It's The Final Countdown!!!

::insert the world's most annoying, yet at the same time catchy, syth line here::

So I've officially got under a month left here on the western side of Ohio, now that I've finally found a place that will let me move in on time. Which means I've got 4 weeks left here at WSPD and that's cause for celebration and reflection. Obviously, I'm relieved to get out of here. It'll be like there's a weight lifted off me, because let's be honest, this is far from a redeeming job here. But on the other hand it's going to be weird not being here. I mean, I've always been here as far as I can remember. Hell, I've been here longer than I've known some of my good friends. Some people don't know me as anything else as the WSPD board op. Then again, a good number of my friends only knew me as the single guy of the group until recently, so take from that what you will. But taking the advice of another former SPD'er, I started making a lists of lasts and per her suggestion I shall be taking a shot when I pass each milestone. Now some of these I passed before I made the list so I'll be making those up at some point in the near future.

1. Last time running a NASCAR race (Not sure when this'll be. 8/3 I think...)
2. Last time running an Indians game (This may actually happen my last night here)
3. Last time running an overnight shift (I'm holding judgement on this one until the last schedule because things always change)
4. Last time sleeping in the building X (Did it tonight in fact - Shot of Goldschlager to come!)
5. Last time running Brian's show (Again, probably did it barring any emergency. Also to be held, but it'll be a shot of tequila)
6. Last time running Fred's show (Should be tomorrow, also barring an emergency and also on hold)
7. Last time running the God Squad X (The Sunday 6-noon shift. Took this one out in April. Also, a tequila shot)
8. Last time running pain-in-the-ass paid shows on Saturday (6a-2p on Sat. Out in April. More tequila... I sense a pattern)
9. Last EAS test (Probably, I'll need to wait out the schedules)
10. Last time running Eye on Toledo (We'll see, this also may be my last night)
11. Last set of network spots to produce (8/10, I'm thinking about Goldschlager again)
12. Last piece of equipment broken/died (Hopefully the monitor last Sunday was it. I'm not holding my breath though.)
13. Last hour of Coast to Coast heard (8/9 I believe)
14. Last hour of Bill Cunningham heard (8/10, tequila)
15. Last hour of Gun Talk (8/10 but sooner I hope, whiskey here)
16. Last hour of Cigar Dave (8/9 and a scotch to salute the General)
17. Last hour of Rush heard (8/10 and it can't come fast enough, tequila)
18. Last day (8/13, one for me and one for my homies)

I think that's it. As you can see, I've got plenty to drink. So on the scorecard:
Shots to take: 2
Shots awaiting confirmation: 7
Shots schedules: 9
Shots taken: 0

I'll have to update this...

Happy BOOM! Day

I'm here in the palacial studios of WSPD once again and just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Independence Day.

I, however, have been here for six hours and the biggest accomplishment I can claim is shaving in the bathroom.
Go me.

Hoping It All Works Today

I've been covering a vacation and therefore, doing the bosses show for two days now and Monday went well. There really wasn't much that I did wrong, I wasn't as tight or as on things as much as Shaggy is but that's because he's into the flow of the show and is a part of it. Me, not so much. I just push buttons around here. So when everything goes wrong, as it did yesterday afternoon, I'm not ready for it. Here's to hoping that everythings goes fine today. I've only got to get through today then I get to bowling with Chris tonight. Get through tomorrow and I get to sleep dep and then go see my babe Friday. And then turn right around and come back the next day. Oy. More reasons that I hate to be me. But I was reminded of much better times this morning when I started working on going back and podcasting my old radio show, Off The Record. Those were great days, getting into the studio with a bunch of friends and just being weird and interesting and intellegent and funny and just having fun. It reminded my why I got into radio in the first place and helped lift me out of the gloom that yesterday afternoon put me in. I'll link the podcast page to this whenever I get it up but the way I look at it, I've got 6 weeks to get everything listened to to figure out what I want to put into the podcasts, write the scripts, and voice them while I've got access to production studios. 6 weeks until I get outta here. Damn...

