December...and How I Could Not Stop for Death...& Other Stuff

Well, it has been some time since I have been here.  I am going to have to go backwards, but in a very short time, so forgive my issues with typos and horrid grammar.

I last blogged around the time of Samhain...and so jump to now.  Because I fucking can.

Magic Sam's "My Love Will Never Die" is playing through my brain on iTunes...okay, here's what happened yesterday.  I noted this on Facebook, and I've got some interesting reactions.

I saw DEATH yesterday.

I was traveling to Washington for the first time in over three years.  I exited 495 and got off at the Kensington/Chevy Chase exit in MD.  With  me so far?

Moderate traffic, midday, nothing serious.  I round the bend for the turn in the road, and there IT was.

Death.

In the median, right by the intersection.  I drove past It to the light.

I say IT, because I don't know the sex of that creature.

But all in black, hood, cloak, the whole damn thing.  A smaller figure than I imagined.

Instead of a sickle, It was leaning on a crutch.

I saw It.  I know what I saw.  I kept driving.

I wondered...did I really just see that?  Did anyone else see that?

"Designated Fool," the Artist Formerly Known as Terrence Trent D'Arby...haven't heard this in years.

I was reminded of my friend Mary Sue Twohy's beautiful vocal rendering of the Emily Dickinson poem...but it just didn't fit the moment.  Too sunny a day, I guess.

Well...that weirdness aside, I navigated my way into the District to WTOP Radio.  Dropped in on my old XM Traffic boss Jim Battagliese, who now runs Traffic and Sports there.  Got to see an old building with a very active and somewhat up to date newsroom.  

A real fucking newsroom, right down to the day's newspapers all lying about the copy table.  I was also reunited with my old friend Amy Freedman and Bob Immler; great to see these folks again.  It was from the high point of my radio career; I had a dream job at a dream place...and of course you know who and what managed to fuck that all up.

But I digress.

"Shadow of the Whip," Harry Manx.  Interesting, folk-like stuff.  Reminds me of Ray Wylie Hubbard w/o the growl.

Talked about the old days, what 'TOP is up to, the competition from WNEW, which really is not.  Radio talk, and talk of writing.

Jim is the author of Stuck in Traffic, which you will find on Kindle.  A film that just read like a movie in the earlier draft.  Names were changed to protect the guilty.

This was partly to see if there is any work left in the world down there. The radio business is a dying art, unless my predicted (yeah) implosion of at least two gigantic bloated companies occurs.  

I have my usual jobbing about going on, and I'll get to that in a sec.  My main reason to go to DC was to head for the Phone Booth (aka, Verizon Center) to see the Hershey Bears and Norfolk Admirals play an AHL showcase matchup.

I am the primary radio producer for the Bears this season, my third of working with them.  I got a nosebleed ticket; sadly, Scott Stuccio could not get me access to the press box, but that's cool.  

Navigating DC traffic is insane.  The streets are on weird angles, one way is always the way you don't want to go, etc.

But, I did miss the city, and once you park the car (and remember Metro really works).

"Rastaman Live Up" by Bob Marley just passed in a flash, and it's "Come Hell or High Water" by Everything But the Girl.  I love Tracey Thorn's voice.

Okay, the Phone Booth is a small arena, but there is no bad seat in the place.  Prices for stuff...now you know why salaries are so high, or is it the other way 'round.  

NINE BUCKS FOR A BEER?  I don't drink, but really.

I have to work today, so I left after the 2nd period.  Good game.  On my way through the city, I passed the Sirius/XM building (formerly the National Geographic one); the lights were on but I wonder if anyone's still home.

I was left to reflect on my nearly five years there; it was a great time of my life, and the ride back through the city and the way home I took so many times was something to remember.

I still don't think my career is done.  

"When I'm 64?"  Love the Beatles, but not this song.

"I Go Crazy," Buddy Guy.  Better.

So anyway, I wonder if my encounter with Death means something.  Is it the death of my livelihood; my career?

Now I have had all of two job interviews with that place in Illinois, which did not pan out.

I had a short talk with the manager of a station...get ready...wait for it...THE ALEUTIAN ISLANDS.

