The Delivery

Episode 132 – Talking Music and Success with Robert Davi

Jimmie — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 19:41:02 +0000

If you want to know why I love social media, look no farther than Episode 132. Without Twitter, it could not have happened and here’s why. A couple of months ago, I had a brief exchange with actor, director, and musician Robert Davi about his new album Davi Sings Sinatra: On the Road to Romance. He thanked me for spreading the word about it and while I was impressed that someone as busy (and, let’s face it, ridiculously successful) would actually stop and thank someone he didn’t know for something as relatively small as a tweet, I didn’t think any more about it. Then, last week, I thought I’d invite Davi on the show, again using Twitter, and don’t you know he accepted! He spent an entire segment on this week’s show talking about his album, his musical history (which goes back quite a long way) and what he’s planning for the future. Davi is a smart and witty guy and his segment is easily one of the best conversations I’ve had on The Delivery. Do check it out and pick up his album. You won’t regret the purchase. Also, look into the movie he made a few years ago called The Dukes, which has quite a bit of good music in it as well.

I returned to the subject of the Occupy Whatever movement in the first half of the show. It’s curious to me that our President and his administration have no apparent interest in upholding the law as concerns the Occupy DC movement yet hold the Tea Parties in open contempt. I’m not happy about that, and I can’t imagine why any of you would be either. Right now, there is a clear divide between those to whom the laws of our nation applies and those to whom they don’t, and the administration has very clearly put its political foes in the latter bucket. Equal protection under the law is a bedrock principle that should never be shoved aside for cheap political gains.

The Delivery - Episode 132

Episode 131 – The Show with Extra Ringa-Ding-Ding

Jimmie — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 21:56:28 +0000

For Episode 131, I turned to one of the smartest and coolest people I know — Ben Domenech of the Coffee and Markets podcast, among other places — to join me for the entire show.

I won’t even begin to describe everything you’ll get in the whole hour, but I’ll give you two little tidbits. First, the number of working Americans who will get their health care wholly or in some significant part from the government — that is, from other working Americans — by the year 2020 is truly mind-boggling. One of the big problems conservatives have when we talk about entitlements is that the average American doesn’t believe it affects them directly. It’s not easy to draw a straight line from Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security to the average working American’s paycheck in a way that shows them just how big the problem is. I’m pretty sure Ben and I dropped a few numbers that can do that, if we spread them around a bit.

We pivoted from health care to cool, and what that actually means in a day where grown men live in their parents’ basement well into their 30s without any apparent sense of shame. I admit, I’m no examplar of what the great Frank Sinatra called “ringa-ding-ding”, but I know cool when I see it and Ben has it. I think you’ll like our musings on success, friendship, and what it means to be comfortable with both success and cool; and you can bet your bottom dollar that I’ll have Ben back on the show again soon.

The Delivery - Episode 131

Episode 130 – ‘Twas Greed That Caused the Crisis

Jimmie — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 04:51:32 +0000

By now, you know from listening to the show that I can get a little bit excitable, and that oftentimes that excitability comes out against those who would be my political allies. That happened again in Episode 130.

I’ve seen a lot of blog posts and news articles about the housing and credit crisis, but none that delved into the actual causes of both like two books I’ve recently read: Reckless Endangerment: How Outsized Ambition, Greed, and Corruption Led to Economic Armageddon and The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine. I finished both of them in about a month, then spent a few days really thinking about what I had read. Then I got angry. See, what really happened to bring about both crises boiled down to basic, garden-variety greed and not some sinister government plot to advance socialism or Wall Street plan to screw the little guy. Just greed.

The reason it’s important we know why the credit and housing markets imploded is that we will undoubtedly see other bubbles in other markets and some of the same stuff that happened in banks, investment houses, government offices, and mortgage companies may well happen again. People with a desire to make a bazillion dollars greater than their own good sense will devise elaborate schemes that won’t be illegal but will certainly be wildly reckless. And we’ll need to recognize when it happens so we can stop it before it escalates to disaster. We have to get it right so that we don’t go through it again. We really don’t want to go through this again.

As it happens, both my picks for the AFC and NFC Championship games came up wrong, though I am glad to see that they were just a little bit wrong. I pretty much came within a play in each game of being almost completely right, which doens’t count for very much, I’m afraid. That’s why I never bet on sporting events. Almost doesn’t count for much when money is on the line, right? Perhaps, if I get courageous, I’ll try to pick the Super Bowl, Just promise me you won’t actually put anything tangible on my prediction!

