OK Let me tell something to you

Behind the scenes

2012-01-12T15:47:00.000-07:00

My father spent his life in retail and was passionate about things like going to a fashion show in New York and finding things that he could sell in his stores in northern Arizona. They would arrive, he'd put an ad in the paper, make a display and people would come and buy the things that he planned for them to buy. He loved it!

I love what I do and I enjoy all of the equipment and services and artistry and other things that go into an event behind the scenes. I'm kinda like my father, I enjoy seeing people come to an event and have the good time that we all planned for them to have.

Setting up an LED screen behind the stage and some testing in progress.

Somebody snapped a shot of me setting up some sound equip but it became a silhouette with the screen being tested.

"Recharge!" was the name of the event. You can see my DJ workstation behind the pillar in the right of this shot.

I snapped this one just before the event was to begin. Room is all set. This event had 500 people but this venue holds about 800 for concerts and such. The balcony on the right and behind my head has more space than is evident in this shot. They are doing an expansion that will accommodate about 1500 soon.

My friends- The Lisa Pressman Ensemble playing some great jazz for about 45 minutes. I played most of the night before and after them.

I love that I get to be the "face" of an event and people will often come and thank me for the good time that they had not realizing all of the various trades that made it happen but that did NOT get to be on stage to be recognized for it. There's technical crews in sound and lighting, tables, chairs, linens, china, photography, flowers, caterers and it goes on and on.

Here's another part that the guests don't see- the load out. All of this stuff goes into road cases to go to another event on another day.

32 years as a DJ.

2011-12-01T22:26:00.001-07:00

Last month I celebrated 32 years as a DJ and entertainer. Technology has come a long way since I started and evidenced by the fact that I'm sharing my thoughts on the subject of professional anniversaries on this fancy-schmancy, electronic, new-fangled, on-line journal. Click here and here for previous commentary. I have noted before that the first song I ever played as a DJ was Gary Numan's "Cars". It was a brand new song then and it's almost 33 years old now. I think I played it on a cassette tape the first time. You young-uns may not know what a cassette is- it's pictured at the top of this photo. There would be about 20 minutes of music on one side and then you would take the tape out of the player and flip it over and play 20 more minutes on the other side. (The cassette pictured is not the Gary Numan tape that I played.)

But I did play those two 8-track tapes by Styx that night- in addition to others. Come Sail Away, Blue Collar Man, Renegade etc. It was my Dad's stereo and I frankly never intended to be a DJ. I was a keyboard player dog-gone-it! A few weeks later, somebody who was there wanted me to do their party too and I resisted, citing the fact that it was 8-track tapes that had to be cued in advance and it was my dad's stereo yada yada yada. They insisted- "No, we loved what you did- you really rocked it and made it fun!" It's 32 years later now!

8-tracks and cassettes are very difficult for DJ work and I switched to vinyl- mostly "45s" which had one song on either side. You can see one of those too in the center of the picture above. Vinyl is making a comeback in recent years. It has a warmth that digital is missing sometimes. There is also something to be said about the fact that you have to invest in the listening experience with vinyl. It's not as convenient as an ipod. You actually have to set aside some time to listen- it's difficult to do something else like work out, send emails, groom your nails... you have to get the record out of its sleeve and put it on a turn table and put the stylus down and listen to 20 minutes of music and then... you have to get up and flip the record over and listen to the other 20 minutes. You are almost required to stop down and listen to what the artist is trying to say. It's even better when you just surrender to the experience willingly. Some songs become more profound when they are played after a couple of other songs that might set the mood and then a musical experience can ebb and flow. There are liner notes and album artwork and lyric sheets to read and study while you listen.

In the middle of my career, CDs came out. I resisted mostly because I already had a huge investment in vinyl, already a decade in, and didn't want to buy another collection. Once I finally made the switch I wondered why I hadn't done it the day that CDs appeared. I could carry far more music and have quicker access to any given song on the fly. Sadly, there are tens of thousands of artists and albums that never made it to digital and may never be seen again. Gary Numan made it. You can see that I had him sign this CD copy when I saw him in LA in 1997. I've met him a few more times since.

On my 32nd anniversary as a DJ, I played his song again at a very large singles mixer/dance in Tempe AZ. The song still seemed fresh and energetic- it packed the dance floor with about 300 dancing bodies! You may want to click on the picture to see my work screen with "Cars" highlighted on the right. Actually, the computer file I'm using here was made from the CD pictured above. I carry about 20x the music that I used to carry with no extra weight and space and even quicker access to any song- usually about 8 seconds to find anything. It cues in about a quarter second but it takes me 8 seconds to find and select it.

I actually resisted switching to digital in 1999 mostly because I'm not a computer whiz and it was hard for me to imagine showing up for a gig without a disc that I could hold in my hand. MP3s were cutting edge at the time and I bought a computer and adapted it to the purpose of DJ work. The industry moved that direction very quickly and my workstation pictured was the first commercially available computerized DJ system. It's nearly 6 years old now and is becoming antiquated. I like it though. It has really been a battle axe.

I think that Bing Crosby and Beethoven and Glenn Miller and Carmen Miranda and Bill Haley and Handel and John Lennon would be thrilled to know that I think their music is important all these years and centuries later and that I carry it on an electronic device and that I play it regularly.

I'm not sure what the next format will be. I don't think we will "own" music anymore in the way we do now and I'm not sure how artists will be paid for producing it but I do believe that however that turns out, an entertainer like me will still be able to make a living by adding entertainment value in the playing of the songs.

Styx's Tommy Shaw wrote what I think is one of the great metaphors of rock music in a song called "Sing for the Day". In the song, "Hannah" is the embodiment of everybody who has ever loved a song. The song is written in the first person and so the "I" is the song itself. It invites Hannah out at night to sing and dance. It knows how a song can change a nation, it knows how to heal, it knows how to express the things that people have a hard time verbalizing otherwise. It also realizes that if the musicians don't play it and the people don't sing and dance to it, the song is forgotten and it dies. It has no life on its own apart from those that love it and keep it alive. The song even pleads that Hannah won't forget it when a new song comes along. I love playing a song like Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" and seeing people who weren't even born when that song was written sing along with every word. I can cut the music for fun in key places and hear 300 voices singing in unison as loud as my sound system had been.

Live music is still alive and well and viable. Just this week, I journeyed to southern California to see my son Javin play guitar live at the House of Blues in Anaheim.

That's him on the left here.

As I mentioned above, my first event worked well and became the genesis of a career in music and entertainment because I was an entertainer, not because I was simply playing somebody elses songs on 8-track tapes on my dad's stereo. Just a reminder that all of the brilliant technology in sound and lighting won't save an event if the DJ stinks. This will sound cocky and arrogant and that is not the intent, but I could go in to an event with an ipod and a couple of speakers and make it happen. I sure love having all of the brilliant equipment and lighting to make my job easier, it frees me to BE the entertainer, but my job is not to simply run the equipment. An ipod playlist won't respond to the crowd and the moment, it will just play the next song. A good DJ will feel the moment. My job is to add entertainment value to those songs by playing them in an order that makes sense and creates energy and by highlighting dramatic elements of the songs with cool lighting effects and by giving voice to the emotions of the occasion and taking attendees on an adventure and helping them release. They will heal their hearts and make sense of the troubles in their lives and they will celebrate a landmark event in their family or in their company and they will mark the times and seasons and they will feel better when they leave.

Sometimes when I'm at a piano event, the opening notes of some songs are met with absolute jubilation. There are lots of songs have entered the collective consciousness and have been a constant to people through good and bad times. Three and four generations of people know those songs. They know every word, they sing along, they are hugging each other, dancing and getting in to it. I feel their energy and I dig down and nurture it and add to it and send it back to them and they feel the renewed energy and they start getting down and laughing and singing and dancing and they send it to me and I send it to them. It's a love fest! People become comfortable expressing themselves in ways that they otherwise are uncomfortable doing. Tears can be shed comfortably. It helps let go of the hurt.

I really do count myself blessed. If you have read this far, thanks for that. If you have read this far and you are one of those that has been blessed by music in your life- carry on! If you are reading this and you are one of my industry mates or mentors- thanks for the love and thanks for the things I've learned from you, you ROCK! If you have read this far and you've contributed to my career and happiness by hiring me or having attended an event where I played- thanks, Keep Rockin'! Here's to not only the 33rd year, but a lifetime of love and music.

POSH!

2011-10-05T07:01:00.000-07:00

I was invited to play at a very POSH industry mixer for the Destination Management and Corporate Event world tonight. These models were on either side of the stage on stools and a costume skirt that went to the floor with a hula hoop hem.

I put a blue LED moonwash effect along with a red and green laser matrix that really made the sparkly costume sparkle.

LED screen at the back of the stage.

You can see my logo on the wall off to the side of the stage and above the bar. As people moved about the event from this room to others, they all saw it and I know there were some technical types that were wondering how I did that.

I didn't know in advance that Harley Bonham would be behind the camera for this event. He's the nicest guy around and a pleasure to work with. We did a wedding together recently and we have another event together coming up in November. He took some photos of the event that will knock your socks off- don't confuse my snap shot at arms length photos with a professional photographers work. Harley is one of the best.

In addition to the ten foot tall models up by the stage, this champagne glass model was opposite from me on the far side of the room.

This last picture cracks me up because it's kinda like one of those snapshots that tourists in Italy take- pretending to hold up the Leaning Tower of Pisa... I was just taking a shot of my work station and I think this guys was checking his phone but it looks like he's about to drink the champagne!

Rockin' San Diego

2011-09-11T17:16:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted anything in some time but it's not for lack of DJ adventures to post, it's just that the DJ adventures have consumed my time and secondly, I really do focus on my DJ duties at each event and not photographing each event for my blog.

I had a two night event in Southern California for Labor Day Weekend. It was a big Christian Singles weekend retreat with seminars, activities, speakers and a mixer dance on Friday night at the church hall and on Saturday night at a local amusement park. They had about 1000 people from all over the southwestern U.S.

This Gobo (go before optical) ummm... anyways, it's a projection thingy in white light that was front and center on the dancefloor.

Here are two of my best buddies from California. That's Bill on the left. He was my neighbor when I lived in Upland CA. He's about the nicest and warmest man you'll ever meet. Scott is on the right. We've been friends for about 15 years now and my life is certainly better because I know him- he's full of wisdom and he's always a good house guest at my place or host when I'm staying at his place. These two guys are quick to jump in on roadie and technician duties whenever I'm working in CA and need a bit of a crew. Scott and I have done "dueling DJ" events together in LA and here in Phoenix a few times. He's coming to Phoenix to help me with an event at the Arizona Science Center coming up in October. It was sure great to see you guys.

Spent some time Saturday at the beach and at the San Diego Mormon Temple site with Scott.

Various and sundry DJ adventures

2011-06-30T08:25:00.009-07:00

I played recently at a great wedding at a photography studio/artist loft at an old warehouse in downtown Phoenix. Here's some behind the scenes preparation as a chandelier is being installed right over the guests for the ceremony and later, the the banquet table will be right under it.

This is Hank- one of the groomsmen. He's ROCKIN' that bowtie! He and I are Facebook friends now too.

Incredibly well-behaved. He's sitting right where he's supposed to during the ceremony.

Here's a shot during the ceremony. You can see the chandelier overhead. That's my lighting on the wall where the dancing will be later after they open up that divider with the "LOVE" sign on it.This is the room all reset for a dinner celebration. The chandelier is looking good- the bride and groom will sit right under it.
I loved this bride and groom- the guests are having some cocktails in one of the galleries on the other end of the building and the photographer is taking care of the professional shots with the family and bridal party.

When it was time for dancing, I changed the lighting from the amber spotlights to some LED/laser effects with a gobo projection in the middle of it. The dancefloor seemed to float in space.

My little camera mic is no match for high powered speakers. It's not as loud as it seems. It's interesting as I rotate around, you can see the effect kinda go flat- looking from the dancefloor away- it's just a room, but the guests looking toward the dancefloor, it was floating! If you think that the blue moonwash effect seems to be moving, it IS. It's great new technology.

The Princess Bride

2011-04-03T07:45:00.015-07:00

I played at a great wedding at Raven Verrado yesterday. This was a workin' family and the last daughter of the clan to be married off and the father of the bride was a bit emotional about it. In his toast, he commented that the wedding plans had been rather matter-of-fact and mechanical. He was just writing the checks. When the song started for the bride's processional, it hit home and he crrrrrriiiiiiii-ed like a weeeeee bay-beee! I'm well aware of the power of music too. I've been at this for 31 years now and even though I love to love my customers, I don't really have a vested personal interest and I don't know the history of their family etc. but I get emotional too when I see them celebrating something important in their lives and my music selections help give voice to the emotions of the day. It's very gratifying to me. The stage is set.

I always enjoy all of the behind the scenes preparations, the setting of linens and dinnerware, the sound and lighting equipment, food, flowers, photography, musicians etc. The payoff is when guests arrive and have the good time that we planned for and worked for them to have. The bride arrived in a horse drawn carriage but I should have photographed the horses left profile. Let me 'splain... The carriage was supposed to come from off in the distance and cross this bridge and arrive in front of the wedding party and drop off the Maid of Honor and the Best man and then the bride and her father would continue around behind and disembark and come up the aisle from behind. The horse couldn't navigate this bridge though. He made an attempt and as he got to the top of the hump he was now pulling the weight of the carriage and 5 adults and one kidlet. The driver helped the horse back down and they gave it a bit of a running start this time. He got to the top again and had no traction because of his steel shoes against the stone pavement. I was playing Pachabel's "Canon in D" which is a 5 1/2 minute song and if you know the chord progression, it goes on and on and on and on. I've already played it twice at this point and the bride isn't even in earshot of it yet! It was a song that she had chosen for this moment. A third attempt was made.

A few burly men dispatched themselves to see what they could do to help- perhaps pushing from behind. A couple of golf carts from the clubhouse were dispatched to assist as well if needed. I couldn't bear another round of "Canon in D" so I rallied the troops and played the "William Tell Overture" (Theme from the Lone Ranger) to an eruption of cheers and laughter.

Rather than risk the liability of someone getting hurt, it was ultimately decided to turn the horse around and go back around the lake (a substantial distance) and come in from a direction that didn't require crossing that bridge. When the bride got into earshot from the reverse side, I played her song again. The attendants disembarked and now the carriage had to go around the far end of the golf club (another substantial distance) to get in place behind the guests. This required the 4th airing of Canon in D. That's 22 minutes of that chord progression, plus 4 minutes of the Lone Ranger Theme and finally the bride's processional- Bach's "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring." The bride and her father could have walked from the bridge but she wanted to ride that carriage. She'a a Disney fan and her recessional song was "So this is love?" from Cinderella. The guests were equally patient and gracious.

The ceremony got off nearly 45 minutes late but it was sure an adventure. In a strange way, things like this end up being rather charming in memory. It was not an ugly incident that would be remembered negatively but it will add some spice to things and it provides a story to tell. All of the kidlets and other interested guests got to go for carriage rides around the local streets during cocktail hour and into dinner and that was a real treat.

It dawned on me later... look at the pic of the horse again... I'll wait... muscular, fit, trim, beautiful... It was a one-horsepower carriage. I think that the steel shoes were the problem more than the strength of the horse. I overheard that there are rubber shoes for horses for such situations. I heard that something similar had happened a few weeks ago on that bridge with another carriage company but that a horse almost lost her footing and went in the lake. I think the venue should advise brides going forward that this may be the case. I wouldn't want the liability of anybody or a beautiful animal getting hurt and marring an otherwise lovely occasion. One of the groomsmen played an original composition for one element of the ceremony. He nailed it! I provided lots of theatrical lighting to showcase various elements of the room. I'm not a professional photographer so my camera doesn't do it any justice. This really framed the cake when viewed with one's eyes but the cake looks lost here. On that subject, I usually don't put pictures of the wedding party that are identifiable because there is usually a professional photographer on hand and I don't want a casual reader to think that this represents the professional photography for the event.

Also on that subject... the photographer was none other than Harley Bonham. He was recommended to the networking group that I own a couple of years ago and I liked him in the first two or three minutes that I got to meet him. We have crossed paths several times at industry functions and we've shared the stage on opposite pianos at a dueling piano club a couple of times but this was our first time working together in our professional element. I was at once intimidated but also really excited to work together. He has referred me to several of his customers and he did that blindlly trusting in my reputation and what personality he could detect in me in other settings- he had never actually seen me work and I feared he may discover that I am completely mediocre. It was as great as I had hoped it would be! He may be the nicest guy in this industry and he proved that he was also a brilliant professional to work with. We already have another common customer coming up in the fall.

Congratulations to Courtney and Eric. You guys ROCK! Thanks for letting me take care of the music for your wedding celebration.

Valentines Dance at the Mesa Academy

2011-02-14T07:50:00.003-07:00

Before- It looks suspiciously like a school gymnasium...

After- There's nothing like some cookies, punch, lights and good music to make a bunch of teenagers dance.
They say that if you ain't the lead dog, the view is always pretty much the same.... I have a pretty good view in life!

Thanks Mesa Academy for a great time at your Valentines Dance!

The DJs new clothes

2011-01-31T16:11:00.008-07:00

I had some new stage clothes made this month which is always a good perk of working in entertainment. I can wear some really great stuff and even if its over the top, it's like I get a free pass because I'm the DJ and I'm supposed to wear something outrageous. It's good that I've worn it on stage a couple of times and it seems to have good ju-ju and when somebody says how cool the outfit is I get to tell them that I designed it myself and had it custom made. The jacket and shirt were made in Scottsdale at Jean-Paul Jeune and the boots came from Spain and the pants in this photo were just out of my closet because the pants that I ordered for this outfit were coming from Ohio and they didn't' make it in time. In fact, it's been 50 days since I ordered them and they keep telling me that they are on the case...

I'm leading the timid masses at a big industry mixer for several professional associations and networking groups within the wedding and event and tourism and hospitality industry. I didn't expect any dancing at such a function so the fact that I got 4 people going was a bonus. I didn't want to bring all of the lighting rig and video projection and everything but I did relish the opportunity to show my industrymates what I had and what I could do. Special thank you to my buddy Andy DeLisle for letting me use this photo.

The trouble with distinctive stage clothing is that I have to be cautious where and when I wear it. If I wear it in front of a particular group, I have to make a mental note not to wear it the next time I appear. Those Hollywood starlets that wear a $10,000 gown and get photographed in all of the trade and gossip magazines can't wear that dress again.

I played at a really fun wedding last weekend at Raven Verrado Golf Club out in Buckeye. The ceremony actually took place in the city park in the center of town. Here's the bride and her dad walking across the park. She wanted a certain lyric to swell at the moment she arrived at the stairs about 30 feet in front of her in this shot. I nailed it. Even the minister's first comment was "Wow, that was dramatic!" It's sometimes hard to cue such things on the fly because in rehearsal, they walk one speed and at the actually wedding with the nerves and the adrenaline going, they often walk faster.
There is a really warm and cozy banquet room with great acoustics at the golf club but the bride chose to have her dinner out on the lawn and rent a tent. It was pretty charming with my lighting and everything. I would have liked to put up my dancefloor lighting rig but the top of the tent was too low to do it.
I think a few of the guests were rocking out to a Bon Jovi song here.
That night was the beginning of a string of consecutive Saturday bookings that won't stop until June 18th and they include events in San Diego California, Salt Lake City Utah and Heber Arizona.

Party like a rockstar

2011-01-09T18:10:00.005-07:00

I played a very posh event at a private residence in Scottsdale last night. It was a victory celebration/political fundraiser for David Smith of Arizona's District 7 which includes Cave Creek and parts of Scottsdale I think.

This is Tony Vacca on the sax. He just played a couple of numbers with an mp3 file on an ipod as accompaniment through my DJ system. He was too good for his own good I'm afraid. It was so perfectly mixed and performed that I don't think that most people realized they were listening to live sax unless they actually saw him standing there. Here's Sheriff Joe Arpaio speaking to the crowd with David Smith on his left and event organizer Gia Heller on his right. My DJ booth is right behind them but I'm out taking this picture.
I'm over by my booth this time. Sheriff Joe and Mr. Smith.

Personal friend and industrymate Lanette Romero- the Cake Contessa- catered the event and she whipped up some coconut shrimp with a delicious mango salsa- Mmm Mmm MMM! Local celebrity, Raven Valdez, was tending bar to raise more money for the cause of the evening and Barry Goldwater Jr. (former member of the U.S. House of Representatives) was also in attendance and gave a short speech. I also met LeAnn Hull who recently ran for the U.S. House of Representatives.

I was brought on mostly to provide the sound system for those couple of speeches and announcements but I can't just do the minimum- it's just not my nature. I fired up some dance music and asked the homeowner if I could move a patio table out of the way and we had some dancing and even went a half hour over. How could you not want to dance when you are all dressed up for dancing?

In the beginning...

2011-01-02T15:39:00.006-07:00

I had a visit from a DJ buddy from LA this last week- spent a couple of days at my house between Christmas and New Years- and we took a road trip up to Winslow where I grew up. We've become really good friends in the last 16 years since we met and he wanted to see if a visit to the place of my primary years could help him figure me out. Had a great chat on the drive up and back but I'm not sure he knows me any better than before. If you know pop culture or at least classic rock music, you know that Winslow, Arizona was immortalized in the Eagles song "Take it Easy." I'm not sure the song writer ever actually stood here or anywhere else in Winslow but the town has declared this corner to be the place and provided a photo opportunity. This is just a brick wall- a remnant of a building that used to be there. An artist has painted the windows and the signage and everything. If you look at the window on the left, there is an eagle perched, two windows over are two lovers embracing, the lower window reflects the flat bed Ford (remember the lyric, "it's a girl, my Lord, in a flat-bed Ford, slowin' down to take a look at me.) Just click on the photo to study a larger version of it.

This picture is where the Whipple's store used to be. The Burlington-Northern-Santa Fe railroad has an office on the left and Family Dollar is on the right but the two used to be the nicest department store in northern Arizona. Just out of the shot on the left- in the corner of the mall- was the corporate office for Whipple's. It's vacant now.

I'm standing on the spot that sparked my imagination and ignited my passion for the entertainment business. My DJ career started right here. It was a big retail promotion that my dad put on that was the biggest thing Northern Arizona had ever seen and probably hasn't been matched since. There was a 45' flatbed trailer parked on that spot for a stage and I got to introduce an appearance by Arizona TV legends, Wallace and Ladmo. There were about 1500 people there and I cracked a little joke and they laughed and when I told them to cheer, they cheered.

That moment changed my life.

The only thing that could have made that trip better would be if the Root Beer Stand had been open. I had a major hankerin' for a Taco Tangle.

Double Whammy!

2011-01-02T15:03:00.006-07:00

I did two weddings on New Years Eve but I was home at 11PM. Try to figure that one out. I had a brunch wedding out at Raven Verrado in Buckeye and then hustled out to Dobson Ranch Inn in Mesa for an early evening wedding reception.

This may be the cutest flowergirl in the history of cute flowergirls. She was the niece of the bride and probably believed all day that SHE was the bride. If she has any memories of this day I hope they are fond memories. She was really well behaved and charming and cute. She was wwwwWWWORKIN' my tambourine on the dance floor in this shot.
The bride knelt down beside the dancefloor while her new husband was dancing with his mom and the FGIQ (flower girl in question) laid down beside her to take a break. They had to be done by 4P because another New Years party was coming in to that room for that evening. The wedding had been on the lawn at 11AM and lunch was served at about 115 so wrapping up at 4 was just right.
This was the evening couple- a second marriage for both of them. They had been married in the Mormon Temple in Mesa that morning and participated in a religious service and then friends and family gathered for dinner that night at a nearby hotel restaurant. We had family introductions and a couple of speeches and a prayer and some dinner and dancing and when the evening was winding down, we did an arbitrary New Years countdown and lit some sparklers and sent them off on their honeymoon.

It was a long day with some equipment and music logistics to be concerned with but I planned well and executed it well and had some satisfied customers at the end of it.

unrelated brain doodles in no particular order

2010-12-09T10:11:00.027-07:00

Had a corporate gig in Scottsdale a couple of weeks ago and shared the bill with a great magician. We had lunch together last week. The event was for an engineering firm. This was my 3rd Christmas event for them. There was an engineer type who came up during cocktail hour, sucking on a soda through a straw, wearing an ill-fitting, out-of-date jacket and he looked incredulously at me and my equipment and asked if I really make a living at this. I got really serious and lowered my voice and tilted my head downward to his, squinted my eyes so they pierced him and I said, "I make more than you..." It frightened him and he walked away. I bet I DO make more than him. He's lucky I didn't respond with, "Do you really make a living sitting around an office doodling?"

People often approach me, who may be somewhat interested in what I do or how I do it or how the equipment works and there also seems to be some romantic notions about the life of a travelling entertainer with the lights, the stage clothes and everything. I know that what they are saying is, "This is really cool, you must have a great life, and I want to be close to you for a minute." But what comes out is, "Do you really make a living at this?" Or worse, they have to tear it down because it shines the light on their boring or otherwise out-of-control life and then what comes out is "When are you gonna play something we can dance to?" or "We can't dance to this, what WE want is..." I look at the dancefloor filled with 75% of the attendees and wonder who elected them spokesperson for those who ARE dancing? I just try to remember that what they are trying to say is- "This is really cool." I DO love my life and my chosen profession.

Since I'm on this subject. I have had two people in the last 2 weeks come up and request the very song that is playing. Are you even listening? They must have really thought it was cool and wanted any reason to come up and say hello.

Made a road trip to LA last month for a concert.

While in LA, had lunch with my son, Javin, he turned 20 this week, met his girlfriend, liked her.

I don't mind what speed people go out in the desert, but I'd like them to maintain it fairly consistently. The left lane isn't really called the fast lane- it's the PASSING lane. If you aren't passing, GET OUT OF MY WAY and let me pass! Don't use the argument that you are going over the speed limit anyways and I should just deal with it. I don't have cruise control in the DJ van but I can maintain a pace within about 2 MPH pretty well. I was in my car for this trip and used the cruise control and it was painfully obvious that people were more interested in texting and yakking than watching the speedometer.

Gary Numan sold out two nights at El Rey Theater and melted some faces! He played the entire Pleasure Principle album to celebrate 30 years since its release. It's an important album because it was the first rock album devoid of electric guitars. They strapped on some guitars for the 2nd half of the show and played some current music and other fan faves from the catalogue. Steve Harris is an unknown treasure in the guitar world- a madman on stage and I almost took a guitar to the face more than once. A few years ago at a show in San Diego, he almost took a tumble off the stage but I caught him. He looks fairly normal here. He's a specimen of manhood, the last time I saw him, he was shirtless and had a black line painted down his face and neck and chest like a zipper- pretty scary.

I had a backstage pass and I got to go to sound check and talk to Gary Numan. I pressed him about bringing the show to Phoenix in the spring when the new album comes out and he said he' would have liked to come this time- they did have some interested promoters- but that he has kids now and doesn't like to be away from them for so long. Next tour, he said he'd do the east coast and then spend some time with family and then hit a few more cities in the west than he did this time. He did thank me very genuinely for driving 6 hrs each way for the show and promised that he'd work hard to make it a a good one. It was.

I know he doesn't particularly like meeting fans but he does it because it means a lot to fans. I just thanked him for the music, got an autograph on a DVD and I let him go. At the height of his stardom in the 80s, he received a live bullet in the mail from a "fan"- a bullet is really hard to get in Britain. The note said that the bullet had been in a handgun (even harder to get in Britain) that was snuck into Wembley Stadium and he had intended to kill him but had such a good time at the show that he decided not to...

