Gotta Love This...

Prized in Asia for centuries for its medicinal and culinary properties, the shiitake mushroom is now the second most widely produced mushroom in the world. The legendary health benefits of this dark brown, umbrella-shaped fungus stem from a concentration of lentinan, which may help prevent and treat cancer, lower cholesterol, and stimulate the immune system. However, much of the research backing these claims has been done with injectable forms of lentinan.
Still, this meaty mushroom is clearly good to eat -- it has eight amino acids as well as vitamins and minerals including B6, B2 (riboflavin), niacin, and selenium. One cup of cooked shiitake has only 81 calories, is low in saturated fat and cholesterol, and is a good source of dietary fiber. It may also be good for your looks: Some beauty products now contain shiitake extracts.

Looking for more ways to add B2 to your diet? Try riboflavin-rich milk, eggs, enriched cereals and grains, ice cream,liver, and green vegetables, such as broccoli.

Shiitake Mushroom Risotto
Makes 8 first-course or 4 main-course servings
2 tbsp olive oil, divided
1 onion, finely chopped
4–6 garlic cloves, minced
8 oz shiitake mushrooms, stemmed, caps sliced
6 oz crimini, button, or baby portobello mushrooms, sliced
2 cups arborio rice
1¼ cups dry white wine
5 cups vegetable broth orchicken stock
¾ cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 tbsp chopped fresh basil
2 tbsp chopped fresh thyme
Salt and pepper to taste
Additional grated Parmesan cheese and chopped fresh herbs for garnish
Heat 1 tbsp oil in heavy large skillet over -medium heat. Add onion and garlic and sauté until tender, about 10 minutes.
Add all the mushrooms; sauté until brown, about 3 minutes. Set aside.
Heat wine and broth in a 4-quart pot until simmering.
In same skillet used to sauté onions, garlic, and mushrooms, add rice and 1 tbsp oil and toss to coat over medium heat. Ladle 1 cup of simmering broth into rice and stir until liquid is almost absorbed.
Continue adding liquid and stirring until -mixture is creamy and rice is tender, about 20 minutes.
Stir in cheese, onion/mushroom mixture, and herbs. Season with salt and pepper.
Garnish with chopped herbs and Parmesan cheese and serve immediately.

Biff Barf with Sports in My Shorts

This one is for the previous 30 years of beatdowns in Lincoln, this one was for Chase Daniels getting spat upon by a Nebraska player (which "pissed him off"), this one was for the time I lived in Lincoln and Mizzou was down 59-0 at halftime, this one was for all the alumni who have suffered at the hands of the Huskerplex curse. 52-17. Mizzou scored in the first minute. I watched this at a party on Saturday night and you could feel the excitement in the room. Who would have thunk this? As of today the University of Missouri football Tigers are ranked number two by the coaches and number three by the writers. This one's for you, Nebraska.

Fear and loathing await the Oklahoma State Cowboys, who come into Columbia also 5-0 and ranked number 17. Still waiting for Mizzou to trip up...can't shake the feeling. Maybe, just maybe, it's not your older brother's Mizzou.

Lou Piniella....what the hell happened? Soriano sucked, your defense sucked and your hitting sucked. Wow, even the most hearty Cubs fan has to wonder what the hell... I am rooting for the Tampa Bay Rays, have been for awhile and I hope they get past the White Sox becasue I can't stand the manager of the Sox. I always like the underdog.

Anyone...anyone but the Red Sox and the "Red Sox nation" which covers...Boston and the northeast.

How bad will the Chiefs be this year? Really, really bad. How did this playoff team two years ago disintegrate into this mess? I know that when I lived in KC the first time, the Chiefs were horrible but at least the Royals put on a good show. Now...

I hate the clowns in the booth for Monday Night Football. They are equally as bad as Chris Berman who has pictures of someone somewhere. Ick. Could I do it better? Give me a shot, Ill try...



Speaking of shot, nothing like a nice shot of Cuervo to calm the nerves.....you should try one, Chris

I hate Sunday night, I always have and I always will, I harken back to being a kid and it's probably separation anxiety issues....thank you Dr. Freud

William Guy (Butch) Raley Jr. October 5th 1948-October 8th 1993

My brother, you would be 60 today. How time files and how much I miss you.

Thank you for showing me what a man was all about. Thank you for your service and dedication to your family and your country. That dedication to your country ultimately lead to your downfall. Thank you for taking time away from your friends to put up with your little brother. Thank you for teaching me about girls, cars and music. Thank you for your children, you would be so proud of them. Thank you for your patience, understanding and your tough love. Thank you for telling me when I was getting off the track. Thank you for the tears when I told you I had finally made it to KSHE. You knew how imporatant it was for me. Thank you for reminding me of my commitment to make things right in the world. Thank you for everything, there is a hole in my heart that will never be filled. Your absence has been felt every day of my life. I lost my big brother on that fateful October day. I just wonder what you'd think of me now. Would you be proud? I hope so. I lived for your approval. I hope I have finally received it.

I love you so much and miss you incredibly. I hope there is no pain but eternal happiness. You deserve it.

These mist covered mountains

Are a home now for me

But my home is the lowlands

And always will be

Some day youll return to

Your valleys and your farms

And youll no longer burn

To be brothers in arms

Through these fields of destruction

Baptisms of fire

Ive watched all your suffering

As the battles raged higher

And though they did hurt me so bad

In the fear and alarm

You did not desert me

My brothers in arms

Theres so many different worlds

So many differents suns

And we have just one world

But we live in different ones

Now the suns gone to hell

And the moons riding high

Let me bid you farewell

Every man has to die

But its written in the starlight

And every line on your palm

Were fools to make war

On our brothers in arms

In Praise of Vinyl

One of the additions we've added to our weekly programming schedule on the Eagle is an idea I stole from a friend of mine. "Off The Record" is a show we air every Sunday night at 6:00pm. It is the playing of a great, classic release off of vinyl. That's right, we actually play a "record". Ken Dillon did this at his station in Sedalia and I though it was a great, cool tribute. So, we have set aside some time to play a great old record, starting with the needle dropping on the side, playing side one in it's entirety, stopping for a break, then coming back and dropping the needle on side two. I think it sounds great and even through my shitty car radio, I can still tell the difference between digital and analog. It's the debut Boston release this Sunday night at 6. Thanks, Ken for the idea.

My Church Speaks...

