Nashville

Well, here we are kids, live from music city USA. I got here this afternoon and immediately got homesick. This too, shall pass and I am sure that this will be a great new world here. I will be doing afternoon drive, and being a part of helping a classic hits station to acheive better numbers. I miss my family, though, and I am sure that won't be going away soon. Off to see Vanderbilt play basketball tonight and work out before then. I have to be at the station tomorrow at 9 am. I sure hope I can sleep tonight.

Live from the main branch at the Nashville library (no internet anywhere else), talk at you tomorrow.

A Fine Picture...

...and an interesting destination.

DESIRE

this was the first picture to show up on "google images" when the word desire is entered

desire  /dzaər/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[di-zahyuhr] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation verb, -sired, -siring, noun

–verb (used with object) 1. to wish or long for; crave; want.
2. to express a wish to obtain; ask for; request: The mayor desires your presence at the next meeting.
–noun 3. a longing or craving, as for something that brings satisfaction or enjoyment: a desire for fame.
4. an expressed wish; request.
5. something desired.
6. sexual appetite or a sexual urge.

—Synonyms 1. covet, fancy. See wish. 2. solicit. 3. aspiration, hunger, appetite, thirst. Desire, craving, longing, yearning suggest feelings that impel one to the attainment or possession of something. Desire is a strong feeling, worthy or unworthy, that impels to the attainment or possession of something that is (in reality or imagination) within reach: a desire for success. Craving implies a deep and imperative wish for something, based on a sense of need and hunger: a craving for food, companionship. A longing is an intense wish, generally repeated or enduring, for something that is at the moment beyond reach but may be attainable at some future time: a longing to visit Europe. Yearning suggests persistent, uneasy, and sometimes wistful or tender longing: a yearning for one's native land.
Key
tr.v. de·sired, de·sir·ing, de·sires
To wish or long for; want.
To express a wish for; request.

n.
A wish or longing.
A request or petition.
The object of longing: My greatest desire is to go back home.
Sexual appetite; passion.


[Middle English desiren, from Old French desirer, from Latin dsderre : d-, de- + sdus, sder-, star.]
de·sirer n.
Synonyms: desire, covet, crave, want, wish
These verbs mean to have a strong longing for: desire peace; coveted the new convertible; craving fame and fortune; wanted a drink of water; got all she wished.

T minus one day and counting.....

I leave tomorrow at 7:30 am. I am really looking forward in getting a fresh, clean slate and my adrenaline is starting to pump. Will I sleep tonight? No, it will feel like the first day of school. Didn't you hate that? "It's 3:14, if I could just get to sleep now, that would be four hours worth, I'd be OK...it's 4:14, if I could just get to sleep now, three hours would rule...." New city, new station, old boss, I want to own this city. I want to be the "mayor". With a good attitude, some time and a lot of hard work, it could happen.

When You Fumble, You Lose!

Here's the story from the Post Dispatch:
Kirkwood football coach Larry Frost doesn't want his players or coaches to wonder what might have been Saturday night. But the veteran coach knows how difficult that will be for his Pioneers.
Kirkwood lost three fumbles, which helped turn the tide in the Class 5 championship game at the Edward Jones Dome.
Running back Derrick Washington and Raymore-Peculiar took advantage and walked away with a 42-32 victory for their third straight state championship.

"I told my kids never to think about that, but they're going to do it," Frost said. "I told us coaches not to think about that, but we're going to do it. Turnovers are crucial in the game of football. We know that. They haven't hurt us all year long. We haven't had turnovers all year long. We've always won the turnover battle. Today, they got us."

Raymore-Peculiar (10-3) became the sixth team to win three straight Missouri High School Activities Association championships and the first school to do it in Class 5. "It doesn't get old, that's for sure," Ray-Pec coach Tom Kruse said. "It was one of those football games where it seemed like we kind of hung on. First of all, I have to give Kirkwood a ton of credit because they are a very, very, very talented, good football team."
But Kirkwood (10-2), which was appearing in the championship game for the first time in school history, had no answer for Washington, a 6-foot-1, 205-pound senior who has committed to the University of Missouri.
He rushed for 180 yards and two touchdowns, caught two passes for 24 yards and another score and returned a punt 68 yards for his fifth touchdown while the game still was in doubt.
Washington has been a big part of all three title game victories.
He racked up 214 total yards (115 receiving yards, 99 rushing yards) and scored four touchdowns in last year's 43-21 victory over McCluer North in the championship game.
As a sophomore, Washington had 116 total yards (93 rushing, 23 receiving) and scored three touchdowns as Ray-Pec defeated McCluer North 37-18 to win the Class 5 title.

