Too much to do, too many bLogs to update!!!

New stuff? I will be in "As You Like It" in April at UIS, I am learning to play ukelele, starting two new radio shows and simulcasting all the others on a new station.

More later . . .

Wow, it has been a while since I lasted blogged here.

If you have been following my art profile: myspace.com/tedkeylon then you already know about my art exhibit at trout Lily cafe in October and my Vachel Lindsay painting being finished in time to show at the VLA annual Dinner/Meeting at Illini Country Club in November.

I had to install a new bLog on my server at TheSpectra.net because the old one went corrupt somehow. It has happened a couple of times now, however, from using WordPress recently for RonPaulPainting I have found it to be very stable and so have replaced my old bLog with a wWordPress bLog and it has been running fine here.

The radio shows have all been running fine, I have had interesting guests on the talk show and more music coming in for the music shows. The band I am currently performing in, Rebel Bass, has been doing well and there is talk of reforming Black Ops.

I have been speaking with Jon Griffin, an artist who designed the poster for the Lincoln Theater Festival in Decatur, about designing a poster promoting my paintings for the Lincoln Bicentennial and I have started LincolnPaintings.com and a shopping cart as well to prepare for the coming year.

I was able to get prints for sale at Tinsley Dry Goods in downtown Springfield in time for the Holiday Walks and one sold already. I am even talking with the art buyer for the ALPLM giftshop about having prints there but I am not sure at this time how that will turn out.

I have been speaking with my Reiki Master about future Reiki events that I plan to participate in, such as the retreat this January and the Master's Level training this Fall. I also spoke with her about my plans to paint a portrait of Reiki founder, Usui.

Hello to the new friends I have added and hopefully I will update this more often.

PS. I almost forgot to say that I will be performing poetry with Nick Wasmer at 10pm at the Planet on Saturday, January 3rd for Rhiannon Gurley's birthday bash!!!

Let's see, where to start . . .

Tonight on my radio talk show I am having a guest named Bob Conley who is a Dem running against Lindsay Graham for Senate. You can catch that online at RevolutionBroadcasting.com tonight (Fri) at 10:00 PM Eastern / 9:00 PM Central.

I saw some excellent Hip Hop last night at the Planet! Humpasaurus, Mohrer Les, R2, Mr. Conformist, and more . . .

The people over at Marley's open mic are asking that our band Rebel Bass come back this Monday so that is what we are planning on doing. We also got a show lined up in Divernon, check the profile to find out the details if you want to go, we're playing with Buk, Hart Felt Sorrow, Gypsy Collabo and others . . .

I am hard at work on my portrait of Vachel Lindsay.

I am planning on being present in Minneapolis for Ron Paul's Rally for the Republic to let the current administration and the rest of this country know that we are tired of the Money Power destroying what Washington and Jefferson so righteously affirmed.

While in Minneapolis I am planning on reuniting with two very dear old friends, DJ Easyrider of the Steppers Alliance and Konkrete Jungle Minneapolis and the enigma that is Marya. It's been 17 years since I spent that summer in Prince's town.

When I get back Rebel Bass will be playing at my girlfriend's 40th birthday party.

That is all.

OK, enough with Ron Paul. The main reason we were all into him is because he was the only candidate not talking crap that had a chance of winning. I got on board because people were finally starting to listen to others teach about the problems with the Federal Reserve, how our country is far off course from it's own organizational document, and why the rest of the world hates us.

This is why I will still be broadcasting on Revolution Broadcasting [http://www.revolutionbroadcasting.com] and this week (tonight actually) I will be interviewing the president of the Illinois Communist Party (the libertarians are going to love that ha ha) and next week I will be interviewing the author of "Choosing Honor," Mary Ficalora.

I am working on a painting of Vachel Lindsay for my show coming up at Trout Lily cafe this October.

Black Ops is getting set for the benefit this weekend for my brother's family after their house fire.

Rebel Bass (the other musical project I am working on) is waiting to find out if Eric gets third shift next week, which will mean we have to find another bass player for a while.

For more detail you might want to check out my other profiles:

My painting profile: here,
and the Black Ops profile: here.

That is all for now . . .