Yep.  KSDP Radio, 830 on your AM dial, in Sand Point.  They are doing a pilot project.  Six months.

It would be an interesting experience; but I've not heard back.

I have another i'view on Monday.  Wish me luck.

I still love this business, but it leads me to my writing, and what I want to do.

I have finished "Time the Healer," the latest draft.  Cut nearly 50 pages off the longwinded missive about growing up, violence, bullying, hatred and the ability to find a way to forgive others even at their worst.

Not that I have done that completely, mind.

"Bad Influence," Robert Cray Band.  Nice.

Now, I've done a needed edit of "Sweet Dreams:  Searching for Roy Buchanan."  After two years, a fresh look has resulted in a tighter story, with an added element to a scene.  Much better.

SDS-2 has been edited, but I need to again.  The real work on a re-examination and rewrite of the series is needed, really needed.

As I told Jim, this is what I have to do.  This is my therapy; this is my touchstone to sanity, or what little of it remains.

I came out of a not-good depression in November.  I turned 47 on the 1st; again my thanks to my family and friends for the more than 200 greetings I got on Facebook.  Really nice.

The interactions with people in DC reminded me of what I miss, and what I cannot find in PA.  Something is missing; a human element is not here anymore.

I have to get out of here.  If I stay, it is only for work, and I will adjust.

Oh...we may be getting the band back together.

Ahltyrra likely will not reform under that name.  I got to see my co-founder Beth for the first time in over a year, plus most of the family last week.  They're doing alright, and I was very glad to be around them.

Beth has decided the band is not for her.  That said, the Dharma Fools are a go for a meetup this month.  We will see who is game, and what we might do.

"Dime Story Mystery," Lou Reed.  Another death song.

Well, that's that for now.  Off to work.

Stabbing Westwards, Possible Changes, Back to Penn State, and Remembering "Uptown" Janice Brown...

Well, Thelonious Monk's "All Alone" is playing on my iTunes, as I prepare to do anything but what I should be doing right now.  I have a lot of think about, and a lot to do in the next few days, and yet there's really not much I can at this point in time.

I traveled to the Midwest last week, and it was the first time I'd been continuously on the ground that far west in this country.  I've flown over before, but never been on the road in that direction much.  Without going into it, I went west for a job interview.  I am not a terribly superstitious person, but I don't dare talk about it much.

"Angel of Sorrow" takes over, by the late John Campbell...forboding stuff.

Anyway, I can tell you that it's flat out that way!  My trip through West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois was pretty smooth, and I certainly learned a few things about traveling out there.  A lot of flat lands, and it seemed to me a lot like portions of southern Quebec, sort of between the Vermont border and Montreal.  Long, long fields of corn and soybeans; architecture is different there, too.

A lot of the houses seem very thin and built upwards; the barns are not much different, but silos clearly are.  Just a lot of subtle but intriguing differences.  

Billboards were pretty funny at times.  They are a blot on the landscape as far as I'm concerned; but some of them are amusing.  The typical Jesus Freak billboards for one, then of course you have the porn shop billboards, that seem to go hand in hand for that.

Strange adverts for different products, and some people obviously needed some imaging or PR help before putting them up.  

Cities tend to spring up like an oasis.  Then there's the radio thing; being a broadcaster, you listen to different stations to get an idea of what they're doing.  

Not very impressive.  The NPR outlets on the left of the dial are all about the same, with few variations in programming.  I didn't listen to the music on the FM, because they're all the same.

"Stellar Regions," an alternate take, by John Coltrane...that fits.

AM radio is pretty bad.  A couple of big-city "news" stations are not; they are smatterings of news hosted by an anchor who is trying to be a cross between Gary LaPierre (late of WBZ) and Howard Stern.  Does not work.  Vacuous blowhard crossed with shock jock; nah, need some help there, losers.

The Chicago newser, WBBM stood out as a real and still honest to Goddess news station.  Think of KYW in Philly or WCBS in New York, and you know what I mean.  That's how it is supposed to be done, bitches.  

Now I will not discuss where I may be headed, because again it's a jinx.  But I liked what I heard and saw...I will discuss more should the need arise.  I hope it does.

