A talk radio virgin no longer

There's a new archival category on BeldarBlog — "Talk Radio."   I lost my talk radio virginity early this evening, during a thunderstorm — and I just want to say, Hugh Hewitt was very, very gentle. 

I blush to think how brazen I was — I made the first move, on the 800-number.  I tried to prepare myself while I was waiting (six browser windows open, notes, cold water, and a towel).  I really felt like he respected me afterwards — no, really! — even though I know he'd been carrying on just before I got there with that Roger Simon and that Captain Ed.  And I was followed by a surfer girl vocalist named Daisy Shane (who sounded gorgeous), and then by Byron York from NRO.  They were all very good — much more "experienced" than me, if you know what I mean.  They've done this before and it was my first time.  But it really was pretty painless, and I might do it again some time, if I can get up my nerve again.

[Disclosure:  In a different millenium, my high school job was as a radio announcer — a "DJ" in the days when the disks weren't shiny silver — on KPET-AM in Lamesa, Texas, where we ruled the High Plains of West Texas with our pulsating 250mw of power.  Meaning that after sunset, it's unlikely the young Dubya, while courting Laura back in Midland some 60 miles away, ever listened to my country-western tunes and snappy patter.  But you know, that was so long ago, and such a far cry from going all the way coast-to-coast on national talk radio — I don't feel like that really counts.]

My impression is that Hugh's one of the most popular and effective — yet least offensive and dogmatic — interviewers on talk radio.  And certainly since he effectively links the blogosphere to the talk radio universe and is a blogger himself, he's got quite a following on the net.  If, like me, you live in a city where none of the local stations carries Hugh live, or if you miss a show or want to hear Hugh at odd hours, you can access a good-quality 24/7 repeating internet feed of his show from his program's flagship station, KRLA-AM in Los Angeles.  Heckuva deal!  So how come Prof. Reynolds wrote yesterday, "I'M ON HUGH HEWITT: His website is down, though so you can't listen live over the Internet."  Glenn, Glenn, Glenn — you didn't know about the 24/7 repeating feed, huh?  It's almost as useful as carrying around a digital camera!

Okay, okay, I can tell you want all the details!  [Warning: 1.75MB .mp3 file lasting 3min 43sec — you're welcome to listen if you're really a voyeur, but right-click and save target to your hard drive for best results and to avoid abusing my bandwidth, please!]  Well, I've corresponded some with Hugh before by email and he's been kind enough to link to BeldarBlog a time or two (foreplay?), and he greeted me, to my surprise, like a long-lost friend.  No, I won't try to reprise my call here (most of what I talked about, I've recently blogged about anyway).  He did give me far more time than I'd expected — such a gentleman, not hurrying me!  He even laughed at my lame jokes — what more could a virgin ask for?

Anyway, thanks Hugh.  I'll always remember you — it was genuinely good for me, and I hope you will remember also that I chose you for my first time.