Thank you!

So today I just finished spending some time with my friends Ray and Rhonda and it got me to thinking.

I want to take some time here to say, "Thank You".

Thank you for being there for me, whether it's by Facebook, by a card in the mail, or in person, your presence has been felt and it's appreciated, very much.

I have been inundated with cards, presents, and facebook messages that have encouraged me to keep on keepin' on. That is precisely what i intend to keep doing.

I've tried to reply personally to the various acts of kindness that i've been the recipient of this past year, so forgive me if I don't get back to you personally. Please know that I am eternally grateful for your kindness.

I sometimes wonder if I am deserving of all this.  All I'm doing is fighting cancer, right?

Well whatever I did, thank you for your support. Since my terminal diagnosis a year ago, my life has certainly taken several twists and turns that I did NOT see coming. The fact that you have come along with me, whatever happens, means a lot.

My original diagnosis one year ago was that I was to have 2 and a half years of good health remaining before things turn. Could that change? Well sure, miracles happen every day. You never know.

I have a new round of Cat Scans scheduled for September, so we will see. Let's face it, a diagnosis of Stage 4 terminal metastatic colon cancer with other tumors lurking around is a mighty big hill to climb. But as a t-shirt that was made for me proclaims, "CANCER PICKED THE WRONG DJ".

My last medical check up showed a magnesium deficiency  but otherwise I'm doing well. My tumor markers are dormant, they aren't shrinking, but they aren't expanding either.

So my attitude continues to be good. To paraphrase Randy Pausch, "We can't change the cards we are dealt, only how we play the hand. I'm going to continue to have fun every day I have left".

What's that? You've never heard Randy's Last Lecture?? well take an hour or so, and watch this:

WARNING: This Post is Medically Graphic

I wanted to take a minute to talk to you about what's been happening with me over these last few months.

I haven't talked about it in detail because, well, it's kinda gross.


 I've hinted at it.  There have been 'cute' posts about it.  I've never seriously talked or posted about it in detail, until now.

 First let me say that my cancerous tumors are continuing to shrink.  All is well there. I'm on maintenance chemotherapy. I still receive therapy every two weeks.


What I want to post about is my stoma.

 A few months back, one of my tumors in my intestine created a blockage so severe, I had to have surgery that resulted in the creation of a stoma.

 What is a stoma?

 Well according to Google: Stoma surgery results in a small opening on the surface of the abdomen created in order to divert the flow of feces or urine.

 Gross, right?

 As a bonus, I also now wear a colonostomy bag. Good times.

At first, I didn't even want to deal with the stupid thing. It stuck out on my stomach and was about the size of, and looked like, a stewed tomato.

When it came time to change the bag, which happened a LOT in the beginning, I couldn't even bring myself to look at or touch it. My caregiver, Sarah, had the unenviable task of doing it for me.

There were bag blowouts, late night wake up calls to empty the bag, morning wake ups involving leaks and clean ups. It was a very messy business.

Things finally settled down, I got brave enough to deal with bag maintenance myself. It's still messy, but at least I could manage it on my own.

Little did I know that soon another 'surprise' was to come.

A couple of months after my surgery, I was spending some time with my Mom in Indianapolis when all of a sudden my stoma became quite enlarged. It hung about six inches out from the hole!

My supplies weren't big enough to contain it. I was reminded of the movie 'Alien'. I think you know which scene I mean.

I have to admit I freaked out. What was going on?!

I called the treatment center in Illinois to explain to them what was happening. They said that it can happen from time to time, and not to worry about it. I received confirmation of that opinion when I went to see a specialist about it. He said that it's a weird and uncomfortable thing to have happen, but as long as it's functioning, everything is ok.

As I was to find out later, surgery to fix it is not an option until my chemotherapy is completed. So I guess that for now, I have to live with it. I remain hopeful that at some point the surgery will be completely reversed.  Time will tell.

It's funny that when my stoma was smaller, I couldn't bring myself to deal with it. Now that it hangs out six inches from my stomach, I'm having no problem with it at all.

So that's it. No major side effects from the chemo, but I have a prolapsed stoma. Do yourself a favor and DON'T Google that phrase!

I have been jokingly called a "Murphys Law" kind of cancer patient. Just about everything that can go wrong HAS gone wrong, surgically speaking. I had a port that became infected and was removed, and while I was hospitalized there was a chance I had contracted MRSA. I didn't.

Then there's my stoma.