Vatican officials seldom single out political leaders who differ with the Church on issues like abortion rights or embryonic stem cell research. But now that the Vatican’s highest court is led by an American, the former St. Louis Archbishop Raymond Burke, we can expect things to get more explicit in Vatican City — at least when when it comes to U.S. politics.
Burke, who was named prefect of the Vatican’s Supreme Court of the Apostolic Signature in June, told the Italian Catholic newspaper Avvenire that the U.S. Democratic Party risked “transforming itself definitively into a party of death for its decisions on bioethical issues.” He then attacked two of the party’s most high profile Catholics — vice presidential candidate Joe Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi — for misrepresenting Church teaching on abortion.
He said Biden and Pelosi, “while presenting themselves as good Catholics, have presented Church doctrine on abortion in a false and tendentious way.”
Pelosi drew U.S. bishops’ scorn for saying in a television interview last month that the Church itself had long debated when human life begins. Biden is a practicing Catholic who also supports abortion rights and analysts have said he could help woo wavering Catholics into Obama’s fold. Both argue that they cannot impose their religious views on others.
Burke said pro-life Democrats were “rare” and that it saddened him that the party that helped “our immigrant parents and grandparents” prosper in America had changed so much over the years.
Burke made headlines as archbishop of St. Louis for his public attacks on public figures who strayed from Catholic teaching. He suggested during the 2004 presidential campaign that Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry, a Catholic, should be denied communion because of his views on abortion. Several bishops said at the time they would not give him communion and the media staked out churches where he attended Mass to see if he received it.
“Lately, I’ve noticed that other bishops are coming to this position,” Burke told Avvenire, which is owned by the Italian bishops’ conference.
Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, wrote a letter in 2004 to American bishops restating the Church position that a priest must refuse to distribute communion to a Catholic politician who supported abortion rights. But Burke lamented that the letter was never distributed.
Burke’s criticism isn’t limited to Democrats. Last year, he accused singer Sheryl Crow of being “a high profile proponent of the destruction of innocent lives” for defending a woman’s right to have an abortion and for being a proponent of stem cell research. He resigned as head of a children’s medical charity that featured the singer for a benefit concert.
Pope Benedict has been encouraging Catholic bishops to speak out more openly on public policy issues to make the Church’s voice heard. Any bets on when we’ll hear from Burke next?

Archbishop Burke may be a holy man, but he was not well liked here. He picked fights with a number of people about a wide variety of things. While I recognize his deep devotion to his church, he is a canon lawyer and a well respected one, he dismisses ANYONE who disagrees with him. Here is what Joe Biden said..."I believe life begins at conception, however I don’t feel it is my duty to legislate my faith on others.” And Joe, you are right. We created a separation of church and state for this very reason. People have different beliefs and views and no one is “right” or “wrong”. It’s simply a religious choice, one that should NEVER EVER be forced on anyone. One thing the Archbishop has had little to say about is the slaughter of innocent Iraqi citizens and the unwarranted killing of over 4,000 of our finest men and women for a fight that wasn't provoked against a sovereign country. Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11, Bin Laden did and he's nowhere near Iraq. What was said about that, Archbishop Burke? You can't have it both ways. Will the republicans who voted for the war be denied communion too? I love my church, although I vehemently disagree with them on this count.

Friday On My Mind

In St. Louis today, thought I would "gold brick" with an appointment and then take the day "off". Ha! I have a ten oclock appointment, one at 11:30, 12:45, 2:15, 3:20 and 4. The headquarters of Schuncks, Panera Bread, JBucks, Wehrenberg Theatres and others are here. These are my clients in B/N. Ah, maybe Saturday I can "gold brick" and be lazy. Not today, So, time to get the old three piece suit on and hit the "bricks". Wish me luck.

Joke

Little Eric and Jenny are only 10 years old, but they know they are in love. One day they decide that they want to get married, so Eric goes to Jenny's father to ask him for her hand.Eric bravely walks up to him and says, 'Mr. Smith, me and Jenny are in love and I want to ask you for her hand in marriage.'Thinking that this was just the cutest thing, Mr. Smith replies, 'Well Eric, you are only 10. Where will you two live?'Without even taking a moment to think about it, Eric replies, 'In Jenny's room. It's bigger than mine and we can both fit there nicely.'Still thinking this is just adorable, Mr. Smith says with a huge grin, 'Okay then how will you live? You're not old enough to get a job. You'll need to support Jenny.'Again, Eric instantly replies, 'Our allowance. Jenny makes five bucks a week and I make 10 bucks a week. That's about 60 bucks a month and that s hould do us just fine.'Mr. Smith is impressed Eric has put so much thought into this.. 'Well Eric, it seems like you have everything figured out. I just have one more question. What will you do if the two of you should have little ones of your own?'Eric just shrugs his shoulders and says, 'Well, we've been lucky so far.'

Mr. Smith no longer thinks the little shit is adorable

Top 100

Mahogany Rush IV 1976

When I was 20, I listened to a lot of out there, different, eclectic stuff. Yes, he's ripped off Hendrix and I always thought the idea of someone having a near death experience and then returning while capturing the "spirit" of Jimi was a bit much, ( that was the rumour we heard) but this guy can play. I really liked "Strange Universe", and while "Strange Universe" got way out there with some wired and weird shit, this was the release that got me to enjoy Frank Marino's music. He pulled in the "Hendrix" stuff and started to concentrate on making more accessible, strongly crafted music. The album starts with "I'm Going Away", a very melodic song that builds and builds, such a departure from the over the top playing on "SU". "I'm Going Away" is a funky number that does have a Hendrix feel to it. "The Answer" is one of my favorites and I would say the guitar playing on here rivals most. He's backed by a fine pair of guys who provide a nice rhythm section. Yeah, like Hendrix, it's a three piece band. "Jive Baby" is a time and tempo changer that's filled with great funk and nice chops. "It's Begun To Rain" might be my favorite of the bunch, slow, moody and played with great dynamics. A perfect song for a rainy day. "Dragonfly" is a great Robin Trower song, it sounds more like Trower than anyone other than Robin, who many people have criticized for sounding like Hendrix. "Little Sexy Annie" is a fuel driven guitar work out. He lets it rip on this one. "Moonwalk" was the one that I'd play to stump my friends..."well, it's sounds like Hendrix". "Emperor IV" is the slow, drifting epic that closes out the record.

If you are a guitar fan, go to Frank's website http://www.mahoganyrush.com/ and check these out for yourself. Here's the story about the Hendrix rumour and all of that.

