A Couple of Things…

96-ZTR around 1990

96-ZTR around 1990

1.  I’m not exactly sure when I lost my shyness and decided to just work through the panic and fear of being in front of people, but somewhere along the way I did.  See when you work in radio, you just have to overcome nervousness on one level, which is trying not to sound stupid; but live in person, that’s a whole different story and it has it’s own set of fears to overcome.

I remember watching Craig Powers from KEZY in Anaheim do live broadcasts.  He was the master and he just ate it up.  He was so calm and so “on” when that microphone went live.  I learned a lot just watching him.

After I left KEZY and moved on to Ventura and KZTR with my first full-time on air position, and later with KXBS the Bus, I knew I wanted to be like Craig, but I was so introverted and worried about what people thought of me.  I really did suck at it; but for some reason the station managers insisted on sending me out to shake hands, kiss babies, bowl in leagues, do remote broadcasts, introduce bands at concerts (I think David Cassidy at the Ventura Theater was one of my first) and host radio events and before long I calmed down and started to have some fun with it.  The dumbest yet bravest thing I ever did was to sing Karaoke, I can’t carry a tune to save my life and the audience loved it.

But I do remember the very first time ever I did something live on air was when I was in college taking radio broadcasting classes and doing shifts on KBPK, and one of the assignments was to go out during “A Night in Fullerton” and do some interviews with random people.  I don’t think I said a coherent thing (and I even had questions written on index cards) and I certainly didn’t hear a single word the person was saying, which is a critical point when doing an interview, you actually have to listen to them while preparing your next question. I was a frazzled mess by the end of the evening.

My advice: “Practice, practice, practice!!!”


2.  The title of an article found on The Onion website, “Poll Finds the Majority of Americans Have Never Met Willem Defoe.”

Classic!


Kevin Bacon3.  Great news! I was telling a co-worker about my one degree of separation from Kevin Bacon and she pointed out that since she knew me, she now only had two degrees. So I thought I’d inform you that since you know me, you too now only have two degrees of separation from Kevin Bacon.

You’re welcome!

(click here for original story)


4.  One of the funniest blogs I’ve read in a while was called, “Ode to the Medium-Sized Woman,” by Isabel Foxen Duke.   Before I started exercising, I could totally relate to a couple of these:

  • “I can literally wear S, M or L depending on the brand, and sometimes, I’ll size out of a brand altogether.”
  • “I would never be called “overweight” or “plus-size” or “heavy” or “the F-word” (you know, Fat).”
  • “I’ve definitely had sex with guys that weigh less than me, but I don’t think they knew that at the time.”

Too funny!


Once is enough5.  There are some movies that I can watch over and over, others that were a complete waste of my time and I soon forget, but there are just a few which really left a lasting impression, but I could never watch again for their disturbing nature:

  •  Requiem for a Dream
  • Adaptation
  • The Butterfly Effect
  • Ted
  • Cape Fear

Yeah I know, Ted?  Really?  REALLY.


6.  I have a confession.  I will not miss David Letterman.

He use to be clever and funny, but since his open-heart surgery, he just became more pessimistic and mean.  I am pleased that Steven Colbert will replace him.


7.  Recent MSN article on Healthy Living called, “The 14 Best Things You Can Do For Your Body”.

You don’t need anyone to tell you to have more sex, but it doesn’t hurt that research is piling up about the benefits of getting busy. Regular time spent behind closed doors can make you look and feel younger, reduce stress, boost immunity, enhance sleep, protect against prostate cancer and improve cardiovascular health. What’s more, a 25-year study from Duke University found that the more sex you have, the longer you’ll live. Guys, I think we’ve discovered the fountain of youth.

What’s funny to me is that they spent 25 years studying this.  LOL!!!  “Um yeah Dean, we need more grant money to continue this study, because (wink wink) it’s really important work.

I’m guessing, these people who lived longer were actually mentally and physically healthy and as a result, they enjoyed sex more often.


8.  I hope when I die, that my wake is a celebration, especially for my family and close friends. I’m pretty sure I won’t be hanging around, I’ll be ready for my next adventure, so feel free to talk about me behind my back. 😉


9.  Typically when my father calls me “Little girl”, I know I’m in trouble. Thankfully after the age of 21, I stopped caring.


