The Candidates Debate

Did you watch the first debate between John McCain and Barack Obama? I caught every word, and can't say there were any knockout punches or major surprises. Neither one struck me as someone who would be out of place in the White House. One thing that does bother me is when a politician - even one with excellent credibility among veterans - brings up the prospect of American soldiers making sacrifices "in vain" if a mission fails. No soldier's sacrifice should ever be considered in vain. Soldiers bravely try to accomplish a mission delegated to them - a mission often assigned by others far from harm's way.

The Awesome Eighties

The financial chaos of this past week makes a lot of people afraid to look at their 401K and IRA statements. It also may make you yearn for what is often seen as a simpler time: a decade when there was only one stock market crash. Whatever your politics in the era of Reaganomics, the eighties are a nostalgic trip back in time for many of us, and the music was an essential part of it. Soft Rock 106.5 WBMW has featured Awesome 80s Work Escape Weekends for most of this decade. My favorite year from the eighties was 1983. It was a great year for Top 40 radio, the format I was working in at that time. MTV was churning out videos - giving many artists their big break. Many videos were classics, but many more were pretty cheesy. Slick production or not, the music won out, which is why "video didn't kill the radio star." A few songs that are now my iPod musts: Peter Schilling's "Major Tom" and Split Enz with "I Got You." The list of superstars and one-hit wonders goes on. For some more Awesome 80s fun, check out "Like Totally 80s" and listen to the Awesome 80s Work Escape Weekend beginning Friday at 5:00pm with Loverboy's "Workin' for the Weekend" (I caught them at Toad's Place in New Haven way back then). The memories are flooding back!

A Bit Severe

You may have read the story about the employee at Home Depot in Waterford being fired after trying to prevent someone from walking off with a wagon load of chainsaws. It certainly provoked some reaction from our callers on the Wakeup Club. He had helped prevent a shoplifter from getting away with a crime. For his efforts, he was terminated with no warning. Home Depot has a policy of not putting employees in the position of confronting potential shoplifters. The company does not want to be liable for anyone getting hurt. That may be understandable in the lawsuit-driven society we live in these days, but firing some well-meaning employee without so much as a warning strikes me as just a bit extreme. And they wonder why many workers don't feel a commitment to their jobs.

All About Oil

Immediately after Hurricane Ike devastated a chunk of the Gulf Coast, you could count on the issue of oil creeping into the first few sentences of every newscast. How high will the "Ike spike" go? Are we being gouged at the pump? Everyone knows we're more addicted to oil than ever. We've learned nothing from the gas lines of 1974 and 1979. Jimmy Carter was the last President to put forward a real energy plan, and nothing has happened since, no matter what party was in power. Where are the candidates on this issue? Why hasn't the President ever addressed the nation in primetime with some plan of attack? Maybe that's why someone like T. Boone Pickens felt the need to step forward and get the conversation in gear - the way it should have been in since the oil embargo of late 1973. It's called leadership... setting the tone. Oil affects everyone's constituency.

Life is short. Eat dessert first.

Felicia Mahoney is one of the most welcome studio guests we get here on the Wakeup Club. That's because she's been coming in with gourmet coffee and baked goodies for a month of Wednesdays. She owns Felicia's Sweet Face Pastry Shoppe on Route 12 in Gales Ferry. Rebecca and I have known Felicia for some time now. Phred has promised to stop in soon after sampling the muffins, cupcakes, scones, cheesecakes, brownies and... you get the idea. As if these decadent delights weren't enough, Felicia's own bubbly personality (love that laugh) and tasteful attention to detail make her visits something we look forward to. She's got some great lunches, too. So eat, already!

Seven years later...

We all remember where we were on that sunny September morning of 9-11-01. Working the evening shift at a Hartford radio station, I slept right through the live coverage of the attacks themselves. When I finally woke up at 10:15 a.m. and immediately got the news, all I could think of was the magnitude of the tragedy and how this changes everything. I usually follow the news very closely, but I had to get away from it for awhile and try to get on with some normal routine. When I got in my car to go to work at 4:45 that day, I was shocked to hear the station I worked at going back to a music format and away from wall to wall network coverage. I didn't know how I was going to keep it together doing a live music show that night. Somehow I managed, but it got to be too much when I came on after the President's address. That was the only time I've ever cried on the air. The calls from that night were absolutely heart wrenching. The days and nights that followed weren't much easier, but a new normalcy establishes itself. Time heals many things, but we will never forget.

No Rhythm?

Brian Ram has a dirty little secret. He has no rhythm. I've worked next door to Brian and Miss L from the Jammin' 107-7 Morning Jam for several years now. In all that time, I've never seen him so much as "bust a move." I don't know how you can be the morning man and programmer of a rhythmic hit station without "gettin' jiggy with it" once in awhile. This otherwise talented young man is immune to the most infectious hip-hop. I can't see Miss L from where I am, but I'm not so sure she practices what she preaches when she tells us to "shake your behind at nine." Even Grandmaster Glenn has busted a move from time to time with some Soft Rock 106.5 songs we play! Come to think of it, Brian neither sings nor dances, but then again Dick Clark, Ryan Seacrest and Brian's idol Bob Barker never did either. Let the truth be told.

Jury Duty, Anyone?

A trial just wrapped up that almost involved me as a juror. I can't talk about the case, but the expected duration of the trial really would have been a hardship with my work situation. They excused me from service. I know there are some people who would say anything to get out of jury duty, but I can only say positive things about my experience. Sitting on a jury back in 1999 provided a solid civics lesson and was even enjoyable. Like voting, it's gratifying to help make a little difference and not worth looking like a major jerk to get out of it.

Rebecca Drops By Our WBMW Studio!

This morning, my co-host Rebecca stopped in during the show and we had a chance to meet her baby Liliana - now five weeks old! I got to hold Liliana and her smile broadened with each goofy noise made by "Uncle Glenn." Rebecca and I talk all the time, but I hadn't seen her since she went on maternity leave. She is certainly a happy mom. There are new pictures online at http://www.wbmw.com/, but I have yet to post the one of me holding the baby. It's definitely not something I do every day!

Fill-in Phred

It's so great to have someone I've known for years filling in on the Soft Rock 106.5 Wakeup Club while Rebecca's on maternity leave. Phred Mileski is not your average radio person. This is her first crack at our medium, but she is a quick study to be sure. Phred is one of the most creative people I've ever met. She sings professionally, plays keyboard, writes, acts and even designed the WBMW logo. Although she has been guest co-host for well over a month, morning listeners are nowhere near discovering the full range of her talents. If you ever met her in person, you'd realize that for yourself. Phred does some amazing imitations and even plays the accordion. Even her unique name lets you know she is truly one of a kind!