Last month I took one of my two annual sick days. Like most folks I spent it laid out on the couch, watching the tube. Actually I spent it streaming Netflix off the Wii. (BTW, Netflix steaming is AWESOME. And you can buy unlimited streaming now for $7.99 a month. Totally worth it.) Now AJ ALWAYS busts on me for watching true crime/gang shows. Mainly documentaries, TV shows, that show the darker side of our Country. Not quite sure why at 32 I’m still SO fascinated by these kind of shows, but I am. It may be because I grew up in a shady neighborhood where this stuff happened all the time. But AJ, little miss suburbs, hates the stuff and won’t watch them with me.
I watched a documentary called ‘Cocaine Cowboys 2’, a gripping story about a Columbian woman who took over the cocaine import trade in the states in the 1970’s. She was jailed in the early 80’s, continued to run the game from prison until her release in 2004, when she was deported back to Columbia. Like most drug trade stories it is filled with murder, violence and money. If you get a chance, and it’s your thing, watch it, along with the 1st installment also.
I also watched Capitalism: A Love Story, a film by Michael Moore about the struggling state of our economy. Now, I know Michael Moore splits a room quicker than the pro-life/pro-choice argument. But this is actually a bi-partisan flick where he roasts Republicans AND Democrats for the state of our Country. Once again, a GREAT film that I think everyone should watch.
Now, I had a revelation when watching Capitalism, a film that AJ would watch with me. I told her, ‘You know why I like true crime shows? Because, those guys will at least stand up and tell you, I’m a crook, and I’m the best damn crook out there’. As opposed to the white collar, top 2% income earners, who lie to your face, and steal your money with a handshake. That’s why I admire the drug lords more than CEO’s.
You get a good drug dealer on camera and he will tell you how he runs the city, has all kinds of money, many women and doesn’t plan on stopping. As opposed to a bank CEO on Capitol Hill who still tries to sell you that he ‘knew nothing of what was happening’ as he takes a Govt. bail out and a million dollar bonus. There is no B.S. when it comes to the drug dealer. He knows he is nothing more than a drug dealer, he knows that his freedom, or life, could come to an end at any moment. And I can respect that in a weird way. Or at least I can respect it more than a guy who helped collapse our countries economy, and asks for a do over. That guy, you see, isn’t being straight up with you. That guy, I assume, honestly believes that he is just a normal guy. A normal guy who worked hard to get where he is, but I think he probably has just as much, if not more, blood on his hands than the drug dealer.
Call me a sucker for honesty. But I think there may just be honor amongst thieves. It just depends what kind of thieves your dealing with.
If you didn’t get a chance to hear Love Court this morning, Casey needed some advice on how to handle her Mother-in-Law. You see, her cousin-in-Law (Hubby’s cousin) was being held in jail on his 3rd D.U.I. arrest. And her Mother-in-Law was looking for the entire family to write ‘letters of character’ to the judge so this cousin could be released while awaiting trial. Casey had a HUGE problem with this, and cited she couldn’t be like the rest of the family and keep giving this guy ‘passes’. Good for her.
As a youth I was what you may call ‘troubled’ or perhaps…a trouble maker! It’s just who I was. I was always a goof off from a young age, and at 12 I started to evolve into a hot mess. I gradually kept ramping up and up when it came to my level of trouble. It starts at mouthing off to teachers, moving into breaking curfew, then experimenting with cigarettes & alcohol and before you know it you’re getting arrested at 15. By the time I was 16 I was on a dark path, filled with substance abuse, legal woes and even a brief stint of being incarcerated. (You learn something new about me every day, eh?)
At the time my Mom was doing the best she could with me. She was a single Mom, my Dad lived in Iowa and had the bare minimum (aka as required by the divorce decree) effort put into me. She had her hands FULL. And she never once excused my behavior. Point blank. The crowd I ran with had parents who would cover for them ALL the time. While my friends were getting a ‘pass’ I was getting the police called on me by my Mother when I wasn’t home by the City of Chicago mandated curfew.
The incident that sticks out in my memory the most is a certain court appearance I had. I was serving a year’s probation for minor crimes (Disorderly Conduct, etc.). And once in a while my Probation Officer would make a home visit. Now, once again, my friend’s parents would put on the happy face and report that their troubled child was doing great. And then there was my Mom, who would pull out a detailed log of everything I had done since my Probation Officers last visit. ‘Patrick stayed out past curfew on these days…’ I can remember her saying. “He smelled of beer and cigarettes on these days…’ would always warrant an eyebrow raise from my P.O. (as we called them). And then came a six month check up court hearing on my probation. Now, my Mom ALWAYS hated court. I was a juvenile, so she had to come with me. And being a teacher with the City of Chicago, she had to take a half day off work every time. This never put her in a good mood. At this court hearing, the judge asked my P.O. on my progress, and low and behold she pulled out the list that my Mom had dictated to her. The judge raised his eyebrows, looked up, looked down and looked at me. ‘Let’s see if 30 days upstairs can’t straighten this out’ said the judge. (‘Upstairs’ in reference to the Cook County Juvenile Detention Center which was located upstairs from the court) At this point I felt a Sheriff place a pair of handcuffs on me, I gave a quick glance to my Mom as I was lead out of the court room. I remember even the Sheriff said to me, as he lead me back to holding, ‘Kid, you need to get out of your Mamma’s house’. And at the time I couldn’t agree more! If she wouldn’t have told on me I wouldn’t be in this situation, of course glazing over the fact that my own actions had landed me in this place. I spent 30 days next to a 16 year old being held on 2 counts of attempted murder, a 17 year old being charged with home invasion and burglary and a 10…yes, 10 year old, accused of throwing a 5 year old off the roof of a public housing project to his death. (That kid and his case had Illinois create new laws as how to prosecute and punish such a young offender, but that’s another story) This is how I spent what should have been the first month of my senior year in high school. And at the time, I blamed it all on my Mom.
