Why Retail is in Trouble...

I had to make a run to the drugstore the other night for Cakes, she needed saline solution for her contacts.

The drug store is huge, at 8 at night they had three people on duty, one at the pharmacy counter. 2 up front.

Rite Aid stores in Cali have ice cream counters, one of the check out people was busy making cones for a family, the other was doing the check outs.

There were 17 people in line, I counted. 18 if you count me. The store has 5 cash register stations.

The guy in front of me had a 6 pack, a bottle of Southern Comfort and a liter of Sprite. We were wanting in line for maybe ten minutes, he turned to me and said, "Why don't I just open this and we'll have a drink."

The line thinned after about 20 minutes when a guy put about 40-50 bucks of merchandise on the floor and walked out. I thought the woman in line behind me was going to scream, she was so angry, she was muttering to herself the whole time we were in line. Finally she said to the guy in front of me, "Why don't you open that Southern Comfort?" It was insanity. 

I figure for around $400 dollars a week, Rite Aid could stop pissing off their customers. Grocery stores too. The only store I go to that never has this happen is Trader Joe's. A year or so ago I wandered around Macy's for a half hour looking for help. Macy's used to be a great store with plenty of help for their customers.

And another thing, it would be nice if Lowes and Home Depot trained their people so they knew something about what the hell they were selling, or attempting to sell.

Sports Authority just filed for bankruptcy and California based Sports Chalet just closed their doors, ever shop at either one? I have and they both had lousy customer service and untrained employees. Sports Authority had people selling running shoes who didn't know an Adidas from a Nike. Sports Chalet had people selling sleeping bags that didn't know down from synthetic fill.

It's not the employees fault, nobody trains them, nobody encourages them, they get treated like meat sacks.

Sports Authority required employees to be at work 30 minutes before their shift. Guess what, when they showed up they were put to work immediately and they didn't get paid for the time. 5 days of work, 2.5 hours of unpaid labor. Across 460 stores. That's the new standard for retail, that and "on call scheduling". Think of all the free labor Sports Authority used and the idiots still couldn't make it.

Sports Authority was bought by the private equity firm, Leonard Green & Partners in 2006, in ten years they accumulated over a billion dollars in debt. Before the buy out it was a profitable, well run company. Same thing happened to Guitar Center stores when Mitt Romney's company bought them out, same story with radio, print, TV...you name the business.

You know why so many MacDonald's suck? They are owned by large investor groups. Those investors could care less if your fries are soggy or the cheese on your double cheeseburger isn't melted.

Blame the victim, take no responsibility...

   

                                

Steve Loomis is an asshole!

The head of the Cleveland rank-and-file police union says the family of 12-year-old Tamir Rice should use money from a $6 million settlement to educate children about the use of look-alike firearms.

When a 12 year old with a BB gun is killed by cop, it's the kid's family who needs to change things?

"Something positive must come from this tragic loss. That would be educating youth of the dangers of possessing a real or replica firearm.

We look forward to the possibility of working with the Rice family to achieve this common goal."

I guess the Cleveland cop shop can't get their shit together enough on their own, so they want the Rice family to pony up the cash from the settlement to do the training?

The Rice family attorney, Subodh Chandra … said that Loomis' comments “reflect all that is wrong with Cleveland’s police division — Loomis managed to (1) blame the victim, (2) equate the loss of the life of a 12-year-old child with the officers facing scrutiny, and (3) demand money from the victim’s family and counsel. Loomis’s continued posturing shows he and the union still don’t comprehend that the police division needs a cultural change — not hiring incompetents, better training, and greater accountability.”

The Cleveland cop who shot and killed Tamir, a split second after leaping from his car. had been dismissed from a suburban police department for emotional issues before he was hired by the Cleveland PD. He's still a cop and working. He faced rather light discipline and he's alive and Tamir Rice is still dead.

Being a cop can be a tough job and it can be dangerous. (not as dangerous as the cops would like to us to believe it is) A tiny percentage of cops are the cops who cause problems, make stupid decisions and kill kids like young Rice. The Rice family settled with Cleveland for 6 million, they lost their son and the Cleveland Police Department took no responsibility.

Be nice if guys like Steve Loomis looked in the mirror occasionally.

Yes these People really are Assholes

Writer David Akadjian is a very brave guy. He waded in the one of the many cesspools on Reddit and engaged the anti-PC whiners. They are really angry about political correctness. As you scroll through his Reddit adventure is what these people want is the right to be an asshole and never get called out on it.

Akadjian wanted to hear what they had to say about PC. Instead of arguing, he asked, “What is it that you want to say but don’t feel you can?”

