What A Year It's Been!

On April 12, 2011, no KUPL listener had started rambling on KUPL's website.  There was nothing from listeners about shows in the Bing Lounge, birthdays, bears, sandwiches, or anything else imaginable.

That all changed the next day, on April 13, 2011.  On that day, one year ago today, "Ramblings from a KUPL Listener" was unleashed to the internet.

Before that fateful day, I'd never posted to a blog.  Being the non-technical person I am, I needed all the help I could get on how to get started, etc.  Fortunately, for me at least, (I don't know how he'd see it), I had someone I could turn to with all my questions and concerns; Earthquake Jake, the brains behind the whole "listener blog".  The man has to have the patience of a saint for all the questions, and insecurities I've bombarded him with in the past year!

 What a year it's been though!  From day one I've been able to post as much, or as little as I want; about anything I want to write about.  I love that, because it gives me a chance to be creative, which is a big part of who I am. 

Over the past year, I've been to several performances in the Bing Lounge, and blogged about each one.  I feel very lucky to have seen such a wide range of musical talent, from newcomers, like Jaida Dreyer and Glen Templeton,to living legends, such as Vince Gill. 

Often times my posts were inspired by what I'd hear on KUPL's "Simon in the Morning" show.  One in particular I remember was when they had the person who does the voice of Winnie the Pooh on the show.

That interview lead to Scott, Jolynn and Jake talking about various voices they could do, which then lead to having listeners call in to do their best cartoon voices.  Somewhere in the mix the Muppets were mentioned.  My brain being the way it is, combined all of this into one bright idea, which I acted on, resulting in a post about the following picture.

 For the record, Scott Simon actually is as tall as Jolynn Winter; for some reason I thought he wasn't, so his caricature is shorter.  I could fix it easily, but it's been way more fun letting Scott kid about it.

Not all my posts have been happy ones.  I remember being angered by the verdict in the Casey Anthony trial.  I wrote a post in honor of Caylee Anthony, to get the anger out.

One post that turned out to possibly be my most important one to date was titled, "The Magic of Music".

I don't know how I learned about a blogging contest sponsored by the organization, MusiCares, though I remember thinking it would be fun to enter, so I did.  That was in October 2011, six months in to having my blog on KUPL's website.

The point of the contest was to bring awareness to MusiCares, which helps musicians, and artists with medical, dental, and other issues, since most don't have insurance.

The winner would be on the red carpet for MusiCares at the "Grammy Honors Paul McCartney", to blog about the event.

To my utter surprise and amazement, I was actually one of the finalists chosen!  Though I didn't win, and don't know where I ended in ranking, I still feel like I was a winner.  I mean, there were only SIX finalists in the entire U.S., and I was one of them!  It's one of those amazing times that become a milestone in one's memory; and something I would never have been able to do, had I not had this blog.

There are so many other posts I could mention here, however, as I usually do, I'm rambling again, so I won't.  Let's just say, in the past 366 days, (it's leap year), I probably could have/should have had more posts out.  Of the ones I did write, were all of them great?  No. To be honest, there were a few times when I wrote something for the sake of writing; because it was for a Tuesday or Thursday post, which are the days KUPL listeners can earn 5000 points for finding the blog word of the day.  Those are days I HAD to have something posted.

And lately, I've been in a dry spell; though just a few days ago, the ideas started happening again.

My goal for the year ahead is to continue posting blogs about anything and everything I can think of; and post more than I have been.  And of course hopefully improve with time!

Thank you to anyone and everyone who's been reading my blog this past year.  Though I may not know you, do know that I definitely appreciate you taking time to do so.  Again, thank you!

Two for Three and One for One

On January 4, 2010, "Simon & Sam in the Morning" signed on the KUPL airwaves for the very first time.

At that time, it was Scott Simon, Amy "Sam" Bishop, and Jolynn Winter.

The new morning team had their work cut out for them, to say the least. They were stepping into territory that had been occupied for fourteen years by Lee Rogers. To say the least, many, many listeners were not happy about this.

For a time "Simon & Sam" struggled to gain the support of listeners. Some had completely tuned out KUPL, in protest of the changes that had been made; others stuck it out a bit longer, with some eventually leaving as well.

Four months into "Simon & Sam" being on the air, "Sam" decided to leave and go back to Arizona, where she was from originally.

The show title was changed to "Simon in the Morning", and long time KUPL employee, Earthquake Jake, was brought in to take "Sam"'s place.

Jake has always been a favorite of KUPL listeners, and he fit in well with Scott and Jolynn.

The three hit it off immediately on the air. What had once sounded forced with "Sam", was genuine with the reformed "Simon in the Morning" team.

Two years later, it's the same way. You can hear it in their voices on the air, how well they work together and genuinely like each other. I don't know about anyone else, however, for me, the people on the air are almost more important than the music. Granted, I have to like the music I'm listening to; though if the DJ's aren't good, I'd change the station. Never happens in the mornings anymore with me. There's so much going on between 5 and 10 am weekday mornings on KUPL, you almost forget there are songs being played also!

So here's to a very happy second anniversary of "Simon in the Morning" and hoping for many more!

On a side note, January 3, 2012 was the first anniversary of now producer, Eduard "Sputnik" Rusu, joining the morning team.

Eduard was an intern when he started with KUPL, and has since been hired as part of the morning team. Congratulations, and happy first anniversary to Sputnik as well!

The Band Perry @ The Bing Lounge-September-1-11

I've liked the Band Perry since their first radio hit, "Hip to My Heart"; though I'd never seen them perform live. That was until September 1st, when the band performed in the Bing Lounge.

I know I say this every time, but honestly, I love the Bing Lounge to watch performances in; it's so intimate and inviting, and the Band Perry show was no exception.

