Last year, I wrote about the two thousand year old Ancient Law Of Abundance which is supposed to guarantee financial prosperity in the coming year. Speaking from experience, this actually worked for me and my wife last year. Coincidence or not, it’s worth a shot in this economy, right?

After I talked about it on the air this week, a lot of people called wanting the info, so here’s what you do, adapted to today’s technology:

• Take a blank check.
• Date it with the current date.
• Make the check out to yourself, using your full legal name.
• Leave the dollar box and line blank.
• In the memo area write, “Paid in full.”
• Sign the check, “Law of Abundance.”

That’s it! You will need to keep the check with you at all times in the New Year (except when bathing and sleeping). You have until the first new moon, which is January 13th this year, to make out the check.

Good luck! I hope it works for you. 

–Brian

With the unveiling of the new iPhone this week, my thoughts wandered to how far things have come technologically just in my lifetime.

As a struggling radio guy in Northern Michigan back in my 20s, I’d DJ weddings and occasional parties to make ends meet. I would lug two huge speakers, stands, an amp, CDs, a huge stack of vinyl records, a mass of cords and adapters, a couple of turntables (exactly as pictured), two CD players, my mixing board and headphones to each event. It took about an hour to set up, another hour to tear down, and I shared the front seat of my Chevette with at least one of those huge speakers. At the end of the evening I was pretty tired, but a couple of hundred dollars richer for my troubles, so it all worked out.

Today, all those cases of records and CDs I lugged from event to event can be replaced by one iPod, and the size of the speakers I need today would be half the size they used to be back in the day, but putting out much fuller, more realistic sound.

An iPhone can download just about any song I would want in seconds, so if I were to go back to deejaying, I could handle just about any request on-the-fly. How amazing is that? My 20 year old self would be shocked, awed, and so very covetous of this technology!

Random Thoughts

–Brian

It’s been an interesting couple of days at Star 102.5 as we finish up the Request-a-thon for the Alzheimer’s Association. Putting this event together has taught me a lot about the disease, and how many are touched by it. So many people have come up to me, or called, or emailed to tell me how they are dealing with it in their lives.

To be honest, it also brings back painful memories of my grandmother’s passing, and more recently my aunt (pictured, middle), who both suffered from vascular dementia. As far as we have come with research and development, like cancer there is no cure for Alzheimers. There are many promising drugs in the pipeline, we are tantalizingly close to finding a cure, but it is still out of reach. That is what makes an organization like the Alzheimer’s Association so important.

In addition to the ongoing research, I think knowing you have help 24/7, even if it’s just being able to call someone for support, is incredibly important. I can’t imagine being a caregiver day-in and day-out watching someone you love slipping away. That feeling of helplessness is hard enough, but there’s also the underlying fear that you might be watching a future image of yourself going through the same thing.

So, I feel good about playing Frank Sinatra, Metallica, Selena Gomez, and the Beatles back-to-back, because it’s helping us break the chain of this terrible illness, and helping keep future children from going through it too.

Check out www.alz.org if you’d like to help.

–Brian

OK, one more. Here are my Top 5 Stupidest Statements of 2009. This is a purely subjective list, but I am sure you will agree, very little thought was given beforehand to what was being said.

5) “I’m gonna let you finish, but Beyoncé had one of the best videos of all time.”

Kanye West, after snatching Taylor Swift’s microphone at the MTV Video Music Awards and interrupting her acceptance speech for Best Female Video.

4) “You have a drink on you? You have a car?” Then his daughter said, “Daddy, it’s me — Tatum!”

Ryan O’Neal, American actor, trying to pick up an attractive woman at the funeral of his longtime partner, Farrah Fawcett.

3) “We need to uptick our image with everyone, including one-armed midgets.”
Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele, on the GOP’s need for a “hip-hop makeover,” whatever that means.

) “Yes, it’s Gordon…Gordon Ramsay, isn’t it?”

Paris Hilton, when asked at a UK press conference if she knew who the British prime minister was.

1) “I don’t know anything about cars.”

