Name: MP Raw interview - Barry Sand by Mike Parson
Duration: 14 min 30 s
Description: Both Barry Sand and Donna DeLorenzo are retiring after 20 year careers at Flagler College. I sat down with both of them - actually, separate - to inquire about their careers and their camaraderie.

My reimagined take on the classic World News Tonight theme.

World News Tonight: Demo Close

When new NPR Weekend Host Arun Rath came on air for his first "All Things Considered" broadcast in September 2013, the show opened with a new tune. This piano-heavy version of the standard "All Things Considered' theme music is the handiwork of NPR Music Host Robin Hilton, who reinvented the song for the show's Saturday and Sunday editions.

NPR's "All Things Considered," weekend theme

Please note: this conversation starts about 10 minutes in -- by this point my wife and I are both completely flustered by the oppressiveness of the rep.

So! Last week my wife called to disconnect our service with Comcast after we switched to another provider (Astound). We were transferred to cancellations (aka "customer retention").

The representative (name redacted) continued aggressively repeating his questions, despite the answers given, to the point where my wife became so visibly upset she handed me the phone. Overhearing the conversation, I knew this would not be very fun.

What I did not know is how oppressive this conversation would be. Within just a few minutes the representative had gotten so condescending and unhelpful I felt compelled to record the speakerphone conversation on my other phone.

This recording picks up roughly 10 minutes into the call, whereby she and I have already played along and given a myriad of reasons and explanations as to why we are canceling (which is why I simply stopped answering the rep's repeated question -- it was clear the only sufficient answer was "Okay, please don't disconnect our service after all.").

Please forgive the echoing and ratcheting sound, I was screwing together some speaker wires in an empty living room!

Updates:
7/15 - Comcast has issued an apology: http://corporate.comcast.com/comcast-voices/comcast-statement-regarding-customer-service-call
7/16 - I have continued to reiterate publicly that I do not want Comcast to terminate the rep, and that I believe the call itself belies a deeper, systemic dysfunction:
https://twitter.com/ryan/status/489576392250519552
https://twitter.com/ryan/status/489576399636676609
https://twitter.com/ryan/status/489576406301413376

Comcastic service disconnection (recording starts 10 mins into call)

NEW: Bulletin (1996) - Demo - Music Oasis (Bruce Upchurch)

NEW: Sampler (Decade 90, Power News, Somethings Happening Here, The Heart Of) - 615 Productions

(Story continues from previous track.)

Another milestone came when Dick asked me to compose a new theme for the station's morning news broadcast. Listening back to this track today makes me smile because it recalls the hilarious scene in the film Broadcast News when characters played by real-life composers Glen Roven and Marc Shaiman pitch their news theme to a network executive. It's also a reminder of how much orchestral sampling technology has improved since 1994, though at the time the sounds I was using were considered state of the art.

(Story continues with next track.)

1994: KYW-TV "AM News Theme"

WXIA-TV news close "The New Standard and Tradition", 1981

wxia-the-new-standard-and-tradition-news-close-1981

TEGNA - Audio Identity

Both Barry Sand and Donna DeLorenzo are retiring after 20 year careers at Flagler College. I sat down with both of them - actually, separate - to inquire about their careers and their camaraderie.

MP Raw interview - Barry Sand

Mike Parson

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