Wed, 11 October 2017
The Found Footage Festival, the acclaimed touring showcase of odd and hilarious found videos, will bring its new 2017 show to Portland. Hosts Nick Prueher and Joe Pickett, whose credits include The Onion and the Late Show with David Letterman, are excited to debut their new program at Space Gallery (538 Congress Street) on Friday, October 13th at 6:45 and again at 9:30pm. Tickets to the Found Footage Festival are $12 in advance ($15 at the door) and are available at foundfootagefest.com. |
Wed, 16 August 2017
Thanks to Kevin Oates. WMPG needs podcasts, because no one chose to air this before the concert! |
Wed, 2 August 2017
almost!
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Thu, 20 July 2017
BORED!!!
Direct download: Podcast20Exclusive3A20How20You20Doin2721.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:16am EST |
Thu, 13 July 2017
Direct download: Podcast20Exclusive3A20Post-Remembrance20Thoughts.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:00pm EST |
Tue, 4 July 2017
This Saturday is my Dad's Rememberence in New York put together by my brother Don. Here's my tribute. |
Wed, 28 June 2017
HB2me60! |
Wed, 21 June 2017
Direct download: From2020043A20I20Didn27t20Have20a20Heart20Attack.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:51pm EST |
Wed, 10 May 2017
Thank you Seincast for the shout-out! |
Wed, 22 March 2017
Miss you Dad. So much. |
Thu, 9 March 2017
That's right, Begathon March 16 to 23! |
Wed, 18 January 2017
Meanwhile we still have Paul LePage! |
Wed, 4 January 2017
Here we are, one divorce, two vehicles, one marriage, two employers, one relocation, and two grandchildren later. And I lost my 160 gig iPod!
Direct download: One20Decade20on3A20Real20Time2C20a20commentary20from201-4-07.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:06pm EST |
Tue, 13 December 2016
At Port City Music Hall, Portland, Maine 12/18/16 |
Thu, 3 November 2016
Live on WMPG. VOTE!
Direct download: Lorenzo2C20Steve2C20and20the20Russian20Journalists.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 8:10pm EST |
Thu, 27 October 2016
If you can't make it to the Portland Museum of Art 11/1/16 at 4pm (call 8741065 to RSVP) catch "The Reel Snow White" on YouTube: https://youtu.be/JE51X_4dni4 |
Thu, 1 September 2016
Numbers of downloads seem to dropping every month....please spread the word!
Direct download: Good20News2C20Bad20News2C20Good20News.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:15am EST |
Thu, 18 August 2016
Thanks Larry, you gave it 100!
Direct download: R.I.P.20The20Nightly20Show3A20Up20Late20with20Lorenzo20reedit20from20October202015.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:03am EST |
Wed, 4 May 2016
2016: The Year. of the Monkees https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpp-Ry2ZNhY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_D6XNpYxdU |
Wed, 20 April 2016
He was the best!
Direct download: Don27t20Forget20the20Blues2C20Y27all.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:04pm EST |
Thu, 14 April 2016
live on WMPG RIP Myron Samuels |
Thu, 7 April 2016
Thanks Sprout! Thanks Spurwink! |
Thu, 31 March 2016
An inspiration! |
Thu, 24 March 2016
We haven't yet made our goal, so you may still donate at wmpg.org. |
Wed, 7 October 2015
😊
|
Wed, 5 August 2015
Adam Gardner. What a mensch! The Portland Lights Festival promoters? Not so much.
