Bedlam Farm Blog Journal by Jon Katz

Thomas and I did our last radio show for 2018 this afternoon, it was one hour long. Our next show will be the usual two  hours, it will be live on January 2, from one to three p.m. on WBTN AM 1370.

The program has only been on the air for two months, but it is evolving already.  I wasn’t sure if Thomas Toscano, the station director, would be on the broadcast at all.

On the first show, he answered the first call himself and took the call over, and I thought, oh-oh, this is going to be complicated.  But it turned out to be quite a blessing.

Thomas is bright and opinionated, a perfect co-host for a radio broadcast, and I think he is the only human who knows how to operate the stations Korean War era equipment.

We respect each other, and are at ease with one another.

We work well together and I’ve started beginning the show with a philosophical question or issue the two of us can discuss.

We see the world of animals quite differently in some ways, but I love our discussions, people find them interesting, and so do I.

Thomas, a conductor and composer in his other life, has a healthy ego, and no shortage of strong opinions. You could say the same about me,  yet we are respectful of one another and have a strong chemistry together.

Saving and running the station is pretty much Thomas’s whole life right now, he is there day and night. He is thinking about a New Year’s Eve Talk Show and Maria and I are invited.

We might go.

If so, you can live stream the broadcast here.

I get a lot of e-mail from people all over the country, it seems people are listening. I get very few calls still, and I’m not sure why. It might be the phones, which are quite old, or it might just be not too many people are out there.

We really don’t know, the station has no money to research audience size. Thomas believes it’s catching fire.

The calls are quite wonderful – great questions stories, ideas and discussions. I wanted the show to be intelligent, thoughtful and comfortable – no nastiness. I think we are getting there.

I’ve learned a lot about new radio technology. I’ve learned that every radio station is national now, thanks to live streaming and radio apps.

I’ve learned that I could do this broadcast from my study with a Web Cam if it came down to it. I like going to a real studio, sitting next to a real human taking calls from real people live, so we can hear each other’s voices.

But it’s good to know I can do this myself one day if I need to.

If we can make it work – I define that as getting calls regularly – I will judge it a success.

I’m also learning that e-mail is almost as good as phone calls, I can read questions, discuss them, even ask additional questions of the senders.

I think we are helping dogs and pets, we are raising people’s consciousness about animals, getting them to think about how they love their dogs and cats and why.

We talk about training (today Thomas and I had a good discussion on Darwinism and dogs) the emotional issues driving people to put photos of dogs on their greeting cards, and attachment theory. We even talked about our different experiences with coyotes and bobcats.

I have a gut feeling a growing number of people are listening out there. I have no idea how many or how often. Time will definitely tell.

Thanks to those of you who are listening in, calling and e-mailing me. This is an exciting, stimulating and worthwhile project for me, I’m grateful to be doing it.

This is all very exciting to me, and I  love doing it. It’s a great gift to me to be challenged expected to learn many new things. Stay tuned.

There is a wild part to Bud, an almost feral and instinctive streak that probably comes from having live out in a steel pen outside and exposed to the elements for most of his life.

But is lucky to be alive, his pen mates didn’t make, that’s how Friends Of Homeless Animals got to know of him and went out to save him.

He is a small dog, and I don’t think of small dogs as being wild. But Bud reminds me of Frieda much more than the border collies.

We  have this new routine in the morning – I take him out to train him every day -and when we walk past the sheep feeder, he looks at me as if to get permission and then takes off down the hill, under the gate to Lulu’s Crossing and and out into the far pasture, out of sight, as far as the photo goes.

The first few times he did this, I was alarmed. There are coyotes back there, and he might run off and get lost in the woods, which go back a long ways.

I would call out to him, and in about 10 seconds, he would appear out of the far woods and come charging back to me. Every time, and right away.

His recall is 100 per cent, although it sometimes takes a second or two. It takes about 2,000 repetitions before a dog is really trained in a command, and most people give up long before that. I won’t. We’re a third of the way there.