There was a photographer with the local music press up in front of the barrier at the Numan show that was a fit and trim guy but still looked a bit like a nerd. He had a shaved head and there was a glaring, long, curly hair growing from the top of his ear. Not a spot on the side of his head where he mistakenly missed shaving, it was ON THE TOP OF HIS EAR. It would seem that a photographer would have good enough vision to have spotted that in the mirror each morning. The stage lights made it really shine.

The opening act sucked.

I have about 6 little cases of ear plugs in my desk in my home office. I always buy a set for each concert I attend because I always forget to bring the ones I have. I protect my hearing pretty religiously. The drug store a couple of blocks down Wilshire Blvd from the El Rey Theater sold me a case of about 10 pairs of ear plugs. A few fans in the front row with me were plugging their ears in the first couple of numbers from the sucky opening act and I offered them my extra plugs. At first, they thought I was offering drugs or something. I had to point to my ears with the purple ear plugs in them. They accepted my offer.

My buddy Scott from Orange County was going to try to buy a ticket after the start of the show when the ticket sellers may be a bit more desperate. Out front, he had offered to snap a pic under the marquee for a dad with two teenage daughters attending the show. He got down on his knee and really framed the pic nicely. For his gesture, he got a spare ticket intended for the mom who was sick. Scott is 6'4" and he pressed/wrestled his way right down front anyway. You suck Scott!

Said hello to a fellow fan that I've seen at shows over the years... he's now a she.

Talk show host, Craig Ferguson and U2 guitarist, The Edge were in attendance- both proclaim Numan fandom.

Gary Numan was supposed to have headlined the Coachella Music festival but was stranded in Britain because of the Iceland volcano last spring. Craig Ferguson had purchased a $270 ticket for the festival and ranted on and on in his opening monologue the next night about not getting to see his hero Gary Numan.

Did a corporate gig for CelllularONE at Hon-dah resort up in Pinetop last weekend. They ain't never seen nothing like me up on the mountain. I sent 'em home in body bags. They had a singer for dinner hour and the hotel staff had man-handled a beautiful white Young Chang grand piano (rather expensive) into the space right beside me. I would have never climbed up there if it was in better condition but the hotel crew had no idea how to handle a piano and it was already pretty scratched up on each corner. It was the perfect platform for me to dance/rock out/do my Baptist preacher routine... They called me on Monday AM and booked me for next year.

The spouse of an attendee came up and told me that he's a DJ too and made a couple of requests that were way out in left field from the format of the evening- THE SONGS I WAS HIRED TO PLAY- I always wonder how good a DJ is when he's talking to me on a Saturday night and not working... Hmmm.... I think he was using cocaine too. I know I talk fast but this guy was going 100mph and couldn't hold still for a second!

Picked some limes at Uncle Dave's house in Pomona CA. Limeade for the last month or so. Juiced it all and made ice cubes out of it. They are in a freezer bag now.

The greatest Christmas songs ever

2010-12-01T18:27:00.014-07:00

That's right, I said that and I'll say it again because I'm controversial. I'm like Geraldo.

Here they are, the GREATEST Christmas songs ever:

10) Styx- All I want

Most artists either cover an existing song from the 50s or 60s when most of the really good Christmas music was written or they do an overwrought, contrived and unimaginative "original" song about how "it's Christmastime and the snow is falling down..." Falling down?!!???! As opposed to...? This one is a great original by a great band. My only complaint is that it uses sleigh bells. They are used very well mind you, but sleigh bells do not necessarily a Christmas song make and in the same way, merely declaring that it's Christmastime in the first line or two does not make it a Christmas song. In light of the fact that it is an otherwise solid, well-crafted, arranged and performed song, I'll slide it in at number 10.

9) Randy Travis- Jingle Bell Rock

It's been covered several times but the song just lends itself to a country treatment and there's none better than the deep and smooth voice of Randy Travis.

8) Peter, Paul and Mary- Children, Go where I send thee

A great song in the "Twelve days of Christmas" vein where you add an item with each verse and work your way down. You kinda should know your Christianity to get some of the references but if not, you have a reason to do some searching on who Paul and Silas are (in addition to other things) and why they are sung about together. I have a live performance of it and it is incredibly flawed compared to the quantized and overproduced music of today but that's what gives it some life. The song really does live and breathe.

7) The Osmonds- Kay Thompson's Jingle Bells

It's just full of the joy of the season.

6) Jon Bon Jovi- Please come home for Christmas

When Bon Jovi was on hiatus and Jon was doing some acting and other things in the 90s, he recorded this song and knocked it out of the park. It's a great vocal performance that only takes 1/2 of the song but he sang what he needed to sing and got himself out. This version clocks in at only 2:53 the rest of it is filled with a respectable guitar solo but it could have just ended early and been fine.

5 1/2) Amy Grant-Breath of Heaven

What a powerful song. There is nothing you could do to change it. The reverent and religious message itself causes the chord progression to be what it is. The dramatic pauses are brilliant and it's kindof in a class by itself. It IS a Christmas song but not in the cutesy or secular-ish vein but it couldn't not be on this list... and no, I don't need no English lessons. Amy Grant nailed this one.

5) Dennis DeYoung- When I hear a Christmas song

I already mentioned that all of the good Christmas music was already written and we just have the new artists rehashing what has already been done and done and done- this is really a new classic. Although it leans on the sleigh bells again, it's an otherwise perfect Christmas love song.

4) The Chipmunks- Christmas don't be late

It's a well-crafted song that used cutting edge technology for the time, but still sounds superior to the electronically treated voices used in the recent chipmunks movies and musically it still holds up pretty well. Alvin... uh Alvin... ALVIN!

3) Amy Grant- The Christmas Song (Chestnuts)

This is another one that has been covered by several artists over the years. Ms. Grant's version just captures the message of the song. It's romantic, it's spiritual and fun. It's a great slow dance.

2) The Carpenters- Merry Christmas Darling

Karen Carpenter was before my time but her voice is just perfect. It melts me and it should melt you too.

1) Andy Williams- The most wonderful time

It's ain't Christmas until ANDY says it's Christmas and he says it so well with this song.

31 years as a DJ

2010-11-24T13:19:00.015-07:00

I just celebrated 31 years as a DJ this last week. My first gig was on November 14th of 1979.

This is the earliest picture I have of me as a DJ. This was taken in 1983. I was 17 yrs old and already 3 years into what has become my career. I didn't count myself a professional until about 5 years later when I did my first big budget event at one of the local country clubs in Riverside CA and I changed that event from a good event into a great event and that golf club became a regular customer for many years.
This is my current DJ rig. It can do about 20 times what that mess up there could do.
Here are some pictures from just this past weekend. I'm doing the Cha-cha slide with a young bridal party. I've got lots of new toys since that first gig back in 1979. This was at King Ben's Pavilion at Golfland/Sunsplash on Friday night. I attracted 200 of the 350 in attendance and I had to compete with Lazer Tag, miniature golf, fried food, a major arcade and a lovely evening with a full moon. Once they discovered that I was there under the tent and I meant business, they packed that space and stayed and danced until the wee hours of the morning.

FUN FACTS from 31 years in this industry-

Other than business cards, I never spent a dime on advertising until early 2007 when I was the new guy in Phoenix.

People I've met during my DJ career: Explorer Jacques Cousteau, Rock singer Huey Lewis, President elect Bill Clinton, Congressman Jeff Flake of Arizona, Governor Janet Napalitano of Arizona (now Homeland Security Secretary), Tommy Shaw, James Young and Dennis DeYoung of Styx, Teen idol Davy Jones of the Monkees, Electronic rock pioneer Gary Numan, Arizona TV Legends Wallace and Ladmo, DJ Kasey Casem, TV fashion expert Avril Graham, The Laker Girls, the San Diego Charger Girls, Guitarist Joe Satriani, British DJ/Producer Ade Fenton, Actor Paul Hogan, Director Steven Spielberg, French composer/musician Jean-Michel Jarre, Radio DJ Rick Dees, Teen idol Andy Gibb, Mormon Church leaders Spencer W. Kimball and Ezra Taft Benson, Fox Morning News host Alexis Delchiaro. Countless Mayors, political contenders, magicians, puppeteers, comedians, singers, jugglers, regional musical acts, special interest authors, school Principals and lots of other nice people who are out doing the things the world needs done whether it makes them famous or not.

Cool places I've played: Under the nose of Air Force One at the Ronald Reagan Library, Queen Mary, Disneyland, Temecula Balloon and Wine Festival, California School for the Deaf, The Boojum Tree, Huntington Beach- and I mean ON the beach, Bear Creek Inn, atop a San Francisco skyscraper with a perfectly framed view of the Golden Gate Bridge, Wrigley Mansion, The Sanctuary, Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts, Tempe Center for the Performing Arts. I've worked at events in Oregon, California, Arizona, Utah, Florida, Illinois, Connecticut and Texas.

Interesting situations encountered: A groom was unfaithful with a bridesmaid on Thursday and the bride discovered the encounter on Friday and decided that she didn't want to marry him on Saturday but she kept completely quiet and went ahead with the plans in order to embarrass him publicly at the wedding ceremony. When the officiant asked who thinks this couple shouldn't be married, she let him have it!

Only two major equipment failures to speak of in 31 years- New Years Eve of 1983, power amp blew up with sparks and smoke and everything. A guitarist in attendance had an amp in his car and we made it work. 18 months in to digital DJ work, in about 1999 or 2000, my computer software froze. I'm not a computer whiz but witnessed a miracle as the software re-loaded at the moment when I was about to announce the bride and groom first dance. I have redundancies in place against that ever happening again. I did have a lighting rig collapse during set up and as one of the truss bars came down, it narrowly missed hitting me in the head but it brushed against the front of my chest and sliced my left nipple rather severely. I'm pretty religious about the safety latches and pins but this was during set up when some of them weren't installed yet.

Prom at California School for the Deaf in 1993 and 1994. "Hearing" some of those songs in ASL was beautiful and moving.

A car entered a rural two-lane highway from a driveway and I crashed into the drivers door at about 50MPH and lots of DJ equipment came flying through my back window. I nearly careened down a ravine. Brought the truck to a stop safely several hundred feet down the road. The driver was injured and taken to a hospital for a couple of days. I was a mile away from a wedding venue and two hours from the ceremony start time. The venue operator dispatched someone to come and salvage the equipment from the back of the truck and went and set it in place as best they knew how. (it was a place that I worked regularly) Several road cases were destroyed but all the crucial equipment was intact or at least in working order. I showed up later and took care of the wedding. My truck was totalled. The wedding guests never knew anything was amiss.

Someone offered cocaine once and I refused and asked him to leave the stage because I was trying to work. He apologized but only thought I was upset that he was offering so openly so he offered again with his hand down by his hip and backwards- a bit more discreetly. I don't do drugs.

The fathers of the bride and groom got into a fist fight in the foyer in sight of the reception hall. Both left in handcuffs.

Music: I can't say that I've played Michael Jackson and the Beatles at every gig but I've played them at most gigs and I can't think of a gig where a song or two wouldn't fit in somewhere. I never tire of those songs and they always fill the dancefloor. I'm a huge Styx fan but I rarely play them. Not all that danceable. I do a pretty cool DJ mix thing with Lou Bega's Mambo #5 and Styx's Too Much Time on my Hands once in a while. First song I ever played as a DJ was Gary Numan's Cars. Click here for my previously shared thoughts on the impact of that song on rock music. Thank you Michael and Paul and John for the music. I love you guys! Honorable mention to Van Morrison and Glenn Miller.

I love what I do because everybody is always dressed up, they are celebrating something meaningful to them. You've got the food, the music, the lights, the occasion, the anticipation, the color, the heritage, the fun, the electric conversations, the flirting, the dancing and I get to be the Pied Piper and help them release all that celebration inside of their hearts.

Normally people would say "Here's to another 31 years!" when writing something like this. I don't know if I have 31 more years in me- maybe this will be me in 31 years when I'm 76 years old, but I do love what I do and as long as there are customers who want me to do it I'll keep doing it as best I know how or even improving it as new technology comes along. Thanks to all of you for the great life.

Halloween 2010

2010-10-30T20:39:00.005-07:00

Had a great time at the Paul Mitchell School today. I go down there about once a quarter to have some fun. I barter for hair care and other products but it's really just a part of my overall marketing efforts. I just try to get myself in front of people when I can. There are a bunch of twenty-somethings going to school there, about 120 of them, that will likely be getting married in the next few years... I've already booked several events from my appearances there over the months.

I made a nice little gobo to project right in front of the check-in desk that they all loved.
This is Terry, one of the faculty there. I think I liked her better last year as Lady Gaga...This guy works at the front desk. He's dressed as 5-yr old "Stewart" from Mad TV. He's got the voice and the moves and everything. I don't know this student's name but she slid all the way across the floor in her socks- a la Tom Cruise in Risky Business. She's rockin' my guitar here.

This is student body president Stacy on the left of the shot and also various and sundry other students filling the rest of the shot. They were doing the Cupid Shuffle here.

Off to work I go

2010-10-18T22:26:00.012-07:00

I worked for a real sweetheart of a bride last month. She wept with joy most of the night and was completely comfortable doing so in front of everybody. It had been a pleasure to have her and her fiance in my home office a couple of times planning the music of the night. Congratulations Nic and Christine!

I purchased a new toy this year- I have a gobo projector system thingy that can project a monogram of the bride and groom or a corporate logo on the dancefloor or a wall. I had a very nice monogram for the new Mrs. deKeyser here with their wedding date and everything. She was nice enough to snap a pic with me using my logo on the dancefloor at the end of the night. I also did a retail promotion for Swarovski at Scottsdale Fashion Park a couple of weeks ago. Someone in the corporate office in New York did a Google search for local DJs and they found me even though I'm some distance down on any Internet search. They were looking for something specific and found me. That's really cool. Any event on a weeknight- which is off-peak, is "found" money as far as I'm concerned.

The whole store is only 700 sq feet (there are hundreds of thousands of dollars of jewelry and home fashions for sale in that small space) but display counters, cabinets, cash register and storage closet take up probably 450 feet of that. With my lighting rig and full sound system and everything, I take 400 sq feet! We weren't allowed to extend out in to the mall at all. I brought all of the stuff but ended up leaving most of it in the van. I took, two speakers, my DJ workstation console and one tripod to mount the gobo projector for a "Swarovski Autumn/Winter 2010" logo, which I actually projected through the store window out into the mall hallway. I don't think there was anybody that walked by without it catching their eye. This is just a .jpg file of what becomes just white light where ever it is projected.
I was able to cram my stuff into about 22 or maybe 23 sq feet and make it work. A caterer brought a tray on wheels to help serve some hor d'oeuvres and drinks and that took about 30 sq feet. The remaining 100 feet of floor space was filled with about 70 customers sipping champagne. There was some corporate staff from LA, and the local Swarovski staff but they kinda stood outside the door (other than a cashier) to make more space. They were selling lots of jewelry that night too. I'm confident that my presence added energy and increased the sales.

This is Avril Graham. She's a fashion expert that can be seen on the Today show occasionally. She was brought in from New York to narrate a fashion show. Even though we weren't supposed to spill out into the mall traffic at all, the fashion show just couldn't have taken place any other way. We were barely in the entryway of the store. You can kinda see my equipment in the window there, my left elbow is pointing at it.
Here are the two local models that took care of the fashion show. Not only are they stunningly beautiful, they are probably the most professional I've ever worked with. They really complimented the fashions and jewelry that they were hired to display. I sound like a heel saying this, I did ask their names and then repeated them a couple of times as I shook their hands, but I didn't write them down and now that I'm writing this a few weeks later, I've forgotten. I apologize to both of you but it really was a pleasure to be on board for such a great event and to be surrounded by true professionals in each of our various crafts. I forgot to say thanks to Jeff Colling of Colling Photo for sending me a copy of the picture from the deKeyser wedding you see at the top of this post. Thanks Jeff, you ROCK!

Rewriting history

2010-09-24T19:38:00.011-07:00

I'm playing at a Class of '65 reunion tomorrow night at one of the best resort hotels in this city- very POSH! I've been preparing my music for the event based on a music survey function that the class committee put on their website that would collect up the most requested songs to be played- if class mates would just take a minute to request a few while they checked for details of the various activities planned for the reunion weekend.

I compiled the list and noticed there wasn't any music listed from Bob Dylan, The Doors, The Mamma's and Papa's, The Beatles or Elvis Presley yet they want music from the entire decade representing their high school and college years. I would have thought those artists would feature a little bit more prominently. There was one song by The Beach Boys and one listed from The Rolling Stones. I was born in 1965 and I was hardly a gleam in my fathers' eye while these classmates were in high school, but I've been a DJ for nearly 31 years now and I think I know what to play for this occasion.

Does anyone ever notice that when there is a late night infomercial selling a Time-Life music collection of "The Definitive 70's Collection" that there is no Queen or Aerosmith or Elton John included? Do you know why that is? It's about licensing the rights to sell that song. Queen has no problem selling their body of work packaged any way they want it. If you want "Bohemian Rhapsody" you can buy one of the greatest hits packages or find it on A Night at the Opera and you'll pay for the other songs on there whether you want them or not because they are Queen and "Bohemian Rhapsody" is a great song and they can do that! (you can steal it from various nefarious sources on the Internet)

Itunes is changing the landscape as the years go by but there are several artist who still won't license their music to be sold that way. If Pepsi suddenly said, we are no longer selling single cans, you have to buy at least a 6 pack, there would be rioting in the streets. The music industry tried to hold on to that dream of only selling albums and full CDs for some time even alienating what should have been their next generation of customers who just wanted to buy one song. They fought it so long and hard that there is a whole generation of people who were teens in the 90s who still think that music is free.

I think the big Beatles remastered boxed set that came out a couple of years ago will be the last major CD release of any consequence and it kinda signalled the end of CDs. The Beatles only sell CDs and I think that the bulk of their audience would still purchase them that way. Strangely, there are several "tribute" bands that sell crappy cover versions of Beatles songs on Itunes. Kid Rock had a hit song a couple of years ago called "All Summer Long" and since he wouldn't license it to Itunes, there was a horrible karaoke version of the song that went to number 1 on the Itunes chart for a few weeks. Itunes is the #1 retailer of music in the world now. There are teens discovering music now that have never known anything but their ipod or their iphone for music.

I haven't used CDs in over a decade now. I use a music service for professional DJs so I can keep current with the music I need and find songs for occasions such as this if I don't already have the requested songs. (I already had about 85% of their list)

I have a hunch that any classmates that took the survey probably did a google search for music of the 60s to jog their memory and several Time-Life collections came up along with some Amazon suggestions and people didn't really search their memory to think of the songs that meant something to them or try to remember the theme song from their Senior Prom. They just accepted what was given as the truth and accepted that the list they saw really was the " 16 Most Beloved Songs of the 60's" or the "Most Requested Songs of the 60's" when clearly the Beatles probably outsold every artist on those collections combined. If the Beatles didn't, Elvis did.

15 years ago, my favorite act "Styx" went to put together a greatest hits package. Their first hit song Lady was with one record company called Wooden Nickel Records and then they had a dozen more top ten hits when they left Wooden Nickel for A&M Records. Upon creating the greatest hits package, A&M asked Wooden Nickel in 1995 if they could license the song Lady but Wooden Nickel refused. That was one of the few things they had of any value to sell. So Styx went and recorded a clone version of Lady using the same arrangement and instrumentation and called it Lady '95. This version had the added bonus that Tommy Shaw was included in this recording when he hadn't been on the original; he joined the band later and wrote several of the other hit songs.

I think that most music fans could spot the differences between the two versions and certainly the recording quality- 1995 technology had marched on substantially from when the original was recorded in the early 1970's. I also have a hunch that most casual Styx fans would have purchased the Greatest Hits CD anyway- without Lady on it- and just enjoyed the other songs and would NOT have purchased Styx II that contained the original version of Lady. The gods of rock smiled on Styx as their music was featured in a popular Volkswagen TV commercial and in some Adam Sandler movies at the time and the Styx Greatest Hits package sold several thousand copies every week for almost 5 years. Wooden Nickel guessed wrong and they got nothing from those sales as they would have if the original recording of Lady had been included.

I know that retail sales and radio play and the impact of a given work on the art form or on society as a whole don't always coincide with each other and that some songs may grow over a period of time, when we get some hindsight on them and can see their place in a larger whole even though maybe they didn't mean as much at the time they were released. Journey's Dont' Stop Believin' is bigger now than it was nearly 30 years ago when it came out. Come Sail Away by Styx is a good, solid song but it probably didn't change the world. It arguably changed my life though.

So, congratulations Class of '65! That's a lot of years. I'm sure it will be great for you to see each other this weekend. It's going to be a great night and we'll dance to The Newbeats, The Dixie Cups, The Shangri-las, The Supremes, The Temptations, The Kinks, The Dave Clark Five and maybe I'll throw in some Herman's Hermits for good measure.

Some reasons why the DJ can't play your song NEXT

2010-08-19T13:12:00.008-07:00

I'm happy to take requests and I thank you for requesting a song you'd like to hear. Please know that I'll make every effort to play it as soon as possible (often with in 3 or 4 songs) but keep the following in mind:

In the old days, when carrying several road cases of vinyl or even CDs, it took a couple of minutes just to find your song. With my computerized DJ system, I can find any song in a few seconds but when you are asking as the current song is ending, it's too late. The next song is already in the queue.

Others may have requested songs ahead of you. Songs are 3 1/2 to 4 minutes each and if I'm beat mixing in and out of songs quickly, I still like to play at least 90 seconds of a song so that it has a chance to speak its message, its flavor, its groove. With 5 requests ahead of yours, it could possibly take 20 minutes to get to you.

We may be at a place in the event where I have other things to do such as speeches, presentations, dinner service, toasts, garter toss and bouquet toss or cake cutting.

I may have been specifically asked by my customer to NOT play that song.

The song you are requesting may have profanity or overtly sexual content that doesn't belong in mixed company.

The song you are requesting may not fit in the format that I've been hired to do or fit the nature of the occasion. George Strait's "All my exes live in Texas" doesn't belong at a wedding. Styx's "Come sail away" is one of the greats, and a personal favorite, and it may fit during cocktail hour at a Class of '77 Reunion, but it isn't danceable.

Even if it fits the format of the event, it may not fit what is being played at that moment. If I'm in a set of Ke$ha, Lady Gaga, Sean Kingston and Timbaland, a request for a George Strait song wouldn't fit at that moment but I'll get to it shortly. Maybe I could play Taylor Swift after Ke$ha and then move to a couple of country songs so it's not so jarring.

Lastly, please choose a song that a few people might know. An obscure song that you and your two college buddies used to sing karaoke to and... "we used to... Hahhahahahaaa... we stayed up way too late and Hmm... I guess you had to be there... man, those were good times... Can you play that one?" If it's an inside joke, keep it inside with you and your buddies and allow me to try to appeal to the wider group.

Whenever possible, I always try to avoid setting up on a stage, I like to be on the floor where the people are. I can do a better job when I can feel the pulse of the room. When I'm on my game, when I've won the confidence of the dancefloor, people are hugging each other and getting into it, singing along with every word, dancing up a storm. I feel that energy, I dig down, crank it up, send a renewed energy back to them, and they feel it and nurture it and send it back to me and I feel it and I'm singing along and getting into it and I crank up some more energy and send it back to them and they are dancing and hugging and sweating and we have a rock and roll party going on!

I'm still happy to take requests, but the funny thing is, when I'm doing my thing, the requests just stop. The people trust me to take them on a ride and lead them through several waves of musical energy.

Summer School for brides

2010-08-11T15:06:00.010-07:00

I was honored to teach a class a few weeks ago at Thee Wedding Warehouse to a few dozen brides and moms and maids of honor. There were photographers talking about how to pose for portraits, a caterer on questions to ask a caterer, an event planner on budgeting etc. I spent a few minutes on questions to ask a DJ on the occasion of hiring entertainment for a wedding or other social occasion. There are a new crop of people being introduced to our industry every month and sadly, they don't know what to expect, what things cost or even what questions to ask. Sadly, many people have resigned themselves to the thought that, those cheesy DJs... well, that's just the way DJs are, or, my friend works at a club, or, a guy at my office has an ipod and eclectic tastes in music and it will somehow be ok. The basis of my short seminar was just a few questions to ask a DJ to help new brides weed out the riff-raff. Every once in awhile, a hobbyist may hit a home run but I wouldn't want to gamble a big budget event on someone without a consistently good track record at weddings. Every time I hear a horror story about a DJ ruining an otherwise lovely event, I always find there had been an attempt to cut corners or save a few dollars by either doing it themselves with an ipod or having a "friend" or other beginner do it. Those kinds of things often ruin friendships if the event goes south. Additionally, wouldn't you want your friend to enjoy the festivities and not be burdened with working at your event?

A survey in 2008 found that a whopping 81% of brides wished, after the fact, that they had spent more time, effort, attention AND money on their entertainment choice.

All of the elements of an event come together to make a great event. They all represent the taste of the hosts, the religious or ethnic traditions, the budget etc. If a guest arrived and decided they didn't' care for the linen choice of the bride and groom, would they leave? Even if there were a disaster such as the cake sliding off its pedestals, would they leave? If the DJ stinks however, they will eat the meal and look for the first opportunity to call it a night.

Here are some of the questions: Are they insured? How do they answer the phone and respond to you as a professional business person? Professional equipment with redundancies or at least back up equipment on the event site? Will they take requests? How will they dress? Will they be yakking on the cell phone or flirting with the bridesmaids or outside smoking all night? Do they know proper etiquette for your event? Will they provide a written contract? Will they play offensive or overtly sexual music? Will they use profanity? Do they belong to a professional association or trade group and as part of that, have they committed to any code of ethics? When meeting with an entertainment agency, are you talking to a salesman or the DJ that will actually be playing your event? None of these provide any guarantee, but they will go a long long way toward getting someone that will provide the vision you have had for your event since you began dreaming of it when you were 9 years old.

I finished my seminar with a bit of education on budgeting. As a DJ, I know where I'm at in the food chain of this industry. I'm one of the last two or three professionals to be considered and hired. I'm not bothered by that. What does bother me is when I'm asked to cut my price for no other reason than, they didn't budget for it and they already spent their money on other things. Well, I guess you'll be left to the abilities of a hobbyist or beginner DJ that will work for less.

If the linen chair covers are the most important thing, that's fine- budget for the best. If the food is the most important, find the best caterer out there and spend the money on it. If the expensive venue with the view of the lake, mountain, city etc is the most important thing, put that first and everything else has to adjust around that. Believe it or not, I have had people in my career who actually moved their wedding date to accommodate me- when I was available, because I was the most important element of their wedding and everything else had to fit in after that.

Just prioritize the elements of your event and then work your way down and adjust your budget but don't get to the end and ask professionals to cut their price without offering some other consideration. I'll flex my price on off peak events, I'll take payments, I'll cut some of the extra equipment- the real value is in my personal expertise anyway. I can make the event happen with my DJ computer and a couple of speakers. I do love to provide all of the extra technology in sound, lighting, video projection, extra sound system for the ceremony itself with a mic for the officiant, live piano playing etc but those things cost money and take time to set up and if you can't afford them, let them go or throw us a bone.

Lastly, if you find a professional that you like, book them! To be booked more than a year in advance is not uncommon. If you wait, you may get who is left over and not who you want.

Here I am sitting in the front row making a point about something during the question and answer session after my part of the seminar. Thanks to Christine Valenzuela from Kiss the Camera for the pics that day. Some cheap fast food may be fine on a Friday night with the kids for a treat after a week of school and soccer and everything, but that won't work on the occasion of your wedding. How about some filet mignon from the best steak house in town?

WEN- Wedding and Event Network

2010-06-22T17:01:00.005-07:00

This is a really cool video that one of the members of the networking group that I run took of one of our meetings back in April. The music is crummy but don't let that be a reflection on the video company- this is just what royalty free music sounds like. They were doing this for my group for free in exchange for the exposure. Thanks to 'The Views at Superstition' for hosting the meeting and Donnie and Bobbe Hayes from 'Media Created 4U' for the brilliant videography and editing of such a nice piece of work. If you are morbidly curious about my networking group, the FAQs on our website are informative and you can see other photos from meetings and blog postings from industry professionals. www.wenaz.com

ROAD TRIP!!