Direct download: A20pre-Portland20Lights20Festival20chat20with20Guster27s20Adam20Gardner.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:24pm EST |
Fri, 31 July 2015
Vacation's not over yet but I couldn't stay away. i got half as many downloads in July as I did in June. What's up? |
Fri, 19 June 2015
Lorenzo "Larry" Raffa Sr. And Steve Hirshon finally meet! and you are there!! |
Thu, 14 May 2015
I'm having trouble letting go! |
Wed, 15 April 2015
Chris Brown didn't answer my e-mails this year, but I have my audio files and the ability to edit! |
Wed, 25 March 2015
Too much good stuff for for one commentary! |
Wed, 11 March 2015
Are you a loser too? |
Wed, 3 December 2014
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Thu, 4 September 2014
Steve and I review Steely Dan in Meadowbrook, NH |
Thu, 21 August 2014
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Wed, 30 July 2014
Goodbye old friends! |
Sat, 26 July 2014
It all started in 2004 on the Fore River Gazzette... |
Wed, 16 July 2014
Sorry for the every other week deal. I promise from this point on to fill in the gaps even if the pieces fail to run on WMPG due to technical difficulties (or Steve messing up) |
Thu, 19 June 2014
Wish I could be there! |
Thu, 5 June 2014
Congrats, Coral!!! |
Wed, 14 May 2014
Three weeks later, the food truck fleet has arrived in Portland, Maine! |
Wed, 7 May 2014
Can anyone get my cell # from the beeps? |
Sat, 3 May 2014
John Lehman 1949-2013 RIP |
Wed, 23 April 2014
A blast! |
Thu, 17 April 2014
This Saturday, kids!
Direct download: Encore3ARecord20Store20Day20interview20w-Chris20Brown202012.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:25am EST |
Wed, 9 April 2014
If you live in Maine, check this out!
Direct download: Sprout20201420Traveling20Film20Festival20interview.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:55pm EST |
Wed, 2 April 2014
An update from a few weeks back. |
Wed, 2 April 2014
Yes, literally a minute. Got one?
|
Fri, 21 March 2014
This Saurday. WMPG still has tix foe a $40 pledge! Call207-874-3000 now!
Direct download: Found_Film_Fest_Interview_w_Nick_Prueher.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 8:40am EST |
Fri, 14 March 2014
This one didn't make it to air, but the MonkCon is this w/e, so here we go... |
Thu, 6 March 2014
Will post Fat Tuesday broadcast soon! |
Thu, 27 February 2014
Join us! |
Thu, 20 February 2014
Speaking of movies, check out "Nebraska". Excellent! |
Wed, 12 February 2014
Unlike last November, loving the current hoopla! |
Wed, 22 January 2014
You can check out "Lorenzo's First Commentary", "My Song", and the Radio Open Mic promo right on this site! |
Wed, 15 January 2014
Heard on 'MPG Reports, slightly edited. |
Wed, 8 January 2014
My, Crys, and Sam's Hukkin' a Chainek show stream: https://dl.dropboxusercontent. |
Thu, 2 January 2014
Happy new year podcat listeners!!! |
Wed, 18 December 2013
A bare bones "Oh The Bells" for the new WMPG newscast. Merry Christmas! Lorenzo, Crys and maybe even Sam hosting Hukkin' a Chainek on Boxing Day! |
Thu, 12 December 2013
I hope so! WMPG Reports Tuesdays @ 1pm |
Thu, 5 December 2013
Prof. Pierson is the author of Breaking Bad: Critical Essays on the Contexts, Politics, Style, and Reception of the Television Series, available here: 
|
Fri, 29 November 2013
Sorry, original on-air file lost! |
Thu, 21 November 2013
Will I make this week's "WMPG Reports"? Tune in this Monday at 1pm at wmpg.org and hit "listen" ! |
Thu, 14 November 2013
Thanks, Coast City! |
Thu, 7 November 2013
See you there this weekend? Tickets still available! http://coastcitycomicon.com/ |
