Voice Made for Television
A Note from Fatty: Short entry today, because most of the day will be taken up with Dr. appointments (going to see the new orthopod today, but first must go on a scavenger hunt to collect miscellaneous X-rays and MRIs).
Here are a few fun facts about me:
- In High School, I was the kid who did the morning announcements. I was, believe it or not, dismissed for using bad language.
- I was also President of the Speech Team in High School. My events were Lincoln-Douglas debate and humor interpretation.
- After my Freshman year in College, I was an “air personality” on a Top 40 radio station. I say “air personality” instead of “DJ” because I had no say whatsoever in what music I played. That was all programmed by a company in California. It was made crystal clear to me that the most important part of my job was to have the reel-to-reel heads (yes, I’m that old) clean and coffee read in when the morning show guys got in at 4am. I made $0.55 more per hour than the starting wage at McDonalds.
So you would think, with these sterling credentials, that I would have an excellent, radio-ish voice, and that I would furthermore have the ability to talk in full sentences, without distracting “ummmmmms” every time my mind stalls.
In this, you would be wrong.
I discovered this earlier this week when Jason of RocBike.com interviewed me for his podcast. Still, it was fun to do.
Go listen to it by clicking here.
Comment by Travis | 11.1.2007 | 6:19 am
Your voice is a lot better than my face for Radio…
Comment by SkinnyCyclist | 11.1.2007 | 6:34 am
Good luck to day Fatty & Susan. Kick some a$$!
Comment by Purduerose | 11.1.2007 | 6:51 am
I hope your new Dr. is a much better Dr. and that today goes well for the both of you.
Comment by DNAtsol | 11.1.2007 | 6:52 am
Personally, I think I have a GREAT face for radio. I hope I can get some of the $+.55 action you mentioned. What a windfall! Harvard, here I come.
Comment by Jennebelle | 11.1.2007 | 6:53 am
You sounded good to me.
Comment by cyclingphun.blogspot.com | 11.1.2007 | 7:08 am
I thought it sounded great. I did radio for a while, and it wasn’t spot on perfect radio, but then again Im an anal idiot in most cases. But you sounded good, and it was interesting. 8.5 / 10! woo
Comment by barry1021 | 11.1.2007 | 7:14 am
Yup, a true impresario you are
Comment by good life | 11.1.2007 | 7:23 am
Being interviewed in front of a camera or on radio is not easy.
It’s amazing how you can feel natural and relaxed then as soon as someone says, “OK let’s start rolling”. That relaxed feeling turns into jittery, blubbering nervousness. Not saying you were jittery and blubbering.
Comment by Weean | 11.1.2007 | 7:25 am
The best thing about the internet is it has no accent. Whats a Bee-yawn-kay?
Joking aside, you sounded good. It was quite coolstrange (of course that’s a word!), like a distillation of the past half year of the blog. If only you could have got Al M into the studio/phone call too. Whilst I never think of you as having an American accent, somehow I just know that Al sounds like Hulk Hogan.
Comment by SYJ | 11.1.2007 | 7:29 am
But dude, back in the day where reel-to-real was the dominant technology, $.55 was enough to buy a new DeRosa.
Seriously, I hope that things go better with the doctor today
Comment by BurkeInTheOzarks | 11.1.2007 | 7:30 am
I agree that it was somewhat surreal to hear your voice. I’m sure all regular readers of your blog (who don’t know you personally, of course) had created their own version of your voice in their heads. Just the same, I thought it was a good interview – thanks for sharing it with us!
My favorite part was when you said you mainly ride your bike because it makes you really, really happy. I couldn’t agree more.
Comment by Canadian roadie | 11.1.2007 | 7:31 am
Nice interview! It’s great to put a name to a face to a blog.
Comment by bikemike | 11.1.2007 | 7:37 am
one never likes ones own voice, does one?
Comment by TIMK | 11.1.2007 | 7:54 am
I’ve got experience in database management if you are looking to hire someone to track your bicycle inventory.
Comment by mark | 11.1.2007 | 8:24 am
Great interview, Fatty. Can’t believe you almost forgot the Ibis.
