Who do ya know whadda ya know?

Sometimes knowing your audience makes it a little difficult to entertain accordingly.  You feel yourself editing to spare feelings, or hide information you don't want certain people to know. 

Working on-air in Detroit was the first time in my radio career that my family, not to mention friends I’ve know since grade school, were in the market...and listening.

So when the douche bag morning guy slandered me on his show I took it much more personal then when I was in Cadillac or Akron, where no one really knew me. 

"My mom is listening” I’d whine to my program director.  (Tom O'Brien where are you?!!)  "I'm gonna kill him, I’m gonna spill his skanky little secrets!”

But I wouldn't.  I would want to.  I would instead call people and explain, “No, what Danny said wasn't true.”  He was just trolling for ratings using my reputation as bait. 

Knowing your audience can be good sometimes too, in an evil scientist sort of way. I was told once you shouldn’t use the airwaves for your own personal gain and amusement, but man it’s hard to resist. But that is another story for another day my pretties.

I digress....

So seriously, really WOW what a historic night it was Tuesday night.  No matter what your preferences, it really really was one heck of a chapter for the U. S of A.   I cried and cried and then I laughed and all the while I had a few cocktails.  And now we'll see what happens. We could not do any worse; I am confident we'll do better.

It's funny though, I've always been proud to be an American, but apparently alot of people weren’t' until last night.   Well, glad to hear they’re happy now and I hope we can all just get along, because suddenly a “new crop of bitters” has sprouted up and that’s just not good for business.  We’ve got things to do and places to go and I think this little country that could…. needs to grow up a bit.  

Go Vote!

 

Song of the Day:

"American Girl”- Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers

 

‘Well she was an American girl, raised on promises…

This is a great song to start running, or driving or walking to…. try it and see.  It also sounds like a beginning of a movie…It probably is somewhere….

I digress….

When the Gulf War hit in 1990, I was working at WZOQ-92ZOO in Lima, OH. As I was heading to the station one morning…. after laying blurry-eyed on the couch all night watching CNN….it dawned on me what a great country this is and how fortunate I was to be a part of it.  Here I was, a single America girl living away from her family, driving alone to speak relatively freely over radio station airwaves.  

What a concept.  And yet, I don’t think I had ever really thought about it before, the simple things we do every day. Freedoms we take for granted every day.

I've lived all over this country.  Different areas have strikingly different values and customs.  But it’s all still the good ol’ U. S of A. 

I covered many elections over the years, both local and national. And I always voted wherever I lived.  People fight for our right to vote and I feel we should honor that.  It’s so weird that before today I have never been so nervous and so vested in an election in my entire life.

I was raised in an independent thinking household.  I've slowly shifted my views over the last few years from where I originally started.   But that is the beauty of it, we’re allowed to.  We’re allowed to talk freely, and vote freely not live in fear we'll  be persecuted for our beliefs. 

Five artists who do a song called “Election Day”

Seriously, all on I-Tunes!

Arcadia

Lyle Lovett

The Replacements

Blaze Foley

The Riots Before

Friday music musings

Song of the Day: "Friday I'm in Love"  The Cure

I think I had a T-shirt that said "You've got the disease, we've got The Cure".  Not sure where it is, and honestly....not completely sure the t-shirt  ever existed. It's possible I made up the concept because I thought it would be a cool shirt to have.  

Ahhh, the joy of losing brain cells. At least I'm pretty sure it was fun. 

Speaking of The Cure , a friend of mine, who Robert Smith loves has got a new band together, an all-female  fab trio called Josephine. Check 'em out online and if you're in the NYC area check 'em out live!   They're  gonna be huge, so you can say you knew them back in the day. That's always cool.  

Chrissie Hynde of the Pretenders is back in action, and still rockin'.  She bought a place in the ol' Akron hood and is trying to make vegetarians out of those Ohio mouth breathers, ha ha.   I might have to check her out when she comes to Seattle. 

