Schnauzer Logic Episode 51 is Online!!!

04.12.07 (3:43 pm)   [edit]

Schnauzer Logic Episode 51 is Online!!!

***update*** for folks looking for our Mort interview show, you can download the entire program (Episode 51) by using this link:

Schnauzer Logic - Episode 51 - Complete Show

of, if you'd just like the the Mort interview, you can use this link:

Schnauzer Logic - Episode 51 - Mort Sahl Interview

mort had agreed to do 20 minutes with us, but stayed for almost an hour... the interview starts off a bit 'rocky'... i didn't have a chance to pre-interview mort (it wasn't clear if he was going to be available until about 15 minutes before showtime, as he was getting ready for a gig at the Hermosa Beach Comedy & Magic Club) and at the start of the interview, mort was driving and on his cell in a spotty part of the valley... as a result, sean, parviz and i appear to gab on about -nothing-... in truth, what was happening behind the scenes, was that i was furiously dialing the different numbers, and shooting instant messages, to try and triangulate on mort's actual location... in show business, its called 'vamping... in radio, its called 'panic'... (and on Schnauzer Logic, its just another routine interview!)... so hang with us (or fast forward) to about 12 minutes in, when we settle down and start the interview, proper, shut the hell up and let mort do the talking!

btw, if you've gotten here from a link on another site(thanks, POVonline/Newsfromme, SHECKYmagazine and Ken Turetzky!), be sure to hit the [Home] button at the top of the page to go to the top of our show blog, and check out all the latest news and photos from the Mort Sahl 80th Birthday Tribute Concert at the Wadsworth Theater in Los Angeles... also, feel free to check out some of our other recent shows and interviews (ThinkFILM co-founder, Mark Urman, Comedian/Writer/Actor Taylor Negron, Writer/Director/Second City Alum Rich Talarico, and NYTimes Obituary Writer, Margalit Fox)... they're all available online or down-loadable (for free) from the Apple iTunes Music Store (just search for Schnauzer Logic)

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Sonovista, my friends! If you haven't already heard this week's show, you're in for a treat!

Thanks to the good offices of Jann Karam and Ross Shafer, our very special guest, last night, was the legendary godfather of political comedy, Mort Sahl.



I won't take up much space giving you Mort's bona fides... as others have said (with fewer typos) , "Mort Sahl remains an inspiration to humorists and social critics everywhere", and to quote journalist John Hart, "Mort Sahl doesn't tell jokes as much as he tells the truth."

Suffice it to say, Mort spent an hour with us discussing 50 years of humor and politics, making us laugh hard, and work even harder, to keep up with him almost every minute of that hour. (Mort turns 80 on May 11th and is performing tonight, April 12, at The Comedy and Magic Club in Hermosa Beach, so if you still think that getting old means your body, mind or spirit has to slow down, think again!)

For those looking for a few Mort links, the following are a good place to start:
The Mort Sahl Website
Mort Sahl in Wikipedia
PBS American Masters: Mort Sahl
Mort Sahl Saves The World / LA Weekly (Aug 2006)
Alan King Award in American Jewish Humor
(contains excerpt of Robert B. Weide's documentary, The Loyal Opposition)

Our good and smarter friends, Charles Laquidara and Ken Turetzky helped us with show prep, but truth be told, we barely got through 1/10th of the topics I had hoped to cover, and listening back to the show as I got it ready to upload to our servers, i realized that everything Mort said triggered another 10 questions in 10 more areas. (Plus, no matter how cool I think I am, I still get star-struck when I have the chance to interview artistic heros or, in the case of Mort, heros I shared with my Dad. Which is a nice way for me to say that the interview started off a little rocky, but smoothed out once we got above 10,000 feet.)

And, after spending an hour with Mort, here's a question I haven't been able to answer: Why hasn't someone put Mort back on the air? Air America Radio is redoing their lineup, moving Sam Seder to Sunday... What about a lead-in, "Sundays With Mort"? Two hours, every week, coast-to-coast on Air America and XM? I know a couple of amazing talk-radio producers in LA who would jump on that gig (and at least one schnauzer-loving jew willing to co-host and play the role of naif.)

