The Embezzlement of America

Barack Obama was first supposed to make his statement earlier today (Monday 8/8) on this past Friday’s S&P rating downgrade to the press at 1:00 PM ET. Then it became 1:30. Then, finally at 1:55, Barry hit the podium, looking like a child who was in deep trouble with his parents. And as he spoke, he kept looking to either side of the camera, as if he couldn’t look us in the eye. And all the time he spoke, the NYSE ticker the TV press so happily superimposed in the corner of the screen kept dropping as he spoke, going down 150 points in less than 5 minutes time. And I swear I could hear the collective gasps of millions of Americans as they all finally came to the same realization.

Our country has been embezzled. So how’s the “Hope & Change” going for you now?

Barry had all weekend to come up with something, but the best he could do was repeat the “balanced approach” to the problem. The problem is that our problem has been unbalanced for a long time, and it is too late for a “balanced approach”. This might just be the end of the credit “gravy train”, just like back in 1929.

For those of you wanting to blame Barry or his predecessor George W. Bush for this mess, you have to go back even further. Much further. Some may point at the Federal Reserve’s creation a hundred years ago. Some may point a finger at the “New Deal” during FDR. Others may say it was Social Security. Others Medicare and Medicaid. Some say the wars in the Middle East. No matter what was the actual start, our government has had the practice of “robbing Peter to pay Paul” for decades.

Embezzlement is the most interesting of crimes. Unlike other forms of larceny it has a time parameter where weeks, months or even years pass between the commission of the act and when it is discovered. For decades we have allowed the financial sector to operate at a profit…all at public cost. They have taken billions and padded their pockets while at the same time giving away trillions of dollars in loans around the world. Loans that probably will never be paid back. And now we are paying for it. We have a tumbling stock market, over 9 percent unemployment and a flight to gold with some investment advisers say it will be at $2,500 per ounce by year’s end.

The most ludicrous thing said about all this was past Sunday (8/7) on NBC’s “Meet The Press”. Former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan said, quote, “The United States can pay any debt it has because we can always print money to do that. So there is zero probability of default. What I think the S&P thing did was to hit a nerve that there's something basically bad going on, and it's hit the self-esteem of the United States, the psyche.”

Hmmmm. “We can always print money…” And what will this newly printed money be backed by, since it is not backed by gold like the old days? The only thing that backs the money in circulation is the promise of the US Government to pay. But, wait a minute? How can we pay on these “promisary notes” when we are trillions of dollars in debt? This is how we have “fixed” our economic woes over the past few decades…”print more money”. If I were to just “print more money” to fix MY economic woes I would be doing time in a Federal prison for counterfeiting.

Barry told us this afternoon that the downgrade of our credit rating was more a comment on our political dysfunction than on our ability to repay our debts. In part that is true, but only a part. Even though it will be painful, there has to be major cuts in spending and more revenue generated in the form of taxes. And the financial sector needs to be held accountable and have its “free reign” over the economy brought under control. And this will no doubt cause more gridlock, because nobody wants to give up “their piece of the pie”, especially the financial sector.

So what do we do now? It will be hard to reverse the effects of decades of bad fiscal decision making by our elected officials and the embezzlement of America by the financial sector.

Yesterday I listened to the original recording of Woody Guthrie’s “This Land Is Your Land”, a song we all learned as kids. However, listening to it I was reminded about the often forgotten last two verses of the song”

“As I was walkin' - I saw a sign there
And that sign said - no tress passin'
But on the other side .... it didn't say nothin!
Now that side was made for you and me!”

“In the squares of the city - In the shadow of the steeple
Near the relief office - I see my people
And some are grumblin' and some are wonderin’
If this land's still made for you and me.”

It is time for America and us Americans to wake up and take control of our nation and its destiny. We need to hold Washington accountable by our votes and our voices to be tough and serve ALL of those who elected them to represent ALL of us…not just those who are in control of the economic sector.

We need to do this quickly before the term “American” becomes synonymous with the term “Sucker”.

Ego Vs. Confidence

It's been nearly 8 weeks since that fateful day Midwest Communications took the reigns from Mid-Michigan Radio Group and released me from WQTX (92-X), WJXQ (Q-106) and Tim Barron Mornings this past June 30th. For 10 days prior to that I knew my fate, brought about by negotiations with the "new sheriff" that went south…along with other factors, circumstances and revelations about people and their true intentions.

To this day, many people continue to quiz me about why I wasn't retained. I received hundreds of emails right after it happened asking why I wasn't on the air. Even though I am not under any confidentiality clause or 18-month "non-compete" that my former radio compadres are now bound by with Midwest, I choose not to go into the particulars or "dish" to people the "skinny" about what happened. Instead, I have three things I share with those "inquiring minds" that are consistent across the board: 1.) It was time for me to move on and move forward, 2.) I wish all the best to those I had worked with, and 3.) This is the best thing that could happen to me.

I have been in the broadcasting, media and entertainment biz since I did my first radio and TV appearance at 5 years old. It is something I have always known in my life, something I truly love, and something I have always been successful at. So there was concern that I would take my being unceremoniously "dumped" in a bad way....that my "ego" would take an extreme beating by it and I would consider myself a failure, blame others and follow a destructive path that would only worsen the situation.

Having an “ego” is an important part of character and personality. It is no coincidence that successful individuals from Donald Trump to Muhammad Ali are often imbued with an unshakable sense of importance. They certainly did not succeed by being content with the status quo. They possess that electrifying X-factor that makes them believe that they are better — special even — than everyone else.

As the saying goes, “Everyone loves a winner.” It’s true that people with strong personalities often attract a huge following. But it’s also often the case that people with huge egos are a massive turn-off, especially when their ego clouds their judgment of reality. When the ego gets too big and failures come, there is either denial that the failure actually occurred or blame is shifted to others instead of themselves.

I learned the lesson long ago that having a big ego does not bring true success in life. Having confidence in yourself, who you are, how you treat others, and knowing your worth is what makes for true success. Some of the biggest egos out there belong to the most insecure people...people who will stop at nothing to tear others down to make themselves feel superior. Thankfully in all my years working with such people not a one of them succeeded in tearing me down.

Many times people confuse ego with confidence and vice versa. Some feel that in order to be hugely successful they need to have a huge ego. The fact is that ego and confidence are two separate and opposite things.

Ego describes the self-serving, self-centered part of a person...the "Me! Me! Me!" part that has no regard for others. People that are driven by their egos stop listening to others and stop seeking feedback. They feel that everything is about them, and when something is not about them, they tend to go ballistic. They honestly believe that they are above everyone else and feel the world owes them something..."It's my world and everyone else just lives in it." They ultimately fail because they are unable to see when their conviction turns into recklessness.

The egotist puts results first instead of putting people first. They are caught up in being the "top dog" so much that they fail to recognize others around them that are a part of helping them achieve their success. At times, they are even fearful of success because deep inside they know they don’t deserve it, yet they still claim all the credit for it. Their stranglehold they keep on being "top dog" leads to fear when someone else shows talent and ability in doing what they do just as well as they do...or even better. Thus they do everything in their power to take down those around them they feel a "threat"...either physically, psychologicly or even by lying about them to others to make them look inferior to themselves.

People driven by ego are always swinging widely between being nice and being totally arrogant...almost as if they are bi-polar. They ride a rocky roller coaster of an existence and many times they let demons take over and they go down a path of destruction over and over…drugs, alcohol, abusive behavior and more.

Confidence is different. Where ego is something that we build up in our minds, confidence is something we are born with...a part of our being...like having arms, legs, fingers toes, and so on. Confidence is an innate human attribute where ego is a man-made psychological state of mind.

Having confidence is where you like yourself for what you are and having a realistic appreciation of your own abilities. True confidence is not solely reliant on success because there will always be failures to contend with. Confidence is not a result of comparing ourselves with others either, because there is always someone better. Simply put, it’s about being sure of your abilities without being conceited and arrogant at the same time.

Being confident in yourself takes acceptance that success comes not be cause of what you do solely, but how others accept your success. If you handle success with arrogance, people are turned off by it. However if you handle success with gratitude and thanks, people see your genuineness and you are respected and liked by all.

Although I am “on hiatus” or “on the beach” from the world of broadcasting, there is no remorse, grief, blaming others, or bitterness that blinds me from reality. I am confident that I will rise to the challenge and succeed…not because I feel success is owed to me, but because success is earned.

So you see folks, contrary to what you have been told on the air for the past four years, it’s not all about me. I hope someday that others realize that it’s not all about them either.

