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Friday, February 25, 2011

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED

So I go in there and of course he'd have to have both hands and arms UNDER the pillow. I had to move his limbs, then I'm searching and searching for that damn tooth. Can't feel it anywhere. I start thinking did he knock it out? But then if he did, what if he finds it a day later on the floor somewhere and the whole myth is shot to hell. The very longshot theory occurred to me too; the toothfairy really does exist and came and got the tooth before I did but then stiffed him. Then I realized I'm the only one to whom that would happen and not my son, so I dismissed it. Swear to God it took my like 5 minutes to find the damn thing, lol. Got it, switched it with the rolled up bill, crept out. All was fine.

Then in the morning he comes and gets me and says the toothfairy took his tooth but didn't give him anything. At this point I'm thinking did my mortgage company send s.w.a.t. in at midnight to get whatever they could? I go in with him, sure enough, we're looking everywhere. No bill. So I'm stalling for time with all this bullshit about "Well it MUST be here somewhere Jack I've NEVER known the toothfairy to not give something." Finally, almost as long as it took to find the tooth, he found the bill, on the floor between the bed and a table. Must have thrashed and knocked it out. He was so happy, so proud. His sister woke up and Jack immediately told her all about it. She listened intently with big eyes, then simply said in a whisper... "awesome!" Half hour later he was playing a computer game and Mina was sitting in bed with me and I notice her finger is in her mouth. I ask what's up. She just turned 4. You know those little natural gaps between kids' baby teeth? She's feeling at those and says, "Daddy, I think I'M missing a tooth too. I need some money."

Thursday, February 24, 2011

TOOTHFAIRY PRESSURE

It happened this morning at 11:25. Jack and I were driving back from getting my haircut. It had been loose for weeks. We even brought it up for a little bit of one of the Minneapolis shows because I heard so many varied opinions from parents on what the going toothfairy rate is for the first tooth. Anyway, we're driving down Woodward when he says, "Daddy it's coming out! What do I do?" I pulled over into a parking lot and before I could park I hear "I got it! I got it!" I get out of my car and open his door and there in his little fingers is the even littler tooth, a very tiny hole in the bottom roots, a very small spot of red within the hole. So cool. I was more excited than he was. I don't have a job, the house is in the middle of short sale, everything's screwed up right now, and I stood there talking to him about it feeling like the luckiest guy in the world. These were the moments I didn't want to miss.

Now of course comes the moment I'm dreading. I have a 5 dollar bill (screeching tires sound effect) okay, before I go on let's get this out of the way. Stop yelling at me. Yes, I picked 5 dollars as the amount for the first tooth. Some are yelling at me that's way too much. A few saying they'd have done 10. Mostly though I've been chastised by my friends saying I should've done 3. Look, here's the thing. This last year's been hell. I'm not going to go into the nuances of the divorce and all that happened, but the kids have been through a rough time. I've always been there for them, every night, but still so many changes have happened and especially the last few weeks the three of us are adjusting to a new life. He's still only 5 and I want him to believe in magic. He needs to believe in magic right now. So it's a 5 dollar bill, wrapped in a tight roll, with a little curly red ribbon tying it shut. Now back to the moment I'm dreading. It's 10:30. He's asleep. The tooth is dead center under his pillow. Suddenly I'm a fairy. Never been a fairy before. (Watch it!) So I have to creep in there, and make the switch. He's not a heavy sleeper. I have to probably move a hand, possibly move the head, get that tooth out, get that bill in, without waking him up. If he wakes up I have to make sure he doesn't see what's in my hand and be ready with the cover story that I'm just checking on him. My son's like me though, somewhat of a cynic. If he catches on to this, my fatherly paranoia sees the great domino collapse of the Easter Bunny gone, Santa Claus shattered, boom boom boom. Stupid? Silly? You bet. Will I wake him up? Almost surely not. It's just that we've got so little right now, I just need him to believe in this. And I guess truth be told, right now I need to believe in magic too.

So that's it. I'm goin' in! LOL

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

ONE HELL OF A LEADER

The stuff in bold within the article just my thoughts while reading this.

Gadhafi's vow: Will fight to 'last drop of blood'

This image broadcast on Libyan state television Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2011, shows Libyan leade...