Ok... enough shameless plugs...

For regular Schnauzer Logic listeners, this whole show is a good'un... In the second hour we dig into the Don Imus story with KNX writer/producer and Schnauzer Logic regular, Jason Nathanson, and talk with J about his interview with the FBI, a bit of Sopranos, and nothing about American Idol. We then finish with a review, and discussion with Sean, of my first-ever viewing of the 1968 classic, Bullitt (the late fee's on that rental are gonna be HUGE). And along the way the three of us chime in with the Minimum Daily Adult Requirement of silly things (Parviz may have produced a bit too much... we'll have to check his urine.) Plus new tunes from Avril Lavigne and Fountains of Wayne and a reprise of the Ben Folds cover of Dr. Dre's "Bitches Ain't Shit" (no, I don't think he's a real doctor... maybe a chiropractor?)

For new Schnauzer Logic listeners, who are here for the first time to listen to Mort, we've clipped the interview without the music between the segments (when the black helicopters almost got him), and you can download that 1:02:00 MP3 file ::here:: (but we invite you to listen to more or check out the archives, all available for free on the iTunes Music Store)

And that's it... In coming weeks Bobby Slayton or Bobby Kelton (or both or neither... there was a lot of static on that call), more Parviz, a new episode of Win John DeKoven's Money and the return of our official Harvard Co-Ed friend, Aliza Aufrichtig, who's going to be taking up the summer travel writing gig that launched our friend Robin Goldstein (the -other-) on his writing career... we'll try to have them on together and see if Aliza can tell us apart (I know I can't).

Thanks again for all the notes and calls. And special thanks to the listener who made the generous donation (I'll keep their name anonymous since I haven't had a chance to contact them directly.) We have a donation button at the top of the page but never really mention it (I was told it was a good thing to do when I built the site.) And when we started up the show again, I was coming off of one of my brain surgeries (who remembers which) and was keeping close track of funds. Fortunately, the coffers are full (or at least, fuller) these days, and so I'd like to request that instead of making a donation to us, directly, you make a donation in the same amount to your favorite charity (I can give you a list of mine, but Charity Navigator has a nice mechanism to search for charities that spend most of their money on programs and not executive/administrative expenses). I"m going to return the recent donation. It is MUCH appreciated, and in this case, it -is- the thought that counts. Pick a worthy cause and make another person smile with the same amount!

And until next week:

Show Up
Pay Attention
Tell The Truth
And Don't Be Attached To The Outcome!
namaste
robin

posted by: Tracie Stevens (reply)
post date: 04.12.07 (10:29 pm)


As human beings we have a social responsibility to be considerate of others. We should be especially considerate of those who have had a history of oppression and suffering due to certain physical characteristics, that have until most recently, place them along the margins of society. The words that we choose to speak, should be used to build, not to destroy. The images drawn in our articulation should be filled with an inexhaustible amount of positive reinforcement.
What Don Imus said about "Nappy Headed Hoes" was indeed disgraceful! This goes without question! This phrase has very obvious racist and sexist overtones. If Imus were a comedian (which he is NOT!), he could get away with something like that provided it was part of some act to get laughs.
However, since he interviews politicians and does serious political commentaries, he places himself in a category where standards should be held a lot higher than...let's just say a show of your caliber. Your show sacrifices human dignity for laughter continually. It's ready understood as a part of the unwritten and verbal contract between you the listener. That's not the case with Imus!

There's no excuse for being unkind and hurtful. Now having said that! What Imus said (a white guy) about a segment of African-American women, pales in comparison of what Snoop-Dog, 50 cent, and many other rappers (black guys) say about a segment of their own community.
If Don Imus should lose his job, Snoop-Dog should should be summarily shot by a firing squad.

Sincerely,
Tracie Stevens



posted by: Tracie Stevens (reply)
post date: 04.12.07 (10:39 pm)

There are some typos in the preceeding commentary.

"...it's already understood"....."...unwritten and mental contract"......" ....pales in comparison to what Snoop-Dog"...ect..

PS.

Hey Robin!