But at least I'm still alive, and I have a good quality of life going. So I have that going for me...which is nice.

Balloons (part deux)!!

A video I shot a few years ago recording the balloon release at a NASCAR race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway continues to have life. At last check, it has over 184,000 views.

I posted a blog about it back in 2013. Here's the link.

Now it's being used again in a feature story about the effects Balloons have on nature and the environment.

It's an MP4 file and you can download it here.  

Now if I could only figure out how to make money off of this thing. :-)

A final (?) Guinness update.

Well it was a valiant effort, but my Guinness world record attempt for staying on the air continuously for 187 hours, was beaten.

Not long ago I posted audio clips from the press coverage we received, and I put up a few pictures here.

Shortly afterwards I got a call from a Belgian DJ who wanted to let me know that he was going to attempt to break my record, by staying on the air for 188 hours.

He emailed me last week to let me know he succeeded. I emailed him back to congratulate him. It is quite the feat.

I then gave it some thought. Do I want to try and re-take the record? It takes quite the emotional and physical toll on a person.

My first attempt was quite the organizational juggernaut. Volunteers had to be scheduled, meals had to be planned. If I were to attempt it again, I would need to secure a sponsor to pay for an official from Guinness to come here and spend the week. That way, I could be certified on the spot.

I'll keep you posted. email me tom@wkvi.com and let me know what you think I should do.

KFO - Fort Ord California

I recently came across a couple of pictures, that have sparked some memories that I would like to share with you.

The above picture was taken around 1985 at Fort Ord, California in the studios of  "Music Radio KFO".

I have an earlier post about how I got into the Army here: "My Army Days."

Go ahead and read it. I'll wait.

All caught up are we? Good!

After Panama and Honduras, my first 'permanent party' station was Fort Ord, California. For a broadcaster that means being assigned to the Public Affairs Office on post. We couldn't actually broadcast on radio because we weren't allowed to. So we had a 'cable' radio station which could be heard in all of the dining facilities on post, as well as a post cable tv channel.

I was given the morning show to host.  I looked much more official during the week than when I did when this picture was taken on a Saturday.

My show was entered in a nationwide competition and placed in the top 3. For that achievement I was awarded the Army Achievement Medal, presented to me by the Commanding General of Fort Ord at the time.

Quite an honor!

OK that's enough for now, I'll close with a bonus pic recently discovered of me using a typewriter to put together a radio broadcast log in my barracks room at Fort Benjamin Harrison where I took the Broadcast Journalist course:

Guinness World Record Update

The one question I get asked at least once a week is: "Have you ever heard back from those Guinness people about your record?"

In case you didn't hear, back in July of 2012, I attempted to stay on the air for 187 hours straight in the hopes of setting a Guinness world record for longest continuous broadcast by a single DJ.

I started Monday morning July 9th at 5:00am and stayed on the air through the following Monday, July 16th at midnight. I DID IT!

 

Because we didn't fly a judge from London to keep an eye on me, we had to document everything. The audio was recorded on MP3, and burned to CD. All 187 hours were recorded on video, and also burned to CD. The music and commercial logs were printed out for the week. Everything was compiled and sent overseas to Guinness.

We got some great press out of it too. WNDU and WSBT came down and did stories about the attempt:





I was even interviewed by Rick Dees:



Knox, Indiana Mayor Rick Chambers declared my last day on air as "Tom Berg Day":

 

It was an amazing and a once in a lifetime experience.

It's been over a year and I have yet to hear back from the Guinness people. I am disappointed, but even if I NEVER hear from them, I know in my heart, I DID IT. 

 

 

One Of My Guilty Pleasures

I was asked by a friend recently if I remembered the show "Mystery Science Theater 3000". I most certainly do!

I was late to the party when I first heard about this show, but once I started watching, I rarely missed an episode.

In a nutshell: The series features a man and his robot sidekicks who are trapped on a space station by an evil scientist and forced to watch a selection of bad movies, often (but not limited to) science fiction "B-movies". To stay sane, the man and his robots provide a running commentary on each film, making fun of its flaws and wisecracking (or "riffing") their way through the movie.

There are no shortage of websites about this show. Just google "mst3k" and see for yourself. 

The worse a movie was, the funnier the show was. Fans of the show agree that the absolute worst movie they ever featured was a turkey called "Manos: The Hands Of Fate".

See for yourself:



Once the show ended, the staff went their separate ways and formed 2 separate websites that continue riffing on more current films.