This whole thing could shape the rest of my career, and my life.  I can't help but feel excited and feel like for once I may well again be valued for what I am capable of.

"Cut it Out," the late Gary Moore.  Nice change.

Everyone I met all the way out there, nice folks.  Really polite, friendly people, and I was impressed by the kindness of everyone.  We can get pretty nasty to one another when we see differences and then take them to the wrong kind of limit, but when it's just casual passing through, it ain't so bad, is it?  Think about it.

My ride back on Saturday was interesting; listened to the horrific Cincinnati Reds radio broadcasters for part of the way back east.  Who decided that former jocks make good announcers?  There are very few who can actually get out of that mode and honestly do a good job, show intelligence and rational thought.

Aside of it:  the best one is Lincoln Kennedy.  The former Raiders lineman is on Fox Sports Radio, and I enjoy listening to him.  He is a very smart, thoughtful and intelligent guy.  His regular partner, Andy Furman, is not very good.  Linc needs his own show.

I stopped back in Indianapolis, where I was reunited with an old and dear friend.  Rene and I worked together at the old Strawberries on Wellington Circle back in the day, and we stayed in touch.  She is as irrepressible as ever, and I love her for it; met her man, Erik, awesome guy and we had a long talk.  Great time; and I have an in on the goings-on in that city now.

Well, I spent the night in Wheeling, West Virginia, and motored the rest of the way home Sunday.  Then things got interesting.

The Silver Saturn took me 1400 miles w/o complaint.  Then up the street I go to the Office...and it throws an axle.

I got it back Tuesday.  Poor car; been through so much, and I've put enough $$$ into it to buy another car.  But it feels alright again, so whatever.  Better than more debt for a new ride.  I'll worry about that later.

"Never Last," Johnny Diesel and the Injectors.  This was a great one-off band from the early 90's.  Good stuff.

The DJ work on Radio Airwaves is going good; still learning the quirks of the chatrooms, which we connect to, but it's all good.  Made friends on a whole new network; the DJ community is small but it's a good one, and I'm having fun playing what the fuck I want.

Once again, find out all you need to know at www.radio-airwaves.co.uk

Shameless plug, heehee.

OK...while I wait for all this, I have to get back to "work."  Such little I have here.  I'm returning to Penn State this Saturday to cover the first Nittany Lion game and season without You Know Who.

This could be a tough game for the Lions.  Ohio went 10-and-4 last season and they employ a fast passing attack.  Supposedly Bill O'Brien's new defensive scheme is set to handle such things, but with a lot of key players gone, you wonder how they'll do.

And of course, the PSU community is still whining and whimpering about the terrible sanctions handed down them by that bad, evil Louis Freeh and the Powers That Be That Want Penn State Destroyed.

Some people never learn.

"Savages," Paul Weller...interesting iTunes choice.

The Paterno family is still bitching, and there's a 400 page book about JoePa that's out now.  I wonder how fast that was written!  I also wonder how much post-life wanking is involved in the making of that.

My job is to cover the game, but I shall endeavor to do my best to cover the vibe, the feelings, the attitudes there.  This is a very new world for the PSU community:  no Paterno, for the first time since 1965 as head coach.  The statue is gone, and memories are all that are left.

Will people cling to them?  Will they still believe that JoePa was the victim of a major screwjob, and will the conspiracies still abound about all the rest of it?

"Raspberry Jam Delta-V," Joe Satriani....to another astral plane we go.

For all the statements that Penn State is going to take its long-overdue ass-kicking and move on, I wonder if they can.  I rather doubt it, because old habits die hard, no matter where you are or what context that's in.

I shall see how the students handle it, how the older folks handle it, and how the players do.

On one level I do agree that the players are suffering, and many have had to leave to pursue their football whatevers...but they are a part of the system, and they'd have to be completely devoid of reality to not know that when something evil occurs at the top of the system, that it will come down and nail you.  If you are a cog in the machine, and it breaks down, you are part of it.

Then again, we exalt athletes, the same way we deify politicians, celebrities and the wealthy and powerful.  We made gods out of them, and then we find out they're human.  Like Paterno; the faith is shaken, but do we ever learn?

We'll find out.