Tue, 5 November 2013
Guest commentator this week...my #1 daughter Crys talks about turning 30. I'm proud and thankful to be her Dad. Happy Birthday, Boo! |
Thu, 31 October 2013
What more can I say? |
Thu, 24 October 2013
Live on WMPG's Hukkin A Chainek w/Steve |
Thu, 10 October 2013
Sorry for the tinny Baby Blue; a home, not studio production. Lynn & I were married 10/19/03, BTW. |
Wed, 25 September 2013
It's Begathon time!!! Please call 207-879-3000 to keep WMPG on the air, the home of The Lorenzo Commentaries!!! |
Fri, 6 September 2013
Back next week! |
Thu, 22 August 2013
Subbing Hukkin a Chainek 9/5/13! |
Fri, 16 August 2013
It's meds, man! |
Thu, 8 August 2013
I'm so confused! |
Thu, 1 August 2013
and the food trucks are slowlyarriving in Portland Town. Life is good! |
Fri, 26 July 2013
If you download the Renz Comm and enjoy them (or hate-listen?!), please e-mail me at radioopenmic@gmail.com! I'd love to hear from you! |
Thu, 18 July 2013
This Wednesday, July 24, 6:30-8:30 am ET is the final "Reasonable Music" program. Check it out at wmpg.org! |
Wed, 10 July 2013
Song: "Driving Along" by the late, great Harry Nilsson from the LP Nilsson Shmilsson |
Wed, 3 July 2013
I'm a lucky guy! |
Thu, 27 June 2013
Google Jackie Vernon. Thank me later |
Thu, 13 June 2013
Radio Open Mic streaming link: http://media.usm.maine.edu/~wmpg/archivefiles/Lorenzo/OpenMic2013/WMPG_RadioOpenMic20130606.mp3 Spiniron Playlist:h ttp://spinitron.com/radio/playlist.php?station=wmpg&month=Jun&year=2013&playlist=8191 |
Thu, 6 June 2013
It's not to late to send an MP3! (unless the show has ended) E-mail an MP3 to radioopenmic@gmail.com with ROM in the subject line. DO IT NOW!!! The show airs today, Thursday 6/6/13 3-5pm ET and streams on wmpg.org (and is dedicated to my friend John L.) |
Thu, 30 May 2013
Send an MP3 file for Radio Open Mic #10 to radioopenmic@gmail with ROM in the subject line. Broadcasting on WMPG 90.9 and 104.1 FM in Southern Maine and streaming at wmpg.org on Thursday 6/6/13 3-5pm ET. C'mon podcast listeners! |
Thu, 23 May 2013
Includes full "Talking Woodstock with John Lehman. Goodbye, my good friend. |
Wed, 15 May 2013
Hope to get back in costume one day! |
Wed, 8 May 2013
I'll even miss Toby! |
Fri, 3 May 2013
It's all to much! (psssst...Radio Open Mic!!! June 6 3-5pm Live In-Studio and live on WMPG and wmpg.org. Send MP3s to be played between live acts to radioopenmic@gmail.com, please! |
Thu, 25 April 2013
Includes 2011/2012 edited interview with organizer anthony disalvo |
Wed, 17 April 2013
...with one really tragic one. |
Thu, 11 April 2013
The Beagathon's over for now, but you can still go to wmpg.org to donate. On to Papa Nez! |
Fri, 5 April 2013
This is the "unplugged" version, recorded in-studio during WMPG Spring Begathon. the server was down, so the on-air version (w/music from Eels) is lost in the ozone. Support the podcast by supporting the commentary by supporting WMPG by calling 207-874-3000 or give online at wmpg.org . Thanks!!! |
Thu, 28 March 2013
Next week: Begathon! Love you Dad! |
Thu, 14 March 2013
BTW, this year's Spring Begathon is April 4-10, with Hukkin' a Chainek kicking off the fesivities |
Fri, 8 March 2013
Anyone know printer repair? |
Thu, 7 March 2013
Category:general
-- posted at: 8:02pm EST
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Wed, 6 March 2013
Category:general
-- posted at: 11:20pm EST
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Thu, 28 February 2013
The snow can"t stop us! |
Thu, 21 February 2013
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/72701894/DID.mp3
The Bio: Lorenzo Raffa is a legend in his own mind.
