HERE'S THE PRE-CHRISTMAS EFFIZODE 14 OF "THE LAST PLACE ON EARTH!" PEACE ON
EARTH! GOODWILL AND SUCH.

Hello this is Mike Matthews hopping on the french fry oil powered bus that
takes me to THE LAST PLACE ON EARTH where this week on our half hour show
we'll find out why Hot Tamales might be fun to eat but lousy to work for,
why facebook is cashing in your privacy, and what the worst diets were for
2010.

That and we'll hear music from Gregaldur, Music For Your Plants, The
Re-Stoned, and Krestovsky.

I have been noticing a lot of men on TV and in public seem to be coloring
their hair. I have no hair, so I'm really not one to talk, but I think that
men that color their hair LOOK ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS!!! Even Reagan finally
let it go. You can get away with it from about 40 to 47 and THEN WE CAN
CALL YOU OUT!!! So just put the dye away. And the toupees and the hair
weaves (I'm talking to you Jeremy Piven!).

In this show we also cover what a bear it is to get all those gifts for
everybody! For one person I literally searched online for hours. It
doesn't seem that brick and mortar stores are going any where any time soon
since people in the end need to go into a physical place to get gift
inspiration (though they then probably go home and purchase it online).

Listen to my latest show by clicking here...

http://ping.fm/3NaxK

And you can subscribe to the last three shows on iTunes at
http://ping.fm/mfu7C

Enjoy your last days up to Christmas! And when you laugh, right now it's
okay to throw in a couple "ho ho ho's."

WHEN YOU GET A COFFEE WHILE OUT SHOPPING THIS HOLIDAY SEASON BEWARE OF
OVER-FOAMING!

Being male and not one to enjoy going out shopping, I discovered something
today I never knew. I did a nice husband favor and went to get my wife
something called a Peppermint, White Chocolate Latte. She told me before I
went out to retrieve this sinful, seasonal drink to say "NO FOAM!" while
ordering.

Off to the horrible corporate coffee chain I went! I even took my dog with
me! He enjoys this time of year when people scurry around wearing fuzzy red
caps with white balls at the ends. They look like little cats on people's
heads. Those hats give me an allergic reaction similar to being around
cats.

I went inside and found a huge line almost out the door. I have now gotten
to the point in my life that I've resigned myself that there are lines where
ever I go. Because of this I always bring a magazine or newspaper. Today,
however, I noticed how impatient everyone was. Both the ladies in front and
in back of me complained that "this place never has a line." That's not
what I've noticed having been there earlier this month and seeing almost the
same amount of people waiting.

When I finally got to the front I gave my order, remembering the foam part,
but I neglected to mention no foam with my drink. When I got my drink just
a few minutes later (I will say they're fast) I noticed that though my drink
was in a bigger cup than my wife's, my drink felt much lighter. My wife
explained that this corporate giant is skimping everywhere she goes.

To avoid long lines and drinks being over-foamed, maybe it's time as a
culture we really give up on the speed and convenience that this huge chain
brings. So many mom and pop's have gone out of business, the one's left
explicitly need our help. Plus, the independent coffee cafe I go to hardly
ever has a line! It's also worth remembering just cleaning out your
coffeemaker once in a while will give you a similar coffee taste to those of
the big chains.

I used to like to go to coffeehouses, even the one's run by big
corporations, because it was fun to relax in a big comfy chair and just read
a little. Now, since the big chains seem to be filled with stressed-out
patrons, it's nicer just to avoid them altogether. Of course, caffeine is
what those stressed-out people are demanding thus continuing the circle. I
go decaf. I know that makes me odd.

My dog will just have to watch people with cats on their heads somewhere
else.

NO FOOLIN'! HERE'S THE "UNLUCKY" SHOW...EFFIZODE NUMBER 13 OF "THE LAST PLACE ON EARTH!!!"

Hello, my name is Mike Matthews. That bus you hear in the background is my
bulky vehicle choice to get me to this week's half hour effizode of THE LAST
PLACE ON EARTH. We'll find out what strange physical ailment a lot of women
are getting nowadays, we'll find out what horrible poverty has hit your
favorite vacation destination, and we'll tell you what color you should NOT
pick for your car if you do not desire to be a lemming.

All that plus music from Hobo, The Rope River Blues Band, Plumtree, and
Zombie Prom Queen.

This week has been interesting for which you will hear on the show. This is
the 13th effizode of this show. The last show I did got up to sixteen and
only ended because my wife and I moved from Huntsville, Alabama, to Castro
Valley, California. Yes, we literally went from one end of the political
spectrum to the other. You could see the states getting bluer the closer we
got to our new home!

My last show was called "The Messy Desk" which you can still catch some of
the effizodes on http://ping.fm/EBKjm Interesting thing
about podomatic...as soon as you sign up for a free account every dj in the
world tries to get you to "friend" them. There was every DJ, MC, and
mixologist from every dance club sending "friend requests." I left
podomatic and went to podbean to start anew without the crazy fans.
Oh...fans.

So as we rapidly approach Christmas and New Years look back on your year and
survey what you liked and what you'd like to change. Think about what went
incredibly right and what you can do to duplicate it. Don't bother thinking
about what you did wrong, you've probably already spent too much time doing
that.

Oh, quick shout out to my friends Terri and Steve that drove my wife and I
into the city (San Francisco) to check out a monthly 80's dance club. Wow,
dancing to 80's music is so uplifting. My wife is younger and doesn't
remember the 80's so much but she loves dancing to that music. She almost
thinks of it as a more "innocent" way of dancing. We weren't quite grinding
yet in the 80's.

This week's show is a hoot and you can listen to it here...

http://ping.fm/0aLfU

And you can download the latest show off iTunes. If you're subscribing to
where you could download shows 5 through 10 go to this new site and
subscribe here...

http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-last-place-on-earth/id405892551

I had to start 11 and the teens in this new itunes location. Thanks for
dealing with the inconvenience. You are too kind.

And good luck with the rest of the shopping you've got on your list. If you
don't have a list, YAYYY! You are already ahead of the rest of us!

CASUAL "SURVIVOR" VIEWER CAN'T BELIEVE WHAT HE SAW LAST NIGHT!

So Jeff Probst is the dimpled host of "Survivor" and he's been hosting and
making a ton of money (almost rivaling Ryan Seacrest's recent boon of 60
million from Clear Channel) since 2000. I am only a recent visitor to the
show. My wife and I enjoy watching it with her awesome Aunt Susie and Uncle
Tom.

Well last night Jeff looked like someone had insulted him in the highest
order. Someone insulted his show. Two of the younger female contestants
(this season billed as old versus young) announced early in the show they
were quitting. After one challenge (usually the show has two) the girls
told Jeff in person who then proceeded to barrage them with a series of
"you're quitters" comments concluding with telling them they had the day to
think about their decisions but their final announcement would have to be
tonight during tribal council.

The whole point of the tribal council is to have a big court hearing where
Jeff stirs the pot and gets the contestants to accuse and defend each other
so that they then can vote and decide which one needs to leave. This
council, however, was Jeff continuing his tirade against the two contestants
and getting the other players to yell at them as well. You either felt
completely sorry for the two or were equally angry at them for quitting.

The whole structure of last night's show made me think that Jeff might be
tired of own show. It's paying him well, but now he's seeing the players
aren't the same type of driven people he's seen in the past. He said as
much during his barrage of scorn. Also, the show last night featured a
shameless, SHAMELESS plug for the new Jack Black movie. Not only did they
STOP THE SHOW to show a commercial for it, but the players were then asked
to talk about how great it was. Jeff asked them what they thought and the
contestants elicited such praise that Siskel and Ebert would never endorse.
It would have been great if after Jeff asked how the movie was the people
said, "It was okay. Looked a little contrived."

Reality shows are now almost completely infomericals. Last night was
definitely a testimony to that from one of tv's biggest shows.

Are any of you going to stand for that? Or is time to quit "Survivor" and
all these staged reality programs?

THIS IS "THE LAST PLACE ON EARTH" EFFIZODE 12!!!

This is Mike Matthews getting on the bus and heading to this week's THE LAST
PLACE ON EARTH where we find out where you need to move to, like,
yesterday. Plus we find out the number one way this time of year to save
money. And we talk about the magic that is James Franco.

Plus we hear new music from Fuji Kureta, Pierlo, Nobody's Bizness, and Atlas
Sound!

The leftovers are almost gone so enjoy this new half hour show from THE LAST
PLACE ON EARTH! It's SHOW NUMBER 12!!!

So it's that time of the year when we either don't look in the mirror or we
decide to take the bull by the horns and try to take away the fat. This can
be done by watching what we eat, exercising, or just completely avoiding
eggnog.