Change is the theme of all of this today; I face potential changes, big-time changes.  People around me face changes every day, but do we embrace them or do we move with them and embrace them?

I for one am ready to do that, because I need to.  If not out west, someplace else; change has to come and I have to change with it.  Not everything about me, but enough of it.

###

Then comes that other change; death and passing on.  I've lost a number of friends in recent years, many before their time you would think.

"Beginnings," Jimi Hendrix...hmm, that's appropriate in a way.

Yesterday, I learned one of my former XM Radio colleagues, Janice Brown passed away.

http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/artsdesk/music/2012/08/24/uptown-janice-brown-jazz-vocalist-dies-at-55/

It's sad, because how can you not know someone when you spend a good five years around them?  Janice was one of those characters that you find in  every job, and especially in every radio station.  A small lady with big eyes, a bigger smile and a wicked sense of humor.  Also a great sense of self.

Janice was a long-time jazz DJ at WPFW Radio in DC, before she came to XM to inject her style to traffic reporting.  She did standup comedy I believe, and was a singer of great ability.  Janice released a CD, but I've not been able to find it.  I wish to, for I would like to play it on Radio Airwaves and let at least a big of the universe know who she was.

I miss her, and this is hard to write; I had a lot of friends from XM, and I still do.  I don't know what happened to Janice, but the intimation of health issues best be left there.  She had a great love of life, and didn't have to tell anyone about it; she had it.

I have a photo...

This is a bunch of the rapscallion crew I worked with at XM, on our last official day...Janice is the lady on the right in the orange scarf.

A total sweetheart.  Rest in Peace, Janice, you deserve it.  We won't forget you.

###

Time to move on, I guess...we all do, and I'm sure we'll hear Janice singing in the next world with legends to back her.  Monk, Coltrane, Mingus, Tony Williams?  Yeah, that would do.

###

See you next time, when hopefully I know more of my future, and where it all leads.

Da Bruins, Radio Coverage, Writing and Stuff

Well, congrats to the Boston Bruins are in order...they pulled out Game 7 in fine fashion last night, beating Vancouver on their home ice, 4-0.


As a native New Englander, I well remember the last time the Bruins won the cup, in 1972.  I was only about six years old at the time, and being the dumb kid I was, I wanted the Rangers to win.  No idea why.


I was producing the Senators' win over the Thunder on the Ticket last night, but I made it to my car by early in the third period.  It was already a done deal; the Canucks just could not get back into the game.


I tuned to Home Ice, the hockey channel on Sirius/XM.  Now in playoff sports, S/XM takes the home radio feed, so I got to hear the Vancouver broadcast team handling the call.  To my surprise they were playing it straight.  No real homerism, they called the game right, fairly and professionally.  Something that is lost on NESN and quite a few American commentators.


The only crack came after the empty-net goal...the color guy said, "That sucks."  And I'm sure it did.  The guys appealed for calm, as they were watching a CTV raw feed from the city...does Vancouver have professional rioters living there?  It's clear to me those people were out to start trouble, and were not real hockey fans.


Either way, I'm glad the Bruins won it, a long time coming, and happy for Tim Thomas, the University of Vermont product...yay, Catamounts!


I went to UVM for about two months one summer, that's my only connection.


That said...another day of editing SDS-1...it's getting much better.  My friend Riz and I had a brief talk about the recent feelings thrown down by a publisher...they have good points, but the readability is still there.  Riz of course would tell me if it wasn't...she pulls no punches.


Another game tonight at the Ticket, and I hope I can keep up a good level of concentration on the edit.  This needs to be finished and soon.


"Five Fifty-One," track from Bruce Cockburn's new CD on my Walkman...nice...trying to keep it together here...much to do.


So yeah...B's fans rejoice, Canucks fans clean up their city and I have to get on with life.

Redemption...26 Years On...

I think I've had one of those epiphanies...or a moment where you spell a form of that word correctly.  


I'm coming down from one long night and morning; for those who don't know, I have become the backup host for the local version of "Morning Edition" on WITF 89.5 in Harrisburg.  I've been getting a fair amount of training/air time, as a new host finishes his prior commitments and comes in.


I was passed over for the job, due to this fellow's wider breadth of experience.  There is always someone much more experienced than you out there, remember that.  