Memories of Elmo

Through our lives, from childhood on through, many of us had a number of family pets. Each one of them having their own characteristics, personalities and our memories of them. I had a good number of them in my life time, all with different traits and recollections.

There was our first family pet when I was 3, a Great Dane named Brutus, who jumped through a full length window, shattering it to bits, to chase after a car going by the house. Then there was Shatzig, a Dachshund, who one day while we were out broke into a case of wine my dad had in the utility room, got drunk and got stuck in a pair of my dad's shorts...front end stuck in one leg, rear end in the other. My grandparent's Dachshund Snoozy who drank coffee, Scooter the Scottish Terrier that would attack the end of a hose if it was turned on, and Ozone...a tabby cat who was the best mole hunter. All with unique traits and memories.

Elmo the cat was a special cat. I am not the most loyal cat lover...allergies make it hard, but Elmo was one of my favorites. He was one of two from the same litter that my ex wife and I got shortly after we were married in 1996. We got his brother Goofy first in September, Then got Elmo in November.

Goofy and Elmo were farm kittens that lived on a farm near my ex parent-in-laws near Battle Creek. Goofy was not weened when we got him so I got the doll baby bottle and did the duties. Getting Elmo was tough. We went to the farm and when we were about to pick him up to take him home he took off, ran to the barn and hid. Had to wait until two days later when they finally retrieved the cat from the barn and brought it to us.

Our reasoning in getting two kittens from the same litter was so that they could keep each other occupied so that there would be no mischief. That proved to be a false bit of reasoning when that Christmas while my ex and I were at work they pulled down the Christmas tree and destroyed it and the decorations on it. Pretty hefty work for 5 month-old kittens.

Elmo had the distinct habit of attacking my feet while I was asleep when we first got him. This practice would prove useful when my ex was ready to give birth to the twins in 1997. He kept attacking my feet when her water broke in the middle of the night until I got up. He was very intelligent as well. Most cats when you call their name would be finicky and ignore you, or casually come when they felt like it. Elmo would come right away, always giving a "meow" each time I would say his name.

He had very unique culinary tastes. He loved McDonald's french fries, black olives and tuna. I used to make tuna salad for sandwiches for me to take to work. As soon as I opened the can in the electric can opener he would come and beg for tuna, which I treated him to a couple select morsels each time. After awhile all he had to do was hear the electric can opener and he was there. Even if I wasn't opening a can of tuna, whether chili or a can of coffee, he would still be there begging for his tuna fix.

Over the past couple months I noticed Elmo getting rather thin. I told my ex and she said she noticed it too. Then three weeks ago he slowly walked up to me wanting me to pet him. I bent down and gently stroked his head and scratched his ears. His head raised up as always, stretching his neck out to show his enjoyment of the attention, but then he lost his balance from the neck stretch and fell down on his side. I informed my ex of this and we both agreed that he was not doing well.

The week of July 19th it was my wife's visit week with the kids. This past Sunday she called me to let me know that Elmo was not well at all and she doubted he would make it to yesterday...the day her visit week ended and I would see the kids again. I told her that he would hang on until he saw me.

Yesterday I picked up the kids from the pool and took them to the house. Once there I went to where the kids told me Elmo was. As I came to where he was, I called him by his nickname we gave him as a kitten, "Mosers". He picked up his head from the pillow he was resting on, looked right at me and answered to his name with the "meow" he always did...laboring to get it out, but he still did. I sat with him talking, petting him and scratching his ears, which he still tried to show he loved by stretching his neck.

Today, after picking up the kids from the summer learning program at school and going to the house, Elmo was still hanging on. I called "Hi Mosers" and he meowed...much weaker than the day before. He couldn't pick up his head to look at me, and didn't respond to petting and the ear scratch other than opening his eyes and looking at me.

The entire afternoon, he would meow in pain every so often, and I would go up and check on him. The last time he meowed, I came to see him struggling to breathe. My eyes welled up, I bent down to pet him, and told him, "Elmo, it's time to let go. You were a good cat, and I will miss you. But it's your time to go home and not suffer anymore." With that he gave a weak meow, took one deep breath, then shut his eyes for the last time.

The twins and I dug a grave for him in the back yard near the catnip that he loved to frolic in. My ex and youngest daughter brought Elmo out in a blanket. We then said goodbye to a very unique and much loved cat. We came back in to his brother Goofy staring up at us...looking lost. I petted Goofy and gave an ear scratch. He stretched his neck in approval and looked right at me as I said his name...and he meowed.

I am not a real cat person because of allergies, so more than likely I will not have any more cats as pets in my lifetime. But I will sure remember the last cats that were in my life...Goofy and especially a very unique and intelligent cat named Elmo.

Rest in peace, Mosers.

Mel And The Fish Bowl

Back a couple decades ago, there was a show on a radio station I was working at in the Detroit area called “The Fish Bowl”. The show got its name from the perception that people in the public eye are like “fish in a fish bowl”…whether because of their faith and perceived lifestyle because of their faith, their status, or whether they were in the public eye as an entertainer, media personality, or public official. The rest of us “non-glitteratti” folk hold such people to a higher standard.

Yesterday there was more “leaked” audio on the web of actor/director Mel Gibson threatening former girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva. The recording follows an earlier recording in which Gibson uses foul and threatening language toward Grigorieva as well as the N-word. The latest “leak” of audio has Gibson yelling at her that she needs a "bat to the side of the head" and that he could put her "in a … rose garden" if he wanted to.

Sadly, no one involved in the incident, including representatives from Gibson's camp, has called its authenticity into question. The two are currently in a fierce child custody battle, and apparently Grigorieva recorded the audio to use in that custody battle, and somehow it was “leaked” to the media, some saying that Grigorieva “leaked” it herself.

I have been brought to debate this incident (and others) and the right to privacy issues with others, the debate being fierce at times. For me, being that I am sometimes considered one of the “glitterati”, this issue has many facets…many parts to the equation. Privacy rights, proper behavior, choices, forgiveness, giving the “benefit of a doubt”. A true slippery slope without any question.

This is not the first incident of foul and threatening language emulating from Mr. Gibson’s mouth. Two other times he has spouted off hate-filled tirades, one time to a police officer as he was being arrested for DUI. Each time followed by apologies, admission of wrong behavior and “promises” to not do it again.

Mr. Gibson’s father, it has been reported, is just as hate-filled in his speech and views, if not more so, along with having severe alcohol abuse problems. Growing up under such a parental example would more than insure that the son would grow up like the father…and all indications are he has.

When one pursues a career in entertainment, whether it is as a Hollywood heavyweight or a small market radio personality, it goes without saying that they enjoy less privacy in the public eye than the average citizen. The news and entertainment media shows and “reporters” are always looking at these folk closely, looking for any slip-up they can sensationalize to a waiting, eager and hungry public looking for juicy gossip.

Do I feel the media is justified in digging so deep for dirt in these folks’ lives? Absolutely not! However, the public at large hungers for such tidbits and stories, and drive up ratings of such shows. Supply and demand in effect here. Do I feel the media is justified in publishing such private details as they have here? Not at all. However, when a person chooses to pursue a career that is in “the public eye”, they also choose to lose some of that privacy if they act in a non-acceptable fashion. To assume different is to live in a fantasy world, because we live in a world today of people wanting to know EVERYTHING about their favorite celebrity. Paparazzi following your every move in public. And the consuming public eats it all up and hungers for more.

This past week we have had a one-two celebrity scandal update… Mel Gibson and director Roman Polanski. Mr. Gibson is being tarred as a pariah for his abusive language. Mr. Polanski, a self-confessed child molester, has been freed by Swiss authorities citing not to honor his extradition to the US. These two recent examples, as well as many others as of late, point to what many people…from public relations specialists to religious leaders and academics…are calling “an increasingly loose moral terrain.”

Today’s pariah is tomorrow’s successful artist, politician, or even corporation, and in fact, the very notion of a pariah or social outcast itself may be disappearing. With a world of increasingly interconnected value systems and cultural beliefs, that sense of uniform moral clarity is fast disappearing.

There have been people that have crossed my path in life…relatives, acquaintances, former co-workers…who have demonstrated bad behavior, sometime to the point of being irreprehensible, over and over, apologizing each time, only to continue to do it over and over again. People who have stolen things, people who treat people with great disrespect, people who abuse others. One such person had a Gibson-esque tirade with their wife, then had their wife arrested and thrown in jail…and the wife did nothing wrong but try to help with the person’s alcohol problem.

The fallout that Gibson is going through is no ones fault but his own. He was dropped by his long-time agency, William Morris Endeavor. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office is investigating domestic abuse because Gibson admitted in one of the released audio recordings that he beat Grigorieva. And I’m sure that he will become anathema in the entertainment business…all seeing little way Gibson would be hired as either an actor or director on any mainstream film in the future.