So now that I am "on staff" at Muzik Reviews, you should check my reviews for free while you still can, you never know when Rolling Stone or Blender will call.  :)

Happy Halloween!  And remember beer doesn't go with chocolate, wine does!

   

Last Minute Halloween Costumes

If you're Mr. or Ms. Pro Crastinat0r,  here's a a few more ideas you can pull together quickly. 

True Blood character

I don't watch this show but apparently it's about vampires who look like real people; how hard can that be to put together? Makes me look at people on the street a little different though, because I guess you never know who's a blood sucker!

Vampire Slayer

Since a bunch of people seem to be going out as Vampires or Sarah Palin this year, this could make you the ANTI "life of the party"  

Paint or sew or draw  "vampire slayer" on an old shirt.  Get some garlic, a cross or a wooden stake and something that looks like it's holy water.  

Or you could dress like a normal person too, now that I think about it Buffy was "one of us." You could also dress up as a priest but it might be hard to find a little boy to walk around with you all night. 

Devil's Advocate

This is my costume this year.  If you've read my previous post on "punny" Halloween costumes, you'll know I'm not a fan of "normal" run-of- the ol' mill dress-up.  I picked up a devil's outfit the other night, just so I would have SOMETHING to wear. 

 And then it hit me...devil's outfit + the addition of a pin or some kind of label that says "Advocate"  Violia!  

Added bonus, watch the look on the faces of others when they  take in your devil outfit, see the name tag that says "advocate" and then slowly put it all together.  Priceless!  Or at least I am hoping it is.   

muwahahahahah!!!!!

                                                

Top 15 Halloween Songs

You’ve got your costume ready to go. The ingredients for Devil’s Food Cake and Vampire Blood Punch are in the cupboard.   A few jack-o- lanterns and spiderweb decorations and you think your party is complete, right?  Wrong!  Whether you’re having a small gathering or a full on barnburner, the zombies and witches still need to get their groove on.  Here's a list to get you started, most of these can be found on I-Tunes. 

1. Devil Inside - INXS
2. Werewolves of London - Warren Zevon- A classic
3. Devil Went Down To Georgia - Charlie Daniels Band
4. Spooky - Classics IV
5. Don't Fear The Reaper - Blue Oyster Cult
6. Ghost Busters - Ray Parker Jr.  Who ya gonna call?
7. Psycho Killer - Talking Heads
8. Highway To Hell - AC/DC- So last century, they aren't online, scary
9. Dead Man's Party-Oingo Boingo-Who doesnt like to say "Oingo Boingo" !?
10. Nightmare on My Street - DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince
11. Running With The Devil - Van Halen
12. Withchy Woman- The Eagles
13. Monster Mash - Bobby 'Boris' Pickett-Only time of the year you can hear this one!
14. Somebody's Watching Me-Rockwell- You can discuss if  Michael Jackson is singing on this song or not....   And speaking of M.J, last but  NEVER least...
15. Thriller – Michael Jackson-Download a "Thriller" Dance Session for added funny fun

Monday Morning Moanin’

(Props to the late great Bob Talbert, Detroit Free Press columnist)

Last night I couldn’t sleep and there’s nothing on TV.  Five gazillion channels and nothing on. Why is it late Sunday nights have a different schedule than the rest of the week?  I would prefer to fall asleep to my usual shows. The networks seem to run the STUPIDEST programming in the time slot from Sunday at 11PM on. My choices were pretty much “Hook”,  “Patch Adams” and the TBS standby “Pretty Woman”.  

You'd think network execs know Sunday night is big insomnia night, so run something good that a captive audience is gonna watch.  Usually you sleep in on Sundays, so you’re not tired at your normal bedtime.  Or you drank more coffee than usual, or you just have the Sunday Night Dreads.

My old EMU roommate was the first person I ever met who talked about the Sunday Night Dreads. I didn’t know anyone else had them.    SND is the feeling you get right after dinner usually, like around 7 or so…when suddenly you realize the weekend is crashing to a close. You’re ruminating about the good times, you’re sad it’s over, you’re mad because you didn’t get as much done as you wanted to.

