I don't work on Sunday. It's not a totally religious thing but, having to put my time in six days a week, this is the day for taking a bath (with my jukebox on the website playing), not answering my phone and only checking my email once. It's just nice to take care of the mental state one day a week. If I have to, sure I'll work but my week is so jammed (I am thankful to be working), that I must have some down time. Oh let's hold a pity party for me, huh?
Doing an airshift once a week is a bitch. I can't get into much of a rhythm, but I do the best I can. Last night's show was subpar, just couldn't get the whole thing to flow. That follows last week's show which I thought was one of the better ones. Being on air is something that needs to be done every day, but I ain't complainin' just trying to understand how the weekend guys do it. It's hard to get better doing ANYTHING once a week. Side note...if an engineer saw you with a Coke that close to the control board, he would shove it somewhere that the sun doesn't shine. (I ain't talking about your closet either.)
As I was walking from my car to the station the other day (about three blocks) I smelled something so uniquely wonderful that it just about knocked me over (and something different than the usual urine smell). I can only describe it as "burgers and fries". There is a certain smell of cooking burgers and fries that takes me back to working for my mom at the diner in downtown Moline. Isn't it wierd how smelling something can just ship you immediately back in time? I swear I heard "Everybody Plays The Fool" in the distance.
We are reaching a point in the college basketball season that I just love. The big boys are getting knocked off left and right and we're getting down to crunch time. I have two favorite teams this year, one being Drake. Who? The school from Des Moines hasn't really had much exposure, but this is an excellent team (they beat another excellent team in Butler at Butler). They are coached by Tom Davis' son, who used to coach at Iowa and seem to play very hard all of the time. I am also rooting for Tennessee and Vanderbilt. I love Tennessee's coach and they are about to be number one for the first time in school history. Bruce Pearl looks like someone you can sit and have a cold one with. John Calipari on the other hand, looks like he wouldn't give you the time of day. Vanderbilt just because I drove by the school everyday on my way to work in Nashville.
One year ago, I was in Nashville and had just about realized that the station I was working at had no clue what to do to win. It was about this time that I was exploring how to get out, through the grace of God, I found it. Now, I am so busy at KMOX I can't go to lunch (not a complaint). Speaking of Nashville, my oldest daughter may have a chance to move there if things work out. It would be great from them to go, I am not sure what future possibilities the Quad Cities may have to offer.
Sometimes, I let my nostalgia get the best of me, I seem to look back with rose colored glasses. Oh, our lives were so so much better back then, huh? I was watching "CBS Sunday Morning" and they had an interview with Jessica Lange who grew up in the middle of nowhere in Minnesota. She talked about how isolated, lonely and alone she felt growing up so far out of reach. That got me thinking about my 14th year on the planet. Absolute brutality. I had acne so bad that sometimes, the pimples would get raw and explode on my pock marked face. I had just received my first pair of glasses, and was starting to notice girls who at that time thought I was "gross". All I had was basketball and the songs on the radio. My brother was in VietNam, my father wasn't there, my mother (God love her) was drunk and my sister was too young. I did the best I could and just hung on for dear life. I remember those times as me desparately trying to escape, and be a part of all the things I heard that were happening all over the country. Unfortunately, all I could do was read about it. Thank God I had these songs which helped the pain of being 14.
"Whole Lotta Love","Eli's Coming","No Time","Rainy Night In Georgia","Thank You(Falettin Me Be Mice Elf)","Leaving On A Jet Plane","Shilo","Bridge Over Troubled Waters","Travellin Band","Spirit In The Sky","Celebrate","Question","Let It Be", "Closer To Home" "Into The Mystic","Ohio", "25 or 6to4","Make It With You"etc etc. Thanks to all of those composers who kept me from killing myself.
4 comments:
The Vols should enjoy being #1 while they can; Vanderbilt will beat them Tuesday.
Didja know that Vandy coach Kevin Stallings is a Collinsville boy? The '78 Kahoks were loaded - they finished third in the Illinois state tournament, and three of their guys went on to play D-1 ball. They came to Belleville West and beat us by about 30. We hollered all kinds of nice things at Stallings, with "hot dog" being about the only one I remember that was suitable for family audiences. The West gym was a rough place for visitors back then - our guys needed all the home court advantage they could get.
Believe it or not, Michael Stipe was also part of the Collinsville class of '78 until his family moved to Georgia his senior year. The possibility of Michael Stipe and Kevin Stallings being in the same classroom is kinda interesting.
Sadly, 97.1 is just as clueless now as they were when you left.
Never mind the Coke, isn't that a can of Bud sitting on the console?
Isn't "Rainy Night In Georgia" just a beautiful song? It was so well-produced and I love how the late Brook Benton's vocal just kinda took you there--almost as if you were riding along in the box car with him. I remember playing that song on the air often when I was doing the overnights in St. Joe. I loved to turn the lights off in the studio and just stare out the window while it played. It's a cliche, but they don't make records like that no more.
Thank God I had these songs which helped the pain of being 14.
You too? I often wonder if the kids today have the same relationship with music, and with radio. It just sounds to different now. I can't imagine listening to any of the stations (or the new bands) with a Walkman I got for Christmas that was my salvation. Kids are still 14 but not only does 14 suck even worse now, but it seems the music does too. What saves kids these days?
Bonnie
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