Globex Corporation Newsletter

One of my all time favorite TV shows was WKRP. It was one of the few TV shows ever to never "Jump the Shark.". One reason people loved it was the characters. Having spent a lot of time in the media business, I can tell you it was easily the most accurate depiction of a media outlet, not in a "nuts and bolts" fashion, but in the interactions between the folks that work there.

Les Nessman was the less than sensational News Director at WKRP. In one episode, Program Director Andy Travis was lamenting his fate and some of the people he had to work with, "Remember Watergate? Les missed it!" Les Nessman had failed to report on anything as the Watergate story broke. Definitely not the sharpest tool in the shed.

I felt a lot like Les Nessman yesterday. Actually, the story starts on Thursday, I had showered and was drinking my coffee, checking some of the SD political blogs before heading over to Mike's for some practice when the phone rang. It was Robin at the school asking if I could sub in math on Friday. I said yes particularly because it was for a teacher I have quite a bit of respect for, I knew I'd have well behaved kids for my first day of the school year. Five minutes later, the phone rang again, Mike wanted to know if I could play a gig on Friday night in Keystone. I agreed, but it would pretty much mean that I would go straight from school to Mike's for the drive to Keystone.

First of all it must be pointed out that I'm not a "morning person." It takes a while for me to adjust my internal clock to where it needs to be for teaching, and it ain't there yet. Still, I got myself going in plenty of time, popped the Steve James cassette out of the car stereo and listened to some news on my drive in to school. BRAC's vote on Ellsworth was on so I listened intently, having a bit of an interest in the outcome of the vote - it's my hometown after all. The vote to strike passed 8-1 as I made the loop on I-90 East exit 67B. I was a happy guy, but I couldn't help thinking that I was going to be unable to blog something about the event. Photo stuff was definitely out of the question as that can be pretty time consuming and time is the one thing I didn't have enough of on Friday. So like Les Nessman, the biggest news story in the recent history of the Rapid City area broke and BOJ completely missed it.

In the aftermath, I've conisdered some things I could have done. I could have made two Ear-O-Matic photos, posted them to my photo site and madea quick post from any internet terminal, something I could have gotten away with at school - no, wait, that may have revealed my "secret identity" to folks at the school. I could have run home and done it at my folks, I routinely walk into their house and head straight for the computer, so it wouldn't have been that out of character for me. I'll have to be sure to be better at looking ahead than I was yesterday. Sadly, it was a pretty good day for hits at BOJ News Service and I feel like I let people down. I'm sure they were looking for BRAC/Ellsworth news and I didn't give it to them.

On a BRAC related family matter, I need to point out that the Superintendent of the Douglas School District, the district that serves Ellsworth AFB (no, not a DoD school, a regular school district), is a complete asshole. He coerced the school board into slashing the budget of the district because he assured them that there was no way the base would survive this round of closings. Oops, he's not only an asshole, but an idiot as well, no personel would have moved from Ellsworth until 2008 or 2009 had it closed, there really wasn't any reason to drastically cut the budget. My sister was working as an In School Suspension aide, a program she had whipped back into shape after the person who replaced my mother in that position after her retirement let the program fall into a shambles. My sisters position was cut, her duties given to a man who couldn't handle the minimal duties he already had. The program will go to hell again and that is completely the fault of Superintendent Shits. My sister was given a position in Special Ed which she had had before taking the ISS position, but as the SPED aide with the least seniority, the woman who replaced her a rung up on the ladder from my sister. Fair, huh?

Dr. Shits sent out a memo to staff yesterday saying that things won't change now that Ellworth is a huge step closer to being saved. All cuts will remain in effect. This from a man who retired from his position as superintendent of the district, draws a large SD retirement check monthly and was hired back as a "consultant" at nearly double his previous salary. He's double dipping but cutting staff right and left. Nice guy.