One is called "RiffTrax" and it features Kevin Murphy, who was the robot Tom Servo on the show. Mike Nelson is also featured. He was the human who was 'imprisoned' with the robots for the last few seasons of the show.

Another website called "Cinematic Titanic" was created by Joel Hodgson, who created the show, and features the same team that first brought the series to life: Trace Beaulieu (Crow, Dr. Forrester), Frank Conniff (TV's Frank), and Mary Jo Pehl (Pearl Forrester).

There are samples of the recent riffing all over You Tube, here's a look at what RiffTrax is doing:


These shows are like a certain kind of potato chips: "You can't eat just one".

Carl Reiner

I had the chance recently to talk to TV legend Carl Reiner.

Let me back up a second.

As a DJ on a radio morning show, I get ALL kinds of requests for interviews. Most often the requests are from people who no one would know, or they are pushing a book that's just not interesting.

There are interview bookers, who set up celebrities in a radio studio for a couple hours and then send email out saying that they will be available to talk to you for 10 minutes between 8 and 10 am on a certain date. I will email back and request any time available, to be as accommodating as I can.

Think about that. They sit in a studio for 2 hours, and every 10 minutes they are talking to a different morning show in a different city somewhere in the country.

I've talked to Penelope Ann Miller from "The Artist", Valerie Harper, Barry Manilow, and Mickey Mouse and Goofy (!) using this method. It usually works out. Sometimes I tape the interviews after my show, or if I'm feeling especially daring, I try and go live with it.

There's a small problem with going live sometimes. Let's say that during one of these "radio tours" I have an interview scheduled for 8:30 for someone who has been doing interviews since 7:00. That means they've had 9 interviews before calling me. All the interviews prior to my time need to run exactly on time, or else I won't get my call on time. If each interview before me runs just one minute over, that means I won't get MY call until 8:39! That's a lot of time to fill!

My interview with Carl Reiner came through an entirely different route.

We receive a monthly magazine with interview topics and suggestions. 99% of the time the magazine usually goes right in the trash. Once in a great while we find a diamond in the rough.

Carl Reiner was one of those diamonds, and boy did he shine.

He was promoting his book, "I Remember Me".

I don't know how other DJ's are, but when I get the opportunity to interview someone, especially someone that I'm a HUGE fan of, I get star struck. I'm THIS close to sounding like Chris Farley interviewing Paul McCartney: "Remember when you were in the Beatles? That was awesome!"

We booked a time, they sent me the book to read, and I started to think up what I wanted to talk about.

The time we settled on was after my show, so I could record it and not worry about time constraints.

I was extremely nervous. Here was this TV legend waiting for ME to call HIM to plug his book.

So the time comes, and he couldn't have been nicer. We talked for THIRTY EIGHT minutes!!! There was no way I could run the entire interview at one time during my show, so I found 3 to 4 minute stories and played them back. Thank God for the internet, because I can share the entire interview online. I will post it in due course, but for now I want to share with you the snippets that I used:

  Carl Reiner Talking About The Dick Van Dyke Show by Tom's Radio Basics

  Carl Reiner Talks About Steve Martin by Tom's Radio Basics

  Carl Reiner Talks About His Dog Rinnie! by Tom's Radio Basics

  Carl Reiner Talks About Mark Harmon And John Denver by Tom's Radio Basics

  Carl Reiner Telling A Story About Jack Benny by Tom's Radio Basics

Stan Freberg

The Super Bowl ads this year were a mixed bag for me. There were some that were funny, some that were moving, and some that left you wondering what the ad agency was smoking when the scripts were approved. (As an aside please read Ken Levine's blog on this very topic.)

I bring up the complaints about the lack of creativity in some of those Super Bowl spots as an excuse to write about a man whose commercial creativity in both radio and television was legendary.

Stan Freberg.

I first came across some of his work on a record called "Stan Freberg Modestly Presents: The United States of America. Part One:The Early Years". I was a kid, and didn't get a lot of the jokes, but it was a fun record to listen to, and I slowly started to 'get' more of the jokes as I got older.

Here's a sample from that album:

Look him up. Google him. Youtube him. You will find an amazing amount of creativity. Stuff that he produced 40, 50, even 60 years ago that still holds up today.

I could write an encyclopedic blog post about him. Instead, I'll just post some examples of his genius here, and let you be the judge.

First up, a radio spot about......radio:

He was a master at commercials that not only entertained, but were very effective at selling the product. Here are a couple of examples.

