Listen Below
In February of this year (2022), I applied for a job as a producer
for the Austin Radio Network in Austin, TX. At first, I thought all the
weeks of training I went through was going to be unpaid, which I was fine with,
until one day, I was asked if I had talked with the payroll department and
filled out my W-2 tax form. This, to me, came out of nowhere because I was
still waiting on them to tell me if I got the job and when I was going to start.
I got to sit in on University of Texas baseball games for the weeks leading up to
this for KTXX 104.9fm The Horn. I was asked once or twice to operate the sound board,
help the sportscaster get in and out of commercial breaks, make sure station identification
played at the top of the hour, and make sure the on-air talent maintain proper modulation.
When I visited 99.3 KOKE-FM, my fortunes changed. First, I met their current producer and
sat in on the morning show. For this, I had to leave Floresville, drive to Austin, and arrive
at the station at 5:45am. For readers outside of Texas, there is about 92 miles of separation
between my house, and the station. Without traffic, it's a 90 minute trip; but since Austin has
a traffic problem, it takes two hours on a good day. Next, I sat in and saw how a remote broadcast
was fed back to the station. I got to work the soundboard and I impressed the producer with
how fast I was able to pick up and relearn all of the things I had learned at San Antonio College's
KSYM-FM. It felt like riding a bicycle. My first shift where I fully operated the board came around
May 31st. I would be by myself in the booth at the station, and my producer would be with one of
the DJ's on location. The main part of the broadcast went off without a hitch, but because of
the last segment going beyond the top of the hour, our commercial break scheduling went out of whack.
When advertisers buy advertising time, they expect the station to air their commercials at a
designated time, give or take a minute or two. But in this instance, a spot would be playing several
minutes after it's designated time. If this happens too much, an advertiser could pull their ads from
the station, and the station could lose money. Other problems like leaving the microphones on during the
music, or not broadcasting the DJ, even though you know you should be (it's complicated) have come up,
but overall, I'm enjoying my time at KOKE-FM, and look forward to working with them, The Horn with whatever
they may have planned.
Note: KOKE-FM, and The Horn are registered trademarks of Austin Radio Network.
Dear Reader, I'm so glad to see this silly little publication has made it to issue number two,
and I appreciate you being a subscriber or reading this for the first time. But I can also hear
you asking me if I'm on social media. I am, BUT I don't use it regularly. And I can also see you
scratching your head. wondering why I started a website and newsletter instead of posting on Facebook
and Twitter. I've been on Facebook since high school, and I've been on Twitter sometime after
learning Ashton Kutcher was on it, like a lot of people. Over the last few years, though, I have
noticed that a lot of "Whiny Butts" have popped up or have been emboldened to post their feelings
online instead of seeking professional help and treatment either in their community or online.
They've also dismissed my type of humor or views and fact based opinions as inappropriate or
unacceptable. I have also seen a lot of annoying, stupid, ignorant, and (for lack of a better term)
mentally challenged people spewing their own type of lies that they pass off as facts or do stupid
things and try and convince me that it's a good idea, or it's the greatest thing in the world.
I dislike both kinds of people and wish not to be associated with either. In this issue, you will
learn where it took me, but to go beyond the upcoming article (Don't worry, we'll come back. I promise.)
I learned about Neocities, an open-source website hosting service designed for amateurs with
absolutely no experience in web design that allows THE USER to build their website and make it
look the way THE USER wants it to look. Where does the newsletter fall into this? Hopefully not
on the ground... I have been interested in Fan Zines and making my own Zine by hand as early as 2019
when I purchased a book called Make-A-Zine by Joe Beil. Later, I was watching an old episode of
Wheel of Fortune, you're gonna hear that a lot reading this newsletter, from December 11, 1995,
and Pat and Vanna were plugging the official Wheel of Fortune newsletter called Off Camera.
After failing to find copies of it online, I got to thinking about what fan newsletters of old
looked like, even though my church has a "Bulletin" newsletter that's published weekly after mass.