And then, I really hits you…like a fat cat running from a water hose right at YOU.

Tomorrow is Monday.  (Scary music here)  Your tummy tumbles, your heart beats and your brain starts tossing around all the things you have to do tomorrow.

So you think you’d better get to bed because you have a big day.  But you can’t sleep.

So that’s where I was last night.  Mind racing, flipping channels and I came across the “Sarah Silverman Show."  I was apprehensive at first, I even went through all the channels again and there was seriously nothing else on.  At any rate, I feel like I don’t really know her so I thought I would give her a chance. 

It was pretty painful.  She’s a critics' darling- that makes me suspicious to begin with, I am usually not on board with the critics. 

Like for example, take  “30 Rock”… love love Tina Fey…Thought “Mean Girls” was great. She’s a smart woman who writes well and is not afraid to show her brain instead of the other b's. But "30 Rock" is generally not all that  Yet it keeps winning Emmy’s and the critics LOVE it.  Maybe there is a critic club I don’t know about. 

Speaking of Tina, enough with the Sarah Palin bit.  Tell Lorne to bite it man, the bit is over.  That is one of the biggest problems with SNL, is they just don’t know when to stop the bit.  And no, not an SP fan, just sayin…

Well, Sunday Dreads gone, and  Monday Moanin’ here… so “Good day and may the good news be yours!”

Radio On The TV

Song of the Day: “Radio”  The Members

Great forgotten song from 1982

"I listen to the radio, it's better than the stereo"

What’s occurred to me recently, although it’s been going on for quite a while, is the practice of television breaking bands.  It just seems to be much more blatant now. 

Back in the day, we listened to the RADIO for new music.

A good example of this phenomenon is “Dawson’s Creek” Two artist appear on the show that previously were not well known.  Paula Cole’s,  “I Don’t Wanna Wait” served as the theme song and Edwin McCain’s “I’ll Be” appeared in an episode.  Paula went on to win a Grammy, and Edwin still has a career. 

And then there is the band that did the the theme song for “Friends”, “I’ll Be There For You. Suddenly, The Rembrantds became household name, although who can remember any other songs they did?  I guess that’s just the way it is, baby.

And I guess things have really really changed. 

At the end of “Gossip Girl”...several songs and artists are mentioned in the ending voice over with instructions to go to the CW website for more information.

The thing is, I don’t even remember hearing the songs in the episode. Apparently just a tinge of a tune is all you need to get the blatant Verizon cross promotion wheels going.

So that was perplexing, until I came across something quite opposite.

On “Dirty Sexy Money”, the band “The Weepies” was mentioned, many many times in the span of a few minutes. My interest was sufficiently piqued, cute name…I would make a note of it and check them out.

But much to my amazement, the band suddenly appears on the show in the most convoluted way possible.  I was stunned by the sheer boldness of this brazen move.  Of course, now I really have to look up this seemingly simple looking band and lo and behold on their My Space page they write,

"THE WEEPIES’…Music appeared in more than a dozen TV shows, as well as several major motion pictures …JCPenney and Old Navy used their tunes as the theme songs…"

There’s more, it goes on and on, but here’s my point.  Not once do they mention RADIO in their bio. They appeared on TV shoes and COMMERCIALS.  This is a band that’s not afraid of selling out at all.

Back in my day, it was the “job” of radio, more like the expectation I guess, to break the bands, play the new music.  I could tell you story after story, about the bands I helped make it, the songs I played first in a market.  I just don’t think radio is like that anymore.

But here’s the kicker. The sad thing is I’m not really sure how it really works any more.  How the new bands get noticed.   I hardly listen to the radio anymore. I did in New York sometimes, I do when I go to Detroit, but I hardly ever do in Seattle.

At first, I think it was because I just didn’t want to listen to something I wasn’t a part of it anymore.  Now, the truth is we can’t get any radio reception in our area, just a few NPR and college stations.

