“Release expectation” – it’s easier said than done. We spend a lot of time thinking about, worrying about, maybe even getting bitter about, what should’ve happened.
“Invite appreciation” – anyone who has spent any amount of time in a third world country knows we’ve got it really good. Our basic needs are met… and so much more. Most of us truly have abundance – we just have a hard time admitting it.
“All the moments of our lives” – the fresh cup of coffee (if you’re into that), the sunlight peeking through the trees, the song you love so much on the radio (if you’re into radio), the water cooler conversation with one of your work buddies, the squirrel making the mad dash across the street as you drive home, the clouds that look like elephants, the greeting from the dog (if you’re into dogs)…
“Openings and opportunities” – Every hour offers 3600 moments to savor; every day gives us a million reasons to be grateful.
“It is what it is.” And what it is, is a beautiful thing called life.
In an apartment building where my wife lived with her friend after she graduated from nursing school.
The building is owned by a guy I know from pickleball.
Two of the victims — ages 20 and 22 — worked at Good Samaritan Hospital, where my wife worked. The other victim was 27. Pretty much the same ages as our kids.
A guy who lives across the street is a fellow parent from our kids’ grade school. His son was in the same class as one of our kids.
Another neighbor who heard the gunshots was just in my company’s office last week. I arranged for him to give a “Green Team” talk about planting native plants in your yard.
I know “it could happen anywhere.” Because it did. And because it does. Every damn day. In some other neighborhood, in some other city.
Wednesday, it was Minneapolis. Innocent young kids, praying in church.
Sunday, it was Cincinnati.
Today? We don’t know where the fickle finger of gun violence will point to. But we know it will.
We fixate on the “why” of it. Because we already know the “how” – and we know it’s way too easy for people to get guns into their hands.
It shouldn’t happen.
Yes, we pray for the victims and their families.
I also pray that our elected representatives will grow a backbone, and finally pass the common sense gun regulations that an overwhelming amount of Americans want.
Because until they do, every neighborhood, in every city, in every state… could be the scene of horrific violence.
I’d argue that you could remove the “Cincinnati” from John Kiesewetter’s headline. Nobody else worked their magic in radio like Gary did.
I had the privilege of working with Gary for a couple of years back in the mid 90s. As a kid who always wanted to be on the air, and as a natural goofball, it was a dream come true. A three-hour comedy radio show? Sign me up!
Nobody was better than Gary at doing voices… I sat in the production studio in awe as Gary would switch between different characters, with totally different voices, in the blink of an eye. I learned more from him in a week than I did in all of my college comms classes.
I was only a minor moon in his orbit, at best a “fourth banana” among his crew, which included “Doc” Wolfe, “Nurse” Burns and “Dukie Sinatra.” But I got to write sketches for the show, do some character voices (Fabio, Snoop Dogg, Harry Carey, Tom Brokaw, etc.), serve as Gary’s editor in reviewing/editing the sketches submitted by his other writers, book interview guests, and put together the weekend “best of” show. And when Gary went on vacation, Duke and I got to fill in… the “Holiday Boys” as we called ourselves.
Doc Wolfe said it best in the Kiesewetter article: “Nobody in radio worked harder than Gary Burbank.” We would produce a ton of pre-recorded bits, as well as prep for the live segments.
“We did 30 minutes of recorded material a day, in addition to the live stuff we did on the air,” Wolfe says. “I’d start writing at 6 in the morning, and then we’d get into the studio at 10 and record and edit until he went on at 2 p.m.”
The exec who hired Gary at WLW-AM, Randy Michaels, has an encyclopedic knowledge of all things radio, and knew Gary was a singular talent:
“We loved Gary on the air, for good reasons. He was creative, talented, and he worked hard at his craft. That hard work made the end result sound effortless. There has never been anyone like him. I was in awe of his talent, and will miss him terribly,”
In addition to being a skilled impressionist of the names in the news (he could do Reagan, George Bush, Bill Clinton, Jerry Springer, and about a gazillion others), Gary had dozens of recurring characters who were far more than one-note gags.
I joined when the show was being syndicated. The fact that Gary’s characters were so richly drawn and performed actually worked against us. You had to spend some time with the show to understand the nuances of the characters. It’s a shame the show never really took off across the country, because Gary certainly had the talent to pull it off.
