Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Homeless Guy Has a Fantastic Radio Voice! I Ain't Kiddin'

On the Air
I am the Administrator of this blog and by virtue of that, I personally pick and publish about 99.99999% of the content herein. On my other blog, Dumbass News, my wife finds about half of the content posted over there. A couple of days ago she came across a YouTube video of a homeless guy somewhere in Ohio who stands at the end of an exit ramp to one of the Interstate Highways up there, with a sign that says something along the lines of "God has blessed me with a great voice for radio, can you help a bruthah out?" She bugged me about this video until I finally gave in and watched it a little while ago. I am a former on-air Radio Guy of 15 years, so I have a pretty good ear when it comes to "Radio/TV Announcer Voices". Before watching the video, I was skeptical to say the least. I was wrong. Real wrong. I am being kind when I say that this man may have a golden voice, but he also has the perfect face for radio. Like me. :)

I ask a small favor of you. Please watch this video. It's only about a minute and a half long, so it won't take up much time at all. If you are a Radio/TV Person or you have connections to such people, I ask that you please hook them up with this video. The guy is amazing. I don't know how to get in touch with him, but I do know that he just got some kind of gig with the Cleveland Cavaliers of the NBA. My guess is that you can reach him through the Cavs' front office. The number is 1-800-820-CAVS (2287).
And now....The Voice...

Texas Tidbits: The "Texas Almanac" Covers Cars, Congress and More

All About Texas
The Texas Almanac has been a leading reference book for those who are in search of information on any number of topics about Texas since 1857. While there were years when the Almanac wasn't published, it has been a yearly fixture of Texas publishing since 1925. I was browsing through it when I found an article about the early days of the automobile in Texas. Published in 1911, less than fifty years after the end of the War of Northern Aggression (Yankees call it the Civil War or The War Between the States), this article paints a picture of Texas as a very different place from what we see throughout the state today.

Remember that this article was published in 1911. It states, "Ten years ago an automobile was a curiosity in the leading cities of Texas. Five years ago the people in many counties had never seen what was then known as the horseless carriage. Today it is estimated that the number of automobiles in actual service in Texas will reach nearly 30,000 and that over $40,000,000 is invested in the machines. Reports, dated August 1, 1910, from 180
counties in the State show a total of 14,276 automobiles. A canvass by the Commercial Secretaries’
Association places the number at 30,000, which, at an average value of $1,500 each, would make the investment $45,000,000. This number is constantly increasing, and counting the life of a machine at three years, the new machines purchased to take the place of old ones cost $15,000,000 annually."Thirty thousand cars in the whole state? How hard to imagine is that? On any given rush hour, you'll find more than that many cars on Loop 610 in Houston alone. In 1911, there were barely over a thousand cars in all of Harris County. Dallas County weighed in with a hefty 1390 automobiles in 1911.

To view the entire article, click here and scroll down to the last article link on the page. There are other articles from the Texas Almanac at the link that tell us about the schools in Texas in 1873, the State Legislature in 1870 and the Almanac lists the composition of the State Congress as "Democrats and Conservatives 40; Radicals, 50...." What the hell would the publishers of this story in 1870 think about politicians today? I shudder at the thought. There is also a piece on survivors of the Texas Revolution written in 1872. I think you'll find some stuff that'll trip your trigger when you follow the link to the stories. As I mentioned earlier, the Texas Almanac holds a mountain of information regarding the Lone Star State, its people and its history and it's just a mouse click away. Go ahead. Click. You know you want to. You'll thank me later.  :)

Copyright ©

All Original Material © Toby Shoemaker