Dad I’m going to go get my shot - By N.L. Belardes
I was about to be picked on. Oh yes, attacked even by shock jocks. All in good fun, yet much more severe than my little Bakersfield Bob statements. These guys were going to talk about real issues: wearing your ethnicity on your sleeve. Had I been?
It was one of those strange phone calls in the middle of the day. I thought I was talking to Puck and it was Preston. “I’ll call you right back,” I said. I didn’t know I was on the air. Earlier Puck had written in an email after I asked about being on The Puck Show, “Let me talk to Preston and see what we got going on next week, and let's get something done.”
“Hey, it’s Preston.” It was Preston Nash. I thought Puck was calling to invite me to a poker game during a break on his show.
I called back a few minutes later and was put on hold. I heard Preston and Puck arguing about Preston being a quarter Native American. “I’m twenty-five percent,” Preston declared.
“Hell no, you’re not,” Puck argued.
“I am. I can prove it.”
“You can not.”
I sat listening to Preston and Puck argue when suddenly one of them said, “Let’s talk to the Latino author. I don’t know why he’s suddenly the Latino author, so let’s ask him what this is all about. N.L. Belardes, welcome to the show.”
“Hey guys. I don’t know what Preston is talking about. He’s not twenty-five percent Native American. He’s more like a wooden nickel percent Native American.”
There was a lot of laughter followed by Puck asking what the deal was about me writing in a newsletter I sent out early in the morning, I just wanted to tell you that folks in Bakersfield are proud of me as a local Latino writer…
So what was the big deal? I explained that in my online bio I talk about being a Chicano writer. I’m not just declaring I’m a Latino writer to sell books. I actually discuss Latino issues in my next book just as I have in other pieces that I have written (read one for Mas Magazine on the crisis of ethnic dualism in Latino California). I’m proud that as a literary writer I can speak for Latinos everywhere in a city where there are many Latino writers, yet there aren’t many who are authors. The conversation quickly changed, however.
We talked about the Californian and their lack of being as progressive as they once stated to me and how they said they could take criticism. We talked about professors and especially creative writing professors who haven’t contacted me. “Program managers are the same way,” Puck laughed. Many are washed up DJs who couldn’t make it, so they become program managers. We then talked about the Hockey CD. Preston gave me a hard time:
“So, Nick, when is the CD coming out…”
“Soon, but after Christmas. Working with bands, well, Puck knows how that is…”
Puck jumped in and asked, “You wrote the song, Zamboni Zombie where Condors sang on the song, and Fatt Katt had a few Condors on as well. If any of the Condors were to, let’s say, take the next step in their career and try to make it in their career, which one do you think would have the best shot?”
“None of them,” I laughed.
It was all in good fun.
And then Puck and Preston suddenly heard, “Dad I’m going to go get my shot!”
It was my kid wanting to shock the shock jocks. “What the hell was that?” Puck laughed.
“That was my kid.” It was the kid from Dirty Spanglish, the kid brave enough to write a hockey song about officials called “Zebras”.
“That’s not something you declare on the radio. What’s he going to get some kind of Prozac shot or something?”
“He’s going to get his distemper shot,” I giggled.
Ahh, such fun on the radio.
Thanks again to The Puck Show for having me on. Puck told me he’s on his second reading of Lords: Part One. I’m digging that. I just hope it doesn’t end up as a coffee coaster in his house, or a tray for his cigarette butts.
But then, that would be Puck to make good use of a well-worn book.
*One side note: I didn't know I was going to be on the radio but I guess Gus of the Filthies did. Not only did he listen in, he sent me a text message while on the air that read, "Nick, I'm going to go get my shots..."
It was one of those strange phone calls in the middle of the day. I thought I was talking to Puck and it was Preston. “I’ll call you right back,” I said. I didn’t know I was on the air. Earlier Puck had written in an email after I asked about being on The Puck Show, “Let me talk to Preston and see what we got going on next week, and let's get something done.”
“Hey, it’s Preston.” It was Preston Nash. I thought Puck was calling to invite me to a poker game during a break on his show.
I called back a few minutes later and was put on hold. I heard Preston and Puck arguing about Preston being a quarter Native American. “I’m twenty-five percent,” Preston declared.
“Hell no, you’re not,” Puck argued.
“I am. I can prove it.”
“You can not.”
I sat listening to Preston and Puck argue when suddenly one of them said, “Let’s talk to the Latino author. I don’t know why he’s suddenly the Latino author, so let’s ask him what this is all about. N.L. Belardes, welcome to the show.”
“Hey guys. I don’t know what Preston is talking about. He’s not twenty-five percent Native American. He’s more like a wooden nickel percent Native American.”
There was a lot of laughter followed by Puck asking what the deal was about me writing in a newsletter I sent out early in the morning, I just wanted to tell you that folks in Bakersfield are proud of me as a local Latino writer…
So what was the big deal? I explained that in my online bio I talk about being a Chicano writer. I’m not just declaring I’m a Latino writer to sell books. I actually discuss Latino issues in my next book just as I have in other pieces that I have written (read one for Mas Magazine on the crisis of ethnic dualism in Latino California). I’m proud that as a literary writer I can speak for Latinos everywhere in a city where there are many Latino writers, yet there aren’t many who are authors. The conversation quickly changed, however.
We talked about the Californian and their lack of being as progressive as they once stated to me and how they said they could take criticism. We talked about professors and especially creative writing professors who haven’t contacted me. “Program managers are the same way,” Puck laughed. Many are washed up DJs who couldn’t make it, so they become program managers. We then talked about the Hockey CD. Preston gave me a hard time:
“So, Nick, when is the CD coming out…”
“Soon, but after Christmas. Working with bands, well, Puck knows how that is…”
Puck jumped in and asked, “You wrote the song, Zamboni Zombie where Condors sang on the song, and Fatt Katt had a few Condors on as well. If any of the Condors were to, let’s say, take the next step in their career and try to make it in their career, which one do you think would have the best shot?”
“None of them,” I laughed.
It was all in good fun.
And then Puck and Preston suddenly heard, “Dad I’m going to go get my shot!”
It was my kid wanting to shock the shock jocks. “What the hell was that?” Puck laughed.
“That was my kid.” It was the kid from Dirty Spanglish, the kid brave enough to write a hockey song about officials called “Zebras”.
“That’s not something you declare on the radio. What’s he going to get some kind of Prozac shot or something?”
“He’s going to get his distemper shot,” I giggled.
Ahh, such fun on the radio.
Thanks again to The Puck Show for having me on. Puck told me he’s on his second reading of Lords: Part One. I’m digging that. I just hope it doesn’t end up as a coffee coaster in his house, or a tray for his cigarette butts.
But then, that would be Puck to make good use of a well-worn book.
*One side note: I didn't know I was going to be on the radio but I guess Gus of the Filthies did. Not only did he listen in, he sent me a text message while on the air that read, "Nick, I'm going to go get my shots..."
This entry was posted by N.L. Belardes, on
Thursday, December 15, 2005.
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