So I get my new music fix the NEW-fashioned way, XM radio new music channel, XMU, I-Tunes, reading about it in magazines and various music websites.

Oh, and yes, television-TV shows and commercials. 

 

Monday Musings

Soooo Monday today.  Hey, housewives pretending to be writers can have a case of the Monday’s!

Mindless Monday Musings

(And Shamless Self Promotion)

SNARK!

Recived snarky comments over the weekend on a website I contribute to, the Examiner.  They were about grammar and punctuation,  and I am bad at those things, so they weren’t completely earth shattering. At least I got that first one out of the way.  Recovering DJ’s  are very sensitive.

Music For Your Eyes

My first reviews, who knows I could be onto something. 

Edwin Mccain

I like him, met him and it was funny because I thought it would be easier to review someone I already had some back story on.

Dave Corp

Knew nothing about them, and they're definitely not my type of tunes at all.  But surprisingly, I got throught the CD and tried to write something objective.

Be a True Music Owner

Forget buying the CD or downloading some tracks, you could own the rights to an actual song, crazy but true!  Check out Songvest.

And Now a Somber Note

This poem written by a children from Africa and nominated by UN  for recognition in 2008.

When I born, I black

When I grow up, I black

When I go in Sun, I black

When I scared, I black

When I sick, I black

And when I die, I still black

 

And you white fellow

When you born, you pink

When you grow up, you white

When you go in sun, you red

When you cold, you blue 

When you scared, you yellow

When you sick, you green

And when you die, you gray

 

And you calling me colored?

Mommy, When Will This Be Over?

Song of the Day:

“Take the  ‘L’ Out of Lover and it’s OVER” 

The Motels

I don’t know about you, but I’ve just decided I can’t WAIT til the election is OVER. 

This is the first time in my young young  life I’ve been sooo into the process, and it’s exhausting.  It’s the first time I actually WATCHED every Prez & VP debates…EXHAUSTING. 

I was in The Forensics Speech and Debate Club at good ol’ FHS ( won prizes too!) …And let me tell you…all those debates we saw this year, in the true sense of the process… none of them were really debates at all!!!  

No rule following or anything.  No trophies for any of ‘em in the real world.

I have decided politics should be like religion and opinions…keep it to yourself!

In the meantime, I long for a simpler time, when I can concentrate on more important things, like Madge’s divorce.  Heh Heh.

Bonus Motels shout out

For me, the guitar solo in “Only the Lonely” is quintessential 80’s pop.  Short intro was hard to talk up, and short song, so couldn't do much while it was playing, but always one of my top fave songs ever!  

Sneak Peek at New Prez?

The thing is, nobody knows who’s going to win.  No one can predict with complete accuracy the results of a football game, a poker tournament or especially a presidential race.  

And yet, people are paid big pundit bucks to prognosticate on what will happen, with very little accuracy.

To feed our need to know NOW, a few predictors have surfaced.

The Kids Have Spoken: Obama 57% -McCain 39%

Results of  The Scholastic Presidential Election Poll  have only been wrong twice since 1940. Out of the mouths’ of babes. 

Washington Redskins Last Home Game Before Election

Since 1936, except for 2004, if the Washington Redskins won their last home game before the election, the incumbent party has stayed in the Whitehouse. This year, the Skins play the Pittsburgh Steelers in Monday Night Football the night before the election. Who's your team?

Don’t Mask Your Feelings

There’s a costume company that swears whatever political candidates’ mask sells the most in an election year, wins. This sounds like a way to get into the news while the gettin's good, but it seems more reasonable than having to sit through a Redskin game.  Or a Steelers game for that matter.

Spelling it Out?

On a side note, The CBS Early Show did a story on election predictions, and the graphic read “An Offbeat Peak at Who May Win”  

Hello-it’s suppose to be PEEK!  GRRRR

Hey-wasn’t there a VP candidate who spelled potato funky….hmmmm…is this a predictor too??