He was born Francesco Antonio Marino on November 20, 1954 in Montreal, Canada. Half Italian and half Arabic, Frank is one of five children and only has a 7th grade education that even included a short stint in military school. "Those years were the late sixties and everyone was into the hippie peace movement and we were so busy getting stoned that we certainly didn't want to attend school. All we did besides getting stoned was listen to Hendrix, The Doors, The Beatles and a few others as well as getting involved in movements such as peace, love, anti-war etc. Those were definitely the days, not like now where many young people seem to be into negativism and hate".
It was during those days that his experimentation with LSD would lead him to what was later to become the definition of his life. As a young person doing far too much acid, he couldn't really understand when it finally caught up with him and gave him such an incredibly vivid experience that was so overwhelming, that it landed him in the hospital. "This experience became the basis of everything that I was to do in music, including the name Mahogany Rush, which was a description I would use to describe a certain sensation that I was having on the trip. The artwork on the albums, Child of the Novelty and Strange Universe are an artist's rendition of my trip as told by me to the artist, Ivan Schwartz, who has since passed away".
Since this early drug experience later became known to the press that covered his career, and since he played much in the style of Jimi Hendrix who had recently died, these sensationalists created stories that to this very day Frank has tried immensely and unsuccessfully to dismiss. "The most often heard story is that I took an overdose and woke up from a coma in the hospital and somehow became the spirit of Hendrix, or that I met this spirit and it entered me, endowing me with this amazing ability to play a guitar and magically know everything about it. Later on the story changed into a version that said I was in a car accident, died and came back as Jimi Hendrix in my body. They never ask me the truth and when I told them, they wouldn't listen. The short truth about it is that I learned how to play guitar while recuperating from my trip. The guitar became a soothing help for me because of my great fear of letting my mind wander back into the trip if I wasn't occupied and besides it was the only thing in the hospital relaxation room. I never even thought about the guitar before since I played the drums quite well anyway. I had this trip while Hendrix was still alive and began to play his music because it matched perfectly to what I was going through at the time".
It was only a few short years later after many different band members, that Frank Marino recorded his first album. "In the early years I played in a church and even on a float in a parade. I did mostly cover songs by The Doors, Hendrix, Pink Floyd, Cream, Johnny Winter, The Beatles and even The Grateful Dead as well as a few originals that I had written".
Frank Marino's music never reached the mainstream of popularity, but has had a devoted fan base that has grown over the years. Being sober now for over 35 years, he still plays with the enthusiasm that he's always had. Frank is into his music and doesn't really care for the business side of it and has always produced his own albums as well as writing and arranging all of the music.

If you ever get a chance to see him play live, don't pass it up. I have been a devoted fan for 34 years and welcome any newcomers with open arms.

Another Unmissable Movie

Night Shift 1982 A sweet , funny comedy with Michael Keaton's debut role. This movie also features the debut of Kevin Costner and Shannon Doherty. Henry Winkler is trapped a loveless engagement with Gina Hecht and falls for neighbor Shelly Long who happens to be a hooker. After being transferred to the night shift at the morgue, Micheal Keaton devises this scheme to get rich by being "pimps". They succeed beyond their wildest dreams. I saw this movie in the theatre after our resident movie guy at KY102 (Jack Poessiger) loved it. It was relesed in the middle of the summer in 1982. Adam Sandler and Pauly Shore can only DREAM of being as funny as Michael Keaton in "Night Shift." Keaton's hilarious performance only serves to underscore the fact that he's never been near as funny since.Sure, the movie will never be in the AFI's top 100 list. But when I was 26, I only dreamed of being as funny as Billy Blaizejowski, Keaton's character in the film. I credit the script for great lines, but I doubt anyone could have made an annoying character like Billy loveable - except Keaton. Henry Winkler does a bang-up job with a straight role that affords audiences little to get excited about. He is completely convincing as an in-over-his-head nebbish with a nervous stomach, and deserves credit for pulling it off without seeming whiny. We identify with Winkler's character even though we can see how cowardly he is.The plot, of course, is contrived, as is any plot involving hookers with hearts of gold. It's hard to see Shelly Long as a prostitute, but she plays it gamely and has fun with the role.I recommend this film if you have any craziness to your sense of humor, or just if you're a male between the ages of 17 and 25. That's the target audience, but even at 53, I still find Keaton's performance refreshing and laugh-out-loud funny. It came on the Universal HD channel the other night and even though I was dead tired, I watched every minute. One bit of trivia, the music was written by Burt Bacharach and featured Quarterflash singing the title tune and Rod Stewart singing "That's What Friends Are For" over the end credits. I have always liked his version much better than the one that was popular. Once again, a sweet, funny movie with an over the top performance by Michael Keaton and a great role by Shelly Long (who has never looked better) and enough silly stuff to get you through the film.

And Now For Something Completely Different.

Working in the office today, had the old Ipod rockin....

Here's the tasty playlist

"Girl Goodbye" Toto
"Long Hot Summer Night"-Jimi Hendrix
"Siberian Khatru"-Yes
"Over and Over"-Fleetwood Mac
"Somebody Get Me A Doctor"-Van Halen
"Mrs. Robinson"-Simon and Garfunkel
"Gallow's Pole"-Led Zeppelin
"Transmaniacon MC'-Blue Oyster Cult
"Jive Baby"-Mahoghany Rush
"The Boston Rag"-Steely Dan
"My Fairy King"-Queen
"Midnight Train"-Darden Smith
"Midwest Midnight"-Michael Stanley Band
"Sauvecito(long version)"-Malo
"Inner City Blues"-Marvin Gaye

It was an outstanding day of music that motivated me to get stuff done.

My Aunt Jane

Yesterday, while in the Quad Cities, I got to see one of the most incredible people I know. My aunt Jane married my uncle Martin in the summer of 1969. Before that, he was a drinker, smoker and in all probability a womanizer. He was married to my father's sister "Bette" who was probably the most disagreeable, nasty woman I have ever met. She was a smoker and drinker with a filthy mouth that had no use for kids. She was my dad's age and all of us kids couldn't stand her. Her contempt for us was very palpable. She had a nasty little chihuahua that bit us constantly. I WOULD NOT have blamed Martin if he strayed, but it's pure conjecture if he did. She died of cancer in teh winter of 1969 and he immediately found solace in a mutual friend. Aunt Jane introduced him to the Lord and in the long run, peace and tranquility. He immediately changed his whole persona. He quit smoking, drinking and swearing and developed a love and goodness that was always there, but she was the catalyst for his transfomation into a man of the Lord. She's an incredible woman and she just celebrated her 90th birthday in April. I never call in advance because she will always have some excuse for me not to see her. I stopped by right after a nap, she was groggy and not quite with it. I don't think she recognized me at first. As we talked, I could tell she was having a difficult time getting her bearings. She was ready to get lunch, so I told her I would be back after lunch and we would go "see" Martin. Martin died ten years ago and while I remembered how to get to the cemetary, I didn't remember where he was. So, with some help from my cousin Robbie, I found it and was ready to go get Jane and take her to see Martin. For being 90, she's a spry gal who all the time told me how much she missed driving and how she could still drive better than most. I believed her, for sure. After visiting Martin, she asked if we could go driving around to visit old residences and places she knew. How fortunate I was to be her companion for two hours on a beautiful Sunday afternoon. We went by two old houses she lived with Martin, her old house that her dad built, her old school and an old residence that had long ago been torn down. Each time, her describing to me the memories she had in each place. She told me about how the whole family had built a garage and how nice it was that it's still standing, where she walked on her way to school and generally reminiscing about long ago held memories and dreams. I don't know if I'll ever see her again, her being 90 and all, but when I dropped her back off at her assissted living residence, we both cried on our beautiful, wonderful day and how two old friends relived a life filled with grace and love. I cried uncontrollably as I left, thanking God for an opportunity to do this. I cried about as hard as I am now putting these words into print. I love you with all my heart Christina Jane Martin. You have meant more to me in my life than just about anyone I know. I learned so much from you and can never repay the love, hope and beauty you've added to my heart. I remember when I cried at my mother's deathbed, she said to me..."Who are you crying about...you? That's selfish. Her? Know that at anytime, she'll go to a better place." For me, it was two hours, for her, maybe one last times to live a life in reverse. Thank you, Lord for the chance.

