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!

Simon Says, "Let There Be Hair"

(Today's word will be in ALL CAPS, BOLD, ITALIC, and STRIKETHROUGH.)

I remember Scott Simon when he worked for the "other" country station in Portland, Oregon; even then he didn't have hair. Usually he's got a ball cap on, though sometimes he doesn't; never though have I seen him with hair, until now.

It seems last week, while Jake was on vacation, Scott decided to let his hair grow. Now, where there's always been a shiny dome, hair is sprouting. Though I haven't seen him in person, I have seen what he looks like in a photo.

I think Scott looks good either way, so whatever he's happy with is what he should do.

How do you, fellow KUPL listeners, feel about this? Should SCOTT continue to let his hair grow; or should he go back to being bald?

The Taller, Thinner Scott Simon

Little did I know that creating caricatures of people would go so far.

In a previous blog I'd written how the idea for "Muppet" characters for the "Simon in the Morning" team got stuck in my head.  Wouldn't go away until I did something about it.  The "something" was to create the caricatures, using Paint Shop Pro 7.

Once they were done, I sent the caricatures to Scott, Jolynn and Jake.  That's when Scott noticed that his caricature was shorter and wider than the other two. 

It's been kind of a running joke since then about Scott being shorter and wider.  Well, last Saturday I decided to do justice to Scott, and make his caricature taller and thinner.  While I was at it, I decided to throw in a bonus for Scott, a little something that I noticed he didn't have; but Jolynn and Jake did; HAIR!

Take a look and see what you think of the "new" Scott Simon.

Wedding Bell Blues

 Today’s “Simon in the Morning” show focused primarily on the upcoming wedding of Scott Simon’s daughter.  Scott said he wants his daughter to have the wedding she wants; however, he wished there was a more inexpensive way to do it.   He didn’t understand why there had to be a full, sit-down dinner at the reception, instead of just cake and punch.

Jake, on the other hand, saw no reason why there shouldn’t be a full dinner served.  He said that people come to weddings to eat.  

Maybe it’s like Jolynn said, it seems those of us in the older generation have no problem with just cake, or a potluck; while the younger generation seems to want more.  I have no problem going to a wedding and just having cake and punch.  Then again, I don’t go to that many weddings, and when I do, it’s not for the food; it’s to see the couple getting married. 

Honestly, isn’t that why it’s called a “wedding”?   People have weddings to share their special moment with friends and family.  The reception comes later, as a courtesy, (in my opinion), of the couple.  It’s a way of thanking everyone for coming to the wedding. If it was called a “reception”, THEN you could have the big, fancy, sit-down dinner, open bar, the works; and for extra entertainment for the guests, throw in a wedding. 

A suggestion I had was that having a wedding is all in the timing.  Schedule the wedding after lunch, but early enough before dinner; it would eliminate the whole, “feeding everyone”, problem.  People would be full from lunch; feed them punch and cake at the reception; they’re good to go until they get home for dinner.

Another topic that came up in the discussion this morning was where did all these traditions come from?   Some were easy to explain, like the parents paying for the wedding.  It probably evolved from when brides used to have a dowry.  To honor a suitor wanting to marry a man’s daughter, the man’s family would throw in a “bonus”; usually a goat, or something useful like that.  

Things aren’t like that now however.  It seems as the times have changed, so have the traditions.  Nowadays, the family of the bride is expected to pay for the wedding; while the groom’s family is responsible for the rehearsal dinner.  Well, at least that’s how it was when *I* got married.  Not sure it’s even that way anymore.

Then again, when I got married, my husband to be and I paid for it ourselves.  We felt that if *we* were the ones getting married, then *we* should be the ones to pay for it.  And we had a nice wedding, with everything the way we wanted it.  Okay, we got a little crazy; we didn’t have just cake and punch at our reception.  We upped the ante a bit by also having coffee, cashews and M&M’s.  Doesn’t sound like much, but there was a reason for it.  If there were leftovers, we didn’t want to be stuck with a bunch of stuff we didn’t like.  It was our wedding, and his favorite thing was cashews, and mine was M&M’s; so that’s what we had.

I don’t know, it seems as time goes on, people want everything bigger and better than the last person.  Not just weddings, but everything in general.  Back on the subject of weddings though, I had a thought.  Since traditions have evolved with the times, maybe they should evolve some more.  It seems nowadays that the younger generation is more educated; getting married later in life, and generally establishing themselves before settling down.  Not everyone maybe, but it does seem a majority of younger people are trending this way.

If that’s the case, here’s my suggestion for whom pays for a wedding:  The couple getting married.  Why not?  If they’re ready to get married, settle down, and be responsible, what better way than starting with paying for their own wedding?  Yes, it’s the bride’s special day, and she’s going to want everything to be perfect and special.  If she can’t afford what she wants for a wedding though, maybe it’s not time for marriage.  Or maybe she could lower her expectations, or find a way to work her budget around what she’s planning for the wedding.  

 I’m pretty sure a lot of people will disagree with me on this, and that’s okay.  This is just my opinion.  I’m sure if I were in Scott’s shoes, I’d feel the same way he does.  Every parent wants to do whatever they can for their child, me included.  I do feel though that it’s a viable solution to the high cost of a wedding.

One thing I feel shouldn’t happen at a wedding, or reception, is asking guests to pay.  These are friends and family that have been invited to the event; if they’re invited, why are they being asked to pay for it?  It seems totally tacky to me to do that.  Then again, if the couple who is marrying happens to be starving actors, this might be an opportunity.  Hmmm…I can see it now…

It could be a real life “Tony & Tina’s Wedding”, just change the names to the names of the couple, and go from there.  In this case, it *could* be a dinner theater, with each guest paying for their meal, and watching the wedding take place. 

If dinner is too expensive, even with guests paying, it could always be staged as a matinee.  Instead of dinner, guests would pay a lower price for the “show”, and have cake and punch instead.  VIP guests could upgrade to coffee, nuts and mints. 

Then again, with all the things that happen at Tony & Tina’s fictional wedding, maybe trying to do that in real life isn’t such a great idea.

I guess what it boils down to is, however a wedding and reception is paid for, it should be the best it can be for the couple.

Twisted, Tangled Tunes

The other day, during the "Celebrity Soup", on "Simon in the Morning", Scott Simon had a blurb about Weird Al Yankovic.  According to the report, Weird Al has parodied some country songs on his next CD.

The story reminded me of a song rewrite I did awhile ago.  The song is Alan Jackson's "5 O'Clock Somewhere", with Jimmy Buffett.

In my version, I had country song parody artist, Cledus T. Judd doing Alan Jackson's lines, and Weird Al doing Jimmy Buffett's.

In light of the news about Weird Al's latest CD, I've decided to post my parody of "5 O'Clock Somewhere" on this blog.

My apologies in advance for the size of the print.  I couldn't make it any larger, and still have it fit the blog.