Tag: 1979

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WLTL Alumni Show Today

Today is the day I do my ‘alumni’ show on WLTL and I’ll be hosting this afternoon from 2 to 4 pm. I will be brining along two second generation broadcasters to keep me company. My son Matt was on the radio station at Downers Grove South during the 2008 school year and my daughter Jenna was on during the 2009 school year. We will be playing some alternative Christmas music, talking about their radio experiences and maybe take a trip back to 1979.

Tune in to 88.1 FM if you in the LaGrange area or you can stream the show from http://www.wltl.net/rock/index.php and click ‘listen live’.

WLTL Logo

Update: I had a great time hosting the show with Matt and Jenna. The station was quite a bit larger than I remember as they took over what used to be the video studios on the lower south east corner of the north campus building (Brainerd and Elm). The old classroom where we learned the finer points of broadcasting was still there and you still step down into the entrance to the studio but instead of WLTL Studiomaking an immediate left into the news room/PSA prep area and then into the actual DJ area, you step down and keep going straight where the room opens up into basically a living room/green room complete with couches a TV and some computer workstations. Along the left wall (the Brainerd side) there are now three studios: a smaller prep recording studio, the main large broadcasting studio and then another smaller prep studio. The main broadcasting studio is about three times the size of our original studio we had in ‘79 and the only remnants of that era that I could see was two rows of record albums stacked on shelves against one of the walls.

They have the top wall section of the ‘green room’ nicely decorated all the way around with many of our old school record album covers in individual frames. Each album is numbered with what I would guess is the code to find the songs on the mp3 digital system. It is nice that they kept a touch of the past in this new very impressive area.

Thanks to the WLTL staff and advisors for letting me be a part of this years alumni week. I look forward to participating again next year and hope to get a few of my classmates to do it with me. 

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Coffee With a Friend

I have been thinking more and more about things that make me happy and why I don’t spend enough  time doing them. I have come to the conclusion that there is definitely a creative side of my brain that is not being flexed enough and I must do and intend to do more about that. When I started this blog, I noticed that as I filled the virtual pages, I felt better about things in general. There was no specific Bob Briskeything I felt better about and I don’t know if the family noticed, but it was very obvious to me the I had a smile on my face a bit more often. The act of writing was helping me express whatever creative stuff was trying to ooze from the right side of my brain and I feel better on the days that I do write.

The welding class that I just finished had the save affect on me. Every Saturday I had that creative outlet that allowed me to relax, clear my mind of work related issues and just have fun creating. You may think that welding is not creative but you would be wrong. From afar i looks like the welder is just melting two pieces of metal together, but it is more than that. In order to be a good welder you need to know your equipment very well. Some welders describe it as being one with your machine, almost a zen like experience. It reminds me of that movie “Breaking Away” where the father of the bike racer explains that he had this set of tool for cutting rock (he worked in a quarry cutting limestone) that allowed him to cut the stone as if it were butter. He knew his tools so well that he could perform at his peak every day, cutting through stone almost effortlessly. That is how I feel when I am creating something. I am living in the moment with a smile on my face truly enjoying what I am creating. 

The reason I scheduled my coffee meeting this morning was to pick the brain and exchange ideas with my friend Bob.  I referenced Bob and his photography career in my post Party Like It’s 1979 from earlier this year. I have always enjoyed Bob’s work and I actually got more interested in photography after working with him on the “LION” our high school newspaper.  I wanted to exchange a few ideas with him and see if I was going down the right path with some things I am thinking about.

Bob had some great ideas and our conversation quickly turned to our kids, careers and even a few possible business ideas. We both agreed that this was a productive meeting and that we should continue our dialog over the next few months to see what happens. I can’t wait to see what he has in mind.