Sharing the groove

For about 5 months or so, I've had a little side passion that I really haven't mentioned. But I think it's time to talk about this now, since it doesn't look like it's going to fade away any time soon.

I stumbled across internet radio broadcasting quite by accident. But I found a station that was looking for DJs, so I asked the station manager about it, and a couple of weeks later, I had my first show. I have to tell you, it was a total blast. Yeah, I was nervous as hell on that first show. I planned it for the whole two weeks, putting together a play list, figuring out what I was going to say, and all of that kind of stuff. The show went well, and I took some general ribbing from some of the fellow DJs who were listening in on my first show. It was all in fun, and just goes with "getting your cherry popped", which is how they refer to a new DJ's first show.

After a few months of this, I now don't stress much about it. Hell, half the time, I don't even wake up until about an hour before my show, and throw together my play list at the last minute. And it still turns out pretty well most of the time.

Well, as I said, that was about 5 months ago. And over those five months, for various reasons, I have bounced between several internet radio stations. I have now pretty much settled into one that I will probably stay with for a while. They play a very wide variety of music, and there are a few talk shows as well. The DJ's are all pretty fun, and even there, is a wide range of ages. I think I may be the oldest one there, to be honest with you. But I find that hanging out in the radio chat room and getting to know the others there keeps me abreast of new music and I get to hear things that you just won't hear on the normal radio stations coming over the airwaves. Internet radio does not have to adhere to FCC guidelines, and there is no censorship on what is played. Songs are pretty much uncensored explicit lyrics, and even the DJs are pretty much free to do their shows any way they see fit.

Being a big proponent of freedom of speech, this appeals to me in a big way. But I will even admit that there are times that what comes through my speakers, I don't necessarily agree with. But as the old rallying cry goes, I may not like what you have to say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it. And if it really gets out of hand, and they start broadcasting complete crap, I have every right and ability to hit the "off" button.

One part of me is actually encouraged at some of the younger DJs pushing the envelope a bit, as the freedom the format brings them lets them explore musical genres and forms that they may not otherwise be exposed. And youth being youth, they are going to fully exploit the use of profanity. I really don't mind that either.

But there is another part of me that is sometimes concerned and even very rarely, a bit embarassed that they sometimes fail to show a bit of class and personal restraint in how they handle certain topics. Just because you have the right to say something, doesn't necessarily mean you should. I guess I really can't fault a sometimes lack of better judgement from the more youthful staff memebers. Hell, if I were their age again, I probably woulnd't be any better at making those types of judement calls.

But I will say this for my station. Overall, the staff there is pretty top notch. They are a good group of people who get along well together most of the time, and for the most part, carry off their shows pretty professionally, considering almost all of us are not professional broadcasters/DJs.

If you have a desire to check out the station, or my shows, feel free to drop by. I broadcast under the DJ name of Blue Dragon, and you can hear me on Wednesday nights from 10-midnight, Friday afternoons from noon-2pm, and Saturday afternoons from 4-6pm, all times Eastern. I play mostly classic and southern rock, but will also play a little bit of almost everyting. You just never know what you might hear in The Dragon's Lair. But please check out some of our other tallent as well. They all have something to offer, and may just open your mind to something you didn't even know you like.

If you have WinAmp you can reach the station directly through these two links:
High Speed
Dial Up

If you use another type of media player, simply head over to the web site, and select the appropriate link for your prefered audio program. That would be at AKARadio.

I look forward to all of you tuning in to my shows, and I know the other staff would love to have you join their programs as well. AKA Radio really kicks ass!

Time for a change

About an hour ago, I was informed by my boss that my work schedule is changing. Currently, I work every weekend, both Saturday and Sunday, until 2a.m. This will be my last week of that. They are giving me Fridays and Saturdays off, which puts me now only working one really late night. After 5 1/2 years on this schedule, I finally get a break on it. I can't begin to tell you how stoked I am with this news! A real weekend off?!?! What to do, what to do?? (rubbing my hands together and letting an evil grin cross my face)

Just checking in

Okay, so thusfar I have failed miserably in my quest to update this thing more frequently. So yet again, I will post something up here just to have something new to read. A whole lot has happened in my life so far this year, but nothing I really want to put up here for the world to read. Things both happy and not so happy, things that have affected me in ways I never thought they would. But I deal with those on my own time, not here.

Today, Pope John Paul II died. While I am not Catholic, I recognize the importance of this man, and the great things he did during his life. I actually was able to see him about 15 years ago. He visited my college while I was there, and I picked up a job with the L.A. Times to take photos and be a "runner" for them. Somewhere in my vast collection of film and photographs, I have some of the things I shot of his visit. It was a pretty exciting event, and I will probably have a space reserved in hell for this, but being a college kid at the time, a bunch of my friends got together and actually tailgated for the Pope's visit. Any excuse to drink at that time was a good one. One of the coolest things I saw during that was being in the staging area for the media and other groups. While we were having our camera bags and equipment scanned for bombs and sniffed by the doggie cops, I saw the under cover agents getting themselves together. They were all dressed in the same uniforms the normal custodial staff dresses in, with gats strapped under their work clothes. The kids and others on campus had no idea just how many cops were mingling with them. There were even some sub-machine guns being placed in the trash cans on wheels the "janitors" were pushing around with them. Trust me when I say this...The Vatican doesn't mess around when it comes to protecting the Holy Father.

~peace