The show will start airing this Saturday at 11:00am Pacific.  We’re starting with just half an hour and see how things go.  It’s free to listen, by the way, and if you miss the live show, my understanding is that podcasts will be available shortly after the show airs, so you can listen whenever you want.

From our semi-official propaganda…

        Teresa See has always had something of a "Psychic Twinkle"
        and was very delighted to find a way--through Mediumship--to
        help people connect with those they feel they have Lost to
        "Death."

        She loves being able to help all people say what needs to be said         to those who have passed "beyond the Veil" to the Afterlife and         she loves to bring messages of Continuing Love, Light, &
        Comfort from those Beloved Ones (both Human AND animal)             on the Other Side.

        Most of All--Teresa loves to teach others and to help them
        connect with Spirit & spirits so that their souls may heal and
        grow.

        Ken Kessler has always been interested in psychic phenomena,
        and like Mulder on the X-Files, wants to believe.  But like most,
        he tends to look for, and accept, rational explanations.

        At least, he did, until some recent events tipped the scales!

        Now, while he may lean a little more heavily to the spiritual
        side, he still finds skepticism a lot easier than belief!

You find out more RIGHT HERE.  Actually, what you’ll find out there is the same as the above.  But, that’s also the same link where you’d listen, so you could go and bookmark it so you don’t forget!

Looking forward to seeing how all this works, and to hearing what you think (or what you want to know).  In fact, if you’d like to submit a question for Teresa now, you can leave it as a comment on this blog!

Oh, just so you know, our show will not be like this…

…but it’s still funny!

Ken

Thanks again for making my mom smile today.

Ken

For example, back in 1984 (and into 1985), Bruce Springsteen’s “Born In The USA” album spawned seven singles.  Every one of those was a top ten hit.  My favorite songs off that album aren’t any of those seven, though.  They are “No Surrender”, “Bobby Jean” and “Workin’ On The Highway”.

I owned the record, of course.  Since it went 15 times platinum (platinum is a million sales), there’s a chance you did, too (or at least, someone you know owned it).  But I grew to really love those three songs from hearing them on the radio.

I still really like them, though I couldn’t even begin to guess when a radio station played them last.  For that matter, you don’t really hear those seven hit singles any more, either, at least not most of them.  “I’m On Fire” is suddenly getting a lot of airplay on a station here, so there’s a pretty good chance that a station near you is playing it all of a sudden, too.

A lot of stations these days “test” the music they play.  They do tests over the phone or in auditoriums, with a couple hundred people who fit the demo of their station.  This isn’t just a 2013 phenomenon; it’s been going on for years and years.  That’s why you can travel from town to town and coast to coast, and find stations that play almost the exact same music.

Of course, this doesn’t apply to every single station in America.  But it applies to a lot of them.  Too many.  They become afraid of playing a song that doesn’t test well, or they go the other way and get very excited about a song that does test well.  That’s how a song that you haven’t heard on the radio in thirty years can suddenly pop up often, even daily.  And that’s also why there’s a good chance that your favorite station has slipped “I’m On Fire” back into rotation.

Aside from all the music testing, there’s the multi-tasking issue. 

In a lot of stations, the program director and the music director don’t just work for one station. They run several, what the corporations like to call a “cluster”.  So the guy programming your local rock station may also have similar tasks at their sister station, which is country, or adult contemporary.  Or all three.  Or even more.

I like lots of different kinds of music, but I don’t have a real passion for all of them.  And because of that, I don’t really know a lot about them.  So if I suddenly had to program a country station, I’d be in trouble.  Unless someone told me what I should be playing.

Someone who was also telling other country stations what they should play.  Or other adult contemporary stations.  Et cetera.

The other thing is that, for those stations whose employees do care about the music, the same protocols are in place.  Here’s a list of what your station is going to play.

I get that radio stations aren’t jukeboxes, but having someone who doesn’t care about the music deciding what music gets played, based on testing (and other nebulous factors) might give you a good idea about why stations sound the way they do.

And then there are conspiracy theories.

One of the most recent, and most popular, concerns U2 and their 2009 album “No Line On The Horizon”.

Around the time this album came out, there was a controversy about radio paying royalties to the artists they played.  Bono, lead singer for U2, spoke out in favor of that.  He joined in with the MusicFirst coalition, who were campaigning Congress to reconsider prior legislative decisions was allowing radio stations to play music without paying royalties to artists and record companies.

Anyway, the rumor is that a major radio conglomerate told its stations not to play U2’s new album because of this.