Oh you, eggnog! Putting on pounds just from the most simple sip. The most
simple pouring of you in my coffee. Even your "lite" version is a hazard!
Dang you, eggnog!

This is the time of year that really puts some people in a pickle. All the
stress of getting everyone presents. All the stress of planning massive
family gatherings. We are forced to do this, forced to do that.

I'm noticing a lot of people getting off that merry go round. The really
clever ones get themselves invited to other people's gatherings. I don't
know how they do that. Maybe they just hang around long enough till some
one goes, "Hey, what are you doing this Christmas? Want to come over?"

Remember, the answer to this is ALWAYS, "Sure! What can I bring?"

Get the stress out of the holiday season! Realize that one of the reasons
this is a special time of year is because you see people that you probably
won't see the rest of the year and you're going to miss them (that is, the
one's you actually like). Avoid traffic times as best you can, shop
intelligently, don't buy just whatever the TV's telling you to buy, and PUT
DOWN THE EGGNOG. Yes, even if it has brandy in it.

Oh, and put on a Santa hat at least once. This is MANDATORY! Putting one
of those goofy creations on always gets you in the mood.

Or the brim causes you to sneeze endlessly. Either way, it's a hoot!

Oh, one more thing about this past Thanksgiving. Did you happen to see that
Taylor Swift special? Every year the country music flavor of the month gets
their own show which is watched by all those people stuffed with turkey who
can't move from the couch and who can't find any more football to watch. I
remember Shania Twain one year. This year was Taylor. She's got the big
lips, squinty eyes, blonde hair thing going. The one thing I enjoyed about
the show was that they had a bunch of young people talk about how they
appreciated Taylor's lyrics. Not her singing, not her stage performance,
but the words she actually wrote down. I love that kids are into that
artistic side of popular music these days. It gives me hope. Also a bit of
a rash.

With that incite, shouldn't I have hosted my own morning show? You know, I
had the opportunity in Alabama, but I went with the 3pm to 7pm shift. In
hindsight, I would have had less of a chance of getting canned had I been on
in the morning AND been there all day running the station. Instead we
brought in some L.A. ego to do mornings who demanded way too much money and
who didn't even last 6 months (and who hardly worked, had his underpaid
assistant do everything)!

Listen to the latest "effizode" of THE LAST PLACE ON EARTH by clicking
here...

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1881963/THE%20LAST%20PLACE%20ON%20EARTH%20show%2011.mp3

And of course you can also subscribe on iTunes.  I've got 15 subscribers now!  Yippeee!  The link is http://itunes.apple.com/podcast/the-last-place-on-earth-podcast/id396038020

Thank you and check back here for more blog but no nog!

SHOW NUMBER 11 OF "THE LAST PLACE ON EARTH!"

Hello, this is Mike Matthews, about to board the bus to go to the Last Place
on Earth.

This week, we find out what women are learning to do that before only men
could do. We hear about what Millennials are doing to get revenge on the
The New York Times Magazine. And we tell you what you need to know about
the second to the last Harry Potter movie before you spend your hard-earned
money on it.

Plus we hear music from Gepel, Hannah Georgas, Kriss, and Jake Blanton.

Ride with me to the perfect half-hour show to listen to right at this exact
moment...THE LAST PLACE ON EARTH!

I'm watching two boxers...no I'm not watching some fight on ESPN, I'm
watching my boxer, Basil, and my brother-in-law's boxer, Layla. She's what
they call a "fawn" color. She "fawns" all over Basil. As I write this,
however, they are both sleeping away. My typing only mildly awakens them.

So I don't get why I'm my birthday is Monday. It seems like yesterday I was
dreading going into my 40's. Now I'll be 2 years into it. I guess age
means nothing and you're only as old as you feel. I feel pretty good so
that's a great birthday present there.

I am a little worried about the airports though. I'll be the first to say
we need to take every precaution to keep the terrorists off our airlines,
but this radiation situation with the "back spatter" machines

WE NOW ARE IN THE DOUBLE DIGITS! "THE LAST PLACE ON EARTH" PODCAST
"EFFIZODE" NUMBER 10!

Scientists for years have run the figures on what happens if you keep
pumping carbon monoxide into the atmosphere. They take into account ALL the
green house gasses in the world, not just from the United States. Other
countries are belching up poisons ten times worse than us. Logically,
doesn't it seem with all this cee oh one being produced by the human
race (and our planet isn't getting any bigger and those gasses have no way
of escaping out to the stars) we might be on a road to destruction?

Oh, but we can't worry about that now, because our economy's in the
crapper! Got to take care of that first. Got to keep drilling. Got
to keep pumping that gas into my SUV. Got to keep laughing at alternative
forms of energy because, ooooo, that's just hippy hooey!

Seriously, the only reason why Republican and conservative talk show hosts
and politicians rail against "climate change" is because it messes with
people's money. It's like taxes. You're taking money out of my pocket to
solve this problem. You're interfering with my way of life...and that just
unAmerican! You would think that the potential to MAKE MONEY would appeal
to those who strongly identify with this party, and there is so much money
to be made in new ways of producing energy.

Out of the 100 new Republican politicians heading to congress, only half
believe climate change is real. How did we become the greatest nation on
earth with politicians not believing what our scientists are saying? You
may have heard that scientists have had enough. They are FINALLY going to
move together en masse to speak out about the defiant ignorance of so many
Americans today. We really should listen, and tell those friends and family
members who continue to live in the clouds to open their eyes and ears.
Yes, we want to be a competitive nation. No, we don't want to put chains on
the companies that got us to the top, but we can't deny the scientists that
put us there either. So get ready for a congress with politicians carrying
torches chasing after those who say the "world is round." More importantly,
get ready for the scientists to fight back!

On a different note, Castro Valley, where I call home, is having an
interesting debate over a sign that was banished in 1997 by a group of over
800 people who didn't like the way it looked. The sign cost the city
100,000 dollars and is sitting in storage. Why not use the sign? Who cares
what 800 people thought over 10 years ago? Tastes change. The town paid
for it. It should be used. And of the 800 people still around, they don't
have to see it because we'll put it on one of the less traveled streets.
This works out because there's a canoe in the sign (in reference to a local
Native American tribe) and one of the less traveled streets is right next to
our main lake. Personally, I don't see what the problem is. Then again,
I've only lived here a year.

So these two issues, one about affecting the environment with gas and the
other with ugly art, are what we talk about in this week's podcast. Okay,
no, not really. In fact, I think we maybe talk about both for a half a
second each. But the podcast is still worth listening to. Funny stuff and
cool music. Really! Just pop that sucker in your ipod or mp3 player or
just click below this sentence to hear it now!

http://ping.fm/8J887

Oh, and here are the lyrics to the song you're about to hear...
So it looks like that Glenn Beck
Is anti-semitic
ON THE LAST PLACE ON EARTH
It's one white protestant box
of white men over at FOX
ON THE LAST PLACE ON EARTH
and thanks to do them Tea Partiers got in office
that means people who think Obama is a novice
are in power though most of them are rookies
it's almost enough to make you lose your cookies
When you're with the Flinstones
They're a modern stone-age family
The party thinks like ancient cave men
Has the rest of praying AMEN...

To subscribe to the podcast on iTunes go to
http://ping.fm/8uSyl

WHAT A ROCKIN' SATURDAY NIGHT! YYYYYYYYYYYYEAH!

What do you get when you have some good friends come over and you turn on your "Rockband" video game? Usually a great time albeit a slightly competitive game-playing atmosphere.

Not the case here. This was a party! Thrown by my friends Steve and Terri who have long been fans of the home video game "Rockband" and who are expert players, this event was held in the community center at their condo complex and it had awesome acoustics! They brought in two home-made movie screens, two projectors, a self-made platform for the drummer, and all the necessary Rockband instruments. Oh, and they invited a bunch of their friends who, it turns out. love to ROCK! Three microphones on stands were in constant use throughout the evening.

The name "Rockband Party" almost sounds like a promotional event for the product, yet no one was getting any money from Sony. This was a bunch of people just enjoying a fun toy and taking it to a level of use that Sony probably never considered.

I got my feet wet with The Who's "Baba O'Riley." That's fun to perform because it gives you the sensation you're rocking a stadium. We then ran through a bunch of Classic Rock fare till younger people arrived and we proceeded on from the 90's to the present.

If you decide to throw your own Rockband or Guitar Hero party, remember that most people when they arrive will be "in their shells" and feeling too shy to perform. Alcohol, of course, gets some people going, but one of the biggest motivators is watching others perform. "If they can do it I can do it!"

One of the objects of the game is not to play so badly that your band gets booed off the stage.  Well, with a party that consists of so many different levels of expertise, it's best to do what Steve did and set the game to "no fail" so you can play so badly and never stop the game.  Of course, the game will drop all drums from the audio mix if the drummer is not playing right.  This happens with any of the other instruments so you might end up with a song that doesn't quite sound like the original.

