Tuesday, August 30, 2005
That's a long day.
7am: I had to get up early this morning to take Sabrina (The best wife ever) to the hospital, so after 6 hours of sleep I got up and shuttled her down to Karmanos to start her new chemothearpy.
8am: I came stright home and got a shave and shower then headed downstairs to the recording studio. As some of you know I record the Chop Shop (my syndicated show) at my home studio. It's not very big, but it's a perfect little radio production suite. Anyway, I had to get my next show ready to go, that included mastering and duplication.
11am: With the studio work out of the way, I went to the upstairs office to take care of the show logs, CD labels, comericial logs and email.
12:30: I took a quick lunch break, which included getting all the finished cds labeled and ready to be shipped to my out of state Chop Shop affiliates.
1pm: Back in the studio to load and edit the next interview. I work 2 and a half weeks ahead so I was loading the Mike Mushock from Staind interview.
2pm: I had to get downtown for the Rolling Stones press conference.
3pm: We got checked in and walked out onto the field at the Copa. The media then had a question and answer sesion with the Stones tour production manager. The Q and A lasted 15 minutes. Then we took a few photograpghs.
3:30pm: Back at the hospital to pick up Sabrina who had to get some blood as well as the new chemo. This is the 5th different type of chemo she has had to endure. And let's not forget all the radiation, stem cell transplant and bone marrow transplant! Her will to live is amazing!
4:30pm: We get out of the hospital(Harper is where Karmanos is located) jsut in time to fight rush hour traffic north on 75. After a brief stop at the CVS and Lim's to get some chinese food we made it home by 5:20pm, that left me with about 20 minutes to eat.
5:45pm: I'm in for Meltdown this week so I had to get to the station and get ready to rock Detroit!
7pm: Rock Detroit (and the world at wrif.com)
midnight: My 17 hour day will conclude as soon as I make it home to get some sleep!
****Please note this is just a sample of a long day, not a bad day. The people who had to live through hurricain Katrina had a bad day.
+++++Sure we sometimes put in a ton of hours but we never forget that we get to do things like press tours, interviews and air shifts that other people can only dream about. It's still a thrill each and every time I get to open the mic. even at the end of a 17 hour day!
Black Out
¶ 7:14 PM
Monday, August 29, 2005
In for Meltdown
Hey all, this week I'll be rockin' the 'Rif from 7 to Midnight while Meltdown enjoys some vacation time. Add to that the 3 air-shifts I pulled over the weekend and this weenend's upcoming shifts as well as Labor Day and I'm on 12 stright days! awsome!
Black@wrif.com if you have something you need me to play during the Rip & Rock at 9 o'clock.
Black out.
¶ 6:24 PM
Thursday, August 25, 2005
'RIF Rocks with the Crue
 RED WHITE AND CRUE WINNER:
John from Dearborn wins the Motley Crue autographed Harley from ABC Harley and WRIF.
(3rd picture) WRIF Got started early. By 4:30 in the afternoon listeners were lined up to garb some WRIF "Motley Crue" stickers!
(2nd photo) Vince, Tommy and Nikki autograph the ABC Harley.
(Above) The 'RIF Crew with Motley Crue. (L to R) Maria, Tommy Lee, Mark Pennington, Nikki Sixx, Steve Black, Vince Neil, Jerremy Campbell and Mick Mars.
(Below) Motley Crue live. Good song selection, lots of fire and everything you would expect from a Motley Crue circus.
I got to watch the show with Nick Perri of Silvertide. We were about 15 rows back on the right side of the stage. Do you think Mick Mars needs a few more amps?
Black out
¶ 1:47 PM
Friday, August 19, 2005
ZZ Top
ZZ Top was just in town at the State Fair, and I was lucky enough to spend some time backstage with Billy Gibbons. Now most of you know ZZ Top is the 'lil 'ol band from Texas, but wow are these guys ever down to earth. They were even out crusin' Woodward the night before the show, check out the classic cars. I intervied Billy Gibbons (Guitarist) in his dressing room before the show. Billy was cookin' up a sizeable pot of chili with enough hot sauce to make a good man cry. We had a wonderful conversation. It will make a very nice edition of the Chop Shop (Sunday at 9 am on the 'RIF). Oh, did I mention one of the guys was bidding on a pig at the live animal auction. I can only guess what they would have done with a live pig while on tour? I have some great Chop Shop shows coming up. Chris Henderson from 3 Doors Down is my guest this week follow by John 5 next weekend. The Labor Day weekend special will be hosted by Mark Tremonti of Alter Bridge and Nick Perri of Silvertide. Then Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath and Billy Gibbons from ZZ Top! www.chopshopradio.com for more info. Black out.
¶ 3:55 PM
Thursday, August 11, 2005
Who wants to play Fantasy Football?
 I have put together a WRIF Fantasy Football League (WRIFFFL) at yahoo. This is a "just for fun" league (no money) where you the WRIF listener (and Black blogger) can take me and fellow listeners on in Fantasy Football.
The league is limited to 14 teams. So the next 13 people who email me at black@wrif.com are in. I'll sort through the eamil and shoot you back a responce with the leage name and password.