2010-04-19T15:42:00.012-07:00

Ten things that happened last weekend in order from worst to coolest:

10. Forgot my razor. I'm used to a nice triple or quadruple blade razor with a nice lubricating strip so that I don't cut my face up. I had terrible acne as a teenager and still have a few acne scars and pock marks that can get cut with a cheap razor. The hotel I was staying at provides complimentary toiletries that you may have forgotten- the razor from the hotel was a disposable single blade thingy and I sliced my lip very badly, in addition to several other spots on my neck and everywhere else. I won't name the hotel because it was otherwise a very nice, reasonably priced, quiet and comfortable room and they weren't the ones that forgot to pack my nice razor.

9. That's a big ol' desert out there and it's been a lot of years driving back and forth for work. It has been a fairly wet winter and the desert is in bloom and the butterflies are busy pollinating and my windshield was/is a mess! I refilled my wiper fluid twice on the road. I'll have to get out a razor to scrape the bug juice off the next time I go to wash the van. I wonder if I kept that one from the hotel...

8. I got to work with Catalina from Coors and Erica from Heineken at the retail promotion that I was working at. Most of these girls are working through college or have various other reasons and satisfactions that they draw from such jobs... Erica has huge dreams for an agency that would hire men and women for such promotions or other public relations functions. I think she will go far. Erica is on my left. Catalina may be just as able, but I didn't get a chance to talk to her much. 7. I made some money.

6. I had 12 hours on the road to listen to music. Since I just got a new job playing piano in a dueling piano show, I was listening to familiar songs but with a new ear for what would work in that piano/stage format as opposed to DJ airings or even versions that I would play on the piano during cocktail hour or at a restaurant. My creative juices have really been flowing this last couple of weeks. I seem to be able to learn a new song in 3 or 4 minutes. I'm a bit slow on the lyrics though.

5. I got to work with the Laker Girls. 6 girls on Friday and 6 more on Saturday.

4. I got to watch them dance. They are specimens of feminine beauty and the dance routines are far more complex and athletic than anyone probably gives them credit for. They are very charming, disciplined and trained hostesses representing the Laker organization exceptionally well. Certainly, they drew a crowd to the promotion that I couldn't draw, but I can make people stay and spend money- not just get the free autograph and then split. 3. I got to work with Dynamite Dave. You can see from this picture that he got to work with the Laker Girls too. Dave and I have been doing retail promotions for many many years. He is a BRILLIANT entertainer and it's always a good day when Dave is around. I think Dave was channelling Johnny Depp last weekend. He had a Mad Hatter thing going on for Friday's costume and he was a Pirate on Saturday. He is really working on his health. He's lost probably 40- maybe 50 lbs since I saw him last Thanksgiving.2. I got to spend a bit of time with my good buddy Scott from Orange county. He came by the gig both days to say hello. Without asking, he just sensed that I was thirsty and got me a large lemonade. If I had the presence of mind, I would have asked for something and our host would have offered any drink I wanted as a courtesy, but I hate to ask my customer for those kinds of things when I'm being paid to work. Scott owns several condos that he rents out to students of Cal State Fullerton. If ever there is an empty room, he lets me stay there on my California DJ trips so I can save the hotel expense. My life is better because we're friends- Thanks Scott.

1. Some of you know that I used to teach Old Testament to High School sophomores in a Seminary program several years ago. One of my students has growed up and accepted a full-time ministry assignment in Chicago. Before coming home to AZ, I attended a church service where she delivered the sermon as her home congregation sent her off. Her mom and dad invited me to sit with them and I counted it the world's greatest honor. Her sermon was profound and I think she's going to be brilliant! I would have driven out just for that sermon, but it was cool that the DJ gig paid for the trip. God Speed, Sister Frandsen!

Dear Diary,

2010-03-25T14:44:00.013-07:00

Haven't written in awhile so let me 'splain, no, is too much, let me sum up. Buttercup is marry Humperdinck in little less than half an hour...

I've had a few adventures since we last talked. I donated sound reinforcing and music to a small cancer walk that got rained out. The goal was $13k and they still raised $15k in spite of the weather. This woman is on the board of directors and she took the mic for a minute to thank the walkers and tell a bit about the work of the charity organization "Lungevity."

The city park where the event was held was under some major construction and right where I was loading in the equipment, the sidewalk had been dug up and I had to cross about 8 feet of mud. I had considered wearing white that day. I was also having a good hair day at the outset- so much for a good hair day... I was up to my knees in mud when I was done. The equipment road cases got some mud splatters which I still haven't washed out but it was a good cause eh? I took my boots to the car wash to get them hosed down.

A recent trend for aging rock stars who are attempting to please long-time fans AND newcomers to concerts is to play an entire album from back in the day in sequence and perhaps b-sides or other associated nuggets from the same time period. If you don't like the album of the night, don't come to the concert. I recently heard Billy Squire play "In the Dark" in sequence and it was crazy-awesome! A favorite artist of mine- Gary Numan has a substantial catalogue after more than 30 years, but most U.S. media reduces his entire career to "Cars." To please fans that want that song, he recently played The Pleasure Principle album in its entirety. Most of the time however, he plays only newer material.

I said jokingly on Facebook and to some industry mates that I was going to be playing the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang soundtrack in it's entirety at a piano gig for an industry function. There are some great songs in that movie. The suggestion took on a life of its own but I did play "POSH" and sang it in a British accent!

Went on a road trip to Tucson. I hadn't been there in about 18 years or so. Paid a visit to Mission San Xavier Del Bac. It's one of the oldest structures in the U.S. and a highly regarded place among Catholics, historians and architecture enthusiasts. The Mormon Battalion never engaged in warfare, but if they had, it probably would have happened here. Mexican soldiers were stationed here (or near here) and upon hearing the news that 500 U.S. soldiers, who were Mormons, were approaching, they fled and never engaged. The march from Iowa to San Diego- the longest march in U.S. military history ended without bloodshed- other than the suffering of the march itself.

I had a wedding up in Payson about 75 minutes north of here a couple of weeks ago. If you don't know Arizona geography, there are lots of high elevations and mountain country in the center of the state that gets snow in the winter. It was snowing when I arrived to load in the equipment and snowing again when I packed up. It ultimately wasn't a huge snowfall but it was more than I wanted to risk driving in. I couldn't see very well and didn't know the roads well enough. If I could have just got out of Payson 5 miles or so, you drop in elevation very quickly and it would have been just rain, but you climb back up to a higher elevation one more time before coming back in to Mesa and I didn't want to get stranded out in the mountains. Hwy 260 east to Heber and Hwy 87 north to Winslow were both closed unless you had snow chains and Walmart was sold out. There was a line of people to snag motel rooms in Payson that night. I got a room and came home the next day.

Rocked an elementary school dance, a couple of weddings, a Mary Kay rah-rah meeting- that was actually loads of fun- a valentines dance fund-raiser for St Timothy's Catholic Church here in Mesa. I was seated at the head table with the head priesthood leader of the church. I was honored. I told him a great Mormon joke and he laughed most heartily- flew back in his chair and roared.

Here's a pic from a wedding recently. We are trying to submit this wedding to one of the local bridal magazines to be featured. Here I am as Reverend Curtis calling the faithful masses to worship at the shrine of Rock and Roll.

OK, ok... here's me wearing make up...

2010-02-04T21:06:00.004-07:00

This one right below is my pick. I see a magazine ad coming soon and some new business cards with this one.

Photoshoot for Haiti

2010-02-03T10:17:00.009-07:00

I participated in a way cool fundraiser last weekend for disaster relief in Haiti. For a $50 donation straight to the Red Cross, people could get hair and make up done and get 15 minutes in front of the camera. Then you can use the photos on your Facebook, website, business cards or whatever.

This is event organizer and brilliant photographer, Kym Ventola (seated) with Robert Ballew adjusting her hair, he's the best wardrobe stylist in this city. Photographer, Katina Patriquin looking away.
When Kym said that she was organizing this, I wanted to participate not really knowing if what I had to offer would be of any value but it clearly made a nice day for everybody working and the music helped people loosen up in front of the cameras who aren't normally in front of cameras. In addition to each of us donating money, we all donated our professional services. The cool thing about it was that we could have all just donated money and not go to all the trouble of lugging our equipment our to Glendale and I'm not sure the event made any more money than had there just been a call to donate, but to come together like this made it special- created more of a sense of community.

I already got a glimpse of my photo shoot. I wore make up for the first time in my life and that was crazy awesome! Thanks Heather Wilson for that. Damian Gomes from Snapdragon did my hair. I'll get those pics up here shortly.

Kym Ventola, bless you for your spirit!

Marketing 101

2010-01-29T12:37:00.006-07:00

Last Christmas, I was hired for a retail promotion at one of the local malls. They were giving away 100 $10 Westcor gift cards to the first 100 people in line, then they had 25 more $10 gift cards wrapped up in 50 gift boxes and three people got to dive in and start unwrapping presents and claim as many of the 25 cards as they each could find and then finally, the names of everybody participating went into a bucket and they had a drawing for a $1000 gift card. It was a lovely event and I made a few observations.

I was situated across from "Coach"- the couture handbag company. The assistant manager flew out of their door inside of 5 minutes to complain about the music. I had to refer them to the landlord of the mall- who had hired me and placed me in front of their door... We turned the speakers a different direction but they gave me the stink-eye for the entire time I was there. I'll come back to that in a minute...

At the top of the escalator from me, there was a Godiva Chocolatier kiosk and they dispatched an employee down to the crowd with a nice basket full of chocolate for everybody in line and a little promotional brochure and a Godiva coupon. They gave me a piece of chocolate too and I thanked them and said over the sound system how delicious it was and I pointed out the kiosk at the top of the escalator- a "shout out" of sorts.

Back to Coach- I got another ration of crap from the 30ish store manager who was completely overdone with fake boobs, fake nails, fake spray on tan, fake lips etc. She was cartoon-ish in fact. I pointed out that she had 200 Christmas shoppers in front of her store and she was bitching at me instead of taking advantage of the promotion and inviting them into her store! I again referred her to the mall management who, incidentally, had actually asked me to turn it up. Here's the funny part. She was like an audience member on Jerry Springer- she was waving her pointer finger back and forth with a ridiculous fake nail on it and bobbing her head back and forth and telling me that nobody who is standing in line for a $10 gift card could possibly be a customer at Coach.

OK. Another story to finish my point on this one. I was providing music for finals week at Paul Mitchell School recently. It's a good freebie because I get to make a nice school day for about 120 young 20-something women who will be getting married in the next few years and who do you think they will hire? I've already booked several events off of a few ours of fun on a couple of Saturday mornings when everybody comes down for their free hair cuts with the students.

We were having some fun and one woman came running over with a towel around her neck and a bunch of foils in her hair and she said that I was doing a great job and that she was having a party soon and hadn't even considered having a DJ but that because she was having so much fun, she wanted to hire me. Had I done what the Coach lady did, (think to myself that nobody getting a free haircut can afford my professional fee) I would have missed out on a $1500 off-peak event plus a $200 gratuity! Turns out she lives in the wealthiest ZIP code in Arizona and the party was loaded with wealthy socialites. Her daughter is a student at Paul Mitchell School and she was being a good mom and letting the daughter work on her hair.

For marketing, you never know where the million dollar customer may be hiding. They may have been in that line at the mall. Maybe they were just killing time, enjoying the music, doing some people watching, partaking in the element of chance, maybe it was exciting for their 7-yr old to get a gift card, who knows? I'm sure there were some potential Coach customers among them. I would never shop there anyways, because I don't care one way or the other about expensive hand bags, but now I wouldn't shop there because they employ an idiot!

I went up to the Godiva Chocolatier after the event was over and said hello. They whipped up a chocolate shake for me and thanked me for the shout out. They said that 37 of those $10 gift cards marched straight upstairs and got spent at Godiva and the average purchase was $41! It was cool that the employee at Godiva was given the autonomy and the trust to make a decision of that nature. Nearly $1600 in sales in 1 hour (plus whatever regular sales they had in that time) for a $20 investment in some small chocolates and a chocolate shake for the DJ.

Food experiment + 50 days.

2010-01-29T11:58:00.008-07:00

If you don't remember, I tested out my wits late last year by not going to the grocery store or any other store for 92 days. Gasoline and a couple of business items were the only things purchased during that time. Just lived off of what I had in the house or what I could grow. It's been 50 days since and I have a few more items to report on the experiment.

I went to the local farmers market today and that was only the 4th trip for groceries since December 13th. I purchased my 4th gallon of milk today and normally it would have been about triple that amount in that time.

My garden continues to produce abundantly and here's the pictures to prove it.

Butterhead lettuce

Onions

Peas

Fresh salad every 3rd day or so is great. It's been two months of fresh food for a few dollars of seeds! My garden is against a south wall and so there are about 4 feet of dirt that don't get any sunshine in the winter but the line of sunlight is moving about 2 inches per week and I have room for another row of stuff now and I'm going to harvest the last of my cilantro this week and the peas will probably be done in two weeks so I'll start planting some Spring vegetables shortly. I bought some strawberries at the market today because I have lots of arugula to harvest this week and it's a bit of a pungent leaf so you serve it up with peaches or strawberries to balance it out and some balsamic vinaigrette and toasted pecans. It's a fabulous salad!

An observation of note is the change in attitude towards shopping and eating. No more do I stand in front of the fridge or the pantry and say that there is nothing to eat. There IS something to eat but it's not the highly processed and loaded with sugar and salt and fat and convenience- I will have made some cookies in advance or there are peanuts or pistachios to shell or crackers with some Strawberry/Jalapeno jam or something. Impulsive eating doesn't happen any more. Meals are more deliberate. I think in advance about soaking some beans or grinding some wheat and what I may want to plant so I can have some food next month. Shopping trips are massively diminished- about every 10 to 14 days instead of every 3rd day.

If you noted some of the items that came up lacking during the experiment, they have been replaced with a redundancy stored in a different location in the house.

I did find that some pinto beans stored for about 9 years in #10 cans were a bit crunchy- not enough to break any teeth or anything, they were chewy and edible but they just didn't soak up the water and then soften up when cooked in the crock pot all day. People still store food for "someday" and if they don't rotate it and make home storage and gardening a part of their regular lifestyle, they will find that their bodies can't abide that kind of big diet change and that they have spent lots of money and effort and storage space for food that has spoiled or worse that they don't know how to prepare it for consumption in any case.

I may try the experiment again late in 2010 and refine the lessons learned.

Ode to Background Music

2010-01-04T15:26:00.025-07:00

Most people only think of the value of a good DJ in terms of the dancing portion of an event. At most weddings or other social occasions, dancing may not happen until 3 hours into the event, but the DJ will have already provided a great deal of value to the event up until that point. Background music is one of those things that nobody is really listening to, but they'd sure miss it if it wasn't there.

As a society, we have become pretty casual. Nothing wrong with that, but weddings are one of the few things left that are still rather formal. Women wear nice dresses to weddings. Even the most casual of men wear a jacket and button down shirt. A wedding gives everyone a reason to consider their own relationships and there is always a bit of anticipation in the air.

During a sales presentation, I'll ask brides about the moments leading up to the ceremony. I explain that attendees are dressed up and there is excitement about seeing friends and cousins they haven't seen in a while and even old married couples are flirting with each other a bit because they have a special occasion for which to get dressed up. I'll ask brides, "What kind of music do you hear as your guests are arriving before the ceremony?" Owing to the formal nature of the occasion, classical music SPEAKS the moment. Even for people who don't know classical music very well, it feels familiar to them. It adds body and life and it compliments those feelings of anticipation.

People, individually, are pretty smart, but crowds, collectively, have a separate mentality and they need to be told what to do. I like to have the music provide the instructions so that the DJ or wedding minister doesn't need to speak any instructions. If the background music has been strings, I like to switch to a piano song and turn it up 15% to signal the start of the formalities. If it has been piano music, I like to switch to classical guitar and turn it up 15%. People know that something is different and they quiet down and sit up straight in their seats and turn their attention to the entrance of the bridal party without being told specifically to do so. The oft-overlooked background music has spoken it.

A mistake that many DJs make is #1) being too loud in general and #2) not taking advantage of the natural energy of the crowd and the occasion and then, not using good musical selections to enhance that energy. There will always be several animated and electric conversations going on and those conversations add to the energy of the space and that is a good thing! When a spoken announcement cuts into that, it can be jarring as people have to disconnect from their conversations to hear what is being said and then they will be more disruptive to the announced instruction as they now attempt to finish what was being said ANYWAYS! However, if the music speaks it, it can be far more profound and effective at quieting those conversations more naturally and having attendees direct their attention to the matter at hand- like the officiant and groom having taken their places in advance of the ceremony.

I like to keep the music about 5% below whatever the current level of conversation is in the space. I understand that a few voices rise specifically in response to the level of background music but please don't bust my chops over that issue. I've been around the block enough times to know how to gauge the level of music. I contend that more people raise their voices because they are excited and they feel comfortable being animated and gesturing largely with their hands and speaking excitedly. They want to be heard and they want to speak freely, but they would be embarrassed being heard above anybody else. The music needs to be there to mask each voice so that no single voice ever rises above the overall volume and people can feel comfortable being so animated.

Please take this next part as it is intended- with a smile. Most hotels and golf/racquet clubs have music playing in the restrooms. There are certain sounds that are rather satisfying to make in a restroom, but entirely unpleasant to hear or to worry about being heard. Background music masks it- thus adding to your comfortable experience.

I use a computerized DJ system that can play background music automatically with playlists that I have defined and I also determine how I want the computer to mix it and how many seconds each song will overlap with the next one. During automated background music, every once in awhile, a song may have a long "fade." The song may be effectively over, as it has faded from the range of hearing, but the computer does not know to start the next song because the file hasn't approached its actual end- it's still fading. As the music falls silent for 6 or 7 seconds before the next file plays, you'll see and hear a few of the animated conversations go into a brief pause, waiting for that next song before they can finish the exciting thing they were talking about because they don't want their voice to be heard above the rest. I usually make a mental note of such a song and edit it during the week to end a bit sooner so that the next song starts at the "effective" end and not the "actual" end for future airings. If a radio DJ ever spoke or played a commercial over the long fading "strike" piano note at the end of the Beatles' A Day in the Life, even though the song is effectively over, I'd have to call up the radio station and threaten a boycott of some sort.

Side note- during the dancing portion, I always mix live because there are several simultaneous queues that I may not want triggered automatically. I may want a lighting effect and a pose or hand gesture along with a dramatic musical element all timed exactly when I want them not when the computer thinks I may want them. I saw rock group "Styx" recently and witnessed a few such "Spinal Tap" moments. It was the second night of the tour and Tommy Shaw stepped up to his spot after the second song and shouted "Hello Friends!" and a computer triggered spotlight illuminated a empty mic stand on the other side of the stage. For my purpose, during most background music applications, such queues are not as crucial.

Another important element of background music is the flavor and the energy level of it. The ceremony portion may have one musical "flavor" and then the cocktail hour may be some traditional music that represents an ethnic heritage, the dinner hour may have yet another flavor. During dinner, does the customer want classic standards mixed with new school- Sinatra/Rod Stewart/Michael Buble? Or perhaps something more contemporary like Jack Johnson/Dave Matthews/Jason Mraz? Latin guitar? Old Jazz mixed with some Classic R&B? Classic rock like Van Morrison/Beatles? Properly selected background music will take the guests from what has been a formal ceremony to what will be a dance party after dinner without the DJ saying something stupid like "Yo people! Get up out ya seats!" The background music will have taken them there and naturally created an energy level conducive to dancing and they will fly out of their chairs and dance.

I like music that is rhythmic but not necessarily a vocal. For many of the reasons already described, a sung lyric may inadvertently disconnect people from that electric conversation as they tune in to the song lyric and tune out of the moment they are having at the table. I also generally avoid "elevator muzak" where all elements of a familiar song are intact but with a saxophone taking what would have been the lead vocal. It's vapid and it can still have the same effect of people tuning in to the music and out of their moments.

At about the time that the last table is served dinner, I begin to switch ever-so-slightly from background to dance music even though I don't really want anybody to dance before the bride and groom officially open the dancefloor with their first dance.

A song like "My Girl" by the Temptations is somewhere in the middle. It's a well known song, rhythmic, has a memorable vocal and it begins to naturally help people wrap up their conversation and disconnect from it and turn their attention to what will be a more communal experience as we celebrate the wedding with 3 generations of people out on the dancefloor dancing to the same song- together. After a couple of songs like that, I'll start to see tapping toes and snapping fingers and I'll see some attention starting to turn to me waiting for some direction on what to do next. At that point, it IS the intention to disconnect from those conversations. The energy that is lost as those conversations come to a close will be replaced with the energy that is contributed to the space by a packed dancefloor. Strangely, this will be the first introduction of the abilities of the DJ even though I will have provided a lot up to this point.

Here's a recent pic of me imparting some sage wisdom to the masses on a couple of cool dance steps. The magic really happens when the crowd and the DJ become one. People are out there dancing and getting into it, hugging each other, singing along with every word and they send that energy to me and I feel it and I dig down a bit deeper and amp it up and send a renewed energy back to them and they feel it and they get down and they send it back to me and I send it back to them... it's a party!

Stuff for December.

2009-12-28T17:02:00.006-07:00

Wrapping up the best year I have ever had as a DJ in my 30 yr career.

Finished a fun/serious/informative food experiment where I didn't go to any store for anything except gasoline for about 92 days. Report to follow.

Saw "Avatar" and thought that the blue people were strangely erotic.

Played at a corporate Christmas party. They hired a middle aged woman to play Christmas songs on the piano during cocktails and dinner. She worships at the shrine of Vince Guiraldi and every song sounded like "Linus and Lucy" and it was Crazy-Awesome!

Saw all of my siblings and all of my nephews and nieces- except Katie- at some point during the Holiday season.

I saw my step mother TWICE!

Bought a Wii and my shoulder hurts.

Visited Tonto Natural Bridge. Was blown away. I have travelled past there 50 times in my years in Arizona and I had never taken the 5 minutes off the highway to go see it. Well worth it.

Was in a good financial place this year to do some way kewl secret Santa stuff for a couple of people and still be in a position to gauge reaction anonymously.

Went to the home of a dying teenager with the 12-string and the tambourine and some gourd shakers and sang some Christmas songs. He passed away on Christmas eve.

Had a good visit with my 19-yr old son, Javin, from southern California. He growed up ril gud!

Almost got into fisticuffs with an old Jewish man at a retail promotion at Arrowhead mall- Westcor management at the mall set me up right next to a giant Menorah out in the courtyard. The passing shopper was quite upset- "If the Rabbi saw... oye, the speakas and the music," (cupping his hands over his ears) "OYE... the Menorah... the speakas... OYE!" (motioning with his hands) "If the Rabbi saw..."

A shopper that won the $1000 Westcor gift card that day wept and cradled that thing to her chest. It was very moving. She was so genuine and it was clear that her family needed that money very badly for whatever reason.

Paid a visit to Ruby in Winslow.

Played in the snow in Strawberry, AZ.

Stick a fork in it. It's done!

2009-12-11T14:17:00.004-07:00

Today marks 91 days without going to the grocery store, or any other store for that matter, for any purchases with the exception of gasoline. I'm actually not going to buy groceries until Monday. The van was loaded last night with DJ equipment and lighting equipment for events this morning, tonight and tomorrow night and I don't shop on Sundays, that's my day of worship. Even though I have time to go shopping tomorrow, I don't feel like unloading the equipment only to have to reload it for Saturday nights' gig. I do have a few final observations and lessons learned so stand by for a final posting on the subject on Monday.

I have a neiece that is embarking on a couple of years of Christian missionary service shortly and we are having a reception and family gathering in her honor on Sunday evening at my brother's house- Yay for somebody else's food!

Today, I got the Christmas spirit. I was on DJ duty for a Jr. High dance for all of the special needs kids from all of the middle schools in Mesa. It was rockin! I snapped a few pics of the festivities but nothing came out in the darkness so I don't have any pics to post. I have a ten-foot guitar I use as a sight gag and it was everything it was supposed to be today. Several kids played it and some of the teachers snapped some pics for each of them.

I have a corporate holiday party tonight over in Tempe and tomorrow night up in Scottsdale. It's cool that I have been here long enough to be having events for people I have already worked for and have been hired again. Next weekend, I have a Christian singles Christmas Dance and a wedding then after Christmas, another wedding and then a New Years' Eve party at one of the local golf clubs- then stick a fork in 2009!

82 days in. 8 to go.

2009-12-03T16:03:00.003-07:00

I would normally wait for a few days to post a weeks' worth of observations but I had a serendipitous discovery today. I was looking under the sink for something else and discovered 3 bottles of mouthwash! I was perplexed thinking that I had run out. Thankfully my mouth and lips will remain fresh and kissable for the duration.

I guess that the lesson learned is to keep an inventory list of supplies and their location and copy it in two or three places for safe keeping.

I'm beginning a major run of DJ work- 11 jobs this month. I'm off to a 40th birthday party for a major industry figure out at the Wig Wam Resort tonight.

81 days in. 9 to go.

2009-12-02T09:02:00.009-07:00

Home stretch!

Here's a current picture of the garden. On the left, cilantro, then arugula, peas, then tomatoes then onions and butterhead lettuce at the far end.
There were three tomato plants that grew spontaneously. One grew right in the row where there had been the failed Simpson lettuce and the failed cabbage- I left that one where it was. Another was in with the onions and another plant was in with the lettuce. I transplanted them all into one row. The operation went off without a hitch and I hope the roots take hold and they continue to grow.

It may be just a bit early for tomatoes still. I usually plant tomatoes in Feb or March and I will still plant more then. These will be blossoming at the height of Arizona's cold season (possible freeze at night) and the blossoms are too delicate for even the slightest frost. We may or may not have any bees to pollinate them.

A few dishes on the table this week: Soft pretzels with spicy mustard. Deeeee-LISH! Usually you brush the pretzel dough with egg whites to give them a bit of a crust when they are baked. In the absence of eggs, made a paste/glaze out of the egg solids and they came out fine although a bit darker than usual. Half of them got baked with some coarse sea salt and sesame seeds sprinkled on. The other half was sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar and were eaten for breakfast today. The recipe called for butter which is gone. Butter solids were used with no detectable difference in taste or texture. I wouldn't spread it on bread or a pancake but it worked for baking. Sliced up a spicy smoked sausage from the freezer, fried it and served it with black beans. Refried beans and pepper sauce.

The freezer is about empty. Two lbs of breakfast sausage, 1 bag of frozen corn, 1 bag of frozen brocolli, 1 lb of hamburger and 1 lb of shrimp. There's nothing like some shrimp, brined and then boiled with some cayenne pepper and you shell right it there at the table served with some good Henry Weinhardt's Root Beer... The shrimp will have to wait until we can go to the store again for some root beer. The two Cornish game hens are de-frosting for dinner tonight. They'll be served with some corn and biscuits and a salad from the garden. The last of the frozen orange juice was served for breakfast yesterday.

Spent a few days in California with family and had Mexican food for Thanksgiving and spaghetti the next night. I spent the afternoon with my son, Javin and we went out for pizza. Stopped for McDonalds and Del Taco on the road- one coming and one going. Del Taco in Banning CA was out of refried beans that night. HA! I have a mountain of refried beans in storage! I settled for some tacos but a bean and cheese burrito would have been nice. For the road, homemade crescent rolls- sliced open and stuffed with tuna and mayonaise. Took a bag of sunflower seeds and a bag of Cheetos and a couple of cans of 7-up from the networking mixer a couple of weeks ago.