My wife and I both played, though she doesn't like singing.  She does a great job on bass or guitar, however, and in the next photo you see her on the far left wearing a Boston concert shirt I bought back in 1986 on their "Third Stage" tour.  It was my first concert.

By the end of the evening everybody was singing!  All ages, all generations, all genders, all everyone! 

Mike Matthews hosts a podcast called THE LAST PLACE ON EARTH and writes a blog that can be found at MikeTalks.blog.com

HERE'S A NEW PODCAST OF "THE LAST PLACE ON EARTH!" WE'RE UP TO EFFIZODE 9!
RING THE BELLS! RING THOSE GLORIOUS LOUD-AS-THUNDER
WAKE-ME-UP-MUCH-TOO-EARLY-ON-A-SUNDAY BELLS!

Well, THAT was a week! Wasn't it?

As one who follows the political shows and podcasts, I see we as a country
are more interested in that guy from Chili who's running in the NY marathon
than we are with the weird things happening politically.

But, you gotta admit, he trained by running 6 miles a day in a collapsed
mine! How frickin' crazy is that? The guy's a god!

In this "effizode" we try to analyze not the politics of this week but the
general *ennui. *Do I mean *ennui *or do I mean *ouvre*? Do *I really give
a crap? *Maybe what I mean is I saw my local community college was having
an "open house" so I showed up and was asked if *I was with the press? *How
could I be with the press when I've only just now *discovered the italics
button?* I went to find out info about the courses they have there. I
stayed and ended up having some fantastic sage cheese. You know, the
greenish kind? Oh, and they had these little bite size cheese cakes and
cobblers! Doesn't that rock?!? Thank you, Chabot community college, for
your free *orderves.* Too bad your education isn't free (but believe me,
compared to most colleges, they practically are).

Listen to "effizode" 9 by clicking here...

http://ping.fm/S6YA4

Of course you can also subscribe through eye-toons by going here
http://ping.fm/os4s4

I just noticed my boxer Basil doesn't show up at all in this week's podcast
so on the count of three let's all bark in recognition of my awesome dog!

One, two, three...Woof!

Very good, now you know the sound I made when I found out Million-Dollar-Meg
didn't become our next governor.

Wooooo!

I DIDN'T GET ANY STAR SPANGLED COOKIES AT MY POLLING PLACE BUT I VOTED ANYWAY!

I'm no political analyst. Everybody knows now the Republicans have won the
House. This sort of party resurgence tends to happen every two years.
Welcome to America. That may be why we're such an awesome country: We
depend on the pendulum swinging back and forth. It's like driving cross
country...you drive a couple hours, then you wake the passenger and make
them drive a couple hours. Only in this case the passenger spends billions
of dollars in advertising to win control of the steering wheel.

2008 we took a big step as a country and voted in a black president for the
first time in what has often been a very prejudiced nation. To those on the
Right it was a disappointment. So much so the Tea Party exploded. Fueled
by an underbelly of large bellies and not always the nicest comments
directed at our president, they have knocked out legitimate Republican
candidates and have sparked a huge run to the polls. To those on the Left,
many were upset by Obama's sometimes very Bush-like moves in Afghanistan and
with the "don't-ask-don't-tell" policy. Many went to the Green party this
election cycle. Many stayed home.

So now we'll see a grand transformation with the "party of NO." They are
now going to have to flip from "no we can't" to "yes we can" or "we're gonna
go to Washington and try." They have won their party-turnaround. Now we'll
see if they're going to do everything they've promised. The shoe's on the
other foot. If they blow it, Obama will win reelection faster than you can
say "Palin."

Did we learn any thing from all of this? Yes. Here it its...WE SPEND WAY
TOO MUCH MONEY ON POLITICAL ADS! Honestly, at the end of the day, all they
do is annoy. At the end of the day, if you voted today, you hopefully
scanned the internet for non-partisan data to make your informed choice, and
didn't rely on the commercial that played 80 times during your favorite
show.

I didn't get my star-spangled cookie today, but I did get an interesting
glimpse in to what the next two years will bring. As politically active as
you were today when you went out to cast your vote, please keep it up and
keep the politician's feet to the fire. That's what this country is all
about.

MIKE IS GOING TO HELP YOU BECOME AN "INFORMED VOTER"!

Californians! Lend me your ears! I have done a lot of investigating today
to become the "informed voter" all of us Americans should strive to be. Oh,
and without a doubt DO NOT FORGET TO VOTE TOMORROW! Whomever and whatever
you vote for get your butt out there (to a polling place, I mean).

Here are some fantastic informative links that I have found that give you
BOTH SIDES of each issue and candidate. I know you're going to be busy
tonight (or early tomorrow morning) doing your own deciding so I wanted to
make it easier for you to GET ALL THE FACTS!

Once again, these are all *non-partisan.* They are not meant to sway you
one way or the other. You will be the ultimate decider as it should be in
this free society of ours. Let freedom ring and let your voice be heard!

These are all California focused websites, at least that's what I was using
them for. If you're in another state I don't know how helpful these will be
for you.

Thanks!

http://ping.fm/AN5yB

http://ping.fm/vP2oW

http://ping.fm/5V04p

http://ping.fm/i442r

http://ping.fm/kbB4q

http://ping.fm/8irIp

EFFIZODE 8 OF "THE LAST PLACE ON EARTH" RIGHT HERE! BOO! NO, DON'T BOO MY
SHOW!

Here we are on the eve of All Hallows Eve and I have done a VERY SCARY
PODCAST!

And that's different from usual how?

Oh, this is my own little way of celebrating Halloween. It's my little way
of dressing up in a scary outfit, jumping out and saying "Boo!" (To
paraphrase Orson Welles.) I hope you like it in my podcasting the
theater-of-the-mind way.

Please tell your friends about this podcast. Really, the subscriptions for
this podcast are dismal. From what I've seen on iTunes there's hardly a
blip. But that's okay. It's free for you, it's free to make, except I'm
wasting time, and time is money, as is typing this, so I'm just using commas
because I've wasted enough time on proper grammar and periods.

...

So thanks for reading this and listening to the podcast which you can find
here...

http://ping.fm/wyC8q

And as usual the link for the iTunes subscription is at
http://ping.fm/qJx3G

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!! And Happy Election Day! Make sure to vote or I'll come
back and haunt you...while you complain about the state of the world and how
you don't have a right to gripe because you didn't vote! Thanks! Bye.

THIS TUESDAY IS ELECTION DAY! WWWWWHAT?!?

Yes, by now you have been inundated (and by inundated I mean held down by an
arm sticking out of your TV screen telling you more about politicians and
propositions than you ever wanted to know) by all the political ads. DO NOT
BELIEVE A WORD OF IT!

Vote for whatever and whomever. Just please do me a favor and do this
country a favor and DO NOT GET YOUR INFORMATION FROM THE TV! Everything you
see is slanted some way: you're just getting the story that sells or looks
good.

The facts, I'm afraid, are not easy to get. You need to dig into the
internet. Search key phrases and names. Click on several choices and
INVESTIGATE. Don't simply do what your party tells you to do (and don't
just accept blindly the "voting pamphlets" they send out). Vote with your
brain. Vote like a free-thinking, non-brain-washed individual. You live in
America, the land of the free! You are free to vote whatever way you like
despite what people, organizations, and media tell you. Vote and be proud
of your vote. Just please vote. The people staying home this year are the
biggest fools of all!

There's not much time left. Before you check what all your friends are
doing on facebook and the latest sports scores, search some of the names of
the politicians and propositions. Realize that some websites, like TV, have
their slants, so take everything you see with a grain of salt. This Tuesday
will be one of the most interesting election days we've seen in a while. Be
a part of it. Whatever the outcome, at least we'll be able to say America
has spoken! So speak from YOUR brain and not the brains of those yelling at
you through the TV screen.

WHEN WALKMAN ROAMED THE EARTH

Well they announced late yesterday that the Walkman was not being
permanently discontinued, just in Japan. Okay. That's great. But I'm not
going to buy a new Walkman any time soon.

Contrast that with 1988. I was riding the Greyhound down to San Diego to
visit a friend of mine. I carried a duffle bag and a backpack full of
cassettes including one I had picked up at Music Plus in their bargain bin.
It was a Roxy Music cassette. Using the Walkman I realized that I was one
of the few American heterosexual boys that loved Bryan Ferry. His voice
forever reminds me of San Diego. That's strange. The guy's British and
probably has spent a total of five minutes there, but in my mine, they're
one. They're fused.