Edward Whitacre, Jr., the new CEO of bankrupt General Motors, summing up his knowledge about Detroit’s auto industry.

And, the Stupidest Statement Of The Decade Award, goes to Laren Caitlin Upton, Miss South Carolina Teen USA, who was asked in 2007 why a fifth of Americans cannot locate the US on a world map:

“I personally believe that US Americans are unable to do so because, uh, some, uh, people out there in our nation don’t have maps and, uh, I believe that our, uh, education like such as, uh, South America and, uh, the Iraq, everywhere like such as, and, I believe that they should, uh, our education over here in the US should help the US, uh, or, uh, should help South Africa and should help the Iraq and the Asian countries, so we will be able to build up our future, for us.”

Happy 2010 everybody!

–Brian

Today, my wife looked at me and said “I wish we were still in Napa.” I have been so busy since we got back that I waited to let the whole experience sink in before I wrote about it. But now is the time.

We had never been to California, before. The whole idea of a trip out west had always seemed so far away; something on our to-do list, certainly, but always with a “someday…” attached. Then the radio station became involved in the Live In The Vineyard contest, and we were given the opportunity to actually go to Napa ourselves.

Right up until we left, I still thought it couldn’t really happen for us; but then things started to fall into place: my parents were available to come down and watch the kids, a room opened up at the resort where the event was being held, the company actually approved our travel, and then, suddenly, we were going! We left Buffalo on a cold Friday morning, arrived in San Francisco and promptly got lost trying to find the Golden Gate Bridge. But when we crossed over into California wine country, our trip of a lifetime began.

Napa is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. It was an explosion of color driving in; all the beautiful colors you’d expect to see in Fall, only double because the leaves on the grape vines were changing too. We had to keep pulling over to take pictures.

Our first day we toured the historic Trefethen Vineyard, where we had some amazing wine (2005 Trefethen Cabernet), and were treated to an intimate acoustic performance by David Gray. Since my Charlottesville days I had always liked his hit Babylon, but I had never heard him live before. We saw a lot of great performers during our trip, but David was my favorite. I stood there, to the left of the stage, completely blown away by his talent, lost in the music. He also appreciated the setting, mentioning the falling leaves, the dappled sunlight, and quoting Yeats. It was magic.

From there we enjoyed a brief tour of historic downtown Napa where we were treated to a wine and cooking demonstration by Greg Cole of the world famous Cole’s Chop House, a wine pairing from Spring Mountain Vineyard, and an opening night cocktail party featuring an amazing assortment of Napa’s best wineries.

But music was center stage both weekend evenings, with two great nights of performances featuring Green River Ordinance, Diane Birch, Uncle Kracker (left), American Idol Kris Allen, our friends from Parachute, and culminating with a fantastic concert by Collective Soul, who rocked the house and reminded us just how many hits they have had since the early 90s.

Wow.

What is truly unique about this event is the ability to get up close and personal with all these artists. Everyone is in a good mood (you can’t not be in a good mood in Napa!) There is so much great food and drink, and between sets you could very well be talking to the next artist on stage, as they mingle with the crowd. It’s very relaxed, and extremely well organized, thanks to Claire and Bobbii, who put the event together, and their LITV team.

But probably my favorite day overall was our final day in Napa. Heather and I were able to drive around a bit and explore. We got up and had breakfast at a great corner deli, drove up a winding mountain road to take in more scenery, explored the town a little more before lunch, and then headed to a private cave tour at Miner Family Vineyard.

A wine cave is the absolute perfect place to store wine as they age in oak barrels. It’s underground, so the temperature is naturally constant, without the need for excessive heating or cooling. It’s a great use of space, since you can plant vines above ground, and store the wine underground on the same plot of land. (And really, is there anything more pleasant than the smell of wine barrels? I think not.)

As we toured the cave, we sampled fresh wine from the barrel, compared different vintages, and enjoyed another intimate concert featuring John Ondrasik (above) of Five For Fighting, truly one of the nicest and most down-to-earth guys you will ever meet.

