Radio Show Update

Posted on July 21, 2012 by Jason Hunt

It’s been a rough year so far here at Rose and Jason Live. We’ve been fraught with sinus infections, lost voices, overbookings, and more technical difficulties than we can keep track of. Some of that is to be expected with a growing show (and we ARE growing. Snap.), but a lot of it just seems like a patch of bad luck.

This little show has been the mythical “labor of love” for the two of us for FIVE years now. Sheesh. That’s a long time. Sometimes I wonder how we haven’t killed each other yet.

Sometimes I wish we had. :-)

We’ve gone from having two people sitting on a couch in my living room and talking into my laptop to sitting on a couch in Rose’s living room and vying for space at a single USB microphone to a full studio set-up with four microphones, an 8-channel mixing board, three computers, and a tablet…all without a single bit of marketing or advertising and with absolutely NO income. :-)

I’d say we’re pretty proud at what we’ve accomplished. To say that Rose and I (not to mention Dave, Zach, Autumn, Harry and our very faithful group of listeners) truly LOVE doing this show would be an understatement. ‘Cuz we do. A lot.

Toward the end of last season, we kinda found ourselves at a decision space. We were having a great time doing the show, but we had grown as far as we could grow. You see, I don’t know if you knew (because we like to pretend like it isn’t true) but we both work full time in addition to producing Rose and Jason Live each week. Rose has the added…blessing…of running a family as well :-) . So, facing a big decision and keeping in mind all of our other responsibilities, we did the responsible thing.

We put it off. :-D

Now, however, we are at that point again and this time we can’t just postpone the inevitable. My company is growing, with two big additions coming up within the next month. The show is still growing, with three (!!!!) new websites set to launch in our Circle of Sarcasm (did you just get chills? I got chills.). We are also going to have to invest in upgrades to our broadcast scheme before we can even have a show again.

Sadly, it’s too much. I’m running myself ragged trying to keep up with everything and still have time to play with the puppy. And that’s important. Harry needs playtime. :-)

We’re going to take some time off. We absolutely hate to take such an abrupt break in the middle of the season, but what we have been producing of late has not been consistent with the quality we demand of ourselves. Did you like how I used such strong terminology? Oh, yeah. We’re die-hard.

Related things like the book club (new book starts next week!), our blogs, thosearentclothes.com, etc. will continue on, but the show itself is on hiatus. In a few weeks, Rose and I will sit down and reexamine the future of our little show. Something’s gotta change if we are going to continue to grow (and stagnation is not an option), but I know that we are both committed to figuring it out. We hope you’ll grant us a little lattitude this season and still be around when we come back.

We love you guys thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiis much (quite literally, since you are all our friends and family) and we are looking forward to being back on the air.

All my love, like, and a bottle of Gewurtzraminer,

-Jason

Categories: Rose and Jason LIVE, Website Info | Tags: , , , | Leave a comment

Puppy Pictures!

Posted on April 28, 2012 by Jason Hunt

I don’t really have anything to write. That’s a lie. I have a review of Clap Cooper’s Country Music Express (and yes, I saw the typo, but it’s funny, so I left it) to write, but I’m just not feeling it at the moment. Harry bounced onto the bed this morning his normal playful self, so I took the opportunity to have a little photo session. That is what will be the theme of today’s post while I ramble on about other stuff.

Also, I have ABSOLUTELY no idea what we’re doing on the show tonight. :-) For reals. No idea. This week was very busy and while I did get some Rose and Jason  stuff done (did you see our awesome new facebook cover that may or may not line up correctly in your browser? Sigh.), planning was not on that list. What are we going to talk about?

I suppose I could always decorate Justine and let Autumn rant for a while. That’s always worth a good half hour. Ooo, maybe there are other people she idolizes that we can destroy in dry erase form! I must check into this…

Harry, at the moment, is laying in the middle of the floor by the patio doors. He does this on pretty much any sunny morning because he’s part reptile. Cold-blooded, I mean. He loves to sit in the sun for HOURS, getting up only if I provide food. Lazy little welfare dog. Because of the angle of the mountain, we really only get direct sunlight through the patio doors from sunrise to about 10:15, which means the warm spot is constantly on the move. My dog spends his mornings scooting closer and closer to the doors until he is literally crammed up next to them like a bug picked up by the windshield wipers.

