Remodeling The Juan Bodley Way...

Whoever let me have the saw was nuts. Thanks Dad!!

We cut more lumber out of that place than Weyerhouser, Georgia Pacific and Holmes Lumber Co. had all together.

And let me praise the Stihl Company for their fine instruments of timber destruction. Go get one today and show your loved ones your inner lumberjack.

By the way I cut down A LARCH...

The Time Is Closing In FAST...

When you know you're going to do something BIG you usually really WANT to do it or you dread the thought...

For me it's moving BACK TO WHERE I DON'T WANT TO GO...

And remodeling a house. It's a pain. It's a piece of shit house, built by someone who had NO BUSINESS building it but (of course) he did anyway. (It's Backhoe Bill's old house if you really care.)

So the time is coming faster. More space, farther away from Fort Wayne, no Internet, no cable, no women (not yet,) so I'm not looking forward to it.

Updates to come.

Adieu Bob Chase

This morning there was a grand gathering of legends, friends, admirers and co-workers of Bob Chase at 2915 Maples Road, home of the studios of WOWO radio.  This morning, after 50 plus years in the studio, in different locations, Bob put the cans to rest, pushed the microphone away at 9 AM, and I hate to say it, the old era of radio has been ushered to the ether of past memories.

Bob was a member of a fraternity that has its hallmarks in the beginning of broadcasting, when WOWO and WGL were just starting.  He came to Fort Wayne in the 50s and stayed, and will still be here when tomorrow comes, just not on the air.  (Yes he'll still do Komet games.  I want to do Komet games, but I don't think they want me.)  Now it's more "how many gigabytes can we get of music storage in the main song computer?" than "hey turntable number 2 has a broken stylus."  Transmitters run themselves for days, sometimes months before they see an engineer; when Bob started out there were not only full time engineers, some never LEFT THE TRANSMITTER.  Now you'd be lucky to find some engineers who ACUTALLY KNOW WHERE THEIR TOWER IS LOCATED.  Radio and television are different horses now.  TV at one time had more local programming than network and radio was more dependent on their networks for music than they played locally; in a lot of cases they didn't have the equipment to play music from their studio.  Now some stations are a "jukebox;" that is, there's a computer for song, commercial, and promo playback, MAYBE a console SOMEWHERE in a studio big enough to be a closet in another setting, and a few sales staff or a receptionist floating around.  (The station I used to work at here in Fort Wayne is a studio somewhat similar to the one I just mentioned; it happens to be down the hall from the studios of 1190 AM, WOWO, at the same 2915 Maples Rd. - now automated with ESPN.)

Bob, enjoy retirement.

If I could share a Pepsi with you sometime and hear the tales of radio past, it would be an honor, sir.  Can't wait for the puck to drop next season.   "And on WOWO, KOMET HOCKEY!!" 

Going Because She Showed Up...

After the first neighbor lady and I had a "falling out" over something I won't discuss here, I became very distrustful of the neighborhood I live in and the people living there.  Too many punk youth and (could be) gangbangers, the hip-hop youth, and just too much bullshit for me to deal with.

So here's a question...

What do you do when your new next-door neighbor is a 20-something lush??  And 3 years before your neighbor (in the same apartment) was a 40-something lush who almost ruined your life??  How do you learn to trust ANYONE again?  How do you learn to interact with her 5 beers an hour BFFs and attached boy-toy manfriends AND STILL GET SOME SLEEP AT NIGHT???

(Friday afternoon I came homw to a new neighbor and within the first 5 minutes she confesses she just got an OWI and her brother kicked her out the same week...and then THAT NIGHT she has a physical "play-fight" with one of her guy friends that was knocking shit off MY apartment walls...)

ALL I CAN SAY IS "WHAT THE FUCK, MAN?????!!!!!!???????"

Who Went And Decided Things Could Go FUBAR??

There's been some things going on that have me questioning just what the hell is normal anymore.  When the benchmarks that you use to keep your mind centered get skewed by the magnetic storm around you then you really need to stop and burrow yourself into a safe place and take stock of hearsay and rumors and truth and all the other fodder being shot at you.

Then and only then can you say "man I am still fucked up by all of this."

Then and only then can you say "man I want a beer.  It better be a cold beer."

There's one factor that makes me think a lot differently than a lot of people: the way I see the world.  And I don't mean vision.  I've been burnt enough by asshole pricks and other fucking morons that I tend to be ultra-pessimistic before I engage in debate on a subject, and other times I've heard it so much I just don't give a damn anymore.  Right now I'd rather just fester in anger in a remote corner and fear the worst but I guess nobody wants to let me do that.  So I'll just drink a beer or 2 or 3 cases and wait for the next disaster to come calling (Rush Limbaugh declares himself a god and half the country says OK...)

Wake me up when the Schlitz blitz or Blatz blast or PBR please be repulsed hour has passed...

Indy Cincy Chi-town... How The Hell Do I Pay Attention??

OK it's baseball season and the Redlegs are doing good.  Pitching is holding on the starts, but the Reds offense can't seem to close games.  (Game of note: last night in interleague against in-state competitors (but American League) Cleveland Indians.)