Here's another...

You can’t call midgets midgets and you can’t call gays fagots (sic).

Man radio Sucks

I'm an old radio guy, haven't been in the business for 6 years, I don't listen to commercial radio very often, but yesterday, I listened to KOST-FM during our half hour drive to our friend Ann's birthday party.

One of KOST's positioning statements is "Your favorites from the 80's, 90's and today."

Okay, a decade is ten years and we're 16 years into a new century, maybe I'm being picky, but that's, on the surface anyway, kind of a stupid thing to say, isn't it?

I have no idea who produced KOST's ID package, they're terrible and irrelevant, they don't fit the station and they're poorly produced.

Speaking of production, the audio levels of KOST are all over the spectrum. The mic was too loud, some of the music was too low, the commercials were loud and harsh. KOST's audio is just terrible. The high end is shrill, the bottom end is muddy and the midrange is squeezed to death, none of it worked. KOST is hard to listen to, very hard.

We heard a commercial set, with a live intro, into a produced station promo, then 8 commercials another produced promo and then a live liner read over the intro of a song. After the first song of the music set ended, the jock read another liner over the intro to the next song. Once again the audio mix was so garbled, it was hard to understand, something about a ticket give away.

In the middle of the music sweep, guess what popped up after some over produced piece of music from today? "Brown-Eyed Girl" by Van Morrison, a hit in 1967, followed by Madonna's "Lucky Star". It made my teeth ache. The jock then hyped the ticket giveaway again. When he finally revealed the ticket giveaway a few songs later, it was for a concert at the OC Fair, which is months away. Exciting? No it wasn't.

We finally gave up on KOST and switched over to 95.5 KLOS the classic rock station. "Rock you like a Hurricane" by the Scorpions was playing. Once again the audio was so bad about a 1/3rd of the music came out of the speakers. The sound was muddy and shrill at the same time, hard to create an audio mix like that, ask an engineer, they'll say, "it's damn near impossible". Somehow in 2016 radio gets it done.

When I look back on my years in radio, it's not always as good as I remember or I'd like it to be, but Jesus people at least we gave it a try and put some effort into it.

I was relieved when we shut off the radio when we arrived at Ann's party. On the way home we listened to music I've downloaded into the car's infotainment system. It made for a pleasant drive home and the audio was perfect.

Former GOP Speaker of the House, Dennis Hastert...what a guy!

From the "Sick, Twisted, Bastards" files...from Lawyers, Guns and Money's Shakezula:

I’m not sure Dennis Hastert’s supporters are doing him any favors.

Federal prosecutors portray former House Speaker Dennis Hastert as a serial child molester who agreed to pay millions to cover up his shameful secrets — but former Republican House Majority Leader Tom DeLay describes him as a man of “strong faith” and “great integrity.

(The notorious crook says you’re A-OK? You’re free to go.)

"We all have our flaws, but Dennis Hastert has very few,” DeLay wrote to Hastert’s sentencing judge.

(And such small portions! Or something.)

"He is a good man that loves the Lord. He gets his integrity and values from Him. He doesn’t deserve what he is going through.”

(And after the Lord drove out the moneylenders, he did pocket all of the shekels he could grab, for some of the younger disciples were threatening to tell.)

Apparently Hastert’s one-man crusade against Title IX is also a good thing?

Leo Kocher, the head wrestling coach at the University of Chicago and an associate professor there, wrote that Hastert helped when the U.S. Department of Education created a strong incentive to eliminate intercollegiate athletic opportunities through Title IX.

“He never said no when it came to his being able to help in any way to stem the senseless devastation of non-scholarship sports opportunities,” Kocher wrote, adding Hastert “was driven in this by pure concern for, and loyalty to, the youth — boys and girls — whose development was at stake.”

(Yeah, probably don’t want to mention his concern for the youth.)

And from Mrs. Hastert.

“If one of his students or wrestlers ever needed anything of him, he would be there for them, and he was never happier than when he could watch someone he helped succeed,” Jean Hastert wrote.

(OK, she’s just trying to get him killed.)

FYI, If Hastert has slipped your mind, when he was a high school wrestling coach, he like to “play” with his wrestlers.

Prince Rogers Nelson

I've loved music my entire life, my mother had stacks of records and played them all the time. I know lyrics to songs from the 40's and 50's, I know who played sax in which big band. I have eclectic taste. I love opera and classical music, but I mostly love rock and roll.

What I love most about music is great musicians, no matter the genre, which brings me to my point. Prince Rogers Nelson was a great musician.

