From the desk of Bern Lemke:
This week Mr. Roberts was locked in his office a lot and when he did come out for tuna sandwiches in the mess hall nothing good came of it. Below, what he was apparently doing in there.
There is a man named Howard who has spent more on concert tickets in SoCal than RRI’s entire entertainment budget. Howard is a dude that dances dances dances. He just turned 70 and had a crappy year because the pandemic forced him to reckon with some hard truths. Like, that Zoom dancing isn’t much fun and that, when it comes down to it, he’s an attention whore just like Troy Baker.
Read Mr. Roberts’ story on Howard in the Los Angeles Times: ‘Concerts are back, and that can only mean one thing: the return of the Dancing Man.’
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Mr. Roberts wrote about the righteous efforts by musicians to speak against the recent Israeli bombings of Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip. United under the banner Musicians for Palestine, more than 600 artist published a letter that read, in part:
“As musicians, we cannot be silent. Today it is essential that we stand with Palestine,” the statement says, adding that “we speak together and demand justice, dignity and the right to self-determination for the Palestinian people and all who are fighting colonial dispossession and violence across the planet.”
You can read the story (if you haven’t used up your LA Times paywall).
Patti Smith, Questlove among 600 musicians calling for ‘solidarity with the Palestinian people’
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Mr. Roberts worked on a Saturday this week, which The Man requires him to do a few times a year. Yesterday morning he made his coffee and went straight to his office, shut the door and started listening to Susumu Yokota way too loud. (We’d get demerits if we listened to our music at such a volume!)
He wrote about A Martínez being named as one of four co-anchors for NPR’s ‘Morning Edition.’ On the phone, A told Mr. Roberts that the bookish types didn’t appreciate some sports radio dude infringing on their turf.
“I always joke that I was the last possible choice — a lifetime sports-radio guy — to jump into public radio. The blowback was very intense from radio listeners about someone like me being on those airwaves.”
Read about A’s new thang here: ‘Sports-radio guy’ to NPR ‘Morning Edition’ co-host: A Martínez’s public radio journey.’
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And: E Little contributed a playlist to In Sheep’s Clothing:
Essential Ambient Works by Susumu Yokota.
Thank you for reading.
Love,
BERN LEMKE