In an odd way, he reminds me a little of Buck, the dog in the classic Call Of The Wild, the inspiration for me e-book: Rose, The Story Of A Man And His Dog.

I never imagined that a Boston Terrier could remind me of the big dog Buck in Jack London’s book, but he is bigger than he seems. Perhaps many small dogs are.

Bud has several wild traits. He chases after things – chickens, cats, sheep, but never harms them. He eats animal droppings – dogs, sheep, donkeys, I imagine this is how he survived in that pen.

Initially, he marked everything in the house, and it has taken him awhile to figure out what he can chew inside and what he can. I’ve had several visits to the shoe repair shop in Bennington, Vt.

There is some risk to Bud running out to far, although it is an integral part of our daily routine now. I trust Bud, I believe you have to trust a dog to train a dog well and keep the dog grounded. But is a wild thing in many ways – if it’s raining, he’ll take a dump in our bathroom rather than go outside, at least at first.

But he is also a sweet thing, if the wild thing is present, so is the loving dog who wants very much to be in a family with food and things to chew on and shelter.

I make sure he has things to chew on several times a day. It calms him and brings him closer to us and his new life.

This photo captured his morning travels. He is a dog who needs to run. It was eight degrees this morning, and Bud would still be out there sniffing if I hadn’t called him back.

Bud surprises me and challenges me. You can’t let other people define the boundaries of your dog, you have to see it and live it yourself. I won’t give Bud free reign to his wildness, but I won’t smother it either.

I got an e-mail this morning from a New York City gallery worker who told me that if this photo were on sale in a Chelsea Gallery, he would set the price it at $1,100.  I told him (somewhat wickedly) that I’d be happy to send him the photo, but I haven’t heard back :), I didn’t know whether I wanted to slug him or kiss him.

I no longer traffic in delusions about myself. But you can buy it for a lot less than that here, on Maria’s Etsy site.

If he thought people would pay that for the picture, he would have tried to buy it and sell it, I’m sure. I am not a hot name in the photographic art world.

But still, this photo has struck the deepest chord of any photo I’ve taken in quite a while.

A woman from Tennessee wrote that she lost her husband a few months ago, and when she looks at this photo, she can hear  him speaking to her.

Wow, that is a gratifying thing for a photographer to hear.

Art photography is supposed to be dead, done in by the growing quality of smart phones and their powerful and tiny, versatile cameras. Everyone with a cell phone is a photographer now, and there are a lot of great photos out there, and they are free. It is not easy to complete with that.

But like anything else, there are no absolute generalities that apply to everything. People will buy an art photograph if it touches them. It has to be special. It’s the rare photograph that does that, and it’s usually a lucky shot, like this one.

There is no question that fewer people buy art photography – my kind, mostly – any longer. But I’ve sold more than 20 prints of this picture, and in the world of art photography, that is a best seller.

I’ve also learned a lot (thanks to Maria’s guidance, and Carolyn Conte, my printer) about how to price these pictures so that more people can afford them. Honestly, I don’t want to sell my pictures for $1,100 even if I could. Nobody but rich people would ever have one.

We only print to order. We use the best possible paper and printing equipment and the most skilled printers. We have a narrow profit margin.

I found a first-class printer, the Image Loft in Manchester, Vt, Carolyn and Sandy are both artists, they use the best paper available (just like the New York artists)  and print the photos with great care and skill.

I can make a small profit and cover my costs by charging $130 generally, but $125 in this case (I dropped a bit off for the holidays, all I could afford). For a signed art photo, that is a true bargain, although it is still a lot of money for many people.

And the idea works. If people love it, they will buy it, and they don’t need to be wealthy. That works for me.

A few of the online scolds (they are always there)  suggested that if I really want to sell the photos cheaply, I would make the prints much smaller than 8.5 x 12.5. That’s true, but that would wreck the photo for me, and Maria and my printer agree.