The album debuted at number one in thirty countries, including Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Ireland, Japan, the Netherlands, Portugal, the United Kingdom, and the United States.  It was certified platinum in Brazil within its first week!  It also had three singles that did really well in other countries, but only one, “Get On Your Boots”, cracked the top forty in the U.S.

It could be a coincidence, and we could probably argue for pages and pages about how well this album stacks up to other U2 albums.

But regardless of how you feel about the quality of that album, or the possibility of conspiracy against it, what happened with that album and radio is typical, sadly, of what happens to lots of singers and bands that have been around for a long time.  Radio tends to ignore them.

U2’s previous album, “How To Dismantle An Atom Bomb”, came out in 2005.  It is probably mostly remembered in the U.S. for the song “Vertigo”, which was featured in an iPod campaign.  There were a total of five singles released from this album, and they did well in other countries (at least ten other countries that I’ve been able to find charts for), but went largely ignored by American radio.

Similarly, Bruce Springsteen released an album just last year (“Wrecking Ball”).  Other than some cursory airplay of the first track, “We Take Care Of Our Own”, it was also largely ignored by American radio stations. 

The same happened with his previous album, 2008’s “Working On A Dream”, which even featured a Grammy-nominated song from the movie “The Wrestler”.  In fact, going back year-by-year, the story seems to be the same for Springsteen.  The last new song of his that got serious airplay was “The Streets of Philadelphia” in 1994. 

That was almost twenty years ago.

In those twenty years, he’s put out seven studio albums, four box sets, six compilations, three live albums nine video collections and appeared (with new songs) on at least three soundtracks.

But the people who run most (not all, but most) rock radio stations don’t have that love for their format’s music.  So the majority of his music, going all the way back to 1973’s “Greetings From Asbury Park NJ”, gets ignored.  In fact, you’re more likely to hear Manfred Mann’s version of “Blinded By The Light” than Springsteen’s original version.

And other than a couple tracks off his Greatest Hits collection, or the recently-tested “I’m On Fire”, you’re not likely to hear much from one of the hardest working guys in the history of rock.

U2 got some decent airplay with 2001’s “All That You Can’t Leave Behind”, but twelve years later, there are only a handful of their songs that you still hear on the radio.  And most, if not all, of that can be found on their singles’ collection from 2006.  You just aren’t likely to hear anything more than the usual suspects from them.

Then there’s the Beatles.

John, Paul, George and Ringo had a lot of great songs, together and on their own.  In 2000, thirty years after they broke up, Capital Records released an album simply called “1”, which was a collection of their number one songs.  This went on to become the fastest-selling record in history.

If you’re lucky enough to have a station that still plays the Beatles, you’re lucky if you hear anything besides the songs on this album.

And as far as the solo stuff goes, some stations still play John’s “Imagine” and George’s “My Sweet Lord”.  You’ll probably get “Band On The Run” and “Live And Let Die” from Paul.  And your oldies station might throw on Ringo’s “Photograph” once in a great while.

It seems like a crime to me that all this music is getting lost.  And that radio has become such a wasteland that the people running it just seem to have absolutely no musical soul.

I used three easy examples here (Bruce, U2 and the Beatles) but there are so many more (and it’s growing every day).

And there are plenty of these artists who had terrific albums back then (whenever their “back then” was), and are still making music today!

Here’s a small sample of artists that have put out new stuff in just the last few months:

I don’t mean to suggest all these are equal.  While I still like “The Heart of the Night”, a new album from Poco doesn’t equal a new album from U2 (no offense intended to fans of either band).
I guess the thing is, I just get tired of turning on the radio in my car and hearing a lot of the same old, same old.  I can almost guarantee you that I will hear a Pink Floyd song and a Led Zeppelin song every time I go anywhere, even if it’s just a quick trip to the store.  And it’s also almost always one of the same few songs from either artist.

I’ve ranted a long time here, and I realize that won’t solve anything.  I think it’s time I bit the bullet and took the matter into my own hands.

This could be very cool, or it could be a huge failure, but I’m working on what I think the solution is.  Just need to get a few more pieces of the puzzle in place, and I’ll share what I think it a great idea with you very soon….