Sydney at Cross April 2013                                         (Sydney at the Cross April 2013)

10.  I had to call my daughter up in Oregon from my tax accountant’s office to ask whether she had claimed that she was a dependent or not when she filed her taxes earlier this year; then she started to upbraid me because she said it was just a few days before taxes were due.  I had to stop her right there and point out, “No baby, they are actually due tomorrow.”

That didn’t help my case.


11.  People who are intentional cruel, who seek to bring harm are even more scary because they truly believe they are justified in their actions.

People who are intentional nice, who seek to bring happiness to others rock even more because they truly believe in the brothership of mankind.

Thankfully the truly evil are only 2%.

People who are just typically mean and in a bad mood are not included in the two-percenters, because a lot depends on their environment and so they are constantly at effect…instead of at cause over their life. They just need an attitude adjustment…or a vacation or better still, get rid of the assholes in their lives.  🙂


12.  From my favorite quotes file:  “The world is a dangerous place to live, not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don’t do anything about it.”
― Albert Einstein

A Couple of Things…

Wikipedia1.  Did I ever mention I’m listed on Wikipedia?  They used my maiden name (Pam Sanchez), but also gave my air name which was Stephanie Rose!  My first job was working both the AM, KPZE and the FM sides at KEZY.   This article just covers the AM history of AM 1190.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KGBN

KEZY


2. Elephant Journal posted a blog called How to Say No (in 25 Bad A**Ways).
Number 16 is my favorite:
#16 “Fuck no. That would be stupid.”


Equal Pay Day3. April 8th was Equal Pay day. It symbolizes how much further women would have to work at the same job to receive the same pay men did in 2013. It illustrates the gap between men’s and women’s wages.
I still hold resentment from being paid less as a woman Program Director (and full-time on-air position) at my radio station than a male office manager. Later, I was told it was because he was the sole breadwinner for his family. I still call “bullshit” on that one.

Here’s more on that:  http://www.pay-equity.org/day.html


4.  Yusuf wrote an article for Rolling Stone Magazine about how he (Cat Stevens) felt about being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I LOVE Tea for the Tillerman and I still listen to it quite often.  This is what he said:

“The announcement of my enrollment into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame will certainly bring happiness to a lot of my loyal fans, and fulfillment to all those who have long campaigned for it – not to mention how kinda tickled it makes me feel too.”

I love how it kinda tickled him!


garden
5. I’m loving the new trend – well at least the effort to start a new trend – of converting lawns to gardens.  I believe you still would need a green thumb to pull that off though.


6.  I read an article titled, “The 3 Best Ways to Beat Sugar Cravings.”  Listed as number 3:  “The Psychologist says…walk away.”

Do you really need a degree to come up with that one?


Smart Car Tipping 7.  Tipping Smart Cars?  Funny yes, but not cool.
Three Smart Cars were recently found “tipped” in San Francisco.  Hot Rod Magazine posted an editorial online in an attempt to nip this activity in the bud, and I support their efforts.  To quote John Travolta in Pulp Fiction, “Don’t fuck with another man’s vehicle.  It’s against the rules.”


8.  Whenever I watch a really good musician play acoustic guitar I like to pay attention to their fret work and try to figure out what they’re do.  Usually when I go up to meet them, they ask if I play, and I always reply with a chuckle, “not really.”  That always gets the understanding nod.


9.  I’ve always enjoyed reading.   The most recent novel I read was the fourth novel from Helen Fielding regarding Bridget Jones. It was called “Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy.”  I blushed throughout the novel because parts of it hit too close to home.  But honestly, I’m hoping for the same happy ending for me.  I’m an eternal optimist!


10.  OH!!!  Last February I wrote about my one degree of separation from Kevin Bacon and how we ended up with the cardboard cut out they used when Kevin Bacon guest starred on Will and Grace.  Well that exact episode was on the other day so I took a picture of my T.V.  Can you imagine walking into your office and seeing Kevin Bacon standing there?
https://acoupleofthings.us/2014/02/25/a-couple-of-things-34/
Kevin Bacon


11.  Peter Matthiessen passed away Saturday, April 4, 2014, just days before his latest novel, “In Paradise” was to be released.  He was quoted as saying that he wanted readers of “In Paradise” to consider the potential for evil in all of us. “The number of people killed in the past century — human beings killing each other is phenomenal, you know?” Matthiessen said. “How has civilization — so called — come this far and people are still designing tools to kill each other? For no other purpose than killing. Why are we doing it? Why are we doing it?”

