The other day, Julia Roberts got a paparazzi to pull over and stop taping her.

Based on what’s on film, she seemed to handle it well. And I’m thinking the guy taping her probably needed an underwear change after this encounter.

In the Andy Williams Christmas song “It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year,” there’s a line about “scary ghost stories and tales of the glories of Christmases long long ago.” I always thought that was a strange line to put in a Christmas song, since no one I’ve known ever told ghost stories over the holidays; but after this week, maybe it’s not so strange after all.

The following is a true story:

All three emails came back…all three were labeled…”unknown user“!!

Thanks coach Jauron for reading my blog about JP being replaced (I’m sure that was his deciding factor). As the Coach says (and I’m sure the BILLS Organization agrees) we’ll
MOVE ON.

How about them SABRES…5 in-a-row (keep it up and you’ll be in the playoff hunt by next week). GO SABRES!!!

As agonizing as it was to watch The BILLS lose to New England, Sunday’s Jacksonville game may have been WORSE. We all pretty much knew The Bills had a near nil chance to beat The Pats, but the with the Jags the Bills had a real chance to vault a team that would be in their way to make the playoffs and couldn’t. Even though The Bills fought hard and were close in the 4th Quarter (8 points), in the end Bad penalties and JP’s 2 interceptions and fumble sealed the deal for the Jags win. Could it be the end for JP? At least the SABRES seem to be turning their season around.

GO SABRES!

In college, I used to see a lot of live music, and was also lucky enough to perform a lot myself as part of a jazz combo. I think what makes a great performance come alive is being comfortable on stage with your audience. You feel safe going a little off your set list, and trying some new things.

The Emerson Hart/Ingrid Michaelson show was like that. My station put the show on at the Town Ballroom, and if you were there, you know what I’m talking about: the crowd completely embraced both performers. Emerson, in particular, did some things on stage I haven’t seen in a long time. More about that shortly.

But the best part of the Emerson Hart show for me was when an offhand comment became an impromptu jam of Fleetwood Mac’s “Go Your Own Way,” which sounded amazingly good. Another comment “that lyric sounds like a Jim Croce song,” resulted in the keyboard player going off stage to get his guitar, and the two singing “Operator,” perfectly harmonizing with the bass player – who was one of the best I’ve ever seen live.

The only bright spots in the BILLS monumental LOSS to the Pats, KEVIN EVERETT’S
message to the crowd and ROSCOE PARRISH making a play on an under thrown pass from JP!
Even thought the City and Area played nicely in ABC’S promos and during the game, don’t
expect to see the BILLS in another FLEX game or on National TV anytime soon!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

The Best Christmas Albums

Back in July, I posted a road trip idea about Centralia, Pennsylvania.

Annie, who listens to Star 102.5 all the time, was intrigued. Her and her husband Dean actually went out of their way to see the place. They had a blast just hiking around the town and she says the only disappointment was that they didn’t get to spend a longer time there.

See a slideshow of their pictures on her October 13th blog entry.

It’s rare when a musician actually comes out to meet the crowd before or after a concert. And if they do, it’s usually just for a brief two or three seconds while they quickly sign something and then continue through the line.

That definitely wasn’t the case Saturday night. In fact, that’s rarely the case when we do these intimate concerts. In addition to the amazing performances, the artists were so cool with meeting and talking to everyone.

Emerson Hart was just an all around nice guy, hanging out with everyone at the party before the show and posing for pictures. Not just for ten minutes either – he was there for over a half hour. And then on stage, as expected, he’s a pro.

The same can be said for Ingrid Michaelson. Her performance was incredible – not just the singing, but also the banter between songs. You can tell she feels right at home on stage.

After that, she was out in the hallway where they were selling her CD’s. At one point, there was a kid on her shoulders getting his picture taken with her. She was more than happy to meet and talk with anybody who came up to her.

If you liked her performance, visit her website and buy the CD or a T-shirt or something. She’s an unsigned artist (not affiliated with any music label) and that’s the best way you can show your support for her.

And I’m sure Emerson Hart would be happy if you bought his CD too. I’m already looking forward to playing the next single (after the Christmas music is done for the year of course).

So in addition to the amazing concert, Saturday night proved that both Emerson Hart and Ingrid Michaelson are exactly what all stars should be like – both on and off stage.

See pictures from the concert here. And if you weren’t there, another Rising Star Concert Series event isn’t too far off. Hope to see you at the next one.