A lot has changed since then. I straightened up, went to college and left Chicago to follow my radio dreams. The 15 year old me couldn’t imagine being around past 21, let alone everything my life has become. And I owe a lot, if not all, of it to my Mom. She never ‘gave me a pass’. She never let me drop out of High School (even though I tried so hard). She never found it acceptable for me to be a screw up like everyone else.
Since those days a lot of the kids who ‘got a pass’ from their parents have unfortunately not been treated as kindly in this game of life. One old friend was stabbed to death while serving time in prison; another was just convicted of attempted murder and is serving 35 years to life and another left us because of a drug addiction. In retrospect I wonder what would have happened had their parents given them the tough love that I despised so much…
HUGE NEWS! Farm Aid's 25th anniversary concert is coming to Milwaukee on October 2nd. In case you don't know, Farm Aid is a yearly benefit concert to assist family farmers. So far, the lineup includes Willie Nelson, Neil Young, John Mellencamp, and Dave Matthews. More artists on the way, so stay tuned! Tickets go on sale August 14th.
Now that we're finally recovered from our Hodag hangovers, we have enough energy to say THANK YOU to everybody who made our virgin Hodag experience so amazing! We had a great time. It was hot, exhausting, exhilirating, etc. We met some of the nicest country music stars over the weekend! Topping our list is, without a doubt, Neal McCoy. What an incredible guy! Down to earth, kind, caring...where do we begin? He was just great. It was a true honor to introduce him onstage. Bucky Covington is a close second. We call him the "sleeper" act of Hodag. He put on an amazing show and was a super nice guy as well. His brother looks just like him! Dierks Bentley and Steel Magnolia are tied for a close third. We didn't get as much time with them, but they were very nice and grateful to their fans. Steel Magnolia stayed and partied all night for Josh's birthday. Dierks spent a large amount of time with the members of his fan club before he even met the press.
We have a few THANK YOUS to hand out: first and foremost, thanks to our listeners that created our "Hodag Virgin" t-shirts. They were a true hit over the weekend! The first place winner is below. A big thanks to the lady who made 1,800 Jello shots and continuously supplied our staff with them. Thanks to the ladies next door at "Fried WHAT?" They were a great stand to be positioned next to for the weekend. And THANK YOU to all the listeners that stopped by the booth to say hi and buy raffle tickets! We raised $4,000 for Children's Miracle Network with our autographed guitar.
Vote for AJ! LIVE with Regis and Kelly's "Women in Radio Co-Host for a Day"
Posted: 06/24/2010 by AJ
LIVE with Regis and Kelly are having a contest for WOMEN IN RADIO! Nominate and vote for our very own AJ to be a co-host on the show for a day! Just for nominating her, you have a shot at winning a $500 Krups Home Appliance Package! A new fridge would be the cat's pajamas, wouldn't it?
Here's why WE think AJ is pretty rad....
Describing AJ as a "just a radio host" is like calling a filet mignon "just a piece of meat." She has broken the glass ceiling and booted down the door of the boy's club. Nationally syndicated country reporter Nashville Kat said that she has the "best laugh in radio." She's much more than just a great laugh, too.
Not many radio hosts can say that they know how to Irish dance, speedskate, act, juggle and play several musical instruments. AJ spent 8 years before radio working at the Milwaukee County Zoo, where she did everything from moving life-size dinosaurs to chasing kangaroos.
AJ started her radio career as an intern and a promotions assistant in Milwaukee. She set up booths at the State Fair, handed out stickers and updated websites in her senior year of college. Deciding that she might want to crack the mic, she stayed late and put together some audio. She eventually landed a job hosting a weekend show in Appleton, Wisconsin. She drove 3 hours round trip once a week to host her first Saturday on-air shift. This lead to on-air jobs in Milwaukee and Sheboygan, and eventually in Seattle.
She landed back in Wisconsin and started a morning show with her husband Pat, a fellow radio professional. AJ has never been shy about sharing her personal life on the air. She chose to have her wedding broadcast LIVE over the internet, asked listeners to vote on her bridal hair/make-up, and had the audience give her advice on potty training.
