Life 2.0

Baseball & Bridges

It's been another interesting week for me. I ended up at Wrigley Field and witnessed the Chicago Cubs' no-hitter, which got me thinking about that iconic shrine and how much it's played in my life over the years. Then, a reminder popped up on Facebook about an early episode of "The Bridge" from 2020 with my friend the late, great Hillary Raimo. I grabbed some audio from 2019 when HR was a guest on this podcast; hearing her voice again is a real gift. Finally, it's the birthday of a dear friend who just happened to have a song written for her in 1974 by her then-husband John Denver and his version of "Annie's Song" in Russian is stratospheric. As always, more life lines than headlines as we dig for common sense in uncommon times.

Cinderella Man

Last night, I happened to catch one of my top ten fav films of all time "Cinderella Man" starring Russell Crowe and Rene Zellweger. It's Ron Howard's excellent movie about the true life and times of boxer James J. Braddock aka "The Bulldog of Bergen" and how he went from a contender to a washed-up pugilist and then incredibly found himself as the heavyweight champion of the world after defeating Max Baer in 1935. The movie is set against the background of The Great Depression and is filled with reminders of how good we have it today, despite what both political parties are selling these days.

Labor Day 2024

Labor Day was born out of difficult (to say the least) working conditions in America back in the 1800s. It's the end of summer and the beginning of fall, but it also has me thinking of a few of the early jobs I had, like stacking bags of flour and fixing tires, as well as pouring concrete. It's about the value of work, putting in long hours, grinding it out, and deep satisfaction on a job well done...and then kicking back one day a year and having a cold one or three in honor of your efforts.

The American Dream

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.

Higher Ground

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.

Fear Factor

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.

If I Can Dream

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.

Earth Matters Monday

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.

At The Hop

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. 

The Almighty Dollar

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.