In the meantime, here’s what shuffled out of my player as I typed this…

Pat Benatar “Suffer the Little Children/Hell Is For Children” (live)
Marvin Gaye “What’s Going On”
New Order “Regret”
Boston “Don’t Look Back”
Sting “Fortress Around Your Heart” (live)
Skid Row “I Remember You”
Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne, Bruce Hornsby, Bryan Adams and Kim Wilson “Angel From Montgomery’ (live)
John Lennon “God” (acoustic)
Procol Harum “Conquistador”
Aerosmith “Just Push Play”
E.L.O. “Turn To Stone”
The Cyrkle “Red Rubber Ball”
R.E.M. “Drive” (live)
Joan Jett “Bad Reputation”
Bourgeois Tagg “I Don’t Mind At All”
David Bowie “Jean Genie”
Lenny Kravitz “Dig In”
Fleetwood Mac “Landslide”
Diesel “Sausalito Summernight”
The Tams “What Kind Of Fool”
The Eagles “Do Something”
Bob Seger “Katmandu” (live)
Aerosmith “Kings and Queens”
Ringo Starr “I’m The Greatest” (live)
Rush “Freewill”
Elvis Costello “This Year’s Girl”
Bruce Hornsby “The Road Not Taken”

To Be Continued…

Ken

You won’t be able to hear me on that track, of course, and there’s a good chance that the world should be thankful for that.  Still, even though you may not know it, and I can’t really prove it, I know I’m there.

But I know it.  I was there, part of that crowd.  It was a sold out show, and there’s no real danger that it wouldn’t have happened if not for me.  But I loved Paul (still do) and was happy to give him my hard-earned money in support of that show (tickets plus two t-shirts).

In a way, I supposed that was my first experience with Crowdfunding.  Maybe that’s a stretch, but the components of that are similar to what goes on today.  Like many others, I bought my tickets way in advance.  If none of us had, there wouldn’t have been a show in Miami that night. 

The album still would have happened, and the version of “Let It Be” would have been recorded elsewhere, because even if everyone in South Florida had decided not to support that tour, he’s still Paul McCartney and there are plenty of others across the globe that would have eagerly handed him their money. 

It’s hard to connect the former Beatle with Crowdfunding.  He has enough die-hard fans from his lengthy career that he could record himself singing in the shower and everyone would buy it.

But what about all those who weren’t in the Beatles.  The ones that haven’t had years of sold-out shows.  The ones who have never had a platinum record.  Or even a gold one.

The ones who just have the dream.

Dreams are really where Crowdfunding begins.

Odds are pretty good that you know someone, or at least know OF someone, who has been involved in Crowdfunding.

It’s possible you don’t know that you know they’ve done it, or at least tried it, but since so many have been involved one way or another, statistically, you’re probably at least as many degrees from them as you are from Kevin Bacon.

For those who don’t know, Crowdfunding is a way to raise money by letting your friends, your fans and even people you haven’t been in contact with yet, find out about your project and give you their support.  It’s kind of like getting investors to support you, but instead of going to business meetings and pitching your ideas to the suits, you’re taking it right to the public.

In 1990, when there was nothing comparable to today’s social media, you supported an artist by buying their music and going to their concerts.  You may have even told your friends about that new band you like, and convinced them to buy a CD or go to the show.

For those too young to remember that, that’s how social media worked back in the days before Twitter and Facebook (and even before MySpace).

Done correctly, Crowdfunding is really a merging of social media and business fundraising.  Sort of.

It’s not begging, though some do seem to approach it that way.  There are a few popular examples of people using Crowdfunding to pay off their credit card bills.  While this may have worked once or twice, it’s unlikely that this kind of project would be successful again.

Many singers and bands have done this. Like social media, it’s a great way to connect with fans.  It also allows those who love what you do and believe in you to actually be a part of your project.

You may or may not know of Amanda Palmer.  She’s someone who’s name is often tossed out amid discussions of Crowdfunding.

Amanda was the lead singer for the Dresden Dolls.  More recently, she’s released several solo albums and singles.

She is also one of the best at connecting with fans, and has very successfully gotten them to be a part of her projects.

The terminology there may not be quite right.  Saying that she’s “gotten” them to be part of her projects sounds a little like she either tricked them into it, or somehow persuaded them to do it.

Neither is true. 

It would be better, or much more apt, to say that she allowed them to be a part of her projects.  And there eagerness to help her is something that most who think about Crowdfunding will never quite get.

Here’s a terrific talk she gave at a recent TED conference.  I know it’s longer than you probably want to commit to, but if you have a dream you think you could achieve with just a little help, you really should watch this!

Of course, I’m bringing all this up because I have some projects on the horizon that involve Crowdfunding.  Some are close and personal to me, things I’ve been very interested in doing and hope others will find them pretty darn worthwhile, as well.   Others are friends’ projects that I’m really just tangentially involved in – I believe in what they’re trying to do and would like to help them succeed.