The Recovering Driver Vents

Song of the Day: "Baby You Can Drive My Car"-The Beatles

For someone who grew up in a town that used to make cars, it's a little ironic that I kinda hate cars sometimes.  If I never had to drive again, I would be very happy indeed. 

Today was "take the car in for a variety of things" day.  It's a bit of a production around here as we only have one car.  

Luckily, I live in a city with mass transit so I can take a bus home.  They dealership has a shuttle but ugh, then  you have to talk to people.  If you're not in the mood, the bus offers some nice quiet time to read and reflect. 

But long story short, this is probably the 3rd or 4th time I have taken the car in and the same thing happens.  

"Hello, what seems to be the problem?" asks Mr. Dealership Man

"Well", I say " We need an oil change, some light is on, blah blah, oh and the brakes still squeak." 

Mr. Dealership Man looks up and says, "Ma'am the brakes on these cars are PERFORMANCE brakes, German engineered cars like this have high-end blah blah blah..." He begins to sound like the teachers on the "Peanuts"

So I respond, " You guys say this to me every time. I don't understand why it's OK for brakes to squeak! And here;s the thing, my husband picked out this car, not me, so truth be told,  if it were up to me, I'd never buy another car like this again." 

A hush falls over the place, and everyone is looking at me, like in an E. F Hutton commercial.  

Finally old lady dressed to the nines standing next to me whispers loudly, "I'm on my 9th one". 

Activities commence, the work order is finished by a much crankier Mr. Dealership Man who is pounding the bejesus out of the keyboard.  

Speaking of German engineering, don't get me started on that STUPID Brooke Shields TV spot they play everywhere for Volkswagon.  Just when I was beginning to like her, as I wrote a few weeks ago.

Beep Beep and Beep Beep yeah, indeed!

A Very Brady Monday

So this morning I was flipping around the tube and lo and behold, there's Peter Brady hosting Trivial Pursuit.   It took me a few minutes to figure out who he was!  Go to the site, you can register to be on the show if  you want, your 5 seconds of fame awaits you.

And then, shortly afterward I come across this story about  Marcia Marcia Marcia!   She was a very very bad girl!

(For new blog readers,  you may click on all highlighted underlined words to go to story details.  :)

Which got me thinking-are you a "Brady Bunch" or "Partridge Family"person?  

I worked with Danny Bonaduce in Detroit and I used to tell him I liked the Brady Bunch better,just to rile him.  But I think I was more of a P. Family person.  Actually, I was totally a "MONKEES"person!  :)

It's a Costume Stupid

Song of the Day-"Dress You Up-Madonna

I don’t normally think about Halloween 3 weeks early, but anything to stop dwelling on the stupid economy. And this Great Pumpkin picture my friend sent me yesterday got me in the mood.

My Halloween costumes trend eclectic.  My creations are generally very “punny”. I get a lot of “What are you s’pose to be?” inquiries.

For example, one year in Jersey City, our local establishment was having a Halloween Costume Contest.  We decided to go at the last minute.  I grabbed a large white plastic garbage bag and went to check it out. 

Just before the contest started, I headed to the bathroom to primp with a bunch of girls dressed to the hilt as the entire Strawberry Shortcake gang. Elaborate costumes that took weeks to make, hours and hours of makeup-every detail attended to, carefully perfected,

I put a hole in my white garbage bag, poked my head threw and headed towards the contest.

“What are you suppose to be”, inquired one of Strawberry’s cronies.

“White Trash”, I said nonchalantly.

The Shortcakes’ rolled their over-painted eyes and snorted.  They thought they were ringers for the contest winnings and I just boosted their confidence.  Needless to say, there was a minor protest and ruckus from the ‘cakes when I took the 2^nd place prize.

Some other Pun with Halloween Costumes

Sand Witch

Dress up in black, pour glue all over yourself and roll in sand. Wear any other witch accessories if you’d like.  This ruined all the black clothes I wore that night, but it was worth it.