First, a lawn mower commercial:

This commercial for Butter Nut Coffee poked fun at the idea of subliminal advertising:

Freberg was also a satirist. He had a recording career during which he poked fun at popular songs. He didn't do what Weird Al Yankovic does, which was to keep the melody and change the lyrics. He got his point across in other ways, as in this example of his version of the Banana Boat Song:

Even though he had a very successful career in advertising, he was not above biting the hand that feeds him. His recording of "Green Chri$tma$" got him in a little hot water with people who never even HEARD the record, give it a listen and see what you think. I think his message is as relevant today as it was when the record was first released:

This is but a tip of the ice "berg" There is so much more to listen to and enjoy. I hope I've piqued your interest in him.

Enjoy!

"Blow In Her Face And She'll Follow You Anywhere" part 2

Time for a few more print ad's that have to be seen to be believed. I received these in an email and thought I'd share. 
 

Guns make perfect gifts for the holidays. At least these ads seem to think so:

A lot of companies have tried to tie their product into Christmas, but really, how many wives would want THIS under their tree?

Some ads just defy description:

Wow...just wow!

"Blow In Her Face, And She'll Follow You Anywhere." Part One

I received an email today containing magazine ads from the 60's and 70's. As I looked through them I was amazed at what you could get away with.

AMC has a TV show called "Mad Men" centered around an advertising agency in the 60's. I can totally see them designing ads like these:

 
I was not what you would call a big coffee drinker, but I have a major addiction to soda. Could these ads be the reason why?

I have others to share, including some gun ads, and more ads that could set back women's rights for 100 years! 


Stay tuned!

A Peek Behind The Curtains...

I enjoy talking radio. I've been working in the business off and on for about 30 years or so.

Whenever I'm invited to speak at schools to talk about what it's like to be in radio, I jump at the chance. I really enjoy giving people a "behind the scenes" look at what goes on.

 With that in mind, I thought I'd take a minute to give you an idea as to what happens here every morning.

4:45am - Arrive at station. I try to get here earlier, but some mornings that bed is just too darn comfy.

4:47am - Get my show organized. We use a computer system called NexGen that runs all of the commercials, jingles and music. I put them in the order that I want everything to run.

4:50am - Download the birthday messages from my voice mail. When people call in and leave messages for the voice mail, I download them and mix them for playback at 6:40, 7:40, and 9:20. 

4:55am - Anita Goodan comes into the studio to prepare for her first newscast of the morning.

5:00am - Here we go!

5:05am - My official show open, it features a montage of short clips that lead into the theme I use every morning, the Robert Goulet version of "You've Got A Friend In Me". I then jump in to kick things off and talk about whats going to happen on the show!

5:15am - My first time to chat before the commercials. I usually just re cap the weather, or if there's a relevant local event going on, I'll mention it here. It's normally just a "Good Morning" kind of break to get the day started.

5:30am - Anita's news break, after which we talk to Heather Zehr from AccuWeather about our forecast. AccuWeather is a national service, and I'm glad we get a chance to talk to her. 

5:45am - The first of our recurring morning feature called "The Forgotten 45".  These are songs that you don't hear on the radio anymore, but they are still good songs to hear. We run the feature at :45 past the hour to tie in with what singles used to be called...45's! The first one is "Living In America" by James Brown!!

5:50am - Nathan Welter stops by with the first of 2 morning sports reports. 

6:00am - News with Anita. I check my email for any new birthday voice mail messages.

6:10am - Getting ready to run a contest. We run a variety of different contests in the morning. TV theme trivia, Movie quote trivia, etc.. This morning it's the "Time Capsule" It's a pre produced feature where the caller has to listen to clues and guess the month and year that is being described. 

6:20am - Downloading more birthday voice mail messages.

6:30am - Anita's headlines. During these breaks at the bottom of the hour, after the news and weather, I attempt to come up with something interesting to talk about. The topics can run the gamut, from local events to interesting surveys or unusual stories. This particular morning I play "Fact or Fiction" with Anita and a caller!

6:40am - Birthdays. The voice mail is all edited up and ready to go!

6:45am - The second "Forgotten 45" of the morning. "Make a Move On Me" - Olivia Newton John.

6:50am - The second sports update with Nathan Welter.

7:00am - News with Anita. I do my best to make sure these newscasts run as close as possible to the top and bottom of each hour.

