The Long Haul
Posted at 4:57 AM on May 7, 2009
by Dale Connelly
(44 Comments)
Today is "stress test" results day for the country's major banks, and in a sense it begins a stress test for Radio Heartland too!
Today we start our second major member drive. The first one was by no means easy, but there was a level of excitement and freshness with the initial effort that has faded a bit by now. That's not unusual. Eventually every public radio station has to find a way to continue to ask for money even after people have become weary of the vital but all-too-familiar request.
In February there were thousands of contributors who mentioned Radio Heartland as a reason they decided to support MPR. If you are one of those people, thank you very much. You have done your part.
If you haven't offered a contribution yet, I'm asking you to make one today. You choose the amount you give - the important part is making a decision to help finance something that has value for you.
The first day of the drive is crucial and the whole week has been designed to make early support satisfying for you and extra beneficial for MPR. The Member Challenge Fund will release 30 thousand dollars to pay for programming when we hear from 3 thousand listeners on this first day. That amplifies the value of your contribution and energizes the start of the drive.
Whether you call 1-800-227-2811 or make your contribution online through www.radioheartland.org, you will have an opportunity to say why you decided to get involved. When you mention Radio Heartland as a reason, you send a strong signal that this still-new station can thrive.
Thanks for your support!
Comments (44)
Stress test, huh? I'm envisioning a big ole radio on a treadmill with all kinds of electrodes hooked up to it!
I've supported RH from the beginning (although I'm still waiting for the goat suspenders as a thank you gift). I'm hoping that everyone who listens but hasn't contributed yet, will do it today. Where else can you hear this kind of music? What kind of a desert wasteland would it be without it?
And, besides, where else can you blog about baby goats and gardening and biking and reading and....
Good luck Dale & Mike on the first day of this drive!
Good Morning Dale and Ann ~
Ann - Jimmy Ruffin chose a solo career rather than be in a group. Have you ever had to make a similar decision?
May the member drive be a fabulous success!
Hi Teri
Well, I was in a duo for about 6 years prior to my solo career and it was my decision to go solo. Other than that ...
Actually, I have recently enjoyed singing with others so I wouldn't rule out singing with a group.
Thanks for supporting Radio Heartland!!
Ann
Ann,
Will you join Dale and the rest of us Heartlanders at the State Fair this year, please?
Good morning Dale & Anne,
Thanks for that Jimmy Rufin song Anne that was a treat. Hearing songs like that give me a sense that time travel is possible...:)
I hope you brought some more goodies for us to hear, you brought such fun stuff on the Valentines show you did with Dale like the Proclaimers!
Do you happen to have a copy of Mickey's Monkey by Smokey Robinson in your collection? I'd love to hear that one sometime, it would fit nicely with the other Monkey songs in the RH rotation.
Dale, I also have a request this morning.....
I'm feeling good so I'd like to hear Nina Simone's Feeling Good. Or any version you might have.
Thanks,
Good Morning Heartlanders! It's so wonderful to hear Ann Reed in the studio with Dale -- what a treat! Unfortunately, I can't stay and listen -- I only work 2 days a week and this is one of them.
My membership is current and my pathetic job won't allow me to contribute more at this time, but let's keep this great service going.
Ooops .... must skidaddle ... 8:00 am comes quickly and punch clocks are unforgiving.
Oh good grief! This morning I let my system install updates and I'm missing Ann Reed? My bad! (I stole that expression from Mike Pengra -a new one to me.)
Good luck with the drive. Let's be optimistic, but not overconfident!
Off to work. Catchya later on the flip flip.
Good Morning!
As we walk down this long hall of membership week, I would encourage folks to become sustaining members as I did a while back. It's easy, even easier than the annual contribution that I did for years before that and I get a good feeling about doing my part to make sure this radio service continues.
Perhaps Dale could play Eric Brandt's 'Get Into The Boat' to encourage folks to get into the membership boat!
Good luck with the membership drive!
Oops! I mean flip flop. (I don't remember who I stole that expression from.)
Hi Beth-Ann,
Ann says she goes to the Fair every year.
Whether or not there will be a Radio Heartland event there this year is still in question, but if we go, it would be great to have Ann make an appearance!
Good morning, all! May the pledge drive be a great success. :-)
Ditto what Sherilee said... and birds...
Off topic:
Cynthia in Mahtowa and other birders... There was a great Midmorning program last Friday including loads of info on spring and summer birdfeeding:
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2009/05/01/midmorning2/
Carrol Henderson: Nongame wildlife program supervisor for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. He's also author of several books, including "Woodworking for Wildlife."
Economics in our house are such that I have cut back on pretty much all charitable giving...MPR, however, is in my "essential" part of the budget. If I can squeak out a few bucks a month while I'm looking for work, y'all can pony up, too! (Yeah, that's a shameless bid to get more contributors - and, frankly, I'm probably singing to the choir - but do it anyway).
Thanks for everything Dale and Mike! And thanks to Ann Reed for coming in today - such a lovely, round voice you have.
It's certainly good to be here with Dale. Fun to hear from everyone!
I'm kind of catching up with the whole goat thing ...