That's it. A little fantasy football fun with your favortie (or at least top 5) part-time, but nationaly syndicated 'Rif jock.......you might even win a t-shirt?
Black out.
¶ 5:30 PM
Wednesday, August 10, 2005
Dinner with Tiffany
Last night it was my pleasure to host a dinner with Playboy’s Playmate of the Year, Tiffany Fallon. WRIF gave away a dinner to a few lucky listeners at Jack’s Waterfront in St. Clair Shores with Tiffany & I, as well as tickets and a meet & greet with Warrant.
The dinner was great, (I had the Catfish) but the company was even better. CK, who put the whole thing together was awesome, the winners were very excited, and Tiffany was incredibly cordial, and conversational. I hope she enjoyed her first ever trip to the Detroit area and I look forward to seeing her again in 6 months at the Playboy, Super Bowl party.
Special thanks to all the police officers and security people who were on hand to keep everything rolling along without interruption.
Black Out.
¶ 3:33 PM
Saturday, August 06, 2005
A fun busy week
Last Tuesday the WRIF crew, including Meltdown, Mark Pennington and myself took a handful of winners out to race the guys from 3 Doors Down. We met at Kart to Kark on Van Dyke and had a great time.
Brad (Singer of 3DD) had the best times across the board, followed by Meltdown. My best time was 31.77, more than a full second behind both of them. My worst time was 55.05 seconds and featured a nice pile up. It happened when Sharkey, the 3DD tour manager had a spin out at the end of the straightway. I T-boned him at about 35 miles per hour.
Later that afternoon I sat down back stage with Chris Henderson (lead guitarist) and got some Chop Shop footage on my mini disc. Chris played some Avenge 7 Fold for me, he was way into the guitar work.
Thursday was Ozzfest. The highlights for me were talking to John5, Zakk Wylde and Tony Iommi.
John5 is a native Detroiter. He has played with Marylin Manson; David Lee Roth; K.D. Lang and has 2 solo cds out. He was at Ozzfest as Rob Zombie’s guitarist.
John climbed aboard the WRIF RV, and we got to talk about all kinds of different experiences he career has brought him.
Just after that I took Sabrina (my wife) over to meet Zakk Wylde. I’ve known Zakk for 12 years, I even took him to a Tigers game once while he was in town, but this was the first time Sabrina and he had met.
We were only on the bus for 5 minutes, just enough time to say hello and wish him the best.
The biggest thrill came later that evening. I sat down for a one on one conversation with Black Sabbath’s legendary guitarist Tony Iommi. Tony was polite, relaxed and very conversational.
The rest of the week was pretty busy as well. But that was the fun part.
Black Out.
¶ 1:44 PM
Thursday, August 04, 2005
New England reunion
As the 'RIF resident 80s expert, I thought it my duty to inform you that the band New England did a reunion show to a packed house in Boston recently.
New England had a top 40 hit "Don't Ever Wanna Lose Ya" that I play on "Amped on the 80s" from time to time.
If you are ever looking for some great rock & roll stories and the BEST FISH in town, you can find Gary Shea (Bass player) at Dublin Fish, on Hayes between 18 and 19 mile.
Gary has also played with Steve Vai, Yngwie Malmsteen in the band Alcatrazz.
here are some more details:
http://www.freep.com/features/food/cheap24e_20050524.htm
I'll keep you updated on any more New England news.
Black out.
¶ 9:54 AM
More free agent moves
Philadelphia Flyers - Signed unrestricted free agent forward Peter Forsberg.
Boston Bruins - Signed restricted free agent defenceman Brian Leetch.
Detroit Red Wings - Re-signed unrestricted free agent defenceman Mathieu Schneider.
Montreal Canadiens - Re-signed unrestricted free agent forward Alexei Kovalev. Signed unrestricted free agent defenceman Mathieu Dandenault.
Who can keep up?
http://tsn.ca/nhl/feature.asp?fid=10407
Black Out.
¶ 8:36 AM
Wednesday, August 03, 2005
Yzerman signs, NHL players on the move:
 The Captain agreed to one more year with the Red Wings at a base salary of 1.25 million. Other Red Wings however have found new homes, including Darren McCarty who will play the next 2 seasons in Calgary. Darren Hatcher signed a 3 year deal with the Flyers.
Some other big names on the move include the trade of Chris Pronger to Edmonton for Eric Brewer and 2 others; Sergie Gonchar who heads to Pittsburgh and Pavol Demitra who will play in L.A. Here is a link to all the details.
http://tsn.ca/nhl/feature.asp?fid=10407
Black out.
¶ 1:51 PM
Monday, August 01, 2005
Chop Shop Hall of Fame opens
It was brought to my attention by a few guitar players that "It really sucks that there is no Hall of Fame for guitar players". I couldn’t agree more, so I opened the Chop Shop Hall of Fame.
In July music fans from across the globe cast their votes and to no ones surprise Jimi Hendrix has become the first ever inductee. You can check out the exclusive art work, bio and All-Star salute to jimi at www.chopshopradio.com/hall_of_fame.html
The August poll is also up and running. Eddie Van Halen has a slight lead over Dimebag Darrell at the moment.I’ll let you know when the Pod-casts start, it should be very soon.
Black out.
¶ 2:58 PM
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