Lorenzo hopes that's not what people perceive, but that's his favorite quip when someone mentions that they've heard him at some point on WMPG in the last quarter century. Lorenzo (or Lo, Zo, Renz, or Renzo, the only current nicknames come from clipping off a syllable or two) grew up loving radio, and being raised in the New York City suburbs in the 1960's He got to hear some of the best soundwaves ever broadcast: MusicRadio WABeatle
Flash forward to Waterville in the late-seventies/early-eighties (Lorenzo never really felt at home in New York; Maine seemed a much better fit for this neohippie), there was WBLM, Today widely considered the Snidley Whiplash of local commercial radio. 'BLM back then was the real deal. Have a request? pick up the phone and chat with the DJ. As much fun as Cousin Brucie was, there were many gatekeepers between you and your cuz.
Lorenzo was born in Dobbs Ferry, NY (a Westchester County suburb outside of New York City) on June 17, 1957. Lorenzo has almost an obsession about his birthday, as listeners to The Lorenzo Commentaries can attest. Celebrities such as Barry Manilow, Joe Piscapo, M. C. Escher, Newt Gingrich and Venus Williams share the date, as Lorenzo will tell you ad nauseum.
Lorenzo was the first born to his parents Janet and Larry (yes, the Anglisized version of Lorenzo, but please don't call him Junior), a year and a half later in Hastings brother Donald joined them, and after buying a house in Haverstraw, a village in nearby Rockland County, sister Nancy made the family complete.
Larry, a post-Korean War vet, was a plumber, active in the union. Janet, also known as Jenny, from a German family in upstate New York was a stay-at-home mom and housewife who loved reading and bingo. It was an idyllic suburban family, whose happiness was altered only by Jenny's declining health, suffering from emphysema, and passing away when Lorenzo was 15.
Fifteen was a big year year for Lorenzo. His mother's passing hit him hard, his father, while a great provider, had no idea how to be a suddenly single parent. Lorenzo met his first love Terre at North Rockland High School, soon after that Larry met a divorced woman, Marilyn, with 3 sons in their father, a successful psychiatrist's, custody. When the doctor passed away suddenly of a brain aneurism, Larry and Marilyn quickly got married to gain custody, which retrospectively may not have been a move benefitting anyone involved; however, the deed was done, custody was achieved, and the two families, virtually strangers, became one, with Lorenzo and siblings moving across the Hudson to White Plains. Lorenzo and Don spent their first year in the new home on rollaway beds in the former Doctor's office, under Marilyn's orders to keep the environment as as it was found. No Alice Cooper posters here! For Lorenzo and Terre it might as well been worlds away; shortly after that Lorenzo was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. Being 15 sucked.
Life did get better, Lorenzo and Terre would be reunited in time (more on that later). High school was a welcome change from the hell that was middle school. Lorenzo , who would grow to six feet by age 12, but had little or no athletic ability or interest (putting to rest the "you should be a basketball player" comments by strangers and family members).
At White Plains High Lorenzo played tuba in the concert band, Sousaphone in the marching band (to this day, even after sitting through 100+ games Lorenzo has no idea how football is played), and stage crew, where one could be involved in theater without memorizing lines. Being different was finally OK.
After a year at Mercy, a local commuter college in hometown Dobbs Ferry (or, as Lorenzo is fond of calling it, 13th Grade), he decided it was time to move on from New York, a place that never quite seemed the right fit. Waterville, Maine came first, discovered when father Larry couldn't find a local plumbing work in the Ford/Carter era recession, finally finding work building a New England paper mill. Then the short lived Lorenzo/Terre reunion in Manitou Springs, Colorado, followed by stints in Texas and Alabama, and finally back to New York to crash with family.