Post number 1300

A man is at work one day when he notices that his co-worker is wearing an earring. The guy knows his co-worker to be a normally conservative, macho fellow, and is curious about his sudden change in fashion sense. He walks up to him and says, 'I didn't know you were into earrings.'

Don't make such a big deal, it's only an earring, he replies sheepishly.

His friend falls silent for a few minutes, but then his curiosity prods him to ask, So, how long have you been wearing one?

Ever since my wife found it in my truck!

I always wondered how this trend got started.

RIP Paul Newman

I first saw Paul Newman in "Somebody Up There Likes Me", the story of Rocky Marciano. It was shown on TV about the time I was five or six. I was enthralled on how cool he was. "The Hustler" was next, and I think it was the first movie I ever watched in the theater. I was six. He was the ultimate cool guy who seemed affable and humble. "Cool Hand Luke","Butch Cassidy" "The Sting" and "The Road to Perdition" were some of my favorites and probably a bit to do with shaping my life. He was married to the same woman for fifty years, yes, the epitome of cool. Man, I will really miss him and his contribution to society. Rest easy "Cool Hand" and thanks so much.


WESTPORT, Conn. (AP) - Paul Newman, the Academy-Award winning superstar who personified cool as an activist, race car driver, popcorn impresario and the anti-hero of such films as "Hud,""Cool Hand Luke" and "The Color of Money," has died. He was 83.
Newman died Friday after a long battle with cancer at his farmhouse near Westport, publicist Jeff Sanderson said. He was surrounded by his family and close friends.
In May, Newman he had dropped plans to direct a fall production of "Of Mice and Men," citing unspecified health issues.
He got his start in theater and on television during the 1950s, and went on to become one of the world's most enduring and popular film stars, a legend held in awe by his peers. He was nominated for Oscars 10 times, winning one regular award and two honorary ones, and had major roles in more than 50 motion pictures, including "Exodus,""Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,""The Verdict,""The Sting" and "Absence of Malice."
Newman worked with some of the greatest directors of the past half century, from Alfred Hitchcock and John Huston to Robert Altman, Martin Scorsese and the Coen brothers. His co-stars included Elizabeth Taylor, Lauren Bacall, Tom Cruise, Tom Hanks and, most famously, Robert Redford, his sidekick in "Butch Cassidy" and "The Sting."
He sometimes teamed with his wife and fellow Oscar winner, Joanne Woodward, with whom he had one of Hollywood's rare long-term marriages. "I have steak at home, why go out for hamburger?" Newman told Playboy magazine when asked if he was tempted to stray. They wed in 1958, around the same time they both appeared in "The Long Hot Summer," and Newman directed her in several films, including "Rachel, Rachel" and "The Glass Menagerie."
With his strong, classically handsome face and piercing blue eyes, Newman was a heartthrob just as likely to play against his looks, becoming a favorite with critics for his convincing portrayals of rebels, tough guys and losers. "I was always a character actor," he once said. "I just looked like Little Red Riding Hood."
Newman had a soft spot for underdogs in real life, giving tens of millions to charities through his food company and setting up camps for severely ill children. Passionately opposed to the Vietnam War, and in favor of civil rights, he was so famously liberal that he ended up on President Nixon's "enemies list," one of the actor's proudest achievements, he liked to say.
A screen legend by his mid-40s, he waited a long time for his first competitive Oscar, winning in 1987 for "The Color of Money," a reprise of the role of pool shark "Fast" Eddie Felson, whom Newman portrayed in the 1961 film "The Hustler."
Newman delivered a magnetic performance in "The Hustler," playing a smooth-talking, whiskey-chugging pool shark who takes on Minnesota Fats - played by Jackie Gleason - and becomes entangled with a gambler played by George C. Scott. In the sequel - directed by Scorsese - "Fast Eddie" is no longer the high-stakes hustler he once was, but rather an aging liquor salesman who takes a young pool player (Cruise) under his wing before making a comeback.
He won an honorary Oscar in 1986 "in recognition of his many and memorable compelling screen performances and for his personal integrity and dedication to his craft." In 1994, he won a third Oscar, the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, for his charitable work.
His most recent academy nod was a supporting actor nomination for the 2002 film "Road to Perdition." One of Newman's nominations was as a producer; the other nine were in acting categories. (Jack Nicholson holds the record among actors for Oscar nominations, with 12; actress Meryl Streep has had 14.)
As he passed his 80th birthday, he remained in demand, winning an Emmy and a Golden Globe for the 2005 HBO drama "Empire Falls" and providing the voice of a crusty 1951 car in the 2006 Disney-Pixar hit, "Cars."
But in May 2007, he told ABC's "Good Morning America" he had given up acting, though he intended to remain active in charity projects. "I'm not able to work anymore as an actor at the level I would want to," he said. "You start to lose your memory, your confidence, your invention. So that's pretty much a closed book for me."
He received his first Oscar nomination for playing a bitter, alcoholic former star athlete in the 1958 film "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof." Elizabeth Taylor played his unhappy wife and Burl Ives his wealthy, domineering father in Tennessee Williams' harrowing drama, which was given an upbeat ending for the screen.
In "Cool Hand Luke," he was nominated for his gritty role as a rebellious inmate in a brutal Southern prison. The movie was one of the biggest hits of 1967 and included a tagline, delivered one time by Newman and one time by prison warden Strother Martin, that helped define the generation gap, "What we've got here is (a) failure to communicate."
Newman's hair was graying, but he was as gourgeous as ever and on the verge of his greatest popular success. In 1969, Newman teamed with Redford for "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," a comic Western about two outlaws running out of time. Newman paired with Redford again in 1973 in "The Sting," a comedy about two Depression-era con men. Both were multiple Oscar winners and huge hits, irreverent, unforgettable pairings of two of the best-looking actors of their time.
Newman also turned to producing and directing. In 1968, he directed "Rachel, Rachel," a film about a lonely spinster's rebirth. The movie received four Oscar nominations, including Newman, for producer of a best motion picture, and Woodward, for best actress. The film earned Newman the best director award from the New York Film Critics.
In the 1970s, Newman, admittedly bored with acting, became fascinated with auto racing, a sport he studied when he starred in the 1972 film, "Winning." After turning professional in 1977, Newman and his driving team made strong showings in several major races, including fifth place in Daytona in 1977 and second place in the Le Mans in 1979.
"Racing is the best way I know to get away from all the rubbish of Hollywood," he told People magazine in 1979.
Despite his love of race cars, Newman continued to make movies and continued to pile up Oscar nominations, his looks remarkably intact, his acting becoming more subtle, nothing like the mannered method performances of his early years, when he was sometimes dismissed as a Brando imitator. "It takes a long time for an actor to develop the assurance that the trim, silver-haired Paul Newman has acquired," Pauline Kael wrote of him in the early 1980s.
In 1982, he got his Oscar fifth nomination for his portrayal of an honest businessman persecuted by an irresponsible reporter in "Absence of Malice." The following year, he got his sixth for playing a down-and-out alcoholic attorney in "The Verdict."
In 1995, he was nominated for his slyest, most understated work yet, the town curmudgeon and deadbeat in "Nobody's Fool." New York Times critic Caryn James found his acting "without cheap sentiment and self-pity," and observed, "It says everything about Mr. Newman's performance, the single best of this year and among the finest he has ever given, that you never stop to wonder how a guy as good-looking as Paul Newman ended up this way."
Newman, who shunned Hollywood life, was reluctant to give interviews and usually refused to sign autographs because he found the majesty of the act offensive, according to one friend.
He also claimed that he never read reviews of his movies.
"If they're good you get a fat head and if they're bad you're depressed for three weeks," he said.
Off the screen, Newman had a taste for beer and was known for his practical jokes. He once had a Porsche installed in Redford's hallway - crushed and covered with ribbons.
"I think that my sense of humor is the only thing that keeps me sane," he told Newsweek magazine in a 1994 interview.
In 1982, Newman and his Westport neighbor, writer A.E. Hotchner, started a company to market Newman's original oil-and-vinegar dressing. Newman's Own, which began as a joke, grew into a multimillion-dollar business selling popcorn, salad dressing, spaghetti sauce and other foods. All of the company's profits are donated to charities. By 2007, the company had donated more than $175 million, according to its Web site.
In 1988, Newman founded a camp in northeastern Connecticut for children with cancer and other life-threatening diseases. He went on to establish similar camps in several other states and in Europe.
He and Woodward bought an 18th century farmhouse in Westport, where they raised their three daughters, Elinor "Nell," Melissa and Clea.
Newman had two daughters, Susan and Stephanie, and a son, Scott, from a previous marriage to Jacqueline Witte.
Scott died in 1978 of an accidental overdose of alcohol and Valium. After his only son's death, Newman established the Scott Newman Foundation to finance the production of anti-drug films for children.
Newman was born in Cleveland, Ohio, the second of two boys of Arthur S. Newman, a partner in a sporting goods store, and Theresa Fetzer Newman.
He was raised in the affluent suburb of Shaker Heights, where he was encouraged him to pursue his interest in the arts by his mother and his uncle Joseph Newman, a well-known Ohio poet and journalist.
Following World War II service in the Navy, he enrolled at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio, where he got a degree in English and was active in student productions.
He later studied at Yale University's School of Drama, then headed to New York to work in theater and television, his classmates at the famed Actor's Studio including Brando, James Dean and Karl Malden. His breakthrough was enabled by tragedy: Dean, scheduled to star as the disfigured boxer in a television adaptation of Ernest Hemingway's "The Battler," died in a car crash in 1955. His role was taken by Newman, then a little-known performer.
Newman started in movies the year before, in "The Silver Chalice," a costume film he so despised that he took out an ad in Variety to apologize. By 1958, he had won the best actor award at the Cannes Film Festival for the shiftless Ben Quick in "The Long Hot Summer."
In December 1994, about a month before his 70th birthday, he told Newsweek magazine he had changed little with age.
"I'm not mellower, I'm not less angry, I'm not less self-critical, I'm not less tenacious," he said. "Maybe the best part is that your liver can't handle those beers at noon anymore," he said.
Newman is survived by his wife, five children, two grandsons and his older brother Arthur.