With all these things in play with regard to such “fish bowl” incidents…privacy, morals, proper behavior, the public feeding frenzy for celebrity gossip and titillating news…and the media feeding it…for me to get into a debate about them is a moot exercise.

Instead of focusing our “debates” on such things, we should focus on debates on the condition of our world today. Lack of morals, unemployment, the economy, hunger, homelessness, diseases like cancer, MS and the like, caring for our fellow human beings, and a busted oil well spewing millions of gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico.

Of course, we could always debate on whether we agree or not on LeBron James leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers for the Miami Heat…

What Is Life?

Lately I have been pondering what life is all about. Just last night I came across this piece on a friend's Facebook info page:

WHAT IS LIFE?
Life is an Adventure ... Dare it
Life is a Beauty ... Praise it
Life is a Challenge ... Meet it
Life is a Duty ... Perform it
Life is a Love ... Enjoy it
Life is a Tragedy ... Face it
Life is a Struggle ... Fight it
Life is a Promise ... Fulfill it
Life is a Game ... Play it
Life is a Gift ... Accept it
Life is a Journey ... Complete it
Life is a Mystery ... Unfold it
Life is a Goal ... Achieve it
Life is an Opportunity ... Take it
Life is a Puzzle ... Solve it
Life is a Song ... Sing it
Life is a Sorrow ... Overcome it
Life is a Spirit ... Realize it

Pretty much says it all. Just a couple more I'd like to add:

Life is a trail ... blaze it
Life is a surprise ... embrace it

The New Insecure Male Phallic Symbol

Since the dawn of time, men have felt it necessary to assert their male ego utilizing objects that show not only status, but that their “status” is bigger and better than other males.

In the cave man beginnings was the club. Then it became the sword. Then it was a gun. As we progressed into the previous century it became more intricate. Cars come to mind as the most prevalent of them. Now that we are in the 21st Century, it has moved to tech items – pocket games, iPods, laptops; all to show off status and to prove their “manhood” to other males. But none of them compare to the latest insecure male phallic symbol – the Bluetooth headset.

You see them everywhere; at the grocers, the shopping mall, at sporting events, the movie theater…all blinking their little blue LEDs. At times their wearer is deep in conversation, most times giving the appearance of mental instability as they seem to be talking to themselves. And each time I see one, it is worn by a male. I’m waiting for the day I actually see a woman wearing one. When I do, then I will truly wonder what “status” they are telegraphing with it.

I own a Bluetooth headset…actually two of them. I have two for the sole purpose of having one fully charged when the other one’s battery dies. They are small, inconspicuous ones, only an inch in length. I got them several years ago, way before the latest boom. Since I drive a stick shift, they are handy in taking a call while driving, not to mention that it is much safer driving with one.

Sometimes I use them at work so I can be “hands free” while using the computer, especially when I was booking guests for the morning show. People would joke, “You must be somebody important having to wear one.” So, whenever I am not on a call when I’m not driving, I turn it off and take it out of my ear.

It seems as of late that these Bluetooth headsets are becoming more like phallic symbols, increasing in size and number of features. Bigger with more blinking lights on them, some even with shiny chrome trim. All reminiscent of the hot rods that we souped up back in high school and college. And it’s obvious why guys get these…to have one bigger and better than everyone else to either state how “important” they are or to make up for their “short comings”.

Last week, I saw the largest Bluetooth headset ever, worn by the new “sheriff” in town at the station…the man who would tell me that they weren’t “retaining my services”. The thing was huge, hanging off his ear like a sideways icicle off a gutter in the winter, extending from his ear to just a fraction away from the side of his mouth. It looked like the facial tattoo Mike Tyson got years ago…so obvious that you couldn’t help but notice it. The thing was as big as the headset microphone Jesse Goldberg-Strassler wears in the booth when he is the radio voice of Lansing Lugnuts games.

All the time while wearing it, the new “sheriff” wasn’t on a call. He was just wearing it, seeming to do so to show it off. He was strolling the halls, talking to others, but not into the phone/headset. All the while smiling.

It makes me wonder in this case…is such a headset a statement of “importance”, or is it a way to make up for “short comings”?

The Holy Grail of TV Has Lost Its Luster

Conan O’Brian’s swan song from hosting duties of “The Tonight Show” ended this past Friday unlike his beginning. Over the past couple of weeks, as the NBC debacle on what to do with its donut of programming around local affiliate news took center stage, Conan’s ratings went from a meager 1.7 million house holds to over 70 million tuned in to his farewell show this past Friday.

Mr. O’Brien’s triumphant exit’s ratings showed the most impressive outpouring of support for an entertainer in recent memory, and he recognized and thanked those supporting him in his farewell speech. But what he should have added to that speech was, “Where were you when I needed you?”

It’s obvious that Leno is not bummed in the least that he is being moved back to “The Tonight Show”. It seems as if the whole thing was planned all along on Jay’s part: “retire” from “The Tonight Show”; announce that you're moving to 10 PM, thus taking away attention from O’Brien’s transition to “The Tonight Show”; do a crappy job at 10 PM causing affiliates to cry the blues to the network, making them move you back to your previous time slot, pushing O'Brien's "Tonight Show" back to 12:05 AM (which as many have pointed out makes it no longer “The Tonight Show” but “The Tomorrow Show” or “The Next Day Show”), humiliating him into relinquishing “The Tonight Show”, which he did. And King Leno is back on his throne.

For many years, “The Tonight Show” was considered the Boardwalk/Park Place of television entertainment. The Holy Grail of shows. And the latest turf war between Jay Leno and Conan O’Brien was purely about this prime piece of media real estate. But, to be honest, to me, “The Tonight Show” is no longer the hallowed prized gig it once was.

Created in 1954 by Sigourney Weaver’s dad, Sylvester Weaver, “The Tonight Show” is the longest currently-running regularly scheduled TV entertainment program in the United States, and the third longest-running program in history. And in that amazing 55 year run, there have only been 5 regular hosts; Steve Allen, Jack Paar (who attended high school and got his first radio gig just down the road from Lansing in Jackson, Michigan), Johnny Carson, Jay Leno and Conan O’Brien. Out of these 5, the longest to be the host was Carson, and when I think of who embodies the essence of the show, Johnny Carson is the one who comes to mind.

This all is déjà vu from an earlier time when Johnny Carson announced he was retiring. David Letterman was to be the heir apparent, but it was Leno who would get the gig. Letterman, like O’Brien, wanted to carry on the legacy that Carson started. But that “Tonight Show” is gone…long ago…when Johnny left it.

When I was a kid, “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson” was what older folks watched. When David Letterman wanted it, it was hard for me to fathom, because he had his own show called “Letterman”. Just as Conan O’Brien was known as “Conan”. It was never known as “Late Night”.

Even though I respect and admire the talents of both David Letterman and Conan O’Brien, I never thought either of them were suitable hosts for “The Tonight Show”. Letterman was long considered the “anti-talk show host”. Where Carson was congenial and accommodating, Letterman was rough, biting, abrasive, and had shows filled with freakish stuff like Monkey Cam and Sandra Bernhardt. Conan O’Brien, though less abrasive, shared Letterman’s sense of comedic rebellion.

Whether Letterman cares to admit it or not, he spent most of his time at “Late Night” on NBC making sure he never got the “Tonight Show” job he wanted by alienating the network brass at NBC (I remember him calling them “pinheads” and “weasels”). So it’s not a surprise that Conan O’Brien’s style didn’t work out on “The Tonight Show” either.

O’Brien appeals to a younger demo than the desired 25 – 54 year-olds “The Tonight Show” is geared to reach. A demo who instead of watching programs like “The Tonight Show” after their local news watch programs they recorded earlier on their DVRs. This same generation flocks to the Internet to watch programs on demand when they want to at their convenience instead of scheduling their lives around a network air schedule.

“The Tonight Show” legacy has now been tarnished not once, but twice. First with the Letterman-Leno fight and now with O’Brien pitted against Leno again. And because of that tarnishing and tainting, this will be the last battle for this turf. It is now damaged goods, and no longer the Holy Grail it once was. It’s just another piece of property on a network schedule that has been totally stripped of its luster, aura, appeal or mystique it once had. Just something else from my younger years that will never be the same again.

I'm So Conflicted, I Can't Handle The "Tooth"

The new movie “Tooth Fairy” starring Dwayne (Don’t Call Me The Rock Anymore!) Johnson opens in theaters this weekend. My kids have already told me they want to go see it. However I am conflicted about whether I want us to go watch this movie.