After being introduced by Earthquake Jake and Jolynn Winter from "Simon in the Morning", the Band Perry started their set with their hit single, "You Lie".

Lola Montgomery from middays then came out and interviewed the band, asking several questions, and getting some funny answers to some of them.

After the interview and a few more songs, TicTak from afternoons posed a dare to the band, asking them if they could sing Queen's "Fat Bottomed Girls". Not only did Kimberly, Neil and Reid take the challenge, they OWNED the song, and did an awesome job on it.

When the concert was done, anyone wanting their photo taken with the band was able to. Though they were in a bit of a rush, all three members of the Band Perry took time before each photo to ask the person's name, and shake their hand. Pretty classy in my book. I'm sure I'll sound like a mom when I say this, though I will anyway, you can tell that these three were raised well by their parents. They're gaining a name in country music, yet they still haven't let go of their manners; I like that.

I wasn't able to go to the Oregon State Fair the next evening to see the Band Perry, though if the concert was anything like at the Bing Lounge, I'm sure the audience got their money's worth. I definitely plan on catching another of their perormances sometime in the future!

Earthquake Hits Vancouver

On Monday, August 1, 2011 an earthquake hit at 192^nd Avenue and First Street in Vancouver, Washington.  The specific place was a new restaurant, Brothers Burgers; and the “earthquake” was the Earthquake Jake Burger, created by KUPL’s Earthquake Jake Byron.

In July Jake had won a contest by eating ten sliders in five minutes.  The prize was being able to create a burger and have it sold at Brothers Burgers during the entire month of August.  Half the money of every Earthquake Jake burger sold goes to the Oregon National Guard Emergency Relief Fund; the charity Jake chose to help. 

August 1^st, Jake was at Brothers Burgers between 5 and 7 pm, to promote his burger to KUPL listeners and any other patrons of the restaurant.  Anyone who bought an Earthquake Jake burger that evening received a Brothers gift bag as well.  The bag contained various items, like a mug, Frisbee, pen and other things with Brothers logo on them, pretty cool.

  The burger Jake created consists of, (from the bottom up), a brioche bun, lettuce, tomato, onion, an angus beef patty, a slice of American cheese, bacon, another slice of American cheese, Lay’s potato chips and Brothers house dressing.

Jake said the reason for putting the bacon between two slices of cheese was to keep it from sliding off the burger.  The cheese envelopes the bacon, adhering it to the hamburger. 

The Lay’s potato chips were Jake’s wife’s idea.  He said the chips represent the plates in the earth that shift during an earthquake. 

I’ve always loved chips on my burger, so I was excited to try Jake’s creation; maybe a bit too excited.  I’d meant to take a photo of the burger before I ate it, but forgot.  So instead, here’s what half an Earthquake Jake burger looks like. 

Trust me, the burger is delicious, and filling!  I’m pretty sure Jake himself can attest to the filling part.

Between 6 and 7 pm Jake took a challenge from Jolynn Winter as to how many Earthquake Jake burgers he could eat in an hour; his goal was six burgers.  For each burger Jake ate, Jolynn said she’d donate ten dollars to Jake’s charity. 

Jake got off to a fast start and downed four burgers in a matter of minutes.  It took him a bit longer to get through the fifth burger.  I was really feeling sorry for him at that point; he looked like he wasn’t feeling too well at all.  He was determined though, and eventually made it through the fifth burger.  As much as he wanted to however, Jake only got a little way through the sixth burger before calling it quits for the evening.  He seemed disappointed that he hadn’t gotten through all six burgers, (though it may have just been heartburn at that moment).  I was impressed though; I barely got through one and was stuffed, so I can only imagine how Jake felt after five.  And like I told him, he made $50 off Jolynn for his charity. 

If you’re interested in trying the Earthquake Jake burger, the price is $7.89+tax, (notice the price is 98.7 backwards), with half that price going to the Oregon National Guard Emergency Relief Fund.  Brothers will have the Earthquake Jake BURGER available through the end of August. 

Brothers Burgers is located at 19206 SE 1st St., Vancouver, WA.

THE NEW BRIDGE

Anyone who lives in Oregon or Washington knows there’s been plenty of talk and planning for a new bridge.  Monday, April 25, 2011, those in charge of the project revealed what the new bridge will look like.

Sighting economic reasons, as well as others, it’s been decided the new bridge will be the same type as the Glenn Jackson Bridge; a low, flat, concrete structure.

On “Simon in the Morning” the next day, Jolynn Winter had the “blues” about the decision.  (For those who haven’t heard her, Jolynn takes current topics and sings bluesy parodies about them.)  Jolynn lamented about the bridge being boring to look at; that a bridge should be something beautiful to see.

 Jolynn’s song put an idea into my head about how to make the bridge beautiful, help the environment, turn negatives into positives and overall create a win-win situation.

Anyone in Oregon and Washington needing to get rid of old paint could take it to designated drop-off areas.  In return for the paint, people would get a tax write-off for their donation.  Since there’s talk of the bridge charging a toll, to help with expenses, each person would also receive a voucher good for a certain amount of toll free passes over the bridge.  The more paint donated, the larger the voucher.

The paint would be used to paint the new bridge.  Those doing the painting would be people sentenced to community service; especially anyone who’s been arrested for tagging and graffiti.  This would allow the person to fulfill their community service, while expressing themselves creatively and legally.  There would be some limits of course.  The artistry would have to be something that would be appealing to the masses. 

To be honest, all of this was off the top of my head, so if it was to happen, it would have to be worked out more.  Then again, that could take another few years.  So for now, that’s all there is…Just a random thought I had and decided to share.  J