Review of my Summer

Well, summer is almost over and the only thing I have to say is...FINALLY! Personally, it felt like a very long summer. I'm use to having a very busy and stressful life, and for some reason I like that. The last couple of summers I've had a job and an internship, and during high school I had summer marching band. This year's summer was a little more relaxed.

In May, I was hired as Station Manager at WWSP. When having that position I have to stay in Stevens Point for the summer. Since I might get a call at any time of day, I quit my job at ShopKo. They were barely giving me any hours, and I was starting to get upset with them. Financially I was not making a lot, so I didn't live my usual lifestyle of eating out and going to the bars all the time (which did save me some money). I stayed at my apartment a lot sitting in front of my computer checking out the Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Hulu, etc. Sometimes I would just go to 90fm, work on little projects and just hang around.

I was also fortunate enough to get an internship this summer. I was interning for Wisconsin Public Radio, working at the office in Wausau every Thursday. Most of my responsibilities were to create and run a Facebook and Twitter page for our regional talk show Route 51. I never thought I would be doing this, but I learned so much about social media. Now I have a new appreciation for Facebook and (especially) Twitter. I also help produce Route 51 every week, and every once in a while I would do other little jobs. I also got to be part of a Social Media Committee. That was really cool because I was trying to help improve the social media for the whole network of WPR. One of the coolest things that I got to do was when I got to go to court to see the Dale Neumann trial. I followed our the news reporter, Glen Moberg, and see what he would do during the trial and then I saw how he made his 90 second news package. The one thing I have to say about that trial is that Dale Neumann is a PSYCHO! Even though I can't go up to the Wausau office, I'm going to continue helping WPR with social media and I get to help out with WPR shows by making an ISDN connection to other studios when a guest from Stevens Point will be on a show. I'm so glad I got to be a part of WPR because it was a new side of radio that I have not experienced. I have been in college radio, community radio, and commercial radio. I'm really considering to look for a job with a public radio station when I graduate college. I'm not concerned what I door where I go, but I definitely want to keep radio in my life.

I also went to a few good shows this summer down in Madison like Black Moth Super Rainbow, No Deachunter, Daniel Johnston, and Neil Hamburger. But the big adventure was going to Bonnaroo in Manchester, Tennessee. 15 hour trip from Point was kind of long. But you get to camp out, the people are really friendly, and you get to hear a lot of great music. I believe I got to see Passion Pit, Dirty Projectors, Animal Collective, Santigold, Al Green, Crystal Castles, Girl Talk, Raphael Saadiq, Of Montreal, Decemberists, Tobacco, Ted Leo, Okkervil River, and Snoop Dog. I went with some good friends, and had the best time ever. Too bad it cost a lot and I was basically dirt poor after that weekend. Overall, it was a pretty good summer, just not the best compared to previous years. I'm ready for my last year of school to start, and hoping it's going to be a great year.

A Weekend of Laughs, Booze, and Vomit

I took a trip to Madison this past weekend for a couple of reasons. To see Neil Hamburger, and to celebrate my friend, Nathaniel's, 21st birthday. Thursday night we went to see comedian Neil Hamburger. He is known as "America's Funny Man." He likes to make jokes about celebrities and musicians. Some of his favorites are Michael Jackson, Madonna, and Red Hot Chili Peppers. A lot of his punch lines are not really funny. There more like statements that make you say, "I can't believe he just said that." The best part about Neil Hamburger is his delivery of the jokes. He likes to clear his throat, and will yell, "WHY!," (clears throat), "What did..." And he always has three drinks with him. One in his hand and the others tucked between his arm and chest. If you're a person who can forget about your morals for a couple of hours, I would definitely recommend seeing Neil Hamburger.

Friday was Nathaniel's birthday. We spent the day on state street, grabbing a bite to eat, smoking cigars and bought some records. I only got the new Fiery Furnaces album, I'm Going Away, while Nathaniel got Burial, two Aphex Twin records, the sounds of Africa, Whale Sounds, and Bruce Springsteen's Born in the USA. The custom in Madison for your 21st birthday is to go to the Nitty Gritty Restaurant, where the birthday boy/girl gets free drinks. We stayed there for a while eating, drinking, and having a good time. We stayed til the end of the power hour. We then head to another traditional bar, Brats where you get these big fish bowls filled with booze and bright colors. After that our trip took the group to Wondos (sp?). I was excited because I found out that they had Point Nude Beach on tap. So after countless drinks we had to go home, and not because we were tired or bar close. Apparently just Nathniel and I were not oklay (Yes I purposely typed oklay, inside joke).