Hello everyone! I recently got permission from Ron Paul's agent to read from his book tonight on my show, Illinois Patriots on Revolution Broadcasting at 9:00 P.M. Central. It has just been availble in the last couple of weeks I think and it is already 7 on the New York Times Bestseller List, "Revolution: A Manifesto." Also, Revolution Broadcasting is going to be holding the first ever live Internet debate between the candidates for President! This will be historic and happening on our broadcasting server! I'm sure if all goes well you will hear about it.

I have two new artists I want to get on my Ron Paul Painting site today.

I am going to a housewarming party in Champaign this weekend with Lisa and Black Ops is working on new marterial and ways to record our ideas so we don't forget them from week to week.

Agent Lizard brought in an old S-VHS camera and tripod to the lab plus Lisa let us use an old VHS player and monitor combo. VHS tape is a great way to record audio as the tape is much wider than normal cassettes and an S-VHS deck can record on VHS tapes. We are using Agent Covert Operative's nice microphone to capture the audio through our P.A. head plus we have the vocals going in direct. It took us all practice time last week to get it set up and we still need to tweak it some more.

The other musical project is coming along with Joe Henn. We are having trouble coming up with  name for the project that we all like, but the last one Joe suggested was approved by Eric, "Three Round Burst," but so far Lisa doesn't like it. What do you think?

Black Ops will be playing a benefit for the Lincoln Theater in Lincoln, IL, in August.

The band, Wokken Stick, from Pana, IL will be on an upcoming installment of Esotrerica's Music from the 89th Parallel on WQNA 88.3 FM to talk about their music and other things.

There will be a Summer Solstice Ritual organized at Visions by JDR in the former Rock Shop building. I signed up to help with that.

That is all I can think of at the moment.

Take care,

Ted

I will not be giving the Lincoln Ghost Walk tour any longer. As you know I bite off more than I can chew all the time and I was forced to discuss terms with the owner and he did not accept my proposal. As you know from my last post I was going to be looking at being out there a lot this season and many nights, judging from last year, I would be out there by myself. When that happens I did not get compensated so I asked for a guarantee and he decided to let me go.

I was worried about this and thought about talking with him, but after discussing the matter with some peers and people whom I trust about contracting and performing, I had decided to just bite the bullet and proceed, but somehow it got back to the owner that I was discussing the job with other people which he did not like.

So, long story short, since he wanted me to come to him rather than discuss it with other people, I told him what my concerns were and made suggestions as to a possible solution, he thought about it for three days, and he let me go.

I really enjoyed doing the tour but the constraint on my already busy schedule was just too much for too little compensation. I put the ball in his court and he made a tough decision.

There are no hard feelings on my part and I hope he does OK in the season ahead.

That is all.

I have been so busy lately, more than usual even.

First of all I have sold more paintings in the last couple of weeks than in my entire life due to the Ron Paul painting I did and posting Lincoln on eBay during his 199th birthday.

Check out my painting profile and these other sites for more information:
MySpace.com/TedKeylon

www.RonPaulPainting.com

MyWorld eBay profile



Also, we weren't able to find anyone interested or worthy enough (ha ha) to be a guide so it looks like I will be raking in the money this next season as I will have to do it myself. I do have a sub, however, who does one of Garret's other tours that is learning the Lincoln Ghost Walk so he can give me a break from time to time. Plus it's starting in March this year I found out which is about two weeks from now, oh boy!

And, as if all that wasn't enough, I am working on a new music project with Joe Hennessey. He is an awesome bass player I met at the Pizza Machine on a Thursday night open mic with the Dharma Bums. I have too busy to go back there but plan on it as soon as I have time.

This Thursday won't work though because I have a studio session scheduled at Access 4. Our band, Black Ops, is scheduled to perform on camera for broadcast next Wednesday at 1:30 A.M. CST, 9:30 A.M. CST, and 6:30 P.M. CST. We get more reaction from TV performances than we do at shows! We have been practicing for weeks just for this performance so I hope it turns out OK.

That is all.

Ted

As some of you may know, I am one of the tour guides for Lincoln's Ghost Walk, one of four tours operated by Springfield Walks.