On our way back to the Silverado, we stopped at Cliff Lede Vineyards where we were lucky enough to try one of the most amazing bottles of wine ever. Ideally during a tasting, you start with something decent, and work your way up in quality. At this particular tasting, it started off great, and got successively greater until we reached the pinnacle of wine-making, the 2006 Moon Sympathy (left). This huge cabernet is one of the top 3 I have ever tasted in my life. It’s truly a stunning wine.

And finally, a group of us were guests at the house of Kat and Rob McDonald, proprietors of Girls In The Vineyard winery. There we met up again with their partner, winemaker Matt Stone, who hosted a wine blending competition. Sorry to say we did not win, but it was fun to pick out the different characteristics of the wines available, and blend them to our taste. Lisa Stalvey of NBC’s Cutting Block whipped up some delicious quesadillas for us all, and we headed back to the hotel, tired, but happy.

A lot has been said in the press about how America “doesn’t make anything anymore.” After spending just a few days in Napa – far too little time, I might add – I could not disagree more. The winemakers here are experts in their field, and make world class wines that meet or exceed anything the world has to offer. It was fascinating to talk to the different winemakers and see how different their approaches were; so many different techniques, hundreds of new ideas and unique applications of technology. It is a world class brain trust all concentrated in one relatively small area.

If you love wine, Napa will blow you away.

And I can’t wait to go back.

–Brian

I talked about the Balloon Boy today on Star 102.5. In case you missed it, an experimental balloon in the shape of a flying saucer was untethered from a house in Colorado, and floated nearly 40 miles with the wind, supposedly with 6 year old Falcon Heene inside. All the news networks were covering the balloon’s flight live, until it landed nearly 3 hours later – with no 6 year old boy inside.

Where was he? Had he fallen? No, rescuers had traced the path of the balloon and found nothing.

Had he set the balloon free by accident? Could he be hiding out of fear of reprisal? That was my theory this afternoon on the air, and it appears I was right. CNN reports Falcon has been found, alive and well, hiding in the attic.

UPDATE: Charges will be brought against Falcon Heene’s parents, Richard and Myumi. Police were tipped off initially when the Heenes were interviewed on CNN following the incident. Falcon was asked why he did what he did, and he replied by saying, “You guys said we did this for the show.”

On Saturday, officials with the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office announced that, yes, the whole thing was a fake, and that they expect criminal charges to be filed against Falcon’s parents. According to a department spokesman, “Needless to say, they put on a good show for us and we bought it.”

Richard and Mayumi could both be charged with conspiracy, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, making a false report to authorities, and attempting to influence a public servant. If that’s the case, they could each be looking at several years in prison, and hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines.

Did You Know….

Teachers say they can identify the naughtiest kids, as well as the brightest and most popular kids, on the first day of school just by looking at their names? Bounty.com found in a study of 3,000 school teachers that more than one in three expect children with certain names to be more of a handful than others.

Bounty says keep an eye out for children with names like Callum, Chelsea, Connor and Jack. The study also revealed girls called Aliesha, Casey and Crystal put teachers on edge as do boys named Kyle, Liam, Jake and Brooklyn.

Interestingly, 57% of teachers said the naughtiest children at school are also the most popular, and often make friends easier than well behaved children. More than a third also claimed that the naughtiest children are often the brightest – and the most sensitive.

(note to self: should I be worried about my son, Connor?)

What is it about Beatles and car rides with my children?

I was driving home with my daughter, listening to the Beatles the other night.

I said “The Beatles are my favorite.”

Darcy said, “You’re my favorite, Daddy.”

And just like that, another unforgettable memory was created.

–Brian

As I watched Glee this week, it occurred to me yet again how powerful music can be. It moves us today just as it did thousands of years ago, as our ancestors gathered around a campfire singing songs of the hunt. Music has always evoked powerful feelings in us, and despite years of scientific study, researchers have yet to find a “music center” in the brain. They literally don’t know why music can give us goosebumps, or make us cry, it just does.

And hearing the kids in Glee sing Journey’s Don’t Stop Believin’ or Rihanna’s Take A Bow does give me goosebumps. Ultimately it’s not the story or the acting that makes the show so interesting, it’s the music.