In February, after finding the December 1943 edition of Line Drives from the (Brooklyn) Dodgers
newsletter, I got the inspiration for how this newsletter could be formatted. Once I opened up
Microsoft Publisher, I went to town, and two months later, I finished Volume 1, Issue 1.
I hope you've enjoyed the first issue, and I hope you enjoy this new expanded newsletter.
Signed, Matthew "Matty Matt" Martinez.
This isn't a sponsored message, since this publication and website doesn't rely on sponsors,
but I just wanted to give a shout out to the Old Barrel Tea Company in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
They help me make some bomb-ass tea! I recommend their Summerville Sweet Tea.
I always like fixing a pitcher full of the tea, chilling it in the refrigerator overnight,
and serving it over ice. The mint in the tea cools your mouth off and refreshes you naturally.
Visit them online at oldbarreltea.com and search Summerville Sweet Tea.
My Wheel of Fortune Obsession. By Matthew Martinez Ever since I was a child, evenings
never started until KMOL 4 (Now WOAI) aired Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy; in that order,
the way God intended. Sometime between 1999 and 2000, KENS 5 got the syndication rights and
moved Jeopardy to 4:30pm, and Wheel of Fortune to 6:30pm. Now I'm not sure if this is your
situation and you're used to this, but this change caused me great distress. It was then
that I started seeking out older episodes. I had tapes consisting of episodes from
Groundhog Day 1996, Halloween 1997, and perhaps one other episode that I can't remember.
Then, in the summer of 2001, I got satellite TV and started watching Game Show Network.
They've aired reruns of Wheel of Fortune since its launch in 1994. Not surprising since
Sony Pictures owns the rights to broadcast the nighttime syndicated version. In the
summer of 2001, they were rerunning episodes from season seven (1989-1990).
The first time I saw these episodes, my face lit up. These were all new to me and I
relished every rerun I watched. That Christmas, GSN aired their holiday themed marathon,
and one of the episodes was a Wheel of Fortune episode from Christmas Family Week 1992.
I felt a different vibe from this episode, but it still felt good watching it Christmas
morning. A few months later, GSN started airing episodes from season six (1988-1989) and
these felt different. It was still the Wheel I love, and it was probably more familiar to
the Wheel Watcher of yore, but something was off. I did enjoy watching Wheel's first trip
to Radio City Music Hall that was broadcast November 1988. I kinda felt the magic was gone
watching Wheel on GSN. I still enjoyed watching, but not as I did before. Fast forward to
2008-2009, I started a Youtube account and started finding old clips of Wheel of Fortune that
uploaders had recorded from GSN. As soon as I found out how to download videos, these received
regular viewing on my iPod Nano 3rd Generation. Once Sony Pictures got wise to what viewers
like me were doing, they started requesting uploaders to take down these videos. So, they did,
and they took their business to sites like Dailymotion and Veoh. Sometime later, I learned about
the Internet Archive (https://archive.org). Sometime later, I created an account with Buy a Vowel
Boards, an unofficial Wheel of Fortune forum created by a former contestant and a dedicated Wheel
Watcher. I then learned some users started uploading full seasons onto Youtube and Dailymotion,
and once again, I started downloading episodes left and right. In September of 2021, the stars aligned,
and episodes from season seven were beginning to be available for download on the Internet Archive.
Once I downloaded the first week of season 7, I turned up my headphones and was blown away just as
I had been before, only now it felt like the wildest Wheel Watching party just busted into my
house. This ecstasy comes at a price though. You see, since I've had a "bad" habit of downloading
videos (Since I absolutely hate video buffering), I've had to purchase bigger external hard drives
just to hold all the videos. My Wheel of Fortune folder alone is almost 200 gigabytes, and growing...
