Random Rant

Today’s post might not be popular,  I don’t care.

I was listening to the radio this morning; one of those typical man and woman hosted fluff shows. It does not matter which station. It proved why I elected years ago to listen exclusively to CD’s when in the car. The show was so sappy that I literally felt nauseous. Let me explain.

About 25 years ago a smart programmer in New York City took a struggling radio station, invented the Morning Zoo format and turned it into the number one Z-100 phenomenon popular to this day. FM radio was never again the same. In the place of a single DJ several hosts contributed to the morning show with well crafted wit and interesting banter. This format was cloned with varying success all over the country. Over the years many popular stations reduced the size of their morning shows down to typically one man and one woman; I think to increase their female listeners. In the age of political correctness these shows were biased to the female perspective. Male bashing has been en vogue for many years and these shows have reflected this upside down trend. As a result these male hosts have been emasculated ad nauseam.

The contrast between the sexes is what makes life interesting. Why then do I have to hear a man’s voice oozing  pseudo-sensitivity from my car speakers? We have gone too far. It’s time to man up! Radio programmers take note: women actually like real men.

Stay tuned 

©2010 The Peanut Whistle. All rights reserved.

The Holiday Road (to recovery)

Happy new year my friends! Wow, twenty ten; that just sounds nice and futuristic. Seeing that I have always been an early adopter of all things new this year has a good vibe to it.

My wife Angie and I have had a blessed 2009 and look forward to the good things in store for 2010. 2009, what a great year it was: Angie got a fantastic new full time job she loves while I was allowed the privilege of becoming Mr. Mom with my proudest achievement, my family. We all enjoyed a Myrtle Beach vacation with Angie’s mother and my brother-in-law and his crew. The ‘09 holiday season has been my all time favorite. Thanksgiving was a blast; then Christmas Eve at my house with my sisters, my mom, the nieces and nephews joining my gang at our house; another celebration in north Georgia with my dad’s sisters on Sunday and yesterday, New Year’s Day, we opened gifts at my mother-in-law’s. Whew! What fun we all had.

The Turning Point

Through a process that has taken about 2 years to fulfill I have discovered with self-taught study of the human psyche that I fit into a melancholy temperament.  I have fought deep depression my whole adult live through  introspection and will. I have not been very successful, especially in the will department. Introspection has been a heavy burden because I have had my head stuck in an unremarkable past thinking this was truly therapeutic. I was dead wrong. One day recently, during the holiday season, I had an aha moment. I had been going through the motions letting one day melt into another when I realized that have so much to be thankful for here and now. I have a wonderful wife and great kids. They are what I have always wanted. Angie is a companion in the truest sense of the word, she is the model wife. My kids are my most valuable education; I have learned far more from them than they have from me.  And I continue to evolve personally and desire a more positive forward thinking outlook. Now I have a more keen since of purpose that I feel was lacking before. A new focus on the present has emerged and our hope is for a brighter future.

Stay tuned

© copyright 2010 the Peanut Whistle. All rights reserved.

Resolution Revolution

  Merry Christmas readers!

  Many years ago I decided to abandon the idea of News Years resolutions because they mostly involved weight loss. My announced plans of getting into the gym and dropping a few pounds fell by the wayside; usually by January 5th. In the years since my decision to quit the practice of  making vows I would not keep I have actually benefited by losing the weight and keeping it off  for more than 13 years. In summer of 1995 I got off by big butt and took a job that involved physical labor. Up until that point I worked as a radio disk jockey spending most of my day either sitting or reclining inventing ways of getting out of actual labor. That first hot August night I began a real job literally sweating the pounds away. Work is good for both body and mind. However, moderation can be viewed as beneficial.

  You see, I took the weight loss thing to the extreme and lost too much. People close to me said I looked sick having dropped almost 100 pounds in a fairly short amount of time that summer. I had my doctor prescribe a diet that I followed to the letter for almost four years. Later I realized that the plan was intended to remove the blubber quickly and not a maintenance diet designed to keep a healthy weight. Although I can no longer fit into those size 30 jeans I am comfortable in my skin whereas before the weight loss I was overly self-conscious. 14 years ago I firmly decided to leave my old career behind. It was killing me.

  Having said all that brings me back to todays topic: resolutions. This Peanut Whistle blog has become too much of a trip down only one address on memory lane. It has become too focused on a past that is dead and gone. While I still value my experiences as lessons for the future; the present time is the best I have lived in due to the wonderful additions over the past decade of a loving wife and four great kids who have no first hand knowledge of what has been presented in this blog. For the first time in many, many years I am making a resolution. For 2010, I intend to make Peanut Whistle more current with topical stories from my life as well as observations of trends in the music, Internet and broadcasting industry from my unique perspectives as a former DJ. Only my original Gospel Aircheck blog will have posts similar to the ones formerly featured here in the 'Whistle. My lessons learned throughout this exercise has been that the present is to be valued just as much as the past and that the good old days weren't always as good as I remembered. As Stevie Wonder penned,

"They've been wasting most their time / Glorifying days long gone behind  / They've been wasting most their days / In remembrance of ignorance oldest praise" 

  Instead of a Pastime Paradise let's go forward expecting our best days are ahead.

Stay tuned.







©2009 - 2010 The Peanut Whistle. All rights reserved.