The movie “Tooth Fairy” is set in Lansing, Michigan. That’s right, the wondrous metropolis where I live and work…the home of Q-106 and Classic Hits 92-X. The home of the infamous “Angriest Mayor in Amreica” Virg Bernero of CNN fame. Dwayne (Hey! I Said Don’t Call Me The Rock! So Stop It!!!) Johnson’s character is a hockey player for the fictitious NHL team, the Lansing Ice Dogs, who doesn’t believe in the Tooth Fairy. He winds up being “summoned” by the head Tooth Fairy (portrayed by Mary Poppins herself Julie Andrews) who makes him a Tooth Fairy and purported hilarity ensues.

My conflict is not with the premise of the Tooth Fairy. I know there is a Tooth Fairy. I listened to “The Continuing Adventures of The Tooth Fairy” on W4-FM in Detroit (when they were a rock radio station) portrayed by voice talent and former WCFL Chicago production guru Dick Orkin…who also did “The Adventures of Chickenman” (“He’s everywhere! He’s Everywhere!”). So I know there is one. Neither is it that Julie Andrews is the Head Tooth Fairy. Mary Poppins is magical and can easily be the Head Tooth Fairy. It isn’t even Dwayne (Look, I Keep Telling You, I’m Not The Rock Anymore!) Johnson wearing a tutu and sporting wings on his back.

The State of Michigan has had a very financially advantageous film incentive going for a few years now. The incentive gives generous cash breaks to movie studios to film their movies here in Michigan…one of the most generous incentive programs outside Hollywood. A number of great movies have filmed here and have taken advantage of these incentives: “Gran Torino” and “Youth In Revolt” to name a couple of recent successful ones.

However, in some sort of wacky infinite wisdom, the folks at 20th Century Fox (the movie studio who made “Tooth Fairy”), feeling that with the story being set in Lansing, and with Michigan having a great film incentive tax break, and with Michigan having an awesome track record of very successful films being shot here, decided to do the location shoots in…Vancouver!

In these tough economic times, one would think a company trying to make a product consumer-friendly to US consumers would avoid “out-sourcing” to a foreign country and take advantage of cost savings to help create jobs in the market that the company is wanting to sell its product in. Am I being nuts here?

Don’t get me wrong. I love Canada. The Fish Market in Windsor is the best place I have ever been to for tasty salmon. I grew up listening to the hits on the Big-8 CKLW. And if it weren’t for CBC TV I would have not had the opportunity to see Detroit Red Wings games on TV when I was a kid (before ESPN, Versus, and local Detroit TV carried the games). But when you can save a boatload of money by shooting Lansing scenes in Lansing, Michigan, why go to Vancouver? Vancouver looks nothing like Lansing.

Also, with the faux NHL team angle (Lansing Ice Dogs), shooting in Lansing would have made perfect sense. Michigan State University has the top-notch Munn Ice Arena and their hockey program has put out great NHL players like Buffalo Sabres’ goalie Ryan Miller and brother Drew (Red Wing forward), the Nashville Predators’ Adam Hall and others. And with the Detroit Red Wings just 60 miles down the road, there could have been some top-notch hockey action here in Michigan for the cameras to shoot. After all, Detroit is “Hockeytown”, and the Detroit Red Wings can kick the Vancouver Canucks butts any day.

But for whatever reason 20th Century Fox decided to shoot “Tooth Fairy” location shots in Vancouver. So, thusly I am conflicted. Lansing gets national and international exposure, yet the studio didn’t do that exposure true justice by allowing movie goers to really SEE Lansing in the movie. But because the kids want to see it, I will go. If for nothing else but to see how ridiculous Dwayne (For The Last Time, Stop Calling Me The Rock!) Johnson looks wearing a tutu.

Reality Show Syndrome

It was the gleam in his eyes that told me this was something to see.

As I was working on production this past Thursday, Mojo from our sister station Q-106 stopped in the doorway and said, “CNN…Channel 35…right now. You won’t believe it!”

I turned on the TV in the 92-X studios and there it was…a huge Jiffy Pop tin flying in the skies over Colorado. The news heads were saying that a 6-year-old boy was inside this thing as it was cruising out of control. My first thought was this was surreal. Then as it sunk in that this was really happening, I thought that somebody blew it and didn’t wait until next month to have this happen during TV sweeps. But then I thought what if there really IS a little boy in this thing? That would be terrible! Oh, the humanity!!!

Then the background on the boy and his family began to come to light; it turns out the family was on the ABC reality show “Wife Swap”. Then CNN shows a clip of the dad…who turns out was an iReporter for them. Then the thing comes down, and no boy inside. All of a sudden I began to smell a rat.

As it turns out, the boy was hiding in the attic…supposedly, by the boy’s account, under instructions from dad for “a TV show”. The kid was so conflicted that he threw up on live TV Friday morning several times on several interviews. Cops get warrants to search the family home for financial records, phone records, notes and computers. Then earlier today (Sunday), an announcement that it was truly a hoax and felony charges being brought. The family’s motivation? A shot at reality show stardom.

It’s no secret I’m not a fan of “reality” television. However, since the first episode of “Survivor” came on the boob tube over a dozen years ago, we have been mesmerized by it. “Real” people in “real life” situational drama. “Survivor” begat a huge entourage of like-minded shows that had people locked up in a house together, challenged into doing incredible stunts, losing weight, having nannys come into your house, vie for the affections of a member of the opposite sex to marry them, and attempt to succeed in doing corporate tasks so that they won’t hear the fateful words, “You’re fired!”

This type of programming is just what networks began salivating about. Shows where they don’t have to hire a writing staff, hire union actors, have low production costs, and make the networks huge profits. Market them to the masses and you’ve got hits. Problem is, the participants of these shows tend to be star “wanna bees” and somewhat left of center. Richard Hatch…Sanjya…and all the rest. And now these folk.

I firmly believe we have a psychological condition here I like to call “Reality Show Syndrome”. People wanting that 15 minutes or 15 gigabytes of fame and willing to do anything to get it. And, no thanks to the network’s marketing mentality, people wanting to be “voyeurs” into this glimpse of supposed “reality” programming. People who are glued to their sets to see what happens on their reality shows this week, and the next, and the next.

But finally it seems the meltdown has begun. John and Kate, and now Richard and Mayumi Heene (who, by the way, met in acting school in Hollywood before getting married). My hope is that we’ve finally “jumped the shark” when it comes to reality shows. And hopefully, John Q. Public can finally wake up to what is going on here, and not give credence to the networks desire for economically stingy production costing and huge profit making programming to rule the airwaves.

You want Reality TV? Tune into the Evening News. Now THAT is reality.

The Toilet Paper Doppelganger

Being a single dad can be fun, but a lot of times it is exhausting. After time in at work and time with the kids there’s not much me time. What me time I do get I utilize to the fullest to enjoy things that I like…that are my life.

However, with such a hectic itinerary I tend to make shopping a low priority. Besides dealing with my packed schedule, the fact that I dislike large “super center” stores and their U-Scan lanes contribute to this prioritizing of shopping.

So, with this dislike in my psyche, I came home one night earlier this week from a long day. Along the way I was the strategist in taking care of the evening’s proclaimed tasks before settling in for the night; drop off leftovers at work for lunch the next day and pick up a pair of movie tickets for friends so that they can enjoy a movie out on me for their 1st wedding anniversary.

I get home after my extended time on the road, and like any single dad ran to the bathroom to seek relief from road rumble on my bladder. When I enter, I notice it immediately…the item I subconsciously put on the low priority rung of the ladder. I was out of toilet paper. So, with a sigh, I resigned myself to go back out in the car and make the quick drive to the local “super center” to get bathroom tissue on rolls.

Late evening trips to the super center store are always a joy; searching 10 minutes for a parking spot, being held up at the entrance by some fool standing in the middle of the entranceway staring up at the ceiling like they are lost and have never been in a super center ever before in their lives. And don’t get me started on trying to get past people waddling in the middle of the aisle, pushing their shopping cart at a negative 2 MPH.

I get to the aisle with the toilet paper, grab a Charmin™ 12 pack of double roll size because it’s on sale, and spin to head towards the registers up front. It was on the way to check out that I had an unnerving experience.

Halfway up to the check out, a man turns into the aisle in front of me. At first I don’t pay attention and continue my stride. But as I continue to head up front a cascade of thoughts hit me as he’s walking in front of me. He has a green shirt on…just like mine. He’s wearing tan dress slacks…just like mine. And under his arm he is carrying a 12 pack double roll size package of bathroom tissue that is on sale…just like mine! And in that moment, I came to the realization that walking in front of me was MY TOILET PAPER SHOPPING DOPPELGANGER!!!