Anyway, getting up at 230 in the am every day I think would kill me.  In any case, it's been nerve-wracking as hell getting up to speed on the program, because you have to work to a clock, and to what the NPR hosts do.


My hands have been on the levers a lot more of late.  Well, I was pretty sure that my boss Tim Lambert was gonna let me run the whole program this morning; four hours of madness.


I didn't sleep much; I never can when I have to change my sleep patterns to fit to this very early morning thing.  I was so unable I actually wrote my sports script at home before trying to sleep again late last night.


Now the past few weeks of training have enabled me to get down the quirks of NPR, and also most of the tricks to the studios, the computer system and the other bits.  The pre-production is the killer.


You may not realize just how much work goes on before you open the mic.  There's a lot.  


And of course the weather had to play havoc with everything.  Badass weather; tornado warnings, severe thunderstorm and flood watches and warnings all across the region.


The Emergency Alert System or EAS machine had spat out a long roll of warnings.  That's that annoying sound and/or screen you get in the middle of your programming, that lets you know something's going down.  Well, one of the few FCC regulations left is the one where you have to log and document all of these...every one of them.


Also rewriting wire copy, writing this, writing that, trying to get everything correct, and getting the computer screens up.  Screens for the traffic cameras, the weather screens, the Twitter feed page (yes, we use it), and the traffic information screen, and this, and that...


Just after I arrived at the station, about 3:15 am, the storm hit!  Same one that caused all that damage down in Alabama; Tim rolled in, and said he couldn't see the road!  It monsooned out there quite a bit, and I admit I've not seen a storm that bad since that one we had through here in like '02 or '03...can't remember when that was, but it was a bad one.


Lot of storm-related information to get out there, school closings, cancellations.  Thankfully Tim was there, because what we did was a two-man job.  I was not the only one on the air, and we both knew what had to happen.


A few little bugs for me, here and there, but I learned a great deal more, and that progress is necessary.  It actually went pretty well.


Now...Redemption...what's that all about, you ask?


Well, 26 years ago, I started fooling about with weekend grunt jobs because I knew radio was what I wanted to do in life.  I don't feel my family was all that supportive; I think most of them saw this as a hobby or a passing fancy, and that I'd get serious and either do something more worthwhile with my college years or come back to the farm in Vermont.


I do know that once my parents heard me, they realized I loved what I was doing, and didn't think I was half-bad.  They just wondered why the hell it took so damn long to get anywhere.


That's called paying your dues.  It took me 20 years to get to Sirius/XM, and a living wage.  I didn't think I'd do radio again after I was let go in '09, because I'd done it.  Did everything I wanted to do and planned to do in the business, so it was time to get on with my writing career and whatever else came my way.


Back in it I was last summer.  Being the weekend sports guy for Radio PA and KYW, and jobbing about at Clear Channel and places like that.  


On the other end of the cubicles, I got an interview for Morning Edition, but as I said, another guy has the chops and the skills, more so than I.


"I Want It All" by Queen just came on my Walkman.  Hmmm...that's a sign, innit?


I have honestly not done much on-air work in years.  I had not done any news since 2004, and anchoring can be a different thing.  Public Radio is something I never thought I could do.  Then again, I once thought the same thing about satellite radio...


This morning was the acid test; we didn't know how bad the weather would be, and did we get hit with it.  The pressure level in the studio and the building went straight up.  I wasn't perfect, but I know I did all right.


Here's how:


1.  During the 7 am hour, the studio phone beeps.  Now people call that if they're from schools to give us school stuff, and sometimes WITF people call on it.


Another Commandment of the Radio Business, and it concerns bosses, program directors, GM's and especially owners:  YOU NEVER CALL SOMEONE DURING THEIR SHIFT TO GIVE THEM SHIT.  EVER.


My first thought when I heard the lady on the other line was, "Oh shit!"  But then, Mitzi is the PD, and really a very nice person.  In fact, she is one of the most upbeat people I've ever known, though we've not yet met.


She very honestly told me I was doing a very good and was very kind.  That's one hell of an endorsement.  She also got off right away.  


