Life 2.0

Frank Cale was just 19 years old when he came to the United States in 1967 in search of The American Dream. He found it, on the corner of Elston and Lawrence Ave. in Chicago, and for the past half-century, he cranked out untold pizzas and memories for those of us fortunate enough to call Sano's home. Last night, the doors closed for good, signaling the end of an era.

The landfill of the internet is filled with all sorts of #$%*!($!! and on the heels of celebrating my 27th year in radio and still attempting to find common sense during uncommon times, it was time for another edition of The Wednesday Rant. Is it true that in November of 2020, gas was $1.80 per gallon and mortgage rates were at a low of 2.75%? Yes...but why was that? A) Due to the former president in office OR B) Because there was a global pandemic and the world was shutting down? Let's find out! Higher Ground still exists, but the climb while slow at times, is worth it.

After watching "It-Chapter Two" last night for the third time from the master of horror Stephen King, the underlying theme of how fear can distort our view of the world and create lifelong challenges was crystal clear. The "fear factor" is a very real thing...or is it? Pennywise the Dancing Clown only existed by feeding off fear, not unlike humans who are nose-deep in the news that brings us every bit of low-level human behavior that does little to improve the human condition, but adds greatly to their anxiety levels. Add in my take on AI and a little help from Colin Hay, and it's another dose of common sense for uncommon times.

It's been another busy week at the Aurora Media Production Studio. I've done a few video-based interviews for the IRONMAN book, (meaning I needed to clean up a bit on-site.) During the clean-up process, I came across the original concept for the Oprah Radio Network I created back in 2004 and while that project didn't go as planned, it gave me a push in my career that has sustained me to this day. Also, it was 47 years ago on August 16th, that the world learned that Elvis Aaron Presley had died, and for millions of fans, their lives would never be the same. But, there is a song that sums up his presence and the ripple effect of his voice continues 56 years after he recorded it, as a reminder that we are capable of so much more.

On this edition of "Earth Matters Monday" I am joined by my gal-pal, the Emmy Award-winning journalist and best-selling author Jenniffer Weigel. We're gearing up for a tag-team public event at the Climate Action Museum in Chicago on September 11th and in preparation for the program, we are talking about some of the basics of earth science, how important it is to keep the water supply chain as healthy as possible and what the challenges might be in taking too much, and not giving enough back in terms of environmental stewardship.

As I prepared for this episode, the 1957 hit "At The Hop" by Danny and The Juniors kept popping up on my social media feed. I then remembered the back story of how Danny Rapp eventually took his own life.

Once again, I was reminded about the importance of not confusing who you are, with what you do and that finding purpose in life whether you're onstage or off is of utmost importance. 

In April, I signed up for both presidential candidates' email lists, to see what the chatter might be. Six months later, I've had enough of them asking for cash to "Save The Republic" or "Battle for the Soul of America" and decided to unsubscribe to save my sanity. But before I did, I saved the good, the bad, and the ugly from both camps and thought I would share them with you, for better or for worse.  The big takeaway? Apparently, just $1 can win The White House.

Resistance training has so many benefits that it takes an expert to explain them so that people who do not have a regular exercise program can understand the positive impact it can make in their lives. So, I reached out to Liz Kinnart, the best trainer/coach/motivator I know. Liz is an elite athlete, a mom, and owner of Bloom Holistic Health and Fitness, and all this while she battled Lyme disease for years. She takes a common sense approach to fitness and her clients are thrilled with their results. Listen to this episode to see how you can win a free personal one-on-one personal training session with Liz, or a three month membership to her Longevity Program! We're going for the gold and beyond as the Olympics have just opened in Paris!

109 years ago today, on July 24th, 1915, The Eastland sat docked on the Chicago River as hundreds of employees of the Western Electric Company crammed on board what was to be a day excursion to Michigan. As the ship filled up with passengers, it tipped to the waterside and quickly rolled over, throwing 2,500 people into the murky river water. In less than 8 minutes, 844 men, women, and children drowned making it the worst maritime disaster in Chicago history. Decades later, my radio team at Harpo was recording a show about the Eastland, and we had an unexpected encounter with EVP (electronic voice phenomenon) that is at once both unbelievable and incredible. 

It's an oft-repeated theme that needs to be constantly reinforced. The lens you see the world with is determined by the beliefs you hold to be true even though they might not be. In optics, the aperture of an optical system is a hole or an opening that primarily limits light propagated through the system. So the more light you let in, the clearer things become. It is easy with a camera, not so much for human beings, and while it's difficult, it's also worth the effort. As old friend Wayne Dyer insisted, "When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change."