Music is what brings people together in a bar to hear each other sing karaoke. There is a limit, of course, to how much bad karaoke one can tolerate, but more often than not my mind pays less attention to the semi-drunk person singing, and remembers instead the first time I heard that great song being sung. American Idol is like karaoke, with choreography. We clap when a performer is able to mimic the original version of a song we like; when they are able to bring something new, something of themselves to a song, we go out and buy their CD. But it’s the music that moves us.

It’s the reason I got into radio. When someone calls and asks me the name of a great song I just played, I know that in some small way, I become associated with that song. That’s a powerful thing.

And so, as William Shakespeare said, ‘If music be the food of love, play on.‘

–Brian

Although I wasn’t alive during the actual Beatles era, I grew up listening to them, since both my parents were fans. My first Beatles record was my dad’s old Parlophone 45 with 4 early tracks, including “Twist and Shout,” that I literally wore out. Too bad, because it would be worth at least $300 today, according to eBay!

Sorry about that, Dad.

So from an early age I have been listening to and enjoying the four lads from Liverpool, and never really outgrew their music. In 1987 when the Beatles catalog was released on CD, I liked it, but as with many early CDs back in those days the sound was a little iffy. Compared to cassette and scratchy vinyl it was quite good, everything on CD seemed like an improvement back then, but audiophile friends of mine have often commented about how something great was lost during the digital mastering process.

It was with great excitement that I heard the completely remastered Beatles catalog this week. It’s not for sale yet (not until 9/9/09 – true fans get the significance of that) but being in radio has its privileges. Let me just say that the music brought me to my knees.

I had never heard such clarity. As I listened, each album got successively better, and fuller, with a more clearly defined stereo space. By the time I listened to Abbey Road, I couldn’t distinguish the sound quality as less than anything done today. It was state of the art in 1969, and now, with today’s technology, it sounded as if I was listening to a live performance right there in the Abbey Road studios.

After listening to the CDs from beginning to end one night this week, I have compiled my Top 10 favorite Beatles tracks, in no particular order. This is a purely subjective list, based almost on which songs I haven’t over-listened to through the years, but which made the biggest impression on me after listening to the remasters.

1) A Day In The Life, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. So many things going on in this tune! I love Ringo’s drum fills, Paul’s middle eight, and the jarring orchestral crescendo leading up to that final note, held out for so long that a studio musician creaked his chair, causing the other musicians to “shoosh” him. Yes, now you can hear it on this track.

2) Here Comes The Sun, Abbey Road. I always loved this song on the radio, but I never noticed how full the synthesized backing track sounds, or the crisp hand claps, or the high frequency synth that kicks in near the end. This is much more than just a simple acoustic guitar and vocal.

3) Words Of Love, Beatles For Sale. Just a nice, tight, pop song with typical early 60s guitar work by George, and trademark polished Beatles harmonies. 2 minutes and 4 seconds!

4) I Am The Walrus, Magical Mystery Tour. Man, what a strange, trippy song. Now you can clearly hear John’s lyrics, which were hard to decipher before, and all the bizarre sound clips interwoven into the mix. Check it out in headphones for the full effect.

5) Come Together, Abbey Road. One of the best, well-crafted rock songs ever. John’s vocals are biting, Ringo’s drums are heavy and thumping, some gritty guitar work from John and George, there’s even a Billy Preston keyboard solo, but Paul’s prominent bass is what makes this song so cool, especially in the remix. He anticipates each note from John, and hits it just a half beat before, making the song slink from measure to measure. Aerosmith covered this tune, but couldn’t match its pure rock musicianship.

6) Mother Nature’s Son, The White Album. All of a sudden you can hear Paul tapping on a notepad, the brass section fading in from nothing, and subdued background vocals that were missing before.

7) Two Of Us, Let It Be. This song is on my list for purely sentimental reasons. When my son Connor was a toddler he and I would drive back from daycare every night, and often he’d want to hear this song, because Paul and John were singing “we’re going home” over and over. “We’re going home too, Daddy,” Connor would say. (Again, this is a purely Brian-centric list.)