Commentary from observers is interesting when talking face to face. I know people are reading this but there are less comments lately than when I write about other topics. I don't know if this is making people feel uncomfortable. A friend asked last night how it was going and laughingly stated that her family would have already starved to death. It was an uncomfortable laugh. I didn't laugh at it. This is someone who has the means to do so and the knowledge that it is wise to do so but seems frozen with fear or something... GET PREPARED! After the initial discomfort in the conversation, she puzzled and then asked about the lack of butter and eggs and where we found the egg solids and butter solids and whether it was against the parameters of the experiment to have gone and purchased those. No, those were purchased and stored a long time ago.

In the time of crisis, the time to prepare will have passed. There may not be a grocery store, there may not be a paycheck, the outside food or water supply may be contaminated somehow. Now is the time! I bet there are people who are struggling with the economy right now and don't have the extra means to prepare for the future. I hope that there is not an additional crisis of some sort while our economy is still struggling. Mormons have been counseled to store food and supplies against hard times since WWII. Anybody who has not heeded that counsel yet- I don't even know what to say. What are you waiting for?

As the end of the experiment is in sight, here is a list of things that I will do differently going forward: Hot chocolate was very nice to have on hand- comfort. Beans and rice and wheat cereals and such will be more a part of the regular diet so that those things get rotated properly. The freezer has been a blessing but too much of my meat and vegatables rely on electicity. If I have it, that will be great, but if those food spoiled, I don't want to have an even worse crisis. Canned meats like roast beef and chicken are fine in salads and over dried potato flakes- mashed potatoes and gravy. Increase those and make them part of the regular diet so that they get rotated. There is no way to store fresh milk. It's something you'll have to let go of so be prepared for that. I store dry milk in a quantity as if I were drinking it as well. I d0n't drink it so I've found that I have too much of that. I need enough to make bread, have cereal, make mashed potatoes etc. I used to by a gallon or two of fresh milk weekly. Now it's a quart of mixed dried milk for the week. The butter lasted a long time- thanks for the lesson, Elijah, but it's another thing to prepare to do without. Are there any recipies in regular rotation that require it? Test out butter solids and learn to deal with your breads and pancakes served without butter. The pretzels and mustard were nice, the crescent rolls with tuna and mayonaise were nice.

Seeds- They have saved my sanity! If you don't have seeds in storage you are foolish. If you have them in storage and you have never grown a garden, you are foolish. Gardens should be a regular part of a prepared family's life. Learn what works and what doesn't, what you like and don't like, how to prepare it for consumption. Gardens are crucial! I'm actually going to look into the feasability of keeping a few chickens too.

This experiment has changed my thinking dramatically. I'm not a nut case survivalist, I just want to be as comfortable as possible in a crisis and opt out of the plague if you will, by staying safe at home. Weekly trips to the grocery store will be a thing of the past. I may change to monthly. I may increase garden capacity and get better at preserving and canning. I can make jam and jerky but that's about it. I'm going to review favorite recipies that go into a monthly rotation and make sure I have all ingredients to continue to make those recipies.

I've saved about $1400 on groceries this last 81 days. That still considers what was spent on the dried long-term storage items- it's pennies on the dollar. That is a substantial savings.

I did have a bit of a meltdown Sunday night. I just had a hankerin for some junkfood while watching The Amazing Race. There was just nothing in the house. Popcorn without butter wasn't too appealing. No butter to make cookies. I ended up having a bowl of cream of wheat with some chocolate chips. It took the edge off I guess. Yesterday- made cookies with a marachino cherry, some Chinese dried noodles, some melted chocolate chips and some almonds. I think I'll live until next week!

74 days in. 16 to go.

2009-11-24T14:44:00.004-07:00

Alas! Poor butter, I hardly knew ye. The last of it was spread on some pancakes this morning. I mentioned in the previous post that meal choices had really narrowed. Even though there is plenty of food overall, key ingredients are missing to prepare some of them or at least make them more palatable than a straight bowl of beans or a plain biscuit. I don't think most people would know how a slathering of butter is a great compliment to a biscuit. Strawberry jam alone is helpful and moistens it up to help chew and swallow, but some butter- that just drives it on home.

Had a hamburger patty for dinner last night with some dried onions and salt and pepper mixed in. Served with some A1 sauce. Frozen corn, apple sauce with a sprinkle of cinnamon and sugar.

Road tripping to southern CA for Thanksgiving and will eat with family or will eat out as needed but will mostly pack food for the road from storage per the parameters of the experiment. There is a bag of Cheetos that I've been saving for this. I scored a six pack of 7-up leftover from an industry networking mixer and that will be a welcome treat. I'll make a loaf of bread and make tuna sandwiches. The two Cornish game hens that were intended to be saved for Thanksgiving will be used instead for Sunday dinner upon return to Mesa. Up until Dec 11th, there will be 10 days of really narrow meal choices and, well, it IS what it IS.

I'm out of shoe shine. I used a moist towel to shine up my shoes for a public appearance or two but they aren't quite completely shined to my liking. In a real crisis, shined shoes would be the least of my worries. To have shoes at all would be a blessing!

Ran out of a couple of light bulbs. In the process of switching over to CFLs anyway as traditional incandescent light bulbs burn out, but there are several lamps in the house that have specialized halogen bulbs. I basically canibalized a couple of unused lamps in unused rooms to get the needed lamps up and running.

My wireless headset mic gave up the ghost. The receiver in my DJ rig and the transmitter that goes on my back are fine but the headset itself- I'm kinda hard on those. I go through a microphone about every 8 months- they are a bit delicate for life on the road. I did a couple of gigs last week with a hardwire, hand-held microphone. I don't know how I used to do it that way before I started using a wireless headset. Even a boom stand to hold the mic in front of my face is limiting. I can be more animated when I am unencumbered and untethered. Anyways, I ordered a couple of new headsets from Kansas and they arrived today. The nature of this need required that they be ordered in advance of Dec 11. I have to run my business. I don't have another DJ job until Dec 3rd out at the WigWam resort. I have events on the 3rd, 5th, 6th, two events on the 11th, 12th, 19th, 20th, 27th and New Years Eve on the 31st.

71 days in. 19 to go.

2009-11-21T13:40:00.004-07:00

Getting close!

Other than getting bored by narrowing meal choices, all is well. I like to have 30 or 40 recipes in rotation but the ingredients for those just aren't here. I'm really down to 7 or 8 choices for meals. Without the garden for some fresh salad, I would go nuts.

I have already said it- there are people who store just beans and rice and canned tuna. Yes, it will sustain life, but I contend that you will be bored with it in about 3 days and you'll hate yourself for not being better prepared. There are other possible food choices in storage, but the larger plan has proved inaccurate- I'm out of some of the key ingredients to make those work. I'm down to 3/4 lb of butter and when that's gone, it will be the end of the cookies and the biscuits. The egg solids have proved invaluable with a couple of minor exceptions described earlier. I'm really going to research butter solids and find tasty recipes that can use it.

Some meals on the table this week: home made chicken noodle soup, Hawaiian volcanoes (rice, Chinese noodles, pineapple, water chestnuts, shredded chicken, gravy etc.) No-bake oatmeal cookies, peanut butter cookies, few green salads from the garden- butterhead lettuce, cilantro, canned Mandarin orange wedges, sunflower seeds or sesame seeds, balsamic vinaigrette with some other dried spices. Re-fried beans- that's dried re-fried beans from a can- re-hydrated and simmered and served with pepper sauce. Jello with canned fruit.

I use a men's body wash shower gel that I like. I ran out of that and I'm using regular soap and there is plenty of that in storage. The skin on my back seems like its crawling. My forehead, nose and chin are pretty oily and my back is moderately oily. The rest of my skin is fairly normal. The switch to soap seems to have messed up my skin chi. Anyways, in a major crisis, I would just be glad for a shower let alone some soap.

I'm also running very low on mouthwash. I have plenty of toothpaste, floss and toothbrushes but the mouthwash- I got-ta got-ta have it! I will really ration that out and see if I can get another 2 1/2 weeks out of it but it doesn't look promising. There are two packets of the Listerine breath strips that can be used to extend the inevitable but I may have to live like a hermit for a couple of days at the end of the 90 days if my breath goes south. After this weekend, I have two Sundays (attend church) and I have DJ jobs on Dec 3rd, 5th, 6th and 11th. If I can have one swig for each of those, I think I'll make it. Side note to this- I'm generally less odorous owing to the reduced processed foods this last couple of months. I'm eating healthier and my body seems to be working more efficiently.

Soap and mouthwash- just more to consider when storing goods against hard times. I know in a crisis, that body odor will be the least of my worries but I want to be as comfortable as possible. Good preparation also puts me in a better position to render Christian-type assistance to others.

That was then and this is now

2009-11-19T12:53:00.030-07:00

I was in LA last Friday night for a DJ job and I celebrated my 30th anniversary in the entertainment business. I played a song Friday night off of this album, a song that I had played at my very first event in 1979. It was a brand new song then and it's 30 yrs old now. Gary Numan's "Cars"

This month, I purchased a 3 CD re-release of the album to commemorate it's 30th anniversary and it's been in my CD player this week. One disc is the album just as it was, the next is filled with demo versions that were used to present the song ideas to the record company, alternate takes and alternate mixes and b-sides to the singles that were released back then. It's interesting to hear the stripped down version of "Cars" before it was fleshed out and became the classic that it is. It sounds like something Earth Wind and Fire could have done- very R&B-esque. The third disc is some concert recordings from that time period. The crowd was not recorded as it would have been had it been intended for a live release but you can still hear the ambient crowd sounds from the stage mics, it's just straight from the concert mixing board. One item of note is the inclusion of "On Broadway" in concert with synthesizers and drum machines- Gary Numan style.

Some of you are probably scratching your head and questioning the value of a 3-CD anniversary release of this album from 30 years ago. This album was the first of the rock era that was devoid of electric guitars. Other acts like Kraftwerk (German pronunciation- Krahft-vehrk) used synthesizers and other electronics but came across as cold, experimental music for geeks. Gary Numan made a solid, funky, warm traditional rock album- just with synthesizers taking the lead. There was bass guitar and a traditional rock drummer, but no guitars.

Don't get me started on the importance of Kraftwerk in hip-hop and current dance music. I contend that hip-hop would not have happened AT ALL without the influence of Kraftwerk. I can hear their beats or even sampled bits in probably 40% of all of the dance music that I play today. That is a posting for another time.

The musicians' union in England tried to blacklist Gary Numan from getting any gigs because he was using those new-fangled synthesizers and putting musicians out of work. He countered that he used 6 union musicians on stage every night while Sting and the Police only had 3! I recently saw a very young Sting on a DVD lamenting back in 1979 that "Message in a Bottle" -one of the great guitar riffs EVER- had debuted at #8 on the British charts and Sting was concerned! He thought it would have done better if they could just get Gary Numan to F*&% OFF!

"Cars" was actually Gary Numan's 3rd #1 single in Europe and "The Pleasure Principle" was his 2nd #1 album- and he was only 21 yrs old. That proved to be his only hit in the U.S. but he had about 35 chart hits in Europe and elsewhere in his career. He is releasing his 22nd and 23rd albums just a couple of months apart next year. I can't wait.

I still like "Cars" even though it comes off like a novelty song and doesn't really represent his wider body of music. Oft-times, the pioneer, who does it different or expands the art form is mis-understood even though he or she opens the door for those that follow the idea to success like Duran Duran, Human League, Depeche Mode and others.

I have seen 4 or 5 of Gary Numan's concerts on the rare occasions that he tours in the U.S. I have his autograph on some memorabilia. It was a pleasure to meet him. Considering the cold, ethereal feel of his music, he is a very warm and engaging performer. Several thousand people could think that the concert was just for them. Here are some current pictures of Gary Numan.

Here's me back in 1979, with my first keyboard rig. The other is me also in 1979, pictured with my dad at the front end of my DJ career when bands like Gary Numan, The Police and Styx had sparked my imagination and arguably changed my life.

Here are a couple of pics of me now- 30 years later. Newer keyboard rig- this one digital piano can do 20 times more than the 4 keyboards could do in 1979.

Additionally, I'm a far better entertainer now than I was back then. Even though I know how to use the equipment to enhance that entertainment value, I've learned that technology isn't where the magic happens. The best sound system and light show won't save an event if the entertainer stinks. The magic happens when the performer and the audience connect and they exchange energy and celebration and angst and they just release the feelings of anticipation associated with the given occasion or event.

My current DJ rig pictured here can do about 20 times what my first DJ set-up could do with about 1/3 of the weight and space.

It's purely coincidental that both of these shots have my head cut off. The photographer that I've been hanging with of late- Kym Ventola, well, that's part of her artistic style. Or maybe she thinks I'm hideous... oh no... maybe I AM hideous... LOOK AWAY!

Here's to 30 more years!

66 days in. 24 to go.

2009-11-15T14:29:00.003-07:00

Getting close to the finish but a big finish actually seems kinda anti-climactic. For someone who is prepared, this shouldn't be a big deal I guess. The garden is producing more than enough for a nice salad every day or every other day. I have planted a winter garden each November since moving to Arizona. This is my 4th one. For reasons described earlier, I planted the salad ingredients earlier than usual and already enjoying the produce. The butter head lettuce leaves are quite nice.

A few meals on the table this week- Hot loaf of bread with Hamburger soup (Hamburger, dried carrots and dried celery, soy sauce, tomato sauce, salt and pepper, dried onion soup packet and after cooking for a couple of hours in the crock pot, add Parmesan cheese and parsley and some macaroni or whatever other pasta you have- used bow tie pasta this time- and then serve it up.) Salad from the garden, pancakes and sausage, oatmeal, cream of wheat cereal, franks cooked into a crescent roll, peanut butter and crackers, apple sauce, canned pears and hot chocolate.

Attended a wedding at JW Marriott Resort at Desert Ridge this week- NOT as a DJ. It was a lovely occasion and really enjoyed the meal provided by our hosts. (I enjoyed the company of our hosts and the other guests too.) The salad had romaine lettuce, orange wedges with the membranes peeled off, capers, and some kind of a citrus-y dressing. The entre was a choice of prime rib, lobster or sea bass. I had prime rib and it was a fantastic piece of meat. It came with some baby arugula leaves and northern beans (Yankee or White beans) with some cherry tomatoes and a hint of olive oil. Deeeee LISH!

There is 1 1/2 lbs of butter left. The Santa Fe apples are gone. Made fruit leather and ate as many fresh apples as could be eaten. They still lasted longer than they should have before going south. Made some cupcakes from a Betty Crocker cake mix and while they tasted like cupcakes, the egg solids didn't hold up very well. They were plenty moist and puffy, but had nothing to hold them together- they were crumbly. Even the wax paper baking cups didn't bond to the cake very well. It was odd.

I'm reminded that without electricity, the living of this adventure would be dramatically different. The freezer and the bread machine have been fantastic. Dried beans, rice and wheat would sustain life in a crisis but I'm more and more bored with the narrowing choices for meals. I would have gone nuts already without the freezer. The garden is gonna save my sanity.

I have felt a couple of times that the point has been made and all possible lessons may have already been learned. I actually considered calling it off with these 3 weeks to go, but owing to the spiritual feelings and and some of the other unexpected observations made, I have chosen to continue to 90 days as there may be more to learn. The only reason there is anything to write about is because I have have followed wise counsel and attempted to prepare for the future and I'm just testing my wits.

I've often noted in this blog that I'm a Styx fan. I heard "Come Sail Away" as a young teenager and that was the first time that I felt that an artist was speaking right to me. The song is about beauty of our dreams compared to the sometimes lesser reality of our lives. It's hard to find that pot of gold, but we keep dreaming anyway and we "carry on!" That's when the angels bear us up and I think it's ONLY then that they do so- when we have done all we can. That's when heaven sends help- somehow. "And we'll try the best that we can, to carry on!"

El Presidente

2009-11-10T23:42:00.006-07:00

I was just given the honor of being re-elected as President of the Phoenix Chapter of the American DJ Association. It is a pleasure to associate with these men and try to add to the excellence of the industry. Back row- Joseph Ivy of Ivy Entertainment and a brilliant competitive ballroom dancer. I'm kinda in the middle there in back. On my left is Scott Faver of Party Favers. Scott speaks at other ADJA chapters around the country and is often a featured presenter at major industry functions and trade shows, he's the "Game Master" and a brilliant networker. Back row, right is Robert Wilson our treasurer. In front on the left is Secretary, Bill Limbach, the DJ For You. In front of me is Mark Sanchez of Professional Mobile Entertainment, our vice president. Wearing white on the right of the picture is Dr. Drax, the national President of the American DJ Association. Drax and I have known each other for many years now and associated professionally and personally in southern California long before I joined the association. Drax is his stage name and I always knew him by his real given name. I think I may be the only one that knows his name. It's kinda like the Seinfeld episode where everybody learns Kramer's first name is Cosmo.

Thank you to the chapter members for your confidence. I will do my best.

60 days in. 30 to go.

2009-11-09T17:48:00.012-07:00

Major milestone for this posting. Not only is it the 2/3 marker, but even more exciting than that--I ate a salad from the garden- and then I danced the Mamushka.

There is an Old Testament verse that is often overlooked as to its significance. In Joshua chapter 5, the Israelites have just crossed the Jordan river into Canaan and they are making preparations to conquer the city of Jericho. They and ate some "old corn" and unleavened cakes (probably something like corn tortillas) for the passover feast that week. The reason this is significant is that the next day, the manna from Heaven that had fed them in the wilderness for 40 years stopped. Verse 12 says that "they did eat of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year."

The food in the garden still is only a compliment to the dried stored foods but a welcome treat. Later in the season, the scale will tip the other way, the fresh food will be supplemented by dried goods.

Observations on the garden- When planting seeds, you plant them closer than you need and then thin them out at some point after they sprout. Not all seeds germinate AND some require the presence of other seeds nearby to germinate in any case. Plus, it's hard to do anything other than just sprinkle them out gently when they are such tiny seeds. For the bigger seeds like the peas, the placement is very deliberate.

The thinning should occur before the roots become intertwined and each plant would have to compete with the others nearby for dirt, water, sunlight etc. and you get a bunch of sickly plants that don't produce much of anything. Thinning them exposes more leaf area to sunlight. At this stage, they are just a single root protruding downward. The butterhead lettuce plants are still seedlings and have not begun forming heads. They did need to be thinned out and since the leaves are edible they went into the salad rather than getting tossed out. SO- a plate full of butterhead lettuce leaves, a couple of sprigs of cilantro leaves with the stems (as cilantro matures and gets thicker, the stems get a kinda bitter, but they are sweet/pungent now), a couple of sprigs of green onions, and some re-hydrated carrots and celery from storage with a couple of tablespoons of canned diced tomatoes. I have red vinegar and olive oil in storage with other dried herbs like pepper, garlic, parsley, oregano etc. I made a most excellent dressing.

As people learn of my adventures recently, it seems more and more fantastical to them but more and more comfortable, reasonable, DO-able and ordinary to me. The stored food has become a bridge that spanned the time needed to plant seeds and begin a harvest, or make other arrangements to obtain food in a crisis. Seeds would seem to be the obvious choice because one is not at the mercy of others or of the crisis itself, one is SELF-reliant! It's right there in the title- SELF-reliance. You take care of yourself and don't leave it to others to take care of the things you should have planned for.

Inventory: Down to 2 lbs of butter. Made a rice/coconut/almond/canned chicken dish that used another 1/4lb of butter. Won't last for 30 more days, but it's ok. 11 kosher franks left. Some frozen chicken, 1 lb of shrimp, 2 Cornish game hens, frozen broccoli, frozen corn, some sausage. 3 boxes of cold cereal.

There is PLENTY of canned fruits, vegetables and meats and dozens of #10 cans of wheat, rice, beans, sugar, salt, dried milk, potato flakes etc. All of those have been the backbone of many of the meals of late. The Santa Fe tomatoes are gone. There are a few Santa Fe apples left but they are going south- starting to decompose. Maybe a couple more days of apples and cinnamon and oatmeal.
Finished off the peanuts on a hike on Peralta trail to Weavers Needle in the Superstition mountains last weekend. It's a medium to strenuous 6 mile round trip on a well used and maintained trail. It felt better without candy or fitness supplements that are generally loaded with chemicals and other kinds of fillers. Water and peanuts provided plenty of energy. Peanut packaging is biodegradable. Took Camelback back-pack with reusable water bladder. Still have lots of sunflower seeds, pistachios, and almonds to eat with meals.

A few menu items this week: Chicken/pineapple/tomato (from a can) skewers with teriyaki sauce cooked on tabletop hibachi grill using Sterno fuel. Pancakes and sausage. Crescent rolls with kosher frank baked inside. Franks and beans. Chicken and pasta- with tomato basil sauce and Parmesan cheese or with Alfredo sauce and broccoli. Ritz crackers and peanut butter. Cinammon rolls with frosting.

Had a DJ friend from Orange County California staying here for 3 days. We did a big event together last weekend. He hadn't seen me since I did a gig in Santa Monica CA 2 months ago-- He said I looked very healthy. I have lost 5 lbs in my mid-section. I had been at the very high end of the proper weight window for my height. I could lose 8 to 10 more and be at the low end. I don't anticipate that happening but it would be a good by-product of this adventure.

The end of this experiment is in sight. My life has become so much more simple. I have begun to formulate a plan to live this way more fully. Food stored for someday and never rotated is subject to spoilage thus wasting the money intended to be saved AND rendering it useless in a crisis anyway. Wheat, beans and rice stored properly should last 30 years or so, but they should be a part of the regular diet. I'll go for a major restocking of foodstuffs in bulk once per quarter and then maybe go for eggs, milk and cheese, once every 14 to 21 days. When I think about that, I may actually dump or at least massively reduce the consumption of those dairy products from my regular diet and increase the fresh produce to the degree that I can grow it here at home- it's far superior to anything found in the local grocery stores anyway. But if I can't grow it myself, I'll buy whatever can be grown locally.

Talk to ya in about a week.

Day 53. 37 to go. The test is actually just beginning.

2009-11-02T17:32:00.016-07:00

In case you've just joined me and you're wondering about the posting title, I decided to have a go at living off my own wits and eat only the food that I have stored against hard economic times or natural disaster etc. I haven't been to a grocery store or any other store for 53 days. Gasoline has been the only regular purchase. I have purchased some supplies for DJ equipment repairs and upgrades (I still have to run my business). I've also been also out to lunch with clients or colleagues about once every other week (owing to the social nature of eating together). I've made some unexpected observations about the way we acquire and consume food. If you are interested, scroll down to Day 14 and read up. For reference, I have far more than 90 days stored so if there were a crisis inside of this experiment, requiring another 90 or 180 or 270 days of living without a grocery store, I'd be fine.

A few menu items this week: Pancakes and fried Spam, the last steaks out of the freezer with some frozen corn on the cob, cherry Jell-o with canned peaches and fruit cocktail, cornbread and chili beans, crescent rolls, soup made from the tomatoes picked on the Santa Fe trip- it was DEEeeeeee LISH! Also, fruit leather with the apples from Santa Fe (see previous postings for explanation on that), Blew out some of the gifted cheese for some grilled cheese sandwiches to dip in the tomato soup (see previous postings for explanation on that). Chocolate chip cookies and No-bake oatmeal cookies.

In my travels and other adventures last week, someone approached me who had heard that I was doing this and was teasing me about how nice it would be to have a big plate of Mexican food or something (I have stored all of the supplies to have Mexican food). This person was even poking my shoulder repeatedly as if to provoke me. This person was someone that I know peripherally and who is a bit lacking in social skills anyway and so I discounted the gesture owing to that. This person hadn't read this on-line journal and was in no position to gauge whether I was starving or having some hardship or if I was making some kind of a statement or just being magnanimous. It is none of those things. For the most part, it has been completely comfortable and even a spiritual experience. I almost got angry for just a second because it was disrespecting the spiritual and peaceful experience I am having but I let that anger go quickly and was rather sad that this person was probably massively in debt, maybe hanging on to a job by a thread, otherwise unprepared and maybe even fearful at what they would do for their hungry children in a crisis.

I once taught an Old Testament class for two years as part of a seminary program for high school students. A story about Elijah has been on my mind this week. There was a famine in the land and the streams had just about dried up, the crops had died and there was a widow who had a cup of meal (probably corn meal or something) and a bit of oil in a cruse and she was gathering firewood to make a fire and cook up some flat bread for dinner and then she and her son were going to die- that was all the food there was. Elijah promised her in the name of the Lord that if she would feed him first and then she and her son, that the barrel of meal would not "waste" (diminish) and that the oil would not "fail" (it would always stay topped off and not spoil) until the Lord sent rain again. She trusted, and she fed Elijah first and she ate many days and the meal and oil somehow lasted. There is more to the story but it gets rather heavy for an otherwise lighthearted blog about the adventures of a lunatic professional DJ. Read it for yourself in I Kings 17.

I've felt like the widow this last 7 weeks. Whether you believe in the Bible literally or figuratively, there is a reason that these kinds of stories resonate with so many of the peoples of the world and have resonated for so many centuries. It's about coming in to the protection of God. He says, "Let me save you from the flood, let me save you from the famine, let me save your soul... Follow me!"

I was feeling anxious last week upon doing a food inventory- I counted that I was down to 4 lbs of butter. I can do without drinking milk- notice that I've just let it go- it's not that big of a deal. Most of the bread recipes have been fine with dried milk and egg solids... but butter?!??! What would I spread on my pancakes? What would I spread on my crescent rolls or on a slice of bread? Strawberry jam is fine, but a bit of melting butter just pushes it off a cliff! I love that!

I feel like the test is actually just beginning. I think that most refrigerators/pantries should have basic supplies to sustain life for 30 to 40 days in a crisis. So far, it has been just fine, hardly any appreciable difference in menu/diet. Even though the butter shortage made me nervous, it seems like the widow's barrel- I still have 3 and 1/4 lbs of butter as of today. I may run out at the end of this month but will only have to go until Dec 11th to purchase more. A batch of cookies once a week uses 1/4lb, biscuits for dinner every other night uses about 1/4lb per week, toast/pancakes etc for breakfast uses about 1/4lb per week. It's not just the butter mind you- lots of stuff has lasted far longer than I anticipated. I'm well aware that in a real crisis, the lack of electricity would have changed the experiment DRAMATICALLY! The frozen meat and vegetables have been great but if I lost the freezer, I think it's been proven that there is other stored stuff to live on.

I'm always saddened by the aftermath of various natural disasters in the world. Let there be no mistake at whether I have compassion for those who lose lives and property and such. I'm just saddened that people think that it falls to the government to save them and feed them. YES, that's what compassionate people do and AS a people, our government organizes our resources to help at such times. Do I want to wait for this government to save me? No. Wise counsel says prepare yourselves. There are some who say that stored food may be destroyed in a flood/fire or crushed in an earthquake etc. That's not a reason to not be prepared- that it MIGHT be destroyed. Deal with that when you get there. What if it is preserved? Wouldn't it be great to have it? If nothing else, it puts one in a position to render Christian-type service to friends and neighbors.

The garden is doing fine. I may have a salad with some butterhead lettuce as early as next week. The second variety of spinach that I planted also didn't sprout. There is about a 2 foot gap in an otherwise healthy row of peas. I replanted that section and it didn't sprout either. I'm going to plant yet another something or other in the spinach row- maybe some radishes or turnips.

I have a waffle iron that got put away a few weeks ago with a waffle still in it. I know... Anyways, a few days later it began to smell, which led to the discovery of the mistake. When I got it out this week for some waffles, they were ripped to shreds attempting to get them out. In the course of cleaning out the forgotten waffle, the non-stick surface was damaged, rendering it useless for waffles and I had to toss it in the trash. I repaired my biscuit cutter a few weeks ago, but I can't repair a waffle iron like that. Back to the wise adage reported previously; if you have two (of a tool), you have one. If you have only one, you might have none. I can live without waffles just fine, but I sure do like them. I'll probably buy two waffle irons before Christmas.