Blacked Eyed Susan

With dark make-up; completely black out an eye.  (I added “ make-up” because I don’t one anyone trying to punch out his or her own eye!)

Dress in yellow if you can and make some kind of head covering that looks like petals. 

Oh and get a name tag that says, “Hello, my name is Susan”.   The year I went as this, a lot of people thought I was the Statue of Liberty, I guess because of the flower hat and all.  Sometimes people don’t get it.  I guess we all can’t be on my train of thought.

Black Eyed Pea

Dress in all green; completely blacken one of your eyes. I wanted my husband to go as this the year I was a Black Eyed Susan but he refused.  

You could also pin a picture of Will. i. am or Fergie to yourself for overkill.   I completely believe in Halloween overkill.

More Dress Up Ideas

I never did any of these, but I think they are GENIUS!

Weather

Dress up in all blue.  Cover yourself with large mounds of cotton.  Carry a water gun. 

When asked, “What are you?” 

“Partly cloudy”, you say.

And then squirt them with your handy water pistol.

And say, “With a chance of rain!”  

Ziploc Finger Guy

This is from a few years ago; a finger character was as a spokesperson to close plastic bags in commercials.  Take a black market and draw a simple two eye dots and a half circle smiley face on your index finger. Dress normally. 

When someone asks what you’re suppose to be just put up your finger.  A little lame but good if you aren’t a Halloweeny person at all and get dragged somewhere last minute.

The Cereal Killer

And of course, the classic Pun Costume, we’ve all seen it before. Cereal boxes stuck all over your body with knifes and fake blood coming out of them.  Wish I had thought of this one!

Accepting Applications For Presidential Candidates

Song of the day: “The Politics of Dancing”-Re-Flex

"The Politicians Are Now D.J's" HA!

I’ve recently shifted sides a bit on the proverbial political fence.   But at times-I prop myself up on the fence, looking over at both sides and shaking my head.

It’s funny how the people you know react to the news of your new views.  Some are amused, like it’s a phase or something, you’ll grow out of it. Some are happy, embracing you with open arms, “I knew you’d make it, what took you so long?” And some are perplexed, even angry like “How could you do that?”

My husband and I were surfing the various cable networks last night after the so-called “debate” and we were AMAZED at the different biased each channel truly has.  It’s startling and scary.  

The thing is, you gravitate towards what you want to hear…listening/watching channels that share your views.  You keep hearing the same message over and over again, so you can shout them to others who don’t have the same outlook as you. And if they don’t have the same views as you, you wonder what is wrong with them; they must be awful stupid people. 

It’s so divisive, these politics of ours. I hate the HATE on both sides.   

It's like taunts on a playground: "I hate you, you hate me lets yell as loud as we can at each other without listening so we can get our point across and not even try to understand each other.   I don’t care what your candidate stands for; I only want to scream what I have been told by my fence-mates so that you and your poopy side of the fence people will go home."

This is MY dance space; this is YOUR dance space.    

It’s exhausting,  THIS is what we are reduced to?  The most important job in the land, and THIS is how we choose?

An article by the Associated Press talks about fact stretching shenanigans that occur on both sides. As I was reading it, a thought occurred to me…

WHY can’t a presidential contender fill out an APPLICATION like the rest us do as a  job candidate ???

Oh sure, there’s all kinds of stuff out there you can research yourself, but what side is it coming from, what is being filtered?  

I say, put the nominees alone in side-by-side rooms. Kind of like on police shows, when they use separate interrogation rooms.  Each candidate would have the same amount of time to fill out the application.  The form has to be filled out by the candidate alone, no spin master, or anyone in the room. The door would be guarded, and we could watch it on C-SPAN.  

When they’re done, we could compare and contrast the applications side by side; just like an H.R person does when Vodka Vinnie and Wendy Wineglass are applying for a job.

Sounds like something both sides of the fence could agree on. 

