with honor and valor -- often leading the troops into harms way. He was shot at numerous times but kept on urging his little army into battle day after week after month. The British army was far far better than our ran-tag soldiers -- but we never quit. Out numbered at every battle -- we outsmarted those redcoats time and time again. We lost thousands of young men and boys in battle after battle. the King -- sitting in his nice warm castle in England -- kept sending more and more troops and ships and guns -- but in spite being outnumbered and of our huge losses -- George Washington's Patriots kept on fighting -- month after month -- from the forests behind the trees and hills -- they kept fighting for the cause they knew was right -- freedom from the tyranny of the British Monarchy. Yes they had some help from France and also the Native Indians -- but our little army fought for over two years after that little document our forefathers sighed back in 1776 that began -- WE THE PEOPLE ! And we won! England gave up and let us have our experiment in government -- our stupid notion that everyone could participate and grow and be successful -- regardless of their station in life. And each State could operate independently and still remain United as a country. And we are still here, aren't we? Look what it precipitated -- the greatest country the world has ever known.
Happy Birthday United state of America.
From the heart of Olaf Hart .....
Sunday, July 1, 2018
Anguish Languish
Anguish Languish is a homophonic language created by Howard Chance to show how ridiculous the English Language can be. It uses real words that sound similar to the intended words -- but are not the correct word. So Anguish Languish are two real words that sound like English Language but are not. His famous nursery rhymes were published in the 50's. Example: Ladle rat rotten hut. You figure it out.
Why the reference? Because I can not spell very well. I am probably the worse speller I have ever known. And I blame it in part on the English Language.The general attitude among good spellers about bad spellers is that -- they are low class (what ever that means) -- they are not well educated -- they are lazy -- they have a low IQ -- and a few other low blows. But I am none of these. So why do I have such a problem with the entanglement of all these lovely little letters to conform to what the dictionary believes to be the proper arrangement to spell a certain word? Why can't I spell?
During my freshman year of college at Indiana State, myself and three or four other guys (Are guys worse spellers than women?) were faced with the possibility of flunking freshman English because we all flunked the required spelling tests. Oh yes -- we all knew how to diagram a sentence and how to tell a noun from a verb. We were good English students -- but we had "cantspellitis." So the Professor -- bless his heart -- with considerable exasperation, wrote ten or twelve words on the blackboard (no whiteboards back then) and told our little group to "Memorize these damn words!" He erased the words and told us in no uncertain terms to "Write the damn words down before you forget them!" We did and we all passed freshman English.
OK. Back to this ridiculous, complicated English Language. Lets start with the alphabet. B is a good example. Bee(honey) --Bea (Aunt Bea) -- Be(still) -- Beebe(gun) -- spelling Bee. Maybe you can think of some more. How about C? See(eyes) -- Sea (ocean) -- Seesaw (teeter totter) -- Si' (Senior). And that is just a couple of letters. Homonyms are pretty confusing. Read(today) read(yesterday). Bass(fish), bass(guitar). Refuse(won't do it), refuse(trash), re-fuse (put in new fuses). Hundreds more -- you know the drill. It must be a real chore to learn English with all the various different sounds for just one letter. It's tough to speak, let alone spell the Kings English we had thrust upon us. No wonder I can't spell.
I realize that most of my career has been "reading" commercials or news on radio or TV and not caring or needing to be concerned about spelling. After all, it wasn't a newspaper. As long as it sounded OK, I could spit out the words like a motor mouth whether they were spelled correctly or not. But it seems that we have all come back to writing to each other these days on phones and computers rather than speaking so much So I better get my act together and get with the program. What were some of the rules? E before I or was it I before E-- then what? -- I can't remember. I do know this. I know the best invention so far in this 21st century is one I use numerous times each day and many times on this blog -- I couldn't do without it! It is called the spell checker!
From the heart of Olaf Hart ....
Why the reference? Because I can not spell very well. I am probably the worse speller I have ever known. And I blame it in part on the English Language.The general attitude among good spellers about bad spellers is that -- they are low class (what ever that means) -- they are not well educated -- they are lazy -- they have a low IQ -- and a few other low blows. But I am none of these. So why do I have such a problem with the entanglement of all these lovely little letters to conform to what the dictionary believes to be the proper arrangement to spell a certain word? Why can't I spell?
During my freshman year of college at Indiana State, myself and three or four other guys (Are guys worse spellers than women?) were faced with the possibility of flunking freshman English because we all flunked the required spelling tests. Oh yes -- we all knew how to diagram a sentence and how to tell a noun from a verb. We were good English students -- but we had "cantspellitis." So the Professor -- bless his heart -- with considerable exasperation, wrote ten or twelve words on the blackboard (no whiteboards back then) and told our little group to "Memorize these damn words!" He erased the words and told us in no uncertain terms to "Write the damn words down before you forget them!" We did and we all passed freshman English.
OK. Back to this ridiculous, complicated English Language. Lets start with the alphabet. B is a good example. Bee(honey) --Bea (Aunt Bea) -- Be(still) -- Beebe(gun) -- spelling Bee. Maybe you can think of some more. How about C? See(eyes) -- Sea (ocean) -- Seesaw (teeter totter) -- Si' (Senior). And that is just a couple of letters. Homonyms are pretty confusing. Read(today) read(yesterday). Bass(fish), bass(guitar). Refuse(won't do it), refuse(trash), re-fuse (put in new fuses). Hundreds more -- you know the drill. It must be a real chore to learn English with all the various different sounds for just one letter. It's tough to speak, let alone spell the Kings English we had thrust upon us. No wonder I can't spell.
I realize that most of my career has been "reading" commercials or news on radio or TV and not caring or needing to be concerned about spelling. After all, it wasn't a newspaper. As long as it sounded OK, I could spit out the words like a motor mouth whether they were spelled correctly or not. But it seems that we have all come back to writing to each other these days on phones and computers rather than speaking so much So I better get my act together and get with the program. What were some of the rules? E before I or was it I before E-- then what? -- I can't remember. I do know this. I know the best invention so far in this 21st century is one I use numerous times each day and many times on this blog -- I couldn't do without it! It is called the spell checker!
From the heart of Olaf Hart ....
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