She is the proud mother of a 3 1/2 year old boy named Dillon and continues her love of Irish dance through teaching. She somehow balances being a morning radio host with being a mother, housewife and Irish dance teacher. AJ would be PROUD to represent Wisconsin on LIVE with Regis and Kelly!
CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW TO NOMINATE AND VOTE FOR AJ! YOU CAN VOTE ONCE A DAY...SO GO FOR IT!
Yesterday, John Travolta and Kelly Preston announced that they are expecting their 3rd child. First of all, we have to say CONGRATULATIONS to the two of them. They've been through a lot in the last year, with the loss of their son Jett and most recently, the loss of their family dogs. As parents, we can't imagine what the impact would be of losing a child. Absolutely....devastating.
But can a new baby really "fill the void" of loss that they're feeling? Let's keep it real. John is 56, Kelly is 47. John will be almost 75 years old when he/she graduates high school! We think that bringing a child into the world is a beautiful thing, regardless. But aside from that, what will this child's upbringing be like? There's a lot of concern right now over the risks of Kelly having a child at this age. Women that get pregnant over the age of 35 (i.e. Sarah Palin) have a 1 in 100 risk of having a baby with complications, mainly Down Syndrome. Obviously, this is all "luck of the draw." But in all honesty, we know TWO women personally who had babies in their 40's and those children both have Down Syndrome. And at their age, in their careers, will this baby be raised by a nanny?
We're not trying to be crass or cruel at all. If any couple deserves happiness, it's a couple that's lost a child. But we're parents, too. And we just hope that they're not putting their child or themselves at risk to fill an emotional void that's been left by Jett.
Watching this interview, we still could not BELIEVE that all of this happened! It all seemed so, well, stupid when the news broke. So stupid that it couldn't be true. We're still wondering how he got away with speaking about NBC at all, since the network has prohibited him from saying anything negative about them. It seems like it was all about money, period. There's no way they could expect Conan to pull in a billion viewers in 6 months. However, we're pretty sure most of America is on the same page...Jay Leno is still not funny.
The Academy of Country Music's Awards were last night. First off, we'd like to point out how much more enjoyable it was than some of the other snobby awards shows that are on. The ratio of performances to awards was super high. Did you catch the "I should've won" look from Carrie Underwood when Miranda Lambert won "Top Female Vocalist?" C'mon, Carrie! Between you and Lady A, nobody else really won anything! Give up a few this year, you're still the biggest thing since sliced bread.
Call us conspiracy theorists, but was it a little strange that LL Cool J introduced Taylor Swift? Sure, between Cher and Lindsey Vonn, there were some...shall we say, "weird" appearances of the night that had nothing to do with country music. But LL Cool J was, by far, the most unexpected. Do you think it might have been the rap community trying to cool the waters after the Kanye/Taylor fiasco?
We have to admit, we were a little bummed when Kenny Chesney didn't sing live. Hopefully, his voice was shot, and that was the reason. But it was pretty obvious.
Very surprised at some of the artists/groups that went home without any awards! Taylor Swift, Zac Brown Band...both went home empty-handed. Although, Taylor very much caters to a younger, more teenage audience. Which leans more towards Top 40 radio, not country. But she was very excited for the artists that won awards in her categories. But ZBB? Really? Nothing?? Disappointing.
That's okay, we still look forward to checking them out at Country USA.
We don't make it a big secret, we really despise Kate Gosselin. Pat and I used to be the biggest fans of Jon and Kate Plus Eight. Originally, it was a show about an ordinary couple with an extraordinary amount of children. Remember the episodes when Jon and Kate used to work normal jobs? We don't remember when it happened, but at some point, they both quit their jobs. The show quickly became about their free plastic surgeries (Kate received a tummy tuck, Jon got hair plugs), vacations, free gifts, etc. Then, the show became about Kate being a superstar. And finally, both parents made the tragic mistake of playing out their divorce on the show, instead of keeping it a private family matter.
Are they aware that their children will eventually see all the footage from this time in their lives??
Kate has continually played herself off as a "single, working mother." I'll give her an inch here...you can't believe everything that's said in the media. Her sister-in-law and brother have spoken out against her, she has reportedly cut ties with her family, etc. But not for one second do we think she's a "single, working mom." We know single, working mothers. And they don't have nannies, plastic surgeries, TV shows, etc.
After the suspension of Jon and Kate Plus Eight, Kate's had a pretty miserable run on Dancing with the Stars. She's now announced a new show on TLC called Twist of Kate, where she will respond to fan mail. So basically, she's going to be talking about herself. Again. They're also going to be filming new episodes of Kate Plus Eight, obviously without Jon. Her new book, I Just Want You To Know: Letters to My Children on Love, Faith and Family, consists of letters that she wrote to her children. Does this woman keep ANYTHING to herself?
Our plea to Kate: PLEASE GO AWAY! Judging from excerpts from your new book, your children have not healed. Take some time OUT of the spotlight and focus on your family, before your beautiful children end up in kiddie rehab. And if taking time out of the spotlight means you don't get a paycheck? GET A REAL JOB.