By MAGGIE MICHAEL and SARAH EL DEEB, AP
Tue Feb 22, 6:18 PM EST

A defiant Moammar Gadhafi vowed to fight to his "last drop of blood" and roared at supporters to strike back against Libyan protesters to defend his embattled regime Tuesday, signaling an escalation of the a crackdown that has thrown the capital into scenes of mayhem, wild shooting and bodies in the streets.

The speech by the Libyan leader — who shouted and pounded his fists on the podium — was an all-out call for his backers to impose control over the capital and take back other cities. After a week of upheaval, protesters backed by defecting army units have claimed control over almost the entire eastern half of Libya's 1,000-mile Mediterranean coast, including several oil-producing areas.

"You men and women who love Gadhafi ... get out of your homes and fill the streets," he said. "Leave your homes and attack them in their lairs."


So here's a leader actually calling for civil war in his own country. Think about that. Brother on brother, citizen on citizen, get out there, go kill 'em. Wow. Also, what's with power hungry bad leaders always referring to themselves in 3rd person. cough cough Kwamecough cough


Celebratory gunfire by Gadhafi supporters rang out in the capital of Tripoli after the leader's speech, while in protester-held Benghazi, Libya's second-largest city, people threw shoes in contempt at a screen showing his address.


So I guess if you're walking home barefoot you'll be shot on sight?


State TV showed a crowd of Gadhafi supporters in Tripoli's Green Square, raising his portrait and waving flags as they swayed to music after the address. Residents contacted by The Associated Press said no anti-government protesters ventured out of their homes after dark, and gun-toting guards manned checkpoints with occasional bursts of gunfire heard throughout the city.

International alarm rose over the crisis, which sent oil prices soaring to the highest level in more than two years on Tuesday and sparked a scramble by European and other countries to get their citizens out of the North African nation.


Oh great. Libya supplies only 2 % of the world's oil demand but prices already rose 6 %.


The U.N. Security Council held an emergency meeting that ended with a statement condemning the crackdown, expressing "grave concern" and calling for an "immediate end to the violence" and steps to address the legitimate demands of the Libyan people.


They also wondered aloud how a guy who looks like a cross between Bert Convy and Bob Dylan could have remained in power this long without pursuing a new Tattletales series.

Germany Chancellor Angela Merkel called Gadhafi's speech "very, very appalling," saying it "amounted to him declaring war on his own people." Libya's own deputy ambassador at the U.N., who now calls for Gadhafi's ouster, has urged the world body to enforce a no-fly zone over the country to protect protesters.

"This violence is completely unacceptable," added Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Gadhafi's retaliation has already been the harshest in the Arab world to the wave of anti-government protests sweeping the Middle East. Nearly 300 people have been killed, according to a partial count by the New York-based Human Rights Watch.

In two nights of bloodshed, Tripoli residents described a rampage by pro-Gadhafi militiamen — a mix of Libyans and foreign mercenaries — who shot on sight anyone found in the streets and opened fire from speeding vehicles at people watching from windows of their homes.

In a sign of the extent of the breakdown in Gadhafi's regime, one of his closest associates, Abdel Fattah Younis, his interior minister and commander of the powerful Thunderbolt commando brigade, announced in Benghazi that he was defecting and other armed forces should join the revolt.

"I gave up all my posts in response to the February 17 Revolution and my conviction that it has just demands," Younis, who was among the army officers who joined Gadhafi in his 1969 coup, told Al-Jazeera, referring to the date of the start of the protests.

The performance by Gadhafi on state TV Tuesday night went far beyond even the bizarre, volatile style he has been notorious for during nearly 42 years in power. Swathed in brown robes and a turban, wearing reflective sunglasses,

he at times screamed, his voice breaking, and shook his fists — then switched to reading glasses to read from a green-covered law book, losing his train of thought before launching into a new round of shouting.

He spoke from behind a podium in the entrance of his bombed-out Tripoli residence hit by U.S. airstrikes in the 1980s and left unrepaired as a symbol of defiance.

At times the camera panned back to show the outside of the building and its towering monument of a gold-colored fist crushing an American fighter jet. But the view also gave a surreal image of Gadhafi, waving his arms wildly alone in a broken-down lobby with no audience, surrounded by torn tiles dangling from the ceiling, shattered concrete pillars and bare plumbing pipes.