A warning light flashed in my mind. He and I were walking in perfect lockstep…like marching in formation in the infantry. My brain flashed back to Air Force Basic Training in San Antonio and my T.I. with the thick Mexican accent as he called off cadence while we did marching drills. He also used to tell us constantly to “keep yur choos pit chined” (Keep your shoes spit-shined) and to not take forever in the latrine in the morning when we went to “chit and chave” (obvious…do I need to translate?). Add the fact we had similar clothes on and both of us the same 12 pack of toilet paper under our left arm, and you have a weird visual.

This was too freaky of a coincidence for me to want to be affiliated with. People just can’t process seeing such an occurrence as this without jumping to some oddball opinion. I’m mimicking the guy in front of me. I’m lost and following him to lead me back to the parking lot. Or we’re a two-man space alien army from another planet come to deplete Earth of all its bathroom tissue. In less than a second my brain freaked out and put into effect a plan of evasive action…execute a bob, weave and navigate away.

I immediately ducked left through the pallet sale items in the middle of the main aisle, nearly knocking over a methodically and artistically stacked mountain of chicken noodle soup cans – something some employee took hours of his day to create. Unfortunately, the maneuver put me in the path of a large woman in a power chair nearly running me over.

I then took the long way to the checkouts, into the frozen foods, through produce, a quick trot through the cleaning products aisle where I find they actually carry the replacement bulbs for my lava lamp, up through produce and past the bakery. The U-Scan is up ahead and no sign of my doppelganger. Home free!

As I stand in line for the U-Scan, I notice a young woman looking at me and smiling. So I smile back. Then, she smiles even bigger. I begin to wonder if she is really smiling back at me or someone else? My brain tells me to turn around and look behind me. Right behind me in line is my toilet paper doppelganger, smiling back at the young woman.

Automatically, my eyes darted to the ground. Of course, my “choos were pit chined”.

Just when I thought politics couldn’t get weirder

I am not a political aficionado by any stretch of the imagination. I have political views, but I do not debate or pontificate on them ad nauseum. I leave that for the talk shows and my morning partner. But what I have gotten wind of happening to the south of us here in Michigan has me scratching my head saying, “Huh? What?!?” and laughing out loud at the same time.

Just down the road in Detroit we had a mayoral scandal last year with Kwame Kilpatrick. He was convicted of crimes in office, sentenced and had to resign. Because of this, Detroit held a special election to fill the position of mayor, which was won by former Detroit Piston great and successful businessman Dave Bing. But Detroit has nothing on Memphis, Tennessee and their latest mayoral debacle.

Back in June, Memphis mayor Willie Herenton announced he was resigning from office to run for Congress. A special election was called for at that time to occur in October to fill the vacancy. Four weeks ago, Herenton resigned. The candidates began to form and debate. Problem is the candidate field is filled with incompetence and strangeness…none of them worthy to hold the office of Mayor of Memphis.

One of the candidates is very strange to say the least. He calls himself Prince Mongo, hailing from the planet Zambodia…I’m not making this up! Check out this video of Prince Mongo in action…



Prince Mongo proved to be the only bright spot in a recent mayoral candidate debate done by local TV in Memphis, which you can see in the following video…



And just when you thought this couldn’t get any weirder, two weeks ago Herenton, who has made multiple resignation announcements, retired from the Memphis Mayor's position, announced his candidacy against Steve Cohen for Congress representing the 9th Congressional District, picked up a petition to run for mayor in the upcoming special election. Yes, that's right. Willie Herenton who retired from Mayor of Memphis, has picked up a petition to run in the special election to replace himself. Here is an interview where he tries to explain his rationale to Memphis TV 5 anchor Joe Birch…



This guy needs to be out of politics, and should pay the over $1 million dollars to pay for the special election to replace himself. And the sad part of all of this, odds makers say he will win the special election.

All of a sudden I am having flashbacks of the late former Detroit Mayor Coleman A. Young riding the People Mover with a bag full of Krugerrands.

Thoughts on zebra stripes and potential wasted

This past week I've been on vacation. It has given me a chance to think, to reflect, to ponder and to appreciate many things...as well as put up a post on the ol' blog, which I have been neglecting to do for awhile.

This summer has been a unique one...one that will stick in the crevices of my memory for the rest of my days. Unseasonably cool temps and above average rainfall have made me wonder if I will ever see a sunny and hot summer in Michigan again. Of course, that logic is ludicrous. My meteorologist and global warming detractor friends will remind me that it's all cyclical. My hope it that it is. But the things that will stick out in my mind the most about this past summer are not the unusual weather we've had here in Michigan, but these two things...zebra stripes and potential wasted.

Yesterday came word of the death of Adam Goldstein, a.k.a. DJ AM in New York of an apparent drug overdose at the age of 36. This is just a continuance of talented people this year who have meet an untimely demise, as a previous blog post spoke of. As part of the brotherhood of club DJs from my days as an industrial beat mix pioneer back in the 1980s in Detroit, DJ AM’s passing has a strong resonance with me. He survived the fiery plane crash last year with Blink 182 drummer Travis Barker, narrowly escaping death, only to succumb to the overindulgence of addiction from trying to deal with the crash.

So let's get back to the two things that will stick out the most in my mind from this past summer. You all more than likely have heard the saying, "A zebra can't change its stripes." Maybe you remember it more as "A leopard can't change its spots." I have been reminded of this saying lately in dealings with some talented folks who have crossed my path in recent history. They have incredible talent, but to progress and to realize the potential they have, they need to make some changes to either their work ethic, the way they treat others, their perceptions, and/or their perceived fears and demons. However, they tend to dismiss gentle reminders that these roadblocks stand in their way between their current mediocrity and greatness, which in essence is wasting their true potential.

Over the years my paths have crossed with many talented individuals. Some have gone on to success in much bigger and better things in many fields and genres. I could "name drop" here with a list, but I won't. Others I've known have failed to realize their potential and either languished in the background of anonymity, became frustrated because they never caught the elusive “brass ring”, chased something that was not in line with their true talent, let their fears or habits hold them back from the success they deserve, fail to listen to those wishing to help them realize their true potential, or foolishly touch that “third rail” and prematurely check out off the planet.

I’ve had the privilege to listen to DJ AM’s last rough mixes. I’ve listened to them several times this morning. Being a beat mix DJ myself, I can hear the thought processes that occur in a DJ’s mix as clear as if they were speaking them in conversation to me. In DJ AM’s last mixes I hear an eclectic thought process filled with questioning and fear. It was a haunting listen for me, reminding me that life is fragile for those dealing with fears and demons. It also reminded me that I have passed through this valley myself years ago and have come through it a survivor to realize my potential in life. In the words of a musician friend of mine, “Life is precious, life is sweet.”

Awhile back I bought a book titled “The Essential Laws of Fearless Living” which opened my eyes to what holds people back from realizing their full potential…not wasting it by being held back by fears and behaviors that tend to sabotage success. I utilize what I’ve read in this book not only to help myself, but to help others I know that have true talent and potential that is being held back by subconscious sabotaging behaviors and fears.

I lent the book out a few months back to a very dear friend who I have seen tremendous talent and potential in, yet they seemed to have sabotaged it over the years and still seem to continue to do so. I hope that they read it…and hopefully I get the book back someday. If I don’t get it back though, no worries…if they keep it and use it to conquer their fears and realize success with their true potential, then it was much more than worth the price I paid for it. That is my hope.

Then I can add them to the long list of people who have crossed my path that have succeeded in realizing their true potential, passing through that valley of uncertainty victorious, and successfully “changed their stripes”.

Paying Tribute To A Real American Hero

Alright, I’ve been quiet on this blog for a bit. I spent last weekend out at the NASCAR races at MIS and was preoccupied. And it seems that all I’ve written about lately has been movie reviews and how well these flicks do at the box office. I feel that it has become stale and does not do the title justice – “Morning Musings”.

So if you are looking for a review of this weekend’s and upcoming movies, here’s the short of it. The Proposal: Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds romantic comedy – OK date movie. Year One: sophomoric comedy attempt with Jack Black and the guy that looks like he could be Dana Carvey’s little brother – hideous. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen: Shia LaBeouf – women go gaga for Shia, lots of action and CGI FX, should kick but at the box office. Now that’s out of the way, on with what my musings are.

Today is Fathers Day; the day of the year set aside to honor our dads. For ages it has been fodder for the jokes, misconception, and ignoring by the general populous. Hideous ties, Old Spice and the dumb singing fish on the plaque. And dads just looking for a day to sleep in and not having to mow the grass, paint the gutters, or deal with home improvement issues.