Springfield Walks is owned and operated by Garret Moffett (creator of Haunted Macomb) who has big plans for next years tour which include the need for more tour guides.

Since I have been working as one of the first living history actors in Springfield, many of my friends and acquaintances have expressed interest in doing such a thing or felt like they missed the boat when they heard I was doing it. While I cannot help get people hired at the museum (which DOES happen occasionally as far as actors - contact Phil Funkenbusch) I have been asked to look for people I think can handle the tour guide gig.

I know a lot of people who are creative enough but this position requires a lot of dedication, especially at first. Garret has four tours, two that run all season (April through October - Tuesday through Saturday 7:00 and 7:30 P.M.) and one that runs only in October and one that runs once a month. Garret has purchased a covered wagon which he wants to operate with t-shirts and such on the plaza surrounded by period musicians so he will not be running the tours as much if at all, depending on whether we can find more competent guides within the next two months.

The longest and most popular tour is Lincoln's Ghost Walk which consists of six short scripts to be delivered at each location that the tour stops at: the Old State Capitol Plaza, the Presbyterian Church just across the street from the Lincoln Public Library, two stops in the home site park, the Lincoln Depot, and back at the Old State Capitol Plaza.

If you are interested and believe you are the type of person for whom this would be a piece of cake, just let me know by either sending me a message here, emailing me at eted[at]tedkeylon[dot]com, or just by calling me at (217) 836-4799.

Thanks for listening,
Ted Keylon

Hello MySpace friends and bLog readers!

I notice I have several more subscribers to my bog so I thought I should post a general update.

The two most important things going on in my official life are my continued research into Anna Ella Carroll and my painting venture. Other things include the continued work on the shows and preparation for the Halloween show with NIL8 and the former Misfits member, Dr Chud, and others for this year's Spook-a-delic at CIty Nights.

When I say, "the shows," above, remember that includes both radio shows and the cable access show as well. The cable access show, Blowing the Whistle (for those of you who don't know), is going well but there is still a huge lag between all the work that goes into preparing for editing and the editing itself. We have a backlog of at least three subjects/shows that are waiting to be edited or finished. The website has been going well, the shows that are done in the studio have been getting converted for posting online and then linked to the website for archival purposes with very few issues, but several projects, including Matt Schultz's "Dangerous Correlations," Dr. Bowman's "State of the Union," and his interview on WMAY's Saturday Session, and the Illinois Straw Poll/Ron Paul are all still not ready for airing due to numerous technical issues.

Bishop has been a great help (Saturday Session, WMAY, WQLZ) but his equipment is largely incompatible with mine and the equipment at Insight Access. Neither one of us have enough time to get the editing done, and until recently I didn't have a big enough hard drive to facilitate the work. It makes me nervous to see the projects just piling up.

The professor who purchased one of my Lincoln giclées is about to get the finished product. I expect to hear from RMD Gallery today about picking up the copy in order to take it back to my studio and paint the "gallery wrap." While I was there Robert DeLong, co-owner of RMD, said he thought if we had another copy it would definitely sell this coming Thursday, the last Art Walk. He said he is going to give it the old college try.

Anna Ella Carroll is getting more attention lately. So much, in fact, that I have been contacted by two actors regarding productions they are involved in. I am getting to be somewhat of an unofficial expert on her I suppose. This has prompted me to focus on the research site I am building about her which has then taken me away from video editing and working on my own site, the Spectra, but, I feel that the research site might actually be very useful in the coming years as it will be the only substantial digital library of Carroll's pamphlets and Senate involvement.

That site is prelaunched right now at http://www.annaellacarroll.info with a working bulletin board and my bLog about Miss Carroll linked and soon I will be finished transcribing her pamphlet, "The Relation of National Government to the Revolted Citizens," and will post it in HTML , JPG, and PDF formats.

Black Ops is getting ready for the Spook-A-Delic at Capitol City Shopping Center's Capitol City Bar & Grill's City Nights on October 26th. We will be getting together tonight as a matter of fact to rehearse and discuss what we will be wearing as far as costumes are concerned. I think we also need to discuss more about the set list if I remember correctly from last week.