There’s a very cool project that’s on the way, connected to my day job at the Good Day Show.   I’ll have some more details soon. 

While I don’t want to reveal too much too early, I can tell you that, if there’s something you’ve always wanted to do – be it your own album, a book, a business or something else entirely – but you’ve never been able to figure out how you’d ever get it off the ground, I just might be able to help you out, or at least get you pointed in the right direction (and help you tell LOTS of other people about what it is you want to do)!

While I wrote this, I was listening to a playlist that just might figure into something I hope to be working on soon!  Here’s what shuffled out…

The Rolling Stones “Doom and Gloom”
John Fogerty “Rockin’ All Over The World” (live)
Bruce Hornsby and the Range “The Way It Is”
Noel Gallagher and the High-Flying Birds “The Death of You and Me”
Steve Winwood “Valerie”
The Smithereens “The Blues Before And After”
Little Feat “Dixie Chicken”
The Hooters “Hanging On A Heartbeat”
Paul McCartney and Wings “Live And Let Die”
Glenn Frey “Lyin’ Eyes/Take It Easy” (live)
U2 “In God’s Country”
Slade “Mama Weer All Crazee Now”
Jackson Browne “The Pretender” (live)
Rush “Something For Nothing”
Elvis Costello and the Attractions “Every Day I Write The Book”
Grateful Dead “Built To Last”
Paul Simon “American Tune”
Joe Jackson “Is She Really Going Out With Him?”
R.E.M. “We All Go Back To Where We Belong”
The Yardbirds “For Your Love”
Men At Work “Underground”
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers “I Should Have Known It”
David Bowie “Heroes”
Robert Plant “Tall Cool One” (live)

By the way, don’t spend any time trying to figure out some significance to the artists or the songs I posted.  They really did just shuffle out of my player in that random order.  I have some pretty cool things to share beyond all this, but I’d just thought I’d subjected you to enough.  For now.

Ken

Then reality set in as the "new" station trotted out all the usual suspects, presenting little more than a repacked K-Tel collection of stereotypical classic rock tracks.  No originality.  Nothing to show that anyone there liked this music, or even knew much about it.  Anyone can easily find out what the big "hits" were and roll them out with little effort.

While I do like to occasionally hear "Stairway To Heaven", there is so much more than that that Led Zeppelin has to offer.  When someone plugs that Rod Stewart is coming up, it doesn't always have to be "Maggie May", does it?  And despite what you hear on the air, Boston actually did have more than one album.

Anyway, before I really get on a rant, here's what shuffled out of my 70's playlist tonight...

Steve Miller Band "Jungle Love"
Steely Dan "Kid Charlemange"
John Lennon "New York City"
The Rolling Stones "Far Away Eyes"
Jethro Tull "Cross-Eyed Mary"
Lynyrd Skynrd "Gimme Back My Bullets"
Cheap Trick "Surrender"
George Thorgood "Move It On Over"
Gerry Rafferty "Right Down The Line"
E.L.O. "Wild West Hero"
Styx "Light Up"
J. Geils Band "Musta Got Lost"
The Kinks "Rock 'N Roll Fantasy"
Procol Harum "Conquistador"
Pat Travers "Boom Boom (Out Go The Lights)"

Ken

So I suggested one year that we go for traditional Mexican on St. Patrick’s Day.  The kids thought it was funny, and we were instantly seated at one of our local favorites.  Thus, a tradition was born.

Living in San Diego, we have the luxury of many authentic Mexican restaurants, and that may not be the case where you live (though I bet your kids would think it was funny to get a Cool Ranch taco for St. Patrick’s Day).

A couple months later, we were confronted with a similar dilemma when Cinco de Mayo rolled around.  So we did the obvious.  We went to Hooley’s Irish Pub and Grill.

Though the years have passed, this tradition continues. My daughter and I had homemade Italian sausage sandwiches for lunch, and we’ll be hitting one of our favorite taco shops for dinner!

This isn’t any kind of editorial against either holiday, and I hope those of Irish (or Mexican) heritage aren’t offended.    Or Italian or American, since we tend to stop for a big Italian lunch on the way home from church on Thanksgiving.

Anyway, I did listen to some somewhat seasonal music while I wrote this.  Here’s what shuffled out of my U2 playlist…

“I Will Follow”
“When Love Comes To Town”
“Two Hearts Beat As One”
“Magnificent”
“Gloria”
“Vertigo”
“Bullet The Blue Sky”
“Mysterious Ways”
“New Year’s Day”
“In God’s Country”

Hope you’ve had a great weekend, no matter how you celebrate!

