Well it's March and the Memphis weather has already started to confuse us with a 65 degree sunny day yesterday and it appears some plants are budding. Today, raining and it will be near freezing tonight. This transition month is always weird.
We just had the 2013 Soup Sunday and had a chance to catch up with lots of old and new friends while supporting Youth Villages. It's a terrific annual fund raiser that I always look forward to. Willie and I had a great time.
In the meantime, my son Jake and I had a nice weekend visit to the Children's Museum. It was exciting to see that they've broken ground on a new sprinkler park! Don't worry, they still have plenty of parking around the back.
My son was nice and enjoyed the trip. Unfortunately, he was so good he got a fireman outfit and now he's leaving school to become a fireman at the age of 5.
Finally, I saw the Memphis in May lineup was released. Read it here. Included in the lineup are some of my old buds from Philadelphia!
Looking forward to National Reading Day at Arlington Elementary tomorrow, the Special Kids and Families Bunny run in a couple weeks, and Spring Weather.
This week the TV world lost two pretty big role models. Nationally it was Conrad Bain who starred as Phillip Drummond, who played the caretaker of his former housekeepers two boys, Arnold & Willis. I'll never forget the line, "Whatchoo talking about Willis?" But his role was pretty revolutionary for the time, taking on racial stereotypes, etc.
Bain was 89, and I loved that show.
In Memphis, we lost another wonderful TV figure in Mr. Chuck. Here's more from the Commercial Appeal. He was a delightful local TV figure for kids and it was wonderful to meet him in 2011. This video from WKNO also talks about what he meant.
Here's me and Mr. Chuck in 2011 after he served as a spelling bee judge that I hosted.
Great weather weekend coming up! Mid-50's. Grizzlies tonight! Should be fun time with friends and family.
I'm not shy about telling folks I'm rather "corny" and "ole school" when it comes to starting a new year (or in life in general). I see 2013 as a new beginning, a fresh start, and an opportunity to reenergize. My resolutions are to work smarter, rather than harder, and to run throught the tape and have fun. That's it.
Stacy, Jake and I had a terrific visit and beginning to the new year hanging out in the small town I grew up in and is my other home, Mount Olive, IL.
Yesterday, a "rock star" named Zach Myers who is with a young band called "Shinedown" visited us at the radio station.
Life is good and we're just getting started with 2013!
I wish you much luck and success this year. After all to gain success, a little luck goes a long way.
2012 blew by! I think because of our new phone centered/technology filled society, it just causes everything to blaze by. Even Santa is using texting... check it out from the WRVR toy drive.
Have a great Xmas and a happy 2013 and thank you for listening to my show on 94.1. I'll be doing some time a the "farm" and with the in-laws on the portable studio.
Where has the year gone? It's been a good year though! We had a fun visit with Cardinals pitcher Jason Motte at the radio ranch last week. Jason is one of my favorite players and a great dude. He's a champion. He's presenting a nice event this weekend (Saturday night at Opera Memphis) for Wings. Click here for info.
Grizzlies. Football. The Holidays. I tell my wife everyday that having a child (now 4) has put life into fast forward, and seeing that Thanksgiving is just around the corner makes that even more apparent.
Also this weekend I'll be hosting the Signature Chefs event at the Hilton for The March of Dimes. Get your tickets and info here. Would love to see you out Sunday evening beginning at 5 p.m. for a great cause!
~Brad
It's been a strong September so far, and it's usually my busiest month here at the station. It's my favorite season because of Football, Fall Weather, and the cool events list. I just finished up my 8th Special Kids and Families Plane Pull fundraiser this past weekend. Great times at the Millington Airport.
My wife and I took a trip to Nashville a couple weeks ago to see KISS play. We're actually bigger fans of "Motley Crue", who opened the show, but had a great time seeing both bands. We stayed downtown at Hotel Indigo, had dinner at The Palms restaurant, and took in our two favorite dives: Tooties and Big Shotz.
Last weekend it was the famous Germantown "Weenie" Races that go along with the Germantown Festival. Always good to see our friends out there, including the Dorband's with the Germantown News. Here's a couple weenies in this picture (middle below).
