Category: Radio

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Tuesday Night Grab Bag O’ Thoughts

Here’s what I’m all about:

1.  It was recently reported on the news that 2008 was actually the coolest year on a global scale since 1997. Right now a HUGE chunk of North America is dealing with temperatures below zero – and as dangerously cold as -40°F in Minnestota and North Dakota !  The outer edge of this MASSIVE Arctic outbreak will reach America’s Rivera over the next couple of days as temperatures plunge into the upper-40s early in the morning. This global warming is getting out-of-control !

2.  Now that you’ve finished giggling over yesterday’s ‘Monday Night Countdown’ I can reveal to you that the reason why I’m taking the Miami-Dade Metrorail system is because I’ve been summoned to Jury Duty tomorrow morning. It was a lot of fun keeping that little tidbit of information from my dear friend Ela O. 😆

3.  I recently had a dream while sleeping at night that involved me, a microphone, lots of cool music, and my very own radio gig at 91.9-CALL-FM – my favourite radio station in the entire universe. I’m just putting that out there.

4.  I am currently searching for the most delicious French Toast available for public consumption within 10 miles of the city limits of Homestead. If you have any leads then please contact me immediately !

5.  My little brother has some agenda items on his mind as well. Here they are unedited and in its entirety:

Uhhh yes, I DO believe I requested THAT fortune. I went to Vegas seeking fortune, and all I found was misfortune, and a wallet that is now $90 lighter.

Some more random thoughts from your little brother:

1. Why does ANYONE think they will go to Vegas and actually win money? The scenario remains the same every time I go there. On the airplane ride to Vegas, everyone is happy, joyful, and confident. On the airplane ride back home leaving Vegas, everyone is tired, sad, frowning, and completely silent.

2. Video Poker is a sham. SO is video roulette. SO is video Blackjack. I lost a lot of money on all three, then I started to play at the actual card tables with an actual dealer. I discovered a favorite new game. I discovered Pai Gow Poker. I started playing with $60. I got up to $80, and then I left broke. The GOOD thing about playing Pai Gow poker however, was the fact that my original $60 lasted me about 4 hours in gambling time. That equates to 4 hours in excitement, laughs, cries, exclamatory remarks, 2 different dealers, me joking around with the pit boss, and about $80 in free drinks at the table. I personally think I came out ahead…

3. GO RAVENS. Yes, all of my home teams are out of the playoffs. The Dallas Cowboys, The Washington Redskins, the Jacksonville Jaguars – ALL OUT. Heck, they didn’t even MAKE the playoffs. However, my home team BY DEFAULT (I was born in the state of Maryland and lived there for 5 years) is still in the playoffs and going strong. The Baltimore Ravens are MY pick to go to the Super Bowl this year, and I like them a lot. I like the fact that their QB is a ROOKIE! I like their defense! Personally I think Ed Reed is a good candidate for LEAGUE MVP. So, I SHALL root for the Ravens, and if they go to the Super Bowl, I might even go out and buy an Ed Reed football jersey.

So Bro, I’m right there with ya. I got that MARYLAND BELTWAY SPIRIT TOO!!!!

4. Cigahs? Cigawettes? (Inside joke between Chris and I). I did NOT hear any glorified salespeople with speech impediments not being able to pronounce their “R’s” this time around. As a matter of fact, I didn’t see or experience many people smoking at all in the casinos. Is America actually wising up and getting more healthy?

5. As usual, I developed another ranomly strange taste for something I normally do not indulge in when I am at home. When we were in Hawaii, I drank coffee like 6 times a day for no apparent reason. In Alaska, I went crazy for the Creme Brulee desserts. So in Las Vegas last week, I had a very strange craving for….. Cranberry Juice. I drank Cranberry Juice every day for breakfast, and even for lunch and dinner. I have no idea what it was about it. I just needed to drink cranberry juice. I have since switched back to my normal drinks of Water, Diet Sunkist, and Gatorade, and I have not had a craving for Cranberry Juice since I returned to Texas.

6. UFC 93 this weekend. I’m picking Rich Franklin over Hendo, and Shogun Rua over ancient Mark Coleman. Honestly, what is Mark Coleman trying to prove by getting back in the ring at 44 years old?? Stay retired!! I’m just glad he didn’t fight Brock Lesnar as originally planned.

7. CES Show…. Underwhelming is the best way to describe it. The big thing this year was 3D TV. Let me tell you this. Not only will it NEVER be a big hit with the mainstream audience, but I wouldn’t buy it. It hurt my eyes to look at.

I saw many “celebs” there, and may news networks filming. As a matter of fact, I walked right by Good Morning America AND Spike TV when they were filming. I saw Wilmer Valderamma (Fez from That 70’s Show), and I almost met Quinton Rampage Jackson. Professional video gamer FATAL1TY challenged my friend and I to a game of Quake 4 in front of about 200 people, my friend ended up going up on stage (I chickened out), and my friend and another guy got beat 22 to -1 against FATAL1TY, who was playing ONE HANDED!!!

