Sunday Brunch; Salesforce Tower Obscures Pyramind; No One Complains; What Herb Caen Might Have Said?; Wendy Tokuda World-Class Mumbler; Papa and Beil: Bullies and Jerks; Castaneda on KTVU Not So Cool Anymore; Swanson/Morgan Possible Play on Obnoxious KSFO Sussman; You Want 'Bozo Radio'? Listen to 'Armstrong and Getty'; The Idiotic Use of 'In My Opinion'; KPIX Dysfunction; No Pulse CBS O and O; Subscribe to 415 Media

IN ALL THE GRUESOME DETAIL I'VE read about how filthy and disgusting the streets of San Francisco are, and they are, is the less egregious but equaling appalling destruction of the skyline.

Thanks, Salesforce Tower.

This is not earth-shattering; this is not the homeless problem; this has nothing to do with the pathetic state of the Tenderloin and human waste seen on the street; this is a lot less sexy then all those but it's still important and yet, the Bay Area media pays no attention. It is not surprising. I'll embellish.

I'm not a gung-ho architectural guy but I love looking at certain buildings. The Transamerica Pyramid first viewed was a definitive SF identity picture. It is now lost by the presence of the benignly humongous Salesforce Tower. This is urban blight in a different way but nevertheless problematic and confounding. Why? Well, it's not as if the Salesforce building is ugly and unseemly it's just that its presence has wiped out a singular Bay Area visual; the Pyramid; the BofA Building; those two iconic structures that you see in old "Streets of SF" episodes and now gone with the wind.

Again, don't get me wrong. The Salesforce Tower is a sight to behold; to me, it looks like a giant pencil 61 stories high with majestic glass fixtures and even better, it's not tilting and looks cool at night but I'd love to hear what Herb Caen would call it if Herb were alive today. Oh my goodness, the possibilities are endless.

Wendy Tokuda

*ONE of the HIGHEST-PAID news anchors here was also one of the WORST ad-libbers and consistently flubbed her lines and that would be Wendy Tokuda. It wasn't horrible but massively irritable that a major-name anchorwoman being paid a lot of money couldn't do a straight story on the air without screwing up her line. It was chronic. It was also embarrassing to the point where behind the scenes Tokuda was lampooned by her own staff at KPIX.

Greg Papa

*OF ALL MY COMPLAINTS I get and I do get a lot is that I pick on people. Yeah, I do and most prominently bullies. Bullies who seem quite nice and happy on the air and project wholesomeness and jolly but are abject JERKS off the air. So yes, I target, among many, people like Greg Papa and Larry Beil, to name a few. Papa has become a certifiable BOOR with a penchant for yelling and screaming and making life miserable for others; all aided and abetted by NBC here; maybe Greg has pictures. Beil is just a mean guy who pretends to be Mr. Rogers but in actuality is a grunting ego maniac disliked by almost the entire KGO-TV newsroom. Looks can be deceiving.

*The other morning I got up (good omen) and watched KTVU "Mornings on Two" which has not changed for the most part in years. MO2 is a ratings bonanza for Channel 2 although with fewer and fewer viewers. Sal Castaneda used to be a joy to watch; Sal was funny; had a dry sense of humor; knew traffic reports were not the most exciting subject matter to report on TV no less but had a steady personality and was consistently purposeful and edgy for a morning news show.

Sal Castaneda

Now dear Sal seems bored. Has a withdrawn look. Like traffic is not that important more and he's right, it isn't. (Save for a massive accident on 880 or the Bay Bridge) Sal used to have a persona that was mister everyday-man without a huge ego and want for civility and overall pleasantness and guidance. It's all an act folks. Sal is no longer funny. More bitter, actually. Maybe marriage and kids has diluted his personality and made him more, well, human, only this appearance and presentation seems destined for sorrow and resentment. I miss the old Sal.

*Jack Swanson is the husband of Melanie Morgan who used to work with the late Lee Rodgers and then subsequently, current KSFO host; the pompous Brian Sussman. Sussman had quite a falling out with Morgan; it's been six years.