I've stated my views on blogging anonymity before, but if anyone from the district reads this now (a longshot, I know) it's pretty clear who I am. The person who is in charge of calling substitutes is married to the guy who took over my sister's duties. Guess I won't get called very much if she ever reads this. I didn't use the superintendent's name, though it will be pretty obvious to him who I'm refering to if he reads this as his name rhymes with Shits. I've typically gotten myself in trouble with crap I say, but I've never felt it was wrong to say something I believe is right. I just have to live with the consequences.

.....so, the Rib Shack gig went pretty well even if we were asked to pack it up after two sets instead of three. They weren't doing a brisk business when that order was handed down, though it picked up after that. We gave the folks a little extra anyway. The crowd was quite receptive after they finally arrived, mostly tourists. I've always noticed that tourists are so appreciative of our little music scene here. Even at an open mic at Cheers, a motel bar, I've had numerous tourists come up to me and tell how much they enjoyed our little open mic there. Christ, we aren't even getting paid there. It was the same last night, tourists commenting on how good we sounded and how much they were enjoying themselves.

During the first set, a man came from the upstairs bar and put a piece of paper on a table in front of the stage. It said "Please play Van Morrison's Brown-Eyed Girl or Don McLean's American Pie." I love the music of Don McLean, particularly American Pie, but it's a long song, is very wordy and the chords don't progress in a regulary manner, it has lots of subtle changes, it isn't simply repeating the chord progression over and over until the song is done. Brown-Eyed Girl, on the other hand, is everything that American Pie isn't, making it easy to remember even if you don't play it often. As a bonus, it had been requested last week at Knight's Cellar and Mike decided it would be good to at least have the lyrics in his book. I pretty much know the lyrics, but couldn't come up with them completely last week, even trying to write them down wasn't bringing them back. Last night Mike just flipped to the appropriate page asked me if I wanted to sing it and we were off.

I have to admit I sounded pretty good, which was later confirmed by the guy and his wife who requested it. I stopped by their table to say hi to them at the set break. They had dropped their kids off in Wyoming with family a few weeks earlier and were on their way back to the Twin Cities with their kids. Kids in the hotel, they decided to stop of for a few drinks , having been to the Rib Shack on their way to Wyoming. They were impressed with the music and decided to stop into the same place. Like I said, tourists love our music scene. Brown-Eyed Girl, as it turns out, was their wedding song, just beating out Love the One Your With (no, I'm not kidding that's what he told me, she agreed). We did well in tips last night, made a little bit of money from the establishment and got a nice meal out of them (...mmmm....BBQ Brisket Sandwhich....), but the food is digested and the money will be spent all too soon. I'll remember the appreciation of a couple from Lakewood Minnesota for a whole lot longer.

The nice thing about an early gig like the one at the Rib Shack (6pm to 9pm) is that I can stop off and see someone else play. I dropped by Philly's on the way back to my place to catch Abby SomeOne. When I refer to myself as a "musician" (quoty - fingers required), it's because of folks like ASO. God bless SMB and his musical endeavors, the man has been through plenty with this band and every time it looks like they're about to burst onto the national scene, something happens to screw things up. This time it was father and son Wallers leaving the band. The one thing I'll say is that Shawn never let's it get him down, or at least, never let's us see it get him down. When I think of all the crap that's gone on with him and music and then read his blog (and screw everyone else's, mine included, his is the best blog out there), he somehow manages to seem upbeat about everything. There's a lesson there for me, I just wish I was well-adjusted enough to accept it.

Josh Marquis is filling in abley for the departed Chambers Wallers and while I really loved Chambers' stinging single-note blues-tinged solo style, Josh's sound (at least last night, it's the only time I've seen Josh with ASO) seems to fit better with the band. I'm not sure where Josh sits with the band (and try not to ask too many questions as I know all parties ivolved) but ASO could do a lot worse than the "twisted genius" of Josh Marquis on guitar.

Sometime early Saturday morning I got back to bed, a place I spent way too little time in on Friday morning. Seems like I crammed a week's worth of activity into one day, but I loved every minute of the day, most days aren't like that for me and truthfully I can't expect them to be. I didn't even mention running into Steve Thorpe at the Rib Shack and getting to share the stage with him for a ripping kazoo solo on San Francisco Bay Blues. Yep, a good day.

BOJ