"Libya wants glory, Libya wants to be at the pinnacle, at the pinnacle of the world," he proclaimed, pounding his fist on the podium. "I am a fighter, a revolutionary from tents. ... I will die as a martyr at the end," he said, vowing to fight "to my last drop of blood."


He's the one who's the martyr? Not the protestor who risks everything without so much as a weapon, without the backing of an entire military, to stand before this psychopathic regime and take his chances? THAT guy's NOT the martyr but Gadhafi IS? Man I have a lot to learn.


Gadhafi portrayed the protesters as misguided youths, who had been given drugs and money by a "small, sick group" to attack police and government buildings. He said the uprising was fomented by "bearded men" — a reference to Islamic fundamentalists — and Libyans living abroad.

He urged supporters to take to the streets to attack demonstrators, saying police would not interfere.

"Go out and fight them," he added, urging youth to form local committees across the country "for the defense of the revolution and the defense of Gadhafi."

"Forward, forward, forward!" he barked at the speech's conclusion, pumping both fists in the air as he stormed away from the podium. He was kissed by about a dozen supporters, some in security force uniforms. Then he climbed into a golf cart-like vehicle and puttered away.


Golf cart? "Buy a turban like that I bet you get a free bowl of soup. Looks good on you though."


Gadhafi's call for a popular attack on protesters reflected the deeply unstable nature of the system he has created over his rule — the longest of any current Arab leader. He has long kept his military and other security forces relatively weak, fearing a challenge to his rule and uncertain of loyalties in a population of multiple tribal allegiances.

So far, the crackdown has been waged chiefly by militias and so-called "revolutionary committees," made up of Libyans and foreign fighters, many hired from other African nations.

Many army units in the east appear to have sided with protesters, and other more institutional parts of his regime have weakened. A string of ambassadors abroad have defected, as has the justice minister.

Protesters claim to control a string of cities, from the Egyptian border in the east — where guards at the crossing fled — to the city of Ajdabiya, about 450 miles farther west along the Mediterranean coast, said Tawfiq al-Shahbi, a protest organizer in the eastern city of Tobruk.

Ajdabiya is a key city near the oil fields of central and eastern Libya. Protesters and local tribesmen were protecting several of the fields and facilities around the city, said one resident, Ahmed al-Zawi.

Residents are also guarding one of Libya's main oil export ports, Zuweita, and the pipelines feeding into it, he said. The pipelines are off and several tankers that had been waiting in the port to load left empty, said al-Zawi, who said he visited Zuweita on Tuesday morning.

The first major protests to hit an OPEC country — and major supplier to Europe — sent oil prices to $95.42 per barrel. Only a small amount of Libya's oil production appeared to have been affected, though analysts fear that revolts will spread to OPEC heavyweights like Iran. Libya holds the most oil reserves in Africa.

Two oil companies on Tuesday suspended production in the country: Italy's Eni — the biggest energy producer in Libya, producing about a quarter of its exports — and Spain's Repsol-YPF, which produced 34,777 barrels in the country last year, about 3.8 percent of national output. A string of international oil companies have begun evacuating their expatriate workers or their families.

In the eastern cities of Tobruk and Benghazi, protesters raised the pre-Gadhafi flag of Libya's monarchy on public buildings. Protesters over the weekend overran police stations and security headquarters in Benghazi, taking control of the streets.

In Benghazi, celebratory residents organized themselves into units to protect property and manage traffic after pro-Gadhafi forces fled, said Farag al-Warfali, a banker. A committee was set up to organize and distribute the use of weapons confiscated from government warehouses, recruiting policemen and officers to carry the weapons for city protection, fearing a new attack.

"These are his dying words. He is a criminal and is ready to do anything. But we are ready for him," al-Warfali said of Gadhafi's speech. "Besides, most of his officers have deserted him anyway. He only has the mercenaries left."

Since Sunday, the fiercest fighting has been in Tripoli, the center of Gadhafi's rule.

At least 62 people were killed in violence in the capital since Sunday, according to the New York-based Human Rights Watch, but it cautioned that that figure came from only two hospitals. That comes on top of at least 233 people killed across the so far in the uprising, counted by the group from hospitals around the country.