Stay tuned.

Anxiously engaged in a good cause

2009-10-28T22:27:00.007-07:00

I just got back from a charity fundraiser for Arizona Helping Hands at The Boojum Tree in North Phoenix. They raised a bunch of money to do a bunch of good things for kids and teens who need some good things done for them. It was a very nice function with a very moving presentation from a couple of members of the board of directors of the charity and a couple of organizations and individuals that had stories to tell of the changed lives- owing to the assistance provided by the group. It was my pleasure to introduce Alexis DelChiaro from the local FOX News morning show. I've met her before at a broadcast for a big event at a local resort. She's from southern California too and we chatted about how we both arrived in Arizona.

It was a Christmas themed event gearing up for the work they will do for the holiday season. I played Christmas music and there was a Christmas tree. It was a really cold night at an outdoor venue. I got rosy cheeks- the ones on my face AND the ones on my backside!

It was also good to see Angie VanDaele, the publisher of The Wedding Chronicle. She's one of the first people I met in the wedding and event industry when I moved here three years ago and we have become good friends. She publishes the best wedding publication in the state, in my opinion. I advertise in her magazine and write a column on music and entertainment occasionally. She's very supportive and helpful with the networking group that I own for wedding and event professionals. I couldn't pull the meetings off without her help. Thanks Angie.

Day 45. 45 to go. Half way!

2009-10-24T09:22:00.021-07:00

If you haven't already done so, scroll down to Day 14 and work your way up.

This has been, unexpectedly, a profound experience overall.

I'm aware of family, neighborhood friends and industry friends and even some of my customers that are reading this and then sharing their personal insights when we cross paths or asking questions when we meet face to face. They are great insights that others reading could benefit from. Leave your comments here too. No lurking!

A few more observations since the last update: Trash output has been substantially reduced in recent weeks. The entire house is less than 1 kitchen trash bag per week now. The convenient processed microwave meals and stove top meals in a box and other such prepared foods are just not happening.

Side note regarding the trash: I bought some new road cases for some DJ equipment. The old cases were in fine working order but they were looking fairly ratty from several years on the road and I was feeling more and more self-conscious going into the nicest hotels and social clubs in Phoenix with my battle scarred equipment. They had earned their money and it was time to replace them. The new cases are tough ROAD CASES mind you, but they were shipped over the ROAD for two days from Kansas or something- A ROAD CASE inside of a cardboard box which was inside of another cardboard box! It was all recyclable but it was a huge pile of packaging- that came from trees- and it has be be dealt with now. Other than the irony of shipping a permanent road case inside of a temporary road case, the amount of trash it created seemed alarming to me relative to the otherwise diminished trash and recyclables in the rest of the house.

The garden is sprouting up nicely. Cilantro, Butterhead lettuce, onions and peas. The spinach didn't come up. I remembered that the seeds I planted from that bag last year also didn't sprout so I discarded the balance. I re-planted another variety of spinach from another seed packet and I'll report on that next week. The Simpson lettuce didn't sprout either. If this were a real crisis, it would have been deepened by these crop failures. I'm going to plant something else in that row tomorrow- another kind of lettuce or some cabbage. I know a few like minded people who also store goods against hard times, including seeds, who mistakenly think that you just go throw them in the ground and Wal-la! Food! It ain't that easy. (I don't need no English lessons either) I think it's good advice to grow a garden all the time. The food is fantastic and the skills may save your family. I've been doing it for several years and learning what works and what doesn't and how to care for things and protect them from fungus and pests etc.

The apples from Santa Fe are phenomenal! I haven't eaten apples in this quantity since I was a kid. Sliced up with some oatmeal in the morning. Dipped in peanut butter for lunch. A whole apple nibbled down to the core for an afternoon snack. Thank God for Red Delicious apples! Used the tomatoes to make some tomato sauce and some tomato soup. They were going to spoil otherwise. I hear some tomato soup with some crackers calling my name for dinner in a few days.

Prepared/processed meals are supposed to add to the convenience of our lives- It's a LIE! I've decided that they actually make it more complicated. Meals are far more simple now and easier to prepare this way. No trips to the store. The food staples that were purchased years ago were for pennies on the dollar relative to the expense of processed/packaged items. No packaging to contend with, no fillers, no modified food starch, which is a by-product of processed wheat and/or corn used to puff up portions or package weights. A bowl of chili con carne or franks and beans (still have about 2 dozen kosher franks in the freezer) or some dried black beans soaked over night and simmered in a crock pot all day streusselled with some good pepper sauce and served with some cornbread for a meal is just fine. Still have frozen chicken and frozen broccoli, frozen corn, dried potato flakes for mashed potatoes with a can of roast beef and gravy over the top. Dried hash browns whipped up and served with maybe a slice of fried spam for breakfast.

The cheese that was delivered by a friend- see earlier post for an explanation of that- is still a welcome treat, grated over a bowl of chili, but that is almost gone. It may last another 10 days or so.

I really miss fresh milk... Did I mention that before? There is a dairy in Southern California called Alta Dena that- for whatever reason- has the best milk EVER! There is nothing like a glass of cold milk and I mean COLD. Brad Pitt likes ice cubes in his milk, like I do, and that's because he is a Epicurean, like I am. I'm doing a DJ job in LA in a couple of weeks and would love to go drink a gallon of Alta Dena milk but it will have to wait until the next time I'm out there in January. Alas, the dried milk is just to weird to drink. There are two brands in storage. Neither is acceptable to me for drinking, but one is OK for cooking and baking, the other is acceptable on a bowl of cold cereal but I notice that it makes the cereal soggy VERY quickly. I guess there is some property in real milk that doesn't penetrate the structure of cold cereal as quickly. The dried milk acts like water on the cereal. I find myself pouring a shallow bowl twice and eating them quickly as opposed to a full bowl that goes soggy before I can eat it all.

It's nice that the weather has cooled. I find solace in a good cup of hot chocolate and marshmallows a couple of times a week for breakfast or a cup in the evening after dinner. Stephen's brand hot chocolate is Deeeee- LISH! I sip it and dream of the day when I can enjoy a glass of milk again.

Since moving to Arizona just over 3 years ago, I have been re-introduced to the concept of drinking plenty of water. I drink a good amount of water anyway, but I'm drinking even more of it lately and enjoying it and feeling generally better. I've always been a Koolaid fan when it's offered, but I just don't need it right now. I prefer water. I DO have lots of sugar and Koolaid stored.

Final observation for this week. The new pace and regard for food and meals is refreshing and meaningful. There is a very real social element to eating food. I wonder how much of the economy can be traced to ideas exchanged over a meal or a cup of coffee ending with a handshake and a new professional relationship that becomes profitable? I've been lingering at the table after dinner lately and shelling peanuts or pistachios and laughing and talking about things and connecting better. Whenever I eat Asian food, I always use chopsticks. I'm pretty adept at the use of chopsticks but even at its best, the bites are slower and smaller. It just slows you down to enjoy the meal. More meals should use chopsticks.

In a similar way, shelling peanuts and pistachios just slows you down. The simple act of eating a simple meal, when done correctly, can BOND you to loved ones.

Persian music ROCKS!

2009-10-16T12:19:00.002-07:00

I performed at a wedding last week that rocked my face! The bride was Latina and the groom was Iranian. They had two ceremonies, one traditional Christian type and then a Persian wedding ceremony followed that. A cocktail hour followed with a rockin' Mariachi band and then into the banquet room for dinner and dancing.

Fans of rock music know Led Zeppelin's Kashmir is based in Arabic musical phrasing. The drums go at half speed with triplets on the guitar advancing upward creating tension and the phrasing goes in and out of phase, compared to the drums, with alternating measures. Most western (European) music divides notes by halves, quarters, eighths, sixteenths and so on. Some Persian music divides it in thirds and then puts it into musical phrases in 5/4 time signatures and such. It's incredibly complex. There are lots of 5ths and minor 6th notes that I love.

Traditionally, the Bride and Groom will take the dance floor at the end of dinner for a first dance and then open the dance floor for the guests to celebrate. Guests wanted to dance from the moment they entered the room. I hated to shut it down to get them to sit down and eat the meal that had been prepared.

I had been provided with a few CDs of some Persian music, some of which was of terrible, terrible recording quality. I wish I knew the background of some of those songs. They may have been historic live recordings of highly regarded and loved national artists. Even though the fidelity was poor, the opening notes of some of those songs were met with absolute jubilation and celebrants could NOT keep thier seats. They just HAD to dance to this or that song.

Some of that Persian music mixed with other Latin beats made for a great night of dancing.

Thanks Jazmine and Hessam, you guys ROCK!

Day 37. 53 to go.

2009-10-16T11:16:00.002-07:00

In order for this posting to make sense, you should scroll down to Day 14 and read up.

A few dishes on the table recently- Pasta and Alfredo sauce with broccoli, Teriyaki chicken with pineapple and steamed rice. Half of the can of pineapple went in with the chicken and the other half went in with some cherry jello. I've found that I really enjoy just a bowl of black beans with some pepper sauce- very hearty.

I do miss fresh milk. Fresh eggs are gone too. Since I last posted, I made two or three of loaves of bread with powdered milk and also used powdered egg solids. Those came out just fine- no detectable difference in taste or texture. There's still plenty of butter in the fridge and there's nothing like fresh hot bread with real butter melting all over it. Made crescent rolls with a kosher frank rolled up inside and those were pretty fab with some mustard, ketchup, sweet relish and the last of the yellow onion diced up.

Planted my winter garden last week. Earlier than I would have usually, but the failed pumpkins freed up the garden space. I planted cilantro, spinach, peas, Simpson lettuce, onions and butterhead lettuce. The spinach and Simpson lettuce haven't sprouted yet and I'm anxious about it. Everything else is reaching for the sky! It's very gratifying.

During the Mormon exodus of the late 1840's, people planted seeds along the trail for subsequent companies to possibly have some produce along the way. The very first order of business for the advance company that arrived in the Salt Lake valley in July of 1847 was to plant several acres of potatoes so that they would have a fighting chance to survive that first winter there. When Brigham Young arrived a few days later, so sick that he could barely sit up in his wagon, he looked down the mountains into that valley and declared "this is the right place."

I once watched a wonderful science film at an IMAX theater about the U.S. space program and specifically the space shuttle. The filmmaker went to lengths to portray the brilliant minds and technological skill that combined to accomplish the immense feat that it is to get a craft into orbit around Earth. This particular mission was to try to get some produce to grow in zero gravity. They were trying to grow wheat. They used centrifuges to try to trick the seeds into sensing gravity and growing upwards against it. Several other methods were used including planting it in the traditional way. All methods failed. All of that brilliance couldn't do as seemingly a simple thing as sprouting some wheat grass.

I thought of that last week. This experiment has changed my feelings on food and the way it is acquired and consumed. Indulge me to wax spiritual for a moment- I actually stood in my garden last week after I planted those seeds and I prayed to God that those seeds would sprout and be fruitful and that they would be protected from pests and foul weather and that the produce would be to the benefit of my physical body and sustain life! I don't know if you have followed the plight of the honeybees in recent years. They are dying in massive numbers! 70% of the firefly population worldwide died last year too. My prayer included a plea for the safety of the bees. There is a lot of food that wouldn't happen without bees.

A few other closing thoughts for the week: I got a few left over Carmel apples at an industry function and regarded it as a major score! I also made a trip to Santa Fe NM this week to trim the trees and rake leaves and make some repairs at the home of an aging relative, came home with a couple of bags of red delicious and golden delicious apples and a bag of fresh tomatoes off of the ranch property there. That was a MAJOR score! Did eat out a couple of times while there but for the most part, only purchased gasoline per the parameters of the experiment. Took food with me from my pantry for the road.

Day 26. 64 to go.

2009-10-05T18:43:00.018-07:00

If you haven't already, read this first and then this.

Made a basket of muffins yesterday from scratch. No fresh ingredients- all dry ingredients from storage- brown sugar, flour, baking powder, salt, oats, cinnamon, honey etc. They were very moist and delicious. I had a bowl of pinto beans and a muffin and a slice of fried spam for breakfast. Water to drink.

For dinner tonight, I had some steamed rice and orange chicken with some sesame seeds sprinkled on it. Complimented it with a can of mandarin orange slices. Some green onions would have been perfect but alas, I don't have any. I ate a carrot with it. Two more carrots and two more potatoes left. Finished off the other half of the jar of peaches that I opened up a couple of days ago to put in the aforementioned bowl of peach jello. I finished that jello off yesterday.

I have a bird feeder on my back porch and a bird bath and a fountain in the back yard. A couple of days ago as I went to put some fresh water in the fountain, a hummingbird, unaware of my standing there, came right up to get a drink out of the dribble that pours out of the top of the fountain. I had the water on low and just was standing still there holding the hose and taking my time filling it up. Lots of birds drink from that fountain every day. Lots of birds also clean up in my bird bath and I wonder what goes on each day in the life of a bird that gets them so dirty. After I put fresh water in it, for about an hour each morning, there is a line of birds on the west wall waiting their turn, two or three birds in the bath at a time, and then they go to the south wall to dry off and re-fluff the feathers and go on their way.

I tell you all of that so that I can tell you this, I discovered another item of note that I'm lacking... I usually put about 2 cups of birdseed out in the feeder each morning. I'm out of seed. There was a row of tough guy birds sitting on the wall this morning giving me the stink-eye. They'll have to wait until Dec 11th or do a better job of keeping the bugs out of my garden! There was enough bugs on my pumpkin vines to have fed them for a month and they didn't eat them.

I have a Mormon Pioneer ancestor that was sent by Brigham Young from Salt Lake to colonize in southern Arizona. His company crossed the Colorado River at Lee's Ferry and his journal told a story that has always moved me. He was a lover of animals and always gave gratitude to God for the burden they bore on his behalf and it always broke his heart to hear of a mistreated animal. A few of his animals drown in the crossing and those that made it got to the other side and just got their front legs and front quarters up on the banks and collapsed with exhaustion. He depended on them so much- and they gave so much. Since they had been domesticated to a great degree, they were no longer able to fend for themselves without his assistance.

I don't have any pets but for those who do have pets, it's something to plan for in a crisis- to make sure that you have enough food and supplies for them as well. I may have created a bit of a micro eco system of sorts in my yard with so many birds depending on a bit of food each day at 730 and now they will have to fend for themselves.

Now that the heat has broken in Arizona, I'm planting a few rows of produce tomorrow morning. Cilantro, cabbage, peas, turnips and a couple of kinds of lettuce. I may have some lettuce in about 5 weeks, cilantro in 3 weeks or so. Peas and turnips by Thanksgiving.

A friend who saw this blog brought over a small brick of cheddar cheese and a small tub of cottage cheese. It is a most welcome gift and was given and received with love and gratitude but such an act will compromise the data of this experiment. It IS an experiment and there is not a real crisis. I'm having the best year I have ever had in my 30 years as an entertainer! There is plenty of money and a choice of 3 or 4 fully stocked grocery stores within walking distance in any direction. There may come a time when the stores aren't there or they aren't stocked because of a labor dispute or political unrest or there is a disease outbreak or a financial crisis or hyper inflation where our money isn't worth anything and can't be used to purchase these things that we take for granted. I just don't want those problems to be my problems. I want to be reasonably comfortable and safe in my own home.

The Dream Team

2009-10-05T15:33:00.010-07:00

I did a wedding on Saturday that had some serious problems. I'm sure some heads are rolling today on the subject. The caterer cooked up the wrong meal for 200 people. The food was pretty good, but it didn't match the lovely printed menu cards at each place setting. I wonder if there was another wedding across town that had the food on those menu cards? The flowers were not bad either but they weren't even close to what the bride had ordered. The florist said that they ran out of something or another... (Why did they run out? How is that the problem of the customer? Why wasn't it addressed at some point earlier than at the event?)

I was there with my best buddy Kym Ventola who photographed the wedding and Kathy from Thee Wedding Warehouse who was coordinating the event, and I was DJing myself. It wasn't the "dream team," it was more like the "refreshing afternoon nap" team. Those kinds of major mistakes wouldn't have happened if the rest of our "team" was there. Alas, the bride and groom hired others for whatever reason... Had all of us been at the wedding together, those problems would not have happened.

I spent Sunday with these guys the Phoenix Bridal show at University of Phoenix stadium. We all had a booth together. Kym Ventola wasn't at the bridal show with us, she was photographing a wedding.
On the left, Kathy Baggett from Thee Wedding Warehouse, the most brilliant marketer I have ever known. She has a great bridal boutique out in Goodyear. I'm standing next to her. In the center is Jacque Dearing from Endearing Floral Design, Kathy's partner and in house florist at Thee Wedding Warehouse. For reference, I'm a guy and don't care one way or the other about flowers and I have been around floral designs at weddings for 30 years and you could imagine that flowers all start to look the same to me. Jacque's work will make you perk and up and notice! Next is Ginny Solis from All About Catering. She and Chef Julie (not there yesterday) are a great team. Ginny and her assistant, Sabrina, served up mango cilantro sliders yesterday. There was a line of interested brides snaking across our booth all day. They cooked and assembled and served 600 mini-burgers in 3 hours! On the right is Reverend G. He has had a full life in sound production and recording, as a test driver for new and experimental automobiles and as a minister for 21 years. He has a wry and twisted sense of humor and is a gentleman in every way. It's always a pleasure to be around him.

Usually when we are working together, well, we are working. I couldn't let this opportunity for a photograph get away before we packed up and called it a day. I count myself really blessed to be in the personal and professional company of such fine people!

Day 21. 69 to go.

2009-10-02T08:35:00.004-07:00

If you haven't read the previous post, scroll down or click it. Read that one first so that this one makes sense.

21 days in with 69 days to go. The fresh food is virtually gone. I have 3 flour tortillas, one tomato, one yellow onion, and about 6 potatoes. Fresh milk is gone and that is the only thing that I miss so far. The dried milk is more obvious than I thought. I don't care for it on cereal. It has to be a smaller amount as a part of a recipe to be baked or otherwise disquised.

For dinner last night, I made some peach jello with some canned peaches. I boiled a couple of potatoes and mashed them and mixed them about 50/50 with dried potato flakes and a sprinkle of dried chopped onions. I mixed in the last of the sour cream. Complimented that with a can of roast beef with gravy and some homemade biscuits- using the dried milk. I still have lots of butter and strawberry jam. The biscuits were Deeeeeee-LISH!

Tid-bit-o-trivia on the biscuits... I broke my little tin biscuit cutter while cutting out the dough! In the grand scheme of things, it's not the greatest of my worries. One can always use a cup or a knife to cut out circles and squares for biscuits. The trouble is that using a cup to cut biscuit dough doesn't allow the air to escape as you press down and it's hard to get the biscuit out of the cup after since there is no access from the other side. I do have a soldering iron so I'll repair the biscuit cutter today. Worst case scenario, I would use a tin can and cut both ends off.

I heard some wise advice many years ago about situations like this. "If you have two, you have one. If you have one, you might have none." I have a tool to open my emergency water barrels and if I lost or broke that, I would have a tough time opening those barrels. Some basic back up kitchen utensils might be in order. A spare can opener would be crucial.

For breakfast this morning, I broke the last fresh egg over the left over mashed potatoes from last night and added a bit of flour and made potato pancakes. I grated the last of the Monterrey jack cheese and sprinkled a bit of that on the pancakes. When I get out the cheese grater, I usually grate a fair amount of it and put it in a zip lock bag. I was very conscious of the fact that this is the last of the cheese and I picked as much cheese out of the grater and I collected every last bit off of the cutting board and kept it. Normally I would just regard it as a casualty of cheese grating and a bit would be lost on the grater and the cutting board and then down the drain. The remaining cheese may last another 5 days or so.

Another observation: Years ago when I was working two jobs, eating gross amounts of fast food and drinking sodas regularly, I chewed a couple of antacids every night to relieve the heartburn. It's a lifestyle and diet that I no longer live and eat. A mild case of heartburn maybe once a month now is all I have and that's after a major meal with habanero peppers or other spicy food from my garden and I usually just lay on my left side to relieve it without an antacid tablet. I had a case of heartburn last night that may be due to the changing diet this last 3 weeks. I couldn't detect any of the regular triggers. I discovered that I have two antacid tablets in my medicine cabinet and I used one of them last night. I have about 10 more in my van and another 10 in a small emergency kit in one of my DJ road cases.

As a general rule, I don't use drugs of any kind, including over the counter pain medications or cold remedies. Those only manage or mitigate the symptoms but don't actually solve the problem. Given proper nutrition and environment, I believe the body already contains what it needs and can heal itself in most instances. In this DJ emergency kit, I do keep some cold remedies, some antacids, some pain relievers, a couple of bandages, tweezers, a couple of buttons and some needles and thread etc- Things that could get me through an event in a pinch and allow me to be the witty charming and effervescent entertainer even if I didn't feel well. It's probably time to change those out anyway now that I think of it. The equipment and road cases are stored in an unconditioned space and have been there for some time.

I went out to lunch with a client this week and my plate included some cabbage and a radish to garnish the dish with some color. I ate all of it.

Day 14. 76 to go.

2009-09-25T14:52:00.006-07:00

In Back to the Future Part III, Doc Brown and Marty McFly commandeer an Old West steam train to push the Delorean up to 88 miles per hour to get from 1885 back to the year 1985. The train engineer puts his hands up and asks "Is this a stick up?" Brown and McFly look at each other and conclude "No, it's a science experiment."

I, too, am in the middle of a science experiment that started on Sept 11th. I'm not going to the grocery store or any other store for 90 days. Gasoline is the only thing I'm going to purchase until Dec 11. I store food and water against hard economic times, social unrest, natural disasters or disease outbreaks, I have for many years- it seems to me to be common sense, but plenty of people think I'm a bit of a nut case. I'm testing myself out as if there had been a disaster on Sept 11th of 2009 and I had to live on my own wits. I'm 14 days into it with 76 to go.

Fresh food is going fast. I have about 20 corn tortillas and about 10 large flour tortillas- those should last another 10 days or so. I have a few pounds of butter and just over a pound of Monterrey jack cheese. I mostly ran out of fresh vegetables a couple of days ago. I have a tomato, a red onion, a yellow onion, 20 potatoes and a tiny bit of green onion left. When those are gone, I'll switch to the freezer. The freezer has a couple of bags of frozen broccoli, corn and peas. There are a couple of bags of chicken breasts, a couple of steaks, a couple of Cornish game hens- save those for Thanksgiving, about 36 kosher franks, 1 lb of shrimp, some frozen corn on the cob and 1 lb of bacon.

In a real disaster, of course, there may or may not be electricity and the meat in the freezer would be eaten or shared with neighbors or destroyed in about 2, MAYBE 3 days. I have a hunch though, that even in a disaster, there may be intermittent electricity. Even war torn Iraq gets electricity about half of the time.

There are about 18 eggs left. I don't eat that many eggs and they will probably go south before I eat them all. I have about 2 cups of milk left and that was mixed 50/50 with non-fat dry milk a few days ago. I don't drink the dried stuff on its own even though I found a brand that I could live with in a crunch. We'll see how I feel in a couple of weeks without fresh milk. I may mix it with some nestle quik or certainly use it for cooking or on a bowl of cereal.

I grow a garden year round here in Mesa AZ. There are only a few things that can grow in the summer months here. I usually plant pumpkins at the end of July and harvest those in the 3rd week of Oct. My pumpkin vines got attacked by pests and I took them out today. No pumpkin pie filling or pumpkins for Halloween, but the upside is that I will probably plant my winter garden a couple of weeks earlier- maybe next week. I'll be planting a couple of kinds of lettuce, some cabbage, turnips, radishes and peas. I may be able to harvest a few of them by Thanksgiving. That would be great!

One caveat is that in my travels to formal social occasions as an entertainer, I'll be served meals sometimes. I think that may mimic a real disaster too. Even in the worst of times, one may come across some milk and eggs and fresh veggies once in awhile.

After the fresh and frozen stuff is gone, I have plenty of canned goods- fruit, corn, jams, black beans, refried beans, pork and beans, canned chicken, canned beef, canned tuna etc. After that, I have plenty of dried beans, rice, wheat etc. I have sugar, dried celery, onions, carrots etc. I have yeast and flour to make bread once or twice a week. I do that regularly anyways.

Last night I soaked a big bowl of black beans and they have been in the crock pot today with a can of chicken broth. The house smells great. I hear some burritos calling my name! A big flour tortilla, some Monterrey jack cheese, some salsa, and a big scoop of black beans.

I'll have an update in a week or so.

The White Hot Event

2009-09-01T15:16:00.016-07:00

I own a networking group here in Phoenix for wedding professionals called the Wedding and Event Network (WEN). We get together once a month to shake hands and trade business cards. We are hosted by hotels, golf clubs, bridal boutiques and other reception halls all over the Phoenix metropolitan area each month. I'm the third owner in the 12 year history of WEN. It was started by a wedding officiant and his wife. Then it was owned by a brilliant event planner for a few years and now me. Once a year, our meeting is a bit less networking and a bit more of a party as a thank you to our members and industry friends. Everyone is invited to wear white and bring their spouse or a date. It's the White Hot Event!

Here I am with an imaginary rope, pulling a few dancers out on to the floor. The Hamptons have played at the White Hot Event for several years. They are the best wedding band in Phoenix and have always volunteered for this event- even before WEN was the respected organization it has become. Thanks guys!

This is Chandra Keel on the left, the event planner that I had for this event. I gave her some basic parameters for the event and turned her loose on it. She nailed it. That's Lisa from Arizona Weddings magazine on the right.

Here's a group shot. The event was at Tre Bella in downtown Mesa. It's an old warehouse, transformed into a reception space. The adjacent space has been converted into a charming wedding chapel. The photographer, Keri Doolittle is shooting from about the center of the room so there is a similar sized crowd behind her. Click on her link for more pics from the event. Chandra Keel is about center shot in this one too.

Each year we select a local cause or charity and ask attendees to donate to the cause if they have the means to do so. We collected almost 400 lbs of food and $150 in cash. WEN matched those donations dollar for dollar. St. Mary's was most gracious and appreciative. I'm still alarmed to hear of hungry people and empty food banks in our city of great wealth.

This is my friend, Amy Vandervort- a brilliant event planner and the previous owner of WEN. She just wanted to raise her kids and simplify her life. She may get back in the game when her children are older, but if not, she went out at the very top of her career. Her last wedding was featured on a major TV show. Ray Grace, Ray the DJ, a fantastic local mobile DJ and one of my professional brothers is on the right.

Here I am talking to Courtney Moran from Lollicakes Company. They provided desert that night. Wedding cake- on a STICK! It was deeeeee-lish! Each lollipop represents about 4 or 5 bites of wedding cake- individually wrapped- like a lollipop. This picture was taken just before the event started and the lollicakes were still under refrigeration.

It's really gratifying that everybody in this industry makes me feel like such a rockstar. I'm blown away. The network operates on the trading of professional favors for exposure to others in the industry. My email list is substantial so even those who don't attend will see the logos of the participating vendors on the email blast that goes out to the industry in advance of each meeting.

There are a few who think that my group is irrelevant or redundant. Each of us are members of our various professional associations- I'm the president of the American DJ Association- we do have a few members in common, but we have a very different purpose. We each have great educational content at our various chapter meetings. This is one forum that provides inter-industry connections. It's not a meeting of just photographers, or catering executives or just event planners.

In addition to great networking opportunities, there is a chance to talk about things that we can do to add to the excellence of the industry since we all work together at weddings and other social events.

Next month's meeting- South Beach/Miami theme at the brand new Homewood Suites- Hilton- Phoenix Airport.

Raucous!