The obvious feeling is that Swanson will axe Sussman and get some fresh blood in the morning. He may or may not but there is no love lost between Jack and Sussman. Jack doesn't care for Brian but Brian has decent ratings which is helped by KSFO being the only conservative radio station in the market and this being an election year, which helps drumming up the numbers.

Melanie Morgan

When Sussman's ratings show a miniscule drop, he'll be gone. And then Swanson will probably move the dreadful "Armstrong and Getty" to KSFO and hire a new morning team for KGO.

*BOZO RADIO--Armstrong and Getty cater to the worst common denominator --mostly white male, uneducated men in their 50's and 60's. Of course there's exceptions but bottom line is that's their demo.

Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty: Bozo Radio on KGO

I've tried to be objective and listen to these guys and it's the same, tired bozo radio routine and it's really unhealthy listening. I've said before these nitwits sound like a couple schmucks from Branson, Missouri --they have a Midwest flavor of fake cackles and innocuous humor that would elicit great joy in the bowels of the flyover states. They have NO Bay Area identity (which is not such a bad thing) but their attempt at humor is both lame and fright with innuendo. They try to make it appear they are hostile to both sides of the aisle but that's flat out bullshit. They are white bread, vanilla ice cream hobos toeing the line for Donald Trump on a daily basis which is OK, they have a right. BUT PLEASE, don't try to fool us as independent observers. YOU'RE NOT. You're about as independent as Rush Limbaugh appearing at a Hillary Clinton rally. Your constant use of FAKE laughs and cackling pollute the airwaves. Your kowtowing to the right is evident every day. You doll out the same, unfunny shit and cater to a crowd that thinks American Idol is a documentary. If you're the "conscience of the west" then this country is worse off then I thought.

*Another daily farce I DETEST currently fashionable on radio: The massively horrific use of the term, "In my opinion" by radio hosts, especially sports-talk radio hosts. "IN MY OPINION"? Well, SHIT! OFCOURSE it's YOUR opinion! Who else' opinion would it be then? Your buddy, your mom, your dad, the producer? Then why is this verbal gobbledygook foisted on us every day? Because it's another case of uneducated, ill-trained yahoos that haven't a clue what the hell they're saying; they're like trained monkeys that if they hear a phrase and think it sounds cool even if it really sounds retarded, they still say it, yeah, IN MY OPINION. Absolute morons.

*I like smart people that have an edge which is why I laud Paul Deanno. KPIX should get him behind the desk asap and rid us all of lame schmucks like Allen Martin and Ken Bastida, all retreaded news readers with all the warmth and conviction of a Daly City Jack-in-the-Box.

Veronica De La Cruz

KPIX has NO pulse. No direction. No business model. They exist solely because CBS exists and have a O and O in the Bay Area. The actors on PIX are deplorable for such a Top 10 Market. Reporters are rank amateurs and look like dears caught in the headlights. The morning show is a total DISASTER. The Noon News could be charitably called adequate. Adequately BORING! The evening news platforms are complete waste of time and energy and it shows. God, I could put on a better show and save CBS the agony. Great, KPIX, so the general consensus is the News Director is beloved; wonderful, if she could only blow up the old operation and start over because the present schlock looks like a burnt-out Payless Shoes Source outlet.

*So, Veronica De La Cruz is back. Oh Boy, like THAT'S gonna shake things up. GAME OFF!

Terilyn Joe: yes, we have no bananas 

*VDLC: Terilyn Joe-lite.

*MOST OF YOU have cable or maybe some streaming device or DirectTV, whatever...you pay, on average, lets just be conservative and say at least a hundred bucks a month. I'm being kind it's probably a lot more but just for argument sake.

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You do the math.

I am your eyes and ear for BAY AREA MEDIA: You come here regularly looking forward to and EXPECTING news and commentary that doesn't exist in this market. WHY IS THAT? I have no clue. Maybe the corporate culture. Maybe the hijacking of radio by Cumulus media. Maybe you long for unedited and independent thought not taken over by the thought police.

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