I guess the BILLS could be considered a GOOD Team because the the old football saying goes
GOOD Teams find ways to WIN and BAD teams find ways to LOSE (Miami thus must be a
BAD Team)! Really quite a WIN in Miami for the Bills, looking less than “stunning” (the Offense anyway), but pulling out the WIN in the end! Do you think The SABRES could take a page out of the BILL book this season (don’t play great for most of the game but win in the end)? To me, the more BILLS HYPE this week the better (if they can beat The PATS it should really turn some heads in the sports world)!

GO BILLS!!!

Lately on TV and on several syndicated radio shows I’ve heard people claim to be atheists. It is certainly their right to do this, but it strikes me as…well, stupid. Let me explain:

An atheist is absolutely sure there is no God, supreme being, or higher power of any sort. Again, you are entitled to believe whatever you want – but wouldn’t it make more sense to call yourself agnostic?

An agnostic isn’t sure there is a God, supreme being, or higher power. He/she doubts it, but at least leaves open the possibility.

This is a world of gray, not black and white – despite what many politicians on the extreme right and left would have us believe. To claim absolute certainty over anything, especially when it comes to God, is foolhardy at best. Doesn’t it seem wiser to meet your end at least leaving open the possibility that there’s more than just…an END?

For the record, I most definitely believe there’s a God, and I think he’s shaking his ethereal head at how we’ve interpreted his will in so many different, bizarre ways down here.

–Brian

As the Writers’ Strike continues on, another website has come up with a list of shows and how many episodes have been produced. This one contains just about every show you can imagine. See it here.

And if you’re a fan of The Office, check out this YouTube video. The writers of the show want people to see what’s happening on the picket lines. After watching, I’m sure you’ll agree that the writers need some writers themselves to make this a little more entertaining.

But I do think the video accomplishes what it was meant to – show the mood of the picket lines and show that the writers are not going to back down.

What I Listen To At Home

Anyone in music radio often gets asked what kind of music we like, do we listen to things at home like we do at work, etc? Some quick answers:

1) You don’t have to love the music you play on the station you work for. You do have to be knowledgable about it, and at least like or respect it, or it will eventually show through.

2) It’s very tough to listen to music for pleasure while listening to another station. Radio people are always looking past the current song and wondering what is next, what commercials will play, how many commercials there will be, will the air talent talk, what promotions are happening. It’s work. That’s why so many music radio people listen to talk radio in their “veg out” time.

3) I’m turning on my stereo less and less at home…using the computer for music more and more. I’ve got a great set of Harmon-Kardon pc speakers to help, but I still don’t think ripped music, no matter how high quality the process is, sounds as good as true CD’s. And CD’s don’t sound as good as albums did. I know, ancient thinking…

4) So what do I listen to? Recently while I was working online and my wife was in the kitchen, I put on the following music:

Eagles – New Kid In Town
The Clash – Train in Vain
Cher – Dark Lady
Frank Sinatra – Come Fly With Me
Meat Loaf – Heaven Can Wait
Gilbert O’ Sullivan – Get Down

Very eclectic, but it filled 20 minutes nicely! And none of it reminded me of work!
If you are unfamiliar with any of these titles, I highly recommend you check them out!

Due to the writers’ strike, the season finales for a bunch of network shows will happen a lot sooner than usual.

A recent L.A. Times article details how many episodes each series has ready to air. Considering that five or six have already been shown for most shows, there’s not many left.

Not mentioned in the article is the effect of the strike on Lost. According to TV Guide, the fourth season of Lost could be postponed until 2009!

Only eight of the fourth season’s episodes have been produced so far. People were furious when Lost aired a split third season, so ABC is considering holding the eight episodes and running them with the fifth season. That would mean 24 new episodes back-to-back, starting in January 2009.

Hopefully, all of this will mean nothing in a few days. The writers deserve the extra money for their shows being put on DVD and online. With luck, the Hollywood studio big shots will realize this soon and come to a compromise with the Writers Guild so the strike could end.

** “LOST” UPDATE ** – ABC must have been bombarded with complaints after this story got out earlier. According to Broadcasting & Cable, an ABC spokesperson says they now plan to air the eight episodes of Lost that have been produced. The fourth season was scheduled to start in early February, so we’ll see in three months which story is true.

On a related note, Fox has decided NOT to run a partial season of “24″. Read the article for a few more details on this.