Ken

It was 1994, and like many other fans, I’d been waiting fourteen years for something new from this band I loved.  A reunion seemed pretty unlikely, and it became a kind of Holy Grail – one of those albums you hope exists, but fear you’ll never find.

There have been a lot of those over the years.

I remember when it was announced that there was a five-album live set coming from Bruce Springsteen.  Seems almost silly to be excited about that now, but at the time, there had been no legal live music from him.  Sure, there had been live tracks on the b-sides of singles.  And there were more bootlegs than you could count.  But not much else.

Before that, there had been live albums from bands, of course, but most of those were limited to one or two albums, for the most part.  And Springsteen fans knew that one of his legendary performances wouldn’t be able to be adequately captured on just two LPs.  His shows were typically twice as long as anything on a double-album.

Then the five-record set came out.  And while some people may not have liked it, it was treasure for the rest of us.

By the way, you knew these were records because the writing on the cover was in white.  There was also a cassette version (in blue) and a CD version (in red).

In the 70’s, the band Boston released a huge debut album, quickly followed by a second amazing album.  Then a new single called “Amanda” started to crop up. Some said it was a promo from a forthcoming album, while others claimed it was a bootleg from the previous album’s sessions.

Years went by and the song seemed to go away. A few rock stations played it once in a while.  But the idea of a legitimate release, let alone a whole new album, seemed like an unlikely longshot.

Then we got Third Stage.

And the Beatles were naturally one of the biggest. 

Hopes for a reunion died with John at the end of 1980.  But there were so many bootlegs over the years, that it seemed like there were hours of unreleased tracks.  Would they ever see the light of day?

Then in the 1990’s, we sort of got it all.  Paul, George and Ringo recorded a couple new tracks, using demos from John.  And scores of previously unreleased material came out on Live At The BBC and the Anthology sets.  There was even a reworked version of Let It Be (called Let It Be..Naked) that came out in 2003.

I’ve been thinking about this lately, and wondering if there are any Holy Grails of rock left. 

We’ve gotten live albums from the Police (from their early days, from the “Synchronicity Tour” and even from their recent reunion tour.

The majority of the Cars got back together as the New Cars, and then they all reunited for a new album in 2011.

The Rolling Stones have even opened up their archives, putting out previously unreleased songs and offering up mp3s of live shows on their website.

So what’s left?  A Led Zeppelin reunion?  Unreleased Billy Joel tracks?  Are there rumored albums that still haven’t been released?

Personally, I’d like a little more from the Eagles.  I’m sure there are unreleased things (though a couple found their way onto the box set a while back).  A new album would be nice, though.  And I’m pretty sure we’ll get a new live set sometime in the next year or so.

Since the Eagles aren’t on any of the streaming services, yet, I uploaded all my Eagles CDs onto my Amazon Cloud player, and here’s what shuffled out while I wrote this…

“Tequila Sunrise”
“Hotel California” (Millennium Concert)
“Those Shoes”
“Doolin Dalton”
“How Long”
“Last Good Time In Town”
“Life’s Been Good” (Live)
“The Best Of My Love”
“Peaceful Easy Feeling”
“Busy Being Fabulous”
“Lyin’ Eyes”
“Life In The Fast Lane”
“New York Minute’ (Live)
“Seven Bridges Road” (Live)

Hope your weekend is filled with lots of great music!

Ken

I know most have a preconceived idea of what that might be.  We’ve all seen Whoopi Goldberg in “Ghost”.  And we’ve heard stories of scams where someone calling themselves a psychic or medium has fleeced people of their savings by promising contact from beyond, or the removal of a curse, or something like that.

For starters, there was no fleecing.  For what it would probably cost to go to a movie, Lisa and I had a very entertaining and enjoyable evening.

The fact that this was so reasonably priced was a surprise.  I don’t really have anything to compare it to, as my experience with these kinds of things is pretty limited (limited to this one, actually).

I know, you’re probably thinking there was some important message I needed to hear, but could only get if I went to some other, more expensive, possibly private event.  While Teresa does offer private readings and such, this wasn’t part of any sales pitch that night.  Not for me, or for any of the other people there (I think there were around a dozen of us).

In fact, Teresa started off by saying there were no guarantees that everyone would get a message from “the other side”.  Some did.  Some sort of did.  And some didn’t.