HAHAHAHAHA. That was a funny image. I hope it worked for you in your head. Allie over at Hyperbole and a Half would have acoompanied that statement with awesome cartoons showing a squished dog-bug sliding back and forth on a car window. Not me. I refuse to show that much initiative.

Which is also why she has 4,000x the traffic that I do. :-)

Back and forth. Back and forth. backandforthbackandforth. Now I have the image of Harry sliding across my windshield stuck in my head. Don’t worry, he’s alive. And surprising aware of his situation, for a dog. He’s trying to follow my face with his eyes saying “What the heck. How is the even humor?” while I try to stifle my laughter.

Oh, Harry. Someday you’ll get a day-dream sense of humor. :-) In my head, I’m Jarrett and Harry is Bobby. Whoooooaaaa, Pierce Arrow reference! Did you know that Luke Menard (former American Idol contestant) is in Pierce Arrow now? How could you not? His face is on a billboard 50 feet high on 65. :-D Luke doesn’t read my blog. At least, I’m assuming he doesn’t. Most of the people who read this Little Stop of Horrors link here from facebook. Alas, Luke and I are no longer facebook friends.

Ha HA! Luke no read! Luke is a smelly monster fish!

That felt good.

Here is a picture of a baby. Her name is Buegbina.

Categories: Jason's Life, Puppies, Random | Tags: , , , | Leave a comment

Black Oak Grill

Posted on April 21, 2012 by Jason Hunt

If you’ve been down at the Branson Landing any time in the past four years, then you know there has been a restaurant “coming soon” across from Belk for yeeeeeeears. It was supposed to be something Italian. Or Mexican. Why do I want to say it had something to do with a wedding? Anyway, they’ve had a sign up for literally years announcing it’s imminent presence. Unfortunately, it never materialized. Fortunately, Black Oak Grill did. It opened a few weeks ago to little fanfare and has been chugging along every since. My mother and I decided to give it a whirl a few days ago (I figured it HAD to be better than Blue Man Grill. I mean, it’s on the LANDING! That means excellence, right?).

If you are unaware, Black Oak Grill is owned by Consolidated Restaurant Operations, Inc., owner of Cantina Laredo and El Chico (two of my favorite Mexican chains) and Good Eats (Oh my gosh, I miss those hamburgers) as well as some other chains about which I don’t particularly care. When a corporation of that size opens a new restaurant, it tends to be hit or miss. So did it hit? Did it miss? DUN Dun dunnnnn….

The restaurant itself is nice; it has a casual dining atmosphere, but leans a little bit toward a fine dining feel too (not unlike Cantina Laredo). You feel like you’re sitting in a nicer restaurant without having to pay the same prices. The decor is a little minimalistic, which made the room feel empty, but my mother pointed out that with all the hard surfaces around us, the place is probably HOPPIN’ when it gets a good crowd. The service was excellent (of course, we were the only people there); the waitress even took notice when the cocktail napkin beneath my iced tea got soggy and replaced it. My mother says that her menu suggestions were spot on as well. I, on the other hand, don’t appreciate being told that I should really try something other than what I ordered, but my mother insists her waitress-selected alterna-salad was delicious.

The food was very good. I partook of the lunch special with half of a pulled pork sandwich (with rootbeer barbeque sauce…MmmmmmMMmMMm…) and a caesar salad. The sandwich was DELICIOUS! I really should have ordered a whole one. Now I know. :-) The salad was very good as well. Maybe a little heavy on the dressing, but it was so good, I didn’t care. My mother had the same sandwich and the Black Oak Salad (which has…uh…something fancy topped with something fancy tossed with fancy dressing) and though they were both great.

For the amount of food we received, the price was a little steep ($11.34 per person), but the food was excellent. Annnnnd now I’m hungry. Great. And the only thing close by is Steak ‘N Shake. Gag me with a spork.

Pros: service, food quality, atmosphere

Cons: price, food quantity

Bottom Line: Heck yes. Glad to have another restaurant in town worth suggesting to friends.

Categories: Branson, Restaurants, Reviews | Tags: , , | Leave a comment