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Diary/Journal
Saturday Oct 9th 1999 - (John Lennon's birthday) I left home at 2:30 in the morning and drove about five hours straight in to Washington, D.C.! My first stop was The White House! Next, I took my camera around to The Washington Monument, Jefferson Memorial, Lincoln Memorial and the Holocaust Museum! I was on my feet all day from about 8:00 AM until 5:00 PM. I still made it home in time to do my radio show and interview a band live on the air!
Thursday October 14th - I met a girl at a local coffee shop a few days ago. We met at her place tonight. I helped her learn a few chords on the guitar, and she taught me how to play the violin! Learning the violin has always been my life long ambition.
The first song I learned to play; "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star".
Tuesday October 19th - I saw an ad for a videotape on late night television. "Hollywood - Wild On the Streets". The usual craziness, plus some candid shots of some celebrities - well, almost,....
The ad claims that one of the celebrities is Howard Stern. Take a close look. I was in the Hollywood area about three years ago. They're trying to pass me off as Stern! I've ordered a copy of this tape and I should have it in about two weeks. Once I get it, I'll take a look at it and have some lawyers look at it too. (maybe I'll just send it to Howard Sterns' lawyers and let them deal with it).
Monday October 25th - I am in shock as the rest of the nation. Howard Stern and his wife have split. The reason stated was that he was devoting more time to his career than his family. Understandable: This phenomenon has happened with many celebrities. I guess Howard Stern can be no exception. I truly feel sorry for him. Mr. Stern has experienced a joy in life that I have never experienced. He found Miss Right - I never did.
As far as my career as a Howard Stern impersonator: I'll have to see where this incident takes him. I'm going to lay low for a while, both as a Stern impersonator and on the club scene. I don't need the usual batch of wise guys walking up to me in some club saying something cute like; 'hey Howard, how's the divorce? '. People can be so mindless.
October 25th (continued): I should have gone to the post office this morning, before going on my radio show. I've received a royalty check from BMI! ' could've gloated about it on the air......
The song I made money on was, "Monica Lewinsky" (want a copy? - see my Mountain Records page!).
October 25th (still continued): Tonight I went to an open stage in Kutztown. I was surprised to find out that the venue's owner and host was somebody I knew! - (members from The Chick Peas! - I interviewed them on my show!) - in fact a lot of people there knew me!
I was introduced on stage as "here's someone who needs no introduction". Wow! Some people wait their whole lives for an introduction like that!
November 1st: Egyptair flight 990 went down over the Atlantic near Nantucket Island. That body of water is fast becoming a second Bermuda Triangle (eg:TWA #800, Kennedy Jr's plane). I don't want to seem pessimistic, but if the radar showed the plane dropping at a rate of thousands of feet per second, then there is no point in looking for survivors. My guess is that it disintegrated upon impact with the water.
Years ago another jumbo jet crashed. One of the rotors in it's turbine came loose and cut the control cables. Planes were redesigned afterwards. There was no 'mayday' from #990. My theory: Perhaps instead of control cables, something cut the power cables. There were inflated life jackets found. This would indicate that there was no fire and that all were fully conscious during the last few minutes of flight. No one would've been conscious if pressure were lost from an explosion, or if the cabin were filled with smoke from a fire.
November 4th: Tonight I was hired by a new internet company, SITELINE in Philadelphia, to impersonate Stern at their one-year anniversary party.
That was fun. They had a little script for me to read and it was all in good humor!
I later walked into the Hard Rock Cafe and surprised a few people..(me and my sense of humor).
November 8th Tonight I felt like I witnessed a part of history. Just as President Kennedy was the first President to use television, and Franklin Roosevelt was the first to use radio, President Clinton conducted an on-line chat. He is the first president to do so. The talk reminded me of his appearance on MTV five years ago: an introductory speech of his accomplishments and goals, followed by questions and answers.
The president had a stenographer typing his words as he spoke them. So did the other dignitaries on line: mayors from a few different cities in the U.S. - including someone from my area; Cunningham, from Bethlehem, PA.!
The president, sitting in a room full of people, was shown live on a web-cam. The same for some of the other dignitaries.
