SUCK IT UP

Suddenly, my life got busy. Really busy. Like, crazy, stupid busy.

Last week at LIFE 100.3, our morning on-air personality AJ The Wonderdog (and son-in-law), resigned. Being family, I wasn’t surprised but it happened a little sooner than I had planned. Quickly, I hired a replacement.

We’re expanding the office space and taking over the suite next door, to enable us to build a video studio at LIFE. Video commercials about LIFE for viewing at events and on Facebook seems like a progressive way to promote our radio station. So, soon, we'll be knocking out walls and there will be dust in the air.

Now the insanity starts. One morning last week I choked on my meds and it burned my throat before I could wash it down. Then I choked on my dinner and, while trying to dislodge the food, I ripped up my throat.

With a sore throat, I limped through an Anthem For Today show in Breslau. The next day our drummer quit (giving 24 hours notice), so the scramble was on to find a fill-in for the Peterborough show on Friday night. Quickly, tempers were at the max.  After praying, and a couple of offers, Frank Williams joined the band to cover us for the next few shows.

Saturday, we were up early to direct a music video for Luke Langman's next single, as I coughed up air.

The combo of Halls, some meds and a bottle of Coke felt good. Ahhhh....so good!

Now, this coming week, the mayhem continues as I take Luke Langman for a private show in front of 50 retailers at a conference, followed by two full days of LIFE Sharathon where we’ll attempt to raise $400,000 in two days, followed by (my head is getting light just thinking about it!), an AFT show Friday night near Kingston and another road trip on Saturday night in Chatham.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!

Fortunately, managing two artists and a radio station aren’t work - they’ll all a pleasure, and more like a hobby. I look forward to each.

The key to all of this is to take each project one day at a time, carefully planning the steps and asking God to keep me sane. (I didn't figure that out on my own.) As someone with controlled Clinical Depression, I am prone to anxiety and panic from the busyness and uncontrollable situations, and I’ll admit, there’s bit some anxiety in the last few days, but I can now compartmentalize it. (Usually)

Each problem has a solution and it’ll either work out or it won’t. Some of it I can control - which I will do with the help of my radio and band teams, and what I can’t control I will have to suck up.

Stuff doesn’t always work out the way I want, but it will work out.

And, hopefully I’ll still have time for American Idol.

THIS IS HOW YOU PROMOTE A CONCERT TOUR!

I'm looking forward to the Steven Curtis Chapman, Geoff Moore and Dan Bremnes concert in Toronto on May 10 in Toronto. What a great trio!

Speaking of concerts, I just saw the trailer for the Rolling Stones European leg. This trailer is smokin' hot! Not many bands make promo videos. Check this out!

I CAN'T WAIT FOR "SHOW DAY"

When it’s Show Day for Anthem For Today, I am like a 7-year old at Christmas!

I wake up, excited for tonight’s concert! In the morning, somewhere between the bed and the bathroom, I text all the guys - "Hey - it’s Show Day!" And I hear back from all of them with some fun response.

Mmmm....Show Day. I am so deep in the zone that I really think of nothing else. Not the work around the house or my work at LIFE 100.3 - just the excitement of the show. The band is rehearsed, my management details are in order, everything on my checklist is checked! All that’s left is to jump in the car and drive to the venue.

There’s something about meeting the band in their vehicle when we arrive at the venue. Me, the five boys in the band and the crew. When we see each other, it’s like a reunion. Like we haven’t seen each other in five years, even though it’s probably only been a week. There’s this bond within the band. Kinda like we know a secret that nobody else knows, until the show starts - then EVERYBODY will know!

Just knowing that there will be 25 Show Days this year - and maybe more - is exciting in itself.

Now that bad news - the next Show Day isn’t until March 19!

WHERE ARE THE CATTLE?

There's this line my Christian friends say - "God owns all the cattle on a thousand hills".

For my non Christian friends, this line is from Psalm 50:10 and it means, as I understand it, (and I could be wrong and if I am there will be a line up of church people to point that out), its meaning is that God has all the resources and it is simple for him to provide for us.

Here's what I wonder about.

People feel called to a project, meaning, they believe God has told them to do something, like starting a church, putting on a concert, starting a homeless shelter, or - starting a radio station.  When I ask how will you do that?" they smile and say, "God has all the cattle". That means, God will somehow, miraculously provide the money to make it happen. I believe that it's possible.

A former pastor of mine once told me, that, "Where there is Godly vision, the money will follow". Those are his exact words - I wrote them down. It inspired me. It still does.

So, if the calling/vision is from God, he won't leave you hanging out there blowing in the wind with no way to get the job done, right?  R-i-i-i-ght?

I'm talking with a lot of organizations that say, "We have no money", as in no budget to do the project in a way that will have any visible impact, so they just kinda settle for the little they have. So I wonder, if the organization was started as "a calling", why is God not providing?  I mean, they say God has all the cattle, so like, where are they?

My non Christian friends have said to me, "If your God is so big, how come the event is so lame?" I'm embarrassed. How can I convince them that they need God in their lives, if our results are "lame"?

I'm going to take a guess at the answer. I could be wrong.

I think there is more to it than just "a calling". I think you have to have knowledge, too.  If you don't have knowledge, how will the calling/vision/project get started?  Or succeed. It won't.  It doesn't.  I guess people are hoping the cattle will suddenly show up.