And we had a really nice time with perfect weather at Mud Island here in Memphis for the Train performance last week. Before the show we had a chance to sample some of the bands private wine selection (they are from the San Francisco area/wine country). I've probably seen them 10 times over the past 14 years. They actually started out as a Led Zepplin tribute band.
More of the great Fall season ahead! Can you believe it's time for Halloween costumes? My son already scouted out his Spiderman costume!
~Brad
It's been another nice summer in the Mid-South. For me, it started with the Grizzlies finishing up their season with a loss in round 2 of the playoffs, hot weather in June/July with the usual fun July festivities including outdoor events like the Germantown Charity Show and the Collierville 4th of July Celebration that we hosted. Sportsball 2012 was a fun event with my wife Stacy. We enjoyed a night on the town at Minglewood Hall with our favorite Canadian Shawn Danko from Kooky Canuck (2nd from left) and Kevin Cerrito (far left). This is always a fun night out raising money for the Memphis Boys and Girls Club.
Luckily, the weather this month cooled and it was the perfect time to take in a Redbirds game with my son Jake at Autozone Park.
Of course, the 35th Anniversary of "Elvis Week" brought out the best of them to one of our 94.1 KQK Radio "Live broadcasts" at Gossett Motors. :0)
And now, I'm looking forward to the Fall! Football is here. Grizzlies pre-season is already just a month or so away. In just a couple weeks it's all the big Fall fun for us including the Germantown Festival (Sept. 8th-9th, I'll see you out there around lunch on Sat. Sept. 8th), the Millington Plane Pull for Special Kids and Families (help and compete here, and the Cooper Young Festival! Oh yeah, and monkey's riding dogs starts in just a week at the Agricenter (Delta Fair)!
This was the 5th year I've been with my dad for the annual Staunton BBQ Cooking Contest. Staunton is in Illinois (about 5 1/2 hours North of Memphis) and I usually take the trip by myself so I can "concentrate" on the cooking and fun. My father has become quite a cook over the years and thanks to his stint one year as a guest judge at the Memphis in May BBQ Cooking Competition he has refined his craft. Luckily, the temperature gauge was right, the BBQ seasoning was good, and he took my advice adding a bit of salt on the finished product. I think pouring the juices over the final product also helped. I won't give away any of our other secrets!
I hope YOU have a great rest of the summer! It's hard to believe but school is almost here for my son, Jake, and my wife and I are making our end of summer/beginning of Fall plans. My next trip that I personally look forward to is the "dove hunt" trip to my dad's farm.
My other job on 929 FM ESPN is programming and producing. I recently put together a "celebrity week" and had the pleasure of working with Jerry Lawler, who has done quite a few shows on 94.1, but also Chris Wallace from the Grizzlies, Dennis Philippe, the one and only Josh Pastner, and the new football coach at Memphis Justin Fuente.
Justin and I are about the same age and have had similar experiences, outside of the fact he makes a lot more money than I do coaching football! But he's traveled around the country for his job and met his wife pretty close to where I grew up (he was an Asst. Coach at Illinois State University). It was great to meet Coach Fuente and hear his story. It sounds like he has a terrific family and I look forward to watching his progress at the University of Memphis as Head Football Coach.
In other news, it's hot! 100+ for the last week and likely for the next couple. Gearing up for tomorrow night's Collierville Independence Celebration. This will be my 8th year hosting that event, and it's always terrific. Great fireworks, great food, and one of my favorite local bands "Dr. Zarr's Amazing Funk Monster". They used to play the rooftop party at the Peabody all the time when I worked for 94.1 The Buzz.
I'm starting to plan late summer/Fall Vacation time. Already looking forward to seeing family and friends, the annual pilgrimage to various BBQ events in and around the region, and then it'll be time for dove hunting in September. Wow. Before you know it, football!!!
Enjoy the tunes. This is the greatest music ever made, and we play it for you. Live and Local!
~Brad
ps- A Happy 40th Anniversary to Maurice and Libby Buring! And a thank you. What a party (WITH CHICAGO!!!!) WOW.
