Nightwaves Update

The Nightwaves schedule is final. I'll start things off on Friday at midnight. At 1:30 I'll pass the mic to my esteemed collegue and all around great guy Troy. Dave and Jeff will take over at 3am and 4:30am respectively. Mike will start off Saturday night at midnight followed by Steve, Lori and Michelle. I got goosebumps hearing the promo on the air this afternoon and it got me psyched. I really wish I could be there both nights. If it was any other weekend, you bet I'd be there Saturday too, just to hang out.

I started going through my music last night to pull stuff to play, trying to assemble a rough playlist. Back in the day, I used to just show up and browse through the library and pull things out at random. I'd pull out whatever I was in the mood for that night and fit the pieces together with any of the new music that came in that week. I'd often look back at a 3 hour playlist and amaze myself. 99% of the shows I did were completely unplanned until a few songs before. Unfortunately, I don't think I ever kept a single playlist - don't know why. It's been a bit difficult to be back in the Nightwaves frame of mind trying to pick songs to play a week ahead of time. I'm fairly confident it'll be a rockin hour and a half anyway.

Sunset on Mars

On May 19, 2005, NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit captured this stunning view as the Sun sank below the rim of Gusev crater on Mars. This Panoramic Camera mosaic was taken around 6:07 in the evening of the rover's 489th Martian day, or sol.


Photo and caption courtesy: NASA

Lucas builds new moisture farm...

in San Francisco.

Crispy Duck

We spent 5 hours at the pool yesterday. We had a great, relaxing time but I now have a pleasantly painful sunburn. Yes I did wear plenty of sunscreen, but only after realizing I had first applied sun enhancer instead of sun block to my shoulders and face. The enhancer did have an SPF 15, though, so there was some block in it. Not long after we came back from the pool, the rain and wind came, bringing marble-sized hail for about 15 minutes. It's really strange when one minute you are at the pool in 95 degree heat and there's not a cloud in the sky then 30 minutes later the ground is covered in ice.

Now playing: Crispy Duck.

Tomorrow Never Knows

Two weeks ago I was looking forward to a few days off from work, a few days of rest and relaxation and time with the family. It started with the day at King's Island on Aaron's 3rd birthday, then one final day of work. We had a nice visit to the in-laws and a few hours at the beach on the lake there. We came home Thursday and I paid a visit to Granny in the nursing home. I went back to work on Friday, then had the weekend off again. Since we spent the day at KI on Aaron's birthday, we put off having a party for him until the following Sunday.



Just before noon on Sunday, I got the phone call that Granny had passed. It was Father's Day and the day we were to celebrate Aaron's Birthday. Instead of postponing the party, we decided to have it and celebrate both lives. Granny wouldn't have wanted it any other way. Granny was a dear, sweet person who lived a full life. She never had a bad thing to say, cared about everyone and was always smiling every time I saw her. Although she was weak and could hardly speak, I'm glad I got to spend what little time I could with her last week. I'll miss her dearly.


Turn off your mind, relax
and float down stream
It is not dying
It is not dying

Lay down all thought
Surrender to the void
It is shining
It is shining

That you may see
The meaning of within
It is being
It is being

That love is all
And love is everyone
It is knowing
It is knowing

Some pictures from King's Island

Aaron in a fire truck.

Their first ride on a rollercoaster.


Cruisin'.


Kiddie Land, WaterWorks and 8 hours later.

Mark Your Calendars!

Nightwaves is a GO! We've got the green light on two nights - Friday July 1 and Saturday July 2, from midnight to 6am. Same as the old timeslot. We've got 12 hours to work with and probably just as many people participating, so details on who will be on the air when will be worked out in the coming days. One thing is for sure: I'll be there at the start on Friday night for a couple of hours. I was hoping to be on my old time at midnight Saturdays, but a prior engagement will have me even further out of town. Hopefully there will be an audio stream for those outside of the X-Star Network. More details as they become available...

Happy Birthday Aaron!

Today is Aaron's 3rd birthday. We got him a Radio Flyer tri-cycle and he loves it.

We spent the day at King's Island (annual day sponsored by my employer). We arrived there at 10am and left a little around 8pm. It was Aaron's first time there and Emma's first trip where she was big enough to ride the rides. So, we spent most of the day in Kiddie Land and at Waterworks. They had so much energy and fun in the park riding rides for the first time (do you remember your first ride on a rollercoaster or the first time you got to "drive" a car on the track all by your self?), getting pictures taken with Scooby-Doo, Spongebob and Patrick, Dora and Diego. After having lunch with co-workers, Mom took the kids for an hour or so, so Shannon and I could ride at least one ride by ourselves (Tomb Raider). The weather didn't cooperate completely early on, but around 4:00 the sun came out. Afer Tomb Raider we decided to get the kids and head to Waterworks. We splashed in the kids "grotto" pool first, then the wavepool. Aaron loved the wave pool. After that Emma rode a small water slide for kids on her own for the first time. We didn't think she would, but after the first time - she had to ride it 3 more. She then got the nerve to ride the bigger kids slide and rode it twice. A trip around the lazy river about 6:30 calmed them down. We got into dry clothes to ride the train before leaving, and their eyelids just would not stay open. Emma conked first and Aaron followed soon after. We got home at 9:00 and, at 11:30 in the middle of a thunderstorm, they are still sound asleep.