This is what I was told what happened, because I had no recollection by this point. Nathaniel got kicked out of the bar, because he was falling asleep on the bar. While Nathaniel was outside, he almost got picked up by a cop, but thankfully a couple of my friends got him and took a cab home. While that happened the rest of us were in Wondo's and decided we had to go home, because I wasn't looking so good. We started walking home on State Street, and I decided to vomit on some plants, right when cops were strolling the streets. We finally got home and I quickly went to visit my good friend John (the toilet). I spent good time there showing my friend John what I ate and drank during the day. I passed out on John too, for a little bit, and then show John some more food that I had. Then it was bed time.

After a fun night, the following day was just as fun minus 1,000,000. I was feeling so bad, and I just laid around on a couch for most of the day. Periodically I made more visits to my friend John. Lesson learned, don't date seventeen year old girls. Anyways, I had a great weekend and I always love coming home to visit and hang out with some of the best friends that I have. It was a good way to start the weekend before school starts.

Daniel Johnston Concert

Last Friday 8/15 I went to Turner Hall in Milwaukee to see Danie Johnston. I was not expecting to go, but hours before a concert my friend Val called me and bought one to many tickets and asked if I'd go. Boy she's lucky I never do anything, so I went.
The concert started with this older gentleman from Michigan playing on his acoustic guitar. He only played five songs and that was nice.
The next band, was a local band called the Candliers. I really liked them. They had your "normal band" setup along with a horn player and a banjo player. The male and female vocalists were both really good giving every song a nice full sound.
Up next was the famous Daniel Johnston. Now I will admit, I didn't know much about him, except the music that we have of him at 90fm. But because I've heard of him and I love going to concerts, it was hard not to pass up this opportunity. I'm sure a lot of people probably won't like him because he is a little "out there," but Daniel Johnston has gone through a lot in his life having mental health issues. Even though his music is so simplistic, it was one of the most interesting concerts I've ever watched. He first started with an acoustic set, he played some guitar and then a college friend who tours with him finished the set on the guitar with Daniel just singing. Then they took a break, which I thought was weird since at the time he hasn't played for very long. During the break (of course) I got myself another PBR Tallboy (refreshing!). When Daniel Johnston came back from his break the Candliers came out on stage with him as his backing band. The female vocalist had a binder of the Daniel Johnston songs that the band knew how to play. The dissapointing part of the concert was Daniel Johnston started singing "Speeding Motorcycle" (the one song I actually knew), and the Candliers didn't know how to play it. Daniel Johnston said, "Aren't we playing this song?" The band shook their hands. The crow was not very happy. But the rest of the show was great. The Candliers did a great job playing with Daniel Johnston.
Before leaving I bought one of Daniel Johnstons CD's, "Late Great Daniel Johnston." It was the last CD they had too. It is a really neat album. The first CD consists of covers of Daniel Johnston done by a lot of great artists such as M. Ward, Tom Waits, and TV on the Radio. The second CD are all the originals of the covers on the first CD. I've been listening to that lately.
After driving around Milwaukee, getting some delicious pizza, and some sight seeing we got home at 3:30am. I was tired, but had a great time. If only Stevens Point could get the shows Milwuakee does. I would then have no reason to move away.

My First Blog Entry

Hello everyone. Well, I decided to create a blog for myself. Why? I don't know, why not? I've been trying all different things on the internet (facebook, twitter, and linkedin). So I thought would be cool to start a blog and share my long winded thoughts for those who might read this blog. I'm not try to be fancy, or updating this everyday, but this is certainly worth trying, espically since my life will be going through some changes. And it's not puberty (ha ha).

I'll be a senior at UWSP, with a pretty easy last year of school. I've spent my college years at WWSP 90FM. Last year I was the Promotions Director, and now I'm the Station Manager. I'm a little worried, because I have more responsibilities and I'm worried that the rest of the staff will take me seriously as Station Manager.

I've been interning at Wisconsin Public Radio, which has been great. I've done mostly social media work, but some other odd jobs here and there. Anyways, I will probably still be helping them during the school year. I will talk about WPR later.

Even though school hasn't even started yet, I've already been thinking what will I being doing when school ends, and where? Sure I have an idea what I want to do, but is it realistic? Plenty of time until I have to make these decisions.

I've had enough and let's see if this whole blogging thing goes well.