Rain, Past Masters Disc 2. Ringo’s drumming on this track is so interesting. It’s more of a lead-drum, rather than the fills he normally played; front and center in this song with Paul’s bass, with John’s vocal in right channel, and harmony vocals on the left. A treat for the ears.

9) For You Blue, Let It Be. I love John Lennon’s slide guitar, in which he used a shotgun shell, interestingly enough. Again the stereo space is enhanced dramatically in the remaster.

10) You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away, Help! You can hear Bob Dylan’s influence on John’s writing at this point in his career, but it’s more his vocal that stands out to me. At times wistful, then growling and confident; it’s something Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder couldn’t duplicate in their recent cover of this song.

So there is my Top 10, a list which is subject to change at any moment. Whatever your list may be, I urge you to buy your favorite Beatles album on the 9th, and listen to it as it was meant to be heard. Just phenomenal.

–Brian

Click Pic For Video

Matt Wertz flew in on the redeye from Vancouver to play his first show in Niagara Falls. There were a lot of happy young ladies in attendance, especially when he played his latest hit “Everything’s Right.” We saw him at the Casino afterward, waiting to play roulette. I hope you hit it big, Matt.

Click Pic For Video

And Pittsburgh’s own Rusted Root closed the show with their big hit “Send Me On My Way.”

Click Pic For Video

As much as I like video, it doesn’t do these songs justice. You truly had to be there. If you weren’t, make sure to join us for our next concert!

And hold your kids hand while you still can. Autumn’s chill comes before you know it.

–Brian

I have been posting pictures and video from Starry Night in the Garden on my station websites for over a week now, but I figured those that don’t check mystar1025.com regularly might like to hear how the whole event went.

All I can say is, Holy Smokes, what a GREAT show! It’s going to be hard to top next year, that is for sure.

The weather on the 24th was absolutely perfect – not a cloud in the sky. All the artists arrived safely and on time, their hotel rooms were satisfactory, and best of all, the show was a sellout days before.

I love when that happens.

But most of all, the performances were top knotch. I heard every act, from Safetysuit’s first notes, to Matt Nathanson’s encore of Journey’s Don’t Stop Believing, and Mat Kearney in-between.

I say this every year, but one of the great things about my job is being exposed to new music, and then putting together fantastic live versions of my iPod playlists for an audience. It’s very cool for me to be able to share a vision for a great live show, and have people like it.

I also talked with Mat Kearney about how he got his start, the Nashville scene, and breaking and entering to play piano here.

And John Anthony snagged an interview with our headliner, Matt Nathanson, just before he hit the stage.

All in all, it was a great night, and one of the best Starry Nights ever.

The primary reason we do this show every year is to raise awareness and help in the restoration of the Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens, an architectural treasure, and one of only a handful of Victorian tri-dome botanical gardens in the world. If you have never seen the gardens, make a point to visit this Summer. And definitely come to next year’s 10th Anniversary Starry Night in the Garden show!

–Brian

One of the great traditions in Buffalo is Thursday at the Square. I love hearing great live music downtown and pigging out on all the food and drink, but what is it about Thursdays and the weather lately? Every week, Wednesdays are great, Fridays are great, Thursday it rains. Once when we were setting up, the wind kicked up off the lake and it took 3 of us hanging on to the tent to keep it from taking flight.

I got some requests for this info, so here are some of the things I talked about on the show this week.

• The best time to hold a yard sale is on a weekend. Pick a weekend when a large number of other garage sales are scheduled in your neighborhood. The more traffic in your area, the better.
• Start your sale 30 minutes earlier than the other sales. That way people begin their garage sale day with you, when they have the most money to spend.
• Find store ads offering the same products you’re selling, and attach them to your items so shoppers can see the deals they’re getting.
• Don’t forget the batteries. People like to be able to turn something on to make sure it works – just buy cheap generic batteries.
• Place your items on tables, even if this means borrowing folding tables from neighbors. Goods are less appealing when placed on the ground, and a lot of shoppers won’t bend down to pick up the merchandise.
• Don’t bother selling furniture – people want things that’ll easily fit into their car. Sell furniture on Craigslist, as with anything over $20 in value.

