Ron & Jen’s Great Escape, 3-30-2022 – Ron St. Pierre & Jen Brien

by Ron St. Pierre & Jen Brien, commentary

Old Fridge

Who knew that a picture of an old 1980’s refrigerator would get over a thousand hits on our “Ron and Jen’s GREAT ESCAPE” Facebook page? Just In a matter of a few days to be exact. Who knew people were so interested in a tragic run down appliance? The real question here is – why? WHY do people tune in to the absurdity of yesterday with such enthusiasm? Why do people want to ESCAPE with us on our radio show? (On Fridays from 2-4pm on WADK in Newport RI… We stream on WADK.com – shameless plug). Why do we love yesterday? 

Well, that’s what we do on our radio show quite a bit. Talk about “yesterday”. Yesterday’s fashion, news, culture, TV, music, commercials, etc., etc.

We do this because (I’m gonna answer the question why people like yesterday) on some level, as the world spins out of control at a pace most of us are startled by – “yesterday” for us means somewhere along the road we have memories, and experiences that brought us joy and a feeling of safety. We all have our own story. 

My joy was at a place called CAMP WYODA – a summer camp in Vermont I went to as a kid. It was heaven on earth. Crafts, swimming, sailing, friendships I still have to this day. I was a free spirit and loved the old fashioned songs and traditions and really just a sense of being able to exist in a space as me… A dopey kid who wanted to eat candy and go water skiing. I can honestly say when I went there some years ago for a 35th year camp reunion, I cried. For 2 days I felt joy again. I felt safe back at camp and free from the world. My heart was overflowing, and it came out my eyes. I was so happy. So, my friends,  look at that old appliance all you want. I hope anything on our page rooted in nostalgia jolts a happy memory in you like an electric current. A place you can go where you feel joyful – and safe. Even if just for a minute.

Have a great week…

Jen

The Height of Hollywood Hypocrisy

By now you’re familiar with SLAPGATE at the Oscar ceremonies Sunday night. Will Smith bitch slapping Chris Rock for a joke at the Fresh Prince’s wife’s expense?   Here’s Hollywood, a, clique that vents indignation over EVERYTHING, sitting on its hands after Will Smith’s violent outburst with ZERO attempt to control a clearly out of control situation. How Smith was allowed to sit front and center yucking it up for the rest of the show is unconscionable. Then 40 minutes later how he’s allowed to speak for SIX MINUTES as the winner of the Actor in a Lead Role award is equally as mind boggling. Smith should have been escorted out of the theatre at the very least. 24 hours later, after his damage control spin doctors molded a well worded apology to both Rock and the Academy, Smith tried to scrape the dog poop off his soiled Hollywood heel only AFTER the Academy put possible consequences on the table. Those consequences now look like a year’s suspension which would mean his allegedly “hot” movie coming out, “Emancipation”, can’t be considered for a nomination.

Jim Carey slammed what he called “spineless en masse” Hollywood for applauding  Smith adding he was sickened the actor droned on and was applauded after winning the Oscar. Carey also said he would have sued Smith if he were in Rock’s shoes. Carey summed it up best when he said “it really felt like this is a really clear indication that we’re not the cool club anymore.” Well said.

Ratings for the show saw a 56% hike in audience size but before Hollywood should get all excited (think of Winston Wolf’s advice to Jules and Vincent in “Pulp Fiction”) even with that jump, the show was the second least watched and second lowest rated Academy Awards in history with less than 20 million total viewers. That’s like the 1963 Mets breaking out champagne for ONLY losing 111 games as opposed to 120 losses their prior season, the AMAZIN’S initial year in MLB.

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Ron St. Pierre is a veteran broadcaster whose career has spanned over four decades. Ron has programmed, performed on and managed WHJJ, WPRO, WWRX, 790 The Score in Providence, as well as WBZT and WKGR in West Palm Beach and WABC in New York City. Ron also anchored sports on WPRI Ch 12 in Providence. He is a member of both the Rhode Island Radio and Television and the City of Pawtucket Halls of Fame. He was born and raised in Pawtucket.

Jen Brien has over 20 years of radio broadcast experience having hosted shows on WPRO and WHJJ with Ron as well as her own shows on WRKO and WBZ in Boston, WXTK on Cape Cod and WHAM in Rochester, New York. Jen was born and raised in Woonsocket and served six years in the Army MP Canine Unit.

Hazel, Ron’s dog, makes regular appearances.

“Ron and Jen’s Great Escape” podcast, a more lighthearted look at the events happening around us, can be found on YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts, with new episodes premiering each Wednesday and listen to Ron and Jen’s Great Escape call in radio show Friday afternoons 2 til 4 on 101.1 FM, 1540 WADK and streaming everywhere on WADK.COM.