Dan & Tasos –
Hosts: Dan O'Malley, Tasos Kostas
Featuring: Raj Sharma
Producer: Alfie
Intern: Ken
Rundown:
900: Whole New World
930: Call-in from Nick Pitera
950: Bird poops on Reporter
1000: High school steroid testing
1030: High school steroid testing (cont.)
1100: Tasos' Online Dating Horror Stories
1150: Sharma Sutra
Summary:
Since Raj wasn't here last week to experience the wonder that is Nick Pitera's rendition of the song 'A Whole New World' from Disney's "Aladdin", Dan starts the show by playing it for him. Of course, once he's reminded that the song is a duet, Raj becomes slightly horrified. Tasos is still convinced that the only way a man can reach those high notes is to fist himself. Raj, like some, is impressed at Nick's singing talent. Tasos' only explanation for his ability to sing male and female parts is that he's some type of robot, much like Alfie was found to be some type of "Terminator" at the end of last week's show. Raj remembers a group of Indian singers that had a similar act, but thinks that it was some type of electronic pitch shift. Dan then plays Nick's "Maria Carey/Boys2Men" song which is split-screened. Now Raj is like Tasos in thinking that this guy is a Terminator. Finally, Dan plays Nick Pitera's 'A Part of Your World' from Disney's "The Little Mermaid". "It's unreal…I'm floored", remarks Raj. "As a comic, you'd want to crack jokes, but I just can't." Alfie tries his hand at trying to emulate Nick again, which further amuses everyone. In a change of subject, Tasos reads a story out of Indiana about a couple of kids who were injured by sticking their tongues to a frozen pole. Dan equates it to being further proof that Raj needs to like 'A Christmas Story'. No one can understand how anyone can be stupid enough to try a stunt like this in real life. Raj defends his taste in movies after being criticized by both D&T. (Intern's Note: I personally agree with Raj…never liked 'A Christmas Story'). Dan brings up his affection for "The Last Dragon", which Raj can understand, but Tasos can't. Caller 'Dequan' says that it was great if only for the line, "Who's da mastah." D&T want him to add little bit of 'urban' flair to it, but Dequan chickens out.
After trying to escape the heat of the studio during the break, we come back with Nick Pitera on the warm line. Tasos offers only a single word opening question, "Why/How?" Nick says that it was just something he found he could do at the age of 12, which Dan can relate to, having come from a musical family. Tasos asks why a 21 year old with so much talent isn't actively pursuing something along the lines of 'American Idol'. Nick wasn't really sure what he could do with his singing career-wise, but ever since his videos have gained popularity on YouTube, he is now more actively pursuing his options. He attributes most of his internet fame to his 'Whole New World' video getting posted on sites like Digg and YouTube, which have gotten him on 3 radio shows so far. Nick currently doesn't have a CD in the works, mostly because he has only seen popularity for the last month, but he plans to search his options after he finishes his degree in Animation in a few months. As far as future videos go, he will be putting up "Bleeding Love" by former 'X Factor' contestant Leona Lewis very soon. (Intern note: D&T note that Nick's studio is WORLDS better that the KLLI studios, to which Nick has no reply. Alfie and I laughed thoroughly.) On the phone, Nick does a live performance of "A Whole New World" that amazes everyone. Dan teases the break with, "Coming up next, bird poop."
During the break, Raj comes back from a smoke break and gets Lysol'd by Tasos who simply states,"You Stink." Also, a drunk chick calls up asking for "Chuck the Pizza Boy". She is deemed worthy of terminal hold while Raj and Tasos speculate on how they could possibly turn it into on-air content. Predictably, she hung up.
Back from the break, Alfie calls Jay Walker about the heat while Dan intros the bird-poop clip from 'Action 7 News'. They break down the action of the clip, saying that the only way it could be better is if the guy threw up on camera. Dan recounts a story from his youth about himself on a ferry to Alcatraz, taking a picture of what he thinks is an eagle(a seagull) in-front of an American Flag. Instead of capturing an epic moment, he ends up seeing three women defecated on by said seagull. Tasos tells a related story about a clip he saw on the Discovery Channel's "Dirty Jobs" where birds vomit when they get excited. Raj switches the focus to bird exhibits at local zoos which can often end in bird feces being strewn about. Tasos talks about a time his parents took him to a wildlife safari that ended with an ostrich vomiting in their vehicle. In the middle of a story, Tasos accidentally touches tongue to the microphone, which almost has himself vomiting in-studio. Caller Alex states that, according Greek lore, a bird pooping on you is good luck. Tasos vehemently disagrees.
