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Bon Jovial

December 18, 2010 / / 0 Comments

Need evidence that people can change? I’m sitting here listening to Christmas music on the radio. Changed the station from something else, to settle on Mix96 – which has been “All New” since about 1980, about the time I joined KWEN-FM. Mix96 still calls itself “All New” but this afternoon, there’s nothing new about the music.

That’s okay, too.

Bruce and Santa

Rockin' Holidays with Bruce & Santa

After years of working in formats that played continuous Christmas music in the days leading up to the holiday, I thought I’d never be on the speaker side of it. Compared to what the alternatives are programming, I’m happy to spend an afternoon with classic Yule carols, even if it means the occasional Jon Bon Jovi tossed in.

“Please come home for Christmas,” he wails, as if that would make her think about it. It really isn’t so bad as that…. (Whew! I was afraid lightning might strike me down after that remark!) Back in the day (the favorite phrase of the Crotchity Club…), I had no place in my holiday heart for Black Sabbath doing a rendition of Jingle Bells, or Journey pounding out an electrified version of Dashing through the Snow (Wink, Wink – Nudge, Nudge).

Meanwhile, I’m ashamed to say, my old station KBEZ is playing Aerosmith’s “Toys in the Attic” (presumably Christmas toys), followed by Cheryl Crow and Whitesnake. Nothing says “The Lord is Come” like Wang Chung’s “Everybody Have Fun Tonight.”

Meanwhile, we’ve moved on to “I Saw Mama Kissing Santa Claus.” Woo Hoo! Love that John Mellencamp and mostly – that accordian-fueled, foot-stompin’ Zydeco blast of Yuletide cheer!

Scrambled Legs.

December 17, 2010 / / 0 Comments

Now – if I had just read that headline, instead of having written it, the words would have been deciphered as scrambled eggs. At some point, my eyes and brain began plotting against me, telling me what I wanted to hear, instead of what was really there.

Bruce Springsteen

The Boss at 60: Bruce Springsteen

When I saw a magazine on my mother’s endtable with Bruce Springsteen on the cover, it became a copy of Rolling Stone. Later, when I thought to myself, “Why is she subscribing to Rolling Stone?” – I took a closer look and realized the magazine was AARP, news from the American Association of Retired Persons.

There’s the rub, I believe. Think about it. Springsteen on the cover of AARP. The headline reads, “The Boss Turns 60!” How is that possible?

It does go a long way to explain my eye-brain conspiracy. They’ve seen so many things, so many times, they aren’t bothering to connect the real dots. I saw a big green box outside a construction site with “Gator Tainer” written on the side.

At a glance, I came up with some kind of Cajun spuds, “Gator Taters.” I looked closer and it became trainer. “Ah!” I said aloud, wiping the confusion from my brow. “It’s an alligator trainer, keeping the gators in that green box. A little inhumane, but understandable.”

As I drove off, it dawned on me that the “Tainer” was simply a Con-tainer, a big box to put trash in. A dumpster.

Then, blinking hard, I took a big gulp of my Mountain Dew, and the cobwebs cleared and the world became a bright, clear, perfectly understandable and predictable landscape.

But Bruce Springsteen was still sixty.

An Amazing Feller.

December 16, 2010 /

When he signed his first contract, he received one dollar and an autographed baseball. He went straight to the majors – no minor leagues at all. He played for Cleveland, because that’s where he wanted to play. Stayed there his whole career.

Bob Feller

Hall of Famer Bob Feller

Bob Feller lived in that era when everyone had to have a nickname, so he was Blazin’ Bob or Rapid Robert. He had a fastball learned on the Iowa farm where his family built a baseball diamond in a cornfield. He is one of only two in baseball history to strike out their age – Feller fanned 17 batters in a game when he was at that tender age. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1962, having spent his entire career with the Indians.

Bob Feller died last night, age 92. Although he enjoyed good health most of his life, he began a decline this past year, and contracted pneumonia earlier this month.

In an age when baseball players follow the dollar, rarely staying with a single team, Bob Feller is one of the last of his kind. He was a world champion, in 1948, the last time the Cleveland Indians won the pennant, shortly after he returned from serving his country during World War Two.

Baseball fans of an age will remember Bob Feller. Cleveland will never forget him. Americans should admire a man whose convictions and patriotism were never compromised as he fought like a man for his country and played with boyish spirit the game of baseball.

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