File Under: WTF?

Man sets station on fire over playlist

Volunteer says he was 'very unhappy' about changes to his jazz selections

 

AUSTIN, Texas - A volunteer at a community radio station set fire to the station because he was upset that his song selections for an overnight Internet broadcast were changed, police said.

Paul Webster Feinstein, 24, has been charged with second-degree felony arson for the Jan. 5 fire, which caused $300,000 worth of damage to the studios of 91.7 FM KOOP. He faces from two to 20 years in prison and a $10,000 fine if convicted.

Feinstein told investigators that he was "very unhappy" about the changes to his playlist, said Austin Fire Department Battalion Chief Greg Nye. The songs were intended for an Internet broadcast that occurs when the station is off the air.

"He had a dream of a career in radio and was very disappointed about where it had led him," Nye said.  An attorney for Feinstein could not be reached for comment.

Jazz fan
Station president Andrew Dickens said Feinstein had been in a dispute with another volunteer about what kind of music should be put into a digital library for the Internet program.  Feinstein was a jazz fan and his Internet program was called "Mellow Down Easy," Dickens said.

"We knew there was a disagreement, but I would characterize it as a little clash of personalities over types of music to be played and not a big blowout," Dickens said.

Feinstein, who had volunteered at the station for about a year, quit a week before the fire, saying he was going to do other things, Dickens said.

"He seemed like somebody who was young, enthusiastic, had a life, was a professional and was educated," Dickens said.

Nye said Feinstein acknowledged making a copy of the station key and then waiting for the station to clear out on the night of Jan. 5. Feinstein poured gasoline on the control panels in two studios to start the fire, Nye said.

Gasoline at scene
The fire department's trained dog smelled gasoline at the scene, tipping investigators to the arson, Nye said.  Feinstein had no previous criminal record.

The fire was the third the station has dealt with in the past two years. The first was ruled accidental. The second was caused by a malfunction in a heating and air-conditioning unit of a nearby business and forced the station to move.

This month's fire knocked the station off the air for 19 days. It resumed broadcasting last week in donated space.

"We are kind of worried that people will look at us like a bunch of idiots," Dickens said. "This is really just one of those out-of-the-blue situations. Who the hell would have thought somebody would have snapped?"

Now, I'll be the first to admit that I get a little agitated whenever songs that I can't stand come on the radio, but I've never thought about burning down the radio station.  Whenever I hear "American Pie", "Margaritaville" or anything by Garth Brooks, I change the radio stations so fast that the stereo might short circuit, but I've never wanted to burn down WQMF or WAMZ.   And unlike Mr. Feinstein, I never wanted to be a DJ at a radio station - simply because I would not play music that I didn't like. 

We Dodged Another Bullet

I'm very happy to report that The Compound made it through last night's horrible wind storm unscathed.  The closest thing to damage we had was the metal windmill blowing over and some limbs down in the backyard, but that's about it.  Those just a few miles away in Shively, and farther east in the Highlands and St. Matthews weren't so lucky - they were hit hard.  Trees are down left and right in those areas, and they still don't have any power.  In fact, the car repair shop that is working on the BMW didn't have any power today, so they had to close.  They're located about a mile from work, too.  The power was out in our company last night, and they sent the night shift workers home.  Lucky them.  The power came back on at work at about 6:30 this morning, just in time for day shift to work.  Lucky them.

The massive cold front rolled through our 'hood at about 8:00 and brought with it 50-60 mile an hour winds and a bigtime sudden drop in the temperature.  Last night before the storm it was in the mid 50's; this morning when I got up for work it was 17.  Now that's what I call a cold front.  But other than the wind and some limbs and sticks out in the yard, we were very very lucky here at The Compound.  We must be living right.

I Know You Feel My Pain

It's been awhile since I've had to report any disgusting news like this, but I'm very sad (or should I say "$ad"???) to report that the BMW is in the shop.  I noticed a leak a couple of weeks ago and put it in the shop, but after drying everything off and driving it for an hour, they couldn't find any leaks.  This Saturday morning Dad discovered yet another oil slick on the carport in the same spot as before (by the left front tire).  We weren't sure if it was oil or hydraulic fluid, since every other thing on the BMW takes hydraulic fluid.  But it was a pretty substantial spot.   I was in too good of a pre-birthday celebration mood to deal with it over the weekend, so I just did nothing until we got home from the boat yesterday afternoon when Dad followed me over to the shop and we dropped it off for diagnosis.  But this time I was armed with proof.  Saturday morning while the puddles of fluid were still fresh on the carport floor, I took pictures with the cell phone camera so the shop can get a visual on the leaks.  Please say a prayer that the BMW's hemorrhage repair won't be too co$tly.  I'll keep you posted. 