Home Remedies That Really Work – here are three with scientifically proven results:

• Dish Detergent prevents poison ivy. If you’re exposed to poison ivy outside, wash as soon as possible with regular dish detergent. A recent study of 350 adults found 50% who did this got no itchiness or rash whatsoever, the rest got greatly reduced poison ivy symptoms.
• Witch Hazel gets rid of cold sores. Several times a day, dip a fresh cotton swap in witch hazel, and dab it on your cold sore, and it will heal faster than if you do nothing.
• Baby Shampoo relieves itchy red eyelids. If allergies are causing your eyelids to get crusty or inflamed, twice a day, rub a few drops of baby shampoo in your wet hands, scrub your closed eyelids, and rinse. It’s safe, tear-free, and will remove pollutants, bacteria, eye makeup, lens solution, and whatever else may be causing your lids to itch.

Tune in weekday afternoons to hear more tips like these on Star 102.5!

–Brian

There are certain movies that seem to get funnier or more meaningful the more times I see them. I liked Office Space the first time I saw it, but I didn’t love it. Now it’s one of my favorite movies of all time.

It’s extremely quotable, (“yeah, I’m going to have to have you come in on Saturday...”) funny in a broad sense, but also reflective of how many of us feel each day, working in an artificially-lit environment, doing menial tasks that don’t affect the greater good, and wondering why corporate America makes the decisions it does.

One scene in particular sticks with me. Ron Livingston’s character, Peter Gibbons, has left Initech to work on a construction crew, which ironically is cleaning up the debris from Initech, recently burned to the ground. Peter says “this isn’t so bad, makin’ bucks, gettin’ exercise, workin’ outside.”

Amen!

I joke with my wife about someday selling the house and moving to Florida, where I will run a hot dog stand on the beach; no “overhead” except sunshine, everyone would know me, “the hot dog guy,” and at the end of the day I pack up my cart and go home. If I don’t feel like working that day, I don’t. What a great life!

Last week the office building had a barbecue outside. It was a beautiful spring day, and it just so happened I had a band coming through to do a little performance. I asked them if they minded playing outside, where there was a good sized crowd, and they agreed. Check out their performance here.

Something about that day clicked: people mingling outside, having lunch, listening to music. It’s what we’ve done for centuries! As cavemen we sat around a fire, eating together, sharing stories and songs of the hunt. We were meant to be outside, working with our hands, not in a cubicle staring at a computer screen all day, hermetically sealed from Nature.

It’s springtime in Western New York. Let’s make time to go to the beach, take a hike, work in the yard, and get back to what makes us human.

And no, Lumbergh, I won’t be coming in on Saturday.

–Brian

The Paomnnehal Pweor Of The Hmuan Mnid.
Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn’t mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are,the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm.Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.

Isn’t that (above) weird? Weird but true.

Monsters and Aliens
The Demay clan took in our first drive-in movie of the year last weekend, and saw Monsters and Aliens. (You know it’s finally Spring when the Transit Drive-In opens again!) It was a fun movie, but the story-telling wasn’t in the same class as The Incredibles or Finding Nemo. Still, it was fun to watch with the kids, who really thought the Blob character was funny. I like anything with Reese Witherspoon, so I’m biased.

Side note: if you’re an Office fan, you may be interested to know that the voice of the chief alien Gallaxhar is none other than Dwight Schrute, Rainn Wilson (left).

So, if you’re looking for an entertaining movie to take your children to see, 4 thumbs up from the Demays.

Twitter
I’m not sure if I like Twitter yet, but it’s early. I just set Star 102.5 up with an account, and it’s a little like “OK, now what?” But I think the immediacy of it is a cool thing. Usually you have to have a reason to change something on the station website, for example, but with Twitter, you can just send a “Happy Birthday to Brian” note and it’s out there, and that’s that. One more social networking tool to keep track of…

–Brian