Comment by Al Maviva | 11.1.2007 | 8:33 am
Weean, let me tell ya brother, I just live by the Four Demandments: Train, Say your prayers; Eat your vitamins, and Believe in yourself. And Snap into a Slim Jim. Or was that Randy the Animal Savage? FWIW, I actually sound a lot like Dolly Parton.
Nice interview Elden. Thanks for the shoutout. My wife and friends would take heart to find that there is one aspect of my behavior that is predictable. Sadly they wouldn’t be shocked to find out that my participation revolves around mocking out a bicycling blogger with a recurrent weight problem. Oh well, beats my last hobby of making fun of homeless people.
Comment by usimpto | 11.1.2007 | 8:40 am
Great interview, Fatty; I thought you sounded nice and conversational. Much better and more interesting than the radio interview I did in high school when I was asked to talk about what it’s like to be in marching band.
Comment by MTB W | 11.1.2007 | 8:41 am
Great interview! I second the part on your answer as to why you ride. I think it is why we all ride. I talked to you briefly after the Leadville 100 and you sounded just the same – calm, relaxed – despite just finishing a 9+ hour race.
Dismissed for bad language? Nope – I refuse to believe it. Were you a rowdy teen?
BTW, you have certainly been prolific recently!
Comment by BurkeInTheOzarks | 11.1.2007 | 8:44 am
Al – Dolly Parton, eh? That puts a significant, and slightly disturbing, twist in my mental image of you…
You never cease to amuse!
Comment by fatty | 11.1.2007 | 8:50 am
bad language=saying “crap” on school intercom. Yeah, I was a true rebel.
Comment by cyclingphun.blogspot.com | 11.1.2007 | 9:24 am
You got tossed for saying Crap?!! I knew a pastor who used crap in a sermon… not that it’s necessarily right, but.
The first time I heard myself on air on the radio (recorded of course) I almost wrecked my car. It is quite different from what you are used to hearing day to day.
Comment by Pammap | 11.1.2007 | 9:33 am
FC, good interview. I noticed a couple of “ummms” but only because you had pointed them out. Thanks for the nice comments about us, your readers. It must be that you bring out the best in us.
Comment by swtkaroline | 11.1.2007 | 9:50 am
you sound young. and, when recounting your stable of bikes and the fixie climb/descent, like a total numbers nerd. :)
I used to be both a dj *and* an “on air personality”…and apparently now I sometimes still put on my “radio voice”–which has been described as a cross between a used car salesman and a phone sex operator. eep!
best of luck today with the ologists and whatnot.
Comment by Jason | 11.1.2007 | 9:56 am
It was great to have you on the show, Fatty. And welcome to RocBike.com, Fatty fans! I’m a fan, too, so it was a blast to chat with the man himself.
(P.S. — The next show on 11/5/07 will feature another Internet biking celebrity: Bike Snob NYC.)
Jason
–
Jason Crane
RocBike.com | The RocBike Review
“Nothing To Lose But Our Chains!”
Comment by Lee | 11.1.2007 | 10:09 am
Great interview, Elden. Once again, thoughts and prayers to you and Susan- hope all goes well.
Comment by Dave | 11.1.2007 | 10:55 am
Fatty speaks! Good ummm job and stuff…
Even though it was recorded I was sending mental thoughts to you, “The Ibis, the Ibis, what about the Ibis!” Why can we recall and name your bikes just as well as you? Must be the bike nerd in us.
We are praying for Susan.
Comment by brigWOman | 11.1.2007 | 11:08 am
I too did LD debate! I ended up going to nationals in dramatic interp the year they were in Salt Lake, and take much pleasure in telling people that during my first visit to Utah’s capital, I was raped six times.
Comment by kenny | 11.1.2007 | 11:19 am
Wow.. I hadn’t really realized til now cause it happened gradually, but as they say in the news broadcasting world, “You’re kindof of big deal.” Do you have any leather bound books and does your house smell of mahogany?
Comment by Kris | 11.1.2007 | 11:33 am
Kenny lives!!!
I was pretty amazed when Fatty blogged that you were out ridding again. Hard to keep a good cyclist down.
Fatty, you did fine on the interview.
Comment by AMG in Texas | 11.1.2007 | 11:55 am
Fatty,
Are we related??? You sound just like me when I hold my nose and talk through my tin-can phone!!! Spooky…
As for Al sounding like Dolly Parton… hmm…. that does not compute….