It’s funny: radio is nothing more than airwaves – here one second, gone the next. But through his hard work and talent, Gary created characters and bits that didn’t just tickle your funny bone — they burrowed into your brain forever.
Amen, Banker Bill!
John Kiesewetter’s article does a very nice job covering Gary’s life and career. Read the entire piece here.
According to Wikipedia, she’s “an American folk and country singer-songwriter from Hickman, Kentucky.”
I first saw her back in 2021, at a free concert in Hamilton, opening for Aaron Lee Tasjan (he’s cool too!). The show was supposed to be at an outdoor amphitheater, but it rained buckets so they moved it to a nearby street that was covered by a parking garage walkway roof. It was dingy, it was echo-y, and there were only a few hardy souls in attendance. It would’ve been easy for S.G. and her band to bemoan their fate and phone in their performance, but they still brought their A game.
S.G. may be “an American folk and country singer-songwriter” but after reading her latest Substack post (eloquently entitled “Chicken sh*t on a thousand acres”), I’d add “philosopher” and “life coach” to her bio. Here’s my favorite passage from it:
There is so much uncertainty right now, and I want to tell anyone who reads this that the future is built on seeds you plant right now. Hope is resilient, and even if that hope doesn’t bear fruit for years to come, one day you will be reaping the harvest of a long held dream and vision. In times of despair and trials, put some faith into the little seeds of hope you are planting. It may be years down the road before you see their potential, but if you care for them, they will produce.
That’s beautiful! And some much needed advice for these troubled and troubling times.
What seeds of hope are you planting today? (No overalls and tractor required.)
S.G. Goodman’s music is pretty darn cool too. Here’s her website and a stellar performance of a beautiful song is below.
Mrs. Dubbatrubba and I took a rather circuitous route to the D.C. area for our goddaughter’s wedding a couple of weeks ago. We spent nearly a week in Maine – mainly because we’d always wanted to visit “Vacationland” and August seemed like a good month to do it.
Maine was as advertised: absolutely gorgeous! We didn’t spend a ton of time indoors. Quite to the contrary, we walked and hiked all over the place: Portland, Freeport, Rockland, Rockport, Camden, Belfast, Stonington, Boothbay, and two days at Acadia National Park.
Oh, and we sailed on a schooner too, as one does in Maine.
It’s hard to name a favorite, but it’ll be tough to top the hike up the Beehive Trail at Acadia. For someone like me who has become more fearful of heights as I’ve gotten older, it wasn’t exactly a walk in the park. Do a quick image search and you’ll see shots like these:
I was thisclose to chickening out (you can get to the summit via a less challenging path). But I didn’t want to let Mrs. Dubbatrubba down (as I have sooo many times before).
We hit the trail right after we saw the sunrise….
… and we had the place pretty much to ourselves, which meant no waiting, and less time to think about what I was doing.
So worth it, and I’m so glad I did it.
Another highlight was a hike outside of Camden. My wife asked a local (the schooner check-in kid) if there were places we could pick blueberries nearby, and he dropped a pin on the map for a nature preserve trail that started in the forest and ended in acres of blueberry bushes. What a treat – literally and figuratively.
Of course, all that hiking makes you thirsty, so we HAD to sample the wares of the local breweries.
It was our civic duty!
We put a beautiful bow on our Maine meanderings by meeting up with my cousin Tom and his wife Alena in Portland.
(Apologies for the horrible lighting. We’ll never be influencers with shots like that.)
The fresh air, the natural beauty, the ability to relax and unwind… 10 out of 10 across the board! Actually, make that 11!
Photo dump is below – click on any image to see it full size, and use the arrows to scroll through. I know you may be thinking that we just went to an Olan Mills photography studio and changed the backdrops, but we really were in Maine!
Kevin Sullivan on Life advice from a man who lived it: “A good one Damian. Bring our lens into focus after the long weekend or our long life journey.” Jul 7, 09:38
Thomas Kuhl on We’re alive, because nothing happened.: “That is why we should celebrate every day when our feet hit the floor. Another to enjoy and share with…” Jun 25, 04:33
Thomas Kuhl on We’re alive, because nothing happened.: “This simply explains why we should celebrate every day our feet hit the floor. Another day to enjoy and share…” Jun 25, 04:31
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