The Mischke FAQ
1. Just how many freakin' clips
do you have saved anyway?!
2. Do you have a library of complete Mischke
Broadcasts?
3. Why in the world have you saved all these
clips?
4. You've been saving this stuff for years,
why have you never posted anything until now?
5. What's with the crappy quality on some of
the bits?
6. Are there other freaks like you out there?
7. Do you personally know Mischke?
8. Does Mischke have any input in regards to
this website?
9. Have you ever called in to the Broadcast?
10. Has anyone ever sent you any stuff with
Vogel and Mischke yet?
1. Just how many freakin'
clips do you have saved anyway?! Right now I have a total
of about 350 individual bits saved. --top--
2. Do you have a library of
complete Mischke Broadcasts? No. I have only preserved
eight or nine entire Mischke Broadcasts--ones that I thought
were especially strong throughout the entire show. It is also
nice to have these few Broadcasts saved because they are great
examples of how the flow of the show works--something you might
not understand with individual clips. To archive every broadcast
would be great, but the guy is on five times a week and that
adds up to a LOT of megabytes and a LOT of time. --top--
3. Why in the world have you saved all these clips? It all started when I had a long drive in to work every day. It was a little over a half hour each way--if you had good weather. My driving hours did not coincide with the Mischke Broadcast and I was stuck with horrible radio. I realized it didn't have to be that way and started taping the Broadcast every night and then listening to it during my drive the next day. I even ended up buying a radio with an automatic timer so I wouldn't miss a Broadcast. Then it was just a matter of taking it one step further and archiving any clips I thought were extremely funny or poignant.
Plus, I just felt that someone should be preserving
those incredible, extremely funny bits. The Mischke Broadcast is
consistently eleven times better than any other radio program I
have heard. But, there are occasions when Mischke really
outdoes himself and I cringe at the thought that this stuff
might only be heard once and then be gone forever. Radio is a
strange medium. With television, thousands of people record
shows and stations archive everything for reruns. With radio, it
is usually a one shot deal. A radio broadcast is aired for the
benefit of those in the present. Once it is over it is usually
gone for good. I can find 836,000 people who taped last
Thursday's Survivor episode. You might be able to find 2 people
who taped last Thursday's Mischke Broadcast. --top--
4. You've been saving this stuff for years, why have you never posted anything until now? When I first started archiving bits from the Broadcast, the World Wide Web was in its infancy. It wasn't until September of 2004 that everything sort of came together at once. My web space that came with my personal internet account was increased and enough people finally had high-speed internet access. Before then, I would have maybe had enough space for a couple of clips and it would have taken someone with a dial-up modem about half-an-hour to download a clip. It just really wasn't feasible to post all this stuff until now.
In fact, until just recently, I used to be able to post only ten to twelve clips total. I still did not have enough web space and would rotate clips every couple of weeks. Many people wrote to say they loved the site, but they didn't understand why I took clips down and put up new ones. They were fine with the new ones, but they wanted the old ones to remain up there too. I felt the same way, but I've got four kids and didn't want to cough up the extra dough to keep everything archived on the web.
Thankfully, a Mischke fan by the name of Lew, who
runs his own web server, generously offered to give me all the
web space I needed for FREE!! As a result, I'm still able to
post new clips every couple of weeks, but I no longer have to
take down the old ones. I figure within a year or so, I should
have my entire collection posted. --top--
5. What's with the crappy
quality on some of the bits? I tape all these shows in my
basement and sometimes the reception is not so good--especially
with my old radio. As a result, some of the clips (especially
older ones) have a lot of static and miscellaneous noise. I
figure people will be willing to put up with it to hear some of
the great old stuff. --top--
6. Are there other freaks like
you out there? Yes, there are. I have no idea how many,
but you might be surprised. I know of at least a few others who
save individual Mischke bits and I personally know of a couple
of people that archive entire broadcasts. When Mischke put
together his best of CD a few years ago, he used about half of
his own clips that he had saved and he turned to myself and
others for the other half. When Tom is on vacation or out sick,
the station will often air bits that individuals have saved. --top--
7. Do you personally know
Mischke? Yes--but only as a fan. He is probably a little
weirded out that I have saved all this stuff and put up a web
site. He is not much for attention. He reluctantly goes along
with it because he knows many people out there
enjoy the chance to hear some of his old stuff. --top--
8. Does Mischke have any
input in regards to this website? Very little. Obviously,
he is responsible for all the material--but I use my own
discretion with design and which clips are posted. Mischke has
made a few small requests (like no pictures!) and we've been
able to work things out. --top--
9. Have you ever called in to
the Broadcast? Yes, but very rarely. I've probably made a
grand total of five calls and Tom has managed to humiliate me on
most of them. It's very rare that I can make it through a call
before he hangs up on me. I've even had trouble making it past
his producer! That's pretty sad when you realize that Tom is
lucky if he gets one or two calls on most nights. The producer
often tells me that what I have to say is too boring and hangs
up on me before Tom even gets the chance to. Then I feel sad and
upset. I call my Mom, but she says something about listening to
Dark Star and hangs up on me. At this point I'm really down and
put in a call to the suicide hotline. Well, at least they didn't
hang up on me, but I still don't think it's right that they
encouraged me to sit in my car with the garage door closed. --top--
10. Has anyone ever sent you
any stuff with Vogel and Mischke yet? Yes, all the Phantom
Caller clips (where Mischke is calling in to the Vogel show)
were donated by a fan. Even though the quality is lacking on
some of these calls, I love them because you can
see the early evolution of what would later become the Mischke
Broadcast. As for actual shows where Don and Tom are working
together--no, I have received none of these shows yet. But, I do
know these shows must exist in someone's dusty
ol' shoe box under their bed. It is just a matter if they ever
stumble upon my request and are willing to help out. Mischke
himself has very little saved from these days. He has promised
if he ever hears of anyone with a collection of Vogel/Mischke
shows--he will steer them my way. As soon as that happens,
believe me, my next posting will be devoted to sharing one of
these shows. Numerous people have expressed their interest in
hearing one of these classic broadcasts. --top--