President Obama recently wrote an essay on Fathers Day that is published in today’s Parade Magazine. The son of father from Kenya and a mother from Kansas, Obama writes that he observes Father's Day not just as a dad grateful for his two daughters, but also as a son who grew up without a father in his life.

I know what Obama speaks of from family experience. My dad basically grew up without a father; his real dad leaving when he was only 5 and my grandmother remarrying a total jerk and alcoholic we used to refer to as “Whitey the Bullshitter” (pardon my language – it’s what he was called by all in the family). Quite the text book example of a dysfunctional family.

My first marriage ended with my finding my first ex-wife being unfaithful, then her filing for divorce and going into hiding with a new husband, causing me not to see my oldest son and daughter for 12 years. Found out years later that their “step dad” put them through hell: physical and mental abuse, and suspected sexual abuse of my daughter. So when my second marriage ended three years ago with her being unfaithful and her filing for divorce, I was bound and determined not to let the past repeat itself with my youngest daughter and twin boys.

I am not the perfect father by any means. I have made mistakes and allowed the demands of pursuing a career in media, music and entertainment to interfere with my paternal duties as well as my spousal ones. There are moments of all my kids’ lives that I’ve missed out because of this. Moments that I’ll never get back. It’s a loss that is difficult to accept at times.

I continually come across individuals from broken homes, some still kids and others full grown adults, who are and have been affected by it. My own dad is one who finds it hard to show true affection for my sister and me because of the absence of a real father in his life. And it affects the kids in ways that manifest themselves later on in life. Dads who are absent from their kids’ lives, and at times the mothers check out emotionally because of it as well, all have a lasting imprint on the psyche of a child when they grow up to be an adult.

This is why with my kids from marriage #2, I have made the choice to be in their lives as much as I can be. I spend time with them 4 days every week, as well as the usual every other weekend thing. It’s a sacrifice that sometimes puts a crimp in life for me, especially socially. Some women that have been romantically interested in me don’t seem to understand why I have taken on such an exhaustive commitment. They even have shown resentment and jealousy. But my job as dad did not terminate at my kids’ conception. What makes me a real man is not the ability to have a child but the courage to raise one. I guess you can say that it’s not about me here, it’s about the kids and doing what is right.

The other day I had a discussion with a close friend about just where one finds beauty in this world. In a time where North Korea’s Kim Jong Il wants to send nuclear warheads hurtling through space to wipe out countries for his domination of the world, other evil world players are trying to take over by force, and people in general intent on greed and being uncaring as they can, it seems hard to find where true beauty lies. My point was that love is true beauty.

Love for what is all around you and the appreciation for all the people, friends and the simple things in life. Being out at my family’s property in Brooklyn, MI late on a cloudless night and looking up to see billions of stars. Seeing the smile of a good friend and the laughter that ensues between the two of you as you share time together. Taking in the glories of nature all around us. Hearing your children say, “I love you, Daddy.” This is where I find true beauty in life and the world around me. It’s not “He who dies with the most toys wins.”

As kids we tend to forget the sacrifices our dads make to ensure we grow up right. Many of us have been resentful of them as adolescents. Some kids going as far as contemplating emancipation by “divorcing” their parents. But the truth of the matter is that none of us are perfect, even dads. It’s the dads that are able to take the resentment and rebellion and still show love through it all that make the difference. Even if they have difficulty actually telling us those three words, “I love you” (like with my own dad), remember that sometimes actions speak louder than words.

Happy Fathers Day, Dad, and to all the sacrificing, dedicated and true fathers out there. You are real heroes to children in a world so desperately needing them.

"Up" remains aloft atop this weekends box office

The Hangover and Up battled it out over the weekend to see which movie would finish on top this past weekend. The Hangover was the clear winner on Friday, hitting the jackpot with a $16.5 million opening day, but the Pixar adventure rose up past the new comedy on Saturday and Sunday to lead the weekend. Both films did well for their respective genres, finishing less than $1 million apart for the weekend.

Up claimed the #1 spot for a second straight weekend, with an estimated $44.2 million this past weekend, bringing it’s 10-day total to $137.3 million. Its drop was quite small for a movie performing at blockbuster levels, holding nearly as well as Finding Nemo at the 10-day mark and much better than WALL-E and Cars among past Pixar summer releases.

The Hangover performed better than original expectations, taking in an estimated $43.3 million its opening weekend. It was a much stronger opening than the genre-similar Wedding Crashers, Old School, Harold and Kumar and Dude, Where's My Car?

While The Hangover smashed, Land of the Lost crashed. The adventure comedy starring Will Ferrell, based on the 1970s television series of the same name, struggled with $19.5 million to finish #3. The start was lower than the similar Journey to the Center of the Earth from last summer as well as Ferrell's last TV adaptation, Bewitched.

The other new release this past weekend, My Life In Ruins, finished near the bottom of the top 10 at #9 with a modest $3.2 million. Featuring Nia Vardalos, creator of My Big Fat Greek Wedding, the debut was slightly less attended than the start of her last picture, Connie and Carla.

Among the holdovers this past weekend, Night At The Museum: Battle Of The Smithsonian hung in to claim the #4 spot this past weekend with $14.7 million bringing its 3-week total to $127.3 million. Star Trek saw the smallest slide downward, garnering $8.4 million this past weekend to take the #5 spot. It flew past predecessor Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn to become the second-biggest movie of the Star Trek franchise with $222.8 million in 31 days, and has its sights set to overtake the top spot currently held by the first movie, Star Trek: The Motion Picture.

This past weekend’s Top 10:
1.) Up
2.) The Hangover
3.) Land Of The Lost
4.) Night At The Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian
5.) Star Trek
6.) Terminator Salvation
7.) Drag Me To Hell
8.) Angels & Demons
9.) My Life In Ruins
10.) Dance Flick

"Lost", "Ruins" and "Hangover" the first matchup at theaters this weekend

Three movies begin this weekend to kick off June at theaters. Quite the variety between them, these films will prove to make this weekend an interesting one at theaters nationwide.

Land Of The Lost (Universal - PG-13) Will Ferrell, Danny R. McBride, Anna Friel, Jorma Taccone. I wish there were a time machine that could restore the little over an hour and a half I lost previewing this one. Somehow director Brad Siberling has managed to mangle this creative and genius 1974 Syd & Marty Croft kids TV show, much like he did with Casper The Friendly Ghost in 1995. Will Ferrell stars as has-been scientist Dr. Rick Marshall, sucked into a time warp and spat back through time. Way back. Now, Marshall has no weapons, few skills and questionable smarts to survive in an alternate universe full of dinosaurs and other malcreatened creatures. Ferrell and McBride do manage to pull out some genuinely funny moments from the sub-par script by Chris Henchy. Lost is almost worth watching, as the set designers have thrown together a Dali-esque world where random artifacts like Amelia Earhart's plane, a crashed flying saucer, and a Bob's Big Boy restaurant rise from the dunes. Matt Laurer (from NBC Today Show fame) makes a cameo, but even Matt deserves a better fate than to watch his career die in this flick. My rating: 2 1/2 stars.

The Hangover (Warner Brothers - R) Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Heather Graham, Justin Bartha, Jeffrey Tambor. From the director of Old School comes a new comedy about a bachelor party gone horribly wrong. Two days before his nuptuals, Doug and his three compadres head to Vegas for a night they'll never forget. But when the three groomsmen wake up the next morning with major hangovers, they can't remember a thing. Their ritzy hotel suite is trashed and the groom is nowhere to be found. With no clue of what happened and little time to spare, these guys must attempt to retrace their bad decisions from the night before in order to figure out where things went wrong and hopefully get Doug back to L.A. in time for his wedding. However, the more they begin to uncover, the more they realize just how much trouble they're really in. My rating: 3 1/2 stars.

My Life In Ruins (Fox Searchlight - PG-13) Nia Vardalos, Richard Dreyfuss, Maria Adanez, Sheila Bernette, Maria Botto, Rachel Dratch, Alexis Georgoulis, Ralph Nossek, Bernice Stegers, Harland Williams. Writer and star of My Big Fat Greek Wedding Nia Vardalos returns with this uplifting comedy. Nia plays Georgia, who has lost her kefi (Greek for "mojo"). Discouraged by lack of direction in her life, she works as a travel guide, leading a grab-bag group of tourists as she tries to show them the beauty of her native Greece while waiting to land her dream job. Opening their eyes to an exotic foreign land, she too begins to see things in new ways—finding her kefi and possibly love in the process. My rating: 4 stars.