Tripoli residents on Tuesday were recovering from the militia rampage through multiple neighborhoods that began the night before and lasted until dawn. Some resident ventured out to find stores open for food, wary of militia attacks.

One man in his 50s said residents of his neighborhood were piling up roadblocks of concrete, bricks and wood to try to slow attackers. He said he had seen several streets with funeral tents mourning the dead.

The night before, he had spent barricaded in his home, blankets over the windows — sitting with a kitchen knife on the table in front of him — as militiamen opened fire in nearby districts.


Think about all that. Tell me all the bad shit you've had to say about America now. We've rested under a blanket of freedom and opportunity for so long that these things don't even seem possible to us. Things like this should make us fall so deeply more in love with our country that we get butterflies in our stomachs.


Buses unloaded militia fighters in several locations, he said. Others sped in vehicles with guns mounted on the top, opening fire, including at people watching from windows. "I know of two different families, one family had a 4-year-old who was shot and killed on a balcony in the eastern part of the city, and another lady on the balcony was shot in the head," he said.

He, like other residents, contacted by The Associated Press, spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation.

One of the heaviest battlegrounds was the impoverished, densely populated district of Fashloum. There, militiamen shot any "moving human being" with live ammunition, including ambulances, so wounded were left in the streets to die, one resident said.

He said that as he fled the neighborhood Monday night, he ran across a group of militiamen, including foreign fighters. "The Libyans (among them) warned me to leave and showed me bodies of the dead and told me: `We were given orders to shoot anybody who moves in the place,'" said the resident.

He and other residents described dozens of bodies still in the street at daybreak Tuesday.

The head of the U.N. human rights agency, Navi Pillay, called for an investigation, saying widespread and systematic attacks against civilians "may amount to crimes against humanity."


May?

Really gotta wonder about our species sometimes.

___

Associated Press writers Hamza Hendawi in Cairo; Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations; Colleen Barry in Milan, Italy; Matthew Lee in Washington; John Heilprin in Geneva; and Barbara Whittaker in New York contributed to this report.

Monday, February 14, 2011

ON AIR TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY MORNINGS

Bill and I will be doing fill-in shows for KTLK Minneapolis tomorrow and Wednesday mornings. 6 to 9 am central so that's 7 to 10 am Detroit time. Their website is www.ktlkfm.com for anyone who wants to listen that way. I always said I'd let you know when we'd be on someplace so there you have it, we're on someplace, lol.

Friday, February 11, 2011

Al Peterson's ntsmediaonline.com ran this story today and thought I'd share it. ntsmediaonline.com is one of the best trade publications for news talk radio and Al is an extremely cool guy. Thank you, Al.



"YOUR CAREER OR YOUR KIDS"


Although they’ve not been away long enough to warrant one of those proverbial “Where Are They Now?” features, it has been awhile since we’ve heard any news about former Detroit Talk duo Deminski & Doyle. Following a decade of individual solo on-air work, Jeff Deminski and Bill Doyle first hooked up as a team at New Jersey 101.5 (WKXW/Trenton) in 1994, where they spent the next five years hosting afternoon drive at the pioneering FM talker before making a move to The Motor City. There they spent just over eight years generating dominant numbers in afternoons at then “Hot Talk” WKRK-FM, opting to not renew their deal with the station when CBS Radio flipped it from Talk to Sports in 2007. After sitting out a 12-month non-compete, Deminski & Doyle resurfaced at crosstown Greater Media Classic Rocker WCSX where they hosted mornings for a year before all parties concluded that perhaps the duo’s show was not the best ‘fit” with the music-intensive radio station. Following an amicable parting, before long the pair got set for a move back to afternoons at a station in a major East Coast market. That’s when fate stepped in by way of an unexpected divorce for Jeff. Nevertheless, the duo continued moving forward on finalizing a deal with their soon-to-be-new radio home when Deminski received this ultimatum from his lawyer: “Make a choice, your career or your kids.” I caught up with Jeff this week to talk about the impact of that day, and to find out what’s next for the veteran Talk team.


Pick things up for us at the point where you left WCSX in early 2010.