7:20am - The Beatle Break . Back to back Beatles tunes for a change of pace to the normal music we play. When I first started this feature, people were wondering why I picked the Beatles instead of say Elvis or John Mellencamp. I picked them because even to this day, they are influencing the way bands sound. To me, the Beatles are timeless. Meanwhile, I edit more birthday voice mail.

7:30am - Anita's headlines. After the weather we talk about a program at the Starke County Public Library.

7:40am - Birthdays. New messages that were called in during the last hour are included.

7:45am - Another Forgotten 45. "Song On The Radio" - Al Stewart

7:50am - Weather and local events. As a small radio station, one of our goals is to be a local as possible by talking about events that happen in Starke, Marshall, and Pulaski counties.

8:00am - Anita's News.

8:10am - Another go 'round with the Time Capsule.

8:30am - Anita's headlines. After the weather we talk about some light entertainment news that lead into the "E.T. Radio Minute".

8:45am - The final Forgotten 45 of the morning. "Gimme Some Lovin'" The Blues Brothers.

8:50am - Weather and more local stuff.

9:00am - Anita's News

9:10am - The final Birthday segment of the morning. 

9:20am - The final Time Capsule contest.

9:25am - A long music sweep to lead into Jerry Curtis at 10:00am.

9:45am - I sign off the show. I make sure to thank everyone who was on the show, including special guests if there are any.

After the show I take a few minutes and wind down. If there are any commercials to record and produce, I knock those out as well.

If you have any questions about what I do here in the mornings, you can email me: tom@wkvi.com I also can speak at your school or your non-profit group as well, free of charge.

As Charles Osgood says: "I'll see you on the radio."

Link Plugola!

OK, So I'm not getting any money for this, so technically it's NOT plugola or payola or any other "-ola" for that matter.

I thought I'd take a sec and give some love to some blogs and links I check out from time to time. 

Some I use for show prep, others I check out for fun. 

First up, "By Ken Levine". He is an Emmy winning writer/director/producer/major league baseball announcer. In a career that has spanned over 30 years Ken has worked on MASH, CHEERS, FRASIER, THE SIMPSON'S, WINGS, EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND, BECKER, DHARMA & GREG. I love reading his behind the scenes stories about writing those shows. He's also worked in radio, so I love those stories as well.

Next, "Homestead Annie". It's written by a friend of mine, she talks about her family, her life, and occasionally there are some awesome recipes as well.

Fark is a website that...well..their slogan is "It's not news, it's Fark.com". It's a place to find unusual news stories that are sometimes worth reading, but it's the headlines to those stories that are hysterical. All of the links are submitted by readers of the site, and the headlines are reader-submitted as well. 

Some of these links are listed in the right-hand column of this blog. I just wanted to take a second and elaborate on a few of them.

Happy reading!

 

Balloons!

Back in 2007 I was at the NASCAR race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. I had a shiny new Flipcam, and I was looking for unusual video to shoot. I thought it would be cool to get video of the balloon release.

28,000 balloons were blown up, stashed under a tent, just waiting for their moment in the sun.

Here's the video:

Flash forward to 2013, I get an email from a band from The Netherlands known as "Dion and the Magic Chords". They wanted to know if they could use the clip in a music video. A MUSIC VIDEO! Wow!

I gave them my permission and they ran with it. Initially I though they would just use a few seconds of the clip. It is featured quite prominently in the last minute of their video which you can see here:

A German ad agency wants to use that same clip in a commercial, and actually pay me for it. If they use it, I'll let you know.
 

My World Record Attempt

It all started back in January, when I announced on the radio that I wanted to attempt to break a Guinness World record for the longest radio broadcast by a single host.

The record at the time was 182 hours.

Yesterday, someone posted on my Facebook page a story about a Belgian DJ who recently set the record at 184 hours! You can read the story here.

In the spirit of good sportsmanship and fun, I emailed that DJ congratulating him and informing him that I was going to make a run at that same record next month.

He emailed me back wishing me all the best, and he even offered to call in while I was making my run.

So far so good, right?

This morning I check my email, and received a letter that can only be described as bulletin board material: (This email is NOT from the Belgian DJ...just some random Belgian)

"Please don`t do the radio marathon. First of all you are american and you can`t handle the 187 hours. Don`t underestimate how strong us belgians are. I lived in Amerika for 14 years one thing i learned is they you are the laziest people in the world.
For once let a record stay in Belgium. You Amerikans always have to be number one in everything guess what the rest of the world thinks you are the biggest and laziest idiots in the world."

