Excuse Me. Did I Offend?

The untimely and curious death of actor David Carradine is undoubtedly one of the biggest stories of the week. It has made headlines around the globe.

One reason is because Carradine was an iconic actor. He'll forever be remembered for his role in the '70's TV show King Fu.



And for his huge comeback role in the movie Kill Bill.



Another reason that this story has garnered so much interest is because of the way that David Carradine died. Any time a celebrity dies people are curious as to the cause. When they pass away in a hotel in a foreign country dressed in fishnets, wearing a wig, with sexy lingerie on the bed, then people get really curious. Such is the case with David Carradine.

After two autopsies, the official cause of death has been reported to be auto-erotic asphyxiation...a dangerous sex game where the brain is deprived of oxygen to enhance the pleasure.

Personally it doesn't sound so exciting to me, but them again spending hours building elaborate devices to tie myself up doesn't do anything for me either. Maybe I'm just old-fashioned that way! But for whatever reason, David Carradine was into that sort of thing. Reports are that he was heavy into all kinds of stuff like cross-dressing, adult toys, movies, and the like.

It's not for me to pass judgement on what a 72 year old man does in the quiet confines of his bedroom...or in this case, a Bangkok hotel room. However, I do have a right to talk about it, and share my personal opinions on the air each morning during Frank's Place with Bill & Heidi.

We're an infotainment show. In other words, we talk about the biggest stories of the day, be it news, entertainment, sports...whatever. We're sort of like the front page of Yahoo. If we run across something during the day that we think would make you laugh or interest you...then chances are you'll hear about it on the show. There are times we'll pass on a subject or a topic because it may not be family-friendly, it isn't appropriate, or we just feel it isn't interesting enough. Our goal each morning is to entertain, inform, and make you laugh on the way to work.

Over the past several days we have talked about David Carradine, his death, and his private life. At no time did we try to sensationalize the story, make it bigger that it is, or get off-color in our commentary. As a matter of fact we went out of our way to avoid some of the racier language that some of the reports we read off the air used to describe the incident.

I take great pride in knowing that each morning we do a clean show. Heidi and I do not rely on blue humor, crude jokes, or sexual innuendo for our content. Do we joke around and poke fun at people, each other, and ourselves? Yes we do. We do it in a fun, good natured way. It's never intended to harm, or make someone uncomfortable or uneasy. You'll never hear us degrade, humiliate, or discriminate against someone. Nor will we ever be overtly sexual. That stuff isn't what the show is about.

I talk to a lot of listeners. One of the comments that I get the most from people is that they love listening to Frank's Place with Bill & Heidi because it's safe to listen to with their kids in the car. As a dad to two young boys, that's the best compliment that I can get.

So if for some reason you're like the woman that e-mailed this morning to say she can't believe that we would be so insensitive to talk about a subject like David Carradine's death...I'm sorry if you were offended. But like I said on the air...it's a strange story, everyone is talking about it, and when I hear his name in the future I won't think about his great acting roles...I'll think about the weird stuff we found out about him after he passed.