Rebooting Star Wars

Episode #0002 of "Entertechment" is up. In this episode, Joe, Matt and Kerr talk about ways to reboot the Star Wars franchise.

Get the podcast here: http://entertechment.com/journal/2010/1/10/rebooting-star-wars.html

Death Sucks

Death sucks, no it really does. I've lost three of my radio friends this year and I don't like it. It's been really hard to wrap my brain around the "why" of it all. For two of the three, it was sudden and unexpected. The third was blessed with nine years of life after a kidney transplant. We have our lives, grow families, make friends and then die. I've said my "goodbyes" to my friends, but I haven't let go yet. I don't want to let go. I don't want to let go of the time Kirsti Cristie made me laugh when I was trying to see how many mini-muffans I could fit in my mouth. I don't want to get go of the time I met Lee Schafer at Round Table Pizza and he hired me because he heard my voice over the speaker. I don't want to let go of hearing Wayne Richards say, "Holy Schnike".
Maybe it's because it's coming all at once, maybe it's because it's so sudden, maybe it's because these are good people who still had a lot to give. There seems to be some injustice in the fact that they were taken from us. For me, I think that I'm afraid that I will forget. Like one day I'll wake up and can't remember Lee's silly jokes, Wayne's laugh or Kirsti's love of photography. Until then, I will remember you.

Royally Blissed

So, have you heard the new song from Royal Bliss? "Who's Royal Bliss," you say? Why they are the best band you've never heard of. This rock band hails from Salt Lake City and have been touring for the past couple of years supporting a new CD (Life In-Between) that their label is sitting on. The good news is that they do have a single called "Save Me" that you can buy on iTunes. And while you're there, get their last release "After the Chaos II".
It would be unfair if I described them as sounding like "X", or if you like "Y" you'll like Royal Bliss. They are a group you just have to hear for yourself. I think RB has something that is missing from a lot of artists these days, honesty. Their lead singer, Neal, writes a lot of their lyrics from personal experiences and he is one of those gifted people who can sing what they're feeling. The music and hooks match so perfectly with Neal's words that it almost feels effortless. If I were their label, I would get off my can and give these guys the push they deserve.
The band came on our Noon show at KPVI (to which we are very grateful) before putting on a show at Idaho State Univeristy. It amazes me how Neal's voice fills up the room, this guy has pipes! Reports I got back from the ISU event say that they blew the roof of the joint. Well, it was an outdoor concert, but they still blew the roof off. You'll have to excuse them if they sang with Buddy's Breath as they experienced Buddy's Salad for the first time. The next time you guys are in town, please make it a ticked event on a Friday night so that those of us who have to turn in early on weeknights can rock out wit'cha. BTW-Brandi did go to see you guys play.

Happy Birthday to You!

On Wednesday, August 27, my beautiful bride celebrated a birthday. I would not be a gentleman if I divuldged her age. Suffice to say that she is at the point where she is asking herself, "Am I really turning ___?"
Kristi loves making and decorating cakes. But what fun is it to make your own birthday cake? She wanted a quadruple chocolate cake from the bakery at Fred Meyer. If you haven't had this cake, you are missing out! It's like taking a spoon and eating right out of the frosting container.
Happy Birthday Darling!

The Final Curtian

The final performance of Mystique Theater's "The Wizard of Oz" was on Monday, August 25. This is a tale of feelings on opposite sides of the spectrum. My wife, Kristi, is very relieved that it's over. For her, it's been a long summer with the rehearsals and performances. Throw in two weeks of school in there and she was ready for the show to end.
My kids, on the other hand, are very sad that the show is over. They had a wonderful time with the musical. Both made a lot of new friends and as I have told them, "The show may be over, but the friendships will continue". They will take a lot of memories with them of this summer.

Demolish This!

Apologies, between posting the videos on YouTube, my wife blogging about it, and talking about it on the air, I haven't posted a blog about my experience in the POW-MIA Awareness Rally Demolition Derby.
Earlier in the year, our TV station (KPVI) agreed to sponsor the Demolition Derby portion of the POW-MIA Awareness Rally on July 26. During the course of the conversation between the organizers and my General Manager, I was volunteered as a driver of the Channel 6 car. Mind you, I have no experience in the world of professional car wrecking aside from a couple of fender benders, but those were not on purpose.
As the date drew closer, I did get a little nervous about the event. From the daily updates on what the crew at Dave's Glass and Tint were doing to the car to make it derby compliant to my wife calling our insurance agent to up the policy, my concerns began to grow. But the night of the event came and it was "go" time.
My '82 Olds had to undergo some last minute modifications as I got ready to take it into the arena, but the time for being nervous was over. There were two heats and the top two cars in each heat would then go on to the championship round. I drove in the second heat and boy was my world rocked! My only goal was to not be the first person out... I was the first person out. I made a couple of hits and I was T-boned a few times. My problem was that my transmission began to slip so I couldn't find a gear and one of the three ignition wires broke so I couldn't restart the car after it died, so I pulled by flag. I was done.
I was toed back to the pit and the crew fixed the transmission and got the wires out so that I could re-start the car by hot wiring it. And in short order, I was ready for the third heat (consolation round).
Because the organizers had fewer cars then expected, they had a third heat for the cars that lost in the first two heat and could still move. Since I only took a few bumps in my heat, my car was ready to go.
The third heat was awesome! I made a few good hits and I had one spectacular near miss. When it was all said and done, my car and another car had won the heat, I moved on to the championship round. Back at the pits, my car was smashed up and the engine was shooting steam... but it was still running.
The championship round had five cars including mine. I was told by the crew that I had one or two hits in the car, so make them good. The round started and one car was out quick. He didn't pull his flag, but he didn't make a hit in :60 like the rules state, so I guess he was the first one out. Then two cars ganged up on me. My engine had died and one of the cars spun me around they began to pummel me. You can see the damage in the video on YouTube. And yes, the driver of the #3 car told me after the derby that he was trying to flip me over.
I was pretty sore for the next few days, but what an incredible experience.

Play On!

The production of "The Wizard of Oz" kicked off on Thursday (July 10) and on Friday, our station welcomed a real live Munchkin. Margaret Pellegrini is 84 years old and is one of seven surviving "Munchkins" from the 1939 movie version of "The Wizard of Oz". The community theater that is putting on the show brought her in town for opening weekend. Margaret, along with cast members of the local production, came on our Noon Show to talk about all things Oz. Margaret is the most adorable thing you have ever seen! I'm sorry that we only had three minutes to talk to her. She is so full of Oz stories and loves to talk about her role in such an important film.
So the production is underway and both my kids are thrilled with their first taste of the theatre. It is really nice to share in their enthusiasm.