Fun with Mentos Propulsion

Just think how history would be different if Robert Goddard had Mentos and plastic two liter Diet Coke’s in the New Mexico desert. Don’t try this at home. They are not professionals on a closed course:

Mash up!

Tears for Fears was always one of my favorites back in my DJ days in the 80s.  (Roswell, New Mexico!)

When a friend of mine posted a video of Andy McKee playing “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” on guitar I knew I had to try to combine it with the Tears for Fears version.

So, here it is.  My first ever attempt at a Mashup.  Not perfect, but I hope you enjoy it.

And I hope it doesn’t get yanked off of YouTube :-)

April Foolin’

In general I'm not big into April Fool's Day.  Those that know me pretty well are usually surprised to hear that.  I tend to be a fun-loving guy who likes to laugh a lot.  I guess it can be surprising when I say that I have a tough time coming up with April Fool's pranks, or jokes, that are good.

Sure, stoopid April Fool's jokes are a dime a dozen.  Usually it's based on a lie that isn't hard to detect as a lie.  Everyone has an uncomfortable laugh and then gets on with the day.  Worse yet is a made up tragic story that causes wailing and sobbing only to be replaced by fists flying when the truth is revealed.

However, I do have one story of a joke that I actually planned out and pulled off that wasn't half bad.  This is that story.

It was years ago in Roswell, New Mexico.  I was the main Weather Anchor on the 6:00 and 10:00 news on KBIM-TV.  I brought my son and daughter to work with me on April Fool's Eve along with the suit and tie that I was going to wear the next night.  I used a photog to shoot the video.  By the 6:00 o'clock news on April Fool's night, I was ready.  I instructed my director to mess with the clipping on the weather wall shortly after I started my weather and then roll tape once I walked off camera.  It worked brilliantly.  Here's what the viewer saw that night in 1993: 

We came out of the commercial and I got 10 or 15 seconds into the weathercast when I started to fade in and out on the air.  I turned to the camera said, "something's not right, I'm gonna go check this out."  I then walked off camera and out the studio door with the camera following behind.  I walked into the control room and up to the "director" and it was my 4 year old son and 10 year old daughter.  My son had the headsets on and my daughter was at the controls of the switcher.  I looked at 'em and said, "I know it's your first time directing and all, but can you please try and get it right?"  They said in unison, "OK Dad.  NOT!"

I then walked back into the studio shaking my head and went on with the weather.

Fun times!  Great team work between a news photog, director, tape op and my kids.  My only regret is I didn't save a copy.

Oh, and HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my brother Chris!  Seriously.

Make it Real

I had this idea when I was posting YouTube videos on Facebook.  Every song brought me back somewhere.   Different stages, times, events, people in my life.

Songs have that power.  To transport you back to whatever or whomever.  Probably only the sense of smell is a more powerful memory prompter.

So, here is my first entry.  Scorpions, “Make it Real”

 

I was traveling across the Arizona desert, almost to my destination of Roswell, NM when someone on the bus asked me if I wanted to trade.  My Queen, “News of the World” cassette for his Scorpions, “Animal Magnetism” cassette.  I am still fully convinced I got the better end of that deal!

I started listening and I heard “Make it Real” and it really spoke to my heart.  See, I had left Oregon with only the possessions I could carry to pursue a dream of broadcasting.  I was gonna make it real for reals!  I had taken my last check, sold a typewriter my Mom had given me and bought a one way ticket to Roswell, NM.

Just a week before my friend and I were fishing.  He was gonna go to Roswell and wanted to know if I wanted to go.  I had never heard of it.  No one had as far as I knew!  It was before the alien stuff was widely known.  I asked him how big it was and if they had any radio and TV stations.  50,000 people and yes, both radio and TV.  I was in!

At the time I was a part time dishwasher barely making my rent.  A promising student in school, I smoked too much pot to realize that I could actually go to college.  I did know, however, that I could start a radio and TV career with a little talent in a small market.  And that is what I aimed to do.

Off on an adventure, as 21 year olds are prone to do.  It worked out just as planned.  However, with all plans, it didn’t look or unfold the way I pictured it.  So many life lessons along the way.  The subject of so many other songs.

I did get a job a few months later as a part time DJ.  That led to a full time gig and eventually, Music Director.  Then into TV and finally a weatherman.

Now I am faced again with a dream, or a hint of one.  Will I sell out and chase it like I did way back in 1984?  It feels different.  I have a car payment and debt and I’m old.  Then there is the dream part.   What is it I want to do when I grow up since I have already reached those goals of DJ and Weatherman?

I’m gonna play the song again and see if the song helps me to find the courage to really be what I think God wants me to be. I made it real once, maybe God wants to make it real in my life again!

December – Cold Start

It’s been a roller coaster ride temperature-wise here in Tucson and here at the apartment in Oro Valley.  May had a hot spell in the middle of the month and ended up warmer than normal.  Then June into July was cooler than normal.  October had a really unusual cold spell the third week of the month and now November has ended as the 3rd warmest on record.

Keeping with the pattern, December is starting out cool and getting colder.  Even though many places in and around Tucson experienced their first freeze in October, almost a month earlier than average, the Tucson International Airport has yet to freeze this season.  That is about to change.  Cold air from Canada, eh, is already invading the South Plains of Eastern New Mexico and Texas and some of that cold air is going to spread westward to Arizona.  Friday looks cold (by Tucson standards) despite full sunshine.  A north breeze will make the upper 50s feel even colder in the shade, although I guess if you can find a sunny, wind sheltered, spot it won’t be nearly as bad.