There were other things I learned on my 4 hour Greyhound Walkman trip.
Batteries in a Walkman last maybe 2 hours of continuous use. Suddenly, you
start to notice songs' tempos getting slower, and the singer's voice getting
lower. After a while you realize you're probably doing irreparable damage
to this priceless cassette. I put new batteries in, the music still sounds
slow. That's when I incorporated the "smacking the cassette flat on a flat
surface as hard as possible without breaking the cassette" to loosen the
wheels holding the tape. That sometimes worked I was pleased to discover.

I love the digital age. I embrace it. The fact that I can listen to hours
of music on MY PHONE while I'm traveling puts an endless smile on my face.
Cassettes, as nostalgic as I get about them, and the Walkman, even in its
constantly skipping CD state, will never compare to the wonders of the mp3
player.

One particular cassette that I loved I made at a radio station I worked at
as an intern and then later an on-air personlity. The mix tape was called
"Finn's Fine Young Tape." This was because it contained the Fine Young
Cannibals' "She Drives Me Crazy" (a new song at the time) as well as a
Crowded House song called "Recurring Dream" and the lead singer of that band
is Neil Finn. Thus, Finn's Fine Young Tape. I listened to that collection
over and over again. Most of the songs on that were new when I made it in
1988, including a song by a group called Voice of the Beehive called "Don't
Call Me Baby." They were a poppy, Bangles-esc band with two female lead
singers a la B52's and a couple male singers who were from Madness ("Our
House" in the middle of our street). Recently, thanks to Rhapsody, I
rediscovered them!

That song, "Don't Call Me Baby," was playing over and over in my head, so I
had to look them up. Sure enough, Rhapsody had them and that song since
apparently it peaked at number 15 on the American pop charts. I loved it!
My wife thought I was nuts. Soon, however, she was enjoying that and some
of the other cooky lyrical songs they have. The video is typical lame 80's
pap, but you can get a feel for the song on youtube at
http://ping.fm/7stA0 Oh, and the drummer kinda looks
like U2's drummer...was he moonlighting?

So thank you digital age, thank you Rhapsody, thank you mp3 player
technology. Even so, I have kept all my cassettes and dust them off once in
a while when I'm downstairs where I have my only cassette player. Some day,
those little bits of tape will completely disintegrate, and Sony will put
the axe on all Walkman production, even in America. But the memories will
live on...even bizarre ones that were made on a 4 hour ride to Bryan Ferry's
San Diego.





Mike's blog and podcast are at
http://ping.fm/sVxN4

THE LAST PLACE ON EARTH podcast 7!!!

So in this podcast I explain why the long hiatus between podcasts. I know,
as a Mike Matthews' Podcast Picnic consumer, you DEMAND that you have your
podcast in a timely and hilarious fashion. So here it is. Perhaps not so
timely, perhaps not so hilarious.

Oh, so I also discuss my fear of facebook taking over the world. How many
social network sites are trying to make it or have been trying to make it
and always get trounced by fb? I think it seriously has to do with the
hysteria that surrounds it. How did you find facebook? If you were like me
you were RECRUITED by someone you knew. And honestly, I didn't really even
really know the person who recruited me...really. And was that person paid
by Mark Zuckerberg to recruit me? Heck no! So by my admission it is my own
fault that I succumbed to the allure of what I thought was a new and
interesting website. Turns out it was just another fad. Another wave of
fashion. Rubic's Cube anyone?

The fact is someday, it could be next year or the year after that or the
year after that, people will get tired of facebook. They'll get tired of
the privacy issues, of living their life vicariously through a website.
Someday the tide will change.

Until then, thanks facebook for letting me promote this podcast on your
website! Gee, biting the hand that feeds means nothing when the hand makes
billions of dollars a year!

Here's the latest "effizode" of THE LAST PLACE ON EARTH! Click on the link
below...

http://ping.fm/ZHtQ7

Blimey, we're up to 7 podcasts now! Where has the time gone? (No, that's
what people say after they listen to the show...where did my time go? My
precious, precious time!)

Oh, and if you want to subscribe on iTunes (there's another company with a
little world conquest going on) my link is
http://ping.fm/4KR4j

Thanks!

HERE IS THE SIXTH PODCAST FROM "THE LAST PLACE ON EARTH"!!!

Thanks for stopping at this particular blog and checking out the crazy world
that exists in this one and only podcast called THE LAST PLACE ON EARTH.

This week we see some celebrities! We see some celebrities getting
violent! We see bizarre outcomes! Let's see if that lowly, leech-sucking
TMZ can scoop this! Hah!

So one thing I've learned this week is that if you go to a festival in
Golden Gate park don't be surprised if you leave with your nose permanently
smelling skunk. I went to a big free concert with 4 stages and there was
more pot there than a Sur La Table! (They sell pots...and pans.) I kept
walking into marijuana cloud after marijuana cloud. Geez people, if you
want to legalize pot the rules for cigars and cigarettes still apply...don't
blow your rank smoke in my face! It smells! It smells like a skunk's
behind (not that I've actually tried to quantify this but the reasoning
applies). I hate cigar and cigarette smoke, and really ALL smoke unless
it's a delicious mesquite grill cooking dinner, so show some courtesy and
watch where you're exhaling!

That said, maybe it's time we do finally legalize it. I think this our a
big chance, and no matter who's putting the money behind it, supposedly
cigarette companies and other awful people, I think if we don't do this now
the next window won't be open for many years. Oh, and speaking of windows,
you AIN'T smoking that stuff inside wherever I am if it gets legalized. You
go outside!

So enjoy this show and the craziness that ensues. And once again a BIG
CONGRATULATIONS to the future Gourleys getting married this weekend! The
wedding is going to be awesome, just as the bride and groom are!

By the way, THE LAST PLACE ON EARTH is on iTunes now and you get to it by
clicking this link...

http://ping.fm/5TbSs

Or you can click on the link below to listen. Right click on it and save if
you want to listen later when you're doing something else...like smoking
weed...

http://ping.fm/XoIBx

WENT TO FLORIDA AND SAW MOM!

I spoke a little about my trip to Daytona Beach on my podcast at...

http://ping.fm/y1tte

But I wanted to tell you a little bit more about my fun excursion!

First off, I must say I always enjoy seeing my Mom. To explain a little of
Mom's colorful history, she moved here from Germany in 1962 and started off
as an au pair paying off her plane flight and getting a foot hold in the
early 60's California economy.

By the way, she was an au pair in Bel Air! Not too shabby! She didn't know
Will Smith back then (don't think he was born yet, since we're about the
same age!), but she found employment after a year as a maid and worked her
way through some interesting jobs including one as an assistant to the
executive chef at the Ambassador Hotel!

After spending 40 years in California, however, she had had enough, and
decided on moving to Daytona Beach, Florida, after one of the customers at
the her small self-owned video store told her how nice it was. Mom requires
2 things wherever she goes: Wine and a beach. Though Daytona has no where
near the bevy of wine that California has, they do have fantastic
beaches...so she was off!

Driving across America in her tiny used Toyota MR2, Mom saw for the first
time the Deep South. A downpour near Mississippi nearly stopped her as her
little car could barely keep out the rain, but in 5 days she ended up in
Daytona Beach.

This was 2003, and she has loved it ever since

NEW "LAST PLACE ON EARTH" PODCAST! LISTEN WHILE IT'S HOT

I went to Florida
to go and see my mah
ON THE LAST PLACE ON EARTH
Lots of humidity
and much stupidity
ON THE LAST PLACE ON EARTH
they bash Obama there
because they blame
everything Bush did
on Obama's change
but they never answer
the main question though
how could he get anything
done with Republicans saying "no!"
This time baby I'll be
bulletproof!
It's great to return
to a state where I don't burn
ON THE LAST PLACE ON EARTH! YEAH!

This week I watched as my blog at vox.com disappeared. It was kind of sad.
I cried. I wanted to hold on to vox forever, but now it's gone. So forlorn.

Anyway, now that that free blog site is gone I focus my attentions
here...where you are reading this. And I also post to you my latest
podcast! Think of this as a very poorly done travelogue!

Or...just think of it as a log.

I like those.

Ever been on those "log rides" at amusement parks where you ride in a very
narrow boat that looks like a log and you hold on to the little metal rods
inside while you straddle this bizarre cushion that's slightly soaked?
Yeah, lots of fun!

So click on the show below or right click to download to your mp3 player
device to listen to later. Now go ride off on that "log ride" in your
mind...

http://ping.fm/isbVJ

PLEASE DO NOT VOTE FOR RACISTS! You may like tea partiers, but at their core they're racist and in office they will push their racist agenda! It's kkk! SoBware!

"WHERE THE STREETS HAVE NO NAME" BY THE PET SHOP BOYS ALMOST AS GOOD AS U2'S ORIGINAL! Their overproduced techno version from the early 90's holds up w/ passion

REPUBLICANS KEEP VOTING FOR RACIST TEABAGGERS! Moderates like me won't vote for your fake plastic gay bashing corporate loving smile! NO to big business & gov!!