Motivational Posters

Mad Men Marathon

I spent the weekend catching up on a show that I now cannot get enough of. Instead of watching one of the world's most pathetic football teams (Rams or Chiefs, take your pick) I spent Sunday by watching five episodes of "Mad Men" featuring John Hamm ( a St. Louis native). This is set in 1960 at an ad agency on Madison Avenue. Everybody drinks all day and EVERYONE smokes. The inter office politics are incredible and there were more than a few times where I went .."Whoa." (as in, I can't beliege the twist on this scene..). Incredibly entertaining and difficult to put down. I tried to get the Tivo to record the "Mad Men marathon" on Bravo last month. I didn't get the first season but the beginning of the second, so I had to rent the first season on DVD to get caught up. The women all smoke, some while pregnant and the styles and clothes of the day remind my of my mom and our neighbor who used to come over all time, drink coffee, smoke cigarettes and gossip about the family and neighborhood. The main character is a guy whose morals are all fucked up but, he is a great dad. He cheats on his wife just about every day and comes home to dinner on the table every night. Very cool show, the best I've seen in a while. I am not surprised at the recognition it got at the Emmys. Here are some of the characters, dressed for Emmy night...John Hamm is far right.Christina Hendricks plays "Joan" and yes, she is the hottest of them all but plays a great bitch

Happy Birthday Bruce

Thanks for the great years, you wear it well.

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

The RandR HOF released it's nominees for the class of 2009...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Hip Hop group Run-DMC, heavy metal band Metallica and musician/songwriter Bobby Womack are among nine nominees announced on Monday vying for five spots in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Guitarist Jeff Beck, disco and R&B band Chic, rock and roll singer Wanda Jackson, doo-wop group Little Anthony and the Imperials, rock band The Stooges, and the California funk band War were also nominated.Artists become eligible for the Hall of Fame 25 years after the release of their first single or album and are represented in an exhibition at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland, Ohio.
More than 500 music industry professionals will choose five of the nominees for the 24th annual induction on April 4 in Cleveland. The inductees will be announced in January.
New York hip hop group Run-DMC are credited with setting the "template for modern hip-hop, from their everyday-teenager style to their blazing live shows to a catalog of classic songs that few rappers have matched," the Hall of Fame Foundation said in a statement.
Founded in the 1980s by Joseph "Rev. Run" Simmons, Darryl "DMC" McDaniels and Jason "Jam Master Jay" Mizell, the group's hits include "It's Like That," "It's Tricky" and "Walk This Way," their collaboration with Aerosmith.
Los Angeles band Metallica -- founded by vocalist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich -- rose "to become the most successful and acclaimed heavy metal band of their era - a position they've consistently held for over a quarter century," the foundation said.