Go team Fatty!!! Keep on fighting Susan!!!
P.S. What are the Biker Girls up to these days???
Comment by Clydesteve | 11.1.2007 | 12:03 pm
Fatty, you almost got nose talking about “rowing” your fixie uphill with a cadence of about 4. But it did make me feel better about my SS experiments of picking a gear and not shifting. I was under the impression that you SS / fixie guys were screaming up hill in relativly high cadence.
Pingback by RocBike.com | The RocBike Review » Links Of The Day: 1 November 2007 | 11.1.2007 | 12:11 pm
[...] Voice Made for Television [...]
Comment by Caloi-Rider | 11.1.2007 | 2:40 pm
Just don’t go making out with Ashley Olson now that you’re a celebrity, eh?
Comment by KeepYerBag | 11.1.2007 | 2:53 pm
Ms. Vail would be proud of you, Fatty.
Good luck with the doctors and as always our prayers and best wishes are with Susan and your whole family.
Comment by Canadian roadie | 11.1.2007 | 3:04 pm
Caloi-Rider: Okay, that’s just wrong in so many ways.
Comment by mocougfan | 11.1.2007 | 5:29 pm
Fatty,
Your going to get too big for us little people. Congrats amigo on the recent Much Deserved publicity.
PS…. as a Doctor myself (Dentist), no harm in choosing Doc’s that are good for you and to you.
Comment by Big Mike In Oz | 11.1.2007 | 5:56 pm
Oh My God! You have an accent.
And don’t worry about the umms and ahhs… your 20 year old radio skills are in hibernation with my 20 year old racing skills.
Comment by Les | 11.1.2007 | 6:13 pm
Fatty,
What a great interview! You sound like the same guy I have come to enjoy reading every day.
Comment by cheapie | 11.1.2007 | 7:37 pm
now that was interesting! weird. you’re a real person. lol.
Comment by Mike Roadie | 11.2.2007 | 2:39 am
We knew you when!!!!!
Comment by john | 11.2.2007 | 2:54 am
It’s nice to hear your voice, Fatty.
All the best to you and Susan and the kids.
–
John.
Comment by buckythedonkey | 11.2.2007 | 4:22 am
My goodness, you’re American!!!! Well I never…
Comment by Not a cyclist..... | 11.2.2007 | 4:32 am
Uh dude, you totally don’t have an accent. Don’t even worry about what these other folks said. You may prounounce Bianchi a little funny, but otherwise your speech is as non-regional sounding as you can get, much like all tv news personalities strive for these days. At least in the US.
Comment by Born 4 Lycra | 11.2.2007 | 4:58 am
Well I really enjoyed listening in. He writes, he rides, he speaks. I think Les’s comment says it all very nicely. Thanks to Rocbike for making you more famouser.
Had a comment on my pink top today and I said we (well you and Twin6) were looking at doing another one and she suggested howabout reversing the pink and black. I thought it was an interesting idea.
Susan hope all the medical visits went well today and the new doctor dude is a huge improvement. Lots of luv from Downunder.
Comment by buckythedonkey | 11.2.2007 | 5:04 am
“600 jerseys …. was a crazy number to make”
How gloriously, fabulously, brilliantly wrong that proved to be! In case you hadn’t noticed, a number of us are waiting for the next jersey.
Can I pre-order mine?
Comment by Lowrydr | 11.2.2007 | 5:13 am
Fatty, great read..uummm I mean listen no read. So are you going to set up an autograph booth in Leadville next year. I think the going rate is like 10 smackeroos each. That would help for Italy for sure.
And I quit doing the voice mail on the answering machine because the wife says that it scares the cat when the phone rings.
Luck and Prayers for the Doc visits with Susan.
Comment by Ka_Jun | 11.2.2007 | 8:11 am
A fellow Clyde AND and “LD” debater? That’s wack. Word on the street is that LD debate is dead.
Comment by Denise | 11.2.2007 | 11:32 am
Can’t say that I picked up on the accent some were mentioning but it was great to get to listen to you for a change of pace. Wonderful interview FC. Love, prayers and good Karma to your entire family!