The Portland Radio Authority

Some weeks, I am simply tired of trying to be cool. Did you know even that I was trying to be so? Most weeks I am.

Radio is a funny thing, it allows people with shy personalities a chance to succeed on the same playing field that people with huge overt personalities use. It gives them both a chance to express themselves and reach people like few mediums do, now or in the past. Although, I have to acknowledge that the heyday, the nadir, the zenith of radio has come and gone- we are in a different time altogether now. A time of splintered interests.

Well, here I am again. Talking about the future. Forever the optimist. With not a smile but a grin, and that first step, as we all know "when you put one foot in front of the other, soon you'll be walking out the door". Or so I learned as a child.

Hello- Well this weekend "It's a nice world to visit" celebrates five years of broadcasting on the Portland Radio Authority. So, I guess this message will serve as my "Reasons to be cheerful (ad infinitum)".

The impetus for the show is equal parts Devo & Art brut. Devo for actually showing me it was possible to have lightning going off in my brain, and Art brut for sticking their finger in my face at a live show and telling me to start a band, write a fanzine, write a book, do something!!!

(snyth wash) feeling introspective...thinking about pictures...the end of summer...the voice that I have created for myself..(a tumble of guitar notes) At some point the adult in all of us has to take some responsibility. Or perhaps that should be "At some pint"...This is the life that you have made for yourself. But perhaps not the life you set out on a dream picnic blanket (drum crash, cymbal splash....echoing)...

It will come as no surprise to those of you who know me, that one of my favorite bands is The Fall. The band has been a going concern consistently for more than 30 years and with barely a misstep they have released challenging and entertaining albums, despite the changes of personnel and record labels throughout the years. As is so often quoted by John Peel, one of the greatest deejays to grace radio and a huge supporter of the band, The Fall is "Always different, always the same".

Has it really been three years? Yes, it has. October 10th 2009 will mark three years of me coming to the Portland Radio Authority studios, to broadcast a weekly music program. Heavy on music, light on talk. As with all of the DJ's here, or most DJ's anywhere, I do the sort of program that I would love to hear.

Although I hate to admit it, I can see that things are beginning to fall apart. This great government of ours and its republic are facing forces unlike it ever has in its history.
The recent failure of the banking industry, given a long leash or left to roam free, effectively bankrupting the country. The economic fallout will be felt for generations.
The new rise of a threatening pandemic flu, that we may of may not be able to combat.
Random earthquakes and various natural disasters.

The role of the disc jockey has never been more in question then it is today. Time was the disc jockey was a taste maker. A personality given voice. Playing unheard music, Breaking new ground and new artists. Shedding the façade of your normal life as you listened to spine chilling mind numbing sounds that did not seem humanly possible.

I have often heard it stated at PRA meetings that we the DJ's rarely see each other, this of course is in reference to security and mutual respect of the equipment that allows us to be the internet radio station that we have become. But, because I know so few of you personally and I am often busy and do not have a chance to listen to the station all the time that we are broadcasting, I follow our progress and feel as though I get to know you a bit better, by reading the play lists that get posted to the station's web site.

As you probably know, my name is Jeff Ross. A name I share with a somewhat famous comedian, Jeffrey Ross.

In October of 2006, I began broadcasting on PRA, and a few weeks into my show, I decided on a DJ name for myself, Noah Fence. So I have been using that name, or have been known as that for nearly two years now.

This morning I woke up at 3:30 am, made some coffee and flipped through the channels to see what was on, and I happened upon a new comedy stand up show, by the comedian Jeffrey Ross, entitled "No Offense".

What are the odds? I could not believe it.