I went on a kayak trip on the Sangamon River with my brother and Covert Operative from Black Ops (he is a highly talented scout who is very familiar with this area). It was technically a fishing trip but I broke my pole as soon as I got snagged and decided to meditate instead which was just as nice in my opinion.

Well that's where I stand at the moment. Now I am going to change and run to Carolyn's Food Mart downtown to pick up some coffee that I like as I am out if it here at work at the Museum and at the laboratory. It is also lunch time so I hope I have time left over to eat.

Hope everything is going well with all of you!

Ted

Last Wednesday, August 22nd, 2007, I met with Representative John Shimkus and Michael Townsend to discuss HR 2802, the Local Community Radio Act of 2007. The Senate Bill (SB 1675) was initiated by Senator John McCain who, like Shimkus, is a Republican. This is good because Shimkus will need all the cover he can get if he supports this legislation because the National Association of Broadcasters will likely come down on him with everything they've got.

It's typical to assume that the big players like Clear Channel or the NAB would have issues with these bills but Shimkus pointed out during the meeting that it is actually the smaller, independent broadcasters that will likely have more problems with the low power stations that would receive licenses from the FCC if the legislation goes into effect. Their concerns, Shimkus points out, stems from the belief that these low power stations would create competition with the independent stations such as Midwest Family Broadcasting in our area (although I have no idea what MWFB's official position is.)

Michael Townsend, a retired Professor from Sangamon State/Univeristy of Illinois at Springfield and long-time supporter of microwatt radio efforts and I both agree that these low power stations would not be in any type of competition with the independent high power stations.

First, the MITRE study (price tag $2.2 million) determined that the LPFM stations would not cause the interference the NAB claimed they would and, second, LPFM licenses are typically sought by non-profit and church groups or people interested in informing the community about everything from severe weather conditions (the type that usually knock the high power stations off the air) to political issues that are too big for the usual 15 to 30 second sound bytes afforded them in commercial arenas.

Businesses that would likely take advantage of the underwriting such low power stations would offer are generally the smallest kind of "mom and pop" stores or self-employed individuals looking for affordable advertising opportunities. The cost of advertising alone limits opportunities for these smallest of businesses in our community and so the help that low power stations would provide could hardly be considered competition.

Another case brought to our attention by the Prometheus Radio Project has to do with WQRZ, a low power station which was granted their license in 2001, I believe, during the first round of licenses issued for LPFM transmission. The station, located in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, has received numerous awards for staying on the air during Katrina, including an award from President Bush. WQRZ was the only station to remain on the air during and after the storm, only being down for a brief period before strapping the transmitters to their backs, finding higher ground, and getting back on the air to tell listeners with battery-powered radios where to go to find shelter afterwards.

Prometheus Radio tells us the the WARN Act last year, passed by the 109th Congress, strengthens people's ability to get emergency information in times of crisis from radio, TV, and other forms of broadcasting. The more the merrier: LPFM would be fully-fledged parts of the EBS and we have WQRZ's example to prove the efficiency of these low power stations during times of crisis. Just try to strap a high power station's transmitter to your back and swim for higher ground!

These facts were received with interest by Representative Shimkus who said he definitely wasn't against HB 2802, but was frank about the pressure he receives from the NAB and the independent high power stations. I showed him the list of LPFM applicants from our area, from Springfield to West Frankfort, that includes church groups such as Springfield's First Assembly of God to the University of Illinois at Springfield to the Springfield Branch of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom and in other cities and towns such as the Sugar Creek Ambulance Service in Trenton and the Performer's Workshop Ensemble in Urbana.

Clearly these types of groups are not a threat to the NAB nor to the independent broadcasters that Shimkus says are worried. The concerns of these groups are to be expected, but our job on Wednesday was to show the Congressman that they are unfounded. His honest approach and the fact that he is not planning on a 'no' vote were good signs that we left a favorable impression on him where low power radio is concerned.

For more information and/or to sign the petition, please refer to the following websites:

http://www.prometheusradio.org
http://www.wqrz.org

Also see the related documents provided by Prometheus, located in the Spectra download section here:

LPFM FACTSHEET (pdf)
LPFM "The facts are In" (pdf)
LPFM Applicants (dismissed/granted) (html)