THIS IS CRAP. How could Stevie Ray Vaughn in his first year of eligibility be bypassed? No Moody Blues, Doobies, Chicago, Three Dog Night? Run DMC had ONE song, and Aerosmith had to rescue their career on that. While I agree with the Bobby Womack and Jeff Beck selection, my advice on the Beck pick is...what the hell took you guys so long? He has only single handedly changed the way we play guitar. His "Blow By Blow" CD will rank as among the greatest of our time. Chic? Rock and Roll? I am reminded of the movie "Scanners" where eevryone's head explodes. I can't deal with this or there will be pieces of my cranium on my desk. How utterly disappointing.

UPDATE:

I just found out that "War" is also being inducted and that, I can see. Great songs from a great band. "Four Cornered Room" has nothing on Hendrix.

Ed Freeman

You're an 18 or 19 year old kid.

You're critically wounded, and dying in the jungle in the Ia Drang Valley, 11-14-1965. LZ Xray, Vietnam.

Your Infantry Unit is outnumbered 8 - 1, and the enemy fire is so intense, from 100 or 200 yards away, that your own Infantry Commander has ordered the MediVac helicopters to stop coming in. You're lying there, listening to the enemy machine guns, and you know you're not getting out. Your family is 1/2 way around the world, 12,000 miles away, and you'll never see them again. As the world starts to fade in and out, you know this is the day. Then, over the machine gun noise, you faintly hear that sound of a helicopter, and you look up to see a Huey, but it doesn't seem real, because no Medi-Vac markings are on it. Ed Freeman is coming for you. He's not Medi-Vac, so it's not his job, but he's flying his Huey down into the machine gun fire, after the Medi-Vacs were ordered not to come. He's coming anyway. And he drops it in, and sits there in the machine gun fire, as they load 2 or 3 of you on board. Then he flies you up and out through the gunfire, to the Doctors and Nurses. And, he kept coming back...... 13 more times.....and took about 30 of you and your buddies out, who would never have gotten out.

Medal of Honor Recipient Ed Freeman, soldier, American, died August 20, 2008, at the age of 80, in Boise, ID......May God rest his soul.....


Never heard about his life untill after he died. Thanks Sarah

Fun Drinks For Not So Fun Times

Below are a few new drink recipes to keep handy if you rode out Hurricane Ike

CONE OF UNCERTAINTY
1 oz. cinnamon schnapps
1 sugar cone
Pour the schnapps into the sugar cone. Every time you hear a TV weatherman say, "cone of uncertainty ," bite off the end of the cone and down the shot. If you hear Jim Cantore say it, drink two shots consecutively. (they should change this to the "Cantore Zone"... dang him. Have you ever noticed that, despite all the cone of probability talk, if Cantore is parked in front of your house you are toast?) ============================================================
FEEDER BAND
2 oz. Midori
2 oz. rum
1 scoop vanilla ice cream
After your home loses power, combine Midori and rum in a cocktail glass. Add a scoop of the vanilla ice cream that is melting in your freezer. Stir, and drink through a straw. ============================================================ MANDATORY EVACUATION
1 1/2 oz. Absolute Ruby Red vodka
1/2 oz. vermouth
Clamato Prune juice
Combine vodka and vermouth in cocktail glass. Fill remainder of glass with equal parts Clamato and prune juice. Stir. Drink. Ask next-door neighbor whose ficus tree blew over and crashed onto your roof -- even though you'd warned him for months to uproot it -- if you can use his bathroom. Repeat. ============================================================ CATEGORY 5
1/2 oz. vodka
1/2 oz. tequila
1/2 oz. rum
1/2 oz. bourbon
1/2 oz. gin
Sweet-and-sour mix
Splash of fruit juice
Combine vodka, tequila, rum, bourbon and gin in a tall glass. Fill remainder of glass with sweet-and-sour mix and splash of juice. Stir, then garnish with an inverted drink umbrella. Drink during peak storm hours, and vow not to believe anyone who tries to tell you the hurricane that flooded your garage and destroyed your shed was just a Category 1. ============================================================
BEACH EROSION
1 1/2 oz. Goldschlager
1 1/2 oz. apple brandy
1 pack Sugar in the Raw
Combine Goldschlager, apple brandy and sugar in cocktail glass. As you drink, seriously contemplate moving your Yankee backside back to New Jersey where it belongs. ============================================================
DOWNED POWER LINE
1 1/2 oz. rum
5 oz. Jolt Cola
Combine ingredients in a cocktail glass. Drink while trying to figure out how the heck you're supposed to go two freakin' weeks without TV and AC. ============================================================
FLOOD ZONE
2 oz. Kahlua
2 oz. Baileys Irish cream
4 oz. rum
Serve in a 6-ounce glass and laugh-cry deliriously as the mess spills all over the counter top. ============================================================
COLD SHOWER
2 oz. Blue Aftershock
4 oz. Sprite
Combine in a cocktail glass with crushed ice you received after waiting in line for three hours at a mall parking lot. Take a deep breath, sip and scream like a little girl when the cold beverage hits your tongue. Repeat. ============================================================
LOOTERS WILL BE SHOT
1 oz. Jack Daniel's
Splash of sarsaparilla
Rock salt
Load both barrels of a shotgun with rock salt. Climb to the roof of your house with gun, bottle of Jack Daniel's and can of sarsaparilla. Fill shot glass with Jack and splash of sarsaparilla. Watch for looters. When you spot one, blast his backside with rock salt. Drink shot. Repeat. ============================================================
THE CHAIN SAW
1 oz. Goldschlager
1 oz. Rumplemintz
3 oz. Jim Beam
Splash of vermouth
Combine Goldschlager, Rumplemintz and Jim Beam in an empty soup can. Add splash of vermouth. Drink. Remove chain saw from garage and attempt to cut up fallen tree limbs in yard. Ask neighbor to drive you to hospital when it all goes horribly wrong. ============================================================
FOUR-WAY STOP
1 1/2 oz. vodka
1 1/2 oz. vodka and Midori
1 1/2 oz. vodka and Galliano
1 1/2 oz. vodka and grenadine
Pour each ingredient into a separate shot glass. Serve one to yourself and three other people. The person with the clear shot of vodka drinks first. The person to his right drinks the Midori shot, and so on. If somebody drinks out of order, develop a quick case of road rage and slap him silly.
============================================================
BLUE TARP
1 1/2 oz. Curacao
2 oz. pineapple juice
Splash of lime
Combine ingredients in a leaky paper cup and serve. Wait six to eight months for someone to repair the cup. If you're impatient, hire an unlicensed, out-of-state contractor to do the job for an exorbitant sum and pray he doesn't hurt himself in the process. ============================================================
FEMA FIZZLE
1 oz. Southern Comfort
2 oz. sloe gin
Tonic water
One week after the storm has passed and your neighborhood is still in ruins with no sign of help on the way, combine Southern Comfort and gin in a cocktail glass. Fill remainder with tonic and add a dash of Angostura bitters. Serve with a nut brownie. Before drinking, raise the glass and say the toast, "Doing a helluva job, Brownie

Natalie Cole

I heard that Natalie Cole has been hospitalized in New York for side effects of her Hepatitis C medication. As someone who knows, that is some nasty, nasty shit. It plays with your head and turns your body into something unrecognizable. For six months, I danced with the devil and sometimes, he won. One Sunday afternoon while I was home alone, the thoughts of killing myself were so strong I drove to the grocery store just so I could be around people. The medication turn syou into someone who has an extreme case of ADD. Your synapses don't synap. Parts of your brain won't connect with other parts. George Harrison died while I was on mine. I cried for three days straight. I literally lost my mind, let alone what it did to my body. My hair fell out and I had a rash from the top of my feet to just below my chest.The two drugs involved are interferon and ribovirin (sp?), and while it cured me, it almost killed me.