2009-08-10T20:36:00.011-07:00

It was an absolute pleasure to play at a wedding at the Irish Cultural Center in downtown Phoenix on Saturday night. The party seemed to teeter on the edge of breaking into a slug fest at any moment- not because of anger or animosity or anything else like it- but because the anticipation of the night and then the exuberance of the occasion could not be released simply by laughing, drinking, shouting, feasting, singing and dancing alone! The celebration itself was greater than all of that. Some raucous slugging among the men might have been just the ticket. It was great to be with Reverend Giovanni who stepped up to the mound and pitched the ceremony "ball" and then I stepped up to the plate and hit it out of the park with mad DJ skillz!

In his autobiography, Steve Martin talked about a comedian named Jack E. Leonard at the tail end of the Vaudevillian comedians and the beginnings of stand up comedy as we know today, who used to accentuate his punchlines by slapping his stomach and shouting "Hep!" or something like that. On a Tonight Show appearance, the audio got muddled but people laughed anyway because he slapped his stomach and they, like Pavlov's dog, laughed at what they hadn't heard, because they had been conditioned to do so. Steve Martin asked himself as a boy, What if there were no punchlines? What if there were no indicators? What if I created tension and never released it? What if I headed for a climax but all I delivered was an anticlimax? What would the audience do with all of that tension? Theoretically, it would have to come out somewhere, But if I kept denying them the formality of a punchline, the audience would eventually pick their own place to laugh. They would laugh when they chose to rather than when I chose for them to.

Music also creates tension or dissonance and it must be released or resolved to sound right and to make symmetrical sense in our brains as we process the mathematical elements of music. Consonance, or the beginning note or phrase, is the note against which every thing is compared. Our brain holds that note in a queue and compares the rest of the song to that. Sing the song "Johnny B. Goode" in your head for a minute-no, really do it with me- "Way down in 'ouisiana close to New Orleans. Way back up in the woods among the evergreens." Then there is a chord change that creates dissonance, bass note goes up a 4th - keep singing- "Stood a log cabin made of earth and wood." Then back to the original note- "Where lived a country boy named Johnny B. Goode" Then up a 5th for some real tension- "Never ever learned to read or write so well." Then resolve the tension by going back to the original note- "But he could play the guitar just like ringing a bell. Go! Go Johnny, Go!"

In comedy, the consonance is the intellectual foundation or the set up of the joke or gag. Your brain holds that in a queue for a moment and then the comedian delivers something absurd- the dissonance- that is only humorous by comparison to the consonance.

Musical phrasing does it several times in a song and then other elements, still within the constructs of the song, may create varying degrees of overall tension with the progressions of chords, the bridge sequence and the use of other textures, speeds, sounds, dynamics and perhaps a dramatic ritardo strike at the end of a song. I like songs that resolve the tension but some artists may not ever musically "resolve" a song. John Lennon and Paul McCartney were not musically trained but knew how to create tension and then resolve it musically and they arguably wrote much of the best music of the Rock and Roll era. Most genres trace their roots to those early pioneers of rock music.

As a DJ, I mostly play at more structured social occasions than a free form comedy show where I might try the innovative things that Steve Martin did. I'm obliged to give a crowd a comfortable time and place to release! A good DJ creates natural energy and makes it easy to dance and shout and celebrate and not feel uncomfortable or obligated to participate. People need a safe and cozy dancefloor surrounded by tables and chairs- a place that provides a psychological safe zone for dancing whether there is an actual dancefloor or not.

I choose songs to give an overall flavor to a wedding that represent the tastes of the bride and groom or the vision that a corporate client has for the feel of their social occasion. I choose mostly songs that are in a major key, songs that resolve themselves musically, and I put the songs in an order that creates more and more tension, with the first song in a set being the consonant song by which the following songs will be compared. I try to create more and more anticipation and tension and then when I get to a point where the crowd thinks they cain't do no mo... Well, I got moves you ain't never seen and I got songs you ain't nevah heard! ~BAM!~ I always hit them one more time with something even higher in energy or tension than they anticipated before I release them collectively as a dancing crowd. I usually choose a song for the release that ends with a strike AND on note that resolves the dissonance.

People individually are pretty smart, but interestingly, crowds have a separate mentality and they often need to be told what to do. There are really only two people in the room, the crowd, collectively, and the DJ. When the DJ is really on his or her game, even they "twain shall become one." That is where the magic really happens. People are dancing and getting into it, hugging each other, singing along with every word and I feel that energy. When it comes up to me, I feel it, I dig down deeper, crank it up and send out a renewed energy to the crowd. They feel it and nurture it and then they send it back to me and I send it back to them. This tension and release seems to flow in natural cycles of about 20 to 25 minutes. I let the music speak it, I don't say it with words. I make sure the music let's them know how to celebrate the occasion and then release the anticipation and the feelings of celebration and ultimately, resolve the dissonance.

Earlier in my career, lots of time was spent on very mechanical and technical concerns. Hunting down a CD and cuing a selected song inside of the given 3 1/2 minutes of the song that is playing and then do it again and again. With my years of experience behind me, my tools are an extension of my hands and my brain and those things are second nature- CDs are a thing of the past and I can focus on really heady stuff like this.

When you kiss your lover passionately, a little peck just isn't going to cut it. It takes 6 or 7 seconds just to start to feel the energy of their body and their warmth. THEN it becomes a passionate kiss. Songs are the same way. They live and breathe. They have energy and something to say both musically and lyrically. A mistake that many DJs make is cutting songs rapid-fire from one to the next. The song is not allowed to speak its message and create its mood. A DJ may move on to the next song before the song is resolved musically. From a practicality standpoint, guests may hear a song they would have wanted to dance to and by the time they wrap up a conversation, put down their drink, get a dance partner, the DJ has gone on to something else a couple of times over.

There is a difference between sales and marketing. I sell DJ service, and I lug a bunch of sound and lighting equipment around. I market however, fashion, attitude, expertise, music, fun- I hardly tell people that I am a DJ anymore- what always follows is "oh What station?" I respond to the inquiry with- I help people have fun. That's what I do. I try to make it easy for them to celebrate the occasions of their lives.

A DJ could do a great job from a mechanical standpoint and it could be argued that the performance was only adequate- there were no major mistakes and nobody could verbalize anything that could have made it better. The things I described are the things that make a good social occasion into a great social occasion. The tension is released, the anticipated climax was delivered, the dissonance was resolved and the customers were satisfied!

Santa Fe

2009-08-02T13:39:00.011-07:00

For creative and artistic types, Santa Fe, New Mexico is a great place to spend some time. I just returned from my fourth trip in the last nine years. As quickly as the second morning of my visit, I found myself walking and talking slower, breathing more deeply and evenly and thinking more profound thoughts. Brainpower normally reserved for the chores of life gets freed up to process the things we are seeing, smelling, hearing, tasting and learning of. If you are good at bracketing, (ask me privately) everything is a fresh and new experience, even the things you think you have done before.

I stayed at a lovely ranch/mansion in a place called Pojoaque (Po hoah KAY) Pueblo about 15 miles north of Santa Fe on the way to Taos. The photo above is the view from the front porch where I would read in the mornings before breakfast.

The area is full of opposites. There is ancient history and an increasingly fast-paced modern world growing up all around it. Los Alamos is a few miles west, up in the mountains which was (and still is) home to the most brilliant minds ever assembled. They gathered there in the middle of World War II from several nations and became one- to try to figure out how to split the atom. The bombs created there were used in the greatest single act of violence ever committed by humanity which, in another opposite, mercifully ended the war. All of this technology is situated right next to others who still live simply off of the land. It's encouraging to see lots of people there who embrace technology such as solar and wind power to live a modern life but leave the smallest footprint on the earth as is possible.

There are elements of spirituality and religious traditions juxtaposed with very humanist or secular philosophies. Santa Fe is home to a violent history of conquering "Christian" priests and missionaries who brutally enslaved the native people. Recently, a bronze statue was erected at a house of worship depicting one of those conquering priests on the back of a horse in a heroic pose. During the night, the leg of the priest was torched off by a local who wanted to make a statement that they hadn't forgotten the ancestor slaves whose legs were chopped off when attempting to escape. The artist recast the leg and there has been no further vandalism but the locals all cast a knowing glance that their point and the remembrance was made.

Variations of Catholicism are alive and well, but the mainstream Catholic church probably does not recognize or endorse several of the rituals that go on there. Each year, the "Penitente" attracts hundreds (maybe thousands) of people who walk on their knees for several miles, some carry crosses and some more extreme types flog themselves bloody and as late as the 1990s, certain penitents allowed themselves to be nailed to crosses until the local officials put a stop to such things. Stories also abound of the healing powers of the dirt or the water or the leaves of the trees of this or that location.

On to lighter things- I visited Bandalier National Monument. It's the ruins of a city in a canyon that was occupied 1200 years ago. They would migrate south in the coldest of the winter months and there is evidence that they actually traded with people in Mexico as far as 1000 miles south. It appears that they outgrew the available space in the canyon and began to abuse the land and resources that supported them and they disappeared. I thought it interesting that there are now hundreds of times more people occupying the land but we still seem to be able to exploit the resources by shear force of will and brute force of our technology that allows us to dig deeper and to ship things to and from distant locales.

I would sit on this porch pictured below in the mornings or evenings to read and the neighborhood dogs from some of the other properties around would always come and say hello or bring a stick or a ball for me to throw. The two ranch dogs on the property are getting old and sick. They would sleep most of the day but when feeling up to it would at least come out and watch the festivities.

I heard a story about one of the neighbor dogs- Molly. A large mixed breed, very friendly and very rambunctious. There was a colt born on one of the ranches nearby which Molly witnessed. She went home and got a pull toy and came back and taught that colt how to play catch/fetch/tugowar with a length of ragged rope. The horse is grown now and can be seen regularly tossing sticks and catching them.

I didn't get a photo of it, but the Santa Fe Opera House is a beautiful and imposing structure about 2 miles south of Pojoaque Pueblo. I was a week too early for a major music festival held there. The venue sits on top of a hill and is the master of all it surveys. I'd like to hear a concert there on another visit. Listening to a classical station in Phoenix when I got home, they mentioned that if you left right now, you'd get to Santa Fe Opera House in time the opening concert that evening to kick off the festival.

I needed to come home earlier than I would have liked for the birthday party of a major event industry figure around Phoenix and then a DJ job the next evening. My last stop before heading out of Santa Fe was at an art gallery. I was speaking with the artist while looking at her work. About mid sentence, she stopped and said- are you a Disc Jockey? Yes. Do you live in Phoenix? Well- yes, Mesa. She continued that she had been the featured artist at an art show at Inspirador in Chandler about 18 months ago and that I was the DJ. I remembered her and we chatted about that event. I told her that I hadn't been back to Inspirador since that night even though I thought I had won them as a customer but oddly, I had been invited to an industry party that night- at Inpirador- and that after I left her gallery, I would be driving home to get back in time for the party that night.

I'm thinking of returning in October.

The difference between a professional DJ and a hobbyist DJ

2009-07-02T11:09:00.004-07:00

During a bridal consultation to consider hiring a DJ for her wedding, a bride asked if I had a strategy if people weren't dancing. It's a great question and really serves to separate out a professional DJ/entertainer from a hobbyist. If a DJ has arrived at a place where people aren't dancing, the time to have not had that happen has already passed. An inexpensive hobbyist DJ would be left only with a cheesy and uncomfortable tactic like the "Hokey Pokey" or a stupid announcement like "Yo people get up out ya seats!"

The time to plan to have a dancefloor full of dancing wedding guests is in advance of the event. It comes from time spent talking to the bride and groom about their musical tastes and the vision they have for their wedding celebration. It happens during the dinner hour, chatting with wedding guests as time allows. It's the DJ reading the crowd properly. Well selected and executed background music should have naturally elevated the mood of the room from a formal ceremony to what will be a dance party after dinner. It comes from creating a confidence level in the abilities of the DJ, even before the first dance song is played, which includes the way you stand, the way your equipments looks and sounds and the way you are dressed. Then a professional entertainer can lead the way and take the wedding guests on a fun/ crazy/ musical/ dancing/ celebrating journey and finish the night breathless and satisfied and with fantastic memories of the night.

Miscellaneous thoughts for the month of June

2009-06-29T14:43:00.005-07:00

I LOVE writing in the first person! I have another article being published this week in The Wedding Chronicle and in it, I told a story that just cried out to be told in the first person but my editor wouldn't have it. She wants her magazine to be in one "voice" and one point of view. Add to that--the last 26 months of weekly college papers that could not be in the first person either. I'm glad to have my humble blog to write this way.

Last Saturday was an exceptionally long day for a DJ. I was out the door at 6AM for a bridal expo out at Estrella Vista Reception Center in Avondale, sponsored by my best buddies and my best cheerleaders, Thee Wedding Warehouse. In addition to being a vendor at the show, I was the stage manager and sound reinforcing technician and announcer for two bridal fashion shows during the day. There were two other DJs at the show and I was pleased to be competing with two of my professional brethren who charge a proper professional fee and I didn't have to fight an idiot hobbyist or beginner DJ with a ridiculously unrealistic low "special" bridal show price. Those guys won't be in business next year and they may not even make it to the weddings that they book. I've heard way too many horror stories about those kinds of vendors taking the money and disappearing.

I was the only one allowed to play any music at the show. No videographers or photographers or anybody else could show a slide show of their work with music playing on a flat screen TV monitor or anything- they could show it, just no sound. I was the one providing the musical flavor of the show. Sounds simple enough doesn't it? It's a job that can be fraught with landmines. Brides planning a wedding are in a certain mind set- thinking about harpists and classical music and sweet romantic love songs. Those kinds of songs work just fine AT the wedding. While any vendor would probably want to cater to that, the reality is that those songs in THIS time and place would suck the life out of the room. Secondly, I'd almost rather not play any music as a vendor at a bridal expo because I may get only a few seconds to reel in a potential customer and if I am playing song "A" and a bride happens to be imagining song "B" for her wedding, she may consider the fact that I am playing song "A" and extrapolate out that I ONLY play song "A" when I am hired. She'd say to herself, "This DJ is an idiot, he's playing song A!" They are only quickly passing by, making their way to other vendors that provide the goods and services they need for their big social occasion. I won't have time to move on to song "B", "C" or "D" to give her the benefit of comparison.

Another problem with playing music at all is that when a vendor has a bad sales day at a show, it is easy to blame everything else under the sun but their own poor marketing abilities, crummy promotional material, grumpy face, too casual dress, lack of marketing focus. They blame their booth placement in the room, they complain that the promotion and advertising of the show was weak and there was a lack of qualified brides or that the DJ that played music and they couldn't talk to their potential customers. I'm smart enough to know and gauge the proper volume for any occasion, but I don't want to be the one that any fellow wedding vendor could complain about.

Lucky for my lightning fast reflexes and my cracker jack coordination, I pulled it off. I played "the Pink Martinis" for my photographer friend Kym Ventola who was at the show, and mixed that with some other fun music that would add life to the room and still compliment the frame of mind of the potential customers.

I didn't intend to play any Michael Jackson because I just didn't think it was the time and place, but I had several customers and vendors alike make their way over to say hello in the course of the day and quietly ask if I'd play this or that song from Michael Jackson and that it would mean a lot to them. I ended up playing 6 or 8 songs and it always got a response and we had people dancing in the aisles and telling stories about when they performed MJ songs talent shows back in the day and about an old girlfriend/boyfriend that they think of when they hear those songs. I had to bust a move myself when moved upon by that music. I had several people comment on my Facebook page that they didn't know I had such moves! Oh, I got moves you ain't never seen!

Sadly, it seems Michael Jackson lost his way in many aspects of his personal life. Our society probably added to his burden with the way we treat celebrities of that stature. Even in my small-time entertainment career, I've had some people take the fantasy that I try to create on stage, which, in the hands of normal people, is a nice escape for an evening but in the hands of someone a bit more unstable, it has become uncomfortable and I have even been stalked more than once. That experience varied from annoying to downright terrifying! Michael Jackson made his share of weird decisions but I'm not in any position to gauge what kind of pressures he was under and what the reasons may have been or what the motivations people had for their accusations and the things that they would say and publish to sell magazines. I just hope I'm not remembered for my mistakes but rather the good contributions I try to make in the world.

When I finished the bridal show, I had to jet out of there quickly to get to a wedding at the very posh "Sassi" up by Pinnacle Peak in north Scottsdale. I hadn't met the groom. I had planned the music of the wedding with the bride while he finished up some schooling at MIT. When I finally had a moment to go and say hello to him and introduce myself and congratulate him between some wedding photos, one of the first things he asked was if I would play some Michael Jackson tonight. He mentioned a song that he wanted and shared a brief story about why the song was important to him. While I didn't want to tell him that I thought it was a mistake to play at his wedding, I was going through it in my mind- that there would be some guests there with their various delicate sensibilities that would think I was detracting from the order of the day which was to celebrate a wedding. I would look like I was the one who had chosen the song and was trying to memorialize MJ and take peoples minds and hearts away from the bride and groom.

My fear was unfounded. In my 30 years as a DJ, I can't say that I have played a Michael Jackson song at every event, but I can say that I can't think of an occasion where a Michael Jackson song wouldn't have fit in nicely. It ended up fitting the wedding celebration even better than usual and didn't detract from the celebration of a really cool couple. I'm usually pleased when I have 65% to 75% of a room on the dancefloor. I had virtually 100% of the crowd dancing that night. They spilled off of the dancefloor and even behind my speakers and beside my little booth! I think I only played 2 MJ songs at the wedding but it was "The way you make me feel" that got them out there and they stayed the rest of the night.

Thanks, Michael Jackson, for the music. We remember you!

Father's Day

2009-06-15T12:36:00.010-07:00

That's my dad, Vance Whipple, on the left and my Grampa, Floyd Whipple on the right. This may have been taken in San Antonio Texas or perhaps in Mexico in the early 70's. I've always loved this picture. It's so familiar yet so foreign to our way of doing things nowadays.Either we don't care about our shoes as much as we used to or we just don't have occasions to wear nice shoes that need to be shined. My life is fairly casual, but I do love the fact that I attend a formal or at least semi-formal function almost every weekend as a DJ. It's one of the things I have always loved about being an MC/DJ is that everybody is dressed up, they are celebrating something, there is good food, music, lights... I love it!

Here's another one. That's my dad, Mr. GQ, with my brother Garry. Garry is 10 years older than me. I was born in '65 so I'm guessing this is about 1958 or '59.
My dad passed away almost 11 years ago. I wish I had the life experience earlier in life that I have now to have more fully taken advantage of his advice on things. That is the problem though, it's life that gives us life experience and it comes whenever it does and not necessarily when we are ready for it.

My dad spent his adult life in retail and was passionate about it. He loved attending the fashion shows in New York and selecting things that he could sell at his store in Northern Arizona. He'd plan a sale or other retail promotion and put an ad in the local paper and arrange the items and he'd be tickled to death when customers would show up to buy the things that he planned for them to buy.

I learned from him that there is a certain percentage of profits that should always be put back in to marketing and other promotions to perpetuate the profits. I'm glad I know how to do that. I'm actually GROWING in a tough economy! I haven't changed the amount of advertising or marketing that I'm doing, but lesser competitors have cut their advertising budgets and dropped off the radar. It appears that I'm everywhere now when I'm simply in the same places that I had been already- I just don't have any competitors around me.

I love the behind the scenes stuff that goes into planning a good social occasion or event. Invitations, food, music, linens, photography, lighting, dancefloors, dancers, ice sculpture, floral arrangements and other entertainment. I love to see the people arrive, full of anticipation and have the good time that we planned for them to have and leave fulfilled and happy. I often get to be the "face" of the event. Attendees will come and thank me for a lovely evening when there were 40 to 50 people that served them directly and indirectly and there were thousands of dollars spent in a more unseen way. I always make sure to get a cheer for the kitchen staff and the matre'd and the bar tender and the photographer etc.

I started my DJ career at a retail promotion in Winslow Arizona out in front of my dad's store 30 years ago. Retail and entertainment go together well. Thanks dad, for teaching me how to shine my shoes and for the education and the support. I miss you.

Planetary alignment

2009-06-01T18:29:00.003-07:00

I was in Los Angeles last weekend on DJ duty for a lovely wedding. While I was there, I had lunch at BJs Brewhouse in Brea CA with a high school buddy that I hadn't seen in 21 years. We had recently connected on Facebook and our lunch was the highlight of my trip. We started our careers in music and entertainment together as young teenagers and we used to regularly discuss our dreams for our music and our lives and we are still both in this industry in different capacities.

A couple of years ago, I read the autobiography of comedian and actor Steve Martin. There is a line in there that struck me and I have thought about occasionally since. Remember he is writing as a grown man looking back at a remarkable career and its impact on American culture. He wrote, "When I moved out of the house at eighteen, I rarely called home to check up on my parents or tell them how I was doing. Why? The answer shocks me as I write it: I didn't know I was supposed to." He didn't have a particularly tragic childhood but certainly his parents made some terrible mistakes- I've made my share of mistakes in relationships. When I left home at 17, I left all things Winslow Arizona behind, including home, friends and family, and I didn't look back. The regrettable reasons are too personal to share here. I'm glad to be living in Arizona again getting reconnected to my siblings.

It was such a pleasure to be with and talk to my old friend and it was just as if the time in between hadn't passed- other than catching up on details about our separate adventures over the years. We were just as comfortable as we had been in high school. We both commented on the brilliant value of Facebook. I also regretted the lost time and apologized for that fact I hadn't kept in touch with someone who was instrumental in helping me become who I am now- and I am quite fond of my life and who I am now! The waitress was aware of our reunion and her hostess skills seemed to compliment the experience.

He handed me a self produced CD on which he wrote the songs, played all instruments and sang all the vocals. I'm listening to it as I write. I wish that I was the one playing keyboards on it and singing the back up vocals with him. His CD is entitled "Planetary Alignment". I have played with other musicians off and on in the intervening years. Some have been far more talented that we were at the time, but there hasn't been a group of guys that connected like "Fugitive" did in 1980 and 81 in Winslow Arizona. It's interesting how a chance meeting can turn ones life at right angles or even 180 degree turns. The planets really did align. Thanks Jason! I'm not going to let another 21 years pass before another meeting.

In case there was any question...

2009-05-13T18:05:00.005-07:00

Let it be put to rest! I have worn the mystical square hat of learning!
Here's a pic of me and my sister Cindy, who attended my graduation last Saturday. I was about to melt into a little puddle on the sidewalk in that robe and sash. I was smart enough to earn the degree but not smart enough to skip the suit jacket. I would have done fine with just the shirt and tie.

There you have it!

I have a list of little projects that have been on hold for several months to blast through now and I have a stack of recommended books on my desk to read. I finished Team of Rivals by Goodwin- heavy book, starting Narcissism Epidemic by Twenge tomorrow.

Don't shoot, I'm just the piano player

2009-05-10T16:17:00.009-07:00

If I wasn't aware of the economic crisis out there, I would never know it looking at the malls and the restaurants. I DJ'd a huge Cinco de Mayo party at Cantina Laredo in Scottsdale last week and the place was packed. All tables sold out for the whole night several days in advance. People were allowed in to the bar/patio but were alerted that they may or may not be served any food from the grill. I was supposed to play until 9PM so they could close the grill at 930 or so and close at 10PM. That place rocked until 11P! I looks like it will turn into a regular Thursday night event for me alternating between DJing, hosting karaoke or piano playing.

A couple of weeks ago, I played piano at an industry function in the courtyard at Old Town Torilla Factory, also in Scottsdale. The write up said that "in a voice reminescent of Rod Stewart, he played and sang for nearly two hours" it concluded with something to the effect of, the wedding industry hears more than its share of sappy love songs and the set included NONE of those but the selections were known and loved songs that weren't the obvious and over-played songs usually aired by piano players. They mentioned me in the same sentence as Rod Stewart?!!?! I'll take it!

Here's somebody that was "moved" by my performance.

Playing and singing is something that I have always loved but never regarded as my gift. Since I stopped working a day job 3 years ago, I have taken the time to develop it into something that I feel very confident about- something that it is entertaining and can even move people! Word is out regarding my abilities as a musician in addition to my DJ abilities and I have been approached to play at a few other great restaurants around town on weeknights. When you do a good job, the money always seems to follow. When you do what you love, you never work a day in your life. Fun stuff!

Thanks to Stuart Thurkill of Eyes 2 See Photography for snapping a couple of photos that night.

Sometimes I just sit and think...

2009-05-10T15:27:00.006-07:00

and sometimes, I just sit.

I had a great event in Santa Monica CA on Friday night that went until nearly 1AM and then I packed up the toys and drove all night to get to University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale AZ by 9AM for my college graduation at 10AM (6-hour drive). I slept for about two hours out in the desert somewhere but it really took a toll on my body.

I had a dream out there about a bizarro parallel universe where everybody wore black robes and square hats and marched in to a giant stadium while Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance played... wait a minute...

I had a splitting headache and generally wasn't feeling well for my graduation and a dose of Tylenol proved ineffective. It was good to see some instructors and classmates from the prior years but I wasn't my usual witty and charming self. The whole experience was a blur unfortunately. Not just the ceremony itself, but looking back, where did the years go and all of the classes and assignments? Since all of my text books were in an online library, I was robbed of the opportunity for a book burning party. I didn't get to rip up a bunch of old assignments even- I just had to delete them. What's fun about that? Toga party anyone?

My sister Lauri also graduated yesterday with a Masters degree from NAU! Congratulations Lauri!

I still haven't collected all of my thoughts on the subject of graduation. I'll post again when I get the photo of me walking across the stage to receive my diploma- as long as it's a good picture and my eyes are open and everything.

Story time

2009-04-17T18:50:00.008-07:00

I was on DJ duty at the Ishikawa Dragon Bar-b- que today. It's a little PTO fundraiser at the elementary school down the street from here. It was kind of an end-of-the-school-year-end-of-State-mandated-testing-party that would have been even better had it been held closer to the end of the school year but the weather is much nicer now to have such a celebration. 6 or 8 classrooms at a time had lunch served out in the courtyard in shifts. I had a few announcements and giveaways from local merchants to make it fun in addition to some good music. Parents were invited to come down and have lunch with their kidlets.

We had a screaming contest. The 2nd graders won by a landslide! I reminded them that I was a grown up now and that Principal Heath couldn't make me sit in her office for having a screaming contest but that she may still take me out in the parking lot and beat me up. The amount of dust kicked up by 100 dancing 6th graders at the last lunch shift was alarming. I'm glad the food was kinda put away by then. We did the YMCA, we did the cha-cha slide, we did Hannah Montana. It was-- lovely. I hated to get those kids so worked up to send them back to class for 2 more hours, let alone 25 more school days.

It is good to have several thousand watts of sound reinforcing power at my disposal, but the mistake many DJs make is that they think they need to be loud to be heard. There are a hundred other ways to command attention without making loud announcements. The dying art of story telling is one of them. When the kindergartners and 1st graders came out, (there were about 80 of them) I said hello to them over the sound system and then lowered my voice and drew them in to a story about how I had arisen from my bed early in the morning while everyone was still asleep and the stars were still shining and I drove my van out into the desert north of town here by the Salt River and I quietly hid behind a giant Saguaro cactus until the sun started to come up and I and waited for a dragon to make its way down to the river for a morning drink... then I got out my sword and I quietly snuck up behind the dragon and I SLEW the dragon and his guts were spilling out everywhere and I was slipping around in his guts and I put it in my van and brought it back to the school cafeteria and they cut it into little pieces and they threw it on the grill and now we'll be having some Dragon burgers and some Dragon dogs and they will be Deeeee-lish! I added that it was a lot of work and that I hoped they would each enjoy their Dragon burgers and Dragon dogs... and then I smiled at them silently for a moment.