Talk about motivation!! All I have to say is: GAME ON!

Dark Shadows

 

 

So...The new Dark Shadows movie with Johnny Depp comes out in May. I'm very excited about it. I've been watching the show in re-runs and on DVD for a while now.

 

I thought I'd take a sec, and tell you how I got hooked in to DS.

I was born in 1963, so I didn't catch the show when it was first on. I first saw the show, when it was being re-run in the afternoons sometime in the mid-1970s, on a TV station in Indianapolis. It ran for a few months over the summer, and I remember watching on a Friday as the episode ended with Willie's discovery of the secret room, and Barnabas' hand reaching up!!!

I anxiously awaited for Monday to arrive, and to my horror, they replaced DS with something else!!!! I called the station, and the answer I got was that they didn't like the quality of the prints for the re-runs, so they just stopped showing it!

Unbelievable!

Fast forward to 1990, I was working in Minneapolis, Minnesota for Stuart Anderson's Cattle Company Restaurant, as a store entertainment coordinator for the bar! I worked at the stores in Roseville, Bloomington, Fridley, and Minnetonka. When I first arrived, not having made friends yet, I was looking for something to fill the time. Suncoast Motion Picture Studio, a video store, became my second home.

This was before DVD. Everything was VHS. So I'm perusing through the racks, and I see that "Dark Shadows" is out on VHS!! What a concept! I was thrilled. I started snapping up the tapes as quickly as they came out. How devious that one tape would end with a pretty big cliffhanger, forcing me to wait until the next release to find out what happened!! I figured it was my version of waiting from Friday until Monday, with the wait actually being a little longer. :-)

I still have those tapes, up to the first time travel story.

Yes I watched the 1991 NBC show as well. I recorded them on VHS, and kept them until the DVD's came out.

When I left Minneapolis to return to Indianapolis for another career opportunity, one of my going away gifts was a copy of "The Dark Shadows Companion:25th Anniversary Collection" that had autographs from Kathryn Leigh Scott and Lara Parker (2 of the actors from the show) inside!

So that's where we are now. I break out the DVDs and watch them from time to time, with certain DVDs marked with my favorite episodes.

I have not yet made it through the entire series...but I plan on it! I've stopped and started three times! Once on TV, once on VHS, and now on DVD. Third time's the charm, right?

 

Today I had the opportunity to interview Kathryn Leigh Scott. 

 

I did my best, to not go all 'fan boy'. I'm not sure I succeeded. Listen for yourself by clicking here.

The movie opens May 11th.

I know...I know...It's been a while. How've you been?

So it's been a year and two months since I've been the morning radio host here in Knox, Indiana. After hearing what happened to some of my radio bretheren today in Indianapolis, I have become more and more convinced that I've made the right move.

In the time I've been here. I've been a part of some interesting promotions that have never been done here before:

• We broadcast an entire day on our front lawn, complete with bounce house and an electric car!
• As of this writing WKVI is getting ready to host it's second Pumpkin Drop. (True..other stations I've worked at have done this. Hi Smiley! But this kinda thing has never happened up here before)
• I've taken my flip cam all around the area to tape my exploits, see an earlier post here for some of those videos.
• This past Summer, I've MC'ed or judged at least 5 different pagents.
• I got to go Power Parachuting!!

And that's not all. There's still more in the pipeline.

The stations sound has improved 1,000 percent since my arrival, not because of my arrival, though.

The music library has been tightened up. The music list has been trimmed. We have new automation software (nexgen) that allows us to voice-track both out FM and AM stations. The company that owns these stations is a firm believer in live local radio, and I'm going to make sure that trend continues here.

Also...we have JINGLES!!

I am such a radio nerd. I always threatened that I would retire if I ever got a jingle with my name in it. Well I got one, but I'm not going anywhere!!

We have online streaming! If I may throw in a quick plug, just go to http://www.wkvi.com/ and check out both our AM and FM streams. I'm on live in the morning on the FM, and I'm voicetracked afternoons on the AM country station.

I know...voicetracking is evil. I consider my AM VT shift to me a challenge. I am doing my best to make that time sound live and local, and not just liner card driven.

The past year also gave me a radio first. We covered a funeral procession for a local Vietnam vet. Forty-one years after being listed as Missing in Action (MIA) in Vietnam, CW3 George A "Andy" Howes came home to Knox in a funeral procession that began in Indianapolis. I hosted coverage of the ceremony once the procession arrived in town. 