I missed a lot of what the president was saying. I'll guess that his stenographer was not made aware of a 200-character limit to each entry. There were a lot of half-sentences. Not so for the other dignitaries. There were a lot of spelling errors for all, but I'll guess that could be expected considering the speed in which the stenographers had to have in order to make entries. I tried sending in a question before it all started - I wish I knew that the questions would be limited to politics. I asked a question about his playing saxophone on-stage with a foreign country's president. (well, I am looking for a copy for my radio show).
It was interesting to watch, but right now, I'm having a more interesting time reading Jesse Ventura's book, "I Ain't Got Time To Bleed". Now there is a man with a lot to say! I don't agree with everything he says in this book, but, he's saying some things that I and a lot of people have to say! I recommend you read it!
November 10th This was an eventful day! I left the house at 8:00 AM. My itinerary; stop and photograph the front of all the places where I left free postcards. I distribute them - part time. I photograph the shops + send the pictures to the postcard company to confirm placement. I went to; Kutztown, New Jerusalem, Allentown, Emmaus, Bethlehem, Stroudsburg, and Easton. Back at home by 2PM - did some email, mailed the one use camera to the postcard company, and made it into work by 3PM.
Worked until 7PM, drove for about an hour into New Hope, set up, and played onstage for the next three hours!
It's days like this, when I'm most happy!
November 22nd Another eventful day; looked at a car this morning, worked at WMUH from 10 - noon, applied for a passport, and I arrived home at about 3:00. Ate lunch, took care of my mail and drove to New York City!
I participated in the jam at The Lounge on West 72nd St. On the way home, I stopped in the Hard Rock Cafe. I looked around - I strummed the strings on one of Kurt Cobain's guitars! (I woke up the next morning with melodies in my head - you don't suppose,......).
December 8th And still another eventful day! I was guest host on the morning show at WGPA (8:00 - 8:30 + again from 9:00 - 9:30 AM). This day marks the 19th anniversary of John Lennon's death. I was asked to co-host because of my knowledge of Lennon/Beatles' history. I aired a recording I own of Lennon's 'apology' for his 'bigger than Jesus' statement.
I went to a recording studio when I was finished co-hosting the radio show. I did some pre-production work for my fourth-coming album "Friends and Strangers". The album is due out in January!
I was at work by noon. I finished working at about 7:00 PM, and then went to the poetry reading at Godfried Daniels.
I finally arrived home at about 10:00 PM. Busy day, huh?.......
late entry I e-mailed a question to the BEP(Bureau of Engraving and Printing). I asked what was the law passed that allowed the view of the White House on the back of the $20.00 bill to be changed from the South entrance to the North entrance.
The response I received stated that there wasn't any law passed. It was an engravers decision, and that it was approved by the Secretary of the Treasury.
I'll be honest with you; I did notice that there was some type of difference on the back of the new $20.00's, but I didn't quite figure it out until after I made a visit to the White House.
December 15th MY BIRTHDAY! This morning, I faxed the order off to have my new CD made! This evening I've had another violin lesson (and I'm making great progress!).
December 20th Just thinking,... Two probes have been lost in the effort of discovering whether or not there is water on the planet Mars.
Scientists and N.A.S.A. have been investigating plant life that could exist under extreme weather conditions in the hopes of seeding/sprouting life on the red planet.
Scientists have also discovered that it takes only 30 genes to create life. Do I see a project Genesis in the works? There's two gentlemen in Great Britain whom are working on the possibility of providing private citizens in taking rides into outer space.
The equipment provided for the Martian Rover came from The Tandy Corporation (Radio Shack). Does a privately funded/organized probe to Mars seem all that far-fetched?
December 29th Well, Xmas was peacefull,..'slept most of the day.... The color proofs for my new album cover arrived the other day. They look pretty well! I should have the new CD in my hands by January 12th!
Monday January 3rd 2000!!! I spent New Years' Eve at an art gallery party, helping to create art! I was the model for two new pieces of work! What a way to bring in the new millennium; creatively! Happy New Year everybody!!!