Okay, the potential is there.  But gratefully the majority of us rise above it EVERY SINGLE DAY.

I’ve shared this quote before, but it ubber appropriate here:

“Be the change you wish to see in the World.” Mahatma Gandhi

Thanks for listening.

A Couple of Things…

LBD1. I will be attending a black tie event this weekend.  I bought my dress three years ago but by the time I got around to trying to hem it, it was too late and I ended up wearing another dress I already had.  It’s been too long since I dressed up like a grown up in classy garb!  Looking forward to it, plus Ms. Vest is going to be my hot date for the night!  Yeah I know.  She’s married.  Oh! And, yeah, we’re not gay.   Nevertheless, we plan to have a great time!!


2.  Going from classy to crassy, and continuing the hot dog conversation from my previous post… I’ve been told there is a food truck with the best hot dogs in Ventura called, wait for it, The Greasy Weiner.”  Great! Here I am, the girl who cuts up her dog at Bombay’s because it looks too phallic to be eating it the traditional way IN A BAR,   and I’m going to be seen eating a “greasy weiner” on the streets?


3.  Brilliant post seen on Twitter:

“I hate people who don’t know the difference between ‘Your’ and ‘You’re’.
There fucking idiots.”

Bwahahaha!!!
(by the way, if you don’t get this joke you should contact me immediately!)


4.  Some people measure driving distance by miles, and some by time.  For instance, “It’s 30 miles to Santa Barbara.” vs “It takes a half an hour to get to Santa Barbara.”  Sometimes I measure distance in songs.  “It should take me only eight songs to get to Santa Barbara.”


MeerkatsMeerkat5. I believe the Meerkat is my favorite animal to watch.   I could hang out at the Santa Barbara zoo observing these little guys all day long.  They have such soulful looks in their eyes.  And they acknowledge you and watch you right back!  Love them!

And who didn’t love Timon in the Lion King?  Nathan Lane was the voice behind the character in the Disney movie.  Great stuff.  The movie came out the same year Syd Rose was born.


6. Something you may not know about me.  My father use to drag my sorry ass out of bed to watch those NASA launches in the wee hours of the morning when I was growing up.  I always loved following our adventures into space, that is until I was on-the-air at KEZY that fateful day.   This week marks the anniversary of the Challenger tragedy.  I actually got yelled at for announcing it on the air because we were not a “news station”.  I still couldn’t disagree more with that policy.


KEZY7. Speaking of that Orange County station (which was mostly great fun being the first radio station I got to work at), my mentor, Craig Powers, posted on Facebook earlier this week about KEZY and a whole bunch of past announcers and other folks chimed in including an engineer who worked there the same time I did.  He has this internet website page about it and lo and behold, there I am!  Too funny!!!  I’m such a geek!


8. I once saw a TV show, or maybe it was a segment on a program where they’d pick women at random walking by and put them on a pedestal on a busy public street and they’d ask people how old they thought she was.  These women were horrified to learn most guessed they were 10 years older than they were.
Honestly, my women friends ALL look at least 10 years younger than they are.  I believe it’s in the water here in Ventura.


Mike's Daily Podcast9.  I’m proud to say that my friend Mike Matthews created the “Pam Baumgardner Files” a while back for his Mike’s Daily Podcast. From time to time whenever I post a comment or make a suggestion, he’ll share that with his audience.   He does these crazy fun characters and will interview up and coming artists from time to time.
Check him out:  http://mikesdailypodcast.com/


10.  Whenever I get super upset, I clean.  I’ll tidy up my desk, then I’ll dust, maybe vacuum,  do the dishes, mop the kitchen floor, do the laundry.  A pristine house = one pissed off gal.

But seriously, all kidding aside, whenever I do get upset with someone.  I take a moment to calm down, and then I do some busy work (depending on the upset, sometimes longer than other times). But then as if by magic, I get this incredible feeling of affinity for mankind.  That person may still be “wrong”, but in the grand scheme of things, it really doesn’t matter.  Very therapeutic.  Plus I get more order in my surroundings!


11.  I LOVE rollercoasters!  Metalica…not so much.


12.  From my favorite quotes file, and this one is dedicated to my daughter, Sydney Rose:  “Vegetables are interesting but lack a sense of purpose when unaccompanied by a good cut of meat.”  Fran Lebowitz

Thanks for listening.