Kirkwood got off to a rocky start Saturday. The Pioneers fumbled away the opening kickoff, and Ray-Pec quickly turned that into seven points as Washington rushed through the right side of the defense for a 13-yard run just 34 seconds into the game.
Kirkwood answered on its next series. Quarterback Marcus Harris escaped pressure and picked up some key blocks downfield on his way to a 60-yard touchdown run with 10:13 left in the first quarter.
The Pioneers took a 14-7 lead following an interception by Robreese Williams and a 26-yard touchdown run by sophomore Kimuel Keller with 2:07 remaining in the quarter. But Raymore-Peculiar answered by scoring on four straight possessions — a 36-yard touchdown pass from Gabe Crumpley to Gavin Lutman, a 1-yard run by Washington, a 23-yard pass from Crumpley to Washington and a 65-yard run by Washington to take a 35-14 lead with 10 minutes 44 seconds left in the third quarter.

That's when Kirkwood began its improbable comeback.

The Pioneers cut the deficit to 35-21 on a 2-yard touchdown run by Delvon Adams with 7:47 left in the third quarter, then to 11 points with a 40-yard field goal by Kristopher Turek with 2:53 remaining in the third quarter.
Kirkwood turned the ball over at Ray-Pec's 13-yard line on the Pioneers' next series, which came back to hurt them after trimming the deficit to three points with 7:35 left in the game. That's when Harris scored on a 1-yard run and then connected with D'Marco Austin for a 2-point conversion to make it 35-32.
Washington ended the Pioneers' comeback bid when he returned a punt 68 yards for a touchdown, his fifth of the game, with 1:59 remaining to put Raymore-Peculiar ahead 42-32.

3 Days...

Before I move somewhere I have never been. I have only visited once and the last time I moved to a city where I knew no one was 28 years ago. Can I do it? The opportunity to feel "awe" again really appeals to me. This is the test we all are looking for. Are you as good as you think you are? Can you do it again? Do you still have it in you? Do you desire it as much as you used to? Can you out work the competition again? we shall see.

Forever The Beatles, Amen.

LONDON (AFP) - Fans have rushed to buy the first "new" Beatles album for a generation -- a radical remixing of some of the group's most famous songs -- more than 35 years after the break-up of the iconic band. "Love", which has the backing of surviving Beatles Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, comprises 26 of the Fab Four's hit songs, but many of them mixed together using previously unheard material from the studio. "I hope this will help people to hear Beatles music again," said Giles Martin, son of the group's original producer Sir George Martin who is often referred to as the fifth Beatle.Martin and his son worked for three years on the project, which forms the soundtrack to a Beatles stage show of the same name, put on since June in Las Vegas by Canadian entertainment company Cirque du Soleil. Using archives and master tapes at the Abbey Road studios in London originally used by The Beatles, they put together songs by a complex mixture of overlaying, dubbing and synchronizing to produce sometimes startlingly new compositions. For example, elements of "Penny Lane" are mixed with "Strawberry Fields Forever", while "Blackbird" is combined with "Yesterday" in a process called a "mash-up" by sound engineers. Other track combinations on the new album include "Get Back" feeding into "Glass Onion", before weaving into the chords of "Eleanor Rigby", giving an appropriately psychedelic texture to the 1960s originals. At each stage the surviving Beatles -- plus John Lennon's widow Yoko Ono and George Harrison's widow Olivia -- were consulted on the developing work, and they were almost always approving. On one occasion though, as a test, the Martins presented McCartney with a version of "Hey Jude" featuring a reggae intro. "It was a Jamaican 'Hey Jude'. You had to see his face. He just said: 'I don't think that really goes'. It was wonderful," George Martin said, according to The Guardian newspaper. In theory, the producers' golden rule was that only original Beatles music could be used. But there was one exception: an acoustic version of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps", for which George Martin wrote an original orchestral score. "The project was a labour of love and rounds things off. In 1965 I did my first score for "Yesterday" and this is my final score ... it's a sort of top and tail of my life," said the 80-year-old producer on Monday. The Las Vegas show, which features an international cast of 60 acrobats performing aerial gymnastics, extreme sports and urban, freestyle dance, has been a roaring success. It has been staged for the last five months in a custom-built theatre at The Mirage hotel with 360-degree seating and high definition video projections of 100-feet (30-metre) high moving images. The album's producers are reasonably confident the record will enjoy similar success, and that the late Beatles Lennon and Harrison would have approved of it.
"I think they would have liked it," said the elder Martin at the album launch. "To be honest, I believe they were there with us as we worked on it."