The truth about the “Performance Tax”

Lately there has been a lot of buzz in the radio business regarding the “Performance Tax” legislation being tossed around Washington and on Capitol Hill. This “Performance Tax”, known as The Performance Rights Act, would change law so that AM and FM radio stations would pay performers to play their songs, as is true of satellite, cable and Internet music services. All four music platforms pay songwriters for use of their work.

The Honorable Rep. John Conyers, (D- Michigan) who represents a portion of Detroit, Dearborn, as well as Highland Park and Hamtramck, authored this piece of legislation.
Cries have been heard that this legislation would kill “free radio”, and that it would adversely affect minority-owned radio stations. The other side of the issue cries that they have been cheated for years out of performance rights for their songs being aired on.

In Rep. Conyers district there are a lot of retired performers from the heyday of Motown Records and he is showing a reactive stance toward these folks in his district. But there are many truths that seem to be glossed over here in this issue.

First off, these performers will not receive 100% of this “Performance Tax” collected from radio stations, but only 25%. 50% of the monies collected from this “Performance Tax” will go to the record companies. And this is where I think this whole issue stinks to high heaven.

For many years, record companies have been pushing their product on radio stations to play for free, helping to generate billions of dollars for the record labels on the backs of these performers, as with the case of those retired Motown artists that basically were shafted out of money for years. And radio has played them for FREE…not charging the record companies for air time like they do advertisers and specialty programs.

In this proposed legislation I see no guarantee that any of this “Performance Tax” to be collected would ever find its way into the hands of the actual performers. How I see it, this bill will send money to the record companies, with the biggest ones being foreign owned, thus sending this money overseas for the record companies to decide how much to give the performers.

The record industry has been operating under a failing business model for many years, just like the government says General Motors has been, forcing bankruptcy filings. Record labels regularly send multiple copies of the same song on CD to one radio station, which costs money to replicate these CDs, package and mail them out. They hire people to continually call radio station program directors and pester them to play their song. And they do this for over 4,000 stations in the US. And now they have the gall to charge radio stations for playing artists that they beg us to play.

In testimony on the hill, John Conyers has said “Your will pay us.” Who does Mr. Conyers mean by us? Is this a veiled front for his becoming a lobbyist for the record companies? Mr. Conyers’ ethics as a legislator has been called into question before. In letters sent separately to the House Ethics Committee, the FBI, and the US Attorney's office by two former aides of Conyers in 2006, allegations were made that Conyers used his staff to work on several local and state campaigns and forced them to baby-sit and chauffeur his children. Conyers "accepted responsibility" for possibly violating House rules in this matter.

Conyers wife Monica, Detroit City Council president pro-tem, also has had some ethics problems as well. In January 2009, Detroit's General Retirement System notified Monica Conyers that she owed $5,600 to the City, which included travel advances not spent on business class airfare to London. The pension board also claimed she hadn't submitted receipts for trips to Grand Cayman and Philadelphia. In April 2009, one day after denying the relation, Monica Conyers admitted she helped her brother, Reggie Esters, a convicted felon, obtain a city job that was originally to last four months, but was extended to two years, ending only when Esters' absenteeism became an issue. Esters is reported to have submitted a false resume.

It’s easy in these hard economic times to get riled up when someone has been wronged economically. But radio is not the enemy here. Radio has faithfully promoted performance artists for free on stations over the years, their performances sent to stations on “promotional copy” records and CDs. Last time I checked, the cost of promoting recording artists is the responsibility of the entity wishing to promote them, i.e.: the record companies, not the recipient of the promotional items.

Record companies have had their hands in the pockets of performance artists more and more…record and CD sales, merchandising, and even a percentage of the take at live concerts. I think it’s time that the record industry give back to the performers instead of collecting even more money from radio to line their pockets even more, giving a mere pittance of what they obtain to the artists.

John Conyers and his ignorance to the actual “bad guy” in this whole situation is just another thing from my home town of Detroit that I am embarrassed of. Thank goodness for the Red Wings!

Do we really know everything?

It seems that we always have the right answers. However, it also seems we don’t use them to make the right decisions.

The previous stream of semi-conscious thought came on me this weekend like the first pain you feel when you realize you have a bad sunburn. And it gave me revelation, an epiphany of sorts.

It spawned from a conversation I had with my kids in the car on the way home from school Friday. The elder twin Jason needs to pass a test in Central and South America geography in order to “graduate” to 7th grade. So I started quizzing capitals of countries.

“What’s the capital of Argentina?” I fired.

“Buenos Aries.” He replied.

“Panama?”

“Panama City.”

“Nicaragua?”

A slight pause, “Ummm….Manyana?”

I smirked, “Close, but no cigar. Managua. The capital of Peru?”

Now Jason was stumped. You could see the cogs of his mind grinding away like someone trying to shift a manual 5-speed transmission into 1st gear without depressing the clutch.

“Lima.” I revealed, after seeing enough facial contortion from Jason racking his brain before I lost self-control and began to laugh out loud.

“I knew that!” Jason retorted, as if to imply I hadn’t given him enough time to answer. Hey, you only get 10 seconds to answer on Jeopardy. I gave him nearly 20.

From my view, the state of everything lately has become a big realization that we all knew the answers but failed to apply them. There’s the credit crisis of extending more than what people could pay off, then Washington bailing them out with a little “nod, nod, wink, wink”. Then the automotive sector gloom and doom. We keep saying we knew the answers, yet we still are in this mess.

Banks were overextending credit back in the mid to late 1920s that people couldn’t pay back. And anyone who paid attention in American History class knows what happened back then. Not to say things are as bad as during the Great Depression…yet. But things are pretty screwed up economically right now.

As a kid in school I remember several teachers over the years say the same quote, “As GM goes, so goes the nation.” Growing up in the Detroit area you were aware of GM’s standing in the economic stream; the number one corporation in the world. Yet the same cats in Washington that swooped in to save the financial sector are balking at the same swooping in to save the auto industry.

The reality is that we as a planet have progressed beyond any stretch of the imagination in just the past 150 years. Photography, telephony, motion pictures, recorded audio, video, satellites, computers, the Internet, breakthroughs in health and science and space exploration have been the meteoric rise of progress we have all seemed to grow accustomed to. Hell, we even have radio-controlled cars and battery powered toothbrushes! The rub it seems is that we can’t come up with a solution to keep things moving forward without backsliding every so often.

Part of backsliding is obsolescence that progress brings. The cotton gin did away with the hundreds of man-hours to separate cottonseed from raw cotton fibers. Slide rules met their maker with the advent of the hand-held electronic scientific calculator. And of course, digital audio recording, delivery and storage made boom boxes so passé. Everybody has their iPods now…even me. Too bad that hasn’t affected those “thump rides” that vibrate the entire house at 3 AM when they drive by…sometimes so much the windows rattle.

However, this is not the case across the board. Television didn’t cripple the movie industry like they said it would in the 1950s. Wendy’s hasn’t put Burger King out of business. And when I cook on the grill, I still prefer charcoal over LP gas.

I lived an adventurous life. One far from perfect, I had to climb and scrap for a lot of footing I’ve gained over the years…learning a lot of things by trial and error. Not listening to parental advice, making bad choices, relationships, fatherhood and divorce. But since I’ve been through all that life experience knowledge from the School of Hard Knocks, I have no excuse to not know the answers to the tough questions I have right now. Do I pursue a relationship with a woman again? Do I take on new creative projects that are a bit outside my current platforms? Do I switch to boxers from briefs?

By George, this could be the breakthrough I’ve been looking for all these years!...

…or maybe not.

Time flies when you're...

The past week my ever-reflecting brain has reacquainted me with time. Not as a scholar would expound on Einstein’s Theory of Relativity, but more in a time line of events way.

We have coined phrases describing this mental reflection. “Would you look at the time...”, “I had a good time...”, “Was it that long ago?” and the ever-popular “Time flies when you’re having fun, making love, etc.” The list is growing as fast as the populous. Whenever there is passage of time, whether a microsecond or a century, we let the stream of our ongoing conscious lives place the time period we are gauging in a type of “sleep-mode”.

The Easter holiday season has always been a family holiday…Sunrise service, egg hunt, brunch, kick back on the sofa to nap off brunch, be awakened to the aroma of baked ham glazed in honey, and, of course, Easter break…before we became P.C. and called it “Spring Break”.

The memories of past play well during the Easter holidays. Having to dress up as the Easter bunny. Afternoons at my paternal grandparent’s house on the southwest side of Detroit (complete with Whitey the B-S-er and “Drunkle” Dwight), having to take my cat Ozone to the vet emergency because it ate an Easter Lilly (they are poisonous when ingested).