Natalie is in my prayers for the passage of time. She is one of the world's most beautiful women.

I am A Weird Guy, No Question

Don't ask me why, because I don't know but I have developed this weird crush on the Progressive Insurance chick named Flo. She reminds me so much of a waitress I used to work with at Harvey's, a greasy spoon restaurant with character in downtown Moline that I slaved at in high school. She wasn't much to look at but had this "something". That's it in a nutshell here, but I think she's hot. Therapist anyone?

I couldn't find a picture of "Flo", but this is the gal who plays her on TV.

Here's her bio: Stephanie Courtney, born February 08, 1970 in Stony Point, New York, is an American actress who is noted for her recurring roles on several television shows including the characters: Renee the Receptionist on Adult Swim comedy Tom Goes to the Mayor (2004-2006); Marge on the AMC drama Mad Men (2007); and Diane on the ABC comedy Cavemen (2008). Courtney is a member of the Groundlings improvisational theater in Los Angeles, California. In 2003, she won the Copper Wing award at the Phoenix Film Festival with the ensemble cast for the comedy Melvin Goes to Dinner. She has also been noticed in television commercials, such as Skittles (2008), Wienerschnitzel (2005), and as the cashier Flo for Progressive Corporation Auto Insurance (2008).

Well, she has some nice chops and a good resume, for sure. I'll have to watch those other shows. I just picked her out in "Mad Men"

One House Defiant

First Day Of The Book

This is the first day of what we call in the business "the fall book". What that means is that this is the first day of the fall ratings period. For the next three months, Arbitron will send out a number of "books" that will determine the ratings for the next sixth months. They will be sent to "random households" through out the area. It all depends on who fill out these "books". Let's face it, it's a crap shoot and where those "books" will land in the B/N area. It's the placement that decides who gets the best ratings. My stations are cocked, locked and loaded. I have three great PDs who love the business and what they do. I constantly have to reel them in, they are so full of ideas. Well, this is the time that I have waited for and I am so jazzed. We add another great young person to the staff today and she will be so valuable to us. I have taught this business from The Academy of Radio and Televison in Bettendorf during the seventies, to Park College in KC in the eighties to Broadcast Center in St. Louis from 1986 to 1998. Time to reap the harvest. We'll see if I am as smart as I think I am. "...onward, through the fog."

"Mad? Why I've always been mad..." Richard Wright

On the Ipod....from

"Like A Hurricane" by Neil Young to

"Daddy Sang Bass" by Johnny Cash to

"Mr. Blue Sky" by ELO

Is life good or what?

Bears

THE BEARS AND I
Black bears typically have two cubs, rarely one or three.
In 2007, in northern New Hampshire , a black bear sow gave birth to FIVE healthy young Grizzly Bear Cubs. There were two or three reports of sows with as many as four cubs but five was, and is, extraordinary. I learned of them shortly after they emerged from their den and set myself a goal of photographing all five cubs with their mom, no matter how much time and effort was involved. I knew the trail they followed on a fairly regular basis, usually shortly before dark. After spending nearly four hours a day, seven days a week, for six weeks I had that once in a lifetime opportunity and photographed them in the shadows and dull lighting of the evening.
Due to these conditions the photograph is a bit noisy as I had to use the equivalent of a very fast film speed on my digital camera. The print is properly focused and well exposed with all six bears posing as if they were in a studio for a family portrait.

I stayed in touch with other people who saw the bears during the summer and into the fall hunting season. All six bears continued to thrive.
As time for hibernation approached, I found still more folks who had seen them and everything remained OK. I stayed away from the bears as I was concerned that they might become habituated to me, or to people in general, as approachable friends.
This could be dangerous for both man and animal. After Halloween I received no further reports and could only hope the bears survived until they hibernated.
This spring, before the snow disappeared, all six bears came out of their den and wandered the same familiar territory they trekked in the spring of 2007 I saw them before mid April and dreamed nightly of taking another family portrait, an improbable second once in a lifetime photograph. On April 25, 2008 I achieved my dream.

When something as magical as this happens between man and animal, native Americans say we have walked together in the shadow of a rainbow.
And so it is with humility and great pleasure that I share these photos with you..

Tom Sears 2008

(very cool, kewl karl)

But Then, I've Always Been Mad...

Richard Wright, a founding member of the rock group Pink Floyd, died Monday. He was 65.
Pink Floyd's spokesman, Doug Wright, who is not related to the artist, said Wright died after a battle with cancer at his home in Britain. He says the band member's family did not want to give more details about his death.
Wright met Pink Floyd members Roger Waters and Nick Mason in college and joined their early band, Sigma 6. Along with the late Syd Barrett, the four formed Pink Floyd in 1965.
The group's jazz-infused rock and drug-laced multimedia "happenings" made them darlings of the London psychedelic scene, and their 1967 album, "The Piper at the Gates of Dawn," was a hit.
In the early days of Pink Floyd, Wright, along with Barrett, was seen as the group's dominant musical force. The London-born musician and son of a biochemist wrote songs and played the keyboard.
"Rick's keyboards were an integral park of the Pink Floyd sound," said Joe Boyd, a prominent record producer who worked with Pink Floyd early in its career.
The band released a series of commercially and critically successful albums including 1973's "Dark Side of the Moon," which has sold more than 40 million copies. Wright wrote "The Great Gig in the Sky" and "Us and Them" for that album, and later worked on the group's epic compositions such as "Atom Heart Mother," "Echoes" and "Shine on You Crazy Diamond."
But tensions grew among Waters, Wright and fellow band member David Gilmour. The tensions came to a head during the making of "The Wall" when Waters insisted Wright be fired. As a result, Wright was relegated to the status of session musician on the tour of "The Wall," and did not perform on Pink Floyd's 1983 album, "The Final Cut."
Wright formed a new band Zee with Dave Harris, from the band Fashion, and released one album, "Identity," with Atlantic Records.
Waters left Pink Floyd in 1985 and Wright began recording with Mason and Gilmour again, releasing the albums "The Division Bell" and "A Momentary Lapse of Reason" as Pink Floyd. Wright also released the solo albums "Wet Dream" (1978) and "Broken China" (1996).
In July 2005, Wright, Waters, Mason and Gilmour reunited to perform at the "Live 8" charity concert in London — the first time in 25 years they had been onstage together.
Wright also worked on Gilmour's solo projects, most recently playing on the 2006 album "On an Island" and the accompanying world tour.
Gilmour paid tribute to Wright on Monday, saying his input was often forgotten.
"He was gentle, unassuming and private but his soulful voice and playing were vital, magical components of our most recognized Pink Floyd sound," he said. "I have never played with anyone quite like him."