The Delivery - Episode 130

Episode 129 – Let’s Call A Vulture A Vulture (Plus, a SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT)

Jimmie — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 05:01:20 +0000

SPECIAL PROGRAMMING NOTE: Due to scheduling issues, I’ve had to move the live version of The Delivery to a new time on Tuesday nights: 8:30 PM Eastern Time. Yep, that’s an hour earlier than normal, so please, mark your calendars and fancy reminder apps. Again, the new time for the live version of The Delivery is 8:30 PM ET, Tuesday Nights.

I’m pretty sure I never expected to be on the opposite side of an issue from Rush Limbaugh, but all this silliness over “vulture capitalism” finally did it. Episode 129 is my defense of Newt Gingrich and my stand against the defense of capitalism simply because it’s capitalism. At some point, we conservatives must draw the line between good business and fiscal rapaciousness. After what we’ve learned happened on Wall Street in the years before the housing and credit crashes, we on the right must learn that not every business practice is worth our defense. Legal and right are not synonymous and, as much as I hate to say it, Rush smeared a good man because he was unwilling to differentiate between the two. I don’t expect many of my conservative friends will agree with me, but I’m willing to stand by myself on this one if I must.

2011 was a pretty good year for The Delivery. I went over the year-end download numbers toward the end of the show — over 13,000 downloads each month on average — and ended on a high note. I’ve said this more times than I can count, but I love making The Delivery every week. I’m proud that SMPMike and I can put something together that so many of you enjoy and we have plans for much, much more. I want to see the show’s ratings skyrocket this year and with your help, I’ve no doubt we can do it.

The Delivery - Episode 129

Episode 128 – Zombie Government and Plain Old Zombies

Jimmie — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 04:45:14 +0000

I think that Episode 128 may mark the point at which you could hear me flat-out give up on the belief that the Republican Party has any real interest in smaller, more responsible government. There are four stories from the past few years that all point to the massive amount of arrogance, incompetence, and corruption in our Federal government and I’m beyond flabbergasted that the GOP hasn’t done everything it can to keep them in the headlines every day. Of course, the folks responsible for all the messages from the Republican Party and its various parts are highly-paid, experienced political professionals so I’m sure they know what they’re doing. I mean, they must have some grand scheme in mind, right?

Kurt Schlichter came along for the second half, in which we started talking about shows that spend too much time on feelings and too little time on plausible plots and realistic character motivations. By the end, we had pretty much planned out how we’d survive a zombie apocalypse, which may just come in handy, so be sure to take notes! Oddly enough, the segue between the two subjects was pretty smooth, if I do say so myself. You don’t get that on just any podcast.

The Delivery - Episode 128

Episode 127 – Happy 2012, Which the Chinese Know As the Year of Political Suck

Jimmie — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 19:54:44 +0000

You could call Episode 127 my surrender to Barack Obama and the Democrats. I prefer to look at it as a hard dose of reality applied like a splash of water in the faces of sleepy Republicans. However you view it, I hope you won’t mind that I’ve sounded the charge to the Senate, which we conservatives will have to control whether our next President is Barack Obama or Mitt Romney. The ground is as good as it’s going to get. If we on the right fail, we won’t have any good excuses.

I did continue the politics into the second half. It happens sometimes that current events stack up and I can’t get through all I want in just 30 minutes. I did put a nice little bow on the whole thing about 15 minutes in and spent the rest of the time on a more pleasant subject: the pretty new Roku box I got for Christmas. I have the Roku 2 XD model (and yes, I get a small bounty if you buy one through this link) and I recommend it highly if you’re looking for something to bring the goodness of streaming video to your television. And if someone from Roku happens across this post, well, The Delivery would be a good place to sink a few of your advertising dollars! I’d make you a very good deal.

TD127.mp3

Episode 126 – ‘Twas the Show Before Christmas

Jimmie — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 21:08:58 +0000

Twas the Day after Christmas and all on the ‘net,
Episode 126 is waiting for your downloading “get”.
The first half was raucous, with GOP scolding.
About taxes and spending and John Boehner folding.

We now sorely need a conservative revival.
Without one, we may doubt our nation’s survival.
Half the second was brighter, and full of excitement.
As your host told tales of past Christmas delightment.

I talked of meals and family tradition,
The things that make for a good Holiday Edition.
So grab the Delivery and enjoy the whole thing.
Have a great New Year’s Day, and let our good tidings ring!