Ann
Thanks, Barbara in Robbinsdale, I did hear Caroll Henderson -- at least most of it, when I get to work I turn MPR news on but work has a way of distracting me from what I really want to do...ie, listen. I'm still on "vacation" from our water-logged office, so I'll try to listen to the archive this morning.
I've let my bird feeders run dry and hope to get around to cleaning them (per Henderson's suggestion) before filling them. With my barn cat population, I am hesitating about feeding them through the summer...
I agree with mark...members, go sustainer!!
the Radio Heartland mug, does it have goats on it? where is the picture?
I have a response to Donna's question from yesterday about stopping rabbit damage to plants.
I know this isn't primarily a gardening info blog, but I can't resist the chance to share gardening info.
When you see rabbit damage, just put a little fence around the plants showing the damage. It doesn't need to be too tall, 2ft. high is enough, and it only needs to be a tempory fence because the rabbit will not attack plants when they get bigger.
You don't need to protect all of your young plants because rabbits only like certain ones. I use chicken wire and hold it in place with a stake or two.
Hi Anna
What a nice thing to say! Thank you.
Ann
Hi Cynthia
I'm looking at the Radio Heartland mug and I'm not seeing any images of goats. Will this be a deal-breaker for some people?
Ann
we became sustaining members earlier this year - please, please, please help keep RH coming to us! if you listen/blog and haven't joined (can't imagine that) then do it now!
haven't been on blog lately (good things - friend visiting) but just knowing you're there is comforting. great community - great music - great Dale and Mike!
yesterday afternoon we had Alba, Dream and little Heldig out to enjoy the sunshine and get some exercise. Heldig is doing great and Alba is much better. we decided that Heldig's little face is simian in appearance. so cute.
Dale and Mike - do you have the Stones' "I'm a Monkey" sometime for us? we were trying to sing it to Heldig but couldn't remember the words except for "Ima MONKEY!" thanks.
and thanks for RH and TB and the neat folks we've met thru you.
Good Morning! A little off subject here but I was at the Eric Bibb concert at the Dakota last night. (I wouldn't have known he was coming but you mentioned it on the Dale Connely Show - Thank you!) It was wonderful to see him in person. He mentioned that he was over at MPR during the day. Did he spend time with you Dale? Are you going to be featuring him on your show and, if so, do you know when it will air?
Keep up the great work. I, like so many, am a sustaining member. I agree that Radio Heartland is something we don't want to take for granted. I tried listening to standard morning radio fare after the last Morning Show broadcast. Its dismal out there. The inane conversation and endless advertisements only convince me that somebody out there thinks we are morons! Dale, you always convince me otherwise and being assured that there are intelligent, kind people in the world is EXACTLY what I need - every day.
Good morning, everyone in Radio Heartland -
I'm proud to be a sustaining member of MPR. It's easy - an automatic monthly payment - and I feel my contribution working every month I see it on my bank statement. Like my two cents every so often on the blog here. Maybe a new name for the Trial Baloon could be "My (Our) Two Cents".
I'm enjoying hearing Ann Reed this morning, and I hope that everyone else enjoying it can participate in becoming a member of MPR. Whatever you can afford, of course.
Thanks Ann for the awesome bike song! In addition to your lovely round voice, your song-writing talent colors our world with hues we would otherwise never know.
On your left!
Hi Dale and Ann..
Last December, while listening to Radio Heartland, I heard Ann's song..Carolyn's Birthday. Imagine my excitement, as a co=worker of mine has a birthday on the Winter Solstice, and her name is Carolyn. I bought the cd and will give it to Carolyn on her 1/2 birthday...in June. The song is so beautiful, and she is an amazing person to work with. Thanks for writing the song, Ann. Unfortunately, she is not a Radio Heartland listener, so I am not worried about spoiling the surprise. Soon, though, she will be an Ann Reed fan, and that is a good start.
Hey, Mark -
Good to hear from another bike rider - no better way to travel. I'm on a recumbent - a great bike for a middle-aged person. If you see me on the Greenway, give me a wave!
Ann
That low voice of Marlene Dietrich - I love it! Wouldn't she and Leonard Cohen make a great duo?
Dear Ann,
No goat on the mug a deal-breaker? NO way...but hoping for a future option.
Thank you for your presence on Radio Heartland.
Yes, I bought a HD radio which does pick up Radio Heartland in Northfield and that is great. I commute to the Cities each day and was missing the show in that slot then I got the iPhone app and now I can hear some of the show going to work. Unfortunately the app keeps dropping the show so I have to restart it and hear Dale welcome me and ask for money all over again. Sometimes the show will only play a few seconds after that intro and drop again, while sometimes it will continue longer. I wish the iPhone MPR app was as stable as the Pandora app. I can listen to music on Pandora with much more certainty than on MPR with my iPhone (it plugs into my Prius stereo system). We are going to renew our MPR membership mostly because of Radio Heartland. Thanks!
Okay everyone -
Gail's comment about pairing Marlene Dietrich and Leonard Cohen gives me a thought: who else would you like to hear sing together? No rules - dead people with the living, Republicans with Democrats, classical with folkies ...
Let's hear it!