Words On Streets

Song of the Day-"Where the Streets Have No Name" U2

Tied with

"Takin' to the Streets" The Doobie Brothers

Lots of streets in the news these days, from Wall Street problems trickling down to Main Street to Madison Avenue trying to keep Fifth Avenue going.   It’s all got me thinking about the roads less traveled, the paths to personal growth and why the heck are there so many weirdoes on the streets of Seattle? 

Some streets are special to us. It’s funny how the mere sight of a sign can evoke emotions; provoke a saunter down memory lane. I have a montage of photos that contains a picture of Bleeker Street in NYC. A mere glance takes me back to the West Village for a second. And somewhere around here is collection of photos I took when a visiting friend dragged me on the Big Apple Tour of NYC.  Iconic streets like Broadway, Avenue of the Americas, 42^nd Street, rouse up recollections for the masses; and some of us have our favorite personal corners tucked in our memory, street where your first kiss took place, where your first job was located, where you found the most peace.   For me-Fifth Avenue at 82^nd Street-Home of the New York Metropolitan Museum, one of my favorite happy places. 

 New York-the land of landmark streets; in Seattle there’s streets I avoid, due to certain “elements” that lurk there.  It’s just a few odd little pockets all across town, and once you get the hang if it it’s a breeze strolling around.  Unless someone is walking towards you on the wrong side of the street.  Seems to be a Seattle thing too.  People walk on the wrong side AND don’t even bother to move.   Just FYI-to correctly be on right side of the street- always walk to YOUR right, and then you can never be wrong.  Something I picked up on the East Coast.

I find it a little comical that where I grew up, there weren’t any sidewalks in the neighborhood and yet as  a “grown up” I live in cities where without sidewalks, no one could walk around at all. 

Ahhh, the street you grew up on.  That’s good for the infamous“ What’s your Stripper Name Quiz”  (or is it Porn Star Name?)  Either way, take the name of your first pet and the name of the street you grew up on, and Viola', there you have it.

Mine is Rascal Drake, what’s yours?  J

How This Radio Life Began

Song of the day:  "Radio Silence" Thomas Dolby

Looking back now, the signs were all there. I was odd.  I pulled apart my radio, the shiny red Panasonic that twisted into shapes my grandma gave me, to see what J.P McCarthy looked like.  Yes I did.   May he rest in peace, the guy was THE man of Detroit Radio on “the Great Voice of the Great Lakes” WJR for so many years.  I really thought he lived in my radio.  I was very very young then.  Really young.  Ok, not that young, but big imagination is a funny thing.

I also PLAYED radio. I would write down the songs on a yellow pad, in the order that they were played. Didn’t know at the time that was a PLAYLIST and I was acting as a Program Director.  I liked to be boss and run the show even then.  

It was great when my best friend came over; she had an 8 track player and much different music selection than me. We could play one song on my turntable, and another song on her 8 track, without having to stop and change the record.

 It was sheer genius. 

It's Beginning To Look Like Rain

On the off chance that you might have read my previous, critically acclaimed but short lived blog, “Sleeping Pretty Good in Seattle” The following might give you a little déjà vu.  They're my words, I can reuse and recycle if I want to J

I believe it’s the beginning of the rain season in Seattle, so lets start with props to “High Fidelity” Top Five Songs About Rain….GO!

1.     “Purple Rain”-Prince

2.     “Rain King”- Counting Crowes

3.     “Fire and Rain”-James Taylor

4.     “Walk Between the Raindrops”-Donald Fagen

5.     “How I Wish it Would Rain Down”-Phil Collins

Different Tweets For Different Twitters

Song of the Day-"In a Big Country"-Big Country

For a variety of reasons, I Twitter now. Once I started using it with some regularity I’ve begun to understand its usefulness for promotion and networking.  I have promoted my blog on Twitter. I “met” a woman on the site who has thrown some freelance work my way for her new website launch, "Women on a Career Break Network".

And today, here was an interesting little”Tweet” that got me thinking and got me a blog post for the day ;)

Tweet from someone else: let's be honest, Alaska is a foreign country

My Comment to that Tweet: let's be honest most states are foreign countries to each other, like South vs. East...Midwest vs. West, etc.