The "lost years" continues: Lorenzo met a free-spirited woman who called herself Sunshyne, and in a month long whirlwind romance they eloped as the eighties began. To say it was a rocky marriage would understate it. Daughters Crystl (now known as simply as Crys) and Faye were born in quick succession.
Lorenzo craved the serenity he found years back in Maine, and for the most part found it in Portland; he was able to slip into the stay-at-home-Dad role. This was the time Lorenzo discovered the then 50 watt WMPG discovering a "become involved" flyer at Cumberland Electronics. After a phone call and a two hour training "Emotionally Bankrupt & Morally in Debt", a Thursday afternoon formatless program where Lorenzo joyfully recreated the free form radio of his youth. The show had a six year run, and off the air he would go on to become volunteer Music Director (CDs started to trickle in at this point), Promotions Director (coming up with a regular snarky 2"x3" ad in the Casco Bay Weekly in this pre-Twitter world), and a volunteer board member, a role that continues today.
When preschool rolled around, and days were freed up, finally getting a degree seemed like a good plan, and Lorenzo enrolled at USM, majoring in Communications. One thing the move to Maine didn't fix was Lorenzo and Sunshyne's rocky marriage. They spent as much time apart as they were together; it was during one of the separation that Lorenzo met Lynn, a divorced mother of two, also attending USM as a nontraditional student. The attraction was immediate, but was not to be. Not yet.
Although no longer in love, Lorenzo assisted Sunshyne as her health declined; with the worst sense of déjà vu: COPD, emphysema, and oxygen tanks existed alongside smoldering cigarettes. It was a difficult couple of years ending with Sunshyne dying before her time, but during this Lorenzo finally found his career direction and started working with people with physical and developmentally disabilities, a profession to this day Lorenzo likes to say where "I don't wake up dreading the day."
As the new millennium dawned, Lorenzo found himself a single father, but thankfully reunited with Lynn, truly his soulmate. Married a couple years later by Lynn's daughter Heather, Lorenzo's wedding ring reads simply "lobsters" because "lobsters mate for life."
Which brings us to today. For nearly a decade, Lorenzo has produced a weekly short feature entitled, appropriately, The Lorenzo Commentaries, heard on WMPG Thursday mornings at 7:45 on Steve Hirshon's Hukkin a Chainek. The RenzComm's format is as varied as Emotionally Bankrupt & Emotionally in Debt's was in its day: it might be his views on popular culture and life in general, interviews (Paula Poundstone, Harry Shearer, Guster's Adam Gardner), and all out studio productions (does adding sleigh bells to "Eve of Distruction", "99 Problems", "Girlfriend in a Coma", and "Hurt" make them holiday songs?). Lorenzo refers to the Lorenzo Commentaries as "cheaper than therapy and more fun." The RenzComm is one the the few WMPG shows podcast and can be found at thelorenzocommentaries.
Another source of pride for Lorenzo on WMPG is Radio Open Mic, created when Lorenzo guest hosted Some Folk some years ago without a scheduled guest; he invited all comers to the studio, many came, and a tradition was born. There have been eight or so since, and the last few have been presented in front of an audience, live and unedited on WMPG! Another edition is in the works, because the shows been legendary, which brings us back to...
Lorenzo Raffa is a legend in his own mind.
The Sonds: There's Nothing To Do Today - Soupy Sales (Spy With a Pie)
As We Go Along - Monkees (Head Soundtrack)
Deacon Blues - Steely Dan (Aja)
Better Things - Kinks (Give the People What They Want)
Roll With the Flow - Michael Nesmith (...and the Hits Just Keep On Coming)
Jesus, etc. - Wilco (Yankee Hotel Foxtrot)
I'm So Tired-Nellie McKay
Rocket Man- Samuel James ( And For the Dark Road Ahead)
Category:general
-- posted at: 11:54pm EST
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Thu, 21 February 2013
Has anyone seen Steve's tastebuds? |
Fri, 15 February 2013
Coming soon...the Desert Island Discs show! |