There was sort of a collective question mark over their heads.

What was so fun and great about it was that they quieted down and listened! No shouting required. You could see the imagination in their eyes and the wheels turning in their heads to processing the thought of a dragon living in the desert north of Mesa Arizona and that their favorite DJ could kill it and then there was the added wonder of what a dragon burger might taste like and whether there might be anything else to eat.

I am the El Presidente of the American DJ Association and our educational content this month was about developing the next generation of DJ customers. It was a really fun event today and I feel like I helped to tie it all together and turn it from a good event to a great event and that those kids will grow up thinking that if you want a great event, you hire a professional DJ.

I guess if you just want some story time, you could call me for that too.

Pizza by the slice

2009-04-16T12:41:00.008-07:00

I attended my final class last night. The University of Phoenix was nice enough to send a clerk from the academic advisors office with three Dominoes pizzas to congratulate us... "Two slices for you young man? But of course! That will be $30,000 please." Yes, in addition, to the sausage, could you sprinkle some gold flakes on mine?

I'm glad to be done but it was an anti-climactic finish. Maybe I'll feel different at the graduation ceremony in 3 weeks. Wait a minute, I'll get to wear that funny/cool square-hat-thing and a choir robe and THAT doesn't suck! They are having a member of the faculty speak and a student speaker and then a song or two and then read the 1000 names and turn us loose on the world. They aren't even getting a b-list local celebrity to speak! They did promise that the bagpipe regiment would be worth it. I've got a DJ gig Los Angeles the night before until well after midnight and will be driving like a mad man to get back to University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale by 10AM.

I don't know if these statistics are correct, I didn't confirm them. There are less than 25% of the citizens of the U.S. that have bachelors degrees and less than 9% that have masters degrees. So I'm joining a rather small group of people who have put themselves through such stringent paces. I'm trying to make arrangements to have my son Javin come out with me from California because I want him to see that education is important and that it's something we make a fuss about as a people. We only wear those square hats on exceptionally special occasions such as this.

Side note: My sister is getting her Masters Degree at Northern Arizona University Skydome at 2PM that same day. I was thinking of driving like the dickens to get up there for hers after mine, but after a 6 hour all night drive from LA that doesn't sound too appealing. We'll have to have a celebration another time.

I graduated High School and left home at age 17 and had no clue about what insurance was and how to work a check book and I was ill-prepared for adult life which contributed to some terrible mistakes in relationships that I am still recovering from 25 years later. I have had a really good experience at UOP and I feel like I could contribute in a wonderful way to a business or a non-profit or a government agency, with some of the cool things I have learnt, coupled with my life experience, my DJ/entertainer career and 18 years in the reinforcing steel business, but I have no more interest in corporate America. As I look back at some experiences in business with a more classical training and perspective, I say, "You know what? I did that right!" I also think of a few other things that were accomplished only by shear force of will and there are smarter and easier methods. For the most part, it has given me a structure for otherwise crazy and ethereal thoughts. The structure makes me define better or even defend my position sometimes. It fleshes out alternate ideas and bridges gaps.

When a dog chases a car, I ask myself what that dog thinks he is going to do with that car if he catches it? Now I have a degree- and I wonder what I am going to do with it. I guess I'll start with the big job fair on Saturday morning. For the moment, I seem to be able to make a decent living as an entertainer and as long as it's fun, pays the bills and the customers keep calling, I'd love to just keep doing that for now.

This note may sound depressing and negative-- it isn't. I'm quite fond of life and I prefer not knowing what is around each corner. My life is a great balance of taking what I want and yet wanting only the simple things that life has given me naturally and freely. It is seemingly planned and yet entirely random simultaneously. Who knows what is around this next corner? Film at 11.

Beauty and the Beast

2009-04-07T22:35:00.000-07:00

Several wedding vendors got together yesterday to do an all day promotional video and photo shoot to make an all-inclusive-one-stop-recession-buster-wedding package. We'll provide the venue, the caterer, the florist, the minister, the photographer and a DJ- any guesses? Anyone? Yes, me! Just sign on the dotted line and a wedding you shall have!

Models were hired, tables, chairs and linens rented, we set up a hotel banquet room for a ceremony, a formal dinner, a dance, everything. I set up my sound system and lighting rig. We photographed the spread of food, and then we stopped down for a break and we ate the spread. Ginny Solis from All About Catering is the best in this city.

I have mentioned Kym Ventola in this blog a couple of times regarding her brilliant work. This photo proves it again. I don't know if this one will even be used in the promo package but i love it. The lighting rig looks great, the texture and the balance and the composition is really cool too. It is clear that I am not the groom, I am the wedding entertainment. I love the spot of light on either side of us on the dance floor and the criss-crossing beams aimed at our heads. She is so beautiful and I am so beastly. Overall, the photo just speaks the celebration! It's very playful.

Rebecca, the model you see there, is great at what she does. I could never exude emotion so effortlessly to have it be captured on film- she does it. In an earlier shot, she was just leaning up against a plain wall in the back parking lot for a few shots and was able to take that and run with it and create something emotional with no music or stimulus to create what would be an otherwise natural emotional response.

It is interesting how music can change a moment from ordinary to extraordinary or from flat to three dimensional with sights, sounds, smells, memories etc. The hotel had a big grand piano in the lobby and Kym and Rebecca were noodling around with some shots at the piano as I was passing by with some equipment. I shouted, half jokingly, that Rebecca should sit on the piano and I would play it. The live music changed that moment to a little bit less work and a little bit more play.

I hadn't planned on actually plugging in my DJ sound system, it was a photo shoot for heaven's sake- it was set up just for show. I ended up plugging it in early in the preparations because all of the makeup artists and hotel staff and other workers that were helping with tables, chairs, moving lobby furnishings etc. wanted some music. I did fire it up rather loudly for this picture. You can almost hear the rock and roll. Listen for a minute... do you hear it too? There was nothing posed here- the music made that picture.

Old School

2009-03-25T22:43:00.001-07:00

In the previous post, I jokingly commented about never wearing a tux and that the previously posted tuxedo picture was the genesis of my DJ career. My sister Cindy said I should do a comparison shot- then and now. This is the earliest pic I could find as a DJ. I think this was from about 1983, I was 17. I was already 3 years into my career, but I still didn't know it at the time. When I started in 1979, music was just a way to get girls and make some chump change in high school. When I went to Southern California in 1983, I realized that a person could make a living at it. I don't think that I became a true professional DJ until Susan Marshall's wedding in 1987 in Riverside CA. She was a girl that I had become friends with in college and she asked me to DJ her wedding. That was the first big budget event I ever did and I was just really on my game that night. All of the things I had learned as a keyboard player and as a band leader- things about showmanship and stage presence along with some technical prowess as a DJ really came together and I realized what effect an entertainer could have on a social occasion. I took that event from a lovely wedding to the social event of the year. That golf club became a very loyal customer for many years, I booked about 10 other jobs from people in attendance.

While looking for that last picture, I also found a pic of my high school rock band in 1981. There was a time when "Fugitive" ran the show in Northern Arizona. Those two furious summers filled with church and school dances, skating rinks and grand openings were lots and lots of fun. That's Gregg Ahmann on the left on the classic 1968 Rickenbacker bass guitar. Everett Livingston on lead guitar. He had the perfect rock and roll hair and he played pretty good too. My cousin Tommy Whipple buried behind the drums back there. That's me stepping away from the mic after singing duties. Jason Atkinson, in white, on guitar looking towards me. Over by my keyboards is Leslie- I have forgotten her last name but I think it started with an A. She had a great rock voice and sang like Pat Benatar. Good times!

Here is a current pic of me. I already posted this one a couple of months ago but I love this photo because it says everything I would want to say about a DJ/entertainer but it isn't the gratuitous microphone shot or the headphone shot or the "standing next to my mixing board wearing my goofy tuxedo" shot. Kym Ventola took that shot last winter out at the Wig Wam Resort in the west Valley. The more I see her around the industry, the more I am impressed with her work and her abilities.

I have this weekend off from DJ work but it is the last one off for the next 15 weeks!

Grey Poupon? But, of course!

2009-03-16T19:50:00.000-07:00

I have often wondered where it says in the DJ rulebook that the official uniform of a DJ is a tuxedo. Actually, I'm not aware that there even IS a rulebook for such matters. I'm of the school of thought that since they are not hiring a business manager, an attorney, a matre'd or a waiter, that I shouldn't dress like one of those. They are hiring an entertainer. While one should not be disrespectful to the overall decorum, a DJ should look the part for which he or she is hired.

I once played at a class reunion and wore an expensive and wonderful dinner jacket and was asked by the class committee to put an old football jersey over it as the wait staff and bartenders were doing. Ummmmm... NO. I don't want to be mistaken for the water boy as I pass by a table. I didn't wear this fabulous jacket to cover it up with a 20 year old, sweaty, musty football jersey.

Most DJs look fairly foolish in their outdated tuxedos and ill fitting cummerbunds and a fancy pin for the top button instead of a tie. Worse still are the guys who still wear just the vest- not that they removed the jacket as they began working the room- they didn't wear a jacket in the first place!

Most of the world has gone very casual and only the most formal, high-society events require them. I haven't seen a wedding in my 30 years as a DJ where anybody but the wedding party wore tuxedos- well maybe an occasional grandfather, but that's it. Jeans and a nice tailored shirt and jacket or business suits or khakis and a polo shirt are most common for wedding guests.

When asked to explain to a potential customer what it is that makes me different than all of the other DJs and why they should pay my higher price, I explain that I am the anti-DJ and that all of the cheesy things that other DJs do will not be done by me, including the wearing of a bad tux or the playing of the Hokey Pokey or the airing of stupid announcements like "Ladies and Gentlemen, put your hands together for..." Is there nothing that might elevate our industry beyond that? Why can't those guys think of something else to say?

On that note, here is a pic of me wearing a tux a few years ago, well, actually, a few decades ago at my Uncle Conrads wedding. I gotta admit, I do look pretty good in a tux. Maybe I'll have to rethink my anti-DJ strategy... ummm... probably not today though... I wasn't the DJ that day, but it may have been the genesis of my career in the Wedding and Event business. Maybe I could use this photo as part of my ad campaign?

Mammas, don't let your babies grow up to be DJs

2009-03-16T19:33:00.000-07:00

This is a picture of my mother taken in 1953 here in Phoenix. There is not enough of the mountain background to know for sure, but I heard someone explain once, when they saw this, that it was probably taken south of Phoenix with South Mountain at her back and the sun rising in the East at her right. Apparently there used to be lots of flower fields out there. If anybody is reading this and knows more, share it with me. She died in almost 40 years ago in 1969 when I was very small.

The city has grown southward from Downtown Phoenix right up to the edge of that mountain in the background.

The event that I played at last Saturday night may well have been right on this spot! It is a place called "The Secret Garden" on Baseline and 24th Street. I may send a copy of this photo to the owner of the venue and the event coordinator as part of saying thanks for having me on that event- in hopes of getting more work there.

The Devil went down to Santa Monica

2009-03-16T16:51:00.001-07:00

I should preface by saying that it's good to be making money in my chosen profession, but please indulge me just a little bit of a rant...

I was in Santa Monica, California on Friday night and spilling into the weeeee hours of Saturday morning- It was a great event and I felt like I was really on my game. After packing up the equipment and grabbing a burger, it was 2:30AM when I hit the road for home in Arizona. I should have been sleeping, but I had to meet a customer at my home office at 10AM Saturday morning and there was a 6 1/2 hour drive in there somewhere. I slept out in the desert for about 2 hours and got home at 9:40! I had a lovely consultation with an engaged couple and I did book their wedding for March of 2010. As if that wasn't enough, I got myself showered and shaved and I headed out the door for a wedding at a great venue here in Phoenix called "The Secret Garden"-- That one went until about 10:30PM. I packed up the lighting rig and the rest of the equipment and was out the door at about 11:15 and home just before midnight.

It was a lucrative weekend, I had a most excellent visit with my son, Javin, in Riverside CA before the Santa Monica event, but the whole thing was a race against the devil to get it all done. What was I thinking?

When I'm 64

2009-03-03T22:48:00.001-07:00

When I'm 64, I want a cake like this... No really... It IS a birthday cake! ...Really!

I was invited out to a birthday dinner Sunday night in Old Town Scottsdale for the editor of the magazine that I write for and a few industry friends and family. This had to be the most amazing birthday cake I have ever seen and I have seen several hundred wedding cakes and birthday cakes in 30 years of DJ work. It was a shame to cut this one up and eat it. Each of the keys were on toothpicks and they were all in order just like they would be on an old-school typewriter. The paper was made of sugar and draped over the back of the cake. You can see some wadded up sugar paper there around the base of the cake. The photo is a bit blurry because it was really bright out in the courtyard as the sun was setting and it was hard to see the screen on the camera phone that was being used, but if you can focus on the paper, the typewriter is typing "Happy Birthday, Judy!" About half of the restaurant had to get out of their chairs and come and inspect and ooh and ahh and then give their anonymous good wishes.

I think Judy probably has everything you could ever want in life. I knew that I couldn't impress her with even the most rare trinket of wonder and since she lives dually in both Arizona and Kentucky, I was sure she didn't need to travel with another gift, but I knew that she wouldn't have a guy with a guitar serenading her so I took a couple of hours and learned the Beatles "When I'm 64" because she had spilled the beans on that particular secret but you'd never know looking at her...

Between the appetizer and the main course, there was a slow spot and I decided that this time was as good as any other so I whipped out the guitar and started singing... "When I get older, losing my hair, many years from now. Will you still be sending me a valentine, birthday greeting, bottle of wine?" It goes on- "Will you still need me? Will you still feed me? When I'm sixty four?" There's a spot in the song about holding grandchildren on your knee and I plugged in some of her grandkids names. Anyways- lots of laughter and singing along at the table. The whole restaurant erupted in to cheers after that.

I got several pats on the shoulder and compliments on the performance from fellow diners and staff alike. It was such a pleasant evening with great food and electric conversation and good friends. There was clearly a level of wonder at how much fun we were having at our table and everyone else would have rather been sitting with us at the happening table. It created a certain unspoken jealousy that we were the coolest ones in town- and it is really difficult to be the coolest anything in Scottsdale!

Happy Birthday Judy!

And then there was one

2009-02-20T11:26:00.001-07:00

I'm fast approaching graduation from University of Phoenix- 8 more Wednesday nights! After April 15th, I'll be lernded gud! I have had a really great experience at UOP. If I can get some fire in me to get a Masters Degree, I'd consider teaching there. I don't know if I have a Masters degree in me, but in any case, I need to take some time off and replenish the financial reserves for awhile.

When I started there in January of '07, they transferred all of my credits from Riverside City College way back in the 80's, including some dubious classes like "History of Rock and Roll" I had to take algebra over again because I'd earned a D way back when. D is barely passing, but it's not transferable. Math is not my gift in life and I had a great teacher at UOP, Ms. Bledsoe, who really brought it to life and I thought- "Well if Mr. Bellman in High School had explained it that way when I was a sophomore, I would have got it!"

In my first few months, I was taking some basic classes that I hadn't done earlier and then as I got onto my Bachelors of Business Administration track, I have largely remained with the same students pursuing the same degree in each of my classes for the last year. In addition to individual assignments and readings, we are divided into teams of 3 or 4 for projects where you take real world or fictitious companies through various market simulations and scenarios and do reports or presentations to the class on findings.

This is my team at University of Phoenix. We have worked together for about a year and we'll be parting ways after this class. I'm finishing and they all have two or three more 5-week classes.
That's Andrea on the left. She works for Apollo Group which owns University of Phoenix. She's a corporate liaison. I think she will have a great career in Public Relations or Broadcasting or Politics or whatever she feels to do. She is really got a gift in life. Laurel is on my right. She works for Banner-Baywood Healthcare in their construction division. She has been there for 30 years and has is incredibly valuable to them. She doesn't need a degree, but is doing it for the love of learning. She's actually approaching retirement- I know- she looks younger than me! Blanca is on my left. She has worked for the city of Phoenix for many years with their "Hope 6 Project" which assists low income families with housing. The City of Phoenix is having a major financial crisis and her job may be on the cutting block. We are praying for her but even without the degree she is earning, she could do just fine on her charm alone! She's about the nicest woman you'll ever meet.

It has been absolutely a pleasure to associate with them. It is interesting that people who have no other connection or bond- and no reason to have one- can go through a rather intense school or work experience together and come out of it at the other end having such affection for each other. I'll miss them terribly.

Styx rocked my face!

2009-02-15T17:32:00.000-07:00

I have been a Styx fan since I heard Come Sail Away at age 12 in Winslow Arizona on a tiny transistor radio that had a crummy, tin-sounding speaker that you had to hold right up to your ear. It was broadcast on X-Rock 80, a pirate AM radio station in Tijuana Mexico that used to blast across the southwest to avoid U.S. radio regulations. That was the first song that ever "spoke" to ME, as opposed to, say, my parents music. About 3 years ago, Dennis DeYoung who wrote the song, appeared with the Orange County Symphony and the Pacific Children's choir and a small 4-piece rock band and performed that song in a proper symphony hall. He knocked it out of the park that night and that song re-inspired me just as it had when I was 12! As a fan, I have purchased everything that Styx has ever commercially released and all solo and side projects even a few soundboard bootleg recordings.

One fallacy of the business model of the music industry, however, is that while I have only purchased Come Sail Away 5 or 6 times, (8-track, a couple of cassettes, a couple of times on CD, a digital copy, and a couple of live versions) I have "consumed" it thousands of times without paying for it again. While they have made a few musical mis-steps, Styx has produced a body of work that has moved me and that I have always appreciated. The least I can do to show my appreciation for such a body of work is to go to the concerts once in awhile and pay for a live airing of some of those songs that I love- and buy a concert T-shirt.

6 weeks ago, Styx played practically in my back yard at the Tempe Town Lakes Fiesta Bowl Block Party on New Years Eve. I was working elsewhere in Phoenix- see older posts for my DJ adventures that night. Thanks to the serendipity of the universe though, I had a DJ job in Santa Monica California Friday night and Styx was also in town for about 5 shows around Los Angeles and San Diego. I sat in the 6th row for a Styx show this week in San Diego, I had a great visit with my son Javin in Riverside, turned in a career performance at the Santa Monica gig and was offered 5 more gigs afterwards. The money from the gig paid for the tickets, the fuel, the hotel room etc. God Bless America!

Many years ago, I happened to be playing Come Sail Away at a Grand Opening/retail promotion with the Laker Girls when a travelling gospel choir pulled their bus into the parking lot for a meal break. One of the lead female voices came over to introduce herself and say "hello" and stretch her legs and back and see what was going on. She starting singing along a bit while we were talking. She was an obvious talent and I quickly handed her a mic. A half dozen of her companions joined her for an impromptu Baptist gospel choir rendition of one of the great rock songs of the rock era. I mixed in a longer live concert version to keep the beat going for them. What a fantastic talent! Anybody who wasn't already a Styx fan converted that day and we worship at the shrine that is Styx. "A gathering of Angels appeared above my head. They sang to me this song of hope and this is what they said, they said, Come sail away, Come sail away, Come sail away with me!"

Funny story from my road trip last weekend- This is Lawrence Gowan, Styx's Keyboardist and vocalist.

I was staying in the giant hotel/casino where the concert venue was. After I checked in, I was approached for autographs 4 times just getting from my room to one of the restaurants for some dinner and then on to the concert venue. My waitress thought I was with the band too and swore she saw me on the picture on the huge electronic marquee outside and on posters in the lobby and casino and asked for an autograph. Here's a recent pic of me in my Rock Star DJ persona... I guess there is a bit of a resemblance.

I corrected them as to my identity and told them that I took it as a great compliment. We exchanged some Styx stories that fans would tell and then they still didn't believe that I wasn't with the band.

Anyways, they all seemed very happy as they walked away with their "Keep Rockin' ~Curtis Whipple" autographs!

And... Mr. Whipple doesn't have any hair!

2009-02-08T19:39:00.000-07:00

That was the comic relief tag line for a radio ad campaign for my bald father and my bald uncle, also a Mr. Whipple of course, who had a small chain of department stores in northern Arizona when I was a kid. It didn't matter which bald Mr. Whipple they were referring to as they were both markedly BALD! My nephew, Jeff, wrote a very funny and a very raw blog post last month about the fact that he is losing his hair at a rather young age. Here's the link http://voicerising.blogspot.com/2008/12/crazy-bald-heads.html

Thankfully, I have a full head of hair at the old age of 43. It started graying on the temples about 4 or 5 years ago and although I said I would never color it-- I swore that I'd wear it like a crown--because I'd earned it! Well, I find myself coloring it- and liking it. One can only change around the living room furniture so much-- to change my hair up from time to time seems to satisfy my need for some spice. The gray is advancing, but thanks to the chemical weapons deployed by Michelle at Ultra, I'm winning the battle. It still seems pretty thick and she has sworn that she'll tell me when I begin to have a bald spot or something.

I'm sad that Jeff is losing his hair-- because I love my hair-- We don't have much control over whether it stays in our scalps, but we can all CHOOSE how to cut it and color it and I still seem to be able to screw that up!
Here's me in about 1988. That's alot of years ago. In spite of the mullet-ness of that one, I still kinda like that photo. This was taken in 2006. The easy-to-maintain-scare-the-new-neighbors-in-Arizona cut. It worked just fine as an entertainer in Los Angeles. Arizona? Not so much...Here's me in about 1993- ish. POOF!

This is me (center) with my crew at the steel yard in LA in about 1991 or so. This is probably the only picture where the crazy hair seems to make any sense. We are some scary looking guys that I wouldn't want to tangle with. I miss them.

The last one here is the most current- it compliments the other guitar pic from 20 something years ago. I was getting myself pumped up to entertain about 200 13 and 14 yr olds at a Bat-Mitzvah up in Scottsdale last month. Adena Photo took this one. She does a great job on family photos too. http://www.adenaphotography.com/ My bangs have grown another inch in the front and I had Michelle cut about an inch and a half off of the back since this was taken.

Stand by for some more crazy hair before 2009 is out.

Miscellaneous thoughts for the week- thoughts that wouldn't otherwise have a home

2009-02-01T13:37:00.001-07:00

Thought #1: It's great to have a garden year 'round in Arizona.

THIS (above) is what it looks like out in the backyard. There are peas right in your face on the left of the pic with the white blossoms, red leaf lettuce in the shadow at the bottom center, moon leaf lettuce further back, then the big blue/green looking broad leafed stuff is red cabbage and then cilantro behind that and then more cabbage and then turnips just out of view.

THIS (below) is what it looks like at my dining room table!

There is some moon leaf lettuce, some red leaf lettuce, some green onions, a turnip and some cilantro. Topped off with half of an avocado and some strawberry slices from the local farmers market and some fresh coarsely ground black pepper.

Thought #2: I had a bride in my home office last Monday that was absolutely a pleasure to meet and I am so looking forward to her wedding in June. We had such a great chat and inside of 5 minutes it felt like I was talking to an old friend. She wept openly about the beautiful things about her relationship and about her fiance and her dreams for her life.

When doing a consultation, I try to make my office a place that- as a salesman- I can have an edge. I can play some music and show some photographs and have some bridal magazines handy that I have written articles in or that I have advertisements in. I'm a pretty good DJ, but I'm not a very good salesman so I use every advantage that I know how to use effectively in the given time. I try to create moments during the consultation where they can feel the emotion of the day--the fact that I created that moment right in my office is usually a great sales point.

There was none of that in this consultation. We just really hit it off and I was honored and flattered that she felt comfortable enough in front of me and in my home to express her emotions about her relationship even though we had just met. She and her fiance are separated by school commitments- he's finishing up at MIT. Songs that had meaning for her relationship really touched feelings that ran close to the surface.

Over the years, during these consultations, I've predicted fairly accurately who will make it in marriage and who will not just by how brides and grooms interact while doing something as simple as talking about the music for their wedding ceremony and the celebration that follows. They get so caught up in the details of the wedding that they make no preparations in their personal lives for the marriage that will follow. I predict that this bride will have a great and happy marriage!

Thought #3: Most people who travel in Arizona through the high desert country along Interstate 40 or those who travel through the low desert along Interstate 10 have no idea of the beauty in those brown ugly looking mountains in the distance. I had a break between homework and DJ business last week to go on a weekday hike in the Superstition mountains. There is so much greenery and water and life out there in the desert- several million people even 20 miles away in the Phoenix area have no idea that it even exists. Saguaro cactus takes 50 to 75 years to grow their first arms. The two that you can see in this picture are probably 150 years old. It's brilliant that a plant that gets a tiny drink of water maybe 6 or 8 times per year and braves 115 degree heat for 3 months with NO water can make a living out of a crack in a rock!

Two of my sisters here in the Phoenix area are hikers and I'm wondering why we don't hike together... oh yeah... it's that whole alternate lifestyle that I lead. I work on the weekends when everybody else hikes. BUT, I usually have the desert and all of its beautiful solitude for myself during the week- when all the other blokes are slaving away at their desks.

The Chicken Dance

2009-01-31T16:22:00.000-07:00

Mesa is home to tens of thousands of "snowbirds" from Boise, Edmonton, Toronto, Detroit, Minneapolis and other points north- they spend the winter months here in Arizona. Last year, one of the RV parks here in town hired me to play at a dinner/dance for the aforementioned snowbirds. They have a club house that is just about as nice as any of the hotels or golf clubs. It is a job that I would normally have referred to another- perhaps older- DJ but since I was still the new guy in Arizona, I took the job. As I arrived that night in a velvet Jimi Hendrix jacket and some Gene Simmons type boots and various other leather and chrome implements, they looked at me like they were smelling onions, but I quickly won their confidence and before the night was out, they were swinging from the chandeliers! That night, they hired me back for one more event before they headed north in early April. Today, I played for the 40th birthday of the RV park. They filled the room to its 300 person capacity for lunch at noon, cake at 1PM and dancing until 4PM.

Afternoon events are tough on dancing in any case so I was not expecting much but intended to give it my best shot. The room had some lovely skylights that really lit up the room mid-day. I was there a bit early and began with some music to enjoy while they were making final preparations for lunch and that's when the day started to slide down the rathole.

The activities director at the RV park wished to make the announcements. She had her own wireless mic and although I would have done it for her she was adamant that she should do it. She was already plugged in to their house sound system. She indicated that she would release the tables one at a time to go get food and because of the poor quality of the house system, lots of people couldn't hear her (She didn't "command" the room either, like I would have) So lots of people began getting in line and she started shouting over the mic for them to SIT THEMSELVES DOWN and that SHE would release them! Then she skipped the tables that had dared attempt to get in the lunch line uninvited and didn't come back to them until all other tables were served. Retirees can be a bit cranky and this was not sitting well with them.

The caterer was grilling up some chicken halves. Sounds lovely doesn't it? After being shouted at and then finally served, a few people started walking back up to the chow line with bloody chicken, then a few more, and more. Finally those who had been skipped over, who were finally in line, were told to sit down again- that they were going to go and throw the chicken back on the grill.

I can't fathom what caterer would want to accept the liability of cooking raw chicken on a charcoal grill in a mobile application in any case, particularly with recent salmonella scares in the peanut industry. Salmonella is common in raw chicken! I would have thought they would pressure boil it first to insure that it is cooked safely and then transport it to the event and throw it on the grill for some color and some flavor. I'm just an idiot DJ, what do I know? As quickly as the meal was over, the room cleared out, we went from 300 people to 35. I had about 24 of the 35 dancing at one point to Elvis Presley's "All Shook Up" and then we went down to about 18 people at 2PM and then we were down to about 8 people at 2:15PM.

They were having a drawing for a $300 gasoline card at 3:45 and you had to be present to win... about 150 people came back at 3:40 and were gone at 3:46. During the quiet time, I re-packed all of the non-essential equipment and put two of the four speakers back in the van. After the drawing, I played Van Halen's "Happy Trails" and was out the door at about 3:55. It's just after 4PM on a Saturday and I'm home from work already.