That’s when the personal turmoil in my life first started. I don’t really want to talk about the whole divorce, but the filing had to take place in Michigan. Anyone who has been through that proceeding knows the term ‘change of domicile,’ meaning you can’t move more than 100 miles away when there are kids involved, unless you don’t care about being with your kids. The three things I loved most in my world was my job, my son and my daughter -- for me that was my life. Long story short, things turned into a pretty ugly custody fight and one day my lawyer sat across the table and said, “Jeff there is no way you are going to get a change of domicile unless you’ve first won primary custody. So you’ve got to decide right now, it’s your career or your kids.”

Wow, talk about getting a ton of bricks dropped on you.

Between radio and stand-up comedy, I have been doing what I do pretty much since I was a teenager. I always knew this is what I was meant to do. But once I had kids, I knew being a dad was the other thing I was meant to do, so this was truly ‘gut check’ time. My lawyer said I could take the weekend to think about it, but I told him there was nothing to think about -- there was no way I was ever going to leave my kids. I figured I chose the career I had, but they didn’t choose to be my son and daughter. They needed me, so it really didn’t matter what else I wanted at that point.

So the story has a pretty happy ending, right?

Yes, I was awarded custody of my children and the settlement we reached allows me to look for work anywhere. With all of that behind me, I’m now more passionate than ever about getting back on the radio. The toughest part of making that decision was that I honestly didn’t know how it would all end. I didn’t know if I’d get my kids and I didn’t know if I’d ever be able to get back on the radio after a year or so off. But now that I have my five-year old son, Jack and my four year old daughter, Mina, I know it was all worth it.

You have a partner, Bill Doyle, whose life and career have also been impacted by your situation, right?

I love that guy and his wife and kids, too. The hardest conversation I think I’ve ever had to have with anybody was the day I had to call Bill and tell him I couldn’t move to the new job we’d lined up, I had to stay in Detroit and fight for my kids. This is the guy who I’ve done great stuff with on the radio and have had wonderful chemistry with for over 15 years. Honestly, Bill’s the longest relationship I’ve ever had in my life. I told him I’d understand if he chose to move on without me, but he said he understood what I was doing and supported my decision. He said he would wait as long as he possibly could because his first priority was for us to work together again.


"The three things I loved most in my world

was my job, my son and my daughter."


Any regrets, anything you’d change about the decisions you’ve

made this past year?

No. I do wish I could’ve known more about the problems in my marriage before I did, and that I could’ve given my partner more warning. But for myself -- no I don’t regret anything. Even if things don’t turn out the way we hope they will, as long as I can take care of my kids -- whatever I have to do -- it’ll all have been worth it. My son brought home one of those arts and crafts projects from school the other day, a poster that says, ‘My hero is my daddy because he helps me and my sister and keeps us happy.’ If there were a fire in my house today, the one material thing I would grab on my way out would be that.

So, what’s next?

Well we’re hooked up with Gabe Hobbs who represents us. Gabe’s a great guy and he knows everybody, so I’m really optimistic about finding the right situation at the right company. We’re already talking to a few folks, but nothing concrete to tell you about right now. But having the legal ‘noose’ off my neck and knowing that we can relocate anywhere sure is a huge relief. No matter what, I know I did the right thing. We’re ready and charged up for a whole new challenge -- wherever that may be.

(You can reach Jeff Deminski at jeffdeminski@comcast.net)

©2011 NTS MediaOnline TM — All rights reserved. To subscribe visit www.ntsmediaonline.com


Tuesday, February 8, 2011

MOVING CREW

Can you call it a shout out if it's in print? Screw it...shout out
to former D&D listeners Eric and Joel who were on the moving
crew at my house today and are now Florida bound. It was Eric who pointed out to me that after all this time, the profile on this blog had my industry listed as 'accounting'.
It was one of those WTF moments, lol. I went on while they were still here
and sure enough, it did. No idea why. I changed it, and would like to now confirm that
at no time past nor present have I ever been bright enough to work as
an accountant.
Before anyone asks, no, it's not me who is moving to Florida. As soon as I hear any firm future plans for the D&D show I will be sharing it here. Also want to say thanks to everyone who reads this and huge thanks to those who were kind enough to comment on the last post. After the worst year I've had each one meant a hell of a lot. Thank you.