There are plenty more things to come. I can't wait!

I will try to blog here more often. There's also my Facebook page, and my Youtube Channel, as well.  

See you later.



My life at WKVI

I just wanted to take a sec and update you on my new gig at WKVI-FM in Knox, IN.

In case you didn't get the word, I started as morning man here Monday August 2nd.

It's been a lot of fun. It was a major re-location to be sure. I think the gamble is paying off though.

I bought one of those Hi-Def Flip cams, and have been running around the listening area shaking hands and kissing babies. I wanted to use this blog entry as a sort of bookmark for all the videos I've done so far.

Enjoy!

Here We Go Again!!

Well after about 2 years of bouncing around working part time here and there. I finally have a full time job.

Beginning Monday August 2nd, I'll be hosting a morning drive radio show on WKVI-FM 99.3 in Knox, Indiana.

My own morning radio show, just what I always wanted..WOOOO!

I tried to make my mark in Indianapolis, but the stars never aligned for me. So I have to go where the jobs are.

As long as they'll have me, I'll be holding onto this job until they pry the microphone from my cold, dead fingers!

They don't stream on the web, but I will try to get highlights from the morning show posted from time to time.

I am VERY excited about this opportunity and can't wait to get started.

During these past 2 years, I was sorely tempted to go out and get a 'real' job, but you know what? This IS a real job!!

I was almost a customer service rep for AT&T, a server at Dave & Busters, even a salesman! All noble professions, and if I HAD been hired for any one of these jobs, I would've given it my best. But holding out for this opportunity feels right.

Only time will tell...wish me luck!!

Star Wars

33 years ago today, Star Wars was released. I thought I'd take a few minutes and talk about how I became a fan.

My mom wanted to take me out to a movie at the Eastwood theater on the northeast side of Indianapolis. The theater was known for having a huge 70mm screen. Some sci-fi movie was playing there that no one knew a lot about, but the ad in the paper looked interesting. We thought we'd give it a shot.

I was blown away, like millions of other people were around the country. I lost count of how many times I saw it.

Keep in mind, in 1977 I was almost 14 when the movie came out. So my enthusiasm for the movie didn't extend much past just watching the movie.

• I never dressed up as my favorite character.
• I didn't collect the comic books
• I didn't collect the figures

One thing I did do was get the soundtrack from the movie. Remember what the cover looked like?

The album also contained a poster, I was in seventh heaven listening to that album over and over and over.

Remember this was before VHS and DVD, so this was the only way for me to take a piece of the movie home and re-live in in my imagination as often as I wanted.

(I saw the other 2 movies from the original trilogy as well, with equal amounts of excitement, but I want to keep this post on point about the movie that started it all.)

Fast forward to June of 2001.

I was working as a traffic reporter for Metro Networks, when for some reason that I don't recall as I write this, I thought I'd do a search on the internet to see if there were any "Star Wars" enthusiasts/fans in some kind of organized group in Indianapolis.

I found "The Indy Knights". A small group of fans who meet once a month to talk about the movies, as well as all things sci-fi. How can you not love a group whose motto is: "Hoosier Daddy, Luke?" The group was about 10-15 members strong when I attended my first gathering. So small that meetings were held in members homes at first.

So I started attending meetings, enjoying the company of people who enjoyed the movie as much, and in some cases a little more than I do.

One particular meeting included a screening of the Episode 1 DVD. At this particular house there was a "Star Wars Room" complete with figures and other assorted memorabilia. I remember lamenting that I wish I had started my collection 24 years ago. It was then that I heard those fateful words:

"It's never too late to start."

So I decided, what the heck. It was then that I started collecting figures. I started with stuff you could easily buy in stores. It ramped up to older figures, and then comic books past and present.

But that's it!

If I had the funds, my collection could've grown in so many different directions: books, art, arcade games, costuming, and that is just the tip of the iceberg.

So that brings you up to date to where I am now. I take a lot of good natured ribbing for being a fan, at times I am called a 'geek'.  But I don't care. I am who I am.

Because my career hasn't been going all that well these last few years, I've had to cut back on my collecting save for the occasional comic book binge.

So that's how it all began for me. Are you a Star Wars fan as well? It's OK, you can tell me. Maybe I'll see you at the next Indy Knights meeting.

You know how this post is going to end don't you.

May The Force Be With You....Always.