HERE IS PODCAST #4!!!

I've spent 9 days apart
From the girl who won my heart
ON THE LAST PLACE ON EARTH!
I filled up all the days
Walking my dog for no pay
ON THE LAST PLACE ON EARTH!
Basil my boxer and
I tell you
We have gone to parks and
He would poo
Then I though him the ball
That's what we do
But he's got big jowls so
he really starts to drool
There's a girl that's been on my mind
All the time...
Soo soo sudio
So after this weekend
I get back my wife
ON THE LAST PLACE ON EARTH...YEAH!

So this is EFFIZODE number 4. I wasn't planning on doing an effizode 4 and
instead just going on my vacay to Florida to see my mom, but since my wife
is out of town I felt I would fill up all the miserable emptiness by doing a
little show for you. I hope you enjoy it.

Boy, I would like to say my heart goes out to the folks that lost their
homes in what appears to be another f up by PG&E in San Bruno. How scary is
that for your neighborhood to suddenly be engulfed by fire? They're saying
if you'd like to help the best way is to talk directly to the Red Cross. BE
CAREFUL! Times like these there are always shysters who try to take
advantage of people trying to help others. Make sure the people you are
giving money to are THE REAL DEAL.

I have traveled a lot this past week, and I could do a podcast just on
that. I should just upload a bunch of photo's for you so you can see some
of the cool stuff here in the Bay Area. We have so many fantastic things to
see in this little part of CA. Many of the people I know who live here
don't truly take advantage of it the way they should. There is beauty
everywhere. It's been fun dedicating this week to exploring.

Oh, and I explored Oakland! I just kept to the City Center because I was on
foot (and on BART) but I took the B Line free shuttle from the City Center
BART station down to Jack London square and took some AMAZING PHOTO'S (if I
do say so myself). I'll try to upload those for you soon. Then I took the
shuttle back and the driver and one of the passengers started singing old
gospel songs! Did you ever see "O Brother Where Art Thou?" It was like
that scene just before the flood comes when the grave diggers start
singing. Since it was just the three of us on the bus it felt like a very
special moment.

By the way, today I walked around the park area near the Hayward Shoreline
Interpretive Center and it was amazing! I'll have to include pix of those
too! The center itself is only open on the weekends, but the park along the
bay is free and beautiful! Instead of paying toll at the San Mateo Bridge,
check this park out instead. It's just off to the right of where the
station is, but you have to get off way before the station. Just follow the
signs.

Wow! This blog turned into a travel log! How funny! I didn't mean to do
that, but there it is. Below you can find the link to the latest podcast.
Enjoy and make sure to comment on it below. I'll mention and answer your
comment next podcast!

Here is the latest "effizode" of THE LAST PLACE ON EARTH...

http://ping.fm/UsJ9k

THE NEWEST LATEST GREATEST PODCAST from THE LAST PLACE ON EARTH!

So at some point I'll get around to updating it, but if it says anywhere on
this page "to go to my blog go to www.MikeTalks.vox.com" that has actually
been changed to www.MikeTalks.BLOG.com. Vox is no more as of the end of
this month.

I also have a new blog at www.MikesPad.typepad.com Get it, Mike's Pad?
Crazy I know.

So just a little while ago before I sent this blog out I had a little
emergency. It appears my dog, Basil the boxer, made a bee line upstairs for
the back door. You see my main computer is downstairs in the basement
though I am not entirely underground (there's some windows bringing in a
little natural light). Anyway, he runs up there and I'm thinking, does he
hear something? I run upstairs to check it out but as I get about half way
up it dawns on me HE'S GOTTA PEE! Sure enough, he's already starting to
piddle. I run to the back door and let him out and he runs to the first
open space of dirt and begins to pee. Now I don't know how long he waited,
but it was coming out in little spurts, like it wasn't going to come out at
all! Then a stream! Then he walked around the yard a bit, looked like he
was done, and then ANOTHER stream. Then that went on for a while and GEEZ!
That dog really had to go! I felt bad. I guess if he runs up the stairs I
need to be right there with him no matter what kind of awesome podcast I'm
making!

By the way, I've made an awesome podcast!

Well, you might like it. If you don't, that's fine. Honestly, I don't
think anyone is even reading this right now. Yes, I have hit the belly of
despair. All I can say is, well, at least I tried.

Enjoy the podcast picnic. All three of my crazy character friends are
here. If you haven't met them yet, well please listen and engage. You can
hear it by clicking on the link below....

http://ping.fm/NsG5F

Thanks!

WHAT ON EARTH WAS THAT SHOW "PUSHING DAISIES?"

My wife and I finished all 2 seasons (it only lasted 2 seasons) of "Pushing
Daisies." We caught all the episodes on the online Netflix and after seeing
it again I can give you a fresh perspective if you've never watched it.

First off, the show is done as fanciful as possible. The music in the
background was chosen to give it a "fairy tale" like quality. The main
hero, Ned, brings dead people back to life. However, if he doesn't touch
them again before a minute's up, someone else dies who's standing in close
proximity. When he touches the dead person again they stay dead forever.

So to make it interesting Ned brings back to life his childhood sweetheart,
Charles, who falls in love with him even though they can never touch again.
The two of them hang around a detective and they solve crimes. There's all
sorts of fringe story lines that take over here and there but basically this
is a murder mystery show.

The show was loved by the critics. Entertainment Weekly talked it up so
much I had to watch it online (me who refuses to have a TV). My wife and I
loved Kristin Chenoweth who played Olive, the only employee of Ned's cafe
called The Pie Hole. Obviously the producers of the show loved her too
because they had her sing 80's songs at random moments throughout the show.


The show was great except for 2 little problems: the constant recap of plot
lines and the hurried ending of the series.

Every show began with what seemed like a 10 minute review of everything that
happened on the show before. I love shows that have several continuing plot
lines that run from episode to episode, but if you're a loyal fan of the
show the recap gets annoying. We know all this already! To recap they
often wrote the lamest most forced dialogue that was delivered by the actors
at break neck speed.

Then the show lost ratings big time in the second season, mostly ratings it
didn't have to begin with. The writers had to wrap up the show in less than
3 episodes which left some bizarre strings hanging. First, George Hamilton
appeared at the end of one show playing who was supposedly Ned's long lost
father. Second, Charles long lost father, who was brought back to life by
Ned, drove off in Ned's car and was never heard from again. Third, someone
completely destroyed one of the episodes that showed the Detective, Emerson
Cod, meeting up with his ex-wife and daughter. You can't find this episode
anywhere! The final episode moves so quickly you almost have to tivo it and
set it to extra slow motion.

The creators of this show also did a short lived, one season program called
"Wonder Falls" which ran on FOX. My wife and I tried to watch it this past
weekend and could barely get through the first episode it was so awful. The
main character was this bratty girl and the premise of her seeing inanimate
objects come to life could have been better if the writers could have come
up with better dialogue. The one hour show seemed like it lasted two
hours. Boring, boring, boring. We were so disappointed given that we loved
"Pushing Daisies" so much.

This has been MIKE MAKES HIS MIND UP on "Pushing Daisies." Let me know what
you thought of the show!

A NEW "PODCAST PICNIC" from THE LAST PLACE ON EARTH!

Click here to hear the latest effizode...

http://ping.fm/4u68w

I believe you can right click and save it to your ipodmp3 device if you want
to listen to it later...say, driving the car, say. Or perhaps while
shampooing your pet horse, say. Or perhaps just in the comfort of your own
house of mirrors. Anything comforting like that. Say.

I really gotta pea
So I'll join the Tea Party
ON THE LAST PLACE ON EARTH
Can't wait to run and play
With a group that loves to hate
ON THE LAST PLACE ON EARTH
I worked in Alabama
For 2 years
People in red states
Live in fear
They also live
For real cheap beer
In NASCAR's at least
they know how to steer
Through the eyes of love
And to never know what pain is
OF ALL THE THINGS SHE SAID SHE SAID
That was Simple Minds
Like the Tea Party kind
ON THE LAST PLACE ON EARTH...YEAH!

Mike, I didn't follow any of that.

As I write this I am SOOOOOO HUNGRY but the most awesome Chinese restaurant
near us doesn't open till 5pm so I am typing with hungered stomach.

Please email me at Michael.Matthews@myspace.com if you have a comment or
suggestion for this show. I will read your email on next week's show. By
the way, if you'd like to do this little American thing that's as proud as
apple pie called "advertising" please feel free to email me there, as well.

Well I'll let you get to listenin' to the show where we elaborate some more
about interesting stuff much more so than in the starving written word
here. Once again you can get to my latest podcast by clicking here at...

http://ping.fm/uVNCl

Thanks for listening!