Glory Of Rome Birthday Trip Review

The 'Rents and I returned home just hours ago after spending an awesome day and a half at our favorite getaway, the Glory Of Rome.  We headed over yesterday at around noon, and just got back a couple of hours ago.  We're worn out, and feel like we've been gone from home for weeks, but we had an awesome time together.  Between Diva Stacy and the 'Rents, I celebrated my birthday in style.  The day started off with Diva Stacy fixing me Eggs Benedict, washed down with Graceland Cellars "All Shook Up" champagne.  Yes, that's Graceland as in Elvis Presley.  From there, the 'Rents and I headed across the bridge to the Glory Of Rome where we spent the night.  My birthday meal at "Legends" was great - my ribeye was cooked exactly medium, like I ordered.  And we managed to win some money last night, too.  We all three had a good night's sleep on the very firm pillow-top mattresses, and had a great breakfast at the Villa Buffet before heading back to the Glory Of Rome to win a little more money. 

Normally, I witness enough bizarre things at the Glory Of Rome to be able to write a "Top Ten Things Seen At The Glory Of Rome."  But this time, I'm deviating.  The most bizarre thing I witnessed during our stay occurred this morning during breakfast at the Villa Buffet.  When we arrived, it wasn't crowded, and the hostess seated us in the "Diamond" section - a section where they normally only sit the "Diamond" Total Rewards Card people, aka the high rollers.  Two World Series Of Poker players, who were Diamond card holders were at the table next to us.  Let me interject that we are lowly "Gold" Total Rewards players.  The Diamond card guy was talking to another Diamond card/poker player at the table next to him, and they were both talking about last night's games.  We the Diamond guy go up to the buffet to get his breakfast, and when he returned, we noticed in one hand he was carrying his plate piled high with biscuits and gravy, and in the other hand he was carrying two little cartons of yogurt. Before sitting down to eat the Diamond guy put the two little yogurts into the pocket of his coat.  Here this big high rolling poker player was snagging two little cartons of yogurt.  The three us sat there at our table with total "WTF?" looks on our faces.  Maybe that's how he can afford to spend so much money in order to be a Diamond card holder.  But it sure was cheesey.

Link Of The Week

I've mentioned this before in TWIT, but it bears repeating - I don't do car trips very well. It's not like I get car sick or anything; I just don't have patience like I used to and when I'm going somewhere I want to be there as fast as I can.  That's why I prefer to fly.  My new flying rule if a destination is over three driving hours away, I'll fly there.  I love flying almost as much as I hate car trips. 

This week, I found a website that will help those of you who love flying as much as I do.  It's called Seat Guru.  You can get info on every airline that flies, and can get detailed info on all of their planes, with special emphasis on seats.  You can see a diagram of the seats on a plane, so you can decide where you want to sit. Check it out at http://www.seatguru.com.

Saturday Joke Time

A woman was having her portrait painted and told the artist, "Paint me with diamond rings, a diamond necklace, emerald bracelets, a ruby broach, and gold Rolex watch."

"But you are not wearing any of those things," the artist said.       

"I know," remarked the woman.  "My husband is having an affair with his secretary.  If I die before he does, I'm sure he will marry her right away, and I want the bitch to go crazy looking for the jewelry."

Flashback Friday

The other morning, we awoke to find about an inch of snow here in the 'Ville.  Personally, I would have rather had at least 3 or 4 inches - enough to use our virgin snow blower - but I love snow and I'll take what I can get.  That morning, our local schools were delayed two hours, while schools in counties farther north and west of us were closed.  During the drive to work that morning, I thought about how it was back in the day when we were jonesing for snow days.

As a kid, we didn't watch the nightly local news like we do today, but we did pay attention to the weather people in the winter time.  Whenever they said the word "snow" we would practically come unglued in hope of enough snow so school would be closed the next day.  Never mind the fact that we would have to make up those days - we just wanted to stay home and be able to play out in the snow.  We would say some heavy- duty prayers for snow before we went to bed, and would hardly sleep during the night due to the anticipation of a big snow.  Snow days ranked right up there just below Christmas break.

During my middle school and junior high school days, I was fortunate to have many, many snow days.  In the winter of 1976, we were out of school for snow over two weeks, and in the late winter of 1978 we had over three weeks of consecutive snow days.  Yep, that's a lot of snow.  During those weeks, we would be glued to the 6:00 news and hold our breath until we heard the newscaster say "No school for Jefferson County tomorrow."  We knew we had been given one more day.  Now, that determination is made the morning. 

I'm proud to say that I know the woman responsible for making that determination.  She's a friend from the VFW, and a Ladies Auxiliary member.  On nights when snow is in the forecast, she is on "alert" and gets up at 3:00 in the morning.  If there is snow, she drives all over the county and then she gives the word on whether or not school will be delayed or closed for the day.  I ask you - is that a cool job or what?  I'm sure she's not real thrilled over getting up at 3:00 in the morning after being out at the VFW the night before, but she does her job well. 

But I digress.  On snow days, things just seemed more fun than on our regularly scheduled holidays.  In our house, I would bundle up and walk down to the Greenwood Market and would get to buy a frozen pizza, a bag of Lays sour cream and onion potato chips, and a 3 Musketeers candy bar.  Once back home, Grandma would doctor up the pizza, adding onion and green pepper, and when the pizza was done, she'd call our neighbor Alice, who would bundle up and walk down through the yards and have pizza with us.  That was our traditional snow day routine.  But those are a thing of the past.  There's no such thing as snow days in the working world.  Even during the foot and a half snow in January 1994, my office was only closed for one day.  It sure would be cool to stay home during a snow day and have a frozen pizza.