It takes a lot of room to store these videos and it will get worse as uploaders post these
full seasons online, but to me, it's well worth it. I've enjoyed watching season seven, and
I hope season ten is uploaded in full soon. I am hoping for more seasons that haven't been
reran on GSN in between fall of 1990 and fall 1994 (Seasons 8,9, and 11) are uploaded sometime
in the future, but for now, I am grateful to the Wheel Watching community for uploading these
treasures online. It doesn't show me "how great Wheel of Fortune used to be before so-and-so
producer got a hold of it" like SOME PEOPLE will tell you, but it provides me with the excitement
I got when I first saw these episodes when I was a kid. That provides me with a comfort that I
sought for so long, even though I still enjoy watching current episodes of Wheel. Heck, I remember
watching Wheel at my last job as it aired, and my manager and I always bet on which contestant
would win the game, as well as who knew the puzzle. I suppose this was OUR personal Wheel Watching
party. Just no drinks since we were both on the clock.
Once again, it's the perfect combination of instrumentation and vocal melodies that
have made this one of my favorite albums. The opening hooks of the songs on Side A have
been ingrained into my brain. When I hear the opening notes of Separate Ways (Worlds Apart),
I feel my blood pumping and my adrenaline race. This song was written (according to the first
recorded performance of the song: A Day on the Green in Oakland, CA, June 26, 1982) about two
weeks before its first performance. The only differences between this version, and the one on
the album is the lyrics in the second verse, and some guitar parts that weren't on the album version.
My favorite live version of the song is a toss-up between Philadelphia 1986, and Budokan 1983.
I'm giving the edge to Budokan. Send Her My Love is a haunting song where someone must break
off a relationship because the person has to travel a lot. Which makes sense because touring
for a long period of time can lead to conflicts in a committed relationship.
And boy howdy, did Journey do A LOT of traveling during this period of time. Chain Reaction
is the Wild Card of Side A. Schon's heavy guitar sound is prevalent in this song. The backup
vocals may turn off some listeners because a normal listener is expecting bright vocals.
However, I enjoy the unique sound of bassist Ross Valory underneath Schon, Cain, and Perry's
vocals. After the Fall deals with a failing relationship and the person's inability to end it,
having not found the right time because the partner is a working man. For such a depressing
subject, I find this song's melody rather vibrant. Faithfully is, I think, the signature
allad for Journey. Everyone else loves Open Arms from Escape, but Faithfully is my favorite
ballad of all time. Jonathan, Neal, and Steve explained in an interview that Faithfully is a
love letter to Journey fans all over the world. The piano sounds divine, and Perry's vocals
are just as powerful as Schon's guitar in the bridge. I tear up sometimes listening to this
song, especially played live. Side B starts with Schon's powerful guitar licks as Edge of
the Blade opens the second half of the album. It warns a performer about achieving success
too fast. It only has one set of versus and a repeating chorus and one lyric introducing
the bridge, but the instruments pack a powerful punch. It's simplistic, but effective.
Troubled Child is another haunting song. This song deals with a loner who is suffering from
mental illness. It describes the subject as someone who faces an internal struggle, perhaps
because other people made decisions for him. Perhaps his parents or guardians were too
overbearing or had a stranglehold on his life, so he decided to rebel against them. Back Talk
is pretty much everything my parents have shouted at me during my childhood, set to a rocking
sound. The title track, Frontiers, vaguely deals with a reliance on machines. It also mentions
that:
"War is for fools,
Crisis is cool,
Barbarians play."
Lyrics by Perry, Cain, Schon, and Smith.
Rubicon ends the album on a hopeful note. I'm not a fan of the instrumentation of the song,
but what do I know? I ain't the one who recorded the song. As I read the lyrics though,
its message says, "Rise up" or "Take the initiative". The latter, I'm known to be good at.
Just read the chorus:
"Make a move across the rubicon,
Futures knockin' at your door,
take
your time and choose the road you want,
opportunity is yours",
lyrics by Perry, Cain, and Schon.