I'm sure some heads are gonna roll on Monday at the RV park.

Call me Aretha... or Diana

2009-01-23T14:54:00.000-07:00

I found this photo on the blog of a photographer that I see around the industry fairly regularly. Cindy Reeves Photography does great work and she was nice enough to give me this photo as a professional courtesy. This was taken at a wedding that she and I worked at recently at Pebble Creek Golf Club. Here's a link to see her work http://www.reevesphoto.com/

This photo really speaks what I do. There is so much more to being a DJ than just standing there playing songs. It was a rather spontaneous moment of celebration. I don't remember what I was playing but I think it was Aretha Franklin's "Respect" and she and I kinda fell into sychronicity together and the photographer captured the moment.

There is another photo on that same blog of this bride doing a cartwheel on the dancefloor. It is the thing I love most about my chosen profession. Everybody is always dressed up, they are celebrating something, they are in a good mood, there is food and music... I get paid to schlep the sound and lighting equipment around and do paperwork and stuff, but what you see up there, that's the part that I do for free.

Alas, poor California! I knew her...

2009-01-11T18:38:00.000-07:00

Those of you who know any Shakespeare may recognize that reworked blog title, it's from Hamlet. I am not a genius of literature by any stretch of the imagination, but I did have a great English teacher at Winslow Arizona High School that gave me a love for Shakespeare. Still, I didn't learn this line from Mr. Howell's class- at least I don't remember learning it. I only know this line because of a joke that I read in Readers Digest many years ago. A small insurance company was experiencing a growth spurt and had outgrown its' phone system. An employee was hovering over the phone waiting for an open line to make a phone call. After waiting some time he exclaimed in exasperation, "Please, somebody give me a line!" A whisper came over the divider from an adjacent cubicle, "Alas, poor Yorick, I knew him: Horatio"

In this scene, Hamlet is holding the late Yorick's skull and he seems to have a moment- of sorts- where he considers his own mortality as he remembers the boisterous life and the good times of Yorick the King's Jester. "Where are your gibes now? your gambols? your songs? your flashes of merriment, that were wont to set the table on a roar?"

I had DJ jobs in Los Angeles this last weekend and as I drove home to Arizona, I realized that I have continuously had DJ work on my calendar in California, through thick and thin, for the last 23 years. Today, I do not. I worked in San Fransisco, San Diego, all over Riverside, Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino and Imperial Counties, I worked at Disneyland, The Queen Mary, I played at the prom at the California School for the Deaf. If they weren't deaf before, they were after that night. California was the base camp to travel to events in Portland Oregon, Salt Lake City, Tampa Florida, Chicago, Connecticut, Las Vegas, Texas, here in Phoenix and a couple of resort towns in Baja California, Mexico. I've seen disastrous weddings and magical nights, humble backyard gatherings and grand and very expensive social occasions. California certainly has its problems but it is a wonderful place to have been born and to have made such a great career and life.

It has taken 2 years to become a known commodity as a good DJ in the Phoenix Arizona market and it has taken 2 years for the proverbial irons to turn cold in California. It's hard to service customers when you live 400 miles away. I do have a teenage son still living in California and it has been nice to go visit monthly and I'm grateful to have had loyal customers who have paid a premium to have me return and work to accommodate those visits. Javin just turned 18 last month and will be moving to Arizona soon and I will really have no reason to make that trek anymore unless it is a real money-maker gig.

I'm negotiating a "dueling DJ" event later this spring in Santa Monica California where 2 DJs will set up on opposite ends of a hall- not side by side on a stage- but using completely independent sound systems with no electronic connection to the other at all- each not knowing what the other will do. We might mix music on alternating sets or perhaps even alternating songs. As an art form and as a professional challenge I would find it absolutely invigorating. The other DJ is a fairly new to the industry and I am rather seasoned so it could prove very interesting to the listeners as well. That one may prove my final bow in California. It will be a good way to go out.

I had been feeling a call, not specifically TO Arizona, but OUT of California for a few years. A bit of a family emergency made it clear in 2006 that Arizona would become home- again. All of my siblings live here in the Phoenix area and it's good to be close to them. I thought a lot on the drive home last night about my years in California and about the laughs, the "flashes of merriment" and the fun times and the good friends, even some hard lessons learned. I certainly remembered the songs, lots and lots of songs. We did set a few tables at a roar. I have no idea what "gibes" and "gambols" are but if they were fun things that a Jester named Yorick might have done, I think I probably did some of that too during my years in California.

I spent today at the Phoenix Bridal Show at the Phoenix Convention Center. I was not there with my DJ hat on. I didn't have a booth. It seemed odd that I had an opportunity to display my DJ wares in front of 2000 brides but did not do so and did not care. That show is a big cattle call and I don't need 2000 brides anyway, I need about 15 more for 2009 and I'll be ecstatic! I rode the light rail downtown to the convention center (see older posts for previous adventures on the train) I arrived early and shook hands with several DJs in my new capacity as President of the American DJ Association. There were lots of hobbyists there and I knew they would continue to give professional DJs a black eye. Their presence in the industry is a double edged sword. Those disastrous wedding stories enable me to charge what I do because when a bride recites the excruciating details of the wedding of her cousin, who skimped on entertainment, I can assure them that if they don't want those things to happen, that they need to pay a professional fee for a trained DJ/entertainer. The other edge of the sword is that there are so many of them, people who get an Ipod and a couple of speakers and call themselves DJs, that there are lots of brides who have resigned themselves to the thought that "Well, that's just the way DJs are..." That saddens me. A good DJ at any social occasion can create magic! I hope that some of the DJs that I saw this morning will join our association and learn a better way and help to legitimize this profession that has been so good to me.

My actual purpose there today was to help distribute the bridal magazine in which my first DJ column appeared. I have become good friends with the publisher and as an advertiser in and a writer for the magazine, I manned the booth and handed the magazine to attendees of the exhibition. I was joined by a very handsome and funny event planner that I have met at several industry functions since my move here. He was also invited to help. We had a great time today. He and I became a rather potent "one-two punch" as we handed magazines to brides and mothers of brides in attendance as we played jokes and sight gags off of each other. I was feeling really loose and comfortable today, having a good hair day, wearing a great pair of jeans and a really cool jacket.

There were several other industry friends in attendance in and it's almost as if several of the women got together and planned this- at least a half dozen times throughout the day, some industry types would walk by the booth and say something to the effect of "Well Hello Mr Sassy and Mr Sassier!" Or it was "Hello Mr Sexy Kitten and the other Mr Sexy Kitten." The role of "Mr Hot" and "Mr Hotter" were only a function of which direction they were walking relative to who they encountered first for such a flattering compliment. Now, I only tell you that story to illuminate my feeling today that Arizona is home- and it was good to be wearing so many hats at the biggest industry function in the state. I am a DJ, I am the president of a respected professional association, the head of a respected industry network and a writer for a respected bridal publication. I was known and greeted by respected event planners, publishers, venue operators, florists, other DJs, photographers, caterers- there were even several attendees that knew me.

So-- Alas, poor California! I knew her, I still love her, but I can't thank Arizona enough for such a warm welcome. It's good to be home tonight.

2009- I'm coming out swinging!

2009-01-03T12:55:00.001-07:00

It's been a whirlwind week. I was elected president of the Phoenix Chapter of the American DJ Association. I had lunch yesterday with the National president of the ADJA. He is a retired DJ that I knew for many years in Southern California- even before I joined the association. It's always good to see him.

I wrote a lovely article for a local bridal publication that hits the newsstands this week. It will be read by both industry types and brides. I'm quite excited about that. My previous publishing record was about 80 copies of a church newsletter. This will be 22,000 copies on the stands for two months. When I submitted the article last month, I received an email back- inside of 10 minutes- that it was accepted for publication without any qualifications!

I have contracts in place for 50% of my sales goal for 2009- It's only January 3rd! 2009 is shaping up nicely.

I'm in countdown mode at school. I start my 3rd to last class on Wednesday. I'll finish up on April 15th and Graduation is May 9th out at Cardinals Stadium. I blew my chances of graduating with honors though- I choked in a statistics class and got a C. I have had straight A's in all other classes but alas, I was only allowed a single B grade. When I get done, I'll be lernded gud!

My best customer, Thee Wedding Warehouse, out in Goodyear, is having a biggest loser contest and the winner receives a wedding gown. Although I have no use for a wedding dress, I am participating with the brides as part of my guerrilla marketing campaign. If I go get weighed in every Saturday and interact with 40 or 50 brides for 12 weeks, I'm thinking I could book a few of their weddings. I'm 6 lbs over the high end of my weight range for my size. I'd like to get down to the low end of my range. My goal is 11 lbs, but I'd be happy with the 6 lbs. I am working in Los Angeles this weekend so I won't be available for the kick-off weigh-in party so I'm being weighed in at a big industry function at Raven Verrado Golf Club on Thursday night before I leave in front of florists, caterers, wedding venues, photographers, DJs, musicians, event planners. What was I thinking? Well, any press is good press! The blog at Thee Wedding Warehouse indicates (in regards to my participation) that an old DJ is one thing... but an old FAT DJ, well, that's one toke over the line.

I'm off to a wedding at the Wig Wam Resort today. What a great way to kick of a new year.

30 New Years Eves

2009-01-01T16:00:00.000-07:00

I was a brand new DJ 30 New Year's Eves ago and with the exception of 1984 and 1985 when I was a Christian missionary, I have DJ'd every New Years Eve since 1979.

I think I know a thing or two about the business of a social occasion but nobody listens to me. I was working at Pebble Creek Golf Club last night- a wealthy, high-end retirement community out on the west end of Phoenix. I was the youngest one there by about 20 years and I'm getting up there in years myself! There were a couple of women my age or maybe a bit younger in attendance, but it was clear that they were ummmm... how should I say this in mixed company... they were hired help-- if you know what I mean. Cocktails at 6:30, salad was at 7, entre' at 7:45, dessert at 8:15 and then at 8:30, the room was mine. You could feel the collective eyebrows rising and the heads and attention turning to me for some direction. Remember these people are 55 yrs plus- a bigger percentage of them were 65 yrs plus! I had to entertain these people for 3 1/2 hours until the obligatory count down and then they could kiss and go home. When they hired me back in February, I suggested that they have dinner at 8:30 or even more radical, leave the dinner service as is, and do a New York City count down at 10PM and call it a night.

I opened with Nat King Cole's "Unforgettable" and there was a sigh of relief- that maybe this young jock isn't an idiot after all. They spilled off the dance floor there was so many of them! I rocked the house but it was clear at 10:30, those poor people were spent. Lucky for my lightning fast reflexes and my cracker-jack coordination, I simply acknowledged the moment, called for a break and switched back to some background music for an hour. People still danced, but I couldn't let it appear that I was the one who had run out of gas. Even at my best, and when I have a crowd that can keep up with me, 3 1/2 hours is a long time to really burn hot as a DJ- except for in a club where you might have a different crowd every 90 minutes or so. I fired it back up at about 11:20 and double rocked the house and we ran right up to about 11:58 and invited everyone to gather on the dance floor with their noisemakers and their tantookas and their darlin's for the countdown. We counted it down, they kissed, they sang one verse of Guy Lombardo's "Auld Lang Syne" (Whatever that means...) then I played Kenny Rogers' "Through the Years" and they grabbed their coats and said their goodbyes and were gone at 12:05!

During the evening, I played one song from 1999, Lou Bega's "Mambo #5" I played one from 1997, Shania Twain's "Man, I feel like a woman" and one song from 1987, the B-52's "Love Shack" and I played Doobie Brothers' "Long Train Running" and Commodores' "Brick House" from '77ish and everything else was 1975 or earlier. I even played a couple of songs from the 1930's. We tangoed, we waltzed, we rhumbad-- and if that wasn't a word already, it is now. We rocked with some Three Dog Night, The Hollies and Bill Haley and the Comets. We swinged or swung I guess, we fox trotted and we cha-cha'd. I even played the greatest cha-cha song ever written, Elvis Presley's "It's Now or Never" That's right I said "Greatest" and I'll say it again too because I'm controversial, I'm like Geraldo!

New Years Eve has such a singular potential for happiness that it can't be wasted. Those who attend any New Years Eve festivities feel an enormous pressure to have a good time or the opportunity is wasted. Those who choose not to attend feel that others are having more fun than them and they can't allow that to happen either. Unfortunately, any unhappiness that anybody feels usually came with them to the event and will leave with them after the event. Those types of people should just be put in a room with a mannequin sitting at a chair up at the front and they can sit there and complain to the mannequin about every one's failures and all the times people let them down. Those who bring their own unhappiness can't be pleased anyway, the food was too salty, the room was too hot, cold, busy, dark, bright, etc. There is always something to complain about and I don't want to hear it. When I have 250 on the dance floor out of 350 in the room and somebody is complaining and asking "When are you gonna play something good?" Not only do they not have any credibility, but they just insulted my professional integrity. I usually try to be a diplomat, and simply ask if they had a specific song request because I'd be glad to oblige them but that I don't take complaints. I know who is signing my check- and it ain't you!

There was one lady who came up with a list of about 35 songs- over 2 hours worth of music- and she stated that THIS is what we like. I asked if there were 2 or 3 songs on the list that maybe she REALLY wanted. She insisted that she wanted them all and if I wanted to really connect, that I should play them. I apologized that I couldn't accommodate her. It's sad that there are some who are so out of touch with reality that they would presume that their tastes are so impeccable that they could just attempt to impose them on all! I'm a huge Styx fan, but their songs rarely get an airing even though I am in a position to impose my taste on everyone. I'd play "Babe" maybe at a late 70's or early 80's class reunion or I'll play "Too much time on my hands" in a classic rock set once in awhile but that's about it.

I did get several of genuine handshakes, high 5's and a few hugs and a few $20's as gratuities as people were filing out at 12:06. I knew they had a good time, I knew that I helped, sometimes they just needed to be shown how to have a good time- with me leading the way!

I dreamt I was Farmer Joe

2008-12-28T18:08:00.000-07:00

It's really a shame that you won't get a picture of this one... I just had the best salad in the history of salads! Right from my own garden. I had some red leaf lettuce, some moon leaf lettuce, some cilantro and added an avocado from the local farmers market with a side of steamed asparagus tips- also from the farmers market. I struesseled some butter on them and adjusted my pepper grinder to crack the pepper corns really coarsely. Topped the whole thing off with a few wedges of an orange. Mmmmm! They are so perky! I love that!

Those of you who don't grow your own stuff are missing one of the pleasures of life. How cool is it to step out your back door on a chilly evening and pick a few leaves of lettuce and make your own meal. It didn't take any longer than going to the store. The seeds cost about $4. I'll have fresh salad 3 or 4 times a week until March!

The things purchased in a traditional grocery store are engineered to look good or last longer on the shelf rather than to taste good or be nutritious. I'll harvest the last of my lettuce and peas and turnips about February and I'll plant more cilantro, peppers, tomatoes etc. Those will make it until about July before they just get too scorched. Then I'll plant pumpkins on about July 20th and harvest those just before Halloween and then back to the winter stuff on the first week of November. If you haven't planted them already, it's a bit late, but anything that is in the ground like radishes or turnips and anything that you eat the leaf, like lettuces and cabbages and a few things that are in pods like peas or some green beans can grow from November to March here in Mesa.

Grand Funky Railroad

2008-12-28T13:35:00.000-07:00

Me and Shaw rode on the new light rail system in Phoenix yesterday. It was a bit of history. We rode our bikes on the new section of the 202 freeway a couple of months ago and shook the hand of Governor Napalitano at the grand opening festivities so a ride on a new mass transit system seemed in order. We waited in line for just over 2 hours to get on a train. They had buses shadowing the train all day to handle the overflow but we came to ride the train not a bus! They counted people out into little bins equalling the amount of seats per car and dispatched each group across the street to waiting trains. That was lovely, we got a seat were on our way. We got to the next stop and that was not the case, there were several hundred people more waiting to get on, and then at the next stop, and then at ASU, and then at the airport, and then... they were standing, kids on shoulders and laps, it was like we were in India! If those trains hadn't been as smooth as a baby's butt on the outside, I'm sure there would have been people hanging on the outside or riding on the top. Each stop along the way had food and live music and antique car shows and vendors and carnival type rides.

We intended to ride the entire length, but judging by our wait in Mesa, and knowing that we would have to disembark at the far end of Phoenix and perhaps get in a similar line to return, we exited the train at the Heard Museum in downtown Phoenix. The train was supposed to take 60 minutes to get to the other end of the line but we had taken about 75 minutes to get just over half way.

You can always tell which food vendors are good because of the line. At the Heard Museum, there was a long line for some authentic Indian fried bread but we were hungry from the already long wait and opted for some pizza. As soon as we sat down with that, another couple sat down with some tamales that looked and smelled deeee-lish! Too late. We sat for some Indian dance and drumming and walked back to the train platform hoping against hope that we could get on. We waited for two trains and when the doors opened the people kind of oozed out and had to be pressed back in when the doors closed. We grabbed one of the special buses which was also standing only. It was a lot to balance for a 7 yr old. I had to teach him how to put one foot forward from the other to give some balance like on a skateboard. Shaw had to have his face on par with somebody else's... well... some things are unpleasant enough to think about without actually saying it. I just pulled the back of his head in as close to me as possible.

This bus got back out to Sky Harbor Airport and kicked us all out claiming that was the end of his line. So we walked over to the train platform and let three trains pass with a similar ooozing as described above. The platform attendant was making calls on his two-way radio as to why the bus driver dumped 200 people on the sidewalk to wait for full trains and loaded buses when he was supposed to continue to the end of the train line back in Mesa. The fourth train had just enough room to cram us in- Me and Shaw were the ones that ooozed when the doors opened and the disappointed people on the platform gave us a knowing glance.

We made it back without much more incident. Rock band, Grand Funk Railroad was playing at the festival at the end of the line in Mesa. I can't think of any other reason for their invitation than their name. The occasion was kinda grand, I guess-- that train will serve our city for many decades to come... the funky part however... I guess that all of the armpits that were exposed as passengers held on to straps for dear life... that was kinda funky. Poor Shaw was clearly a bit disheveled and frankly, a bit frightened. He was too tough to let anybody know. When the crowd finally thinned out a bit, he opted to sit on my lap rather than take an empty seat.

The sound system was great, Grand Funk Railroad is just a bit before my time, but being a DJ for nearly 30 years now, I know their music. They just seemed a bit "put out" to come to Mesa Arizona to play for the occasion. They just did their thing and got off the stage to bigger and better things.

We did have a really great hot dog after the show. Nothing like a good hot dog at a regional festival or carnival. In the time it took to eat it, the bouncy jumps were shutting down and Shaw missed out on that.

I couldn't complain, but I think the transit authority massively underestimated the crowds on a holiday weekend with the Fiesta Bowl visitors already in town. This is just a wild guess, but I'd estimate that there were probably 180 to 200,000 people out and about at each of those festvals and on the trains and the buses. I think there were nearly 10,000 throughout the day just at the depot in Mesa. Most people were quite pleasant in spite of the occasion to be cranky. I do hope that people consider thier lives and will use that train to improve travel and decrease pollution. I may go ride it again on Monday while it's still free.

Adventures in Egypt

2008-12-28T13:03:00.000-07:00

Those of you that are just discovering my blog will begin to notice that I'm not much for taking pictures. There was a time when I was taping Javin, my son in California, at some school function when he was little and I came to the realization that I was living life through the viewfinder. Watching the videos afterwards was never as satisfiying as the moment was. My memories of my dad are so much more 3 dimensional than any photos or video could ever be. The smell of Old Spice, his gestures and the feel of his skin. I wonder if my son Shaw will remember fondly my Drakkar Noir cologne in the coming decades. ?

Above- Curtis and Shaw and an un-named camel doing his messy business

Anyways, there aren't many images of our Christmas adventures because we were busy living them and not documenting them for the rest of you. I hope my words will paint a bit of a picture.

Some friends invited us to visit the Christmas lights display at the Phoenix Zoo last week. The company that handles all of the concessions at the zoo is a client of my friend and provided VIP passes 30 minutes before the unwashed masses and we got complimentary hot chocolate, popcorn, cotton candy, carousel rides and a free camel ride. It was a great night- even after the unwashed masses came in.

I DJ'd an event at Scottsdale Fashion Park in exchange for a shopping spree. I got myself a very expensive pair of jeans and a nice dinner jacket that I would not have otherwise spent that kind of money on. I also spent about $400 of my spree on some socks and underwear which I donated to a local cause. I know the economy is tough but I can hardly fathom that there are people in Mesa Arizona- a city of great wealth- who don't have socks and underwear. There was a school nurse who was aware of some needs but because of the bureaucracy of her place of employment was not allowed to do anything about it. I just took her passing comment on the subject and ran with it. They were delivered discreetly and she wept. She had several dozen pairs of each size for boys through teens.

Christmas day was spent indoors and the rain made that seem ok. Often, a lazy day can seem wasteful but Christmas was just fine. Watched Kung Fu Panda, It's a Wonderful Life, and Back to the Future III. I just unhinged my jaw and shovelled in several plates of Christmas goodies.

My best customer is a really nice bridal boutique out in Goodyear called Thee Wedding Warehouse. They are having a weightloss thang next week and the winning bride wins a wedding dress. I am gonna participate with them but I told them that I didn't need the dress if I won. I'm 6 lbs over what I should be, and I'm about 16 lbs over what I want to be.

More adventures to follow...

I gotta have more Sleigh Bells!

2008-12-24T17:09:00.000-07:00

Something happened about 50 years ago- maybe 60... I think just about all of the good Christmas songs have already been written. Countless artists keep putting out Christmas music every year, they are overwrought, contrived or even forced new songs or terribly mis-interpreted versions of classics. "Its Christmas time, the snow is falling down..." Falling down? As opposed to? I know which direction the snow is going to fall. We don't need another songwriter explaining gravity to us. Also, the inclusion of sleigh bells does not a Christmas song make. I guess Christopher Walken was there too. "I got a fever! and the only perscription... MORE Sleigh Bells!" Somebody out there must be in a position to advance the art of Christmas song writing beyond an opening line of "It's Christmas time..." Anyone? Anyone? Beuller? Come on guys!

At the core of the problem, too many artists don't have any clue about the concept of reverence for the more religious songs. I understand the secular and cultural celebration of Christmas and I'm not opposed to that. There is a reason that Christmas is a national holiday and Easter is not. We can remember the birth of Christ, who embodies values that we hold dear as a nation, in the same way that we celebrate the birth of Martin Luther King or those who fought and died (Memorial Day) or the workers that built this nation (Labor Day) etc. For those who also regard Christ as the Savior of the world, the celebration and remembrance at Christmas can be a profound experience. There is no need for anyone else to take offense at that part of the celebration.

I DJ'd at 11 Christmas- wait- excuse me- Holiday parties. Corporations are afraid to have Christmas parties because someone might be offended. They have Holiday parties or even worse, End of the Year banquets. What is this world coming to? Anyways, I played at 11 events between Dec 6 and Dec 20 and only 2 of them allowed me to play Christmas music.

I now come down of my soapbox- back to the matter at hand.

Twisted Sister just needs to knock of the Twisted Christmas music. "O Come all ye faithful" Twisted Sister style? They don't even have the chord progression right. Please! Gary Hoey's hard rock version of "You're a mean one, Mr. Grinch" is brilliant because the lyrical content lends itself to such an interpretation.

Here are the greatest Christmas songs ever written or sung. That's right, I said that and I'll say it again because I'm controversial, I'm like Geraldo! Here they are in no particular order- the Greatest Christmas songs ever. Some of these are new songs, some are reworks of classic songs that are so good that the original versions should be taken out behind the barn and shot.

Andy Williams- The most wonderful time of the year- Classic. It just ain't Christmas until you fire up that song.
Amy Grant- Breath of Heaven- that reverence thing. I could never sing this because I'd be too emotional-- and the fact that I'm not a woman...
Dennis DeYoung- When I hear a Christmas song- New song in the classic vein. Free download at dennisdeyoung.com until the end of the year.
Randy Travis- Jingle Bell Rock- The original should have been this country style. It's a country song.
Enya- Stille Nacht- Brilliant version of this song. Haunting.
Jon Bon Jovi- Please come home for Christmas. Sad broken love song. He really sounds like he's got the blues here.
The Osmonds- Kay Thompson's Jingle Bells
The Pointer Sisters- Santa Claus is coming to town
Peter, Paul and Mary- Children, Go where I send thee
Styx- All I want- Another new song but not overwrought. I coulda used a little more sleigh bells though.
Holly Nunn- Feliz Navidad
Emmylou Harris- O Little town of Bethlehem- Very reverent.
The Blenders- Carol of the Bells- If you are subwoofer privileged, this recording is great.

There you have it. I probably should have posted this earlier in the season, but if you aren't sick of Christmas music, enjoy these.

I'm gonna go fire up "It's a Wonderful Life"

Merry Christmas everybody!

It's like this see...

2008-12-12T20:14:00.000-07:00

Dateline- Mesa Arizona

I had a most gratifying DJ job today. All of the handicapped Jr High kids from all over the Mesa school district gathered at Stapley Jr High for a Christmas dance-- any guesses who the DJ was? Yep. Rocked the house from start to finish! I generally turn away school functions because I just don't want to put up with the grief anymore. Most teenagers are rude ingrates when they move in packs. These kids couldn't have been nicer. It's Dec 12 and I finally got the Christmas spirit today thanks to them.

I was the master of ceremonies at a Bridal Fashion Show at one of the nice resorts here in town a couple of weeks ago. There were a couple of designers from Chicago and one from New York and one local designer. They had an antique ivory sofa and a white hipster coffee table and a white back drop that swished in the breeze and all the models took turns on that sofa with each of the dresses and about 5 photographers doing their thing. (That kinda sounded dirty didn't it?) I thought it was a mistake because the white dresses were just gonna wash out. But I kept my mouth shut because I was feeling that I wasn't cool enough to even be in their presence. (My lack of coolness has probably been the key to my success as a DJ) Anyways- I was right. I looked at the online photojournals of two or three of the photographers that I knew and not one of those pictures was used. BUT, I was chillin' between shots and Kym Ventola snapped this one of me. She posted it on her blog with some very complimentary words about my brilliant work as a DJ. This photo will be the backbone of my ads for the glossy bridal magazines next year. Here's a link to her work that day http://blog.ventolaphotography.com/2008/11/17/bridal-walk-at-the-wigwam-resort.aspx

We took a road trip to Winslow Arizona for Thanksgiving. No, we didn't stand on the corner, at all. In fact, we didn't see any girls in flat bed Fords either. That town is so depressed and depressing and dirty and broken down. It really lived up to the sentiment of that song. We had a crappy motel room and had nothing but crappy food but I had such a meaningful experience that weekend. I visited my old High School, the A&W Rootbeer stand where I worked. Visited a Sunday School teacher I had as a kid. She hasn't aged a bit.

We also visited with Ruby Williams from Roxie Mississippi. She took care of me for a couple of years when I was a wee lad- after my Mom died and before my Dad remarried. She says she's 80 but there are reports around town that she's as old as 96. Either way, she looks great. She is still sharp as a tack. Remembered everybody and was curious what they were all up to. I hadn't seen her in 10 years since my Dad's funeral.

To a certain degree, you always live where you are from. As odd as that sounds, it was really good to go live there for another day.

First blog!

2008-11-17T19:18:00.000-07:00

Wow, I've never blogged before. I hope I'm doing it correctly. Oh, I've memo-ed, I've ranted, I've sent some angry emails, I even pontificated once, but that was only published in a church newsletter. I suppose I'll start relating the minutiae of my life- please keep an eye out for the profound in there somewhere.