The most memories of Easter holidays were of my mom. She was always making it special for us kids, continuing to make it special as we grew up. Ironically, this past Easter Sunday, April 12, 2009, was the 15th anniversary of her passing. Caught myself saying, “Was it that long ago?” Mom was a bona fide chocoholic. She introduced me to Dove chocolate eggs, especially the truffle chocolate eggs, and I’ve been hooked ever since. Easter Sunday I went and bought a bag and ate the whole thing in her memory.

Her funeral was on April 15, rather appropriate for someone who worked in the financial sector. My dad, sister and I were almost killed in the procession to the cemetery when a Buick ran a light and came within inches of crashing into the side of our limo. It definitely broke the tension for the rest of the ride. All of us laughed about it, thinking what if he hit us? Would we have to cancel the interment at the cemetery if we wound up in the hospital? Would we make Channel 7 Action News at 6? Was this some sick joke that mom was playing on us from the “other side”?

However, more than just family memories reminded me of the space and time continuum. Life events that took place had me hitting my mental “Way Back Machine” in reflection lately (Yeah, I used to watch “Peabody & Sherman” cartoons as a kid…). Phil Spector’s legal drama finally ended earlier today with a guilty verdict earlier today for second-degree murder. The whole thing started 6 years ago. How time flies…

Then, at about the same time as the Spector verdict, the sad news of Mark “The Bird” Fidrych being found dead at his Massachusetts farm pinned under his truck hit the wire. In 1975 the Detroit Tigers sucked. But the beginnings to a much better team lay in the young Alan Trammel and Lou Whittaker. And then, in 1976, there was “The Bird”. He would talk to the ball. He would “groom” the mound with his hand to get rid of cleat marks. He would become the 1976 MLB Rookie of the Year and the #1 attraction at ballparks league-wide. I still have the baseball with his actual autograph on it… signed it right in front of me at Tiger Stadium. I talked to it tonight in his memory.

As we get older, more of these moments of time reflectivity occur, and not necessarily during holiday times. April 4th… June 22nd… July 17th… August 13th, 16th and 20th. Plus many others. It’s how we handle the residue of emotion from these reflections. Do we look at the good memories associated with them? Or do we spiral into a funk, go ballistic, or get so drunk we actually go to a Karaoke bar and heckle the singers? Whoops…just had a reflective moment…

When I hit 40, I first thought that my life as I knew it would be over. Arthritis would start creeping in, I would get slower in physical and mental ability, and would have to embarrassingly ask my doctor for a prescription for some E.D. drug. But then I realized it was how I was looking at this benchmark of time. I was looking at it as an old ending instead of a new beginning. And guess what? At the half-century mark I have no arthritis, I still am sharp mentally, and need no artificial stimulants in the bedroom. The slower body? Well, a little. But what I lack in “RPM” I make up in “driving skill”.

There are two ways to view a life event…either negatively or positively. We have tow ways of viewing these; as an ending or a beginning. Unfortunately, society views many life events as endings. The two “Ds” come to mind here…divorce and death. Divorce is draining to begin with emotionally, losing trust, joy and love in your marital partner. Death? Well, there’s not much you can do with that one. After all, it is quite the major ending, and unfortunately we human beings have a mortality rate of 100%.

Sometimes life events seem like a downward spiral in of themselves. Events that can put you over the edge, drive you crazy, hurt like hell, make you worry to the point of panic and make you want to sleep your life away. Going through a rough divorce. Dealing with financial loss. Dealing with a major injury accident. I have been through all three twice. The first time with each, I dealt with them as endings, and they effected my life negatively.

But I learned well. Dealing with each of these three major changes in my life the second time, I went in wiser from the previous times. Instead of looking at them as “endings”, I viewed them as “new beginnings”… new beginnings of good things to come. And so far, it has proved to be effective in maintaining a healthy and happy life. Not so much focused on the “quantity”, but the “quality” of life I live.

So I guess that the thought process does take the scholarly path with Einstein. It’s all about relativity. You tend to find in the grand scheme of things that time and age are both relative…it’s all mental attitude. Time moves as fast or as slow as our lives allow it to, and age is all in how you view yourself.

Now that I’ve figured this out, time moves so much slower now, allowing me to thoroughly enjoy it... family, friends, children, true love. And that’s what truly keeps you young… emotionally, intellectually, spiritually... and physically.

Memories come in all shapes and sizes

Yesterday was a very busy day. One filled with emotion, panic, worry, hope, relief and sadness. And each emotion was backed up by a memory from times past.

My oldest twin boy Jason suffered a head injury yesterday. An 11-year-old boy being an 11-year-old boy. Swinging by his arms between two tables, he slipped and fell hard - right on his head. He was in bad shape.

When my ex-wife called with the news, everything stopped. Emotions flooded over me. Then the memories hit. At first the recent time line recall of Natasha Richardson and her accident last week. Hit her head, everything seemed fine at first then…gone. You can imagine what that memory did to a dad who can freak out about his kids at the drop of a hat.

Then the “longer ago” recall began to take effect and I flashed back to my auto accident in 1999 where I was rear-ended at 70 MPH while stopped dead on I-94. By all rights, I should have died. Crushed the vehicle I was in into a sardine can. Then I began remembering the worried look in the eyes of my then 2-year-old twin boys as they saw me in ER – on a morphine drip with tubes and wires and my face badly damaged with teeth missing and facial parts rearranged – barely hanging on.

Thankfully, Jason is OK. The CT came back negative for hematoma. He now sports a huge bruised bump on his noggin the size of a golf ball. I will talk to the doctors today about having an EEG done just to play it safe.

However, one more event yesterday brought back the flood of emotions and memories. The event was not as traumatic, but still brought back the recall.

While I was waiting for the results of Jason’s CT scan, I went to an area of the hospital with WiFi internet to check email on my laptop. It was then I found out the news that former Tiger great George Kell had passed away at age 86 in Arkansas.

The flood of emotions hit me again. Sad to hear of the Hall Of Fame 3rd baseman and Tiger broadcaster’s passing. However, this time, the memories took me further back… back to a time of my childhood that filled my heart with much fondness.

Growing up as a kid in Metro Detroit in the 1960’s, you followed Detroit Tiger baseball two ways – on the radio and on the TV in black and white. Of course, going to Tiger Stadium as a kid, the vision of all the lush green interior was amplified in a kids mind, especially since the only other way I saw it was on our big old Airline black and white TV. Yeah. TV in black and white. With only channels 2 -13 until we got the UHF converter box. Yep, there was a converter box long ago…before the current DTV one.

And on the TV doing the Tiger games was George Kell. Kell was a former player with the Tigers in the late 1940s through the early 1950s. He had a laid-back drawl that just made you feel at ease, giving you everything you needed to know about the game’s progress. Much like his radio counterpart, the Hall Of Fame broadcaster Ernie Harwell. It figures, since Kell’s first stint at calling play-by-play was with Harwell doing a Baltimore Orioles game when Kell was injured .

Baseball was a big part of my childhood. Playing catch with my grandpa, Little League, pick-up games at Cherry Hill and Levagood Park, as well as Ford Field (the original one in Dearborn - long before the stadium Ford Field in Detroit was built).

My dad would tell me of George Kell’s glory days as a player with the Tigers. “Best 3rd baseman to ever play the game.” he would recall. Kell won the batting title in 1949 while with the Tigers, beating out the immortal Ted Williams by a fraction of a batting average percentage - .3429 to William’s .3247.

The following year was George Kell’s best. He walloped 56 doubles, led the league with 218 hits, and set personal highs with 101 runs batted in and 114 runs scored. He hit .340, second to Billy Goodman of the Red Sox in the race for the batting title. No one would hit as many doubles in any year until 2000, when Todd Helton slugged 59 for the Colorado Rockies.

George Kell joined the booth after Tigers broadcaster Mel Ott was killed in an automobile accident in 1958. On George’s recommendation, Ernie Harwell came to Detroit in 1960 as the radio voice of the Tigers, beginning a legendary 42-year career with the team.

"He had two outstanding careers, one as a baseball player, one as a baseball announcer," Harwell said yesterday. "He was certainly an icon in Detroit and Michigan."

I met George Kell in the latter years of his life when the Tigers were the ALCS in 2006 and Kell threw out the first pitch. It was quite a moment meeting such a great baseball man – both player and broadcaster. He was truly a class act – one of the nicest guys one could ever meet.

So, yesterday was a memory day for me. Memories of childhood and childhood play, the fun, scrapes and bruises that come with it as well. And memories of a great and gentle man who excited generations of baseball fans and Tiger fans as well.