Around the time the Escape tour ended, the time this album was recorded, and the subsequent tour,
tensions started to mount within the band. Even though Perry and his voice were recognizable, he
felt the price of fame became too much. In VH1's Behind the Music, he mentioned that he started
isolating himself from not only the fans, but the rest of the band too. His attempt to save a
relationship with his girlfriend at the time resulted in Perry touring with an RV. It didn't work;
not even with a hit single named after her... Manager Herbie Herbert also discouraged Schon from
recording collaboration albums with Jan Hammer, and Sammy Hagar. I don't find any fault with wanting
to collaborate with other artists, especially if you have a monster hit album. I feel it lends
credibility to the artists you collaborate with. The Hammer collaboration spawned the single
"No More Lies" which was performed during the Frontiers Tour. What's so puzzling is that Herbert
didn't reprimand Perry when he collaborated with Kenny Loggins for the single "Don't Fight It",
also performed during the tour. Perry then went on to record the hit album Street Talk in 1984,
which spawned the hit singles: "Oh Sherrie", and "Foolish Heart". This, obviously, led Schon
to wonder, "Why can Steve make a hit record, and Herbie's yelling at me for trying to make an
album with other talented artists like myself?" For the next album, Raised on Radio, Perry took
charge of where the album was going, and asked more from bassist Valory and drummer Smith.
When Perry felt that they didn't deliver, they were asked to leave the band. As much as you and
I probably love Steve's performances, I must say that I'm on the side of Valory and Smith because
no human can reproduce perfect rhythms made by a drum machine. Something Perry demanded they do.
For all the problems that plagued the band around this time, and some of the problems that plague
the band at the time of writing this article (Valory and Smith are out of the band AGAIN), Journey
still manages to release excellent sounding music. This album's hits are what got me interested in
Journey to begin with. Since they played on San Antonio's KSMG Magic 105.3fm, and KQXT Q101.9fm,
I would often find myself seeking out a way to listen to their best songs. That opportunity came in
2002, when I purchased The Essential Journey. I wore that first disc of the two-disc set out listening
to it sometimes in class when I entered Middle School... This album holds a special place in my heart as
my favorite album of all time. And it's first track holds a special place, as my favorite song.
In 2002, I stumbled upon a rerun of the PBS series "Ghostwriter" entitled,
Who is Max Mouse? This show featured a Bulletin Board System, BBS for short,
an early way computers communicated with each other through email forums,
chat rooms, and file depositories. I would sometimes research BBSes and would
wish they still existed along with services like America Online. Then in 2017,
I learned BBSes were alive and well due to a video published by Lazy Game Reviews
demonstrating a parallel port modem that used wifi instead of phone lines to
connect older computers via telnet to BBSes. I had all but forgotten about
this until August 2021, when I rewatched a documentary series simply titled
BBS by Jason Scott. I also watched a video called Back to the BBS - Part one:
The return to being online by Al's Geek Lab. That video featured an overview
of what BBSes are, how to connect to a BBS, the advantages of dialing up a BBS
versus posting on social media and the corporate controlled internet, and
(most importantly) it told me that BBSes are active and thriving, and where
to find ones that I can connect to. To access BBSes, I use SyncTermas my
terminal emulator. Boards like The Quantum Wormhole
have websites that feature a built-in terminal emulator. With this, you can
sign up for an account and fart around before downloading SyncTerm and accessing
boards through there. If you're interested in dialing up and signing up for other
boards, I recommend The Telnet BBS Guide. Just thumb through
and pick out a board that looks interesting and check it out! Some boards like
20forbeers still have a phone number that you can call if you want to dust off
the old dial-up modem. Shout out to
MeatLotion from The Quantum Wormhole, Paulie420 from 2oforbeers, and Hyjinx
from Al's Geek Lab, and to all the other SysOps and callers for welcoming me
into the community!
Dear Hooman,
I am happy to say that my long-nosed kitty friends are back,
and I made new friends with baby chicks and the mama chicken.
They play in our yard until the Hooman tries to scare them off.
I hope the Hoomanz won't make them leave again. Signed, Princess Kinzie
"Somewhere Out There"
Published By:
Candy Bar Cheese Press
eMail me Here
Text of Somewhere Out There Belongs to Matthew Martinez