Friday, September 29, 2006

Same Bat Time, Same Bat Channel…But New Co-Host! Plus Credits to Give Away


I must say I haven’t been as psyched for a radio show as I am for tonights in a long time.  Why, you may ask? Because I’m proud to introduce my new co-host, DJ Danelle!

Danelle brings a cutting edge new sound to the show, adding a thorough knowledge of alternative music to my existing music library, adding newer, cutting edge music into the mix and allowing us to play some of the better alternative requests I have been receiving. Add in that her voice will turn any guy’s knees weak in like 2 seconds flat, and she’s going to be a great addition to the show!

This means tonight’s show, which starts at 9pm est will be filled with energy and fun, and I hope you’ll be along for the ride. The request pages are up and have approximately 8500 songs for you to choose from, including a whole bunch of new tracks, so feel free to go to BigDawgRadio, turn on the tunes, and request a whole bunch of songs!

Plus, if you don’t find what you’re looking for on the request pages, just ask for it in the chat rooms. I will be hanging out in two chat rooms tonight: the BlogExplosion Shoutbox and the 3 Paws Saloon Chat. Plus, you can add your request as a comment here, or at BigDawgRadio’s Shoutbox. Wherever you add it, DJ Danelle and I will play it.

Not only that, but I’m so psyched about tonight’s show, I have 2000 BE credits to give away throughout the night, with no rhyme or reason to how I will dole them out.  One easy way to get credits is to give me some suggestions here for artists that I should add into the request pages; I’ll definitely reward good suggestions!

So tune in for the fun! We’ll play for 4 hours with the goal of playing nothing but requests the whole way.  Why?  Because this is your station, BigDawgRadio.  And, in the immortal words of the Big Dawg….AWOOOOF! See you tonight.

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Posted by Scottage at 11:50 AM / | |  

Thursday, September 28, 2006

T.O. : Suicide or Searching for Sympathy?


The soap opera called “The Life and Times of Terrell Owens” is on again. This time, T.O. claims to have attempted suicide. No wait, check that, he claimed to have over dosed on pain killers. Nope, hold the presses, it was an allergic reaction.

Terrell Owens has proven a few things over his NFL career. First, there is no question he’s an amazing receiver. Second, he loves one person and one person alone: Terrell Owens. Third, and perhaps foremost, he loves only one thing more than Terrell Owens: that is the attention that the media provides the star-studded receiver.

Owens came to Philly with some demand, as he is an extremely talented receiver. Still, many teams shied away from him because of his off-the-field antics that served as a distraction for his first team, the San Francisco 49ers. He brought both the talent and the controversy to Philly, with his talent elevating the level of play to Super Bowl caliber but then dividing and destroying a team that was on the cusp of greatness for years.

T.O found much less demand this year, after Philly refused to work with him any longer. Only two teams would even consider taking the ultra-talented receiver, and he wound up going to Bill Parcels-led Dallas, where there was certainly the talent around him to show off his incredible skills. One problem, though: Bill Parcels is all about team, and will never let an individual’s antics overshadow the team.

During the off-season, Owens was a distraction with his phantom hamstring injury that remarkably healed when Parcels moved from public criticism to docking his paycheck. During the first game, T.O. played really well, and looked like a serious asset for Dallas. The only problem was that the media hardly focused on Owens. So we knew there would be problems.

Week 2, Owens breaks a finger during the game, but stays in the game, dropping a ton of passes and looking not-so-good. You can see the shock on his face in the press conferences when the questions are asked about his perhaps selfishness in playing as opposed to his courage in playing through the injury. He focuses on his remarkable healing skills, and how he’ll be back ahead of schedule.

During the bye week, it must have been ultimate frustration to Owens to have Parcels deflect questions about the receiver, just indicating that he is healing nicely, and going no farther. I can imagine him now trying to figure out how to drag the spotlight back over to camp Owens. Well, he found a way.

It’s no surprise that Owens was depressed, since no one was talking about him. He probably thought that the suicide angle would give him lots of publicity, until he realized that NFL rules would prohibit him from playing until he had a complete psychological analysis and was cleared by a shrink. Then it’s an OD, but oh no, drug policies prohibit that. So it’s an allergic reaction.

You bet it’s an allergic reaction: T.O. is allergic to being out of the spotlight. Any time the attention isn’t focused on him, he does whatever he has to do to pull the spotlight back in his direction, and later lets the people who work for him pick up the pieces. So to everyone who has followed this story, you’ve just been played by Camp Owens. Me too. Maybe sooner or later I’ll wise up, and realize you can’t trust anything he says.

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Posted by Scottage at 10:38 AM / | |  

T.O. : Suicide or Searching for Sympathy?


The soap opera called “The Life and Times of Terrell Owens” is on again. This time, T.O. claims to have attempted suicide. No wait, check that, he claimed to have over dosed on pain killers. Nope, hold the presses, it was an allergic reaction.

Terrell Owens has proven a few things over his NFL career. First, there is no question he’s an amazing receiver. Second, he loves one person and one person alone: Terrell Owens. Third, and perhaps foremost, he loves only one thing more than Terrell Owens: that is the attention that the media provides the star-studded receiver.

Owens came to Philly with some demand, as he is an extremely talented receiver. Still, many teams shied away from him because of his off-the-field antics that served as a distraction for his first team, the San Francisco 49ers. He brought both the talent and the controversy to Philly, with his talent elevating the level of play to Super Bowl caliber but then dividing and destroying a team that was on the cusp of greatness for years.

T.O found much less demand this year, after Philly refused to work with him any longer. Only two teams would even consider taking the ultra-talented receiver, and he wound up going to Bill Parcels-led Dallas, where there was certainly the talent around him to show off his incredible skills. One problem, though: Bill Parcels is all about team, and will never let an individual’s antics overshadow the team.

