All The Best

My Dad died 3 days after New Years in 1994.

Today, November 21^st , is his birthday. He would have been 85.

I still miss him. I thank God everyday for him, and I thank him everyday for all that he gave me.

I wonder how he would have aged…Gracefully? Painfully?

He was an incredibly funny person (he performed with a comedy team in college and went on to write for Bob Hope and Red Skelton in the 50’s) so I often wish I could pick up the phone and see what he thought of some new movie or show on TV. Would he think that Jon Stewart or Stephen Colbert and their shows were funny? I think he would have appreciated them, though he was kind of old school comedy…Mel Brooks or the early Pink Panther films were really his style.

Besides a great sense of humor and a zest for life, Dad was kind, loving and giving. He was a creative and talented writer, and he had a great voice…sound like anyone you know?!

And, oh yeah…he was also one of the most amazing cooks you could have ever met. More than a cook, he was really a Master Chef! Everyone who ever had a meal in our house said he should have had his own cooking show! I don’t think anything gave him more pleasure than to create a meal and have family and friends gathered around the table…the more the merrier! Our kitchen and dining room were the loudest, most fun-filled rooms in the house!!

So that’s him in a nutshell…and me too!

I truly got all the best of him!

So, again, thank you God!

Thank you Dad!

You are missed every day.

Reenie

Thrill Ride

I was looking at a newspaper article from this past summer about The Lazard Group taking over Mapleton Communications. I saw a quote from Adam Nathanson from a few years back that said he was “thrilled” to be collaborating with Lazard. Well of course he was “thrilled”, at that time they were giving him a butt-load of money to buy up a bunch more radio stations!

I wonder if he’s still “thrilled” now that Lazard has taken controlling interest in Mapleton after they couldn’t pay back the loans….I mean, after all, it was because of Adam that this thrilling new business opportunity has come about!! I wonder if he still has that excited, wide-eyed, kid-in-a-candy-store look on his face now that he’s found out the candy ain’t so sweet!

More than likely Adam has his usual expression on his face, that of a deer-caught-in-the-headlights.

Well, actually, Adam is more likely the scapegoat-caught-in-the-headlights! I know that Adam is the one who seems to be in charge, who we see at the helm, who we Pigs interact with whenever it is that we interact with management…but if you look closer, you’ll probably notice his fathers hand in his back moving the mouth and shaking hands over deals.

Unfortunately, there is now another hand in the back controlling events…a hand that’s not family! I guess that’s why there has been little if any chatter from our corporate masters in recent months…they are busy nodding yes and trying to protect their phoney-baloney jobs!

That sound you hear is the quiet...right before the other shoe drops!

Big business…it’s so thrilling!!

Ralphie

Thanks Norton

Getting word that Norton Buffalo passed away yesterday. Very sad indeed.

Since the days listening to KFAT right up to today, he has been there always putting a smile on my face.

The day after Laura Ellen died when we were on the air celebrating her life (what a day that was!) Norton was one of many artists who called to share their condelences and stories, and he played Amazing Grace for Laura...I will have to dig that out and play it for him.

Thanks Norton...fly high!

Ralphie

Just kidding!

Beyond The Music

Back before I was a famous radio personality, I was a stand up comic. In the early seventies I started as a solo act, then I teamed up with my brother Terry. We called ourselves “Jeff & Stan”, because “Ralph & Terry” just sounded too much like some sort of stomach disorder! (Think about it, but don’t dwell on it!)

We played some of the hottest nightclubs with some of the biggest names in showbiz.


The summer we spent in Las Vegas headlining two shows a night at The Sands was really a turning point in our careers…We had the pleasure of working with two of the giants of the business, Chip & Dale.


It was kinda weird having Chip & Dale opening for us…I mean, these cats had been in the biz for years doing movies and TV and nightclubs before we came along. Their routines about nuts and berries were a little old fashioned, but they were polished and professional and well liked by the audiences….their act was completely opposite of the edgy drug humor that Stan and I were doing…it made for a very interesting evening of entertainment.


We bonded and hung out with Chip & Dale almost 24-7…Chip liked the booze and the broads, and Dale barley left the crap table, except to go out back with Stan and me to smoke a doobie or 2 or 5 before the show!

We were living large…the American Dream…Sammy Davis, Jr. started hanging out with us poolside and after the shows…and It was Sammy himself who dubbed us the New Rat Pack!

Stan became really close to our fuzzy opening act during our summer run in Vegas, and when the tour was over, Stan decided to leave the team and join Chip & Dale. They called themselves “3 Hairy Guys” (Hairy, by the way, was Dale’s real name!) and started doing and act that was a cross between the 3 Stooges and the edgy drug humor we had been doing. Sadly, they did only one tour, where they were booed off almost every stage, and then disbanded.



I went back to doing a solo act and had great success all throughout the seventies and eighties, until I was hired to work at KPIG in 1992.


Chip & Dale left the stage and opened a string of successful nightclubs featuring male dancers (turns out Chip didn’t really like the broads all that much).


And Stan…well, he lost his desire to perform, after winning the lottery!

There’s no biz like showbiz!


Ralphie

Traffic Trafficking

I drove my wife and her mother and sister to the airport in San Jose this morning. The traffic going over the hill wasn't bad, and I got back before the rain started!

Praise the Lord and pass the motorhome!

Aren't you glad you took the time to read this posting?!

(see posting from July 10th for disclaimer!)

Ralphie

Vacation Bla Bla Blog

Well here I am, on vacation. I did make my yearly pilgrimage to Monte Carlo...ahh the sites, the sounds, the smells!! I know you're thinking "Wow, that Ralphie is quite the jet-setter"...actually, Monte Carlo is THE best Italian Deli down in Beautiful Downtown Burbank. You can gain weight just going in and taking a deep breath....mmmm! Don't tell Cheri at the Healthy Way, but I took 2 deep breaths!! I'm such a naughty boy!

No other big plans for this vaction, which is good because on Thursday I started catching a cold. I finished catching it on Friday, and, well, here I am…sick as a dog…but not sick as a pig, just a regular old head cold!

The good news is at least I’m on vacation and don’t have to worry about getting up early and going to work when I feel like crap….the bad news is that I’M ON VACATION AND I’M SICK!!

Today I did make it to one of our planning meetings for our up coming Pearlington, Mississippi trip. It looks like we’ll be going for two weeks in December instead of just one…which is good because one week just didn’t seem like enough time to get ‘er done! Still hoping for donations from some of you Piggies, the blog down below has the address to send checks, and this year Brittany made it even easier to donate by setting up a PayPal account at her blog site http://www.ca2ms.blogspot.com/
For those of you who are actually lucky enough to still have a credit card…with a balance…just click where it says donate…and tell them it’s for Ralphie!

Actually, it’s for any number of people still digging out and rebuilding in Pearlington….you click, and I’ll do the rest! Remember, its tax deductable!

So…one more week off….I could get used to this…without the head cold of course!

Take care Pigs, and don’t forget the Purell!

Ralphie