SO MUCH FOR TRYING TO CREATE A LINK FOR MY VIDEO!

It appears it did not work or if you try to download it it takes too much
time. So the best thing to do is to go here to see the "animated" version
of the podcast...

http://goo.gl/b/66ng

And as for the just straight audio version of the podcast you can go
here....

http://ping.fm/rzgJG

Next time I'll know to forgo the video version since that seems to cause all
my computers to crash and no one has a great apparatus for allowing you to
host it.

By the by, the photo of whence I spoke of in the last blog was not included
so there you have it at the top of this blog (hopefully).

Awwww, technology.

Thanks for listening to THE LAST PLACE ON EARTH!

HERE IS THE LINK TO SEE THE "ANIMATED VERSION" OF MY PODCAST!

http://ping.fm/uLUT3

You've heard the podcast, now see what's going on camera (sort of) on my
show THE LAST PLACE ON EARTH!

Enjoy!

Oh, and that's a picture of my friend Robert and I acting all rap-like. I
really look like I know what I'm doing, don't I? (Or, that I'm in pain and
I know I'll never be able to stand upright again.)

IN CASE THAT LINK DIDN'T WORK IN MY LAST BLOG POST

Here is the link you can click on to listen to my new podcast called THE
LAST PLACE ON EARTH!

http://ping.fm/Uhn0m

If clicking on it doesn't open it you can copy and paste it to your address
bar.

Enjoy!

I HAVE RECORDED A FANTASTIC PODCAST FOR YOU TO LISTEN TO!

Click here to listen to my new podcast called THE LAST PLACE ON EARTH! You
can also right click and do that "save target" thing and download it to your
ipod thing.

Thing thing thing. Thing.

My new PODCAST PICNIC from THE LAST PLACE ON EARTH!

I DON'T KNOW HOW WE DID IT, BUT WE DROVE FROM CA TO AL

In 2007 we embarked on my first ever cross country journey. My wife had
done it going from Texas to California, but not this direction and on this
route. Route 40 following ever so close to the famous Route 66.

We ended up leaving LA early Sunday morning and ended up in Flagstaff Sunday
night. Then we ended up getting up really early the next morning and
hitting the road for Amarillo. That's what I hate about cross country road
trips, all the getting up early, driving all day, and then getting to bed
late just to turn around and do it again the next day. You don't even get
to really enjoy the amazing things your seeing.

The picture above is from when we drove through New Mexico just after
Albuquerque. We hit this huge sudden downpour of hail and lightning and all
kinds of stuff we don't usually see in Southern Cal. We had just left an
AWFUL Mexican restaurant in Albuquerque, by the way. It was so bad, I
didn't even tip, and I ALWAYS TIP!

So finally at the end of the day we reached Amarillo where we stayed the
night and the next morning I began hearing accents! As I ate a waffle
shaped like Texas in the hotel lobby, I heard all around me words and
pronunciations I seldom heard in my coastal California town. This
only increased as we flew through Oklahoma and then Arkansas where we stayed
the night just inside the city limits of Little Rock one of the worst
hotels I have ever stayed at!

The entrance to our hotel room was a few feet away from an indoor swimming
pool. The room smelled of chlorine. Not to mention the hotel had people
staying there who were "permanent." Just a bizarre place. The next morning
I went out to get Starbucks for my wife who was putting on her make-up and
the barista told me she too was from California in the general area that I
was from . That made me feel good and let me know the finger prints of my
state could be seen everywhere.

That day saw us go through Memphis, Tennessee, into Mississippi, then
through Muscle Shoals, Alabama. The history I was passing through! In
Muscle Shoals some of my favorite tunes had been recorded. Then it was an
hour to Huntsville and green, green grass and trees and lovely humidity.
Then the beginning of our new life that would last EXACTLY two years!

More on that on the way as well as a new crazy podcast! Check back soon!

McMANSIONS ARE DEAD! YAYYYYYY!

Living in Huntsville, Alabama, all you see are McMansions. When you are
first surrounded by them, after living in Ventura, California, the land of
the 1500 square foot homes, you think, "Wow, look at all these beautiful
homes! There's places for kids to play. This is paradise!"

But if you've ever lived in a 2000 plus square foot home you start to
realize, YOU'VE GOT A LOT OF SPACE TO FILL!

I went into several McMansions in the South and noticed...people fill them
up with crap! Superfluous stuff. At some point you can't hold on to junk,
that's what they invented garage sales for. Oh, and that's another thing:
nobody has garage sales! Saturday mornings people are squeezing in that
extra visit to their favorite mega-church.

The real estate site Trulia and several developers across the nation say
that the era of the McMansion is over. I can't believe that in the 1960's
the average home size was 1200 square feet, in the 1980's it was 1710 square
feet, and by the 2000's it was 2330 square feet!

No wonder we are getting so heavy as a nation, we've had room to grow!

So now people are scaling back. Square footage is going back down under
2000. People need to downsize and hopefully this will continue so we stop
being so wasteful. We Americans have a natural tendency to be wasteful.
Actually, it's more of a human trait. You go to countries that don't
monitor this stuff and it's shocking what they waste, what goes into their
water systems, what goes into their air. I live in a town now where you
have 3 trash cans: one that goes to the landfill and the other 2 go to
recycling and green waste. AND THEY CLOSELY MONITOR IT! If you mess up and
put green waste in the recycling can you get fined at least 80 bucks! But
that's the kind of self-monitoring we need to do. Mother Nature doesn't
take too kindly to wasteful humans. She'll shake us off like a dog after a
bath.

Relocating from Alabama to Alameda (county) I have seen a lot of differences
that make sense to me now, and I'm glad for one that the McMansions are
disappearing. Next blog I'll tell you more about the trip my wife and I
made cross-country in her car as we moved to Alabama almost three years ago.

In 2007 I moved to Huntsville, Alabama.

Along with my amazing wife we moved our furniture that covered a not quite
500 square foot duplex unit in Ventura, California.

That's Southern California.

Thinking maybe being in the south part of one of the largest states and
economies in the world I thought I might be prepared for "The South." Well
that was a bit of an assumption on my part.

I will tell you I am known for my assumptions. My wife points them out to
me, "Just because person X does that sometimes does not mean he or she does
that ALL the time!"

The South is known for it's hospitality. One of the first things I noticed
was when I drove on two lane country roads, EVERYBODY WAVED TO ME! Some
people did the "one finger wave." In California, that means you just got
flipped off. In the South it's your pointing finger raising ever so
slightly off your steering wheel, and it's quite friendly.

I still am amazed by that. Now that I live in Alameda County in California
I don't see it as much. Yes, I do get a friendly wave now and then though
it's entirely when driving in the suburban parts, never the cities.

Oh, and the HUMIDITY! Yes, that was very different than from where I was
from. The "h's," hospitality and humidity. Those were the biggest
changes. With humidity comes unpredictable, sometimes violent weather. We
saw our share of that.

It was a chore to become adapted to the South, much more than I thought it
would.

What was even crazier was the drive there.

I AM SO SICK OF MEG BRAINWASHING AND BUY HER WAY INTO CALIFORNIA! HERE IS the Truth About Jerry | Jerry Brown for Governor http://ping.fm/TK2FC

ANTI-INTELLECTUALISM RUNS RAMPANT IN TEA PARTY!!! Creationists, racists, calling-everybody-socialists...how can I support this group? They want "change" &drknss

POLITICAL DEBATE IS A FUN FUN THING

So I was reading a friend of mine's post on facebook the other day and he said congratulations to Elena Kagan being sworn in as new Supreme Court justice. One of the comments below from one of his friends had a problem with Ms. Kagan not being entirely "investigated" before she was nominated and that Obama is just ramrodding her down our collective throats.

I went back and forth with this guy over the topic in the comments I left below his on this thread, yet he always returned to his point that Elena Kagan was never completely dissected in public for all the world to see.

Though I agree all this needs to be transparent, something Obama promised on the campaign trail, what irks me is this facebook commenter would probably not give a dang if the new justice had been nominated by a Republican president.

I am soooo sick of the johnny-come-lately's. I'm sick of people protesting taxes, when the last president was just as bad and none of their teetotaling buddies cared back then. It's just when a new president, who isn't their party or their color comes along, they decide to bust out their folding chairs and igloos and make a holler.

The facebook guy was causing the same trouble. And though one of his white palin-lovin' gay-hatin' friends came to his defense to go after me, it was obvious I was not going to change his mind in that I am not some private investigator who can tell you everything Elena is about.

Quite frankly, none of my friends can.