Story Time Part 2

So, I've been getting a lot of shoot interviews once and I want to share a great story from an interview with the Honky Tonk Man and Raven.

They were talking about Ronnie P. Gosset and a phone call that Nick Gulas receieved one day from a lady asking about why she hadn't recieved a check from last week's show. Gulas is like "What are you talking about?". She that she had bought the territory, that she was in the wrestling business and wanted her money. Gulas was exasperated. "What the fuck you talking about? How'd you buy it?" and she goes "I bought it from Ronnie P. Gosset." And Gulas just loses it, goes "GODDAMN THAT FUCKIN GOSSET" and slammed down the phone. Yes, Gossett sold Gulas' territory. That was just really damn funny to me.

Story Time Part 1

So, I was trying to watch the new American Gladiators and I couldn't. As a big fan of the original, I gave the new one a shot and 20 minutes into the show, I had to turn it off. There was too much bullshit. The Gladiators were miced and talking to the contenders. They did that before in the first season and it stopped very quickly. There was a good reason for that. There was also too much whoredom overall. I had no interest in looking at the Subway Gladiator Stats. Hulk Hogan can't MC at all. He's still cutting promos and working the crowd. Layla Ali may be a very talented athlete but she can't MC either. She can dance, she can knock you the fuck out, but she cannot interview you sensably.

But it reminded me of one of the best offshoots of the action sports shows of the 1990's. And no it was Battle Dome. Although I swear one of the current Gladiators was a Dome Warrior. Anyway, it was Nickleodeon Guts. What better than a bunch of akward 12 year-olds participating in akward sporting events while being screamed at by a coked-out Mike O'Malley. I'll tell you waht would be better... Gary Busey hosting a revival. Except he gets the coke this time. We'd call it Gary Busey Yells At Your Kids and it would be brilliant. They'd do that bungie cord basketball dunk game and Gary would hook up as well, reecting kid after kid screaming "Not in my house you little shit!!". They'd get to the Aggro Crag (you remember that?) and he be up top belloing something about bunnies and ice cream until the first kid's hand grabs the ledge and he'd stomp on it and cackle as they tumbled down. They'd try to award the winner, who by now would be bleeding with a black eye, a chunk of the Crag and Gary'd take a bat to their knees, steal the rock, then sprint with it back to his little corner of the studio where he keeps all of the trophies he's stolen. Then he pulls out his pistol and starts guarding his loot. Yeah, that'd be great.

Somehow, I think we've been here before...

And yes we have. So I now officially reside at home, for the first time in like 4 years and it's quite an adjustment. It's just after midnight on the east coast and I'm the only thing moving in the house. Even the dogs have passed out for the night. Also, there's really no room for me here. I'm sleeping on what used to be my platform bed but has been used as a couch since I've been gone, so it's really just a box spring with a futon mattress on top of it. It's pretty much sleeping on the floor. Not to mention the fact that there's no room for any of my stuff. It took me 2 hours of cleaning to get a spot to put the computer and all my clothes... well they're out in the sun room. Getting dressed is even a task anymore. I don't know where any of my things are, I was here over a week before I could even shave since I couldn't find a razor. All I can say is that I cannot wait for August. Just over 2 months from now I'll be packing up again and leaving for good. This time taking off across the state in pursuit of a Masters. That's really the light at the end of the tunnel. I'm away from everything I've known for the past 6 years. Places, friends, everything. I hate Toledo. There is no walking anywhere. There is no short trip. Everything that was easy in BG is a fucking planed out trek up here. I hate it.

On a more uplifting note, things couldn't be better in the relationship department. Ok, there's one way things could be better. We could live in the same area code. Yet, despite the prospect of the next two years being a long distance relationship, things feel stronger than ever. We exchanged those three words this past weekend. It felt different than any other time I've said it to a woman. As opposed to the last person I said it to, I actually mean it. I can't explain it exactly, but it's like floating on air. I'm making my first trek east to see her tomorrow. With a new car, I'm not scared to make the drive. I'm just kinda scared of staying there overnight. It is her parents' place after all. And she is, of her own admittance, daddy's little girl. Usually, daddy has a certain feeling towards the guy who is sleeping in the same bed as daddy's little girl and I really don't need any more scars thank you very much. It should be fine, he seemed pretty cool when we met so I'm hoping that I don't end up duct-taped to a chair in some dark basement somewhere in Cleveland with some guy in a butcher's apron with a pain of pliers in one hand and a blowtorch in the other...