Here's an idea.  Take your calling/vision/project and find someone smarter than you, who has done this before, and just ask them, "Hey, how do I do this?"  Once you have their knowledge, THEN, the money will follow, and the vision will bloom.

That's what I think anyway.

Moo!

IT'LL COME BACK

I’ve been on-air at every radio station I’ve worked at - either daily shifts, or fill-in here and there. From my first job doing evenings in Kingston at CKLC where I found my on-air personality (which often upset the program director), to growing up a wee bit and doing afternoon drive at CHAB in Saskatchewan, to various other shifts at an oldies station, a classic rock station, a Christian station in Nashville - up and down the dial - to here at LIFE 100.3. There was only one radio job where I did not work on the air - HITS 103.5, now Z103 Toronto, at which I was the program director.

A few years ago, I did my last regular daily shift on LIFE 100.3. It was 10-Noon. It was, in my mind, the perfect time slot because it allowed me to get the creative out of the way in the morning and focus on management detail in the afternoon. It was a great balance.

Why did I stop? Well, I came off the air when my undiagnosed depression made me unreliable. I’ve not been back on the air, daily, since then, instead just filling in here and there.

A year after, the depression became somewhat controllable but I lost my zeal to "entertain" every day, or to be honest, wanting to be on the air. I started to feel like I had said all I wanted to say. If I had to ask a caller, "So when do you put your Christmas lights up?" one more time, or any other interactive question, or take caller 7 to win a prize, one more time, I thought I would die.

In the Spring of 2011, I was on a radio trip out west and I was introduced to a DJ in Edmonton; a rather famous guy whom I had listened to on a Toronto radio station when I was just a teen in high school. It was cool meeting him and seeing him on the air, still doing an on-air shift after all those years. I asked him, "So, you’re on-air, no management position for you?" He told me he had done management and he was happy just doing the DJ thing where the responsibilities were less.

I told him, I had come off the air recently and felt I had done every radio bit and didn’t feel like going on the air again.  What he told me was very wise. He said, "It’ll come back." I’ve been waiting three years - it hasn’t.

Most broadcasters start on the air because it expresses an alter-ego. I'm blessed because my radio job is also my hobby and I don’t know where the line is between the two, and I don’t care - I love radio that much. But finding the zeal to go on the air and run contests and take phone calls and intro songs - it’s just not in me right now.

I love hosting the Saturday morning Retro Show. I enjoy researching the music and putting together the show - for now that seems to use all the gas in the tank. The office work, casting vision, making stuff happen - it's more gratifying.

However, those words from my Edmonton DJ friend still echo in my head - "It’ll come back - the desire will come back." I’m waiting.

DENNY CRANE

If you’ve seen the TV show Boston Legal, think of the characters Denny Crane and Alan Shore. Denny is the older, experienced lawyer played by William Shatner and Alan is the younger and successful lawyer, still learning, played by James Spader.

At the end of every show, they are seen smoking a cigar or sipping a beverage, in big comfy chairs on balcony overlooking Boston. Together, they reflect on their day at court, and life in general, as they see the world unfolding in their lives.

Sometimes they disagree. They’re lawyers so they argue a bit and they don’t always handle things the way each other would like, but there’s a deep respect for each other. It’s a bit of a son and dad thing - the younger and the wiser. The place where they come together is in their friendship and career passion.

I’m in that situation now. Me, the more experienced guy at work, (and maybe at life in general), and my good friend who is starting his career and thrives on being mentored and loves to learn and ask questions.

We spend a fair amount of time travelling where we have these Denny Crane/Alan Shore moments.  I cherish these times when we talk about our day and what we think of the world as it unfolds and our lives intertwine. Because of the generational age difference I’ve learned I don’t have to agree with how he handles life, because our good friendship is far greater. But dare I say, these are precious times.

Oh, and in our case, the cigars and cocktails are replaced with coke and calorie-filled honey buns.

I LOVE JUDY

For the last few months I’ve been hooked on Judge Judy’s court show.

"Real people, real cases, the verdict is final!"

Before I’d become a fan, I thought the show was a parody or gossipy. I guess I wasn’t sure - so I assumed. The show is about real people going to small claims court. Most of the cases deal with unpaid rent, or loans not paid back.

The plaintiff is interesting because sometimes it is a mom suing a son, or a daughter suing a father. It makes me wonder about their family dynamics that they could actually sue each other.

The defense is more interesting because usually they are in denial about fulfilling their agreement to pay back the other person. Often the defendant is being sued for non-payback of bail - to get them out of jail. So, the plaintiff was kind enough to lend them $1,000 for bail and the defendant says "I didn’t ask for it, it was a gift." Right. You’d rather be in jail?

Now the most interesting thing. Nearly everyone on the show (except Judy) cannot answer the question without going off on a tangent. So, Judy will ask, "Tell me what month did he give you the loan" and they’ll answer, "Ok, so, like, we met five years ago..." Judy says, "what month?!" And this goes on for most of the show.

I’ve noticed this in real life. People don’t answer the question. People want to give information that doesn’t even pertain to the topic. I guess people like to talk about themselves.

The show has made me more direct in conversation. Just shut up and answer the question.

Other answers from Judy:
"Don't say basically. Basically is a filler word".
"Hurry up and answer, we're having sushi for lunch"
"If it doesn't make sense it's probably not true".
"You ate the steak, you pay for it".

Judge Judy - real people, real cases!