January 20th I've always wondered if I'd ever go on the Howard Stern Show again. Well, today I did! I dressed up especially well as Howard and I had a few surprises! I didn't know that he has a large projection screen video monitor in his studio. The cameramen did a split screen between the two of us while we were talking! Whoops!, for a brief second there, even I didn't know the difference!(he was on the left side, I was on the right side).
I did manage to announce my URL on the air. I also didn't want to come empty handed. I gave a South Park novelty tie for Howard (happy birthday, Howard!), and I gave a copy of my new CD, "Friends and Strangers".
January 24th This will sound interesting; I filled in for a little extra time at WMUH this morning - 8 - 12 instead of 10 -12, I attained a booking for myself at a major rock club, Crocodile Rock, here in the Allentown area, opening for a major act (Warren Zevon) , and then I went off to do my show from 3 - 6 at WLVR. Full day, eh? I was at Crocodile Rock trying to get a booking for a friends' band. The booker asked me if I knew of an acoustic act that would be a good opener for Warren Zevon. I figured: if I didn't open my mouth then, I'd regret it for the rest of my life! My friends' band, by the way, is "Tinsel Town Rebellion". They're a Frank Zappa tribute band.
January 31st Whoa!,... What a day! We've had a foot of snow fall here in the area. I've put in a full days work at two radio stations, and now the only thing on my mind is a hot bath! (yes, I shoveled the walk this morning!).
February 4th Ouch! I slipped and fell on some ice! My whole spine was stiff, my right arm was weak, I was feeling dizzy... it even hurt to lie down on my back. I stopped in at a local chiropractors' office, and within a few minutes I was back walking around and just being myself - who says this stuff is bunk?
February 9th I was just informed today: The Warren Zevon show at Crocodile Rock has been postponed (Ouch! again!).
February 13th Well, here's one,... I was airing my interview with Chip Z'nuff (of Enuff Z'nuff) on my Saturday night radio show. There I was, thinking that I was the greatest thing, not realizing that I was out there out-doing myself on national television.
The Howard Stern CBS TV Show had my most recent appearance on the show - airing at the exact same time!
February 16th It's been a busy past few days. I've made a new booking at Crocodile Rock (see the 'where I'm at' page), I stopped in at Casey's and was photographed and videotaped during the jam - there'll be a write up about me in another publication soon!
I didn't watch the Republican debates the other night. I have been listening to reactions to it on some of the radio talk shows.
It seems the more they argue with each other, the more they lose credibility with the public.
Opposite their program was another interesting TV show - "Who Wants To Marry A Millionaire?"
(Oh, please) I didn't watch this one either, but I heard the stations talking about it.
This is the ultimate exhibition of human shallowness ever - let alone exhibitionist to an extent!
...and the winner gets to marry someone she's never met ( ! ? ). How could anyone watch this?
Folks, find someone with whom you share a common interest with, common values, common goals, etc., etc.,... That's the person you marry.
February 21st AHA! Over the weekend, I heard on the news that the multi-millionaire from that TV show, once had a restraining order against him. Fox will not rebroadcast the show tonight as originally scheduled. GOOD!
Let them rebroadcast Groucho Marx's "You Bet Your Life" instead.......
February 29th I had to make an entry on Leap Years' Day! Last night I jammed at two clubs - typical for me,.... The difference is that I played songs at each club, that I've never played before. I did all covers at Anylisa's Hava Java, and I played piano at Casey's.
I had a nice surprise when I arrived home: The E Network called to inform me that I'll be on the Howard Stern Show tomorrow night!
Whoo Hoo!
March 3rd I'm sort of disappointed. I thought excerpts from my January 20th appearance on The Howard Stern show were going to be aired on The E Network (they called to notify me of my appearance).
It was instead my appearance from 1998 - the one with the two girls!
Oh well,.. I guess I shouldn't complain. National exposure on two national networks in two and a half weeks: You can't buy publicity like that!
March 11th I was in the Wilkes-Barre, PA. St. Patty's Day Parade. There was a bit of a mix-up, and there was another Howard Stern impersonator at 'The Bear' radio station. No problem! We each walked on opposite sides of the radio station's van in the parade! Two Howard's in the same parade(?)
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