And so, I'd like to propose a toast to the caterers. And to the pigeon who crapped on the groom's family's limousine. As for the rest of you around this table not directly related to me... you can sod off. I wouldn't trust any of you to sit the right way on a toilet seat.

Listening to CD's At Work

I am, in fact listening to random CD's at work and digging through the database for songs I haven't heard in forever. All told, I'm happy that our cluster has so much David Bowie but their "Indie" section is a joke. Anywho, I'm doing the normal month between posts but I know that will be changing within the next few weeks, seeing that I'm doing something that I never imagined that I'd have to do... moving back into my parent's house. It's only for a few months, but still at the age of 24 I figured that that is one place which I wouldn't be again. I thought I left for good the summer before my junior year (part 1) of college. Again, it's nothing against my parents. I love them very much and can't explain how grateful I am to have a place to live and save up cash for a few months before heading to Kent State. It's just... there's somethings about my live that are gonna change. They are not used to people being awake at 3am, etc. Not to mention that I really don't want to leave BG. It's been my home for the past 6 years and I was comfortable. But that's how I got into trouble in the first place, so it's good to leave but at the same time I don't wanna go. Then again, I won't be gone long. In fact, most likely I'll only be gone like 4 days a week during the school year.

So most recently I've been dealing with the thoughts of leaving a life I've spent the last 6 years building and all the friends that will still be here and that's a bit of a downer even though I keep telling lyself that I'm moving to make things better. And that I need to lay off the extremly long run-on sentances. That and I finally find someone, and fall for her(...really hard) and we make for opposite sides of the state. She moved home for the summer as undergrads are want to do, and then we're gonna overlap by at the most like two weeks in the fall before she moves back here. So I walked into a situation where this was an inevitability... I'm ok with that. I learned long ago that I can't let past experiances and problems make decisions for me in regards to current experiances. That made little sense to me and I wrote the damn thing, let me attempt to expand. I learned long ago that I cannot allow what happened in the past to color my judgement for a situation now. I may have been burned in the past in a long distance relationship, but this is a completly different set of circumstances now. Different people, different places. It's not the fear of history repeating itself that has bummed me out. It's really just the whole thought that "Shit, you left this afternoon and things will never be the same again."

Unless this thing goes the very long haul, the last few months (as great as they've been) won't be happening again. It's a permanent long distance deal from here on out. I've got two years at Kent, she's got three left at BG then wherever things take her from there. But this girl is worth all the effort and stress that living 3 hours apart can bring and more. She's worth all the crap and jokes etc. that I've been getting and will get. And I realize that I may be gushing a little too much for someone I've been with for 3 months, but it's how I am and I admit it. I'm a hopeless romantic who falls quick and hard and I usually get myself hurt quite easily. But I accept that about myself. I'm the kid that poked the bee hive with a stick. Over and over again...

Before I get out of the way for the real estate show next hour, I shall post a short playlist of stuff that I found in the computer here at work. This is how I speand my Sunday mornings...

Set Adrift on Memory Bliss - PM Dawn

One Night in Bangcock - Murray Head

Wasteland - 10 Years

Because The Night - 10,000 Maniacs

Planet Rock - Afrika Bambaataa

Keep The Car Running - Arcade Fire

Tha Crossroads - Bone Thugs N' Harmony

Bowl of Oranges - Bright Eyes

Have You Seen Her - The Chi-Lights

Wasting My Time - Default

Angels Wanna Wear My Red Shoes - Elvis Costello

Watching The Detectives

Peace Love and Understanding

Everyday I Write The Book

Pump It Up

Accidents Will Happen

Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood

Radio, Radio

Oliver's Army

I kinda got stuck at Elvis Costello. I'm sure I'll do this again next weekend...