Prince was a great guitarist, how great? Eric Clapton was asked in an interview, "How does it feel to the greatest guitarist in the world? Clapton's answer, "You'd have to ask Prince." That is one hell of an endorsement.

Great songs have to have hooks, think of the guitar riff that opens "Satisfaction" by the Stones or vocal opening of "Rave on" by Buddy Holly. A song has to grab you, like the opening notes of "Daytripper by the Beatles. Grab you and not let you go. And when it's over you feel the need play it again and again, then you play it some more. Prince knew how write those songs.

Great songs have to have drama and majesty, think about the slow build of the Allman Brothers take on "Stormy Monday" or Jimi's "Little Wing". Prince understood that too.

Great songs have to have great lyrics, Dylan comes to mind, listen the words of "Positively 4th Street" or "Blown in the Wind". Prince checked that box.

Great songs have some party in them, "Stand" by Sly Stone comes to mind, almost anything Motown or great dance classics like "I will Survive" by Gloria Gaynor or almost anything by Donna Summer, Beyoncé or Madonna. Once again, Prince got it. Check out Chaka Kahn's "I Feel for You", Prince wrote it.

Great songs have to have sex in them, lots of sex and sensuality. I was a little kid, in the 6th grade, when I heard Gene Vincent's "Lotta Loving", I knew what he was singing about, I knew what Elvis meant when he sang, "One Night with You". Prince knew.

As a tiny, epileptic boy picking out notes on his father's piano in Minneapolis Prince Rogers Nelson must have taken all of this music in and internalized it. 

Prince could do it all, he could write a funky dance song, he could write about relationships, good and bad, as bad and nasty as "Darling Nikki and as sweet and good as "Nothing Compares 2 U". There isn't a guy in the world, who has been in love who doesn't understand what he was saying in "If I was Your Girl Friend" or "When Doves Cry".

Prince could rock his tiny ass off. Listen to his solo on "Let's Go Crazy" or his Rock and Roll Hall of Fame appearance when legendary musicians saluted George Harrison. Prince lit the place on fire.

Has there ever been a Super Bowl half-time show like his performance in a rain storm in Miami?

Prince played 21 straight nights in LA, three venues, the Forum, the Troubadour and the Hard Rock. Every show was outstanding.

My daughters loved Prince, his music pounded out of their bedrooms when they were alone or with their friends. Was I irritated? No I wasn't, because the music was so damn good and I remembered being their age and how important music was to me.

Prince made music for almost 40 years, he aged gracefully and he seldom looked back, he was shy except when he was on stage. He was a kind and gentle man. He stayed in Minneapolis, the city he put on the map musically, he gave back to his community. 

In the 90's Prince did a late night benefit at CITI in Boston. Patrick Lyons, a club and music venue owner for years and years, said after the two hour show, "There's never been anything like that happen here."

Musicians like Prince don't come along very often, we were fortunate to have him for as long as we did.

 

He, TRUMP!

Hope you're happy Republicans, because here is your standard bearer this November....

Trump today in Indianapolis:

"When our country continues to go forward even when it has massive problems, massive deficits .. our country is being taking advantage of and eventually our country is going to be in such trouble and I'm not going to use because I would never use the word, that our country is going to die. It's going to be a much different place if we don't get smart very, very quickly on trade, on defense.

(Applause)

We have to build our military strong, we have to build it big, strong --- powerful!!  So that we're not messed with. Look at what Putin's doing in Russia with nukes! You look at what Putin is doing in Russia with his military! It's modernized. They're building all over, wherever they feel they need they put! We don't do that! We're getting smaller, smaller, weaker, weaker. WE HAVE TO BUILD UP OUR MILITARY. WE HAVE TO MAKE IT STRONG![ WILD APPLAUSE.]

We're gonna build the wall. [Audience chants "Build that wall! Build that wall!"]
Those are direct quotes, btw. Here are a few more:

"Here's the story folks: our country doesn't win anymore, We don't win on trade, we can't even beat ISIS. Can you imagine if you gave the word to General Douglas MacArthur to knock out ISIS? It would take him three days.

General George Patton who was not a politically correct person so he could probably never be a general as colonel probably couldn't even be a sergeant or a corporal. General George Patton. You say, General? Knock out ISIS. Yes sir! Three days later, "where's ISIS they're gone..."Oh, and "we should have kept the damn oil. "

Then he says we're going to kill oil truck drivers. Then he talked about how much he loves waterboarding, how he's stop Carrier from moving to Mexico.

.....And be sure to make America great again.

That 35% import tax he is talking about? Will if have an effect on his clothing made in Mexico or in China, Malaysia or Viet Nam?