[ NOTE: right now I'm distracted by the Danica Patrick video on godaddy.com ]

The Indy 500 is underway...strange I'm blogging while the race is on but that's what yellow flags are for, even when it's LAP ONE!!!  Marco Marco Marco you seem to have inherited Mario's bad luck.  I have hope for Danica and also a warm bed :-) and also I'm holding out hope for a GREAT race for the John Andretti team, with car ownership courtesy of John's longtime NASCAR car owner King Richard Petty.  Yep the number 43 in Petty blue runs at the 2009 Indianapolis 500.

And ABOVE ALL the Chicago Blackhawks are STILL PLAYING HOCKEY!!!  They're holding their own against the mega-juggernaut that is the Detroit Red Wings.  (I've been paying attention and been a fan since I was in high school; the Hawk games were always on the Chicago channels and we had cable TV at the radio station.)  Toews, Cam Barker, Ben Eager, the boys are hitting hard and crashing the net.  Put the biscuit in the basket, put on the foil, win a few more games and you'll be playing Stanley Cup finals hockey!!!  GO HAWKS!!!!

Bob Chase

It was announced this past week that legendary WOWO sports director Bob Chase, also the longtime voice of the Fort Wayne Komets, will retire June 5th.

I have said it before that there are only 2 men whose voices I've listened to consistently since I was a young boy: WLW and Cincinnati Reds play by play man Marty Brenneman and WOWO's Bob Chase.  They don't fall into the traps of the "cute" calls and "make it up as you go" catch phrases (like Dick Vitale ect.) but instead they understand the game and you become a part of it.  Fortunately for Komet fans Bob is NOT quitting the game broadcasts.  (Hey Bob can I be your understudy??  I need a job...)

Bob Chase.  A man's man, a family man, a real man.

Enjoy the fine life of retirement Bob.  We'll miss you on the air, but we'll see you around town.  Toast to Bob.

Juan Bodley's Tech Update!!!

Now Fort Wayne has entered the new digital era...

WFFT this week has powered up their DTV signal.  They're on 36.1 so don't be surprised when 55.1 is blank...if you're on an outside antenna in the greater Fort Wayne area, even down to (probably) Marion or (stretching) Muncie and elsewhere you should be seeing your favorite NASCAR coverage in 1080p Fox coverage.  When all the stations drop their analog rigs and go to total DTV then it would be time to readjust your antennas and get a new TV.

Just a quick word from the Juan Bodley Tech Center.

Things I Didn't Know About And Didn't Really Care...

OK so Mr. Trump has forgiven the Miss California contestant who also happens to be a Jesus Freak Bitch-a-zoid.  She's a slut in angel's robes; you heard it from me first.

She ought to team up with Ann Coulter and see which one of the cunt whores gets shot first, or maybe team up with Randall Terry and see if all 3 can go out in a blaze of glory (for whoever gets them first!!!)  Juan Bodley predicts fire in the sky and free Jack Daniels for all when that happens!!!

If ya haven't figured it out yet, I HATE people like Ann Coulter and Randall Terry; that is, people who THINK they can stand on a pillar of ivory and gold and proclaim to the (misguided) masses that they are THE source of right and wrong in the world.  THEY ARE NOT.  Put Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck and that douchebag from Fox News in there...Bill O'Reilly.  Somewhere in a closet they are ALL hiding truths about their pasts...Ann C. probably has had 3 or 4 kids cut off short and Randall Terry probably was a pot smoking free loving hippie with a scorching case of herpes that cooked the logic controlling side of his brain so now he just drives around the Midwest (along with those motherfuckers from that church in Kansas or wherever that says "God Hates Fags" at every chance they get) in a van that should be BLOWN TO HELL.

These people are the reason that I'm glad that I CAN THINK FOR MYSELF AND I'M NOT SWAYED BY NUMBNUTS IN CHARGE.  Somebody do the world a favor and go stick an M-80 in Ann Coulter's vibrator...

McRib Is Out and I'm Lickin' The Wrapper...

OK so it's a Tuesday (Cinco de Mayo) and I HATE MAYO.  Hold the damn mayo.

The Blackhawks are on TV, they're losing (they'll go down 2-1 in the Western Conference semis to Vancouver if they do...not good since they're also playing at HOME.)

IndyCar holds pole qualifications for the Indianapolis 500 on Saturday so I'm warming up to sing like Jim Neighbors on race day...

Last week the car wouldn't start; I complained in here about it and the fact that Pontiac is going to be shuttered.  Truthfully I am royally surprised they didn't do it in the '70s during the fuel crisis.  I'm not happy when things I am responsible for go to hell in a bucket but what the hell...

Now it's running OK and I'll rub it's belly for luck once in a while.

The best thing to happen since the daytime temp went above 60 degrees was that McDonald's brought out the McRib in a deal that I can't pass on: value meal for 4 bucks.  Problem is Boss of the Tool Bitch won't eat there or I'd be working on barbecue sauce and pork byproducts.  Damn him.