I grew up Michigan, lived in the NJ/NY area for many years and did some time in places like Ohio and Kentucky.  I now live on the Far Coast of Seattle.  I can tell you the differences in all of these areas and then some from first hand experience.  I really do think this country is extremely divided and diverse. How can someone from San Francisco agree with someone from Atlanta?   And how can someone from Topeka agree with someone from Philadelphia? 

I could go on, but I think you get the picture.

Heck-In one city you have people divided about what baseball team to root for.  Look at Los Angels and Chicago right now! 

Something to ponder as you wait for the season premieres of “Pushing Daisies” at 8PM local time and “Dirty Sexy Money” 10PM on ABC.    Find something else to do at 9 PM though, ;)

How Are All of us Fitting on Main Street?

Song of the Day-"Down on Main Street" Bob Seger

It was BEAUTIFUL here in Seattle yesterday, two words that I don’t normal use together, Beautiful and Seattle, ha ha. 

But that ol’ recovering Catholic Guilt kept creepin’ in. It was so nice but I felt so weird about the market crash thing, and the bank take-overs.  It’s so Great Depressionny.  (I make up my own words occasionally, my excuse is I’m only an English MINOR.)

This whole Bailout Bust thing has really got me spooked.  From years of working in Downtown Manhattan  I developed a symbiotic relationship with the area. I have still have friends that work down there, some for NYSE which I am sure is just loads o' laughs right now.

But I am SOOO sick of the media saying “Wall Street VS Main Street” I don’t know why, but that is just so lame… calling the rest of America “Main Street”. This isn’t the time for cutesy or lame slogans or headlines.  That's just me I guess. 

The thing is, who on Main Street really understands what this is all about?  

Thank goodness for Google. What the heck did I do without search engines and the Internet?  How did I learn or  know anything back in the Dark Depressionny ages?? I can’t tell you how many times on a daily basis I use my Google Toolbar, especially these last few days.

Am I smarter because of it-the easy access to a gazillion piece of info, or dumber because I am too lazy to think about it for a second???

The Sudden "Full Pockets " Syndrome

Song of the Day-"Money Money Money" Abba

Tied with "Money" Milli Vanilli because I can't resist

My husband has been in London and my sleep schedule is all off.  I don't sleep well when he's not here, which is ironic since he's a HUGE snore monster and I don't sleep sometimes when he IS here. 

 

So I was up early and I flipped over to CNBC.  Like most people, I'm trying to grasp the whole B. D. D-Billion Dollar Bailout.  As an added bonus I was watching right as Citibank was buying out Wachovia.   That was comforting, NOT. 

I was questioned on the street last week by the local NPR affiliate KPLU what I thought of the whole deal and I pulled out of my bag a B.S  a surprising coherent answer.  I am in the middle, after the guy with the beagle. 

Anything to get on the air, that's me.

The whole $700  Bamboozling, I mean Bailout reminds me of this:

Once upon a time, small Susan asks Daddy for a few dollars to fortify her Bazooka and Skittles fix.  He says he doesn't have any moolah, and to "Go ask your Mother".

Mom says she tapped out.  Mom never gave up the goods. 

Go back to Dad, who sighs, reaches into his pocket and comes out with a couple of bucks. 

All of a sudden the government has the money in their pockets???  Seems kinda odd to me. 

A few randoms-

R.I.P Mr. Newman!!!   One of my fave movies of all time is "The Sting" and our cats are named Cassidy and Sundance, yes after the film.  It wasn't my doing.  

But Paul Newman was truly an inspirational man, using his celebrity for good and making some FABU salad dressing to boot.  

Also-

I want to send a shout-out to "the bankrupt divorcee'"  you left a message correcting a previous post, which I appreciate, and I screwed up how to publish your comment.   I don't want you to think I don't encourage comments, in fact I do.  

Still tinkering and figuring it all out. 

TTFN!