The 100 Most Influencial People In American History

The Atlantic Magazine has put together a list of the 100 most influential people in our history. Do you agree?

The Top 40 Hottest Car Movies

From Hot Rod Magazine (they oughtta know).
Can't argue a single movie on this list.

State Championship Game!!

I like living in Kirkwood. It has a very old fashioned small town feel about 12 miles southwest of St. Louis. It has a great school district and it seems to be a very close knit community. How cool must it be to be my daughter right about now, last month, the Cardinals win the World Series and this month...

...her high school football team plays for the state championship!! We thought last year was the year but it looks like this year is it. They play three time state champs Ray-Pec (Raymore and Peculiar two towns just south and east of KC) but Ray-Pec has lost three games this year. The game is on Saturday night at 6:30 at the Edward Jones Dome. How fun. Go Pioneers! Undefeated and now maybe champs? My high school team went a total of 7-24 the three years I was there, so this is very neat!

The Modern Man

The genius of George Carlin on display

Random Shit

I'm going to be a grandfather again. Damn! I am very proud, but DAAAMMMMMNNN! I am much too young. Love you, Jess.



I hope good things are happening to my friend Jay. It appears so. Maybe the karma train has arrived and not departed.



It was Paul's last home game at Notre Dame. "It went by so fast", no shit, Sherlock get used to it. He's on his way to LA to see the USC game. Damn kid has done more at 22 than I have at 50.



Arriving at Chapter 27. Chapter 26 has no more pages, it's over. I hope.



I was flattered by a particular offer I received. It was to do something completely different in the radio field. I would have loved to try it, but the shift I was supposed to do was so important. I don't think that's a place where a guy learns a new craft, drive time. Now, if this guy EVER gets an overnight opening or something like that, let's roll. Very. nice. guy. GREAT CITY. Thanks, Steve.

Brush With Greatness Part 11-Saga

In 1982 and 1983, KY 102 in Kansas City conducted what was known as the "Rock Awards". The public could vote for their favorite guitar player, group, vocalist, newcomer of the year...whatever. The ballots were at the local Wendy's outlets, I believe. This was back in the day when KY102 was lke the equivalent of KSHE at that time. We owned the city. The Rock Awards were held at the Hyatt Regency and it was basically conducted like the Emmys or Academy awards. Jocks got dressed in tuxes and gave out awards with notable rock stars. At this particular rock award, we got Billy Squier to play. Billy also gave out an award with me and tried to pick me up. He was pretty drunk. We always got the band who won best newcomer to play...Quarterflash was the other best new band winner. The Awards got real expensive and disappeared after year two. They were alot of fun and the first time I ever met Steve Perry. Anyway, this is the band Saga who got the award for best new band. This must have been 1982. Saga did a couple of songs called "On The Loose" and "Wind Him Up" and another ballad hit in about 1993.

Back row from left: Program Director Joe MacCabe, good friend Jon Hart, overnight guy (and eternal good dude) Vaughn Mac, saga dude, saga dude, night gal Katey McGuckin, saga dude, Lynne Dean

Front row; midday guy Paul (Fredrocks) Fredrichs, me, the ledgendary Skid Roadie, legend.


Buy Saga here

The Traffic Jam 1987-88

From left Jim (baggadonuts)Evans-bass, sax. Steve (Big Man)Pecaro-guitars. Randy(what the hell am I doing with two hats?)Raley-drums,percussion. I had major dental work done earlier in the day. Can't you tell?

What To Say?

My summer by Randy Raley: Contusion, Confusion, Evolution, Desolation, Illusion, Saturation, Humiliation, Annihilation, Revolution, Persuasion, Creation, Salvation, Inspiration, Elation, Communication, Resolution, Compassion,

SOLUTION!!

Post Number 500!

I was going to post some elequent lyrical masterpiece about post 500.
All I could come up with was Ed Bradley died today from leukemia.
A journalist and a damn fine broadcaster.