That's how we Americans are. There's so much that the government does that we never see. But why all the attention, all of a sudden? Obama is giving us much more transparency than the last administration: remember the darth lord Cheney? Yet all those people that supported the last administration are now coming out of the woodwork to protest the new one. How seriously can you take them when they're just jumping on a rickety band wagon?

I bring this argument up about how Fox and talk radio fires against the President every day, yet the Dixie Chicks become practically lynched because of one 15 word sentence they said at a completely obscure concert no one over here cared about.

Smell hypocrisy? If you don't you'll probably be voting for a bespectacled moose-hunter in 2 years.

So how do conservative "entertainers" get away with being blatantly racist? Why would you watch/listen to someone who CONTINUOUSLY speak Hitleresc comments? Ugh

WHAT DO THE REPUBLICAN METEOROLOGISTS ON THE EAST COAST HAVE TO SAY NOW? This past cold winter they scoffed @ global warming. Karma heatwave anyone? Stopdenyin!

WHERE HAVE ALL THE GREAT FEMALE SINGERS GONE? YOU KNOW, LIKE SHIRLEY MANSON!

My wife and I were driving along on the Monday after Independence Day and listening to a CD I made almost 6 years ago for a trip we were making to Sausalito (now we live in the Bay Area--Yeah!). I put on this CD only songs I knew my wife liked (except Dire Straights "Calling Elvis"--love Mark Knopfler's voice on that!) and I started noticing how many great female singers used to be played on "Alternative" radio.

Garbage with Shirley Manson for one. She had an interesting rock voice that had a hefty bit of defiance in it while also being melodic. There was also that haunting almost waltz-like song "Fade Into You" by Mazzy Star that included the magnificent yearning vocals of Hope Sandoval. If you play that song now it's like the "go to" tune for instant 90's coffee house nostalgia. Real black-haired Alyson Hannigan "How I Met Your Mother" stuff.

Remember Republica? Remember the group they always got confused with, Luscious Jackson? Remember which one sang "Naked Eye"? I'll give you a hint, Republica sang "Ready To Go."

Remember when Sarah McLachlin was considered "alternative" (as in the radio not the lifestyle)? Tora Amos used to get played right next to Nirvana and Pearl Jam. And No Doubt! Gwen Stefani, before she "hollaback"d, was all over this format.

That format, incidentally, lives on only in internet HD sites or indepedently run stations. It was a fun format. It was stuff that sounded so different from all the Bonnie Raitt and Whitney Houston getting played at the time. 90's Alternative had a lot of the new mixed in with great stuff from the 70's and 80's.

Oh my god! I almost forgot Jamie Osbourne and her "God" song! Yes, that brings you back to the 90's. She's incredible live, by the way!

Comment below about your favorite 90's female act, and we'll revisit this topic later! Thanks for reading!

"NETWORKING"...AN ANNOYING WORD BUT THE ONLY WAY TO GET A JOB

I have decided that I can't find a job unless I find someone to find me the job. Every great job I've snagged has been thanks to a phenominal person that "talked me up" to someone inside the company.

I have spent MONTHS applying to jobs and have heard back NOTHING!!! I've emailed resumes, walked in to businesses and handed my resumes to the boss but nothing. No response at all.

Another thing I've done is signed up for emails from different "job sights" that just send me all this redundant cheerleading crap. Reading that stuff ain't going to get me a job!

It's knowing someone on the inside that will.

IT'S NOT WHAT YOU KNOW, IT'S WHO YOU KNOW THAT WILL HELP YOU OUT!

CHAPTER 1

"Well that didn't go so well," she said as she woke up with a screaming back pain. "I thought maybe I'd be able to get out of bed, not stay in it permanently."

The sun was out, her room was illuminated. Her nightstand was full of tissue paper there in case she should wake in the middle of the night sneezing. But that would have been even a worse scenario being the state she was in.

Lying next to the tissue paper sat a cellphone. Not the top of the line brand, not a fancy smart phone, just a regular small unit that could get the basics done. It wasn't attached to a charger. It wasn't even on. Yet she was staring at it.

Today she would accomplish at least two things. Being that it was Saturday, she didn't really have to do anything, but she was set on accomplishing everything on this short list. Number one was to get out of bed without fainting from the pain. And number two was to turn on that cellphone...

And begin her life.

I have a new podcast or cellcast at www.cinchcast.com/MikeMatthews Comment on it there especially if you're a big "Toy Story" fan. I was but in 1997! Iwasocool!

HELEN THOMAS RESIGNS

Wow! I talked about her LAST TIME ADDRESSING A PRESIDENT AT A PRESS CONFERENCE in one of my recent blogs. She was asking Obama about getting us out of Afghanistan, and the President looked at her like he was honored to take the question.

Helen always said what she felt, and no doubt with the latest troubles between Israel and Palestine she had some severe thoughts. It's bizarre that what she said was in response to a question given to her by a rabbi.

She's been asking presidents questions since Eisenhower and now she's silenced by the internet itself. I'm sure the rest of her life will be consumed by trying to explain herself.

Will those thoughts make headline news? Probably not. We'll have all moved on to the next controversy.

I just posted my latest podcast and blog...Listen to MIKE'S PODCAST PICNIC by going to www.MikeTalks.vox.com and listen to the craziness that ensues with Chely Shoehart, the Disgruntled Fiddle Player, Benita the Rodeo Queen, and Basil the Boxer Dog! Tell all your friends! (Oh, and Mike sings...yikes!)

NEW PODCAST READY FOR YOUR EARS @ www.MikeTalks.vox.com !!i!! I have assembled Chely Shoehart, Disgruntled Fiddle Player, & Benita the rodeoqueen for a coolchat

HELEN THOMAS ASKS OBAMA BIG AFGHAN QUESTION IN THE MIDDLE OF OIL SPILL PRESS CONFERENCE.

Wow, how old is she now? 80? I saw the documentary on her and found her to be such a hoot. She's questioned more presidents than anybody today and she is still focused on bringing back our young men and women (fitting so close to Memorial Day).

So that was her question: When are going to bring them home and don't give us a bunch of bulls&*^t (or "Bushisms").

The President did his best to explain the extremists there and that they're still a threat and that they need to be neutralized and that and that and that...

Helen talks in the Bay Area from time to time to a crowd that overwhelmingly endorses her. It's so fun to watch her get picked to ask her questions. Looks like Obama even relishes it.

I have made a new cellcast picnic at www.cinchcast.com/MikeMatthews You can also subscribe to it on itunes by putting www.cinchcast.com/MikeMatthews in searchbx

Benita, Chely, and the Disgruntled Fiddle Player will join me for another podcast picnic soon. We will be doing it at www.MikeTalks.vox.com click back theresoon

It's devastating to see what's going on in the gulf. Imagine what would happen to California's coast and Arnold bankrupt economy if we had such a spill! Seeabov

RIGHT ABOUT NOW AS THE OIL BEGINS TO DISRUPT LIFE AND ANGER VOTERS LIVING IN THE RED STATE COASTAL TOWNS, REPUBLICANS ARE BEGINNING TO MAYBE RETHINK THIS WHOLE OIL DRILLING THING.

Now you see in the media conservatives flailing their hands on both sides...those that hate Obama because he's putting pressure on BP and those that hate Obama because he's not putting enough pressure on BP.

Rand called him "unpatriotic" for putting pressure on British Petroleum. The governor of Louisiana said he's not doing enough.

Right about now maybe YOU'RE glad that you're not president!

The fault is BP's, plain and simple. They started the mess, they have to clean it up. Heck, the conservatives that fought all the "hippies" for the right to drill should be the one's cleaning it up.

As the slick gets bigger, so does the blame. Don't get lost in the sludge of who's to blame. Trace it do the beginning, and hold those folks' feet to the fire.

LET'S KEEP AN EYE ON THE OIL GUYS AND THE COAL GUYS! IT'S PATRIOTIC AND IT'S THE ONLY WAY WE AVOID MORE HORRIBLE CATASTROPHES!

Rand Paul said it was unpatriotic for the Obama administration to say it was going to keep the boot on BP till they finish the horrible mess that they started. Is Rand furreal? I don't see on what planet that would even be mildly misconstrued as unpatriotic!

For one thing, BP stands for BRITISH Petroleum. Yeah, wrong country, dope!

For another, what's wrong with defending the beauty that makes our country great? Does Rand want all those birds to die so that they'll stop flying around annoying his teaparty friends who hate seeing anything else in the sky except the black smoke belching into it from the industries that he promotes?

And speaking of black smoke...and black lung, I heard the poor man who was one of the survivors of the horrible coal mining disaster testifying today that the Massey owners told him if he complained about any of the things they were doing wrong he'd be fired. You could hear in his voice the amount of dust and minerals he'd accumulated. The poor guy. To see his friends die because the company operated in such a terrible-BP-sort-of way.