Friday night/Saturday morning will be the coldest so far this season.  Winds will die down after sunset and clear skies will allow for good radiational cooling.  It should be no problem for temps to fall from the 50s into the 20s to near 30… even at the Tucson International Airport.

Next weeks weather pattern looks good for our dry conditions.  Cool unsettled weather looks to be on the way with valley rain showers and mountain snows possible off and on much of the week.  I hope so.  I really like the rain in the desert and I really am ready to head up to Mt. Lemmon to see some snow!

Meanwhile, AccuWeather is highlighting the expanding December cold with snow expected from the Pacific Northwest to Arizona to Eastern New Mexico to Louisiana to the Great Lakes and East Coast

Snowman Mike in Carlsbad, NM

With thanx to Brad Light’s Cam Page, here I am in Carlsbad, NM!

Blue Shadows

This song reminds me of my first TV job.  I think it was 1986 or 1987.  One of those.  I was hired at KOBR-TV in Roswell, NM as a Master Control Operator.  I started in 1986 after working two years in radio at KBIM-TV.  Anyway, I would switch the evening shift which included Johnny Carson and Late Night with David Letterman.  I would record musical acts and comedians that came on the shows.  Somewhere (maybe) I have an old VHS tape with Bill Mahr’s first appearance on Carson.  Also pre Seinfeld Show Seinfeld on Letterman.  On Friday nights we aired music videos.  I’m blanking on the name of the show, but I remember a lot of Bartles and Jaymes commercials!  and, this video.  I never saw Three Amigos, but I liked this.  Still do.

Update: I Googled it. It was Friday Night Videos. Duh!

Roswell Gus Macker

Gus Maker 3-on-3 Basketball came to Roswell, New Mexico in the 1980′s. At KBIM TV we had a media team in the Maker. There were hundreds of teams coming in to town from all over to brave the heat for 3-on-3 basketball glory! It had great economic impact on Roswell. Hey, teams gotta eat!

Snowkids

Taken in Roswell, New Mexico in late 1992 (I think). The kids came over to my small place on Kentucky Ave. and we made a snowman. Michael’s mittens got soaked and he managed without them after that. Great job kids!

Wild at Heart

GREAT book!  I remember when I was a new Christian.  Barely a year in the faith.  My Church, Trinity Church in Lubbock, had a men’s groups study on, “Wild at Heart.”  I already had a home group so I didn’t sign up although I was interested.  Especially since it was being taught by an Air Force recruiter I admired.

So, years later, I FINALLY read it.  I read it on Saturday.  Now I’m wondering, what took me so long??

There is so much to the book.  I’ll probably reread it sometime.  The main messages I got out of the book?  For me, it boils down to a couple of principles that has really igniting something in me.  The biggest and most impactful?  It’s OK for me to be who I am!  God gave me a lot of wonderful gifts.  I don’t need to be afraid of them.  I shouldn’t suppress them.  That’s like hiding your light under a bushel.  No.  God has reasons why He made me the way He did.  I need to come out from behind my personality and quit beating myself up for being an under achiever.  And, to challenge myself to not be so lazy.

Growing up, school was very easy for me.  I’d show up, stay awake in class (for the most part), blow off the homework and ace the tests.  I developed a nasty habit of being lazy.  Hey.  If I can excel without trying, then why push myself?

It truly is a blessing and a curse.  How cool that I can just show up and learn!  Of course the flip side is, sometimes challenges come along in life that do require extra effort.  I’d rather watch TV :-)

When I was in elementary school I found out that not everyone thought the really smart people were cool.  I also discovered I could make people laugh.  So.  Why not suppress the one and develop the other?  Classic under achiever syndrome.

I think God is challenging me.  Not to be the smartest around, but to not be afraid to be who I am.  To be thankful for the gifts He has given me and to use them for His glory!  That means studying His word more.  Spending time in His presence.  As I learn about Him and get to know Him, I can share with others.  I desire to teach and preach.  If it’s His will I need to pursue it!  The big question I have now is, what is the best path to take to do that?

Another area is assertiveness.  I need to assert myself more and have more confidence!  Or at least realize that I have more to contribute then I have at times.  Once upon a time in high school I was brimming with confidence.  I was class president.  I was all league in track.  Good at football.  School was easy and I was popular.  It seemed everything I did turned to gold!  Slowly as my drug and alcohol use increased I started to falter.  By the time I was a junior I quit football, was kicked off of the track team and dropped out of school the following year.  I languished for a few years before I moved to New Mexico to start my broadcasting career.  I have done pretty well despite not having a college degree thanx to the gifts God has given me, but I never quite regained the confidence I had before I started messing up.

I need to realize.  God’s gifts and talents are without repentance!   I didn’t mess up His best plan for my life, rather He has made me a new creation in Him!  I can forget the former self and truly live!  That means forgetting those things that are behind and pressing forward to the high calling of God.  With His help I intend to do just that.

The other area is relationships.  Women.  But that is none of your business :-)  God is teaching me some things.  Someday, Lord willing, I am going to be a great husband to a blessed beautiful woman!

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