Ed Bradley 1941-2006

The world is a sadder place without him in it.

Done too soon.

Who ARE These Guys?

Remember these guys - coming out all guns blazing in the climax of Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid? Or in The Sting, taking a big-time gambler to the cleaners with a laconic smile? Sure, they're older now, a little more careworn, a little more lined, but it's still the same team.
It is more than 20 years since their partnership last lit up the screen - but for film fans of a certain age there's still something magical about a rare Paul Newman (Butch Cassidy) and Robert Redford (The Kid) reunion.
The occasion was the 25th anniversary of Robert Redford's Sundance Institute, founded by the star when he was at the height of his fame to encourage independent film makers.
Asked what had brought him out for a rare public appearance Newman, 81, wearing a sweatshirt on which he appeared to have written I Never Had A Crappy Gig Until Tonight, answered with one word: "Redford."
Redford, 69, and his work also drew a host of A-listers, including Uma Thurman, to the Metropolitan Pavilion in New York for the event.

How cool is that? Was there ever a better movie than "Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid"?

From The Mouths of Babes...

I wonder what this conversation is about.

The Gong Show

Was Chuck Barris the coolest game show host, EVER? This was one show I never failed to miss. Someone has put together some cool clips from the show (including the unknown comic and Gene Gene the dancing machine). Also included is the act that got this show booted from NBC. Great memories of my mom and I sitting in the living room and laughing our asses off. I have never seen a guy have a better time hosting a show than Chuck Barris. What a hoot!

Perspective

I took my car into the shop to get the oil changed and a lightbulb fixed earlier today. I also went today because I found out two days ago that my mechanic, who has never over charged me and has always dropped whatever he was doing to rescue me, lost his wife due to breast cancer last week. Greg is a big burly guy who can hit a softball out of just about any park I have ever seen. A great guy to have on your side. When I got there, he had Al (another great mechanic) work on my car and invited me back to the office. I think he just wanted to talk to someone. He had basically kept it a secret from everyone other than a few close friends. He told me about his three kids, two boys 19 and 15 and his 12 year old daughter. About how they had prepared for this day for a long time. About how even though they had prepared for this, they really hadn't. They had just returned from their annual trip to Florida and when they got back to St. Louis, "she got really tired and just gave up". My heart broke for him, his family and especially the 12 year old girl. No matter what I have been through this summer, whatever indignities I have suffered NOTHING and I mean nothing compares to what my friend Greg is going through. He told me that as he was going through their pictures to display at the visitation, he was amazed at how young they were. "Where has the time gone?" he said. I relayed a conversation I had with my mom when she was alive and beautiful and I was eighteen and full of piss and vinegar. She told me "you will not believe how fast it goes, in the blink of eye, your life moves around you." Greg agreed. I know now what she was trying to say. This is the second time this year a good friend of mine has lost a wife to cancer. Enjoy the simple pleasures and the people around you. Hug your family. Tell them you love them.

The Beatles' "LOVE"

The Beatles LOVE with Cirque De Soliel is now playing in Las Vegas.
I happened onto a 4 song sample from the show yesterday and "OH, MY GOD!" This is the most incredible set of music I have heard since the original recordings came out. The songs have been completely redone by Sir George Martin's boy Giles. "Strawberry Fields Forever" takes on a completely different tone, "Octopus' Garden" now has strings and so does the acoustic version of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps." "Lady Madonna" is a completely different song interplaying "All Together Now" in the middle. Infriggincredible. This has the blessing of Paul, Ringo, Olivia and Yoko. The entire show will be available on DVD Audio with 5.1 surround sound. I cannot wait for this. Fresh Beatles, what better Christmas present could a guy ask for?

Great Picture!

An Airbus on it's way to the moon! Not really, but it sure looks like it.