The Delivery - Episode 126

One podcasting postscript that you might enjoy.
Here’s my hit on The Snark Factor with Fingers Malloy.

Episode 125 – The Show In Which Jimmie Sings Christmas Music

Jimmie — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 16:16:50 +0000

I have resisted the urge to turn all of December’s shows into Odes to the Christmas Season but Episode 125 did involve a small crumbling of my resolve. I love this time of year and I freely admit that all of the seasonal sentimentality bypasses my decades of accumulated cynicism and washes over my inner ten year-old boy.

So, I sang a Christmas song, which was a more difficult undertaking than you might expect. Sure, there is plenty of Christmas music out there, but how much of it is actually written for a bass, beyond “You’re A Mean One, Mr. Grinch” (which, along with “Ol’ Man River” is one of the greatest bass melodies ever written)? Thankfully, Andy Williams was there with a tune that was just baritone enough to work. I hope you enjoy it, because I enjoyed recording it. There might be another song next week, but no promises!

The fact that the House Republicans passed an extension of the payroll tax “holiday” has driven certain members of the left completely insane, most notably Senators Boxer and Reid. We are well into the deep waters of goofiness, where Democrats claim credit for “forcing” Republicans to keep a tax cut in place and a pipeline that will provide cheap oil from a friendly country and thousands of new jobs becomes a political football. It is weasel season, the ground is thick with them, and I’ll show a couple of them to you in the first half.

If you’re intrigued by my book review in the second half, the link to Ex-Heroes by Peter Clines is right here. As with every Amazon link on my site, I’ll get a piece of the purchase price, so if you do choose to buy the book, well, you’ll just be helping me out a little bit, too! That aside, I do recommend this book highly, especially if you like superhero or zombie stories.

The Delivery - Episode 125

Episode 124 – Happy Jerkuary, Everyone!

Jimmie — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 02:40:24 +0000

I didn’t try very hard to hide the overall theme of Episode 124 (which I misidentified as Episode 123, for reasons I can only chalk up to being really tired). I’ve noticed lately how easily normally good people have leaned into full-on jerkitude, and not just about politics either. Of course, the election season has a lot to do with it, but Christmastime seems to bring out more than its fair share of people who derive great satisfaction from bashing the things that make other people happy.

I’m tired of it, so much so that I’m willing to give all the jerks their very own month. The details are in this week’s podcast. Feel free to add your own touches to my new celebratory month. Maybe if enough of us rally behind the idea, it’ll become official and we can have a Christmas free of skeletal Santas and Flying Spaghetti Deities.

Though I didn’t mention it in the podcast, the idea for Jerkuary came in part from this very good blog post by my friend April. Take a second to read what she has to say. We’re working off the same page of civility.

The Delivery - Episode 124

Episode 123 – More Reasons to Homeschool, or Become an Astronaut

Jimmie — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 16:11:18 +0000

If I had an Official Show Assistant, Episode 123 would have been posted last week, when it should have, instead of today. This is my fault, of course — The Delivery is still a one-man operation when it comes to everything but the fantastic production work of SMP Mike — but there are weeks when things do pile up. This past week was one of those weeks. I’ll do better.

It’s been a long time since a book entranced me as much as Apollo by Catherine Bly Cox and I couldn’t help but spend some time in the second half talking about space and rockets and the shame I feel that we don’t seem very interested in either one these days. The book is the story of the Apollo program, focused on the men who build the amazing machines that took us to the moon. I’ve never read an account of our quest to reach the moon told from that perspective before and I find it intensely interesting. There is much about our early space program I didn’t know and the more I read, the more I want to learn. Then again, I’m a space science geek and this stuff is to me what food pellets are to your average lab rat.

The first half is all about education, specifically the education that public school students should get but aren’t, thanks to teachers and administrators who see schools as a place to go to work instead of a place where they prepare children to be intelligent and productive citizens of the greatest nation on Earth. I have to thank the New York Times for unintentionally showing us just how bad things have gotten.

And how about a bonus podcast tidbit or two? Andrew Lawton invited me to co-host Strictly Right with him this week while Ben Swenson is on a brief break. I’ve been a fan of the show for a while now and was delighted to sit in for Ben. We talked the 2012 race, and the candidacies of Newt Gingrich and Herman Cain. I got to do my very first “It Must Be A Liberal” segment and dropped a Van Halen reference, which inspired the show art. I had a blast. Go listen!

The Delivery - Episode 123