It was great day and another full of kid-firsts. I love experiencing every one of them, and we try to make it just as memorable for them. That is much more important.

New threads

Got my new woxy.com shirt in the mail yesterday. Nice and roomy.

This heat and humidity are insane. We were at the pool last night for an hour or so. The water is ice cold, but feels great. I'm thinking another visit is in store this evening.

Humpday, Nightwaves

I found out Monday that I didn't get the job I had applied for. Oh well - Win some, lose some. There will be others. This week and last week have been really busy and trying at work. I've been doing this type of work for almost 5 years and it's cake work, but it's just not something I can do long-term - mentally. I have a few days off next week to put it all aside and forget about it for a while. Next month will bring me nearly two weeks off with absolutely nothing to do, plus a long holiday weekend, so that's something else to look forward to. A chance to recharge my batteries and leave work behind for a while. Maybe do some soul searching or job hunting.

With the impending sale of WVXU to WGUC, there's been some talk of a Nightwaves reunion of sorts for a few days over the July 4th weekend. Nothing's definite yet, but it has really got me really longing for the old radio gig. I've always said that doing Nightwaves was the best job I never had, despite it being all volunteer. I thouroughly enjoyed playing music for the masses all night long and getting the exposure to so much great music. If radio was not so cut-throat and unpredictable, especially in today's environment, I would've considered a career in radio 10 years ago (so naturaly, I'm highly envious of the jocks at woxy.com!). If we can pull off the Nightwaves shows though, it'll be good to be back behind the mic, spin tunes one more time and to see some old friends. I'll keep you posted if it happens.


Six songs I can't get out of my head this week:
The Clash - London Calling
Velvet Crush - Hold Me Up
Gang of Four - Ether
Spoon - The Beast and Dragon, Adored
Moose - Jack
Robyn Hitchcock - Flanagan's Song

Had a great weekend

We went to a cookout/informal wedding reception Saturday and sat outside in the warm air, under the shade while the kids played in the sandbox. I ate way too much finger food and regretted it later. I got home and barely made it to see Star Wars with my dad and brothers, although I missed the first 10-15 minutes thanks in no part to a malfunctioning ticket printer at the boxoffice. I'll see it again, though. Despite a couple of hokey moments of dialogue (wookees screaming like Tarzan, Darth Vader scraming like a wuss), I really enjoyed it. The closing scenes sent chills up my spine. Sunday I spent several hours at the pool with the kids and got some much needed sun, then dinner at mom and dad's. Happy birthday Rhiannon! Back to the grind today.

Today is June 6, 2005, the 61st anniversary of the invasion at Normandy.

Ugh

It was a short week but a long, frustrating, meloncholy week. Long because work is always busy the week after a holiday. Frustrating because I interviewed for a new position at work and didn't hear back by the end of the week as promised. Meloncholy because Steeltown Boy is gone. The weather is supposed to be beautiful this weekend, so that should help before starting the grind again on Monday. Plans tomorrow, no plans Sunday. I might finally get to see Star Wars.

My persistence has paid off

We've been in this apartment complex for a year and a half. The only real downside is that they are on a closed-circuit Satellite TV system. Needless to say, it's expensive for the channels we get and the reception sucks. They only offer TV services, nothing else. We're too far north of Cincinnati for Zoomtown and not wired for Time Warner. The only internet access I can get here is dial-up through Cincinnati Bell (26.4 kbs). I tried to download a 3 minute song last month just to see how long it would take, and after nearly an hour I gave up and went to bed. Each month, I send the corporate management an e-mail letting them know how much better this place would be if they would get wired for the outside world. Each time I get a response that says they still have 2 years left on the current contract, but that they are trying to negotiate out of it.

Today, I come home and have a flyer in my door - from Time Warner. Starting Monday, they will be wiring this complex and expect to have full cable/internet/digital phone services by the first of August. I'm sure I'm not the only one that's bugged them about it over the last several years, but I'm sure it helped.

Let's get this party started

OK, so I created a blog at Live Journal, then it dawned on me that I liked this format better. I don't think I've ever moved twice in one day. Oh well.

So, here I am. Let's rock.