2.  Tim tells me about a phone call he received from the President of WITF...the whole thing.  Never met her, but a most particular type of lady she is, I'm told.


She asks Tim the open-ended question of, "What's going on?"  Tim asks what she means, weatherwise or what?


She answers no, but who is that guy on the air?  Tim explains I'm the backup to the new guy.


"We have a backup?" She asks, honestly not knowing.  Tim says we do now.


"Oh..."  To paraphrase, she apparently said to Tim something along the lines of:  "Well, he's highly acceptable."


Redemption...there it is.


To go 26 years without being known, and then getting the chance to show you do know what the fuck you're doing and then deliver what you need to do...it's nice.


Don't think it's going to my head, it's not!  I gotta do it again tomorrow!


###


I feel a sense of peace.


"Love the World" by Jimmie Vaughan followed Queen on the Walkman, and I do feel it, but it's not just this.


"Mary," by Pete Townshend is next...a Lifehouse Chronicles demo.  I'm pretty sure the Who did not record this one.  If so, I don't know where I'd find it.


Yes, I do feel it.  You get into a zone or something.  Of late I have been placed in one, and it is not just because of how my "old" career has gotten a little bit of a restart.  I'm still not full-time, and probably will not be, but at least I'm back in the game, and showing my skill.


###


There is another reason for peace...I got hit by a train the other day, and her name is Alice.  We met and had a long talk the other day...three hours long.


This is the listener who on my first morning wrote an email to tell the bosses of ITF that I was a good one.  After thanking her, we corresponded, and we finally saw each other.  I think we both like what we see.


I'll see how it goes...I have not felt like this in years, it's very interesting.


###


Now...I'm going to enjoy all this for a while, before I get my shit together and get ready for tomorrow.


Redemption...it's not just for religion anymore.

Dentists, Shady Dealers, Publishers and that Fucking Train Song!!!

Do forgive me if I haven't mentioned by way of explanation how much I hate that "Hey Soul Sister" song by Train.


The singer is featured on the cover of Pro Audio Magazine, using some wireless mic.  I had to be reminded; then I had to hear that fucking song again in the dentist's office today.


They were playing "The Blend" via my old company, Sirius/XM.  Sounds like any boring, conservative Adult Contemporary, No Blacks Allowed radio station.  Shitty A/C songs, one after the other.  I would rather have had muzak.


The Train song is one of the worst singles I have ever heard in my life.  It's sad that the title track of the album it is from, "Save Me, San Francisco" is a great song.


That whiny voice singing about Mr. Mister, one of the worst of the 80's pop groups, his girlfriend "cutting a rug," does that asshole even know what that actually means...just awful, soulless, sappy lyrics with too many hooks.


But I digress.


I've had my teeth and gums dug through for the final time this morning at the dentist.  The lower right needed it bad; this is what you get for not going to a dentist for 22 years.


But other than five fillings over the past few months and the deep cleaning, I do have the beginning stages of periodontal disease.  Not as bad as it seems; caught it in time, gotta do that stuff they tell you to do.  Still, yuck.


My old friend Peter Carli has often said when it comes to the music business:  "There's the music business, and there's the music BUSINESS."


How true.  There are also a lot of people in this business you need to be careful of.  I'm not too pleased with reports I've gotten about recent individuals who have left a bad taste in the mouths of others.


It's part of it; you need to watch your ass.  


Getting the bad taste of Train out of my mouth with Slayer, the ORB and other music...cleansing, ahhhh...


Now...good news @ last:  my agent informs me that another publisher has agreed to read the first book, Sweet Dreams:  Searching for Roy Buchanan.  Puts the count back to four that are considering it.  


Very nice to hear.  Still working on "Out Among the Stars," my latest creation.  We're at the end of Chapter 11, but as usual, there's holes all over the place.  My hope is to get the first draft out, then I can go back and piece things together properly.


This is pretty normal; I'm not too worried about it yet.


Nasty weather; three or four inches of heavy wet snow, and while it's stopped, my guess is there will be more.  The big worry I'm having right now, is that it'll freeze on tonight.  That will suck wind.


Also considering my hill to the house goes straight up, then angles 90 degrees to the left, while still going straight up.  Lovely.


Okay...stuff to do...!