I am an artist when it comes to my photographs, they are art to me,  and I don’t want to ruin them to sell them. This one needs some breathing room, it is a vertical photo.

The response to the photo is deep and powerful enough that Maria wants to keep selling the photo on her Etsy Shop, and I want that also. So take a look, the photo is interesting, whether you want to buy it or not, and if like it and have any money left over from Christmas, see if you want it.

Every time I think the orders have stopped, another one comes in. I am still figuring out what the magic in this photo is all about, I know I can’t plan or decide to take a photo like that, it just happens, and it is rare.

We just ordered some more tough tubes for shipping, and we’ll keep it going as long as there is some interest. It will take about two weeks.

Whether you buy it or not,  I thank the many people who wrote me to say they love it and that it speaks to them in a powerful way. That is a kind of payment all in itself.

If it paid the bills, I’d be rich.

I’m glad to know there are some photos most cell phones can’t really take. I’m glad to know I can take a photograph that so many people will love.

Call us: 866 406 9286. Today, December 26, one to three p.m. or e-mail me questions: [email protected]

Today is my weekly radio show, “Talking To Animals,” on WBTNAM1370. We’re only doing one hour today, one to two p.m. Thomas has some rough dental work to do this afternoon, no way to move his appointment.

And I can’t work those boards by myself.

I have a lot of stuff to talk about today – attachment theory (why we love the dogs we do) and the most common training mistakes. As always you can e-mail me – [email protected] – before, during or after the broadcast,  I will read your questions on the air and talk about them.

This is the popular path for shy people or for those who can’t get through. WBTN’s phone system works, but it dates from the Korean War. Some people have no trouble getting through, some people get through in a flash.

I love to take your calls, we are good to one another on this program. I am loving your stories told in your voices.

If you are in our listening area, you can call 802 442-1010, if not the number is 866 406 9286. Some people have figured out that you can call on either number, something I didn’t know.

If you want to hear the show live, and don’t live near the signal, which is the case for most people, there are two good options: you can live stream the broadcast, or an even better choice, download a free radio app like Simple Radio. The reception is great anywhere there is Wi-Fi. WBTNAm, 1370.

You can also  listen to our podcast by going to WBTNAm.US. Be sure to download it first.

E-mailing me during the broadcast works well, I’m finding. I monitor the phone during the program, we can even go back and forth.  I love to hear from people about how my suggestions pan out. Your own words are always compelling and revealing. So do e-mail me or call if you can, 866 406 9286.

I look forward to hearing you in any form you choose, I want to hear your stories and share them with others.  That’s why I’m doing this.

I also want to help a struggling community radio station. In the Corporate Nation, community radio is desperately important. You can contribute to the station here or by purchasing a one-hour Golden Leash Sponsorship, which costs $25 per hour.

We will mention you or your dog or cause on the air, and it looks like we are building a pretty substantial audience, at least from my e-mail. We have gotten calls from all over the country.

You  can purchase an hour online here,  through Paypal, or send a check to WBTNAM, 407 Harwood Hill, Bennington, Vt., 05201 or call 802 442 – 6321. An hour is $25. You can also buy a gift card on the WBTN Amazon Wish List.

On community radio, each listener is a big shot, this kind of radio is all about you. So take advantage of it. Unlike Fox News or CNN, we really do want to hear from you.

I am learning a lot about dogs but also about the new technology that makes it possible for me to broadcast everywhere from anywhere. If the station ever tosses me out, I can set up a Web Cam and broadcast from my office. That would be cool, and I know how to do it now.

But I am very happy working at WBTN with the Maestro, Thomas Toscano. We click together. Talk with you soon, I hope. We have listeners in Europe and every part of the United States, including Alaska and Hawaii.

Remember, today’s program is only one hour, we are back to two hours next Wednesday, January 2.