Let's keep the boot to all these idiots that believe they are above the law. That they are above the forces of nature that will bite us in the ass if we don't watch out! Birds are dying, sea life is dying, the Gulf is dying because of a horrible foreign oil company doing the most damaging thing to our beautiful ecosystems. We threw tea into the Boston harbor to get rid of the British. Oil trumps tea, especially the millions of gallons that have burbled up in the past couple of weeks. In the end, though, it's a war between us and the big corporations that don't care about us.

The founding fathers knew what was patriotic. Some opportunistic politician with a name like "rand" has no clue.

AFTER THIS BP MESS, CAN YOU REALLY SAY ANYTHING AGAINST REGULATION?

Some people say regulation will kill this country. Well, we've seen what's happened with the economy, with the coal mine industry, and with the Gulf being forever sullied.

We are a world that, left to its own devices, will NOT do the right thing. Yes, government is the only thing with the force to stop the injustices that big unscrupulous companies will do to the planet.

If there is one iota of peril involved with anything the big corporations are doing. If they can threaten even one human being with their decisions, then they must be watched.

I am so disgusted with BP. What they are doing in the Gulf is a make-it-up-as-we-go-along scenario. They mean to tell you that they did NO PLANNING WHATSOEVER in the case of an emergency. Ironic how the red states will be the ones who will endure the immediate consequences.

BP passed the buck when put on the hot seat on Capitol Hill. They've acted like irresponsible children. How did we ever let such ingrates have a permit to drill in our waters? Who is standing behind BP now that they have shown to the world how horrible they are?

Do your part. Avoid BP gas stations. Endorse any candidate or any proposition the promotes regulating and restricting companies that could force another environmental catastrophe on us.

The media, yes ALL media, has done so little to bring this story to the fore. I think that's a product of the right-wing more than anything. After all, it's their desire that we drill and destroy all of our beautiful American coastline.

All for a lousy buck.

NBC STANDS FOR NOTHING BUT CANCELED!

So first they cancel my sweet red headed freak Conan. Then they cancel a show I don't watch any more called "Law & Order." Now they've canceled "Heroes." What gives?

I get the feeling NBC is similar to a radio corporation I worked for who decided when the ship was sinking to run around and throw everyone overboard.

It will be interesting to see what they come up with to fill all these canceled shows. I must say I am a fan of the "Parenthood" program. This is mainly because of the two actors I love, Lauren Graham and Craig T. Nelson, are fantastic on it. Sometimes that show is so on the money with being fresh and original. Of course, how original can a show be that's launched from a movie that came out 20 years ago?

Why won't anyone hire a smart talented fellow such as me? I RAN A RADIO STATION FOR CRIS' SAKE! All they want to know is he I've "sold" before...I sold my soul!

Going to take my first dog training class! Am I only wetting my feet to see what other classes lay in store for me? It's very clear I won't get a job unless Ido

The South is getting it from all directions: Oil in the Gulf, floods in Tennessee. So sad to see parts of Nashville completely submerged. Hope it gets better:-)

Is Christina Aguilera really over with? She seems to be immitating Lady Gaga now. Maybe it's time 4 her to do a reality show with Britney & Jessica! Leavecmmnt>

My podcast picnic live from a nice & windy (yet oil free) Northern California beach can be heard at www.cinchcast.com/MikeMatthews B-) It's a beautiful day SF!

MY NEW CELL PODCAST...CINCH CAST.COM/MikeMatthews

I have created an easier way to podcast. Go to www.cinchcast.com/MikeMatthews to hear my impromptu cell podcast picnics. Subscribe to getthelatestnews

Well England, way to get onto America's headlines. Oil spill. Wannabe Obama caught backtracking on camera. We really wish you'd bring us something positive. Plz

I'm promoting this blog by giving stuff away I was trying to sell on craigslist. Is this a good idea or am I batshi# crazy? Comment below. Say if u want 2 pdcst

Walking with my boxer and he's resting in the middle of our walk. It's a beautiful day and he gets a little overheated. Perfect time for a tiny blog. Comment...

WHY WOULD YOU SEND A CHILD ON AN AIRPLANE BACK TO RUSSIA LIKE A FISHERMAN THROWING BACK A FISH???

I lived just 10 minutes from the Tennessee border (in Alabama). This is the state that is proud to be the home of the idiot that sent an adopted child back to Russia with NOTHING BUT A NOTE saying she couldn't deal with him.

Does this not send the most absolute worse impression of America to the world? We treat people, like our resources, like so much disposable aluminum cans.

Russia, to the their credit, has said NO to America. No more adoptions.

As someone who has a friend that has spent YEARS going through the adoption process, this story is just sickening. My friend has spent countless hours on paperwork and emotional highs and lows going throw the process with now THREE different countries. Each country was another 2 years, another bout of waiting for an answer and for papers to be processed, another check, another rejection.

AND THIS IDIOT FROM TENNESSEE JUST THROWS HER CHILD BACK!

At the very least this woman should have sought help. She should have gone to as many counselors, psychologists, therapists, etc to work this out. YOU DON'T GET TO SEND A CHILD BACK! She should be publicly humiliated.

I have little respect for anyone who sympathizes with her. You might say, Oh, you don't know what she went through. She might have had a very very hard time of it.

If the kid killed her husband, maybe I'd be a little more sympathetic. I think anyone would. But this just sounds like someone who didn't take enough time to solve what is a solvable problem.

Hopefully we as a country will not allow this sort of thing to happen again.

I am walking my boxer and he suddenly decides to lay down and rest. I must stop and blog. Looking out over the world I wonder what the next step in my career is

Comment below this entry if you'd like me to interview you for my next podcast "Mike's Podcast Picnic." You can hear it at MikeTalks.vox.com U can also sponsor!

TAX DAY, IRONICALLY, IS THE LAST DAY FOR TEA PARTY!

I guess when the day that gets you the most heated finally comes around, you have to either put up or shut up.

In their case, they were flushed out.

So to look through several news outlets not controlled by the "left wing conspiracy," the complaint that is at the basic foundation of the tea party, that we pay too much in taxes, is untrue. We don't and we're paying far less than we have in a long time. Most people don't even know the kind of tax breaks they're getting because the one the thing this current administration can be criticized for is they're not publicizing it enough.

So if that's the case, where were these tea-drinking hypocrites 3 even 2 years ago when we had a president taxing us more? Oh wait, he was a Republican, that doesn't count.

So (yes, the third paragraph I'm starting with that word) the fox tv variety show host sean hannity, whom I must disclose I worked with back at KCSB in 1989 before he became "a success," was supposed to be the big guest at the cincinnati tea party rally. He had to cancel because the organizers of the event were charging for admission. They were "taxing" their attendees. No matter how much s.h.(*t) tries to explain himself and say what the teabaggers were really doing (protesting a black president) was commendable, the fact is he drew more attention by NOT SHOWING. He basically caused "the big curtain drop" on this ill-founded movement.

I have Republican friends. I understand their complaints of big government. I get lost in their explanation, however, of trying to defend a biggoted grass-roots organization.

I must not be drinking enough tea. I do love a good ice tea...with just a dash of stevia.

BIG DOPEY IDIOT FIRES THE BEST CREATIVE EMPLOYEE HE'S EVER HAD!

What? You didn't see this headline recently? Oh, it happens often nowadays. Why? Because of "the economy."

That and only the CRAP rises to the top. The white, male CRAP!

So I work for a company for 8 years, do everything I can for it, burn out my weekends for it, kill most my nights for it, and then I get respectfully dismissed. No one cries foul. No one wonders about the horrible imbalance of power. No one wonders why.

This happens over and over not only in the entertainment industry (ie. Conan) but elsewhere in every business that lives. Only the crap rises.

It depresses me. I wonder, am I the only one? No! Apparently this happens to all who get let go from former companies. Well, more so from those who gave their all.

I can only feel better knowing that I'm happy not having to work for such an awful company anymore. A company that let me go USING A SURROGATE! Yes, the white male fool didn't even have the courage to do it himself. Just months earlier, I was told to let go one of my own staff and it was a hard experience as I had to drive the said individual home (since they had driven to work in the company car). The fool who dismissed me did it from a desk hundreds of miles away while he was thinking about his golf game or some stupid Alabama football team.

I feel there has come a time, now, in this Democratic run government, where the feathered bird has come home to roost and the brown substance has hit the fan. Companies are finding it harder to run this way, making the cowardly white people scared and bringing power back to the hard working Americans.

I pound this keyboard in a very bitter state. But let me tell you that this blog brings me solace. It brings me happiness to know that others out there have been here. They have seen this. They may even know the company I complain about without saying the name or the people involved. There are hard hardworking people. They need to be recognized.

They need to know their sweat was not in vain.

Conan found fairness in TBS. May we all find our TBS.