This all took place in her shop, Starcrafts.  She and her co-host for the evening sat on either side of a table, and the rest of us sat in a sort-of-semi-circle facing them.  It was a very relaxed atmosphere.  There were no floating crystal balls, no disembodied voices, and no lights flashing off and on.

There were even jokes made – about each other, about some of the dearly Departed and even about the stereotypical idea of a Spirit Gathering.

The way it worked is that Teresa would say that she was hearing something from someone (insert particular message for “something” and name of Departed for “someone”).  Some of these were pretty specific, directed at someone in particular.  Some were a little vague, as if Teresa wasn’t sure she was hearing the message correctly.  And some seemed to miss the mark completely – that is, whoever the message was for didn’t seem to understand what it was supposed to mean, or even recognize who the send supposedly was.

The times when the person in attendance didn’t get it, or know who could possibly be sending the message, there was never an attempt to alter it.  No games.  She didn’t say it’s from someone named Rob or Ron, or maybe Rich.  Or Ray.  Or Bill or Steve or Dan.  Or maybe it’s a woman with an R in her name.

I got a rather innocuous message.  Someone over there is proud of me.

That’s nice, but it doesn’t prove anything.  In fact, none of what happened that evening really proves anything.

For me, though, it’s more about the kind of person I believe Teresa is.

She comes across as someone who believes they have a pretty cool gift, and she gets goosebumps when something particularly cool happens because of this gift.  There isn’t the ego you might expect from someone claiming to have some supernatural or extra-sensory ability.  She’s self-assured enough to believe she is what she says she is, but she’s not arrogant or over-confident, insisting you believe.

I should also mention that the other people there that evening were all very friendly.  I instantly felt like I was part of the group, and not an outsider horning in on someone else’s experience.

Finally, since she and Lisa are friends, I have spent time with her outside of her shop.  We’ve talked about mundane topics like writing and movies (and not winning the lottery) – everything isn’t about ghosts and the Dead and past lives and all that other stuff.

Some of it is, though.  And I’ve heard some interesting stories about when she was growing up, and about Sharon Tate and about the Titanic.  But those are her stories, not mine, so you’ll need to ask her about them.

There’s another Spirit Gathering this weekend, and if you’re in the San Diego area, you should really think about going.  I can’t promise you’ll hear from anyone, or that you’ll have an experience that will make you believe anything.  I can only tell you you’ll have an entertaining evening.

You can check out Teresa’s store HERE and you can find her schedule of events HERE.

Oh, I almost forgot!  Here’s what shuffled out of my playlist while I was typing this…

R.E.M. “Pretty Persuasion”
Squeeze “Tempted”
Paul Simon “Dazzling Blue”
Bruce Springsteen “Stand On It”
Brian Setzer “Red Hot”
The Clash “London Calling”
The Rolling Stones “Rock And A Hard Place”
Yes “It Can Happen”
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers “I Need To Know”
Kansas “Song For America”
The Cars “Sad Song”
Sting “Brand New Day”

Ken

So I've taken on a new little project.

I'm helping my dad move his business online.  He sells imprinted sportswear, the good stuff, and he's spent the better part of the last forty years, traveling the roads of the Carolinas (and Virginia, too).

If you're in that part of the country, and you've bought a t-shirt to show your support for one of the local college teams, the odds are pretty good that my dad had something to do with getting that shirt in the store for you.

Though I can selfishly admit that back in 1983, when N.C. State won the NCAA Championship, those Official Brickyard Survivor shirts were my idea!

Anyway, the same is true if you bought a nice souvenir shirt from your vacation at the coast (from the Outer Banks to Hilton Head) or in the beautiful North Carolina mountains!

I'm hoping that I can help him get off the road, at least to a degree.  It's good for business, since he'll be able to let his customers view his wares online, at their convenience.  This will be especially helpful when he has something new, and can let them know with a phone call or an email, allowing them to stay up-to-date as never before.

Of course, as you know, there are already a couple people online selling t-shirts and the like.  Maybe more than a couple.

He's not looking to take over the world, and has no allusions that this will become something like winning the lottery.  But it would be pretty cool if this could help him get off the road a bit, and maybe take a trip out west to see one of his favorite kids (that would be ME)!

Not much on the website just yet, but you can check it out HERE (particularly if you're interested in getting a St. Patrick's Day shirt)!  And even if you don't want to buy anything today, I'd appreciate it if you'd check it out and let me know what you think!  Is there something missing?  Something I should fix or change?

I'll keep you updated on the progress, and everyone's invited over when he and my mom come out to visit!

Ken