After returning from the break, Dan leads with a story about High School steroid testing in Texas schools. Raj immediately relates it back to the Mitchell Report, stating that "the bar has been set." Dan expands upon the story, stating that the process by Texas Legislature is supposedly random, which Dan feels is counterproductive to actually finding steroid use. Smaller players who obviously aren't using, like Raj was back when he played H.S. football, would end up being tested, thus wasting money and time. Raj counters by stating that no coach would knowingly test his star players even if he suspected possible steroid use. Dan opens the subject up to the callers, adding in "Why are we just testing for steroids and not other things?" Caller Justin thinks that the testing is to help curb the resulting emotional instability and suicides from steroid use at such a young age. On a side note, Dan airs his frustration about Human Growth Hormone being implicated in 'steroid abuse' by the media. The question comes up regarding who is going to decide who gets tested…the UIL or the coaches. Caller Laura, an 18 year old, doesn't think it matters if a player is good or not. Caller Tom personally thinks that the influence to use steroids comes directly from the coaches…and that's because of all the money that is invested in football in Texas. Caller Ashley, a freshman, has a friend who dropped out of school as a result of random testing, and thinks that the pressure as a result of testing is detrimental to students. Caller Charlie, a coach in the area, says that the UIL will be responsible for randomly testing from just a roster of names, and only 40-50 thousand students will be tested around the state. Charlie, who coaches in Stephenville, also saw the UFO….probably not really.
Continuing on the subject from the last break, D&T return to the subject of steroid testing after a short detour to talking about the South Carolina primary that saw Obama taking 55% of the vote. Dan says that were he a superintendent, he would test all his students…which Tasos and Raj can't believe…mainly due to funding issues. Caller "Jason" says he has an inside track regarding HGH use in high schools, but his phone drops. Thankfully, Caller Norman says that his own school was randomly testing players for steroids AND drugs over six years ago. Caller Brandon, a High School Senior, says he has had similar experiences with testing in his own school. Raj thinks that there might be a correlation between the wealth of the areas certain schools are in and the amount of steroid use that might be going on. Caller Anthony says that in his own experience, the really puny/short guys were tested more often that any of the larger players.
During the break, Raj finds out that it's ok to say "God Dammit" on the air…just not during the Dan & Tasos Show.
Coming back from the break, Dan announces that the Dropkick Murphys will be playing at the House of Blues on March 8th…which D&T will be broadcasting live from. Now that it's after 11, though, Tasos gets to discuss his online dating horror stories. He starts by giving the background that he is only currently looking for Greek girls, which…trying to find one locally that he doesn't know…is hard. One girl who chose to 'flirt' with him over a dating service, who does not have a picture on her profile, works at a Dallas television station(sadly, it's not the delicious Alexa Conomos). After hounding her for a picture, which she couldn't send because she's traveling for her job due to the elections, she set up a myspace page for them to chat. After a month of texting and emailing, he gets a message from a random person stating that the person who Tasos is communicating with stole pictures from another myspace page, apparently thinking that she would not be good looking enough for him. After confronting her on the issue, she denies it saying, "Why would you even ask me something like that?" Eventually, she confesses, stating that she was insecure about her own looks, and Tasos cuts off all communication with her. Tasos can't understand why someone who is so successful and so accomplished can, "…fall apart like a wet taco." After discussing who the person turned out to be/look like off the air, Dan opens the subject up to the phones. Dan also brings up the trouble that MySpace brings when trying to tell people's real identities apart from their fake ones. Caller Nick said that a girl who he had talked to in Frisco about a year ago had used fake pictures and ended up being close to 300 pounds when he saw her in person. Raj counters, speculating that it could have been a trick by the girl to see how shallow he was. Caller Emil has two very quick stories from his own experiences with dating websites. The first is about a "wink" he got from a girl using pics from a well known online model which ended up being from the model's Wikipedia page. The second story concerns another 'wink' from a girl in Weatherford, whom he researched by searching for her Myspace profile. She turned out to be 16 instead of the 19 that was on her dating profile. Caller Mark, sneaking in before the break, says that what you really needs some type of 'online wingman'…but really just a webcam.
The last segment of the show is reserved for Raj's "Sharma Sutra" in which callers ask Raj for various amounts of advice. The first question is from a guy whose girlfriend doesn't like going out and doesn't like him going out without her. Raj's advice is that the relationship is doomed to failure if they can't come to an equal understanding regarding this issue. If he wants to fix the problem, he should find out why she doesn't want to go out. The second question involves someone who had an argument over the phone with the woman he is/was dating in which she hung up on him, and the two have not communicated since. Raj says it's not worth communicating with her anymore because she hasn't attempted to explain her actions, but mostly due to the factor of her lack of maturity. In addition, Raj says that he should call her back with really hateful messages as a means of getting back at her….examples given relate to her "taste" and/or hygiene habits. The final question concerns a man with a sex crazed girlfriend, who could have a Dr. Seuss book of the places she loves to have sex, but refuses to have traditional sex on a bed. Raj states that her behavior is thoroughly suspect, and that he should check into her background to see if there as been a disturbing incident in her past that took place on a bed…or if she has done porn. Raj also bids kudos on the exhibitionism, but explains that it could get him into legal trouble in the end.