Jackrabbits versus Gophers!!!

WOO-HOO!!!

South Dakota State University is going to play the University of Minnesota in football! Granted, it won't be til 2009, but that is FREAKING SWEET!!!!!

November 14, 2009, I'll be in Minneapolis, in my SDSU jacket, face painted yellow-and-blue, half snockered on Grain Belt Premium rooting on my Jackrabbits. Granted, they might get slaughtered, but it's better than playing Augustana!

The only way to make it better is to have the "Pride of the Dakotas" take on the "Pride of Minnesota" in a Battle of the Bands, upper-midwest style!

More stuff...

I haven't been on in a while (probably a week), so I figured I'd better leave you some tid bits as to what I've been up to.

Work has been work... mucho mucho hours. Overall, I think I've put in close to 70 hours this week. But that's okay. One thing... when I worked at Citibank, I couldn't wait to get out of there and I couldn't STAND to work 40 hours a week in that place. Now that I'm back at the radio station, sixty and seventy-hour workweeks aren't all that bad. Even if I AM salaried!

My big project is now working on our AM station, getting that all back in shape. Sadly, the station has been put by the wayside for a long time and it sounds like crap. So I'm updating it with new songs, new rotations, and soon, some new imaging. It's been a challenge, but I know I'm up to it.

Not much to report on the personal life... I think that's why I don't mind working long hours, less opportunity for me to have a personal life!

I got the opportunity to host karaoke this weekend. It's been a while since I've done that, but I had a good time.... and the extra money didn't hurt, either! But one of the most touching things I saw last night was when a soldier recently back from Iraq broke down while singing "American Soldier" Kup and I picked up the song for him and it was incredible! The entire bar started singing, some flashing their lighters and I heard the biggest round of applause I had ever heard in my time hosting karaoke. Not for my singing, mind you, but for this young sargent who had just spent 18-months in a volitile hell-hole. I'll have more on this in my next post.

And on that note, I hope you all have a wonderful Easter. Drive safe, and save me some extra ham!

Music List number 1

So if anyone has ever watched "High Fidelity," one of the running themes in the movie is about lists... lists of bad relationships, but most importantly song lists.

Now I'm not a music expert by any means. I play what I like and like what I play (unless its Carrie Underwood for the 18th frickin time in a row during my shift!!). But music is an important part of my life. It sets the mood, relaxes me, and can get me fired up for another day of waking up at 4:30 in the morning.

But my first list is songs to listen to when you want to relax... my top five....most of it is classical, but that's what gets me to relax.

5) "Blue Spanish Sky"-Chris Issak... beautiful, haunting. His voice was made for an acousitic guitar.
4) Second movement from New World Symphony-Antonin Dvorak... one of my favorite classical pieces... simple, relaxing...
3) "Greensleeves"-Ralph (pronounced "RAFE") Vaughan Williams... and old melody done, very very well. One of the finest of the British composers.
2) "Take Five"-Dave Brubeck... classy! cool! the sax is like floating on a cloud.
1) "Variations on a Theme by Thomas Tallis"-Ralph Vaughan Willams... like drifting away into outer space... or to the musty halls of a 16th-Century cathederal. Totally blew me away the first time I heard it!

So I hear that Backyard Broadcasting is buying out Feller in Sioux Falls.... I wonder if the meat cleaver will hack away a few more radio jobs?

I have a feeling that Backyard will sell out to Clear Channel in 24 months... then look for Lindsey Lohan on the radio 24-7!

I think I'll stick with Three Eagles.

24

Whenever something bad happens to me... I give myself 24 hours to feel bad for myself and wallow in self-pity and doubt.

24 hours is up.

Back to real life.

Now if I need to look for sympaty, I'll just check the dictionary... last time I checked, it was between "Shit" and "Syphillis!"

I needed a refresher course of the "Jackrabit1 Instiute of Who Gives A Fuck!"

Thought of the day....

After the day I had today... I think it would have been easier if I swore off women and became a priest! Hey, I'm Catholic! I've already got an in!

Becoming Apolitical

The other night I was out on a date... things were going swimmingly, and then the "3rd rail" of dating questions came up. And no, it was not about sex... GET YOUR MIND OUT OF THE GUTTER, YOU PERVERT!!!!

"What are your politics?"

You can ask anyone, from Miss Manners to my buddy Adam out in San Francisco, talking politics on a date are simply VERBOTEN. The only execptions is if you met at a "Save Air America" rally or at a Rush Limbaugh "Ditto-head" mixer! Then I suppose it would be okay. But to talk about politics while you're trying to have polite, friendly conversation is simply taboo in my book.

Speaking of politics, I'm getting to the point where I'm starting to no longer care about politics. When I post on message boards, I tend to stay away from anything political, instead posting on sports sites or on something that piques my interst... like the history of indoor plumbing!

I still have my political beliefs and I feel strongly about them. But I'm starting to realize that it's no longer worth the time nor trouble to publicly express them. When I have, one of two things happen: 1) No One Cares 2) I'm ripped a new ay-hole because my ideas don't "mesh" with the other persons.

It's the second reason that I'm starting to shy away from political discussion. I've began to notice that political discussion has quickly regressed into character assassination. While that's bad enough, it's also come to the point that if you don't "toe the line" one way or the other, you're derided as being for the opposite.

For a hypothetical example, let's say you are for education funding, but you're not for a bill that gives schools more money than you want to give. The bill is for 4 billion and you want to support 3 and a half billion. Well, according to the supporters of the bill, you are against kids, against teachers, and against education. Which is completely ridiculous. It's the whole "If you're not with us, you're against us" mentality.

And now you have all these people that say they will only associate with people that only share their politics. I think that is incredibly small-minded thinking on their parts. I have friends on all ends of the political spectrum; from ardent die-hard liberals to staunch conservatives, even anarchists! For me, politics is a non-factor; I hang out and am friends with these people because they are interesting people, who can carry on intellectual and sometimes warped conversations. But most of all, they respect me as a person and while we may not always agree with each others ideas, we respect them.

I guess that's what it all boils down to... respect. And politics today has absolutley zero respect for opposing viewpoints... both in the liberal and conservative ends of the spectrum. So from now on, don't talk politics with me.

I'm apolitical.