Ann
Just heard your description of the additional matching funds that are currently being withheld, but will be released to you if certain conditions are met.
Perhaps you could mention to your overlords that this looks very much like a thinly disguised form of conditional love. Might spring the money loose. After all, nobody wants to appear to be running a dysfunctional organization.
Just a thought - desperate measures for desperate times and all that.....
I'd love to hear Annie Lennox and Aretha Franklin together. Or maybe Amy Winehouse and Frank Sinatra. Though I wonder what would happen if Moxy Fruvous met up with Gogol Bordello? That might be dangerous...
i would love to hear neil young singing with me! i would love to do harmonies with him....sigh.
Bad traffic today; I just got to the office. The news station of MPR is urging on-line listeners:
"If you stream, join the team." Good idea. But then I've been a member since the 1970's.
I was thinking of the goats this morning as I listened to a CD in the car, there being so few songs about goats. Perhaps tomorrow Jasper could locate "Raisins and Almonds" on Diane Jarvi's Flying Into Blue album. It is about a little white goat.
Does anyone know if Johnny Depp sings?
Thanks for the bunny tips Jim. I was hoping for advice that would require less effort:) Is Ann Reed bothered by rabbits in her garden?
Dale, Mike, ...anyone else?
Proposed musical combination:
Ann Reed & Storyhill!
Arron Neville and Sarah Gazarek
Stacey Kent and Ray Charles
Al Jarreau & Ella Fitzgerald
Chet Baker & Allison Krauss
Joni Mitchell & Michael Franks
Bobby McFerrin & Phoebe Snow
Claudia Schmidt & Lucy Kaplanski
Eliza Gilkyson & Bonnie Raitt
Ginger Commodore & Joe Williams
...
I could to this all morning but will spare y'all :-)
We had a bunny nest for awhile this spring (the little ones - too small to eat my plants just yet)...but the parents do hop about and do damage - last year they decided that daisy and black-eyed susan buds were the delicacy of choice...rotten (though cute) bunnies.
A friend has used a deer-repellant spray that has predator stink as well as cayenne pepper in it for the spots where chicken wire isn't desired (though the wire probably works better).
Donna,
Indeed, Johnny Depp sings and plays guitar. He plays a gypsy in the movie "Chocolat", so if you google the words: depp chocolat, a couple of YouTube videos come up where you can see and hear him play.
Bunnies? Yup. They're eating up my garden. I'm trying pepper wax spray and I was also told milorganite (a fertilizer made in Milwaukee) helps keep hungry critters away because it's made from human waste. So I put it on. I'll let you know if it works.
Mike:
I sometimes found that blood meal worked, and it adds nitrogen. About the Milorganite...I remember hearing an expert on the radio (MPR) some time back recommend against using it on vegetables because of the heavy metals it may contain that would be absorbed into the vegetables, ok for the lawn and flowers, just not food. Maybe the production process has changed since then.
Hey Heartlanders!
Hope you're enjoying our afternoon "live" interlude. We talked with singer-songwriter Randy Weeks and his band today in the studio. We're playing the interview now (1pm). Randy and band are at Lee's in Mpls tonight, in St. Cloud Friday at the White Horse and in Duluth Saturday at the Rex Liquor Emporium.
I have definitely been enjoying Jasper's "live" interludes these past couple of days, plus Ann on this morning. As if I couldn't be any happier about RH, Mike emailed me this afternoon and told me that I won tickets to next Friday's concert! Whoo Hoo! I turn 50 that day and I can't think of a better way to celebrate!
Dale, Mike, Ann ~
Thank you for working in Gal Costa this morning. Started the day off just right!
Looks like the number of member-listeners is getting closer to 3,000 for today : )
Dracula
Hannibal Lecter
Gen George Patton (IF you knew how he treated the protesting WW1 vets who marched on Washington for back benefits. It wasn't pretty)
George Bush Jr.
The Character played by Steven Boyd in Ben Hur. The Roman who was Hur's friend as a boy. I don't recall the characters name just now.
The Bad Seed character (the little girl) in the film "The Bad Seed"
Dr. Jeckel (because he was also Hyde)
The Invisible Man (Claude Raines)
King John in The Adventures of Robin Hood (Claude Raines again) GREAT Villian! Also of course Basil Rathbone as the Sherif of Knotingham
Dale might be interested to note that in the early 60's in L.A. they had the million dollar movie and that movie was shown on TV a number of times in one day. I saw "The Crawling Eye" 3 times once in one day there in the summer of 1963. It's also shown on Turner Classic Movies now and again.
Dracula
Hannibal Lecter
Gen George Patton (IF you knew how he treated the protesting WW1 vets who marched on Washington for back benefits. It wasn't pretty)
George Bush Jr.
The Character played by Steven Boyd in Ben Hur. The Roman who was Hur's friend as a boy. I don't recall the characters name just now.
The Bad Seed character (the little girl) in the film "The Bad Seed"
Dr. Jeckel (because he was also Hyde)
The Invisible Man (Claude Raines)
King John in The Adventures of Robin Hood (Claude Raines again) GREAT Villian! Also of course Basil Rathbone as the Sherif of Knotingham
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