During the off-season, Owens was a distraction with his phantom hamstring injury that remarkably healed when Parcels moved from public criticism to docking his paycheck. During the first game, T.O. played really well, and looked like a serious asset for Dallas. The only problem was that the media hardly focused on Owens. So we knew there would be problems.

Week 2, Owens breaks a finger during the game, but stays in the game, dropping a ton of passes and looking not-so-good. You can see the shock on his face in the press conferences when the questions are asked about his perhaps selfishness in playing as opposed to his courage in playing through the injury. He focuses on his remarkable healing skills, and how he’ll be back ahead of schedule.

During the bye week, it must have been ultimate frustration to Owens to have Parcels deflect questions about the receiver, just indicating that he is healing nicely, and going no farther. I can imagine him now trying to figure out how to drag the spotlight back over to camp Owens. Well, he found a way.

It’s no surprise that Owens was depressed, since no one was talking about him. He probably thought that the suicide angle would give him lots of publicity, until he realized that NFL rules would prohibit him from playing until he had a complete psychological analysis and was cleared by a shrink. Then it’s an OD, but oh no, drug policies prohibit that. So it’s an allergic reaction.

You bet it’s an allergic reaction: T.O. is allergic to being out of the spotlight. Any time the attention isn’t focused on him, he does whatever he has to do to pull the spotlight back in his direction, and later lets the people who work for him pick up the pieces. So to everyone who has followed this story, you’ve just been played by Camp Owens. Me too. Maybe sooner or later I’ll wise up, and realize you can’t trust anything he says.

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Posted by Scottage at 10:38 AM / | |  

Sunday, September 24, 2006

Some Promise for the Future, or Precursors to Doom?


For those of you who don’t know, today is Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year.  It’s a time to reflect on the year just ended, and the future. It is unquestionably a scary time, a time with great dangers around every corner.  But it also may be a time with great promise, for the Jewish people, Israel, and the world at large.

I have a strong belief, which I have discussed here in the past, that we are coming to a cross roads, that we are coming to a better tomorrow, but that we have to move through a lot of strife and hardship to get there.  Certain speeches surrounding the UN General Assembly led to hope along this front.  But the question, the ultimate question, is do I believe these speeches.

For example, I have always felt disdain for Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.  I was encouraged, however, by his plan to provide low-cost heating fuel to lower-income Americans in 17 states, upping the export of low-cost heating oil from 40 million gallons to 100 million gallons.  And I love his reason: while Chavez has made no bones about his issues with Bush, he says the American people “are our friends”.  "We're sharing the bread to try to live a bit better, with solidarity."

I have read Chavez’ statements, and have always been unimpressed, to say the least.  But so many times I’ve seen the biased media alter the statements of public officials, perhaps Chavez is correct in his assertion that the Bush administration has tried to villainize him as he has done so many opponents.  I would not put it past this administration.  It all comes down, I suspect, to who do you trust?

On Thursday, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal spoke of a consensus among the Arab countries to restart the Middle East peace process.  Faisal spoke for a 15 member Arabic council, and indicates a clear break between the consensus of the majority of Arabic countries and the most radical governments in the region.  Perhaps most surprising, Iran and Venezuela, along with Cuba, Indonesia, and Malaysia have indicated a desire to co-sponsor the resolution.

"We have found for the first time probably a consensus that is very significant about the need for restarting the peace process.”  He said the Arab countries wish for a revived peace process that would "concentrate on the important issues, rather than the process itself. In other words, the final status negotiations, the border, Jerusalem, Palestinian rights and so on."


Once again, it leads to one question, one very basic question: do I trust the coalition? Do you?  Do we really believe that the Arabic countries are ready to seek out peace with Israel?    Maybe Faisal is honest when he indicates that the issues have always existed with the Israeli government, and never with the Israeli people. It falls in perfectly with my belief that the governments are dividing the Jewish and Muslim people.  But is it really true?

Readers of this blog know that I practically froth at the mouth at the mere mention of Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.  I fear there is no more dangerous person in the world today. But some of the words he said on Tuesday struck a chord that resonated within me. Could it be that the media has painted an erroneous picture of the Iranian leader?

“The U.S. government thinks that it’s still the period after World War II,” Ahmadinejad said in an interview with Brian Williams, anchor and managing editor of “NBC Nightly News,” a mindset that led Bush to believe that he “can rule, therefore, over the rest of the world.”  But “the world has changed,” he said. “Nations are awakened now. They want their rights — equal rights, and fair ones. The time for world empires has ended.”


At least when it comes to Ahmadinejad, I feel confident that this is not a leader that we can trust, that he will use words whenever possible to effect an outcome that serves his interests.  But what about the other leaders mentioned here?

Certainly the strife I spoke of earlier may be just around the corner.  I believe that the protest against the Pope’s recent comments, referring to Islam as a violent religion, will be the first of many comments. In fact, don’t be surprised if these protests dwarf the Mohammed Cartoon protests.  And the Hezbollah victory rally may be the harbinger of a new empowerment for radical groups in the region.

However, I do believe that we are at a crossroads today, and that we are moving closer to a situation where the people of the world will begin to work together towards a brighter tomorrow.  I also believe that some leaders will emerge that will help guide us towards these ends. But are these the leaders?

Are leaders like Chavez, Ahmadinejad and Faisal simply exploiting a future many people see to take advantage of the evolving society, and creating the hardships that jeapordize this future? Again, the question that has to arise is who do you trust?  I don’t have the answer, but I think these are important questions!

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Posted by Scottage at 2:14 AM / | |