John Densmore's Tribal Jazz

One of the things I like to do is voice track a shift on our smooth jazz station at www.smoothvox.com. One of the duties I have for that job is to review new music. I have come across some gems while doing so. I have found another. The CD is called "tribaljazz" and that it is. This is a collection of jazz musicians that John Densmore (the former drummer for the Doors) has assembled. This is what I like to call "acid jazz". Don't ask me why but this sounds like it was made back in the 60s, and that's a real good thing. It's just a very ecclectic group of musicians and songs that sound great. John is the drummer and you will find flutes, saxes and things like a coxixi. There are five vocal tracks, one laid down by Alfre Woodard on an awesome composition called "The First Time I Heard Coltrane". On "Vegetable Wizard", the vocals are in French and "Orange Midnight" is sung in Senegalese. See? Weird, trippy shit. One of the other vocals is Jim Morrison's whisper vocal on "Riders On The Storm" with a new arrangement and a completely different sound. "Violet Love" is a rap number about all of the killing that religion has wrought. Art Ellis is the cat on the flutes, saxes and pianos. This is a killer of a recording that just came at me out of left field. This sounds nothing like what John did with The Doors and it is "acid jazz".
Coltrane would be proud to have his name associated with this. It sounds very much like what he would sound like today (I think). Three and a half stars from judge Raley.

A Delicious Find

I have been buying hard to find CDs from my friend Tom Young at "Now Hear This" in Kirkwood for about 20 years now. In those two decades, he has found just about everything for me. I have him to thank for filling in the holes of my CD collection. One big hole was The Marc Tanner Band. The Marc Tanner Band was Marc Tanner on vocals and it featured a bunch of studio musicians like The Porcaro brothers from Toto, Richie Zito, David Paich, Steve Lukather, Bob Glaub along with others. I picked up "No Escape" yesterday after having him order it for me. Ahhhh! I haven't heard this in years. The only copy I had of this recording was on vinyl, although I did find "Elena" on Napster a few years ago, but the quality was not good. From the opening number "Never Again" to "She's So High" to "Elena", these are very catchy tunes, well done pop music. It sounds like Toto meets Hall and Oates. So, I am still finding things to plug into holes in my collection. This is on "Wounded Bird" Records a division of Rhino. Good old Rhino, they have done more for us collectors than anyone I know. If anyone knows of a studio version of "The Pit and The Pendulum" by Ross, let me know. Marc Tanner gets four stars out of five from judge Raley

World Champs!

Observations from the Series

Tim McCarver...shut up.

Tony La Russa has made the transformation complete to morphing into Corey Hart who wore his "Sunglasses At Night".

If you have a cell phone and you sit behind home plate, you get one free wave. Anymore than that and you look like an idiot.

Jim Leyland said he "smoked a carton of cigarettes" during the rain delay for game four. Hey Jim, that's 200 fags. It's probably not real good for you..

My favorite commercials would be...

The McGiver MasterCard commercial...
Coin collecting commercial from the US Mint...
The dude stuck in the shark tank commercial from Travellers
The Playstation 3 spot. Hell, I'm 50 and it almost made me want to go out and get one.

Sorry, John. I don't like your new song. Pretty simplistic and dumb. No matter how much airplay it gets, it will always make me think of a Chevy truck. From the East coast to the west coast..yadda yadda yadi.



The Magglio Ordonez afro was very cool. Reminded me of my hair style in high school. Or as my dad described it..."it's audubon hair, son". "Audubon hair?" "Yeah it audubon on a dog's ass."

Just my thoughts, though.

World Champion St. Louis Cardinals

Somewhere, up there is a long line of McNews (and Raleys)smiling because their beloved Cardinals have won the World Series. I come from previous generations of Cardinal fans. My mother and father spent their honeymoon at Sportsmen's Park in 1946



My sister and I would act as an antenna on the farm. We would have to touch the AM radio to pull in KMOX from St. Louis so my grandfather could listen to the game on those hot muggy nights in my youth.

On my first honeymoon, I drug my wife to the "big city" of St. Louis to see the Cardinals lose to Atlanta. I was full of awe and wonder.

Thanks, guys for an incredible ride this year, you were the highlight of my summer.
I know many other families whose Cardinal roots go back many generations.
(I didn't write about them during the series because I didn't want to jinx them. See? It worked.)

Donvan McNabb heaves during a game...

Did he get sick because of the temperature or because he had to listen to Bill Maas? Either way, not good.

Stuff You Don't See Everyday...

What the hell is this?


I sure picked the wrong year to quit drinking


Hey, there's room for more!


Now, that's what I call a bogey er, I mean yogi.


Rack 'em up!


Jeez,that hurts just looking at it.

ThanksKK

So so Football Weekend

Ava 40 Buffalo 8
East Moline lost (record is now 1-8, just like the old days)
Priory loses to Burroughs
Iowa gets manhandled at Michigan
Mizzou wins 41-21
Notre Dame wins (barely)
Chiefs win (barely, they go 3-3)
Rams didn't play