Football in the Show Me State

I used to be a Chiefs ticket holder when I first moved to KC. Having won $3 on a bet with my grandfather in the 1970 superbowl cemented the lifelong affection I hold for this franchise. I couldn't believe that I was living in the city of my Chiefs. That was 1979. The Chiefs pretty much stunk up the place at the time. The city's attention was turned to the young, exciting Royals. I went to every game and for fun used to count the number of people in the stands. In the early nineties, things turned around for the franchise and that led to the hiring of Marty Schottenhiemer, who was summarily disposed in Cleveland because he couldn't win the big one. In fact, when it was announced that the Chiefs had hired Marty, a letter to the Kansas City Star arrived from someone in Cleveland who said not to ever get our hopes up because Marty will eventually break our hearts. After the AFC Championship game against the Bills (which we lost) and the Championship game against the Colts (which we lost), I was convinced that was the case. My struggles with the Chiefs go far back but I have seen Joe Montana play and actually interview him becasue of my association with that team. I have had Dick Vermeil put his arm around me at a party and tell me "how glad Carole and he was that I was there." I love Dick Vermeil and even he contibuted to the can't win the big one mentality. This year, I want the Chiefs to win one. That would be great. It's going to be another long year as the dreaded and hated Raiders pasted my boys today. Took down their pants and spanked them. In front of an opening day crowd. Can't be pretty in KC. It's even worse here. The Rams are the laughing stock of the NFL. The ONLY time I have ever had even a fondness in my heart for this team was when Dick Vermeil had them. I feel they have been carpet baggers from day one. I only watched to make fun of them. Steven Jackson sits out training camp becasue he's not paid enough and promptly stinks. Bulger can't throw and the line couldn't stop me. The Chiefs may go 5-11, the Rams most surely will go no better than 4-12, they've quit already. They're done. Go Titans!

Happy Birthday Amy

How beautiful you are at 25. You'll be dead by 30.

THE STORM!!!!

A couple of weeks ago, the roof on the old hacienda started leaking. Funny, since it was just over two years ago when it was replaced. I called our local parish guy and he came right out, talked about the shoddy workmanship and then proceded to move around some shingles and "flashes". After all that, I asked him what the charge was and he said ..."nothing, you've paid me in full with all of your years at KSHE, you were, by far, the best." How cool is that? With THE STORM coming, I was hoping the roof would hold out. For days in the midwest the approachment of THE STORM was all anyone could talk about..could be ten inches of rain in THE STORM, Gas will skyrocket, food will be rationed, all because of THE STORM. The weather predictions were dire... THE STORM came through here at 3:38am (I know because I was up), blew some stuff around, dropped about two inches of rain...then left. Jeez, I know we have to be prepared but this was to hystrionic proportions. I got the camera out today, took notice of the neighbor's tree and the damage to my tomato plants. As you can see, all is pretty well. And the roof held out, too.

My Week In Country Music

I pulled my first week long airshift in over a year this past week. I did the 9am-2pm shift at my country station www.1077thebull.com. What a blast! I wanted to do as much of it live as possible and I previously rescheduled some things to make that happen. I think it's important for the boss to step in and find out what the jocks have to deal with and how the whole thing works. My PD does an excellent job. It was pretty easy to step in and broadcast again. The music moves and flows and there's just enough of a chance to have a personality at certain moments. The station sounds great and while I was playing the hits, I discovered some new faves and said hello to some old ones. I just dig the hell out of George Strait, always have and probably always will. His new song "Troubador" is great and after all this time, he sounds wonderful. I played one of my all time favorites "Forever and Ever Amen" by Randy Travis and discovered some new tunes that I like. Carrie Underwood sings her ass off. Her new song "Just A Dream" is a female vantage point killer diller. "Chicken Fried" by The Zac Brown Band is fun and I like the new song by the Lost Trailers called "Holler Back". The one that got me right between the eyes was a song by a cat named Jimmy Wayne. Here's his story...Jimmy Wayne was born Oct. 23, 1972, in Cleveland County, N.C. He endured a tumultuous childhood, as his father abandoned the family when Wayne was a toddler, and his mother was in and out of prison twice. Growing up in foster homes, Wayne became an avid journal-keeper, using writing as a way of therapy. Living on the streets at 16 and a high school dropout, he was hired by an elderly couple to cut their grass, and eventually, they invited him to move into their home. With a stable home life, Wayne went back to high school and worked his way through community college, earning an associate's degree in criminal justice. After working in the North Carolina prison system, Wayne moved to Nashville to pursue a music career..." I also found out he was accompanied by his sister through all of the homeless shelters and foster homes and whe she got involved in an abusive marriage, he went and got her. By the grace of God go I.. Here's the song I like, thought I'd jump on this guy's bandwagon for awhile, I think he deserves it.

Acoustic version (the record company is disallowed embedding his big song)..



Here's the link to the full song...
Jimmy Wayne

It seems that the great, well crafted pop songs are all coming out of Nashville. They used to be rock songs, but now they're rock songs done country.

Brush With Greatness..whatever one this is

It's too bad I can't enlarge this anymore. I post this not just because these are the two guys that were in The Hooters (Hootie Hoot!), but that this was the old KSHE studio in Crestwood circa late 1985. Considering what I am wearing, I think it's mid fall or so. The back wall was filled with "carts" (kids, ask your folks) that contained commercials, songs and stuff JC and the rest of us used for our shows that weren't available anywhere else. Those are home CD players you see the back of. We had one "pro model" Sony and the rest were store bought home decks. To my left is the microphone and some house plant that was kept in the studio. The clipboard was for listener requests if I remember right. If you'll look over the dark haired guys head, you'll see the wall of albums. There was a very strange filing system at KSHE that took me months to master. You really had to be on the ball, because when you went to find Glenn Frey, it could be under "F" or "E" for The Eagles. Same with Robert Plant...it was very weird and one of the quirks that made working at that building one of the best times of my life. Little run down cinder block building that was cold in teh winter and hot in the summer. It sat next to the Route 66 Drive In Theatre and on any night there was a movie, there were usually a handful of people that would come by. I must admit to scoring a couple of dates that way. Hey, I was young and foolish.