Speaking of "Nappy-Headed-Hoes"....It's so nice to have you back again!

metta


posted by: Tracie Stevens (reply)
post date: 04.12.07 (10:47 pm)


Damn typos! It's 1:40 am that's got to be the reason!

"...mental contract between you and the listener"

Besides I'm only human and reserve the right to make mistakes just like the rest of us! Right?


posted by: Emilia (reply)
post date: 04.13.07 (7:53 am)

Rap is not without its criticism by African-Americans and women. See HIP-HOP: Beyond Beats and Rhymes as an example.

What it comes down to is black audiences making racist and misogynistic music for consumption by white audiences for the benefit of white owned corporations.


posted by: Tracie Stevens (reply)
post date: 04.14.07 (8:38 pm)

Reply to: I think that Emilia means "black artists making racist..." NOT "black audiences making racist..." ect..


posted by: Ken Turetzky (reply)
post date: 04.17.07 (6:30 pm)

Great show this week, Robin et al. As always, Praviz was spot on with his incisive questions for Mort Sahl.

Sean: Kevin Costner is our modern-day Gary Cooper. Tom Hanks is our Jimmy Stewart. We don't have a Steve McQueen, and sadly, no Hattie McDaniel, either.


posted by: Ken Turetzky (reply)
post date: 04.17.07 (6:30 pm)

Crap. Now it's my turn with the typos. Sorry, Parviz.


posted by: Toni (reply)
post date: 04.18.07 (3:54 pm)

i think if Imus is going to held responsible to his comments about the Rutger's Womens Basketball team then Simon of American Idol should be for calling a contestant a bush baby, which is in fact a small primate. I think it was appalling and totally disrespectful. If this contestant were African-American it could also be viewed as racist. In both cases I think a public apology is required, but don't think firing Imus (or Simon for that matter) helps people truly understand and respect each other. Better i think to critique what people say and hold them accountable for their actions thereby promoting an intellectual, thoughtful discourse in society rather than censor what people can say so that they need not think about how they use their voice.


posted by: Toni (reply)
post date: 04.18.07 (3:54 pm)

i think if Imus is going to held responsible to his comments about the Rutger's Womens Basketball team then Simon of American Idol should be for calling a contestant a bush baby, which is in fact a small primate. I think it was appalling and totally disrespectful. If this contestant were African-American it could also be viewed as racist. In both cases I think a public apology is required, but don't think firing Imus (or Simon for that matter) helps people truly understand and respect each other. Better i think to critique what people say and hold them accountable for their actions thereby promoting an intellectual, thoughtful discourse in society rather than censor what people can say so that they need not think about how they use their voice.


posted by: Ken Burke (reply)
post date: 07.03.07 (12:54 pm)

Thank you so much for posting this fine interview with Mort Sahl. Even at eighty years old, he still has a sharp eye for the ironic.

This was the first time I've heard your show. It won't be the last.



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post date: 07.05.07 (2:06 pm)

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posted by: Brin (reply)
post date: 12.03.07 (8:03 am)

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posted by: Sweta-Zinok (reply)
post date: 12.28.07 (4:42 pm)

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posted by: Sweta-Zinok (reply)
post date: 12.30.07 (2:05 pm)

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posted by: Nahscandnaf (reply)
post date: 01.13.08 (5:26 am)

Make peace, not war!


posted by: John (reply)
post date: 02.23.08 (11:27 am)

National Transportation Safety Board recently divulged they had funded a project with the US auto makers for the past five years. The NTSB covertly funded a project whereby the auto makers were installing black boxes in four wheel drive pickup trucks in an effort to determine, in fatal accidents, the circumstances in the last 15 seconds before the crash.

They were surprised to find in 49 of the 50 states the last words of drivers in 61.2% of fatal crashes were, "Oh, Shit!"

Only the state of Texas was different, where 89.3% of the final words were, "Hey Y'all, hold my beer and watch this!"












posted by: Alisa (reply)
post date: 02.26.08 (2:47 am)

National Transportation Safety Board recently divulged they had funded a project with the US auto makers for the past five years.












posted by: Hillary (reply)
post date: 02.29.08 (2:39 am)

Don't Worry, Be Happy! =)











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