News

Over the past year, I’ve noticed that mail delivery has taken longer than usual. A CD envelope (8×8) from Los Angeles to another Los Angeles address arrives anywhere from five to seven days after drop-off at the Post Office. Apparently, there are reasons for the slower delivery times — downsizing the workforce is one.

Over the past month, delays have even been longer. The large PO branch where I drop off Joe Frank orders generally scans and records acceptance of the package on the same day. Currently, it can take up to 48 hours before they scan the package acknowledging receipt.

On a personal note:
In April, I received a notice from the Franchise Tax Board (CA state taxes) that I hadn’t filed 2021 taxes for the corporation I formed the last week of December 2021. And, if I didn’t file the return by June 5th, I’d owe $2,000, plus collection fees and daily interest. I’ve written the FTB twice. Since the corporation was formed the last week of December that year, we did not have income in 2021, therefore we did not file a return. Both letters I wrote were ignored.

I asked my accountant to follow up. He was advised by telephone that we still had to file a tax return which had to be mailed; there was no online option. The FTB must receive it before June 5th, or I’d be charged the penalties. So, he drafted the return showing -0- income and -0- taxes due. On May 30th, I mailed it via USPS Priority Mail, return receipt requested. It was due to be delivered June 3rd.

That Priority envelope’s tracking shows it has been stuck in Sacramento since June 4th.

I repeated the process on June 12th. Though tracking said it would be delivered on the 16th, this envelope, too, appears lost in Sacramento.

Why this Update?
Because of the consistent delays (and in my case lost mail), I wanted to let you know there’s a high likelihood that your package will arrive later than you’d expect. In the case of any mail lost by the Post Office, you will definitely be reimbursed. Hopefully, this is a short-term problem.

Thanks for your patience!
Michal

From our Newsletter sent last month:

This year, we’ve added the following shows to the Catalogue:

Pathology
Pilgrim (the original)
Joe Frank Live – Women Police Officers Part 2
(…and more…)

For Members: we’ve added two newly discovered gems: Joe Frank Live: The Bridge – a surreal show from 1982; and Joe Frank in Concert: the second performance at Bushido’s in New York City.

Best of Monologues – 2 with classic Joe Frank is also new in the shop and we’re at work on Vol 3!

Welcome New Radio Stations:

WVCB – 97.7 FM in Ashland, Wisconsin – serving Chequamegon Bay – Wednesdays at 9:00 pm (CDT); and
KWNK – 97.7 FMin Reno, Nevada – Wednesdays at 11:00pm (PDT).

Joe Frank show masters on CD
Back before computers, Joe created shows on reel-to-reel tape and moved on to DAT (digital audio tape) until finally sometime in the 1990s, Joe started using ProTools to create his shows. KCRW digitized the reels onto CD. These, plus DATs, were used to air the shows and periodically duplicate for sale. Since 2002, JoeFrank.com inherited these CDs and digitized all of the DATs for duplicating shows onto CD for sale. Every so often, we create a new show Master from the *.wav (audio) file. That means I have hundreds of backup Masters that now you can have for a reduced price! I listen to each Master to ensure quality before selling.

When you make a purchase, please indicate at checkout the title(s) you’re interested in at the “Notes” section. I will again check the Master and will email you for confirmation that the titles are available or we can work out alternate titles I can send you! There will be no surprises!

Joe Frank’s personal library
More Joe Frank books! These are Joe’s personal books which he marked up with underlining, highlighting, and most often his marginalia. Comments, paragraphs, telephone numbers. (I don’t think there are any more, but I’m still looking through the shelves and boxes.)

Enjoy!
Michal

After nearly a year, we are happy to go live with a rebuilt JoeFrank.com! Though it may not look all that different, as you navigate through the site — especially the shop and Membership — you’ll notice some changes on the front end along with new content.

Importantly, we migrated the site to a new, more robust server. Now, we’ll be able to stream media at a higher resolution. (We are still in the process of re-encoding media and will update the site as it is completed.)

In addition to managing the site day-to-day, I’ve spent a lot of time organizing, cataloguing and digitizing media – still incomplete, but I’m continuing undaunted. You’ll find more accurate show information that’s been updated from original reels, tapes and CDs, or captured on paper. Note that my efforts are ongoing, so not all shows reflect the corrections!

I’m very grateful for the effort and commitment of Logan, who has been with the site since we initially launched in 2003. Logan dedicated considerable time to improve site security with updates and plug-ins to the new server among other things.

We also welcomed Brandon onto the team, who offered to help and provided more than we could have hoped for to elevate the design and interface of the site.

They each have full-time day jobs and families, and I cannot fully express my gratitude for how much they’ve given to the site.

We are just beginning to add more to the Membership and for sale. If you are not already signed up for the Newsletter, it’s a good time to do it now! (The Newsletter sign-up form is on every page of the site in the right-hand column–on your mobile device, you may need to just scroll down.)

Enjoy, and as always, thank you for your support. It is because of you that Joe has a lasting legacy.

Take care,
Michal

And we finally have an About Us page where you can put the face behind our names!