I’ll say this about the CES. Here are my parting words, a la Jerry Springer. The CES show is full of glitz and glamour. It’s loud, obnoxious, busy, and bright. But, it’s a LOT of walking, a lot of lines, a lot of rude people, and mass chaos at times. So, stay home and watch G4 to see all the new gadgets coming out.

8. Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother, Two and a Half Men, and Worst Week were all brand new last night and very funny.

9. American Idol starts tonight! YAY!

That is all…. I’ve written enough and I should probably get back to work now. LOL

~ Danny

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Driving Money Radio Shopping Travel

Monday Night Countdown

Bright and early this Wednesday morning I’ll be jumping aboard the Miami-Dade Metrorail system for the first time in perhaps a decade.

Here are the TOP 5 things I’m looking forward to about that:

5.  I get the coolest non-Google Street View view of overly-congested Useless-One (South Dixie Parking Lot) – from about 25 feet up in the air.

4.  I’m on a never-ending fact-finding mission to see if any new and exciting shopping center districts are currently under construction or open for business along Useless-One. Hey – it’s how I discovered The Shops At Sunset Place (my former playground) back in 1999 !

3.  I’m yearning to know if that train is still leaving on Track 5 … for Anaheim, Azusa, and Cuc … amonga. (This is an old radio reference to ‘The Jack Benny Program’ circa 1949. If you have no clue what this means then you are simply a young buck. Get it ? – Buck ? – Buck Benny ? – Oh never mind.)

2.  I enjoy visiting the only place on Earth that accepts as fare every single U.S. dollar coin ever minted since the Declaration Of Independence was ratified.

1.  I don’t have to deal with three very scary Expressways that always make me nervous and sweat – the Don Shula, the Palmetto, and the Dolphin. I’ve had many near-death experiences on all three of these highways over the past 20 years.

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Driving History Life Music Radio Travel

Saturday Night Retro

1989 – I started off the year in January by buying a brand new car for the first time in my entire life. I was tired of riding my 10-speed bike all over Homestead Air Force Base, so I bought a bright and shiny new red 1989 Geo Spectrum. It would go on to become my longest-tenure car. I had it for over 8 years – driving it for 96,745 miles. Since the purchase of that first car exactly 20 years ago this weekend I’ve driven just over 230,000 miles !  That’s an overall average of exactly 11,500 miles per year – just below the national driving average.

I bought that car when I was 21-years-old and living in one of the many dormitories on base. That car gave me the freedom that I wanted at the time to explore the South Florida all around me. It took me through 8 crazy years of my life – through the remainder of my turbulent 20s. It took me on countless road trips up north. It sat idle for a couple of months while I was in Saudi Arabia during Operation Desert Storm in 1991. It survived the Category 4 hurricane winds of Andrew on the morning of August 24TH 1992. It moved me back up to the Washington D.C. area a week after the hurricane destroyed Homestead, and it returned me back to (Central) Florida about 6 months later. It eventually brought me back down to Homestead and the air base in March of 1994. It moved a lot of my possessions to my current home here in Homestead in June of 1995 – including my little feline buddy Boots.

What a cool little car that was – chock-full of a lot of great memories of my life at the time. No other Saturn since then has even come close.

This song reminds me so much of that year of 1989. I bought it on cassette single (that was the hot music medium at the time), and I played it over and over again. This is one of those few songs that I consider to be a pivotal theme song of the autobiographical soundtrack of my life. It’s from the legendary rock band Poco. They’ve been in existence as a group for the past 40 years – virtually my entire life !  Here’s their huge pop radio smash from 1989 – “Call It Love”:

Categories
Music Radio

Monday Night Countdown

It’s my TOP 5 favourite hit music artists of 2008 !

5.  Hawk Nelson – “Friend Like That” was MASSIVE !

4.  The Wedding – “Staring At The Light”, “I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead”, “Receive”, and “Return” all rocked 2008 hard !

3.  Capital Lights – The one-two power-pop punch of “Out Of Control” and “Outrage” made me their biggest fan in Homestead !

2.  Falling Up – Their 2006 hit “Contact” was part of the soundtrack of my awakening during that Summer. They are a hit music making machine. Hits # 5 (“Goodnight Gravity”) and # 6 (“Maps”) from them since the start of my journey have been their best works to date !

1.  Children 18:3 – I think that even ‘Ritz The Trustworthy Teen‘ may be – yeah – shocked – to find out that this is my favourite rock band of the year. OK so they are hardcore punk brothers and a sister who are about half my age and probably shop a lot at Hot Topic, but kid they ROCK my face off !  “Homemade Valentine” is my current favourite smash hit on the radio !

Here’s one of their big smash hits from 2008 – “All My Balloons (Are Popping)”.